2008 in Review

What a year! We have had quite the year from adjusting to life in a new country to welcoming a new life into our family. We've had lots of adventures as we have made Holland our home. We've had the opportunity to travel to Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, England, and Scotland. It's been amazing to see some sites that I never thought I would see. I never dreamed of going to Paris or London, but those experiences have occurred. It goes to show that you never know what life will bring. We have enjoyed visits from grandparents and uncles. It's helped making being so far away from our American home a bit easier.

Rachel has been so much fun to watch this past year. She's grown and learned so much. She's our little chatterbox. She continually amazes us with how much she has changed this past year. Her current favorite thing to do is read to us the stories of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Beauty and the Beast. I absolutely love it when she says "fairest of them all" and "happily ever ever after". Too cute! Rachel definitely keeps us on our toes and keeps us smiling.

Audrey will officially be 3 weeks tomorrow. In some ways it seems like she's been around a lot longer than that. She certainly fits right in and we are enjoying her. So far she's a better sleeper than Rachel was. We'll see how the next couple of months go... :) She sleeps really good at night and decently during the day. She's up every 3-4 hours at night, but once she's fed she goes right back to sleep. That's something her big sister didn't do very well! We definitely feel blessed to have her in our family and that she is doing so well.

Life has definitely been good to us this year. We feel very blessed. We've grown and learned a lot as we have adjusted to our life in Holland. We are enjoying our adventure over here, but when it's time to go home we'll be ready. We miss our family and some American comforts, but overall things are good. It will be interesting to see what 2009 has in store for our family!

Canal Ice Skating

That's the canal across the street from our home and those are my crazy Dutch neighbors. I looked out the window this afternoon and noticed people out skating. I personally think it's crazy to trust the ice, but I guess the Dutch know what they are doing. Rachel and I ran across the street and watched them for a few minutes. We only lasted a few minutes, because boy was it cold!

Three Lucky Girls

There are three lucky girls in Holland. Their daddy and husband has taken such good care of them the past 2 1/2 weeks. He of course got me beautiful flowers. Rachel was so excited to bring home flowers for mommy. It has been so nice to have Andy around so much. Rachel loved spending time with her daddy. Andy would get up with Rachel and let me sleep in. He's taken Rachel several places during the day so I could get some rest. Andy's done all the grocery shopping and errand running. He hasn't complained (as I'm sure he's tired as well). We're kind of in close quarters here so if Audrey's up in the middle of the night neither of us are getting much sleep. He's dealt with emotional girls the past couple of weeks and done a great job. Today was our official first day of Andy being at work all day. It's gone well and we've made it through it. The girls both took a 2-hour nap at the same time. It was some nice down time for mom! :) I am definitely grateful for the husband and father that Andy is. We are definitely blessed to have him to take such good care of us!

Celebrating Christmas

We had a pretty laid back Christmas this year. Here are the girls on Christmas Eve (it even looks like Audrey is trying to smile):

Christmas morning we headed downstairs around 8:30. Audrey was still sleeping, so it worked out pretty well. Rachel spotted her stocking and went straight for it. She enjoyed emptying it all out. This was the first year she actually got a stocking. Rachel definitely received the lion's share of gifts this year. She was spoiled by grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Rachel had fun going back and forth to get presents from under the tree.

As soon as all the presents were opened Audrey decided to wake up. So, we took a little break. Rachel enjoyed a bowl of frosties and Audrey got fed. Andy made french toast later on that we all enjoyed as well! After Audrey was content we unveiled the gift from Santa Claus. Rachel sure enjoys her new kitchen! She enjoys making us soup and washing the dishes. The kitchen should bring hours of fun in the future.

We definitely enjoyed our Christmas day. We hope everyone else had an enjoyable Christmas.

Uniquely Dutch

This past week we have definitely learned about some unique Dutch customs and ways of doing things. Shortly after Audrey was born the nurse brought in beschuit met muisjes for us to eat. They were basically hard biscuits with butter and sprinkles on top. The sprinkles tasted like black licorice. Our biscuits were decorated with pink and white sprinkles since we had a girl! I also received a box of chocolates from a lady at church. On the outside there was a mini beschuit met muisjes. The proud new Dutch parents usually treat their friends to the biscuits when they come to visit the baby. Also, another thing that was quite different was during labor they brought me food. It was basic food, bread and cheese, but food nonetheless. They also allowed me to drink water. I could have had tea if I wanted. In the U.S. all they allowed were ice chips. So, a bit different. Even though I was sent home from the hospital 4 hours after Audrey arrived help was not far away. As a matter of fact, we phoned the midwife at 3 am that first night we were home. Audrey was spitting up some pretty dark stuff and we were concerned. After a quick call to the midwife our worries were taken care of as she explained it was just some blood that the baby had swallowed. In the past week I have been visited by the midwife in our home 4 times - Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. On Sunday and Tuesday they weighed Audrey. I found the weighing device they had very interesting. Yes, that little bundle is sleeping Audrey. Both times they came to weigh her she was sound asleep and she slept through the whole thing. What a good baby! :) On Sunday Audrey was below her birth weight, which is how things usually are. By Tuesday Audrey was well over her birth weight at 8 1/2 pounds. She's eating well and growing lots. We also had a home visit from the consultatiebureau on Wednesday. The consultatiebureau is basically a baby clinic that is used for the first 4 years of your child's life. I'll take Audrey there for her immunizations and routine check-ups. On Wednesday they took some of her blood and performed the hearing test. They are coming to our home again on Tuesday for another check-up. I have to take Audrey to the clinic for her first round of immunizations when she is 6 weeks old. Our kraamzorg experience turned out great! Once I got home on Thursday night I called the kraamzorg service and told them I was home with my baby. Friday morning at 9:30 Monique showed up to take care of us. She came to house for 7 days, 6 hours a day. I didn't have to lift a finger! She took care of everything from Rachel to me to Audrey to cooking to shopping to cleaning. It was wonderful. Rachel really became quite attached to her and was upset when she would get up from her nap and Monique was gone. Even though Rachel was being a stinker and wouldn't smile in the above picture - she really did enjoy Monique. I am glad things turned out as well as they did. I was a little concerned about how I would like having someone in our home, but it turned out just fine.

Andy has already registered Audrey's birth. We currently have a Dutch birth certificate and an International birth certificate for her. Many have asked if Audrey will have dual citizenship and she won't. In order to have Dutch citizenship one of the parents has to be Dutch. Next week some time we are planning on going U.S. Consulate to apply for Audrey's birth certificate, social security card, and passport. It should be interesting how they take a passport picture of a newborn!

So, overall we have enjoyed our Dutch experience of having a baby. Everything has gone well. Andy has been home for the majority of the past week. He would go to work while the kraamzorg was here and then come home in the afternoon. Andy will be home all this next week to help out as well. It has definitely been nice since Rachel has needed some extra attention. So, we are doing well and adjusting to having two little ones.

Audrey's Arrival

As many people know, we were somewhat nervous about the birthing experience we would experience here in Holland. Luckily it turned out to be a very positive one and we are grateful that all went as well as it did.

Wednesday night I didn't get much sleep. I believe I finally fell asleep around 2 am and slept until about 5 am. Finally around 6 am I just got up because the contractions were coming more frequently. They still weren't 5 minutes apart, so I figured we'd just keep on waiting. Well, by 8:30 am I decided to call the midwife. Within 20 minutes she arrived at our home. It was determined that we needed to head to the hospital. The midwife got on her cell phone to call the hospital. I called my friend Merry Ann to come pick Rachel up. We were a bit nervous because the midwife stated that I might be too far dilated for an epidural. So, we wanted to get to the hospital as soon as possible!

The Amstelveen hospital didn't have any room, so she called the Amsterdam hospital. Luckily they had room and it's only a 15 minute drive away. The midwife informed them we were on our way. Merry Ann was at our house within 10 minutes and Rachel was more than happy to go with her. So, off we drove to the hospital. By 9:30, we were checked into the hospital room. Around 10 am the midwife broke my water and then a doctor came in to determine whether or not I could have an epidural. All looked well and he gave us the go ahead. They gave me an IV and hooked up tons of other stuff to me and the baby. They paged the anesthesiologist.

By 10:30 am my contractions were really uncomfortable. After each one I just kept on thinking, this is the last one and then I'll have the epidural. Well, that whole process didn't occur until around noon. I guess there's only one anesthesiologist for the whole hospital. Needless to say once he walked in the room I was relieved. After being poked 4 times it was a success. They kept on asking me if it was like this with Rachel. And I kept on telling them that it had only taken one poke with her. So, he'd poke me, it wouldn't work, I'd have a contraction and think this is the last one, and then he'd get ready for another one, and then another contraction would come, etc... But by 12:30 I was feeling great! The magic of epidurals! :)

Once the epidural took effect the midwife left. I was officially in the care of the doctor now. It was kind of weird having somebody I just barely met be the one to help with the delivery. But I guess that is just how they do things here.

Two hours later I started actually feeling some contractions. We paged the nurse and I informed her that it felt like it was time for Audrey to arrive. She paged the doctor and he showed up about 15 minutes later. I was getting a bit anxious, but it worked out. He then informed me that in fact it was time to start pushing. Thanks captain obvious! :) I will have to say that I am grateful I had an epidural. I definitely felt a lot more this time around than with Rachel, so it would have been quite interesting without one. I don't think the epidurals are as strong over here in Holland. :)

After about 30 minutes of pushing Audrey arrived. She came out screaming and that was a great sound to hear! They weighed Audrey, but they didn't measure her. They don't measure babies here because they don't want to hurt their hips. She didn't get a bath after she was born, but they wiped her off pretty good.

Now here's the amazing part to me. Thirty minutes after giving birth the doctor informed me that I was free and clear to go home that night. What??? Go home already? Well, we were still planning on me staying the night. However, by 5 pm the nurse sent me to the shower. While I was in the shower she informed Andy that there was no room for me in the hospital and there was no medical reason for me to stay. So, by 7:30 pm I was wheeled out to our car and sent home. We officially spent 10 hours in the hospital. Crazy I know, but luckily everything worked out.

Andy took us home and then he went to pick up Rachel. By 8:30 pm we were spending time together for the first time as a family of 4. Rachel was pretty curious about her new little sister. She had enjoyed the day with her friend Sophia and we hadn't worried about her a bit.

We feel so blessed to have Audrey a part of our family!

Quite the Compliment

This cute big sister gave me quite the compliment on Saturday. She informed me, matter-of-factly, that my "tummy was small". What a good girl! :)

Introducing...

Not something you see every day...

You may be wondering what Rachel is doing in a swimsuit when we are lucky for the temperature to reach 40 degrees? Well, this morning (like every morning) I asked Rachel to go pick out what she was going to wear today and this is what she came up with. I tried to convince her to only wear her swimsuit for a few minutes but it didn't work. I was able to get her to put some clothes on over her swimsuit while we went to the store, but once we got back home she was ready to just be in her swimsuit again. I found it quite hilarious to see her playing with the Christmas ornaments in a swimsuit. Rachel even insisted on taking a nap in her swimsuit. I was a bit concerned about how well she would nap, but after a 3-hour nap we can call it a success! Maybe I'll let her nap in her swimsuit every day! :) I wonder what her dad is going to think when he gets home from work...

O Christmas Tree

We had a busy day on Saturday! :) We went out to the local garden center to get a tree and then we spent the evening decorating it. Rachel was really cute at the garden center marching around behind her daddy to help find the perfect tree. Christmas is always fun with little ones as you get to see their excitement. Here are some pictures as we were decorating: This is a glimpse at what the final product looks like. After decorating Saturday night I told Andy we could rearrange the ornaments after Rachel went to bed. Well, we've decided that's pointless. She enjoys taking them off and putting them back on a million times a day. Most of the ornaments are in little clusters 2-3 feet above the ground. At least they are just cheap little ornaments that we don't really care about. :)

Christmas decorating here is a bit sparse. We basically have a tree and Rachel's Little People Nativity Set. We didn't bother shipping over Christmas stuff because of the lack of storage space. So, we definitely enjoy our tree. Rachel loves to come downstairs every morning and turn the Christmas tree lights on.

Saturday morning we also went to a little cheese farm/clog factory that is close by. It's a great place for souvenirs. We picked up some Dutch-looking ornaments that we will be able to enjoy in years to come. My favorites are the ones that we had especially made for Rachel and our baby girl:

Andy and I were talking about how Rachel hasn't even had the experience of a U.S. Christmas. Her first Christmas was in New Zealand and the last two have been here. So far Rachel's collection of ornaments include one from New Zealand, one from the German Christmas Markets, and one from Holland. I guess once we are back home her ornaments won't be nearly as exciting! :)

Sinterklaas

We are still learning how to do Sinterklaas here in Holland. To me it just seems like the Dutch double-dip. :) They make just as big of a deal over Santa Claus as they do Sinterklaas. We did a very scaled down version of Sinterklaas this year. We basically all received chocolate letters: And then Rachel received a few more gifts. She got some princess gloves, some stickers, and a notebook. I have discovered that we did it incorrectly. We were supposed to receive our gifts on the evening of December 5th. But since we are ignorant Americans, we received our gifts in the morning just like Christmas.
Here's a little bit of history about Sinterklaas taken from http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=92:

In mid-November Dutch television broadcasts the official arrival of St. Nicholas and his helper Zwarte Piet live to the nation. Coming by steamer from Spain, each year they dock in the harbor of a different city or village. Wearing traditional bishop's robes, Sinterklaas rides into town on a white horse to be greeted by the mayor. A motorcade and a brass band begin a great parade which leads Sinterklaas and his Piets through the town. Nearly every city and village has its own Sinterklaas parade.

In the following weeks before St. Nicholas Day, December 6, Sinterklaas goes about the country to determine if the children have been well-behaved. He and his Zwarte Piet helpers visit children in schools, hospitals, department stores, and even at home. The bakeries are busy making speculaas molded spice cookies of the saint. During this time children put out their shoes with wish-lists and a carrot or hay, or maybe a saucer of water, for the horse. When St. Nicholas happens by, the next morning children may find chocolate coins or initial letter, candy treats, pepernoten, and little gifts in their shoes. Everyone hopes for sweets, not coal or a little bag of salt.

The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on December 5th, St. Nicholas Eve, with festive family parties when gifts and surprises are exchanged. In the Netherlands, unlike other places, adults as well as children join in the fun. As the Dutch like an element of surprise, a small gift may be wrapped in a huge box, or it may be hidden and require following clues to discover where it is.

Gifts are prettily wrapped in special Sinterklaas paper or they may be hidden, for example, in a potato or an old sock. Each gift, anonymously signed "from Sinterklaas," comes with a clever rhyme that may point out a person's shortcomings in a humorous way. (For the less creative, there are books with suggestions for making rhymes and packaging disguises.) Originality, not value of the gift, is what counts.

Children sing traditional Sinterklaas songs while waiting for the saint to appear. A knock comes on the door and a black gloved hand appears to toss candies and pepernoten inside. Children scramble to gather up the treats. A large burlap bag, "de zak van Sinterklaas," also appears filled with gifts. At the table, decorated with speculaas and other sweets, guests may find their initial in a chocolate letter at their places. Food is apt to include hot chocolate, Bishop's wine, and letter banket.

The Dutch feast of Saint Nicholas is about giving, for "it is in giving that we receive." The fun is in trying to surprise people, to tease in a well-meaning way, to make a good joke, to produce a rollicking rhyme. The gift itself is just a bonus, as the fun is in the doing.

Ready to go...

In an effort to encourage this baby girl to come, Rachel and I have been taking walks every morning to some place or another. This morning we were planning on going to the shopping center. I was upstairs getting ready and Rachel was downstairs playing, just like usual. I called for Rachel to come upstairs to brush her teeth and this is what appeared at the bottom of the stairs:She was all ready to go and looked so cute! :) Even though it was 36 degrees this morning and felt like 26 degrees (according to weather.com), we braved the cold and walked 10 minutes to the shopping center. Thank heavens we have an indoor shopping center!

40 weeks

Here I am at 40 weeks. Our baby girl is quite comfortable and taking her time arriving. You really can't blame her. It's nice and warm in there and all her needs are being met. We are just playing the waiting game. I had an appointment yesterday and there's nothing too exciting to report. My blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat are great. They don't really induce here until 42 weeks. So some time in the next 12 days you can expect an announcement! :)

'Tis the Season

So, it's December 1st and what does that mean? It's time to start eating the yummy chocolates from the advent calendars. This is one tradition that I definitely remember growing up. Who knows if we got them every year, but it seems like we did. I remember how hard it was to only take one a day, but I think I did okay... So, a few months ago (yes, it was literally a few months ago) I was so excited when I saw an advent calendar in a store. It was only 1 euro, so I splurged and got one for Rachel. Well, several weeks after that I saw the Dora one and couldn't pass it up. So, I ended up getting 2 more so we could all have one. Andy doesn't really care, but I figured it wasn't fair if he didn't get one. Plus, if he doesn't want his chocolate I'm sure something can be arranged. :) We'll see how Rachel does once she discovers there's chocolate. It may be difficult to limit her to one a day. We shall see...

A Singing Angel

In the past couple weeks Rachel has been singing a lot. Whenever she's playing or just wandering around the house she'll just be singing away. It's really cute to listen to her and the songs she makes up. Of course as soon as we pay any attention to her she usually clams up. So, getting a video of her singing is nearly impossible. Here's a few of the highlights of the past few weeks.

• Last week she was swaying and patting her baby doll's back as she sang: "Rock-a-bye, don't you cry, we'll go home to grandpa, I love you, yes I do, little baby Baby (that's her baby's name)".
• She loves to sing "Wind the Bobbin Up" and do the hand motions. This is a new song that we've learned from playgroup.
• Rachel has a play dog that sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and she loves to do the motions as the dog sings to her.
• She has many versions of "I Am a Child of God" that she'll sing as she wanders around the house. She gets the verses all mixed up, but it's still absolutely precious. This morning she was putting her baby to sleep and singing "I Am a Child of God".
• And then my favorite. We were sitting on the couch this morning and she randomly started singing: "I'm trying to be like Daddy, I'm following in Daddy's ways, I'm trying to love as he does...". And then she noticed I was paying attention to her. :)

Giving Thanks

This is my first Thanksgiving away from family. I've always spent it with my family or Andy's. So, it's a bit different but it's okay. We get to double-dip this year. We're getting together with some of Andy's co-workers this evening for a Thanksgiving meal. Then on Saturday we are meeting at the church for another Thanksgiving meal. So, not too bad. I'm looking forward to my favorite item - the stuffing! This Thanksgiving, for some reason, I've been thinking a lot about how blessed I am. I have so many things to be grateful for. Here's my attempt to write them out:

• ANDY - When I met Andy almost 9 years ago, there's no way I could have known how lucky I was going to be. He takes such good care of our family. He truly amazes me and I'm thankful for all that he does.
• RACHEL - She brings so much joy and happiness to my life. Each day is an adventure with her and I'm so grateful to be her mom.
• BABY GIRL - I'm excited to be expecting another little girl. She's so active and doing so well. I can't wait to officially meet her.
• MY PARENTS - Their love, support, guidance, and example are priceless. A day rarely goes by that one of them doesn't call me and that means the world to me. I'm so grateful for all that they've done, all that they do, and all that I know they'll continue to do for me.
• MY IN-LAWS - I'm grateful for the son they raised. I definitely feel their love and am grateful for the relationship we have.
• MY BROTHERS - I'm so impressed at the men they have all become. I'm so grateful for many sweet memories of growing up with them. I know they'd do anything to protect me.
• FAMILY - All my sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws, nieces, and nephews. I'm grateful to have such an extended family with so many fun, unique individuals. It definitely keeps life exciting!
• THE GOSPEL - I'm thankful to have the knowledge of my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I know I am a child of God and that He wants me to return to him some day. I'm so grateful for the knowledge and testimony I have.
• MY FRIENDS - The old and the new. I love all those that keep in touch and let me know what's going on with their lives. I'm grateful for all the new friends I've made here in Holland - for their support and love.
• MY HEALTH - I have been extremely blessed with great health. I'm amazed at my body and what it's capable of doing each and every day. It's such a blessing to feel good and to be able to enjoy each day.
• MY COMFORTS - I have a home, food, clothes, etc... So many things that are taken for granted every day. I'm so fortunate to have never gone without. I've never truly had to want for a need.

I could probably go on for quite awhile now that I've got the wheels turning. I am truly blessed. And as I think of all the wonderful people and things in my life, I realize how fragile they all are. Tomorrow is a new day and who knows what it will bring. But this very second I have so much to be grateful for. And no matter what tomorrow brings there are many things on this list that will never change.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with those they love!

The Dutch Way

As this pregnancy has progressed it's been interesting to find out more and more how the Dutch handle births. They pretty much send you home from the hospital ASAP. As long as all goes well with the labor and delivery, you are usually headed home within hours of giving birth. Because of this you receive some help at home the first week after your baby is born. A kraamzorg, basically a nurse, comes in and her prime responsibility is to take care of the mother and baby. The kraamzorg comes to your home for 4-6 hours a day for about a week after the birth of your baby. They help you, give you advice, and will do some light housework for you. So, when in Holland do as the Dutch, right? So, we've arranged for a kraamzorg to come into our home after our baby girl arrives. Two weeks ago I spoke to one of the coordinators for the kraamzorg to see what I can expect. I was told to go purchase this:It's called a kraam pakket. Since we don't have Dutch insurance it wasn't automatically sent to us. Inside the box there are different items to be used after or even during the birth of the baby. There's a clamp for the umbilical cord and alcohol to be used on the umbilical stump. There are several mattress protectors - just in case we end up with a home birth! :) Exciting stuff. I was also informed on the phone to go pick up a bunch of these: What is it? Well, we have 4 of them and they are used to raise our bed. You see, we want to make sure that it's comfortable and convenient for the kraamzorg to take care of me while I'm resting in bed. So, they call these blocks (I was envisioning cinder blocks from my college days when we'd hike up our beds) to raise the bed to 70 cm high. Kind of interesting. Never mind I'm recovering from delivering a baby and will have to hike myself in and out of the 70 cm high bed. It should be interesting.... So, the Dutch way has some definite differences from the American way of having a baby. I've heard many positive experiences and a few not so positive experiences. Hopefully ours will turn out to be a positive experience. Either way, it is definitely going to be a once in a lifetime experience! :)

One year ago...

Exactly one year ago we landed in Amsterdam to begin our adventure here in Holland. It's crazy to think a whole year has gone by. In some ways it's flown by and in other ways it seems like we've been here forever. :) There have been good times and bad times, but overall it's been a pretty good experience. The first week is pretty much a blur. We stayed in a hotel for about 10 days before we could move into our place. The first day we got here I remember heading to the hotel and crashing. We slept for several hours. I think we arrived some time around 11 AM. So, it was an okay time to take a nap. And then after we all took naps we drove out to see our new home. I remember climbing up on the bench and peering in the windows. I reassured Andy he had done a good job picking out our new home. I know he was worried! :)

About a month ago I was driving back from somewhere and just realized how everything is so familiar to me and it's like it's home. It's weird to have a place totally foreign and strange to you become like home. So many things that seemed so strange to me are now just how things are. I'm definitely grateful for the experience we are having over here as a family. Don't get me wrong, there are still some moments that I'm ready to jump on the next plane and head back to the good, old U.S.A. But luckily those moments don't come too often and don't last too long. The past year has been quite an adventure and it will be interesting to see what the next year has in store for us....

First Snowfall of the Season

Yesterday the flurries started on and off, but nothing stuck. When we woke up this morning our backyard looked like this:It's definitely not enough to build a snowman, but enough to get a little girl excited:We were in the middle of eating breakfast, hence the strawberry jam all over Rachel's face, when the snow really started falling. Rachel was quite excited and rushed over to the window to watch. As we were walking home from the shopping center this afternoon we got snowed on. We tried to get Rachel to stick her tongue out and catch a snowflake, but she wasn't exactly willing. Andy's been singing Christmas songs all day long, so the first snowfall has definitely brought out the Christmas spirit in him. :)

"There's nothing like your first"

Those were the words spoken to me by a sweet woman with tears in her eyes when I was 8 months pregnant with Rachel. I've tried to take these words to heart and make the most of the time I have with Rachel. I am so excited to have another baby girl, but with that comes the realization that it's no longer going to be just Rachel and me. The past 2 1/2 years have been amazing. There's been happy times, frustrating times, laughter, tears of joy, tears of sadness, moments of doubt, memories made, etc... It's been quite the journey. And as we prepare for this new little girl to enter our family, I can't help but think back on all the one-on-one time I've had with Rachel. It's too bad that once Rachel is grown she won't remember the time she had with just me. But I know that the time she's had with just me, has helped her become and will continue to help her become the person she will be. There's definitely lots I've forgotten over the past 2 1/2 years, but there are also a lot of things I remember. I remember the first time I held her, the first time she slept through the night, the first time she was sick, the first time I left her with someone besides Andy, the first time she crawled, etc... The list could go on. I've been so fortunate to be there for most of her firsts. It will be interesting to see how the next couple months go and how we all adjust to the changes. I am so grateful for Rachel and that she is the one that made me a mom.

Matches

Rachel is obsessed with matches. She constantly points out things that match. It can be anything from the bow in her hair, to the clothes she's wearing, to things she sees in stores, etc... She loves to find matches. Rachel has a princess book that has matches for her to find. We pretty much read that book every night before bed. She also enjoys playing her Dora matching game. Rachel's most recent favorite thing to do is help me unload the dishwasher. It's actually quite cute! But not only does she unload all the plastic plates and stack them up for me, she also matches them up. It's so much fun to watch. In the end, this is what our cupboard looks like:

Can't Wait!!!

Last night we booked our tickets to go home for a visit. We are so excited!!! Now our baby girl just needs to arrive, we need to make her a legal beagle, and then we'll book her a ticket as well. How crazy that a 3-month old is already going to be earning frequent flyer miles. We are definitely excited to see and visit our families!

Baby Shower

Our baby girl was very spoiled last night. My wonderful friends, Amy and Claire, hosted a baby shower for me. It was so much fun to get together with friends, talk, eat yummy food, play games, and open adorable presents. All of the presents are perfect! My biggest concern has been warm clothes for this baby girl and now we are set. It was fun to take all the tags off today and wash the clothes. After the load of laundry was finished the dryer lint was all pink! :) Rachel was excited to see the new outfits, although she was a little disappointed that they didn't fit her. I definitely feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends!

A New (Old) Favorite

This past weekend we got out some of the baby stuff, so we can feel somewhat prepared! :) Andy put together the swing and bouncer. We now need to install the car seat into the car. Rachel sure does like the car seat though. We won't let her climb in the swing or bouncer, so she puts her baby doll in those. Rachel thinks her old baby car seat is so much fun to lounge in. It's too bad when she was baby that she didn't enjoy it as much... This is Rachel's first experience in her car seat. She was 2 days old and ready to go home. Despite how the picture may look, she was actually just yawning. But it's a good representation of what the next several months were like. Rachel was generally good in her car seat when we were in the car, but once we were out of the car she never lasted long. Hopefully now that Rachel has turned over a new leaf and has decided she likes the car seat, she can convince her baby sister how great it is. When I look at these two pictures I realize what a giant Rachel is going to seem like once her baby sister arrives! :)

Hallelujah!

Andy walked in the door at about 11 pm last night and he is home for good! After 7 weeks of traveling he's done, whether or not the project is done. He's made it quite clear to his co-workers that he can still work on the project, but he needs to work on it in Amsterdam. I know I'm relieved, both of our parents are relieved, and my dad informed me last night that even my sweet brothers are relieved. I guess they sometimes worry about their sister! :) It's peace of mind that Andy's home now and won't miss the birth of our baby girl. I'm sure that's still several weeks away, but better safe than sorry. So, after 7 weeks of dropping him off at the airport every Sunday, having him come home late Friday night, working all day Saturday in the office, and then even doing some work from home on Sunday afternoons - he's done. Hopefully the next plane he gets on won't be until March when we all head back to the U.S. :)

Rachel was pretty excited to see her daddy this morning when she woke up. Another routine of hers that hasn't occurred for quite awhile is saying good-bye at the door and blowing kisses to him as he drives away. She was quite concerned that we wouldn't have the car (since we've had total possession of it while Andy's been out of town), but I for one am quite relieved. Sounds weird, huh? It's not always easy to find a parking spot on our street and so a lot of times we park across the street along the canal. While I guess you can't park there Mon-Sat, 9:00-18:00. I learned that the hard way about a month ago when I got a 60 euro ticket. Lovely! It's never really been an issue before because Andy has the car at work during those hours. Oh well!

Andy informed us that he would be home for dinner. So, I guess I'm going to have to actually cook. Other than on the weekends, it's been awhile.... I'm going to miss the sweets Andy would bring us home from Vienna, but not as much as I've missed my hubby the past 7 weeks. I'm certainly glad he's home!!!

Trick-or-Treating

Rachel had her first trick-or-treating experience last night. Here she is before we had to bundle her up, obviously put on more sensible shoes, and got tired of the tiara:We drove 30 minutes to a town called Wassenaar, where the American school is located. Many of the parents who have children who attend the American school open up their homes to trick-or-treaters. It's a bit different experience here because we had to do a lot of driving between areas that were open for trick-or-treaters. We met up with some friends and they were gracious enough to be our guides as we found the houses that were participating. It was quite crowded at times and Rachel didn't care for that. The homes that were participating had their lights on and jack-o-lanterns in their yards. We kept on trying to get a picture of Rachel next to a jack-0-lantern, but she was not very cooperative. Doesn't she look thrilled???
Rachel did enjoy getting candy, maybe that's why she's happier in the picture with her daddy (she has a sucker). We finally got her to be brave enough and say "trick or treat", but most of the time she said it so softly who knows if she was heard. After about an hour and a half it was time to drive back home. During the drive home Rachel had plenty of candy. She kept on requesting chocolate! She takes after her mommy. :) She hasn't had a single piece of candy today though. I don't know if she's forgotten about all her candy, or what! She better start asking for some before it gets finished off by others. :)

One Month Left!

Here's the belly at 8 months! I had a midwife appointment on Thursday and all is well. The baby has dropped and is engaged. So, now it's just a matter of time... :) Rachel dropped really early as well, so I'm sure I still have at least a month left. Things are still going well. It's obviously more difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep and I have noticed a few new stretch marks forming, but nothing to be overly concerned about. Rachel loves to kiss my tummy. Earlier this week the baby was being very active and as Rachel kissed my tummy the baby kicked back. So, I told Rachel her baby sister was kissing her back. She thought that was pretty cool! She wanted more kisses from her sister, but of course her sister decided to quiet down after that. We are definitely getting more and more excited and feel so blessed that all is going so well.

So excited!

Rachel was so excited to put her Halloween outfit on this morning. She was dressed and ready for the day by 7:45 and that's unheard of. Some days she would just prefer to stay in her pajamas all day and leave her hair messy. We (yay, Daddy's home!) were explaining to Rachel this morning about how we were going to go trick-or-treating tonight and what exactly it is. This will be her first experience. She is definitely excited to get candy, but she quickly informed us that her friend Madison could be the one to knock on the doors! :) Too funny! I remember my mom having to assign us turns to ring the doorbells. I guess those days will come... Happy Halloween from Rachel!

5 years later...

After 5 years of hard work and dedication, Andy has become a manager for E&Y. He has definitely worked hard to get where he is and continues to amaze me. He officially became a manager on October 1st. This past weekend, I was the first person to receive one of his new business cards saying, "manager". I wish I had a letter that is back in storage in Texas. Approximately 3 years ago I received a letter from one of Andy's co-workers just letting me know how much he appreciated Andy and how proud I should be of Andy. He had just been promoted to senior. In the letter his co-worker said a lot of things that I obviously already knew about my husband, but I was so touched and grateful that someone else had realized what a hard worker he is. I don't know the exact percentage, but for the big accounting firms there's a lot of employees that leave before ever making it to manager. So, this is a huge milestone for Andy.

I have always been amazed at his ability to balance work and home. Even though there are weeks that drag on with crazy, late hours, I know where Andy would rather be. He wants to be home and he's constantly apologizing for not being home. Rachel put it quite simply the other day when she was walking around the house singing "Daddy's at the office, all day long, all day long". We have been quite fortunate over in Holland with better hours. He still has his busy times, but for the majority of the year he's home by dinnertime, which is nice. When Andy does come home after a crazy, long day he still let's me talk his ear off before we head to bed. And even though Rachel is most likely asleep, he always peeks in on her.

Andy was supposed to be in Orlando this week. It's a big manager training/celebration that is held once a year for all the Americans. But of course, duty called. So, when he was asked last week to stay behind and continue to work on a project that has a deadline, he of course stayed. I am continually amazed at his commitment. So, 5 years of his career has come and gone. Who knows what the next 5 will bring. But whatever it may be I know that Andy will always excel at what he does. I am so grateful for him and for all he does for our family as a husband and father!

Can't be left out...

Rachel wasn't all that into her second birthday, but in the past couple of months she's talked a lot about birthdays. One night when I had a candle burning she insisted on me singing "Happy Birthday" to her and letting her blow out the candle. She also loves to pretend to have cake and pretend to blow out her candles with her play kitchenware. This past week she attended a friend's birthday party and didn't quite understand why she couldn't blow out the candle or open the presents. So, Andy was a good sport about humoring her on his day! :) After Rachel helped Andy blow his candles, she needed to sing to herself and have a couple turns as well. She definitely keeps us smiling and laughing! :)

Celebrating 31 Years

We celebrated Andy's birthday this weekend. We started off by splurging at a local international market and purchasing Andy's favorite blueberry muffin mix. So, Saturday morning (before Andy headed in for a full day's work at the office) we enjoyed some muffins. We have discovered that Rachel likes blueberry muffins almost as much as her daddy does! :) The benefit of making them Saturday was so we could enjoy the rest of them this morning. Saturday night we went into Amsterdam and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We couldn't break tradition! :) So, we enjoyed some good, old American food. Andy was even willing to let them sing to him so we could all share a free dessert. He claims he did it for Rachel. :) We all enjoyed the ice cream topped with hot fudge, whip cream, and a cherry. After they sang to Andy he commented how it's been a long time since he's done that in a restaurant. I guess your little ones bring out the kid in you. This afternoon we opened up presents and enjoyed some cheesecake. Rachel was so excited to help her daddy open presents and blow out candles. She's been talking about his birthday for days! I'm surprised Rachel didn't spoil any of Andy's presents before he opened them. She went shopping with me and I was just waiting for her to say something, but she did good and didn't ruin any surprises.
There's one handsome 31-year old sporting his new sweater. I actually did pretty good this year - I think Andy approves of everything he got! :) Although we are going to have to do some exchanging for sizes - I still don't do very well with the way things are sized over here. Here's Andy's cheesecake. Despite the way it looks, it still tasted good. This was another splurge at the international market. Rachel helped me decorate it on Saturday afternoon and by Sunday afternoon it hadn't fared well. Oh well, luckily Andy's not high maintenance and it still tasted good!

We didn't do 31 candles, we just shaped the candles into a "31".

We had to take video of Rachel singing to her daddy. I don't know who was more excited about his birthday - Andy or Rachel??? :) It was fun to celebrate Andy' day. He certainly appreciated all the phone calls, birthday cards, and well wishes.