We made it!!

We are here safe and sound! We were picked up at 1:30 Saturday afternoon by a limo- that's right a limo! It was a great way to go to the airport. We had so much luggage! 2 strollers, 2 car seats, 1 car seat base, 1 diaper bag, 1 Tinkerbell suitcase for Kaylin and 6 other suitcases along with 2 carry on bags.

We arrived at the airport at about 3:00, checked our bags and then went to the gate. Once we got there we were told that we were upgraded to business class because they had switched planes and there were 3 other families that they were also trying to sit together. No Complaints from us.

Getting on the plane was difficult just because of all the stuff we were trying to carry along with carrying the kids. The flight was long but good. Kaylin slept for about 4 hours and Shane slept off and on through out the flight. It was a little hectic once we landed-trying to get all of our luggage out into the arrivals hall which is were our ride was picking us up. We actually had two drivers waiting for us. The US firm hired someone and so did the Dutch firm...at least 2 showed up rather than no one.

We loaded everything up and were off to our temporary housing. On the ride here Kaylin got sick...I think it was a combination of being overtired and the stress of so much going on in the last week or so.

One we settled in a bit I went to the grocery store and then we all took naps.

Last night was a little rough. Both kids were wide eyed at midnight! Kaylin watched a movie and I walked around the apartment with Shane to try and get him to sleep. Finally everyone was asleep and we woke up at about 11:00. Hopefully tonight will be better!
We walked around the city a bit today. It is beautiful!

We have had problems trying to figure out the washing machine. It is a combined washer and drier and we can't get the drier to work, so the clothes have been washed a few times.

Tomorrow at 9:30 I am going with the realtor to look for an apartment

Time to go; dinner is ready- sausage and potatoes.

I will try and post again tomorrow.

A few more days...

I am sitting in our empty house waiting for the carpet cleaners to come. It is such an odd feeling to be able to hear the echo of my feet while I walk in a normally noisy house. The movers have come and gone as have the painters. We give the keys to the renters tomorrow.

I thought last Thursday, the day the movers came, would be difficult. To my surprise it was a huge relief that everything was out of my control. They came in and had the whole house packed in one day (including my cell phone which was found after they left by Matt calling it and me listening to the boxes!) Everything that was going by air left on Thursday, everything going in storage left on Friday and everything that was going by sea went on Monday. That was the hardest day for me... seeing the house empty and knowing there really is absolutely no turning back. Tears have been easier to come the past few days, but if I keep busy there is less time to think.

So, let me think back to where I left off at the beginning of the month...

The house has been rented to a couple with 4 kids, the two youngest are 16 and 18 and live at home. The seem to be very nice and we hope everything goes smoothly.

We have received all of our paperwork; Matt's visa was the last thing we were waiting on which came yesterday.

Kaylin was able to spend some time with her cousin Asher. They have SO much fun together and on almost a daily basis she asks about him. I will have to get some of the pics of them from that weekend. I am sad that they are going to miss out on spending time together the next two years, but look forward to how much fun they are going to have when we get back.

We had some AWESOME going away parties. The first was with my friends from MOMs club. We went out for dinner and drinks to La Chimenea. It was very fun and I will miss those ladies SO much!!!

On Sunday the 21st our families threw us a party in Waukesha which most of you were able to attend. It was perfect! The time flew by though and we wish we had more time to spend with all of you .

The following Friday, PWC threw a party at Bootleggers on Old World Third Street in Milwaukee. It is a great bar and we had so much fun with some of our friends!

We spent Thursday -Tuesday with Bud and Jane and are spending Tuesday -Saturday with my parents. It has been really nice being able to spend these last few days with family and Kaylin really does enjoy being at their houses. I just feel really unorganized with our stuff all over the place. We are planning on having breakfast together on Saturday.

On Sunday we took Kaylin back to the house so we could say good bye to all of the rooms. We told her that all of her toys were in the boxes and that when we get to our new house she can open them up like presents. She wouldn't walk through the house, but wanted to be carried and then went outside to play while I cleaned up a few things. She seemed fine after that until yesterday morning when she said "home" a couple of times. I wasn't really sure if she was putting it all together until today when out of the blue she started crying and saying, "Home now, home now". It took everything I had not to start crying! I just told her that we will be going to find our new home in a couple of days. I really hope we find one quickly so we can get back into our routine. So, she definitely a bit confused. We go apartment hunting at 9:30 Tuesday morning.

Matt received an e-mail from a guy he will be working with in Amsterdam- he invited us to dinner on Sunday night. I thought that was so nice that they are trying to make us feel comfortable right away.

I had to add this cute picture of Shane- 4 months already!

That's all for now...

Thanks to Kate and Janelle for helping me with the pics!!

Updates

(So, I still can't figure out how to post the pictures within the text. They keep posting at the top and I can't move them!! I'll keep trying! )

Even though I haven't written in a while a lot has happened in the last few weeks.

Shane turned 3 months on the 20th. He is a happy boy with lots of smiles to share. He now grabs for toys, rolls from his back to his belly, is always sucking on his fingers and loves to watch his big sister. We brought out the exersaucer which he seems to enjoy, but not as much as Kaylin!

Kaylin is putting so many words together. She loves the zoo, the park, rocks, keeping track of what everyone is doing and making sure to tell them when they are not doing what she thinks they should be! , playing with chalk, and she really likes to help cook. She could mix all day long! She is so busy, but still loves to cuddle.

We started our language classes on Tues and Thursday nights. Our teacher is a 79 year old Dutch man and is hysterical! We are learning a lot more than language from him. It is really a lot of fun. Thankfully my parents watch the kids on Tuesday nights and Matt's parents watch them on Thursday nights.

The house has not sold yet, but this is the last week it will be on the market! YEAH!! We have someone who wants to rent it for the entire time we are gone and there is a couple who is considering writing an offer to buy. They plan to have a decision by the end of the week. I am so happy to have this weight lifted off of our shoulders!

We just had to buy a new dishwasher...go figure I have been wanting a new one since we moved in here and a month before we leave this one breaks so we get to buy one for a new family to use! At least if we rent the house I'll get some good use out of it when we get back. I have to say though, I have been having a good time washing the dishes with Kaylin. She is a great rinser and gets very upset when there aren't any more dishes to wash! The new one will be installed this coming Monday.

The trim on the house was supposed to be painted the first week of Sept, but they are running behind so hopefully it will be done next week. We also were supposed to have a meeting with basement inspector on the 5th, but they didn't show up. We have another meeting this Monday.

Still working on getting the Apostille Stamps. Matt's, Kaylin's and Shane's paperwork have all been sent out, but I still need to get mine and the one for our Wedding Cert. That is the goal for tomorrow....

Our plane tickets have been booked for October 4. We are on the 6:15pm United flight out of Chicago. We can call 48 hours ahead for seat assignments and hope to get in the side rows where there are only 2 across. That way either Matt or I can sit in front of Kaylin so she is not kicking the back of a stranger's seat! Also, we won't have anyone sitting next to us which will be nice because I have a feeling we will be doing a lot of moving around! We also are hoping to get a bassinet for Shane.

The movers are coming Sep 25, 26 and 29 to pack up and send everything...2 weeks from Thursday. I can't believe it!!

Culture Class and Moving Company

We had our culture class on Monday and Tuesday and a meeting with the movers on Monday. The class was great! Both days we had someone come in who is from the Netherlands and they spoke to us about what we should expect when we move there. We really got a lot of info!

Our meeting with the movers went well too. We have a certain amount of space to send our stuff by boat and by air and then space to store the rest. So, we had to go through the house and let them know where everything is to go. It will take them 3 days to pack and get everything out of the house.

Today I have been trying to figure out how to get an apostille stamp for all of our birth certificates and our marriage license. I guess it is a stamp the guarantees that the state registrar's signature is indeed his.

Next week we start our language classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:30-7:45 until we leave.

Our plane tickets have yet to be booked. We have to wait to make sure Matt's visa goes through without any delays. It shouldn't be much longer though.

Shane's Baptism

Shane was Baptised this past Sunday. Here he is with his God parents- His aunt Kate and Uncle Sean. He was a very good boy and he serenaded us with hiccups. Very cute!

Bank Account

I forgot to add that we have opened our bank account in Amsterdam. I more thing to check off the list!!

Passports and classes

Thanks for all of the comments! I love reading them!!

We took Kaylin to Walgreens again to get her photo taken and this time it only took 2 tries! I was so happy. They used a different screen and allowed me to sit on a chair and Kaylin stood on my lap. We dropped our paperwork off at the post office and have already received both Kaylin and Shane's passports...it only took about a week.

The moving company is coming over on Monday the 18th at 12:00 to talk to us about what we can take.

We have a culture class on Monday and Tuesday Aug 18-19 from 9-5.

Our language classes are going to be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-7:45. We will start on the 19 or the 26 and will continue taking them until we leave. We should find out tomorrow which day.

We found a dining room set about 2 weeks ago and it looks great! It will work out perfectly for our new home!