Change of plans

Oh, the plans I had for tomorrow morning. Snow suits, mittens, hats, snow, sledding, lots of pics (especially of H's first time in the snow), snowman, rosy cheeks, hot cocoa...

Change of plans:
Instead of H's first time in the snow it will be H's first dentist visit. Still a first, just not as fun! At all! Here's why...

Never, ever stand in a boat bathtub.

Four, 4, IV, Fyra

E turned four years old a couple of days ago. Can you believe it? She's four! We went to an indoor play place today and before I had a chance to put H down E had thrown her boots in two different direction and taken off to play, still wearing her coat, hat and mittens. She was so excited! Last year she would play, mostly without me there, but she needed help with some things, like the big tunnel slide. This time she played with her friends without needing me at all. She still wanted me to join a couple of times, but she didn't need me. Big difference.

She has the sweetest little voice. In fact, right now, as I'm writing this, she's singing Away in a Manger in her room, while playing with a nativity set. It's the most beautiful sound ever! 

I think I've told you before that her attitude has gotten a lot better. It's still a struggle, but I think I can see an end to the wretched three's. In fact, today she's had a great attitude all day. She didn't even put up a fight when it was time to leave the play place. Knowing her that's a miracle! 

She just realized the right words to Jingle Bells halfway through this Christmas season. That one almost makes me a little sad because I've loved listening to Tinkerbell, tinker all the way for a couple of seasons now. I will miss that.

She loves preschool. Academically I think she would be ready for Kindergarten in the fall (in fact her teachers actually told me that she is way above preschool three level academically, if I may brag a little) but she still has another year of preschool left since she's got such a late birthday. And socially she needs it. She still wanders off in the middle of lessons to just twirl around or look at things more interesting to her. So although she has the knowledge of a school kid, she still doesn't act like one. I'm happy she gets to be just a kid for another year.

Her favorite show at the moment is Animal Mechanicals on Hubub. They had an Animal Mechanical Marathon today and I DVR'd it all. 

She loves her little sister to pieces, but since H is walking and getting in her way more often she tries to discipline her too much. 

She's a great helper, when she feels like it. She loves to help in the kitchen and I try to plan some menu items that she can easily help with.

She has asked Jesus into her heart!!! I still struggle with that one a bit. Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited, but how much can she really understand? I guess she understands all she needs to understand at 4 years old. She still remembers when it happened and she talks about it on a regular basis. I guess time will tell how well she grasped it. (Just want to let you know too, that this is something she did on her own, without being asked to.)

She LOVES to dance. So much that we signed her up for tap/ballet starting in January. It was a birthday gift from us and all of her grandparents. I think she will love it!

If you ask her what her favorite food is she will tell you it's soup. For her birthday she requested orange soup (butternut squash) with croutons. She eats pretty much everything and will tell you how delicious it is.With her sweet, little voice.

When she has a bad attitude we ask her to drop it. She will shake her head and tell us she dropped it. Now if she would only leave it on the floor...

Gardening is something that can really capture her attention. In fact, for Christmas, we bought a bin, put some sand in it and added some sunflower seeds and some fake flowers. She started planting right away and we had to remind her several times that she had more presents to open. 

E and H update

Well, snot is dripping and the germs are flying everywhere with all the coughing that's going on around here. My girls have a serious cold. It better go away soon! We're running out of tissues, again.

H is really good at both crawling and cruising by now and she has even been taking a couple of steps on her own here and there. But I missed her first steps. She was standing by the coffee table and E called her name and she took 2 steps towards her. Hubby told me. I didn't want to miss that. I don't want to miss any firsts. But I'm glad C got to see it. He misses some firsts since he's the breadwinner around here. Still, couldn't she have waited until I was done in the bathroom? (Sorry, was that TMI? Oh well, I know you go there too.)

H has a new favorite game. She plays "tittut" with us. That's Swedish for peekaboo. There's your language lesson for today. I'm sure you'll find it useful someday. She grabs the blanket (or pants if she's getting her diaper changed), pulls it over her face, waits for me to ask "var är H?" (no I'm not translating it, one lesson is enough) and then she pulls it off and smiles when we say tittut. Sometimes it even sound like she's saying tittut. That would be a funny first word. Although she babbles mamamamamamama sometimes too.

On to E... We have struggled for the past 2 years now. You know, with the terrible two's and the wretched three's. And then the other day, about a week ago I could see in her face how she was focusing on trying to do the right thing and instead of arguing she turned to me and said, ok mamma, and did what I asked her to do. The rest of the day was like that and I was so proud of her. But normally after a good day follows a day of struggles. I'm pleased to report that we've had a great week! Could it be that she's getting closer to be four? Is that promise really true, that it gets better by the time they turn four? I've been clinging to it and it seems to be true. Sure, we still have some arguing, defiance etc going on here and there, but I did not ask for her to turn into a door mat so I don't mind seeing that strong will of hers now and then. 

I also have a couple of "she said" things that need to be told but they'll have to wait because I have to peeeee. Yep, there's that potty talk again. I'm not apologizing this time. No time. Really have to go!!!!!

She did and she said

H finally started crawling, but she's not a fan at all. She would much rather grab you by the hands and walk around with you. She doesn't care that it's killing your back. And neither do you since she's so cute. Well at least you don't care for the first two minutes, then your back tells you to care and you put her down and she screams. That's right. That content little baby has an opinion all of a sudden.
She realized today that she doesn't really need you to walk around. Cruising around the coffee table works too, but it's still pretty slow.

E has a few funny things she says from time to time that I don't think I've mentioned before. (Please forgive me if I have.)
In the fall she occasionally enjoys some apple Chris.
When she cooks she follows a reciPete.
Before she brushes her hair it's full of nuts.

"She said" through Facebook

I've posted a lot of fb statuses lately of all the adorable things E says and does and wanted to share them here.

• E: What's today?
  Me: It's Saturday.
  E: Saturday is candy day. I get candy after lunch.
  Me: Yes you do.
  E: Can I have breakfast AND lunch now?

• E: what are we going to cook?
  Me: We're going to cook you some soup.
  E: cook me?! But I don't want to be in a pot.

• Oh the faith of a little child: She wanted to pray that God would take my cold away and when she was done she looked at me and said "your cold is gone now Mamma". Gotta love her :)

• conclusion made by E after a life long observation of our family:
  "boys get hot coffee, girls get hot tea"

• I love listening to E as she tells me what she learned in Sunday school. Today she told me about Joseph and his special coat that got mud on it. :) And after she was done she said : Mamma, I'm glad we had this talk together.

• ‎"Everybody needs flowers."

• Me: Drop the attitude.
  E: (shook her head down) I dropped it on my foot, mamma.

• I put H down for a nap and promised E that as soon as H fell asleep we could go outside. I then got the monitor from our bedroom, unplugged it, put in batteries, turned it on and heard big sister singing "go to sleep, go to sleep" to little sister. So sweet, but it had the opposite effect.

• E's in the tub drawing a picture of our family. "That's you, mamma,
  holding H. And that's you daddy, fixing something."

• my planned lunch: one wasa cracker with hummus and one with a boiled egg and kalles kaviar. I had both spreads on the crackers and was waiting for my egg when E decided to turn my crackers into a sandwich. If you know what kalles kaviar is you know how gross that is. But what do you say when she smiles and thinks she's a great helper?

• making lemony asparagus pasta for dinner. While I was trimming the asparagus E said: "ooh, bamboo!"

• served butternut squash soup with homemade croutons and afterwards E said: "That was delicious lunch, mamma! It was so yummy!"

• Just read from the Jesus storybook Bible about Adam and Eve to E. She said: "They have to listen to Jesus and the snake has to stop eating the bananas." =)

• my oldest daughter is a sticky mess. "Mamma, I like nipple cream!"

"I made a note book just like you"

Did you see
my
post
over
on
my
other
blog?
Well,
E watched me as I put it together
and decided
she
was going
to
be
just
like
mamma.
So here's her note book...

3/4

H is now nine months old. That's three quarters of her first year! (Yes, still a math freak.) I was looking through some newborn pics of her and just wanted to pick up that little baby again. It made me realize how big she's actually gotten, because most days I see her as tiny. She is nine months old and still weighs less than E did at her 6 months well visit. It's a little different going from a baby in the 90th percentile for weight to a baby in the 25th. What can I say? E takes after me and H takes after her daddy. (Not that we're in the 90th and 25th percentile now. I think we both evened out a little bit.)

She's still not crawling which just recently started to frustrate her. She tries so hard and then when it looks like she's about to do it she lays down and rolls over. So she gets around. Just not in the direction she had planned.

We (read C) lowered the crib today since she can pull herself up to standing. And she will take a few steps if you hold her hands. E finds this fascinating and pulls her up to standing all the time and tries to help her. She also carries her around. We try to tell her she has to ask first but I think she ignores that because she knows the answer would be no.

Tags are still a favorite "toy".

She has four teeth.

I still serve mostly baby food but occasionally she gets to enjoy my fabulous cooking. ;) She really enjoyed that beef stew we had the other day.

Can I just say I am so tired of pumping. The only reason I'm doing it still is so that I have something to mix her cereal with. What should I use instead?

I tried feeding her egg yolk which made her puke. E fed her pb behind my back. That made her puke. I read that pb allergy and egg allergy often go hand in hand and we have those allergies in the family so the dr suggested we get her tested for egg allergy before giving her the flu shot. Please pray that it comes back negative! The appointment is the 22nd of this month.

She LOVES bath time. She now takes bath with E in the big tub and she gets so excited. Not in the same way E used to, she was more hyper excited. You can see that H gets excited too, but more in a way that she smiles, it relaxes her. It actually goes along perfect with her personality.

Well, that's all I can think of as of right now. If I think of anything else I might sneak in here and update this post. Or not. I might just spend that time snuggling with my beautiful girls instead. Or my husband if the girls are asleep. Right now they're all asleep though. And soon I will be too.

Needs are met

I must admit that trying to find a new tenant for the vacant apartment was kind of discouraging, especially for C I would say since the financial burden falls heavier on him. It was however my task to set up showings and show the apartment to people. We had a few people call or email us after seeing it on craigslist and we set up appointments. Sadly I must say, most people today don't have the common courtesy to call if they can't make it. Two times out of three I waited for people to show up, just to realize that I just wasted 45 minutes of time I could have spent with my beautiful family. Some people did show up and we got our hopes up but never received an application back from them. One night as C was setting up all the paint supplies so he could come home after work the next day and start painting he said to me: "If I were to walk in here to look at the apartment I would look at the walls and ask if rent could be reduced for a month or two if we painted ourselves." (He is very handy and can fix most things around here, but he finds painting rather boring so I think it was some wishful thinking on his part.) The next day I had a showing and before I let them into the apartment I warned them about the walls, explaining that our last tenants painted them and their choice of colors were a little all over the place. Before I finished my sentence the guy said: "I was going to mention to you that I am a painter and I would be willing to paint if the security deposit or rent could be reduced." We signed a lease with them the day before yesterday and he started painting yesterday. Raise your hand if you think the Lord was eavesdropping... =)

Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:31-33
So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

1 Peter 5:7
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Frustrated?

I love being a mom and I love my little girls. But sometimes they (mostly the older one so far) are the reason I find myself quite frustrated. I don't like that feeling. And I definitely don't like how I respond to that feeling sometimes. Here's an article I read at least once a week to help me be more Christ like in my response.

two thirds

I might be a little bit of a math freak, I know. Not everyone would count their baby's age in fractions. My baby H is 8 months old today, 2/3 of a year. And as she grows older I have a few more things to add to the list I started when she was 6 months old.

• She sits up really well now. I still put a pillow behind her back b/c occasionally she will fall.
• She tolerates tummy time better now. She won't roll over right away but tries to get her little legs in crawling position. She always fails and ends up scooting backwards, away from the toys she desires.
• She has three teeth.
• We switched her from Zantac to Prevacid since the Zantac didn't do much for her. She pukes less now. (As long as I stay away from tomatoes, onions, chocolate, tea... anything that gave me heartburn while I was pregnant with her. I had chocolate sauce on my ice cream yesterday. She puked today.) But the new medicine has side effects. Stinky ones... And her reflux is still not under control. The projectile vomiting is pretty much gone, but the reflux is not. She just swallows it instead. I know it burns her little throat. We have a GI appointment next week for her.
• Her favorite toys are anything that has a tag or sounds like a plastic bag.
• I washed all of her fall clothes and realized as I looked at them that she's growing up. She's been in onesies pretty much all summer long and now it's almost time for pants and shirts. I know they will make her look so much older.
• She wakes up around 7:30. Nurses 4 times per day. Eats breakfast, lunch and dinner. And goes to bed after her 7:30 pm nursing. She takes 2 long! naps during the day. I think I have to start cutting down on her second nap b/c her last two feedings are too close now.
• She still eats stage 2 foods. Chunky foods make her gag. But she loves her puffs, that she can get into her little mouth all by herself. She's also a fan of biter biscuits. And I have to get her some of those freeze dried yogurt bites. She tried them when her friend baby B shared with her one day and she really liked them. E never did.
• She started to have separation anxiety. I know it's just a phase so I'm glad she's healthy that way. It will pass.
• If it's possible I love her even more than I did when I started this list 1/6 of a year ago. =)

Lucky me!

I just thought I would sneak in here a couple of minutes while H is asleep in her bed and E is playing on my phone in her bed. I wanted to write down a couple of things my husband does that I tend to take for granted. You know, all the things that he always does or are mostly his chores.

He sets his alarm early each morning to get up before anyone else is awake so he can be at work on time. Without him doing that I wouldn't be able to stay home with our children. I used to work with kids and really enjoyed it, but I love staying home with E and H. I'm so blessed to be able to do that.

We also own an apartment building and although I say we're not always enjoying the burden it sometimes can be to be landlords my husband definitely pulls the heavy load there. He's fixing things when they break, upgrading things that are old, taking care of things when our tenants have a problem etc.
He also does all these things and more in our place.

He takes out the garbage. Let's face it. It's smelly (think diapers) and heavy. Gross. And I don't have to do it. =)

He mows the lawn. Both front and back. We have a pretty big backyard and we live in a place with plenty of sun and rain so it grows fast.

He makes sure the pool stays clean and warm so I can take the kids out there during these hot summer days. He does the work and I get to enjoy it. Not really fair, and I'm thankful.

He fills up my car with gas so I don't have to do that with the kids in the car.

He takes care of our finances. We talk about them and make decisions together but he's got the ultimate responsibility here and I know that sometimes that burden can get heavy.

He puts E to bed, doing the whole night time routine. It's a nice break for me at the end of each day.

There are so many things my husband does that I'm thankful for and these are only a few. Some of these I could do, and sometimes I do, but most of the time he takes care of them and that's just wonderful. Thanks C! I love you! You're a wonderful husband to me and father to our children!

Stained

When we bought this house the former owner left her washer and dryer here. The washer works fine and we thought the dryer did too, until we started getting rust spots on our clothes. The inside of the dryer is full of rust, but we wiped it down with a wet cloth and it didn't leave any stains so we thought we were safe. Well, 2 years later we are left with quite a few rust stained items. Luckily it was always items we didn't care about that got stained up until the other day when one of H's cute little outfits, along with two blankets and a towel got ruined. I'm planning on making (hmm, having them made might be more accurate) quilts out of my favorite baby clothes and give them to my girls when they get older, maybe when they have kids themselves. So if you know of a way to get rid of rust stains please let me know. (And these stains are obviously dried in since the clothes got stained in the dryer.) And even though it wasn't in our budget right now we bought a new dryer today. It just had to be done.

Nice boobs!

Background info:
Every now and then when we're in the pool E wants to hold on to me and sometimes that means holding on to my bikini top. I always have to remind her not to pull on it and explain why.

Today's conversation as we're getting ready for the pool:
E: I don't wanna show my boobs.
Me: What?
E: I don't wanna show my boobs.
Me: Ok, let's put the swimsuit on then.

E: I'm hiding my boobs. You're hiding your boobs too. (pokes at them) Wow! That's pretty big boobs! I've got tiny boobs. (lifts up her top) See?

As I'm changing she walks in to the bedroom.
E: Ooh! That's nice boobs!

My baby is 6 months old!

H turned 6 months a few days ago. That means we're half way through her first year. Where did the time go?

• She weighs 15 lbs 6 oz (35th -40th percentile) and is 25½ inches long (40th percentile).
• She is the easiest baby ever, always content and smiles so big when you pay attention to her.
• She loves her jumperoo, E's old sensor play doll, baths and to glide around in the pool.
• Every time she hears daddy's voice she turns towards it and no one can make her laugh like E.
• She has a teddy bear on her changing table that she always tries to reach when getting her diaper changed so she turns and it gets tricky to get the new diaper on.
• She is a great sleeper (and always has been), sleeping through the night since she was 10½ weeks old, now taking 2 long naps every day.
• She's always sucking her two middle fingers and when she gets tired the other hand covers the hand she sucks on.
• The finger sucking thing makes feeding her solids a little tricky and messy but she loves her food so who really cares?
• The only time she really cries is if she gets over tired.
• She rolls from tummy to back all the time. I think she rolled from back to tummy once the other day. I missed it and E says she didn't roll her. (She sounded honest when I asked and she hasn't entered the lying phase yet.)
• She wants to stand up all the time.
  
• She still spits up a lot. I do a lot of laundry.
• She has very chubby cheeks.
  
• When I change her diaper she reaches for my arm, brings it to her face and snuggles with it, smiling really big.
• I nurse her 4 times a day. Her little arms and legs move like crazy until the milk lets down. When she's done she bites her gums together. I hope she'll get her teeth late.
• I love to kiss her little neck and it makes her laugh.
• I love her to pieces!
  

Sunday School through the eyes of a 3½ year old

A couple of weeks ago E asked me this question: "Mamma, can we put H in a basket and put her in the river and I can be a princess?" I guess they'd been talking about Moses at Sunday school.

Yesterday E wanted to play Sunday school at home. She read me a story after showing me how I had to sit. Then we had to stand up to sing songs. Then we got to play a little. It was structured play, not free play. =)

This morning we went through the sheet she got home from church. I asked her the questions on it. Here's how it went down:
-What is God like?
-"God likes Jesus."
-How did God help Moses and his people escape?
-"He helped them so they could walk between the waves. I colored the waves blue."
-When can you ask God to help you?
-"When it's raining. Then I can walk."

Twirly Girl

E loves to dance. Every day she dresses up in her tutu and twirls around. She actually came up to me yesterday and told me that daddy was taking her to ballet school at church. Not really sure where that came from.

Today I was reading the latest entry of this blog and they have a contest where you can win a Prima Princessa DVD. That would be such a great present for my little ballerina. I hope I win. =)

If you have a little dancer at home you should check it out. Just follow my links.

What were you thinking?

Do you ever feel like asking God that question? What were you thinking? I do every time I see a bug. I know, I know. Birds need to eat. I've heard that answer plenty of times. But he's GOD. He decided what the birds needed to eat. He could've picked something else. This morning as E and I went out to the pool I spotted a bug that made me ask that question over and over again. I don't think I've stopped asking it yet. I normally try to hide my fear of bugs in front of E because I don't want to transfer such a silly fear over to her if I can help it. There was no hiding it today! I had to explain to her that mamma was afraid of that bug. I called C and he told me to kill it. Why didn't I think of that. (Read that with a sarcastic tone, please.) His exact words when my voice was trembling on the other end trying to explain to him what the bug could do to me if I tried that was "it's just a bug". Well this bug wasn't just a bug. But it was sitting on the ladder that goes in the pool and I had promised my three year old that we were going to go swimming so I had to face my fear. I took the thing we clean up leaves with and was very thankful it was sitting on the end of a very long stick. I slowly moved it closer to the bug and prayed out loud for God to help me do this. I squeezed the bug between the thing I was holding (sorry, the word has slipped my mind) and the ladder. It wiggled, trying to get free. I stood there for a long time and the thing wouldn't die! It finally almost succeeded so I pushed it into the water where if floated around. Do you think the thing would drown? Of course not! So after watching it float around the pool about 5 times I had to rescue it so we could go for a swim. I threw it in the bushes. The whole time we were swimming I kept expecting it to fly back and hurt me just because I hurt it. You can only imagine my fear every time a leaf touched me. And my swim suit has all these strings to tie that float around in the water and keep touching me. Made me jump several times. And then a little bug actually bit my neck. I'm sure he was a friend of the nasty, big bug.

I must mention that as the bug was floating around in our pool I asked out loud "what is that?" to which E replied "It's a bug, mamma" with her cute little voice. "I know it's a bug, sweetie. I just don't know what kind it is", I said. She answered "It's a big one". =)

So what kind of bug was it? I have no idea. It looked like a mix between a cockroach and a moth (it had ginormous wings) and it was as big as my hand. I snapped a couple of pics with my phone, but it's not a great camera and I didn't dare to get too close so I don't know if you can tell either. I'll post them anyways...

She loves oatmeal!

I introduced H to solids today. First she nursed, both sides, and then I gave her one tablespoon of oatmeal mixed with two tablespoons of breastmilk. I couldn't keep up with her and she barely got messy. She was definitely ready for this. It took less than five minutes for her to finish it all. Here are before and after pics of her mouth. =)

Happy Birthday!

C is away on another business trip. When he went two weeks ago E was doing great. This time she's more of a challenge. Especially today. This was definitely a day of discipline. But it was also a day of fun. Yesterday she asked me for a birthday party and I though she meant a pretend one so I said ok and sat down on the floor ready to play pretend. She was pretty upset when she realized I wasn't going to drive her to the "birthday house" (church fellowship hall). I promised her that if it rained today we would make a birthday cake. And since it rained we made a gooey coconut chocolate cake. And then I remembered that H doesn't appreciate it when I eat chocolate. Oh, well... We also played a birthday memory game, hiding those little birthday cake candle holders that look like flowers under party hats and matching them up just like a memory game. Yeah, I know, it doesn't sound very exciting, but E enjoyed it.

H has been eating a lot for the past two days, waking up crying for food. I don't know if it's a growth spurt or if she needs solid food. She is 5 months old and that's when I started E on solids, but I really wanted to wait another month. We'll see how things go for a few more days. We've been out and about so much these past few days too so her sleeping schedule is a little bit off. That could be it too. We finally had a day at home today and she slept great for her first two naps. The third one she woke up early from and wanted to eat. Not sure if she woke from hunger though or just because someone (not me or E) was being loud.

Tonight, after I put the girls to bed I finally had some time to put together a bunch of things I need to ship to different people around the world. Hopefully we can make it to the post office tomorrow and hopefully they'll accept my boxes. I just used E's old shoe boxes, covered up the top with a piece of white paper from the printer where I wrote the address, but I didn't cover the rest of the box. It should still be ok, right? If they say something maybe I can argue that recycling is good for the environment =)

A very tiny arachnid

I'm still freaking out a little bit. About an hour ago I was about to jump into the shower when I felt something on my leg. I pulled on it a little bit and it felt like a skin tag. I looked down and it was a tick. A tiny, flat little thing with legs flapping around was stuck to my leg. If you know me you know that anything with more than four legs freak me out, and here is this eight legged, decease carrying thing trying to dig his way into me. C pulled it out and it came out in one piece, head and all. We don't think it had made it's way completely through my skin yet since it was so flat and little. But it still freaked me out. We checked both girls too. And C promised to go buy some of that stuff you spray in your back yard to keep them away. Overall I'm thankful that I got the tick, not the girls, that it chose such a visible spot and that it hadn't made it's way through the skin yet. Still freaks me out though, and both C and I feel like things are crawling all over us.

Playground happenings

We tried a new playground today. It was an older playground but it was still nice. There was a ton of shade, but a little buggy. I definitely want to go there again. Here are a few things that happened there:

• I was pushing E on a swing and she fell off backwards. She hit the ground scraping her lower back and she bumped her head pretty bad too. Poor girl!
• E wanted to go down a slide. The boys wanted to be helpful and make her ride a really cool one so they kept adding lots of dirt all over the slide and on her feet. She wasn't too happy about that. The boys couldn't understand why. So I told them she doesn't like dirt. She's a girl. Then D said: "Only boys like dirt." =)
• We were the last ones to get to the playground today and we were also the last ones to leave. E was playing on a toy and when she got off it she said she was going to go play with her friends. Then she just stopped and looked around. Everyone was gone. She started to cry. But we played on the stage coach together and she was happy again.

These were just a few things that stood out to me today. She had her bath and is laying on the couch drinking almond milk and watching Boz now. H is sleeping but I should wake her up to feed her. First I'm going to snuggle with E for a few minutes though.
(Oh, they just prayed on the show and she prayed along with them. So precious!)

May 26th so far

We had so much fun outside today, E and I. We played with her water table and got soaked. It started out with us spraying water at each other, but the new water guns sucked! So then we started throwing water at each other and it ended with me putting her in the water table. She loved it! She called it "a great, little pool". I can't wait for C to open up the real pool.
We try to get out during H's first nap since it's a long one and it's not too hot out yet. Yesterday we swept the car port, drew with chalk and made a new hopscotch. Yesterday's snack was watermelon and today we made a fruit salad of apples, pears, mandarin oranges, raisins and craisins.

E had pb&j for lunch today, with green beans. I made myself a Wasa cracker with hummus and put Kalles Kaviar on another cracker. I boiled an egg to slice and put on top of that cracker. But before the egg was done my helpful little E put the two crackers together and made me a sandwich. If you don't know what Kalles kaviar is I'll tell you, it's a salty pastelike spread made from fish eggs and it comes in a tube. I use it instead of salt on eggs. Not the best thing to combine with hummus.

We are on our third day without daddy. We miss him and can't wait for him to get back in a couple of days but so far we're doing great. I would have to say that the hardest thing is bedtime. And not the kids bedtime, but mine. It's so hard to go to bed alone!

Last night E woke up a few times. I think she was hot. We have to put in her a/c soon. Then she woke up at 6:30. Way too early even if she sleeps great. She came into the bedroom, grabbed my robe, put it on the floor and fell asleep on top of it and slept there for over an hour.

H is doing great. We're trying to move her to a 3 naps a day instead of 4 and we're starting to get there. Her morning nap is longer which is great for when we're home playing outside. We can just bring the monitor with us and stay outside a little bit longer. It's a bit more challenging on days we have to leave the house. Her second nap is usually the shortest one and the third one is pretty long.

One more thing before I sign out... Grattis på födelsedagen, Östen!

Chicken Salad

I am always looking for meals to cook in the summer. Because of the heat it's almost unbearable to use the oven. Everytime I ask someone they always suggest grilling. The only thing is we don't have a grill... I guess we should invest in one. One of my favorite summer meals is chicken salad. I love it! Here are the ingredients for the one I usually make: Chicken (duh), green grapes, granny smith apples, mayo, sour cream, tarragon (LOVE tarragon) and lettuce. I usually serve it in whole wheat pita bread. The other day I found a different recipe. The ingredients are chicken, pear, craisins, toasted almonds, mayo, plain yogurt, curry and sprouts. This one is also served in whole wheat pita bred.

Now I have 2 questions for you...

1. What's in your chicken salad?
2. What non oven, non grill meals do you make?
   

A little update

I haven't blogged in awhile, just in case you haven't noticed. I haven't had much time to blog, and to be honest I haven't really felt like it either. But right now C is shaving and taking a shower and I'm waiting to take a shower too, so I have a few minutes to spare.

My mom and A came to visit. It was great to have them here. C and E picked them up at the airport and when E saw my mom she let go of daddy's hand, ran up to her, gave her a big hug and said: "Mormor, I'm so happy to see you!" How sweet is that?! My mom still talks about it and it makes me tear up every time she does. What a great memory for her.
I wish we could visit more often, but it's expensive and the time difference is very hard to deal with when you have little kids. Hopefully it will get easier as they get older.

Last night E woke up crying for me. I went into her room and asked what was wrong. She said she got scared. (I think she had a nightmare.) And then she asked: "Mamma, you pray for me?" So I crawled into bed with her, prayed and she went back to sleep.

Oh, I hear the shower curtain. My turn! =)

She said...

E wanted a snack. I asked if she wanted pears.
"Yes. They're good for you. And they're tasty too."

We were brushing our teeth this morning. Earlier she had spilled OJ on her pj shirt so she had taken it off. As she was looking at herself in the mirror she said:
"Look, mamma! I have boobs."
Me: "Well, you have nipples."
E: "No! I don't have nipples! I have boobs!"

Short but sweet

E woke up about 15 minutes ago. She opened her door and asked:
"What are you doing in the libingroom?" (Yes, her v's sound like b's.)
I told her I'm reading my Bible. She immediately got her Bible out. "This is my Bible." And then she sat down in her bed with her Bible for about ten minutes. She's now sitting on the couch reading about Daniel and the lions to H.

3 more things from my list...

In about a month my mom and A will be here. I'm so excited!

E has been doing really well with H, but after she was born she started to have more accidents. So we started to use a potty chart again and she is now doing really well.

I went to the Children's Place with no intention of buying anything. I just had some time to spend. But I ended up buying matching Easter outfits for the girls. My plan was to buy a dress for E and let H use one of E's old dresses, but when I saw these dresses I just had to buy them. They are the same colors as the Swedish flag. How could I resist?

A very sweet "She said"

I should really be in bed right now since I need all the sleep I can get but I wanted to share something here.
We had put E to bed but she wasn't asleep yet. We put up a gate by her door so she can open her door but still not get out and she was standing there calling for me, saying she was sad. I wasn't sure if she really was sad or if she just didn't want to go to bed. I was nursing H so I couldn't go check on her so I told her she still had to go to bed. She then said:
"But I'm sad. Pray and ask that I get happy?"
How sweet is that?! C went in and prayed with her and after that she went to sleep. I love her!

She said...

"I want jelly bread, please!"
It took me a while to figure out that she wanted fig newtons.

I was sitting on the couch in a nursing tank, just about to feed H.
"I open the boob door, mamma."

We went to a birthday party yesterday. I think we spent a total of 7 hours on the road. By the time we got home all of the things that were neatly packed in bags when we left were now spread all over the van. I got E out of her car seat and she started walking to the door. C and I started getting everything together when we heard a little voice calling:
"Are you coming guys?"

Sling Carriers....

I just got this from CPSC. If you're a mom of a little baby please read, If you're not, please share with any new moms you might know. I have a sling carrier, but I bought it for when I carry my kids on the hip, to help even the weight out since I have a neck problem. After reading this I will definitely not put baby H in it until she's older!

Infant Deaths Prompt CPSC Warning About Sling Carriers
for Babies

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) is advising parents and caregivers
to be cautious when using infant slings for babies
younger than four months of age. In researching
incident reports from the past 20 years, CPSC
identified and is investigating at least 14 deaths
associated with sling-style infant carriers,
including three in 2009. Twelve of the deaths
involved babies younger than four months of age.

Slings can pose two different types of suffocation
hazards to babies. In the first few months of life,
babies cannot control their heads because of weak
neck muscles. The sling's fabric can press against
an infant's nose and mouth, blocking the baby's
breathing and rapidly suffocating a baby within a
minute or two. Additionally, where a sling keeps
the infant in a curled position bending the chin
toward the chest, the airways can be restricted,
limiting the oxygen supply. The baby will not be
able to cry for help and can slowly suffocate.

Many of the babies who died in slings were either
a low birth weight twin, were born prematurely,
or had breathing issues such as a cold. Therefore,
CPSC urges parents of preemies, twins, babies in
fragile health and those with low weight to use
extra care and consult their pediatricians about
using slings.

Two months ago, the Commission added slings to the
list of durable infant products that require a
mandatory standard. Additionally, CPSC staff is
actively investigating these products to determine
what additional action may be appropriate. Until a
mandatory standard is developed, CPSC is working
with ASTM International to quickly complete an
effective voluntary standard for infant sling
carriers.

CPSC recommends that parents and caregivers make
sure the infant's face is not covered and is
visible at all times to the sling's wearer. If
nursing the baby in a sling, change the baby's
position after feeding so the baby's head is facing
up and is clear of the sling and the mother's body.
Parents and caregivers should be vigilant about
frequently checking their baby in a sling.

CPSC is interested in receiving incident or injury
reports that are directly related to infant slings.
You can do this by visiting
www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx or call CPSC's
Hotline at (800) 638-2772.
 

checking off the blog list

I must say it's been really hard lately finding enough time to sit down by the computer long enough to actually write a blog. The topics keep popping up in my head so I started to make a list of things I wanted to share. I have a few minutes to spare right now so lets see how many things we can check off the list. (Haha, E just came over and told me it was her turn to go on the computer, we might not get very far.)

Voicemail
That's the first word on my list. The other day I realized I had a voicemail I hadn't listened to. It was a girl trying to get hold of her aunt L. She obviously had the wrong number, but didn't know it. She said "Hi, aunt L. I'm just calling to let you know I'm pregnant, but please don't tell my mom". And then her voice broke and she started crying as she was speaking, not knowing if she was going to keep the baby or not and saying she was in a lot of pain. Poor girl. She didn't even get hold of her aunt so I wanted to let her know that she called the wrong number and also make sure she was ok. Maybe she needed a doctor, b/c at one point it sounded like she was screaming in pain. So I checked my missed call list and the number was restricted. I hope she's ok and that she gets some help.

Dr office, my turn
H had her 2 months check up. E kept saying it was her turn to be checked. This coming from the girl who used to scream when the doctor got to close to her. So as I was changing H's diaper he gave her a quick check up. He said it was like Christmas in July. E sure has changed these last few months. Not so shy anymore (except with Mr C and Mr A, haha).

I guess we got two things checked off the list. H woke up and is crying in her her crib and E climed up on a radiator and wants help getting down. I'll be back (sometime).

It only takes a second...

We went to Lowe's today to look at some lights for the kitchen. E was getting bored and was wandering the isle. I didn't think too much of it. She was checking out different lamps. All of a sudden we hear someone on the speaker saying "Hello!". We turn around and there, at an empty desk, is our daughter with a phone in her hand. The whole store just heard that. Big oops!

You turn your back to your child for a second and that's all it takes. Like when E was sitting on the couch holding H while eating a black twizzler. I went to get something in the kitchen and she bit off little pieces and probed them into H's mouth. She also managed to get a spoonful of toasted onions into her nouth at one point while I was busy putting the bag of said onions back in the pantry. Like I said, it only takes a second. So I don't even want to think about all the seconds that have passed while I've been blogging... (No worries, really. Max and Ruby is on.)

Another today

Got my allergy shots today. First time since I got pregnant that they were able to up my dose. But since I'm nursing I can't take my regular allergy medicine so I'm stuck with an over the counter brand that doesn't work half as well as the prescription kind. So my arms are swollen. Half my upper arms are big and red. The biggest reaction they compare to on their chart at the doctors office is a dollar coin. I'm not about to tell them I had tennis ball sized reactions or I will never get up to a full dose again.
Next week they're adding cat shots. Not that we would even consider getting a cat of our own, but a lot of our friends have cats and I want to be able to visit them without getting an itchy nose.

This afternoon E was playing online Dora games and after doing so for a longtime I told her, no more Dora. I don't think I've ever seen her so mad. Worst temper tantrum ever!

We had pouch steamed fish, mashed potatoes and peas for dinner tonight. E downed it! The potatoes were really good, with paprika powder, yum!

A friend is letting us borrow their sit and stand stroller. I assumed it would be the baby trend one, since it's the most common one around here. It doesn't fit our car seat, but I figured I could still use it as soon as H can sit in the front seat and I was really excited that I didn't have to buy one myself. But I got even more excited when I went down to the basement and saw that it was actually one of the few (2 actually, I think) brands that is compatible with our car seat. Woohoo!!!!! I can use it right away. Thank you so, so ,so much D! I want to try it out right away, but it's bedtime for E and feeding time for H so it will have to wait.

Today

Today was cleaning day here, even though it's Tuesday. But C had the day off yesterday so it's almost like it's Monday. I can't clean when he's home.

My M-I-L went home today. She was here for 2 weeks. 5 more days than what she planned for. Her original plane home was canceled due to snow. We had a good time together. E loved playing games with her. I loved handing over H to her when she needed to be burped. =)
I wish our families weren't spread out all over the place. =(

I started working out today. I did two 10 minute work outs from exercise on demand. "Thighs and buns" and "abs and back". My legs felt like jello for half an hour afterward. E tried to do some of it with me. She looked so cute!

When C came home he took E out in the snow for a while. She is back inside now and he is snow blowing the driveway and parking lot.

E got to play on the computer today while I vacuumed. At first she vacuumed with her little toy vacuum, but then she got bored of it and I didn't want her to bring out toys while I was cleaning. She played a lot of Dora games. She's getting pretty good with the mouse.

Sweden got another gold medal today in men's biathlon. =)

February 14th, 2010

I'm waiting for my cup of decaf chai to steep. I really enjoy a good cup of chai tea, yum!

I finally figured out what classroom E should be in during church. =) She was shy, but had a pretty good first time in the class. Her teachers are so sweet! This class is a lot more structured than the nursery she used to be in. She loved that nursery, but she got really wound up in there. I think she misses her friends and I can't wait for them to turn three so they all can be together again. When I picked her up after service she immediately showed me her craft and told me what they had done. She's so sweet! Then it was time for Sunday school. They made another craft there. And the teachers gave them all little Valentine's cards. She loved it!

C and I got to go out to eat tonight. We brought H with us (she slept the entire time) while Nanny stayed home with E. Thank you so much mom! It was so nice to be able to talk with my husband without being interrupted by a three year old. We went to a cute little place that serves every meal in crepes. The food wasn't great, but ok. That didn't matter though. The company was great! I really enjoyed the experience of a non-chain restaurant. This one reminded me a bit of a casual, European style café . We need more nights like this, C and I. J, if you read this, we need to start this babysitting exchange we've been talking about.

Ok, tea is done and hubby is showered. Time for some more "we time".

What's your opinion on these three things?

I have three things I've been googling a lot lately, reading reviews and trying to figure out what to get. The first thing is a high chair. We never got one for Ella. I fed her in her swing or bouncy seat until she could sit in her booster seat. This time I want a high chair, but I have no idea which one to get. I want one that is easy to clean, doesn't cost a fortune, easy to strap and easy to remove tray. Any ideas?
The next thing is a sit and stand stroller. I was hoping I wouldn't need one, but E freaks out when we put H in "her" stroller, plus I like going for walks when it's warmer out. Not sure E would walk as far and fast as I would... Still not convinced that I need one, but also not convinced that I could do without one. I found these two that I like that are compatible with our car seat. The first one is the Joovy Caboose Ultralight. The second one is the Mia Moda Compagno. (It only got 1 star on this site, but it only got rated by one person and I've seen good reviews on other sites.) The problem is I would like to try them, but they are online only items. If you have any experience with either of them let me know what you think.
The third thing is a new car seat for E. She has 3-4 more pounds left in the roundabout before she's too heavy for it. I think I like these two the best, but then again it's from reading only so I value any experience anyone has. The first one is the Sunshine Kids Monterey and the second one is Britax Monarch. I also like the Graco TurboBooster SafeSeat, especially the price, but not as much as the other two. Hopefully E won't gain too much weight too soon. I want her to be closer to 4 years old, b/c right now I feel a little uncomfortable letting her use a regular seat belt. I know that some high backs come with a 5 point harness, but they are wicked expensive and the ratings aren't as good usually.

I would really like your input on these things. Puh-leeeeease!=)

She said...

Here's another thing she said...
E woke up with a runny nose this morning. We were sitting in the couch, snuggling and I told her she had a cold. Her reply... "No, I don't have a cold. I have a warm."

Our family

Here's a picture of our family... according to E. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

She said...

One day, shortly after we brought baby H home, I walked into the livingroom and found E sitting on the couch with her shirt pulled up and she was smearing something all over her belly, her chest, her face... you name it. She looked up at me and said: " I like nipple cream, mamma!"

Background info for the next three:
I try to speak Swedish with E as much as I can and sometimes she looks a bit confused because she knows a word in one languages and now she hears it in another. So we started telling her that daddy says this and mamma says that. Lately she has been very interested in finding out how we both say something, which has caused some funny moments...

I was cutting up some ham and told E that daddy says ham and mamma says skinka.
E: "Daddy says ham, mamma says skinka, E says meat."

Chris was drinking tea from his travel mug.
E: "Daddy says coffee, mamma says tea."

I was making a Swedish meal for dinner, fläskpannkaka. E tried to say it. I think she wanted to figure out an easier way to say it so she looked at me and said: "What's daddy say?"

Baby H is here

It's been a while since I blogged. But Baby H showed up a couple of weeks early so we've been busy (and tired!). All day Jan 2nd I thought I had braxton hicks. I have never had them so I assumed that's what it was. But they started to hurt more and more and come closer and closer together. When I called the doctor they told me to come to the hospital. I thought that was ridiculous so I waited until we put E down for the night. Some friends of ours showed up to stay at our place with her. Thanks T & D! We went to the hospital and it turned out that I was 5 cm dilated already. The doctor was as shocked as I was b/c apparently you shouldn't be as calm as I was. And then again things happened very fast. I had to pee and right after that 5 cm had turned into 9 cm. So again no time for an epidural so it was another natural delivery. The doctor was delivering another baby so I got the midwife (I didn't like her). I asked how long it would be before I could start pushing and they told me I could push whenever I wanted to. Thanks for letting me know! I pushed for about 45 min, but I think I only pushed really hard for the last 10 to 15 minutes. Baby H was born on Jan 3rd at 26 minutes after midnight. She was 6 lbs and 19". Pretty much the same as E when she was born. I guess my body doesn't like babies when they get to 6 lbs and pushes them out no matter how far along I am.

Baby H is 3 weeks old today and we are all doing fine. E loves her and wants to hold her all the time. "I carry it", she says. I am so thankful that she is so excited about the baby and doesn't mind the new addition at all. Not that we don't see a difference in her. She is testing us a bit more these days to see if anything else has changed, like the rules. But no, sorry kid! =)

There are so many things I could write about, but that will have to wait (hopefully not another 3 weeks) b/c I have to go feed the baby now.

ending oh nine, beginning twenty ten

New Years Eve...
We went to a party at our friends' house (well, her mom's) and stayed there for a couple of hours. We had a great time and so did E. She didn't want to leave. But we went home and put her to bed and watched a movie and then we fell asleep on the couch and woke up at 6 minutes after midnight. Yep, we missed the ball dropping. We did however see some clips of the shift from 2009 to 2010 from different parts of the world. All I can say is fireworks, fireworks fireworks... and then we get to America... light bulbs - lol! Even though I was never big on spending a ton of money on fireworks when I was living back home I still miss the tradition of walking outside in the cold to watch them. Not really the same thing sitting in your couch watching a ball of light bulbs move a few inches.

New Years Day...
We went sledding with some of our friends. Well, the guys took the kids sledding and us wives stayed home with the youngest ones. Sledding is fun, but this year I preferred staying away from the hill.
Today was probably the last time we saw some of our friends before they move far away. We will miss them!
I'm still very much pregnant which means that C didn't get his tax return. Sorry, babe!
Right now E is asleep (only took one timeout tonight to get her to stay in bed. Improvement.) C is putting a wardrobe together for baby H and I'm on here. For about two more seconds. All done!