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!
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! 
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.
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. 
