Saturday afternoon!

This afternoon we had invited Maria, Andreas and Alice and also my brother, Helena and Moa over for dinner and for the kids to play. We all had a really great afternoon and evening with happy kids and parents and no pregnant ladies going in to labour. After a few sharing issues in the beginning the kids played well together and enjoyed each others company.

At one stage the kids where lining up to get a ride with Anders. The kids loved it, and Anders nearly broke his back.

After dinner I found Jakob patting Alice's back when she was watching tv. Could we call Alice Jakob's first girlfriend??

New car!!

After weeks and weeks of research and thinking (mainly by Adam) it looks like we have finally found a car. Adam had a look at it this morning and agreed to buy it so unless something changes, we will pick it up tomorrow morning. It is a Ford Mondeo from 99 in pretty good condition. Having a second car is going to make life a lot easier for all of us!!

Saturday morning

After a nice morning at home, Adam dropped me and Jakob at the riding club around 9 this morning. We spent the first hour to help my friend Bettan to sweep the floors and tidy up (even though I think we made more of a mess than actually cleaning...). Jakob has been a bit reserved towards the horses but today he took a big step forward and wanted to pat the horses and he even tried to brush one, with my help of course.

For the first time he had a ride on one of the wooden horses and he loved it!

He looked so confident on the fake horse! In the near future I think we have to try a real horse.

After a few hours at the riding club mormor and morfar picked us up and Jakob had a sleep in the car while I ran in to a few shops to pick up a few things.

The week

This week I have been away for work 3 days Tuesday to Thursday. The older Jakob is getting the harder it is to be away from him I have to say. Me and another girl from work had a training course at Scania in Södertälje which is quite close to Stockholm The 3 days were full on with lots of information to take in during the days, and dinners in the evening. I took the opportunity to catch up with Andreas who I went to uni, and to Australia with, and Anna-Karin who did her Master Project at Visiocorp in Adelaide where I used to work. They both work for Scania now.
Adam did a great job at home. He also had a look at a couple of cars and he also bought a snow plougher (photo will come later) and a lawn mower. Mormor and morfar have also helped a lot as always with picking up from childcare, looking after Jakob and cooking dinners.

Sunday night-again!

Another really busy week has come to an end. It has been really busy with some car problems (the car running out of petrol late Monday night on the way from Kalix), Adam working hard trying to find us a second car to buy, having visitors etc. Friday night I went riding which was great fun. Adam and Jakob had dinner at my parents place. Saturday I spent a lot of time with Jakob at home from when he woke up until about 4pm. He is just so fun to be with at the moment. He talks more and more, loves when you read to him, loves playing all sorts of games, and he is really funny! At 4 I took the bus in to the city to go to Stina's place for a Girls from the Riding club party. We started with a sauna and then Stina cooked a really nice meal for all of us. I was pretty much the only one who got really drunk between the 8 of us but I think we all had a great night. We have all known each other since we were about 12 from spending every day at the riding club when we grew up. Today some of us still ride, some of us don't, some of us wants to start again, some of us has a break, but we all really love horses, have a long history together and always have fun when we get together. I will post a group photo of us later.

Last night I stayed at my parents place in the city which was really nice. I didn't have to worry about how to get home, and I got to sleep in in the morning and have a hang over without Jakob jumping in our bed sayin Mummy up!! I always miss him though, but appreciate having time to myself every now and then. This morning at 10 Imet up with Carina, Stina and Martin at one of the hotels in the city for an amazing big breakfast! It was great and exactly what I needed the morning after a big party. After breakfast I caught up with Sigrid for a coffee before it was time to head home and go to Helena's birthday party.

Now I am going to hop in to bed and hopefully get a good night sleep before I get back to work again.

Birthday party

This afternoon we went to Helena's 35th birthday party. Jakob loves going there because he can play with all Moa's toys. When all the other guests left, Jakob and I stayed a bit later becuase the kids had so fun together and we weren't in a hurry. Adam left earlier to get a bit of time to himself before we got home.

We still haven't started to give Jakob sweets and so far it is really good. When everyone else is eating cakes and other sweets, we just give him a plate with fruit for example. I am sure it will be harder and harder to keep him away from it, but the longer it takes, the better.

Helena is now 38 weeks pregnant so Jakob's next cousin could arrive any time. We are very excited and looking forward to meeting the new baby.

Visits from Australia

Earlier this week we had our first visitors from Australia. Emma is Swedish but lives with her Stpehen in Adelaide and Emma and I used to hang out quite a bit and she was part of the Swedish "fika group" that used to get together once a week. Emma and Stephen stayed for 2 nights before they continued their trip to the south of Sweden. I worked during their stay but we had a nice lunch at the university one day and also get to spend some time together in the evenings.

Trying on clothes

I just thought Jakob was so cute in these photos that I had to put them on the blog. He loves trying on new things as long as he gets to do it himself.

Long day!

Today was a very long day. I woke up at 5 in the morning, wondering where Adam was, only to find out that he had stayed at my parents place last night.
Had a really nice morning with Jakob and when Adam finally came home I had a sleep. Around lunch time mormor and morfar came and picked Jakob up. Adam and I were invited to a Swedish girl who is married to a guy from New Zealand. They have lived here for a few years now and the guy speaks fluent Swedish. It was great to meet another couple who is in a similar situation to us and they were really nice.
After that we went to have a look at a car we wanted to buy. After lots of research and discussions about this car, we deciede that we wanted it, but when I called the guy who owns it, he said that they have changed their mind and are not selling it!!! so frustrating!! Not sure what to do now. Have to keep looking.
Jakob had a great day with his grandparents. They went out to Ale to visit Maggi, Åke, Åsa and Mikeal and to see Åsas new puppy. After that he had dinner at mormor and morfars place and also a nice bath. It was nice for me and Adam to have an afternoon like that to see friends and to get some other things done that is hard to do with Jakob. We missed him though and it is always nice when he comes home again.

New clothes

During the week Adam and I had lunch together in the city. It is great to have that flexibility at work to take a longer lunch when I want to and it is possible. After lunch we went to our favourite kids shop Polarn and Pyret and bought some new clothes for Jakob. They were all on special and I think we got some bargains. We bought 3 pairs of pants, one top and also the cap that you can see in the photo. We need to be prepaird for summer!

Sleeping angel!

Jakob has been going to sleep so easily the last week or so. When I change his nappy and put on his pyjamas we talk about what he is going to say to the koala when he goes to bed. We go through everything he has done during the day that he can tell the koala and when we are ready to go in to the bedroom, he is ready to hug the koala and tell him some stories. It is so cute. Lets see how long this lasts for...

Adam had a boys dinner Saturday night so Jakob and I had the night to ourseleves. I love those nights when I am in control of the tv, computer, phones, lollies´all on my own. I probably wouldn't like to have it like that every night but every now and then it is so nice. I also spoke to my friend Lotta who lives in the south of Sweden for nearly 2 hours I think it was. All that was missing was a bottle of wine :-)

Stinas and Martins cabin

Yesterday we finally took a trip out to Stinas and Martins cabin, together with Carina and Andreas. The cabin is so nice and cosy and we had a really great time. Stina had baked some yummie bread and I think Jakob ate 4 buns! he has been eating SO much the last few days. Must be a sign that he is feeling well and growing.

Stina and Jakob

Jakob had a great time playing, talking, jumping and eating.

The neighbours came past for a while with a 9 months baby and they actually came over on a snow mobile (skoter). Jakob was so impressed to see the baby in a sled behind the skoter and asked Martin if he could have a go on theirs. We got him all rugged up and Adam also got dressed to go for a drive in the cold, but as soon as we got outside and Jakob saw the skoter he started crying and wanted to go inside.

He was so cute in all his warm clothes.

Dagis - child care

Adam has been at work all afternoon so I picked Jakob up from child care today. We still haven't bought another car (hopefully on Monday...) so mormor and morfar picked me up from work and we went together to pick Jakob up and go home. They haven't seen him for a few days so they were happy to get to see him for a short moment. Mormor brought the camera and took a couple of photos.

Jakob really likes his "dagis". When we come to pick him up he often starts running around playing, showing us toys, pointing at photos of the other kids and telling their names. He is never very keen to go home. One of is favourite places at child care is the water room. In there the kids are allowed to play with water. They run around in their nappies and fill up water buckets, wash things and just have a lot of fun! The last week has been really cold so Jakob has stayed inside so we hope tomorrow is going to be a bit warmer so he can play outside for a while.

The dentist

Yesterday Jakob had his first appointment at the dentist. In Sweden all children go to the dentist for the first time when they are 1 1/2 and it is free up until they turn 18 (or maybe 19?).
I had to work so Adam took Jakob to the dentist and he did really well. He cried a bit when the guy checked his teeth but was happy for most of the time. The dentist talked a lot about the importance of brushing teeth (we have to get better at that...) and not to eat sweets and drink juice etc. So far so good. We just have to step up when it comes to brushing teeth...

Sunday night!

After a very cold and snowy weekend it is nearly bed time for me. Jakob has been asleep for a few hours already. Last night we had Carina and Andreas over for dinner and I cooked both the main meal and made a dessert! normally Adam cooks when we have guests but I have decided to make an effort to do it every now and then.
Today a family who normally lives in Perty came to visit us. The girl is from Luleå and the guy from Australia and they are looking at moving to Luleå in a year or so.
After they left Adam and I started getting serious about buying another car. I have been taking the bus to work every day, but with Adam working in Kalix, which is an hour drive from Luleå, we really need a second car so that I can pick Jakob up from child care etc. At the moment we are relying on mormor and morfar and that has to change. I really look forward to having a car because that means that I can sleep about 20 min longer in the morning :-)
Later in the afternoon today we dropped Jakob off at mormor and morfar and went to have a look at a volvo v40. It looked nice so hopefully we can buy it in the next few days.

At the library!

Jakob hasn't seen his friend Alice for a couple of weeks and he has been talking about her a lot. Finally on Saturday Jakob and I met up with Alice and Maria at the library in the city. It is quite a new place and really nice with lots of space for the kids to read and play.

In the childrens section there is a small cave where the kids can sit and read and play.

Apart from all the books there were some toys to play with, but the best of all I think was to move books around from shelves to tables to the floor to different rooms. We tried to tidy up after the kids as well as we could but don't think we did a very good job.

There is a small cafe next to the library so we sat down for a light pancake lunch after the library. Fortunatley Jakob didn't like his pancakes so I got most of them myself :-)

Lunch brought new energy and it was not easy dressing Jakob and Alice to go home. They had a ball jumping on a sofa waving to people on the other side of the window.

Jakob fell asleep in the car on the way home and I carried him to his cot without him waking up. Then I went straight to bed and had a really nice kep myself.

Saturday morning!

Time is going so fast at the moment, I don't know what happened to the week? Friday after work I went horse riding. It was -20 but I decided to go for a ride in the forest. It was actually really nice. I probably looked like a freak with all my clothes on, but I wasn't cold at all and the light from the moon reflecting on the snow made it quite light and so beautiful!
Anyway, Jakob is now feeling almost 100% after his nasty cold/flu and has been to child care almost all week. This photo was taken Saturday morning when Jakob and I had a really nice moment on the couch letting Adam have a sleep in.
After breakfast we called Caroline, Oscar and Carl in Adelaide and for the first time since we lef Australia the boys got to see each other on skype. It was great fun and Jakob really enjoyed it. He talked a lot about it during the day. Hopefully grandma and poppa can organise skype soon so we can see them and talk to them.

Jakob's birthday!!

Today Jakob turned two years old. Wow! He is such a big boy now. Yesterday he was really sick and slept and relaxed almost the whole day. He also coughed a lot. Last night he slept really well and woke up happy and feeling much better this morning. We decided to cancel the birthday party for the kids, but to still have the relatives coming since he was feeling better. The morning we spent just playing with his new toys, preparing for the party and I even took him out for some play in the snow when Adam was having a well deserved nap. The day went really well and even though we could see that Jakob was still not himself and coughing a lot he was great and coped well with all the people and presents.

This present is a tool bench from me and Adam. When Jakob opened it, the first thing he did was to grab a hammer, run in to his room, get one of his little chairs out, climbed up on it and pretended he was hammering something in the ceiling. He has watched Adam put up lamps latley so I think he wanted to copy him. It was SO cute.

All the way from Australia!

Because of the long long distance grandma and poppa and all the other relatives and friends in Australia couldn't be here to celebrate Jakob's second birthday. We missed them very much and wish that they had been here with us. Jakob got to say hello to grandma and poppa on the pone this morning and he also opened some birthday presents from them. He got some really nice books in English. I have read all of them to him today and he loves the one with the animals in the boat, and also the bedtime book. He also got some money to spend on a frame for his bed that he is going to move in to soon. He is still sleeping in a cot but I am sure we will move him out of there in a few months. Thank you so much for the presents!!

Presents from mormor and morfar

Mormor and morfar came with some really fun toys and some really practical things. Jakob got a great cash machine that he loves. They have one at childcare that all kids like playing with and being one of the youngest it is hard for Jakob to get time with it. Now he has got his own. He also got some plastic food and fruit with a plate etc that he can use with his stove and table and chairs. We can't wait to get served dinner by Jakob.

Finally Jakob got his own potty. He has only done a wee once at mormor and morfar, and for his birthday they bought him his own potty so that we can start toilet training. Jakob also got a pair of tracksuit pants, an indoor jacket and some socks knitted by mormor. Thank you mormor and morfar for great presents!

Presents from Anneli and France

My best and oldest friend Karin lives in Brest in France with her husband Vincent and their two daughters Felicia (my goddaughter) and Anna. I have known Karin and her family since I was 2 and their home always used to feel like a second home to me when I was growing up. Anneli came to Jakob's birthday party with a BIG present from Karin and her family in France.




It was a Police and Firestation! Jakob loves firetrucks so it couldn't have been a more suitable present. I think he will have fun with this present for many years.

Anneli also brought a very special gift for Jakob on his second birthday. It was this really fun house that you can learn a lot from. When Jakob first opened it he was obsessed with locking and unlocking the door to the house with a key. Thank you so much!

Åke, Maggi and Åsa

My cousin Åsa and her Mikael came together with my aunt Maggi and her Åke and they brought some great presents. Åsa and Micke gave a really nice wooden stick that you hang on the wall and can measure kids height with. That was a really good present!

Maggi and Åke came with a vaccum cleaner! Jakob must have thought he was in heaven, he was walking around saying Städa, Städa, which means clean in Swedish. Thanks to all of you!

Tårta och gäster

Jakob did a really great job blowing out the 2 candles on the cake. The only problem was that he wanted to blow out more candles and walked around asking for candles for a couple of minutes before he forgot about it and started playing with something else.
This is all of us having some cakes. Jakob is relaxing wtih Maggi and watching Teletubbies. At this stage he was pretty tired. After all the guests had left I just read him a bedtime story and he was asleep 6.50.