Double the Grammas= Double the Fun

The Grandmas, both my mom and my mother-in-law, just left us in Scotland a couple of days ago.  Yes, they came together and we all survived;)  Claire absolutely loved having a playmate at all times as well as a sleepover every night for two weeks as one grandma shared a room with her.  And, with the help and attention Autumn received, she is now able to slowly crawl around the room.  We are waiting for her to speed up any day now....What did we do during the glorious grandma visit?

We spent a significant amount of time at the grocery store, watched Braveheart and the first season of Vicar of Dibley, shopped St. Andrews out of their tourist stock, enjoyed taking turns dropping off and picking up Claire from school, stayed in a gay hotel in Glasgow (straight and baby friendly gay that is;) ), raided McDonald's in Glasgow for a nightly ice cream craving, partook in high tea at Cup in Glasgow, explored the famous Stirling Castle and its tapestry weaving center, stayed in a very crowded and very strict Holiday Inn (just ask Grandma Chris) in Edinburgh connected to their lovely zoo which is now home to 2 pandas we were able to see, AND Keith and I managed to escape for a Valentine's date (one of 3 dates since September). 

Grandma detox has begun for all.  Claire is cranky without a constant playmate.  Mum is cranky without 2 extra maids, cooks, and babysitters.  Dad is cranky now that he is back to changing diapers and trying to manage Mum and daughter chocolate withdrawal.  Autumn is not cranky, but that's to be expected with her cheerful personality (personality disorder if you ask me;) ).  Claire is back to school tomorrow, Mum back to housework and coaching, and Dad back to diving into PhD. 

What is in store for us this spring?

Claire is continuing to up her reading level and looking forward to all the upcoming birthday parties in her class. 

Autumn is on her way to learning to walk in a couple of months.  The world will look VERY different for her soon.  I'm hoping to get her a playpen (aka prison) before she takes off too far.

Eve is going to be taking some coaching education courses alongside of continuing to coach one of the women's football teams at the university.  May even be looking for some part time youth ministry jobs...Will be visiting my friend, Lori, in Germany in March to see her wonderfully pregnant belly and get a sense of Koln and her life there.

Keith has a portfolio of sorts due- he needs to compile his research from this year and turn in something substantial to the school to show evidence of his work and progress.  Probably some late nights ahead for Keith. 

We hope to make our first trip to the Highlands- likely to the Isle of Skye to visit Peter's (Lori's husband) family there and witness its infamous beauty.  We are weighing the options as far as moving to a new house or location for next year...Also, waiting to see how the LORD is going to provide for us to stay and study another year in Scotland.  As always, visitors are welcome!  I will be posting pictures soon...

Treasuring Clarity and Abundance

It is hard this time of year not to feel extremely blessed and grateful for my two beautiful daughters.  In Advent, as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of the mystery of Christmas, we reflect on Mary's favor with God leading to life in her womb...
Elizabeth's once barren womb now the home of one of the greatest prophets in human history...that same baby kicking with joy inside of her belly at the presence of the Savior...
a sweet baby King lying in a manger....and Mary treasuring and adding up in her heart the young years of her precious son- the miracle of life he brought to all around him.

Claire is turning 5 in a few weeks and I want her to know how much joy she brings me.  I love to watch her color with focus and pride, to behold her dance happily throughout the house to Christmas and Scottish songs, to hear her sing sweet melodies in her own words, to be a part of her imaginary world and enjoy the creativity and discoveries she makes alongside of her, to have her by my side in the kitchen ready to lick any bowl that might have sweet residue, to teach her how to hold and love her baby sister and then treasure in my heart their young moments of bonding.  I am so proud of Claire who has learned to write all of her letters and numbers, add and subtract, read four letter words, skip rope, swim, color in the lines, draw figures and objects, to share generously, to invite friends to play with her, to introduce herself to new people, to brush her own hair without yelling at me, to ride a scooter on bumpy sidewalks, to tease others and to be teased, to pray and give praises to God as she begins to question His connection to the world He has made. 

Her budding personality could be described as shy yet friendly, enthusiastic in comfortable environments, very strong willed, easily disappointed but also easily elated- also easily frustrated, a passion for food and dancing, extremely observant, enjoys organizing and cleaning, perfectionistic tendencies in arts and crafts, very sensitive emotionally in her relationships, very attentive to friends, independant though not altogether confident, genuinely nurturing and showing little aggression unlike her mother before her;)  I can see real gifts of leadership emerging in her as she often leads friends into play and games and regularly tries to take charge at home- to the point of resisting what Keith and I have told her to be true (like that it is a "cloak room" and not a "clock room" or that Santa is not a real person or that she has written her "J" or "4" backwards or that ice is slippery and skipping rope on it will make her land on her bum) . 

Her areas of growth include confidence and self-esteem, obeying authority, and calming herself down when she upset and disappointed.  I am excited to watch God bring her grace and opportunities for growth in the coming years.  For her, we pray this verse "Behold I stand at the door and knock.  Whoever hears my voice and let's me in, I will come in and dine with her and she with me."  We are teaching both her and Autumn that big sisters love, share, and protect while little sisters love, share, and respect.

And my baby Autumn is nearing 9 months and working on her 1 year old molars - already has 6 teeth.  She is a petite little one, full of wiggles and smiles.  She likes cuddling and leaning her head on my shoulder when she sees a new face, but continues to exchange remarkable smiles with strangers.  She seems to really like people and being in large groups of new faces.  She is content to sit on the floor with her toys, watch her sister romp around, and sit in her high chair while I roam about the kitchen.  So content that she has made few attempts to move beyond just sitting up.  She likes to stand but is happy to wait until her big sister picks her up and totes her around the living room.  So far, she likes her puree'd foods and isn't big on trying new tastes and textures.  Our Autumn Leigh is full of joy and life and happiness so far, always happy to be held and smiled at.  I am so proud of how easily she moved overseas and into a new pattern of eating and sleeping and into a new community of people- bringing many smiles to the Scottish elderly we encounter on the bus;)  She loves her big sister and enjoys being held by her. She does have her getting smooched and squished limit when it comes to Claire, but her tolerance grows over time and she seems most cheerful when she is sitting on big sister's bedroom floor playing with her big girl toys.  Her areas of growth include crawling, eating, pooping without strain, sleeping in, and overall physical strength;) We pray that she will "Abide in me and I will abide in you" and that the Lord will wash his "quiet waters" over her as she sleeps and grows in his "green pastures"

There are times I wish Keith and I would have had more "alone" time in our marriage early on and there are times I wish I could spend days by myself sleeping, reading, relaxing, eating, and conversing calmly with friends.  My heart reminds me, though, that the clarity my Claire has brought me and the abundance my Autumn has brought me are an overwhelming grace.  I needed daughters, I needed a strong willed side kick and I needed a cheery bundle of joy and God brought them at just the right time.  Our marriage has grown deeper as we parent and treasure our girls together and I love having two girls that look like their Da-da and have wills like their Mum.  Like Mary treasured her baby boy in a stable- though he came early in her life without little time to prepare or to enjoy Joseph alone, though her baby boy would have one of the strongest wills the world has ever known- like her, I rejoice in God my Savior who has blessed me with fertility and has brought angels into my life that bear His message and remind me of His unmerited favor.

Our first Thanksgiving in Scotland

No, they don't celebrate American Thanksgiving in Scotland;)  Because we are in a town of alot of ex-patriots (North Americaners), though, quite a few Americans gathered in small groups to share their tradition together.  The Jagger family was invited to the home of a very hospitable couple, likely our parents ages, that actually lived quite nearby.  A few familiar friends also attended and Claire had some younger playmates.  Appetizers started at 6, a spread including wine, cheese, grapes, gourmet breads, nuts, deviled eggs, crips (chips)- honestly, it was enough for dinner!  Claire saw the table that was set for all the guests- some 20 of us- with china and real wine glasses, cloth napkins, a white tablecloth and gasped.  She said "Mommy, it looks like a table for a king!".  So that certainly made an impression on her.  She ended up helping the teenage babysitter take care of the little ones from Autumn's age to about 2 and a half and of course snacked the whole night through!  Auty booty had everyone smiling and complimenting her "Mommy's little lovebird" shirt.

It was definately a treat to sit down to a four course meal with other adults.  The hosts read some bits from the original pilgrims journals (or some version thereof) which was a good reminder for why exactly we were sitting down to eat together.  I also learned that either Ben Franklin (or maybe Jefferson) chose the turkey as the traditional bird because even if 20 redcoats entered the turkey yard, the turkey would stand up and fight them off showing extreme bravery and fortitude.  Americans were there from Texas to Minnesota and had plenty of stories to share with one another.  Let's just say it was QUITE a cast of characters.  A close friend of ours said the evening reminded him of a Seinfeld episode and I would have to agree.  And some of you know how much I love Seinfeld!  Best of all, I felt that the hosts were extremely generous.  I had written to a friend recently how frustrated I have been by people's lack of generosity here.  This couple were some of the most generous people I have met and made a bunch of strangers feel welcome and more importantly loved at their table.  So, I give praise to the LORD for such generous fellowship that uplifted our spirits.

It was a interesting and memorable evening to say the least.  Tonight, we hope to have a quieter family meal include the Jagger tradition of orange jello, a roast chicken, and some pumpkin pie spiced pudding- can't really find pumpkin in a can over here for less than 20 pounds!  I will also let Claire finishing watching Charlie Brown and Garfield Thanksgiving cartoons that she is just old enough to start getting into...

Also, Claire is attending a free soccer session for primary school kids after her school day.  It is being held at the Sports Centre where I coach at the university so she is pretty excited feeling like it's the real thing.  She also wants to come to soccer training with me tomorrow because the girls on the team invited her after the game on Wed.  She hasn't stopped mentioning it since.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends and family.  We will be putting up our first Christmas decoration today- a little reindeer that says "Santa Please Stop Here".  Claire lucked out in getting it because I ran over it with our large pram in a cluttered store yesterday.  I guess it was meant to be;)

Getting high off the new carpet smell

 Goodbye old carpet!

The new carpet is in and we are loving it.  I think we might move all of our furniture into the hallway...
Before I forget, here is a link to some new photos and a video of Auty in the mix:

https://picasaweb.google.com/evejagger/AutumnInScotland?authuser=0authkey=Gv1sRgCKmJyaKV-qrFOw&feat=directlink

My  women's football team has it's first match today.  We are likely to lose badly since it's our first match and the girls say the opponent is a  "sporty university".  And it's windy, not good for those who aren't so good with controlling the soccer ball.  Im excited, though... a first match makes one feel like an official coach (however much it might leave one with a bad reputation.

Tomorrow is the American Thanksgiving holiday.  We are attending a large party at the home of some people we barely know.  But there is childcare and it's a potluck- so very little cooking for EvE (always a good thing).  Not much else to report- life is busy and we are trying to keep up- making friends slowly and continuing to adjust to a car-less life.  For now, we are just watching and waiting to see how God continues to write this chapter of our lives.  The Divine Artist works mysteriously, but creatively.  The Storyteller behind our lives can see more than we can.  Even though many things seem to go wrong, we are trusting that He is writing our story into his Greater story....

Claire Bear and her Auty Boo

The sisterly bond is growing.  Autumn always smiles when Claire walks into the room and frequently stops nursing to turn her head and see what her sister is up to.  Claire still continues to ask to hold Autumn and is actually getting quite good at it.  She is able to carry her around the room, stand her up and help her bounce, and even wrestle her gently.  Claire was especially concerned for her little sister the other day when we found a mouse in the house.  At the dinner table, while Auty was napping upstairs, Claire demanded that someone go get Auty so that the mouse wouldn't get her in her baby "cot".  Sometimes, I can even catch 10 minutes to myself while Claire plays with Autumn on the floor keeping herself and the wee one enterained and occupied.

Halloween was somewhat of a bust for us.  We weren't sure if there was trick o treating and there wasn't any in our neighborhood and we didn't have much in terms of costumes.  Add that together with the fact that it was a Monday night and Claire has a serious anxiety about people "looking at me", we decided to just skip out this year on whatever was happening around town.  It turns out some people did trick o treat, but mostly among friends and that Halloween garb here is still quite scary and devil-ish, not all too kid friendly.  We hid a few candy pumpkin chocolate balls in the house for Claire who put on her KY cheerleader outfit (wildcat blue) and we dressed Autumn up like a little lamb. 

Claire has been struggling lately (as in the past 2 years) with being "wrong" or having to be corrected.  Even if she writes a "J" backward she refuses to admit it and demands that she be able to write it the way she prefers. A few nights ago, she tried to quit a game she and Keith were playing because she knew he was right about a certain rule and didn't want to give in.  I told her she could quit, but still had to look at her Daddy and tell him that he was right and she was wrong.  A long time later (including an intermission of sobbing), she reluctantly managed a whimper along those lines.  Then, the other day she asked me where her coloring book was.  I told her it was in the drawer in the living room.  She had just been looking there and told me it wasn't there.  I told her that it was and I was certain of it, but she needed to look more closely.  She had a hissy fit saying it wasn't there even though she did not look again.  So I left the room, but Keith was on the other side.  He said he watched her from the corner of his eye and saw her quietly pull out the coloring book she of course found where I said it was and try to toss it in the corner like she found it there instead.  At the last second, she saw that Keith was there watching so she hesitated and paused for a moment.  Then she said sadly, "Daddy, I just wanted to be right...Mommy's always right!".  We have a stubborn little one dealing with a mix of emotions that come with slowly realizing life is disappointing and pride is hard to swallow.

We had a glorious family morning, though.  After a hike up the steep hayfield behind our house that climaxes with a breathtaking view of all of St. Andrews all the way to the white capped waves hitting the shore 2 miles away, we found an amazing hiking trail which was completely secluded and led to one of the best playgrounds I have ever seen.  It's obvious that both of our girls have adjusted to our non-car existence here as Claire walked 2 miles without so much as a whine of being tired and Autumn fell asleep in the hiking backpack twice today (More and more, she is falling asleep in strollers, backpacks, arms, wherever without a peep no matter the amount of stimulation surrounding her or the discomfort of her sleeping position- a girl's gotta sleep!). 

Keith continues to dive into his studies and I've begun training the University's second women's football team and helping out with a local youth ministry.  We are keeping busy and enjoying our down time.  There is a Thanksgiving meal planned for the Americans at the University, though, it is pretty late at night and will be tough on the kiddos.  We don't yet have Christmas plans, but rumor has it my best friend Lori and her Scottish husband may be visiting his folks here over the holidays and hopefully they can make some room for us in their schedule!

In a castle, Forfar away....

Our first castle visit!  The Glamis Castle is located just outside the town of Forfar, about an hour north of us.  Due to last minute planning and the bus system, it took us 3 hours to get there and 3 hours to get back.  Fortunately some of the buses were double deckers (Claire's favorite) so we at least had a nice view of the Scottish countryside on the long trips.  As for the castle, it had some amazing grounds and garden areas (though we didn't have enough time to explore) as well as a great outdoor wooden park area for kids.  We met some of our American friends there and took a tour of the castle where the current Queen Elizabeth's mother once lived and her sister was born.  It was not quite as ritzy as I hoped, much more grandmotherly looking in terms of decor, but it really did look and feel like a castle for the most part.  We did not get a tour of the entire place because people still reside in certain parts- pretty cool considering it was built in 1372!  So it was an adventure of a day, and despite several small regrets, we are glad we went for it and experienced some British history.  I think Claire was disappointed that Rapunzel and Cinderella weren't there, though.  She expressed frustration several times over how boring the tour was- especially since she was not allowed to touch ANYTHING...

The night prior to our castle escapade, Keith and I were able to escape for our first date in St. Andrews.  We biked to the centre of town and joined some friends at a Ceildh (kay-lee), a Scottish folk dancing party/lesson.  Keith is great at learning new dances, but he doesn't have the best of partners...So we skipped and spinned for about an hour and then left early for a quick drink at a local pub, the Blue Stane.   A nice St. Andrews evening memory for us.

Last night there were fireworks in town celebrating Guy Fawkes Night.  Guy Fawkes was part of a plot to blow up the House of Lords in 1605, but was arrested in the nick of time.  The country began celebrating the survival of King James I and their triumph over treason.  We didn't make it to a fireworks display, but we could certainly hear them going off a bit. 

We are bracing ourselves for another week of school for both Claire and Keith.  We have our first conference with Claire's teacher on Tuesday night and are interested to hear how she is doing in class.  She seems to be doing well, but still has many emotional breakdowns at home when we are firm with her.  Auty is still basking in her innocence and continues in her sweet disposition. Claire put a shower cap on her in the bath tonight and Auty was giggling away. She has her upper teeth breaking through the gums! 

The Night before Halloween

 It was an eventful weekend.  I went to a youth outreach event on Friday night.   The following morning, our friend nearby went into labor and dropped her kiddos off with us for the day.  Claire, Elizabeth, and her little brother Spud (aka John Paul) spent the day running around.  I managed to get out and play ultimate frisbee (aka flatball) for a bit and then we had 2 families over in our small place for dinner.  It was chaotic and cramped, but also quite fun.  After everyone left, we set the clocks back an hour (daylight savings comes a bit earlier over here) and Autumn was ready to be up around 5:30 am today.  This morning we scampered to the bus, made it in the nick of time to church, and made it back home in the nick of time for Autumn's nap while Claire and I ventured out on her scooter to our rector's house for lunch and fellowship. 

This week should also be quite interesting.  Tomorrow, I have a meeting with the university women's football (as in soccer) coach regarding an opportunity to start up a JV team.  There is also a trick o treating event in the "Roundel" building where Keith studies.  They do celebrate Halloween here, but it does not seem to be a big deal.  The local university students will of course party is up.  From what I've heard, there are not really any trick o treaters that walk door to door- unless friends or neighbors arrange it with you ahead of time....Rumor has it, there is also a Scottish dancing get together at the end of the week hosted by Keith's school.  I hope to put in another order to have my groceries delivered to my kitchen counters again (I believe Claire thought it was Christmas last time Tesco's dropped off all the food packages we ordered).  Keith is busy finishing up his first official paper, and Autumn is continuing to delight in any new taste I bring to her palate.  The girl can eat, but she is really pretty petite at this point. 

Because you've asked, here are a few videos of Autumn and a bit of Claire mixed in: (Below is the link to copy and past into your  browser)

https://picasaweb.google.com/evejagger/Autumn7Months?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNb3ws_mgrXYIw&feat=directlink

Claire is starting to read 3 and 4 letter words and Autumn can sit up on her own without a problem!  The girls send their love !
Here's a picture of my handsome husband (a study partner took a bunch for him recently- see his facebook if you so desire...)  He looks a little too cool for school, hey?