the low country

in french
the name
for the netherlands
is pays bas.

low country.

i never quite
realized
just how low
the
netherlands
was
until
i went there
from
switzerland...

. . .

in early may
we all took
a trip
to visit our
friend annemarie.
you may
remember her
from
her visit
to see us
when
vee was only
3 months old!



i have known
annemarie
for almost
20 years...

she and grub
go
way back
too.



we have meant
to visit
annemarie
and her family
since we moved
to switzerland.
we finally
got
around to it.


annemarie, ronne, bram, & martijn

since
we have not
seen
annemarie & martijn
for a while
and
now
we both have
children
we mostly
spend time
together
and let
the children play.

vee was
fascinated
by the
big kids...





and their toys...













she was always
right
behind them
watching
what
they did next...

but
vee had
her
own adventures too:



and
children
that
get dirty together
get clean together.



. . . . .

we did do
a little
sight-seeing...

in woerden
vee traveled
in the
highest
of dutch-style...



and visitied
my favorite store-
HEMA!



. . . . .

in utrecht
we went
to the
dick bruna house
(home of all things nijntje).

















. . . . .

we
walked
in the bogs
near woerden.








. . . . .

we took
a quick
evening trip
to amersfoort
to visit
my friend tom
from
the university.




vee got
a tour
of the town
before
the sun
went down.



. . . . .

we even took
a little trip
to amsterdam...



we did not
do much.
just walked
around.

we stopped
at a café
and
vee
asked for
a croissant
by name.



and
vee
played
in a little park
with lots
of dutch
city kids.



we
watched some
dutch pétanque.



time was short.

it
was
soon time
to leave
the low country...



and head home
to higher ground.

xo

{our swiss miss}

grub & i
have been
sick
for the last
week & a half...
but somehow
vee
escaped
with
only
a slight cold.
perhaps
due to mom's
amazing
antibodies.

vee got
vaccinated
for
rotavirus
due to
her upcoming
trip
to mexico.
it was difficult
to make
the decision.
the potential
side-effects
were very
scary
{i did not
need
the
pediatrician
to demonstrate
what an
invaginated intestine
looked like}.
grub & i realized
this was the first
of many decisions
we must make
for vee
with
the fear that
we may make
a bad decision.
i never realized
how much
this would
affect me.
how much
i would
worry and fret
that i might
hurt her
when all
i want to do
is protect her.

. . . . .

my dear
friend
annemarie
visited
to meet vee.
vee was a bit
skeptical
of her at first
but
was instantly
captivated
when
annemaire
spoke dutch
to her.



annemarie
brought
vee some
traditional
dutch
st. nicholas
treats!




she also
brought
vee tons
of cool
jip & janneke



and
nijntje



hand-me-downs
from
annemarie's
little ones
(more photos soon).

annemarie
and i
took
a day trip
with vee
to Murten.


{photo by annemarie}

grub even
joined
us on
a day trip
to Fribourg.


{photo by annemarie}

we all attended
her aunty
pip's birthday
celebration
and
vee wore
her best
birthday
duds.



. . . . .

vee has been
impressing
us daily
with her
new accomplishments
including
holding herself up.



she can almost
roll over.
small feats
for us
but giant
steps
for
a wee grub.

vee has
gotten
quite
attached
to mr pinky.
although
i am not
fond
of the color pink,
mr pinky
is quite
charming.


{photo by annemarie}

. . . . .

this week
i started
to go to work
for a few hours
each day
to prepare
for research
in mexico.
grub began
feeding
vee from the bottle
once a day.
a big transition
for both of us
as we get use
to the life
ahead of us
when i return
to work.
the transition
was surprisingly
smooth.
i wasn't
as anxious
as i thought
at work
but pumping
breastmilk
at work
was stranger
than i expected.
there isn't
really
a private
place
to do it.
it made me
feel very vulnerable
somehow.
i think that
it will take
some getting
use to.

sunday
vee turns
3 months!
christmas
is next week
and then
a week later
we are off
to mexico.

things are
about
to get
really
interesting...


{onesie & doll from cousin caroline}

xo