Mat leave, potty training and lots of nesting!

I have been on Maternity leave now for a few weeks and absolutely loving it! Although I have had another very good pregnancy I was ready to finish. It is all a bit more tiring balancing the work, home and childcare and I am really enjoying spending all my time with Naomi now. The first thing we did was getting her potty trained as soon as I finished and she just did it from day one, hooray! We are so pleased and proud of her as I was dreading it a bit but she was ready and not had one accident since! She has been getting more interested in the new baby and loves reading books about it, looking at her baby photo's and playing with all the baby equipment I have been washing and getting ready. She will be a great sister that's for sure. So yes I have been big into the nesting again although I have to admit it hasn't really made me spring clean the house (yet?). I have had a lot more time to get excited about christmas especially as Naomi is able to enjoy it more now. We have had the house all christmassy for a while now and hereby a picture by the tree with growing bump! Just 4 weeks to go! By the way this one is expected to be bigger so we'll see! It just feels and looks like a football!

November Holland trip

Hello there! I know it has been so long! As it is nearing christmas and the birth of our second baby I thought I'd better catch up! We have been very well. We enjoyed a trip to Holland beginning of November as we won't be able to go at christmas. We had fun with family get togethers, trip to our favourite beach and just chilling out. Everyone was curious to see the growing bump of course! Here our some snaps of it all.

Mallorca holiday

Here's some photo's of our holiday. They speak for themselves I think. Oh and for my mum and sisters who have been asking there are some bikini ones I am afraid so they can see my growing bump!

20 week scan!

This is baby blake 2 growing well! The resemblance with Naomi's 20 week scan was incredible so we are very curious wat is going to come out! The pregnancy is going great and baby is quite active already. It's lovely being able to show off my bump now and Naomi cuddles and kisses bump when we mention 'baby in mama's buik(tummy)'!

Evian trip

Our little treat for the summer was a fab weekend in an amazing Hotel in Evian. It was a business trip with Chris' customer and her family. The views on Lake Evian were just one of the best and we just got soaked up in this luxury ambience.

Summertime

We had a great time with Leonore's sister Sophie and her family visiting us for a few days. A trip to Lyme park, a curry house and Starbucks were not to be missed!



Here we are finally with a bit of news from our summer. It has been a nice time with Naomi's birthday, a trip to Evian, France, family visit from Holland and of course our developing baby and a recent scan! So I aim to update you with some pictures and details from all these exciting events!

Baby Blake 2!

We are very pleased to announce baby number two in the making! Our last post showed our trip to Prague and it was made extra special when we found out we were expecting again! Baby is due on the 11th January 2010 so I am about 13 weeks pregant now.
All is going well. I am feeling tired but generally well and have had only very mild pregnancy symptoms. Naomi is excited about the whole 'baby in mama's tummy' idea and we know she will be a great sister as she loves other babies! So here we go on the journey of Baby Blake 2. We will keep you updated!

Holiday in Holland

Prague!

You must be thinking you have not had so many updates on the blog since Naomi was a baby. Yes we are having a season of trips away and it's great! Chris and I had our long longed for romantic weekend in Prague. Chris' parents had kindly offered to look after Naomi and we could leave knowing she'd have a great time too! Prague was just wonderful in every way. It's one of the most beautiful cities I have been too and for us the best combination of relaxation, romance and culture! And of course we couldn't wait to see our little girl again!

Church weekend away

We had our yearly weekend away with a bunch of 18-30 year olds from church and it was great! We were in the beautiful peak district in one of those old characterfull mansions for large groups amidst the hills and lambs. It's amazing how good it is to get out of the city and enjoy a weekend of walking, fun, games and encouragement. It was nice hanging out with our friends with children but also good to spend time with students. They in turn enjoyed playing with the kids so it all worked really well.

Easter holiday

Another trip to let you know about, yes we have been busy and will be for a while with trips to the peak district, Prague and Holland still to come in May and June.
Our Easter holiday was our long awaited Blake family holiday in the Cotswolds. We had a wonderful time with the 13 of us so for Leonore a bit of a change to the v/d Hoeven gatherings of 35! we spend the week enjoying the indoor pool, jacuzzi and sauna, playing tennis and games. One of those weeks I really appreciated the beautiful english countryside with its country shops and lovely houses. The photo's give a bit of an idea of our activities and the house with the lovely views. Naomi had a great time with her bigger cousins who were sooo sweet with her. She is such an easy going child that just loves other children that I am slowly getting broody again!

Lake district

Already a month ago and as usual I am always running behind...sorry! Our fab weekend to the lake district, back to the lovely house we stayed in last year with a group of friends from church. As you can see on the photo's we enjoyed going for a walk and a tea room as that's a must on a trip to the country!

Naomi loves dancing!

Still here!

Don't know what it is with blogs at the moment but it certainly has been long time no see! I think its due to not having taken many photo's and I had just found a video we took a few weeks ago which I hadn't got round to blogging so here we are.
Of course we have every reason to photograph our beautiful little girl especially as she is sooo gorgious! I think the changing and growing is definately more on the language front rather than the physical and that's hard to capture on photo or film!
It is great fun observing and encouraging Naomi as she gets to grips with the Dutch and English language. Its getting fifty fifty I think with that. We are amazed how quickly she learns new words and just copies what we say. The highlight of this all was when we got rapidly introduced to Mr No! Yes he has arrived loud and clear and the battle has begun!

Snowtime!

Holland had ice, we had snow! Well for the day that it lasted. Just thought we had to capture this quite special moment.

Clever girl!

Naomi is now 18 months old and she is becoming such a little girl! She is learning new things all the time and although still a lot of babble she can say so many words now. We are obviously very proud and excited when she has learned something new, thinking she is the most clever girl in the world! Anyway as the video shows she was suddenly building this tower and just thought it was amazing!

Ice skating in Holland!

Since Christmas it has got very cold in the UK and in Holland and we just missed the canals freezing over as you can see! My brother Adriaan has also been proud to show off these pictures on his blog that my dad took from behind their house. They can just hop on from the garden how cool is that! Yes I am slightly jealous as I would have loved to bring back some childhood memories with Naomi! Anyway our time will come one day although I doubt it will be in England!

good hair days

Naomi has lovely blond hair that gets slightly out of control sometimes. However when she sees mama wearing her hairband whilst putting make up on she is very keen to wear it too and as you can see will keep it on even at breakfast! As it's not just her hair that grows we decided it was time for some proper girly mini pony tails. Don't they look adorable!

little cook

Naomi's christmas present. Starting young.

christmas time