Merry Christmas!

Just want to say that I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and that you are enjoying spending time with family, friends and eating lots of good food.
We celebrated Swedish Christmas yesterday in Ale with Adam's brother and family, mum and dad, my brother with family, cousin Andreas and Karin and of course Maggi and Åke. They day went really well. Åke had organised some fun games for us when we arrived, we had a great Christmas lunch, Santa came with lots of presents for all of us, and we also had time to just relax and enjoy the day. The only negative for me was that my camera stopped working the day before Christmas. I still can't believe that it has happened, I use my camera SO much and now it almost feels like not having a mobile phone, or even worse. Still don't know what's wrong with it but I will look in to it.
Today we celebrated Christmas the Australian way. After a week with not sleeping much I was lucky to get a looon sleep in until 10am. It was amazing and something I really needed. In the later morning we opened all the Christmas presents from Australia etc. We got some great things from Jane and John, thank you so much!!
Adam cooked a delicious lamb dish for lunch for all of us, he did a great job! Later in the afternoon Maria, Andreas and the kids came over for a drink and to let the kids play. A very nice way to spend the day.

Thank you everyone for all the nice presents we got! Jakob loves all his presents, he loves the games he got and the lego (duplo), he sleeps in his new pyjamas, he slept with his new helicopter in bed last night, and tonight he wanted his new tractor in bed. He can't stop playing with his drill and the other tools that he got, and he can't wait to try his new skiis. Maybe tomorrow we will let him try them.
I borrowed a small camera from Maria and Andreas so hopefully I can add a few photos to the blog in a few days, even though it is just not the same without my own beautiful camera :-(

Mum's birthday

Today was mum's birthday so I went straight from work to their place for some celebrations. Adam and the rest of the crowd came just after me and we had a nice time together.

This morning I could hardly see the road in front of the car on the way to work. It was windy, snowing heavingly, and dark. Today we got the most snow for the year so far. The guys walk in to the city got canceled for a car trip. They also came past my work and we had lunch together.

Adam is having a few weeks off work and school so Jakob is home from child care during this time. Nice for them to have some time together. I am working a little bit over Christmas but I will also have quite a lot of time off which is nice.

Visitors from Australia!

Yesterday Adam's brother Jason, his wife Karen and their 6 months old son Hugo arrived from Australia. They have had 2 nights in Stockholm before coming up to Luleå so the jetlag wasn't so bad.
I took some photos of Jakob opening some presents from grandma and poppa but I don't know where they disappeared. He loves his new Rorry undies and the book!! thank you very much. Thanks also for the chocolate and the other things. I love my Freddo frogs.

We spent the whole afternoon just eating, talking, playing and relaxing. Nice way to spend a Sunday when you are 35 weeks pregnant...

Jakob loves having his cousin Hugo here and hugs him, kisses him and wants to hold him.

Playing in the snow!

Saturday morning we went over to see Alice and to play in the snow. Jakob loved riding the bob again and he had great time.

After and hour of playing we walked (the kids ran) back to Alice's house for some lunch and fika.

Later in the day I went in to the city for a fika with Carina and her sister. The city was crazy of people doing their Christmas shopping so I was quite happy to just sit down and enjoy a chat and a cake :-)

My normal day off...

...wasn't so normal last Friday. The singing is having a break over Christmas and so is the pregnancy yoga. Stayed at home all morning and did some cleaning and stuff around the house, was nice to not have to go anywhere. Later in the afternoon Jakob and I took a trip to see mormor and morfar. Jakob had a bath, played with mormor and of course some ice cream.

Christmas party at dagis.

Tonight we had Jakob's Christmas party at child care (dagis). The kids did a great Lucia performance but Jakob didn't participate much, he wanted to be with us. He hasn't had a sleep today and was very tired.

One of the highlights was when the kids coulds see Santa through the windows. He was walking around knocking on different doors trying to find all the children.

Jakob got a Rorry racing car and was SO happy and ran around showing everyone his nice car! at the moment he is sleeping with it in his hand. His mood picked up throught the night and he played a bit with his friends and toys. I have some nice photos of him and his friends but didn't ask their parents if I could put them on the blog so I won't do that.

Visiting friends

After skating we had a quick lunch at home before we went to visit our friends Maria, Mattias and their son Felix. After having some really yummy sandwiches and cakes we tried a new game that Felix got from his grandparents. This is the first time we play a game with Jakob, it was great fun!

Even though it was fun to play with the kids we had enough after a while, playing games for kids age 3-5 is fun for about 20 minutes. Jakob saw a necklase that Felix had and wanted the same so Maria very kindly started making him a necklase and a bracelet.

Jakob looked great in his new jewllery!

Something very scary happened when we were there. Jakob and Felix were playing in Felix room when we could hear that something was wrong with Jakob. We ran to the room and found Jakob choking on something. He was breathing but something was stuck in his throat. I put him over my legs and started hitting his back, but since he was crying at least it wasn't completeley blocked so I stopped. He had trouble talking and something was irritating him but after a few minutes it seemed like he managed to swallow whatever it was so at the moment it is probably in his belly. We can't wait for him to poo so that we can find out what it was! I think it might have been a bead but not sure. Jakob hasn't been able to give us a good answer.

Luckily we didn't have to go to the hospital so instead we went to Maria, Andreas, Alice and Melvin for a really nice dinner. At the end of the day Jakob was extremly tired and slept from 8.30 last night until Adam woke him up just after 8 this morning.

King of skating!

Yesterday we took Jakob skating. I haven't seen him since the first time he tried so I was so excited to see how he has improved. He is doing so well and can move by himself quite a long distance without falling. He dosen't really skate, it is more like walking with the skates on, but it is getting better and his balance is very good. When he falls he can get up by himself and he doesn't get scared at all.

After some skating it is nice to sit down for a snack with a friend...

Christmas party in Ale!

On Saturday Jakob and I went to the traditional Christmas party in Ale, 25 min drive from Luleå where my auntie Maggi and some more family live. It started with some Christmas porridge and sandwiches.

And then Jakob and Moa got ready for the Lucia train.

Last year they were all over the place when this Lucia train was happening but this year was much better. They stayed close to each other and did not run away at all.

As always Lucas was asleep most of the time but at the end of the party he was awake for a bit, here looked after by grandma.

The big happening was of course Santa! Jakob waited so paitently for his present and was over the moon about his gift - a purple car.

Friday off!

As always I had Friday last week off, and as always the day turned in to a very busy but good day. Took Jakob grocery shopping in the morning and almost ran late for our appointment with a photographer in the city at 11. A marketing company wants to do some sort of ad about living in Luleå, and especially moving back to Luleå for somewhere else. Since we have done the biggest move that they know about they want us to be in the ad. Adam met up with us in the main park in the city and we had our photos taken next to some Santa ice sculptures. After that Adam quickly took Jakob to mormor and morfar and after caught up with the rest of us at a lunch place in the city for lunch and interview. At 1 I had an appointment with the midwife and Adam came with me for the first time. Everything is looking good and my belly has grown a lot since last time. The midwife booked me in for another appointment before Christmas just to keep an eye on my fast growing baby boy.
Went to yoga as usual in the afternoon and this was the last session before Christmas. Hopefully I can go a few times after Christmas before I give birth. But you never know...

Sunday

Jakob slept really well last night which hopefully means that he is getting used to his new bed. We all had a nice and quiet morning at home. Adam spoke to his parents on Skype, I did a bit of washing and tidying up, had a nice breakfast with Jakob etc. At 11 Adam took Jakob skating and not long after I went in to the city to meet up with mum to do some Christmas shopping. Sunday is a great day to go shopping, the city was very quiet with not many people at all. I sent some presents and cards off to Australia, helped mum finish almost all of her Christmas shopping, did most of my own Christmas and birthday shopping and we also had a fika (coffee and cake). A very successful day. I managed to leave my phone in one of the shops but they managed to find the number to "Mum's mobile" and called not long after. That was lucky :-)

According to Adam Jakob did really well at the skating today. I hope I can go with them next time!

In the evening mum came over mainly to play with Jakob but we also had some more fika together to celebrate second of Advent.

Christmas market at Hägnan

Yesterday we went to Hägnan to visit the yearly Christmas market. We started with visiting Santa and Jakob was very excited. Jakob and his friend Finn couldn't take their eyes of Santa. When he asked the boys what they want for Christmas Finn answered: lots of small cars. Jakob answered just: presents, and pointed at the pile of presents on the table.

Next on the agenda was a sled trip behind a horse together with Zara, Finn, Maria and Alice. Jakob said as we were going around the track: I think this is really cool!

The kids also had LOTS of fun playing in the snow. They made very pretty snow angles in the snow and also pushed each other over laughing. Very funny :-)

Jakob fell asleep in the car within seconds after we left and as soon as we got home I went straight to bed and had a wonderful sleep too! Later on we had Maria, Andreas, Zara, Micke and all the kids over for dinner. The kids played really well together and Adam cooked a great meal!

Jakob's new bed!

This week Jakob finally got his new bed! He has been sleeping on a matress on the floor until now so we were a bit nervous about how it was going to go for him to sleep in a proper bed. Adam spent an afternoon putting it together and has bruises all over his fingers! He did a great job.
Thursday night was the first night in the new bed and Jakob went to bed easily but woke up 5.30 in the morning (my normal lucky Fridays...). We let daddy have a sleep in and got up and watched tv together and had a really nice morning together. Friday we also went to playgroup and singing.
Saturday night Jakob was very restless in bed and started crying at about 11.30. I had to go in and stay with him until 2am before he was back asleep. He wanted to get up, he wanted to play with cars, he wanted Adam to come in, he wanted me to keep talking to him etc etc. Very annoying. At one stage he dropped his favourite car that he now sleeps with, behind the bed. Being 32 weeks pregnant and crawling under his bed to find it right in the corner wasn't a very easy task. After that we agreed to having the car under his pillow. All this was happening in the middle of the night...

Dad

On Wednesday we found out that dad's tumor is a glioma and that it couldn't be operated on. We now know that he will start treatment in about a month. That means that he will be in Luleå over Christmas and New Years which is great. Mum came back to Luleå Friday night and dad will be coming to the hospital in Luleå tomorrow (Monday) night.

Dad's 70th birthday!

Last Monday dad celebrated his 70th birthday for the second time. The party with the kids was a few days before his birthday but on his actual birthday they had party for other friends and realatives. The day after mum and dad had to catch the bus to Umeå at 5.45 in the morning so the party started early in the day and finished early. Lots of people came to celebrate and I think everyone had a great time, but I have only put out a few photos on the blog. This first photo is of mum and dad.

Me, dad and Anders. I finished work early to come and help a bit and to meet dad and everyone else.

Anneli, who is my best friend Karin's mum, is like a part of the family, and she had very kindly made 3 pies for the party to help out!!

Dad and his sister (my auntie) Maggi was of course there too.

Dad and close friends Birgitta and Sven.

Advent!

When I came home in the afternoon I got on to some baking straight away. Most people know that baking is not something I do very often so I was pretty proud of myself for doing both "lussebullar" and chocolate muffins in one night.

I made a few mistaces along the way I have to admit but the end result was ok.

Adam was still feeling horrible from his night out so he only moved from the couch when I forced him to have some of my newbaked "fika", and later on when I crashed on the bed with a sore back and I forced him to tidy up after Jakob and get him ready for bed. Even though I sometimes miss having a beer or a glass of wine, I don't miss those big nights out and feeling that crap the day after...

Time for me to get ready to go to bed. Tomorrow I will have a busy day at work in the morning and in the afternoon I am going to my parents place to help at dad's 70th birthday party! Early Tuesday morning both mum and dad are going by bus to Umeå to get ready for dad's operation the day after.

Sunday morning

Adam had a biiiiig night last night so he had a sleep in this morning and wasn't feeling so good when he got up.

Last weekend I complained about Jakob always waking up earlier than normal on the weekend but this weekend he has slept really well. Good for me that he slept until 7.45 this morning because I slept badly last night, as always when Adam is out.

Anyway, Jakob and I had a really really nice morning together and about 11 Adam took Jakob skating again, for the third weekend in a row. I stayed home for an hour and did some cleaning, mainly our bedroom, it is now looking great! and I can't wait to go to bed knowing that the room and the sheets are clean. When finished I went to the ice arena but they were all just finished and about to go to McDonalds for lunch so I joined in for that. After lunch Adam took Jakob home for a sleep and I spent a couple of hours doing Christmas shopping and grocery shopping.

Saturday night on my own

The afternoon went really fast. Adam played floor ball, I dropped Jakob off at mum and dads and went to the riding club, picked Adam up and took him to a party in the city, went to mum and dad to have some dinner and pick up Jakob, went home and put some Cristmas lights and candles up first together with Jakob, and then on my own after he went to bed. At the moment I am sitting on the couch, have had too much lollies, watching tv and doing computer stuff and just enjoying myself.

Jakob went to sleep very easily. I always have to sing a song about trains and one Swedish lullaby before I leave the room. He always calls me back in after a while to put his quilt over him. When Adam is home he always calls for him when I go out, or the other way around, but when I am on my own it is always a bit easier.

Nearly bedtime for me too!

Saturday!

This morning I got up and started cleaning and tidying up in the house, to prepar for the first of Advent tomorrow, which is sort of the start of Christmas. Adam took Jakob outside to clean up around the house and after a while Maria, Andreas, Alice and Melvin came over to play. I finished Jakob's bedroom when they were out playing. Jakob's new bed is coming next week and I wanted to move some of his furniture in preparation for the new bed. It is looking really good now!

Adam cooked us all a very nice lunch and Jakob and Alice played really nicely together. A very nice way to spend a Saturday!

Celebrating dad's/morfar's birthday!

Dad's birthday is on Monday but last night we celebrated him together with Anders and the family. Also Maggi came to join us. We started in the afternoon by giving him a big present with lots of little presents inside. We had a very nice night with good food, lots of talking, some drinking (not for me) and just watching the kids have fun and go crazy. For some reason I didn't take so many photos.... maybe because I had the video camera as well...

The previous photo is of dad and Lucas. Today Lucas crawled for the first time, he is getting so big! and is almost always happy!

This one is of mum and Lucas...

Later in the evening the kids had a bath together and after that mormor read them a book about poo. Yes that's right, the book is all about poo.

Before we went home to put the kids to bed they gave us an impressive dance show!

Playground and singing!

Yesterday we went to our traditional playground and singing session in the morning. Zara, Finn and Lykke were there as usual but today Maria came as well with Alice and Melvin. Jakoba and Finn are normally the crazy kids running around dancing, jumping, throwing themseleves on the floor etc. This time they were both quite calm.

Last week Jakob hit one of the drums so hard that he broke it. This time he was a bit more careful.

Moa and Lucas were there as well, you can see her in red in the background. Her dancing skills are on a higher level than Jakobs at this stage...

After the singing we went to Max and met up with Adam and Micke and had hamburgers for lunch. I left on my own to go and look for Christmas presents and also had a coffee with Stina, and Adam took Jakob home.

30 weeks pregnant

This is what I look like being 30 weeks pregnant. The belly is getting bigger and bigger but so far I am feeling pretty well apart from the normal stuff, harder to sleep and move in bed, harder to put on shoes, and a bit more tired. Nothing to complain about and I know it could be a lot worse. Another couple of months to go if it all goes as planned so hopefully I keep feeling well.

The baby is now very active and moves around all the time it feels like. Jakob is really carful with me and the baby and seems to understand that I don't want to carry him so much. Always when stepping over me in the bed he says that he is going to be careful of the baby and takes a big step over my belly. He also asks if the baby is going to come out soon and that he is looking forward to spending time with the baby. Let's see how long that lasts for when the baby is actually out and home with us...

Jakob and morfar

After the party we dropped Adam off at home and Jakob and I went to visit mormor and morfar and had some dinner there.

Just over a week ago we found out that dad/morfar has a tumour in his brain. That explains why he hasn't been feeling so well the last few months, and also where the bleeding in his brain comes from. He still doesn't know what sort of treatment they can give him and he is waiting to get an appointmen to the hospital in Umeå (300 kilometers from Luleå) to find out more. Until then all we can do is hope that it can be removed but of course we are all very worried about him. Tonight he cooked Jakob and me some nice hamburgers and enjoyed some time together with Jakob after a bath with mormor. As always they also had some ice cream. Both of them just LOVE ice cream. Just like me...

Skating and Finn's birthday party!

Sunday morning started early and we all just had a nice quiet time at home. Later in the morning Adam took Jakob to the ice skating arena to try out his new skates that Adam bought earlier in the week. I stayed home and started going through boxes with Jakob's baby clothes and picked out the ones I want to use for the baby when he arrives. Adam told me that at first Jakob wasn't as excited about the whole thing as last week, but when Finn arrived he got more confident and did really well. In the afternoon we went to Finn's third birthday party!! Zara and Micke had done a great job with organising the party and had fun games for the kids and really delicious cakes etc.

In this photo and the previous one Jakob is trying out the game where you are supposed to climb, crawl and jump over things without touching the floor. Do I need to say that Jakob loved it?

It became so clear to me that Jakob is now longer a little boy. He played and had fun all afternoon without wanting us to be involved, even though there were a few kids there that he hasn't met before.

Even when the kids were sitting down for cakes he sat still the whole time (not like when we are trying to have dinner at home...) and didn't freak out when he got some cake that he doesn't like on his plate (at home he would probably have screamed that he doesn't like cream and picked it up with his hands or something like that :-)) Anyway, he behaved really well and Adam and I tried to stay as far away as possible from him as we thought that would make easier.

At first Finn didn't want to blow out his candles so Jakob was lucky to get to try. He didn't manage to do it so....

...in the end Finn did with a bit of help from his parents.