Almost from back to tummy

sitting up with mommy help

Stylin new ride for when Brandon gets a little older

We're getting Brandon this collapsible push chair before we leave. We love it because it's really compact, comes with sun canape, rain cover, travel case, and we already have the sun umbrella from our Zapp.  In other words it's REALLY Dutch because of it's durability and compactness. 

Gabbing with Mommy

Concert in Amsterdam

Last night was great.  I felt really confident with my arias (minus one or two mistakes), now I feel 90% ready for the competition in September.  I know what I need to work on so I don't make the same mistakes in Den Bosch.  I also know not to wear the dress I was wearing last night ever again.  One of my colleagues pulled me aside and told me the rhinestones around my waist are distracting and they make my chest look enormous.  I already knew the latter part of his statement, but I was happy to hear his honesty.  But the real truth is that the dress I wore was nearly 2 sizes to big.  I bought it on e-bay last year to wear to a wedding, but ended up changing my dress last minute.  Well between having a baby and my body going through the biggest change of my life I have now come out this whole experience a completely different shape.

In other news I am so happy to report that we are nearly 75% finished painting the house.  My goal is to get it finished by Friday this week so we can get to fumes out.  Another unlucky find but not our problem is the wall in our living room is becoming moldy again.  For those of you who don't know when we moved here our neighbors next door had a leak in their bathroom which is a shared wall with our living room.  They never noticed the mold because it is behind the tiles, but we get green peeling walls that are gross and very unhealthy.  But it's not our problem.  We just need to paint it white and tell the owners that they should fix it again.  That's one downside of living in a row house.  If one of your neighbors does not take care of their home then you suffer.  Thank goodness we have a little less than 30 days left.

Momma's Boy

This week has been a little tough because Brandon has wanted his Mommy to put him to sleep every night, in other words, he wanted to be breastfed to calm down. But last night, Ashley had a concert in Amsterdam and would not be home to put Brandon to sleep. That's where Daddy comes in. But during the week, whenever I tried to calm him down, he would just cry so hard that he would almost choke. And as soon as I handed him to Ashley, he calms down (talk about your ultimate self esteem killer).
Last night went great though. He had one freak out after his afternoon nap. The butler (a.k.a. me) didn't have his post-nap snack ready immediately after he woke up. He cried pretty hard but once I got him his food, he calmed down. He was great for the rest of the night. We even did bath time together, which is tough with only 2 hands and 1 wet, soapy, wriggly baby. And most importantly, he fell right asleep for me when it was bedtime.
Ashley was worried she was going to come home to a screaming baby and Brandon was going to be upset too but everything was quiet. Maybe this phase of wanting Mommy is passing.

It's good to be king

How?

On Wednesday, Ashley had a rehearsal in Amsterdam in the afternoon. I took a half day and came home at lunchtime to look after Brandon. My plan was to do some wall painting so that the apartment would be ready to move out but that never happened. I have no idea how Ashley gets the amount of work done at home that she does. Every time I tried to start working on something, Brandon would want attention or food or a new diaper. He is a full time job all by himself. Makes me appreciate the great wife that I have even more.

4 months tomorrow YAY

refusal to take formula

Brandon was getting half of his daily intake through formula and the rest with breast.  But now we are 25% breast and 75% breast  because towards the end of the day he's just irritated by his teething and cranky because it's getting close to bedtime.  Needless to say I'm exhausted.  He still won't let Paul put him to bed.  I'm a bit worried about this because Saturday night I'm going to be in Amsterdam for a concert.  I pray Brandon will be good for Daddy, but I guess I'll find out how that works out when I get home Saturday night.

Really not sure how I do it all

I'm currently in week 2 of painting the house back to the original white walls.  As I've been doing this I'm amazed how productive I am in the day.  I manage to get everything done that I put on my to do list.  I'm feeling really proud of my organizational skills, especially with Brandon.  He's the most amazing baby boy.  Even though he's teething right now he's still so good, he just needs extra attention.

I know the house could be painted real fast if Brandon wasn't in the house, but for us that's just not an option.  Luckily he takes some good naps in the morning and late afternoon.  So while he's napping I paint a wall and then clean up.  It's a bit of a chaotic procedure, but it's working.  Today I finished the downstairs.  Now all I need to do is put the second coat on the kitchen wall and then Paul will start the living room tomorrow.

I've been taking lots of video and pictures of Brandon this week, but have had zero time to load them up online.  Once the concert is over I'll load things on Sunday.

Opera Mommy Performance schedule

I've been asked by many what my performance schedule looks like until we leave for the USA.  Currently I have 2 concerts and 1 competition.  The first one is this weekend August 28th in Amsterdam.  It is a reprise of a concert put on in Springersbach, Germany back in July.  I was not there this year, but asked my voice teacher if I could sing in it as well to get back into vocal shape.  I also asked to sing in another concert on September 11 in Schiedam.  You can click on that to see more information (in Dutch).  But my bio is there, go to Wie is Wie and then click on my name!  Last is the IVC competition in Den Bosch.  I am already a Quarter finalist.  Doing competitions is the only thing that currently gives me an adrenaline rush.  It's just something about being surrounded by amazing singers, being judged by a world famous jury, and the possibility of winning.

For the most up to date information everyone can always check my opera web page.  I will be posting a permanent link in the left side bar.  I have a couple events I might be adding once we move back to America, yes that's right I'm already trying to get some performances and competitions lined up on the East Coast for the end of this year and 2011.

Baby Brandon Shopping Spree Complete

This month has been shop shop shop till we drop when it comes to baby gear.  We wanted to get Brandon's next car seat here because in the States it's twice the price.  But getting that opened the door for getting the accessories.   I also shop the clothing sales at least once a week.  I'd like to say he's set up until his 1st birthday with all the clothes he owns, but we just don't know.  He's growing like a weed and will only continue to get bigger and bigger.

Today we shopping winter clothes for B.  Zara, is a store that reminds me a lot of The Gap.  I think they even have Zara's in the States.  We also went to another store called Primark (which has clothes for all age groups and reminds me of Walmart, but just clothes and shoes).  Brandon made out pretty awesome!  He got cute outfits, sweaters, double lined pants, and new pjs.

Hopefully when Brandon is 6 months he won't be as large as this 6 month Iranian baby.  44lbs (20kilo) LOL!

Dear Brandon,

Mommy and Daddy just want to say thank you for sleeping through the night, waking up this morning at 6:45AM and then going BACK to sleep after Mommy fed you.  It feels luxurious to sleep until 9AM!

Love you lots

Mommy & Daddy

Sick and Twisted Brandon

"Life After Humans" was on the History channel this afternoon and Brandon loved it. This show describes what happens to cities, buildings, animals, etc. if humans were to disappear tomorrow. Ultimately, buildings and bridges will fall apart, animals die and they show computer generated models of it happening. Well, my son SQUEALS in delight as he watches buildings collapse and animals die out. He is twisted.

Baby Mama Drama

Today I took Brandon out while Paul painted the upstairs.  In my purse I carried my normal load of Brandon's things, that included a bottle of expressed milk.  These bottles I have are amazing, they have a cap on the inside, they are cool colors and shaped like an S so Brandon doesn't swallow any air.  Well they didn't dummy proof them enough for me.  I forgot to tighten the lid to the bottle.  I got home, opened my purse, and the bottle was empty.  My first reaction was a small scream.  My poor new louis vuitton bag, is it ruined?  Well I lucked out, lining the bottom of my bag were 3 diapers, a jacket, and 3 burp cloths.  Nearly all the milk was absorbed into them.  There was just a little spot wet, thank god!  I understand I knowingly endanger my nice bags with having a baby and having to carry around all his gear.  But I just refuse to give in. 

I lucked out this time.  From now on I plan on being really cautious the next time I put a bottle of expressed milk in.

MORE

Last night my computer was being extremely slow and temperamental, I got fed up and just canceled the rest of the pictures uploading because it was closing in on 11PM... way to late for opera-mommy to be awake.  I just can't wait for Paul and I to get back to the States because we agreed that once we get out of the hotel we can buy a new family computer.  Here are the rest of the pictures that would not upload.

Upside down Brandon

So Brandon has learned how to move his neck in every direction possible.  I think if he could he'd twist it 360 degrees.  He loves to follow Mommy and Daddy around with a stare, he'll do it to a point where he'll be looking at us when we are standing behind him.  Here are some pictures to mark the occasion.

Baby clothes & toys

I have so much fun dressing Brandon in cute little outfits.  This probably sounds weird but I get sad on the days he keeps his clothes clean.  I really like being able to change him into another cute outfit.  Recently my new favorite find is organic cotton baby clothes from H&M.  They are super soft.  Paul saw some of them and made a comment that he wanted a shirt like Brandon's.  Well he's in luck because H&M makes organic cotton shirts for men and women.  We can be one organic matching family :-p

Besides clothing I love to search out the best baby toys for Brandon.  Until recently he hasn't been very interested in playing with anything but his hands.  But now he grabs everything and sticks it right in his mouth.  His current favorite toys are 3 hand puppets.  A monkey, frog, and duck.  Paul and I like to be creative and give the critters better names than just Mr. Duck or Monkey.  So we've named them.  Bruno is the Monkey (not after the Sasha Baron movie, but after a Nick Jr show) Eloise is the duck (after Eloise Hawking from LOST) and the frog is named Charles (yes after Charles Widmore...Paul and I are still not over the fact the show ended in May)

This girl's blog is awesome

A New Dress A Day

I just love her work and she has a great sense of humor about making these dresses out of past fashion trends.

Mom you'll love this

Last year my friend Michelle got married and she gave me this great picture of me and my mom! It's taken me forever to bring it over to my framer Oliver, but with the move coming up so soon I figured I better get everything I want custom framed done now because who knows when I'll have a framer who pays close attention to detail, he picked out everything, I just gave the approval.

First tooth

We had a major milestone for Brandon.  He cut his first tooth.  I had a feeling it was going to happen this week.  Brandon has been sucking and biting down on anything he can get close to his mouth.  I think I also mentioned in a previous blog that I could see two white specks on his bottom gums.

A second milestone we reached last night was Brandon laughing with a "ha ha ha" instead of just squealing.  I was just playing with him on the couch.  For a while Paul and I have been trying to find his ticklish spot.  All the obvious spots were not doing it, by chance I started giving him kisses on his neck.  He just bursted into  laughter. It was one of those moments that it happens and you want him to do it again so you can get it on camera.  Luckily the camera was near by and Brandon was still in a laughing mood.  So the video we posted last night was the second half of Brandon cracking up.  Below are some of his newest pictures.

Brandon Laughing with Mommy

Great weekend

    Saturday had to be the busiest day of our summer, but I feel like Paul and I were organized enough to handle the big day in Amsterdam. 
    This opera mama had to be at the hairdresser at 9AM, then on a train no later than 10:30 for a morning rehearsal at 11:30.  After rehearsal we took a taxi to the Zeedijk.  We had about 90 minutes to prepare ourselves before the show began.   I almost felt overwhelmed because I had to run to the ladies room to pump, get my dress on, put make up on, find some food to eat, stay hydrated, and take a look at my music.  But with all this to do I felt so calm and zen.  I had to step out of the conference room where all the other singers were because the atmosphere was to loud for me to stay focused on what needed to get done.

This was my third year singing in the Hartjesdagen festival, I feel like I really surprised myself this weekend.  In past years I've over sung and tired out my voice halfway through the day, but I just kept reminding myself not to sing out, but to sing into myself.  For years I always thought I had to sing out to be heard, but my wonderful teacher Wiebke has taught me that I need to sing in because the public will never have a problem with not being able to hear me, I have a pretty big voice and with a big voice singing out is a dangerous thing to do.

Paul drove to Amsterdam and brought Brandon with him.  It was a big day for them because it was Paul's first time taking Brandon on a big road trip by himself.  For the most part the trip was great.  Paul told me the last 10 minutes were the worst because he got stuck in line at the parking garage and Brandon started to overheat in his car seat (we don't have a/c, but it's only hot in the car when you're not moving)  Luckily he got out of the stand still line into the garage and found a new parking lot close by.  He and Brandon missed my first window, but got to the second window in time. 

I kept searching the crowded streets from the window I was singing in for them and didn't spot them until the end of my time in window no. 2.  I was so excited to see Daddy and Brandon, more so I could hand over the bottle of expressed milk I had been carrying around for the past 45 minutes.  But the crowd was so large I could not get to them until after I sung in my 4th window.  It was a pain to carry around the bottle and have inquiring minds ask why I'm carrying around a baby bottle, but I hate to waste good expressed milk. 

The crowd at this years Hartjesdagen was double the size of last years.  Normally you get a large crowd at 1 or 2 windows, but this year the crowds were extra large at every window.  All these extra people + beer + drag queens = many accidents.  On a walk to our first window my colleague and I witnessed a tourist accidentally trip an elderly Dutch woman, she face planted to the cobblestone street, I had my phone pre-dialed to call 112 (that's The Netherlands 911) But she recovered and the Hartjesdagen security handled it so we could be on our way.  Another incident was at our last window.  The piano could not get to the window because the crowd had gotten so large that no one could move forward or backwards.  The police even told Paul not to take the Zeedijk, going around with Brandon was much safer, when I saw the crowd get that large I was so happy Paul decided not to carry him in the baby carrier, people would have bumped, pushed, and possibly hurt Brandon unintentionally.  The last window performance was canceled due 6 people in the crowd fainting and the piano not being able to get to us.

I already knew Paul and  Brandon would not be at the last window just due to the location, it was the most crowded window because it was surrounded by 4-5 pubs and a bridge that was the bottle neck of the street because people stood on it to have a drink.  So I met him back at the hotel.  Brandon had a new battle wound from Daddy changing his diaper in the men's room. Paul told me he put Brandon on the counter and he pushed his legs off Daddy and that moved him under the soap, then he lifted up his head and banged his head into the dispenser, this happened all so fast, and didn't seem to effect Brandon to much, he cried for a couple seconds and survived the event with just a little red mark on his forehead.

  We left Amsterdam around 6.  Like clock work Brandon sounded his crying alarm 10 minutes before we were home.  I let him suck on my finger to pass the time and while he did this I noticed he was biting down a lot more.  After washing the city dirt off B I checked his gums and noticed 2 white dots next to each other.  They're very close to cutting, but time will only tell.


Sunday we took it easy, this Mama went to a morning zumba class and then had my friend Roshan over for lunch.  After we got Brandon to bed Paul and I opened up a bottle of champagne.  Paul surprised me with a bottle of my favorite champagne, Moet & Chandon vintage 2003.  It was a great end to a wonderful weekend.  Our days here are getting closer and closer to being over.  We're trying to enjoy them as much as possible before the chaotic move begins.

HARTJESDAGEN ON THE ZEEDIJK 2010 AMSTERDAM - 05

Rehearsal day

This weekend will be opera mommy's first time performing since Brandon came.  I'm singing in the annual Hartjesdagen in Amsterdam.  It's a really fun day.  I could not be happier to clear the cobwebs off my vocal chords so I can be ready for the IVC competition in September.

Yesterday Brandon came with me to rehearsal, he just loves music so much.  He sat in his chair laughing and imitating my singing as best as he could.  Ya know it's kind of scary how high his voice can go.
It was a normal rehearsal and things fell behind schedule, people were late, and everything had to be bumped back.  Luckily this didn't effect Brandon's mood, he was still super happy and loving Wiebke's home.

On the way home we ran into some trouble.  The high speed train back to Rotterdam was not running, and they didn't give a reason as to why, damn them.  This meant Mamma and baby had to take the 5:30PM inter-city with all the tourists and workin' folk heading home...ahhhh rush hour!!  The train was packed.  I got lucky and no one asked me to move my bag so they could sit next to me, but the train was still packed and it made getting Brandon comfortable in the baby carrier tough.  He was squealing and singing in a really high pitched voice for the first 30 minutes.  After that he fell asleep, THANK THE LORD!  When we were 5 min from Rotterdam the bridge went up and we had to wait another 15 minutes.  The monster woke and started to become vocal again, just not as much as the beginning of the ride.  After my nearly 90 minute train ride we got home 10 minutes later.  He was not to happy for the rest of the night, after a bath we tried to get him right to bed, but we had to deal with this face for about 45 minutes. 

It was a rough night putting him to bed at 9PM.  He kept waking up every 45 minutes, until I gave him one last feeding at 10:30PM, then he was down.  Tomorrow will be another busy day in Amsterdam, but luckily we take the car and only Mommy will have to take the train in the morning for a short rehearsal.  Daddy and Brandon will meet me in the city closer to the performance.

Monster PJ with hat

Sleepy Monster

Just rollin' around

Our little cutie

Hungry?

daily wake up position

He's such a happy little guy