So EXCITING!

We're thrilled that the Netherlands made it to the finals and it's against Spain! What a game this will be! We live two streets away from Museumplein (or Ground Zero for Dutch Fans) so it's very loud in our apartment. The park is outfitted with sound-stages and 4 large screens to see the game (each is about 12 feet high) and a 5th screen will be even higher and taller so everyone can see the game. We're sure there are fireworks in the back somewhere too in case we get the win! We walked around the area this afternoon and had lunch at a cafe nearby to take in all the craziness. It's been a beautiful, hot day so far. We're simultaneously trying to get packed and organized for a trip home next weekend to the US. We'll be traveling to NJ on Saturday for a week to visit with my family and then we'll be up north to Massachusetts and spending two weeks on Cape Cod visiting family and friends. Bryce is going to ride in his third Pan Mass Challenge Ride too on August 8. Will be a great time, but as usual, we have more than we can handle right now in terms of getting ready! Bryce is crazed with work and is trying to catch up right now, while I make lists and phone calls for our trip. Somehow it will all get done. In the middle of it all we get to watch a fantastic game tonight and will probably get little sleep(since the noise doesn't tend to die down until the wee hours of the morning thanks to our heavy drinking Dutch comrades).

Hup Holland!

If you've been following the World Cup even a little bit, you'll know that the Dutch have made it to the semi-finals and play again today! The game starts at 8:30 pm our time and we're looking forward to them beating Uruguay :) If they make it to the finals, we expect they will be playing the Germans which, here would be a very heated match. There's been bad blood between the Dutch and the Germans ever since WWII, so I can only imagine how crazy things would get just having that match happen, but we'll see.. I'm probably getting ahead of myself. So game day.. I'm happy that the game is at night this time. I always find myself in the middle of the market or someplace downtown when the match inevitably starts and it seems like the city stops and everyone runs to the pub. (Kind of hard for me to enjoy this ritual with a baby buggy and child, but nevertheless..) All you see are people dressed head to toe in orange and crammed into these tiny pubs staring at the screens and screaming. And if you don't have the game on at home, don't worry, as you'll likely hear what's happening from the screaming in the streets, the blowing of the vulvulas, and if you're near a park like we are, you'll hear the game from a huge screen they set up so everyone can see it. It's quite amazing and as typically Dutch - very FUN! I wasn't much into soccer before we moved here, but it's tough not to catch World Cup fever. Hup Holland!

She's got teeth!

We first saw two little teeth coming through on the bottom of Carolyn's mouth and it seems like just overnight, 5 more sprouted through! We just noticed she now has 4 on top coming in and one next to the other 2 on the bottom. We're still getting the hang of eating, but these will certainly help!

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Our first Queen's Day

Wow! What a crazy holiday this is! In honor of the Queen's birthday, The Netherlands celebrates Queen's Day. It's like the 4th of July in the States but much crazier. The Dutch really know how to party! And everyone dresses in orange in honor of the Dutch Royal family - the House of Orange-Nassau. We took a walk this morning and witnessed the largest yard sale around - all over the city people can sell whatever they like. And in Vondelpark, one of the most famous parks in Amsterdam (I liken it to Central Park in NYC,) the area was designated to children - where only children can sell items- and it's great. We were met with kids of all ages selling everything from food, to toys, clothes, games and they even performed. Some quite well, I might add~ lots of Michael Jackson fans here. Lots of dancing, singing and fun times. Bryce, Carolyn and I walked the length of the park and checked out tons of used toys and items. We stopped at a cafe for lunch and had a nice hot cappuccino and sandwich and then headed toward Museumplein where a radio station had set up a huge sound stage and pumped in lots of music. The concert is supposed to end at 9, but we'll see if the party ends there (I doubt it~ if it's anything like New Years', this could last all weekend!)

Queen's Day

Video of first swim class

Videos

First Dutch Swim Class

Since Carolyn loves her bath, we signed up for a parent and child swim class at a nice pool that's a short tram ride away. The idea was to have Bryce take her into the pool for the lesson once a week so he could get some quality time with her (and mom could get a break!) This being our first class, we wanted to bring the camera and video camera along (Okay, so I don't get much of a break) and since the changing areas are a bit small, I'd change Carolyn and get her ready while Bryce got ready. We got there on-time and Bryce came a little after me by bike. Seeing an opportunity to get a picture taken, this nice man offered to take a picture of Carolyn and me. Right after he took the shot, and just as I was looking at the picture he just took, Carolyn yells, "Dah!" and swats the camera out of my hand. It fell on hard ceramic tile lens-down. To say it's broken is an understatement. The front is all banged up and dented! When Bryce came and I told him, he was really bummed. But at least we still had the video camera. Once inside for the class, Carolyn was overwhelmed by all the new sights, sounds and smells of the locker room and shower area. I passed her to Bryce when he stepped under the shower and she started crying. We made our way into the pool area and she continued to cry through half the class~ poor thing! There were about 12 other parents with children and the class divided into younger and older (6-12 months) and 12-18 months, so there were about 6 people with babies per side. They swam in a big circle, sang songs and moved gently up and down the pool with babies in hand. Carolyn started to like it once the instructor gave her a small ball to play with and she turned and could face daddy the whole time. Too cute! I'll have to download some video as soon as I figure out how to get the camera to download. For now all I have is the picture I was able to salvage from our destroyed $300 camera.

Easter

The Easter bunny came for Carolyn at Kristen's house in NJ this year. We had a great 3 week visit seeing the family and having Carolyn meet all her cousins, aunts, uncle and relatives. We were so excited too to have our friends Kellie, Peter and Wil stop by on their way back to Massachusetts after visiting family in Pennsylvania. What a fun day.

Easter 2010

Baby it's cold outside

It's really cold and icy here in Amsterdam, but we decided to take a walk anyway today since it was sunny. Aside from the bitter cold, we had fun sliding all over the streets and saying good morning to people we didn't know around town. We stopped in to a cafe for some tea to warm up and Bryce and I enjoyed our first "tosti", a grilled cheese sandwich. Carolyn had more fun with us once we got home though, as you'll see from the following pictures. Enjoy!

Shopping

I think we're really stuck in the 80s. I took this picture at V&D, a Macy's-like department store at a mall in Amstelveen, a town just outside of Amsterdam. The brands we loved in the US back in the 80s are all the rage here and so is the fashion! Take for example, Esprit - it's a major brand here and if you look closely, you'll see this mannequin is wearing leg warmers over a pair of jeans with short black boots. Other great labels include Benetton, Tommy Hilfilger, and Ralph Lauren and not at the Marshalls prices you'll find back at home. Oh no, these are with the full retail price in Euros. I just keep asking myself WHY??

Carolyn Rolls over!

Carolyn's 3 - Month check-up

Today was Carolyn's 3-month check-up. While I know the best way to protect your child from illness is to make sure she's vaccinated, it pains me to go to these appointments. She's always smiling and happy upon entering the doctor's office, not knowing what's about to happen, and then the shot comes and she just looks so betrayed and upset, it kills me. I couldn't help but think about this as I pushed her- all bundled up in her bugaboo-like stroller- through the snow-covered streets to our appointment just a 15-minute walk or so away. I knew I'd be upset, so I enlisted Bryce to come along. Some things he just doesn't get a free pass on and this appointment was one of them. When we got there, Carolyn stared at all the other babies, pretty quiet and seemingly content. When the nurse called our name and we walked into the room, Carolyn took one look around and started crying.. and crying .. it was as if she suddenly remembered where she was and what was about to happen and wanted out. She cried continously as the nurse checked her hips, weight, length and then asked me to calm her down so she could hear her heartbeat. Poor Carolyn. I found it difficult to pay attention, so Bryce did all the talking to find out what all the numbers meant. We learned she's 10.8 pounds and 23 inches long, so she's put on almost 4 lbs since birth (from 6lbs 12 oz) and has grown 2 inches in length! We were able to see how these numbers stacked up against other Dutch babies and learned she is average across the board. What a pleasure it is to be normal! But then just as Carolyn started to relax, they brought out the needles to do the vaccination and she got one in each leg. Daddy held her hands and I stood closeby with tears in my eyes. I don't think I've heard Carolyn scream at such a high pitch before. But, she made it through and we ran out of there into a waiting room that was dead quiet as people stared at us. One lady asked if she was okay since they heard Carolyn cry through the entire appointment. Yea, sorry!
Carolyn and I headed home after a quick stop at the market and enjoyed a nice, calm afternoon playing, eating and sleeping- just what the doctor ordered. She slept for 3hours this afternoon and had no problem going to bed tonight. One more dreadful appointment down!

A Different Kind of Tree Lighting Event

So we had a quiet weekend at home following the awesome fireworks display that was January 1st. Today we decided to take a late afternoon walk since we had been inside all day. After strolling down a street nearby, we decided to come back toward Museumplein to see how the clean up was coming along from the other night, when we noticed a couple of people in front of us were walking in the same direction, with their Christmas trees in tow. We didn't think much of it until we made our way to the start of the park, where all of a sudden we saw people descending upon the park from all directions dragging trees, and heading toward the far end of the park. As the sun set, the crowd grew and, in an organized fashion, one by one threw their tree into a huge pile. After a quick count down, someone set the pile on fire in what became a huge Christmas tree bonfire. It was very festive- as people all cheered and a marching band made it's way toward the crowd playing music and yelling Happy New Year! We were shocked at the display but mesmerized, as always, at how the Dutch seem to make a party out of things that most people I know don't think much about - like getting rid of an old Christmas tree. Attached is some video we took using my mobile phone from the event. We were so happy to have it on us as this was definitely not something we were expecting to see when we left the house this afternoon. Oh, and this time, it was nice to see that the police and fire department were on hand just in case..

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

It's crazy to think that a new year is already here. One thing is for sure, I will never forget what New Years is like in Amsterdam. This place is crazy! All week we've been hearing people set off fireworks randomly and just like the 4th of July, Bryce and I haven't thought much of it. Until today. This morning the booms got much louder as people set off fireworks of even bigger proportions! Apparently, just like everything else here, it's perfectly legal (well just on New Years) to buy and set off fireworks of any size or type. So they've been going off~ from the smallest pops to the very large ones I've only seen during professional fireworks displays in the States. It's quite beautiful tonight, but it was very strange at 10am this morning when I first started to hear them. Carolyn was just getting settled in for a morning feed when we both heard such a loud burst we both jumped and took a look out the window. Kids were in the street laughing as fireworks went off and set off car alarms in the neighborhood. Nuts! This place is nuts! There's a huge sound stage set up behind my house in Museumplein and a very loud concert going on. It sounds like a lot of fun~ but I'm on babysitting duty (and perfectly happy with that I might add) while Bryce has just run out to check things out and get some pictures and video.. only 10 minutes to go. Happy New Year everyone!! My resolution is to do a better job of regularly posting to this blog :)

More Thanksgiving photos

You are invited to view jennifercote54's photo album: Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Nov 30, 2009 by jennifercote54 View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=jennifercote54&target=ALBUM&id=5409859187955590673&authkey=Gv1sRgCLDyo7-gr7-ULA&invite=CNGg0qQF&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year the traditional way with turkey and all the fixings at a Greek Restaurant nearby. They cooked a family-style meal, so we had a large turkey to ourselves with stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and salad- Yummy! The best part was taking home the leftovers to enjoy during the weekend. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. We still have more to download from another camera, so stand by for more soon!

Thanksgiving with Bryce's parents

Thanksgiving Nov 30, 2009 by jennifercote54 View Album Play slideshow

Mom's October visit

Pictures from my mom's visit with us in October :)

Mom's visit Nov 30, 2009 by jennifercote54 View Album Play slideshow

Kraamzorg service

In Holland, as part of the Dutch Social System, everyone is entitled to Kraamzorg service upon having a baby. Kraamzorg in Dutch means maternity care. Insurance will pay to have a maternity nurse come to a new family's home to help them, typically for 6 hours a day over the course of 8 days. The service not only helps new parents get acclimated, but it frees up space in the hospitals and lowers the cost of care for hospitals and insurance companies. The nice thing about this service is you have a nurse that helps answer questions about breastfeeding, healing, the baby's health, etc. and not only that, they also do light housework, like cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry all in the safety and comfort of your own home! I sound like an advertisement- but it's a fantastic service. At first when our nurse came through the door, I didn't know what to think. She was typically Dutch, very tall with long brown hair and a very calm demeanor. She obviously just had a smoke outside and didn't look any older than me, so I wondered abour her experience. Her English was pretty decent as well, and we quickly learned she had spent time growing up in the UK so it wasn't an issue. Her name was Dineke (Deen-a-ka) and that took the longest time for me to get down. Bryce seemed to get it right away with no issue, but I was constantly calling her different names like Dan-ika, Din-ika, sometimes just Dee something. It was awful. Thank God she had a great sense of humor so we laughed a lot. She had trouble with Bryce's name and would call him Brian, Brant, Brandon.. it was pretty funny. She took to Carolyn right away and gave Bryce and I much needed rest and advice. I never thought that having a little baby could be so overwhelming! The whole first week while the nurse was here I was suffering from night sweats and nightmares everytime I went to lay down, so it made it much more difficult to feel caught up. I'm happy though that we could learn what we needed to in the comfort of home and also receive doctor visits at home as well to check on the baby and my own healing. Wish they had this in the States!

Delivery Day!

After 3 weeks of discomfort, and what felt like the longest wait, my water broke on Friday morning, October 2 at 3:15am. I wasn't sure what happened, but in my sleep I just thought I had to go to the bathroom and that's when I discovered our baby was soon to arrive! I woke up Bryce and we were both so excited and nervous. We called the hospital to let them know. I felt great, so no contractions yet, but they asked for us to come in to check the baby's heart rate and see that everything was okay. We got there at 4am and were brought into a room where they set me up on a monitor for the baby's heart rate and my contractions. After monitoring me for a couple of hours, they decided to send us home to get some rest. We got home at 7am and went back to sleep. By 8:30 though, I was awake with the start of contractions. By 10:30 they got pretty unbearable, so I called the hospital back and they told us to come back in. From there, things really got started. We arrived at the hospital a little after 11:15 and got settled into a room. A midwife and nurse checked in with us and we learned that it was already a busy time in the maternity ward at OLVG that day. They had 6 beds and already most were full so we were glad to have come when we did. At 12:30, I was 3 cm dialated and the pain was more intense, so of course I was asking for the epidural - and they took us down to anesthesiology to have it administered. It took the better part of an hour to get it and feel the effects of it, but what was really surprising was it numbed my legs and stomach, but did nothing for the back labor I was experiencing. I told the nurse that it wasn't working and something needed to be done, so they gave me more of it, but it didn't change the aching pain in my back that came along with each contraction. Luckily, I was progressing quickly. By 4:30pm, I was fully dialated and ready to start pushing. They actually had to turn off the epidural at this point because I wasn't able to feel enough to push.. ugh! As scary as that was, once the effects of the epidural wore off a bit, I was able to concentrate on having a baby.. and she arrived at 6:05pm - I knew it was a GIRL!! Bryce and I had been discussing names for quite a while, but one thing that we both agreed on was that if she was a girl, Carolyn Bryce would be the perfect name. Carolyn just seemed like a classic name that went well with Cote and it's always reminded me of strong, independent, pretty women, so what name could be more fitting? And we both wanted to use Bryce's name as the middle name just as a sort of tradition. On Bryce's side of the family, his father named his first born with his middle name and Bryce's brother did the same with his first born, so we thought it would be nice to continue. It's amazing though that even though we decided on it, when the time finally came to make it official, it felt overwhelming to us - it's just so permanent - and we hope she likes it. That first night for us was the most amazing time. We just stared at her and aside from having the midwife, doctor and nurse present to observe the delivery, it was pretty peaceful in the room. Once Carolyn was checked, weighed and dressed, they left us alone with her to just hang out. We had something to eat and by 10:30pm, we were all so tired, I wondered if they'd let us go home. Since all three of us were doing well and a nurse would be coming the next day at our house to be with us for the week, they had no problem releasing us when we were ready. We got home around midnight that night and aside from getting up once at 4am with Carolyn, we all slept through until 8am.

36 Weeks and Counting!

Oh my! I can't get over how fake my stomach looks in this picture. It's like a basketball is hiding under my shirt. The doctor on Friday said all is looking good. The baby has moved down and the head is right where it should be. She's thinking it will be about 3 kilos at birth, or about 6.6 lbs - perfect! We still don't know if it's a boy or a girl for sure, but I'm thinking it's a girl.. we'll see! Only 22 more days until Oct. 6!

PS. After spending a weekend of unpacking, the house is starting to get in better shape, too. It's only taken us two weeks and we're sure several more to really feel like we're organized. So far so good though!