Still waiting!

Jakob's actual birthday is tomorrow and that is also the due date for the baby. Can't see it happening tomorrow but who knows, for some women it goes really quickly. Hard to believe that something that took 3 days with Jakob would take one day with another baby but you never know.
Still not sleeping so well but I guess that is part of it all. Was awake between 3-5.30, that doesn't happen very often. Adam got up with Jakob so that I could sleep in the morning wich was nice. The rest of the day was very busy. Adam took Jakob skating and then to Mc Donalds for lunch and that gave me some time to clean at home (how can a house get so dirty in just a week??). It has been snowing all day so I also went outside to shovel some snow and I nearly got it all done before Adam and Jakob got back. Luckily the snow was very light today but I think I need to give my back a rest tomorrow. I have to say I quite enjoy shovelling snow. Especially when it is light like now.
Thanks everyone for all the nice presents Jakob got for his birthday! Lets see if he will get a baby brother on his birthday. I doubt it...

Jakob's birthday...

... is not until tomorrow, but we had a small party today to celebrate him. Last week he had his friends over for a party and this weekend it was for the relatives. Jakob is so in to games at the moment and he got a great one from Maggi and Åke that he wanted to play straight away.

He also got some great presents from mormor and morfar, clothes, a bridge to his train set and some lego. All very popular presents.

Blowing out the 3 candles...

Watching Mac Queen for a couple of minutes before getting back to his new toys. He got a Bob the builder dvd from Åsa and Micke that he watched before he went to bed and really liked! He also got a book with very nice photos of farm animals. Today there was too much going on around him to be able to enjoy it properly but he loves his books and I really enjoy reading to him.

More celebrations...

Andreas and Karin came over for a fika a bit later on. Karin is just the best person to play with and I am pretty sure Jakob could have kept going all night if he had been allowed to. He got a very nice t-shirt from them and they also gave us some clothes for the baby. If he ever comes out...

Relaxing with Andreas and watching Bob the builder.

Saturday

We didn't really have any plans for Saturday but the day ended up being quite busy. Jakob got up in the middle of the night so I was tired in the morning and had a sleep in. When I got up Adam went to they gym, after that I went to the riding club for an hour and after that we went to Maria and Andreas place for a bit. The kids had a really fun afternoon with hardly any fighting at all :-)

Kids having fun means parents can relax...

Saturday night we spent at home taking it easy. Jakob really likes looking at himself in the video camera... He must get that from his dad!

Friday at Leos

As always Jakob loves jumping...

And ice cream...

Us girls having a fika and a rest...

Jumping again

Adam having a rest...

Friday at Leos

Slept really well last night and Jakob didn't wake up until 7 this morning, not bad. We had a nice morning at home before we went to Leos at 10. It has been about -24 all day today so not really a day for outdoor playing.
We were 4 mums with kids (everyone apart from me had a big one and a baby) that had a great day together. Adam joined us after lunch and it was nice to get some help with Jakob even though he is looking after himself quite well on his own. In the car to Leos I said to him: Jakob you know that mummy can't do the slides with you? He answered back: No mummy, I will do them all by myself. Daddy can go with me when he comes but you can't, because you have a big belly. We did play together at one stage but then I told him he had to take me to activities that I can do with my belly and he took me to 3 places that I could easily do with him. He is so understanding! hope it stays that way when I am feeding the baby and can't play with him... We stayed at Leos until 4.30!! and then Adam took Jakob home and I went to a toy store to buy Jakob a birthday present.
As you can see, still no baby. Have had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions today but nothing painful. Can still be a few weeks away. Or a few hours. Or maybe on Jakob's birthday :-)

Thursday!

Only 4 days until Jakob's birthday, maybe the baby will come on that day! I thought I had one contraction this morning and waited and waited for another one to come, but nothing. So that means still nothing.
Yesterday it snowed all day and was extremly windy so I actually stayed home all day. I had planned to go out and see the girls that were getting together at Sigrid's place, but after a night with not much sleep I slept all morning after Jakob went to dagis, and just took it easy at home after that. Adam was also home all afternoon which was nice. This is what our driveway looked like last night before Adam went out to get rid of all the snow. He had to do some this morning as well and even I did some shoveling in the afternoon. He did all the heavy stuff and I did the last litte touches.

As always Jakob was in a very good mood in the morning and I played with him in his room for a while before he went to dagis, and I went back to sleep. After a nice kip I met up with Adam for lunch in the city, we had raindeer meet with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. Really nice!

Jakob and I cuddling on the couch after dagis.

My belly is starting to look pretty big...

Carina came over in the evening for a really nice sauna and after that tea and some cakes (cakes for me only). We also looked at photos of us when we worked and travelled together in Israel 15 years ago and couldn't stop laughing at ourselves. Not a pretty sight.

Still nothing...

Tuesday night and still no baby. The weather forecast for the next couple of days is storm and lots of snow so I hope the baby will wait for another few days before coming out. I went to the midwife on Monday and the baby is now engaged and everything is looking good. I still feel quite good apart from that I am not sleeping so well at night and I can really feel that the baby is struggling to fit inside my body.
Yesterday I stayed home pretty much the whole day. Did lots of paperwork, had some rest, went grocery shopping and the visit to my midwife. Today I was home in the morning but had lunch and coffee with friends in the city, walked around in the city for a while, met up with Adam, picked up Jakob and just took it easy. Nothing exciting but nice to just be able to do what I want to and get some rest.
Jakob is doing really well and both yesterday and today when he came home from dagis he told me: I didn't push Linus today! and looked very happy. Last week he pushed his friend Linus over a couple of times and I have tried to tell him that it is not a very nice thing to do. Another funny thing about Jakob is that he latley has started saying things like: I really like the food, but I just don't want anymore. Or... I like you mummy, but I want to play with daddy right now. Or... I like those pants, but I want to wear these ones today. It sounds so funny. It is like he wants to start with a positive before he says the negative, sort of. Don't know where he got it from, not from me or Adam, we probably start and end with something negative when we speak :-)
He is still doing well without nappies both during the day and at night. His night sleeps are still a bit up and down, not sure why. He has had a few nights when he has been sleeping well at night, but been waking up around 5.40-5.50 wanting to play. Far too early for us but not possible to get him back to sleep. Last night he woke up in the middle of the night again but I took him back to his own bed quickly and he stayed there for the rest of the night. It took him over an hour to go back to sleep though... very annoying. Hopefully this waking up at night is just a temporary thing.
Now I am going to go back to my book about giving birth without pain. It is about how you can use breathing techincs to manage the contractions when giving birth. Very interesting.

Sunday night!

My due date is only about a week away. Feel good and have no signs of going in to labor at this stage. Hoping for a few more days to do my own things but I am also ready if he wants to come out now. The weekend has been good and the party went well. Jakob was very tired when he went to bed tonight but also still very excited and was playing with cars and singing in his bed for a long time before going to sleep.
Last night I slept much better and so did Jakob. The only problem was that he came in to our bed at 5.35. Too late in the morning to try to get him back to sleep (has never happened before) and thereby no point trying to take him back to his bed. Since I felt quite good I got up with him so that Adam could have a sleep in and I went back to bed a couple of hours later instead. That time with him in the morning is so nice. We watched tv together on the couch and we talked. He often puts his arm around my neck and says: Mummy, can we talk about something? Often he does it in the evening when he doesn't want to sleep, but sometimes you can really see that he just wants to talk about something. It can be about what he did today, about when we went to Paris, about a party he is going to or has been to, about his friends at dagis about something else. I really like those moments and it is SO interesting to hear what's in the mind of a 3 year old.
Nearly bedtime for me. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the midwife in the morning but apart from that no plans for the day. I look forward to it!

Birthday Party!

Today Jakob had his third birthday party! a little bit early, his birthday is not until 1st Feb but because of us not knowing when the baby will come we thought we have it a earlier rather than later. Adam took Jakob skating so that I could do all the preparations for the party at home without interruptions.




Zara, Micke Finn and Lykke were the first ones to arrive. Jakob had woken up from a day sleep only 20 min earlier and was not in a good mood when he woke up. He did not want to wear the clothes we tried to put on, the only present he wanted was a car that he has been talking about and was just not up for any conversation or games. Luckily Adam started running and falling on the ground and in a matter of seconds Jakob got interested and suddenly the bad mood was gone and he was happy again. The party could have ended in a disaster.

Jakob was really happy with all his presents and the first one was a dvd from Finn with his favourite car. He was in heaven!!

Party pics

The boys playing with a car game...

...and the babies with some baby games...

The kids having cakes in the kitchen. They did well and were very cute and quiet when eating. Didn't have the patience to sit down for very long though.

Since Jakob doesn't like traditional birthday cakes I had bought an ice cream cake for him. Not really sure if he ate much of it. He managed to blow out his three candles in two blows and seemed happy with that.

Kids playing

Jakob and Finn playing with one of the games Jakob got for his birthday. Most of the time the kids played really well together and I think Jakob had a very very good time.

I had organised a small treasure hunt for the kids where they had to find a bag of goodies. They all got a picture each of a place in the house that they had to look for. Jakob got to try lollies for the first time and was very excited even though he didn't eat them all. It is starting to get really hard to keep him away from lollies and we thought today could be a good first time for him. We will still try to keep him away from it as much as possible (we don't want him to become as addicted to sweets as me...) but we will see how it goes.

After some pretty quiet games the kids started getting more comfortable and when Adam started chasing them around the house they all got excited and were right in to it.

Jakob and Finn having a wee together... They remind me so much of me and my best friend Karin. I have a similar photo of us when we are about the same age and me sitting on the toilet and Karin on the potty. Very cute.

No baby yet!

The baby still hasn't come out but it should be getting closer to the big day. I am still feeling pretty good, but a bit heavier and not as flexible as usual. Adam took Jakob out this morning when I was asleep and he got to try the skiis he got from grandma and poppa for Christmas. He did very well according to Adam. Later on Jakob and Adam went to a small hill not far from home where they played on a bob (small sledge with steering that goes fast down a slope). I stayed home and did some more baking and cleaning. I really look forward to being able to do more outdoor activities once my belly is gone (or is at least smaller...).

In the afternoon Adam went to the gym and Jakob and I went to see mormor and morfar. Mormor had just made some pancakes that both Jakob and I had a taste of.

Jakob also played with play dough, had a bath with mormor, read some books with mormor and played games with morfar. Morfar has now had 3 weeks of treatment and he has another 3 weeks to go.

When we came home Adam had prepared the kitchen for making pizza! We all made a pizza each and it was great fun. Jakob loved both making it and eating it.

Tomorrow we are having a small birthday party for Jakob unless the baby decides that he wants to come out before that (I doubt it). Jakob is really excited about it and talks quite a lot about turning 3 years old and having friends over for a party. Unfortunatley his cousin Moa hasn't been feeling so well latley and actually spent last night in the hospital. We hope she will be feeling better soon so that she can come over and play. Jakob was so disappointed when I told him that Moa probably can't come to his birthday party. Anyway we hope she will be back to normal very soon.

Sleeping problems...

The last week or so I have been sleeping really badly and also Jakob has had some bad nights. A bad night for me is that I feel very tired but can't go to sleep, and I wake up a lot during night and struggle to go back to sleep. A bad night for Jakob is that he wakes up once but takes forever to go back to sleep. From having pretty much never in his life slept in our bed, he has now slept with us a few times during the last week. He comes in so quietly and before we know it he is on my pillow and has pushed me to the edge of the bed. Sometimes he puts his arm around me and puts his face in front of my face. Really cute and nice moments, but I am just so uncomfortable and can't sleep like that!! Adam only wakes up for a few seconds and then goes back to snoring again. At least he can get up with Jakob in the morning and I can have some more sleep. I deal better with Jakob at night since I can't go back to sleep quickly anyway. Adam is good in the morning since he wakes up early most mornings anyway. Tonight my plan is to take him back to his bed and stay there until he goes back to sleep. It is not a good thing for him to get used to sleeping next to me before the baby comes.

Stretching...

Adam has started a new life after Christmas and has been going to the gym (it's true!) 3 times a week and plays innebandy 2 times a week. Here he is getting ready for tonights innebandy game by stretching with Jakob.

Jakob's injury is looking much better and before he went to bed I took off his band aid from yesterday and put on a new clean one. Last time I took a band aid off, it took me 4 days to talk him in to doing it but tonight he let me do it straight away.

The negative of the day is that after the carers at dagis having talked about how nice Jakob is, today he wasn't very nice to his best friend at dagis. He pushed him over 2 times. When I talked to Jakob about it he said to me; but I said Sorry after! and looked very pleased with himself. Hopfully tomorrow will be a better day.

Bettan and Rubin

Today I went to the riding club for the first time in many weeks. Bettan and I took beautiful Rubin for a walk in the snow, even though I didn't last for very long and went back to the stables.

What I look forward to the most after the baby is born is to eventually get back to riding and going to the stables again. And to be able to sleep on my back again :-)

Baby bed

A few weeks ago we put together the baby's cot since it was still in the packaging after moving from Australia. Jakob was as always very helpful and of course he wanted to try it when it was in place. Hard to believe that he used to sleep in there less than 3 years ago.

Old photos...

Below follows some photos from Christmas and New Years. My camera was broken but I borrowed one from a friend, and it has taken me until now to download them to the computer.

New Years Eve!

New Years was celebrated at home with a very nice dinner and nice drinks (for those who can drink alcohol...). We all helped with the cooking and it turned out very well. Jakob and Hugo went to bed early but were both a bit restless and kept waking up on and off throughout the evening. Overall it was a very nice and quiet night.

Dinner with mum and dad

Mum and dad invited us all for dinner but we decided to have it at our place since we have more room for everyone. The day after mum and dad went to Umeå to start dad's first week of radiation.

Stina and Martin's cabin

One day we were invited out to Stina and Martin's cabin. Karen and Jason got to try their snow mobile and we also had some nice fika inside the cabin.

Dinner at Finn's place!

Jakob and Finn making their own pasta, they really liked both making it and eating it!

Jakob and Finn hugging, sort of. Doesn't happen very often :-)

Ice hockey

Adam and I were invited to talk at a function before one of the ice hockey games after Christmas. I was quite nervous about being interviewed in front of about 80 people but it went well and was fun! This is me 36 weeks pregnant taken before going to the function.