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.

Mixed photos

Jakob's cousin Hugo with some of his toys.

Jakob playing with the battery driven train set he got for Christmas.

Jakob buliding a tower, very impressive I have to say!

Jakob loves the new red pants he got for Christmas.

Australian Christmas!

Australian Christmas is celebrated on Chirstmas day, the day after Swedish Christmas. We started in the morning with opening more presents!

Jakob loved the duplo bridge that he got from Jason, Karen and Hugo.

Adam cooked lamb for Christmas lunch, it was delicious!

In the afternoon Alice and her family came over. Alice and Jakob exchanged presents and guess what? they had bought exactly the same game for each other!!

Us drinking and eating and talking :-)

Swedish Christmas!

The Christmas party of the year was held in Ale at my aunite Maggi's place on the country side, just 30 min drive outside Luleå. As always Åke had prepared some fun games for all of us.

Santa is coming!

Later in the afternoon everyone was waiting for Santa to come with some Christmas presents...

Hugo got a present from Santa

And Jakob got one...

Jakob and mormor playing with some of the toys he got for Christmas before heading home to Luleå again.

Tuesday night

The end of the weekend was really good. We went ice skating on Sunday and I borrowed my brothers skates so that I could have a go. It is really fun and I think Jakob liked having me on the ice too. He watched how I did it (probably not a good thing) and tried to copy. I fell over once and I think that was good for him to see too. Not a big deal to fall.
After the usual Mc Donalds lunch with friends after skating Jakob and I went to visit mormor and morfar. He mainly played with mormor and she read to him, gave him a bath and played with play dough. I also had a really nice bath and some rest.

Today Adam and I went to dagis at the same time. Adam to pick Jakob up and I to have a meeting with Jakob's main carer at dagis, Stina. They have the meetings 2 times a year to talk about how the child is going etc. She only had positive things to say about Jakob. He seems very secure she said and really likes it at dagis. He eats well, he plays well with the other kids, especially 3 of them that he plays with all the time, he is very helpul when it comes to picking up toys and helping other kids to get dressed. He is talking really well and understands pretty much everything you say to him now. He is also getting better at concentrating and sitting still when they read books or have a gathering to talk about something. In general it was just positive information which is very nice to hear. She said of course they sometimes fight over toys, and gets upset with each other but that is more just normal for the age and nothing to worry about. Before we had finished the talk Adam came in to the room telling us that Jakob had hurt himself on the way to the car and was bleeding next to his eye. Poor thing had blood all over his face and was really sad. We decided that I would take him to the medical centre just around the corner just to let them have a look at it. Jakob said he didn't want to go to the doctor but after talking to him he came with me and did so well. A nurse had a look at him and he sat still the whole time. The nurse cleaned him up and put a band aid on the cut and Jakob did not say much at all. It started bleeding a bit more when we came home so we put on a bigger band aid. Hopefully it looks better tomorrow. He was so proud of himself when we left the place and said that it went so well at the doctors!

Today!

After an average sleep last night I had a cuddle with Jakob in the morning before going back to sleep for an hour or so. It was so nice!!
Later in the morning Adam took Jakob out to play in the snow and I picked up mum to go shopping. They got home from Umeå last night and since dad is doing really well on his own we went out for a few hours. I bought some more clothes for the baby, some thermals for Jakob, a sheet for our bed etc and we also found some birthday presents from mum and dad to give to Jakob. After that we met up with Adam and Jakob at mum and dad's apartment and while Adam went shopping Maggi gave Jakob a haircut. He did great and sat still almost the whole time.
The day went so fast and not long after we got home Maria, Andreas, Alice and Melvin came over for dinner. We had a great night where the kids were happy pretty much the whole time. Andreas played some fun games with them...


...but they also played very well by themselves. It's funny, sometimes they get in to arguments all the time, and other times, like tonight they work so well together, talk through things (sort of), take turns and just come up with games they both want to play. At the end of the night they were both very tired and just sat on the couch reading and talking.

38 weeks pregnant

This is my growing belly at 38 weeks pregnant. So far so good. I don't sleep that great anymore and get tired if I walk a lot or stand for a long time, but that's only very minor things so nothing to complain about. I am actually feeling better than when pregnant with Jakob but I think that has to do with the weather. It is so much easier being pregnant in winter than in summer. Having to put on extra clothes doesn't really bother me and I can still wear my winter jacket even though it is getting very tight.

Not long to go now, could be any day or any time, or it could be 4 weeks away. That's part of the excitment, that we don't know when he decides to enter the world!

Mixed photos from yesterday

This is the lamb that Jakob picked from the toy shop to give to his little brother when he comes out. Isn't it cute??

Jakob is still doing extremly well without nappies. Both during the day and at night.

This photo is from last night when Jakob had just gone to sleep after a BIG day. Jakob and I went to Leos indoor playground with Zara and Sigrid and their kids and we stayed for 6 hours!! that is Jakob's new record I think. We had a really great time. The kids played so well together and by themselves at times, they ate well and they were happy pretty much the whole time. Us girls had time for chats and helped each other out with the kids when needed. Jakob did all the slides by himself and never asked me to climb up anywhere. It was a very tired boy who went to bed last night after playing like crazy for so long.

My camera!

I forgot to mention that my camera is now fixed and can be picked up from the post office tomorrow after 4 pm. Hopefully I haven't given birth by then :-)

The week...

The working week is over, it feels great! had Monday off to just look after myself, go shopping, have a fika, have lunch with Adam etc so the week has been quite easy. Adam has done most of the cooking and cleaning at home which has been nice.
Jakob is now back at dagis after 3 weeks Christmas holidays. It has gone really well and he loves being back. Adam said that he was a bit shy the first morning when he dropped him off but was still happy for Adam to leave. He has been without nappies the whole week and only had one accident at dagis. The nights are still going well, we can't really believe it.
I had an appointment with the midwife on Tuesday and the baby had grown since last week so I don't need to go to the hospital for an ultrasound. If the belly measurement is the same for 3 weeks in a row you have to have a check up. Everything else is looking good so now we only have to wait for him to come out. Tonight I packed the baby bag and my bag. Feels a bit strange and still hard to believe that we will have a new person in the family very soon.
Tomorrow I am meeting up with some friends at Leos (the big indoor playground) . I have explained to Jakob that I won't be able to go on the slides with him and that he needs to ask Sigrid and Zara if he needs help. He seemed to understand but we will see tomorrow how it goes...

End of the weekend...

Sunday night, have just finished cleaning the office. Or not quite finished but I cleaned up all our paper work and made space for some of the baby stuff. In the future this room will be the babies room, but to start with it will be shared by computer and office stuff, and baby stuff.
The weekend has been very good even though I find it hard to relax. On Friday Adam went back to work after having 3 weeks off so Jakob and I had a really nice day together. We took it easy at home in the morning and went to visit Stina and her baby Lova in the afternoon. After that we went to a toy shop where Jakob got to pick a teddy for the baby. He did really well and walked around looking for a while before he found a white, really soft, cute little lamb. He was very happy with his choice and has put it in the baby's cot. A few times every day he picks it up and comes and puts it on my belly to show the baby. Anyway, Adam got home just before 6 and he just moved over from the Ford to the Saab where Jakob and I were waiting and we went for a "fika" to Carina and Andreas' new house.

Saturday morning I got a sleep in since I don't sleep very well at night. I am so awake in the evening! normally I go to sleep quite early but at the moment I have millions of thoughts running through my mind and things I need to do at night. Friday night one thing I did was writing down all Jakob's routines in a Word document for Anders and Helena who are going to look after Jakob when we go to the hospital. They are at least the first choice, if that doesn't work out (because of sickness or something else) someone else will do it.

Mum and dad got home from Umeå Friday night but Saturday morning mum woke up with a bad cold. We were going to go and visit them, and they were going to look after Jakob for a while when Adam and I looked for lamps for the house, but we canceled all that. They needed the rest and I don't want to get sick at the moment if it can be avoided. Instead the 3 of us went around shopping and looking for lamps. It went quite well even though it is hard to concentrate with Jakob being in to everything. We bought him a mattress for the top of his bunk bed but we didn't buy any lamps... It is so hard to make a decision, there are so many to choose from and none that feels quite right.
Saturday night we were invited to Zara, Micke, Finn and Lykke for dinner. The food was amazing and we all had a really nice night. When we got home I was not tired at all so I started cleaning after Jakob went to bed. Slept very badly last night again but after being up for a couple of hours in the early morning I went back to bed which was nice. Adam took Jakob skating with our friends and they also went to Mc Donalds. That gave me some time to fix things at home and I also went shopping. I have now bought most things that I need and that the baby needs to get by in hospital and the first few weeks. Tonight I am going to email my birth plan to the hospital and maybe tomorrow pack the bags. I am having tomorrow off work!! The plan is to be home in the morning and then meet up with Adam for lunch in the city and check out the sales in the city after that. Should be good fun!

Only about 3 weeks until the due date but I guess the baby can come any time between now and the middle of February!

Thursday night!

After having worked only 3 days this week (public holiday yesterday and day off tomorrow) I now have a long 3 or 4 day weekend to look forward to. I am supposed to work my last week next week Mon-Thurs but I am thinking about having Monday off. I told work that I will probably be home unless I change my mind Monday morning. It feels like the baby could come any time and I really would like to have a few days just to myself.
Adam has had the whole week off apart from tomorrow, and he has been great at doing everything at home such as cleaning and cooking. Nice for me to be able to take it easy after a long day at work. Today I started to go through the baby clothes and in the next few days I will pack the bags for the hospital. Just to be prepared in case he wants to come out early. Adam bought the baby a new t-shirt today from our favourit shop P.o.P. We are both a bit the same when it comes to clothes. We want to use what we have and not buy so much, but we just can't help ourseleves buying a few new things for the baby. After going through all Jakob's clothes I realise that I need to go and get some pants for the baby. Since Jakob was born in the middle of the Australian summer we hardly had any pants for him at all. Today it has been -30 degrees here in Luleå and even though the houses are very warm, we will need some warm clothes for when being outside.

Jakob has now slept two nights without a nappy without any problems at all! we are so glad that it has been going so smoothly even though we know it can all change very quickly. Tonight for example he wanted to drink water just before he went to sleep. I only gave him a little but you never know if that will make him want to wee tonight.

For the first time in a long time we don't really have any plans for the weekend which is quite nice. Tomorrow night we are going to Carina and Andreas for a "fika" and to see their new house and at some stage on the weekend we will see mum and dad, but apart from that no plans at this stage!

Update

Just a little update from me. My camera has been sent to a Canon service place in the south of Sweden so in the next few days I am hoping to find out what is wrong with it and if it is worth repairing. I am obsessed with my camera and I really miss it.

Anyway, what has happened in the last few weeks? Jason, Karen and Hugo left yesterday so we have done lots of things together with them over Christmas. They have tried skating, downhill skiing, snow shoveling, watched ice hockey and basket ball, Swedish food, cakes and lollies, Leos playground, snow mobile and also had dinner at some of our friends places. Jakob loves his cousin Hugo and has been amazing with him. He hugged and kissed him and called him My little buddy.

My belly is growing and I am no 37 weeks pregnant, not long to go. I have one more day to work this week and 4 more days next week before I go on leave. Hopefully I get at least a few days after that before the baby arrives. I am starting to get prepared though in case he wants to come early. Adam and I went through my birth plan today, we will put together the cot in the next few days and I will also pack a bag soon. I am reading a lot about giving birth again and I am starting to look forward to going through it soon, even though I am hoping it will be a bit easier this time.

Jakob is doing very well. He has loved having someone to play with and him and Jason have built towers and bridges with the duplo he got for Crhistmas every day. He is also in to playing games with whoever is interested. I have to say I get bored very quickly even though I like playing with him. He has been a bit difficult when together with friends but I think there are a few reasons for that. He has had so much attention from adults lately that it is hard for him to share with children again. The other thing is that he hasn't been to child care for a while and that's where he learns and practices playing with other kids. Adam has been home with him the last few days when I have been at work and they have had a great time together so I am sure he will be back to normal again soon.

Over Christmas we finally started potty training. We have been putting it off for a long time, not really sure why, maybe being worried he is not ready, and also a bit of just us being lazy. Anyway, he got some jocks from grandma and poppa that he really liked so it was easy to get him to swap the nappy for jocks. After a few accidents the first couple of days it has been going extremly well. He wees and poos in the potty and toilet and have had no accidents (apart from when being tickled by Jason) in the last week. Today Adam was out with him all day and he came and told him when he needed to go to the toilet. He has also had dry nappies every morning for nearly a week now so tonight he is sleeping without nappy for the first time. Not sure if that's the right thing to do but I think it is worth trying.

Yesterday mum and dad went to Umeå to start dad's cancer treatment. He will be having radiation and chemo every Mon-Fri for the next 6 weeks. During that time they will be living in the hospital hotel in Umeå but they will be back on the weekends. I spoke to him tonight and so far it is going well and he is feeling quite good.

That's it for now... hopefully there will be an update with some photos soon!