Kaeli Turns 4 (well, almost)

Kaeli is so very funny. Bryan was coughing alot Friday night, so instead of kicking him downstairs to the couch, I went upstairs to sleep with Kaeli. She woke up VERY early, and as I lay there coaxing her to stay in bed a little longer, we had a very cute conversation.

"Mommy, did you know that this was my last week to be three? I turn four today! Is it time for my birthday party?"

"No, Sweetheart. We've got lots of things to do this morning before your birthday party. Mommy needs to sleep a little more then Avery and Daddy go to gymnastics, you and Mommy have to go buy groceries, then it's nap time..."

"No, Mommy. Not nap, rest! Big girls don't take naps."

"You're right... Then after nap, we'll go pick up your birthday cake."

"Then it's time for my party!"

"Yes, then it's time for your party."

"And then I will be four!"

"Well, actually... Nevermind, yes, and then you will be four."

Technically, Kaeli will be 4 tomorrow, but why argue? It did give me an excuse to tell her to stop something today because "4-year-olds don't act that way". We had a wonderful party yesterday at the Little Gym. We had 3 Dutch friends from her old day care, 1 Polish friend and 2 British friends from her new school, and several American friends from church. The kids had a blast playing and eating Tinker Bell cupcakes, and the parents had fun getting to know each other a little better. And the best part was that I didn't have to clean up and my house was not a mess when we got home. Well, actually, it was a mess because I didn't have time to clean up, but it was not the disaster zone it would have been after a birthday party! Here are some pictures.

Happy Birthday, Princess!

Play Date

Here are some pictures from a couple of weekends ago. We went to the park with Kaeli's best friend from day care, Judith, and her sister, Dianthe. They had a blast (as you can see).

Emotional Roller Coaster

This week has been very bizarre. I was completely stressed out for the past couple of weeks, leading up to two big presentations and three huge meetings on Tuesday & Wednesday of this week. Everything went very well and I was on quite an emotional high. It was topped off yesterday when there was an article in one of the Shell e-News letters that mentioned my work as one of the enablers for helping Shell Chemicals save $28MM. Then, my bubble was busted! Very long story, but let's just summarize it by saying there are people in this company who should've been fired years ago, and now that they've been told there's no place for them in the new Shell, they're trying to make as many lives as miserable as possible before they leave with a nice big lucrative package, and I'm on the list. So, today, I'm feeling better, but still need to decompress. Drinking my wine now!

Tomorrow is Kaeli's birthday party. I'm very relieved I decided not to do this at our home. So, Little Gym - The Hague it is! Hopefully, the cake lady hasn't forgotten us. I haven't had time to call her to confirm. Just need to get some snacks tomorrow and I should be ready. Kaeli helped me put together the goodie bags last Sunday. She was adorable! It was the highlight of my weekend.

Well, hopefully, I will find time to post pictures of the party tomorrow. It certainly won't be the Water Park party we had with Shay & Matthew last year, but it will be good enough. More to come...

Supervising My Kids

I, Bryan, thought it would be a good idea to trust my children. They were playing sweetly together in the dining room, so I thought I would help Celesta clean the kitchen. Normally after dinner, one of us cleans while the other ensures Kaeli and Avery don't kill each other over a crayon (or piece of paper or flower...) On Thursday evening, the girls were playing together sweetly. Kaeli was helping Avery color and was being the most wonderful big sister. Besides, what trouble could they possibly find?

"Uh Oh!!" Kaeli's words, not mine. "Avery is about to make a mess!" In all her help, Kaeli was demonstrating to Avery the appropriate way to make handprints. That's right, handprints with paint! Kaeli had gotten out her watercolors, painted Avery's hands purple, and shown Avery how to make handprints on a piece of paper. The art was beautiful. However, Avery's hands were a mess and Kaeli had not considered this aspect of the operation. Hence her "Uh Oh!" For some reason Celesta blamed me for the purple water puddles in the dining room. Maybe it was for my supervision? So much for trusting my one- and three-year old.

Some random thoughts...

I've had alot on my mind lately. Haven't really had time to write it down, so I'm going to put some of it down now.

Shell

If you hadn't heard, Shell is undergoing a major reorg and over 75% of staff will be reapplying for jobs in the next month or two. We are being told that 20-30% of jobs will be cut! The Executive-level folks have already gone through their round of job cuts and it was right about 30% for them. We're expecting it to be lower on our end of the totem poll, but not much. Bryan does not have to apply for his job, but I must reapply for mine. I'm sure I will have a job, but I have no idea whether we'll get to stay in the Netherlands or have to move back early. I wouldn't mind moving back, but am not looking forward to uprooting the family again so soon. Don't feel like packing/unpacking 5 times in 3 months again either! Oh well, we'll see how things go. Keep us in your prayers as there is a lot of uncertainty these days.

New Schools

The last week has been very crazy. We are moving Avery to a new day care which is closer to our home and my work (though with the reorg, I will most likely have to move to Rijswijk - 20 minutes driving, 40 minutes by public transport). We could only get her in 4 days/week, so the 5th day she is still at her old day care. Kaeli also started the British School last week, sort of. They have this 'induction period' that is excruciatingly painful for 2 full-time working parents. She went for 1-hour two Fridays ago, then last week, she went Tues & Thurs 9-12. This week is 5 days, but only 9-12. Next week, she goes until 12:30 on Mon & Tues, then until 1:30 the rest of the week (I think). So, one of us takes Avery in, another waits around until its time to take Kaeli, then one of us picks Kaeli up and takes her to her current day care for the afternoon, finally, someone goes to pick up one or both girls. It's a nightmare and I've been working nights and weekends just to try to get my 40 hours in. The good news, and the thing that keeps us going, is that the girls love their new schools! We will be glad when we can finally get into a new routine when Kaeli goes full-time starting in October. There's a bus that will pick her up and take her to after-school care, so minimal back-and-forths in any given day. After-school is closer to home (at least 3 days a week), so it will be nice though I must admit I will probably miss my 'commute' on the bike.

Out of Touch

Found out today that one of my good friends from grad school had a baby 5 weeks ago. I didn't even know she was pregnant! She even works for Shell, so it's not like I have an excuse for not keeping in touch... We have internal IM! I also found out that my best friend and maid of honor has to cancel her trip to Europe. I was going to get to see her for the first time in almost 6 years and now I don't know when I'll see her again. This really got me down today and made me miss my friends and family even more than I usually do. I am so out of touch. I've tried to get video chat up and working, but don't have time to sit down and really get it working (guess I could be doing that now, but then you'd complain cause I never update my blog!). So, if you haven't heard from me in a while it's not that I don't think of you, it's just I can't seem to find time to keep in touch. Maybe when I don't have to work nights and weekends...

Avery Talks - but we need translation

This has been a pretty depressing post, so I'll end on a funny note. Avery has been babbling for months now and lately has become quite the communicator. She does more signs every day and can definitely point and grunt to tell you EXACTLY what she wants. She can say, and we can understand, the basics: Mama, Dada, Thank You, Please, but I've been wondering if she's saying more words and we just don't understand her because she is saying them in Dutch.

Well, this past weekend, my fears were confirmed! We went over to a Dutch friends house and Avery was babbling along, then said "Die" and "deze" while pointing out a variety of things. Well, come to find out, she's saying 'this' and 'this one'! Guess we need to practice our Dutch more. I feel pretty bad that we don't even have the vocabulary of our 17-month old!

Oh, and to make things worse, Kaeli is fluent. When we have play dates with her Dutch friends from day care, she'll only speak Dutch. Her friend's mom has to translate for us! We are sooooo sad!! Oh well, we're taking lessons and getting better every week. We'll be able to understand them both soon (I hope).