7 months

Here I am at 7 months. The belly certainly is big! It's hard to imagine how big it's going to be in 2 more months. All is going well with the pregnancy. I now have appointments every 2 weeks, so that means we're getting close! At my appointments all they do is take my blood pressure and listen to the baby's hearbeat. Everything was just dandy at the last appointment. She is certainly getting stronger and stronger, because her little jabs aren't as gentle and soft as they used to be! :)

Daddy's Helper

Rachel was a daddy's girl this past weekend. Andy has been traveling a lot recently, so when he comes home for the weekend she doesn't let him out of her sight. This past weekend she even let Andy read her stories and put her to bed. :) It was a nice break for mom! Rachel enjoyed playing with her daddy this weekend, working with him out in the backyard, and helping him shine his shoes. She was right alongside him whenever he was working on something. When Rachel was out in the back she wanted to use the hoe and Andy told her she couldn't. So, Rachel responded by saying, "When I'm 3, I'm only 2 right now". Silly girl! :)

New Recipe

We tried a new recipe tonight and it was great! It makes a ton (probably about 16 burritos), so I froze half of the burrito mixture for another time. It will definitely be a good recipe to stock up on before the baby comes. I was excited when my friend Jamie shared the recipe and it was one that I could find all the ingredients for as well. :)

Chicken and Rice Grilled Burritos

1 lb. chicken (boiled & shredded)
1 cup mild salsa
1 pkg. Taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 cups rice
Flour Tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese

In sauce pan, combine 4 cups water, salsa and seasoning mix. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Cook on low heat for 25 minutes stirring occasionally or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in chicken. Heat griddle. Spoon 1/3 cup mixture and some cheese into flour tortillas-roll like a burrito. Grill on both sides until brown. You can add sour cream, more salsa & guacamole on top!

Lesson Well-Learned

Sometimes I have to wonder whether or not Rachel listens to me. Just like any child, she can be pretty selective on what she hears and obeys. There is definitely one lesson that she has learned well. Probably about 6 months ago she colored on the wall with crayon. She got in quite a bit a trouble and was told that we only color on paper. For months after the fact she would point out the one mark I didn't get cleaned off the wall, and say something like "no, no, no, only color on paper - Rachel naughty". Not only does she know she was naughty to color on the wall, she is also very willing to point out others that do not color on paper.

• A few months ago as we walked through the underpass to go to the shopping center we discovered some graffiti on the bricks. Rachel quickly said, "No, no, no, naughty people. Don't color on wall, color on paper."
• Two weeks ago we were going on one of our daily walks. Rachel was busy pushing her baby stroller and lagging behind. Pretty soon I heard her stop and say, "No, no, no naughty people." I turned around quickly to see what she was up to and discovered that we were walking over some sidewalk chalk drawings. As we continued to walk Rachel stated, "No coloring on floor, only on paper." I guess Rachel hasn't been introduced to sidewalk chalk yet. :)
• On Monday this week we were sitting in McDonald's eating a quick lunch in between running errands. All of a sudden, Rachel very loudly says, "No, no, no, naughty man". I shush Rachel and then a few seconds later turn around to see what she is so concerned about. About 5 feet away there's a man with extensive tattoos all up and down his arms. Luckily his back was turned and he didn't seem to notice the little 2-year old calling him a "naughty man". I turned back to Rachel and she said to me, "Don't color on arms, color on paper".

I guess I can say that Rachel has learned well that we only color on paper. We haven't had another incident of her coloring on the wall. And it seems like she knows we don't color on our arms or the floor either. :)

Busy Girl

Rachel is one busy little toddler. She loves to play and has quite the imagination. It's nice that she is so content playing in her own little world. We attended an English-speaking playgroup the other day and she had fun just playing by herself. She has mastered the ability to take stickers off of the page by herself and can spend forever placing stickers on paper. Although the other day she thought my big belly was a pretty good place to put the stickers. Last week Rachel was so funny when she got busy placing things on the stairs. Anything and everything was fair game. She was pretty proud of herself! Rachel has also discovered how yummy batter can be. We made waffles the other morning (and of course she had to help) and in the process she helped herself to the batter. There's one good thing about the waffle mixes here, you just add water so there's no worries about raw eggs.Yesterday Rachel became obsessed with our bucket and sponge. Why? I don't know. She first started off by cleaning the furniture... Soon she discovered how fun it was to climb in and out of the bucket. Silly girl! She's not going to be able to pull this trick off that much longer. She was pretty snug in the bucket. I love how each and every day is a surprise with Rachel. It seems like every day she learns and discovers something new. She loves asking questions and exploring her world. It's so much fun to be the mom of a toddler! :)

Dolfinarium

We woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful, sunny day, so we decided to take advantage of it. We headed to the Netherlands version of Sea World, entitled Dolfinarium. Rachel enjoyed the day! The first show we went to, she wasn't too sure about it. But as the day wore on she became more excited. Here we are at the first show that consisted of 4 dolphins. They dimmed the lights and had some music going, so that might of been why Rachel was a little skeptical. Rachel's favorite part of the show was when the dolphins were playing with the balls. We tried to get Rachel to touch the sting rays, but she wouldn't. She did have fun watching them swim by and at one point she touched a small fish. The next show we went to was a seal show. Rachel liked the biggest one that weighed in at 683 kilograms (1,500 pounds). It's behind her in the picture. She called it the "daddy seal". Rachel especially liked it when the seals would "burp"! :) It wasn't exactly a bark, I guess it would have been more like a growl...

The most entertaining show of the day was the last one we went to. There were two seals and two actors in the show. Rachel didn't quite know what to think when they would kiss the seals! She got lots of laughs out of the show. There were lots of playgrounds to enjoy as well and Rachel had fun until she fell. The poor girl bit her tongue in three places when she fell. Ouch! Luckily she didn't lose any teeth. But of course we got her some ice cream and that made it all better!We couldn't have asked for better weather. Rachel did great without getting a nap. On the way home she got a little power nap to get her through the rest of the evening. We enjoyed our Dutch Dolfinarium experience. It was fun to do something as a family outdoors before the cold weather sets in!

Dusseldorf, Gemany

Andy had some training the last week of August and we decided to tag along. I mean we'd been home for a whole week from our UK trip and we were getting antsy! :) So, we drove to Dusseldorf on a Sunday afternoon and then came home on Friday. I'm sure all of the classes Andy got to attend were lots of fun! Rachel and I enjoyed the nice, free hotel. The weather was pretty crummy, but we did explore a little bit. We found a park close to the hotel that Rachel enjoyed. We also headed into what's called the "Old Town" of Dusseldorf. It just had lots of shops and restaurants. So, Dusseldorf wasn't the most exciting place but it was a nice, relaxing vacation. I didn't have to cook and clean for 5 days, so it wasn't all that bad. And we (meaning Rachel and I, sorry Andy) got naps every day! :) I'm sure Dusseldorf is more exciting during the holidays when they have their Christmas markets. We didn't take a single picture of Dusseldorf. We should have at least took a picture of the Rhine River, but alas we never seemed to remember to take the camera out of the safe in the hotel room. Rachel did enjoy watching all the big boats going down the river. Every time I go to other European countries, I am ever grateful that I currently live in Holland. You see, the Dutch don't dub over movies, sitcoms, etc... that are based in the U.S. or the UK (except for cartoons). However, the Germans (and many others) are a bit different. They dub over everything. It's weird to be flipping through the channels and come across U.S. shows with the actors speaking in different voices and in German. It's quite odd! I'm sure the Germans appreciate it though! Luckily we did have two BBC channels (UK based) and CNN. I think I read at least 2 books that week and Rachel became quite addicted to BBC cartoons. Another thing I learned (the hard way) was that the German word for jalapenos is pepperoni. Kind of weird... I seriously thought I was ordering a pepperoni pizza. To my surprise I got a pizza covered in jalapenos. Fun stuff! And then the following day at a totally different restaurant I ordered another dish (with an English menu) that was supposed to be pasta with pepperoni and shrimp. I thought it was kind of an odd combo, but nothing else really looked good. Well, it ended up being pasta with jalapenos and shrimp. I guess the Germans like jalapenos or they just like tricking pathetic Americans! :)

We're having a baby...

GIRL! We are so excited. Andy has no qualms about being outnumbered. He claims he, "kind of likes girls"! I guess Rachel and I make that pretty easy. :) What's not to like??? Anyhow, last Thursday I had a midwife appointment and we were able to have an ultrasound done. This time we had a bit more cooperation from the baby. Rachel has been pretty insistent the whole pregnancy that we were having a baby girl. I guess we should have just taken her word for it! :) Rachel was cute on Friday when she stated that she wanted to go back to the doctor and, "see baby on TV". I guess Rachel really was paying attention during the ultrasound. She also insists that there are two babies (because there are two monitors). I'm excited for Rachel to have a sister. And when they argue and fight, I'll just pull out the I-never-had-a-sister card and hopefully they'll get along! :) Wishful thinking, huh? Everything looked great on the ultrasound. We were also able to see toes, fingers, a yawn, and her cute button nose.

Last week was a pretty informative week. We went to an English-speaking tour of the Amstelveen hospital on Wednesday night. A lot of it was pretty repetitive to us, but there were a few surprises of how they handle things here in Holland. For example, they don't bathe the babies until the next day. They like to give "their skin a chance to soak in the vernix". So, this little baby girl isn't going to have as many beautiful pictures her first day of existence. Also, you give birth in whatever clothes you bring with you, no hospital gowns are provided. And our guide told us, "Some women choose to give birth like Eve did" (i.e. the proverbial birthday suit). Ummm, I don't think so! When you get to the hospital, if you want a wheelchair, you best have a 2 euro coin with you. I quote, "it's just like the shopping carts at the grocery store". Of course you get your 2 euro coin back when the wheelchair is returned.

After our tour I was feeling a bit more comfortable about the possibility of receiving an epidural. They claimed that all they had to do was page the anesthesiologist and he/she would come to the hospital to administer the epidural. Well, on Thursday our midwife said that wasn't always so. The anesthesiologist at the Amstelveen hospital works 9-5, but there is always one of them on call. However, they aren't always willing to come in for an epidural and sometimes they arrive too late. So, my wonderful, supportive midwife (seriously, she was great) said we should go register at an Amsterdam hospital that has an anesthesiologist there 24/7. So, we did that on Friday. It's a 15-minute drive versus a 5-minute drive. I think I'll go for 10 minutes longer in the car to ensure I get an epidural!

So, now we are just counting down the weeks - roughly 11 more to go. They aren't too big on inducing here unless it is medically necessary. So, I'm guessing I'll at least go over by a week. Who knows, maybe I'll be one of the lucky few who actually go in to labor on the actual due date. My parents are voting for Dec. 4th (my mom's birthday). :) But all we really hope and pray for now is the safe arrival of a healthy baby girl.

The Fury of Ike!

Even though we were thousands of miles away when Hurricane Ike struck, it's still going to affect our pocketbook! :) We spent a good portion of Saturday morning watching the live coverage on CNN as the hurricane hit Galveston. It was a bit nerve wracking not knowing what was happening to our house. Luckily we were able to get a hold of a friend in the neighborhood on Saturday. He quickly drove over and gave us a report of the damage. And then we were able to get in touch with our next door neighbor last night and they even sent us some photos of the damage. As far as we know, our renters didn't evacuate, but they were safe. Our neighborhood was without power for almost two days, but not that bad considering how there are still many without power. It looks as if we are going to have to replace our entire fence. Some limbs from trees were lost. We are actually quite surprised all our oak trees survived as well as they did. And doubly survived that the trellis survived. As far as we know, the roof is fine so that's a good thing. We have definitely appreciated our neighbors and their willingness to be our eyes as we are far away. Here are some photos of the damage:

Adventures in Holland

During the last two days that Andy's parents where here we were able to explore Holland a little bit. On Monday we went into Amsterdam. We went on a canal boat tour, which is always enjoyable. Our tour guide did a good job of keeping us entertained and we learned some new things about Amsterdam. We then walked around Amsterdam for awhile and Andy's parents went on a tour of the Anne Frank House. We opted to stay outside and wait, since we had already been. Rachel and I enjoyed some ice cream while Papa and Grandma were on their tour. The best part of the day in Amsterdam was going out to dinner - Cafe Loetje - one of Andy's finds. We enjoyed great salad, steak, and applesauce. Yes, the applesauce was amazing. :) Can you tell we were all sick and tired of french fries? The Europeans are obsessed with french fries and it's always nice when you find a restaurant that lets you get a break! :)

Tuesday we headed to Zaanse Schans. It's a great place to go to see windmills and shop for souvenirs. You're able to see how wooden clogs and cheese are made as well. Whenever we have visitors, we head to Zaanse Schans. We got rained on off and on, but overall it turned out to be a pretty good day. We certainly enjoyed having Andy's parents visit us. During their stay with us Rachel started praying for Grandpa and Grandma without being prompted. While they were here she would say, "thank you Grandpa and Grandma come". Now that they're gone she says, "bless Grandpa and Grandma", in every prayer. With lots of miles between us and family, we always cherish the visits we have.