Wow, we did a lot of walking today. We went to this cool eco-friendly baby shop and played with a bunch of cloth nappies, then went to John Lewis to look at a few things, then wandered around Princes to look at, then purchase a mobile phone. We are now in the world of mobile phone owners. Woot. In any event, we walked to Mars and back and I am wiped the heck out.


Thanks for all the comments on the last post, guys! They were muy helpful. We already have:
-a Moses basket (from our kind neighbours)
-a bunch of clothes (from everyone!)
-a stroller/carseat
-a sling/ baby carrier (actually, two)
-a breast pump (fancy electric double pump since that's what I'll be doing all day when I'm in class)
-a great baby info book (from Amy/Justin/Adelaide, baby mentors extraordinaire)
-a diaper bag (actually Matt's old Dickies shoulder bag, which we think should work)
-a first-aid/ hygiene kit
-some blankets, one hooded towel, a few burp cloths.

After looking at your list(s) and a few of our own, here's what else I think we'll get:
-Sheets for Moses Basket
-Extra Bottles
-Changing Pad/Table (probably a pad to go on an existing table)
-Shelves/ hanging organiser unit
-Nappies/Accessories
-Pack ‘n Play
-Bouncy Chair (I think the aforementioned kind neighbours have one for us)
-Nursing Pillow


What is y'all's take on baby baths? Oh wise sensei, tell us what you know.

As far as nappies, this cool baby shop had all the different cloth alternatives for us to try. The pre-folds are way more convenient than they looked on the interwebs, and actually the regular ol' foldy kind didn't seem so bad, either. I think we'll get a few fitteds (mostly for when we have somebody else watching him, so we don't have to make others deal with the excitement of folding) and try the prefolds and the regulars to see which ones we like better. Also, I had an inordinate amount of fun playing with Nappi Nippas, these little plastic grippy things. As far as wipes, the jury is still out. I like the crunchiness factor of using my own (mostly, the wipes solution in the disposables is so... unnatural), but I don't know how thrilled I'd be with rinsing poop out of washables. Hmm. We'll just have to see.

Hi guys, sorry I've been pretty absent lately. I am trying to study for my stupid Animal Husbandry resit exam, get stuff together for the wee Price, find a name for the wee Price, and generally not go crazy. I have not been particularly successful on any of these efforts, mostly lolling around, baking cake, and feeling bored and tired.

Any ideas on how to break out of the slump?

Also, who out there uses cloth nappies/diapers? If you do, do you also use washable baby wipes? Amy, I know you guys use the pocket-style nappies; does anyone use prefolds? We're trying to determine our level of crunchy hippyness. Also, I can't find a good list of what one actually needs for a baby without frivolity, specifically without excess furniture. Any ideas?

As of yesterday, I am officially 8 months pregnant. Huge.

Done.

[Edit] Me, too. 11:07, 21 Jul

I passed the 32 week mark on Sunday. I am humongous and awkward (no, really), and our son is gaining 1/2 pound a week! This morning, I got up at 4a.m. to pee (normal), but couldn't get back to sleep because my hips were killing me. So I just got up and hung out on the interwebs for 2 hours until Matt woke up. Blech.

We arrived safely back in Scotland, and are almost done unpacking/reorganising/fighting chaos. For the next two weeks, Rob's parents will be staying at our place, so the rest of the nesting will have to be once they leave.

Other than that, it's pretty much life as normal here at Casa Price. I am starting to pull stuff together to take the resit exam in August for Animal Husbandry (poop), and trying to motivate myself for writing thank-you cards to people for baby stuff.

I'll try to write a more interesting post once I'm working on more than 4 hours of sleep. I miss you guys!

We're on our way back to Edinburgh! Pray for a safe flight!

So today's the Fourth of July when we celebrate our freedom from the British. A week from today is the day Jeni and I get on a plane to head back to the UK. Now seems as good a time as any to reflect on life as an American overseas. One question that's come up a few times is if we'd consider staying over there after Jeni's done with school. If you'd have asked me that a month after moving there, I'd have answered with a resounding, "Heck no." After a year however, the idea isn't as repulsive as it once was. In our first month we were struggling to find a way we could survive. At that point the culture was completely foreign and each and every small task seemed impossible. We had to change our lifestyle drastically in order to get along.

As an aside, I'd say that moving to Edinburgh was the first time I ever had to make real lifestyle choices. Up until then living in the States I just did whatever I was used to doing to the best of my current financial ability. Suddenly in Edinburgh, I just wasn't able to do what I'd grown used to doing in the States. Compound that with tighter finances than Jeni or I had ever really experienced since living together, and it became clear we had to redefine our lifestyle, almost from the ground up. The part of life this shows most clearly in is our food buying habits. We now shop with a strict food budget. We buy what we need to make what we've planned to make, along with a few staples to make simple breakfasts and lunches. We used to go out to eat at least once or twice a week. Now once a month is unusual.

Hmm, I guess that last paragraph wasn't completely tangental, because it goes a long way towards describing our current situation. We've learned how to survive, but we don't really feel at home yet. We do have a few really good friends over there who mean a lot to us and do make the place feel more like home, but so far they are exclusively, like ourselves, temporary expatriates. If you ask me now whether we'd consider staying in Scotland or not after Jeni's schooling is done I'd say it's an option that's open depending on how the next few years play out. We would have to learn to do more than survive there, we'd have to feel like it was really our home.

Now, Jeni and I aren't the most patriotic people in the world, and with the current goings on in the world it seems to me like it's getting harder and harder to get really set on fire about being an American. But when it comes down to it, we are Americans. I've realized this past year how much a part of our personal identity our national identity makes up. Now, I don't want to come back to America and slip back into the American lifestyle unquestioningly. We've had to reinvent our lifestyle in Edinburgh and, you know what, there are a lot of things I like about the new way of living we've come up with. The limitations of our situation have forced us into a kind of simplicity which I think has merits beyond saving a buck. Hopefully we can bring at least some of that change into the next stage of our life together, whether it's over here or across the pond.