worker bee

Mike has outdone himself lately with near constant work on the house. We want to get a Realtor in by November 1st, which means he has just a few days to get the big projects finished. The only really big project is the bathroom, and he has been cranking it out. Now only the floors remain unfinished. He's put in the sub floor and will tile soon. At that time he'll also re-tile the kitchen and the bijkeuken (a sort of laundry room/pantry). Will has been sleeping more these last few nights, which makes things easier. Still, the pace is too fast to be sustainable for any length of time. More recent photos of the kitchen and bathroom can be seen on the 'buy our house' link on the sidebar.

Much more importantly, here are videos of James Lego-ing and Will crowing and smiling. James has overheard us talking about the beach and is very eager to move to South Carolina. So much so that on any given outing he INSISTS (as only a 2 year old can) that we instead go to the beach. When we made our way to Amsterdam this week to get Will's passport he repeated "train... beach... train... beach" for much of the trip. We explained we were on the train, but not going to the beach for several months. He'll also say things randomly like "airplane... visit Bammy... Peppy" (these are the names he uses for my parents).

Our Amsterdam trip went well. It was a long but fruitful day. Getting a decent passport photo of a two month old is HARD. Passport photos are specific and require things like that both ears are visible. We took him to the photo place, and he was totally asleep by the time we got there. I pulled him out of the carriage, then sat him on the stool-- and he was still sleeping! He woke a little, at least opening his eyes. I tried to keep his head from lolling forward while simultaneously supporting his body and making sure my hands were not showing. Fortunately the photographer was patient. We eventually got the shot, and just like James, his photo looks exactly like that of a little old man.

We made the early train, and took our vast piles of paperwork and documentation to the consulate. We went through all the formalities of applying. We grabbed lunch and took it to a park after our consulate trip. James had a great time playing, and Mike was interviewed by a local news team about an issue dealing with the money parents receive quarterly from the government. He tried to explain he was non-native, and also that his English was not perfect, but they didn't mind. We didn't tune in to see if he was on air that night. Things were just too busy after our long day out.