Mr. and Mrs. Motorboat Jones

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from our family to yours. May 2012 be filled with love, laughter, good health and good fortune.

And for those we haven't told yet: We are moving back to Washington DC in late february. We are looking forward to catching up with all of our friends in the US and invite everyone to come visit us once we are settled into our new home.

Lydia's birthday

2011-12-13T05:35:00.000-08:00

My sweet little girl turned 2 years old last week. These are the words I would choose to describe Lydia at this stage in her life: spunky, independent, opinionated, flirty, funny, cheeky, adventurous, reckless, coquettish. She has a great vocabulary in both french and english and knows when and with whom to use each language. She loves to play with all sorts of toys: lego blocks, cars, dolls, puzzles, playdough, markers, stickers, wooden hammer-and-pegs set, and dress-up clothes. Her favorite tv/movie characters are the sesame street muppets and Dora. She'll walk more and further than her 4-year old brother. She's wonderful. Here are a few recent pictures:

The birthday girl wearing her birthday crown

Luke helping Lydia open her presents:

Luke and Lydia playing with Lydia's new toys

Luke putting together Lydia's puzzle and Lydia checking out her new doll accessories

Brushing teeth before bed. I love their matching pajamas!

The flipside of Facebook/Luke's 4th birthday

2011-11-16T13:10:00.001-08:00

Ever since I joined facebook, I have neglected this blog. Sorry for all of you who check this blog from time to time. I will try to make up for lost time.

Today is Luke's 4th birthday. After his half day at school, we picked him up, fed him his favorite sandwhich ("sandwich americain avec concombre"), then drove to the circus. He was mighty impressed with the circus - we saw leopards, elephants, clowns, magicians's, hula-hoopers, and the famous "hair hanging lady". Then we went to papi/mami for dinner (roast chicken and french fries, chocolate ice cream cake) and presents. And of course, one of papi's famous puppet shows. Tomorrow we bring a cake to school to share with his friends at snack time, and sunday a few friends will be invited for a party at home. All in all, we will have celebrated his birthday 5 times by the end of the week (once with nonna, once with us, once with school, once with our closest friends, once with his school friends). Overkill perhaps?

The cake for school (joint cake for him and his friend zoe)

Papi's puppet show

Opening gifts with Nonna

Post-edit: Since I did this for Lydia, I want to do this for Luke too: choice words to describe him: My gorgeous boy is: thoughtful, deliberate, introspective, affectionate and a bit of a joker. He loves to play with his toy animals and pretending to be a lion or tiger or sabertooth tiger. His favorite tv/movie characters are the lion king and Diego from Ice Age. He dislikes walking but loves to run, and more specifically to race. He's a very sore loser (something we're working on!). He's perfectly bi-lingual french/english, and is starting to recognize letters and numbers and can write his name. He loves to wrestle with his dad and loves reading books, especially scary ones with wolves or monsters. He's a great kid!

Easter pictures

2011-04-27T06:46:00.001-07:00

We had the best easter weekend - beautiful weather with lots of sunshine, relaxing in the garden, many barbecues, quality time with family and friends, and two egg hunts. At times like these I realize how fortunate we are and how good we have it!

Relaxing in the shade with dad

Found a big one!

These were just at the right height and shiny enough for Lydia to see

Papy helping with the high ones

Surveying the booty with mamy

knight Luke

2011-04-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

These days Luke likes to pretend he is a knight. He doesn't have a knight costume though, so he makes due with what he's got. In the pictures below, he's wearing a red dishtowel over his head (the knight's helmet), sporting a slotted spoon (his sword), and holding a broom between his legs (his horse).

Pigtails

2011-04-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

The ladies at Lydia's daycare have started pulling Lydia's hair back in pigtails. I love the look!

Eat, Drink, Love

2011-02-16T02:14:00.000-08:00

The kids love sitting together to eat their snacks or have a bottle. Also makes for very cute pictures.

Happy New Year

2011-01-21T01:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends –

Even though we are well into 2011 now, we are only now getting around to sending out our yearly holiday letter. We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well. As the new, impossibly-futuristic-sounding year of 2011 begins, we write to thank you for your love and friendship over the past year and to wish you the very best going forward.

As in the past, this also provides us with an opportunity to take stock of what has been for us a year to remember: the first full year of Lydia’s life, with all the joys and challenges that entails; Luke’s successful entry to (pre)school; Anouk’s temporary hiatus from career and return to the student ranks; and a remarkable year in Alex’s professional life.

Since our last letter, we have remained happily ensconced in Brussels and gratefully take advantage of the close presence of Anouk’s family, the relatively easy access to Provence to see Alex’s family, the great daycare and schools for the kids, and the invaluable set of international friends we have made here.

Lydia is now just over a year old, just starting to walk independently, and heart-meltingly cute. She loves to smile and wave to anyone paying attention to her, she loves kisses and hugs from her brother and follows him constantly (usually to his great amusement), and is proving to be something of a daredevil, climbing any object she can to stand atop it with her arms in the air as she declares “Oooohh!” to the world. Current words include papa, mama, and uuu-uuu, which we take to mean Luke.

Luke loves his sister, and his school, a local francophone institution in our neighborhood called Ecole Nos Enfants. It’s colorful, loud, his teachers are great, and he is learning at a rate that amazes his parents, who somehow still aren’t expecting it every time he announces he wants to do something new ‘all by myself.’ He is fully bilingual at this point and his favorite activities are running (especially when he can race), wrestling with his dad, reading books (current favorite is the Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer), and singing with a microphone.

As her maternity leave ended in June, Anouk chose not to return to her full-time career, in order to both focus on the kids and to gain skills that should allow her to make an exciting career transition when she does return to the professional world. She is pursuing a certification in geomatics, learning the latest mapping (GIS), remote sensing, topometry, and spatial modeling technologies, at the Universite de Louvain-la-Neuve. Anouk also continues to contribute to the development of women’s ultimate Frisbee in Belgium as the national team’s coach.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly has, as in recent years, been Alex’s ticket to some fascinating professional travel. Alex was in South Korea meeting with military commanders when the North launched its recent artillery attack; he again traveled to Afghanistan, his fourth such trip; and stood on the icecap in Greenland in a study trip on climate change that also included Denmark and Iceland. He also organized and led events in Turkey, the US, Poland, Kosovo and Bosnia, and Latvia. Alex has (mostly) loved his travel – but he found it increasingly difficult to be away from home and family, particularly in a congested second half of the year.

In sum, excepting a few minor aches and pains and the predictable adjustments of a busy life with two little ones (especially our inability to maintain correspondences properly), we consider ourselves to have had a very fortunate 2010 and we are hoping for more of the same in 2011: watching the kids grow and spending as much time as possible with them; developing our own professional futures; a few fun trips here and there; and pondering what the next years might hold for us.

We will especially keep in our thoughts those close to us facing particularly difficult challenges, and offer our support whenever it may be helpful. We know we continue to benefit from all of you in ways large and small – and we’re grateful for all of you.

Best,
The LALAs in Brussels
(Luke/Anouk/Lydia/Alex)

New games

2010-12-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

It's very exciting to watch Luke and Lydia starting to play together. These two videos are from the past weekend; both discovered this new game and both loved it. I especially like the synchronized head banging (they're headbanging to the music played by the truck, but you can't hear it on the video).

Big boy bike

2010-12-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

I'm three!

2010-11-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

Only three years old and already five birthday parties in less than one week: Birthday celebration with Luke's cousins and mamy&papy, birthday party at school, afternoon at the circus with dad, party with nonna, and party with friends. How will we keep this up through the years?

Early potty training?

2010-11-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

She can't possibly be ready for potty training yet (can she?), but Lydia LOVES climbing and sitting in Luke's potty.

Helping Mom

2010-11-21T12:14:00.001-08:00

Look mom, there are clothes in the washer! Let me take them out for you. What do you mean you just put them in?

Hungry lady

2010-10-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

Lydia's been a strange eater recently. Last week she refused to be fed with a spoon and only wanted to feed herself finger foods. Quite frustrating for me, because only about 10% actually ends up in her mouth, the rest ends up on the floor. One of the few times in my life where I actually agreed with alex that we need a dog! Luckily this week she decided it was okay if I fed her with a spoon, as long as she also gets to hold something in both hands.

Hiking though the woods

2010-10-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

The weather was really nice earlier this month, so we took advantage and went hiking through the woods. We saw lots of mushrooms, played with sticks, collected chestnuts and acorns, saw chipmunks, and went fishing for leaves in the stream. Luke is typically not a great walker, but he managed to walk most of the time. Lydia probably would've crawled the whole way if we had let her. All in all, great day!

Luke loved the mushrooms and poking them with his walking stick.

Lydia happy as can be on maman's back:

Looking for chestnuts and acorns:

The boys hiking together:

She's crawling

2010-09-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Lydia started crawling last week! Towards the end of the video, you'll also hear of Luke's own accomplishment.

First day of school (snif!)

2010-09-01T02:50:00.001-07:00

Who knew that the first day of nursery school would be so traumatic? Luke was all decked out in his backpack and new sneakers, walked bravely into the school and started playing with his friend zoe, and then understood I was going to leave and cried and screamed his heart out. I hope tomorrow's drop-off will be easier!

New backpack, new shoes...

...and his "Bob the builder" jacket! I'm ready for school maman!

Bravely playing with his friend zoe, before he realized I was going to leave.

No, I did not get a picture of the screaming and wailing, I was too busy
trying not to cry myself. But here's me and my friends, recuperating from the drop-off over a strong cup of coffee.

London

2010-09-01T02:44:00.000-07:00

Before the end of summer and beginning of school, Alex and I left the kids with the grandparents and took a train to London for a 4-day getaway. It was a great trip! It was nice to rediscover the freedom of being without kids: sleeping in late, leisurely breakfast (with the paper!), going to the movies and theater, eating wherever and whenever, and just generally "faffing" about (british slang for hanging out, not really doing anything). Nonetheless, we were eager to get back home to the kids. We did miss them a lot!

Summer fun!

2010-08-23T06:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to the US in July-August. New York --> Floyd, VA --> Washington DC --> New York. Both kids did great with all the traveling, so long as there was a playground or pool (or both) promised during the day. We took very few pictures with our own camera, but luckily our friends took pictures for us. Here are a few of my favorites:

On the plane:

Lydia cooling off on a hot day:

Luke eating watermelon:

Playing with grandad:

Happy fourth of July!

2010-07-06T02:57:00.000-07:00

The American community in Brussels organized a very nice independence day celebration for all the US expats in Belgium. We ate popcorn and hotdogs, drank bud light and dr pepper, line danced and watched the slip-n-slide. Luke and Lydia loved the clown balloon artist.

Heat wave

2010-07-06T02:49:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from two weeks ago, when we had a heat wave go through Belgium.

Cooling off in the kiddie pool at papy and mamy's house:

And using the neighbor's pool:

Lydia dealt with the heat as best she could, but mostly didn't like the high temperatures. But she remained smiley through it all!

June

2010-06-14T12:10:00.003-07:00

It's only the middle of June, but already so much has happened!

First of all, Luke learned how to read a newspaper (by watching Sesame Street's Murray's "Word of the Day: Newspaper))".

After that, Luke decided to tame some wild horses at the Brussels Medieval Fair. They don't look it in the picture but they were fierce!

Next, it was hide-and-seek with the blankets in his crib. This game lasted for hours!

Soon thereafter, Luke decided he was too big to still be in a crib, so he built himself a big boy bed, with the help of daddy and Ikea. He was quite pleased with the results. Check out his tool belt (thanks liz and dave!).

Then Lydia suddenly (time creeps up on you when you're having fun!) turned 6 months old! She loves carrots, her brother, laughing, and anything that makes an interesting noise!

All of this activity was tiring of course, so Luke and his dad took a very well deserved nap on (Belgium's) father's day.

I wonder what the rest of the month will bring??

New dance moves

2010-06-10T04:34:00.000-07:00

Luke's been perfecting his dance moves, much to the delight of his sister (and parents). Watch and learn...

So, how are you?

2010-06-10T04:29:00.000-07:00

Luke really likes asking "So, how are you?", or the french equivalent "Alors, ca va?". Especially to his sister...

Check out this video.

Poney

2010-05-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Luke's first (succesful) poney outing: a 45minute ride through the Provence country side with his nonna and cousins. I'm so proud of him!

You can also see Luke and his cousins in action here.

Chilling on the couch

2010-05-04T02:10:00.001-07:00

Luke really likes to kiss and hug Lydia, and give her toys (but does not want to share his "doudou")...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHd7hsFqgPI

blowing bubbles

2010-04-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

Lydia's new favorite thing to do: blowing bubbles

Tenerife Sun

2010-03-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

At the end of February, we took a quick 5-day getaway trip to Tenerife, part of the canary islands. These islands are similar to Hawaii, in that they are volcanic, in the middle of the ocean, and are blessed with good weather year round. We however had bad luck with the weather and had mostly overcast and slightly colder weather than usual. Not that you'd be able to tell with these pictures.

Carnaval

2010-02-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

Here is Luke celebrating Carnaval (Mardi Gras) at his daycare. He loved the chocolate cake but hated the confetti! And in case you were wondering: he's wearing a dog costume...

2 months old

2010-02-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

She's all smiles as of late, and talks non-stop if you'll let her!

Family Picture

2010-02-22T12:46:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken last month, but I only just recently downloaded it from my camera. I really like it because (1) it shows all four of us, (2) Luke is sort of smiling, and (3) it shows Lydia staring at her brother, which she does ALL the time. She is in awe of her brother and can't keep her eyes off him when he is near. Very cute! PS: Lydia looks very tan but in fact she was born with a mild case of jaundice that took a while to go away.

Let it snow...

2010-01-14T01:54:00.001-08:00

Most of Europe, including places far south like Provence and Spain, was "blessed" by record amounts of snow this past week! It's been fun to re-discover the joys of snow with Luke, who loves to throw snowballs but hates having snowballs thrown at him! Truth be told, I'm a bit tired of the snow now (week 3) - no one knows how to drive in the snow here, there are very few snowplows to clear and salt the roads, and people don't clear their sidewalks, making walking around the city a treacherous affair. I almost miss the rain!

Also this week: Lydia turned 1 month old! She's doing great, plumping up a bit more every day.

Winding up the throwing arm

Putting snow in my bucket

I'm 1 month old!

LYDIA!!

2010-01-08T05:17:00.000-08:00

Most of you know already that Lydia Davina Melitha Tiersky was brought into this world on December 11, 2009 at 9:03am. The birth went superbly well, as well as the recovery afterwards. Lydia is now four weeks old and is an easy-going baby. We are thrilled to have her around! Big brother Luke is adjusting, sometimes nicely sometimes not, to having a little sister.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures:

Hanging out at the hospital

The proud papa, just minutes after the birth

Luke eating my lunch at the hospital, with Lydia happily snoozing in her crib

Day 3 - she's a good sleeper

US passport ID picture

Luke and Alex playing in the snow on our balcony. We've been getting record snowfall here!

Where has the time gone?

2009-12-04T05:35:00.001-08:00

October and November flew by, and now it's december already and I only have 10 more days to go until the baby is "supposed" to come out. High time to update the blog with some of our favorite pics from october and november!

Luke listening to the baby with his stethoscope:

And kissing his little sister:

This was an early birthday celebration for my brother and Luke, who both share the same birthday. Luke also loved playing with his big cousins Tanguy and Eloise. He still talks about them!

In early november we did a weekend getaway with our close friends and their kids to ... east flanders. Ok, not a very exciting destination, but we had a good time regardless! Here are my friends zoe and alexia. We were all born within a few weeks of eachother.

Here's me and daddy being silly for Halloween:

November 16 was my birthday, and I had not one, not two, but three birthday parties. I understand that when I blow out a candle I get a gift! My favorite birthday party was with my pals Zoe and Alexia. We all received way too many gifts, but mostly our daddies enjoyed playing with the toys!

Next posting will hopefully be of the new baby!! Stay tuned!

last nice weekend at the shore?

2009-10-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend may have been the last really nice weekend at the belgian shore. We took advantage by playing in the sand, getting our feet wet (a bit too cold for swimming though!), and taking pictures of the whole family.

St. Remy

2009-08-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

Some of our favorite pictures from a quick trip to Provence to see Nonna...

In the pool with Nonna

Chilling at the animal farm

Bonding with the fish and the cousins

Being silly with the cousins and Nonna

Hanging out with friends Liz, Dave and Maddy

Celebrating Maddy's birthday

Alex and Dave taking their first glider plane trip

All pictures from our trip can be found by clicking here

USA vacation

2009-08-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

Too many pictures to include but here are some of our favorites. Thanks to everyone who hosted, fed, and/or entertained us!

Celebrating the 4th of July in Argyle, NY

The cold atlantic ocean in Mystic, CT

Gazing out into the sea..

Hanging out with buddy Parker

Watching the taping of Sesame Street in NYC

Running through the sprinkler with dad

With friend Josh at the NYC Children's museum

Drinking at the Jackson Heights playground

Time to go back home!

Announcing...

2009-06-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Baby Tiersky #2!!!!
Estimated due date is December 14th. Everyone is doing well and very excited to share this news.

Norge

2009-06-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

In early June we took a family trip to Norway. It was GREAT! We really like the scandinavian countries. Last year we did Finland, next year we'll have to try Sweden. The great thing about Norway (and Finland) is that they make it really easy to travel with children. Every hotel and restaurant has a high chair and changing area, the trains and boats have children compartments/play areas, and everyone coos over babies. It makes life easier as a parent!

Anyway, here are some of our favorite pictures:

Moi et Papy

2009-05-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Papy et Luke...inseparable:

Ca discute ensemble:

Ca mange ensemble:

et ca joue ensemble!

An american in Brussels

2009-05-19T12:23:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when dad dresses Luke:

Lebron who?

Playing ball is fun but so is riding horses.

Cute picture taken on mothers day:

The Playground

2009-05-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the playground!

I always take my ball with me to kick around. Or just carry around.

Then I go up the slide, the hard way.

Then I play in the sandbox.

And pour sand all over my head.

Life's pretty good...

Le gouter

2009-05-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm getting very good at feeding myself.

What are you looking at?

Notice the pinky in the air...

Daddy's Shoes

2009-05-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

I like to put on daddy's shoes...

Catch!

2009-03-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Durbuy

2009-03-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we rented a "gite" in the ardennes with some friends. The gite belongs to a family who also owns and operates the dairy farm that is located on the same grounds as the gite. There were 200 cows (and one goat) greeting us every morning when we woke up! The gite is located close to Durbuy, whose claim to fame is that it is the "smallest town in the world". A strange claim to fame, but we had fun walking around this really cute town and doing some hiking in the hills surrounding the town. Some our favorite pics:

Father and son in the shadows of the imposing castle of Durbuy:

Father and son taking a nap while hiking:

Can this be called sleepwalking?

Where's Waldo?

Having lunch outside - it was a gorgeous day!

After lunch it was mommy's turn to carry Luke:

On sunday we visited the dairy farm. Luke loved the newborn calfs! This one was barely a few days old.

We then got to see the cows being milked and received a bottle of fresh milk to take home with us.

On Sunday we took one last walk along the fields of nearby farms. This is a typical view of farmland in Belgium, rain and all.

frisbee practice

2009-03-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I coached the Belgian Women's Frisbee team. Guess who the star of the practice was?

Balloon Day Parade

2009-03-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, Brussels held its first ever "Big Balloon Day Parade". No reason to have a parade, other than it's the end of february and everyone needs a little upper to get through the end of the winter.

Our timing was perfect. We caught the beginning of the parade just as we walked out of the metro stop. And what would be a more appropriate balloon to start the parade than Brussels' own Manneken Pis? I can't believe this balloon hasn't featured in the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade yet!

After the parade, Luke took a well-deserved nap while mom and dad had a well deserved waffle and beer at the Grand Place.

Rockin' Away

2009-03-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

Luke's discovered the rocking chair, and loves sitting in it while someone rocks him back and forth.

February update

2009-02-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

A lot happened since my last blog entry. Let me see...

In early January, after spending a whole week cooped up in our apartment because of the crappy cold and rainy weather, we finally decided to defy the rain gods and go for a hike in the Foret des Soignes. Miraculously, as soon as we got there, the clouds broke up and we had a great hike under the sun. Lots of pictures here.

Then Alex went to the US for work and obama-mania. Work was just an excuse to go see Obama I think.

Obama fans:

And then it was my bday. Alex organized a great surprise party for me with my parents and niece/nephew. We sang, we ate, we went to the aquarium. A perfect day! Check out the pics.

Now it's the end of February and we're really looking forward to the spring. Early tulips are starting to make an appearance in stores and on my balcony the crocii are pushing through the dirt. Let's hope the sun will follow soon.

Photos noel et nouvel an

2009-01-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

Quelques photos de Noel et Nouvel An:

http://picasaweb.google.com/asavineau/NoelNouvelAn#

C'etait tres chouette de retrouver toute la famille!

St. Nicolas

2008-12-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Last weekend all the children in Belgium celebrated St. Nicolas. He's not quite the same as Santa Claus, although the similarities are abundant. If you're interested in what this event is about, read all about it on the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

Or even better, read David Sedaris hilarious short piece on it: http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1202-DEC_SEDARIS

Anyway, like all good little children in Belgium, Luke got several gifts in his shoe. His included a little tricycle, which was actually a gift from Alex's cousin John when Luke was born. Thanks John!

For St. Nicolas, my work also organized an afternoon at the circus for all employees with children. We hesitated taking Luke, thinking it might be a bit much for him, but in the end we took him and he loved it. His favorite act was the elephant, followed by the horses, followed by the cows (yes, this circus had a cow act!). Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures, except for one of Alex and Luke walking towards the circus.

More birthday pictures

2008-12-09T12:49:00.001-08:00

These are from a birthday party we had with other friends (whose babies also turned 1 recently)

Sporting the latest Belgian fashionable hats:

The cake is ready!

Yummy!

Sugar high!

Milestones

2008-11-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

Luke's been trying to walk for some time now, but tonight he took his first series of steps (5 in a row). We were so excited and Alex grabbed the camcorder just in time to record most of his efforts. Shortly thereafter, we also got him to brush his teeth for the first time without making a fuss. We've been working on that for some time!

Fall Update

2008-11-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Alex and I just returned from a lovely 4-day getaway to Valencia, Spain...without Luke in tow! This is the the longest stretch that we left him alone (well, with papy and mamy). Everyone survived, and Alex and I did manage to talk about something other than Luke...some of the time. We both feel reinvigorated by this much needed break, and by the beautiful weather that we had. On our last night there, we even dined al fresco, under the stars (and a heat lamp). Anyway, I feel so refreshed that instead of the usual cripling tiredness that hits me after I put Luke to sleep, tonight I have enough energy to update the blog!! Here are some of our favorite pictures from October - November.

Luke (re)discovering the sweet flesh of a mango:

Here are some pictures of us celebrating Halloween with a brunch and friends at our place. Luke was dressed as a devil-child while we the parents were dressed as angels. The other kids loved following Luke's tail around and pulling it.

Luke got his first haircut in November. He sat relatively still - this is post lunch and he's watching his favorite video. And yes, we saved little locks of hair...

And of course, we celebrated Luke's first birthday! Here's a series of pictures of Luke with the great new toy he received from his dad, posing for a picture with mom, going for a bday walk, and having some cake.

More bday pictures will follow, as well as pictures from our trip to Spain!

Move over Eddy Merckx!!

2008-10-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

Move over Eddy Merckx, there's a new cyclist in town. And I'm way cuter than you! Like my cow helmet? We're calling it the "moo" helmet.

I still need a little help getting around town.

On our way to the park:

In the park:

Taking a brake from all that heavy pedaling:

On the way home:

This is exhausting work!

Next time I'll try to make it through the whole bike trip awake.

Where did the time go?

2008-09-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

I'm long over due for a blog posting!! Where did the time go? I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden the summer is gone, I'm back at work full time, Alex is traveling all over the world trying to maintain world peace, and Luke is crawling his way into mischief every chance he gets. I feel like I'm truly experiencing that frantic part of life called parenthood.

To recap - the summer was great! We took one final long trip back to the states to see friends and family in August, and soaked up the warm sticky humid DC summer days. We loved every minute of it, especially Alex who reveled in his home culture. We've posted all of our pictures here. (for those interested in getting real prints (Ron, I'm especially thinking of you), you can order the pictures that you like by clicking on "prints" and following the directions. They will be mailed to you wherever you live in the world!)

We returned to Brussels in late august and I promptly started my new job at the Brussels Department of the Environment. The work environment is good, and I enjoy hanging out with my interesting and fun colleagues. But the work is very slow, a very different pace than what I'm used to. A little too slow to my liking actually.

That's about all I have time for tonight. I have a feeling that these blog postings will be a bit more sporadic than in the past, but I will do my best to keep up.

xoxo, Anouk

Family Portrait Video

2008-07-10T00:49:00.000-07:00

We recently received from Alex's dad an ultra cool video camcorder (the iFlip - I highly recommend it!).

Here's a short "family portrait" shoot.

Here's a longer one of Luke, doing his post-breakfast morning workout. We're trying to get a shot of his teeth, but he doesn't understand the concept of "say aaaaaah" yet.

Independence Day Fireworks

2008-07-10T00:40:00.000-07:00

We hosted a 4th of july, (US) independence day barbeque last weekend, and we even had fireworks over the NY skyline!

almost mobile...

2008-07-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

Give him a couple more weeks and he'll be crawling around the house!!

Pushing up on all fours (are you watching mommy?)

Boom! All limbs gave out! Hey that was kinda fun!

Back to square one...

Finland

2008-06-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

Last week we went on vacation to Finland, partly to see my brother & family one last time before they move to France, and partly to get our fill of the wide open nature that Finland has to offer. The weather wasn't quite what I expected (cold and sometimes rainy), but it was beautiful nevertheless and we all enjoyed spending quality family time together.

I'm including some of my favorite pictures below, but if you want to see the whole trip, click here

Family picture with the Baltic Sea in the background:

Hiking in the woods with Luke in the backpack:

I have a job! (kinda)

2008-06-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Well, after 3 interviews spread out over 4 months (can you believe I sent my CV back in February?), I finally, sorta, have a job offer with the Brussels Department of the Environment. I'm missing a few "official" documents without which they can't offer me the job. But it's just a question of assembling those documents, which should only take a few weeks. If all goes well, I may be back at work on July 1st. Just in time to work for a few weeks before I take a 3-week vacation at the end of July! :-) We'll see how things play out. In the meantime, I'm pleased to have a job offer (sorta).

Thursday we leave for Finland for a 10-day vacation. We're doing a driving loop on the southern tip of Finland, going from Helsinki to Turku (where my brother&family live), then on to the "archipelago" in the Baltic sea. We're looking forward to being out in nature again, doing a bit of hiking, boating, fishing, etc and just plainly being out of the city!

I don't have many pictures to share this time, except for a few fun ones of Luke playing with the comforter on our bed. He looks like an angel in a cloud...

Food, Frisbee, and More

2008-05-27T00:45:00.000-07:00

Luke started solids this month, and he's been a champion eater so far. We've tried carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, banana, and apples. Most of it goes down easily, though not necessarily in his mouth (see pictures). I've now also completely stopped breastfeeding, which is both a joyous occasion (I have my freedom back...sorta), and a very sad occasion (nothing quite replaces the intimacy of breastfeeding).

Daddy likes to feed me when he's home:

But why won't he let me put my hands in the carrots?

What do you mean the food is supposed to go inside my mouth? What are you looking at anyway?

Earlier this month I also participated in my first Ultimate Frisbee tournament since the pregnancy. And I promptly hurt myself! Ugh, this time my left knee. I've got a bad bone contusion and possible ligament damage. I think it's time to quit this sport! For real. I don't think my body can take it anymore. However, Luke is getting better and better at handling the frisbee! If only he could run...

Daddy teaching me to catch with two hands:

But I prefer the three-prong hold:

About to spike the disc!

In other news, I have a third interview tomorrow with the Brussels Department of the Environment. I think (hope!) it will be the last one. I believe they've narrowed it down to two candidates. This last interview is with the director of the organisation, and he ultimately has to sign off on the candidate. Wish me luck!

One last picture, taken in a friend's backyard. I love it when Luke falls asleep against me.

Le Soleil de la Belgique

2008-05-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today is the 7th day in the row where it has been incredibly nice here in Belgium. Sunny blue skies, warm temperatures (20+C, 70+F), easy breeze... just wonderful. All the vegetation is blooming, growing, and flowering, and all the Belgians are outdoors, turning lobster red at the park, the beach, the corner cafe. Belgium comes alive when the sun shines!

This weekend is a long weekend - monday is the pentecost or whit monday. For a country that claims to have a separation of church and state, we sure get a lot of religious holidays!! But I'm not complaining! Alex's family came for a visit this (long) weekend: his mom, sister, nephew and niece all hopped on a train to see us. We had a lot of fun with them - we went to the animal park on Thursday and the seashore (knokke) on Friday and Saturday. Below are some of my favorite pictures.

Today is also mother's day in Belgium. My first mother's day! Alex went to the bakery this morning and got me my favorite "pain au chocolat", let me take a nap in the afternoon, and made me dinner. All that plus lots of hugs, gurgles, and smiles from Luke. It's been a great day. It feels good to be a mom! Happy mother's day to all the moms out there!

All the cousins (Tities, Iris, Luke) and Nonna playing together at home:

At the animal park. Luke got to sit on Titien's shoulders, which he loved. He especially like to grab Titien's hair. Titien didn't like it so much...

With Tata 'Nessa and cousin Iris at the park. It's about 6pm in this picture but the sun is still high in the sky. The days are getting very long now - sunrise is around 5:30pm, sundown at 9:30pm.

Big cousin love! Titien, who's 4 years old, is a great older cousin. Luke loved it when Titien would play with him, make funny faces, or tickle him.

With Nonna at the seashore in Knokke. It was almost too hot to be outside - thank god for the parasol and the shade. Luke was fascinated by the sand! He loved to put his hands and feet in it, and tried to eat it a couple of times.

Going crabbing in the morning. Notice the big star fish that Alex is holding (but that Titien found).

And yes, we did find some crabs. This one was HUGE - a female with lots of eggs. We put her back where we found her.

Alex, Titien, and Luke sharing a quiet moment in the evening reading books before bed time.

Le soleil de Provence

2008-05-04T00:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to the South of France to visit Alex's grandmother (Nonna). The weather wasn't quite as good as I had hoped, but it was a bit better than here in Brussels. Luke had a great time with his Nonna, and got to re-acquaint himself with his cousins and his aunt and uncle. I think the pictures speak for themselves...

La semaine dernière je suis allé à St. Remy de Provence rendre visite à « Nonna » pendant qu’Alex était en voyage d’affaire. J’espérais trouver le grand soleil, mais les nuages de pluie de Bruxelles m’ont suivi jusque la bas ! Luke s’est beaucoup amuse avec sa Nonna, et il a refait connaissance avec les cousins.

Iris & Luke:

Nonna with the babies:

Nothing but love for Luke:

Tata Vanessa et Tonton Didier:

Having a laughing fit with MiBlu et Nonna:

Eating lunch outside on our last day:

Upon my return to Brussels, I had a second interview with the Brussels Dept of the Environment. I think it went pretty well and they will contact me within the next two weeks. Keep your fingers crossed.

J'ai eu un deuxième entretien avec Bruxelles Environnement et je trouve que ça c’est plutôt bien passé. J’attends une réponse dans les deux semaines.

More posts to come soon!

April Smiles

2008-04-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Alex thought there weren't enough pictures of Luke smiling at the camera. So this post is all about him smiling. Enjoy the pictures, there's nothing quite as cute as a toothless baby smile!

But there's more! April has been a busy month already. I had my first job interview in Belgium, conducted entirely in French. The interview was with the Brussels Department of the Environment, a severely underfunded and understaffed city agency (what city agency isn't?), who is in dire need of a water resources engineer. News should come within the next few weeks about whether or not I got the position (and whether or not I accept). In the meantime, I'm sending my CV to other companies in the Brussels area. There aren't many interesting jobs advertised, so I'm mostly sending out cold CVs. We'll see how that works out.

April also marks the month where Luke started daycare. He goes to a daycare facility in our neighborhood, about a 10 minute walk away. He goes there on Wednesdays and Fridays. This gives me enough time to breathe and focus on my job search. In May he will start going full time, and hopefully I will have a job lined up around that time as well. The daycare is big - they have three floors broken up by age. In the baby section are probably about 10 babies with 2 or 3 attendants. It's hard to judge how happy Luke is at the daycare. There are signs that he doesn't mind - he doesn't cry when Alex drops him off, nor does he cry when I pick him up. But what happens in between? How do we know he gets the care we want him to have? I'm sure this is a common concern of many parents, so if you have any insight in this, let us know.

The weather here has been surprisingly sunny, though still quiet cold. But the days are once again delightfully long now that we've switched to daylight savings time. Here are father and sun catching a few afternoon rays on the couch.

It's even been nice enough that Luke and I can enjoy our terrace in the afternoons. I set up him up with his favorite toys, grab a drink and book for myself, and we enjoy the sun like only the Belgians can.

We had several friends drop by on us this month as well. Carrie and Lona took advantage of meetings in the area to spend some time with us. Here's Carrie with Luke. We don't have a picture of Lona, but she was equally smitten with Luke!

Luke had his 5-month check-up with the pediatrician today. He weighed in at 7.7kg and measures a healthy 68cm. All seems to be well...except for the colds he keeps picking up at the daycare.

Well, this seems to be a long enough posting. Hope all is well for everyone out there!

Paganello 2008

2008-03-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

Our time in Europe wouldn't be complete without attending at least a few of the most popular european ultimate frisbee tournaments. Over easter weekend we headed down to Rimini, Italy, for one of the best known and incredibly well-organized tournaments: Paganello. All you frisbee players out there have either been there or heard about it - it truly is one of the best tournaments in the world (and I've been to quite a few!). We managed to get ourselves on a US-based but very international team called D-Rex. Nobody knew what to expect of the D-Rex, but we did quite well for ourselves, finishing 7th overall. I've posted many of our pictures on picasa here. If you don't have the time to view the entire album, here are a few of our favorites.

The team:

Opening ceremonies:

Luke came with us of course:

It was a bit on the chilly side, but the tent was warm and the pasta divine:

The D-Rex mascot (that would be the duck, not luke):

The theme of the last party of the tournament was "good and evil". Needless to say, we never made it to the party (things don't get started until way past our...err...Luke's bedtime). I did make us costumes however, so we played with them during the last game. Check out the great angel wings and halos for Alex and I:

And our devil baby:

Enjoying a bit of sunshine on our last day:

Easter Tree

2008-03-17T01:45:00.000-07:00

I love easter - it's the promise of a new beginning, of spring, of sunshine, of hope. Every year I like to decorate easter eggs, it's fun and brings back memories of my childhood. This year I had a bit more time than usual to decorate eggs (though it's impossible to find white eggs in this country!) and make an easter tree. And of course I couldn't resist snapping some pictures of Luke in front of the easter tree!

Le Biberon

2008-03-14T01:45:00.001-07:00

For the past three weeks we've been teaching Luke how to take from the bottle, in preparation of putting him in daycare. Last week we finally had a big break through. First he took the bottle from Alex, a few days later from me, and yesterday from Mamy. It's been great to share feeding duty with others, and everyone else also really enjoys it.

Luke's 4-month doctor's appointment is coming up. We're curious how much he gained this month (both in weight and height). We'll keep you posted!

Toy Chewing

2008-02-28T12:05:00.000-08:00

Luke's latest favorite thing to do - chew anything that comes near his mouth. He's an indiscriminate eater!

3 month birthday and more

2008-02-28T11:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since our last posting! Two weekends ago we celebrated two birthdays: mine (boring!) and Luke's (3 months - what a milestone). He's learned all sorts of new things, like reaching for toys, putting his hand in his mouth, semi-rolling over, and kicking objects with his legs. It's amazing how much pride we can take in these little things! Anyway, here are some of our favorite pictures of the past few weeks.

Cammouflage office gear

Cutie pie...smiling on his birthday

Little sleeping angel

Posing with mom

Eating hands with dad

USA or bust!

2008-02-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

February marked Luke's first trip to the US. He did remarkably well on the plane, much to the relief of mom, who traveled solo with Luke on the way there. Mom's only gripe was with the drunk man that sat across the aisle from us and kept shoving clips of "Futorama" on his PDA in Luke's face. Mom had to growl and show her teeth to make him stop. Here's a picture of us before boarding the plane. Notice Luke's special plane outfit (thanks Nonna!). By the way, that's not the plane that we took across the atlantic!

Our first stop was DC where we saw many of our closest friends and watched the patriots lose in the superbowl. We then drove to NY to visit grandad and An Ping. We walked around the big apple, where Alex and I stressed about the hordes of people, cacophonous sirens, and car&truck exhausts that were obviously aimed at upsetting Luke. But Luke was unphased by it all and slept like an angel most of the time. More important than seeing the big apple was seeing grandad and An Ping. Luke got along marvelously with them both, and hopes to see them soon again!

Mirror mirror on the wall...

2008-02-11T04:33:00.000-08:00

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? My friend Kris gave Luke a great present: a mirror to look at. He loves it, especially when mom is inside the mirror. But who is that other person next to mom?

Bathtime rituals

2008-01-27T06:41:00.000-08:00

Is there anything more fun than giving a small baby a bath? I don't think so! It's as easy as 1-2-3 (and 4).

Step 1: Undress baby and give baby a cuddle inside your robe

Step 2: Wash baby thoroughly. Make sure to spill enough water on the floor so that the bathroom floor gets cleaned as well.

Step 3: Quickly dry baby. Get extra bonus points if you can take the baby out of its bath without crying.

Step 4: Dress baby in favorite PJs, and give to dad for a team snooze.

2 Months Old!

2008-01-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

January 16th was Luke's 2 month birthday. Everyone with kids knows that the occasion is marked by a cocktail of vaccinations at the doctor's office! Luke did as well as expected (wailing at the top of his lungs), as did mom (who's planning to slash the doctor's tires). At this last doctor's visit, Luke weighed in at 5kg 200g (11lb 3oz) and 59cm (23in). Everyone says that once the baby is over 5kg that they start sleeping through the night. I'll let you know what happens in the next few days...
In the meantime, here are a few more recent pictures:

How does a neck that small hold up such a big head?

Oh, this is how. I'll just rest it on my chest:

Sometimes I also like to hold up my head by my ears:

Playtime!

2008-01-15T03:44:00.000-08:00

How does an 8-week baby play, you ask? Well, it mostly consists of looking around at brightly shaped toys, flailing your arms and legs, reaching out to rattles and mirrors, cooing at mommy and daddy, and making funny faces. All of this in a 10-minute period, and then falling asleep, exhausted at the effort expended!

Eating Out With Friends

2008-01-09T05:27:00.000-08:00

Last week we went out to an indian restaurant with our friends who also just had babies. It was their first outing to a restaurant (we'd gone out to a restaurant a few other times before). You should've seen the restaurant manager's face when he saw three couples, all holding babies, walking into his restaurant! :-) But he took it in stride and all went well! Best of all, Luke wasn't bothered one bit by the spicy curry that his mom ate! Such a good boy...

On the left are our swedish friends Anette and Anders, and on the right are our english/scottish friends Angela (her husband james is taking the picture).

The three babies together, Catriona, Hugo, and Luke:

Three Kings Day

2008-01-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

On Sunday January 6, the last day of the christmas season, the children of Belgium celebrated three king's day. They dress up as the three kings of Jerusalem, go from house to house singing carols, and in return get some pocket change. Afterwards, everyone eats the "galette des rois" (king's cake), in which is hidden a miniature doll of jesus. Whoever gets the doll in their slice (and loses a tooth in the process) becomes king for the day. Luke is still a little young for the caroling or cake eating, but that didn't stop us from celebrating anyhow. Even though this picture show Luke as the king, it was my mom that became queen of the day!

December Update

2007-12-30T10:25:00.001-08:00

Waw, december just flew by! Two big events this month: Luke turned 1-month old and celebrated his first christmas.

Luke's 1-month birthday was a quiet family affair. Luke got an extra helping of milk, a bear hug from dad, and the undivided attention from Papy and Mamy.

For those of you who are interested, we have more pictures of Luke posted here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/asavineau/LukeInDecember

For christmas we headed down to the south of france to see Alex's family. It was great to find some sunshine (though not warm weather!) on our trip. We have a load of christmas pictures that you can view here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/asavineau/Christmas2007

Tomorrow we celebrate New Year's eve with friends of ours. We hope we can make it past midnight!

Happy New Year to all of you - may 2008 bring you lots of love and happiness!

Settling in

2007-12-02T05:34:00.000-08:00

On Friday we celebrated Luke's 2-week birthday. In those two weeks, he:

-learned how to breastfeed
-learned to soil a diaper
-learned how to be incredibly cute
-gained an astonishing 35grams/day (that's 1.2ounces for you americans and brits)
-became an american citizen
-had his first pediatric visit
-learned how to projectile pee (he loves to aim for his dad!)

I think we can all agree he's a prodigy! :-) I've posted just a few more pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/asavineau/FirstTwoWeeks

Next week Alex returns to work and his mom will be visiting us for a week. We'll also be celebrating Luke's first St. Nicholas holiday, a Belgian tradition celebrated the night of December 5th. For all of you who are David Sedaris fans, check out his story on St. Nicholas "6 to 8 Black Men"; it's hilarious. http://filebox.vt.edu/j/juvandyk/pics/6to8blackmen.htm

Luke has arrived!

2007-11-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Please join us in welcoming to the world

LUKE SAVINEAU TIERSKY

Luke made his grand entrance at 10:10 am on November 16, 2007, weighing a perfect 3.440 kg and measuring 51 cm. 10 fingers, 10 toes, and one appendage!

“…he smells like a muffin that just came out of the oven…” (Luke’s exhausted but incredibly happy mother seconds after birth)

Far too many pictures, hastily posted, available here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/atiersky/LUKE1711?authkey=cawZAvOu4Ok

The last few days...

2007-11-13T03:31:00.000-08:00

So baby could make an appearance any day now. We're on pins and needles waiting for his arrival. On Saturday I declared the birth "imminent" - I swear I thought it was going to happen that night. But now it's tuesday and still nothing... So we continue to wait.

If you want to see some pictures of our last few weeks here in Brussels, check out this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/asavineau/WaitingForBabyTiersky/

Our summer in Europe

2007-10-21T04:58:00.000-07:00

Check out these pictures from our first summer in Europe.

http://picasaweb.google.com/asavineau/OurSummerInEurope

Welcome

2007-02-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and family,

After constant nagging from my friend Nurit, I finally got around to our very first blog posting! Come back here from time to time to get the latest news the land of waffles and beer.

It's now been more than two months since we left DC for Brussels. Time has flown by! I wish we had more to show for it than a half-furnished apartment and lots of unpacked boxes. Life here is a little slower than in the US and we just can't get things done as quickly as we used to. However, we managed to get the most important thing done, which was to find us some sweet digs. After weeks of searching and visiting some very uhm...unique places, I finally found us a really nice 3-bedroom(!) apartment just 20 minutes from the center of Brussels. The apartment has a large balcony for enjoying to occasional sunshine and a fireplace for those long gloomy winter days. What more could we have asked for?! We'll upload some pictures once I get around to taking some.

Alex is well ensconsed in his position as director of defence and security issues at the Nato Parliamentary Assembly. The work is interesting, his colleagues are all pleasant, and he's usually home by 6pm on most evenings. What a change from DC! For more information on his work, check out this link: http://www.nato-pa.int/

We've both reconnected with the local frisbee scene here in Brussels, which is more thriving than you might imagine. Our first week here we went to a pick-up game. The second week I got invited to play with the Belgian Women's Team. The third week I was asked to coach (and still play) the Belgian Women's Team. So I'm dedicating myself over the next couple of months to mold the women's team into a lean, mean ultimate machine. We're training for the European Championships, which will be held in August in South Hampton, England.

Since I've recently stopped working for my company in DC and am between jobs, I've also taken up a new function as travel agent. We recently spent the long Easter weekend with Alex's family in the South of France, and in May we're headed to Madeira (Portugal) to celebrate our five year wedding anniversary.

I guess all in all we're doing really well. We miss all of our friends of course and are really looking forward to seeing you all on this side of the atlantic. We have a wonderful guest bedroom that is now open for business!

Big hugs to all,

Anouk and Alex