Travis, Jessica, Kaelan and Colette

December before the USA

2012-01-30T23:36:00.001+08:00

Not sure if we did this right but here is how Sinterklass visited our house!

We left our shoes by the fire place and Sinterklass left a few presents and chocolate letters. The Zwarte Pieten left a few pepernoten scattered around and the horse even took a bite out of the huge carrot.

It seemed to work because the kids were happy!

Kaelan's Birthday celebration at School
He got to be the train engineer as all the kids sat around in a circle while they listened to a train song. Then he got to dance in the middle of the circle with a friend.

He put 3 candles on the cake and after we all sang he got to pass out the treats he brought for the class. Train shaped sugar cookies.

The birthday boy/girl always gets to open the gate for the mom's to come in at the end of the day! Travis, Colette and I got to share in the festivities.

Aachen Christmas Market
We barely fit it in but we made it to a Christmas market in Germany!
It was beautiful, cold, yummy, crowded and fun! We were glad we did it but next year we will be sure to go in late November...it was crowded!

Travis enjoying some gluhewine. A hot, sweet wine which is a must, along with the fresh ginger bread, if you go to a German market.

Mums and Tots Christmas Party
Coco's second visit with Santa in 2011. She didn't like it as much this time around.

Now that Kaelan realizes Santa brings presents, he is getting a little more tolerant of the jolly old fellow!

We lost this one at the party and Kaelan was soon to follow in the car.
Sign of a great party.

Kaelan is 3 years old!

2011-12-13T17:09:00.001+08:00

We had a Thomas the Train themed party and Kaelan was a big help with all the preparations!

As you can see, the theme colors are blue (Thomas), Red (James) and Green (Percy)

We gave all the kids a red bandana and hat like Kaelan has on and Coco even got to be an engineer too!

This is Kaelan's present from us. He is so good with his pedal less bike we thought it was time to try pedals. He has figured it out but it might be awhile before we can take the training wheels off.

Kaelan and friends enjoying some Mac and Cheese!
We can't get it here so when my Mom and I drove to Antwerp we bought some at the American store.

Opening presents

We had his party on the Saturday before his bday but on Monday, his bday, this is what he did! He was playing in his room and hit the bedpost. He cut it really deep so I took him to our neighbors (a retired GP! We are so lucky to have them next door!) and he called the hospital and used his position to get us in. Unless you are dying, it is really hard to go to the emergency room and get treatment in any reasonable time! Plus you have to call in advanced and we can't understand the menu options in Dutch! So we got there and got treated all in about 45 mins! They had to glue him back together. Too bad because he can't brag about how many stitches he had...glue is just not as cool!

This was 3 days later after we took the bandage off. He got a shiner too!

Santa...not Sinterklaas

2011-12-12T01:56:00.001+08:00

We drove south to Valkenburg to a Christmas market they have in a velvet cave, a really big cave the Catholics used for an underground mass during the oppression. And we found Santa, even before Sinterklaas had gotten on his boat to go back to Spain! Since it was Colette's first Christmas and Santa experience we had to get a photo and, as you can see, she did great. We wanted to take Kaelan's too but he sensed danger! He still has a love/hate relationship with the men in red!

Sinterklaas came to town!

2011-12-04T22:13:00.001+08:00

Every year, mid November, Sinterklass (No this is NOT Santa!) comes to Holland. He stays for 2 weeks or so and then on the evening of Dec. 5th he leaves sweet treats and presents for the children in their shoes to find on the morning of Dec. 6th. We have seen him and his Zwarte Pieten (these are like Santa's elves only VERY different!) all over our village and around the Netherlands.

It is a significant Dutch holiday, unfortunately even bigger than Christmas, and they are one of the only European countries who REALLY celebrate Sinterklass (they all used to to some extent).

He arrives to the Netherlands by boat (barge) coming from his beautiful home in Spain where he and all his Zwarte Pieten live together. In the Dutch towns that live on the sea or the canals, which there are a lot in these low lands!, he rides his white horse off the barge to all the eagerly waiting children who are singing Sinterklaas songs and cheering wildly. The "Mayor" of the town welcomes him to stay in the village where he and his Pieten will then make surprise appearances at schools and all over town.

The children dress up like the Zwarte Pieten on the day Sint arrives in November and you see them in costume until Dec. 6th.

Here they are! So different from elves!

There is quite a history, a little confused about where they come from and why they are black, about the Pieten. They bring with them Kruidnoten, little spice biscuits, they pass out to all the children. They used to carry a bag where they would put the bad children and beat them with a broom and then possibly carry them back to Spain. (Learned this on Wikipedia!)

Love this one!

Cracked me up when I saw that most of them had very dutch blue eyes!

Travis and Coco had to stay at the back, away from the wild crowds.

Kman and I fought to the very front where he could climb on the fence to see all the action.

He has a love, hate relationship with Sinterklaas and the Pieten, as he does with Santa!

Sinterklaas came to school and he loved the Kruidnoten, or pepernoten as the kids call them, and was so excited to tell me about it but hid behind me when Sint and Piet came out into the lobby to say hi to Coco!

Here is more info on Sinterklaas if you are interested.

Travis would REALLY like you to see this satirical version, by David Sadaris, on youtube. It is hilarious and true...in a very funny way! Click here to see the first part of 3 segments. Make sure you watch all 3!

Christmas Photos

2011-12-04T19:42:00.001+08:00

My Baby Doll!

2011-11-29T04:51:00.001+08:00

Thomas the Train

2011-11-24T04:17:00.001+08:00

Thomas came to the Netherlands!
Actually Kaelan thought we went to the Island of Sodor and we didn't argue.

He spent a lot of time examining this train

It had 2 engines, one on either side, and they had to give them oil on every stop.

Reminded me of the Tin man!

Yeah! He got to ride!

Then we all rode on one of Thomas' friends to go to another train station where there were more activities.

Even a Thomas bouncy house!

He finished the day as a tired boy with a very cool painted face and lots of fun memories!

Monschau, Germany

2011-11-18T19:31:00.001+08:00

We took a long weekend to drive to this cute little Medieval town in Germany.
Such a cute little village

The Red house

Kaelan loves churches! He always insists we go in them whenever he sees one. In this one he walked right up to the rack of Bibles, took it to the kneeling bench to sit down and read it.

A perfectly quaint, little village!

Coco spent a lot of time in this backpack.
It was cold too! 4 Celsius and below and this was in October!

This castle looms over the village. The village is down in a ravine along the river.

We are hiking up the road to the castle.

We made it!

We celebrated the October Birthdays while Mom and Jeff were here.
All mom wanted was to go to Germany during Octoberfest and drink a beer!
She got her wish!

Jeff likes them dark!

You can't really tell but this dog was huge! He belonged to the hotel and spent most of the time in the lobby. Kaelan didn't quite know what to think of him, especially after the dog was playfully chasing him and knocked Kaelan's shoe off.

Side trips

2011-11-14T03:27:00.001+08:00

This is the only US WWII cemetery in the Netherlands.
It was beautiful and very moving.
Have to give my mom the credit for finding this one.

IDAHO
We found 2 men from Idaho.

Kaelan enjoyed running through the cemetery.
I'm pretty sure all these guys would love to know that kids are enjoying the cemetery too...and there was hardly anyone there so we weren't being disrespectful (that was for all of you that were tsk tsking us!)

This tree couldn't be missed in the entry!
So beautiful!

The next week we headed northwest to a national park that has 1700 free white bikes for use in the park.

We first discovered it when Grandpa and Grandma Custer were here and had to come back!

Kaelan rode half the trip behind Mammy and the rest behind Papa!
He is heavy!

Beautiful Fall!

Can you tell I missed seasons?
I have so many pictures of the trees changing. It's as if I hadn't see Fall for years!

The original owners of the property, that is now the National park, had this hunting lodge built in the early 1900's. As with every church/castle/ home built before the 20th century, the owners/builders only lived there for a few years before they died.

You can't see it very well but Colette actually rode in her car seat strapped in a contraption behind my bike. She slept like a baby, as she should!

Kinderdijk

2011-11-11T19:15:00.001+08:00

This was one of the worst weather days we had when my parents were here and it just happened to be sunny when we drove into the park. The crazy weather made the photos amazing! I love the clouds!

Christmas Card shot!

Love Coco's smile here! You look good too Papa!

This is my favorite! We still had sun but the clouds were coming!

Mammy and Papa came to town!

2011-11-08T22:40:00.001+08:00

We rode the train to Amsterdam to pick them up, this is in Schipol.

Mammy and Papa came to visit us at the end of October and we had a really great time playing, riding bikes, playing, touring Holland, playing, trips to Germany and Belgium and, did I mention, playing? Kaelan would not let them rest! He was in their room at 7am sharp, Sister would come in shortly after, and they would watch Thomas in bed for a few minutes. Then he would drag them downstairs to play trains, monster (hide and seek, of sorts), cars, swing, ride bikes out back, play trucks in the yard, etc, etc. I'm sure they are glad to be home now just so they can rest! Boy was it nice for Travis and me!

I know...it's sideways but I have spent many, many minutes trying to fix it and it's not a normal rotate!
Anyways, Mom and Jeff in front of the beautiful church in our village.

Mom and I took 3 bike rides around the outskirts of our village. We would have taken more but time goes quick!

One small example of how Kaelan took advantage of every minute he had with them!

Mammy pushing Coco around on the trike

More playing! Colette can make demands too! Mammy taught her to drum. Metal on metal...great...
Coco was practicing her Halloween look!

Yes another one on it's side!
Wooden shoes at the hardware store. These are for real!

Helping the kids bathe. This is our new technique!

Mammy and Papa bought Colette a swing for her Christmas present! We already have a swing set and Kaelan uses it all the time so now Coco can swing too. Brilliant idea!

Travis is usually the one to swing with Kalean. He takes him out after work while I make dinner. So now he can take them both!

Yep, she LOVES it! No fear what so ever!

Poop Snake

2011-11-07T04:54:00.004+08:00

We’ve been working to get Kaelan potty trained for a whilenow and to be honest, he hasn’t been too interested. We’ve tried to bribe him with treats forgoing potty in the toilet but when given the option between a piece of candy orthe convenience of dropping a load in his diaper, he’ll typically select thelatter. To try something new, we decidedto take Kaelan to the toy store and let him select two toys and these toyswould be rewards for using the toilet. After much time examining all possible toys in the store, Kaelan finallyselected two. We took the toys heselected home, we wrapped them up, and we put together a “potty chart” soKaelan could track and monitor his progress toward opening his first “pottytoy.” Three successful poo’s and 5 pee pee’s in the toilet and he’ll get toopen one of his new toys. It’s amazinghow much more interest he’s shown and in fact, last night he cried because hecould not make himself go pee or poo and check off one box toward his firstpotty toy.

I only share this background because it relates directlyto the events that disturbed our peaceful home this evening. Jess had just finished putting Colette to bedwhile I was giving Kaelan a bath. Jesswas busy doing laundry just outside the bathroom door so I took the opportunityto slip downstairs quickly while Kaelan continued to play in the tub. I had barely reached the bottom of the stairswhen I heard a squeal, some splashing, and stomping of feet. I turned and sprinted back up the stairsconcerned Kaelan had possibly slipped trying to get out of the bathtub on hisown. As I rounded the corner toward thebathroom, I’m greeted by Jessica and the only words out of her mouth are,“you’re cleaning that up!” I peek insidethe door to see Kaelan wide eyed, naked, and standing in the middle of thebathroom dripping wet. “What happened?”I asked innocently. “You can’t see it?”Jessica asked me incredulously. I take asecond look into the tub just as the bubbles begin to part and I see exactlywhat Jessica was talking about. Kaelanmust have seen the horror on my face and he too cautiously peered over the edgeof the tub to see what all the fuss was about. Lying silently on the bottom of the bathtub was a giant turd easilymeasuring more than 12 inches long! Kaelan looked up at me and said, “it’s a poop snake.” No son, that was a poop python.

And so, the potty training continues…

Halloween in Holland

2011-11-03T22:17:00.001+08:00

We went to a harvest party put on by the North American Women's Association and we had a really good time!

Coco had 2 costumes this year!

She was a ladybug for the Harvest Party and a pumpkin (an outfit that Nathanael, Eli, Kaelan and Colette have all worn) for the Mums and Tots play group party.

Kman was a train engineer and loved every minute!

Coco's Tattoo

Kaelan had his face painted and a Tattoo. Anything with a train makes him happy!

They both received little awards for their costumes! Thanks Meredith! Kaelan even received a medal.

These two were born on the same day! Can you believe it? Kaelan was always so huge I'm not used to having such a little one! She is filling my need for a baby a lot longer than Kaelan ever would have!

Kaelan was determined to wrap this man up like a mummy and the man had an infinite amount of patience! Then Kaelan wrapped me up like a mummy with the help of his friend. His friend said to me, "I'm going to wrap you up like a mummy." Kaelan looked at him and thought a minute before he looked at me and said, "I'm going to wrap you up like a daddy!" Ha ha! He cracks me up all the time!

Daddy and Coco were in charge of our car for Trunk or Treat while Kman and I did some trick or treating!

Shipment from the USA!

2011-10-13T01:57:00.004+08:00

It took 3 months but we finally got our shipment from the US in September. Our house is finally complete and we love it! Here are some of my favorites that came in that 8'X5' box!

#1- Coco's room!

I purchased all her bedding, rug, changing pad, mobile, etc. in the US and was so excited to see how it turned out. Love it!

#2-Our bikes!

The day before the packers came, my Mom and I went to George's and bought everything we needed to bike with kids in the Netherlands. Travis called and after he had been here for a few weeks he decided two things. First, we can't fit in in the Netherlands if we don't have bikes and second, they are cheaper in the US. So I did it all, with the help of my mom's opinion and Leroy and his big truck, we got them home just in time to get packed away. I LOVE biking! I go at least 3 times a week just for fun and once or twice more for necessity. Even when it rains. The kids and I went out this afternoon for an hour ride and I was soaked when I got back but they were cozy and we were all happy!

Oops! Not sure why this is in the line up! It didn't come in the shipment but we bought a car here. We already had a VW passat wagon leased through the company. Travis really speaks highly of this car and I like it now too after figuring out how to drive a manual. So when we looked for our 2nd car we ended up with a VW golf, same color as the passat. Ugh. The color is not what we were hoping but we like the car!

#3 Our bedding

We changed banks while we were in the US this summer and had to close the credit card attached to the old bank. Since we were overseas, we had accumulated tons of points we never spent! Enough to buy this entire set, plus down comforter, from Pottery Barn! Who knew, Pottery Barn could be FREE! We needed winter weather bedding so this worked out perfect.

#4- Kman's big boy bed!

It took him 3 nights of having both the new and old beds in his room before he was willing to try it out. Now he sleeps like a champ and seems to really like being a big boy...at least in this!

Apple picking

2011-10-03T22:24:00.004+08:00

We spent one Saturday morning in September picking apples and came home with 20kg of apples and pears. They were so good and it was such a wonderful day. I love fall!

Travis got the thump test down and we ended up with perfectly crisp apples! Kaelan just wanted to eat them as he picked.

Coco and I got a few but we were assigned to picture taking.

YUMMY!

What did we do with 20KG of apples. Well...we ate them raw because they were so good! I made 2 apple crisps for visitors, apple sauce, apple puree for Coco, and waldorf salad. ANd I'm not even sick of apples...I think Travis is though!

And we got pears too!

We were not familiar with this variety so we only got 10kg but they were as good as or better than Bosc pears.

We ate a lot of these raw, made some pear sauce, puree for Coco but the best was the curry butternut squash and pear soup! Travis is not a soup eater but he got another bowl of this for his late night snack and he even was glad to have it for leftovers the next night. It was so good that I already have 2 more butternut squash waiting for me to buy MORE pears! Recipe below if you are interested.

2011-10-03T22:04:00.006+08:00

I'm not sure you understand what I mean when I say everyone has a bike in this country! See how many rode their bikes to apple picking...somewhere far out in the country. So cool!

Funny thing about this event is that they only had it on 3 days in September. Still so much fun.

This man had his 2 sheep dogs demonstrating sheep herding.

We had lunch afterwards at the Pancake house where the orchard is and Kaelan found the playground.

Colette didn't get to play at the playground but she had fun hanging out with Mommy and Daddy doing her cave man face. Kaelan did/does the funny face and Coco does cave man. Pretty cute.

curried butternut squash and pear soup

yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (2 pound) butternut squash

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

2 firm ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored,

and cut into 1 inch dice

1/2 cup half and half

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.	Cut squash in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membrane. Place squash halves, cut sides down, on the prepared baking sheet. Roast in preheated oven until very soft, about 45 minutes. Scoop the pulp from the peel, and reserve.
3.	Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, and salt. Cook and stir until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Pour the chicken broth into the pot, and bring to a boil. Stir in the pears and the reserved squash, and simmer until the pears are very soft, about 30 minutes.
4.	Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender. Puree in batches until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the half and half, and reheat.

Keeping Up with Kaelan

2011-09-13T04:25:00.000+08:00

First day of pre-school! I must admit that I was a bit nervous for him to start. I was nervous partly because he's attending a local Dutch school where everything will be communicated and taught in Dutch. I didn't want him to become shy or frustrated due to not being able to communicate with the other kids. And, if I'm being totally honest, I was partly sad because I pretty much viewed it as if he were leaving for college!!! My cute little baby boy is growing up too fast!

Kaelan is attending school now two days a week. 2 hours every Monday afternoon and 3 hours every Thursday morning. We've been trying to teach him that the kids may not understand him because they speak a different language and we've even taught him simple words like "dank je wel" (thank you) and "alstublieft" (you're welcome). Well, it seems to have worked because when I picked him up from school after his first day, one of the teachers approached me to compliment me on how polite Kaelan was that day. She said he was constantly telling the teacher's "dank je wel" and "astublieft." Kids are so smart!

On Kaelan's third day of school, the teacher approached me again to share what Kaelan had done that day. Apparently they were teaching the kids words by reading a book with site words in it. It was essentially a book with select images to replace the corresponding word and each time the image would appear in the story, something simple such as a spoon, or dog, they would ask the kids to say it together out loud. According to his teacher, each time an image would appear, Kaelan would shout out the Dutch word and then quickly turn to the children around him with his hand held high saying, "high five!" I'm not sure if Dutch two year olds know what "high five" means but they sure will once Kaelan's done with them. =)

Clearly, Kaelan is pretty excited about this new found language. Just the other afternoon, we decided to head to the village center for lunch and it turned out there was an open market taking place that day and lots of kids activities were available. We stopped to have lunch in a place where we could watch Kaelan play. I noticed that he started to get into a little squabble with another child as they both fought for position on some play blocks. I went over to them and it turns out this little girl was not "listening" to Kaelan's requests and I had to remind him that she may not respond because she doesn't speak any English and either way, he still shouldn't start pushing anyone. To this, Kaelan replied, "you mean she speaks Dutch like me?"

Hah, hah, I guess in his own mind he's practically fluent now that he can say "thank you," "you're welcome" and some simple words like dog and spoon in Dutch! Too cute!

A couple weeks back, we went for a walk together through one of the many forests scattered across the countryside near our house. On our walk, we stumbled across this gnome that had been placed randomly next to one of the paths. Kman thought it was just great so we had to stop for a photo op!

Hair Cut time! Clearly, Kaelan is not a big fan of getting his hair cut but it just had to go!

As many of you know, Travis is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to mowing the lawn. Lines must be straight. He must alternate mowing directions each week. Edges must be trimmed. Well, when young kids are involved, such precision sometimes must go out the window. Kaelan loves mowing the lawn with daddy and as you can see, Travis mowed some squiggly lines all through the lawn for Kaelan to follow. Now, of course, Kaelan asks for it each week when they mow the lawn together. Hah hah, there go the straight lines for the foreseeable future!

2011-09-13T03:39:00.000+08:00

One nice thing about living here in Holland is the availability of fresh berries. We still miss our fresh mangos, papaya, etc. from Singapore but as Kaelan has discovered, berries not only taste good, but they fit conveniently on your finger tips too!

Success! 5 fingers, 5 Raspberries!

Kaelan has also discovered the joys of having a back yard. He can get dirty, play with his trucks, swing, and just simply be a boy. He better enjoy it while he can because the rainy season will soon be upon us!

The Adventures of Colette!

2011-09-11T02:30:00.001+08:00

I have gotten a little behind on my blogging, easy to do nowadays, so here's what Coco has been up to over the last month or so. More on Kman to come so don't think she is my favorite, although she is my favorite little girl!

She eats!
She had her first "real" food a couple days before she turned 6 months. We wanted to do it while G and G were here to help cheer her on! She has been so eagerly watching us eat for the last month that we knew she was ready. She loved being a big girl! Her first food was avocado but now, 3 weeks later, she has had home made rice ceral and oatmeal cereal, banana, yogurt and her favorite is sweet potato. It was a bit of a novelty at first but now I think she can take it or leave it, except the sweet potatoes of course!

Look at the cheering sqaud!
K was around there too somewhere.
Daddy fed Kaelan his first meal so he had the honors with Colette too.

She sits!
This picture was taken on the first day I felt I could legitimately say she sits, August 15th, a week shy of her 6 month bday. She had been sitting for some days before this but would fall quite regularly but on this occasion, and then after, she sat for about 3 mintues without falling. Now she is a pro but I still get scared and have to put the boppy around her!

2011-09-11T02:14:00.001+08:00

Colette Turns 6 months August 23rd!

She is finally sleeping at night! We did some sleep training and it worked right away, as it did with Kman but she still cries EVERY time I put her to bed. My theory is, since she never ( I almost mean this literally) cries during the day, she needs to cry when she winds down to sleep. It's usually on for a few minutes but breaks my heart every time. She really is the sweetest little thing. She loves to cuddle and is happy whatever she is doing but is most content when she is on your lap hanging out. It has been interesting seeing her personality coming through. So far very laid back so we will see if that sticks around!

2011-09-10T23:05:00.003+08:00

I was in a hurry to get dinner done before Travis made it home but it was Coco's dinner time too. I gave her this thing (not sure what it is exactly but meant for baby food!) with a banana in it and she loved it! Maybe she is a little too young to be feeding herself but she was sure proud!

Mammy, my mom, is a cowgirl and is starting Coco off young! These are a couple of the outfits she found at the cowboy store. Did you notice the bloomers are real wranglers!

Super Chic!

I couldn't pick my favorite facial expression so I decided to include them all. Kaelan loves to put these flowery head bands on her that Violet gave her.

She loved the Balloon festival!

What a sweet baby girl. God really blessed us with this little one. I often think back to my pregnancy when I wondered how I could possibly love another baby like I do Kaelan. Wow! Coco sure makes that easy. My heart is overflowing when I think about her. She is a special little girl.

The flood!

2011-09-09T20:38:00.002+08:00

The day after Leroy and Barb left for the US we had 2 major rain storms come through in one day! This was the result. These pics are from our driveway and balcony!

The best part is that the bikers don't quit! Even in the biggest rain showers I have ever seen they are still out riding like nothing is new. There were bikes going right through the middle of the road, just like the cars, but I didn't get any good pics. This lady was sitting on our drive deciding what to do!

Finally after about tons cars drove through a little black car stalled and didn't move for 45 minutes. This made things interesting as cars had to pass it going both ways and no one dared to stop fearing they may stall too!

They finally closed the road after about 2 hours and the little car got some help.
I love fun weather!

Remember the flood in Singapore Laura and I experienced?

Miss you girl!

This one was a little worse, deeper anyways but the one here stayed around a lot longer.

I have seen some wet weather!

Brabantse Ballon Festeen!

2011-09-09T20:25:00.000+08:00

We made it to Brabant's Balloon Festival last weekend. So cool but nothing comapred to what we have seen in the USA. (Check out Kelly's blog for great Photos!) This was different for many reasons. It is done in the evening. The event started at 4 each day and the balloons take off at 6:30-7pm. There are only about 20-25 balloons and there was only one real character balloon, the car below. It was held on the grounds of a beautiful Monastery/Convent only about a 5 minute drive from our house. If our shipment had arrived we would have rode our bikes. But I won't get started on that since it has only been 3 months since I shipped the container and it has been in this country for 1 month! Oops, tangent. And finally, there were all kinds of fun things for Kaelan to do before the balloons took off. A carousel, bouncy houses, a crane ride (yes, a real construction crane. They have this at all the events we have been too!), a huge mound of sand ( 20-30 feet high) with 2 slides and a tunnel through the middle. He was a mess but we all had a great time!

The Nissan

Best part was watching the Nuns peek their heads over the hedge to see the festivities! Only in Europe and I love it!

Brugges, Belgium

2011-09-03T16:43:00.000+08:00

We took a 3 day weekend trip to Brugges while Grandpa and Grandma were here. I still have a lot to see in Europe but I'm pretty sure this is one of my favorite European towns! Such a beautiful, medieval city.

The Beffroi
This is the symbol of Brugges

The lake of love

2011-09-03T16:36:00.001+08:00

We took a boat ride on the canals right when we got to town. It was beautiful.
Colin Farrell jumped out of the window of the hotel right in the middle on the left side of the canal in the movie called "In Brugges". It is a dark British comedy all in Brugges. Not my favorite movie.

We walked to the outskirts of town where we found some windmills.
Even in Belgium you can find windmills!

Chruch of our Lady
Notre Dame de Brugges
In this church is Michelangelo's sculpture of the Madonna and Child

Minus Belgian waffles, here are all the things Belguim is famous for and we sampled everything, of course! The chocolate was my favorite but they also have great Mussels, Fries, Beer and Waffles.

Coco's frist trip!

2011-09-03T16:24:00.000+08:00

Brugges, Belgium with Mommy, Daddy and Brother.

Coco and Daddy taking a rest.

Watching the boats on the canals

2011-09-03T16:23:00.000+08:00

Brugges is my favoirte!

Ready for some moules frites! (mussles and fries!)

Not yet sister!

Oostend, Belgium

2011-09-01T17:29:00.001+08:00

We took a long weekend trip with Grandpa and Grandma to Brugges, Belgium. On the way there we decided to stop at this sea side town for a little beach fun for Kaelan but more importantly for the Mussles and fries! Yummy!

This is Coco's first trip!
At least that is what I'm saying in her baby book. I know she has been on many planes, trains and automobiles in her short life but this was the first one for fun! She loved every minute... well really she just loved being with Grandpa and Grandma where ever they were!

Marina
Nice little town but I don't need to go back which is completely opposite from Brugges! I loved that place!

2011-09-01T17:22:00.000+08:00

Dipping his toes
It is cold!

Getting braver!

The puddles in the sand were much warmer than on the North Sea.

Not too bad after 30 mintues of fun on the Beaches of Belgium!

Trains with Grandpa and Grandma

2011-08-26T14:27:00.002+08:00

Trains are Kaelan's FAVORITE thing to do right now. He plays trains at home all day, watches Thomas and also youtube videos of real steam trains and pretty much makes a train out of anything he has in his hand.
So you can see how cool it was to take a train ride (and not just any train but that big black steam engine above!) with Grandpa and Grandma.

Sharing his excitement with sister

Grandpa and Grandma made it!

2011-08-15T03:45:00.001+08:00

Kaelan was so exicted for G & G to arrive and had a lot of fun with them while they were here. They stayed with us for a week and then went on a 12 day Danube river cruise and then will come back here for a week. It is so nice having them here. We love you Grandpa and Grandma!

We gave them projects when they arrived! Grandma graciously hemmed our curtains from Singapore to fit our windows here and Grandpa was forced to hang all our pictures, lights and he even got lucky enough to put some IKEA pieces together. Our house looks so much better now that they have been here!

Kinderdijk

2011-08-14T16:05:00.001+08:00

Dordrecht
Traveling with Grandpa and Grandma.

We took a lunch stop in this cool little town on our way to Kinderdijk.
It is the oldest town in Holland and was the most important harbour town of the region until the 1500's.

Kinderdijk
This town in famous for it's 19 windmills and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Coco is 5 months!

2011-08-07T16:41:00.000+08:00

Can you believe it? I certainly can't. My sweet, little baby girl is growing up way to quickly! She is a wonderful baby. She hardly ever cries and is always ready to give anyone a huge smile. She loves to be part of the party when we read books, play trains, take a bath, and even cook. She is showing all signs of teething but there has yet to be any teeth popping through. Her least favorite part of the day is bed time. She naps great but seems to know that night is different and she likes to fight it every night! We are working on letting her cry it out but we have been doing it for a week now and she still cries at night for 10-30mins. I guess since she rarely cries any other time she has to get it out at night. Boy it hurts mommy and daddy too! I love this precious girl more than I ever knew I could.

Colette is 4 months old!

2011-07-20T04:00:00.000+08:00

I know she isn't four months anymore (actually only a few days away from 5 months!) but I never got a chance to post these due to the move. Colette has been the sweetest baby ever. I seriously think she would be the perfect baby if it weren't for Jet lag messing up her sleep. She is so happy all the time and rarely cries! She only cries when she is tired and that is only when I haven't been paying attention to the time. She is happy to just be where ever we are. She will sit happily in her bumbo seat on the counter while I cook dinner. Sit on my lap quietly when we are talking to people. Play on the floor or excersaucer while I shower and not make a peep. Sleeps soundly while Kaelan is making tons of two year old noise! She is so easy, I can hardly believe it! I don't know if it is beacause we are more relaxed as parents the second time around and things don't get to us the way they did with the first but whatever it is I love her sweet personality!
She is teething now at almost 5 months. No tooth yet but she is definitely in pain at night. She still doesn't cry about it but can hardly stop squirming when she sleeps. Poor little girl.
My heart is so full of love for her it hurts. I could seriously kiss her all day but Daddy won't let me because he insists on a turn too! The nerve!

Moving Day!

2011-07-20T03:46:00.000+08:00

This is what Kaelan did on moving day! As his toys were unpacked he had more and more fun! It was like Christmas and I think he was in his pj's all day too!

Making our home in Holland

2011-07-20T03:25:00.000+08:00

On the plane.
Aunt Nan flew to Holland with the kids and me to help us on the flight and during the move.
She was a lot of help and I'm so thankful she was able to come with us!

Some of Nan's pictures of our village

Local Bakery

Our church
Kaelan loves this place! He loves all the churches and the bells when they ring. Funny what they decide is cool.

Touring Holland with Aunt Nan

2011-07-20T03:17:00.001+08:00

Nancy jumped out of the car to check out this Church in s'Hertogenbosch

We took a quick trip up to Haarlem and she took a tour of the Corrie Ten Boom house.
Their family hid Jews and many others during WWII.
Free tour and something everyone should do if you visit!

Kaelan's first piggy back ride
Haarlem

Day trip down to Maastricht

Zaanse Schans

2011-07-20T03:01:00.000+08:00

There really are Windmill's in Holland!
Every town has at least one, we have learned, but we went north the this town to see them in use.
They really are beautiful.

Aunt Nan, Travis and Kaelan took a tour of the Oil mill

2011-07-20T02:53:00.001+08:00

Playing with Koda at the boat doc.
Not really Koda but he made me miss the Histands!

Gouda Cheese!
Aunt Nan bought this for us all to eat while she was here. It was yummy and made here, in a town called Gouda!

Wine and cheese...mmm.
Like the wide eyes? We tried this picture 3 times and her eyes were shut so on the 3rd try she opened them really wide! Ha ha!

I love it.

We have gotten a lot of use out of Pierce's old stroller and love it.
We use this thing everyday at least once. Thanks Denton's. We really miss you guys.
Normally Kaelan rides on top but he is trying out Coco's seat for a turn around the windmills.
If you need a double stroller I HIGHLY recommend the Phil and Ted's Vibe!

2011-07-20T02:42:00.003+08:00

Zaanse Schans

Old traditional, now very touristy, village.

A walk through the village

So I really did see a man, in his 30's, laying bricks and wearing wooden shoes!
I guess they really do still wear them sometimes.

Oh my goodness she is cute!

Our house...ugh!

2011-07-20T02:37:00.000+08:00

Looking at these pictures now really stresses me out, as it did to look at these rooms in this state! We have come a long way since Nancy took these pics. This is pretty much how the house looked after the movers were done. I will be sure to post the after pictures when we are finished with the house which should be really soon!

Guest bedroom
We have decided to make this Coco's bedroom but when Nan was here it was the Guest room. Do you like the paint? We changed that!

Coco's bedroom
Now this will be the guest room.

Master Bathroom

Our room

2011-07-20T02:30:00.000+08:00

Kaelan's room

Living room

Playroom

Kitchen

Ahhh! We made it.

2011-07-05T03:21:00.002+08:00

Happy Fourth of July!
Coco's first

You are welcome to translate that "Ahhh" in the title however you see fit! I know it has come out of our mouths in many different ways over the last 2+ weeks. We finally made it to Holland, today is our first day to have internet, and really do like what we have experienced so far (Nancy will blog soon to let you know what that was!).

Nancy flew with the kids and me to help out on the plane but she really was the most help in the chaos of the move. She kept me grounded when I saw no hope for most situations. Did I mention the Europeans don't have closets? I knew that before we came but it really didn't mean much to me until our 40 foot container arrived and there was NO where to put anything. Oh my. Our house is still in the works and thank goodness for Ikea! Travis hates that place but I'm not sure what we would do without it for this move.

The people are great and very helpful but I'm definitely going to need to learn a little Dutch in this small town. Please say a little prayer for us if you get a chance, especially. He is missing his friends in Singapore and family in Boise right now, he needs interaction. We are going to have to meet some friends here soon. We love and miss you all. Please come visit!

I thought the picture up top came out great but for those of you who don't have little kids at the moment below is a quick look at what it takes to get one good shot!

2011-07-05T03:17:00.000+08:00

This is all Kaelan wanted to do! He can't stand having her so close and not being able to kiss, cuddle, smother her!

Colette is 3 Months!

2011-06-11T13:16:00.000+08:00

I couldn't have asked for a sweeter addition to our family! She is my sunshine through all the change. What a sweet, happy girl. I LOVE HER!

K-Man!

2011-06-11T13:02:00.002+08:00

There have been a lot of changes in this little man's life in the last 3 months. Becoming a big brother, packing up his house and all his toys, leaving Singapore (country of birth) for good, living in hotels for 10 days, first trip to Europe, lots of airplanes, reaquainting himself with life in the USA and soon moving to Europe.
He has been such a trooper and we are so proud of him. I'm not sure Travis and I are as adaptable as this little guy. Colette is a lucky girl to have such a good big brother.

Brother and Sister

2011-06-11T12:46:00.000+08:00

Do they look like siblings?
I don't think their complexions could be more different!

Colette meets family!

2011-06-11T12:39:00.000+08:00

Aunt Nan made up a beautiful night night song we are trying to learn.

Grandpa Hanna

Grandma Custer and Aunt Kristina

Grandpa Custer

Travis' new toy!

2011-06-11T12:04:00.001+08:00

Kind of funny that Travis had this Fj 40 refurbished (mostly done by his dad!) when we still have 2 years overseas! He has been wanting to do one since high school and finally got the chance to take advantage of Leroy's retirement and get one done! He was so exited to see the, mostly, final product and drive it around a little. It really will be a fun toy for him and our family when we move back.

Bowling for Aunt Kristina's bday!

2011-05-30T05:43:00.001+08:00

First time Bowling!

USA!!!

2011-05-10T06:14:00.001+08:00

Even our style changes when we make it to town!
Choo choo trains are about all K has done since we landed.

Coco trying to stay warm in the cool spring weather.
I LOVE it!

EASTER

Aunt Nan bought Coco her first Easter dress

The boys in their suits

Our House!

2011-04-23T18:30:00.002+08:00

We had an interesting experience looking for a home here in the Netherlands. We had done some research on the market and homes that were available prior to arriving in Holland so we felt we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. However, when our broker picked us up at the hotel and told us we would be looking at 4 houses, we at first responded, "you mean simply for today?" At which we he replied, "no, in total."

The reality is that in the Netherlands, people simply don't rent out homes. There are a ton of homes on the market for sale but VERY few that are actually available for rent. After looking at the first three homes, we were starting to get a bit discouraged but thankfully, our broker had stumbled across this house the day before we arrived that the family was planning to sell but when they were informed about our situation, they were willing to rent it out instead. Our house is located in a small village. It is situated between Eindhoven (the nearest large city) and Venray, which is where Travis will be working each day. This house has 4 bedrooms, so room for visitors, plus a great kitchen and even a seperate play room for Kman and Colette. The main house itself is actually quite old but the current homeowners expanded and built a new space all around it back in 2009 which provided for a lot more living space. We were sold!

Pictures of our Village

2011-04-23T17:45:00.002+08:00

Nearly every village's "city center" can be located by finding the church steeple and walking toward it. In our case, our village has a population of less than 25,000 people so you can easily find the church and our "city center." It's an old village with cobble stone walking paths everywhere...VERY cute! You can easily walk from one end to the other in less than 10 minutes.

A view looking down the cobble stone roads.

Where we stopped to have some coffee and hot chocolate after walking around to familiarize ourselves with what will be our future home.

Maastricht

2011-04-19T13:05:00.001+08:00

This photos is taken from Vrijthof square looking back at the Basilica of Saint Servatius.

The cafes were absolutely packed with people anxious to soke up the first rays of the summer. We ended up giving up and working our way down the cobblestone roads to find a place we could sit to have some lunch.

Kaelan simply being cute at our table before lunch!

Detour to Maastricht

2011-04-19T12:38:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, we decided to take a road trip to Maastricht. Maastricht is located in the south of Holland and is considered to be the oldest city in the country. Of course, as with any road trip involving young kids, we had to make a couple stops to settle the kids. Travis pulled over to work his "bobble head" magic on Colette while Kaelan remained passed out in his car seat.

Kaelan was SUCH a good sport as we hunted for house that we thought we'd take a little detour and stop at Fort Willem and let him burn off some energy. There were forts, slides, rope swings, and all sorts of fun things for Kman to play on. He seemed to most enjoy the giant tunnel slide. Up and down he went multiple times before we finally had to leave.

Down he goes...

And back up again....

Hours Before Leaving

2011-04-17T13:09:00.001+08:00

Camille and Pierce came to visit us Wednesday evening, just a few hours before we needed to head to the airport to catch our flight to Holland. Therefore, what better time to take a bath right? Camille texted us later that night while we waited at the airport sharing with us how sad Pierce was to understand we were leaving Singapore for good. She wrote in her text,

Tonight for bed he said the prayer and it went like this, 'thank you lord. please gaurd k-man and if you do, it will make me happy and if you don't, it will make me sad. Amen.' He went to bed and 30 minutes later he called me back in the room to say he was so sad that you guys were leaving. And then we talked about going to Holland and he asked if it was an island. And said ok.

K-man is sad to leave too Pierce so you better come visit our "island" of Holland very soon! =)

Goodbye Claymore Home

2011-04-17T12:44:00.000+08:00

Images of our home in Singapore for the past few years. It's really sad to say goodbye but we're excited at the same time for what adventures await us in Holland.

Leaving Singapore

2011-04-11T14:08:00.007+08:00

Auntie Belle moved into her new home on Friday and left today, Monday, for a 3 week home leave to the Philippines. Friday was a very sad day for us all, kind of like leaving a sister and not knowing if you will ever see her again.

Our Favorite Auntie Belle in the whole wide world.

We are all really going to miss this girl.

MOPS

I attended my last Singapore MOPS last Tuesday

And Kaelan did too.

Coco and Mommy Sunday before Moving day was the busiest day we have had as a family! Auntie Belle came by until nap to keep the kids busy and happy while Daddy and I sorted, cleaned and packed ALL DAY LONG! It is nice to move every five years, then you really have to go through your stuff! I hate unpacking boxes on the other end of unnecessary things!

Grandma Brenda is going to take Kaelan in the morning tomorrow to help keep him away from the traumatizing moving site. The Unruh's had him all day today.

As most of you know by now, we are leaving Singapore and moving to Holland. Today is packing day, Monday, and we fly out on Wednesday. It has been INCREDIBLY sad saying goodbye to our friends and of course Jonabelle, our helper for the past couple of years. She has been so wonderful, as many of you know first hand after visiting us. She and Kaelan have formed a very special relationship so it was really tough for her and us to say goodbye. I think the hardest part about this move is uprooting the kids from the only home they have known and leaving friends Kaelan has had since birth. This has made the entire experience a bit more emotional for us this time around. We decided it would be better for Kaelan not to see any of the packing process since we have been warned how hard it is for kids since they don't fully understand what is going on. Kaelan is staying with the Unruh's today and couldn't be happier about it. Since the majority of the day yesterday was spent packing our suitcases for the trip, we now have a quiet day with Coco while the packers work some magic! Travis and I found ourselves getting a bit sentimental last night as we put Kaelan to bed in his room for the last time. He didn't know it of course but we were sad for him! Tonight we will stay in a hotel as there will be very little left in our house after a full day of packing. Going through this process has made us realize how special our 4.5 years in Singapore has been. We are really going to miss it here and feel truly blessed to have had such a wonderful experience. Here are our Singapore favorites (in no particular order!): Wonderful Friends that are willing to take care of Kaelan ALL day! Jonabelle- best thing that happened to the Custer family! Traveling- easy, national geographic like trips to all of Asia! Hosting visitors- something that RARELY happens in Boise! Dr. Paul- delivered both of our beautiful babies Chicken Rice- all Asian food really IBC- Church, MOPS, Bible Study, great friends Baby Group- Girls I have been with since we moved to Singapore in 2006 Swim Lessons- Something we can do year round Singapore Airlines! Weekend trips to the Zoo The guy who invented air conditioning Convenience- Anything you want 24/7 Sharing the road with Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Maserati's and anything else you can dream of. That's all I can think of at the moment but I know there are many more!

ONE MONTH OLD!

2011-03-31T22:35:00.002+08:00

Weight: 4.95kg (10.9lbs), Height: 55cm (21.7inch)

Weight: 50 - 75% Height: 25 - 50%

Mammy and Papa made it to Singapore

2011-03-31T21:57:00.003+08:00

Mammy and Papa arrived on March 19th to meet Colette and help out with balancing two kids! Since Kaelan was counting down their arrival he is now in heaven with his new play mates. Unfortunately they have spent their whole trip on our floor playing trains!

Kaelan and Colette's first movie! We saw "Gnomeo and Juliet" and both the kids did great. Kaelan sat on Mammy's lap the first half and then was ready to move a bit but settled in again for the second half on Papa's lap. Coco slept the entire movie.

Papa and Coco

Just a little jet lag!

2011-03-31T21:36:00.003+08:00

Chicken rice

Ben and Jerry's cow

Tiger attack at the zoo.

Colette's first trip to the Singapore zoo.

First bath on the hammock.

She loves her baths!

Singapore Supper Club

2011-03-31T21:25:00.002+08:00

We had our last Singapore Supper Club at our house last weekend and Camille came up with the great idea of doing it as a cooking class. This has been a really fun group for us and we are so sad to leave all of our friends. We are going to miss you all and hope we will meet again someday.

Mammy held Coco after she and her team finished the Chicken Satay so Travis and I could work on the dessert.

For the cooking class our teacher, K, went over the recipes with us first and then we divided up to make all the yummy food. Everyone was put to work to make our dinner and it turned out great! We made Char Quay Teow, Creamed Chicken and Crackers, Chicken Satay, Red curry with pumpkin and chicken, Coconut rice and Red Ruby Dessert.

2011-03-31T21:10:00.003+08:00

Mammy and Coco (or Lettie as she calls her!)

Coco's new stroller!

Kaelan loved that his sister fit in his toy stroller and was so excited to push her around.

Made Mommy a little nervous!

Getting wet in the fountain after having Chili Crab at Clarke Quay

March! Before Mammy and Papa arrived.

2011-03-31T21:00:00.003+08:00

Coco and I took a nap together and she looked so cute tucked in bed.

Kaelan is really sleeping hard!

He joined us after his nap and Colette didn't even flinch.

Happy St. Patty's Day

2011-03-31T20:44:00.004+08:00

Dr. Paul delivered both our babies

Coco's first dress

Pierce's fourth birthday

Zayden's 2nd birthday

Kaelan and Colette

2011-03-01T22:14:00.000+08:00

Oh I love them so much it hurts!

Kaelan asks to hold her "like Mommy" multiple times everyday.
He is so sweet with her, most of the time! He does seem to love her but she is taking an awful lot of Mommy's time which has been making him a little fragile the last couple days.
Such a hard balance. Poor little man.

Daddy has taken a week off work and that has made things fun for Kaelan.
They have been swimming a couple of times while Colette and I sit in the shade and watch. She is such a trooper. I love her so much and I'm pretty sure I could hold her all day! I was telling Travis how different this has been for me with a second infant. Since I'm so relaxed with her I feel like I appreciate her more and can enjoy each moment. I love it so much! We are definitely noticing how the second baby has to adapt to the life of the family but when the first baby comes the parents change their lives to adapt to the them. Now it is very clear to me why birth order makes such an impact on personalities.

Some of our visitors

2011-03-01T21:58:00.000+08:00

Jaya and his family came down from Malaysia

The Rademaker's made it before they left for Australia

Lara stopped in too!
We had other wonderful guests that we didn't get pictures of and we appreciate all of you!

The Unruhs

2011-03-01T21:55:00.000+08:00

The Unruh's brought us dinner on Saturday night and the kids had a blast.
Violet went through her cute hair bands and picked some out to give to Colette. Kaelan and Violet had to model 2 of them for us and then K never took his off.

Lounging

Punch balls make you happy!
Jamey tried and succeeded to get 2 punch balls going at once. He couldn't help making this face while punching!

Then Kaelan had to try too and he succeeded...a little.
Notice the face? He couldn't help it either!

Leaving the hospital

2011-03-01T21:47:00.000+08:00

The 2 nurses that were in charge of us during our stay.
We spent 2.5 days in the hospital when the minimum stay is generally 3 days. I couldn't imagine staying another night so I asked Dr. Paul and he said we could leave early.

They loved our kiddos and we loved them!

Going home outfit
Thanks Mammy she was cutie drving home!

Blanket/snuggly Kelly and Olivia gave to Colette

She's Here!

2011-02-24T09:16:00.000+08:00

Colette Hanna Custer
3.66kg (8lbs 1 oz)
52 cm long

Meeting our precious little girl for the first time.

She looks eerily similar to Kaelan in this picture. Go look at our blog posting back in Dec. 2008 and see for yourself.

Daddy with Colette while Mommy is recovering from surgery.

Kaelan Finally Meets Colette

2011-02-24T09:08:00.000+08:00

Kaelan peering in to see what this "baby sister" thing is actually all about.

A gentle little kiss

A picture of our expanded family and Kaelan doing his "cheeeeeese" face

First Visitors

2011-02-24T08:41:00.003+08:00

Camille, Gillian and Violet were our first visitors at the hospital.

Jonabelle meeting Colette for the first time. She has been a BIG help to us shuttling Kaelan back and forth and watching after him while mommy and daddy are in the hospital.

Isabella Turns 2!

2011-02-15T22:20:00.000+08:00

She is the 5th in the baby group to turn 2!
She had her birthday party at JWT kids club and the kids loved it!

They participated in multiple obstacle courses.

Krazy K was always up to something

They sang a lot of songs and even did the limbo

Mammy would be proud!

2011-02-15T22:13:00.000+08:00

We spent Sunday after nap out on the East Coast Park. The purpose, as is the purpose for everything these days, was to take a nice long walk to get things moving with baby sister. As you know that did not work! We have been taking 1-1.5 hour walks everyday for about 3 weeks now and still nothing. Kaelan rode his bike and he loves it! It is so much fun to take him out on that thing because he gets a lot of attention. It is pretty odd to see a 2 year old riding a bike so well and a pedal less bike at that. People stop and stare and take pictures...so funny!

After our walk Kaelan was quick to spot this small, 6 rides or so, carnival type park. He was a little cautious at first but he even went on the helicopter all by himself in the end. He loved every minute of this place and was so sad to leave. Mammy got him started on Carnival rides when she was here in August and he has been talking about it ever since.

Yes, that is a Christmas tree.
I never said it was the nicest place in the world but it was still pretty magic for Kman!

Sprinkle (shower for baby number 2!)

2011-02-13T21:47:00.001+08:00

The baby group girls gave me a sweet "Sprinkle" for this sweet little girl that needs to come out of my tummy ASAP! We went to a new Greek restaurant (now one of Travis and I's favorites!) that Stephanie found. It was so special and these girls mean so much to me. I can't tell you how thankful I am to have gone through so much with you all. I just wish you were all pregnant with Neetu and I this time around. Thanks so much girls!

Steph, Neetu, Jeanne

Vanessa, Me and Lara
2 of the 8 have moved back to the US and we miss having them around.
Sorry the pics are so bad. I forgot my camera and had to use my phone.

The gifts!

Today is currently my due date, Feb 13th, according to the doctor. According to me, I have it set on the 18th but I was so hoping he was right. He is a great doctor though and will let me go as long as I like. He never makes any suggestions because he knows my wishes and, to tell you the truth, I think he is happiest if his patients do things as close to natural as possible. Since I am going for a VBAC (Vaginal birth after c-section) I can't be induced so the only way I can have this baby on demand is to have another c-section which is the last thing I want. So please pray that I can go into labor soon! We aren't even sure my body is built for having a baby since Kaelan couldn't get into position, after 44 hours, to enter the birth canal and the bigger the baby gets the harder it is going to be! I'm not sure I could handle a baby Jayne Phillips coming in at almost 10 lbs on the 8th. Congrats to Chad and Bridgette and their beautiful family. I can't wait to meet her.

Can you see her?

2011-02-07T08:30:00.000+08:00

This is our ultrasound picture from mid January and it turned out so great! It's only of her face, which is towards the top, and it is as if she is lying on a pillow on her left cheek. Can you see her? Looks just like her daddy! Ha ha! No telling at this stage but it appears to me she has his nose...
It is currently February 7th in Singapore, Kelly's birthday and the day I was shooting for to have this baby girl! I'm guessing it's not going to happen today, considering the length of my last labor. I just hope she comes before Olivia and Aaron's (Kelly's husband and daughter) birthdays at the end of the month! I'm so ready to meet her and feel like my life is at a stand still until she comes. Besides the impatience, I'm doing really well and she seems to be content in my tummy even though I have been eating spicy curry, pineapple, walking everyday, etc. All things I have heard from Asians and Westerner's to get labor started! Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

In Loving Memory of Grandpa Garber

2011-01-30T22:47:00.000+08:00

4 generations
It has been a hard few days for our family as Grandpa Garber passed away today after 92 years.
It is almost impossible to sum up someone so special, loved and loving. I have only known Grandpa for about 10+ years but in that time he adopted me as one of his own grandchildren and I'm so thankful for the opportunity I had to be wrapped in his influence, wisdom and love. He was the most honorable, God-fearing man I have ever known.
Every night I end my prayer over Kaelan and baby sister with:
"Lord let my children live a long, healthy life, passionately serving and loving You like Grandpa Garber."
He will be greatly missed but we are all so thankful the Lord put us in his family and know that he could not be happier where he is now. I can only imagine the perfect joy he is experiencing now.
We love you Grandpa.

Baby sister is coming soon!

2011-01-16T21:36:00.000+08:00

I have spent the last week getting ready for our sweet baby girl by organizing clothes (thanks Mandalyn and Kelly for giving us so many to organize!), rearranging bedrooms and closets, packing my hospital bag, etc.. Does it sound like nesting to you? I'm feeling ready and I can't wait until the day arrives.
I can't complain about this pregnancy. If I didn't have Kaelan to chase around I think I could say this pregnancy has been easier than the first but it is hard to say due to the 35+ pounder I love to lug everywhere. Things have been really similar to the first so I can hardly believe carrying a girl or boy makes any difference, at least it hasn't for me. I was sick in the first trimester with both and then in the second trimester things were so good with this little girl I would often forget that I was pregnant. She has been so much quieter in my stomache it makes it easy to forget she is in there! When the 3rd trimester came around I started to feel the weight in my lower back and that eventually got bad enough on some days it almost felt like a pinched nerve. I even had one night I was in bed and had to get up for soemthing and couldn't get out of bed. After I woke the next morning I was fine but having this pain did seem to effect my sleep too. I didn't have any of this with Kaelan but fortunately January hit and it ALL went away. I feel great and am sleeping really well now. Thank goodness since she is only a month away and we are expecting many sleepless nights and tired days soon to come. I was 8 days overdue with Kaelan but if you could please join me in prayer on this I would love to meet this little girl earlier! If you remember from my first pregnancy, I really do love single digit birthdays and 7 days early would be the 7th! Either way I know I won't be able to give this one back! She has already become such a huge part of my life and worked her way so sweetly into my heart.
Kaelan is starting to understand that she is coming and always asks me to feel baby sister move. Since she is not a big mover it is hard to do all the time but he does get to feel her occasionally, especially when she has the hiccups. Whenever we see a baby girl Travis and I are quick to point out to Kaelan that this is what his baby sister is going to be like when she comes to his home. He might also be excited for her to come because he knows that after she moves in Mammy and Papa will be coming to visit shortly after!

Christmas Eve Dinner

2010-12-27T20:45:00.000+08:00

Best picture of the evening!
She and her older sister wore matching dresses.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at our house before the service at Church.
15 adults and 10 kids.

We sat at the bottom table with the Unruh's and Sheri, Gillian's sister (pictured below).

Kids table
7 big kids and 3 babies

Sheri has been in town since the end of October and left on Christmas day.
She was a great addition to our lives for 2 months and we are going to miss her!

Christmas morning

2010-12-27T15:31:00.001+08:00

We are slowly figuring out our family Christmas traditions and feel we better have them nailed down by next year when Kaelan will really understand. He was excited for days before Christmas because of all the presents under the tree. We had to keep our eye on him because he would sneak over and try to open his big gift! He couldn't understand why we had to wait. We finally convinced him that when the Advent Calendar was finished and the Advent Candle was burned down we would open presents. That helped a little.

Opening stockings

Opening his gifts.
Since Travis had to be in the US the 3rd week of December, I put him to good use hauling all of our Christmas goodies back to the Singapore. Lots of people sent gifts for Kaelan back, and his baby sister, so I wrapped them all up and put them under the tree even if they were meant to be bday presents. He had lots to open and he loved it!

We got him a train set

He played with it all morning.
Thanks everybody for all the wonderful gifts.
Although Christmas is very commercial here in Singapore we are fortunate to have a good church and great friends to remind us that Jesus' birth and life on this earth are why we are celebrating and are so blessed.

Christmas Dinner

2010-12-27T15:12:00.000+08:00

We joined some of Travis' coworkers for dinner on Christmas day. The hosts have two children ages 11 and 9 that Kaelan adored. I think he felt like he had Nathanael and Eli back for the day. There were also 3 other kids there too ages 2-3. He really enjoyed himself on Christmas and is starting to think he will be getting presents everywhere he goes!

The kids table

My little elf!

2010-12-27T15:06:00.000+08:00

Santa Clause made it to dinner!
The kids ate first and then Santa came. They all got loads of toys from him and the hope was they would play with their toys while the adults ate. It worked pretty well! Kaelan got 2 Caterpillar tractors (one remote control) a water bottle and a soccer uniform.

Travis and I got gifts too!

This was the first time Kaelan got a present and he wasn't too sure about Santa but after he saw everyone else get on his lap he managed to fight the fear and climb up on his lap the next time around.
I was very surprised!

We had 2 American familes, one Scottish family and one British family. Tony, the Scot, brought back these Celtic soccer uniforms for the boys. Don't they look great? Kaelan loves that he has soccer clothes now.

2010-12-27T14:51:00.000+08:00

Helping Mommy make pie crust.

He flies almost every day so in case you missed it the first time here he goes again!

Fumble

Fun with K-man

2010-12-17T19:36:00.000+08:00

This is the bday gift Mammy gave Kaelan and he can't get enough! He could ride that bike all day. I'm way too pregnant to do much but yesterday he had me at the Botanic gardens for two hours following him around.

This is one of Kaelan's favorite things...flying! He loves to play in the pillows on our bed and Travis has been throwing him in them since he was 4 months old but now the height has gotten out of control! Be sure to watch the video below.

Watch Kaelan Fly!

2010-12-17T12:26:00.002+08:00

Swimming lessons

2010-12-17T12:25:00.000+08:00

The nice thing about living in the tropics is that we can have swimming lessons all year long. Unfortunately it is monsoon season so quite a few of the lessons have been canceled and that is why there are so many from the baby group in this class! This is our biggest group ever. Usually Saturday morning is the daddy and me swim class with 2-3 dads but the girls from the Wed. class joined us due to bad weather this week. Tomorrow Kaelan and Kyle will be having class on their own with the coach. Travis is in the US so the coach thought we could try to do a class with just her and the boys. Tim, Kyle's daddy, will be on the sidelines ready to jump in if necessary so they will be fine!

Kaelan turns Two!

2010-12-12T20:47:00.000+08:00

Kaelan was lucky and had two little birthday parties this year.
The first one was with our friends from church and the second was with the babygroup.

Watching Kaelan blow out his candles

Eating cake!

Opening presents
Thanks everyone for such wonderful gifts.
Kaelan has been playing with them all and even sleeping with some!

Baby Group Birthday party!

2010-12-12T20:42:00.000+08:00

Cupcakes with friends!

Sam helping open presents

Decorating for Christmas

2010-12-07T20:40:00.000+08:00

Kaelan and I got all of our decorations up the day after Thanksgiving while Daddy was trying to work from home.
What a great helper!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-07T20:15:00.001+08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at our friends Toby and Jenn's house!

Camille sevrving up some Turkey
She made all those yummy desserts on the counter too!

The Kids Table
They all did great!

After dinner football discussion

Pretty in Pink Baby Shower

2010-11-28T10:14:00.001+08:00

Camille (above) and two other of my wonderful friends put on a beautiful baby shower for me! Thank you ladies!

Everything was pink! How strange!

2010-11-28T10:12:00.000+08:00

The lute!
Thank you girls.

Daddy's first suit!

2010-11-28T09:56:00.000+08:00

Travis was in a major time crunch coming home from China and then having a few hours before he had to rush off to a formal dinner for HP and their 40 years in Singapore (guest speaker: former prime minister Lee Kwan Yew!). Since his daily attire for work is jeans and a polo he has never needed a suit until this event! So we had to hurry out to buy a suit and miraculously we found one! Doesn't he look great? I wish he had to wear one more often!

Hello From Phuket, Thailand!!!

2010-11-18T14:42:00.001+08:00

Sorry if you've been wondering what we've been doing for the last week! We went to Thailand and I had SO MANY photos to sort through. But, here is a sampling! It was a great trip, despite the rain. It was raining when we arrived the first night. It rained pretty much all day the first day at the beach. Calmed down a little when we went into Patong Beach for dinner and to arrange our snorkeling tour. Travis did a GREAT job getting us a good deal, and as you can see from our photos it was a HUGE success. But, while he was negotiating, a BIG monsoonal rainstorm blew in and we were stuck huddled by the stall until our driver could get to us. Monsoon season is supposed to END in Thailand by November but was lasting much longer than usual this year! Trav said we'd look back on it and laugh someday. After literally crying about it while we were there, he's right, I can laugh about it now. It only rained for the first half of the second day, and when we went to visit an orphanage in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, the weather was beautiful. It was such a blessing to spend some time with the missionary couple, their staff and the kids there! They even took us to dinner for VERY authentic Thai food in the village nearby! Sunday was a gamble, but God smiled on us and gave us a full DRY day and cloud free for 3/4 of the day when we took our boat and snorkeling tour of the Phi Phi Islands! I have never seen such beautiful land and sea scape! It was the first time snorkeling for all four of us. Didn't get to see Nemo, but we all saw several Gil's and Travis and Natty saw a puffer fish (can't remember his name in the movie). :) At dinner that third night there was NO wind so the waiter asked if the kids would like to send of some Thai lanterns. You'll see photos of them lower on the blog! That was lots of fun for them to watch them fly away until they were just specks in the sky and then the flames burnt out.

Monkey Beach

2010-11-18T14:32:00.000+08:00

Bill forgot to read the sign! :)

2010-11-18T14:31:00.000+08:00

Snorkeling!

2010-11-18T14:28:00.000+08:00

Thai Lanterns

2010-11-18T14:23:00.000+08:00

These were so cool. All the boys, even Kaelan, got to sign their names to the two lanterns we launched and then watched as the air warmed up and they lifted off toward the moon! Fun Thai entertainment.

The Turkish Ice Cream Man at Clarke Quay

2010-11-18T14:20:00.001+08:00

This was perhaps the MOST entertaining part of our visit to Singapore! Our bellies were sore after laughing so hard. This is a TALENTED performer and for only $3 sing apeice you're treated to some hilarious tricks with your treat! I LOVE Trav's face in that picture. "Is this guy for real?" he seems to be thinking! Look how he's stealing Bill's cone from him, when Bill thinks he's holding his finished ice cream cone. He even gave Jessie just a little more for the baby after he was done teasing her with her chocolate cone! :)

Fun at Pasir Ris

2010-11-18T14:15:00.002+08:00

Jessie, Travis and Mammy discovered this little amusement park up on the northern part of the island! It's perfect for a morning's worth of fun and very reasonably priced. Eli was SO excited to drive the go-karts.