We are here!

It has been a busy and tiring two days since we arrived in Amsterdam! As expected, we were a sight in the airport with all of our luggage. Everything went very smoothly though and we all made it safe and sound Tuesday morning. Despite our airplane neighbors making loud comments about wishing they brought noise canceling headphones when they saw us with the baby, Jude was a champ and after only fussing during the taxing, he went down easily and slept like a champ. Us adults only got 1 hour of sleep however!

I flew on a plane and all I got was this lame bib! 

Monster on the plane!

We were the last to leave the plane and were rewarded by all 10 of our checked bags waiting for us on the carousel.

 We were warmly greeted on arrival by an HR representative from Pete's school and by a driver and minivan taxi to help get our stuff to the apartment. The school also provided a welcome box, which included snacks, soaps, a pre-paid mobile phone and pre-paid metro cards to help us settle in our first few days. 

Warm welcome!

We rented a minivan for the week to help bring the luggage to our place and to run errands to get our apartment set up. After a brief power nap, we drove into the city to get lunch and pick up some things Pete had left at Paul's apartment on his trip over in May. It was a beautiful day for walking around some of the major sites. We were seriously sleep deprived, but powered through! The rest of the day consisted of a grocery store run, simple dinner at home and bed! 

A Heartfelt Farewell

This is it. Our last night in Brooklyn. We had a perfect send off party with our dear friends who have made our life in NYC so wonderful these past 7 years. Tears were shed as we said our "goodbyes for now." Poor Jude is cutting his first tooth (yes, at 4 months!) so he has shed some tears today as well!

This past week was a whirlwind! We can't wait to be settled in our new apartment and not have to deal with moving for a while! Movers arrived on Monday and loaded our boxes for storage and drove to Williamstown where the contents of our lives were deposited in Pete's parents' house. It took another day to organize them so they didn't take up the entire basement! This was followed by a few days at Pete's aunt and uncle's lake house where we split our time relaxing and making numerous change of address/moving out if the country calls. We arrived back in the city Friday in time for friends' wedding reception, which was also a perfect last night out in the city (shoutout to my brother and sister in law for babysitting and hosting us!). Our 10 checked pieces of  luggage and 6 carry-ons are all packed and ready to go. Pete is watching the final episode of Breaking Bad, which was the last thing on his to-do list! Tomorrow we are off! We'll be greeted at the airport by someone from Pete's school who will escort us and our belongings to our apartment. I can't wait to see it and the city of Amsterdam!

Boxes in storage

Our new favorite book - The Pout Pout Fish. Thanks Pheebs! 

Luggage ready to go!

Our little teether

Farewell NYC!  

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House Hunting, International

I did in fact apply for us to be on House Hunters International. This involved e-mailing them information about our move and a picture. Alas, we never heard back, but we found a great place just the same! Pete went over to Amsterdam in May to scope some places while "Auntie" Rach flew in to help me take care of the munchkin. We used the service Expat2Holland. In advance of the visit, I stalked pararius.com on the reg. This gave us a good idea of the price range for furnished apartments in different areas of Amsterdam. As the school is south of the city in Amstelveen, we focused our search there to be closer to Pete's work and to get more space for our money. An agent from Expat2Holland picked Pete up and drove him to 7 properties in one afternoon. He saw a wide range of places from smallish 2 bedrooms closer to the action in Amsterdam to big town homes in more sleepy areas. At my request, he took as many pictures as possible in each place and then we had a long g-chat that night to decide.

Ultimately, we had it narrowed down to two, the one we chose and a much smaller place closer to downtown that would have meant a longer commute for Pete. As it was the end of May, we didn't know if any of the properties would be available for an August 1st lease. Our agent contacted both landlords and the owner of our place agreed to this, while the other landlord wanted to rent his place sooner. This solidified our choice and within days the contract was negotiated, signed and paid for through Pete's relocation package from the school.

We will be in the old part of Amstelveen, between two parks and the large Amsterdam Bos (forest). Pete will have a 10 minute bike ride to school and it will be a 20-30 minute bus ride into Amsterdam for me and the munchkin until he is big enough to ride in a bike seat. The walk to the bus stop will take us over canal ways and along pretty row houses (thank you Google Maps streetview!).

We are the second and third floors above this store, which appears to be a financial planning company. Yeah for no more upstairs neighbors!

I love the open concept living room/dining room/kitchen. It will be great for keeping an eye on Jude! Now we'll just need to add some color to all of the black and white furniture (and keep crayons away from that table!).

Master bedroom, Jude's room, bathroom and laundry room on the third floor.

Jude's room. We will be hitting up Ikea as soon as we arrive to turn it into a nursery. 

Bath with a great tub for Jude (and me!).

Office/Guest room with half bath on the first floor of the apartment. 

Coming from NYC, we are thrilled to have so much space. And after packing our lives away in boxes to store and only bringing luggage of the bare essentials, I hope the place remains clutter-free and zen. At the moment (wearing a shirt covered with a good deal of spit-up), I am thrilled to have our own washer and dryer, though I will definitely miss our dollar a pound send out wash and fold service. 

We hope many of you can see it for yourselves! Apart from our parents, Gia wins the prize for being the first to book her flight for Thanksgiving!

Baby in a Box

You're pretty cute. I think I'll take you with me!

We're Getting There!

My parents arrived last Friday and after a quick trip down to Maryland and Virginia to see family and friends, we got to work packing! Despite being diagnosed with bronchitis on Monday, Pops helped pack like a pro, while Nana took Jude on long stroller walks to nap while we made a ruckus in the apartment. 

Can you spot Jude? He was a huge help packing :)

Since we are renting a completely furnished apartment, it was time to part with most of our furniture. Craigslist is an amazing site. I found my UES babysitting gig, our current Brooklyn apartment, our Barcelona apartment swap and a lot of our furniture through Craigslist. Within days of posting our pieces for sale, most were sold and some at a profit! 

I will be so happy when this mess is gone!

Next up was prepping for a massive stoop sale held today. Our apartment was a wreck for days leading up to today's sale as items were piled in boxes: "Sell," "Donate," "Store," and "Take with." Pete's parents are generously offering up their basement (and then some) to store all of the furniture and items that we are not taking with us. Opa and Oma are then accompanying us to Amsterdam and apart from lending their hands to help with Jude, they are giving up their baggage allowance for us to bring more of our things! We have 10 pieces of checked luggage paid for and hope that is enough! 

Bird's Eye View of the Stoop Sale

Not for sale!!

The sale was a success and we got to meet quite a few characters and also hang out with some sweet friends who came to visit.

Apart from working my parents to the bone, we also managed to have some fun this week- dinner out with Susan and Brian, NY Philharmonic Concert in Prospect Park with Celine, Jeff, Emma and Tom, Margaritas and a day in the city planned with Celia, Bryan and kids tomorrow.

Oh, and we cheered on the Netherlands Wednesday. Jude's lucky onesie didn't pull through (perhaps its powers were dampened by the massive amounts of drool covering it!).

Nana made a cute poster to cheer them on!

"Are you certifiable?!"

This was the response of my cousin Amy, herself a mother to two young kids, when I shared the news of our upcoming move to Amsterdam. Her response gave me pause. Were we crazy to move abroad with a new baby?!

Moving with a baby has certainly created more complications than just moving as a couple. Sometimes I fall asleep with endless thoughts running through my mind: How will Jude do on the flight over? How will Jude's vaccine schedule be impacted? Will my breast pump work over there with the different voltage (!)? Will I make mommy friends? How will I be able to bike with a baby who can't yet sit up on his own? Should I have gotten the Bugaboo stroller since it is a Dutch brand? Will we be able to enjoy the abroad/European experience with a baby in tow? Could he fall into a canal? Or get hit by an aggressive cyclist? Who will we trust to babysit him?

These concerns and more were enough to momentarily regret our decision to move with the baby. But then I remembered how excited we are to live in Europe and how now is the best time to do it for our little family. We have loved life in Brooklyn, but haven't yet set down deep roots. Jude doesn't have any friends he has to leave behind. He can't (really) protest the move or any of the trips we hope to take since he can't talk! Travel with him for the next ~9 months will be relatively easy as he won't yet be walking (running!) away from us. And until he is 2, he will fly for free- a huge plus as we travel on a one-income budget.

As soon as Jude was born, we anxiously awaited the arrival of his birth certificate on which many things depended. To join Pete on his work visa, Jude and I had to prove our relation to him. The simple marriage license and birth certificate wouldn't do. Both documents needed to be "Apostilled" (verified as true documents by official sources). The marriage license was easy thanks to Florida's rules- mail original document with money and voila- Apostille! New York, on the other hand, was much more difficult. First, request another copy of the birth certificate from the Department of Health (despite having just received his original). This copy must come with a letter of exemplification. Once received by mail, bring to Government building #1 in City where baby is born (Manhattan), wait in one line to get the documented signed by the County Clerk, wait in another to pay the $3 fee. Take signed documents 5 blocks away to Government building #2, present all documents and wait your turn to receive the Apostille. When we finally walked out of that building with the proper paperwork, we felt as if we had conquered the world!

We all also needed to supply special photos for our visas. This required a trip to Manhattan to a special passport photo place. This was Jude's first subway ride (something we were trying to avoid until his first shots). He managed like a champ despite being ogled first by a transgender woman and then by a homeless woman- oh New York! Once at the photo center, he had to be held up in front of a white background and had to have his eyes open with a "neutral" expression. We popped a pacifier in his mouth and then on the count of three removed it when the photo was taken. His expression is less "neutral" and more "what the heck!?" His passport photo was thankfully less of an ordeal as we were able to take it ourselves at home.

We look forward to the many more adventures moving abroad with a baby will bring!

FAQs About Our Move Abroad

I realize that the news of our move may come as a surprise to people who we haven't seen or talked to in a while. So here are the answers to the questions keeping you up at night!

Why are you moving to Amsterdam?

Pete and I talked a few years ago about moving abroad to Europe. It was something we were both interested in, but the prospect of arranging for such a move seemed too daunting. While Pete works at an International School in NYC, jobs at the International Schools in Europe are competitive and it can be difficult to secure a job in a location of your choice. I also didn't know how I could work abroad in the genetics field where the language was sure to be a barrier. Enter Paul, Pete's colleague for his first 6 years in NYC and our good friend. Last spring, Paul landed a job as head of school at the International School of Amsterdam and made the move abroad. When we heard his news, we let him know that if any jobs opened up at his school, that we would be very interested to join him over there. An expansion at the school created a number of available jobs and Pete landed the Chemistry teacher position.

The school looks amazing and we are really excited to join their community!
International School of Amsterdam

Is the move permanent?

A two year contract has been signed and beyond that, we'll just have to wait and see how we like it over there!

Do you know Dutch?

Absolutely not! We did invest in Rosetta Stone (though oddly enough I have not found time to do it what with childbirth and raising an infant and all).

What will you be doing there?

I was happy to learn that there are genetic counselors in the Netherlands and have been in touch with a few via LinkedIn. All are employed through the federal government and work at university hospitals. Unfortunately, I have been told that the economic downturn in Europe means that there are not currently any openings. Plus I don't speak Dutch (see above)! So my plan for now is to get us settled, hang out with our munchkin, try to make some mommy friends, plan our travels and attempt to learn the language! Maybe it will be time to start an Etsy store or try my hand at a different career altogether! If you have any work contacts over there, I'd love to hear them!

Would you be interested in visitors?

Absolutely! Please look us up if you are in the area! In return for lodging, we just ask for some (drug-free) babysitting.

Are you sad to be leaving New York?

Yes, a little heartbroken actually. In the same way that I have been sad to leave all of the places of my past. New York has been a very special place. Though there are definitely things about city life that I will not miss. More on that later!

Are you cheering for the Netherlands in the World Cup?Yes! Apparently the correct response should be "Hup Holland Hup!" Plus, don't we look good in Orange?!

We're Headed to Holland!

Having a baby this year just wasn't exciting enough. On July 28th, we will be moving to Amsterdam! More to come about our adventures, but for now, a sweet promo video for Holland Tourism that certainly has me excited about the move! 

Holland, The Original Cool