Down Under with Jan Mikaela Nora and Ella

See here how the Australian jury voted.  This morning at 7am local time - live on the laptop - our girls were following the Swedish victory of Loreen at the Eurovision song contest. Sweden 12 points!!! PS. Isn’t it great to have a few different nationalities in the family? There’s always one country doing well. Next stop is the European soccer cup! Maybe a chance for Holland to make up for their Eurovision debacle ...

Ella singing 'Hi 5' with her purple toy microphone. Without a doubt the future Voice of Australia!

Mothers day today. The fourth time already for Mikaela, but the first time as a Mum of two daughters. We had a great time despite the rain: we just moved our picnic indoors with blankets and food on the floor. Thank you Mum for being the best Mum in the world! By the way: Nora had her first visit to a real hairdresser this week. We took her to KiddyHouse . She came home like a little princess: glitter in her hair and nails all polished. She absolutely loved it. Ella also had a ball this week on her new swing in the backyard. Best thing is that her sister is now pushing her!

Looks who is climbing over the fence into our garden? Indeed, Mr Koala took all the time in the world to intrude into our property, only to settle himself in a tree and keep us awake all night. Cute ah? Talking about wildlife intruders: what about the fellows below? The stick insect has been spotted just once, but the possum and the huntsman spider are regulars at our place.  All harmless, but they still manage to intimidate us a little. Will we ever get fully  used to life in Oz? ;-)

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi. Australia has two new citizens. Yesterday Mikaela and Nora did their official pledge in front of the Mayor and some local, state and federal politicians. “From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey" With Ella already being Australian by birth, all three ladies in the family now have two official nationalities. Dad’s girls are now both Swedish and Australian citizens. Another great milestone for the family!  PS. As for Dad: the Netherlands don’t allow dual citizenship, so he will have to stay Dutch-only for now …

Can you believe it? Today its six months ago that Ella was born, but it feels like it was only yesterday. Time has been flying. And Ella has been flying too. From the word go she has been growing and developing like no other. With a very respectable 51cm and 4.5kg at birth, she extended her lead to currently 70cm and 8.5kg! And not just that: she picks up everything so fast. We feel like she could start crawling any day now. Yes, our little girl is well and truly ahead of herself. Good on ya girl! See our picture slide show of Ella’s first six months. Don’t you agree she is just one gorgeous and cheerful baby?!? Happy half-birthday Ella!

...och glad påsk, en vrolijk pasen !