Oh my gosh, where did the first half year go ?? I can't believe it's July already. When the heck did that happen ??
On the first day of July, we celebrated my niece Anouk's 4th birthday, which means, she will be going to school (kindergarten) after the summer. We had a nice afternoon and all had dinner together at my sister's house. Anouk's actual birthday is the 4th.
My co-worker started his 3 week vacation. I was prepared for a busy time at work. The first week was still busy, but then it quiet down. Malú is notorious for getting sick in any vacation of my co-worker and behold ... it also happened this time. It was "only" a fever and it only lasted a couple of days. She was still playing and running around as normal.
We had a lot of rain this month and we were anxiously awaiting "summer". It was also quite cold for the time of year. We pulled our long sleeve shirts out again. Then it finally warmed up and it turned around to summerlike temperatures.
We celebrated my sister's partner Leon's birthday and went out to dinner at a restaurant in Germany (right accross the border). We had a great afternoon and a lovely dinner. Malú played and ran around with cousin Anouk and she passed out as soon as she hit the sack.
My mom had the spot removed in the hospital and her results came back negative. The skin cancer is gone, so that was really good news !!
Then the time came ... it was hovering over me for a couple of days already ... a sad day ... it had been 1 year and a half since my uncle chris passed away ... we wore our orange shirts in his honour.
I talk to Malú a lot about my uncle Chris and have a picture of him with the rose on the cabinet in our living room. Trying to keep all the beautiful memories alive. I miss you xx
We had a couple of fun days with my sister Wendy and daughter Anouk. Had lunch at their house a few times, took the girls out for icecream and they rode their bikes along the river Maas. Malú and Anouk splattered in the little pools together and Malú also went swimming with aunt Wendy, grandma and Anouk in a big pool.
The last week of July, we celebrated my 36th birthday. I always thought people who were 36 were really old, but here I am: 36. If you asked me 10 years ago what my life would look like at 36, I had
no idea. I'm not so sure what life looked like at 26 and I
also don't know what my life will look like at 46. Hopefully, I will still be in good health and with a loving family.
All the people that matter to me were at my birthday party. I'm hoping to spend a lot more birthdays with these people ...
Love, Astrid xx
zondag 19 augustus 2012
June 2012 - European Soccer Championship fail, Malú's dry nights and invasion of the ants
Herbert started his new job. He likes it to be back on a routine again. It's still a lot of new info.
My mom had a "spot", a sort of birthmark on the side of her head, behind her glasses. She went to the doctor and they cut a small piece out and examined it. The results came back and that "spot" is skin cancer. She will have to have the rest removed at the hospital and hopefully that will be it ...
Early June, the European Soccer Championship started in Poland and the Ukraine and we hopelessly failed:
Netherlands - Denmark: 0-1
Netherlands - Germany: 1-2 (at least 1 goal)
Portugal - Netherlands: 2-1 and that was it, we were sent home ...
Being the number 2 of the world 2 years ago, winning from Argentina and Brazil of all countries, it was a HUGE disappointment.
Malú is doing great going to the bathroom and she is only wearing underwear. We are sooo proud of her !! She was still wearing a diaper at night, but for a while, we noticed her diapers were still dry in the morning when she woke up. So mid June, we decided it was time for her to try to sleep without a diaper at night and has kept her bed dry ever since !! Yet another milestone !!
We celebrated Herbert's Father's day, but didn't do much. We had a great breakfast with all kinds of yummy-ness.
Herbert had a beach volley tournament towards the last week of June. Malú and I had planned to go watch daddy play, but it rained ALL day, so the afternoon games even got cancelled.
It seemed like a bad horror movie, but it was very real. We had an invasion of ants at our house. I had seen 1 or 2 in the days before, but didn't think much of it. A couple of days later, I got up and I spent an hour and a half cleaning up all the ants. YUCK !! After that it was just an occasional one that lost its way I guess.
Love, Astrid xx
My mom had a "spot", a sort of birthmark on the side of her head, behind her glasses. She went to the doctor and they cut a small piece out and examined it. The results came back and that "spot" is skin cancer. She will have to have the rest removed at the hospital and hopefully that will be it ...
Early June, the European Soccer Championship started in Poland and the Ukraine and we hopelessly failed:
Netherlands - Denmark: 0-1
Netherlands - Germany: 1-2 (at least 1 goal)
Portugal - Netherlands: 2-1 and that was it, we were sent home ...
Being the number 2 of the world 2 years ago, winning from Argentina and Brazil of all countries, it was a HUGE disappointment.
Malú is doing great going to the bathroom and she is only wearing underwear. We are sooo proud of her !! She was still wearing a diaper at night, but for a while, we noticed her diapers were still dry in the morning when she woke up. So mid June, we decided it was time for her to try to sleep without a diaper at night and has kept her bed dry ever since !! Yet another milestone !!
We celebrated Herbert's Father's day, but didn't do much. We had a great breakfast with all kinds of yummy-ness.
Herbert had a beach volley tournament towards the last week of June. Malú and I had planned to go watch daddy play, but it rained ALL day, so the afternoon games even got cancelled.
It seemed like a bad horror movie, but it was very real. We had an invasion of ants at our house. I had seen 1 or 2 in the days before, but didn't think much of it. A couple of days later, I got up and I spent an hour and a half cleaning up all the ants. YUCK !! After that it was just an occasional one that lost its way I guess.
Love, Astrid xx
May 2012
Herbert is still unemployed, but his interviews seem to have picked up. We had a 2 week vacation, but stayed home. That was partly because things were not working out so well between Herbert and I with him home 24/7 ... sooo difficult ...
Had a fun Mother's day with a "home made" present made at daycare from Malú. They put coloured pieces of paper on a glass pot and put seeds in it. Had a lovely breakfast with buns out of the oven, a boilt egg, strawberries - so yummy. Went to mom and dad's in the afternoon and that about did it, because at dinner time, Malú started to cry and didn't want to eat. She was overtired and we put her in bed.
For Ascension day, we went to the fair in Kevelaer, a town in Germany. It's a tradition. When I was a young Astrid, my mom and dad would take us. Malú went on a couple of rides and had a ball !!
After a lot of rain, it finally got warm, like hot !! We went out for icecream a couple of times and enjoyed the sun. In the evenings we took walks at the river Maas (that runs right by our house) expecting a cooler breeze, but it was just as warm.
Malú had also been doing a great job going to the bathroom. She was still wearing a diaper (pull ups) during the day, but it was time to switch to underwear. NO MORE DIAPERS - YAAAY !!
Towards the last week of May, we had the best news. After Herbert had a 2nd job interview, he FINALLY got the JOB !! After being home for 5 and a half months, it was time for a new beginning !!
Congrats, babe !!
Love, Astrid xx
Had a fun Mother's day with a "home made" present made at daycare from Malú. They put coloured pieces of paper on a glass pot and put seeds in it. Had a lovely breakfast with buns out of the oven, a boilt egg, strawberries - so yummy. Went to mom and dad's in the afternoon and that about did it, because at dinner time, Malú started to cry and didn't want to eat. She was overtired and we put her in bed.
For Ascension day, we went to the fair in Kevelaer, a town in Germany. It's a tradition. When I was a young Astrid, my mom and dad would take us. Malú went on a couple of rides and had a ball !!
After a lot of rain, it finally got warm, like hot !! We went out for icecream a couple of times and enjoyed the sun. In the evenings we took walks at the river Maas (that runs right by our house) expecting a cooler breeze, but it was just as warm.
Malú had also been doing a great job going to the bathroom. She was still wearing a diaper (pull ups) during the day, but it was time to switch to underwear. NO MORE DIAPERS - YAAAY !!
Towards the last week of May, we had the best news. After Herbert had a 2nd job interview, he FINALLY got the JOB !! After being home for 5 and a half months, it was time for a new beginning !!
Congrats, babe !!
Love, Astrid xx
April 2012 - sick yet again ...
April started with Malú being sick yet again - diarhea, throwing up, fever - you get the picture.
Then Herbert and I got ill too. Germs were flying around and we didn't seem to ged rid of that ugly virus.
We spent Easter quietly at home. We have 2 days of Easter here. On Easter Sunday, Malú had her egghunt. The bunny hid the eggs in some pretty unusual places like her sandbox. After the egghunt, we had a lovely breakfast and spent the rest of the day relaxing, we didn't go anywhere.
On Easter Monday, my mom and dad came over for brunch. Freshly baked buns out of the oven (they burnt a little bit), pear juice, yummy raisin bread, sugar bread and so on. Oh, and eggs of course !! Everyone was stuffed and we had a great time.
Malú also had her 3 year check up. She was 99 cm / 3 feet & almost 3 inches and 14.6 kgs (32 pounds). Her eye test was flawless. I'm glad she doesn't have my eyes.
Mid April we celebrated Malú's birthday weekend or couple of days for that matter. We had her 3rd birthday party on Sunday, 15 April. All of the people that matter to her were there (minus my aunt and uncle, who unfortunately couldn't make it). She got spoilt lots and we had a fun afternoon. On Monday, they celebrated her birthday at daycare. They have a no candy policy, so she treated the kids to raisins, a cookie (ohoh) and a small toy. On Tuesday, 17 April (her actual) birthday, she stayed home from daycare and we had a fun day together just the 3 of us. The day started out great with her getting her BIG present from us: A BIKE !! In the afternoon, we went to an indoor playground, because we thought the weather was going to be bad / worse. She had a ball !! We went out to dinner for stuffed pancakes and icecream afterwards. Such a fun day !!
Towards the end of April, Malú's daycare had an open house, that Herbert helped organize. She painted, they painted her face like a princess, she jumped on the aircastle, ran around, ate hotdogs ... It was a fun day.
Workwise, my co-worker had a 2 week holiday right when our warehouse in Sweden was closing up and they were moving it to Venlo. It was sooo busy and I was glad when his holiday was over.
So this was April in a "flash".
Love, Astrid xx
Then Herbert and I got ill too. Germs were flying around and we didn't seem to ged rid of that ugly virus.
We spent Easter quietly at home. We have 2 days of Easter here. On Easter Sunday, Malú had her egghunt. The bunny hid the eggs in some pretty unusual places like her sandbox. After the egghunt, we had a lovely breakfast and spent the rest of the day relaxing, we didn't go anywhere.
On Easter Monday, my mom and dad came over for brunch. Freshly baked buns out of the oven (they burnt a little bit), pear juice, yummy raisin bread, sugar bread and so on. Oh, and eggs of course !! Everyone was stuffed and we had a great time.
Malú also had her 3 year check up. She was 99 cm / 3 feet & almost 3 inches and 14.6 kgs (32 pounds). Her eye test was flawless. I'm glad she doesn't have my eyes.
Mid April we celebrated Malú's birthday weekend or couple of days for that matter. We had her 3rd birthday party on Sunday, 15 April. All of the people that matter to her were there (minus my aunt and uncle, who unfortunately couldn't make it). She got spoilt lots and we had a fun afternoon. On Monday, they celebrated her birthday at daycare. They have a no candy policy, so she treated the kids to raisins, a cookie (ohoh) and a small toy. On Tuesday, 17 April (her actual) birthday, she stayed home from daycare and we had a fun day together just the 3 of us. The day started out great with her getting her BIG present from us: A BIKE !! In the afternoon, we went to an indoor playground, because we thought the weather was going to be bad / worse. She had a ball !! We went out to dinner for stuffed pancakes and icecream afterwards. Such a fun day !!
Towards the end of April, Malú's daycare had an open house, that Herbert helped organize. She painted, they painted her face like a princess, she jumped on the aircastle, ran around, ate hotdogs ... It was a fun day.
Workwise, my co-worker had a 2 week holiday right when our warehouse in Sweden was closing up and they were moving it to Venlo. It was sooo busy and I was glad when his holiday was over.
So this was April in a "flash".
Love, Astrid xx
March 2012
I guess I'm not the most frequent blogger ...
March 2012 will go into the books as a very "sick" month. We have all been ill a lot. And when we thought we were OK again, it started ALL over. It's the worst thing, seeing your child ill. You really want to take over, but you can't. There is not much you can do for them. The weird thing is, after they have been sick, there is something new they can do. With Malú it resulted in improvement in communication. She knew a few more words and spoke even better sentences.
The last week of March, Malú transitioned from her baby bed to a big girl bed - another milestone !! It was a sad, but also a happy moment for me. From looking big in her crib, she looked so little in that big bed.
The end of March, we had an event here called "Venloop". There are several kid's runs, a 10 km / 6 mile run and the half marathon. A couple of my co-workers participated in the 10 km / 6 mile run and they did a fantastic job. We went and watched. Malú clapped and yelled and so did I - ha.
Love, Astrid xx
March 2012 will go into the books as a very "sick" month. We have all been ill a lot. And when we thought we were OK again, it started ALL over. It's the worst thing, seeing your child ill. You really want to take over, but you can't. There is not much you can do for them. The weird thing is, after they have been sick, there is something new they can do. With Malú it resulted in improvement in communication. She knew a few more words and spoke even better sentences.
The last week of March, Malú transitioned from her baby bed to a big girl bed - another milestone !! It was a sad, but also a happy moment for me. From looking big in her crib, she looked so little in that big bed.
The end of March, we had an event here called "Venloop". There are several kid's runs, a 10 km / 6 mile run and the half marathon. A couple of my co-workers participated in the 10 km / 6 mile run and they did a fantastic job. We went and watched. Malú clapped and yelled and so did I - ha.
Love, Astrid xx
vrijdag 24 februari 2012
Prince Friso
Prince Friso is a member of our royal family. He is the son of our queen Beatrix, but not really a prince anymore. The lady, Mabel, he married years ago lied about a criminal she knew and he never asked for permission if he could marry her. So he officially is not a prince anymore. They have 2 kids together.
The royal family has been going skying in the town of Lech in Austria for years. Last week, on 17 February, (prince) Friso was in an avalanche while skying with a friend. Their was a high risk of avalanche, but they went anyway. He was burried under the snow for almost half an hour. His friend was wearing an alarm with which he warned the emergency services. They found Friso and were getting his heart to work for about 45 minutes and was then transferred to the hospital. They kept him in a coma for a week and today, there was a press conference about his condition. His brain is damaged and they are not sure if he will EVER wake up again.
This was big news over here today. This is our queen Beatrix, but she is also still a mother. The worst thing was, that they visited with Friso and when leaving the hospital the press was in their face.
I hope it all turns out well for them.
Love, Astrid xx
The royal family has been going skying in the town of Lech in Austria for years. Last week, on 17 February, (prince) Friso was in an avalanche while skying with a friend. Their was a high risk of avalanche, but they went anyway. He was burried under the snow for almost half an hour. His friend was wearing an alarm with which he warned the emergency services. They found Friso and were getting his heart to work for about 45 minutes and was then transferred to the hospital. They kept him in a coma for a week and today, there was a press conference about his condition. His brain is damaged and they are not sure if he will EVER wake up again.
This was big news over here today. This is our queen Beatrix, but she is also still a mother. The worst thing was, that they visited with Friso and when leaving the hospital the press was in their face.
I hope it all turns out well for them.
Love, Astrid xx
woensdag 22 februari 2012
Vastelaovend in Venlo and special memories
Years ago, when I was a very young Astrid, we sometimes had my dad's ome Sjeng (uncle John senior) and tante Jet (aunt Heddy) over from the USA. Years later, his sons came to celebrate Vastelaovend. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and driving to Schiphol airport with my dad to pick them up. At that stage I could speak English. Years later their kids (my 2nd cousins) came to celebrate Vastelaovend.
But there was 1 person ... my uncle Chris ...
I knew at some point I was going to write about him. My uncle Chris passed away on 18 January 2011. I miss him every day ...
My uncle Chris came to Venlo a bit more often. He LOVED Vastelaovend !! He would fly in on a Friday, stay the day in Amsterdam and he would take the train to Venlo. We would see him downtown for Vastelaovend to watch the parades. The city where he was born. And on ash-Wednesday, him and I would go downtown to shop and buy presents for him to take back home. The very last night of his stay, we would all meet up at the Wilhelmina Hotel (accross the railway station) and have a great evening together and then it was time to say goodbye.
On the Sunday of Vastelaovend, we went downtown to watch the kid's parade. Malú was dressed up as a ladybug. She walked all the way downtown and when the parade came, she danced and jumped. She had a blast. The last band that passed us played uncle Chris' favourite Vastlaovend song: "Venlo stedje van lol en plezeer" (Venlo city of fun) and the sun came out ... I'm sure he heard it. Hope the parade looked nice from up there.
Malú then walked most of the walk home. Daddy carried her at the end.
On the Monday of Vastelaovend, we went downtown to watch the big parade. Malú was dressed up as Bumba the clown. We watched most of the parade. Malú had a blast, she danced, jumped and stood on the little fence. She sometimes sat on daddy's shoulders. She got cold and tired at the end of the afternoon and so we went home.
On the Tuesday of Vastelaovend, we celebrated the farmer's wedding and went downtown to watch the parade. People are dressed up as farmers in black and white. The parade was nice, but we went home afterwards, so Malú could take a nap.
And then Vastelaovend 2012 was over. Until next year ...
Love, Astrid xx
But there was 1 person ... my uncle Chris ...
I knew at some point I was going to write about him. My uncle Chris passed away on 18 January 2011. I miss him every day ...
My uncle Chris came to Venlo a bit more often. He LOVED Vastelaovend !! He would fly in on a Friday, stay the day in Amsterdam and he would take the train to Venlo. We would see him downtown for Vastelaovend to watch the parades. The city where he was born. And on ash-Wednesday, him and I would go downtown to shop and buy presents for him to take back home. The very last night of his stay, we would all meet up at the Wilhelmina Hotel (accross the railway station) and have a great evening together and then it was time to say goodbye.
On the Sunday of Vastelaovend, we went downtown to watch the kid's parade. Malú was dressed up as a ladybug. She walked all the way downtown and when the parade came, she danced and jumped. She had a blast. The last band that passed us played uncle Chris' favourite Vastlaovend song: "Venlo stedje van lol en plezeer" (Venlo city of fun) and the sun came out ... I'm sure he heard it. Hope the parade looked nice from up there.
Malú then walked most of the walk home. Daddy carried her at the end.
On the Monday of Vastelaovend, we went downtown to watch the big parade. Malú was dressed up as Bumba the clown. We watched most of the parade. Malú had a blast, she danced, jumped and stood on the little fence. She sometimes sat on daddy's shoulders. She got cold and tired at the end of the afternoon and so we went home.
On the Tuesday of Vastelaovend, we celebrated the farmer's wedding and went downtown to watch the parade. People are dressed up as farmers in black and white. The parade was nice, but we went home afterwards, so Malú could take a nap.
And then Vastelaovend 2012 was over. Until next year ...
Love, Astrid xx
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