Back to Reality

Well, she's gone...

Yesterday morning at 4AM we got up and left at 5AM for the trip to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Considering how busy it was on the road near and through Amsterdam we made good time and got Mom to the airport in time to check in.

Shortly thereafter we said our farewells.

Ilianna is also going to miss Beppe...

And now it's back to reality.

This morning when Ilianna got up, she went to Beppe's room, but Beppe was not there. I don't know if she quite understands that Beppe isn't here anymore, because there were some mornings when Beppe wasn't in her room, either having slept elsewhere or she was already up when Ilianna got up. Later on we'll talk to her on the computer and I think Ilianna will think that is pretty strange. I'm curious how she will react.

Today I'm babysitting all day and when Mom was here it just made the days go by quicker and more fun. We will make the best of it, though. The new girl that I'm going to babysit came here for the first time this morning. We have to get used to each other, but I don't think it will be a problem, especially for Ilianna, because she squealed with delight when she saw her. Right now Ilianna is playing with her train that she got for her birthday with Johanna, the girl I've been babysitting for 2 years already. Johanna is 5 months older than Ilianna and they know each other well.

The day before Mom left we went to see her aunt, my great-aunt, Muoi Jikke. She was a bit confused, even though she always knows who we are and loves to see us.

Ilianna likes going to visit her, too, because there is a really nice train table there that she can play with.

And the last evening that Beppe was here, she of course brought Ilianna to bed...

She will be missed. Until the next time, Beppe!

Nice weather at last

In the weekend we were finally blessed with some nice weather! On saturday Mom spent the day with her family, and had a great time! On sunday we went to visit some family and also enjoyed some of the weather.


Here we are in Dokkum, at Omme Oane and Tante Tiete's. Tante Froukje, who we picked up on the way, is also sitting here.

In the afternoon we went to Lauwersoog and had some fish and patat, and then we went to the zeedijk and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was really busy there because everyone wanted to enjoy the last nice day.

We then went and had a visit with Jan's Pake and Beppe in Metslawier.

All in all it was a very nice day, and we were happy to finally have some sun!!!

Happy Birthday, Ilianna!

Today is Ilianna's birthday. Pooh has a present for her. Where is Ilianna? Is she here, in the flower patch? Not here, that's Piglet...

These are the words of Ilianna's bedtime book, except then it's Eeyore instead of Ilianna that Pooh has a present for.

But today is Ilianna's birthday and she is 3 years old. The time really is flying by. Yesterday we spent the day with friends and family. The morning was spent with Sybo and Jantine (my cousin) and their 3 kids, my brother-in-law, Sjouke and his girlfriend, Janneke, my brother-in law Klaas, his wife, Sigrid and their 3 kids and Ilianna's Pake and Beppe from here in Friesland.

One of the presents that Ilianna recieved was this drum, which, as you can see, she really loves!

Here she is opening her present from her Pake and Beppe.

In the afternoon we enjoyed the company of Wiebe and Sofia, the parents of the girls I babysit, plus the girls of course, and our friends, Marc and Geke, and their two boys. My mom was there the whole day of course, which was really nice!

All in all it was a nice day, even though Ilianna was not herself, suffering a little bit from a cold. At one point it was all too much for her, and she didn't want to open any more presents. We now have a basket full of gifts that she still has to open, so we'll probably be working on that all week.

One thing is for sure, our lives really changed 3 years ago, and we wouldn't trade in 1 moment since then!

Busy, busy, busy...

One thing that we wish we could have while my Mom is still here is some nice weather. We haven't been very fortunate in that aspect. Everyday we wake up to cloudy or semi-cloudy skies, and temperatures under 20 degrees. Oh well, I guess there are still lots of indoor activities we can do.

We have been keeping very busy, as you can probably tell, because I haven't kept up my blog. Every monday and tuesday we have the house full of girls, this week we had 3 girls under 4 years old both monday and tuesday morning. Ilianna loves it when the girls I babysit are here, and she runs to the backdoor to greet them when they arrive in the morning. Here is a picture of her with one of the girls, Helena, 4 years old, who has really become her friend.

Ilianna is really flourishing the last couple of weeks and we are really enjoying watching her develop more. The other morning she asked me if she could watch Bumba, which is her favorite show, and that is the first time she has asked for that. She knows how to ask for her sippy cup, or for Piglet, but this was a real breakthrough! It's funny how a little thing like that can really excite us! It's also been alot easier to get her attention lately, and she's been responding better and she's starting to communicate with us. Yesterday Mom and I picked her up from preschool and when she came out of the classroom into the room where all the parents are waiting, she ran up to me again, which she has been starting to do the last couple of weeks. Only yesterday she also looked around to see if Beppe was also there! I think its going to take a bit of adjusting on all our parts once Beppe leaves again...

Yesterday Mom and I went to Ferwert and it was beautiful weather for taking pictures, so we took some nice pictures in Butenfjild and some other places.

We ended the day yesterday by going out for dinner at the pancake ship or pannenkoekschip in Ljouwert. It was a really nice time and the pancakes were delicious!! Ilianna also thought it was very interesting, and as usual, was no trouble at all!

Today we celebrated her birthday with family and friends and tomorrow, her actual birthday, we are babysitting again, but we will try to celebrate it a little bit as well. It's crazy to think that she is already 3 years old!! I'll add more pictures of her birthday party this week.

Aren't mothers great? And daughters too?

Well, it's been already been a week since my Mom got here, and the time is flying by!!! We are all having a great time together and it does my heart good to see her and Ilianna together!

Last week tuesday was my birthday and when I was getting out of the shower I heard my mom and Ilianna playing together and that was the best birthday present I could ever receive! It was a very busy day with lots of emails, messages and phone calls. Thanks to everyone who sent me their best wishes! It was nice to talk to my dad, both of my brothers and my nephews, Lukas and Owen. I also got alot of messages from people I've only again gotten in touch with through Facebook, people I haven't seen in 15 or 20 years, and that was a real treat for me!

In the evening we went to see the choir from Canada, "Friends in Concert", where 3 of my aunts sing in. Mom and I really enjoyed ourselves.

On thursday Ilianna's preschool class went to the petting zoo, which also has a really big playground, and all of the moms came along and so naturally I brought my mom along. We had a pretty good time despite the cool temperature, and the kids just loved every moment of course! Here is a picture of Ilianna and her Beppe, sitting in the back of a train!

And here is Ilianna with some of her classmates, swinging away and having great fun!

One more picture before I go, of a very cute Ilianna in a new dress that she got from her Beppe. I'll try to write again soon...