Belly update ...

Quick belly update - here I am at week 25 + 5 hahaha look at how I have grown! I can't believe it myself and its weird but I still think of myself as the 'old' Lizelle sans big belly. I had to laugh this weekend as I kinda battled getting off the couch .. What will I be doing at week 35???
I must admit though that I love being pregnant - feeling our baby move and just being amazed by what is happening in and to my body - I love the big belly and what it stands for. How lucky are we to be able to create this little life and how privileged am I to be carrying it!! As we enter week 27, I feel sad that time is moving so fast - on one hand Mart and I cannot wait to meet our son but on the other hand I'll miss this closeness we are now sharing - I have never been this connected with another human being (except with my darling Mater that is but I canna remember that...) and truth be told I am rather dreading when its over. Ok enough of this philosophizing on a Monday morning hahaha we are happy and life is good and we are so lucky we can share our story with you!

Changes ....

WOW 25 weeks into the pregnancy! 15 weeks to go before baby van Rooijen makes his appearance - I Cannot believe how quickly everything is happening. In the last three weeks my body has completely changed - from a relatively small belly I have suddenly ballooned and this week I have been subjected to my first public petting .. Weird! Funny isn't it how people just walk up to you and touch your belly hahaha Mart hates it and has made me promise that I'll tell people to back off! I'll try my best ...
Baby is VERY active which I love - he responds to touch so when mart puts his hand on my belly, baby moved towards him ... So cute! My placenta is anterior so its still difficult to feel the little one from the outside - apparently this should improve in the coming weeks as my uterus grows - I can't wait till Mart and our baby can establish a little ritual of touching and feeling :o).
Along with my changing body - the seasons are changing here in NL. Autumn is here. After a rather marvelous Indian summer the weather has turned decidedly chilly and walking to the bus in the mornings leaves one's nose feeling rather cold hahaha. I'll take some photos of the changing leaves for the next blog ....

Birthday Update - 8th Oct

Another year older!! Saturday past was the day I turned 32 .. lordy lord I cannot believe it! This birthday was quieter than past years - understandable as I am to be a mother and should start setting an exaple LoL! We spent the day with Martijn's family -s we had to evacuate the flat early as we had an Open House ... Oma took care of us with lunch and cake and tea! Later that evening we met up with our friends in Amsterdam for dinner at my favourite Indian restaurant - Bombay Inn - just off the Leidseplein .. hmm delish!
After dinner we headed to ge-spot, a bar near L plein - funky music and pretty okay vibe... warrants a second visit :)
Oh yes and of course I received some wicked pressies - I was the DIVA! ... I do love Birthdays :o)

The pregnancy thus far ...

What can I say it has been amazing. The first three months in the life of baby van Rooijen were rather tough on me .. I was nauseous ALL the time .. I have a theory that they call it morning sickenss becaise it starts in the morning and lasts all day! And sleepy .. Lord help me was I ever tired!! Martijn loved it though cos I was too tired to argue, moan or talk hahaha. Downside of the pegnancy however are the temper tantrums - when I heard that hormones would be all over the place I thought 'come on how bad can it be...?' oooh did we ever find out - lets just say plates of spinach flew through the room - not my finest moment! Shame poor Mart, he is too good for me and boy does the man love me - even I wouldn't put up with some of my antics ;-)!

At about 16 weeks I suddenly started feeling great .. my energy levels were up, nausea was less and I just felt generally fantastic. Round about then little baby started making itself felt - wow what an exciting thing. I couldn't have imagined just how amazing this experience was going to be .. feeling the firs movements, hearing the heatbeat, seeing our baby move and knowing that each week brings something unique.


My belly took some time to emerge but now at 23 weeks its finally here - I am chuffed! Our little one has started kicking mightily and seems to be testing the boundry of his little world already! We've taken some photos of the developing belly and will post ASAP .. in the meanwhile have a look at the first images of our son :)

Hi there friends and family,

Wow can you believe in this age of advanced and fast moving technology that it has taken Mart and I (both geniuses in the IT world haha) so long to start our own blog site :)? But as some smart person once said, 'better late than never'...

Where to start this new venture into the world of cyber space communication .. I suppose we should give a short update/recap of our lives the last year for those who have forgotten or whom we have forgotten to inform :-$!

Chronologically:

• Mart asked for my hand in marriage last August - I naturally said YES!! Who could possibly resist such a hunk of love :).
• We then by chance stumbled upon a new housing development in Ijburg, Amsterdam and fell in love with one of their courtyard homes and proceed to buy a new house!
• We set a wedding date - 9th April 2005 - and were amazed and honoured by the friends and famly who joined us and the wonderful day it turned out to be. WOW we never thought that our happinness could be that multiplied and we thank all of you (and you know who you are) for the support, friendship, patience and pure love that you showed us on our special day!
• We returned from South Africa, happy, relaxed and looking forward to our married life and then just when we thought our happiness could not get any bigger our cup 'ranneth' over and we found out that we were pregnant (YIPPEE)!! Baby van Rooijen is due round about 31st Jan 2006 .. mark that date in your diaries.

Now that we are sort of caught up with were we find ourselves, the aim of this blog is to keep you updated on our lives and to read your comments as we share our experinces, joys and lives with you all.. I really look forward to that :o)
Sendus your comment and let us know what you would like to be updated on .. wanna see photos of our home or Amsterdam, want to join in o n Birthday fun and pictures? write to us then and let's chat!