Introducing...

The second time around it takes a bit longer to get organized. It's now been 3 weeks since baby Zinnie was born and I'm only just starting to send out photos and birth announcements. If that wasn't bad enough, we realized that a lot of our close friends didn't even know I was pregnant! Yikes. We're definitely lagging here. But anyway... I hope to make up for all that spotty communication by writing (at least more or less!) regularly on this blog again and sharing photos, news and videos of little baby Zinnie and big Mr. Quinn.
So here we go!

Zinnie Lyse Houben-Wilson was born on February 7th at 5:06 a.m. weighing in at 4.2 kilos (9.25 lbs). Quinn was born 3 weeks early so we started expecting Zinnie near the middle of January, but she had other plans and ended up arriving exactly on her due date. By the end of my pregnancy I was pretty huge. I hadn't been sleeping well for a couple months because of my enormous belly, the crazy amount of peeing I had to do at night and the fact that I could hardly breath through my nose anymore. I was also desperately bored. I had worked up until the mid January and I managed to get some nesting and resting done at home after that, but after two weeks of cleaning, reorganizing, sewing etc. I started to get the feeling that I was never going to give birth.

The day before

The afternoon of the 6th I had an acupuncture appointment with a midwife who I'd seen once before. My doctor had suggested getting acupuncture done in order to ripen my cervix since they knew I would be having a big baby. Since it was the day before my due date the midwife asked me if I'd like her to do a cervical sweep to get things moving. I of course said YES! She told me as I was leaving that the "sweep" might be quite effective and indeed as I walked home that afternoon I started having more and more contractions. By 6:00p.m. they were coming quite regularly and were getting stronger. By midnight I was having contractions every 2 to 3 minutes and Jos was by my side pressing with all his might on my back as soon as said "NOW". We left for the clinic in my parents car (they had conveniently arrived just that morning) It's a 10 minute drive to the Matérnité des Lilas where Quinn was also born. It's a fantastic, tiny birthing center that has always striven to make childbirth a human rather than a medical event. Sounds obvious, but in France there aren't that many places that operate with that philosophy. They showed me into the very same birthing room where I had Quinn... 5 hours later Zinnie popped her head out into the world. I was on all fours on the bed and only ended up having to push twice before the midwife asked me if I wanted to catch my baby. I put my my hand down and felt as her wet head and back come out into the air. The whole team there was shocked and amazed that I'd opted for a natural birth. They said that hardly anybody does that in France anymore which I found slightly amazing especially at a clinic like Les Lilas.

At the clinic

I spent three nights at the clinic resting and being taken care of. On the afternoon of the 10th my brother James picked us all up and brought us home. When Quinn first met Zinnie at the clinic he was a bit nervous and shy, but once we brought her home he was really excited and so sweet with her. He gives her little pats and kisses on the head and genuinely seems proud to be a big brother. We'll see how things continue... I'm sure there's bound to be some jealousy down the road, but so far things are going pretty smoothly. Of course smooth is a relative term in a 3 year old's world, but let's just say we're surviving!

Getting to know each other

Miss Zinnie is pretty calm for the moment. Of course there's not a whole lot going on in her world besides sleeping and eating... both in great quantities still. Bizarrely I actually feel more rested now than at the end of my pregnancy. Or maybe I've just become very very used to interrupted sleep.

I'm looking forward to seeing who Zinnie becomes little by little as she spends more and more time awake and active. I'll keep you all updated here as things progress.

3 + 1 = 4

It's a bump!

2!

On Thursday the 27th of January Quinn turned two!! Kind of hard to believe. Jos was in London on Thursday, but my parents and I fêted Quinn and then we had a second fête on Sunday. Quinn was perfectly happy to open presents and eat cake more than once. His favorite part was blowing out the candles though which he wanted to do several times in a row.

Mr. Straw talks to Mr. Juice Box

A Year of Quinn (Part 3)

SEPTEMBER

We got back from our vacation towards the beginning of the month. Work started up again little by little and normal life (whatever that is) began again.


At the beginning of the month we were still lounging on the beach and eating fish burgers.


Riding the carousel in Paris. Quinn made sure to try out each and every different seat.


Autumn sun on the train to Belgium.



OCTOBER

And all of a sudden it was the Autumn. Jackets, falling leaves and long shadows. Near the beginning of the month we went to Montmirail to visit my parents. While we were there we all decided to drive down to Chaumont sur Loire and see the beautiful gardens and installations before the end of the season. The installation-gardens were incredibly inspiring.


Messing around in Montmirail.



Enjoying the gardens (and the last bit of sunny weather) in Chaumont sur Loire



NOVEMBER

Jos was working in Amsterdam for the first two weeks of November directing a big cabaret show. My parents and Quinn and I visited for a long weekend and we got to see the show, meander along the atmospheric canals, see some good friends from Holland and celebrate Rick's birthday in style.

Quinn is definitely a performer (wonder where he gets it?) and he even likes to clown around for himself in front of the mirror or the camera on my computer. He loves to take pictures of himself in silly hats.




Walking around Amsterdam with my parents.



DECEMBER

At the beginning of the month we went to London to visit James and Adric and celebrate a late Thanksgiving. We did a home exchange and ended up staying in a lovely family home in North East London. Quinn was thrilled to see that two cats came with the deal too! Then back to Paris, then there was snow (and lots of it) and then all of a sudden it was Christmas and the end of another year. We celebrated the holidays with both our families and came home at the beginning of January happy, exhausted and stacked with presents.


Playing with the cat at the house in London. Quinn probably had more fun than the cat did.




Dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner.



We finally met Jos' dear friend Simon's two children Noma and Teyo while we were in London. Nobody wanted to stay still for the photo of course!



Christmas walks with Bobo.



Waiting for more gifts to open on Christmas morning. Quinn definitely understood the present thing this year!



James and Adric set up the Christmas feast!


More presents in Belgium!



Snow and trampolines... what could be better?!

A Year of Quinn (Part 2)

MAY

In May we visited family again in Belgium, visited friends nearby and took it easy at home.

Playing, walking, visiting in Belgium with the fam.

Visiting our friends near Paris.

JUNE

The Summer! We went for lovely sun filled walks in the countryside around my parents' place, Quinn had his first ride in the kayak, we picked cherries from our tree, and Quinn finished his year at daycare....


Walking in the Summer sun in Montmirail.


Quinn's first (sort of) ride on a horse.



Kayaking!


Our very own cherries from our very own tree. Quinn absolutely loved them. We even managed to teach him how to spit out the pit!


Stealing dad's toast. Love that blueberry jam!


Goofing around with our neighbor Garence.


The end of the year party for Quinn's daycare.



JULY

In July I was off on tour again with Aida. Jos and Quinn met up with me in Bordeaux and then we all went together to the Dordogne for a bit more work and play.



On tour in Brittany. Not bad!


Playing outside Bordeaux.



Swimming... probably Quinn's favorite part of the Summer.


AUGUST

Lots more traveling in August. Both for work and pleasure. But mostly pleasure. We managed to fit our vacation around the gigs that Jos had with his one-man show. It ended up being the perfect plan. We had an amazing three-part holiday in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Jos played twice in Slovenia, once on an island in Croatia, and we all got to stay on and soak up the atmosphere, and the sun. Nice work if you can get it!


Before we left on our mad gallivanting we went to Belgium again to visit the clan.



In Austria we stayed on a working farm that was also a bed&breakfast. Quinn developed a deep fascination with tractors both big and small.


Walking in the mountains outside Salzburg, Austria.

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Next stop the beautiful city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. We stayed for a week and almost wished we never had to leave.
We all completely fell in love with the city, and we're already planning our next visit.



Quinn in the park by our apartment in Ljubljana.

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And then we arrived in paradise. The island of Cres in Croatia. Wow!


We stayed at an amazing house on the island which came with a Donkey, Luca.
As soon as Quinn woke up each morning he raced outside to feed him .


Fresh, grilled sardines and fries... what could be better?!




Basking, boating, swimming... It was hard to leave... but September was calling and there were things to be done...

To be continued with Part 3 tomorrow...