Week 39 - The Final Countdown

These are the latest pics of my ever-expanding belly. My friend Courtenay thinks it has dropped. I hope so, although I can't tell from one day to the next.

We had a great party last night, Kevin has been referring to it as the funeral of the life we once knew. It will all change very soon. We have some great friends here!

No contractions yet, we expect him to be fashionably late - just like his parents. His room is officially done. Well...except for the trash can we still need to get. The bag is packed and we think we know how to use the carseat.

Saturday morning we had the "intake" session with the Kramzorg group. It felt a little like an inspection. This is the set of Maternity Nurses/Assistants that will come for the first week and help us figure out what we are supposed to do. She will come the first day we are home and the for the next 7 days. She will be here for 5-6 hours a day, starting a 9am. She will cook breakfast, grocery shop, cook lunch, light cleaning, laundry, help with the breast feeding, and general baby care. The Netherlands is the only country in the world that provides this service. Amazing.

Kevin and I were able to pick up both of our residence cards. FINALLY. I guess mine has been ready for a while but never received the letter. When Kevin went to get his on Wednesday he asked if mine was ready too. Now we are just waiting on Kevin's drivers license. Oh, and we get to start all over once our son is born. Within 2 days of his birth Kevin will go to the Town Hall to register him (he and I can stay home), this kicks off the dutch paperwork cycle for his SoFi (tax number) and residency. Within the first couple of weeks all three of will have to go to the US Consulate/Embassy and get the paperwork started for his Social Security Card and Passport. We have been told it is easier if both parents go.

The following is a picture of the city cleaning up "abandoned" bikes. One morning last week we were in the living room and heard a grinder running in the street. When we got to the window we saw two "trucks" and 6 men quickly cutting the chains on some less then desirable bikes and quickly tossing them in the back of the trucks. They were city employees taking bikes that had previously been tagged. They had come through last week and tagged several bikes that didn't look rideable. You then have a week to remove the tag before they come back with a HUGE grinder and take the bike. Kevin was afraid they were going to take his "stolen" bike (remember when his was stolen last month and the thief left him a really crappy one? Well he has slowly been improving it.) He frequently swaps the pedals from it on to his US road bike, he was afraid that because it had no pedals - and looks pretty terrible - that they might take it. He ran down and brought it inside.