Prepping for 2nd Kid

Once I hit my third trimester, we were done with travel and focused on prepping for the arrival of the new kid.

Doing Laundry and Lots of Shopping
We tried to keep everything from our first kiddo to use as a hand-me-down for the second, but like my maternity clothes - it turned out that I gave the best stuff away to friends, and what was left was all completely seasonally inappropriate. So after sorting through lots of boxes, I did loads and loads of laundry and then started shopping to fill in the gaps. I haven't found a kids' store here that I like, so I was fortunate to be able to order things to ship to my parents to bring over when they visited. (Thanks again Mom and Dad!). We also did quite a bit of Amazon shopping for the things that were worn out (like the baby chair he kept sitting in until he was twice the weight limit) or wouldn't work here (like the baby monitor). There were also a bunch of things that had to be researched again because they aren't available here, like the brands of diapers and formula that we used. Eventually, we pieced together a full wardrobe and have everything we'll need for the first few months. Our big find was a pram- which is a stroller just for newborn that lays all the way flat. They are much lighter than the carseat option we used on the kiddo, so we wanted to grab one, even though it only works for the first few months. We went to a baby store where they were literally $1000- and then asked around for 2nd-hand options until we found the London version of craigslist and picked up a nice one for $150!!

Wally tries out the new pram

Fixing up the Room
As I mentioned before, we shuffled rooms over the summer, sending our first born upstairs to the third floor to free up his old room on the 2nd floor for the baby. When he left, he took all the good wall art with him, leaving a pretty empty room behind. So, after deciding to embrace an ocean theme, I went nuts on Etsy and ordered lots of new wall art and mobiles. Then, I ended up taking on a bunch of unnecessary sewing projects for some reason, making new pillows and baby blankets. I wanted to make new curtains but lost steam, so maybe later.

ocean-themed baby blankets

ocean-themed baby room

Babymoon
We were very lucky to have my mom visit in October and offer to watch the 1st kid so that we could get out of town. Originally, we thought we'd take the train to Paris, but waited too long to buy tickets and had to stay local instead. It worked out for the best though - we found a fancy hotel/spa just outside of town that was a perfect relaxing getaway for a quick break. Just 24 hours really was enough to relax, reconnect, and do some very helpful planning and mental prep.

our pretty little getaway

Filling the Freezer
Last time, we were very lucky to have family and friends in town stop by with food and snacks for the first few weeks after the baby was born. My mother in law rolled in with a freezer the size of a couch, full of frozen meals that we ate for weeks. None of that will happen here - both because we don't have any local family and our freezer is tiny. So instead, I worked on it myself. Spending a week cleaning it out, and then another week filling it back up with the stuff that worked best. I focused on small, easily microwaveable things that can ideally be eaten with one hand, and that are moderately healthy. For breakfast: mini banana nut muffins, ham and broccoli mini quiches, mixed berry compote, and cranberry walnut breads. For lunch: calzones with sausage and kale, or black beans and squash, and black bean burritos.  For dinner: a few store-bought pies and quiches as well as kid-sized pasta meals.

making pizza pockets

Getting Ready for the Hospital
We took a childbirth class at the hospital, which was very useful, even though we've already done this once, simply because everything is so different here. One helpful thing we learned is that the hospital will provide us with nearly nothing - so we need to bring everything with us (including diapers!). So we got to work picking up a few more things and packing our bags. It was also really helpful just to visit the hospital and figure out where we needed to go, which doors would be open, etc, since they didn't do hospital tours.

To get to the hospital, we debated two options. On the one hand, we could rent a car, have the car seat already installed, and know that it was available 24 hours. The downside would be that parking at the hospital was something ridiculous like $10 an hour - and the clincher was that we haven't yet driven here and didn't want our first experience navigating the city on the left side of the road while I'm screaming or freaking out. So we decided to go with uber or a taxi, even though we sometimes have to wait a long time to get one and risked none being available.

The biggest issue though that I stressed out for months over was what to do with the first-born while we're at the hospital.  I literally woke up in the middle the night, sweaty and panicked with visions of either him coming with us to the hospital and strolling the halls by himself - seeing things that would scar him for years, or having to go to the hospital by myself so that Spouso could stay with him, and then having contractions by myself in the parking lot. My mom graciously offered to come stay with us, but even figuring out which dates for her to come was hard. I googled as many birth statistics as I could find (turns out 2nd kids on average arrive at 40 weeks and 5 days), and mapped out our highest probability days - and decided to put her on the last two weeks that were possible (39.5-41.5), knowing that he could come early. So then we also mapped out some Plan B options, with a local friend, my brother, and a babysitter.

Christmas
Last on my to-do list was Christmas. I knew that there was a good chance he would arrive as late as December 15th, leaving almost no time to get ready for Christmas, so I wanted to get as much done in advance as possible. Way back in November I started buying gifts and shipping them either straight to the recipients, or to us to get wrapped and shipped over. In fact, one shipped so early that the recipient didn't realize it was a Christmas gift, opened it, and started wearing it already! The day after Thanksgiving, I pulled out all the decorations, and the tree and house lights were up by December 1st - our earliest ever! This is the most on top of Christmas I've ever been.

ready to go! 

Mom Arrives - Last minute relaxing
Once all the stressful things were sorted and we were packed and ready - I just spent some time relaxing. I generally napped every day, took a very slow walk in the park, and tried to have some quality time with the kiddo. My mom arrived with plenty of time to hang out, get lunch, and show her around so that she was comfortable finding her way around and managing his routine. We felt generally ready for the new guy to arrive.

2 Weeks in France

So for our big summer vacation, we decided to visit France. We had only ever been to Paris on a long weekend a few years ago, and wanted to check out the rest of the country. We had to spend 2 weeks of vacation (a requirement of Spouso's work), so we decided to do a slow tour of the country, starting in the south and slowly working our way to the north. We wanted to visit the Riviera, Provence, and the Loire Valley, staying three nights in each spot. The distance between Provence and Loire was pretty big - so we decided to break it up with one night in Lyon. Our tickets were flying out of Paris, so we decided to end the trip at Versailles, which is just outside of Paris.

a slow tour from the south to the north

Part 1: The Riviera

To kick off the trip, we started in Nice on the French Riviera. We found a fancy hotel that had a nice pool right near the beach and just had a few days of relaxing. Unfortunately, the beach is pebbly, not sandy, so hauling all of our sand castle toys was a bit of a waste - but apparently the water was really nice, and we played in the pool every day. While it was really hot during the day, it got quite cool and pleasant in the evening, so it was perfect to walk along the promenade that runs alongside the beach and into the old town. Our last night, we happened to stumble upon fireworks on the beach, (our kiddo's first fireworks, which he did not like at all) which were a fun send off. It wasn't the relaxing white sand beach I was hoping for, but still a nice few days of walking around and swimming. Then we hopped on a train to take us on to Provence, driving right along the coast. It was beautiful, and gave us a quick view of Cannes and some of the other little beach towns on the way. We left feeling like we wanted to come back and spend more time in the area- maybe in one of the other beach towns we saw along the train route. 

playing with the rocks on the beach

exploring the old town

old town

lots of pool time

the beach

fireworks on the last night

Part 2: Provence

After a few lovely hours on the train, we arrived in Aix-en-Provence (pronounced like the letter "x"), which is a small town just north of the sea and in the region of Provence. The plan was to do one day of driving through the hills to see the lavender fields and another day to explore a huge gorge and national park - but neither of those things happened. Unfortunately, the kiddo caught a stomach bug right before we left that he was getting over in Nice, but then passed on to us. So we each spent a day in Provence feeling miserable, while the other watched the kiddo, swam in the pool, and mostly stayed in our room. We were able to check out the big farmers' market that the region is famous for, and to explore the town briefly, which had great fountains - and then we had to get moving again. We started driving north with a brief stop in Avignon, a funny little town where the Pope briefly lived - building these huge cathedrals and buildings that now seem completely out of place in a tiny French town. By the time we left, everyone was healthy again - but disappointed that we had missed out on what I thought was going to be the best part of the trip. I think we will definitely try to come back, preferably a bit earlier in the summer when the lavender is really at its peak. 

pooltime at our Airbnb

farmers market

flower market

fountains in Aix

Avignon

Part 3: Travel and Lyon

So we knew it was going to be hard to get from Provence, which is all the way in the south, up to the Loire Valley, which is pretty far north. Google said it was about a 5 hour drive, so we tried to split it about halfway in Lyon- but this ended up being really off. We hit so much traffic and lost so much time to the toll roads that the first day was closer to 5 hours and the second was closer to 7. We only briefly were able to explore Lyon, which has a great cathedral, but didn't arrive in time to stop for dinner. Apparently Lyon has great food - so this was a pretty big disappointment. Plus, no one likes being stuck in traffic - and having to sit for so long was really hard on my back - so we all arrived a little annoyed and angry. In hindsight - we probably should have taken the train instead or added another night there to stretch it out. Oddly - the kiddo had a great time on this part of the trip, since he decided he really liked driving in the car. 

cathedral in Lyon

amazing mosaics

Part 4: The Loire Valley

So the Loire Valley is famous for castles - and deservedly so. Our hotel was an old chateau turned bed and breakfast (our first BandB experience), which was awfully pretty. We were able to visit a different castle each morning, and then go back to the hotel for a quick nap before playing in the pool and heading to dinner in a different little town each night. Each castle was really different: Villandry has amazing manicured gardens, Islette is tiny and charming, and Chambord is massive and elaborate - so it didn't feel too repetitive. Even though we had to drive absolutely everywhere - nothing was more than about a half hour away and there was absolutely no traffic - so it wasn't a big deal. 

kitchen garden at Villandry

Villandry

me in the lavender at Villandry feeling huge

Islette 

rowing in the moat at Islette

the row boat at Chateau Islette

running around in Chateau Chambord

looking for dragons

Part 5: Versailles

The end of the trip was a bit of an add on - we had plane tickets out of Paris but didn't want to actually have to drive into the city - so we decided to visit Versailles, which is just outside. Having just spent the past few days in Loire - I was worried that we would be all castled out. Instead - it was just awesome and I think everyone enjoyed it. We got tickets in advance - hoping to skip the line - but discovered that there was still like a 2 hour wait, even first thing in the morning. So we ended up pulling the pregnancy card (cuz there's no way I could stand in line that long), and got to skip to the front. It was still so packed inside that we just moved through the state rooms as quickly as we could to escape outside to the massive gardens. We ended up renting a golf cart to explore the grounds because there was just no way we could've covered the distance on foot. It turns out that they only turn on the fountains for like an hour each week - which happened to be the next morning- so we came back and were able to quickly run around and see all the fountains on, some of which were choreographed to dance to the music. It was amazing. I was not hugely impressed by the palace, but the gardens and fountains were just completely amazing and totally worth it. And with that - it was time to head to the airport and get back to London. 

the hall of the mirrors in the state rooms

golf carts are amazing. 

one of many fountains

fountains dancing to the music

one of many fountains 

running around to see all the fountains turned on 

The Food

So I have never been a huge fan of French food - I always think of it as being really heavy, lots of cream and beef - but this was totally different. There was certainly a lot of cheese and bread - but the main courses were usually really light, often a delicate white fish, and just lovely. Most restaurants had only set menus with two or three courses - but they were just amazing (though too much food). Provence is known for having amazing food, but I think Loire was the best. Breakfast was usually croissants, and lunch was often just sandwiches, so having big meals at night worked out ok. Dessert was amazing, and at some point I decided I should've just skipped the dinners and had more dessert instead. 

one of many pastry breakfasts

a cheesy lunch break

a picnic lunch in Loire

macaron snack break at Versailles

something amazing for dinner in Lyon

always room for dessert

and another cheese course

soufflé!

The Hotels

We had a variety of hotel types on this trip. To start in Nice, we were in a fancy hotel, sharing a room with the kiddo on a fold away cot. Thankfully, it had a balcony where we could hang out while he napped in the afternoon, but we still all had to go to sleep at the same time (less of an issue though since we kept him up really late). In Provence, we rented an AirBnB that was a one-bedroom guest house, where he had a fold away bed in the living room. It was handy to have a kitchen and another balcony to hang out on - but the kitchen was pretty minimally stocked (as usual for an airbnb), so when I tried to make dinner one night it was a bit of a flop. In Lyon - we only stayed one night in a very cool hotel that was an old convent. Loire was the BnB, which was great because the kiddo had his own bedroom right next to ours. We've never stayed in a BnB before and didn't quite know what to expect. On the one hand, the lady who ran it made an amazing breakfast each day that was just downstairs - on the other - it felt like she was always watching us, which kind of creeped me out. In Versailles, we were back in a fancy hotel sharing a room with the boy, but everyone was so exhausted that we all went to sleep at the same time anyway. 

playing hide and seek in his separate bedroom in Loire

the fold-out couch works great when everyone's exhausted

The Kiddo

The kiddo did really well on this trip. We didn't plan any kid-based activities really, but he had something to like at most locations. He loves water fountains, so we made sure to stop in Provence to check them out and to go back for the second day in Versailles. One of the castles had row boats in the moat, which he got very excited about. We made sure every hotel had a pool, so he was very happy to spend the afternoons swimming, which was also a great way to get him hungry for dinner. He actually really improved his swimming while we were there and was happily going under water by the end. Dinner was a little tricky - most restaurants had a children's plate with either chicken or fish and mashed potatoes that he reluctantly picked at, but it turned out he was happy to just try things off our plates. (He doesn't like chicken, but loves fois gras).  We kept peanut butter and crackers in the room which worked well as snacks. Usually the hotels are a big problem because he still takes afternoon naps and goes to bed much earlier than us - but because the dinners were multi-course, long affairs - we were getting back to the room pretty late and accidentally keeping him up much later than his usual bedtime - so it wasn't a big problem. I was also happy to nap while he napped in the afternoons. 

don't love using the iPad - but man, does it help

Being Pregnant

We didn't really want to do this trip in August, but didn't have a choice. We couldn't do it earlier in the summer because of house guests, and couldn't do it later in September because women aren't allowed to fly in their third trimester. So unfortunately, that meant I was going to be pretty huge, and it would be really hot.  To mitigate - we tried to keep the tourism to just a couple hours in the mornings, with just naps and pool time in the afternoons. I'm at the point that I really can't carry the kiddo at all, so Spouso had to do a lot of carrying him around.  But I also can't walk fast or for very long distances either - so we had to keep things on the easier side with lots of breaks. (The golf cart in Versailles was a dream for me). The car rides were pretty hard on my back, and by the end I was really missing my bed. I felt like I ended the trip much more pregnant than I started it, and was very desperate to get home and back to my couch. Obviously - a big sightseeing trip in the middle of the summer when you're massively pregnant isn't ideal - but I managed ok and still had fun. 

shoulder rides are the only way this works now

I feel like this is a turning point or end of a travel era for us. I am now not allowed to fly until this kid comes out, and after that - I'm guessing we won't be anxious to fly anywhere for a while. A big multi-stop trip like this won't be high on our to-do list once we have two kids and all their stuff to haul around. Obviously I hope this isn't our last trip, but I'm guessing they'll be very different in the future. And for now - I'm happy to stay home and chill out for a while and get ready for this kid to come. 

Last but not least - a short movie of the trip.