Four Countries and a Principality

Sunflowers in Provence
Originally uploaded by spauldingtj

Our young son is well on his way to becoming a world traveller. The list now includes: the UK, the US, Spain, France, and Monaco. He was a superstar throughout the entire trip.

We spent the last week in Provence with some good friends, and we had a fabulous time. We shopped at some markets, ate French cheese, and drank a large amount of French wine. C'est Si Bon!

We rented a house in the village of Fuveau, just outside of Aix-en-Provence. We almost missed the market in Pallissene, but were able to catch the lady selling tablecloths and baskets (don't worry, Tim is thrilled to have more tablecloths). On Monday, we drove about 90 minutes to Nice to visit an antique market. Much more fun to look than to buy. In the afternoon, we visited Monaco, which was about 20 minutes down the road.

On Wednesday we visited Avignon, which interestingly was the home of the popes from 1309 to 1377. What was most interesting is the village of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. We spent an afternoon visiting the village and touring the winery at Chateau la Nerthe. Tim and I are going to return for an anniversary one of these days when the little one is visiting the grandparents! There were fields upon fields of grapes that will one day turn into wine.

So, where are all of the pictures from this beautiful vacation? It turns out that carting a baby and all of his junk was about all that I could handle. I hope to nick my friends photos and post some of them. Until then, I recommend checking out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/akryger/

or

http://www.annamorrisphoto.com/

Annie is a VERY talented photographer who we were lucky enough to have on our vacation. She's got some great shots from the trip.

Alright...its time to hit the hay. Hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers,
Dori

The End of the World As We Know It

As We Know It
Originally uploaded by spauldingtj

So...I've been just a little bit busy lately and blogging went to the very bottom of the to do list. The events of this morning inspired me to provide a very overdo update to our friends and family. I walked into the man's room to find the picture you see. My baby was STANDING!! As Tim said, its a little spooky to see your child do this for the first time Needless to say, the mattress is now at the very bottom setting.

In other news, Ollie can sit up now. He's not crawling exactly...he seems to have perfected the low man crawl. Ollie discovered Risby's water dish, and I am perfecting my "No" as well as my disapproving Mother look. That shiny bowl full of water is a little too tempting sometimes : )

Ollie's top two teeth are in. I'll provide a picture when I get a good one. The next two top teeth are working their way through the gums as well...its amazing how much teeth change his look! Ollie is also proving to have a very nice temperment. Like all of us, he's a little cranky when he's tired or hungry, but he's usually cheered up with a funny face or a tickle. The man also loves people...not much of a surprise to anyone who's ever met his father!!

Ollie's most favorite thing is his dog...he's learning to "gently" touch the Riz. Thank goodness that Risby has such a nice temperment!! Ollie also loves books, anything that makes noise, and motorcycles passing by. He's such a little boy.

Alright...I'll do my best to post more entries and add more video soon. Hope everyone is doing well!

Much love,
The Spauldings

Eight Months And Counting

The Man
Originally uploaded by spauldingtj

Life's been busy here at the Spaulding Casa. Ollie spends most of his time belly crawling and cutting teeth. He can make it onto his knees, where he sways back and forth before falling to his tummy. He's an expert at the commando crawl...pulling himself along with his arms. It so funny to see the progression. And, his top left tooth has cut through. It will be a while before we have anything picture worthy, but the top teeth are on their way! I'll do my best to get some footage of Ollie moving and making more noise.

In other news, I completed my first post-pregnancy triathlon at Blenheim Palace outside of Oxford. A HUGE thanks to Jen for keeping Ollie for me during the race. While the race was not my best ever, it felt great to get back into the swing of things. The water was the coldest I've ever been in in my life at a frigid 18 degrees Celcius (about 64 degrees F). I felt like I was slipping into a huge glass of ice water! Thank heavens for wetsuits. After the swim, I had a lovely time biking through the sheep fields and running around the lake.


I'd like to plug my friend Tara's Photography business...she took this shot of the man for us, as well as several others.
www.tlohsephotography.com