photographic memories

Look at this precious photo of Scott and Saba. He snuggled up to his little sister completely on his own, which left Mart and I with tears in our eyes, humbled and proud at the same time ... we never imagined that we would be responsible for such lovely creatures!

For more photos of Saba in her first week on planet Earth go to: www.scott2006.shutterfly.com

She aint heavy she's my sister

The first meeting between Scott and his new baby sister was a bit strained haha not surprising of course because our poor boy went to opa and oma for a sleep over and when he came home there was a new little person in the house and everyone was making quite a fuss of her. He sort of ignored Saba the first two days but then suddenly on Thursday he leaned over and put his head against hers and made the sweetest noise. Now every morning when she wakes we take her to Scott or bring him to her and make a big deal of him being a big brother, Scott even tried feeding her some of his porridge yesterday :)

Mart and I feel so very privileged to have two beautiful, healthy, happy children.

The fact that our princess is already firmly established in our family makes me feel so warm inside and just seeing Scott being so sweet and gentle truly breaks my heart - this first week of Saba's life has been wonderful and she brings an extra light to our home!

Saba Chrissie Nwabisa van Rooijen

Here she is at last our sweet girl! Saba was born on Monday 11th, June 2007 at 19:32 CET. She weighed in at 4.165 kg's and is healthy and happy.

After 41 weeks and 5 days the midwife came by at 4 pm yesterday to rupture my membranes and in so doing hopefully induce labour. When the waters broke we saw that little Saba had pooped in the fluid and that it was thus necessary to head to the hospital.

So off we went and sure enough the contractions started and just kept getting stronger. Starting with 5 minute intervals that quickly shortened to 3 minutes and by the time i was hooked up to the heart monitor and contraction checking thingie ma bobbie i was getting a contraction almost every minute! After 2 hours I was completely dilated and after 15 minutes worth of pushing out popped our little pink princess!

They say that the second delivery is fast but even we were not prepared for the speed of this - she was born in a quarter of the time of her brother.

I'll post some more later for now we're just enjoying our new family member.

Pregnancy week 41

Well I am 41 weeks pregnant - that in lay terms ladies and gentleman, boys and girls is approximately 10 MONTHS!!! This girl of ours is just not budging I tell you - on one hand I say come when you're ready little Saba but then when the ligaments start hurting and my feet triple in size i just think 'get moving child' hahaha

Scott at this stage was already two and a half weeks old and I suppose I sort of expected this pregnancy to be similar so when week 39 came and went and I was still highly pregnant I was sort of disappointed and a bit frustrated .. which is not a good combo with hormones so poor Mart had a few rough days there with she-bear in da house! Once I had resigned myself (last week) to the fact that every pregnancy is indeed different and that our daughter was obvioulsy going to stretch her stay inutero I sort of became quite calm and accepting. The good thing this time round though is that we have everything prepared, clothes are not only washed but ironed and her bed is ready and made and we have nappies etc all ready for her arrival :).

Because I am overdue and am slightly concerned that the placenta is deteriorating we have agreed with the midwife that on Friday (08.06.07) my waters will be broken and we'll manually start labour ... AARRGGHHH!!!! Its weird to think that she'll be here this weekend - so much for letting nature take its course and all that. I am a bit ambivalent about this decision but I also just want everything to go well as we are having Saba at home after all.

Anyway hopefully the next blog will be a birth announcement! Keep those fingers crossed and send me strength :) ... here's to you little Saba looking forward to your arrival!

Gardens & Global Warming

April 2007 should and probably will go down as the warmest April the Netherlands has seen in centuries if not Ever! We have had approximately 38 days of warm sunny days - we all love the heat but the downside (isn't there always one!) is that we have had no rain. For those of you who have been here you know that that in itself is mighty strange for NL, if ever you needed an example of global warming this I believe is it.

Well because we would be silly to stay indoors during this weather we decided to get the garden done. So the Mart got onto the case and soon found a colleague whose brother was a professional gardener and he came by last week to check out our yard and give us a quote.
After the initial shock at the price (our garden is only 6x4.5 meters) and getting reassurance from friends that this was indeed normal to pay we gave the guys the go-ahead!
Well i tell you it was worth every cent .. on Tuesday evening the wood and bricks arrived, on Wednesday two VERY young guys started work and by end of day one we had a terrace hoorah! On day two the planter was built and the grass laid and by end of day two ... WOW our suburban jungle had been turned into a real little garden hahaha pure bliss!
We now have a lovely hard wood terrace and some grass for Scott (& Saba later) to play on and as we are not known for our green fingers we have limited ourselves to a modest planter for colour and a coupe of pots on the terrace. So should you wish to come over for a relaxing sit in our back yard we are as they say open for business hahaha the last three mornings have seen us sitting in the sun and dinners outside are now obviously the thing to do. The little man is walking about in the sunshine and singing and chatting and helping Daddy water the garden! Thanks to the 'klussers' for making us our own piece of green in Amsterdam :)
Check out the before and after shots and if you want to see the 'between' have a look on shutterfly!

Before After

Pregnancy Part II

I am almost 9 months pregnant (36 weeks)- where did the time go and how come this pregnancy went so damned fast! I can still remember the shock i felt when I realised we were expecting a second baby - I was still breastfeeding Scott and he was still so small. Now here we are 4 weeks to D-day and our little girl is already such a part of the family. Today I was sitting in the sun upstairs in the lounge and she started moving about - my whole belly was jostling and bouncing and I felt this lump in my throat that this pregnancy was coming to an end. I am so lucky to be able to enjoy this time and to experience this change in my body - we are not sure if we want a third baby so I am trying to savour every moment of the last weeks just in case this is the last time. I went to the midwife on Mondaya nd Saba is in position, head down and ready for launch! I can't believe it .. 4 more weeks!!
I am also slightly annoyed with myself for not enjoying more - its difficult to take some alone time when you have a one year old running about and discovering all his abilities - actually why am I moaning? That too has been a pleasure - being home with Scott in this special time and being able to just be pregnant! The afternoon naps have been great and I love nothing better than having Scott lean against me while watching another episode of the teletubbies ... his little head resting against my big belly! He would also try to stick his tiny finger in my navel and laugh hahaha not to mention hitting what he must see as a big skin drum! I tried teaching him to kiss his sister but he just tried to bite me... what can I say he is a true boy!

thankfully, Mart and I are more prepared for Saba than we were for Scott with the room painted, the maxi-cosi (very girly) bought and I have washed her first outfit. Thursday we get the cot and move the furniture around so that the room is completely ready - I'll make an album of the before and after when everything is done.
For now though I am going to marvel at my gorgeous stomach and enjoy feeling this new little person moving about. I am going to enjoy our home without worrying about how tidy it is and I am going to give Scott ALL my love and attention while I still can!!

Spring has sprung

Its the first weekend of April and the sun has come out! Its warm and lovely and today we took the little man for a walk around our hofje (courtyard), it was so great seeing Scott getting all happy being outside and we also got a chance to say hi to the neighbours who in true Dutch fashion all came out to sit in the first rays of sun.


I am so happy that we chose to live in this little hofje with its small play area - I can just see Scott running about in front of the door with all the other boys and girls.


It is also really great that the long winter months are coming to an end (finally) and that the promise of sunshine and summer is imminent! Our first summer in our new house and the coming of our little girl in two months time! What a good life - Super exciting!

Here are some pics taken today of Scott and one with him walking with his lovely Papa. along with his super pregnant Mommy - shame look at the ltle man standing alone :) Goodness how we love our son!

Saba's first photos

Hi All,

Here are a few ultrasound images of our little girl. Enjoy :)
I suspect a lot of you want to know the meaning of the name Saba so I've googled it and have come up with the following -

From the Hebrew : woman from Sheba; morning
From the Greek : 7th daughter
From the African : the seven guiding principles

this is a 3D pic .. a bit weird to look at but you can see her little arms and face - SHAME!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Scott

Our baby boy is ONE!!! I cannot believe it - a year has passed already - wasn't it just last week that I posted the blog about Scott's birth??
My darling boy is growing and becoming a bigger treat to be around every day. Mart and I have been rather emotional these last few weeks hahaha unable to express our pride, joy and total awe of this little human being that we have made. Just seeing him become his own person is such an experience and to be a part of his world makes our days amazing beyond our wildest expectations.

We were lucky to be able to spend his birthday with all his grandparents and just seeing how much everyone loves this little man is at once humbling and makes Mart and I brim with pride.
Thank you to everyone who made this important milestone in his young life so special - thank you for the love and attention and the gorgeous little pressies for our boy.

Thank you Scott for continuing to be our little sunshine and filling our days with such delight. We love you our son and it sure is a great pleasure watching our Scotty grow :)

Mama has a brand new belly :)

Hello hello,
GUESS WHAT???? yep from the title of this post you've probably put two and two together .... we have a new baby on the way YAY!! I am 6 months pregnant and HUGE. We have been a bit secretive about the whole thing as Grandmother, sorry Grandmaman, wanted to keep it a bit of a surprise for the SA folk and with the situation at Canon being so unpleasant (demon manager) I wasn't feeling myself lately :) BUT check me out now with my belly!

Mart and I are soooo excited and Scott doesn't get it yet but soon he'll be sharing Mommy and Papa with his little sister ... YES we're having a baby GIRL haha we are so blessed I tell you.
This pregnancy is totally different to Scott's, I am much larger and probably because Ii have a 1 year old crawling about I'm a lot tireder, its a good thing I'm not at work anymore otherwise I would'nt know how I'd survive. It is wonderful though to be experiencing this again - although sooner than the original planning - Saba (that's her name) is very active and is a strong mover :) she is healthy and growing like anything. Except for being tired I am healthy and happy. The situation with Canon is causing some stress though and I have unfortunately had to call in sick as I was having pain in my belly and other stress related symptoms - I have however made a promise to myself and to Mart that I will not allow the stupid lies told by my manager to upset me at this time.

We expect to welcome our little princess into the world on 30 May 2007 so mark the date in your diaries. The family (on both sides) are super excited to be expecting a little girl but I must admit I'm a bit nervous - Scott is just so easy and such a sweetheart I don't reckon we can be that lucky twice ... can we? I'll post some ultrasound pics soon so you can have a look at our new baba and will keep youposted on how the pregnancy goes :)

SEASONS GREETINGS

Hello everyone!! yeah I know you all thought that we had dropped off the face of the planet right .... no we're alive and kicking and I suppose that I owe you an apology! The last three months have been DRAMA and I know that usually I like a bit of action but things have been rather strange ... BUT I won't bore you with all the details now I'll do a comprehensive blog later and tell you all the juicy details.

For now though we, the van Rooijens, would like to wish you all a truly wonderful Festive Season! We hope that your Christmas was filled with love, magic, happiness and warmth and that your new year is set to be just amazing! May 2007 be the year that ALL your dreams come true and may you follow your personal rainbows all the way to your pot of gold!

We have had just a wonderful Christmas with our son who is an absolute JOY to be around - he has the amazing ability to light up a room with his smile and twinkling eyes. We think he enjoyed his first Christmas although he found the wrapping paper far more interesting and entertaining than his actual gifts! It was also just lovely to see the family lighting up when he arrived in his cute llittle Christmas outfit and he really made all of us enjoy the day all that much more! I don't think we had laughed that much in a while! Thank you boy ... Martijn and I thank all higher powers for such a blessing- despite the sleepness nights haha!

HAPPY NEW YEAR folks and all our LOVE!!

Lizelle, Martijn and Scott

Papa has a brand new look

I have the MOST GORGEOUS husband in the world .. After a number of years of harassment mark (Marts friend) finally persuaded my man to shave his head! I must admit I was sitting there white knuckled wandering if he would end up looking like the local skin head but I was pleasantly surprised when he my man looked pretty hunkish! Have you seen the series prison break? Well if not google it and check out the character Michael Scoffield .. Mart looks hotter than him ;-)
But let me assure you that this expedition into new coiffure did not happen sober - Mart needed some Dutch courage and he won’t admit it but he was pretty damn nervous before the moment – we were witness to a few trips to the men’s room hahaha
Scott still needs to get used to his Daddy’s new look but I’m a fan … Step back Danny and step back Mark – My man is da bomb

cutie pie

The weather in Holland is weird. It’s not the maritime position of the country or the fact that its low lying – its just weird. During the height of summer we had rain ALL the time. Then now at the beginning of autumn we are experiencing the most delightful weather, warm, warm, warm. Last night we even managed to eat outside and stay out till past 10pm …
Taking advantage of the sunshine we went for a walk along the IJmeer yesterday - the sun was hot and there was a lovely breeze off the water and all in all a very pleasant outing. Scott was strapped into the baby bjorn and enjoyed the wind in his face and the little legs were kicking away merrily. When we got home after about an hour I put Scott in his highchair and started preparing dinner. One moment my baby was chatting and the next I turned round and saw him slumped over in his chair – fast asleep clutching his little hippo!! I have never seen anything this precious; my heart just breaks looking at the photo. Thank you Scott for providing these wonderful memories, which we will treasure forever!

Scott and friends

The last few weeks has seen an influx of visitors at the new house on IJburg (I know I've said I'll be posting pictures and they will be forthcoming soon .. I promise ;-), it's been very gezellig and Scott has received inordinate amounts of attention from his ‘girl’friends.
Yesterday Elzelien and Roosje came by for a visit and we mommies spent a delightful afternoon chatting and bragging about our offspring – but look at the beauties – who can blame us hahaha
Rosalie has grown so much and is becoming a real little model and Scott .. Well he is just adorable and continues to charm even the youngest ladies :) Its really so funny seeing them 'talk' and my son tries to grab and bite Roosje all the time - we better watch out that this behaviour does not continue into puberty hahaha the little darling Rose is now full on smiling and dazzling us with her gorgeous blue eyes.. Elzelien and I agree that life is good and that our children are great ... being a Mom ROCKS!!

Wedding Bells

1 September 2006 Danny & Suzanne are married! CONGRATULATIONS and hip hip hooray!!
I can still remember perfectly the day last september when Suzanne called me crying and laughing and screaming that Danny had proposed and that she was getting married - I was standing on the balcony at the Bolestein and being pregnant and highly hormonal I just started crying with happiness! Not much different actually to the actual wedding day when in the town hall of Bloemendaal I had to wipe away the tears when Danny and Suuz said "I do" and tied the knot. It was so special being able to celebrate this truly lovely day with our friends!
As you can see from the photos the bridal couple looked stunning and the Dutch weather even cooperated, after a few good luck raindrops in th emorning the sun shone for most of the day. Suzie's dress was just gorgeous and Danny looked so dapper in his 3-piece suit and perfectly knotted tie. The theme of their day was 'on the beach' and Suzie's dress was the perfect colour of sea!

We started the with snackies at Danny's mom and then drove to the town hall for the ceremony; we then made our way to the beach at Zandvoort for champagne and cake which was delish! we hung outa bit, chatting to the bride and groom and getting to know the rest o fthe guests and then we had a BBQ dinner and i can assure you it was gorgeous! Surf & Turf and all sorts of 'lekker' things were enjoyed and of course this all on the beach... absolutely lovely.
At 8 pm the PARTY started - we were treated to a live bossa nova band where the singer mesmerised us with her sensual voice and the drums took my breath away; I am rather chuffed as well that my freind Danny honoured me by having one of the first dances with me .. thank you Dan - that was my cherry on the top for the day :-). After the live music the DJ spun some tunes that got us all, including Martijn, dancing. Oh we were also treated to some rather nifty dance moves from Harry, Danny's brother, who a later found out is a dancing star hahaha quite a treat indeed.

Thank you sexy Suuz and Danny Dan for having us at your special day and as we wrote in our card we wish you both all the love, joy and adventure that comes with marriage - be good to each other and keep the fun alive. We are always here for you and we love you LOTS!

moments

While at Danny and Suuz' wedding I couldn't help thinking back to our wedding day and marvelling at how much I love and appreciate Martijn. While standing in the town hall I realised that I would do it all over again - I felt Mart's hand on my waist and felt a small kiss on my ear as the notary pronounced Dan and suuz man and wife and inside I shone.
Later in the day I dragged poor Maarten, a friend of the bridal coouple onto the beach to take some photos of my husband and I :o) ... what is it about wedding that make us so sappy, warm and fuzzy?

Grandpa comes to visit Scott

After living in the Netherlands for over 10 years I can Finally say my Father is in Town! Grandpa William has come to visit Scott! My Dad arrived on the 10th and after 3 weeks of heatwave madness the poor man arrived to ... you guessed it - RAIN!!! Oh well I suppose we are famous for inclement weather after all and for a dose of rue Dutch culture there is nothing better haha. My father and his wife Prudence will be spending two weeks with us, a short stay but now that they have taken this first step who knows we may see them on this side more often!
Scott is totally fascinated by his Opa - he laughs and chats and the initial confusion of who this person was speaking this weird language to him the two are inseparable. I am so glad that we are able to have my family over to Holland and that they can take part in Scott's life. There are days when I get a bit despondent thinking about my parents missing out on the new things Scott does and just seeing him develop and grow, at those times I question what I was thinking leaving sunny SA and coming over here but then reality reasserts itself and I realise that if I wasn't right here right now I wouldn't have my gorgeous husband or our beautiful boy!!
anyway back to the story of Grandad and Scotty (as my father calls him) - after a quick hug for Mart and I at Schiphol my father took his grandson in his arms and has thus far (5 days later) not let go - it is so great to see this side of my dad and see how my son responds.
This week we'll b travelling to Zeeland in the south of Holland and next week to Cologne and if time permits we'll take t he folks over to Texel .. I'll keep you update on our short holiday.

MOVING DAY

Tumultuous, tumultuous - all I can say is aaarrgghhh!! But we're in our new home - we are now safely and happily ensconced on IJburg. Before I begin to wax poetic about our haven and beautiful shelter let me give a shout out and special THANK YOU to the following hero's of the day - who tirelessy helped us moved ...Again ... Dan the man,Marky Mark and Ro- thanks for the muscled boys. Renate - Thank you for helping clean this spider invested, dust ebcrusted house :) All your help is so very appreciated!

We've met the neighbours avec children and had our first BBQ - life is good. The house is really coming together nicely and I LOVE our stuff - no this is not the material girl talking - we purchased all these things a year ago (that's Holland) and when it finally arrived I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't like them anymore ... being a Libran and a woman this isn't an impossible scenario .. But it all looks grand and we are feeling right at home!
Alexandrine Tinnehof 5 is officially opened for business.

Veggies YUCK!!

Remember a few posts back I was waxing all poetic about Scott the genius boy child who instantly ate his fruit and who gave us no grief ... Well I was made to eat those words yesterday. There I was playing perfect mom and cooking my son his dinner - delicious carrots and potato. I slaved in the heat and my head started swelling as I imagined what I must look like industriously preparing a healthy preservative, colourant free meal for my child. Scott like an angel was sleeping and so Mart and I sat down to our dinner (home made pasta arrabiata hmm). Right on time our child woke up and I all excitedly brought in the veggies - all that was missing was a drumroll and the sliver domed serving platter haha - we sat Scott in his high chair (a new development) and with great aplomb I gave him his first veggie bite .... YUCK .. Gross and all round gaga. He hated it .. hahaha so there I sat all disappointed while Mart laughed at the faces being pulled by the boy and eventually I too had to smile when I saw that little face ... We'll stick with the store bought veggies for now!

For the full experience check out shutterfly (link on the right)

Scott is 6 months

HIP HIP HOORAY to little Scott !!! Our child is 6 months old... I cannot believe it. Six months ago we brought him home all swaddled and small and sat watching him open his eyes and we oohed and aahed when he yawned and now hahaha he's a big boy who is grabbing at things and eating solid food! Where does the time go and am I ever gad I used the blog as a record of the months. Just looking at his first photos and now at the little man he is becoming - I am just amazed at how wonderful nature is and how precious our time!
Scott is a real chatter box (3 guesses where he gets that from haha) and is so very curious. He really looks at everything, taking all details and then thinks that he has it down and can do it as well - I can see many battles of will in the future with a son that thinks he knows best while Mommy knows she knows best ;-)! I really miss all of you in SA and you Sukie is the Emirates - I so wish that you can join Mart and I the fun times we have with Scott, I wish you could see his little personality developing and share the milestones with us. Mart and I are planning a trip to SA in Jan so that you can finally meet him.
I keep saying that Mart and I must have done something very right to have this little miracle in our lives and with each day and new experience I feel it again and again. We are so privilaged to have such a positive, lovely child and we promise to enjoy and respect him always!!
HIP HIP HOORAY to little Scott