"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!