Mommy Weekend!

Well, that was it for our summer vacation. We're back to work and it's been so chilly and rainy here the last couple of days that it's starting to look a lot like fall already! But thanks to a friend of mine I had another fun weekend to look forward to. She booked a hotel for us as an early birthday present so we could go on a much deserved shopping trip! We had a blast! We went for coffee and wine, we went out to dinner and we set a pretty generous shopping budget for ourselfs. Just having fun without stressing over price tags so much. I could get used to that! Haha! But it was also my first weekend away from Charlotte. It was nice just focussing on myself for a change, but I did miss her like crazy. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be little curly blonde girls running around and it made me wish she was there with me. But that's beeing a mom I guess. Always wishing you had a little more time for yourself, but missing those little terrors when you actually do! Anyway, I thought I'd share some shots from my little shopping weekend and the cuteness I purchased. Now it's getting back to seriousness, hard work and saving money again. Wish me luck! :)

Drinking cappuccino's in the sun

Our hotelroom and some of the shopping bags on the bed

Delicious lunch!

Buys for me! A simple dusty pink top by Vila, a brown Ralph Lauren Ronnika cardigan and a Guess mini phantom watch with rose gold. 

Buys for baby! A pink coat for fall with cute little ears and a knitted scarf and gloves. All by baby Zara.

Well, that was it for today! Has your summer come to an end yet? Did you have a great time?

Kisses!

Vacation Part Deux!

Since we had to postpone our vacation due to Charlotte's health scare, we had to wait a little longer for our much needed second break. But vacation was finally here! We spend a sweet little holiday in France, a holidaypark in Aisne called le lac d'ailette to be exact. I had lots of activities planned, such as seeing the Eiffel Tower and visiting Disneyland Paris, but since Charlotte was still recovering and we were all pretty exhausted from the whole experience. we decided to just have a chilled and laidback vacation instead. We hung out at the lake, went swimming, went for walks and went out to dinner. We stayed at the park most of the time and just did some light local sightseeing. It was absolutely fine though. We had to cutest little cottage and the park was absolutely gorgeous! Here are some of our favorite holiday shots!

I actually liked it so much there, that I'm seriously considering going back there next year. And maybe then we can actually go see the Eiffel Tower and visit Disneyland Paris. Who knows! :) Did you have a fun vacation? 

Kisses!

Charlotte's 18 month update!

Charlotte is 18 months old! She turned 18 months on her grandmother's birthday, so that made it extra special! Since I was at work most of the day Charlotte and grandma spent this day together and had a great time. They are so lovely together. I'm so lucky to call these two cool chicks family! :)

Weight & Height
Charlotte is now approximately 32 inches tall and weighs about 19 pounds. She wears a size 4 diaper and fits into the clothing size 12 - 18 months and shoe size 5. Right on schedule!

Development
She has a vocabulary of about 20 - 25 words and is starting to form sentences. Communicating with her is getting easier by the day. She knows both Dutch and English words, since we speak both languages at home. She understands pretty much everything we say to her. Maybe not word by word, but she definitely understands the point we're trying to get across. She understands shapes and sounds and can name alot of objects, foods and animals. She's also a great runner!

Likes & Dislikes
She really likes to imitate people, especially mommy! She loves to walk around in my high heels, drag my handbags around the house (mommy likes this a little less, haha!), play with my make-up, pretend to make phone calls, clean the house and pretend to cook and make tea in her little play kitchen. So cute! She also loves to brush her hair, as you can see in the picture above! She also loves books, playing games on our Ipad, running, playing in her sandbox, being outdoors and eating raspberries!

She doesn't like being told no or being restrained in a carseat or chair. She really has a mind of her own and wants the freedom the roam around and explorer the surroundings. She doesn't really like men either, although there are a few exceptions. She definitely preffers women!

Milestones
Her first sentences! She can now say a couple of them, but her first one was 'I wanna go outside'. She's really an outdoors kinda gal, so no suprises there! Besides that Charlotte also told her first lie! That was very unexpected, but I laughed so hard when it happened! We had a lunch date at a friend's house, but the food wasn't as nutritive as I would have liked. So on our way home I picked up some raspberries for the afternoon. I thought that we could share them, but Charlotte didn't agree! Every time I tried to take one out of the bowl, she gave me a dirty look and told me 'No, mom!'. By the time there were about five raspberries left I asked her if mommy could have one. She than looked at her bowl of raspberries, she looked at me, she shrugged and told me 'no left!'. That little stinky bum! I could see there were still some raspberries left and I know she could see that as well. She just didn't want to share them with me so she lied about it!

Scares
Obviously her getting sick and spending an entire week in the hospital was a pretty big scare! During her stay she had a moment where she was unresponsive and her heartbeat dropped to 30 beats a minute. That was horrible! But she underwent an EEG and ECG scan and her heart and brain didn't show any abnormal activity thank God! So that means things are slowly getting back to normal and there is no reason to catch up on the family vacation we had planned!

So there you have it! On to her 24 month update! Doesn't time go by so fast when they are at this age? Unbelievable!

Kisses!

Hospitalized!

This is the first time that I'm blogging from my Iphone, so bare with me here! We were supposed to be vacationing in France at the moment, but as you can probably tell from the title of this post, that didn't happen. We're at the hospital instead, and we've been here since Tuesday night. 

Charlotte started to develop respiratory problems in the evening and it got so bad we couldn't control it at home. We rushed to the hospital and when we got there her oxygen level was already pretty low. This meant she needed extra oxygen and prednisone. Which already sucks big time, but unfortunately it didn't end there. She also stopped eating and drinking. Besides being able to breath properly, getting enough fluids in is also kind of a big deal. This meant they had to place a feeding tube in her tiny little nose. That isn't a fun procedure to begin with. But since our little Houdini managed to get a hold of the tube and rip it out of her nose, they had to do it twice!

The first few days were horrible. Charlotte was feeling so bad and exhausted that all she could do was sleep and scream. The tube feeding wasn't sitting well with her either, so during one night she woke up screaming and projectile vommited the entire bag of fluids all over herself and me. That was horrible to see! Yesterday and today were okay since she's fit enough to have some playtime here and there, eventhough she isn't well enough to go home yet unfortunately!  

Before she can go home she needs to get through a night without extra oxygen and she needs to incease her fluid intake. They are also planning to do a ECG scan, which also needs to turn out okay obviously. After spending five nights here, we've definitely seen enough of this place already. The staff has been super friendly and we're really thankful for everything they have done for us. But there really is no place like home. So please wish our little munschkin well!                                                       

 Kisses!

What's in my handbag?

Yes, I know! I'm pretty late to the ballgame with this one, but I just love "what's in my bag" posts. I love searching for them on the web and I have been planning to do one myself for ages. I decided to do a handbag version, because that's simply the bag I carry the most. But I might do a diaperbag version somewhere in the future. Who knows!

The Bag
The bag is a Louis Vuitton speedy 30 in damier azur. This is the handbag that I use the most right now. The light colors make it the perfect bag for this season. It's also my most recent purchase. I got it a couple of month ago and it was an early birthday present to myself. Now that may not sound very recent, but I rarely buy a new bag. I like high quality handbags and the ones I own pretty much last a lifetime, so there isn't much need to shop for a new bag too often. When I was younger I knew I wanted to own a Louis Vuitton bag one day, and since we had a couple of bucks to spare, my boyfriend gave me the green light to get one. I'm really enjoying this bag and I love it to pieces. I have absolutely no regrets about getting it what so ever, even if it was a bit of a splurge.When it's driving shotgun to work with me I have trouble keeping my eyes on the road. It's just so pretty!

The Stuff

1. My Sascha wallet. It's a full sized wallet which zipps pretty much all around, so it's great for easy access. It has a lovely bronze glow to it and subtle floral pattern. It's nothing special but it's a very functional piece and I haven't found anything I like better.

2. My Burberry DIY keychain! I wrote a post about it a couple of weeks ago. I love it to bits and I even use it as a small wallet sometimes. It's ideal for quick errands and I can just throw my cards in there and be on my way. It has my housekeys and carkeys on it, so I have everything I need all in one place. 

3. Lipgloss! No girl can live without right? This is called the chocolate sexy lips gloss and it smells amazing! Lipgloss and chocolate combined, there is nothing better!

4. A simple hair tie. Always handy to have one of these around. 

5. This is a bag chain I got off of Ebay. I use a handheld bag which is fine most of the time. But every once in a while I find myself in a situation where I just need an extra hand. Especially with a 1 year old running around! I just connect the hooks of this chain to the hardware on my bag and I can carry it as a crossbody bag. Ideal! And it only cost me a few dollars! Gotta love Ebay! 

6. A little notebook and a pen. The notebook was a gift from my mom. I use it to make my grocery list, write down little mental notes etcetera.

7. My Iphone! And how gorgeous is this case? It actually took me longer to pick out the case than the phone! Haha! It's the beige crocodile flipcase by Guess. I think it's absolutely gorgeous!

8. My Burberry sunglasses. I had these forever. It's a very classic model, so I think I'll get quite a few more years out of these before replacing them with a newer pair. 

9. And last but not least, a bottle of water! I work in a different city so I'm on the road alot. I've experienced some pretty serious traffic jams in the last couple of years, so I know the importance of carrying a bottle of water to keep myself hydrated. Especially in the summer when being on the road can be absolutely brutal!  

So, there you have it! All the stuff that I carry around  with me everyday. What are the items you can't live without and are absolute bag necessities to you?

Kisses!

Vacation Time!

We just got back from our sweet little getaway, and we had such a great time! This was actually our first little break away from home since Charlotte was born. So I'm guessing it was about time! It were alot of firsts for her, which also made is extra special for us. It's just such a different experience seeing the world through your child's eyes. It's very exciting! It was her first time seeing the ocean, jellyfish, porpoises and even seals! We even spotted a few seals offshore when we were hanging out on the beach, which was just so cool! Everything on this trip was perfect, the weather, the hotel, the boattrip to the Island, I seriously couldn't have asked for more. The hotel did have a pretty scary miniature golfcourse in the basement though, but than again we probably shouldn't have gone exploring it in the middle of the night! Haha! But since a picture says more than a thousand words, here are some of my favorite holiday shots! 

So, that was our sweet little mini vacation! I'm not sure what we'll do with the rest of the summer. I do have two weeks off next month. Any suggestions? And what are your plans for this summer? 

Kisses!

5 Reasons Why You Should Sign Up For A Baby Swimming Class

Well, that is if you actually have aformentioned baby. If not, joining one of these classes could be considered a bit creepy. Just saying. You know, looking back on my first 16 months of being a parent, I really don't have many regrets. Obviously not everything has been perfect. But I tried my best making the best decisions I could, and thankfully they turned out pretty well in the end. There is only one thing I regret, and that's not enrolling into a baby swimming class sooner. I just started a couple of months ago, and looking at all these moms with their itty bitty babies made me feel like we missed out on something.

So if you are a new mom, I dearly recommend enrolling into one of these swimming classes as soon as you're ready! Obviously you need to be fit enough to participate in some mild phsycical activity, so you should be healed up nicely from your birth. Also your baby should be big enough to hold it's own tempature to avoid hymothermia. Our pool advices to start taking classes from 12 weeks and up. Most public swimming pools organize special baby swimming classes. The water is usually warmed up a bit more, they have extra changing tables set up around the pool area and they have a special swimming instructor teaching you and your baby to be comfortable in the water together in a fun, playfull way. There are a lot of benefits to starting these classes early, probably way more than I can think of! But here are five to get you started!

1. Fun! 

Well first of all, it's a lot of fun! There are a lot of other babies around which always seems to facinate the tiny ones. Babies and small children are automatically drawn to each other and it's so adorable to see them socialize. There are toys, games and alot of singing and playfulness. It's just a very fun activity to shake up your regular mommy and baby time.

2. Water safety!

Besides fun, these classes also teach you and your baby a lot about water safety. During these classes your baby will learn to be comfortable in the water and to not panic when he or she goes under for a second. It also teaches very basic survival skills, such as clinging onto floating objects. It is very important for all children at every age to have the basic survival skills in water. You never know when they could come in handy!

3. Exercise!

Let's face it, picking up our old exercise routine after giving birth can be pretty difficult. This is a fun and easy way to get some genlte exercise going and get you in the right direction. Plus, you are surrounded by new moms, so nobody is judging you on that extra babyweight you're carrying around. It is also a way of gently introducing exercise to your baby.

4. Bonding!

 Well, this one is a bit of a given really. Any activity will help you bound with your baby. Swimming together can be a great bonding experience as well and it can build alot of trust between parent and baby.

5. Development!

It is a great way of developing your baby's coordination and fine motor skills. Like jumping though a hole in a floating object or grabbing a small toy from the water. Plus, since your baby is getting used to being in the water from a young age,  there will be an advantage once it's time for real swimming lessons.

So there you have it! Five reasons why you should join a baby swimming class! Have you ever been to a baby swimming class or are you planning to anytime soon? I'd love to hear about your experience! 

Love,

Tessa