Out on the Ice

After church on Sunday Andy decided to take Rachel out on the ice. It's a good thing he did, because come Monday morning the ice started to melt. Rachel wasn't too sure of walking on the ice. Luckily she didn't fall, but she didn't like slipping around. She stayed close to her daddy and wanted him to hold her. They only lasted about 5 minutes, but Andy got some cute pictures of their little walk out on the canal! Rachel has enjoyed watching the ice skaters for the past two weeks. She keeps on saying, "The ice melted like the snowman melts". :)

Practice Run

Audrey will be one month old tomorrow and we (meaning Audrey, Rachel, and I) have not ventured out in public yet. We've gone a few places with Andy - the passport photo place and the U.S. Consulate. But I haven't ventured out alone with the girls. This morning I decided today was as good a day as any. I'm going to have to venture out again on Tuesday for Audrey's first check-up, so I figured we do a practice run today. Andy was at work - I know, no fun having to work on a Saturday - so we didn't have the car. I bundled the girls up (it was 26 degrees outside but felt like 19 degrees - according to weather.com) and we headed out. Audrey fell right asleep in the Beco baby carrier and stayed asleep the whole time. We walked quickly to the store, picked up a few items, and then walked home. Rachel was an angel and all went well. It was only a 45-minute outing, but it was successful. Hopefully on Tuesday things will go just as smoothly! :)

Audrey Banana

On Tuesday morning Rachel kept on saying "Audrey Banana". I didn't exactly know why she was putting banana and Audrey together, but she was. Andy overheard her and corrected her by saying, "Audrey Rianne". When Andy and Rachel were driving home from church on Sunday Andy was going through every one's full name with Rachel. So, she was just trying to saying Audrey Rianne. Rianne is a Dutch name that we chose for Audrey so that she has something unique for being born in the Netherlands. Banana rhymes with Rianne, so I can see why Rachel would make the mix-up. :)

Rachel has adjusted so well to be being a big sister. She's really cute and sweet with Audrey. Rachel loves to help me burp her. She's really good about getting everything ready for Audrey's diaper change. It's cute to watch Rachel mimic me with her teddy bear. She'll swaddle her teddy bear, walk around the house, and sing songs. Rachel loves to sing to Audrey as well. The other day Rachel was doing pat-a-cake with Audrey. I ran downstairs to get the video camera, but by the time I returned she wasn't interested anymore. Oh well, I'll catch it another time! :) I am so grateful for Rachel and how well she has adjusted to being a big sister. It will be fun to watch them as they grow up together! :)

R is for Rachel

Rachel surprised me yesterday when she brought this book over to me and told me that "R is for Rachel". I was quite impressed. I asked Andy if he had told Rachel that the book had an R on it for Rachel. He told me no and that Rachel had been pointing out Rs to him for awhile now. I guess I've been out of the loop the past couple of weeks! :)

Cold Turkey

Andy and I aren't that big on New Year's resolutions, but this year Andy, Rachel, and I are all participating in one. Andy decided last night that Rachel didn't need her binky anymore. She only gets it at naptime and bedtime, but we decided it was time for the binky usage to end. So, Andy explained to her that she can't take her binky on the airplane. Technically we aren't going on an airplane until the end of February, but we need to get her prepped. So, after some talking to she was convinced. Rachel simply stated last night, "I don't need my binky ever again". I was a bit nervous going to bed last night. I was prepared for Rachel to be up a couple of times crying for her binky. But she did great! Rachel slept through the night and she's even taking a great nap now. So, the first 24 hours have gone well. Hopefully the next couple of weeks continue to go well. Rachel thinks the mailman has come and taken her binkies. Right now they are simply hidden, but we better get them in the trash can. It's better for the temptation not to be there, more for us than probably her! :)

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Year's Dutch-style once again. The Dutch love their fireworks. Pretty much anything that's illegal in the U.S. is legal here. So, everyone shoots off their own fireworks and you get quite a show. We celebrated by watching everyone else set off their fireworks works from our bedroom window. We weren't going to be able to sleep through it, so we figured we might as well get up. Audrey and Rachel were more than happy to sleep through all the fireworks. Although at midnight we decided to wake Rachel up and let her watch the show. She enjoyed it and went back to sleep after 30 minutes of watching the fireworks. Things seemed to quiet down around 1 AM. Fireworks were actually going off all day yesterday. The girls both took a 2-hour nap at the same time, but could I get any shut eye? No, it was too noisy. Kind of frustrating in the middle of the day. I understand once it gets dark, but it's not really worth it during the day. Fireworks are much more spectacular when it's pitch black. You can see the remnants of last night's fun all through the streets and on top of the frozen canals. Here's a video we took as we watched the fireworks from our bedroom window:

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.