Good news in the weight loss world!

I got the okay from my midwife today to start back up with light exercising and go from there! WOOHOO! So tomorrow, if I can remember will be my first weigh in. We'll see what the damage is then and devise a plan from there. My mini goal is to be at my pre pregnancy weight by time I am in the US at Christmas but we'll have to see how lofty and healthy of a goal that really is. I'm pretty excited to get back in the swing of things. Woohoo!

In the meantime I took some more pictures of my little Sadie Marie. Here she is with her two Hello Kitty friends at 7 weeks and 3 days old (she got two gifts from Build A Bear workshop and both ended up being Hello Kitty dolls! How odd is that!). Notice she is sporting her first pair of baby blue jeans!

And here she is taking a little snooze on the couch next to Mommy. (she only belly sleeps while being supervised, don't freak out!).

So sad.

She's gone. My Mom left this morning. I'm really sad and so is Marco and Sadie. I find solace in knowing I'm going to the US in just 11 weeks for 3 weeks of vacation and my best friend Liz is coming to visit in just a few days. Still... I miss my Momma already.

Fun with Mom!

I had an excellant birthday! Thank you all for your wellwishes. Besides spending time with my family we had dinner at my favorite restaurant The Taco Shop (on Tollstraat 100 in Oud Zuid in Amsterdam for those Holland readers). It's honestly the best Tex-mex I've ever eaten in the US or in Holland. It's just fabulous! The place is the size of an American walk in closet but the food that comes out of it is absolutely fantastic. Here is a picture of my Mom and the owner, Logan (in the window) and another guy I don't know (in the far back).

The Taco Shop is decorated with licese plates from the US and just a mix match of other signs, posters, etc. ARAHSA 5 is my old Illinois plates. All of the "Sarah" plates were taken so being oh-so-creative I thought I'd put my name in Pig Latin and 5 is my favorite number. Pretty brilliant huh?

We went to Zaanse Schaans where you can go up in the windmills, see cheese being made, watch wooden shoes be carved, shop in all the little shops, eat Dutch pancakes and just be tourists. It's like a little city. It's one of my favorite places to visit and we had a blast.

I also wanted to show my Mom my office so she could see where I worked and meet my colleagues. Of course we took some fun pictures while we were there.

Oh Mr. Bean!

You can really see the love here.

The other pictures are on my Mom's camera but they only got better than these two! Hopefully I'll be able to share sometime soon!

Happy Birthday to me!

I turn a ripe old 32 today! So happy birthday to me, and what a happy birthday it is. It's the first birthday I've spent with my mom since '03 and we've had a blast. Plus it's my first bday as a new Mommy and birthdays with Marco are always special. I am an extremely lucky woman!

Also, happy birthday Lissa and Happy Anniversary Keith and Josh! Hope you all have wonderful days!

1st time for everthing...

Since it's my Mom's first visit to the Netherlands and we are from "super small town Illinois" she is experiencing a lot of things for the first time. I'll share some pictures as we take them.

Here we are meeting in the airport. We had a sign that said "Grandma Kelly! It's me... Sadie!" with a welcome helium balloon. Here's the shot we took after finally finding my Mom in the airport (she got lost, long story):

Here is my Mom's first ride on the tram with Marco and Sadie:

We've decided that nobody wants to see pictures of you standing like a statue in front of stuff so we'v decided every picture will be us standing in front of stuff making asses out of ourselves. It seems to work for us. Here we are in front of the Rijk Museum where Rembrants works are displayed. (the one of us on the canal by the weeping willow tree and we're weeping is great!)

And of course, the star of the show... little Miss Sadie!

Having a great time!

My Mom is here and we're having a great time. She did sleep 17 hours the first night here from being so exhausted from traveling but now she's refreshed and ready to go! We're taking it easy and just doing a little something every day. Yesterday we went to our favorite park in the early afternoon and just walked around with the dog and she got to see her first windmill close up and personal. Of course we forgot the camera at home so we're going to have to go back! We shared some Belgian beers over dinner last night and plan on going to my friend Alexandra's house over the weekend.

She's totally in love with Sadie (as expected) and I'm pretty sure Sadie's loving having Grandma hold her all day long.

What's funny is that I guess I've been here so long that I forget some of the things that are unusual for her, like huge extended busses, trams, the World Trade Center, fishmarkets, open markets, windmills, all the bikers, mini cars etc. so when we're riding around I forget to point things out to her. I'm going to have to make a better effort to look at the city like I'm here for the first time!

I'll share some pictures as soon as we remember to take them!

I cannot freaking wait!!!!!

That's me and my Mom, April 2007 when Marco and I were 'home' for my brother's wedding. That was the last time we were together, in the flesh. And now it's September 2008 and we're about to be this close once again:

Yep, that's right... my Mom is on her way over to see us! She leaves on Monday evening from St. Louis and will arrive here... in Amsterdam...in the Netherlands... where I am... where I live... where she's never been...and my Mom is going to be here!!! Right here in the very house where I write this very blog entry from! I cannot believe it! And I cannot wait to see her face at the airport! And I cannot wait to see her meet Sadie for the first time. And I cannot wait to see her reaction to all of the different things in Holland. And I cannot wait to wake up and have coffee with her and Marco and Sadie and just be able to go over and give her a hug any time I want to. And I can't wait to sit with her on the couch with my daughter and make silly faces and crazy noise to make Sadie laugh and laugh with her. I just cannot wait!

My Dad doesn't know what he's going to be missing!

Did I mention that I cannot wait! Is it Tuesday yet?!?!?? (although this last sentence is true, it's also a little inside joke put out there just for Keith and Josh. mwah!)

Remember Dr. Asshat from last weeks appointment?

How could you forget him right? (well I know I couldn't forget him) He was the one who tried making me second guess my mothering instincts, put Sadie on a feeding schedule and was just an all around asshat. We had our follow up appointment with him today and it was like he was a whole different doctor. He was totally supportive of our switching Sadies formula to the most gentlest formula. He actually TOLD me to continue to listen to my mothering instincts as it was "obviously" working for us... really, "obviously?" because last week it was quite apparent that you felt my instincts were questionable in the least. He seriously did a complete 180 on us, which is fine but just a bit odd. He no longer thinks Sadie has colic (really, no shit? because that's what I was saying last week. I guess I don't have a PHD though). This week the family left with smiles on their faces, last week I was in tears... well whatever.

So the good news is she has gained her required 150 grams! Her cheeks are chubbier. Her little thighs are chubbier. Her little belly is chubbier. I'm just thrilled! We don't have to go back for another 3 weeks! We've started her on the new formula last night (its the gentlest they make, you have to buy is special at the pharmacy and it's expensive as hell, but our insurance may cover it) as she is still having plenty of gas cramps that leave her screaming and clawing in pain so hopefully this will resolve itself in the next few days. She's fighting sleep this week for some reason, maybe it's a growth spurt but whatever it is, it's keeping her awake all but about 3-4 hours every day.

So that's the update! Grandma Kelly is going to be here in just 6 days and we are so excited!!! Now that I'm not pumping anymore (my milk is just about dried up, that didn't take long) I realize I don't update as often but I'll try to do better and keep you all posted. My post patrum bleeding is also almost finished so I'll be back on the weight loss wagon before you know it! Now that I don't have breastfeeding to help me I'm going to have to work even harder but hey, I know all about hard work to lose weight!

Hope you all are having great weeks!