Looking back (and forward!)

It's hard to believe that it is the eve of our first return to the United States since we moved here 5 months ago. In some ways it seems like we have been here FOREVER...and in others it seems like just yesterday.

It's funny - as a parent, you don't notice the change in your children as much as people that see them much less often.  Obviously, seeing them daily makes it difficult to notice the subtle changes in how they mature. It's the same way with our adjustment here in France - while it doesn't seem like much changes from day to day, we've made leaps and bounds since we arrived in August.  We went from a completely empty house to what feels like home - home enough to have welcomed our first house guest last month!  Audrey has not only started at school (after WEEKS of hoops to jump through) but she is thriving there.  What has also amazed me is her language aptitude. While we lived in the US, she understood French well but never utter a word of it.  Now, she speaks in complete sentences to Jean in French.  Incredibly, in the same breath, she'll look at me and change back into English.  I have noticed that she speaks exclusively to Thomas now in French.  Poor little guy now hears "Touche pas, Thomas !" screamed at him constantly instead of "Don't touch this!".

As for me, things are coming along.  I feel more comfortable with my French now and I have ventured out of my comfort zone more and more.  While my immigration papers are taking longer than expected, things are coming along.  I am also starting to think more seriously about my work options here which has me very excited to be able to take what I am most passionate about and weave it into our new life here.

That said, I am looking forward to our trip home.  It'll be a second Christmas for the kids and its nice to try and extend the holidays a bit.  I don't think that I have any huge cravings for anything in the US.  While I would hesitate to admit my former love of Dunkin Donuts iced coffees, I think the affair has ended (yes, I had Jean bring me one the morning he and Audrey came to visit me in the hospital after Thomas was born!). For now, I am looking forward to the kids to play with their cousins and to have the Christmas I remember as a child.  Hopefully those lovely thoughts will keep me going through the 15+ hour journey home with an infant and a toddler.  Oh, and just in time for a huge snowstorm in the Midwest.  Perfect!  Anyway, Merry Christmas all and wish us safe travels! 

Oh, and a little montage of photos from our first 5 months here in France...