What we've been up to lately...

Here is Connor getting ready for playing in the snow! We've gotten quite a bit of snow here... Its fun!

Connor posing next to the big snowman he made with Daddy! It was the perfect snow for making snowmen!

And here is Connor in the new present that Santa brought. Santa came early last night because we are flying to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas day. Connor just loves his new walk-in kitchen. Hopefully he will share with his baby sister when she gets old enough to play. Here he is cookingn for us...

And here is Connor on the sled! So fun! But tiring for whomever is pulling him up the 'hill' (there aren't really any big hills here!)

school photos!

Fiona is 5 months old!

My little baby is growing up! She is such a doll and such a happy baby. She's a joy!
At her 5 month appointment here she got her 3rd set of vaccinations, and her stats are:
Weight: 7.12 kg (15lbs11oz) - 60%
Height: 62.7 cm (24.69 inches) - 40%
Head Cir: 41.3 cm (16.3 inches) - 30%

Here is a recent pic of my baby with her piggy-tails. How can you not love her?



And I just had to put a picture of my big boy who got his face painted for the first time this past weekend. Here is 'Mr Fox'. He was tickled pink to get this done! So cute!

Just of couple of pics of my little princess...

Here's my little marshmallow girl, as I like to call her. What a cutie-pie.
She stays all safe and warm in this fuzzy winter suit. I just love her to pieces!

And here is Fiona trying to feed herself some cereal. She wasn't very successful!

I just can't get over that smile. She is such a happy baby!



And the Santa shots... The first one of Fiona looks like she is looking at him and saying... who the heck are you! Connor got on Santa's lap and Santa asked 'where are you from?' Connor said 'Earth'! No joke! It was hilarious!

Fiona is going to be 4 months this weekend!!

Well, Fiona is getting big so fast! It seems to be going by faster since I have Connor to worry about as well. Connor is getting so great at playing on his own with his trains in his room. It really is nice. And once and a while I can put Fiona down for a nap in her room and take some time with Connor. Of course, Connor has school 4 days a week and Little Gym on Fridays. So he is pretty busy. He has endless energy! I was soooo happy to have Uncle Benny here this week. He was GREAT with both kids, but especially Connor. He must have played hours and hours total in Connor's room with the trains. We went to Amsterdam last weekend for a night, and this week we visited Madurodam, went to Kinderdijk to see the windmills, and checked out downtown Den Haag as well as made a trip to the Circus that was in town!

Fiona had her '3 month' shots this past Monday. Here they do shots at 2, 3, and 4 months (not like in the states where it is 2, 4, and 6 months). So I brought her in a little late (3 months and 3 weeks). It kind of messes up the growth chart, but here is my closest estimation of her stats:

Age: 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days
Weight: 6.54 kg (14 lbs 6.7 ounces) - 75th percentile
Height: 60 cm (23.6 inches) - 25th percentile
Head: 40 cm (15.75 inches) - 40th percentile

And here is a recent pic of my little baby:


and one of ben and connor

Our trip to Isle of Palms for Kylie's Wedding

Well, the summer is gone. And we didn't do much for the first 3/4 of it. But this past two weeks we went to South Carolina for some time at the beach, time with family, and for Kylie's wedding! It was a great time and it was sooo wonderful seeing Connor with his two cousins: Ruby (4) and Indy (2.5). They got along suprisingly well for being so close in age.

The first thing we did when we got there was go to the beach! The house that David's dad rented was a block from the beach and we all (11 of us) stayed there together. Here's a shot of Connor at the beach and Auntie Kylie's dragging Connor around on the boogie-board :)

It was great having everyone together (David's parents, his brother Adam and sister-in-law Kathy, Ruby and Indy, Kylie and her fiance [now husband] Ryan, and Auntie Dotty [actually the kid's great-auntie]... we also got to see cousins Debbie and Rob and Auntie Wilma and Uncle Lindsay. Dot, Wilma, and Lindsay came all the way from Melbourne for Kylie's wedding... They have come for all three Blackman kids' weddings, which has been great!

Here are a few more shots. Connor and Ruby on Grandpa's boat. We had a great boat trip. David and Connor posing in downtown Charleston. The kids playing at the Charleston Aquarium. Fiona's first dip in the Ocean (in the buff). And Fiona and Daddy checking out the fish at the aquarium.

The reheasal party was fun. There was karaoke and the kids just danced and danced. Well, Connor really just ran around in circles. Mommy and Fiona wore matching outfits...

Here are a couple of shots from the wedding...

Life with two children is...

Life with two children is a lot of things...
It's very different than having one! Its fun! Its exhausting! Its frustrating and amazing. Fiona is such a different baby than Connor was.

Connor is a great toddler, but a lot of work. Do you still call them toddlers once they start pre-school? I can't believe that Connor starts back up at school a week from Monday. Of course, he won't be there because we will be in South Carolina for Auntie Kylie's wedding! Everyone is getting so excited. One house with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Kathy, Uncle Adam, Cousins Indy and Ruby, and Great-Auntie Dot (and David, me, Fiona and Connor). Should be interesting! Connor is at a great age to really enjoy his cousins and the beach! Hopefully he isn't too crazy from jet-lag with the six hour time difference. This will be our first plane trip with two children. I hope Fiona sleeps the whole time. But the flight is during the day (Holland time)... so probably no sleeping :( We will load-up on videos and toys for the flight for Connor, and just hope Fiona is pleasant...

We have been spending our summer at the park and hanging out. Connor really likes his friends that he has made here. He has gone to birthday parties and meets his friends at the park and has play-dates. Its great to see him with the other kids. He will go to school 4 days a week in the fall! Of course, its only for a 2.5 hour stretch... it would be nice if it were a little longer, but oh well. We've been going to Little Gym since May, and he loves it. We start the next session next week, and he moves up to the "Little Beasts" which are 2.5-3 years old. Once he is 3, he can go to class alone, without Mommy!! Yippeeeee! I'm looking forward to that. Well, that is the update... Fiona has her 2 month dr appointment next week (shots)... poor girl :( I'll post more then. But here are a few recent pics...

My babies have lots of hair... what can i say...

I really need to get some hair bows for little babies when we go back to the states at the end of the month. I haven't seen anything good here. Of course, Connor always wants to wear one too so he's not left out. Not sure how David feels about that :)

1 Month Stats

Here's the info from yesterday's dr appointment. Pretty uneventful. Dr left much to be desired. Only info I got was the following:

At 1 month:

Fiona is 10.03 pounds (10 pounds, 0.5 oz), and that is
at the 51th percentile for weight.

20.75 inches in length, and that is
at the 13th percentile for height.

and has a head circumference of 14.8 inches, and that is
at the 39th percentile for head circumference.


To compare, at birth she was:

6.875 pounds (6 pounds, 14 oz), and that is
at the 28th percentile for weight.

and 18.5 inches, and that is
at the 16th percentile for height.

They didnt do a head circumference at birth. Not sure why...

So she seems pretty small. Weight is looking really good. I think she's going to be a short one :) However, the 'nurse' didnt really stretch her out much to measure the length. I remember they used to stretch out Connor legs to get the length and this woman didn't put much effort into it...

She's Here!

Fiona Rose arrived on June 25th at 7:36am. She is 6 lbs, 14 oz and 18.5 inches long. Everyone is doing great and at home! My contractions started around 3am and we were at the hospital by 7am. She arrived 1/2 an hour later!! Then we were home by 10:30am!

No Baby Yet

Don't ask. I'm 41 weeks today.

Still Nothing

Its Father's Day and I'm still pregnant! 4 days past due at the moment. Having random irregular contractions, which is at least better than last week when I had nothing... is that progress??

Still Pregnant...

Just wanted to update that yes, I am still pregnant. My due date was yesterday (June 17). So I am hoping this girl will come any minute now. I have an appointment with the midwife late this afternoon. Hopefully she will check to see if I have made any progress at all, but I doubt it. I havent had any regular contractions... My parents came to visit us for 3 weeks and arrived on Tuesday. Everyone is ready. I was really hoping that David would be a father of 2 for father's day this weekend, but its not looking likely right now. That makes me sad. I just hope she comes really really soon!!!!!

Daddy's new project...