a christmas tradition

I'll share our special Christmas tradition in a moment, 

but let me begin by introducing the Worlds Best Babysitter Ever!!

World, meet Christmas Tree (he keeps Adam busy for ages) :

'hello!'

only kid friendly ornaments on the tree this year!

//

Now, for our Christmas tradition:

Every Christmas since Micha's been born, we've made a little memento ornament for the Christmas tree, and it's become a precious tradition (last years ornament)I hope to keep alive for many years to come.

 This year we attempted to make Cinnamon Applesauce ornaments, using (as the name says) cinnamon and applesauce in equal quantities (I used half a cup of each) to make a dough and than baking the shapes in the oven for a while to harden them.

As per usual with Pinterest ideas it looked a whole lot easier online than it was in real life. 

The dough came together quite well, but it was super sticky, and it was hard to roll out. 

I finally ended up rolling it out between two pieces of baking paper. 

Cutting out shapes wasn't too easy either, to be precise: the cutting wasn't that hard, but moving the cut out shapes from the table to the baking tray was a bit tricky.

look at that concentration!

Micha and I made little hearts and two gingerbread men (one for Micha and one for Adam), and they turned out pretty cute. 

After they had hardend up in the oven I decorated the gingerbread men ornaments with a bit of white paint in a piping bag to resemble icing.

They did seem a little fragile, so we ended up making some back up ornaments in case the cinnamon ones break:

this one is Adam's , it says '1st Christmas'.
I dipped his little fingers in paint and pressed them onto the ornament

Micha painted and 'glitterized' his ornament all by himself

//

Even though it was all a bit messy and tricky, it smelled heavenly and we had fun!

And we held onto our own little family tradition!

Score!

Love, Maria

Do you have any fun Christmas traditions? Do tell!

life lately + Adam 5 months

 - brothers enjoying each other. 

Adams face lights up whenever he sees Micha and Micha is mostly so sweet and gentle with Adam. Already Adam loves it when Micha is acting silly, 

I can only imagine how much fun these two will have once Adam gets older

//

- saying goodbye to a beautiful and sunny fall. 

I'll miss the pretty views from my livingroom window.

//

- this funny monkey is growing up.  

 We said goodbye to his soother last week. 

I was kind of dreading the moment but we felt it was time. 

So we made a little party out of it with balloons and his favorite food and then let him throw his soother in the garbage. We told him he could pick out a toy the next day. 

There were a few rough nights (especially the first), but things are going a lot better again and there's no searching for soothers in the middle of the night anymore!

//

- this cutie pie is now a five-month-old! 

 After a pretty rough week about a week ago, things are settling down again. 

He seems older and even rolled over for the first time. 

I'm able to put him down for his nap awake and he falls asleep by himself, which is so great!

He's a smiley, happy, giggly baby and we all love him like crazy!

// 

This week I'm going to decorate the house for Christmas 

and on Saturday we're putting up the Christmas tree! 

So excited!

Love, Maria

two

Adam is clearly enjoying having his soother shoved upside down into his mouth ;)
#brotherlylove

Two kids. To be honest, it's not that bad!
I'm able to shower every day and even put on my make-up, I managed (or lucked into) synchronizing their naps and quiet times and most evenings there's a decent meal on the table.

But sometimes it is crazy town!
Yesterday was such a day...

It started off all nice and sweet with cuddles in bed with my boys followed by a peaceful oatmeal breakfast.
After breakfast we read some books, Micha on my lap and Adam laying on the couch next to us, the sun shone on our happy faces and all was well with the world.
After books it was time for Micha's quiet play time in his room, Adams nap, and my me-time.
I had a nice shower, read some blogs and even sewed a little present for a my friends almost-here baby girl. Things were so perfect, maybe a little too perfect...

When the hour was up I went upstairs to get Micha, and that was when it all started going down hill.
I opened the door to his room and smelled it straight away, somebody had gone #2.
I picked that certain somebody up, put him on the changing table and felt something warm and soft on his back.... Yep, poop, on his back, on his clothes, on my hands, and not that innocent yellow stuff his little brother likes to poop, but the real stuff...

At that moment I heard that Adam had woken up from his nap, and it wasn't a happy wake up, but a 'get me out out this swaddle right now' kind of wake up.
So with poop on my hands, a screaming baby in the background and a toddler who was way to interested in the stuff on his back, I had my hands full! What to do?

I quickly put M in the shower, washed my hands, gave Adam his soother to buy some time, and cleaned the mess up.

Crisis averted!

But that wasn't all for the day.

After the boys afternoon naps, I got them ready to go out for a walk to the grocery store.
I managed to stuff M's chubby toddler feet into his shoes, put his coat on and let him play while I got A. ready.

The moment I had Adam in his car seat and ready to go I heard a crash followed by a wail and I rushed into the living room to see what had happened.
Micha had fallen of the rocking chair and already the blood was pouring out of his nose.
I grabbed a cloth to clean him up, but he was not having it!

He pushed my hands away and started rubbing the blood ALL.OVER.HIS.FACE, in an attempt to wipe the blood away. Blood everywhere!
And again, Adam starts fussing in the car seat, I had an upset and very bloody toddler to wrangle into the kitchen, without getting to much blood on myself, which of course was impossible.
I had my hands full!

A half an hour later we were finally out the door, me all sweaty and with blood on my clothes, Micha's nose scratched and red, but luckily a sleeping Adam.
So I guess it wasn't all that bad, haha!

It was quite the day! Crazy, disastrous, but also pretty hilarious!
You bet I had a big glass of wine that evening!
 (After breastfeeding Adam of course, I'm not a totally incompetent parent) :) 

Have you had any disaster-filled days lately?

Love, Maria

a few more weeks

the boy and the belly

Only five (-ish) weeks to go and Micha's (and our) world will be changed for good. 

Instead of being an only child, he'll be the oldest child. 

Instead of having me available all day, every day, 

he'll have to share me with his little brother, and learn to wait for his turn.

How grown up he will seem once his baby brother arrives. 

Even though I know he'll love being a big brother, 

and even though I realize what a good thing it will be for him to learn to share 'his' papa and mama,

these last few weeks will be filled with extra cuddles and probably a bitter sweet tear or two.

Because on that day, when our family of three becomes a family of four,

I will have two sweet bodies to cuddle instead of one, and I absolutely can't wait for that.

But I also find myself wanting to savor these last few weeks with the little boy that made me a mama.

He made me a mama, and that is something I'll never forget!

Just me and him, for a few more weeks.

Love, Maria

15/52

Project 52: a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014

 Micha:

Because of all the busyness lately I completely forgot to write a monthly update of you.

You are now 21 months old, and such a fun little handful to have around. 

-You talk so, so much, usually it's pretty entertaining but sometimes my ears just need some rest. 

And you really need to learn not to accidentally insult people, you love calling older women 'Old lady', even if they're not that old. Oops.

- You handled travelling like a pro, no jet-lag for you! And you just loved hanging out with your Canadian friends and relatives, and even learned some more English words and phrases like: 'Opa Dizzy'(Oopsie Daisy) and 'Garbage truck'.

- You found a new love in Canada: little cars and trucks. You are such a typical boy!

- You make me and your papa laugh every day. This morning we were eating breakfast and talking about that papa is a man, mama is a woman and when we asked you what you are, you proudly said: 'Superman'.

So funny!

- You haven't only been all cute and fun though. Lately you think it's okay to hit us even though we strictly tell you not to, and even give you a 'time out' when you don't listen. We busted out our trusty 'Baby Book' by doctor Sears and are also reading his book on discipline. Something tells me we'll be reading that last one quite a bit in the future. We still love you to bits though!

//

Baby Boy:

Today I am exactly 34 weeks pregnant with you, only 6-ish more weeks to go!

You are quite the active little boy, and love kicking me in my bladder lately (ouch).

We're finally getting around to painting your room, and then I can finally start decorating. 

With Micha things were practically done by now, but you're really getting the second baby treatment, sorry! We love you just as much though!

We can't wait to meet you, little man!

Love, Mama

//

Happy Weekend!

20 months

Micha boy, you are twenty months old.

Only four more months and you'll be a two-year-old!

I can't believe it!

Here are some of the things I want to remember about you at twenty months:

*Your love for music, especially for 'the Beatles' or 'beetus' as you call them.

You sing along phonetically to some of their songs, and it's the cutest thing ever.

*The way you greet me with your cute little voice: 'hey mama'

*Your big vocabulary, you surprise everyone with all the words you know. 

There's never a quiet moment when you're around.

*The fact that bedtime isn't a problem for you lately, you love your crib, monkey and pacifier.

I guess all of our hard work in making sure your bed feels like a safe place is paying off!

*Your mischievousness, you are definitely entering the 'terrible two's'.

You know exactly when you're doing something wrong, and even if I warn you, you go right ahead with it with the naughtiest little grin on your face.

*Your obsession with your Duplo, you're actually getting pretty good at building your own little creations. But your favorite thing to do is asking me to build a tower with windows and then stuffing all the little blocks through the windows into the tower.

*Eating most of my 'zoute haring' ( 'salted herring', a typical dutch food), and loving it!

 I haven't met many toddlers who like 'zoute haring'.

Speaking of non typical food that you love, you would gladly eat a bowl of olives!

*Your daring personality. You love climbing and sliding off the highest slides.

You always have a bump or a bruise somewhere, but almost never tears.

*The way you shout out 'Canada' whenever you see an airplane.

You have no idea what 'Canada' is yet, but in two weeks you will!

I can't wait to introduce you to my favorite country in the world and to some of my favorite people in the world who live there!

Micha, you are my favorite little buddy! I love you so much!

Love, Mama

brothers

Every once in a while, Micha will put down whatever he's playing with, walk up to me and place his hand or his head on my belly. 

Sometimes he just wants a cuddle from me, 

other times he looks up with a grin and says 'dikke buik' ('big belly' in Dutch, uh, thanks buddy), 

but lately he also pats my belly, cocks his head to one side and, with a sweet voice and a smile, says 'baby'. And I just melt into puddle. 

It's not just that he knows that there's a baby in my belly, 

but that he really seems to like the idea of that baby.

//

I know that once his little brother arrives things won't necessarily go smoothly, 

I'm actually certain that Micha will act out in some way, 

and I've heard the stories of others mama's who have had a hard time dealing with two boys so closely together. 

But those stories don't scare me and Micha will eventually get used to having a baby around.

I'm just so excited for Micha to become a big brother to this little boy that's growing inside me. 

I just know he'll be the best big brother there is and I have a feeling he's ready for the task.

Little baby boy is going to be one lucky little dude with a brother like Micha.

//

I'm so grateful I get to be their mama!

Love, Maria

06/52

Project 52: a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014

Micha: 

Impossible to take pictures of. Always on the move or trying to grab the camera. 

Mama needs to learn some photography tricks.

//

Little man:

Growing and kicking and being so loved by us already!

//

Happy Friday!

Have a great weekend.

Love, Maria

maybe I'll get a second chance?

not so sure about this mom..

As I mentioned in a recent post, Micha is not a big fan of baby-carrying. 

Ever since he was a tiny baby, he would squirm and scream and cry until we would free him from the carrier.

Once in a while he would accept it for a bit, but if he was done, he was done, and he'd certainly let you know.

this is what happens when Micha is done being carried

Before he was born, and even before he was conceived, I had done so much research on baby carriers, I knew I didn't want a wrap or a sling, they seemed so complicated. 

No, what I wanted was either a Ergo or a Beco, used by my favorite bloggers at the time. (It really does work, advertising through blogs).

The Beco had cuter prints so I decided to get one of those. 

And in the months before M. was born you could have caught me walking around the house with the carrier strapped to my belly, imagining how perfect and serene life would be with my newborn in the carrier.

//

And then came the moment of truth, Micha was born and as soon as he was big enough I attempted the carrier. 

Womp,womp,womp.... he did not like it, not one bit!

Turns out, he's just like his mama, not happy to be confined or strapped down. 

No, we need our freedom and independence!

//

But, no despair, I get to have a second chance. 

Maybe baby #2 will love being carried and constantly being close to me. 

This time around I might even try a baby wrap, it honestly seems more comfortable for a newborn, and a bit easier for me to wear around the house. 

And yet again I've been swayed by the magic of blog advertising and am lusting after this beautiful wrap.

But this time around I think I'll first borrow a friends wrap and if baby agrees with it, I'll get one for myself.

Live and learn, people!

Do you have experience with baby carrying? What was your favorite carrier? Let me know!

Love, Maria

03/52

Project 52: 'a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014'

Micha: Waking from his nap, cuddling his 'Apie' (his version of dutch for: monkey)

Baby: Making my belly grow more and more every day. How are you doing in there? 

Still three and a half weeks before we see you again, I can't wait!

//

Happy weekend, friends!

Love, Maria

little jokes

One of my favorite things about Micha is his sense of humor, and his happy personality. 

He loves acting silly and we have our own little running jokes in this home. 

Some of my favorites:

- Before mealtimes we always sing a prayer and we usually ask him if he can sing along with us to which he replies by humming and raising his eyebrows and then laughing out loud.

- Every morning when I go to get the little mister from his crib, he covers his eyes, shakes his head and grumbles the moment I turn on the lights but then greets me with a big goofy grin.

- He's such a little actor, whenever I ask him if he's sad he fake cries, and then when I ask him a second later if he's happy he fake laughs.

-He loves giving himself big sloppy kisses in the mirror and then laughing at his reflection.

-His favorite game is to put toys in silly places and watch for our reaction. 

This morning, while we were eating fruit, he decided to give Pooh a bath in a glass of water and threw some chunks of apple in for good measure. And all the while looking at me with a side eye and a grin on his face.

Sometimes his jokes are a little cheeky, and laughing isn't probably the best thing, but I just can't help myself most of the time.

I just think he is the funniest little dude ever.

I love him so much!

Love, Maria

baby in the corner

One night, during my pregnancy with a very active (keeping me awake with his kicking) baby, I declared to B.: 'This one is going to be a handful!' 

And I was right. 

From the moment he was born with a loud cry to this very day he has been so full of energy and has such a feisty personality, and while I love him to bits, he can be quite a handful sometimes.

//

To be clear, I wouldn't want him to be any other way. 

I love his big emotions and his cheeky demeanor and I know he'll do well in life because he knows what he wants. 

He is so outgoing and most of the time a happy and fun little boy to have around.

But with a character like his, it also means that disciplining him starts early.

And that, my friends, is pretty hard.

//

He loves to test his boundaries. 

When he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to be doing, he turns to me with a big grin on his face, and while saying 'no-no', he does it anyways. Yeah. 

If I say 'no' he just laughs and continues on being a rascal. 

He can throw the best tantrums I have seen yet and doesn't want to do anything he doesn't feel like doing. 

(Uh, buddy, mama needs to change your diaper and brush your teeth once in a while. Okay?)

So lately, if he's being naughty, and doesn't respond to my warnings I put him in his high chair in the corner. Sometimes he thinks it's the most hilarious thing ever, but lately he's starting to realize that it's not so great. Corners are boring.

//

But that's really all I have in the disciplining department so far, eek! 

I don't like to raise my voice to him and spanking is just not my thing.

I desperately need to do some more research on how to discipline a one-year-old. 

Any experienced mama's out there who want to tell me their tips and tricks? Feel free to share!

But, oh, how I love being this little bear's mama:

Love, Maria

#tbt (that means: throw back thursday, mom)

Somebody did a whole lot of growing up since last October.

Micha exactly a year ago:

I can only imagine how big he'll look next year!

Love, Maria

fourteen months old

Dear Micha,

I just realized that having a birthday on the 31st, like you do, makes it hard to count your months exactly.

But give or take a day or two you are now fourteen months old.

I like fourteen months old.

You are learning so many new words lately, your favorite words are 'p' or 'b' words, like 'papa' or 'bat' for water. 

When we go the playground ('speeltuin' in dutch) you say 'pee- ta' and you know quite a few animal sounds. 

You wave and say 'da-da' (bye-bye in dutch is 'dag-dag'), our elderly neighbors can't get enough!

It's so much fun to see you learn and understand different words.

You're walking like a pro, and you love to climb. You've climbed the stairs a few times before we smartened up and installed a baby gate. 

Luckily for us you are a great climber and no accidents happened. 

Your favorite thing to do is playing at the playground. 

Especially when there are other kids, you just love interacting and playing with them. 

It doesn't upset or faze you at all if you're pushed down or bumped into by older kids. 

You love going down the slide, backwards, on your belly or the right way, you're a fearless little dude.

You've been sick for the first time in ages a little while ago and while I hated that you weren't feeling well, I loved all extra cuddles, since you're usually not very cuddly.

But ever since you've been sick, you're also not sleeping like we would like.

You have the habit of waking up crying and upset just an hour after we go to bed and it's not as easy to calm you down as it used to be. Hopefully it's just a phase.

You still love to eat and you're even learning how to eat with a spoon and a fork. 

I'm so proud of you. 

Your papa and I are so glad we chose to go with the baby led weaning method, eating has never been an issue.

You still love your broccoli and any pasta dish. 

You're kind of on the fence with tomatoes and you don't like avocados anymore.

You're still crazy about cars and buses and trucks, such a typical boy, I love it!

You love 'reading' books and being read to. Quite the little bookworm. 

Your personality is my favorite part about you. 

You're such a happy little boy and you have a smile ready for anyone that gives you attention. 

You love chatting with people and bring so much cheer with your loud little voice. 

You're a little bit cheeky and you never sit still.

You're adventurous and curious and always trying to grab things you're not allowed to. 

You know what you want and if you don't get it, you'll let me know. 

I love that you feel and show your emotions well. It reminds me of myself. 

You and me are like that little girl with the little curl.

'There was a little girl, 

who had a little curl, 

right in the middle of her forehead, 

and when she was good, 

she was very, very good, 

and when she was bad, she was horrid.'

Except for the fact that I never find you 'horrid', just maybe a handful sometimes. :) 

Micha, I think you are the smartest, most handsome and most adorable little boy this world has ever known.(No, not biased at all ;) )

You are an answer to so many prayers.

Love you so much, little buddy!

Love, Mama

happy weekend!

B. is home early from work, my brother and his family are coming over, 

so I'm just popping in to wish you all a great weekend!

But not before I leave you with a photo of this little stinker, I am in love with his eyes!

Don't mind the boogers... haha!

Love, Maria

a sick baby and the best donuts (ever)

Warning, whining up ahead.

This week has been such a doozy and it's not even over yet. 

Micha is sick and miserable, and nobody is getting enough z's.

It started over the weekend with a cold and a very sad and quiet baby, 

then he had a fever and on Tuesday we were up almost all night with wheezing, 

coughing and scared little boy. 

Turns out he has a mild case of croup.

That is some scary stuff if you don't know what your dealing with.

I'm usually the calm one when it comes to Micha's health, but that night I was really worried.

The wheezing and coughing was pretty scary and I really had to do my best at keeping calm.

We called the hospital and they were able to reassure us and gave us some tips how to handle croup. Apparently croup (the non-severe kind) is very common and looks scarier than it is.

The most important thing is to stay calm for the sake of your child, panic only worsens the problem. 

Another helpful tip was to sit in the bathroom with the hot shower running to create a steamy environment which opens up the air ways.

Last night was a lot better, but still with quite a lot of waking up and midnight cuddles. 

Hopefully the little guy will feel better soon, it's no fun at all to see him so miserable and not himself. 

And I wouldn't mind to get some more sleep thank you very much.

//

In the meantime I'll be eating these:

recipe found here



Mmm... pumpkin-y, spicy, sugary goodness...

They are so good, they make this doozy of a week a little less doozy-ish.


How has your week been so far? Hopefully a bit better then ours!

Love, Maria

little buddies

One of my best friends had a baby boy just a week after Micha was born, 

and of course they were destined to be best friends. 

They really just don't have a choice in this particular matter, haha. Sorry boys!

They other day my friend needed to go to the hairdresser and I offered to babysit her boy. 

While Micha and Ben were playing I snapped some photos and watched them play together.

It was so fun seeing them interact with each other instead of just playing side by side like they used to. 

Micha is a bit rougher and louder than his little buddy Ben, but they really enjoy each others company even though their personalities are so different.

I can't wait to see where this little friendship will take them, hopefully they'll stay buddies for a long time.

But whether they stay friends or not, my hope is that as Micha grows up he will have friends that are encouraging, kind and love him for who he is. And I hope he'll be such a friend too.

Those are the best friends to have, don't you think?

Love, Maria

this kid is made for walking a.k.a. Micha's first steps

This kid started walking this week.

He's still wobbly and prefers crawling for the time being, 

but he's walking!

He doesn't seem to mind all the tripping and falling down and just goes for it!

Such a little man. 

I see many bumps and bruises in his future.

^ ^ ^ ^

I made a little video of his attempts.

Enjoy!

Whenever he walks a few steps he's just so proud of himself and can't stop giggling.

And I couldn't be more proud too!

Love, Maria

Birthday Boy

On July 31st 2013, Micha turned one!

 We started off the day with Micha's favorite breakfast foods:

pancakes, blueberries, and a raspberry smoothie.

After his morning nap we had cake. 

I made a healthy whole wheat banana cake with a Greek yogurt and honey frosting.

(from pinterest)

He loved digging into it!

Then it was time for his birthday present.

His little face just lit up when he ripped off the wrapping paper,

Gah! So adorable!

Afterwards we headed to the pool and splashed around a bit. 

Micha loved going on the little water slide with me.

In the afternoon, B's parents and sister and her boyfriend came over for a bit to celebrate with us.

It was a perfect day!

^ ^ ^ ^

On Saturday we celebrated all over again with a party at the park with all of his little and big friends.

The weather was perfect, the food was enjoyed and Micha loved all the attention.

I kept the party simple, it was picnic style, with some easy decorations like his week-by-week photo's pinned to the flag bunting, colorful balloons, and a kiddie pool filled with water and toys for the littles to splash around in.

Simple, but perfect!

I can't believe our little guy is one year old already!

We are so blessed!

Love, Maria