Taking a break.

We did a lot this week even though the weather has been pretty crappy. I gave Andréa her very fist haircut. H and me went out to see a movie and to eat Italian food yesterday evening. Moonrise Kingdom turned out to be a little extraordinary, hilarious and nostalgic story - see it if you can. Il Tempo served excellent Italian food in the heart of Södermalm, our old neighborhood.

Today we've been preparing for our little vacation trip, tomorrow we're taking off to the heart of Värmland and it's going to be so nice to leave the city for the countryside. Preparing meaning doing laundry, rush to the store three times, packing, cooking and baking (why you might wonder - the day before a trip, well I had some fresh yeast in the cupboard, that's why...), fetching Lovisas cardigan that I forgot at the daycare etc, etc...

I've decided to take a break from everything regarding internet as well so I won't write any new blog posts until we get back in about 8-9 days. It's going to be so good without facebook, e-mails and google! Imaging all the time I'll have just to enjoy our vacation!

 Climbing, climbing, climbing...

 Lovisa likes to climb too, wearing my panties...

 The first haircut!

My baking got a little bit out of hand...

See you guys in a couple of weeks!

Rainy days.

What a start on our vacation. The rainiest June in Stockholm since they started measuring the rain, that means the rainiest June for a freaking long time! With two toddlers it's not an option to stay in the apartment for several days in a row so Monday we went to Skansen. One off the reasons for going there was that Lovisa wanted to give her soothers to the kittens there. Something a lot of Swedish children do which is kind of a sweet way to end the soother era... Once we got to the kittens Lovisa, however, changed her mind and didn't feel like giving up her soothers at all. Today we went to a smaller park that also have animals, on our way home the sky opened up and we experienced the worst rain shower for a very long time. Thank god a bus came a long and we just happened to walk by the bus stop and could jump on. And thank god you go for free on all the buses in Stockholm if you have a stroller - amazing!

Skansen yesterday...

Please give us some sunshine now!

Milestones.

I ran 9,1 km today and the girls fell asleep together without a peep and without any help from us 8 pm. Miracles do happen.

Sit-ups with 11 kg resistance after running over 9 km...

Happy Saint-Jean!

Just when we recovered from our Midsummer celebration it was time for the next one - Saint-Jean- Baptiste. It's like Quebec's Midsummer and also a bit of Quebec's national day. We arranged a small brunch with a lot of Quebec goodies; pancakes (the small, thick Northamerican kind), white beans in tomato sauce, bacon, sausages, smoked ham, scrambled eggs, oven baked potatoes, fresh fruits, whipped cream and the most important ingrediense of all: tons of maple sirup!

H is talking to his Quebec family right now, Quebec music is flowing from the speakers and we're thinking about our loved ones over there. We miss you!!! Happy Saint-Jean!!!

Midsummer.

Yesterday we celebrated midsummer. When we lived in Canada it was important for me to have the traditional things that represents midsummer; pickled herring, "nubbe" (strong spiced liquor), strawberrie cake etc. Now that I'm back in Sweden it's not that important that the material things are according to traditions, the important thing is that I'm with people important to me and that the day is filled with harmony, warmth and lots of fun. That's midsummer. And yesterday we got just that, a lovely day with blue skies and a warm sun, delicious food and drinks in the company of dear friends, happy, barefoot children and lots of laughter.

 Not pickled herring but tasty grilled chicken and the most amazing salad containing halloumi cheese and strawberries...

Not strawberrie cake but whipped cream with limoncello, strawberries, mango and white chocolate...

Today we recuperated by taking it easy, going to the park and stuff ourselves with homemade pizza. It doesn't get much better than that.

Making homemade pizza with the girls are fun and they were very proud over the result...

What it's all about...

If you're wondering what Midsummer is all about here's a pretty right on description:

I skipped the cake this year and baked muffins with strawberries and white chocolate instead, they smell wonderful...

Busy beautiful life.

Summer is really here and we're so busy! Friends visiting, lots of "fika" in the park, meeting cyberfriends and much, much more! Today H is working his last day and then we have vacation for 4 whole weeks. Unreal. And we're starting the vacation with one of my favorite Swedish traditions, celebrating midsummer. And for once it looks like the weather is going to be quite nice.

Happy and beautiful midsummer to all of you!

Proud anyway.

OK, so it wasn't as number 8, it was as number 18  I came in all sweaty, red and high from endorphines in last weeks race. But I'm proud anyway. Because after 2 pregnancies in 1,5 years it's bloody great to be in this shape I'm in. Of course it could be better and it's going to be better. Just wait and see...

About time.

And just like that another weekend passed by.

Saturday morning I went out for a run. 7 am I ate half a banana, drank a bit of water and took of. God, my legs were heavy! It's nice to have a phone with apps that gives me information from GPS satellites about where I am, what pace I have etc. Makes it so much more fun!

Sport	Running
Start Time	Jun 16, 2012 6:57 AM
Distance	6.04 km
Duration	34m:38s
Avg Speed	5:44 min/km
Max Speed	4:04 min/km
Calories	348 kcal
Altitude	37 m / 90 m
Elevation	172 m ↑ / 176 m

Saturday afternoon we celebrated the children's far cousin that turned 4 years old (already!) and on the train home we had to take care of two toddlers on a sugar high. Amazing drug it is, that white sugar...

Home made goodies

Today we went to a dear, old friend of mine to have lunch. She has a daughter that's Lovisa's age and when I watched them play together it struck me that this friend probably is my oldest friend that I still consider to be my friend and that I still cherish very much. We got to know each other when we were around 10 years old but it feels like yesterday we watched "The little mermaid" in her living room. Two girls with a lot of dreams, expectations and guts are now all grown up. Friendships like these are rare and I'm so thankful I still a have a few...

In the afternoon Andréa learned how to climb up on the kitchen table so now it's going to be a little hell to stop her from hurting herself, one bump in the forehead so far... It wasn't that long ago that she hardly could crawl...

A short walk to one of our beautiful parks made a nice ending to this weekend. Lovisa is so good when it comes to climbing, running, walk a tightrope and she acts more like a 5 year old than a 2,5 year old when it comes to physical challenges which is a bit freaky. Where did my baby go?

Both girls are sleeping deep in their beds right now. I have a strong suspicion that H also is sleeping and I better join them. Time passes so fast it's tiresome...

Feeling blessed.

In about two and a half months from now I'll be back at my work. I'm thinking quite a lot about it and the other day I almost felt a touch of panic when I realized that this is probably the last months in my life that I'll be om maternity leave. Then I thought, what if I had over two months vacation from work? That would feel amazing! So from now on folks, I'm on vacation! And I'm going to squeeze every last drop out of this very special, long, wonderful time that's ahead...

Grillfemman!

After the summer party yesterday afternoon it was time for my next race. To be honest I didn't feel that excited about it and it didn't make things better when my friend send me a text that she had a cold and probably couldn't make it. But since I payed to participate and the weather looked really nice I decided to go anyway. And boy, what a beautiful evening! My friend decided to join me, mostly to cheer me on. We where about 80 woman running the 5 km long track around beautiful Hellasgården.

 Before the race - excited and ready to go!

My friend cheering me on from behind during my last kilometer...

Done - red, sweaty and happy!

To my big surprise I ran in as number 8 on the time 27.01 minutes. My GPS told me that it was closer to 5,4 km so I'm very happy with my time. After we enjoyed a well earned grill plate in the sun. If your looking for a nice, smaller scale race don't hesitate to take part of this well organised, close to nature experience.

Now I'm one step closer to my goal, to run "Tjejmilen"under 60 minutes...

Summerparty!

Today was a big day. It was summer party at Lovisa's daycare. Parents, relatives and friends gathered on the yard and awaited the children that were suppose to march out and sing summer songs. The children arrived and after a bit of confusion they sat down on some blankets on the ground. Looking really cute most of them seemed to be in a bit of a chock and didn't sing at all, just starred at us (Lovisa being one of them,) while some other children sang loud and clear, very happy to have everyone's attention.

 While waiting for Lovisa I got this nice hug from Andréa. 

Sometimes life is just beautiful

 Andréa had the coolest outfit, a birthdaygift from granddad and Lena

 Lovisa during the singing, very serious

Picnic after the big performance!

One of Lovisa's daycare teachers is retiring and this was her last day. Lovisa and her best friend L (which also is her first big love) gave her a teddy bear and a card. It's beautiful to see how attached Lovisa become to this women only over a few months and when she gave her a big hug I almost cried. The daycare teacher left this message to us parents:

Thank you for giving me the confidence to be together with your fantastic wonderful children. 

Hugs from Maggie.

"You know you are precious

That you are important here and now

That you are loved for your own sake

Because nobody else is like you"

Ingemar Olsson (freely translated by me)

No Lenny for me.

I'm alone with the girls since their father decided to go and see Lenny Kravitz. This makes me a bit jealous because I listened to Lenny quite a lot during a period off my life and I wouldn't mind seeing him in concert. But that's life right now, give and take.

Instead Lovisa and I baked a chocolate- banana cake for tomorrows summer party at the daycare. It was fun.

After that I tried to cook supper while Lovisa tried to watch Pingu on DVD, it didn't go to well since her little sister insisted on turning the DVD off all the time. After I shouted "stop turning the bloody DVD off!" for the 10th time Lovisa quietly told Andréa "now mum's angry". That was it, no more Pingu.

Now I tried to get a stubborn Lovisa to sleep and when she finally gave in Andréa started to cough terribly (she has a cold, probably her 25th one this year) and woke up crying. Usually I wouldn't go to her right away but since she's sick I went in to check on her. She pooped, bloody typical. So off with the PJ, trying to find diapers and wet-wipes in the dark bedroom only to find out it was probably just a fart because I sure couldn't find any poop. There, that really woke her up!

In the middle of this chaos H was kind enough to send me an MMS. A blurry picture of Lenny. Thank you very much. Over and out.

The poop and pee diploma.

We've been trying on and off for about a year to get ride off Lovisa's diapers. We were almost there before Andréa arrived last year but then Lovisa turned into a bit off a baby again when her baby sister came. And I really think it was for the best, in one way it's more practical when you're home with two babies, one who I was breastfeeding every second hour, to have them both in diapers. But now we feel she's ready. She picked out the potty herself, an ugly yellow/orange thing and then I made her a little diploma (a tip from a friend). For every time she pees in the potty she gets a star and when she has five stars she gets a little gift. Since pooping is a bigger thing and more complex she gets a big star and a gift for each poop. It turned out well, she's been without diapers at home during the weekend and only peed twice on the floor. She goes to the potty herself and if I follow her she often tells me to leave her alone. My little big girl!

Go Lovisa!

Monday, bloody Monday.

Today the daycare was closed so I had both girls at home. It was a beautiful day so I didn't really mind having them both with me and I was looking forward to a nice outdoor day. Then I realized that I had laundry time this afternoon, not tomorrow as I thought, and even if I'm pretty used to handling both girls alone it's not joyful at all to do laundry with them.

Andréa hit her little head in the washing machine door and I got my thumb stuck in the heavy door to the laundry room... Well, now it's over and the mountain of dirty clothes are now very clean. I give you a little peak from our afternoon in the laundry room:

This seasons first.

The first run in short pants and chemise. After 8 pm. I like it!

And it's still so bright that I could use my sunglasses.

Overflowing.

I don't mean to be repetetive but I really miss my laundry machine...





Next laundry time three days from now...

More boobs!

Lovisa watched me take a shower today and shouted: " I want boobs too, mummy!". 

Well, lucky her - she's a girl...

Lovisa often wants different things. This morning it was boobs, 

this afternoon it was icecream.

Friday coma.

Something special...

It's something special with garden cafes. Not only do they have excellent food and pastries, it's also peaceful, romantic and of course summery . As my mum said; it's almost like a Jane Austen movie and you're kind of expecting Mr Darcy to show up...

Well, he didn't show up so instead we stuffed ourselves with goodies.

Sweden's National Day in pictures.

 We took off to the park!

 The barbecue master himself!

 Andréa charging her batteries...

 Mum is here visiting! 

 The sun came out and warmed us up just in time for our lunch!

 Yummie...

 Strawberries and whipped cream...

 I was wearing my new dress to honor the day...

 Lovisa's is getting ready for the paddling pool!

 I just dipped my feet...

The crazy mum...