Swing time...

My first time in the swing and I love it!!!

Noah @ 6 months

Here is our little six month old.

Happy Halloween!

Peter Pan, a lion cub and one scary pirate...

Ben could not decide what he wanted to be for Halloween...for pictures he wanted to be a pirate, for the school parade a baseball player (Timmy Lincecum) and for Trick or Treating tonight he will be a ghost! "It is just such a hard choice", he says.

Happy Halloween everyone!

my three boys...

Not much going on here - just staying super buys with three boys.

Ben started "KinderSkor" which is a 2-year Kindergarten Program. Going to school every day has been an adjustment not just for Ben, but for all of us. Early bedtime, getting him out the door on time, making lunches, homework, paperwork, pick-ups, etc. He loves it though...especially playing tetherball during recess.

These days Ben is very much into Baseball. He is a big San Francisco Giants fan and likes to collect baseball cards. One of his favorite things to do right now is playing catch with Jim...

Joshie now goes to Children's Circle which is a little preschool here in town three mornings per week. He loves his new little 'cool' as he calls it! We CANNOT walk into the building without Joshie wearing his backpack on his back.

We are still working on potty training...we have good days and bad days, but hopefully soon we will be done.

He really likes playing in the dirt and around the house with all of his CARS cars.

Little Noah gets to go for the ride for all the school drop offs and pick ups. He is such a good sport, which makes it a whole lot easier. We are thinking he might be teething already - constanly drooling and putting his fingers in his mouth...

Noah @ 2 months

Here is Noah at 2 months (I know 3 months is only around the corner)

At his 2-month check up he weighed a healthy 15lbs and 7 ounces (6.99kg). The 'little' guy is off the chart with his weight, length and head circumference.



Some pictures of our trip to Carmel/Monterey.

Some pictures...

1-month old

Noah - 1 month old

Meet Noah

Finally able to sort through some picture and actually upload some. Things have been quite busy and hectic since the arrival of our youngest. Hard to believe that he is four weeks today. had him on the scale today an he weighs 12 lbs (5443 gr.) already. My mom is leaving tomorrow, so Monday will be my first day with three boys by myself. A little nervous, but actually looking forward to hopefully finding somewhat of a routine that will work for all of us.

Overall Noah is a good baby - although he likes to scream at the top of his lungs as soon as he has a wet diaper and will continue to do so until he is nice and dry. He wakes up once or twice at night, and does not take a whole lot of naps during the day unless he is in the car.

My two big helpers. Both very attentative. Ben is very gentle and wants to help in anyway possible. Joshie is a little rougher, but means well most of the time. He is doing a lot better compared to the first couple of weeks - such big changes.

Will try to upload some more pictures tomorrow - all depending how the day goes of course.

Two Boys...

Ben (4 1/2 yrs ) and Josh (2 1/2 yrs)

Two boys...soon to be one more (girl/boy??). I guess I'll have to change the name of my blog. This picture of them was taken about one month ago, and it seems to me they have grown again since then.
When I was trying to take this picture they were chasing each other through the house just laughing out of control. They are so similar yet so different in so many different ways.
Ben loves chocolate Joshie doesn't. Ben falls asleep instantly while Joshie takes forever. Joshie likes potatoes and Ben prefers pasta or rice. And the list goes on...but they both love playing board games and with their cars, doing crafts, wrestling, going to the park, reading books, playing sports outside with their Papa such as Hockey, Baseball, Soccer and Football.

Ben's 1st baseball game.

On Saturday we surprised Ben with his first real baseball game. We had held off telling him in case the game would get rained out or if baby arrived. I am still pregnant and the weather cooperated so Jim took him to see the San Francisco Giants play the Colorado Rockies. His uncle Bob and cousin Dan were in town and had tickets for the game.

He was so excited and could not wait to get to the ball park. Jim said the drive down was filled with a thousand and one versions of: "Are we there yet?"

Once there he watched the entire game intently while wearing his glove, asking Jim: "when can we catch a ball?" And: "When can we have candy?"

He got to enjoy a hot dog, some cotton candy (not his favorite) and some ice cream. He saw a home run and kept track of all the players' numbers. It was a short game, Giants lost 5-1, but all in all a big success! And he can't wait to go again!

5 more days...

to go until my due date.

Today I feel like time is just flying by. It was only a couple of days ago when I thought I was going to be pregnant forever. I am getting really excited to meet this new little person. Funny enough I had a fortune cookie saying that a beautiful, smart and loving person will be entering my life soon.

I get nervous and a little scared at times thinking about how it all is going to work out with another little one.

39 weeks

It's Carnaval - Alaaf!

It's Carnaval! Hope you all have lots of fun. Alaaf!

Happy Valentines

My Valentines gift from Jim. I had no clue he was working on this. I was very excited - I love it!

Prins Jim I

My nephew Jim is Prins Carnaval of his hometown in the Netherlands.

The mayor playfully handed over the reigns of the town to Prins Jim and his Secretary Tristan for this Carnavalseason , which is a festive period of time that usually takes place immediately before Lent. Lots of people will dress up or masquerade during these celebrations, and of course enjoy lots of beers and dancing and singing to carnaval music.

28 weeks

I am already 28 weeks, but it sure feels like I have an eternity to go. Actually have pulled out the totes of baby clothes and blankets to get them washed. Also did some baby shopping already - we needed to get a new crib mattress (the springs were poking through on the old one), sheets, new bottles and we probably have to get a new car seat.

Ben keeps asking when the baby is going to come out and if he is kicking a lot. And he tells

me that my belly sure is getting big. Joshie is not quite as involved, but when I ask him where the baby is - he will point to his tummy!

Me at 20 weeks...

20 weeks pregnant

Last week I reached the halfway mark of my 3rd pregnancy already. It has gone by so quickly - it almost seems like I have less time to think about being pregnant. So here is the scoop at 20 weeks: Our baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He/she's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana.

More and more I am starting to feel pregnant - I run out of breath easily, lots of heartburn (especially after I eat chocolate), difficulties with putting my shoes on, etc.

Below is a picture of the ultrasound we had done last week. It is always fun to do one of these. We had told the technician that we absolutely did not wanted to find out, but she slipped a couple of times and therefore we are thinking we will be having our third boy in a few months...three boys!

Visiting Santa...

Last week we went to go visit Santa at the mall. Ben could not wait to see him. I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would go well - our visit to Sinterklaas in Holland was quite scary for Ben. But not Santa - he walked right up to him, gave him a high-five and jumped on his lap. He right away started talking (whispering) to Santa and telling him what he would like for Christmas. He also had some questions, such as were the reindeers where while Santa was in the mall. I told him that Santa asked a local farmer to take care of them while he had work to do in the mall.

Joshie only liked Santa from a distance. He would walk by and smile at him, wave and give him a high-five. But no sitting on Santa's lap - maybe next year.

Tonight we are driving around town looking at Christmas lights and tomorrow we will be making Christmas cookies...

As Ben says: "We are getting closer and closer - only four more days until Christmas Eve and five until Christmas day!"

From Papa

Hi Guys!

Just a quick note from Papa to say I love you and I miss you! Be good for Mama and I'll see you soon.

Big hug and a kiss!
Love, Papa

Playing in the snow...

We were very excited and a little surprised to see the snow falling this weekend. Usually it does not snow until January or February, which probably why it only lasted a couple of days before melting away. Of course we had to pull out the sleds right away and do some sledding with the boys. Hard to believe a week has almost gone by. We arrived last Thursday and only have a couple of weeks left.

We celebrated Joshie's second birthay on Friday. He really liked it when everyone sang Happy Birthday and when he got to blow out the candles. Oma Vickie practised blowing out candles with him the morning prior to the party, so he knew exactly what to do.

Will try to post some more pictures tomorrow

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Happy Halloween! Ben could not wait for this day to come, and now he is counting down the hours until it is time to go trick-or-treating. Joshie is not quite sure what is going on, but he is playing along. I am sure he will pick up on trick-or-treating in no time.

Privacy, please!

Joshie needing some privacy to do his stuff...Things got very quiet and I could not find him right away and then I see these little feet and fingers sticking out.

Story Time...

Its story time for Bella. It was very cute to see how Joshie snuggled up to Bella to read one of his favorite books - upside down no less! Especially the elephant picture always seems to make quite the impression. And of course we cannot read without holding onto a garbage truck.

Soccer.

Ben's first soccer practice. He was so excited to go and very proud to be on an actual team, to wear cleats, to have a soccer coach. He could not wait to find out if the coach would have a whistle, who would all be on his team, and to actually score some goals. After practice it was clear that he was more than ready to join this team, so we signed him up for the whole class. He became the proud owner of his own soccer jersey, which I had to hide or else he would be wearing it day and night.

While his big brother was playing soccer, Joshie made the rounds to all the parents who had snacks out. I am positive this guy ate for an whole hour non-stop. Next time I will have to go prepared and take the whole pantry!

Baby No. 3

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I know it has been quite some time, and hopefully I will find time to post more often again. Took some pictures today at Ben's first soccer practice, which I will share soon. He had so much fun and I was really excited to see how well he did. Usually in a new environment he gets really shy and somewhat scared, but today he was comfortable right from the start.

Comeback Monday...

I believe it has been close to three months since I last made a monday post. I just could not find the time to sit down and put these together. This last weekend was one of the first weekends in a long time that we were just home with no plans whatsoever. Funny thing you would think we would just rest and relax, but instead we got so much accomplished around the house.

1. Our neighbor's new puppy Koa. They adopted him from a rescue shelter in Arkansas.
2. Our new favorite salad - springmix lettuce, chunks of apple, feta cheese, walnuts carmalized in butter and worchester sauce tossed in Champagne dressing.
3. Our newly stained retaining wall. One of the projects that Jim worked on this weekend. He comes home from the Home Depot Saturday morning and he tells me he bought everything he needs to stain the retaining wall, we just need to pick out a color. I seriously thought he meant paint brushes, rollers, etc...come to find out he actually bought himself a paintgun. Of course he had the biggest grin of his face! He could not wait to get started.
4. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. The book I am currently reading. Really like it too!
5. This one is for Nana and Grandpap. We found the powerwasher. It was stored away nicely on one of the shelves in our garage. I have had a funny feeling all along we still had this. Thank you for letting us use it!
6. Another project Jim worked on this weekend. He painted our awning, of course using his paint gun. Although I think by the end of the day the novelty of the new power tool had worn off. I am glad he did it though, because our backyard has a completely different feel to it now...so much warmer and cozier.
7. Joshie playing peek-a-boo.
8. Croqs. Not the most flattering shoe, but they are so comfortable and that's what important to me.
9. Jim's assistant. He wants to help Papa out in every way he can. He was quite dissapointed this weekend because for the most part he could not help. There was definitely some complaining that he wanted Papa to be done painting.

That's it for now...Happy Monday!

Joke of the Day

Ben has been telling us jokes lately and every day it is a different one.

Ben: "Do you want to hear a joke?"
Me: "Sure"
Ben: "How does a bird sit on a TV?"
Me: "How?"
Ben: "I don't know!"

Of course I laugh, because the way he says it is funny and that he is actually trying to tell a joke. I might have to look into getting him a book with appropriate jokes for kids his age.

More Tahoe pictures.

Just click on the following links for some more pictures of our recent trip to Lake Tahoe.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EaN3Dls1cvPA&emid=sharview&linkid=link2

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOWrhy2cNGXl&emid=sharshar&linkid=link2

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

We spent our Fourth of July weekend with our friends up in Lake Tahoe at Ken & Darcy's house. Darcy is an old college friend of Jim's and so are Alexandra and Halle. All have a family of four, which makes for 8 adults and 8 kids.

We got there on Wednesday and before we knew it we were back on the road home again on Sunday. We spent a couple of days on the beach, kayaked, played in the cold cold water, celebrated two birthdays, played some cards, talked a lot, drank some bloody marys and some wine, beer and other alcholic beverages, enjoyed some delicious meals...all this while entertaining 8 kids. Actually they did a lot of self entertaining. You can totally tell they all are getting older and are less needy. Can't wait for next year!

Ben's favorite part of the trip. Kayaking with his Papa on Lake Tahoe.

I wish...

Right now I wish...

• I was scrapbooking with Nicole at Scrapbook Plus.
• I was at home to watch the Dutch play against the Russians tomorrow...I love the atmosphere during European and World Soccer Championships in the Netherlands - of course that is when the Dutch are still in the game. I hope they win, but then I will really wish I was there. My two little nephews would be besides themselves as a lot of other Dutchies will be!
• I could have my scale read the weight I have been trying to reach. Eat less, exercise more...right?
• that our house was spic-and-span and no chores needed to be done.
• I was playing volleyball. I have played now a couple of times these last couple of weeks and I am really enjoying it. Actually thinking about joining a league.
• it was tomorrow morning already and we would be on our way down to the Oakland Zoo knowing Ben and Josh will have so much fun not only seeing all the animals but also spending time with their Nana and Grandpap.

Be sure to check back on Monday for my Monday posts...hopefully!!!

Europe - part 5

Okay, so here is the final post of our trip.

1. My cousin Katrin and her boyfriend Martin who live in Vienna - they make a very cute couple. Having them as tourguides made such a difference. And being able to spent some time with them made this trip extra special.
2. Horse and Carriage Rides in Vienna. Very expensive, but worthwhile. We got to see the old city sights to the clopping of horse hooves on cobblestone. I really liked it, because it was early in the morning and a little chilly, but we were nice and cozy under a blanket. And it was relaxing not to have to worry about traffic or wondering if we were going in the right directions.
3. Us in the horse and carriage ride.
4. Homemade apfelstrudel by Katrin...delicious!
5. Beer and Wienerschnitzel at "Zu den 2 Lieserln". Seriously the best Wienerschnitzel I have ever had.
6. David, Katrin's younger brother, who also lives in Vienna. We got to meet up with him for lunch at the Naschmarkt and some sightseeing.
7. Checking out the sights of the University of Vienna - such a beautiful campus, with a lot of charm.


8. Overlooking the Donau, which was definetly not blue like mentioned in the title of the famous waltz by Johan Strauss, An der schönen, blauen Donau (By the Beautiful Blue Danube). Actually just downloaded this piece for my Ipod - always enjoy listening to this.
9. Just one of the many pictures we have of Vienna's many statues.

My favorite part of the trip was visiting Schloss Schönbrunn.

The castle itself, the gardens, the views - everything was just stunning. The history was very interesting, especially the time Sissi - the Empress of Austria - lived here. Growing up I must have watched this romantic trilogy of Sissi hundreds of times . Let's just say so many times that I pretty much know the dialogue by heart. Anyway, because of this it was fun to see it all in person. Although I knew the movie was a glorified version of her life, going there was a real eye opener and realizing her life was actually quite sad.

And a couple of videos to give you a better perspective...

Nicole's visit

I know I am not done yet posting about our trip back home, which I am hoping to wrap up tomorrow when the boys go down for their nap. But I have to post this awesome video Nicole made of our time together while she was visiting. Once again she did such an amazing job putting this together and I cannot help myself watching it over and over again.
I do have to you warn you that it is quite long, but if you want to and have time to do so check it out and you will see how much fun we had.

Europe - part 4

1. A free dinner out for just us four. Our parents and Inge & Roy had gift certificates for "De Potkachel"
2. French fries and mayo in a cone. A 'must have' for when you are in Holland.
3. Bikes - you see a lot of those. Reminded me of how I would bike to school and work on a daily basis.
4. Ben's first train ride. He was so excited to he got to go on a train, and give his ticket to the conductor.
5. Feeding the duckies. Ben actually did feed the bread to them, but Joshie decided to eat it himself.
6. Took a couple trips to Maastricht for some shopping and to pick up our travel arrangements for Vienna.
7. Taking a break.
8. We were quite surprised to see Joshie sleeping. He usually never takes naps in the stroller.
9. Enjoying an ice cream cone, one of the many ones we had while we were there. Joshie caught on fairly quick what they were and now he wants one for his own all the time, which gets quite messy.

Only one more post after this one...all about Vienna!

Bringing Bella home

We are on our way to go get our Bella girl. She has been with my brother Mark, who lives up in Portland, for almost a month now. My brother is so kind to meet us at Mt. Shasta, so we do not have to drive all the way up to Portland. It made our vacation so much better knowing our dog was in good hands and was having fun at the same time. I am sure she will be missing him and his dog Sue.

We decided to stay overnight, spend some time with my brother and do some sightseeing while we are up there. Should be fun...Will be back tomorrow!

Europe - part 3

All these pictures were taken on May 1st, the day of Mike's communion.

1. Family picture - it sure is hard trying to get a nice picture with two young ones. The either don't sit or stand still, don't want to look into the camera, make funny faces, fake smiles, etc. Out of the 30 pictures my mom took this was the only somewhat decent one.
2. Mike in the parade on his way into the church. The red hair boy next to him is Stan, my cousin's Rickey youngest son.
3. My sister Inge and her husband Roy and oldest son Jim after the ceremony.
4. My cousin Rickey and her daughter Britt. She was so helpful with our kids. If we lived closed she would be our babysitter for sure. She did such a great jobs with the boys.
5. One of the many attempts to get a family picture.
6. My mom and dad, who will be celebrating their 37th wedding annivesary next month.
7. Mike cutting his Communion Cake. Now, Nicole - doesn't that look good?????
8. My great aunt tante Annie and my cousin Madeleine. It was nice being able to spend some time with them.
9. My brother's kids Jayla and Roman, who decided he did not wanted to pose for the camera after all.

Europe - Part 2

1. Jayla's 4th birthday party. She is such a sweet little girl. A little shy at first, but warms up quickly. She likes to help with chores, make you tea and coffee, play nurse, draw pretty pictures, pick flowers.


2. Ben likes cake...any cake, but especially strawberry cake.


3. Soccer. Both Inge's boys play soccer and needless to say Ben got even more into it while we were there.


4. The end of another busy day. Here are the boys after bath, brushing their teeth in Oma's bed.


5. A very happy boy. Here is Ben and his Papa, the day after Jim arrived.


6. Ben on Koninginnedag. Ben took great care in decorating his scooter in the Dutch colors for the parade. Once he got comfortable with the crowd, Ben had a blast! With a marching band, 80 kids on bikes with streamers and baloons and a jumpy house waiting for him at the end, it doesn't get any better for Ben.
   
7. After one of the few rainshowers we had during this trip we spied a rainbow. Ben's first and of course he loved it! We took this picture from the car and I really like how it turned out.
   
8. The band - with Roy leading the way.
   
9. Tulips. Jim took this picture at the farmer's market in Maastricht. It's a huge market in the square that gets so crowded you can barely walk through the rows. They have piles of Tulips for sale in all different colors.
   

Europe - part 1

We took a lot of pictures while we were back home and in Vienna, so I will braking it up in several different post. Here is part 1!

1. Our little world traveler. He has his own Worldperk account and on this trip he got to add quite a lot of miles. He was a true champ on both flight. He was so ecxited to fly, check out the airport, check and claim luggage, showing his passport and boarding ticket. It was quite and experience for this little guy. I do have to say the DVD player was a big success!
2. Our first dinner in Holland. Oma's homemade zuurvlees (typical dutch meal from the area I grew up) with french fries and mayo. Joshie was all into dipping his fries into mayo or ketchup.
3. Jim, my sister's oldest son at 10 years.
4. Roman, my brother's Alfons son at 2 years.
5. Mike, my sister's youngest son at 7 1/2 years.
6. Jayla, my brother's Alfons daughter at 4 years.
7. Playing at the local park in Schin op Geul, the town where I grew up.
8. Celebrating Jim's 10th birthday. Hard to believe he is already ten. He is the first baby of our family. I remember so well when he was a baby, I had so much fun with him.
9. Sjuulke, Jim and Mike's little bunny. The boys were really interested in him. Whenever he was out of his cage Josh would constantly follow him and talk to him. No idea what he was saying, though!

More pictures to come soon!

Two monkeys in the bed.

While getting reading for nap time I caught these two monkeys jumping in Joshie's bed. More and more they are starting to play with eachother and make eachother laugh. Really cute to see. However they are also starting to fight and get in eachother way more and more. Jim and I almost sound like a broken record when we are telling them to share and play nicely. It seems like Josh only wants to do what Ben is doing, so we do make sure that Ben gets his own uninterupted playtime. He usually goes upstairs in the hallway and plays with his garbage truck and makes sure all the gates are closed so Joshie cannot get to him.

We are home!

Finally getting back into the swing of things. Three weeks sounds so long, but for me they went by super fast. I could have easily stayed a little bit longer and I would have if I did not have a job waiting for me. Even the boys would have been fine with it too...they were having fun with their cousins.

Since I am not ready yet to make a post about our trip, please check out my cousin's Katrin blog. She wrote about our visit to Vienna and posted even more pictures right here. Thank you, Katrin!

Servus aus Wien!

We made it to Vienna today. We are really excited to be here and to explore the city. Right now we are at my cousin's Katrin appartment and are about to try her Apfelstrudel. I am sure it will tastes as good as it looks. Will post more soon!

We are here!

We made it! It definitely was a long flight. Ben was a true champ and Joshie was a handfull, but overall it went fairly well. Joshie had two melt downs, but was able to sleep for the majority of the flight. I sure was relieved to see my sister to have an extra set of hands to help out. We are still getting used to the time difference but at the same time having lots of fun.