The piles started small but once you get started it's nearly impossible to stop! Unfortunately I waited until the night before we left when things had to be packed into vacuum bags and then into a suitcase to take a photo instead of picking one of the other half dozen days when the sun was shining in the back door.
Not only does our little acorn have his very own Buddy doll but he also has a Dayton Dragons (our minor league baseball team) t-shirt and ball cap! Oddly enough, the BBC was at the game the following night filming the world's oldest living conjoined twins.
We bought lots of lots of things that say "Mommy" on them (one of my favorites says "Mommy's Snugglesaurus") as everything here says "Mummy." I'd like to be called Mommy or Mom but I doubt it'll work out that way.
I know it seems crazy to cart this much baby stuff from the US to the UK but it was well worth paying $50/£35 for the extra suitcase since the dollar is a bit weaker than the pound and you just can't find sales and clearance racks of baby stuff (or at least I haven't had any luck) in England like you can in the US. Plus I really wanted to shop for baby things with my mom and I know she was really looking forward to it, too. It was loads of fun and I think it'll also give us the kick in the pants we need to start clearing out the baby's room.
And, of course, I also bought yarn but probably not the kind of yarn you would expect a person to buy when traveling to another country.
Our second suitcase was also full of cheap yarn! I bought some Vanna to knit a Bedtime Stocking Cap (my plan is to knit almost all of the hats - minus the girly girl ones - in this book - it's fantastic). I based my color choices on the little helicopter onesie you can see second pile from the bottom on the left in the baby clothes photo. I would have never picked these colors on my own but they work surprisingly well together. And I bought some good old Sugar & Cream cotton for a dollar a skein (67p!) because I want to knit more Baby Genius Burp Cloths and Baby Bandana Bibs. I knitted one of the bibs on the flight over and - eep! - they are so cute! I picked up two skeins of Stitch Nation Alpaca Love just because it was on sale and I wanted to give it a try. I think I might knit a Chocqua baby hat with it. The Patons Wool I bought just because I use it a lot for amigurumi and only have a little bit of my last skein left and the Lion Brand Thick & Quick is for a Nathaniel Pillow (thanks for the idea, Sarah!) for the baby's room. Honestly, the equivalent dollar amount in Malabrigo (which wouldn't be much, really) couldn't have made me happier than this cheap yarn. It's practical for baby things and it can't be found around here.
So I guess that's really what my summer vacation was all about: buying, doing and eating things that can't be found here in the UK. I had a Wendy's cheeseburger at the Detroit airport during our layover on the way to Dayton and I swear it was best cheeseburger I've ever had! I'm sure I packed a couple of pounds on during my visit but it was well worth it. Unfortunately, I realized as we were on the way to the airport for our flight home that I'd forgotten to restock my stash of microwave mac and cheese. Thank goodness we didn't stop because about five minutes later I remembered something I'd forgotten that was a million times more important: my pregnancy notes (they have you carry your own records here)! Since I have a scan on Friday (yay!) we definitely had to go back to get them.
Speaking of our scan on Friday...it's ridiculous how much we're looking forward to seeing him again! It's also hard to believe that, most likely, the next time we see him will be in person, hopefully happy, squirming and making a lot of noise. He's certainly been squirmy today. I feel him several times a day anyway but today I think he must have decided that sleep is overrated because it's almost nonstop. Not that I'm complaining! So far I'm not a huge fan of being pregnant but feeling him kick makes it all worth it. :)
