Living in America 2013

[smartieknickers]

Howdy y'all! I was a long time lurker on the Living in America 2012 thread and in the spirit of my new year's resolution to 'get involved in more stuff' I thought I'd start a new thread, what with it being a month into 2013 and all that... So who's with me?

Link to previous thread

Brief introduction: I initially moved from Scotland to Houston, TX with my DH and DS (now 2) in 2011, but we moved to Dallas in September last year. We never really felt quite at home in Houston but for some reason we really like life in Dallas, even though it's pretty similar in a lot of ways. We have just today finally dispatched with the last of our Christmas visitors (we've had parents and in-laws here back-to-back for 5 solid weeks!!) so I'm feeling like I deserve a large and a medal

[Want2bSupermum]

So i finally had my baby. I was 10 days over and welcomed Philip into the world yesterday. He is the talk of the nursery as he weighed in at 10lb 6oz! Thank goodness I had a CS!

Brow Congrats on your 1yr anniversary. It is so true that your diet changes when you move over. We do a lot of BBQ.

Fringe I wouldn't bring over anything electrical. Take a look on amazon at the cost of replacing the items. If the amount is significant and your DH is still figuring out their package it is worth inlcuding it. The guys who are moved over with DH's employer get an allowance of $3,000 to cover the cost of replacing electrical items.

[rootypig]

gracious! congrats, Supermum, on your lovely enormous baby! thank god for CS. Have some and a .

[AmericasTorturedBrow]

Yay congrats Want2b and massive welcome to the world Philip!

[FringeEvent]

Congratulations to Want2bSupermum, that's awesome news! xx

Happy anniversary, AmericasTorturedBrow

These electrical bits and bobs - I know most of it can be replaced pretty cheaply, I just get too sentimentally attached to stuff! Especially my kitchen things. A new Dualit blender of the exact same model and colour wouldn't be MY blender. I need to get a grip, don't I Interesting point on the slow cooker, though. I don't expect I'll rush out to buy a duplicate of every single thing I left behind anyway, but it will be interesting to see which items I find I'm missing (or not) as time goes by.

[Kungfutea]

Congratulations supermum. That's one big bubba! My second was a 10lb-er as well and I felt every bit of her pass through my ladybits :) I hope that you and little Phillip are doing well.

[Want2bSupermum]

Thank you everyone. I am very thankful that my obn talked me into a planned CS. I was induced with DD and ended up with an emcs. This recovery has been much quicker than with DD. It has been impossible to keep up with feeding this 10lber so I switched to formula today. I have a low blood count and the bf was too much. If my blood counts don't improve tomorrow morning I will need a blood transfusion before I go home.

I have to say that the aftercare here has been amazing but I am looking forward to going home tomorrow evening. I have missed DD so much and I can't wait to see her on Friday morning.

[rootypig]

ouch, KungFu! have some belated for your 10lber too. DD was 8lb2oz and I thought that was plenty enough.

Supermum glad to hear you are getting the care you need. Hope your bloods do improve. My Irish granny would give you a glass of guinness!

[Kungfutea]

Actually the birth of dd2 (and with no pain relief - not even gas and air!) was a really positive experience compared with dd1 (failed epidural) who was about 8lbs. Nowhere near as long and painful. I guess once its all been stretched out down there, an extra lb or two doesn't make much difference

[rootypig]

oh well that's something to look forward to

[Want2bSupermum]

Good news is that bloods are good enough for me to go home. I have been put on different prenatals that they want me to take for the next nine months. The obn told me the prenatals she has given me are normally given to mothers carrying multiples. I did ask about the guiness and my obn suggested against it due to gas pains. She said if I was to drink anything carbonated I should take 2 gasx before and after or I would be in agony.

I can't wait to get home and have a shower. In the morning I plan to have breakfast with my little girl. I am limited in what I can do with DD for the next week or so but I can't wait to give her a huge hug.

[AmericasTorturedBrow]

Oh and it will be so lovely introducing your children to each other - we were so worried about DS meeting DD but he ran straight to her and immediately fell in love!

[anewdispensation]

lurking here.. congrats on your baby want2bsupermum.. you must be so pleased. I am currently in the UK and we may be moving to Houston with my work next year so taking it all in. My brother lives there currently so at least I have family. I am going for a reccie in the summer.

[123yipee]

Congratulations Want2 that's brilliant news. Glad that you are both doing well, hope you had a lovely breakfast with DD this morning :)

[rootypig]

Brow just realised I never replied to your answer I thought I had, but clearly imagined it, sorry. Fingers crossed for green cards! I bet there is lots of exciting theatre in LA? I don't think people realise what a diverse cultural scene there is away from Hollywood. do you feel there are good prospects for your work once you have your papers?

[AmericasTorturedBrow]

Thanks Rooty there def is a theatre scene, obviously not like London or NYC but no dissimilar to say Manchester or Bristol on a sliding scale, lots of people making different types of theatre and audiences seemingly willing to travel across town to catch it. There's plenty of broadway and international transfers but there seems to also be a burgeoning underground movement supporting more fringe style work

[rootypig]

I've heard that, a friend was just involved in this: www.bloombaby.com/collection/spec.php?sID=83 which looked utterly bonkers

[rootypig]

ha wrong link! that is our new cot - ebay steal

this, Brow, is what I meant to post www.sneakynietzsche.com/

[Want2bSupermum]

Thank you everyone. Breakfast didn't go as planned but most importantly DD seems to be coping very well with DS. DH has been fab with her. I am finding it tough that I can't pick her up. She isn't one to sit on my lap. She wants to be held as I walk around.

Brow Friends of ours met in LA while doing theatre. I love it when they talk about it.

Regarding bacon... DH informs me that Costco should have 'Irish' bangers in (made with American pork I think). They also have centre cut bacon in which is close to back bacon. I think DH said the bacon is Canadian but he said it was good. Not sure if it is going into the West Coast but if you are a member it is worth taking a look.

[FlipFantasia]

Want2be huge congrats on the birth of DS!! What a great weight he is and I'm so happy to hear that DD is loving her new little brother . I hope you enjoy the adjustment to life as a family of 4

Rooty at the cot link - looks like a great bargain!

Torturedbrow so glad to hear that you've got leads in the theatre word. One of my NCT buddies in London is a theatre director so I always think it seems so madly glamourous (despite her assurances that it's not!). Can't believe you've been a year in the States already!

Sorry I've been such a lurker lately - RL is busy and time is just flying...in other news we put an offer in on a house today .

We're renting but our landlord is open to ending the lease early if we find a good house. So after months of obsessing over properties online and going to open houses we've decided to try and get our hands on a fixer upper near where we're renting.

The asking price is way too high for the work that needs doing so we'll have to wait and see if we can agree on a fair price. Luckily FIL is a general contractor and had a look at the place today and agreed the work looks to be mostly cosmetic. Still, nail biting time for us. So I of course have eaten two creme eggs that a friend mailed over in the birthday package she sent the kids (in the next few weeks my boy turns 3 and my girl turns 1 and my mum will be over from Ireland to celebrate both birthdays with us ). Thank god for creme eggs!

Big waves to everyone else. I hope life is well whatever part of the States you're in.

[rootypig]

Flip it was £64! still

about this bacon business - it's on the news in UK today that it kills you anyway, so maybe we should all jack it in

[mamasr]

Hello all.. I've just read through this whole thread, We are currently thinking about a move to the LA area in 2014 depending on DP work.. he would be employed on a 9 month contract so I think we'd do the 9 months then decide if we wanted to move permanently or go back to the UK in time for DS to start education here etc. We are not yet married (and doubt we will for a few years yet) but have DS (2) together - does anyone know if this would this affect our visa applications? also is it unlikely I would qualify for a green card? Your stories are getting me very excited and making me want a bacon sandwich

[anonymosity]

If your DP is on a contract he'll need a visa with it - he could stay if the visa was extended, or if the company sponsored him for a greencard and started the process immediately (the cost for a family of 4 is about $20,000). So permanence is dependent on a few factors. Also if you're not actually married I don't know that you could get on the greencard process (but your kids probably could). You should find out more from his company, maybe?

[Want2bSupermum]

rooty hahaha! Everything kills us. I guess the 'research' is about the use of nitrates in bacon. DH avoida ham/bacon that has a rainbow on it. It means it is pumped with a salt solution which contains phosphates/nitrates which are not good for you.

mamasr I think you need to be married to come over. If it is a 9 month contract then he will probably be on a H1B visa. As you are unmarried your best bet would be to come over on a student visa. If you register at a community college the classes shouldn't be too expensive. Alternatively you could just get married. As a student I think you can only do limited working hours but if you marry and come over on the H visa I am quite sure you won't be able to work.

[goodbyeyellowbrickroad]

Well we're here in Houston! Arrived this week and are slowly finding our feet.

Thanks again for all the moving tips. In the end we shipped everything bar electricals over. So now the house hunt begins whilst we're in a serviced apartment for the next 4 weeks. Does anyone know how long it takes to get a lease agreed on a property once you've found one you like? We're supposed to have a realtor assigned to us by DH company but his HR dept have been pretty poor in getting this arranged for us.

Priority for today - buy a hairdryer and find a hairdressers.

[AmericasTorturedBrow]

Welcome to America yellowbrickroad! In our experience renting houses and timelines was pretty similar to UK

Want want2b said about visas etc. we're married so I'm here in the spousal visa (H4) attached to DH's H1B visa - I can't work on this. If your DP only had a 9month contract he'd more than likely be on a H1B too so it would be up to his company to extend the job and visa beyond 9months. Also children don't start school here til 5yrs old so you wouldn't need to rush any decisions