Dear all,

We’re having some technical trouble with the link from the website to flickr - please see new photos directly at our flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petra-keld/sets

Besides that all is well here in Amsterdam - Viggo finally crawled forward this weekend after some weeks where he (to his major frustration) was only able to head backwards. We also spent a nice 5 days in Denmark at Bedstemor and Farfar’s farm which was a great getaway for us all. Viggo loved to see the animals and of course loved all the attention he received. We can’t believe it but he is now a bit over 8 months old…where does the time go?

Unfortunately we’ve spent the last week enjoying the delights of the Amstelveen hospital instead of the sunny shores of Spain.  Good news is that all is well and we’re on the mend…but it would not have been our first choice for a vacation!  Spanish villa…hospital room? Hmm…which to choose??? Long story short is that Viggo’s cold that he’s had for a few months blossomed into what’s called the RS Virus (basically the common cold in adults and quite serious if you’re an infant) and he had to be admitted into the hospital.  He was not drinking sufficiently and that is a warning sign that the common cold had gotten a bit more serious.  So the poor little boy was quarantined from Sunday the 10th until today, Friday the 15th, at the hospital. 

He had to get a 10 minute dose of oxygen laced with antibiotics to clear his lungs 4x a day and what he could not eat on his own was given to him via a feeding tube in his nose.  It was all a bit of a shock to mom and dad’s system when he was admitted and suddenly getting this monster mask of steam stuck to his face for 10 minutes, 4x a day and then having this nasty tube stuck up his nose and then enduring a chest xray was all a bit much to handle.  It was amazing how our happy little world came a bit unstuck in the matter of just a few hours!  But thankfully our little boy continued to be very happy through it all (save a few crying spells due to nasty tubes and scary masks with steam coming out of them, etc.) and his smile alone helped mom and dad get through it. 

As he was contagious he could not leave his hospital room for the week so mom and dad got a bit of cabin fever…thankfully though we’re not sure he was even phased by it.  He probably loved the intense family time he received!  Only one of us could stay overnight and since I’m still breastfeeding I was the lucky one to sleep on the cot.  The staff was great at the hospital and it couldn’t have gone better.  We’re just so thankful that we did not get on that plane to Spain as he could have gotten much worse in that time or we could have been forced to navigate the Spanish medical system…neither of which are even remotely attractive!  We’re now all home and have until Feb 25th to ensure he gets all better as we’ll see the doctor then again for a follow-up.  It’s been a pretty intense week and we’re so happy to be home again.  It’s amazing how draining it is to have a sick child - what we wouldn’t have given to be in his place! 

Viggo is now just a week short of his 5 month birthday and we’re amazed at how quickly it has gone.  There truly is no way to describe how amazing it is to be a parent - how absolutely in love we are with our child and the incredible burning sense of protectionism we feel for him.    You could have told us all of this before he was born and conceptually of course we would have understood…however not until he was here did we fully comprehend what any of that meant.  He is, quite easily, the best thing that has ever happened in our lives.

So, here’s wishing to a happy healthy recovery for the little tyke and hopefully a bit of rest for his parents!  Here’s hoping all you parents out there have healthy little ones - we fully understand how hard it is when they’re not…and relatively, what Viggo has doesn’t even register on the “serious” scale by any stretch of the imagination! We have so much to be thankful for.

Love

the Juulsgaards

Haven’t posted in awhile so thought I’d add a quick note.   Viggo is now 4 months and 3 days and is doing great.  He continues to give us so much joy and happiness, we’re constantly amazed at just how positively our life has changed since he was born.  It is, undoubtedly, the most amazing event of our lives.

Since I last wrote we’ve been to the States for 3 weeks over the holidays.  He did wonderfully on the plane both ways and the jet lag effect seemed to have been minimal.  He loved being with Gramma and Grandpa Schwab and Aunt Kari and Uncle Stephen…who also became his godparents when he was baptised on December 30. 

Since being back on 11 Jan we’re trying to get back in the swing of things.  I have started back one day a week for work and plan to go back part time starting 25 Feb…which I must say I’m not looking forward to.  :(  It’s hard to imagine being separated from this little treasure of ours.

Today Viggo went to the pool for the first time and did great.  He’s going to be a swimmer like his mom!  Unfortunately received some very sad news about a friend of Viggo’s from our baby massage class.  Little Liam passed away yesterday of SMA-1 (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), he was only 4 months and 3 weeks old.  He was a precious little boy and despite the fact that his body wouldn’t move anymore he seemed like such a happy soul.  Sometimes life doesn’t make much sense.  Our hearts go out to Ilana, Jeroen and Kiki, Liam’s parents and older sister.  It’t such a tragedy and reminds me just how thankful I am to have such a healthy loving little boy.

Until the next post…

 :) Petra and the rest of the Juulsgaards.

Hi everyone.  Not sure who reads (or doesn’t for that matter.  ) this blog but thought I’d just drop a line to those of you who do.  Everyone is doing great here and Viggo if of course our absolute pride and joy.  He’s a week short of being 3 months old and it’s hard to believe it has gone so utterly quickly.  It’s just amazing.  He of course is growing like a weed and as we like to think is not really a baby anymore…he’s our boy! :)  But for sure he is well out of the newborn phase and is taking on more of a personality everyday.  He continues to amaze us with his good behavior - he is humoring mommy by following the schedule she enforces and so far so good.  He has now slept through the night for 3 weeks straight which has been an absolute treat!  He eats and sleeps during the day right on schedule and he honestly never cries except for the slight agitation here and there when mommy can’t seem to produce her milk machine fast enough.  We’re also trying to get him used to a bottle once a day so that when mommy does go back to work he can still eat but we have a sneaking suspicion that he’s not so keen on this plastic nipple thing.  So, we’re now trying different kinds of bottles to see if that might be it but it may just be also that he prefers the real thing.  However, he’s going to have to learn soon enough so we’ll keep trying.

 We’re off to Denmark on Saturday to show him off to the Danes and then on Friday the 21st we’re off to Washington, DC to spend the holidays with Petra’s family.  We’re looking forward to all of it but know it will go way too fast.  Fingers are crossed that the little man enjoys his first cross-continental flight…he’d better get used to it, this will certainly not be the last time he makes the trip!  He’s now armed with both a Danish and US passport so he’s well on his way to following in his parents’ travelling footsteps. 

 Have posted some new pics today after about a week’s absence…hard to believe, but yes, our camera finally conked out.  Amazing I know given that we never use the camera… But, we’re now armed with a new one so of course I had to post pics immediately.

 Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Love, the Juulsgaards

If the pictures aren’t enough you can also watch Viggo in “real life” on our YouTube channel!  http://www.youtube.com/user/Juulsgaards As you can imagine, we can’t seem to document our little treasure enough! 

The big day finally arrived on Saturday morning, 22 Sep 2007, at 0029 - 3 days before the due date!  Our beautiful healthy boy Viggo (pronounced Vee-go) arrived after about 24 hours of labor (12 of which was manageable, 6 of which was bearable, and 6 of which I’m hoping I will forget as they say one does!).  :)  He is beautiful and perfect in every way and we are so overjoyed we don’t know what to do with ourselves.  We’re all sleep deprived but somehow that just does not really matter right now.  It’s amazing how this little bundle of joy instantly puts such a wonderful perspective on life - and a sense of protectionism!

He weighed in at 3486 grams / 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 51 cm / 20.9 in.  He’s got wonderfully full cheeks, light brown hair and blue eyes.  And he is definitely a boy - a wonderful surprise for us as we did not know the sex in advance. 

Since being home the past 12 hours he has slept amazingly well and no one has had to tell him twice how breastfeeding works!  He seems to be adjusting to this cold world outside the womb incredibly well - and mom and dad are doing ok too.

We can’t wait to introduce him to everybody - he is, without a doubt, our absolute pride and joy.

Love to all

Petra, Keld and of course, little Viggo

Well, we’re now a few days past our 1 year anniversary and what a wonderful year it has been.  We can hardly believe it’s been a year and yet we also feel like we’ve never known life without one another - we’re pretty blessed.  We spent our 1 year anniversary in Mallorca, Spain (pics are on the photo page) which was amazing - lots of golf for Keld and swimming for Petra - tossed in with a surprise visit to a nude beach and a day cruising around the island in a BMW 650i.  A really great trip!  Now tomorrow (the 7th) we’re headed back to the Beyaerd Golden Tulip hotel for a night’s stay to remind ourselves of the amazing weekend we had jsut a bit over a year ago with all of our wonderful friends and family!  And in just 3 short months from now we’ll have an addition to our family - we’re not sure how you can top the year we’ve had.  We hope all is well with everyone.

Love, Petra and Keld

Well, almost married a year and aside from keeping the pictures up to date we haven’t kept this notes page up to date!  We’ve had a great year filled with a lot of travel…what else would be do?  Great news is that we’re expecting on 25 Sep 07!  Very very very exciting!  So far everything looks great and at this point Petra is just patiently waiting for her bump to show - perhaps patient isn’t the right word…Keld has a new job in Cisco that he starts 1 July - a Manager in the Graduate Trainee Sales Program.  He’s very excited and is really looking forward to it.  Petra has a few work trips yet to go but then the travel will thankfully stop mid-July and then we’ll just savor our peace and quiet until the little winky arrives.  Hope all is well with everyone.  Petra & Keld

Hi all. 

Married life is treating us fabulously and thankfully although the actual travel-honeymoon is over, the honeymoon still is alive and well and we’re trying to be careful not to alienate everyone we know by just being home-dwellers who can’t tear ourselves apart from one another. 

Keld is off golfing this weekend in Denmark with The Order (one of the large Danish contingents at the wedding) while Petra is at home competing in her last triathlon of the season.  A WHOLE weekend apart, can you believe it?? 

Next week Petra is off to Buenos Aires for a week+ of work and then shortly thereafter both of us will head to San Fran and Toronto (work for Petra, play for Keld!).  We’ll visit Keld’s family in Toronto so that will be really nice.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Love

Petra and Keld

Hi All…well our super videographer has provided us with an appetizer of the DVD to come and you can view it by clicking on the attached link.  Oh my…we really do kiss a lot, don’t we???  Sorry about that - I don’t think either of us ever realized it!

http://www.kitespotting.com/flash/wedding.html