C'est ma vie

The Plane Trip from....

Heaven! We're here, in Houston, safely after a long trip and the 10 hr. plane trip that I was dreading so much with our very active 2 year old couldn't have gone better and the only time we heard Louise was when we were landing and her ears hurt. I confess that we did give Gab a small dose of cough sirop that the Dr. gave us, which knocked him out for 5 hours (we were actually kind of scared that we had killed him with the way he was sleeping!). The last 5 hours were spent watching cartoons, playing with cars, eating, doing a Dora sticker activity, and walking a couple times around the plane. The key to this whole thing was taking his car seat onto the plane and putting it in the seat. It is a bitch to lug around the airport (excuse the candid language, but there is just no other way to put it, it is really a pain!), but it is SO worth it because he had a safe, comfortable place in the plane where he could sleep and he knew that he was contstrained and couldn't get down. If we had just put him in the seat with a seatbelt, he would have been asking to get down every 5 minutes.

People were congratulating us on our kids after the flight, now if only it could happen like this on the way back!

Will try to update as our trip goes on! We leave tomorrow for Arkansas to see some wonderful friends from high-school then will make our way up North with stops in Oklahoma, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

A Room with a View

A Room with a View, originally uploaded by afoos.

Finally, the apartment is almost up and running. Here are the pics some of you asked for me to post- we still have quite a bit of work, that's why the whole apartment has not been taken in pics yet, but progress has been made! The view we have from the kitchen and bedrooms is nothing other than the Eiffel Tower! It's really pretty at night with the sparkly lights.

Living and Dining room

Living and Dining room, originally uploaded by afoos.

Blurry, but you get the point.

Kitchen

Kitchen, originally uploaded by afoos.

Kitchen- New Shelves!

Kitchen- New Shelves!, originally uploaded by afoos.

We just put up these shelves last week- they are kind of weird, but they've grown on me, and I really like them now.

Living Room with a Pile of Boxes Remaining

Living Room with a Pile of Boxes Remaining, originally uploaded by afoos.

I'm working really, really hard on getting rid of the boxes- looks like it will be done when we get back from our trip, but trust me, this is HUGE progress!

The Kiddos Room

The Kiddos Room, originally uploaded by afoos.

Entrance and Kitchen in background

Entrance and Kitchen in background, originally uploaded by afoos.

When you walk in the door, this is where you'll end up- kitchen to the right, living room to the left.

Idea

Idea, originally uploaded by afoos.

Like I really need to be doing this right now when I need to think about and pack for a husband, toddler, and baby for a long trip to the US! BUT, for some reason leaving gets me motivated to come back to a clean apartment and this has been one of my projects for awhile.

The kind and talented Vivi from Dispatches from France crosstitched two adorable bibs for Louise and I just couldn't bring myself to have her spit up all over them. So, I just cut a piece of fabric and stuck it in the frame and got the hot glue gun out to add the ribbon to hang it. In the process I used up the Ikea frame that I accidentally bought that has been sitting here for ages, a ribbon that one of Louise's gifts was wrapped in, and now the bibs are safely on display far from spitup!

Family Walk

Family Walk, originally uploaded by afoos.

Every time you have a family lunch in France, after dessert, you know what's coming "Aren't we going to take a walk?" This seems to be the typical activity of choice after big meals, instead of watching football or taking a nap. Maybe that's why the French stay so skinny- they work it all off after the meals! Luckily, Etienne's mom has lots of great places to take walks- a mix of countryside charm and typical Norman half-timbered houses. In the pic you see on the left E's mom and Gab, Louise and me, Etienne's mom's cousin and her husband, daughter-in-law and their son and grandson who is exactly one month younger than Gab.