He looks like us

One of the hardest parts during our infertility journey was the realization that we might never have a baby that  resembled us. 

My blue eyes and defined chin or B.'s dark hair and olive skin, 

my stubbornness or his precision, 

it would never be combined in a little human being we could call our own.

^ ^ ^ ^

I know that motherhood has little to do with genetics and DNA, 

it's not defined by that,

all there is really needed to become a family is LOVE. 

I truly believe that.

And to be honest, my vision of our future family changed over the course of time. 

I dreamed of holding a beautiful brown skinned baby, 

and I knew I would love him just as much as a baby with my own DNA, 

and I knew he would be mine and I would be his. 

We would be family, no matter if our genetics matched or not.

But still, there were moments when yet another treatment hadn't worked and the dream of pregnancy and motherhood seemed farther away than ever. 

In those moments I would feel a sense of loss and sadness that I would maybe never hold a baby that looked like me or his papa.

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But then our miracle happened, I got pregnant and gave birth to the most precious baby boy in the world.

And, boy, did he look like us. 

In the beginning he looked so much like his papa and now he's starting to resemble me more and more.

And his personality, I recognize so much of myself in him,  

his curiosity and mischievousness and his happy, (and yes) impatient demeanor. 

But also his papa's eye for detail (like being able to play with the wheels of his cars for quite a while)  and outgoing personality. 

It's all rolled into one perfect little package.

B. at 8 weeks, and Micha at 10 weeks

One year old me, and almost one year old Micha

It's just one of those things that makes me feel so, so blessed and grateful to be able to experience.

I can't believe my luck!

Love, Maria

linking up again with Casey today

Yet another reason why summer is the best

If I could, and if the weather permitted it, I would eat outside all the time. 

There is just something about eating 'al fresco', 

whether it's a picnic in the park with friends, 

dining outside at a restaurant with B., 

or a barbecue on the balcony, it's my very favorite way to enjoy a meal. 

I don't know why, but I always think food tastes better outside. Why is that?

My love for eating outside probably has something to do with the whole vibe around it. 

The feeling of freedom and relaxation, 

light and tasty meals,

a glass of cold Rosé wine in my hand, 

the sun beaming down on my head,  

paper plates and picnic baskets, 

no worries about messy eating babies. 

Give me that, any time, all the time!

I can't wait for all the meals we'll be enjoying under the sun this summer. 

How about you, do you share my love for 'al fresco' meals too?

Love, Maria

45 weeks and a wheel obsession

Micha,

We've been noticing lately that you have an OBSESSION with anything with wheels on it. 

You love to inspect your toy cars, 

flip them over and start turning the wheels with your chubby little index finger. 

But your fascination doesn't only stop at your little toy cars, you love turning over your Wheely Bug and playing with the wheels, 

and I always have to stop you from crawling to your stroller and touching its wheels (eew, gross).

I love that your little (big) personality is really showing and we get glimpses of your interests (other than ma b-o-o-b-i-e-s) and talents. 

Love, Mama

Happy Friday

source

I found this one on Pinterest, and it made me laugh because it's kind of how I feel about writing a post today.

So much white space, but so little to write.

So, I'll just leave you with a 'Happy Friday' , enjoy your weekend,

and I'll see you all next week.

Love, Maria

p.s. I just wanted to let you (my readers and followers) know how much I appreciate you all. 

Thanks for all the funny, sweet and encouraging comments you leave and thank you for reading this little blog of mine. 
Without you all it would be a  lot less fun to blog!

On Cloth Diapering

As I have mentioned before on the blog we're cloth diapering Micha.

(I don't have any links for you because I can't find the posts that I wrote on cloth diapering) 

We're big fans of them and I thought I'd share my experience so far with them.

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- We started with cloth diapering when Micha was about three months old. 

His little bum was to small for them before that, and I thought I had enough on my plate in regards to all the new things I was experiencing.

I'm so glad we chose to do it like this, because when we finally started I was super pumped and had enough energy to really make it work. 

^ ^ ^ ^

- We use secondhand BumGenius 4.0, with velcro closures, and new Flip diapers with snap closures.

I prefer using the Flip diapers, because of the snaps and because it's not a pocket diaper like the BumGenius, that needs changing of the whole diaper every time baby so much as pees.

The Flip has fleece lined inserts that just sit inside the waterproof cover and therefore the whole diaper only needs changing if the cover gets dirty or wet.
But usually the insert absorbs all the pee and the cover is still perfectly clean. 

This way I usually only need about two cover changes a day(whenever there's a poop in it) and all the other times I just change the insert. 

This makes cloth diapering with Flip diapers cheaper than with BumGenius diapers. I need less of the expensive covers and the inserts for the flip aren't that expensive. 

If I'd go all BumGenius, I would need more diapers, and that would make it a bigger investment.

^ ^ ^ ^

- For nights and weekends away we use disposable diapers.
 I don't feel like changing M's diaper in the middle of the night, which would be necessary with cloth diapers because they are a bit less absorbent the disposables.
And when we're a weekend away I don't want to stress out about taking all the necessities I need for cloth diapering, like wet bags and special detergent etc.

^ ^ ^ ^

- It doesn't seem like I'm doing more laundry because of cloth diapering. 

I'm doing a lot more than before baby anyway, so an extra load of laundry every three days isn't a biggie.

^ ^ ^ ^

- Speaking of washing the diapers, this is how I do it:

*I wash them every three to four days(depending on how fast they go)

 *Before I put them in the diaper pail I make sure there's no solid bits (sorry TMI) on them anymore. 

I just shake out the soiled diapers above the toilet and flush the stinky's down. (so much better than a smelly diaper in the garbage pail)

* I put them in the washer and put them on a rinsing cylcle.

* Then I wash them in a cold cycle with a tiny little bit of special cloth diaper detergent,

* then a warm cycle with some more detergent (again, only about a tbsp),

* then another rinse,

*and they're done!

This way they always come out smelling fresh and clean. 

Whenever I can I lay them out in the sun to dry, that way any lingering stains get sun bleached away.

...and some more reasons why I love cloth diapering:

- It's not that much more work than using disposables. 

I'm so happy that I don't have to haul smelly bags of diapers to the garbage area in our apartment building.

- It's so much better for the environment.

- It's much cheaper than disposables in the long run. 

Yes, it is an investment, but a really good one!

- Micha has never had diaper rash issues, and I'm positive it has to do with cloth diapering.

- I just love the look of his fluffy bum in his diapers. 

All in all, we're pretty happy with cloth diapering and I would recommend it to everyone!

Hope this was helpful! Let me know if you have any questions.

Love, Maria

Out and about

It looks like summer has finally arrived here in Holland. 

The temperatures are reaching the heights they should be for this time of year, 

and the sun has been showing her pretty face more often.

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Of course warm weather calls for warm weather activities, like splashing with water on the balcony. 

Micha couldn't believe his luck when I hauled his bathtub onto the balcony and filled it up with water. 

 

 

He was drenched by the time he was done playing.

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While I love our apartment with it´s little balcony, nothing beats enjoying summer weather on the go.

And now that I finally have a bike we venture out further than we have before.

On Sunday we went for a bike ride to a nearby pond/ lake and B. did a little photo shoot of me and Micha with our new camera.

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Yesterday, after we went out for some ice cream with friends, Micha and I visited a local petting zoo. 

Micha bonded with a curious little baby goat, I overcame my germophobia and let him pet the goat. 

It was just too cute. I had to take some pictures with my phone.

(when we got home I washed his hands reeaaal good)

in awe of the goat

too much cuteness

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This afternoon we´re heading over to friends for a BBQ and some lounging in the sun.

All these summer activities are making me so excited for the summer holidays, I can´t wait!

B. still has four more weeks of teaching to go, hope they´ll fly by.

How are you filling your summer days?

Love, Maria

44 weeks

This weeks photos are so typically 'you', sweet baby boy. 

Always on the move, no time to sit still, especially for a photo.

So very curious and constantly testing boundaries.

You keep me busy! 

And I love it!

Love, Mama