In Romania, the godparents for our wedding also become your godparents.. and any future brothers and sisters you might have. This bares them with great responsibilities for which the only one you’re interested in at the moment is the providing of a loving cushion 😀

Mihaela, aka Nasa, has come all the way from Romania to spend a week with us. She’s here to give us some support while we adjust to having a daughter, which in turn means I’ve been kicked out the bedroom, Nasa and Mummy will take care of you during the night.

As she has a son herself she was able to give us many tips and advice in caring for you. You’ll meet her son (Stefan) one day and most importantly your Nasu (godfather), he’s stayed behind in Romania to hold down the fort, his name is Razvan.

As you can see she’s a natural mother and she helped out tremendously throughout the week. Both Mihaela (Nasa) & Razvan (Nasu) will play a big part in your upcoming Baptism. Mummy is already busy planning this, you’ll learn this about her when you get older 😀 I’m surprised she hasn’t married you off already 🙂 Hopefully if everything goes to plan we’ll be holding it in Romania early next year.

Daddy

Hi Emily,

As a proud father I couldn’t wait to show you off at work, introduce you to all my colleagues and celebrate.  As tradition dictates in Holland I decided to bring in some ‘beschuit met muisjes’, which translates to ‘biscuit with mice.  You’ll have to trust me here, no mice were harmed in this celebration!

I decided to go for the chocolate option, to fulfill my sweet tooth!

My colleagues were all over the moon, here are some of the warm messages they sent:

“Congrates with your latest baby Girl, enjoy them as much if you  can… because before you now they are grown up  ” – Fred

“Congrats! Beautiful girl! (Have 4 boys to exchange, let me know how much camels you are willing to offer in order to opt-in for 1 of them 😉 )” – Bernard

“Congrats Thomas, a beautiful baby !” – Ywe

“Congrats Ian for the big and beautiful baby! The first few months will be taught at times but she will bring a lot of happiness to you as well!” – Gabor

“She looks absolutely gorgeous, congratulations!” – Sanneke

“Oo man, no one really asks if father is doing well, right.Good to know that you are all fine and good luck for coming days.” – Samet

“Congrats Ian, all the best to you and your family. Enjoy parenthood, where all of a sudden everything revolves around this little bundle of joy!” – Rolf

“Congrats Ian! Lovely pictures! Enjoy and a bit of strength to get through some rough nights ;)” – Berteun

“Congratulations, Ian! What a beautiful name you gave her!” – Yuri

“Congratulations to the both of you! Wonderful pictures and excellent choice of treats, thanks!” – Jens

“What a beautiful baby girl and an evidently happy and proud dad!!! Congratulations!!” – Ellen

“Wauw!!! Congratulations, what great news!  Wish you, mom and babygirl Emily all the happiness and love in the world.” – Tamara

“You must be the happiest on earth. Congratulations!” – Bjorn

“Great news. Congratulations to Laura and yourself” – Erwin

See for yourself, this is the picture I used to welcome you to my friends & colleagues:

Daddy

Hi Emily,

So as you can imagine being stuck in hospital is kind of ‘icky’ right?  Mummy couldn’t wait to get you home and into a nice clean bath and it was a great success!  So much so that you fell asleep in minutes!  With mummy brushing your hair and the warm water, you felt really at home!

We’re really looking forward to when you’re a little older and we can play with a rubber ducky together.  For now Mummy and I will enjoy the relatively calm and soothing baths together!

Hi Emily,

This is you and me exactly 21 minutes after you arrived!  Picture this, a brand new dad with a baby girl left in a room together having being told ‘bond with your daughter’.  What’s the best way to bond, selfies!!!

Mummy was being looked after by the doctors in the recovery room and I was eager to reintroduce you to her.  I think these were the longest, and most precious, 30 minutes of my life.

Such a big girl at 3.6 kg and around 50 cm tall… well… lying flat 🙂

You had such a strong pair of lungs on you as you cried, stopped, cried and then stopped.  I can imagine this was a huge shock to you after being in mummy’s tummy for 9 months.

Daddy

P.S. I think you were  waving to the camera in the first picture!

So as I mentioned before we expected you early evening, however you had other plans!  Mummy wasn’t ready so doctors performed an emergency c-section.  Little did I know that within 20 minutes I would be holding you in my arms!

Daddy’s camera was set incorrectly… I do that a lot my sweet… but you’ll soon learn that 🙂

That’s mummy tummy, your arrival is imminent!

<SKIPS BLOODY PART>

Here you are getting your first checkup, minutes after being born!  2 legs, 2  arms and a strong set of lungs!  CHECK!

Daddy gets to touch you for the first time!  you’ll notice I’m the one with the beard

Daddy gets the honour of cutting your ambicial cord, sort of a tradition I guess?  I actually started cutting and then stopped to ask ‘this isn’t going to hurt her is it?’  And if you can’t tell… I’m smiling from ear to ear behind that mask.  Oh btw, you had 2 ears as well! 🙂  You’ve probably noticed those things by now.

And Mummy.  What a brave young woman, lying there waiting for her little girl to be cleaned.  She couldn’t believe her eyes!  One moment you were inside kicking and punching her, now she was holding you in her arms.  An unbelievable experience.   We hope one day that you’ll feel what she felt that day (expect the painful bit of course), make us lots of grand kids!

WELCOME EMILY!!

Mummy & Daddy

You showed great courage and with a strong heart, you beat a message to us ‘I’m ready, let’s get this show on the road’

As you can see  Mummy was giving you the last bit of energy she could before your final arrival.

(Yes, those are cheesy crisps… you’ll soon learn that Mummy is a ‘snack-o-holic’

Hi Emily,

This was to be your delivery room in the ‘Spaarne Gasthuis’ but your story took another path, but we’ll get to that later.

We arrived here early morning on the 2nd November 2018, eagerly awaiting your arrival.  At first we were told you’ll be here early evening however you arrived much sooner than  expected!

Daddy

Emily my sweet, I hope you’ll grow up strong and independent however you’ll always need to call a guy, and that guy is me!

When it comes to odd jobs Daddy is always willing to help…. results not guaranteed!

BTW, this was me preparing your room for me and Mummy to paint!

Daddy

So Emily, today we got to see your face for the first time… well… the first time it was so clear anyway.  This picture started a few debates but the general consensus was that you have Daddy’s nose.  I apologize in advance… please don’t hate or hold that against me.  In a few years you might be lucky, we’ll see my dear.

Anyway, you look beautiful, so calm and relaxed inside Mummy’s tummy!  As Mummy always says… ‘we can’t wait to kiss those little cheeks’… <insert kissy noises here>.

Daddy

It’s incredible to believe that in 7 months we’re going to be holding you in our arms!  That little ‘blob’ is going to slowly grow into our child!  Mummy can’t wait to find out if you’re going to be a girl or boy!  She doesn’t like surprises and instantly wants to unwrap her present… you!!

It’s a scary time for both of us, becoming parents is so exciting and yet so daunting!  We know one thing for sure though!  We’re going to be the best parents ever!

(Don’t tell Mummy… but I’m the fun one!)

It’s been 2 days since we found out the big news and we’re still as excited as ever. Mummy has already been dreaming about what you’re going to look like 😀 Obviously we don’t know whether you’ll be a boy or girl, we don’t care, as long as you’re healthy! Will you be a Mini Daddy or Mini Mummy? Mummy was curious so she decided to try and see using an app that merges a picture of us together… What a beauty you’ll be!

Something interesting happened today… OK… interesting is not the correct word to describe it… Something wonderful, magnificent, grandiose happened today, we found out that we were expecting. I remember the exact moment, standing next to your Mum in the bathroom, we were both honestly in a little shock. In the next few moments I think I had every emotion that you could have.

As the fear of becoming a father died down I started to play all the scenarios in my head, holding my child, playing with my child and most importantly, starting a family with the woman I love.