getting ready to celebrate

I have this problem ...

 ... I can never choose just one photo.

I was really worried that Finn wouldn't get to wear his stack of 3 months sleepers.

But since our new little house is in the corner of a forrest and I've been painting 

- with all the windows open -

Out they came and they fit great! 

And with room to grow a bit. 

If only he would just slow down a little.

This sweet sleeper was a gift from the Martins.

Yes, I am supposed to be packing, but I'm tired. Finn has been an angel this week. 

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Kalken packing (although you can hardly tell) 

and then Wednesday and Thursday painting, his room is done!! 

The Stuffs that Dreams are Made of

Today we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. 

Although maybe not in a so traditional way. 

We indulged ourselves with a sleep-in. If you can call it that. Up at 5 to feed a boy we went back to his own cradle until 7, when he joined us for a chat before dropping off for a couple more hours. 

So we did too.

When we all finally crawled out it was to feed the boy again and pack the car. 

Off to our new home to work, clean and paint.

I'm afraid we haven't shown you much .. but here are just a few more photos. 

I'm hoping to have more time after the move to give you a proper tour.

my little man enjoying a nap in the garden under his walnut tree

my two men taking time out to relax ... in our "meadow"

anniversary dinner in our new home with the love of my life and our little man

The stuff that dreams are made of, don't you think?

As I write this, I can hear Finn and his papa having a chat in the next room. 

My heart swells and feels so full. 

What a dream of a day!

A Whale of a Time

Can you see that string of slobber?? 

And it smeared all over his face!!

This is our life right now ;)

And we couldn't be happier.

This was my attempt at getting a cute pic of his Whale outfit from Cousin Anna ... 

no momma, my hands are more important. 

But haha Finn, momma was ready with the camera when you fell asleep. 

xox

A Wrastle with Elle

More action ... Finn is a busy fellow these days.

 

He loves to wrestle with Elle

.. the sweetest softest Elephant ever ..

was a gift from the Moores.

I'm never quite sure who's winning there is often 

rather a lot of grunts and groans coming from their corner.

Weights & Measures

The midwife / nursing consultant came today. It's a nice service .. all part of living in Belgium (wink!) and I like Benedicte. It's good to just check in and make sure what we're doing is right and throw any questions we might have at her.  She's been on holiday so we haven't seen her, since well before the chicken pox. And because of those doctors visits we've been tracking Finn's growth pretty consistently.

But HOLY MOLY!!!

He was on measured two weeks ago at his post-pox appointment.

I wasn't expecting much .. haha, surprise on you momma!

In two weeks, Finn had grown another 2 cm / 3/4" 

and now tips the scale at exactly 5500g / 12 pounds!

a pic of all three of us, but of course we only have eyes for Finn

We had more good news for the day too!

Papa picked up the keys to our new home tonight.

We are moving to a beautiful, peaceful farm just ten minutes outside of Gent.

Here's a pic we took when we visited the first time.

I think Finn knew it was right all along.

Oh, Mount Rainier

This is definitely a sight I miss. Axel too. In fact any mountain would be welcome. We live in a very flat countryside here and we miss mountains. Last year we stayed in a B&B, one of the rooms looked out toward Mount x (sorry I can't remember the name of it) ... I just about exploded in laughter! It was a high, not even an ant hill or a mole hill, almost just a bit of dirt kicked together. What a bummer.

One of the houses we looked was very near to the Vlaamse Ardennen. Gorgeous, rolling countryside. But no mountains. Axel's been lucky to travel to Switzerland a few times over the last couple of years. 

But this Northwest girl? Nope, not a mountain in sight. Unless you count momma's ironing pile. It's the only reference we hear to Mount Rainier in this house, because from floor to summit, it climbs faster than even Mount Rainier. Oh well, someday I will even manage to conquer that.

So why this sudden interest in Mount Rainier, so early on a Sunday Morning. Well you can guess my excitement when I woke up and found that my son had already been there! With Godfather Jacob!

Flat Finn's first Mt. Rainier adventure.

Ah, this pic really made me well up and realise that I am missing so many things from "home." Mountains, of course! Evergreen trees, long twisty drives and so many very good friends. I love that Jacob writes "first," because I am sure it will not be his last. I am already looking forward to him introducing Finn to this beautiful mountain. I envision a few camping trips in their future!

I have no doubt that this gorgeous but rather typical pic of Mount Rainier is the inspiration behind our desire to nurture a wild flower meadow at our new home. 

More about that soon!

(p.s. The house in Herzele fell through. But our new house is surrounded by forest and I think there might be some evergreens in there 

... are you holding your breath with me?)