Sitting Up

Audrey is getting the hang of sitting up. She still doesn't last too long, but each day she stays up by herself a little bit longer. Before we know it, she'll be a pro! :)

May 24th

On May 24th it was finally warm enough (mid-70s) for shorts! Rachel was so excited! I bought her some new outfits back in March and she was able to wear them when we were in Texas, but hasn't been able to here in Holland yet. It was such a nice, beautiful day. We went on a walk before church and then on another walk after church. The Dutch have been wearing shorts for quite awhile. I guess I'm still not acclimatized to the weather here. A few weeks back we were at the park one day in pants and light jackets. There were a bunch of Dutch children running around in flip flops and shorts. It has to be well over 70 degrees for me to pull out the capris. Unfortunately the warm weather didn't last too long. It was rainy all day yesterday and a cool front came through. Oh well, we're looking forward to more warm days (hopefully) in the future! :)

Paris - Take 2

We were able to take a quick trip to Paris this past weekend. Andy had a 4-day weekend and some friends invited us to tag along with them. So, we headed off for a 3-day adventure in Paris with two other families. We went to Paris over a year ago, but it was cold and we waited in lots of long lines. This time we were able to enjoy Paris a bit more. We drove down Thursday morning and were there by 1 PM ready to explore. Our first stop was the Arc de Triomphe. Here we are at the Arc de Triomphe. This time we decided to go to the top and here are some pictures of the view from the top:Here's a picture of Champs-Elysees. We took quite a walk down Champs-Elysees to get to the Arc de Triomphe. We didn't get off on the right stop and we figured it didn't look like too far of a walk. Later we found out we had gone 3 stops too many on the metro. Oh well, it was fun to walk anyways. After the Arc, we headed to the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go up this time, but we enjoyed some ice cream at the base of the Eiffel Tower. We then took a 1-hour cruise down the Seine River. Everyone enjoyed the cruise, even though it got a bit windy, because we had the chance to rest our feet. Here's Rachel playing with her friend Ashley:Audrey enjoying her cruise down the Seine River. Such a cutie! A great picture that Andy took while we were still on the boat. Strolling through the metro system after a busy afternoon/evening in Paris. Paris isn't that stroller friendly, so we didn't haul the double stroller. Rachel was good about taking turns with Audrey in the stroller so I didn't have to haul Audrey around the whole time in the Beco. Here's a picture from our hotel room that evening of the Arc lit up. We realized that it was probably a shorter walk from our hotel to the Arc than what we had done earlier that afternoon! :)

Friday morning while the girls and I were getting ready for the day Andy headed down to a local bakery to get us fresh croissants for breakfast. Yummy! We then headed to a street called Rue Cler. It was a street with pastry shops, fruit markets, flower stalls, cafes, and boutiques. We enjoyed walking down it. Rachel wanted to stop and ride this little horse and a lady who worked at the little shop there put money in for Rachel to ride it. We purchased some delicious strawberries from one of the fruit stands. And then we couldn't pass up a banana/chocolate crepe as well. Here we are enjoying our spoils:We then hopped back on the metro and headed to the Latin Quarter. We walked around a bit and came across the Pantheon. We then met up with our friends for lunch and headed over to see Norte Dame. We were hoping to go inside this time, but the line was horrendous once again. So, we decided to pass. After much deliberation we decided to head to Luxembourg Gardens. The kids would be able to play and we would be able to see the Statue of Liberty. The kids played for a good hour on the grass and then a park worker came and told us they weren't supposed to play on the grass. I guess that explains why no one else was playing on the grass! Oh well, we got a good hour in and the kids enjoyed themselves. Rachel had fun kicking an empty water bottle around with Chase. It's amazing what can keep kids entertained. Audrey enjoyed some much needed wiggle time. Two days of car seat, stroller, and baby carrier can get old! :) The State of Liberty in Paris. After being kicked off of the grass the kids all had a ride on the carousel. We then decided to make it an earlier night than before and headed back towards our hotel for some dinner. After dinner Rachel really wanted some ice cream. So, we went in search of an ice cream stand. We walked from our hotel to the Arc de Triomphe, but never came across an ice cream stand. So, we took the metro back to our hotel, found a nearby grocery store, and enjoyed some ice cream sitting on a bench outside our hotel. The next day we were a bit lazy in the morning. We finally got going and decided to try go see the Catacombs of Paris. We didn't think it would be that busy. Well, after I sat in a park with the girls for 25 minutes while Andy stood in line, he came back to tell me the line wasn't moving very fast. So, we decided to forget the catacombs. We headed back to our hotel, had lunch with our friends, and headed home. So, on our last day in Paris we spent a good hour on the metro. Oh well, Audrey didn't mind! :)Rachel was very sad to leave her friends and the hotel. She has gotten so she really likes hotels - I guess it's just something new and different. The past couple of days she has also wanted Andy to be home from work. I've explained to her that he has to work so we can go on more trips. :) She likes and understands that answer better than he needs to work so we have food and clothes. We had a good time in Paris our second time around. We couldn't have asked for better weather and better company!

A New Talent

Several months ago Rachel figured out how to turn our camera on and take pictures. Ever since then we can guarantee that we'll look through pictures and find random pictures at interesting angles. She likes to take pictures of shoes, the floor, and her toys. Since she's mastered taking pictures, she decided the other day to shoot some video. Here's some video that Rachel shot:

Enjoying the Spoils

For the past 10 days Rachel hasn't even had to reach into her toy box. All of her birthday presents are still out and about and she keeps herself quite entertained. Here she is enjoying some of her birthday presents: I caught these two at the kitchen table one evening! :)

We actually had about 5 minutes of decent rainfall last week, usually it's just sprinkles, and Rachel was so excited to put her new umbrella to use.

This is one of our first outings with her scooter. She is definitely getting better at riding it. I made the mistake of thinking she would ride the scooter all the way to the park. I ended up pushing Audrey in the stroller and the scooter was draped over the top of the stroller. Oh well! Once we got to the park Rachel enjoyed riding her scooter.

Rachel loves her dress up dolls and she loves brushing their hair. :)

Precious Moments

I'm sitting here with my eyes all watery. I was doing a few things on the computer and started to pay attention to Rachel's chatter. She's over playing with Audrey in her exersaucer and teaching her how to pray. Rachel said something like: "You fold you arms, you bow your head, etc..." and then she said a little prayer. Absolutely precious! And then Rachel just pulled out her miniature Children's songbook and started singing songs to Audrey. Moments like this make being a mom so worth it! :)

A Fun Afternoon

This afternoon Rachel and I baked cookies. I have pretty much given up on baking here. I still haven't figured my oven out and it just frustrates me. So, this was a rarity. We inherited some chocolate chips from some friends moving back to the U.S. and I still had a cookie mix sitting around. So, we made chocolate chip-peanut butter cookies. I really do enjoy baking and can't wait until we get back home and have a normal oven that will cook like we're used to. More bonding moments to come... Rachel enjoyed testing out the cookie batter...
And of course the finished product.

Audrey was there bonding with us as well. She played away in her exersaucer while Rachel and I baked. Right now she is totally fascinated with the three little piano keys. She doesn't have the luxury, like Rachel did, to pound away on a real piano. We might have a future pianist on our hands...

5 months old

Where does the time go? Audrey is 5 months old today. She is 13 pounds 10 ounces and 24.5 inches tall. She is growing, growing, growing. Audrey mostly wears 6-month size clothes. She has regressed quite a bit with sleeping at night. Her current schedule is: she's usually asleep by 9 PM, wakes up around 1 AM, again around 5:30 AM, and then wakes up for the day somewhere between 8-9. I really wish I could get a 7-8 hour stretch out of her. One night she'll surprise me! :) She is still quite the cat napper. Sometimes I can get a good nap (1-2 hours) out of her shortly after lunchtime. She usually then takes a catnap in the morning and one right before dinnertime. We are working on her being able to put herself to sleep. Sometimes it works like a charm and other times she really struggles. Audrey loves to be on the go in her stroller. She is still a very smiley, giggly baby. Audrey has become quite fond of her exersaucer. She can spend a good 30-45 minutes in there just playing away. Just this past weekend she sat up for quite awhile doing the old tripod trick. Audrey is into slapping her hand when she gets excited. She'll slap her tummy, her side, or you if you're holding her. She still enjoys her swing and bouncy chair. She loves spending time on the floor playing with her toys as well. Most of all she enjoys watching Rachel, her entertainer. Audrey definitely brings a lot of joy and happiness to our home.

A Double Holiday

For the first time since becoming a mother my birthday landed on Mother's Day this year. My mom had to share her day quite often between Jeff and I having May birthdays. Next year I'll share Mother's Day with Rachel's birthday. I definitely got spoiled and Andy made sure of that. The day started off great with Andy getting up with Rachel and Audrey sleeping in until almost 9 AM. So, I got to sleep in and it felt great. I had spoken with Audrey the night before about what a wonderful birthday/mother's day present it would be for her to sleep through the night, but that didn't exactly happen. Oh well, sleeping in a bit made up for that. I got spoiled with phone calls, messages, flowers, chocolates, a cool key chain, and clothes. I still have some money to spend as well. I think another pair of shoes needs to be purchased! :) Rachel did quite well with her birthday being over and it being my birthday. I was quite impressed. She did insist on wearing her birthday hat though, because she we had forgotten to the day before. And of course she helped me unwrap my presents, but that's a given.

Andy did a great job of making a cheesecake with fresh strawberries on top. It was delicious! Rachel helped him put the candles on. They didn't quite fit 29 on there - I think there were 11. I definitely felt pampered on my double holiday.

Rachel's Stats

Here are some facts about Rachel at 3 years old:

• 3 feet, 3 inches tall
• 25 pounds
• Still takes a nap - usually 2 hours
• She's completely potty trained and has been for a good 6 months
• Loves to read books and be read to as well
• Knows a lot of songs and randomly just sings during the day
• Loves to dance
• Has quite the imagination
• Is a wonderful big sister and a great helper
• Eats Frosties (Dutch for Frosted Flakes) for breakfast almost every morning
• Likes chicken nuggets, but won't touch just chicken
• Her favorite dinner dish is rice and meatballs from Ikea
• For a treat she'll take anything chocolate and really likes Dutch marshmallows
• Most common phrases: Oh my heavens, What did you say?, Are you happy?
• Loves to talk to her daddy on the phone
• Says pretty thoughtful prayers when she's in the mood
• Has become a master at mimicking others
• Not a big fan of the TV right now
• Loves to correct Andy and I when we do something that we've corrected her about
• Can say pretty much any word, but doesn't always use more advanced words in the correct context
• Knows all her shapes and can point out things that are certain shapes (ex. that door is a rectangle)
• Can recognize about half of the alphabet
• Plays independently quite well
• Has mastered the cheesy camera smile
• Can be quite self-conscious at times and becomes embarrassed if something doesn't go her way
• Has really become quite a mommy to all her dolls since Audrey has arrived
• Does an excellent job of making Audrey laugh
• She's quite shy, but once she gets comfortable with someone she just chats away
• Recently she just randomly tells us she loves us - it's absolutely precious
• Keeps her mom and dad on their toes! :)