I loved this. :)

Nothing exciting or special. :)

Sunny day.

A picture of Leia playing at the place yesterday, before everything went so bad.

Thank you both for your comments! I appreciate it.
Not sure about the jealous thing, though. The only thing that anyone could possibly be jealous of is that I haven't lived in the same town for my entire life.

I'm not expecting these people to be my friends. I'm actually certain that once I got to know them, that I wouldn't want to be their friends, based on how they might be as a person. I don't want to be friends with them, unless by chance something clicked. But I do expect them to make eye contact and maybe smile or say 'hi' or something of the sort.

I know I've not be the best conversationalist since living in Sweden. I think moving to another country with a very different language can have that effect on you. You are trying to learn a new culture and language that you've never heard before and you know you don't fit in but you are desperately trying ... You move to a new place, really only knowing 1 person ...

I don't feel American any more, and I don't feel Swedish.
I'm somewhere inbetween. I don't really feel like I belong anywhere.
I think that people here that know me, Fredrik even, forget this. That I'm not Swedish. That I am having to learn a new language and a new way of doing things, even after living here almost 6 years. I don't think I'm given enough credit or respect for the life changes that I have made. Or the sacrifices.

Those that know me in the US know that I am very quite and shy. I always have been. But those that know me VERY well know that most of the time you can't get me to shut up ... there is a reason why I can write and write and write on here ... :P My mind is an endless flowing source of dialogue.

So here I am in a new country, in a new town ... trying to just get to know some people, and I can't even get any of them to make eye contact with me.

I have never, ever felt like I fit in here (in Sweden). And maybe since I don't feel like I belong, it makes it difficult to feel like I can fit in with the people, and makes me more hesitant with pushing my way into social situations.

Fredrik said that Swedes talk and make conversations by very quickly finding something that they have in common and then talking about that. I guess that I'm just not used to that kind of conversation techniques...... Americans are very open about conversation ... something that Swedes need to learn.

I'm certain that it isn't me - that I'm not the problem in these little get-togethers. Someone could easily wave me over or say "sit down" or "join us" without waiting 10-15 minutes and then asking.... They even don't have to talk to me after that ... I wouldn't be offended if they didn't. But maybe a nod in my direction or a smile or an acknowledgement could make me feel better if I did get up the courage and get over my fear of speaking in another language to a bunch of strangers.

Fredrik is really, really annoyed with the parent-group people ... They know that we know no one and that we need to meet people here. Maybe they feel that pressure and want to avoid us because they know we want to make friends and they aren't interested. But they shouldn't be so egotistical to think we want to be friends with them. But he thinks they should try to make us (me, at these get-togethers) feel more welcome and try to include us, since they KNOW that I don't know anyone.

Ehhh..... ....
I don't know if I should talk to these people in English or Swedish..
I think the age is a bad age, too ... for us to come in and make friends.
I think if we (and them) were younger or older, then it would be easier.


Carie, you guys need to move to England or Germany so that we can come and visit you guys all the time.. :P :)) That would be awesome.

Here are some flowers that I cut from some bushes in our yard. The smell is divine, I absolutely love them. Maybe one of the reasons why I wanted this house??

Leia has just been the perfect little girl. She always is. It is just her sleeping that comes and goes and makes Mamma so tired.. :/ So we are anxious for Mormor and Morfar to come and stay with us and give us some helping hands for awhile. :)

Fredrik called the BVC and we are giving Leia 1 teaspoon (tsk) of her medicine now, and she said to up it to 1½, but Fredrik and I both easily decided to give her 2 tsp. I had the same medicine before, and it did absolutely nothing for me when I took it.

The weather has been just beautiful, and hot, hot, hot. At least 25 degC (78 degF) and it is supposed to be warmer this weekend. We plan to grill a lot, and I am going to make Fredrik his first rhubarb pie of the summer. :)

Yesterday I got a paper in the mail, inviting us to the National Day ceremony in Åmål. To receive "something" (no idea what) from the town, to celebrate me becoming a citizen. Everyone who became a citizen will be invited .. for all I know, in such a small place, with so few foreigners, I might very well be the only one.. :P

So we will be going to that next Friday, June 6th - Sweden's National Day (their 4th of July). :)) It is in the afternoon, and Farmor and Farfar will be around, so we invited them to join us.

That is all for now, I think Fredrik and I are going to watch the first half of "To Catch a Killer." Only ½, seeing as the movie is 3 hours long and I don't think that I could possibly stay awake to see the whole thing before passing out.. :P :)

Leia, this morning, taking all of her toys out of her toybox:

Another one of those days.......

I don't even know where to begin.

I decided to go to the Baby Café. I haven't gone the last few weeks, but I decided to go today because it was the last time for summer (and then it starts back up in August).

I get there and there are 2 other moms there. Both of their babies are 2½ months old. One asked how old Leia is, and I said "sju" (7), and she didn't understand me. Which is weird. Because I am one of the only foreigners that say "sju" and not "shoe." So I had to say it about 15 times for her to understand what I was saying. And that was really, really awkward.

One of the workers suggested that we go into the play room, because it was about 40 minutes before it was starting (we were all early, not knowing that it was starting at 10.30 instead of the normal 10.00).

We went into the room, and the two moms sat diagonally across from each other and layed their babies on the floor infront of them. Leia and I went over to the toys so that she could play. She started playing and they started talking. She started crawling around, and one of the moms (the one that didn't understand my "horribly" pronounced 'sju') was very impressed about Leia's crawling. I told her that she started at 5 months. The other mom then turned to the one I was talking to (as if I wasn't even there) and said to the effect of "so-and-so's baby started crawling at 4-5 months, and was walking at 11." Then she changed the subject with her and went on to something else.

Leia crawled around some more and then found her way to the babies. She sat down between them and kept looking at them. The moms were then talking about how big their babies were when they were born. The "friendlier" one asked how big Leia was and I answered, and then I said that she was a little baby. Then no one said anything else... for a long time. I prompted Leia to continue moving, and as soon as Leia and I were about 3 feet away from them, they started talking again.
At that point I got my stuff and left the room.

I go out in the hallway and there are 3 of the moms from my parents group that are there as well. There were probably about 25-30 of us total.

So we all go into the church and sit down and sing a couple of songs. Leia is very happy and loving it all and clapping her hands and all of that. After a few songs, we get up and there are stations set up around the church for the babies. One place has different musical instruments, another has different fabrics and feathers the baby can touch and feel, and another has lots of different fruit cut up and herbs, and some flowers, too, to smell and touch.

Leia tasted a lemon for the first time. :) She didn't make a face at all. :) She liked it. :)) But she made a face with the orange, though. :) But she liked it. She really liked the feathers, too. Most people went around together and talked and stuff. Leia and I went around by ourselves. But we had fun anyways.

After that we went to the front of the church and sang a couple of church hymns.

Then there was a brunch (fika) outside, up above the church. There is such a beautiful view there, over the lake and harbor. Very beautiful.

I got up to the spot and there were tables set up and chairs. And my heart just sank, I knew this wasn't going to go well.

I waited for a few minutes, and a couple of people sat down. I then went over to a table and just sat down, thinking that I might as well pick a place.

I was going through Leia's bag to find her favorite little, pink, kitty rattle. Then the priest (female) came over and started talking to Leia and said that she loves her little shirt (the övningsgår shirt). She left..
And when I looked up.. the other 3 chairs at my table were gone and everyone was already seated with everyone else.

They took my chairs.
Fine if no one wanted to sit with me ... but instead of a couple of people sitting with me, they took my chairs so that they could sit somewhere else.

Wow.
Talk about feeling awful.

I was stunned, and then.. I felt so.. foolish sitting by myself like that .. that I had to get up. I especially had to go somewhere because I was going to start crying. I got up and took Leia out of her stroller, and I saw one of the parent moms standing and then saying something to the other people at her table.

I took Leia into the small gazebo that was there, to let her play with some toys. She was happy and playing, and I was trying my best to blink away my tears while SMSing Fredrik like crazy. (He responded and told me that I should just leave - and I should have.)

I was on my knees, behind Leia, facing the entrance, when the parent-group person came over and said (in English) that I could go sit with them. I didn't look at her, I didn't raise my head, I just said "bra" (good) and that was all.

For some reason it made me even more angry that she asked me in English.

I didn't look up at her for several reasons. One, I don't respect her. And I'm NOT going to go sit with them..... And three, I didn't want her to see me crying.

I stayed in there longer, letting Leia have fun and play, and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. I'm sure the parent-group person went back to the table, and they were all thinking that I am a bitch for not being so incredibly greatful that they eventually felt sorry enough for me to ask me to come sit with them after everyone had pretty much dismissed my existance.

And like I was going to go sit at their small, round plastic table, which already had 5 adults sitting there, with 5 baby carriages around it .. and one of them a twin-stroller.

One of the singing people that work there came and said that she would hold Leia while I got something to eat. She is one of the ones that always comes and talks to us because no one else acts like we are visible. She held Leia and while I got a small sandwich she went and talked to someone at a table, I'm assuming asking if I could sit there. I got my sandwich and she told me that I should sit down at that spot, and so I just took the chair and went there and told her to bring the stroller over so she would put Leia down and leave us alone.

The one sitting there asked how old Leia is, and again I said "sju" and she said "shoe??" .................

Then the 2 at my table sat and talked to 2 at the next table .. and the conversations went like this:
"My husband knows so and so who works in Bengtsfors."
"I know who that is! I went to school with his wife."

How am I supposed to join in on conversations like that ?!
I can't.

I just wanted to leave as quickly as I could. I probably should have left when I noticed the chairs were gone. Might have made some of them think a little.

I went and threw my stuff away and Leia and I left.
And not only was my tummy hurting like crazy at that point, and fighting back tears and anger, but it started raining, and rained very heavily for my 15 minute walk home - and I didn't have an umbrella or a jacket.

It stopped raining as soon as I got home.

Leia fell asleep as soon as we started our way home, and she slept for a few minutes when we got home, then she woke up screaming, and I couldn't get her to stop, and she wouldn't take any milk.

I got in bed with her and finally got her to sleep after ½ an hour, and then 5 minutes later Pappa called my cell phone, which is in the room with us, and woke Leia up.. :(((
I know he called for good intentions, but I was angry.. :/ :) It had taken so long to get her to sleep, and then she had started screaming again.
But we got back in bed and she fell asleep right away and she slept for about 2 hours. I got to sleep for a little, but it was difficult, seeing as I didn't get any lunch, and my head hurt like crazy, and my tummy was grumbling.

I got lunch at 15.50, which was nothing more than a couple bites of leftovers.
So Pappa went and got us pizza when he got home. Much needed and deserved.

It is difficult for me to not think that it is me that is the problem.
I don't think it is ... but it is still difficult to not think otherwise.
Fredrik says they are all probably waiting for someone else to do something.

Mormor says that living in Åmål sounds like starting at a new high school with 10 000 students and you're the new kid and there is one clique that everyone is in.

Maybe the other mommies are jealous that our baby isn't inbred.
(That's a joke.)

It is as if I'm not even there. I look around and people don't look at me or make eye contact or smile. There isn't much I can do if people don't acknowledge my existance.

Fredrik doesn't want to go to any more of the parent group meetings. And I don't either. So we'll see what happens when the next one rolls around in August.

I just.. could NOT let something like that happen if I was in the other situation. If there was a new person and they were all alone and no one talked to them.

They took my chairs !!
"They took our jobs !!"
"De doo der doj !!"

I dunno ......

But I don't think I have ever felt so miserable in all my life.
What is wrong with these people?

Books.

I want my books from the US.

Sacrificies.

Leia's room has windows on 2 walls, so she gets the sun from morning until night.

With the sun in Sweden -- the sun is rising at 03.50 - which causes Leia to wake up earlier. This morning she was up at 5.

I had bought some black material to use to make some things for the downstairs bathroom. A cover to go around the bottom of the tub, and some curtains. But it was a little more necessary to make these for her room instead:






Now when her door is shut, the room is pitch black.

Now I just need to buy some more fabric..... :P

A nice weekend.

I think we all had a nice weekend. :)

Pappa bought a new toy:

For some reason, even though it was really hot, Fredrik said that Leia wanted to wear her jacket:


He said this is her jedi-jacket:


And we had a bad head-bumping on the coffee table.. :/


But Pappa makes it all better:


Along with Pappa's toy, Leia got a new rug for her room:


This morning Leia thought it was lots of fun to hug Mamma's leg:


Fredrik took some greenery to the dump yesterday, and he bought his new "toy." :)) And we thought it best to get Leia a new rug, seeing as she pulls on the other one to get lots of fuzz off and then she stuffs it in her mouth as fast as she can and she chomps on it as if she is eating a juicy steak.... Then you have to chase her to get your finger in her mouth to get all the fuzz out ... So we thought it best to get a new rug.. :D It is bright and colorful and she really likes it. :)

The car store in town has the car seat we want to buy.
For 3200 SEK (540 USD). *OUCH!*
We'll try to get that asap, and then return the rented car seat (which Leia has outgrown) to the hospital ... all the way in Trollhättan.

Fredrik made chicken yesterday and it was super yummy. :)
I tell him he needs to cook more often. :)

Leia has been sleeping for over an hour.
I put some laundry in the wash. I installed another add-on for the Sims (H&M).
I have 2 large questions left for my next Swedish assignment, which I hope to finish today. And then I can turn that in, and be done for this term!

Swimming lessons.

I'm done now.

First Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day !!

A little late for those Mommies in the US, they celebrated their Mother's Day on May 15th.

A picture of Leia and I that I had Fredrik take today. :) Not the best. :/ :)) Leia was in a good mood, but not interested in posing for the camera. :)

Cute little shirt, no ?? One of those that we bought at the cheap store in Ed (Karlssons). Only 80 sek (14$), which is really, really cheap in Sweden.

Now Leia is trying to take ALL of her toys out of her toy box.......
I have an old Amazon box, so I put a couple of her toys in there and she tries to take them out, and it keeps her occupied for a little while at least. :))

Fredrik bought me an awesome Mother's Day present. :) We had looked at them a little, but then he surprised me and bought me one. :) It is a digital photo frame. :) It has a screen and slots for memory cards and even a remote control. You can put it on the wall, or set it on a counter top. And you can have as many pictures as you want, and they automatically rotate. It even plays videos. :)) Not a cheap present, but it is really for both of us. :) Something we've been wanting. :) Not a necessity, but it is really nice. :)

We just can't figure out where to put it. :( We want to put it in the living room, where it is easiest to see, but there are no plug-ins. :( We really need to do something about the electricity in the room.

We'll put it in the dining room for now. :) Along with everything else that needs electricity. :)) Now I just have to go through all our pictures and pick what I want to show on there. :)) I wonder what (who) most of the pictures will be of?? :))

Leia has been great this weekend. She hasn't watched any cartoons at all, so I'm letting her watch Ferdinand right now. :) Fredrik hates it, so he is in the other room. :D

Today I let her play with one (of her 5) toothbrushes. :) Strange that a child with no teeth would have so many toothbrushes. :/ :))

We had Thai food for dinner. I think Fredrik is going to cook tomorrow. :)
Yesterday I made a cake for once. :)
A homemade white cake, split in half, with some vanilla cream and some raspberries and blueberries. :) Very yummy. :)

I think Fredrik has figured out which car seat we will buy. It was "best in test." And it was tested in a Volvo V70, our car, so we know it will fit in there well. She will be able to use it until she is 4 years or 25kg (55 pounds).

Be Safe iZi Kid X1

3000 sek (500$).
Crazy.
You could buy 3 car seats for that price in the US. :/
We think (hope) that we might be able to buy it from a car store here in town.

I think Fredrik and I will watch a movie tonight, but I'm not sure what. :)
I haven't been so good with my movie reviews lately. :/ We've watched lots of great movies lately:
- Iron Man
- Rambo
- The Golden Compass
to name a few.

I think Fredrik is going to go tomorrow and buy himself an early Father's Day present. :) Early seeing as Father's day isn't until November in Sweden... :D He wants a cordless grass trimmer. The way our yard is, and with the electricity strangeness concerning the house, it is impossible to drag cords everywhere to reach.. so we need a cordless one.

Leia snorts when she laughs.. :/ :) Just like her Mamma.. :P

We checked out the daycare yesterday.
We really, really liked it. There are 3 in the staff. The place is within an apartment complex. It used to be a daycare, but it had been empty for the past year, until they took it over. They will take 13 children and it is a private place. They explained to us how it works with the hours and all that. And that with a private place, you can have your hours more better placed than at a normal town-daycare.

We can put in an application for Leia when she turns 8 months. The application goes to the commune. We write which place we would prefer for Leia to go, and then they decide. :/

The only thing my book keeping class can help me do is start my own business... I've thought about starting my own daycare. :)) English speaking !! Even for Swedish children (as Leia might very well be the only English speaking baby in all of Åmål). But I have a feeling others would like the opportunity as well.

There actually is an old gas station at the end of our street that has been for sale before we moved here and it is being used for a small gym-training place or something like that right now. I could buy it and have a daycare!! :D
Fredrik isn't so keen on the idea.. :/:))

I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty.. :P
But I should try to finish up some work while it is nice and quite right now. :)

Eurovision.

Best: Finland
Worst: Germany

Very, very glad that Russia won! Seeing as who was in the top 10.

Cedar Point...

America's Rollercoaster..!


So I was going through Aftonbladet, a Swedish tabloid paper. And I came across this:

Världens 5 bästa nöjesfält i sommar
1. Disneyland Resort Paris, som firar 15 år.

2. Cedar Point, Ohio, USA. Flest åkattraktioner av alla världens nöjesfält, bland annat en ny berg-och-dalbana som kostat över 100 miljoner kronor.

3. Everland, Sydkorea. Hinner du inte resa runt hela Europa i sommar, åk hit. Besökare utlovas att få uppleva hela Europa på bara en dag i en galen karneval. Dessutom utlovas blomsterhysteri.

4. Phantasialand, Brühl, Tyskland. Flera nya shower, bland annat en ny stuntshow.

5. Six Flags Mexico, Mexico city, Mexico.

The World's 5 best amusement parks this summer:

2. Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio!

I grew up going to Cedar Point as it is only about a 30 minute drive from my parents house. And my sister worked there, too. :P
The place is awesome. :) I love it there. :)
My friends and I would buy season passes and spend every day there during the summers.

I have pictures of me on the rides as a baby until my college years.

Cedar Point

Of course I've taken Fredrik there. :) And he even road the coasters with me. :))
If you look at the link, I got him to go on: gemini, disaster transport, mean streak (my favorite!), magnum, and some of the others of course. Many of the huge ones they have now, are new and I haven't even been on them. He wouldn't go on the Mantis with me though, that one you stand up while you ride. :)

Aaah.. I love that place.
Makes me homesick.


Mean Streak:





There's nothing like standing in 100 degree heat (38 degC), 110% humidity, for 4 hours to ride a 3 minute ride...

Gas prices.

She discovered that she can go farther into the dining room. Took her awhile. :/ :)

Luckily with crawling she stays in the living room. She doesn't venture into the hallway or dining room. We are pretty lucky with that. :) We think that there is plenty in the living room to keep her entertained. She only crawls around somewhere else if we put her there.



Not sure how she managed this one. :/

Yeah.. gas prices in Sweden.. :/

If it keeps going up, then Fredrik is going to have to start taking the bus to work. Which is.. the point. But the bus only goes every 3 hours. And when the trip takes almost an hour by bus.. it doesn't get much fun. :/ :)

The bus would leave the train station at 06.40 and then the afternoon buses go at 14.40 and 17.40. So he would have to take the one almost at 6, and then get home almost by 7 ......
In the morning he would have to change buses once, and on the way home he would have to change buses twice.

Which doesn't leave for a very happy family. :/ Especially a family that needs a Pappa with a car at work so he can come home for appointments during the day and emergencies.

So we aren't sure what to do.

There is another house on our street for sale!
Green house.

Cheap: 550 000 sek / 93 000 usd
But more than we thought it would be worth. :/
Beautiful floors though.

The outdoor pictures must be old, because the house looks horrible from the outside. The yard is aweful and the house needs so much work. I mean, our yard is far from perfect, but at least you can tell that we try. This house.. wow.. it isn't so pretty. :/ :))

While Leia and I were out on Thursday we saw them emptying the rest of the stuff in the house. So I guess no one has been living there, which might be why it isn't in the best of shape.

The only older people left on our street now are the two across the street and the ones right next door! About 4-5 houses (maybe more?) on our street have been bought within the last year. All younger families. Or at least people younger than 75.

Snakes.

Oooh.. today was a much better day.. :/ :))

She actually slept for me this morning, about 3 hours. So I was able to put away some clothes, write out 76 answers for my Swedish class and send them to my teacher, vacuum, dust (not in that order), and even have some adult conversation and chatted with my long-time Internet friend, Jonas.

Jonas lives far North in Sweden and has an American girlfriend. :) But she works for the UN and lives in Fiji.. :D

She didn't fight me with eating and she was SO happy after her nap.

Her pooping still isn't as we think it should be, so we are going to talk to the BVC again.


She wanted to play with it.

But when I told her what it was for - she didn't want to play with it any longer.






She is outgrowing her baby tub, so we will soon let her just bathe in the normal tub. She keeps trying to stand up in it, so we figure it is time to just let her move around more freely. :)

Tomorrow we are going to check out a daycare (dagis) ... so we are anxious about that. We still need to try to check out some that are closer to our house ... It is an open-house type thing so we can go any time during the day.

And I really dusted today. I didn't do the "Fredrik dusting." Fredrik dusting is when you dust with the vacuum cleaner..... :/ :D I've been prone to use his methods the last few months when time is an issue, but today I managed to do the real thing.

The Sims isn't working of course .... big surprise .. have to work on that.
But they are coming out with an IKEA furniture add-on.. !! :D Fredrik and I have been talking about that for years, that they needed to make one.

Okay, it is late now.. and I can finally say that I watched Snakes on a Plane.

First strawberry.

Here are my new plants outside. I have a feeling that any avid gardeners would laugh at our pitiful excuss of gardening ... but we try.. :/ :) I think I am only missing blue. :))

Fredrik is outside raking up some hidden leaves that were left under our bushes from last Fall. He got a chance to mow again today, too.

Leia was .. Leia. :/ :)

Last night she kept crying in bed, and she finally fell asleep around 21.30.
She wouldn't sleep today, and I put her in bed with me, and we both slept some. After that she felt warm, and I checked her temperature, and it was 100 degF (37,7 degC). So a bit above normal.

She was moody again today.. :/ Didn't sleep this afternoon.
Everynow and then she will be happy for a little while, and then start screaming after me again. :/

She cries when Pappa has her too, but she constanly cries after me to hold her. Even when Fredrik has her. I know Aunt Beverly went through a horrible attachment to Mormor, seems like Leia is headed in the same direction.

She says "ma ma ma ma ma ma." And reaches for me.

She can easily go from her knees to her butt, something she started doing awhile ago, but she has now perfected it. And that has made her happier; she has been trying to do that for a very long time, so it is great that she has figured it out. Today she went back and forth from her knees to her butt about 6-7 times. Around the 5th time, she sat on her butt, looked at me, smiled, and started clapping her hands. :)) She is SO extremely proud of herself when she does something good. :)

Fredrik has gotten lots more at work to do. He tries to avoid the construction jobs. :/ :) Those jobs remind him why he left Skanska.

I finished another Swedish assignemnt. I'm trying like mad to finish up this 3rd part so I can be done for the Summer. I think Fredrik is more annoyed with my teacher than I am.

Mormor and Morfar will be here soon. :) We are all anxious for that.
Farmor and Farfar will be going to the summer house over the National Holiday so we hope to see them plenty.

We are having a horrible time keeping up with Leia ... She has an unlimited supply of energy. And she's fast. :/ She seems to think that she can stand without holding on to anything. And then once while holding onto the couch, she tried to turn and walk away.. :/ Luckily Mamma was there to catch her. :/ So it is more difficult to get pictures of her now, with always having to have a hand around her.

Today she got to taste her first strawberry. :) She LOVED it!! :)

Fredrik has been trying to teach Leia how to play catch. :))


Yesterday she spilt a glass of water on the DVD/surround sound remote ... It dried without a problem.





Fredrik talked to support for the computer and they sent a few files, and it fixed my computer !! :) So everything is back to normal. :) And I am installing the Sims now. :) They are coming out with a Sims 3. So that means I can get the Sims 2 at a cheaper price now..! :)))

Argh....

Going to be another one of those days..... :/ :(

One of those days.

Today was just one of those days that you want to forget that you've had.. :/ :)

Leia has been completely cranky today and difficult to deal with. She seems to go back and forth every day about mood and sleeping. Today was a "Mommy" day and only mommy was good enough for anything. Which makes it difficult for mommy to do anything.. :/ So Mommy is very, very, very tired. And right now she is doing Swedish school work and it isn't very much fun. :/

But at least Fredrik finally helped me with some huge pots and I finally got to plant some plants that I bought last week. They are on the deck and they look pretty.

Computers and babies.

Sometimes I really hate computers. I was installing The Sims 2. I am almost done with school for this term, and I was really looking forward to getting to relax on my down-time and play a computer game, etc. Then my computer started acting up a bit, and we reinstalled Windows, and now the problem isn't fixed. We have NO idea what the problem is, so we are going to have to call support. Even though we have no idea what is wrong.

It is a problem with the screensavers and standby. And then we think a problem with the mouse, or something of that sort. So we are frustrated with it and then I am annoyed that I can't play a game. *hmph*

Nothing else of interest I think. :/ Same old. :)

But I do have to give a big congratulations to one of my bestest friends, Carie. :) She and her husband found out that they are pregnant. :)) They are 5 weeks along. I know Carie is very excited. I am certain that Trenton is going to be a great big brother. :)

Another 5,6 kg.

Another 5,6 kg (12.3 lbs) of rhubarb.. :/ :) We took it from the summer house. So we already have 10.6 kg (23.3 lbs) of rhubarb in the freezer. :) Rhubarb pies for every day of the year.. ;) :))

Is it really that funny??

I guess so.. :D

Home.

Saturday 14.39

Yupp .. I write a little every day and then when we get home, I add it to the blog. :) That is what I used to do with my old blog and I thought that I would do it now since I know I won’t remember anything that happens while we are here. :)) And then I can add pictures, too. :)

The trip was.. interesting. :) Fredrik kept packing things in the car before they were ready to be taken out. :)) (I think Mormor and I know someone else like that.) :D

Leia woke up soon after she fell asleep this morning and has been a bit cranky every since. :/ She wasn't too unhappy in the car but made LOTS of noise, and then Caesar meowed most of the time. We almost threw the car seat and the cat carrier out of the car on the way. :D

And then the tank with the gasoline for the lawn mower started leaking.. :/ So the car smelled bad for ½ the trip. And now the plastic covering for the trunk (thank goodness we have one) is sitting out in the rain.

And we found a patch of snow.. :D



Left over from Easter. :)

Leia and Pappa are "resting" by the fire. I think Pappa is trying to rest and Leia isn't giving him much chance. :))




We stopped at Karlssons in Ed and bought Leia some cheap clothes. She probably doesn't need so much, but it is really, really cheap there, so we couldn't pass it up. Right now she is fitting into 12 month and up, and around 78-80 from Sweden.

I think my baby wants me. :P More later. :P



Saturday 21.28

I bought a cheap movie when we stopped in Ed. We usually buy a couple of really bad movies, to help the cold evenings be more entertaining. :) It was "Phantoms." A bad Dean Koontz book, with Ben Affleck. The movie was typical Dean Koontz, but it could have been worse. I'm sure they toned down the movie a lot from the book.

The evening ended the same as the day started... Leia still cranky and whiny. Not wanting anything. Not wanting to play or sit still ... She did eat well and I held her for about 40 minutes while she napped in the evening, and she was even crankier when she woke up. :/

For a second I thought that it looked like more tooth had come through her gums, but Fredrik couldn't see any difference, so maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part. :)

A "new" house, a new bed, and she doesn't have her walker (gåstol) ... all that doesn't help either. :) But soon enough the place will become more familiar to her. :)

We've been giving her the prescription daily since we got it on Tuesday (a teaspoon each dose), and she has only pooped 2-3 times ... and she tries like mad to go to the bathroom. :/ She will sit, usually during dinner, and push with all her might and grunt, and she gets the funniest look on her face :D and her face gets so red ... but never any poopies.. :/ So if she doesn't go at all or it doesn't get better during the weekend, we are going to talk to her nurse again, and see what we can do about it. If anything.



Sunday 09.25

It is snowing. :) Yupp.. it is snowing. Just a little bit of flurries blowing around, but it is there. :/

Hmm... okay, now it started snowing much worse.. :D
Not really what we were hoping for this weekend. :/



Sunday 21.30

Leia had a great day today. :) She was in a fantastic mood. :) She had poopied this morning so she was feeling much better. :)

Fredrik managed to mow even with the snowing on and off all day. On Saturday it was around 4 degC (40 degF) all day, and today it was 2-3 degC (35 degF).



Even though it was cold, we took a short walk through the woods. Leia really enjoyed herself, but then we realized that everything is green.. :D



We were sad to see some trees cut down across the street of the house, beside the barns. :(





Aina even came by this evening and we finally managed to give her a present that we bought while in the US, to thank her for looking after Caesar while we were away.

Leia loved the fireplace and even though it was really warm in the room, she enjoyed playing and found lots of new fun "toys." :))











Having the fireplace really makes us wish that ours was useable. :( It would be about 30.000 sek (5000$) to get it repaired. The fireplace inside the house needs to be completely taken down and rebuilt. Only half of it needs to be rebuilt, but the guy said that to make sure it works better, we should just do the whole thing, and the price wouldn't be that much different anyways.

This evening we decided to reinstall my computer. Windows is just acting up and a few things are just "off." Screensavers aren't working, and standby isn't starting properly, and in a few simple games, the mouse functions are behaving and after so long of use, Explorer crashes. So that will be a big job to do when we get home. Not the reinstallation, but the saving of files and folders. We checked for viruses, there has never been anything. So we don't know what is going on, but we know the one way to definitely fix it. :)


Monday 12.00

We are home. :)

Leia slept strangely last night. She woke up screaming. We eventually gave her a little milk and she didn't complain when she was put in bed. She was fine if she was held, and I got in bed with her and she was very content, but it isn't so comfy for mommy to sleep like that. Because Leia wants to be completely enveloped, and she wants to only lay her head on mommy's arm, and then mommy's hand eventually turns blue. But she easily fell asleep again after she got some milk.

She was very, very happy to come home. :) And be in her walker. :) She is running around and around. :) She missed it greatly. We will have to take it next time.

I have a funny video to put on of Leia laughing. :)

Pappa is at the grocery store now, picking up a few things.

Weather is sunny today, but still cold. :/
We left pretty early, and when we got to the lake they were making extra runs with the ferry because of logging trucks, so we left at 09.45, instead of 10.


But now I will add this and add some pictures along with it!



Self photography.

Leia loves to touch Caesar's paws.

Enjoying lunch.



I love this shirt. :)) It is a play-on-words. :) It means "practice walking" and it comes from "practice driving" signs that you put on the back of your car when you are learning how to drive.

Bought it in Stockholm.

Trying to tell us we need more wood for the fire.

Fredrik showed Leia and I were he has been measuring in Nössemark. They are building some houses there. (For Norwegians probably.)

Sleeping with mommy for 1½ hours Sunday afternoon.