School and the lamp.

We worked on the lamp for.. about an hour today, and we can't get it straight.. :/ :) We were extremely frustrated and we aren't sure what to do about it.. :)) But I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. We've considered putting weights on one side so that it can hang evenly.. :D

My bokföring (book keeping) teacher called this evening. He calls most every monday evening to see how things are going. He was impressed that I am done with chapter 7. There are 12 chapters. And for some reason he is always impressed with how far I've gotten from the last time we've talked.

This last chapter was about employee wages, taxes on the wages, and social taxes. It was extremely confusing at first, but after reading it a couple times and doing the questions, it wasn't as scary. I'm thinking of taking the SPCS course in the Fall, it is the computer class that goes along with this book keeping class.

I've only taken 2 of my computer tests (out of 7). But next Tuesday, I'll take 2 more tests. And then I'll only have 3. So, that isn't too much left to do for that class.

The Swedish class. She isn't complaining about my speed of work. So I think that is going well, too. I will continue with the class after summer. I never mentioned how my meeting went with her?! It was fine. We talked for only about 5 minutes (I thought I'd be there for an hour or something), and she printed out some papers for me for the next part of the class and that was that. She thought everything is good, especially my vocabularly.

Tonight Fredrik and I watched Primary Colors. He had seen it before, but I hadn't. It was a fairly good film. :)

And today is Mormor's birthday. :))

Leia is doing great with the time shift. She is going to bed at a better time. Instead of 18.30-19.00; she is going to bed at 19.30-20.00. And she is sleeping through the night and getting up at a better time. :) Not 5-6 in the morning. :) So the time shift was a good thing. :) She only wants/takes a bottle when she wants to sleep, otherwise she gets food. So she is getting 3 bottles a day.

But with her shift in sleeping, and sleeping longer in the mornings, right now she isn't wanting a morning nap, so I'm hoping that she and I can make it to the Baby Café, which her age group meets during the time she used to nap, so, hopefully we can try to make it some time.

Fredrik is off to Karlstad tomorrow for classes. Not sure what about.. I haven't asked.. :P :D But I think everyone is going to be going. Since he is in a more civilized town...... He will go to the baby store and get Leia a proper cushion for her high chair, and go to IKEA and get some more tin flower pots for me. :)) He will be there on Wednesday, too.

Hmmm...
I had a really bad headache yesterday, but other than that I've been feeling much better. I'm not nearly as stressed about my classes any more because I've realized that I'm doing fine with time. With having started the classes over a month after the term began, I think I am doing very well. I'm certain that I should be farther along in the Swedish class, but for some reason I don't think she feels like pushing me. She knows that I want to continue with it, that I'm not just interested in finishing it as quickly as possible, I've told her that I really want to reach the next level before I start Svenska B.
I have a horrible time understanding her, though.. :/ She has a horrible dialect.. :/ :( Not good when you can't understand your language teacher..... :/ Like in Stockholm, my Swedish teacher was Finnish...... I quit the class because it was so pointless.

We've been in Åmål for 11 months now!! Doesn't seem like it at all. :/

Fredrik went to the dump today to throw out lots of stuff. Getting rid of things we are replacing. :)

We really need to get a new car seat, though.. :/ Leia has outgrown hers. We have no idea where to even begin looking, there are so many kinds. The best place I guess, is to find one that works best in our car.

Okay.. it is late now.. :P Time for sleep.. :P

Loves her bath time.

Picture day.

Fredrik "and Leia" put together their BRIO car track, today. :)






But it was much more fun to take it apart. :))





Pappa was able to get all the parts to fix the pipe under the bath tub. So Leia bathed in a proper place. :) Instead of in the shower upstairs.


She definitely loves her bath time.



Still lots of fun even after all the water is gone!!

More Dop pictures.

More Dop pictures.

Crawling 02.

Crawling 01.

Finally! Here is the video. :)

Leia started out in her baby gym, and she managed to get over the hump and out of the gym, but when she did that, she took along her stuffed dog from "Uncle" Uffe. She tries to keep crawling, but it is definitely more difficult and I think she gets a little annoyed with it after awhile. :)

Video.

I've been trying to upload the video all day today, but it just won't process.. :/ Very annoying.

We've had a very nice day today. :)
Fredrik got to spend some time with his Leia and I got some school work done.

The heat is going full blast, and I've been freezing all day.. Hate that.

Not that much going on, nothing special at least.

I'm watching House of 1000 Corpses. Leia is in bed. And Fredrik is playing a computer game. :) I'm going to grab some Swedish stuff and look at that for the rest of the evening, while "watching" my movie. :)

We had a nice trip into town today to try to accomplish some things. :) I bought some things that I doubt we needed, but what is the point of having money, if you don't enjoy it at least every now and then. :)

The weather is rainy, but at least it is helping the snow go away faster, and now we don't have much snow left. Supposed to rain tomorrow, too.

3 hours & a swimsuit.

Leia and I went on a 3 hour walk yesterday! I really didn't intend for it to take sooo long, but we had a nice time. :)

She didn't sleep of course until I started the way home. Then I sat at the harbor on a bench, rested for awhile, enjoyed the nice weather, and watched a bunch of construction workers work on something slightly far away next to the restaurant on the lake. Then we made our way home and she woke up soon after arriving home. Pappa got home only a few minutes after us. :) (He came home early.) The weather was pretty nice yesterday afternoon.

And right now Leia is making her way across the living room to try to suck on the strands of a rug..... Which she very well knows she shouldn't do that because it is slightly disgusting, but she doesn't listen to us and does it anyways. :))

She still prefers green toys over others. :) And of all the toys she has, she loves this... round edged container for breath ments that I had bought while in the US. She grabbed it and started playing with it and won't let go of it. :/ :))

And I just filmed her chasing this green breath ment case around the living room. For awhile she was stuck on her red stuffed dog from "Uncle" Uffe. I'll get that on here of course. :)

Fredrik's friend, Daniel, who has a daughter 5 days younger than Leia, definitely agrees with Fredrik that Leia said "Pappa" in the video. :D I have a feeling that new Dads unite on things like this.. :D

Leia and I went out with much purpose yesterday, but we didn't get much accomplished besides at our trip to the grocery store.

We did get a little bit of clothes for her. I found the most adorable outfits. Especially this little red and white striped skirt with leggings attached. But they were too small, especially around the waist.

Ooh.. and she takes a pacifier now! She would randomly come across one while playing, and she would stick it in her mouth. And now she will suck on one every now and then. It will pacifier her for a little while, or she will play with it.

But I found some Pippi brand onesies and little leggings. Very simple and cheap (which is always good, considering baby clothes prices in Sweden). I bought size 80 (10-12 month), which is what fits her now. Her length is definitely in her waist. We realized that she is very quickly growing out of her clothes.

And once I saw it, I had to buy it:





Leia's first swimsuit. :)) I bought a size 92, hoping it will fit by the time it is warm enough to get wet... Which by God it should, since that is a 24 month size. But it looked so small.. It will probably be too big by then, though, once she thins out some more with getting longer, but that is okay, we'll have it for next year if it is too big. :)
I found a really cute baby pool.... It had like a baby gym on it, and toys attached.. But Fredrik complained about me getting it. And then when I put it back, he told me I should get it......... Men. :P

Leia had some beef stroganoff yesterday. :) Her first meat. I found it and thought I'd let her try it. She was very confused. :)) She.. not sure if she liked it, but she kept wanting more. She only had a few spoonfuls before she threw up.. :/ :)) I think the texture was a little different, it wasn't exactly puréed and she.. not sure it settled well with her. :) So we will save that flavor again for some other time. :/ :)) But this morning she had some baby oatmeal from the US. And she really, really liked that. :)

Okay, now Leia is getting a little grouchy, so it is time to go wake up Pappa.. :D

Presents from Carie.

A couple of days ago we got a box of presents for Leia from our dear friend Carie in the US.


Leia loves her Baby Einstein. :))





So adorable! :) The dresses will probably fit next summer, but with how fast she is growing, it wouldn't surprise me if she could wear them this summer.. :D

Carie is a teacher in the US Air Force and she just graduated a class yesterday. She now has 11 days of deserved rest before the next class starts. :)

Thank you so much, Carie! :)

Not sick.

I'm not sick.. technically. :)
Just tired and overwhelmed. :)

House keeping and cooking, and fulltime school work, and a 5 month old that can crawl..... Just tired and all that.
I've been having bad headaches and getting dizzy and lightheaded.
I thought I was sleeping very well. I usually go to bed around 21.30 every night, but I might not be sleeping as well as I thought I was.

And Leia is ALL over the place. :/ :)
She took it easy for awhile but now she is crawling everywhere and of course getting into everything she shouldn't. And she isn't interested in napping now. She is very happy and all that and doesn't get the least bit tired during the day (at least she is pretending well, and not going to sleep). She just wants to play, but it doesn't give me a second's rest. :/ :)

Crawling at 5 months.. And for awhile now she has been trying to pull herself up. Not into a sitting position but to a standing position. And honestly, we don't think it will be long before she walks.. :/

I barely get 30 seconds to sit still before having to go after her again. Of course that comes along with the "joys of parenting" but I thought we had at least 2-3 more months before that would begin.

I've been so bad at keeping up with people lately. I feel so bad about that. So many people I need to get in touch with.

Argh.. but now I should try to read a little while I might have a second.

Totally not fair.

If Fredrik gets sick or doesn't feel good. Then he just stays home from work and gets to sleep in bed all day.

If I am sick or don't feel good, then I still have to occupy an extremely energetic baby........

Newspapers.

We don't need to get a subscription to a newspaper because at least 2-3 times a week we get a free paper from at least one place or another as an enticement to get their paper. So.. we are covered.. :D And news around here is so slow, that it is enough with 2-3 papers a week.. :/ :))
There are so many little places with their own small papers. Today we got Säffle's newspaper. :)

Fredrik was in Ed today measuring for a house someone is building.

He has Monday off.
Tuesday and Wednesday he is in Karlstad for classes.
Thursday he works.
Friday he (everyone) has a meeting in Trollhätten to meet the new boss.

So he has 1½ days of work next week. :/ :)) Nothing that he is complaining about. :)

School is going okay.. :) Trying to study when I can.
Learning a lot about taxes with the book keeping class. Much more than I really care to know.. :D And it is no surprise that the unemployment rate is so high in Sweden, once you consider all the taxes that employers have to pay for their employees.

We finally change our time this weekend! They changed in the US weeks ago, so instead of the normal 6 hour difference, it has been 5 hours, which is difficult to keep track of (when the time is different than normal).

Not too cold today, and the sun is shining plenty, but there is still plenty of snow in the yard. Looking forward to the end of this week, when supposedly, the weather is supposed to get warmer and Spring should be on its way.

Now some lunch for Leia.. :P :)

Wonders of the Internet...

More Dop pictures.

Last night we received some pictures from Farmor o Farfar from the Christening.

95th Percentile.

I've been keeping an online growth chart going for Leia. And here they are:




She is in the 95th Percentile for growth and length.
However this is by American standards, as it is an American site, so I don't know exactly what it would be in Swedish standards, as the midwife didn't give us a print out today of her chart.

2nd Round.

We had our BVC appointment today (10.30). Which was a really bad time because we had to wake Leia up an hour early from her nap... :/ So she has been really tired today. :/ But Leia had her 2nd round of immunizations today. And it went really well. She cried a little when she stuck in the needle, but she got over it very quickly.

We also weighed her and measured her:

8.315 kg / 18.3 lbs
68 cm / 27 in

:)

We stayed after the appointment for the Öppen Förskola (Open Nursery) and it was extremely uneventful and pointless. :) The children are all much older and very feisty and lots of screaming.. :/ :) Gave Fredrik a good view of things to come. :))

Of course they had a keyboard laying around (?), so Leia thought that was a lot of fun. And the Öppen Förskola leader came over and said "hi" and of course she thought that Leia was a boy..... :)



But when we left, we ran into one of our parent-group moms! She was there with her little one, Oliver, and we talked to her a few minutes and let the babies play. They played with each other's toes and hands. :)) But he had been sick the last couple of months, found out he is lactose intolerant, but he is doing much better now. So that is good to hear. :)

And we went and bought Leia some more formula to help her poop. We are going to have to continually give her small amounts of it mixed in with other formula. She hasn't pooped since Sunday and she is very unhappy about that. :/ We hate it for her, but at least the formula works very well.

Today I have to meet with my Swedish teacher. There are 5 different sections, and I finished the first one a long time ago, but this was the first day that she could see me. So I have no idea what we are going to do, probably just talk about things that I've read and what I think about them and yadda yadda yadda... It will be extremely uneventful and boring, that I am 110% sure of.

Leia's next appointment will be a regular check-up with the barnläkare (pediatrician), since she will be 6 months. April 15th.

Leia's Dop.

Leia's Dop.

Leftover pictures.

Here are some leftover pictures that I never got a chance to put on. :)




We think she is so cute when she cries. :D She is crying because we put some saline drops in her nose to help her cold. :) And she screams bloody murder when she gets them.

A very tired baby. :)


She is completely back on schedule. With sleeping and eating. So we are all very happy. The formula is helping her poop, so we are going to keep her on it regularly, mixing a little with each feeding.

We do think that some teeth are going to come out soon, though. The bottom two look like they are getting to that point. So, we'll see when they come actually come out. :)

Easter pictures.

Mormor sent a beautiful Easter dress for Leia to have. Having an Easter dress for Easter Sunday is a tradition in the US. So of course Leia has to have her's, too! :)



Her first Swedish Easter Egg. :) But not full of candy! A toy cell phone inside. :)


Fredrik, Leia, and Leia's Great-Great Aunt Gittan.


Family picture.


Leia with Pappa, Farmor o Farfar.


A hug from "Aunt" Aina.


Just beautiful.


But of course she has to eat it. :D

Short video clip.

We cut a video very short and lessened the quality immensely so that I could put a short snidbit on here to share. Enjoy! :)

Leia's Christening

Here are a few pictures of Leia's Christening. :)

We had a very nice dinner at the summer house and then we opened presents. Leia received some of the most beautiful gifts. :) And then we went to the church and put Leia in the Christening Gown. It is from 1885 (123 years old). And Leia is the 23rd baby to wear it. :)







It was Fredrik, Leia and I, along with Farmor o Farfar, Great-Great Aunt Gittan, and Aunt Aina. :) And then there were 14 other people in the church for the regular church service. The Priest (who did an excellent job, we really like him) carried Leia around and let everyone look at her after the Christening, and a woman sitting in the back took a picture of her. :)))
He gave her a kiss, too, and the look on her face was priceless. :))

She behaved excellently. :) She cried when the organ started, but other than that, she was perfect as pie.

We stayed for a little while longer, he started the services at 18.00, did the Christening, and then continued with the rest of the service, but we left right before 19.00, so that we could catch the ferry, and make it back to Åmål before it got too late.

Tomorrow I will try to have a link completed for a viewing of all the pictures!

Hangin' out in the hallway 04.

At around 1:00, Fredrik is EXTREMELY CONVINCED that Leia says "Pappa." ;) :D

Hangin' out in the hallway 03.

Hangin' out in the hallway 02.

Hangin' out in the hallway 01.

Nothing special with these videos. But I thought I would share them anyways. Who would have thought that touching a door could be so entertaining?!

And yes, She has a sock stuck to her butt.. I have NO idea how that got there.....

Happy Påsk!

Happy Easter! Glad Påsk!

Fredrik is still in bed. Leia slept all night (19-05.30) and she is "watching" a strange Easter cartoon on the TV. (I think I'm watching it a whole lot more than she is. She is playing with some toys.) :) Caesar just had breakfast. And we are soon about to go wake up Pappa with his Easter Egg full of candy. :)

A resemblance!

Finally, a picture where Leia and Fredrik look alike!!! :D