Ik ben een Hollander

We are Dutch! At least when it comes to our favorite mode of conveyance. We found a company online that manufactures Euro style baby seats for the bike. Most parents cycle with their little ones in a little trailer fixed to the rear of the bike at street level. According to the guy at the bike shop these are quite safe but it always seemed a little odd to us.

So, in the tradition of the Netherlands, we've attached the Weeride to Daddy's bike and awaaaaay we goooo!

As you might expect it is a cute situation....Especially with Evan's helmet!

___________________________________________________________________

Wij zijn nederlands! In ieder geval tijdens onze favorite form van transportatie. We hebben een bedrijf gevonden die Euro style baby sitjes maakt voor op de fiets. De meeste ouders fietsen met hun kinderen in een klein wagonnetje die door de fiets wordt getrokken, ter hoogte van de straat. De fiets verkoper zei dat deze veilig zijn maar voor ons leek het altijd een beetje raar.

Dus, op zijn nederlands hebben we nu de "weeride" op papa's fiets en daaaaaar gaaaaan weee!!

Zoals je kunt verwachten is het een schattige situatie.....vooral met Evans helm op zijn hoofd (zonder helm is illegaal).

Recent Adventures

Last week, we packed up the car and took a drive north, above San Francisco into Marin County. Evan likes to ride in the back of the car when he can (which is only when the car is parked...) He does fuss a bit when we lock him down in the car seat, but he does love to travel (not sure where he gets that from!)

Vorige week namen we de auto voor een ritje naar het noorden, boven San Francisco naar Marin County. Evan houdt ervan achterin de auto te rijden wanneer hij maar kan (natuurlijk alleen als de auto is geparkeerd...). Hij wordt wat onrustig als we hem in zijn auto stoeltje doen maar hij houdt erg van reizen (we weten niet zeker waar hij dat van krijgt!)

We drove quite a way up the coast, but Heleen and I both got car sick from the windey roads. I was even feeling woozy and I was driving. Luckily, we had some nice stops along the way. Above, Evan enjoys the tall grass as we hike out to Muir beach.

We reden een goed stuk langs de kust maar Heleen en ik werden allebei misselijk van de kronkelige weg. Zelfs ik had het en ik zat achter het stuur. Gelukkig hadden we een paar leuke plekjes om te stoppen. Boven zie je hoe Evan van het hoge gras geniet als we naar het Muir strand lopen.

On our way home, we stopped at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the City. They are always so friendly at Minh's Garden. The tofu was especially good this evening.

Op weg naar huis stopten we bij onze favoriete vietnamese restaurant in de stad. Ze zijn altijd zo vriendelijk in Minh's Garden. De tofu was erg goed die avond.

After a big day out, it's so nice to get home for a warm bath before bed.

Na een lange dag uit is het heerlijk om thuis te komen en voor het slapen gaan een warm bad nemen.

Good night!

Slaap lekker!

More Big Teef

We'll be back soon with more pictures!!!


....

Big Teef

Recently, we packed up the family and moved house. Heleen, Evan, Kitty and I relocated about 7 miles north of our former residence to the town of Palo Alto. Of course, moving is never easy, but we were very lucky to have a strong baby for some heavy lifting. Below, Evan inspects the box:


Oh, and have we mentioned that the E-man is growing some teeth. He must take after his dad in the dental department because the teeth are big and gnarly looking. So far, two on top and two on bottom. Gone is the cute nickname "Gummy" that we once called him by. Now something along the lines of "Jaws" or "Chopper" is more appropriate.



He's making good use of those mighty incisors, below gnawing off his first taste of watermelon. Again, he takes after his dad as he loves the juicy red melon! Catch the new 'Watermelon" slide show to the left! Bon Appetite!

Sukha

new slideshow: http://picasaweb.google.com/adarshwilliams/In_#5243397188222185282

.....

Fast crawling

Here is proof of Evans fast crawling. It's hard to keep up with him nowadays ;-)

practice of a yogi mam

This morning at 4am when Adarsh got up for his practice and I was wide awake after comforting Evan back to sleep, I decided to get up too to get my own practice in.

My sweet little man Evan is 7 months old now and since his arrival my yoga practice has seen quite a shift. There were challenges during my pregnancy and I heard stories of Yogi mams being frustrated not to get a practice in anymore, mams who gave up on yoga altogether or ones whose bodies had completely changed and no asana practice was the same anymore. Quite scary to look forward to. Well....I haven't been frustrated and I haven't given up but yes, my body (and a whole lot more) has changed quite a bit. If there was ever any ambition of getting anywhere with this Ashtanga Yoga, doing whatever series I desired, that ambition is completely out of the window. In a good way.

Instead of being tempted to focus on the physical bit I have learned to just be present with what is going on. Be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. In fact, my lack of physical ambition during all the years of yoga now finally makes sense. This is not why I practice yoga. I always felt like a bit of an oddball out within the Ashtanga practice because I truly never felt the urge to move on to the next thing. I wasn't pushing or working awfully hard. I would just rather practice every day rather than be too knackered one day to do anything. That wasn't always a good or bad thing but it did constantly make me question my goals of practicing Ashtanga Yoga. Now that it's more challenging to find the time and energy to get a practice in I have gotten closer to the answer to that question.

Evan his presence in my life has made my body more sore and tight but my mind so much more flexible. That has been such a blessing because now it all makes sense. I practice around 4 times a week now depending on sleeping patterns, Evans changes and my need for that one hour more rest or not. The length of my practice is never certain so when I do step on my mat I am fully present with every move I make. That sounds so easy but believe me it's never been more clear to me how important that "being fully present" is and also what it truly means. One of my main promises to myself in being a mam is to be fully present with my child at every possible moment. Quite the promise ha?! Yes it is. Especially for this girl whose mind is a master at living in either the past or the future. Now that I have given birth and gained a stiffer and tighter body, the physicality of Ashtanga Yoga makes me be more present in the moment. If I get to do some of second, wow! If I get to do the full primary series, great! Doing half primary, quite something! But doing the standing sequence and some of the closing sequence, now that is dessert! And if I get a savasana in as well I'm really on top of the world. Whatever the sequence I end up doing it's completely unimportant. Important is how I do the practice and with what intention. This helps me to be completely present with Evan during the rest of the day which is what is really important to me. One could ask; hasn't that taken away from your yoga practice? A full and complete No is the answer. I feel stronger and more flexible than ever in my life and that is quite and extraordinary feat for this rather uptight girl. The Yoga practice of being a mam has opened my heart and mind to a whole new dimension. It's been the most liberating experience for me and I am so grateful for every moment of it. The body is just the body but what lives in it is the key to a true yoga experience. I feel so lucky to have been given the practice of a yogi mam :-)

Heleen

It Eats!

photos from our last days in Thailand

Enjoy the new slideshow to the left or link here

Inspired and rejuvenated

We have been so blessed to be able to come to Yoga-Thailand and teach at our friends beautiful dedicated Ashtanga Yoga Center. Our time here has been incredible; sharing yoga with wonderful people, having time with dear friends and meeting new beautiful souls.

Yoga-Thailand is going through a transformation at the end of the year as they are moving into their own purpose-build retreat center on the other side of the Island of Koh Samui. Paul and Jutima showed us the progress of things and it's going to be just beautiful. The story of how their vision has organically grown over the years is such an inspiration to us and we are so grateful to be spending time at their wonderful yoga home.

Life has been really good to us here which you can see on our smiling faces in the pictures below. Evan has charmed literally everyone and he has grown so much, we can't even believe it ourselves. He moves, he chats and brings so much joy! Lana, the residential teacher here at Yoga-Thailand has nicknamed him "Evan from Heaven" which says it all.... There are so many great pictures of him that it's hard to choose one but I picked one of him in the pool.

We are in the last days of our teachings here now and are flying back home next week. We look forward to that, feeling re-inspired, rejuvenated and excited about the next step in our lives: sharing our love and dedication of Yoga with fellow yogi's again back home, in a dedicated, well loved Ashtanga Yoga space. So much joy to share.

land of smiles

We are so happy to have arrived at Yoga Thailand. After quite a long travel (over 18 hours of flying time-even more including layovers, hotels, and taxis) we made it. All the credit goes to Heleen for organizing our family adventure. Also have to give a shout out to little Evan for not getting fussy once during the three flights- that guy rules. ( I wish I could say as much for the other screaming babies- but who can blame them, it's hard to fly.)

When flying to the island of Koh Samui, I felt this wonderful sense of peace and ease. It's like taking a deep breath without trying...Ahhhhhhh.....yes happiness is here for us in the land of smiles.

Our first of two retreats has begun- I just wanted to post this video of the boy and me having a swing. Enjoy!

I had to show off a few more pictures.....

between trips

Phew, just returned from Evans first trip to the homeland (Adarsh's homeland at least). We went to Georgia to visit grandma and grandpapa and then on to Florida for a visit with Guruji who opened his Ashtanga Yoga shala in the USA.

Evan is a natural traveller for sure, only got fussy on one flight out of 5 flights which is better than we did ;-). He had his first experience of the humid and hot south and stocked up on many hugs and kisses from everybody. We had a great time and are already getting ready for our next trip which will be to Thailand. Evan will be a happy camper over there as everyday will be naked time on the beach (see blog below). He's quite a little boy already with 4 months, rolling over and moving around more and more.

You can see new pictures on the slideshow to the right.

More soon....

Bath Time Baby

Everyday is Thanksgiving around here. Pretty much since we met each other, Heleen and I have been in the habit of counting our blessings and noting how lucky we are. Having a baby has dramatically increased these feelings of gratitude. It is so much fun to share little adventures with Evan, to watch his wonderment as he takes in the scenery and to see how much of a kick perfect strangers get by having some baby time.

This past weekend, we were able to drive south down the coast to visit with friends in Monterey and further still into Big Sur and the Esalen Institute. Esalen is world renowned for it's epic beauty, hot sulfur baths teetering on the edge of the Pacific, and enlightened community.

Baby E made quite a splash in the hot pools! We ran a family bath so he could enjoy swimming around- such a little fish that one. He looooves being in the water. We enjoy bath time at home on a near daily basis, but nothing beats the views down in Big Sur!

naked time

There exist a little ritual in our house- Evan loves to have his diaper changed to our hit song "Naked Time" sung to the tune of Flight of the Conchords "business time."

Feel free to sing along:


Oh if you want to see a recent photo shoot of the man, you can check the slide show in the right side bar of visit the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/adarshwilliams/NakedTime

c ya

horsin' around

I tried to feed the baby to Oz the horse (but I found out he's vegetarian.)

Whoa, really though this horse was soooo big and beautiful- He's leaning his head down here to greet us (because Evan is short) and you can imagine the wind from the nosebreath!

It was a very cute experience to be introduced to our friends horse and....to see her ride and jump the big fella- also props to K for the foto I snagged from facebook.

Adarsh

Lady Killler

Whew! Busy here....Evan is also busy....growing! As you can see he's almost catching up to mamma. And this brother has skills too. Most recently he's figured out how to maneuver his hand-usually to his mouth. He's always had a thing for hands though. For instance he loves to watch me eat. He'll sit in his little chair and enjoy as my hand places the food in my big (according to Heleen) mouth.

Presently, Easy-E is enjoying some belly-time and mastering the assisted roll-over. Like I said, he's got skills.

Stay tuned for more braggin' on my baby!

Fresh

I've finally got around to uploading some fresh pictures of The Man. We went out last week to the park and took some shots on "the green blanket" Have a look on the slideshow to the right. Enjoy!

I've been wanting to write an extensive piece on my new life with our angel Evan but somehow I don't get to it....surprise surprise..... Life has been busy with visiting family members. Both my sisters have just left on Saturday after spending 10 days with us. It was wonderful to have them here and I miss having them around already. Now Adarsh his mom is here for the week which is also lovely. Since Evans arrival I've been going through a time warp rollercoaster. I don't know where all of it goes but all I can say now (because Evan is calling ;-) is that I am deeply in love with our little man and there is nothing more I'd like to do then spend my time with him. I will do my best to write some of what I'd like to share with you soon so stay tuned. For now you can see three of my favorite pictures of my two favorite men.

Love to you all who have shared in our bliss so far,
Heleen

Baby is Here!

Welcome to planet earth, Evan Tomas Williams

Born on January 17, 2008 at 8:35 pm in Mountain View, CA weighing in at 7.5 pounds. Heleen delivered completely natural and baby was able to latch on straight away for feeding. Heleen trusted me to coach her through and catch him as she pushed...It was the most amazing yoga practice of our lives. Breathing and concentration with the perfect postures! We had the expert guidance of our midwife Lin and our loving nurse Wendy. We feel so lucky and so blessed.

Presently, we are all happy, healthy, and home. I'll be busy trying to get up more pictures and return all of the calls, texts, and emails as quick as I can.

Christmas belly

Christmas time

Here we are at our friend Karens house where we celebrated Christmas with her 3 beautiful daughters, wonderful friends and delicious food. And as you can see Adarsh never stops having fun. This time it's all about shaking my belly or trying to grab the basketball inside of me ;-)

We've had a wonderful holiday time chilling out and gathering the last bits and pieces together for our little man. Adarsh's aunt and uncle came for a short visit as well which was great fun. New Years eve we were in bed by 11pm which is quite extraordinary for us as our usual time is 9-9:30pm as we have to get up very early in the am. Adarsh was teaching on New Years day as well so we had a good excuse not to wait till midnight. Honestly, it didn't matter to me. There aren't any fancy fireworks going on in the neighbourhoods in the US like where I grew up in Holland anyway. In my little home town everybody goes outside at midnight to fire off all the fireworks they have and it was always mesmerizing for me as a kid and a lot of fun. After the fireworks were finished everybody went around till the early hours to wish eachother a happy new year. Very celebratory and fun. My sisters are still doing this and as they had the new year already at 3pm (my time here) the new year had also begun for me.

Anyhow....we've only got a few days left till due date so things are starting to get exciting. I still feel very good and everything is going smooth. If this little boy is going to be as easy as during my pregnancy I'm gonna be a happy mama.

Stay tuned for updates on the new arrival!!

Happy new year!! Enjoy every second of your amazing journey!

Heleen