Meet Romy

It's about time for a blog update!  It is my pleasure to introduce you to the newest member of the Riksen household, Romy Kathryn.  Our sweet little girl was born on June 27 (which happens to also be my brother's birthday!), weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches (52 cm) long. She's just about as perfect as they come, in my humble opinion.

Romy decided she was sick and tired of hanging out in my womb, and wanted to see what fresh air felt like, so she made her appearance 18 days early!  To say we weren't expecting her yet was an understatement.  We had been in our new house for about 2.5 weeks and were trying to quickly get the house in order for her arrival. Thankfully, we had most of the baby essentials in the house by then (well, except the car seat, Todd went to get that while we were in the hospital).  But in the end, I'm so happy she came when she did. Not only do we get to spend more of the summer with her, but it spared me the discomfort of the last 2 weeks of pregnancy (which I hear are the worst). Thanks Romy!

Today Romy is 6 weeks old.  Wow.  She is growing up before our eyes.  Yesterday I looked at the fingernail on her thumb and it suddenly looked massive!  She is becoming more and more alert, which is a lot of fun.  For the first 2 weeks, it seemed like she slept all the time, but now she's definitely spending more time looking at us, staring at new toys, observing the trees on walks, and of course her fair share of crying.  We are really doing quite well based on my expectations of having a newborn in the house. We're not zombies from lack of sleep, which is such a blessing.  

It has been a joy showing her off to those around us.  Her grandparents and the rest of our family are totally smitten, and that has been a lot of fun to see.  Jackaroo has been a great big sister, so that's a huge relief.  Although sometimes it's hard to keep her from giving doggy kisses on the lips.

But I know you're really reading this post to check out some cute baby action, so I'll include some of my favorite shots (you know, out of the hundreds we've taken).  Photo credit goes to BeeTree Studios for all of the professional shots (you'll know the ones).

Romy's first brewery experience.

Twinnies!

Post-bath adorableness.

Pretty eyes.

We are in love.  I cannot wait for what the future holds, while I'm also trying to savor every little moment with our precious daughter.

Growing

Hello again, readers!  After many requests, I figured it was about time to share some photos of my growing baby bump.  Baby R is now 33 weeks along, which means we (hopefully) have less than 7 weeks to go before we get to meet the little one.  So. Exciting.  I've been continuing to feel pretty great, especially with the help of a pillow at night that's about the same size as Todd.

We are moving into our house in less than 2 weeks now, and we are full on planning out the nursery, even though we haven't actually bought anything for it yet.  And this week we started our birthing classes, which will run for a few weeks.  I think Todd and I both felt pretty good at the first one since we already knew a lot of the information that was covered.  I'm sure there will be a lot to learn though as we continue, and plenty of fun videos to watch.

And now here's some pics from our last few weeks:

Todd, looking good after his 10K race.

Enjoying an elephant ear at Tulip Time.

Bachelorette party in northern Michigan with my future sister-in-law, Jamie.  They gave me juice at wine tasting.

Our friends the Catteys came to visit GR.

Outdoor dinners are the best!

On the swings with Carina.

And for the last pic of this post, our sweet Jackaroo, who is 6 years old today!  Happy Birthday, Jack! 

Signing on the Dotted Line

Ahh, we're 6 weeks in since moving back, and it is amazing how fast life can change!  I suppose these changes should be expected when hopping continents, but I we've gotten a lot done so far.  I must admit that I couldn't bear to post again until we had made more progress on our house hunt.  It just made me too nervous to talk about the fact that we had nowhere to live. But today that all changed!  Todd and I closed on a house this morning.  Hooooooraaaaayyyy.  We can't take possessions for 30 days, which is a huge bummer, but that will just make our move all the sweeter.  For now, we're living in Holland (Michigan) with Todd's parents.  Not ideal for any parties involved, but we're grateful for the hospitality.

The house is pretty much exactly what we were looking for.  The right size, the right location, doesn't need a complete overhaul, but there's still enough we can do to it to make it our own.  We'll be living in East Grand Rapids, which has a great neighborhood feel.  We are excited to be able to keep some elements of our European lifestyle there since there'll be plenty of opportunities for walking and biking to restaurants and such.  The process of getting the house was pretty crazy, since the market here has gotten really hot.  In the matter of only 1.5 hours, we had toured the house for the first time, decided on a price to offer, and signed the purchase agreement in the living room.  We even had a fun little bidding war with 3 other families, but we won it, baby!  We cannot wait to move in, my need to start nesting is killing me!

Speaking of baby business, all is going super well on the pregnancy front. I continue to feel good most days, just some slight discomforts to deal with here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary.  At the doctor's appointment today, we were again told that everything is on track - baby and mama are both growing at the right rate.  Less than 10 weeks to go before the big day!

And now, since I couldn't leave you without any photos, I'll begin with a pic of Jack at the dog park near us.

And I thought it would be fun to show some photos of a few pics I snapped at Holland's Tulip Time festival.  What would this Holland be without some tulips?

Along the parade route.

And just for fun, I snapped a photo of this sign posted on lots of doors downtown.

 

Yes, indeed, people dress up with traditional Dutch costumes and real wooden shoes.  I think those of you from Nederland would enjoy the spectacle :).

Re-Americanizing

Ahoy, fair readers!  Greetings from the good ole US of A.  Our trip back went quite smoothly.  The flight went well, and Jackaroo was a champ.  She was a clean, happy (if somewhat exhausted and panty) dog when we picked her up in Chicago.  Her biggest adjustment right now is that we're living in a downtown apartment on the 8th floor. I think she misses her yard a bit. But it's pretty fun to have this view of Grand Rapids for a month...

And we're right along the river as well, complete with lots of fisherman every day of the week:

This past week we've had a good mix of fun and business.  Todd had most of the week off, so we were able to check a lot of things off our list.  We took care of a lot of administrative stuff, bought a car, got cell phones, and started our house hunting.  On the fun side, we've had lots of dinners and outings with friends and family, which has been great.

Shopping for groceries was an interesting experience we had the other day.  The store was huge.  Seriously, just check out this shot.

And Todd was pretty pumped about the hot sauce section.

Excuse me?

We've been enjoying lots of food as well.  Exhibit A: Chipotle.

Happy boy at Chipotle.

Exhibit B: Sugary grocery store cupcakes, that I ate way too many of in one sitting.

In my defense, they are mini cupcakes.

In bump news, I've already had my first doctor's appointment here.  The nurse was a bit thrown by the fact that my records are in Dutch. And she didn't even seem too convinced of her ability to read the translated copies I provided.  I'm just glad the pregnancy has been smooth so far, so that I don't have to be worried about that.  The belly is continuing to grow, and the kid is kicking like a maniac, so good progress is being made.

25 Weeks.

Todd started work last Friday and I'll begin tomorrow.   I must admit that I'm looking forward to having a "go to work" job again.  I missed the interaction that came with that, it will be fun to have co-workers around.  There are many aspects of life we're getting adjusted to here, but I think we're doing a pretty good job so far.  We've been so busy that there hasn't been too much time to reflect yet, but the times that I do, I start to feels pangs of missing our life and friends in the Netherlands.  I emotionally feel a bit split between places.  I guess being an expat will do that to you.  More to come soon!

Tot Ziens, Nederland

How is it possible that this could be my last post in the Netherlands?  We've come from Holland to Holland, and now we're heading back again.  Our movers are arriving to pack us up early next week, and then we fly back on March 28.  Over the past few days and weeks, it has finally started to hit me that we're actually moving back.  It is going to be hard to say good-bye to our adoptive country that has treated us so well.  The Netherlands and Eindhoven will always hold a very special place in my heart.

A year and a half has gone by in a blink, even though it may not have always felt that way at points throughout.  This week I've been thinking about regrets, and if I have any from my time here.  Truthfully, I can say "no", my overall experience here has been overwhelmingly positive and I've gotten to see and do so much.  Not to mention the fact that I've met some special people and built real friendships in a year and a half.  I'm so thankful for everyone Todd and I have had the chance to get to know. 

It has also been wonderful to spend so much quality time, "just the two of us".  I am grateful for the many trips Todd and I have taken together, the frustrating expat moments, the times when we felt pretty alone and learned to lean on each other, and now for the fact that we're bringing home the best souvenir imaginable.  Ok, maybe this pregnant lady should stop before there are too many tears.  What an unforgettable experience.  And my feelings are so bittersweet, since I'm 100% looking forward to being back stateside and seeing our beloved friends and family that we left behind to come here.  But that's life for you!  And change can be a good thing, especially when it involves the addition of a new member of the family.

Last weekend, we hosted a going away party at our home.  It was a great capstone to this experience to have so many of our friends gathered in one place.  I took photos at the beginning before guests arrived...

Woot woot for the non-alcoholic drink section!

...and then I proceeded to forget to take any photos until later in the party after many people had already left.  But I did manage to get a few before the end.

Thank you to everyone for coming over to celebrate this past year and half with us!

And with that I'll sign off for now.  I do plan to continue using this blog for updates once we've moved home, so this won't be the last you'll hear from me, I promise.  Although the blog will be changing subject from European adventures, to all of the new adventures awaiting us when we return!  Thank you for reading!

Showered With Love

The weekend before last, I was blessed with an awesome first baby shower.  A couple of my (very creative) friends here, Sam and Katja, threw a shower for me, and it was amazing.  Every detail was a delight, and it was so fun to celebrate this bambino of ours!   The weather that day was also amazing, 70 and sunny, so pretty much everything was perfect.  But enough with the superlative vocabulary (for now).  On to the photos!

The ladies and I gathered at Sam's apartment as we admired all of the details put into the decor...

All photo credit goes to Bart, Sam's husband, he did a fine job.

Even the fireplace was wrapped in the theme colors! Our first order of business was eating, naturally.  The hosts made a delicious potato leek soup and all of the guests brought along food as well.   Yum!

What a fantastic group of friends! 

Throughout the shower, there were lots of cute little games and such to play.  Everyone was guessing the baby's due date and gender:

Very even!

And if you look closely, each person started out wearing a white clothespin, which could be stolen if you said the word "baby".  I didn't win that game.

A hilarious touch was found in the bathroom, where this rendering of Todd and my child was placed.  Hopefully our kid doesn't look quite as creepy.

Another game was where I guessed everyone's baby photo.  I must admit, I did a pretty good job, getting only 3 wrong originally.  Those were some cute babies!

Next, I got to open lots of lovely gifts.  It was such a generous and thoughtful group of ladies - I loved the books (many Dutch-related), adorable clothing (thanks for keeping it all gender neutral), handmade socks, rain boots, gift cards I can use in the US, and more.  Baby R will love it all.

After gifts we dug into the very lovely cake and other desserts, which were oh so good.

And here's a photo for all of you looking for the bump in these posts.

It was an all around awesome day. I am so thankful to have made the friends here that I have. And a special shout-out to Sam and Katja for all of their hard work in putting together the shower! I can't thank you enough.