Currystrumpet

Glam-o-Mamas

Today I’m sharing my pregnancy journey over at Glam-o-Mamas!

Glam-O-Mamas was founded by model, TV host, entrepreneur and mom Amanda Griffin-Jacob together with Nicole Jacinto in 2011. Now run by Glam-O-Mamas CEO Amanda Griffin-Jacob, the site is a go-to reference for like-minded, modern and eco-conscious women who want to strike a healthy balance between the various roles that mothers take on today.

Martine de Luna, who blogs at Dainty Mom and handles editorial duties for Glam-O-Mamas, got in touch with me a few months ago about contributing to the site. It took me a while to get into the right head space (read: somewhere between doing a million things or snoozing for hours on end) to think about the last nine months as a whole, but I finally did… and the article is live on the Glam-O-Mamas site today.

Check it out here!

Well, I’m officially on a mommy site. Now all I need is a baby!

5 Comments
Posted on March 11, 2013
Category: Pregnancy · Labels: baby, Glam-o-Mamas, guest post, pregnancy

Before & after: Kitchen

My last before-and-after of the week is the room that didn’t need much fixing up: our kitchen. Here’s what it looked like before we moved in…

and after.

Even though we didn’t have to do much with our kitchen, it’s become the most hardworking space in our house. We cook and eat at home a lot (and some of our meals can get pretty elaborate!), so our kitchen countertop is pretty full. We’re using this space just as I pictured it: Marlon cooking while I work at my desk by the window, the two of us spending time together even while doing different things.

[Read more...]

6 Comments
Posted on March 8, 2013
Category: House & Spouse · Labels: furniture, home

Before & after: Entryway

Compared to our previous apartment, our new home has a smaller entryway. I actually don’t mind; I think if we had a bigger hallway, it would just collect more junk! Here’s how the hallway looked before we moved in…

and what it looks like now.

Hallway after

For such a small space, we managed to fit in quite a few things, including some of our favorite paintings and knickknacks.

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5 Comments
Posted on March 6, 2013
Category: House & Spouse · Labels: furniture, home

Before & after: Living room

Though I had hoped Little Mango would come early, I have to admit there are quite a few pluses to her taking her sweet time. One of them is having the luxury of easing into our new home—figuring out storage, shifting furniture around, and putting some essentials into place. For a while, it seemed the configuration of our home was changing every day, but Marlon and I have finally settled into a layout that we like.

So here’s a little before-and-after to show you how we’ve traded the pristine emptiness of a new apartment…

for something a little more lived in… a little more “us.”

[Read more...]

8 Comments
Posted on March 5, 2013
Category: House & Spouse · Labels: color, furniture, home

Waiting game

Hello, I’m still alive. And still pregnant… very pregnant. I don’t know how much more pregnant I can get. Is there such a thing as too pregnant? Because I think I’m just about there.

Marlon and I took photos of my baby bump yesterday to mark Week 39. (See above, in comparison to Week 14. Can’t believe I thought I already looked pregnant then!) You can’t imagine how fervently I’m hoping this will be the last belly photo. At this point, I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever.

“Just think,” Marlon said happily, “by this time next week, we could be parents!”

I stared at him. “By this time next week, if we’re not parents, I will be climbing the walls!”

How I feel about being pregnant has dramatically changed. Two weeks ago, I would get weepy in yoga class at the thought of my pregnancy coming to an end. I’d feel teary-eyed on the tram when I realized how much I would miss having my daughter inside my body, where protecting her and caring for her was something my body just naturally did.

I ran around like a maniac trying to get things done because I really believed Little Mango would come early. I lovingly caressed my bump with a beatific smile while telling everyone who would listen, “I think she’ll be early. I just have this feeling.” Well, so much for my motherly intuition. Just goes to show how well mothers think they know their daughters.

Now most of my to-do list is done. And waiting is all that’s left.

[Read more...]

9 Comments
Posted on March 4, 2013
Category: Pregnancy · Labels: baby, pregnancy

Test driving the birth pool

When you’re pregnant, about to pop, and planning a water birth at home, there’s one thing you absolutely must do: take your birth pool for a test drive. And that’s just what Marlon and I did last weekend.

I had the option to buy or rent a birth pool. Buying an inflatable pool (“birth pool in a box“) would’ve been cheaper, especially if I rented it out or resold it, but we just don’t have the storage space. Instead, I chose to rent one from De Oerbron, which offers a selection of pools for rent or sale, for a period of five weeks: three weeks before my due date and two weeks after.

Marlon and I went through the entire kit from De Oerbron bright and early last Saturday. Being mostly useless in the heavy lifting department, I played the role of translator, running four pages of Dutch instructions and tips through Google Translate while Marlon grunted and puffed away. “In two weeks, I’ll be really, really, really useful,” I promised, as a sort of apology.

Birth pool assembly

So, how does one assemble and fill a birth pool? Here’s how we did it.

[Read more...]

17 Comments
Posted on February 26, 2013
Category: House & Spouse, Pregnancy · Labels: baby, home, pregnancy, water birth

Battle of the bunnies

Now that the more complicated choices are out of the way, I love thinking about the cute, fluffy, totally non-critical parts of having a baby. Like bunnies.

Let me explain. Until a few weeks ago I was obsessed with buying a Nijntje lamp for the nursery. Nijntje, known to the English-speaking world as Miffy, is Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna’s most famous creation. Adorable, simply drawn and omnipresent, she’s like the Dutch Hello Kitty—you can’t be a child in the Netherlands and grow up without Nintje.

I had my eye on the 50cm (20 inch) Nijntje lamp, put it on my baby shower wishlist, even got Marlon onboard. But everything changed when a friend told me that her baby twins were terrified of their Nijntje lamp. They would start to cry every time she brought them near it, making diaper changes impossible.

Looking at Nijntje again, she did seem kind of… forbidding. (Must be the X that she has for a mouth.) Then I remembered a lamp I had pinned to my Baby Room board on Pinterest: the Trousselier Rabbit Angel lamp. This one is about half the size (and half the price!) that Nijntje is.

So now I have a bit of a dilemma. It’s a cute one, exactly the kind I like to have. You could say I’m torn between two rabbits: quintessentially Dutch but possibly terrifying, or more generic but kind, smiley and welcoming?

What do you think?

11 Comments
Posted on February 24, 2013
Category: House & Spouse, Pregnancy · Labels: baby, home, nursery

Baby room basics

In a blogger’s ideal world, by this time I would be posting pictures of my beautifully styled, meticulously arranged nursery. It would have everything my baby could possibly need, plus a few (dozen) things that she actually doesn’t. It would be perfectly color-coordinated with a carefully curated selection of quirky little touches and charming little toys.

Well, this is reality. And in reality, there is no nursery… yet. That’s because Little Mango isn’t the first occupant of this space… Grandma is! My mom arrived this week and will stay until Easter, so our second bedroom first needs to be a guest room before it can become a nursery.

That hasn’t stopped us from laying the basic foundations for our future nursery. The first step: tearing down the huge built-in closets that took up nearly half the room.

Marlon and I agonized for weeks over whether or not to keep these closets. It just seems funny to me now! And when I remember how these closets became the subject of a hormonal meltdown (“That room is practically a closet! I don’t want our baby to grow up in a closet! Sob sob sob”), it’s even funnier.

In the end, we chose space for our daughter over storage for our things. Because our daughter is our daughter, and things are just, well, things. So out went half these closets, as well as the recycled train tracks that the previous owners used as shelves.

[Read more...]

10 Comments
Posted on February 22, 2013
Category: House & Spouse, Pregnancy · Labels: baby, color, home, nursery, pregnancy

Birdwatching from my desk

We’ve officially lived in our new home for a full month now! The nesting urge has slowed down a bit, and days are no longer packed with long lists of things to do, fix or buy for the house. The frantic pace has been replaced by a comfortable sense of settling in, of unhurried discovery, as Marlon and I learn the little quirks of our home and find things about it to enjoy.

One of the things I love about our new home: birds. Yep, birds. In our old apartment, we used to see pigeons, sparrows and the occasional parrot. Here, because we’re near the water, we get seagulls. Lots of them: swooping, flying, hanging out on boats, bobbing up and down in the water.

I know seagulls are supposed to be the rats of the sea or something, but I just love seeing them. Maybe it’s a novelty thing; we don’t have seagulls back home! Fortunately, none of our neighbors seem to see them as pests. So these seagulls never go hungry. Someone always throws out a crust of bread every morning, attracting a huge flock that turns our big picture windows white.

Lately, I’ve had to wake up early to catch up with clients on the other side of the world. Seeing this mass of beating wings and white feathers from my desk somehow makes me feel better about having to start work at the crack of dawn.

Guess who else is obsessed with them?

Aside from the seagulls, we also get ducks, pigeons, swans, a few other birds I can’t name, and one skinny, solitary heron. (Such a change from home and the standard-issue maya!) Birdwatching from my desk has become one of the unexpected simple pleasures of our new home… and I’m looking forward to discovering more.

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Posted on February 19, 2013
Category: House & Spouse · Labels: home

Exploring the Jordaan

Full term and 37 weeks today! At this point I’m in serious nesting mode, reluctant to leave home unless absolutely necessary—kind of like how mama cats hole up in a dark corner before giving birth. With Little Mango heavy in my belly (2.6 kilos, or 5.7 pounds!), walking is becoming uncomfortable and tires me out easily.

This is why it’s been hard to find the energy to explore our new surroundings. It’s a bit of a shame, because I was so excited to move here! Not only is our new ‘hood Westerpark diverse and interesting in itself, it’s also just off the Jordaan, one of Amsterdam’s most picturesque, charming neighborhoods.

I practically have to force myself to get out of the house for short weekend strolls. I don’t always succeed! But when I do, I end up wide-eyed and delighted. I become a tourist all over again… or maybe I never stopped being one.