Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Today we introduce Kai to another great American tradition: excess.

This'll be my first truly expat Thanksgiving. My mom was going to come out for it, but Emma wasn't going to be able to make it, so they're doing T-day in Colorado this year.

Jack's letting us have the day off on the condition that we invite everyone over for turkey and pumpkin pie at the very least. (Owen, I don't know if anyone said, but you're definitely invited too.)




And this year, I'm thankful for a lot of things:

- my beautiful son and my fantastic husband.

- both our familes.

- a steady (if unpredictable) job with coworkers that I mostly get along with.

- friends I can count on, even if I don't come around often enough to let them know I appreciate them. (That'd be all of you, by the way.)

- ...that Ianto's willing to try his hand at a pumpkin pie so we can do this thing up right. (Even though he doesn't like pumpkin pie.)



And a whole lot of other things, of course. Those are just the ones right in the forefront this year.

So again, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Even if you don't celebrate.

[Filtered to friends]

So, like Ianto said, it's been a weird, rough couple of days here. How's everyone else been lately?


[Private Entry]

They say the first year is the hardest. God, I hope that's true, 'cause I'm sick of putting my foot in my mouth all the time.




I just wish he'd realize that sometimes, Jack isn't worth putting himself through all that.

Kai's newest favorite phrase? "I do it."

This is causing untold messes around the Lorne-Jones household at the moment, but it's kind of cute anyway.

The tree house is finally finished. Of course, it's supposed to rain this weekend, so we probably won't have a chance to break it in, but I'd like to spend the night out there with Kai as soon as it's nice enough.

Work is work. Ianto is amazing. Milena is dealing very well with our crazy-ass schedules.

Happy and peaceful in Cardiff, pretty much.




Is it weird I keep waiting for something to go wrong?

Sweet! Memes!

( From Sanzo )

And ( from Martha )

Happy 4th of July, folks. Today's the day I teach my son the wonders of the hot dog. Also, potato salad.

Nothing like the 4th of July coming up to make you realize your kid's gonna grow up in a completely different culture than you did. Not that that's a bad thing. Growing up on military bases probably isn't the healthiest lifestyle for a kid, but still.


I'm just waiting for the day the little munchkin asks what the 4th is all about, and we get to tell him it's because Daddy's country and Tada's country were fighting. Because Tada's country was tyrranical and overbearing.

Oh, the joys of a multi-national household.

The party was a hit, for anyone wondering. Our house was overrun with family, which, as it turns out, is a very good thing to be overrun with.

Jack managed not to break the bouncy castle, even though he insisted on getting in there with the kids. Kai wants to be just like Tosh when he grows up, and Rhys has been dubbed a friend for life by everyone under 12 because he can wiggle his ears.

(And I've apologized profusely to him for the twinkle in Gwen's eye when she saw him playing with all the kids, but honestly? I don't think he minds one bit. Maybe I should have been apologizing to Gwen.)

So, yeah. Kai is officially two, he's discovered he loves birthday cake and that Matilda loves cleaning it off his face.








Not too bad for my first ever Father's Day either.

I know I'm a little late on this, but if anyone's gonna be in Cardiff on Sunday, it's Kai's birthday, and we're having a little party for him. He might be pretty shy still with anyone he hasn't met yet, but we're trying to get him better about being around people he doesn't know.

If you're interested, there'll be cake and ice cream and a bouncy castle. ;)

Just let me know if you wanna come.


(And for the record? It shouldn't be this difficult to plan a birthday party for a two-year old.)

Kai met more cousins this weekend. The girls reacted a little differently than Rhodri did. Less 'but I'm the baby,' more 'it's a baby!'

Kai spent a lot of time hiding behind Ianto and I, but he did eventually let them play with him. (Where 'play'='run around doing something that looked vaguely like tag'). And Anwen wanted to read him a bedtime story before his nap.


It was all kind of adorable.

( And Bella's )


In other news: the fence is up. Next weekend I'll start on the tree house.

• 17:40 Is there such a thing as a Welsh Home Depot? Or should I just go to the lumber store? ...I could probably just ask Ianto. #

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( I'm pretty sure I've done these before at some point... )


In more substantial news, something new I'm learning about Kai:

He loves to be outside.

If it looks even remotely like it might not rain for the next five minutes or so, he and Mattie are both at the back door with their noses pressed against the glass.

I'm sure Ianto can tell you just how fun it is to clean two-year old hand prints and dog nose prints off of glass.


Of course, this all means that this weekend's project is putting up a fence around the back yard.

He called me Daddy.

I think Ianto found my post yesterday a little pitiful. Or he just likes indulging me. Either way, he took me to a war memorial here in Cardiff yesterday, and I was happy to see there were flowers and flags on it, even here.

And I poured out my libations. Kai helped. He's not sure what it's all about, but it's nice to think he'll carry on the tradition someday, whether he goes into the service or not.



(By the way, running around after a two-year old is not the recommended physical therapy for muscle atrophy. In case you wondered. Milena is a godsend.)

[Filtered to friends]

I miss Memorial Day services.

I even miss living with Marines and all their pomp and circumstance about everything.

I miss having something concrete to observe and say, "This is how we remember." Armistice Day is kind of like that here, but there's not even a VFW or VA office to stop by or a local cemetery with a quick ceremony. Not that I've found anyway.



I love Cardiff, and I'm glad I'm here, but there will always be a part of me that is distinctly American, with all that implies.



In the meantime, this is for those we've lost this year and in years past: Your sacrifice is remembered, appreciated, and never taken for granted.

The cast is off! I no longer need crutches!

I think this is weirding Kai out a little. He keeps looking at me funny and poking my leg. I can't blame him, really. It's kind of pasty-looking just now, and just a bit skinnier than the other one.


Milena (that's the Czech au pair) did great with Kai the last couple days, and she'll start full time next week. It's gonna be a bit weird having her living with us, I'm sure, but with our jobs, we really need a live-in. I'm staying home for another couple days once she moves in to help Kai get used to her being there, and then I'll be back at work as well.

Tomorrow my mom is off back to the States so tonight we're having a sort of farewell dinner/'yay, my cast is off' party. Should be fun, and it'll be Kai's first time in a restaurant. We'll see how he does with that many strangers around. It may be a very short dinner.



And...I think that's it for news on this front. What's up with you guys?




ETA: By the way, Beckett, I talked to Jack, and he said to have you send a CV and he'll look it over and give you a call if he wants to meet.

And as an advance warning? He flirts like that with everyone.

So my mom leaves on Saturday, the Czech girl's coming in tomorrow and Thursday for a trial run with Kai, and my cast comes off Friday.



It's gonna be a full week.


What's going on with the rest of y'all?

The Alaskan au pair was a no go. She seemed competent enough, but Kai didn't like her. Same with the French one.

He did pretty well with the Czech girl (I'll have to tell Zelenka about that.) and the one from Newport. I think she reminds him of Ianto actually.

So now it's just a question of which one we like better, and frankly, I have no idea. Who knew this could be so complicated.

• 20:47 It is really difficult to put a kid down for a nap if he's afraid you're going to disappear on him. It's also really difficlut to type w ... #
• 20:47 with a 2-yr old in your lap. #

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