One of my favorite baby shirts...

"Breastmilk....100% organic" 

"No artificial flavors, color, or preservatives..." 

and the best, 

"satisfied customers worldwide." 

This child..... certainly gets more than his fair share of attention and love...and that might be why he sleeps so well at night...he finally gets a few hours of peace and quiet away from all those noisy but fun siblings!

 We have to keep an eye on little miss "mamma" who would happily wrap our baby up with her other babies and drive him around in her toy stroller.

 This brother is just waiting for a wrestling partner...

And the most helpful big 8 year old who adores her brother!

This tea towel (and several others) has happily kept our kids busy for the past month. 

 also....a big winner also when the kids have a friend over and want something to do together. 

A bunch of sharpies, a blank tea towel, a lot of imagination, a little bit of drooling over their favorite things, and there you go, a fun project. 

This sums up two of the biggest joys of this Christmas break; 

a sweet Samuel and my parents visiting!

Samuel is just three months, yet he seems older....this kiddo has been sleeping through the night for more than a month (i.e. 8 hours a night).  He just gave us a real hearty laugh tonight, and will give a big toothless smile to most people that engage him.  

His siblings squabble for the right to hold him, entertain him, run and put in his pacifier, etc, so he is pretty spoiled in that category. 

My mom was daily stimulating the kids through playing games, doing crafts, and chatting with them, and my dad was great to go out to the playground with the kids, sing several rounds of Abiyoyo and the marvelous little toy, and hold and be drooled on by Samuel for hours on end...

sewing....

I'm no expert, but there is something relaxing about doing a bit of sewing.  Here are two of my winter projects. 

1. Christmas dress for Lydia.  Result:  way too big, but something to "grow into."  This year it went almost down to her ankles, next year to her knees?

 2. Lots of pajama pants; these might not have been so amazing for the kids who got them, but it was a fun warming up project for me as I learned my way around my new sewing maching.

Markus had a baby dedication at our church last Sunday; for some reason Lydia felt especially snuggly with her little brother throughout the prayer time, and most of the pictures came out with her holding his hand, leaning over towards him, etc. While everyone else was praying, Markus decided to raise his hands too...hallelujah!
One more photo of Lydia trying to snuggle with her little brother during the dedication.

Sing me a song, Lydia.

We have a little songbird on our hands.

Here is proof.

Lydia plans on going public with her fresh off the press CD,

"I don't know all the words but I like to sing them anyway!"

Here is a sneak preview of her main hits:

1. God will make a way (....when there seems to be no way).

2. Små gruderna, små gruderna (Swedish frog song)

3. I dont want to sing Jesus loves me....

4. My redeemer (I will glory in my redeemer)

5. The alphabet song, except only using the letters ABCD.

6. Det lilla ljus jag har, lysa klar klar klar (This little light of mine)

7. Holy holy holy, Lord God almighty

8. Happy birthday to you

9. Vi gratulera (Happy birthday in Swedish)

And it all ends with "mamma fix my sock."

Cute kid, eh?

Basketball, anyone?

I remember when I was a teenager, stuffing a soccer ball in my shirt and thinking, "pregnant women do NOT look like this." Ha.

Next week, we are breaking new ground in Sweden....my mother in law is hosting a very non-swedish Baby shower for me! Apparently Swedes normally just stop by after the birth (because many of them dont know if they are having a boy or girl until it has come out), have a fika or something, and congratulate the new parents.

I am curious how the baby shower will go down!

I am even more curious about how it will be to have a baby here. In Tunisia we had the luxury of a private clinic, but the downside was that all the nurses spoke french and I was being poked with mystery medicine all the time.

I guess this just means that I will need to post more about all this later....

Jag kommer ihåg när jag skojade som ett tonåring och sätt ett basketball i min tröja. Jag trodde att gravida kvinnor ska inte ser ut så har på riktigt. Ha!

Nästa vecka ska vi göra nåt nytt i Sverige...min svärmor ska göra ett BABY SHOWER till oss!

Jag trö svenskar brukar hälsa på efter mamman och bebisen är hemma, (eftersom de ofta vill inte vet könen innan förlossning), de har ett fika ihop, och gratulera familjen.

Så det är klart att jag är nyfiken hur en BABY SHOWER ska gå till har!

Jag är också nyfiken hur det ska var att födda har. I Tunisien, så fick vi en privat rum, men alla sjukskorterskor pratade Franska och jag fick mycket konstiga sprutor hela tiden.

Det betyder att jag måste skriva mer om det sen....

playdoh

Now i have a challenge before me....Lydia is FINALLY old enough to enjoy crafty things and working with her hands!

So far playdoh and helping me bake has kept her busy, but the goal is to see what ELSE she can do. This should be interesting... Suggestions are accepted!

Nu har jag ett riktig utmaning framför mig....Lydia är tillräckligt mögen för att jobba med hennes händerna....att pyssla, kanske ska man säger.

Än så länge är hon nöjd med att leka med playdoh eller hjälpa mig baka, men målet är att ser vad mer vi kan hitta på....det ska bli intressant! Alla tips är välkommen!

dollhouse!

Lydia was just given an antique dollhouse as a gift!

1950's style house, with a grand piano, king size (dollsize) bed, bookshelf, curving stairway, a mom, dad, and a bunch of babies.

Although Lydia likes the house, I think we "adults" maybe are enjoying it more than her so far!

Hey Baby!

We were very happy to see our baby on the way, and to know that everything is healthy so far....

BUT, I have to say that the Swedish health system sure does lack a HEART!

Clinician: This is the only ultrasound you get, I can't/won't try much to find out the sex of the kid, and we don't do things like America, so get used to it.

I don't know if i can stand NOT knowing the gender, that is somehow REALLY important for me to feel prepared, both practically and emotionally! Hmmmm.

Vi var jätte glad att ser våran liten bebis på väg, och vet att allt ser bra ut en så länge.

MEN, Jag måste säga att Svenskhälsovård saknar ett hjärta!

Tekniken- Det är den enda ultraljud du ska får, jag kan inte hitta-försök att hitta vad det är för bebisens kön, och vi är inte som USA som gör fler ultraljud eller åtminstone kolla på könen, så vänja dig vid det!

Jag vet inte om jag kan vänta utan att veta könen!! Det är på nån sätt jätte viktig för mig att känner förberedd, både på praktiskt och känslomässig sätt. Hmmmm.

hard to say goodbye

These are a couple faces that I MISS now that we are back in Sweden.

Det har är några ansikte som jag saknar nu när vi har lamnat Tunisien.

milestones update...1.5 years!

Well, I'm no perfect blogger, but really...who is?

Lydia has just hit the 1.5 year mark, so that deserves some celebration!

Congratulations Lydia! We like you, I think we'll keep you.

Among her list of abilities now, she has added:

Not just walking but running!

The whole idea of "hopping" is also something that Lydia is working hard on, but so far she has only managed to get as high as her tippie toes and not actually catching any air ;) It is very sweet to watch.

Add to the running/walking combo a desire to climb on anything that she can reach, which has added a whole realm of danger to our days...

Lydia can follow a whole lot of commands, including:
Bring me my shoes
Blow me a kiss
Wave goodbye
Point to your....hair/eyes/nose/teeth/mouth/belly/knees/toes/hands
Give a high five (that is a great ice breaker with new friends that come over)
Give a hug
Pet the dog/cat (which sometimes turns into kicking the dog/cat)
and the list goes on.

Say a few words, like, mamma, pappa, Daniel, Lydia, Hejda (bye in Swedish), milk, juice, no, Bahy (good in Arabic), All done, highfive....

Now she eats (in theory) everything, but if you put a meatball/tomato/redbeet/strawberry/cookie in front of her there is a much higher chance that she will go for it.

Most of the time we get a good 10-11 hours sleep at night from her, plus a 1-2 hour nap in the day, and we like that! If sleep is not attractive to Lydia at night, she will sometimes figure out how to dump out the sippy cup of water we gave her all over herself and proceed to yell until we discover her/the bed/her stuffed animal soaking wet.

Weight: 9 kilos / 20 pounds.
We love you Lydia!

Jag är ingen perfekt bloggare, men vem är det?

Några månader har gick utan att gratulera Lydia, men nu har hon just fyllt 1.5 år gammalt, och hon behöver lite gratulationer!

Nu kan hon....

Inte bara gå utan springa hit och dit!
Hon vill gärna hoppa (efter hon kollade på Magnus och Rebekas barn när de hoppade så fint), men hon kan alldrig lamna marken, utan bara gå opp på hennes tå. Det är gulligt att kolla på.

Hon vill klättra på allting, som gör henne ännu mer farligt.

Lydia kan...
ta till mig mina skor
slänga ett puss
vinka hejdå
krama mig
peka på hennes hår, ogönen, näsa, tänder, mun, mage, knä, fot, hander
klappa katten (eller ibland sparka katten istället)
gör ett high five (som är jätte bra när hon är rädd att hälsa på nya manniskör)
....osv

Hon kan säga mamma, pappa, Daniel, Lydia, hejdå, byebye, mjölk, juice, nej, bahy (bra i Arabiska), Alldone (klar!), highfive...

Hon äta teoretisk allting, men om du sätta ett köttbullar, tomat, rödbeta, eller godis framför henne, så chansen att hon äta det går upp!

Hon brukar sova 10 eller 11 timmar i nätt och ett tupplur på dagen, och vi är glad för det.

Om hon känner inte för att sova, så tumma hon ut hennes napflaska på sig själv-eller sängen, och ropa tills vi hjälpa henne.

Vikt: 9 kilos / 20 pounds.
Vi älskar dig Lydia!

I always dismissed duplos as lego's pathetic cousin. But recently I have decided to give them another chance. Here's what happens when we have playtime together. I build something with the duplos as fast as I can, and Lydia destroys them, sometimes equally fast.It's like a game where I can never win! Jag brukade inte gillar duplos så mycket, de var legos inte så roligt kusin. Men nu ska jag ger duplos en annan chans. Detta är vad händer när vi leka tillsammans. Jag bygga så fot det går, och Lydia ta ner allt så fot det går. Det är som en lek som jag kan aldrig vinna på!

(Afternote: destroying duplos and legos seems to be a recurring theme, and is often considered more interesting than the actual building for many younguns). 

babies and birthday parties

Lydia was invited to a couple birthday parties of her "friends" this summer. Unfortunately, both parties BEGAN around 9, which is precisely her bedtime! So she was generally an overtired, giggly mess.

She got some good cake, Lydia style. And it was a lot of fun (fireworks in the cake, overcrowded room with relatives of the celebrated baby, loud Arabic children's music, juice, tea, fruit, pastries, and cake... and Lydia being passed around because they think she looks like a babydoll).

Now in three weeks it is Lydia's turn! She will turn the big ONE year old, and we have to decide what to do. We'll see what happens...

vanity is a cute trait for a baby....

I always wonder...does she know that the girl on the other side is her?

Or is she just vain? I'm gonna try to remember to ask her when she grows up. Jag undrar om hon vet att den lilla tjej är henne, eller om hon är bara egenkär. Jag ska försök att fråga henne när hon blir större.

I've been slimed!

Looks like a scene from an old Ghostbusters movie....

In reality, this is a blend of chickpeas, spinach, and cheese. I had to taste it to make sure it was not too hot, and it actually tasted pretty decent! However, when you are a wee baby and you have never had to partake of spinach or chickpeas or spreadable cheese, then you get quite a shock to your taste buds and your whole body revolts so that this creamy goodness won't make it's way into your belly.
Doesn't she look rebellious and defiant in this picture? (Now, a few days after taking this picture, she will eat it much more happily, thank goodness!)

Pappa smells like a horse!

We took a nice walk today, and when Lydia got a bit grumpy, Daniel decided to give her a ride! She went along, happily bouncing on his shoulders, and Daniel commented that he was her personal horse to ride on. Around that time, we came up to some horse stables on our walk, and I joked that it smells like horse....Daniel said, "I hope I don't smell that bad," not realizing that there were really some horses up ahead.
Ha. Maybe this is not the funniest post, but it was amusing to me then. And the picture of Daniel with Lydia is oh so sweet.

Kaky kaky everywhere

Nothing like a bit of good old Kaky to gnaw on.

Lydia is finally big enough to just hand her one of these crunchy "breadsticks" when we are out and about to while away the time until we can come home and she can get what she's waiting for, some good warm mama milk and maybe a bowl of pureed carrots.

A few days ago I gave her one of these suckers around 7 pm, and she chewed and chewed, but she couldn't get to the last bit that was tightly grasped in her hand. When i put her to bed around 9:30, that last bit of the kaky was still tightly grasped in her hand! Ha. Sweet little girl.

Lydia's white friend!

Yes, Lydia does not ONLY hang out with Arab babies...she likes to mix it up every now and then.

Take this sweet Dutch/German boy, for example. Sweetly learning the basics of "MINE" and maybe even "sharing" too.

As you can see, Lydia is VERY excited to have a friend her size.

They almost look like they could be brother and sister, eh? Well, no siblings in the pipeline for Lydia just yet!