our August 2008 wedding

Husband R. and I have been married two-and-a-half years now, and we've been together for eight. I sometimes find this hard to believe; our courtship feels like it was only yesterday. There's about a thousand ways you can meet your future husband and fall in love. This is our story.

It was the summer of 2002 and I was celebrating being single again (that's what you do in college, you celebrate). I had just turned 22 and had that joyful feeling of the world being at my feet. One morning, I awoke from a dream about my high school years. It was a happy dream, but left me puzzled all the same. In it I saw future husband R. walking down the hall of our school. --Here I need to provide you with some background information. Husband R. and I attended the same high school. He is five years older than me and so we had very little to do with each other. I thought he was wildly attractive and had a crush. In all those years, we only had one conversation, which lasted exactly one minute. It is etched in my mind. Back to my dream now.-- So, I was thoroughly confused when I woke up. It had been at least six years since I'd seen him and hadn't really thought about him after high school anymore. The dream stayed with me all day, as did a feeling of excitement about having seen him (well, in the dream at least). Finally, I decided that Google was my friend and looked him up (sounds stalkerish, no?). My heart beating fast as I found his name, photo, and e-mail address on a student association website. He was in college, too (not mine), studying civil engineering.

As these things go, I phoned a girlfriend to relate the story. "Why don't you e-mail him?" she said. I didn't dare. Then, one day later, I was feeling particularly brave, and without thinking twice, wrote the e-mail and hit send. Immediately I regretted this and frantically searched for a way to unsend it. Within 24 hours, he replied. The e-mail was empty. I replied once again and so did he. We re-introduced ourselves and told our stories of the past six years. E-mailing then turned to talking on the phone, which led to our first dinner date. That first meeting was surreal. Sparks flying everywhere as we shook hands. We hit it off. Six months after that, we became an item, and four years later, with the birth of our son Abe, became a family.

So, you could say we met online, or you could say I married my high school crush. I prefer the latter. What's your story?

I love receiving my kids' little artworks, whether they be drawings, paintings or clay figures. There's something so endearing about those proud faces when they hand over their day's work. Thus far, I've kept all most of them in drawers and cupboards scattered around the house. There's not any sort of system there. With our youngest now in daycare twice a week, I received his very first Valentine's card last month (photo above). That triggered something in my brain. All the lovely little art projects we have been receiving from our eldest (Abe), would now have to be multiplied by two. And neither of them is even in kindergarten yet (at which time I assume they will be making still more of those lovely things)...

Hello mom! It's time for a system!
Well, yes it is. So, what to do? Keep everything? Throw everything away (after a respectable amount of time of course)?
Keep everything: I wish I could, but we're pretty sure we want to add to our brood somewhere down the line and space is limited.
Throw everything out? There's no way I could do that, my heart breaks just thinking about it.
So, what then? After brief consideration, I decided on a dual approach: I photograph every piece of art that they make, preferably with them holding it, so I'm sure to also capture those proud little faces. I then keep them around for a couple of weeks, after which I throw them away. And yes, this is pretty hard to do... The photographs I collect in a special kids' art book. I do make exceptions for the really special pieces, like our youngest's first Valentine's card, which was also his first experience with paint. Way too precious to toss out!
What's your take on this? Do you have a system when it comes to your kids' art? I'd love to hear.

I'm blushing. Turns out I wasn't able to function outside of baby-mode for almost nine months... Well, maybe not really that long, but in any case, life got in the way of blogging. So what have I been up to all this time? Mainly, taking care of baby Tijl, and let me introduce him to you here. Here he is, as a newborn, a four-month old, and now:

Yes, time flies. We are a few days removed from his turning 9 months old already and his personality is really starting to shine through. What he's like? A delight, a hand-full, rambunctious, smiley and full of life. I'll share more of our life with him as we go.
Something else that has kept me occupied lately is studying. I am working on my thesis to obtain a master's degree in American Studies. I've been at it a while (being a mom sometimes slows things down a little) and want to finish before summer, so I have my work cut out for me. It's good for me to be focused on something other than diapers and bottles a couple times a week, though.
So, there we are. If you gave up on reading this blog during my months-long absence, I don't blame you. And to those who patiently awaited my return: thank you, so happy to see you again!

Hi all,

As I am entering my final four weeks of pregnancy, I will be taking a blogging break. I had planned on blogging up to the final week at least, but my mind is quickly becoming absorbed by all things baby and this time around I am going to give in to that feeling. So, I'm going into fulltime nesting mode now, making sure everything is ready in time for his (hopefully timely) arrival. I will of course share the news (and pics!) when he gets here, and as soon as my mind is able to do anything else besides think baby thoughts, I will get back into the blogging game.
Here's to maternity leave! See you all soon!

                                          Photo of me on the due date of my firstborn

Are you familiar with the term babymoon? Originally, it refers to the period right after birth, where the new mom and dad spend time with their baby, bonding and getting acquainted. In the last couple of years, however, it has taken on the meaning of one last getaway together of the mom- and dad-to-be. Baby gets to tag along too, but in mom's belly.
I've never been on a babymoon but I like the idea, especially for first-time parents. Despite all the reading you've done and the advice you've gotten and the courses you've followed, there really is nothing that can adequately prepare you for the roller coaster of emotions you go through when your baby is born, and how he or she changes the equation (including the one of your relationship with your partner) in such a major way. And while I think it is beautiful that most couples can't wait for those final two months of pregnancy to be over so they get to meet their offspring, I can't stop myself from telling them to please enjoy these very last, very intimate weeks together being 'just the two of you.' Things will, after all, never be the same again, and if all goes well, the next time it'll be just the two of you, you'll be well into your forties (if not fifties). So, savor this time, and go on a trip to somewhere that looks like this:

While we never did that particular babymoon (I'm sorry to say..), we've decided to go on a babymoon of sorts this time, but we're taking the family. And by family, I mean not just our almost three-year-old, but my siblings and all of my cousins as well. Luckily, our family isn't that big, so it'll be a party of 11 in total, but still more than just the two of us. Also, the location will look nothing like that dreamy, lovely picture above. Instead, we are in for an activity-filled weekend at a family-friendly park that looks more like this:

Anywhere between three and seven weeks from now, I'll be crossing over from being one very pregnant lady to being a new nursing mom again. I've been making so many lists these past weeks it is driving everyone crazy. It probably is a little crazy to be honest, but luckily very few people dare argue with a pregnant woman.
One thing on my list is nursing wear. I remember not being able to find anything that I really loved last time (I didn't start looking till my last week of pregnancy, somehow I wasn't able to look beyond giving birth), so I've begun my search a little earlier this time.
I must say I am surprised at the many elegant, comfortable nursing wear brands that are online now. Why look only in your own country when there is a world of pretty things out there? (Well alright, shipping costs are a pretty good reason) Today I ordered these items from Mothers en Vogue, based in Singapore:

Now that spring has arrived, so has the wedding season. We've got a couple of weddings coming up in May -don't you love going to weddings?- so I'm in full swing wedding mode at the moment. I've liked weddings even more since my husband and I tied the knot almost two years ago in what has got to be one of my favorite days of all time. We had a backyard wedding in August with about 100 people attending and we have such fond memories of that day. It has left me with a soft spot for outdoor weddings and to this day I love looking at wedding sites and inspiration boards.
Here are some pictures that leave me inspired and wishing I could get married (to the same guy of course...) all over again every year.