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a good mix

July 2nd, 2009

today we saw clear evidence of both will and myself in adriaan...

this morning he got his guitar, sat in the hallway and sang a song that he was writing the words to as he sang.  it was called, "twinkle twinkle little monkey" and there was something about "oh how i like to see you swing from a tree!"

will walked up with a huge [that's MY boy] grin and said, "ado your song is awesome, keep going!"

will makes up songs all the time while he's doing stuff around the house.  he likes to make up rap songs in the car, these are adriaan's favorite especially when they involve a little story about adriaan's good buddy, the monkey.

-----

since i'm in the process of growing two babies will tends to put more food on my plate at dinner.  he knows that what i can't finish he'll get to eat.  well, tonight i ate everything so will decided to fill in the gaps with ice cream.  adriaan was working on his dinner and didn't seem to notice the ice cream until will had almost finished it...but when adriaan did notice he said, "daddy may i please have some ice cream...[pause]...may i have some ice cream please...[pause]...uh, yes or no?...[short pause]...YES!!!"

and that's the me in adriaan...the prefernce for quick and decisive answers to important questions.

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Man time

June 13th, 2009

We take weekends during the week and the way it works out is that Will gets a whole day off, I get 1/2 a day and then we do something as a family for the other 1/2 day...most of that family time recently has been just Will and Adriaan hanging out while I rest.

This past Wednesday I planned my 1/2 day off and had a great time.  Will uses the time I spend out of the house to work on projects around the house, he has a "honey do" list on the refrigerator and Adriaan gets to be daddy's little helper.

Here are some pictures of the scene upon my arrival home.  Adriaan has learned to undress and dress himself so I assume he was busy with undressing at some point and never got around to dressing.  Plus, it was man time...apparently clothing was optional except for the orange "soccer socks" of course!

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Door Instalation!

 
The tile in our house is great but noise travels everywhere, so Will decided to hang a door in the space between the living room and the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
 
Just like Daddy, first you mark with a pencil...
 
Then you saw!  Adriaan's "saw" was a piece of plastic tubing and he was really proud that he knew how to work the whole process.
 
Adriaan was busy sawing when I walked in and instead of, "hi Mama" I heard..."we're workin' on stuff" in a tone that sufficiently communicated to me that I had interrupted man time.
Look Mom...my saw!

 

 

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Two most frequently asked questions...

June 13th, 2009

Usually, as soon as someone finds out that we're expecting twins they ask the following two questions:

1.? How does this affect your plans to go back to Amsterdam?

2.? How does this affect your adoption?

I'll address the first question now and the second later...

For a few short weeks, before an ultrasound confirmed that there were two babies, we assumed we were only having one and planned to go back to Amsterdam as soon as support raising was complete.? We weren't sure of the timing but were prepared to move back either before or after the baby was born.? That plan had to change as soon as we saw two babies because it would be too much to move back during a high risk pregnancy and then go through two huge transitions as a family, culture shock and becoming a family of five.?? So, we decided to stay in America for the birth planning to give ourselves several months after the birth to adjust before moving back overseas.? The plan has changed again and we will have a whole year with the twins here in Austin before moving back.

So, being pregnant with twins means that the soonest we'd go back overseas is after the twins turn one year old. ?

As a result of having already been gone (from Amsterdam) for over a year and because we're looking at waiting another year+ before moving back, we were asked to come for a visit this summer.? We leave on Monday June 15th for 10 days of reconnecting with friends and the city itself.

I'll take lots of pictures but won't likely post during the trip so stay tuned and there should be something new here at the beginning of July.

I'll also address the second most often asked question after we return.

 

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"My name is Adriaan, not Ado Potato"

June 9th, 2009
Somebody is growing up...
 
 
Here Adriaan is dressed (in an outfit he picked out all by himself) and ready to go to Daddy's Ultimate Frisbee Tournament this past weekend.  The orange socks, pulled up to his knees, are what he thinks of as his official "soccer socks."  He seems to confuse the two sports a bit.  He also refuses to take them off when at sporting events...even when all the other kids were running around bare-foot.  He did take his shoes off of course, but not the socks!
 
Will's comment on the outfit was, "red soccer shorts, brown truck shirt, blue fish hat, brown keens...by the time you get to orange knee socks you don't really notice them - you look awesome dude!"
 
 
Dada and Ado (who may correct you and let you know that his name is "Adgiaan") all ready to go - Will has a new super short for summer hair-do.
 
 
Um, this is later on after the one game we watched at the tournament.  We had to come home for naps but afterward we worked "together" to clean out the closet and came across this elmo costume.  It scared him a few months ago so we put it away but for some reason he was really excited to wear it.  Doesn't he just look thrilled?!  He was such a good sport, once he saw himself in the mirror he wasn't so excited about it anymore but was still willing to let me take a picture.  Elmo is now hanging in the closet.
 
 
"May I do it myself please?"
Will does such a great job at teaching Adriaan to do and say things.  For example, the "I want..." was getting to us so Will spent some time with Adriaan and worked with him to say "May I have..." and it's so much easier to hear that statemtent 100 times each day (even if he forgets to add on the "please").
 
Adriaan has all of a sudden become very interested in doing certain things himself, like fastening the top buckle of the car seat.  It's great!  He climbs in on his own, sits down, puts his arms through the straps and buckles up.  All I have to do is say "great job!" buckle the bottom part and we're off.  I think this will be really handy here in a few months when I have an infant on each side of Adriaan in the car.

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Because it's growing so fast...

June 9th, 2009
Sometimes...I, uh - forget for a split second that I'm pregnant and think...
"Whoa...[sigh] - I'm really bloated!"
 
(18 weeks)
 
Call it preggo brain or second pregnancy.  I'm not as fixated on it as I was with Adriaan because he provides a very active distraction.  I think this would explain why I don't really notice kicking unless I'm alone, in a quiet place and laying down.
 
Will felt his first kick two days ago.  We're pretty sure that it was Baby B who he felt moving becuase he/she kicked just under my rib and I'd be impressed if Baby A managed to get his/her leg all the way up there.

Posted in blog | 3 feedbacks »

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