Baby # 3!

Another miracle in the making....

All you needed to know, and then extra:

• Everything looks in place, and growing the right way.
  
• Due 11 October
• will be called Mack if Kaemon has his way
• 5 cm from top to tail (and the tail is still there!)
• already in maternity clothes, let it all hang out yeah!
• Nelson loves babies, so have high hopes for him to babysit responsibly
• Finished 3 bottles of Gaviscon antacids to battle the nausea
• when nausea is over, will celebrate by going to the best Thai in leiden
• all of a sudden craving for sashimi, rare beef, raw things.
  

Long time no post....

Everyone's been under the weather, Douwe's been to Miami and it's finally Spring!!! We survived the coldest winter ever...

Nelly cooking up a storm

Kaemon helped with these Nonya pineapple tarts- put the jam on and the ball on top! NO photoshopping!

While nelson was sick, the pineapple tarts were practically the only things he ate...(or alternate caption: we'll have to start saving for an orthodontist)

Kaemon's usual get-up for breakfast

Brotherly Love

Gong Xi Fat Xai!

This year we got together with Nicoline and Edi fellow Chinese foodies to celebrate the new year with the important element of Food: theme? Lots of it!

The laden table

1st row L-R: Peking Duck (Douwe brought from Rotterdam); Peking Duck pancakes; Lobak (bean curd rolls)
2nd row: pickled cucumbers, beef n black beans; Salt and Pepper calamari
3rd row: Mixed veg with prawns and scallops, Roast Pork, Steamed Bream


Kaemon and Nelly getting ang pows/red packets from Edi and Nicoline- which was very exciting as it was filled with chocolate money (and the real thing too, but they just give that to mummy).

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone the most important things in life: happiness and health. We can't ask for more :)

Big Bang!

Kaemon's Birthday Celebrations ended with a big bang- we all went out (with family) to a Japanese restaurant (all sorts of sushi, nigiri sushi, teppan, saradas, katsu, deliciousness). Kaemon's face lit up when his black sesame and green tea ice cream came complete with a firework atop! The icecream melted to milkshake, but that didn't stop him from slurping up every last drop.
 

Joy!

When they are not pulling each other's hair or landing a mule kick to the face, they play quite nicely together!

Kaemon's Birthday!

Our little Kaemon ain't so little anymore!  We are so blessed and love our K-monster: bright, luminous, sweet, affectionate, relaxed, epicurean, funny, cuddly.

He turned two three!! The curse of the birthday cake struck again, Like Nelson's 1st 'Birtday' cake flubble, Kaemon's cake had 2nd birthday 2x and 2 candles before I realised my mistake... Lucky he didn't notice

THanks to all for the birthday wishes, presents, cards, thoughts! We had a fantastic birthday!!!  Lots of friends, food, pinata and fun. 

Winter has been beautiful and therefore, tolerable. The frozen ground and white frosting beats the soggy wet continuous drizzle of winters past.

Yum Cha/Dim Sum in the Hague. Joy of joys, the boys sit down for a lunch and eat their fair share of the spoils. No left-overs to take home... Giant prawns in the siew mai, fluffy steamed char siew pau mmmm classic goodies!

A chinatown goodie: the memories- Darlie AND astroboy in ONE gift box. Darlie used to be Darkie with the negro face as the symbol, and Astro boy is the coolest with a laser beam hidden in his bottom.

Kaemon's new preschool

Nelson, we are in love with him! He's cheeky and lovable, loves people and extremely kissable. He regards blowing raspberries as his solemn task, responding to the request with a grunt in accordance 'mmp'. When douwe gets home from work, he is often greeted by an insistent Nelson who is clear in his wordless demands to lie down, pull shirt up and let the belly out...

Kaemon's started at a new (his first preschool is closing down, hence the switch) preschool- and loves it! Sometimes he falls asleep unexpectedly...

*Brr Cold*

 
We had a good family weekend (tidying up, eating together, sleeping in till a luxurious 8:30am, having visitors). Erik, Simone & Julia (10 months) visited from ol'Nijmegen. We had a lovely time and was first time I've seen snow on the beach. Odd combination lik chocolate and fish. but nicer!

1 year in photos

More than 2000 photos in one year, no time for making albums! Click on the photo to see an enlargement.

New Year 2010

The new years brings already the winds of change... or more likely, things never stop changing. An Aussie friend, Leigh & lovely fam are leaving for Switzerland. Finally I had met someone who causes socially awkward situations (irrespective of the the cultural setting) with as much (or perhaps more) ease as I do (*to mock someone is the Australian way of showing affection- store that for future reference). And then they leave.

ALso in December, my 7th year in the NL passed (without much ado). One nice thing about a 'foreign' husband is having the opportunity to get to know another culture up close, and getting to know so many interesting, intrepid and adventurous people (perhaps it's the natural selection for expats). (Not to mention my sister-in-laws [spanish and fillipino] adding to the mix. We have so much, and the riches far outweigh the losses.

One good thing that came of Leigh leaving was that her leaving party (I'm an optimist) was at a thai restaurant that I've been wanting to try for a long time...Sisaket Thai. OMG, fly your pants off-yumm.
 

2009 Round-up

December flew by with a whizz of parties, playing in the snow, colds and vomit (non alcohol related) and....food!

I finally found some people who wanted to warble christmas carols around the piano with me, and sing we did...the poor neighbours. But like most parties these days, it crashed and burned around 8:30pm.

Clockwise: Douwe bringing the kids to the babysitter; Nelson playing Gulliver in the farmhouse Opa built for Christmas; Coralling Nelson and locking him up, Nelson starting potty training.

I boned and rolled my first loin of lamb. It was delish, and looked great cooked. However, it was a crime of passion tearing into the roasted loin, a frenzy in which photos were forgotten...

December culminated in NYE: a few false alarms (snow, ice, illness) from other participants nearly cancelled the party, in the end Nelson decided to put an end to any doubt by throwing up and running a fever on the eve. So we stayed home and ate our share of the dinner. By 8pm, douwe had also come down with a fever and chills, and I was up alone with Edward the vampire. Wasn't too bad...

The new year brought more snow and snow-related fun :)

Groovy!

The best snow I've ever seen! And the first time I've seen yellow snow for real! Three pairs of socks and wellies, and my feet were warm. Thankfully I seemed to have grabbed the last two pairs of snow boots for the boys in the entire country.

Snow Angels!

K-monster doing his thing

Family Craft Time

Nelly Belly, just edible in his snow pants!

Nice :)

Winter's not so bad if it's snowing!

Sinterklaas Season

This year we celebrated Sinterklaas for the first time, for real. A true sign of my 'it's happening, there's-no-denying-it' integration into Dutch culture, I didn't evening bat an eye-lid and lacked the incredulity of previous years of seeing the back-faced Zwarte Piets prancing about everywhere in the lead-up to 5 December.

Kaemon and Paula baking pepernoten

What to do on a rainy day ideas #101 Make a paper skirt and dance and #102 Wear underwear on your head and go gooliegooliegoo. I recommend both!

Our International Playgroup had a Sinterklaas party and the kids performed a selection of their greatest hits.

Baby Elise

The Vellingas paid a visit to the Brands: Mama Fleur & Papa Koen, with their brand new baby Elise. The proud parents were very deft with their baby. Looking back, I was such a klutz with my baby for the first time...

She is a little angel, crying only when absolutely necessary! Like being poked by pudgy boy fingers...

The boys were very intruiged and charmed by this girl...

Head, Toes, Nose nose nose

Nelson's nasally orientated version....

Halloween

Halloween was celebrated with Irish, German & Australians, and dutch games (and, oh, two Dutch husbands): koekjehap (bite the cake:). Nelson found it amusing that he's been working so hard with hand-eye coordination, and now he's not allowed to use his hands to eat!

A really good meal at a fish restaurant in Leiden: 't Crabbetje. Great service AND food, sometimes a rarity in these parts...entree was a tartar of crayfish and cold lobster bisque, mains was red snapper, devil fish and mash. Mmmmm.