18/53

Rhett's new trick is pretend coughing.

He likes to 'cough' and then see if you're watching him.

Most of the time I just laugh. Then he laughs.

It's funny.

17/53

Chad- Today, your son ate green beans... he loved them.

He also sported his Yoda Star Wars shirt... just for you.

He loves you.

I love you.

Happy Wednesday!

16/53

Hey Chad, we can save a lot of money on toys by just letting Rhett play with tags. Good news, huh?

...I think he looks like you in this picture.

And our original baby misses you.

We love you.

15/53

Late... but worth the wait?

14/53

I know Chad will appreciate these pictures because they include the carpet that he begged me for pre-Rhett. I finally broke down and got it when I realized white carpet in a baby's room was a bad idea. I washed it but it's been drying for 3 days.

13/53

Rhett having a little drink. Most of which will end up on his shirt.

Practice makes perfect I guess.

12/53

No need to remind me that I skipped a day. Chad already did. Hopefully, today's two for one deal makes up for it.

Oh and please try to ignore my dry, cracked hands. It's been one of those 'let me grab myself before mommy wipes my dirty butt' kind of afternoons.

LOTS of hand washing going on in these parts.

11/53

Rhett meets Warhol.

10/53

'Does the throw up on my lip make you think I'm less cute?'

I found some more later on Meatloaf's back. Interesting.

9/53

Gone - flitted away,

Taken the stars from the night and the sun

From the day!

Gone, and a cloud in my heart.

-Alfred Tennyson

8/53

I'm not sure if you knew this but Rhett is an important ingredient in alphabet soup.

Happy Birthday little man!

7/53

We only part to meet again. -John Gay

6/53

'Mommy's Big Guy'

5/53

So, I lasted 4 days with the picture taking. Today, Rhett and I were too busy shopping at the annual Spring Bazaar to take pictures. Tonight, Chad will have to settle for this day old picture of Rhett dressed in his 'green' for St. Patrick's day. I just love the crazy hair on the side of his head.

Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will. -Author Unknown

4/53

Today will forever be the day where I celebrated St. Patrick's day by myself. Not counting the 3 pound corned beef brisket and cabbage that I made. And the beer bread. And the lime and coconut banana bread.

:Pathetic:

On a high note, I finally completed the book I've been reading since Rhett's birth and can now move on to a new one which will probably be finished when Rhett is walking.

:Shameful:

Hope your day was more eventful than mine!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.
~Irish Blessing

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

3/53

If this doesn't make you giggle, I fear there may be something wrong with you.

I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night. Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

2/53

What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you. ~Richard Wilbur

1/53

Chad- I promise you I will try my very best to send a little bit of Rhett your way... everyday that you're gone.

We miss you.

♥ Amy & Rhett

Playing Catch Up...

Saturday started with a baby that slept until 6... and then went back to bed until 8 am. It was quite nice. Then I hopped in my car and drove downtown to meet friends at Cafe Schultz. We had the Peter & Heidi breakfast and it was wonderful. Meat, cheese, muesli, brotchen and fruit. It just doesn't get better. After brunch, I couldn't help stopping by the market and picking up two bunches of fresh tulips. Just because.

When I got home, my mess was picked up and the floors were mopped. Then we got in the car and were off to a very special little boy's first birthday party. Unfortunately, our time there was short because there was a 120,000 people strong protest in downtown Stuttgart that closed streets and made everything a big mess. We got there in time for cake and presents so that was good.

After we left the party, we headed home to feed the dogs and THEN went over to the Brewster's for dinner. Complete with a birthday cake. We got home after 11 pm and after all the excitement of the day... I couldn't sleep. So I pumped instead.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance. -Author Unknown

I almost forgot it was my birthday this morning...

until I saw this.

This is actually the best birthday present ever because when I make coffee it tastes like pooh so Chad went out of his way to make a fresh pot.

Thanks, honey!

Then I decided to dress Rhett for the occasion.

His birthday present to me is his 6 month immunizations.

And this picture has nothing to do with birthdays.

I just think our baby is so beautiful... even with sweet potato face.

Have you ever wondered what happens to a person who is riding in a car for 5 and a half hours? If that person is me, I start taking random photos.

Only in Europe can a drive feature this many churches and castles.

Oh and windmills.

I also just really wanted a picture of the necklace I bought for 6 euro at the flea market. Gosh, I love Holland.

It was only after this picture that Chad asked me if I was bored. Um, yeah.

Anything over 5 hours deserves a plane ride I think.

I never thought I'd say that.

"Chad, what do you plan on doing with little wooden shoes? Seriously."

To celebrate our upcoming birthdays, Chad and I decided to take a little trip to Amsterdam. It's been one of the places we've planned on visiting for awhile now and it was great to cross it off our list. Unfortunately, we REALLY, REALLY want to go back again so I guess it's not crossed off completely.

Amsterdam combined some of the best elements of two of my favorite cities. Paris meets New Orleans if you will. The history and beauty of Paris with the hospitality of the deep south. The only thing missing was the food. Amsterdam is a very multicultural city, so it was easy to find Thai and Indian but we never did find traditional Dutch cuisine. We saw the herring booths but we could do without that.

The people of Amsterdam were some of the kindest, most helpful people I've encountered in ALL our travels thus far. They were lovely and warm and when they speak English... you'd swear they were born and raised in the U.S. of A. (Although this is not a prerequisite for me thinking people are kind, nice, etc. when traveling. Just saying.)

We had a pretty packed agenda and, overall, we were able to see most things on our itinerary. The line at the Van Gogh museum was just too long and we ran out of time. Thankfully, we plan on visiting again so I will buy my tickets online and we will be left with no excuse to not check it out.

Since we have a lot going on in our neck of the woods including unpacking, laundry galore, and packing for Chad's stateside school... I'm forgetting the multi-post business and giving you all an extra long post. This will just have to do.

So here we go:

2.5 hours into the 5.5 hours drive we had to stop to change a diaper... you know how it is.

By the time we arrived at the park and ride, took the tram to central station, bought our I-Amsterdam cards, and took another tram to our hotel it was dark and we just called it a night.

Boring.

Friday we started our morning with the Bagel & Bean. This is where I had the best cappuccino in my life. It may have just been one of those instances where I needed caffeine so badly that week old, microwaved coffee would have tasted magnificent but this truly was a wonderful coffee. Their 'alles' (everything) bagel with walnut honey cream cheese was good too.

We walked from our hotel, through the flea market at Waterlooplein and then to the bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam's floating flower market.

Then we headed to the 'Heineken Experience' aka 'the best 20 euro Chad has ever spent' according to Chad of course. Maybe it was the free beer during and after the 'experience' but it was pretty fun. Even for someone who can only have 1.

I think Chad almost peed his pants when he had the opportunity to get a certificate saying he was a 'Master Pourer' (no, I'm not kidding). It only took him 3 tries before he poured the perfect Heineken.

Chad's MASTERPIECE! He plans on framing his cert and hanging it in his mancave one day.

Lord help me.

Our hotel was really cute. We had to move rooms our second night which was no problem and I thought it was funny that they put us in a 'Hollywood' themed room...complete with a sparkly toilet seat. Awesome.

Friday evening I had made reservations to visit the Anne Frank House. If you don't know what I'm talking about you should probably read more.

Seriously.

Saturday morning I was on a mission for the elusive Dutch pancake. We headed to Pancakes! Amsterdam because we got a 25% discount with our Iamsterdam card so why not take advantage? I had the Museli pancake (nothing too Dutch about that), Chad had the American breakfast (he really wanted bacon) and we split the poffertjes (little, sugar coated pancakes). It was a nice way to start the morning.

Not to sound cheap, but we also went on a canal cruise because it was free with our card....

(Central Station Below).

After our cruise, we walked through the Rijksmuseum (which is currently being renovated so they just have a small portion open to explore) and then we had lunch. Chad ignored the warning sign and ordered the double dutch burger anyways.

We also walked through the Red Light District (Mom of the Year right here!), shopped at the flea market buying my desired Delftware and ate Indian (2 nights in a row).

After reflecting on last weekend, I'm already looking forward to another visit!