Moving

Man oh man. Moving is an adventure – no matter what country you live in – but add in a couple foreign languages and it always makes for an exciting time. It feels like moving day was some time ago, but with boxes still lingering it’s no secret that we are still pretty fresh in Bremen. So, here is a rundown of all the adventurous highlights of our switching countries.

Of course, everything began with apartment hunting. Then it was on to packing boxes, canceling contracts, researching health care and on and on. Moving day was actually broken up into two days.

Day one: Jason took the train to Germany to pick up the moving van while Laura and the kids finished organizing everything to be loaded into the van. Jason made it home in time for the van to be loaded up. We were very blessed to have so many able hands show up to help us load the van. We had a whole crew to load the van and even had one of the Young Women to help take care of Milayla (Atticus was already in bed). Loading the van took all of 45 minutes, which meant that we had plenty of time to start the final clean after they all left.

Day two: With how smooth Day One went, we had high hopes for day two. Some ladies from church came over to help out with the final cleaning items which was incredibly helpful as it went quickly and they were great company. Then the boys headed off in the moving van while the girls headed to the train station at the airport with Angie so they could catch their train. The timing was planned out so that we would all make it to the apartment at about the same time; which was just in time for us to do the walk through with the agent, sign the papers, get the keys and eat dinner before we unloaded the van. It was a great idea, unfortunately it did not play out that way at all.

Laura and Milayla came via the train and had one switch to make in order to arrive in Bremen. They made it to the stop they were supposed to change over at without any problems. When Laura looked at the train board to find the platform of her connecting train it was no where to be found. So she showed a ticket man her ticket and asked him which train was hers. He directed her to a train that was waiting at another platform assuring her twice that it was the correct train. So the girls got on and settled in set to arrive at Bremen Hauptbahnhof 45 minutes later. Well, an hour later they were still on the train and no where near Bremen. Wrong train. Thanks Mr. Ticket Man.

After some sorting out and some assistance from Jason’s coworkers to figure out where the girls were and how to get them to Bremen, they arrived two and a half hours later than planned only to discover that due to some protocol, which we were not aware of, we were not allowed to move in. Great. We had people from church waiting eagerly to help us move in our boxes and we had no where to move them to. Not to mention, none of us had eaten dinner and it was now well past the kids’ bedtimes. Grumpiness was in abundance where patience would have been nice. Milayla even had a solid two hour crying fit; for a girl that rarely cries this is incredibly unusual. Again though, it was Jason's coworkers to the rescue! Everything was sorted out (after several hours), the boxes were moved in, and everyone enjoyed some chili that a lady from our new church congregation had brought. We were so very grateful for all the help and to eventually make it to bed.

Of course it's not all done yet. For starters, having moved from a furnished apartment to an unfurnished apartment we have the looming task ahead of us to start getting some furniture in this place (absolutely everything, right down to the light fixtures). We have made a good start and have a few of the basics, but there's still plenty more to do. The knowledge that it will all come together eventually is definitely helping us to be patient with the process. Then there were all the repairs, flooring and painting that needed to be done - thankfully most of that is done now. Other than that, most of the logistical things are done or well underway (residency permits, finding doctors etc.)

It has been a busy time, but we are really happy with how quickly it has felt like home. As things begin to come together we will be sure to start posting pictures of our apartment.

A Walk in the Park

For many weeks, our apartment was littered with flooring, paint, repair tools and many other items kids should not be around – not to mention a lot of noise. So the kids and I spent many days exploring the neighborhood and searching out some playgrounds (in rain or shine!). Here are a few photos from our journeys (taken with the camera phone, so excuse the quality).

one very happy little boy (who happens to be needing a haircut...)

Oh, this picture makes us laugh - Milayla looks like our little Evil Genius here!

he still needs to point at everything...

boat ride in the park anyone?

finally some sunshine!

collecting leaves for his art project

Mr. Independent

Mr. Independent (alias: Atticus) insists on picking out his own clothes and dressing himself. He washes his own hands and does not want help unless he asks for it. He will not wear grey socks - only black. He will make his own bed. No, he does not want his shoes on the right feet. And he enjoys wearing shorts in cold, rainy weather with one knee high sock and one ankle sock. Wearing socks on your hands and having buttons misaligned is all part of a cool toddler trend in his eyes and is not to be tampered with. And he would not even dream of asking for help going up or down the stairs - no matter how long it takes or how many times he stumbles. These are only a few examples of all his independent traits...

Yes, Mr. Independent sure does test his parents' patience with his determination but when we get to see how much he has learned and improved we remember that we need to let him sort some things out on his own no matter how long that may take sometimes. Love him and his firm determination!

He is pretty proud of himself and so are we!

4 Months – Milayla

It feels like the last month has slipped right through our fingers. Milayla has been such a joy throughout the transition of moving. She may not be a big proponent of naptime but in spite of that she is always incredibly happy and patient. Even when she needed to wait to be fed while matters of the move were being dealt with she would still smile and cuddle.

Beyond her understanding, happy nature she is one talkative, strong and determined individual. She has been rolling over both ways for nearly a month and has begun inching herself forward by pushing off her toes, the latter being a work in progress still since she has yet to coordinate her arms with the toes and ends up sliding her face across the floor (not very pleasant for her as you can imagine). She is alert and attentive and giggles uncontrollably when her and Atticus have a “conversation”. She loves being around her big brother and relishes in attention from him via tickles, kisses, hugs and playing. And we certainly cannot forget that this little lady has an opinion; when she wants you to know it she is not shy about it. And once she discovered her toes there was no letting go. Toys? Who needs those when you’ve got toes?!

We sure do love her and the dynamic and joy that she brings to our family.

:::UPDATE:::
Milayla had her 4 month check up at our new doctor today and here are her stats as of October 6th:

6500 grams
63 cm long
41,5 cm head circumference

She received her updated vaccinations along with a couple added checkups on her organs and hips (a normal thing done in Germany in the first couple months of birth so they did it for Milayla to make sure her results were accounted for). She did awesome with the vaccinations. And it turns out all that rolling over, body strength and hand coordination of hers have developed at an accelerated rate; not so surprising considering how determined she is!

Not the best lighting, but that doesn't change the fact that you can see her gorgeous smile

excuse the poor quality (from the camera phone), but couldn't resist adding another big, smiling photo

TOES!

Playing with one of her favorite toys. We have definitely entered the stage of endless drool...

See you later, Alligator (Leaving Holland)

It has been nearly one month since we moved from Leiden; so this post is a little delayed but with good reason as we were without internet connection. The past month has been very full of boxes, Ikea trips, language struggles, church callings, paperwork (banking, residency etc.), navigation and exploration. Thankfully, most of the things we have needed to do we have been able to enjoy the time together – and that is including a 4 hour trip to Ikea on a Saturday with two tired children in tow! We are saving all the details of our settling into Bremen for later posts. For now, it’s time to close off our time living in Leiden…

We can’t believe we lived in Leiden for two years – it went by so quickly! It feels as though we were just visiting Holland for Valentines Day (while Laura was still pregnant with Atticus) when Laura said “I love this place! I could definitely live here. Look, there are swans just hanging out along the canals! How beautiful.” Well, it was not even a month later that the possibility of moving to Holland came into discussion and soon we were planning our move…

Visiting the temple

Our first encounter with the bakfiets. We were so intrigued - who would have ever thought we would soon be the proud owners of one!

A swan, just chilling out at the intersection...

Boy, did we luck out as far as apartments go. We looked a few places that were complete dives. One particularly memorable apartment had been broken into so many times that there were 6 different locks on the door. Sure makes you feel safe, doesn’t it? The last apartment we looked at was more out of curiosity than seriousness because we were dying to see the incredible view from the apartment which looked out over very green fields, canals and trees inhabited with cattle, sheep, horses and birds of all types; those beautiful swans even gracefully floated by regularly. After getting lost multiple times while trying to find the apartment we showed up late and almost thought it was not worth the bother, but we prevailed and we sure thank our lucky stars that we did.

After only a few moments of being in the apartment, we were both convinced this was it. Despite the not-so-lovely pink carpet and peeling wall paper, we were in complete awe of the view and were already dreaming of the summer nights to come that we would enjoy those long days out on the balcony. After taking the matter to prayer we said ‘yes’ and signed on the dotted line.

Being lured by the incredible view turned out to be a huge blessing as living in that apartment was the source of so many more blessings. We did indeed enjoy many nights out on the balcony (when it wasn’t raining), playing Uno tournaments and chatting. We enjoyed two lovely New Year’s Eves watching the fireworks  out our living room window (you can read about our second New Year’s Eve here). There were countless sunsets that were so stunning that we would watch them rather than a movie we had planned on watching. We learned about different species of birds and agriculture techniques (Atticus loved getting a front row seat during harvesting time). It was not uncommon for us to wake up in the morning only to look out the window and fall in love with the view all over again. That view was an unexpected source of late night conversations, learning and growing together. Who would have thought?

Morning photo...

Evening sunset

on the street where we lived...

The blessings of the apartment extended far beyond the view though. For starters we had some great neighbours. They were the kind of neighbours who not only took the time to say ‘Hello’ but to help you with the groceries, to find out how things were going, to speak Dutch slowly so we could try to understand and to help in many ways. We could not have asked for better neighbours. They were always there to talk to, to help and to be friends. Atticus sure got spoiled by the attention they gave him – and is likely never to forget all those comments about how handsome/cute/smart/grown-up he is. And we will definitely never forget the kindness our neighbours showed to us while we lived there. There were times when they brought in the weather cover for our bike that had blown down the street, or when we needed help translating, or when Laura injured her back while she was pregnant and needed to go to the doctor but could not find anyone to watch Atticus (that particular neighbour, in addition to watching Atticus, even lent us her car so that Laura could make it to the appointment), or when they brought us packages from family in Canada, or when they came over after Milayla was born to congratulate us and give some very thoughtful gifts….we could go on for some time but we’re sure you get the point – they were pretty awesome. To close off our time in Holland they all pitched in to put together a “dutch” gift for us to remember them and our time in Holland by. While the kids may be too young to remember them, we will certainly enjoy telling them all about them when we read their special Dutch book. We will certainly never forget them! Whether they knew it or not, they were the source of many answered prayers. We loved sharing baked goods with them and taking the time to get to know them better.

Of course it came wrapped in Delft Blue paper

Our network of wonderful friends extended far beyond the walls of our building. There were friends from the neighborhood, from swimming class, music class, church, work and play group who helped to enrich our lives by creating lasting memories with us and sharing their culture and traditions with us. We cannot say enough about how grateful we are for their role in our lives. They truly spoiled us with kindness and friendship. We will never forget them and hope that we will see many of them again soon!

Our time in Holland was filled with so many sweet memories. We fell completely in love with Holland - the people, the culture and the country. It made a lasting impression on us and it was so difficult to make the decision to leave. We grew so much as individuals and as a family and will always treasure the time we spent there.

Our last photo in our apartment...

And just so you can get a better glimpse of Milayla

Giving Hugs

Just a few photos of Atticus and Milayla. Boy, these two love being with each other.

 And just for the record, it was Atticus who wiggled his legs under Milayla so he could give her cuddles then played shy after I took the photos.

Forgotten Moments

We take a lot of photos to try to remember all the moments that happen in our family - big and small. Unfortunately, there are a lot of moments that never get captured on camera. Even more unfortunate are the precious little moments that are captured on camera and then never have anything done with them (part of the reason why we have a blog). 

Well, here is a moment, captured in a photo, that we do not want to forget.

After one particularly long moving day, Milayla fell asleep while rubbing her eyes. Poor girl only wanted some peace and quiet.