Photo mishap 03.

Photo mishap 02.

Like Pappa.

Leia looks like her Pappa. :D

Creepy and cool at the same time..

Turkey Day.

Happy Turkey Day!

It isn't quite the same as celebrating in the US. We aren't doing anything special today for Thanksgiving but we had our early meal with friends last weekend. Since of course Swedes don't get time off for Thanksgiving.. :)) Us Americans have to celebrate Thanksgiving on the weekends, because it is impossible to make such a large meal during the week like that with working, etc..

Happy Thanksgiving!

Icky.

Fredrik felt icky yesterday so he ended up staying home from work, as well as today. He doesn't have a cold, but he doesn't feel very well and he has lots of mucus and all that yummy stuff. Leia and I have been coughing a bit, mostly at night. I have a sore, very dry, scratchy throat, and I am assuming that she has the same.

Since he has been home, Fredrik has been taking Leia to daycare. :) Which is good. It is fun for him to take her, and good for her to have someone else "abandon" her, not just mommy. :))

We were wondering why Fredrik didn't get any calls from work yesterday, as he always does when he stays home.. And then at 14.30 we realized his phone had been turned off all day.. :/ :) Since then he has only had 2 calls, though.

After the New Year, he will be the only worker for Metria in Dalsland.
With Lantmäteriet, there are 4 people in the office. And Metria has 3. Well 1 of those has already left, and the other will be gone after December. Which just leaves Fredrik. :P At least he has job security.

Here is the "county" of Dalsland:



And now Fredrik is going to be the only Metria worker for the region. They aren't going to try to replace both workers, so they have an ad out for 1 person to do both jobs, which just isn't going to happen.

Here is an interesting link I found, might be a fun read for some of you!
Dalsland

Come to find out yesterday, that his last job, the construction company SKANSKA, is letting go of 2000 people in Sweden! Wow. With the economy being so bad, new homes aren't being built, so the construction industry has been hit pretty hard. So it was probably a good job change for him when we decided to move. Although I don't think his job would have personally been affected, since he wasn't a labor worker.


But here is another cool link:
Västra Gotaland

This would be.. our "district" I suppose. Swedish land isn't divided, obviously, the same as it is in the US. In the US you have cities and towns, and townships, counties, and States. The Swedish division of land doesn't have the same meaning as in the US.



After Fredrik gets his pay raise soon (his 2nd in 18 months), he might very well be the highest paid Metria and Lantmäteriet "Mätningsingenjör" (measuring engineer) in all of Västra Götaland.

Fredrik's work perimeter includes Åmål, Bengtsfors and Dals-Ed. But he's been working as far South as Lilla-Edet.




Hopefully all that information is interesting to someone. :/ :)


School is okay. I am getting pretty far into my accounting stuff. It isn't very confusing, but there is just so much little stuff to do. So many papers that have to be printed, preliminary papers and final papers. What a waste of paper!!

Today is Leia's Farfar's 60th birthday!

Hmm...

Leia's pooping is still a problem. So Fredrik called today and she will see the pediatrician next Tuesday (he is only in Åmål on Tuesdays).

And my driver's license. I have never given an update on that, have I?
Well.. I received my papers back that I sent about our wedding, and my name change. And now I have to pay someone to translate about 4 lines worth of text (which includes names and a date)on our marriage certificate, and then it has to be notorized by a public official, a lawyer. THEN I can send it back to the DMV. Needless to say this is a horrible hassle, and very, very annoying. I e-mailed about 50 different official, Government accepted translators. For the 4-5 lines of text, I got quotes of 900-160 sek for the fee (150-30$)..... I went with someone that said it would be around 200sek. There were many that were super busy, and they all recommended the same guy, which was the one I was planning to go with anyways.

A marriage certificate in Sweden is just a keepsake. It has no legal meaning whatsoever. In the US, a marriage certificate is very important and has legal meaning. But they don't want to accept that it isn't that way in other countries..... (something done differently than how the US does it?? No! Not possible!). So, I have to pay to have this meaningless piece of paper translated and pay to have it notorized so that I can have my last name changed on my DL.

In Sweden, if you need an official document for you to prove who you are or who you are married to or when your name was changed, or who your children are, etc.. etc.. You just get a print out from the local Tax Office. I sent this paper, in English, in an unopened envelop, and it was returned to me. I find it interesting that the US State Department accepts this paper as a legal document, to change my passport, renew my passport, to apply or change my social security card (personnummer), to apply a child as a citizen, etc.. etc.. My my local Department of Motor Vehiles in my State of Ohio won't accept the paper........

Just plain stupid.

Okay... :P Enough ranting. I have plenty of other stuff to do.. :P

Photo mishap 01.

Fun! Fun!! Fun!!!

Okay, so Leia has been so much more fun lately. :) The days just keep getting better and she has been so content and happy, which we haven't seen from her in awhile. If Leia is happy, then we are all happy. :)

Thursday was a great daycare-day. She slept 2 hours for them.
She fell asleep at 10 in the stroller for their forest outing and slept for an hour. Then she fell asleep at 2 and slept until I got her at 3. She is eating better for them, and is much happier and playing well. So she is settling in and getting used to things there. And that is great. :)

On Friday, Leia and I took a walk into town so that she could swing. :)
It was VERY cold and there were lots of pretty ducks to look at:








Leia got to swing:








And our beautiful town of Åmål:











(Not as beautiful as Nyköping, but you have to take what you can get..)


Saturday we had an early Thanksgiving. Sunday morning, Leia slept in until 7! And then we had a "lazy" day and we watched movies and had a nice day. This morning Leia slept until 7.40! And she didn't sleep so well today, but we had a fun day anyways! Leia's Farmor and Farfar came for a visit today:










A big thank-you to Farmor and Farfar for spending the afternoon and having dinner with us!

We got a bit of snow today and it has been pretty cold. It is supposed to be rainy/snowy for the rest of the week, but next week it is supposed to get a bit warmer.

Tomorrow Leia has daycare and I hope to get more school work done. I don't really think I have too much more to do. Soon there is CSI. Yay!

Early Thanksgiving dinner.

Today we had some American friends over for an early Thanksgiving dinner. You know how many pictures I take, right? I've taken about 10,000 pictures in the last 3 years.... But of course today, I barely took any. So no pictures of my delicious, gorgeous turkey breasts, or the many other delicious dishes our guests brought with them.

But here are the few pictures that I did take:




My homemade rolls.

Bonnie with her Swedish hubby, Roger and Lori with her Norwegian hubby, Kent.




The food was delicious and the company was a blast. I'm so thankful that I have some nice American women to share such a wonderful holiday with. Since I can't share this holiday with family, these beautiful people are defintely an okay substitute. :)

Another favorite.

Beautiful.

Good and bad day.

Leia had a great day at daycare! I got there and walked up behind her while they were sitting at the dining table having some blueberry yoghurt and she finally turned around and looked at me, then she turned and looked back at everyone and started waving to them.. :D

They said she slept 1½ hours, but kept coughing plenty. She ate a few bites during lunch, of some meat and potatoes. And then she had some yoghurt and a bite of sandwich or something like that. Tomorrow she'll have another brunch out in the forest.

But after we got home, she got cranky around 16.00 and stayed cranky the rest of the evening.. :/ But it might be good that she is cranky every now and then in the evenings, so that I remember why I am sending her to daycare - so that I can have a little break. :D

I do feel a bit guilty about sending her, like I am abandoning her or whatnot, which I'm sure is normal. I think I feel this way because I am just at home, not like I am working or something... even though I am going to school. I keep telling myself that we both need this. I need time to myself and to get things done, and she needs to learn to be with other people and interact with children, etc..

The unemployment meeting yesterday was uneventful, but the guy was nice and gave me some good tips.

Tomorrow I'm going to be baking lots of homemade rolls and sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins. We are having an early Thanksgiving dinner with some American friends on Saturday. We invited them to our house. So I want to get things done on Thursday, needing to spend lots of time in the kitchen - things that I can't do when I have my overactive Leia.

This evening was uneventful. I sat on the couch drinking tea, while Fredrik flipped back and forth between Room Service and a very, very, very boring soccer game (Swe vs. Holland).

But now the battery is almost out on the laptop, so I need to go plug it up, and I am going to bed.. :P

Snowing.

It is snowing! Our first snow of the year. :) I'm anxious for us to have a yard full of snow, so that Leia can enjoy playing in it. :)

Christmas get-togethers, part 1.

Just looking at this picture, you wouldn't think that we had a little girl.. :D

Leia ended up having a pretty good day today. :) No one called me and they were positive when I went to get her. She slept about 45 minutes today, and in the afternoon she finally took a couple of bites of food for them (but she still threw her sandwich). :))

When we got home, she played very well and she was pretty happy. :)

So it was nice having her back to normal again today.

Leia ended up getting a scratch today though. :/ :)
Her first daycare scratch:





And we went to Säffle and had dinner at McDonald's. I always get the Caesar salad they have, and it is so super-yummy. Do they have it in the US? I know some of the food stuff between fast food places here and in the US is so completely different.

But we went to the hospital and she took 6 tubes of blood, and I filled out a paper. She took my bloodpressure with a machine, and it was very, very high. And so she took it manually and it was perfect. She said sometimes they just don't work.

They will use the blood to test for lots of different things, and after 5 weeks they will call and make a schedule for me to come and start giving blood. If any of the tests come back positive for something then of course they will contact me before that. :/ :) But that shouldn't be a problem.

Leia was pretty good while we were there and she ran around wanting to look in all the lab rooms.. :/ :))

Leia will have a little Lucia fika at daycare on December 11th. :) So Fredrik and I will get to go for that.

Fredrik will have his Julbord ("Christmas table") with work on December 9th, in Gothenburg.

And I don't have anything special for Christmas to do.. :P :T

Upset tummy.

Okay.. :/ I have an upset tummy now.

Leia started screaming as soon as I opened the gate to the daycare.. :( She sat on my lap inside and cried, and she screamed when I left.

There is definitely something bothering her. :/ She isn't eating much of anything at home. We've switched her to lactose-free milk to see if that helps her tummy and helps her poop better.

We don't know if it is her tummy, or new separation anxiety, or if she is starting to figure things out and it is scaring her a little (all the new information). But I just want her to feel better and be happier. :(

I don't care to leave her, but I don't like leaving her when she is so unhappy. :/

EHhh...

Daycare update.

I dropped Leia off at 09.30 on Friday (they called the afternoon before and asked me to bring her at 09.30 instead of 09.00, because that is when the other kids show up. Which isn't true, because they only have 2 on Fridays (the inskolning kids), and he would also show up at 9, but anywho.....)..

I dropped Leia off at 09.30 and they told me good luck for my interview. I had to tell them about it (even though we told no one else, for as to not jinx the whole thing) so they would know I couldn't come and pick her up early. I was meeting with her at 13.00.

So Fredrik called the daycare around 10.00, just to ask them how things are going - if everything is okay, especially since they kept calling me to pick her up. He called me afterwards and he said that it sounded that they kept calling for me to come pick her up because they felt sorry for her. They said that she is doing well, and that things should be fine for her to start her normal schedule.

I was upstairs when the house phone rang at 12.30. We have the phone turned off upstairs so that it won't wake Leia up or disturb us when she is going to bed. I couldn't get to the one downstairs in time, but my cell phone rang right afterwards. It was the daycare...... I didn't call back.

They knew I had the interview at 13.00.
I called Fredrik to call them and see what the problem is.

I leave the house at 13.35 to go pick up Leia. I get there and they are SUPER nice. I mean, they have always been nice.. but now they were going overboard.. :P I have a feeling they realized my annoyance when Fredrik called them back instead of me.. :P

I talk to Fredrik after we get back home, and they just told him that Leia had slept for an hour. One of them had layed with her to help her sleep longer. But she was still super unhappy afterwards and didn't want to do anything.

Right when I got there to pick Leia up, they had said that Leia just wanted to sit on their lap all day. And I said, "That is what she does at home. She sits on my lap all day." And her jaw dropped and she said, "Oh." We are guessing that they think her behavior there is different than at home, but it seems like she is being the same there as at home. I had warned them that she has a bad temper, that she is angry, and that she screams a lot. :P I guess they didn't listen.

We still love the place.
If they call for me to pick up Leia anymore, since she has started her regular schedule now that we will be paying for, we've decided that I'll write down when they had me pick her up, have one of them sign it to confirm it, and then keep doing that, and at the end of the month, we'll send it to the kommun, and ask for our money back for the hours they requested she go home.
There isn't much more we can do besides that. :P

Leia had a bad weekend, though.. :/
She fought with her daddy some.. :/ She is.. starting temper tantrums.. or.. her tantrums are getting worse. :P Daddy moved the coffee table in the way of the floor lamp so that she couldn't shake it violently, and that made her VERY, VERY angry. And she screamed.. for an hour.. :/

So she has started to show more.. defiance. *JOY*

She slept very poorly last night, too. And we were all up for hours trying to also get her to stop screaming and help her go back to sleep. So none of us got very much sleep last night.

We think we understand her.. anger and frustration, and we know there isn't much we can do to help her, and most of the time she doesn't want any help or comfort. We just hope that it passes quickly so that we can all have things a little nicer around here. :/ :)

She was much better today. She was more herself than she was during the weekend. She played better. And when I told her "No" she listened and I ignored her (short) tantrums, and she even wanted to "make-up" afterwards by sitting on my lap.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the unemployment office. I had gone a couple of weeks ago just to start with the whole process. And then my meeting with them is at 11.00 tomorrow. It will be fun to tell her that I've found a little job. :)) But we'll see if there is anything that she can do to help me find something more full-time. She will have to look through all my grades, etc.. and confirm it in the system. And talk about hopes and dreams and goals and all that silly stuff. :)

And sometime last week, the blood bank in Säffle called me.

I had forgotten that awhile ago I had signed up to be a blood donor. There isn't a clinic here in Åmål, and the closest one is in Säffle, so they called. They asked if I could come and give blood on Tuesday, and of course I agreed. I just hope my iron is good enough. :P I was an avid blood giver in the US. Something that I take very seriously, along with organ donation.

Fredrik hates it, but he doesn't mind since it is in Säffle, that means he gets to have McDonald's for dinner.

Okay, now it is bedtime.
A break from school work tonight for CSI and then a few minutes of the movie Youngblood.

Some pictures from the weekend.

First lunchbox.

I decided it was time for Leia to have her first lunchbox. :) It isn't exactly my first choice, but there wasn't much to choose from. There was Spiderman and Princesses.. :) We're going to have to have Mormor find all my old ones (if she still has them) and send them for Leia. :))

A job!

Yes! :) I got a job!! :)

On Wednesday I found an ad for a "kursledare" (course leader / teacher) in English in Säffle with "Medborgarskolan," the town next to us. On Thursday I sent an interest-e-mail and told her that I would be sending my CV and then call her to talk about the job. She ended up calling me a couple of hours after I sent the e-mail, and pretty much hired me then and there. She asked if she could come to the house for an interview today.

So she came over and we chatted. :)
"Medborgarskolan" is literally translated "Citizen school" which is a private school that offers courses for self-improvement, hobbies, etc...

I'll have an adult conversation class in Säffle. And then she wanted to start an adult class in Åmål, too. :) And then I suggested a children's class. :) Which she was very happy about, she thought that was a great idea. So we'll see if anyone signs up for the classes in Åmål. :)

So I'll have 1-3 classes starting in February. :)
It doesn't pay much, well.. the pay is good, but it isn't many hours. But they will pay for my travels to Säffle, and I get to go to other courses for free (if I'm interested).

Yay! :)

A few issues.

Okay, so Fredrik and I are having a few issues with Leia's daycare.. :/

They called me again yesterday, to come pick her up early. Their reasoning: She wouldn't eat and they knew I was home to come get her.

I asked if she had eaten anything during the day, they said, "No." And I asked "Not even her banana?" (Which she will ALWAYS eat.) And she said, "No." I get home, and open her bag from lunch, and there was her banana..... They didn't even try to give it to her. And her juice was also in there, obviously unopened. So she went all day without food, AND without anything to drink. If she doesn't want to eat, then she doesn't want to eat, but knowing they didn't offer her her juice makes us *VERY* angry.

So.. Fredrik is calling.. right about now, actually.. to ask "what's up?" See how everything is going and if there are any problems, since they've been sending her home early.

Honestly, we just think they are lazy.
So, we'll see what kind of conversation they have. :P And of course I will give a report.

September pictures.

Pictures from the month of September.

Hoping!

So I'm hoping for a better day today for Leia!

She didn't sleep at all yesterday during the day, but she of course fell asleep easily last night, and didn't get up until 7 this morning, and she is in a much better mood. Her tooth came through a lot more last night, so I'm hoping that it is feeling better.

They are going on a walk today in the forest, and they will take a sack lunch, which I just prepared. She is taking a sandwich with turkey and cheese, a banana (her favorite) and some snacks that Aunt Carie sent. And a juice box. I think she will enjoy herself. :) She will be outside and with other children. And she will be in a double stroller with another baby that is 17 months old that isn't walking yet..... The older children will walk. But sitting next to another baby should keep her occupied.. :) Give her someone to pinch, poke and punch. :))

I finished my paper last night and sent it to my teacher. That was my last Swedish assignment. So now I am done with my class. I will meet with him again, and probably write a little something for him in person, so that he knows that I'm not cheating on all my assignments.. ;)

Fredrik has a district meeting this afternoon in Uddevalla, so he won't be home today until late.

Today I'm hoping to update my resume (CV) and get going with my SPCS class that I've been neglecting.

More later.

Not a good day.

Took Leia to pre-school this morning and she started crying when I gave her to her teacher. They called me around 11.45 and asked me to come pick her up. She obviously slept 45 minutes for them, but woke up screaming and wouldn't stop and she wouldn't eat lunch. I can't get her to sleep. I have gotten absolutely nothing done today, which I would have if she just was home with me like normal. I am trying to keep positive and tell myself that it will get easier for her, but I know Leia better than anyone... And I know this is how she is going to be with them, which is how she is with Fredrik and I. Now we just have to see if the teachers are willing to put up with it or not, or if they will call me to come pick her up early every day. Taking her there is supposed to start making things better.. not make them worse.

First kiss.

Leia had her first kiss today. :)) She had dropped her pacifier in the middle of the floor at pre-school. A bit later, the little boy, Theodor, found it and picked it up and said, "Where's Leia?" The teacher pointed to the other side of the room and he went over to her. He put her pacifier in her mouth and reached in and gave her a kiss.. :D It was SO cute. :))

I was there for lunch.. and wow.. I want to go back every day for lunch.. :D
The food is catered by a restaurant and it was delicious! We had breaded fish, boiled potatoes, dill sauce, peas, carrots, coleslaw and potato salad. :P Leia ate very well and then we came home and she went to bed without any warm milk! And she slept for about 2½ hours.

Fredrik is going to Lilla Edet tomorrow, Leia will be at daycare almost all day, I am *almost* done with my last paper, we've ordered our DIF ice hockey tickets for December, and we have our Thanksgiving dinner with friends all planned out.

Things are coming together!

A little strange.

Okay.. so it is a little strange to be home without Leia.. :/ :) Knowing that she is just across town.. But it is good for both of us. Yes, I miss her. But it is good. She needs to be with other children and other adults. And I need time to myself and time to do my school work and clean and all those things I can't get done while running after her all day. :)


Here are some pictures from yesterday:








She absolutely loves that skirt. The first thing she does when she is there is get the skirt and then she wears it all day. :)

Yesterday I left her for 1 hour, and today for 2 hours, and then today I will go back and be there for lunch. And then for the rest of the week, she will be there by herself from 9-13.30. And then next week she will start her schedule (9-15.00 Tue-Thur).

Her tooth is finally showing a little! Not sure if she has a cold or not of if it is just the teething. Fredrik and I both have sore throats and we are sneezing. So not sure if we are sick or not either.. :/

It has been cold and rainy and cloudy.. :/

I finished one literary analysis, I am in the middle of the 2nd one. I am SO anxious to be done with this Swedish stuff and be done with the class. I've been putting off my SPCS work to finish the Swedish.

But now I am going to dry my hair, since Leia just stands and screams at me when I try to do it with her here, and then Swedish work, and then if I have a chance, I hope to dust off the exercise bike!

Oh yeah.. and Fredrik has to go to Lilla-Edet tomorrow... :/
Not too happy about it.. because of all the driving.. but not much to be done about it.. :P

House guests.

Today we had some guests over to our home! :) It was fantastic to have them here. Angelica came over with her daugther, Alonnika, and son, Bowen. We had some of my delicious, homemade rhubarb pie, and ended up chatting for 3½ hours. We had LOTS of fun!

We reserved Alonnika as a babysitter when Leia was only a few months old, but unfortunately we haven't had a chance to have her come over. (We need money in order to go out on a date!!) :))) But we do hope to have her come over some time in the near future.





Leia has a back tooth coming in.. :/ It has been swollen for about 6-8 weeks now, and now it is finally popping through. It has caused her to sleep poorly.. :/ But last night and today she has slept very, very well. Thank God for Baby Tylenol!!

And we all have colds. :) Leia's is much worse, and I am just getting started. Not sure if Fredrik is sick or not. I think we got it from one of the twin girls at Leia's preschool.

Hmmm..

Preschool is going great, though!
On Thursday I left her for 20 minutes. And on Friday I left her for about 45 minutes. Tomorrow she will be there for about an hour by herself. Tuesday she will be there for.. 2½ hours by herself. Then I will come back and join them for lunch. And Wed, Thurs, and Friday she will be there by herself from 9-13.30 or something like that.

On Friday it was only Leia and the little boy, so that was perfect. Gave her a chance to get used to the place more and with the teachers, without it being so crowded. I think it made a big difference for her. I think she was sad on Saturday when we got out of the car and went into the store, instead of her preschool. :( :)) She really likes it when we show up, and she smiles and runs into the room.

I am so pleased with everything. :)
We got our bill, and we'll pay 600kr/100$ a month, for her being there 18 hours a week (72 hours a month). We COULD have her there up to 25 hours if we wanted, or something like that with the same amount of pay, but I think this is good for now. With me not working, I would get pretty bored without my Leia around 25 hours a week.. :P The rest of the fee is covered through taxes by the government (Socialism isn't so bad afterall, huh?).

Fredrik is afraid of how his work week will look. He's certain that his boss is going to call him again and send him to Lilla-Edet.. :/ He has lots of stuff to get done before December. I'm trying to push him to work a little on Saturday's just so he doesn't have to be stressed during the week.

He got his vacation without a problem, so we'll be going to Stockholm the first weekend in December (the 4th). Leave on a Thursday and come home on Monday.

Okay.. that is enough for now.. Even though I know there is probably more.. I forget a lot more when I don't write every day.. but I don't have time for that right now.. :P Even though I am a speed-typer.. :P