Erickson's Blog

Easter and Spring Happenings

2011-03-07T14:59:00.008-05:00

Time just seems to be flying by. Mira was 5 months old yesterday and Linnea's 6th birthday is coming up in just 2 short weeks. Sonja turned 3 back in March. Things have been really busy leading up to Easter and now we are all looking forward to getting back to our regular routine.

The girls had a great Easter - got a little too much candy, but mom and dad helped out with that problem. The weather has been pretty crazy. Some days it's warm and sunny others cold and rainy and other where the wind blows so hard I'm afraid the roof is going to fly off. We've seen days in the high 70s and then just the other night we got a light dusting of snow. Colorado, who knew it could be so unpredictable?

The girls are doing well. Sonja and Linnea are starting to compete more and more for the same things so I'm having to break up fights more often than before. I'm glad that they are not together all day every day. It seems that the time apart from each other does them some good.

Mira is the loudest baby I've ever heard. We joke that she is part pterodactyl. She is loud, likes to sing and gurgle and even occasionally screech. I try to get it on video, but she always seems to clam up with the camera on her.

Linnea's new do - curls!

Mother's Day Tea at Sonja's preschool

Can't hardly find the baby amongst all the presents

Daddy's girl #3

Easter morning

All the girls in their Easter clothes

Practicing their curtsies

Mira's faux hawk curl - it's natural: aren't you jealous?

Coming up we've got Linnea's birthday party, the end of Sonja's preschool year, and Linnea's kindergarten graduation. Then our summer starts June 3rd and I just know it is going to fly by!

Mira Hope

2011-01-22T20:25:00.007-05:00

Our little Mira Hope arrived on Sunday morning, the 28th of November after 12 hours of uncomplicated labor. She is a beautiful addition to our family and already has numerous adoring fans, her greatest admirers being Linnea and Sonja. I say "little" because she was our smallest baby yet. She weighed in at 8 pounds and 5 ounces, 21 inches long. Still a pretty good size nonetheless. At her 2 month check-up last week, she was 11 pounds and 23 inches long. By comparison, Linnea was 11 pounds at 1 month and at 2 months, Sonja was nearly 13 pounds. So she still remains our little Mira.

Her adoring fans

Our first significant snowfall last month

Linnea and Sonja both continue to enjoy school. Actually, they were bummed that today turned out to be a snow day. I'm not quite as exciting as school. We can't believe that Sonja's 3rd birthday is right around the corner. How times flies! Sonja has a great sense of humor and cracks us up daily. She's our little spit-fire. Here she is at her school's Christmas program.

Linnea is growing like a weed. I think she must have grown about 3 inches in the last 2 months. Most of her cloths are now too short and she just looks so long. Must be the long legs!

Linnea, the roving photographer, takes a snapshot with her baby sister

Mira is a really great baby. She sleeps well at night, nurses well, travels well and is a happy, smiley baby. Must be because she's the 3rd child. I don't remember getting this much sleep so early on with Linnea.

In about 3 weeks we are taking our first vacation as a family of 5. We are driving down to Pagosa Springs to meet up with my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law for 3 days of skiing at Wolf Creek. Linnea is going to try downhill for the 1st time and maybe Sonja will too. The best part next to seeing family and skiing is that Pagosa has wonderful outdoor, natural hot springs. I can't wait for a nice long soak. We'll let you know how it goes!

Our Move To Colorado and the End of Summer

2010-09-08T19:01:00.008-04:00

Well, we've been in Colorado for over 3 weeks now and are really feeling comfortable and settled in. The move from Minnesota was not exactly fun (when is packing and moving ever fun?), but the 2 day drive to CO went off without a hitch. The girls were just fine and even got to ride in Daddy's big, yellow truck!

Packing boxes in Minnesota

Sonja in the moving truck

Some sister time

Sonja and Daddy in the truck

Just a few days after we moved in, Linnea started kindergarten. The kids actually started a week earlier, so Linnea had her own "first day". The elementary school is very close by and I have been enjoying walking her to and from school. She goes to school 2 and 1/2 days a week and she has so much fun!
Little Miss Linnea ready for her first day!

Outside on our front porch!

The following week, Sonja started preschool and really loves it. She goes 2 days a week, which seems like just enough for her. On her first day she came home all smiles and covered in paint. Here she is getting ready to drive with Daddy to her first day of preschool.

We really, really enjoy living in a house and feel truly blessed. Since we've arrived in Colorado, we've felt welcomed and loved by the church community. We feel like we are fitting in well and are looking forward to the next couple of years.

On a pregnancy note, I've been feeling just fine. I'm starting to feel the tiredness that comes with the third trimester, but with both girls in school a couple days a week, I've been able to take rests and relax a little. When both girls are home, however, there is little relaxation; they certainly like to keep me on my toes! I was excited to pass my 1 hour glucose tolerance test (a first for me!), so I don't have to go through the undesirable 3 hour test. We are all getting really excited about meeting are new little girl!

The weather since we've been here has been hot and sunny, but not at all humid, which is a nice change from MN. Now that the evenings have been cooling down considerably, we are looking forward to what Fall in CO has to offer.

We're hoping to keep you updated on a more regular basis, but we'll see what happens!

What's New?

2010-05-26T12:35:00.003-04:00

So, I've been really, really behind on the blog posts. But that's good news! That means that we've been super busy and will have lots of exciting news to share. The first batch of pictures I took about a month ago and thought they were super cute. The photos at the end are of Linnea's 5th birthday party back on May 15th. Once again we had beautiful weather.

Now, on to the news. We are moving to Colorado for two years in August. Matthew was assigned an internship at a church in Littleton, CO. We are all very excited about this decision, as this was his first choice of internship sites. The other news is that we will be adding Erickson baby number 3 the the family right around Thanksgiving. We will find out next month whether we're having a boy or a girl. The girls really want a little brother, but I think they'll be just fine with another little sister as well. They are both very excited about the new addition to our family.

I recently took the girls with me back to Massachusetts to visit my family and we had a great time. It was great to see all of the family and for the girls to visit with their cousins. I will have to post some of those pictures soon.

Back in Minnesota Again

2010-02-23T19:51:00.005-05:00

It's been so long since our last post and a lot has happened. We spent 3 weeks in Mass and the another few weeks in Washington before our half- country trek back to the cold, snowy Mid-West. On our way back we stopped at beautiful Yellowstone National Park for a few days. There we went on a snow-coach tour of the park and saw some amazing things like Old Faithful and bubbling pots of mud. It was really amazing and the girls enjoyed the trip. We also went cross-country skiing and outdoor ice skating, and took advantage of the indoor pool.

Since we've been back here, it's been pretty cold (compared to what we were used to in Sweden) and we've had a decent amount of snow. And we're loving it! It is so sunny here most days and that I really enjoy. The girls and I have been outside almost everyday (sometimes twice a day) playing in the snow or taking trips to the local libraries. I love to keep these kids busy. We've also been reconnecting with our friends we met here over a year ago and it's been fun to catch up with all of them.

Now Matthew is in the process of interviewing for internship next year. We won't find out where we will be moving to next until after April 1st. Seems like a long time off, but I know it will go quick. I've signed with girls up for swim lessons starting next week and I have a feeling that they'll love them. These girls really love the water and I love how it tires them out!

I've been working on doing a lot of homemade projects in addition to the regular cooking. That means all of our bread (gluten and gluten-free), yogurt, buttermilk and granola is homemade. It's fun to do with the girls and they really enjoy the food. Today we made homemade play-dough, which we didn't eat. ;-)

I'll end the post with a few pictures of the girls and our adventures. Check out the video as well. Enjoy!

Linnea bowling back in Mass

Sonja snoozing

Hiking with farmor in Washington

Linnea on the mountain (Mt. Baker)

Snuggle time

Yellowstone at sunset

Skiing out

Skiing with Sonja

Our snow-coach

Eating ice outside our building

In the tunnel

Heading West

2009-12-12T00:43:00.007-05:00

After Wayne and Ellyn left us in Stockholm to fly back to the US, we were all sad. It seemed so quiet without them. Linnea complained that she didn't have anyone to talk to while riding in the car. We all felt a little lonely without them joining us on our adventures. The same day they left Stockholm we headed west towards Norway. We stopped to stay a couple of days at a cabin on the Northern tip of one of Sweden's largest lakes. Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy so we didn't even get to go swimming. So sad. Instead we went hiking and hit the mother load when we discovered all of the wild blueberries everywhere! We packed up a few containers full and enjoyed them for days.

A bus we saw on the road

Out on a hike

Then it was time to move on again, but we were all eager to escaped the rainy weather. We took a half a day and kept on west to Norway. There we stayed with my very distant and very nice relatives Nils and Vesla on the family farm northwest of Oslo. They were so gracious and hospitable - great people! They are a retired couple that have moved out of the main farmhouse into a very cozy home on the property. One of their daughters, her husband and 3 children now live in the main farmhouse and run the farm. We also visited Ola (their son) who lives on another farm not too far away with his wife and daughter.

View from across the fjord

The girls loved playing with their "cousins" and the weather was just gorgeous. I had stayed there back in 1998 for a week after I completed my term in Germany. It was great to see everyone again, how the kids had grown and to meet the newest family members. While there, we also visited the glass factory and an old silver mine. Very fun. It felt so nice to stay in a home with great hosts after staying in cabins and hotels for the past few of weeks.

Annette, Linnea and Sonja

The two familys at Ola and Anna's house.

From there we set off for a week up to Flåm and then Bergen where we saw some absolutely amazing county. Stories and pictures to follow.

Farewell Already?

2009-12-03T07:21:00.006-05:00

We can't believe it! We'll be leaving Sweden in just 11 days. Could it really be that soon? Of course we are really, really looking forward to getting home and seeing family. We are also sad to say "goodbye" to the good friends we have made over the past year. We hope that we will see them again someday! Perhaps they'll visit us in the US?

Our plans for the holidays are to spend 3 weeks in Massachusetts over Christmas, my birthday and New Year's, and then about 2.5 weeks in Washington. Then we will begin the long drive back to Minnesota. This time however, we will be making a stop for 4 days in Yellowstone! We are so excited, I've never been. There we hope to do some cross country skiing and hot tubbing. It'll be interesting to move back into our old apartment building in MN. Some friends are still there and we are very much looking forward to reconnecting with them. Of course, we'll have to get used to the extreme cold again, but I'm really looking forward to some snow.

We are trying to make the most of our remaining time in Sweden and participating in some Advent festivities. Next week Linnea has a Santa Lucia performance at her school at 7:00 AM while it is still dark. That'll be cold. Pictures to follow. Tomorrow we bake Christmas cookies with some friends. And we've done a little Christmas shopping here as well. The girls made a gingerbread house which was quickly devoured.

Hope to see some of you real soon!

Polar Circle, High Coast and Stockholm

2009-11-20T07:33:00.009-05:00

Our time with Ellyn and Wayne continued on to more northern Sweden into Lappland. We stayed 3 nights in Arvidsjaur and during that stay traveled north to Jokkmokk, which is north of the Arctic circle. Up there we saw many reindeer and visited the Sami museum that we found very interesting.
After our time up north we started to make our way south down the east coast, also known as the High Coast. Here we stayed another couple of nights. We were originally going to stay in another stuga but the reservation got mixed-up. Apparently, they had us booked as 4 dogs and 2 children instead of 4 adults and 2 children. Not quite sure how that all happened but it was pretty humorous when we were trying to check in! Luckily, there was room at a hotel and we stayed there instead. On the high coast the girls took their first chair lift ride up a mountain. From there we had a beautiful view and they feasted like bear cubs on wild blueberries.

Another day we took a wild ferry ride to one of the islands just off the coast. It was a choppy ride and while both girls felt sick, it was only poor little Sonja that puked all over me. Yuck! The rest of the day was much better until it started to down pour and we all got soaked, especially Wayne who saved our spot in line to get back on the ferry. Luckily, the ferry ride back to the mainland was not as choppy.
Then it was down the coast again to Stockholm where we spent a couple of days doing the usual touristy stuff. We saw the royal palace, walked along the old cobble-stoned streets, took a canal boat ride, and everyone except Sonja and me visited the Vasa museum. It was by far the most touristy destination on our trip. English was spoken everywhere.

We stopped at IKEA on the way for a break and some Swedish fish

Linnea admiring the crown outside the Royal Palace (2nd largest working palace in Europe)

Listening to the narration on the canal tour

At the Vasa Museum

After Stockholm it was back to the US for the Farfs. We continued our summer adventure traveling west over towards Norway where we would stay for 2 weeks.

Stuga Fever

2009-11-03T05:18:00.012-05:00

The next week of our journey we spent staying in a cabin or "stuga" in Storlien. This is a little ski village and apparently where the Swedish royal family has their ski stuga. Ellyn and I went snooping around one evening trying to find it. ;-) Our stuga was very cozy, right on a little pond. Farfar took off a few mornings (once with Linnea) and caught us some little fish in the surrounding lakes. We spent much of our time outside enjoying the beauty of the mountains.

All week we took off on daily outings. Our biggest day was back to Norway to visit Trondheim for the day where we visited the Nidaros Cathedral and for dinner that night Matthew had whale steak!

Many of the days we went hiking in and around Storlien. We also visited the popular ski town of Åre where we took a gondola up to the top of the mountain and played in the snow. It was on one of these outings that we spotted our first reindeer.

Linnea and Farfar in their matching vests on a hike down to a waterfall

At the bottom of the falls

At the top in Åre

On a hike up the ski area behind our stuga

Video of the Girls Playing Tag

2009-10-21T04:29:00.003-04:00

Tour Continues With "The Farfs"

2009-10-17T03:18:00.010-04:00

Dinner out with Far Far and Far Mor

Like I mentioned in the last post, the next part of our journey was up to northern Sweden (through Norway) with Matt's parents, Wayne and Ellyn (also known as Far Far and Far Mor, or more commonly referred to as "The Farfs"). We left Lund early in the morning and started our all day trek through the rain to Oslo. Traveling along the highways in Sweden is not at all like in the US. There are plenty of nice rest stops, most with nice picnic tables and a toilet. Sometimes you'll hit a place with a gas station and/or restaurant that serves light sandwiches and coffee. There are no drive-through coffee shanties. Once in a while you might run into a Burger King, but that is my absolute least favorite place to go! It is kind of assumed that most travelers travel with their own food and coffee. We've been accustomed to this since arriving in Sweden in January so we were prepared and packed a lunch and snack to take along the way.

In Oslo we stayed at a hotel with adjoining rooms, which was very nice. It gave Matt and I a chance to leave the girls with Wayne and Ellyn while we went out for the evening. One evening Matt and I visited Vigeland Sculpture Park and that was amazing! By the way, the pictures taken below were taken after 10:00 at night!

This one reminded me of Sonja

Together we all took the ferry over to Bygdøy and saw awesome viking ships at the Viking Ship Museum ("it houses three ships found in large burial mounds in the Oslo fjord region. The best-preserved Viking ships in existence, each contained a wealth of material, both decorative and utilitarian, dating back up to 1200 years").

and the Norwegian folk museum.

We also visited the Kon-Tiki museum.

Linnea and the Farfs continued on to the Fram Museum "which preserves the polar exploration ship Fram that between 1893 and 1925, sailed further north and further south than any other surface vessel".

Following our two nights in Oslo we had another long day of driving ahead of us as we headed north to Trondheim and hopped on over to Storlien, Sweden where we were staying in a cabin at a wintertime resort for a week.

A Week of Summer

2009-10-10T02:51:00.010-04:00

Seriously, summer lasted about a week. Too bad for us we were no longer staying on the coast. Anyway, it seemed really, really hot. I don't think the temperature got above the high 80s; it just felt hotter. Poor little Sonja would redden up like a tomato instantly in the heat. Most of the 3 days we spent touring in and around Norrköping we spent trying to find places to cool off. We went to the lake a couple of days and found a nice wading pool another day.

Linnea, always the Fashion Queen

Sonja cooling off with a cool drink

Linnea trying to be friendly with the not-so-friendly hedgehog

Sharing candy from the candy factory

We then spent a day in Kalmar visiting the castle. It was a lot of fun because we got to go on a tour and they had lots of activities for kids. Linnea even got to practice jousting on a horse!

After our day trip we spent 3 nights in a state/province of Sweden named, Småland. We stayed in a really nice youth hostel out in the country and enjoyed biking and visiting the region famous for glass. After visiting a hand blown glass factory Linnea decided she wanted to be a glass blower when she grows up! The youth hostel we stayed at was very different than those I experienced in Europe during college. It was a nice old house (like you would image a B&B) and we had our own room - with a double/twin bunk bed and our own sink. We shared bathrooms and showers with others on our floor but the place was not full so it felt private. We had to bring our own sheets and towels and we had full use of the common kitchen.

Next, we were on our way back to Lund to pick up Matthew's parents! We spent 3 days in Lund showing them around the city and letting them get acclimated to the new time zone (we're 9 hours ahead of them on the west coast). Since we couldn't stay at the house we'd been renting because the owner was using it for the summer, our good friends Karin and Jakob were very kind in letting us stay at their apartment while they were gone on vacation. The weather was pleasantly warm, but not at all hot.

Our next post will be about the first part of our journey with Far Far and Far Mor. We traveled through Norway, stopping in Oslo along the way, to Northern Sweden.

Fall Updates

2009-10-06T05:41:00.010-04:00

While I haven't even begun to finish posting about all of our summer travels, I thought it was time to give a little more current update on how we are all doing. Autumn is in the air! It seemed quite warm to us all of September and we were wondering how cold it was really going to get before we leave in December, and then October 1st hit and along came the cold. We've had a lot of cool, clear weather, but that usually follows a lot of rain and wind. No real color change though, guess we got spoiled living in Massachusetts. We've had to use both the upstairs and downstairs fireplaces a few times because the house is just so cold! We've decided to heat the place as much as we can with just the fireplaces and only use the electric (the very expensive electric) to heat in the girls' room at night. The fruit trees in the yard produced a lot of fruit: plums, pears and apples. Not all of it is really good to eat straight off of the tree so I've been making lots of sauces.

The girls are doing really well. Linnea continues to love school and is learning to speak a lot of Swedish. She is also learning a lot at home too. The other day we had a long discussion about decay thanks to PBS Kids "Sid the Science Kid" that she explores online. She also has informed me that Sonja has an invisible arm and that is why she does things (like pour water on her head in the bath) that I can't see and it is clearly not Linnea's fault. And on Matthew's birthday, she told him he should change his name to Grandpa Jeff. I don't know where she gets this stuff. We spent last Friday outfitting Linnea with a "new" (well, new to her) snowsuit complete with snow boots. Now it's hard to convince her not to wear the whole getup every time we leave the house. It's not that cold, yet! Friday night has also become "movie night" and Linnea gets to choose the dinner and the movie and sometimes a movie treat.

I take both girls with me to open preschool once a week on Monday mornings where we usually meet a friend and play for the morning. On the days that Linnea is in preschool, Sonja seems to enjoy assuming the role of Linnea. She plays with all of the toys that Linnea usually controls and sits in Linnea's seat at the kitchen table. But she does get a little lonely after a while and is generally really excited to pick Linnea up at "SCHOOL!". School is one of the many words that Sonja can say now but she thinks it's the same as the Swedish word "skål", which is like saying "cheers". So when Sonja talks about school it is usually said loudly with an enthusiastically raised up arm as if she were holding a mug of beer. She also likes to say "whoaw", which is like a combination of "wow" and "whoa". It's really funny the way she says it and how she uses it. Like when we were checking out the stars last night "whoaw" or when she almost falls off the bed "whoaw". Sonja also goes to open preschool on Tuesdays with Matthew, while I take a little time off for myself- yay. We try to keep her busy too so she stays out of mischief.

Matt's Swedish seems to be coming along well too. He has to take a language exam soon as part of his graduation requirements. I'm sure that he'll do just fine. He's been studying a lot and practicing a lot with friends. Together we've started a weekly bible study group with our friends that have small children. The term "bible study" is used loosely though because we all have small children and it's hard to keep focused. But we knew that, so our main goal is just to get together once a week, share a meal, sing some songs, have the kids play together, discuss what's been going on in our lives and pray together. We really enjoy the fellowship. We are still attending two church services on a Sunday. Not because we are overly pious, but because one is in Swedish and one is in English. The Swedish one is more traditional Lutheran so I can follow along with the liturgy but really get lost on the Sermons. The English speaking one is not so formal and of course I usually don't have a problem following along. :-) We really enjoy both services and have friends at both churches.

I've been doing much better since I've seemed to have figured out that I have a problem with gluten. Over the summer it seemed problems with my stomach and digestion were getting really bad. I don't know if I'm gluten intolerant, luckily we've got a doctor in the family who can figure that out, but I just know that when I eat things containing gluten it's no good. So I am trying my best to avoid gluten. It's amazing what can contain gluten besides the obvious breads and pasta. We're learning to check everything! But since I've cut out the gluten I feel so much better. Even my mood and energy level has improved. I've been feeling so good that I've even taken up running again. About 2-3 times a week I go for longer (about 6 miles) solo runs out by the coast and then maybe 1-2 times a week I'll take the jogging stroller out with Sonja (sometimes Linnea too) for shorter runs, 2-3 miles or less if it's really windy, around the house.

Our camera stopped working towards the end of the trip in Norway so I don't have any really recent pictures to post yet. We did replace the camera this week with a inexpensive, used one that we'll use until we can get our other camera fixed back in the US. So more pictures and stories coming soon!

Going back the the beginning of summer...

2009-09-09T06:05:00.006-04:00

We moved out of the house for the summer on June 18th. Our first stop was to Fiskebäckskil. There we stayed with Lotta and her family. Lotta and Matthew had met once before about 17 years ago when Lotta was an exchange student staying with Matthew's aunt Colleen. They had a nice little guest cabin (stuga) that we stayed in. Lotta and her husband, Tomas, have 3 children; John, Viktor and Elin. They were so nice to us during our stay and we are grateful that they invited us to come and visit. We had a great time!

While we were there we enjoyed the beautiful weather and long, long days. Fiskebäckskil is a beautiful old fishing village on the northern west coast of Sweden. It is an ideal summer spot with lots of opportunities for boating, fishing and beaching. One of the first days we were there we got to celebrate Midsummer with the family. Other days we went site-seeing in and around Fiskebäckskil, to the beach a couple of times, to an aquarium, to an island with a castle, and of course we did some hiking.

The Ericksons at Midsommar Fest

Sonja hanging out at the boat house

Linnea doing her "Alex the Lion" from Madagascar impersonations at the beach

Swinging at a lovely park on Marstrand

Shopping on Marstrand

The next bunch of pictures are from the castle on Marstrand

A view on our way to church on Sunday morning...

Sonja strutting to church

We did a couple of little hikes during our stay. This first pictures is from an evening hike Matt took with the girls.

A walk in the woods

Pictures from our day trip to Lysekil

Sonja at the Aquarium in Lysekil

And here is the group shot just before we left.

What a great way to start the summer!

Before Moving Day

2009-09-03T03:37:00.008-04:00

So before we officially moved out for the summer, there were a few exciting events that we'd like to share. One was that Linnea started school. She goes 15 hours a week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 AM until 2 PM and she loves it. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they spend the entire day outside away from the school, either at a playground in the woods or a playground down by the beach. The even have their lunch at the playground, usually it's a hot soup or hot dogs/hamburgers. On these outing days Linnea is especially tired and sometimes falls asleep before we get home! She obviously wasn't in school for the summer. She just started up again last week and usually doesn't want to leave when it's time for her to go home.

The week Linnea started school was also when my mom arrived for a visit. It was so nice to have my mom around and the girls really loved it too. With my mom we did lots of walking around the city of Lund enjoying the beautiful weather. We had a great day visiting Helsingborg as well.

In Lund

Helsingborg

My mom and I also made the long bus ride to Norway for a short visit with our distant relatives there. It was a very short visit, but very nice one. The area that the family lives in is really beautiful and my mom and I just can't get enough of the scenery. Later in the summer, Matt and I go back with the girls so stay tuned for more pictures!

My mom also gave us a night out which meant for the first time in months Matt and I were able to go out to dinner alone while Mom stayed home with the girls.

Ready for mom and dad's night out

Saying goodbye at the Copenhagen airport. Can't wait to see her again in December!

We also did a little last minute sightseeing in Skåne (the region we live in) before we left. On this day we visited many different burial tombs and standing stones.

Climbing out of a burial tomb

Sitting in front of a tomb

At the coast

Inside a burial mound

On top of the burial mound

Around the mound

Standing stones forming a boat shape

Taking a ride

Sonja working around the house with sister's underwear on.

Moving out for the summer was a lot of work. We had to decide what to pack to bring with us and well as pack up everything we were leaving behind. Then we had to clean the house and get the yard ready for the owner of the house to move back in for the summer. Needless to say, by the time we moved out we were exhausted! But don't worry we had a 10 week "vacation" ahead of us! Yeah right!

A Summer of Homelessness

2009-08-29T03:15:00.007-04:00

We have finally returned to our home in Lund after 10 weeks of homelessness. This summer was really extraordinary for our family for many reasons and I think that we learned a lot about our selves in the process. One of the really fun aspects of this summer is that we had almost zero internet access for 10 weeks. Which means that most of our friends and family have gotten to know almost nothing about our adventures.

Over the next couple of weeks we plan to post a series of blog entries that will give you a little taste of what it is like to be a vagabond family in Scandinavia. Along the way we will introduce you to some of the wonderful people we met, show you some of the places we visited, share some fun stories, and let you hear a little of the insight we gained.

Here is a little pictorial preview of what is to come:

Viking Age Monuments...

Exploring of Castles...

Swedish Wildlife...

Lots of Really Old Churches...

And, of course, lots of stories about our girls.

Tour de Sverige

2009-07-08T16:37:00.003-04:00

Our grand tour of Sweden

As you may know the house that we have been living in in Sweden is a summer house that belongs to a family from Stockholm. And since it is now summer they are living in their summer home making us officially homeless. This is of course a little bit scary but it has given us an opportunity that we probably will never have again in our lives. We have 11 weeks where we are free to travel and we are taking the opportunity to see as much of Scandinavia as possible.

Below is a map showing the rout we began to travel starting on June 18 and will be finishing at the end of August.

View Larger Map

Often on this trip we will be staying with friends and distant relatives at other times we will be staying in little cabins, hostels, and hotels. For almost three weeks Matthew's parents are traveling with us, later in the summer our very close friends Mike and Nila will be joining us. it is to be sure a grand adventure and we are very excited about it.

One of the real exciting aspects of this summer is that for the vast majority of the summer we will be living completely computer free. This means that for those of you that follow this blog you will not get to see pictures from our trip until September.

Kirchentag in Germany

2009-06-14T15:17:00.009-04:00

The Kirchentag

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Germany to attend the 32nd German Protestant Kirchentag. Kirchentag means "Church Day" in German but ironically it lasts five days. The Kirchentag is an event that takes place every other year and given the fact that weekly church attendance in Germany is very low it is absolutely mind boggling the level of participation in this festival. I was told that this year there were over 300,000 individuals that participated in Kirchentag and only about 1,000 of those participants came from outside of Germany. The only larger regularly occurring Christian gathering is World Youth Day but the Kirchentag is much older.

We took the train to Germany and the train took a ferry from Denmark to Germany. Linnea really liked riding the train. Even after riding the train for six hours she still wanted to go on another train. Luckily the trains were very nice and the German train even had a play room just for children on it. Pretty cool.
The whole reason we ended up going to Kirchentag was because a group of people from Grace Lutheran Church, the church Kristin grew up attending were going to attend and we decided to join them. We spent last summer worshiping with Grace and have long considered it our Church home when we are visiting Kristin's family in Western Massachusetts. Below is a picture of the entire group from grace together. It was really good to hang out a little bit with the whole group. We are really thankful our friend pastor Derek Harman invited us to go.

While the whole Kirchentag experience was incredible there was no doubt that for our entire family the best part of the experience was getting to stay with a host family in Bremen. Axel, Henrika, and Sjut were wonderful hosts and we really loved getting to know them. I think we were all nervous when we met for the first time but it did not take us long to really become friends. As Christians we often talk about being brothers and sisters in Christ with all of the Christians that live throughout the world but here we really had a chance to experience the reality of that family relationship.

The entire city of Bremen was taken over by the Kirchentag. Just when you thought you had seen everything you would ride the bus down the street and see another venue that could hold thousands of people.

Above is one of the morning Bible studies. There were at lest 20,000 people that showed up for this chance to read the Bible together.

Linnea just seemed to love being around all of the people and would try to make friends with anyone she could.

Some of the events would fill up rather quickly. The above picture is of the overflow from one of the events where they set up a portable Jumbotron outside after the arena filled up. People were so interested that they sat outside in the rain.

Our first day at the Kirchentag wa a little crazy. We would find something we wanted to go to in the schedule, start heading towards it and after walking half way there realize that there was no way we were going to make it to the event. We simply were not used to the huge scale of the Kirchentag. At lunch we decided that it was our goal to make it to one just one of the days 100+ events. Finally we made it to a concert that was really a lot of fun. It was raining when the concert started but the sun came out and Linnea and I even got to dance a little.

There was a whole section of the city that was designated for children's events. We spent a whole day just doing kids stuff and we loved it.

We went to a children's musical about the life of King David. It was fun but our girls thought that it was a good chance to catch up on their sleep.

On our last day in Bremen we had lunch at a little outdoor cafe. It was a perfect way to end our time in Germany.

Not only did we have a good time in Bremen but I was interviewed by the local paper and was quoted extensively in an article about what it is like for foreigners to attend Kirchentag.

Linnea's Birthday - Blowing bubbles, Hello Kitty and Scootering

2009-05-18T03:25:00.005-04:00

What a great 4th birthday for Linnea! In the morning, we had pink pancakes made by our expert Swedish pancake chef, Matthew. Then after breakfast she received her first gift and most wanted gift, a pink Hello Kitty scooter and she's been scooting ever since! She also got a great Hello Kitty t-shirt from dad. Linnea is very much into Hello Kitty, it's really big here and Matthew thinks it's kind of like an evil empire, hence the t-shirt below. It was designed by one of his classmates from Swedish class.

Before our guests arrived the girls took a pre-party bath and Linnea taught Sonja how to put her face in the water blow bubbles in the tub. It is very cute and we've got it on video, but I think it is too big to post here.

Here's Linnea taking a much needed nap in the back yard before guests arrived.

Sonja was very helpful with the decorating and cleaning. This is a room separate from our house that is just perfect for parties in the summer. We lucked out again and had great weather for her birthday.

Scootering

Opening gifts from friends, which included a Hello Kitty cell phone, camera, t-shirt, hair accessories and purse along with a bubble making kit.

The pink strawberry cake specially decorated by Linnea.

Celebrating

Sonja dissatisfied with her birthday hat.

Pin the bow on Hello Kitty.

When it was the adults turn, Linnea was in charge of spinning. And the game got increasingly more difficult as the poster was moved to different locations as the poor person was being spun about 20 times. Of course for everyone else, it was wildly funny.

All the friends have left and it's time for PJs. Notice the tattoo on the tummy!

Linnea showing off her gifts.

She requested a picture of herself in this pose. Don't ask me why.

Well, in less than 2 days now we are off to Germany where we are bound to have some adventures. Wish us luck!

Rape Flowers in Bloom

2009-05-13T06:08:00.004-04:00

After dinner last night I took a walk in the countryside that surrounds us. I really wanted to get some pictures of the flowering rape flowers. They are absolutely amazing, it looks like an ocean of yellow. The pictures came out pretty good, but they really don't do it justice. The rape flower is a very popular crop in the region so we see the "yellow seas" everywhere. I guess the flower is very easy to grow and grows so fast that they actually harvest it twice a season. The seed is then made into rapeseed oil that I've noticed a lot of in the grocery stores.

So here are the pictures. Enjoy!

How Time Flies!

2009-05-09T06:26:00.005-04:00

Linnea's birthday is on Friday, the 15th of May (in the Jungle of Nool and the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool...). We can't believe she is going to be 4. She has been acting older and more mature these days. She likes to "mother" Sonja and really likes all of our baby friends. Many people have commented on how good she is with younger children and I have to agree, she is a great "big sister". We are having a BBQ birthday party for her on Friday that she is very excited about. We'll definitely have photos to post of the party.

I've been having so much fun being home with the girls. We've got a good numbers of friends that we get together with regularly and I often take the girls to the park/shopping/etc. We have been very active lately, something going on most days of the week!

It is hard to write about the relationship Matthew and I see developing between the girls. They get along so well and love each others company. One afternoon Matthew took Linnea out to run errands and I was home with Sonja. Well, Sonja just crabbed and crabbed until Linnea came home for her to play with. As I mentioned before, Linnea acts as a little mother to her sister and often offers to watch her and take care of her. All very sweet. They are still a couple of goof-balls though. The following pictures are proof!

Playing at the park

It's never to early to learn how to help out around the house

GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) girls in training

Enjoying the sunshine

The Wednesday after Linnea's birthday we leave for Germany for 6 days. When we return Linnea begins school (Dagies) and my mom comes into town for 2 weeks. Then after that we only have a few days until we are off touring Sweden for the summer. I can't believe it's that time already. How exciting!

Beautiful Weather

2009-05-03T02:31:00.006-04:00

The weather here is Southern Sweden has been absolutely beautiful. We've had day after day of sunshine and warm temperatures. Today is the first day in a least two weeks that it looks like to could rain. With all the nice weather and the increasingly longer days we've been making the most out of it and spending many hours outside. I've taken the girls on several outings to the city park and we've done some more exploring around Skåne, the region of Sweden in which we live.

Sonja is 14 months today. She seems like a little girl now, but it still very much my baby. She is also quite the little comedian, always trying to get a laugh out of her sister. She loves to dance and mimic whatever Linnea might be up to. Linnea will be 4 in just 12 days and it's hard to believe. She is a lot older acting and it using more advanced words in English as well as learning quite a bit of Swedish. She has 3 little friends that we have over for play dates.

Matthew and the girls have started a garden and Matthew has hung up a swing that has been very popular with Linnea.

We've also visited the beach that is just a 20 minute bike ride from our house. Surprisingly to us, the water was warm!

Currently, we are attending 2 churches. Most often we go to Swedish church and that is where we've made several friendships with other families. Once or twice a month we also go to the International Church of Lund, which is in English. This church is fairly informal and short. It is nice to have the change of pace and to meet other foreigners.

Some really exciting news is that we are getting some visitors! My mom is coming to visit for 2 weeks at the end of this month and I couldn't be more excited. And then Wayne and Ellyn are coming to visit in July for 3 weeks and will be doing some exploring with us of northern Norway and Sweden. We can't wait for that either. It is going to be a very exciting summer! Yay!

Our Swedish Easter

2009-04-26T11:14:00.004-04:00

I'm a little late on the Easter post, but here are the pictures nonetheless. The girls really enjoyed their first Påsk Ägg. In Sweden, the Easter Bunny doesn't deliver Easter baskets but large Easter Eggs filled with goodies. Easter at church was a completely different experience for us. The church was really empty because so many of the students that regularly attend had gone home for the 5 day Easter break. No one else seemed to be extra dressed for the occasion, except for our girls who received 2 sets of beautiful matching Easter dresses.

On the eve of Easter, friends of ours invited us over for a traditional Svensk dinner. We had 3 kinds of Sil (pickled herring), hard boiled eggs with shrimp, låx (lox = salmon), köttbular (Swedish meatballs), potatoes and some other yummy dishes. We all enjoyed the meal (really, we liked everything), especially Sonja who just loves Swedish meatballs.

We also received an Easter package from Uncle Andy and Kelly that was greatly enjoyed.

Copenhagen

2009-04-15T07:40:00.005-04:00

Well, we took advantage of the long Easter holiday to make our first out-of-Sweden trip. We decided to go to Copenhagen for a couple of days because it is not too far from us (just about 1 hour on the train). The first day we arrived just before noon. The train ride was really fun for the girls. I packed snacks so we could have our fika (Swedish word for a coffee break) on the train.

Waiting for the train

After dropping off our suitcase at the hotel we went to visit Tivoli Gardens. It's an amusement park but not quite like the kind you find in the US. It's not as family/theme park oriented as Disney, not as honky-tonk as your average carnival and cleaner and prettier than a Six Flags. It is expensive, but we really enjoyed it. It has lots and lots of flowers and outdoor cafes/restaurants. Linnea especially like riding the carousel and also enjoyed the old-time cars and Storybook ride. Linnea also developed a taste for cotton candy. Sonja developed a taste for my crazy ice cream cone, which consisted of 3 scoops of ice cream in a cone with soft serve on top, then marshmallow creme, then a chocolate covered marshmallow thing, then a little strawberry syrup on top!

Our second day in Copenhagen we visited the castle and grounds where the crown jewels are kept. Then we took a really nice canal boat ride through the city's canals. We really lucked out with the weather as it was beautiful the whole time we were there.

Although we really enjoyed our time away from home and visiting a new city, we were very glad to get back to Sweden. There is something about it here that isn't like the rest of Europe that I've visited. It's quiet, clean and green.

The girls are doing great. Sonja is walking most of the time now and really enjoys going outside to play. Now that the weather is nice, we even take our lunch outside sometimes and eat on the back patio. Linnea got some good news last week. She'll be able to start school in May. She is very excited! Both girls never cease to make me laugh. Sonja is always climbing up something or trying to fit into little hiding spots. Linnea is speaking some English some Swedish these days. She doesn't say "no" anymore, now it's just "nej" and she mixed sentences like "I'm a blooma". Blooma is the Swedish word for flower. She was saying this while wearing a big flower on her head. She also likes to see what she can get away with these days too. The other day I told her to go use the potty. She came back, obviously too soon and said she had gone. I said, "No you didn't Linnea. Go back and go potty." "Oh, alright." Stomp, stomp. And then later, "Mama, how did you know that I didn't go potty?". "Because I'm the mommy and I just know."

We are still anxiously awaiting our first visitors, whomever they end up being. Right now June 15th (the day we have to move out for the summer) doesn't seem that far away! We are going away for about 5-6 days in May to Germany for Kirchentag (church day) and are starting to look forward to that trip. I'll need to brush up on my German though as they don't speak as much English there as they do in Sweden.

Look forward to another post shortly of our Easter Sunday here at the house. And as always, we love to hear from our friends and family!

It's Official - Sonja's a "Walking Baby"

2009-04-06T10:03:00.004-04:00

Even though Sonja took her first steps awhile ago, she hasn't really been what I would call walking until this past weekend. It started on Friday where she would take more than 3 steps at a time and last night Matthew and I counted about 20 steps in a row before she decided to sit down. Now she walks about half the time and still crawls the other half of the time, but I know it won't be long at all before she's running after Linnea.

This past Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. We took the bikes (and the wagon) into the city and enjoyed the sunshine. It was so fun having a picnic lunch on the grass and playing at the playground where there was actually warm sun.

Here are some pictures of the past week.

Playing Doctor's office. Linnea is the patient and Sonja's the doctor.

Goofing off like usual.

And this is what happens when you give your baby sister a chocolate cookie on the way home from the grocery store (which is less than a 10 minute drive).

Yard Work and Wheelbarrow Rides

2009-03-25T03:41:00.002-04:00

This weekend we spent some time doing some much needed yard work. Sonja just loved it because every time we delivered a pile of leaves to the leaf-pile she got a wheelbarrow ride. It was fun to watch her get so excited and "all smiles" when we'd wheel her around. But every time we took her out to dump the leaves she would start screaming. Since we would then put her back into the wheelbarrow after we dumped the leaves I figured after a couple of trips she'd get it and wouldn't scream when we took her out. No such luck, after at least a dozen trips, she still cried when we took her out. I guess some things are harder to grasp than others!

Linnea has been in a mood lately and doesn't like to have her picture taken. So there aren't any pictures to post of her, just the one where she is holding her Doodle pad in front of her face. That is when we were at the yummy pizza place down the street on Saturday night. I really wanted to get a picture of her because I cut about 3 inches off of her hair and it looks really cute (just like her friend Eleanor she says). Maybe I'll get a shot of it this week.

So, the other morning I was up and could her Linnea whimpering in her room. After a little while I went in and asked her what was wrong. She said "I don't have any makeup." Whimper, whimper. "All I have is chap stick and that really isn't real makeup. I want lipstick and the stuff that you put on eyelashes." I had to try very hard to hold in the laughter. It is so funny because if you know me, I rarely where any makeup at all. I don't know where she gets it from.

Here is Sonja checking out the happenings outside. I don't know what's cuter, the chubby cheeks or the chubby tummy!

The little sneak getting into her favorite hiding spot!

E85, A Few Steps, Drafting, Hiking, Sightseeing, Puking and Sandcastles

2009-03-17T02:01:00.006-04:00

Last week was an exciting week. First I put E85 (ethanol) in the car instead of regular gas. I wasn't really paying attention. Actually I was distracted by making sure I wasn't putting diesel in and watching the kids in the car. Turns out, it's not too big of a deal, we didn't have to siphon it out or anything, just need to put more gas in as soon as possible. Doesn't help me feel like less of a dummy though!

Sonja has been cruising along holding on to hands like crazy now and even took a few, very cautious, steps. They were more like sideways shuffle steps but still very exciting. She's also been busy stacking blocks and copying big sister, especially at the dinner table. Sometimes they get into this endless feedback loop where one starts something like shaking her head, the other follows suit and then the other one copies and on and on. It is pretty fun for all of us.

On our drive on Saturday Linnea was doodling with her magna-doodle and showed me a picture of her hair brush she had drawn (the top one in the photo). I said that it was very good and could she draw me a picture of the brush as if she were looking at it from the side (not other prompting) and then she drew the one on the bottom. Pretty good for a 3 1/2 year old I think. But then again, she's got some engineering genes.

On Saturday we went out for a hike at some trails around a castle (in Torup). It was a lot of fun and we were glad to have our jogger/trailer stroller. We had packed a picnic lunch and actually got to eat it outside because it was nice and warm, in the 40s.

We hadn't mentioned this before, but on every Saturday road trip that we've taken since being in Sweden, Sonja pukes in the car. Our little girl takes after her Mom and her Dad and gets car sick easily, especially on winding, country roads. We first thought it would get better once we switched her car seat around, but that didn't seem to help. Now at least we know when it is coming and can stop the car and minimize the damage! Linnea on the other hand keeps thinking she's going to catch the car sickness. Here they are before this weekend's puking event.

And here we are at the beach. A little cold but at least you can still build sandcastles and collect rocks!

Sonja's Party

2009-03-04T07:02:00.005-05:00

Sonja's birthday was a lot of fun! Linnea and I made carrot cake for the exciting event.

Linnea took this picture of me filling a cupcake.

Here is Linnea filling up some more cupcakes.

The birthday turned out to be an all day affair! In the morning Sonja had her birthday breakfast.

In the afternoon we went to Mom's group at church and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her there and played with balloons.

For dinner, I made spaghetti with meatballs and Linnea made fruit salad. Then after dinner we wore party hats and had blowers, we sang again, had cake and ice cream, and then opened presents. Needless to say, the girls were pretty hyped up last night. But it was a good thing, it was all in all a very fun day!

Sonja was a little bewildered by all of the excitement and attention, but she really seemed to enjoy her first birthday.

Today we went to Öppen Förskola again and had a great time. There were 3 other 3 year old girls there for Linnea to play with. One who speaks Swedish but can understand English because her father speaks to her in English (he is Swedish but wants her to learn English), one who speaks French but can understand English and the other who speaks English and Swedish. The little girl who speaks Swedish and English just moved here with her family from Australia in January and will be staying in Sweden for a year. Sound familiar? I exchanged information with her mom and we are going to get together sometime soon to play and watch "The Wiggles".
In addition to all the little girls, there was also a mom and 1 year old son who are from Austria and speak German! A very international place!

Sonja Turns 1 Today!

2009-03-03T03:10:00.004-05:00

Today is Sonja's birthday! We are all very excited that she is turning one. I just can't believe it's been a year already. Linnea thinks that now she should be able to walk and has now graduated to a "walking baby". Tonight we will have a birthday dinner (spaghetti and meatballs) and carrot cake and ice cream for dessert. She already had her birthday breakfast this morning. Cottage cheese, avocado, knackebrod, banana and grapes. All her favorites, yum!
I will post pictures of the event later on. For now, here are some pictures from last week! Enjoy!

Getting Out and Having Fun and Getting Sick

2009-02-24T03:30:00.005-05:00

Last week was a fairly busy week for us. Matt took the girls swimming on Monday, we went to a play group at church on Tuesday, Wednesday was the animal park, Friday night IKEA (do you know they let you leave your kids 3+ at a play area while you shop? Plus, they've got cheap meals) and Saturday we went out exploring the area again. We also got some more snow, gone now, that made playing outside lots of fun!
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way the girls caught colds (our first Swedish virus!) and that has made the last couple of nights pretty eventful.

Here is last week in pictures...

Sonja's Repertoire

2009-02-15T07:40:00.003-05:00

As I am sitting her with Little Sonja Doodle I thought I would update you on her repertoire and other new facts. For one, she is getting about 5 new teeth right now. Two on top have poked through and there are another 2 on top and one on the bottom that are just about to pierce the gum. She is well on her way to have a mouth full. It's funny because up until this point, she's only had the 2 bottom teeth, which came in a few months ago.

As Sonja closes in on her first birthday I can already tell she is not a little baby anymore. While she is not quite walking, she does do a few other tricks. She says, "UH-OH" even when she deliberately drops something. And when Linnea says "ready, set" Sonja says "go" (or something that sounds like that). It is a really fun game for both of them to play. She also gives kisses, blows kisses goodbye and does a baby sign for "tickle my neck", which is throwing her head back and tickling it herself. She also eats everything we do, except nuts, eggs and shellfish. Right now she's really enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich. She really likes cottage cheese, peas and avocado. All to be eaten by herself, of course. Sounds like someone else we know...big sister perhaps. Sonja does baby signs for milk and food as well. We are currently working on please and more.

Linnea is really having fun these days playing with her little sister. This week it snowed a little and they both love for me to pull them around in the yard in the sled. The girls get along really well, so far so good. And they are getting better at Skyping with Nana and Papa and FarMar and FarFar. I think they both just really enjoy looking at themselves on camera.

This week we are starting a new routine where Matthew takes the girls for one afternoon a week so I can have some time to myself to read or run or nap. Tomorrow is the first afternoon and I'm really excited. Hopefully it'll be a nice day. Matt is most likely going to take the kids to the Sim Hall (Swimming Hall), which I know they'll just love.

I've got a few more pictures this week and also some new video that is cute. Unfortunately I have to find a way to reduce the file size of the video before posting because it's too large. But here are some photos for now.

Yesterday we toured around the city center of Lund. And we forgot the camera, of course. But I'm sure we'll be out and about more and more as the weather gets nicer. Yesterday we toured the cathedral and part of the cultural museum, as well as a toy store. Linnea was supposed to by thinking about and looking for what she would like to get her sister for her birthday, but I think she was mainly making a list of things she wanted. It was quite the super toy, baby, candy store. Very exciting and possible location for future outings in town.

A Nice Family Weekend

2009-02-08T15:06:00.006-05:00

As the weekend comes to a close, we all feel pretty good. It was a good family weekend. Yesterday, we visited the cities of Landskrona and Helsingborg. Landskrona had an old citadel (above) that we toured the grounds of (although it was pretty chilly!) and we spend the afternoon in Helsingborg, a larger city, with a castle. Linnea really liked the castle and was very agreeable to climbing all the stairs to the top!

A view of Helsingborg from the castle grounds. This is one of the reasons I really love being in Europe - old castles, how cool is that?

Now this we couldn't quite figure out. We think that it is a giant, stationary antenna used to communicate with aliens. Definitely built by the transcontinental Egyptians.

And Doodle being Doodle...

And Linnea didn't want to have her picture taken with this statue, I don't really know why, she loves statues.

The girls are doing great! They are adjusting so well, but Linnea does talk about going back to Minnesota and going back to playing with her friend Emma. If you didn't know it already, Linnea is quite the drama queen. However, lately she really has been cracking us up, it's hard not to laugh. This morning she was getting all moody and dramatic about not having any milk for her Cheerios. In her drama, there are a few tears and mostly whining. But I tell her there is nothing we can do for her, there is no milk. End of story, right? No, later she draws a picture in the car on the way to church. I ask who it is, is it her? No, she says it's a picture of a boy crying because there is no milk for his Cheerios.

We had great weather today and Linnea was able to fly her new kite outside in the field behind us.

Sonja is closing in on her first birthday and we just can't believe it. She is "cruising" all over the place and loves following her big sister around. She has just started holding fingers and walking around. Both the girls are in love with avocados and eating them every day. Luckily I've been finding them pretty cheap at the grocery store. Sonja eats almost everything now and gave up any baby food type food a couple of months ago. She just wants to eat what we're eating, which makes it a lot easier to travel with her. She is a real smiley girl, loves to laugh and giggle. She often hears her sister in the other room and will call out to her, yelling something that kind of sounds like "Linnea!" She is also learning to "fight back" a little by pulling hair and pushing Linnea out of her way. Showing lots of independence too!

It's been a good week!

2009-02-06T05:56:00.005-05:00

MMMM.... Swedish pancakes with lingonberries of course!

This week we went to play group twice and set up our new IKEA igloo. We are planning our first Swedish day trip tomorrow. I nice drive up the coast. I look forward to a little warmer weather. The spring flowers are supposed to be amazing. Of course, we can't wait until summer to go and see the Linnea flowers!

Öppen förskola

2009-02-03T12:47:00.005-05:00

So I took the girls to our first Öppen förskola today. Öppen förskola means open preschool. Basically, it is an organized playgroup for children 0-6 and their caregivers. It is housed in a little yellow building next to an elementary school and it led by a nice woman named Carin. Most of the children were between 1 and 2 as most older children go to regular preschool. This open preschool is free and is offered 3 mornings a week for 3 hours at a time and then one afternoon a week for 3 hours. I definitely plan on taking the girls back. There weren't any children Linnea's age this morning, but she had lots of fun playing with all the toys. Carin told me that sometimes there are older children that come to the afternoon one after they get out of school. We're going to try that tomorrow. I met some really nice parents, all of whom speak great English. As I have been noticing a lot in Sweden, about half of the caregivers present were fathers. Seems like the duties are pretty much split 50/50. It also helps that there is great parental leave for dad and moms alike.

Sonja has pretty much given up her morning nap. It's OK with me, I don't want to fight it and it means that we can have more flexibility about going places instead of getting stuck inside all day. I'm still trying to squeeze in some time so I can learn a little Swedish too. So far I can tell I understand a little bit more than I did 3 weeks ago, but I would really like to get better at speaking.

In Sweden!

2009-01-29T14:02:00.002-05:00

So we made it safely to Sweden, the girls were awesome on the plane. Just slept most of the way and we actually had to wake them up for landing! We were lucky in that the plane was not full at all so we took up some extra seats, Sonja got to sleep in a bassinet and Linnea slept across two seats. Matt and I had the hardest time sleeping because we weren't able to recline much or stretch out our legs, but that's just the way it goes.

Jet lag wasn't too bad - for most of us. Linnea had the hardest time. We just couldn't keep her awake past 5:00 PM even if we are in the middle of IKEA and then she's be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 4:00 AM! That lasted about 4 days, we are all well adjusted now.

So, our new place is great, big, spacious, cold, drafty... all of the things we expected with an old farm house. We don't mind the cold that much, we just wear warm clothes inside and keep our slippers on!

It is so nice to live in a place with a yard! Today we found a cat (most likely the neighbor's barn cat) who looks like Hobbs, so we've been calling him/her Hobbs. Linnea also spied a bunny in the backyard when we were out playing. Our neighbors to the east have a farm where they board horses. There have got to be at least 9 of them and some of them are the nicest horses I've ever seen (very well bred) and huge!

So here are some pics of the place. If it looks like everything came from IKEA that is because it did. It's hard to imagine anything but IKEA decor here. We did hit IKEA the second day we were here and it felt just like we were back in the US. Kinda strange.

So, it is interesting finding out what is different here than what we expected and what really isn't all the different from home. You can never really know until you experience it. One thing that has been hard for me is that I can't find my usual stuff at the grocery store. OK, I anticipated this, but it's weird that I can't find many canned tomato products or Mexican products but that I can find tons of prepackaged, make from a box Indian cuisine. The cereal isle is limited to one shelf but they have an overwhelmingly supply of Musli (pretty much granola) and several candy isle (these people have a sweet tooth). And I so miss the Super Target back in MN where I can get almost everything I need in one spot. Here I have to go to 2 different grocery stores just to make dinner. But I assume that'll all start to change as I learn to adjust. And it really isn't that frustrating, mostly humorous.

I still haven't seen a department store, I think they are all in the mall. The only one I recognize is H&M, must be a European company. We looked at getting a used stroller and quickly found out that strollers here are super pricey because they are all deluxe. Which brings me to another point. Luxury. It seems as though there are very few personal comforts items (scratchy sheets, scratchy recycled paper toilet paper, etc) - very minimalistic and practical. Then you get to things like baby strollers and cars and we're talking high end luxury.

We're all doing well. Matt started classes this week and has been riding his bike into Lund. We have signed up Linnea for school but she hasn't been placed yet. We've got internet, some TV with about half of the time showing something American, and new Swedish cell phones. Now we are anxiously awaiting our first visitors. Andy and Kelly will be here in a about a week and a half. Make sure you pack your slippers!

The Mother Post

2009-01-10T17:01:00.007-05:00

OK, so it’s been over a month since our last post and so much has happened and is still happening! So this is going to be, hopefully, the Mother of all Posts! So, you’ll have to set aside a few minutes for this one. Who knows when we’ll get the chance to post again – we’ll be doing so much adjusting to life in Sweden. We leave for Sweden on Tuesday! Wahoo. Our Visas did arrive within plenty of time and we are anxiously awaiting our non-stop flight to Copenhagen ;-). We are flying into Denmark because it is the closet large airport to where we will be living in Sweden, which is Lund.

So let me back things up to early December. My parents (Diane and Lee aka Nana and Papa) came to visit us in St. Paul. They were lucky to be there for Linnea’s Christmas program at church. Linnea was lost in a sea of preschoolers, but we could pick her out and it seemed as though so actually was singing! And she really seemed to enjoy it. Both girls enjoyed having Nana and Papa visit and spending a pre-Christmas, Christmas with them.

My parents left on Sunday the 14 of December and that is when the packing mayhem began. First Sonja seemed to come down with a little bit of a stomach bug on Sunday and couldn’t keep anything down, but you never really tell with an infant if she is actually really sick or just spitting up. So we really didn’t think anything of it. Then Linnea comes down with a urinary track infection on Monday evening. Monday morning she vomits but I had read that can be a symptom of a UTI in small children and don’t really think much of it! Matt brings her to the clinic, spends all day with her there because she refuses to pee, let alone pee in a cup. If any of you know Linnea, you know she’s got an amazing ability to “hold it” (part of the reason for the UTI in the first place). Matt then gets puked on in Target (ah, parenthood) and finally comes home with a catch basin because the kid still won’t pee. Hmf. So by the time they come home, I’m not feeling so hot, guess the stomach thing was a virus after all. Bam, I’m sick the rest of the day and the following morning. Then, Linnea finally decides to pee and gets on an antibiotic. Then, bam, Matt gets it on Wednesday. So this really starts to delay our packing! But never fear, with the help of our great and friendly neighbors we managed to get everything packed and stored (with some minor hang-ups, of course). Thank you friendly neighbors! We also end up infecting their kids with the stomach virus and they still helped us pack/move. Now those are some quality friends!

On Sunday, December 21^st we left St. Paul and headed for Washington. We drove long hours each day, stopped for the night in Billings, MT and were able to make it to Matt’s grandmother’s house in Ellensburg, WA early (about 2 AM) on the 23^rd. We encountered extremely cold temps in North Dakota and Montana and a bit of snow in Idaho and Washington, but overall it was a pretty good trip.

So, this is when it gets interesting… Turns out Linnea is very allergic to dogs and is asthmatic. She started having itchy eyes and ears while she was around the dog and cat at Grandma Pat’s but it is not until Christmas Eve (in Tacoma) that we notice that she is having trouble breathing. So we make the decision for Matt and his dad to take her to the ER. About 3-4 hours later they return with a very hyped-up 3 year old (yeah, drugs), an inhaler and a prescription for the urinary tract infection that just didn’t seem to want to go away.

So, am I discouraging any of you would-be parents yet? Don’t worry, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, just really bad timing. We had a really nice Christmas with Matt’s family. We met our newest cousin, Olivia, for the first time and Linnea and Sonja played with other cousins they didn’t even know they had! Bonus!

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This past Sunday we had Sonja baptized at Ellyn and Wayne’s church in Bellingham. Most of the family from Ellyn’s side was able to come, which was very, very nice. And Sonja has really taken to her godfather, Uncle Andy.

Linnea and cousin Taylor.

After Christmas and until now we have been spending our time with Matt’s parents (Wayne and Ellyn aka Far Far and Far Mar) at their house in Sumas, WA. Fortunately, they still have Grandma Pat’s old travel-trailer and Linnea has been sleeping in that with one of us because it is pet-free. She really likes it; it’s like her own little clubhouse. When we first got to Sumas there was tons of snow, so we went sledding, built snowgirls, etc. But now it is all gone! It has been raining for a week straight and there is major flooding in the region. But that just meant we could go play in the creek instead.

Sonja meets the animals: Donuts the Donkey, Suzie the horse, Floppy-top the goat, Kinsey and Kiley the Scottish highland cows, Wallace the dog and Mystic and Hobbs the cats (hope I didn't miss anyone!).

And now we are in the midst of major packing for Sweden. Sorting out what to bring one last time and making sure all of our ducks are in a row. Wish us luck!

Kristin, Matthew, Linnea and Sonja

Sonja's on the move!

2008-12-05T15:01:00.003-05:00

Sonja has really got the crawling thing down now! She has really taken off in the last couple of weeks. It is really cute how she can go everywhere now and you can tell how proud she is when she comes peeking around a corner or through the door. Of course we can always hear her coming (shuffle, shuffle, pant, pant, giggle). She also follows me all over the apartment when she gets tired or hungry. The tricky thing is trying to keep the kitchen floor clean because if there is a Cheerio to be found, she'll find it! In addition to her crawling, she also flaps her arm and says "Ba-Ba" (bye-bye for those of you who don't speak baby).

Sonja turned 9 months old this week and is doing great. She was 22.5 pounds and 29 inches long. Overall she is a very healthy and happy baby. We all have come down with colds in the last couple of days, however, but we seem to be getting better.

I put this dress on Sonja on Sunday totally expecting it to still be quite roomy. I was quite wrong! I can't believe all of the stuff she's out-grown already!

Linnea has been busy packing her suitcase for Sweden. So far, she has only thought of packing toys and I try to explain to her that she'll probably need some warm clothes too, but I don't think she really cares! Anyway, we are still enjoying our time here in Minnesota, although have I told you how cold it is? Brrr! Definitely colder than New England so far.

Below are a couple of pictures of Linnea and Emma enjoying the Christian Community Fair we went to a few weeks ago.

Somehow I don't think Linnea or Emma imagined Larry and Bob would be so big in real life!

As Promised!

2008-11-11T22:06:00.006-05:00

So a new development in the Erickson household is that Linnea dresses herself nearly everyday. It's always interesting to she what ensembles/combos she comes up with. Yesterday she wanted to wear her fast running shorts. Well, it's too cold to wear running shorts in November in Minnesota (especially since it's been flurrying on and off for a couple of days now) so she suggested wearing her apple leggings underneath. Creative. And then a purple flower shirt on top with her favorite yellow polka-dot sweater over that.
Today's outfit is shown below. She did manage to put everything on herself, including the tights but needed help getting the skirt on the right way.

Sonja on the other hand, believes that she doesn't need any clothes and prefers to hang out in the nude.

OK, she does get dressed sometimes, like days when we leave the house. ;-)
Of course we have many cute outfits that we wear at least something cute at least once a day.

Sonja likes to think that she can stand all by herself, which she can once you prop her up and give her something to hang on to. And then eventually she'll plop back down. She is however, getting very close to crawling. I witnessed it last night and Linnea saw her do it today, but Matthew has yet to see it. She has also started feeding herself bits of solid food. So far it's been Cheerios and sweet potato. She loves feeding herself and it quite proud when she does it. Pictures of that will be coming soon.

So, anyway, that's about all for now. Below is the picture of Matthew in the puppy costume on Halloween, as promised. Enjoy! And following that is a little video of the girls. I apologize in advance because it's at a 90 degree angle and I don't know how to flip it.

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-02T21:56:00.003-05:00

Halloween is such a fun holiday. This year Linnea dressed up as a fairy (shown below) for the harvest party and a princess for actual trick-or-treating. Sonja and I stuck with the fairy thing for both events. Matthew did dress up as a giant purple dog, much to Linnea's excitement. I have to include that photo in a future post.

Mom, it's a little chilly out here for a fairy...

And here the girls are all dressed up...

Sonja really enjoyed waving her wand all over the place. She did wack herself in the head a couple of times and didn't even seem to mind too much. But doesn't she look so cute?

So I am always trying to remember cute things that Linnea says to relate to you all, and I am pretty bad at remembering. But today there were a couple of gems. At brunch, she turns to Matthew and says "Daddy, I met your girlfriend at Schwedish class". Apparently she was the one in the yellow shirt. Then surprisingly, she met his "boyfriend" as well. Just so you know, Matthew took her to Swedish (Schwedish in Linnea speak) class last week, and any girl or boy friend is automatically a girlfriend or boyfriend. I still found it quite amusing.
And then this evening Linnea was telling me that daddy's other name is Peter Panties... I don't know where she came up with that one, but she's obviously not cutting Matthew any slack today!

Sonja is just about crawling. It's going to be any day now. And she loves getting out of the house whether it's going for a walk or going to the grocery store, she's always excited about going on outings and seeing what there is to see. Oh, and did I tell you that she's got 2 teeth down on the bottom. It's really cute. She's only used them on me so far, much to my disapproval, when she's tired of nursing. She's really pretty vocal, blabbing all the time and usually has a big grin on her face. Now if I could only get her to stop waking up every morning at 4 AM!

Fall is Finally Here!

2008-10-14T21:31:00.002-04:00

Well, after weeks for warm weather, Fall is finally in the air. This weekend we piled up the leaves and let the kids enjoy them.

Sonja of course is always in a festive mood!

Linnea enjoyed gathering up the leaves and then jumping into the big pile.

The kids have been off and on sick for a few weeks now. It's been tough on Sonja who seems to get everything worse than anyone else (it's that still developing immune system I guess). She sure is a trooper though, even with the colds she's still smiling (and eating)!

Well, we may not have a place to live in Sweden yet (we are still working on that), but we've bought our airline tickets. We leave January 13th on a 9 hour flight from Seattle to Copenhagen. From Copenhagen we'll take public transit across the bridge into southern Sweden where Lund in located. We've been talking to Linnea about moving to Sweden after Christmas in Washington. She seems excited about it especially since she'll probably get to go to pre-school there. And let me tell you, she's been nagging to go back to school!

The girls love being here at the Seminary and I'm loving being home with them and taking them to all the various events around town. We quite often go to the library, to play groups, on walks, and spend many hours out on the playground. We're enjoying the nice weather while it's here, from what we hear it won't last too long!

Our new home

2008-09-07T22:28:00.005-04:00

Well, while searching for a new home in Sweden, we stumbled across this and could not pass it up! Actually, this is the American Swedish Institute ( http://www.americanswedishinst.org ) that we visited today with the girls.

They had on display the gowns of the Queen of Sweden, Sylvia, and Linnea really enjoyed getting into the spirit. She really wanted to touch the gowns, but we weren't allowed to even take pictures of them!

Here is Linnea descending the staircase like royalty.

Our Viking Princess

And lounging like all real Swedish Royalty, in an IKEA chair. Of course, she wanted to read all of the kids' books that they had (a serious consequence of not having a TV at home and subsequently going to the library at least twice a week).

We also spent some time outside enjoying the nice weather, it hasn't been over 70 degrees in days! And we're loving it!

We all got dressed up this morning for church. Sonja has quite the cold, lots of drool and snot, but was a pretty good sport especially with Big Sister Linnea to help cheer her up.

We even managed to get a family shot.

Last week we were blessed to have Matt's dad (Far Far) visit us. Linnea really got into taking pictures with his camera and she captured this great one.

And here are Kristin and Sonja trying out the new baby carrier (thanks auntie Colleen!). Matt is scared to try it though, must be the teal blue color. Can you make it in camo? Sonja does enjoy being carried in it, she kicks her legs vigorously - as always.

Among other things, we explored a little of Minneapolis with Far Far. We visited the sculpture park and had a nice evening out "in the city".

Check out those cheeks!

We were all sad to see Far Far go, but we'll be seeing him again soon!

Linnea was playing dress up again and was really trying not to have her picture taken, but we're glad we finally caught her with Far Far. (note the Nordic Track in the the background: $20 on Craig's List, 20 minutes every morning, 20 pounds lighter by Christmas - sweet!)

We made it!

2008-08-24T20:59:00.014-04:00

Well, we finally made it to Minnesota. We have been here about a week and just finished unpacking. Today we went out for our first adventure to the Como Park Zoo! We'll start with a picture from that and then I'll back track over the last 3 weeks or so.

Linnea and I with the giraffes today at the Zoo

So, we took 2 weeks to make the trek from my parents house in Massachusetts to our new home in St. Paul. On our way, we camped for 2 nights in Pennsylvania, stayed 2 nights with my aunt Cheryl and uncle John in Indianapolis, and then spent a whole week in the Wisconsin Dells area at a resort with 6 (3 indoor and 3 outdoor) water parks! Here are some pictures of our trek.

We left at the crack o' dawn on Monday morning (August 4th) and headed for Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame

Matt and the girls in the Hall of Fame

Linnea and I outside by a statue commemorating women in baseball

Linnea tuckered out from the Hall of Fame (and stuck in really bad traffic in PA)

Camping in PA

Our rest stop in Ohio

Linnea feeding Sonja some our her first foods, sweetotatoes

Linnea loving the water. She swam like a fish and loved to dunk her head under and swim underwater!The family shot at one of the outdoor water parks
Linnea and Matt in a raft on the lazy river

So, we have been enjoying our time here so far. Classes haven't started yet for Matthew but he's been studying his Swedish diligently. I'm enjoying being a stay-at-home mom. This past week we went to the library, took walks, played dress-up at home and enjoyed the fabulous playground that is right outside our back door.

The following are a series of pics I took of the girls playing dress-up. And really, what's cuter than babies in goofy hats?

So, that is it for now. I'll try to keep you posted more regularly. We do have new mailing address info, so let me know if you would like that, cell phones are the same.
We miss you!

Living with the 'Rents

2008-07-11T22:08:00.000-04:00

Well, we've been living in Westfield for about 2 months now and things are going really well.

Here are some random thoughts/comments/pictures from that past couple of months.

Linnea still calls home "Nana and Papa's House" and seems to understand that we are still moving to Minnesota. When you ask her where Minnesota is she replys "Far, far away."

Sonja is growing like a weed, really. At her 4 month checkup she was 18 pounds and 27 inches long. She's a really good baby and happy nearly all the time.

Here she is today after she received her monogrammed tote from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Meg.

Linnea still misses Eleanor a great deal and talks about sending her letters and calling her on the phone. Although I think I get more weepy than she does when we talk about it.

We had a great 4th of July up at Lake Sunapee with our friends Mike, Nila and Hayden. Here's Linnea getting into the celebration.

Graduation, a Move, and a Journey to Sweden

2008-05-14T10:35:00.000-04:00

Matthew with friends Ian and Austin

Well it is official, Matthew has completed his Masters of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He graduated on May 10th after three years of very hard work. It was, for sure, a bitter sweet moment for our family as it meant that it was time to move away from Gordon-Conwell, Faith Lutheran Church in Andover, and a lot of our friends. A couple days before our move we watched the Movie "Monsters Inc." as a family and at the end when when they have to say goodbye to Boo both of us (Matthew and Kristin) broke into tears. Linnea just looked at us like we were crazy.

Linnea and her friend Eleanor play with Sonja

Linnea has had to say goodbye to her best friend, Eleanor and she constantly talks about her every day. Sonja was seriously neglected during the packing process but by the blessing of God she is a very patient baby and was very good natured.

The process of packing and cleaning our apartment made us want to never move again. Alas this is not to be, we probably have three moves to look forward to in the next three years.

We have now moved in with Kristin's parents, Lee and Diane, in Westfield, MA for the summer. This means that the girls are getting spoiled we are saving some Money. We will be in Westfield until August when we will move to St. Paul, Minnesota were Matthew will begin to work on another degree while completing a Lutheran Residency, but we will only be in Minnesota until December because in January we are moving to Sweden!!!

No, not Sweden, Main... Sweden the country and yes we realize that January is cold in Sweden. Matthew has been offered a fellowship to study the preaching of a former Bishop in the Church of Sweden named Bo Giertz. You can read more about Giertz on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Giertz , He is best know for writing the novel The Hammer of God, but in addition to this his preaching is credited with having played a key role in preventing the breaking up of the Church of Sweden after the church decided to ordain women. We will certainly write more about this adventure as more details become clear.

If you are looking to get in touch with us e-mail always works and our phone numbers will stay the same until January because the are cell phone numbers. We would love to hear from you.

An Afternoon at the Boston Children's Museum

2008-04-09T18:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Boston Children's Museum. Linnea had tons of fun. Below she is making a puppet.

Now she is filing wood. I unfortunately missed the photo opportunity when she was sawing.

Below she is checking out Arthur's desk at school.

And now Linnea and Far Mar are on the Arthur TV show!

Linnea really enjoyed the green screen - almost as much as she enjoys walking her puppy purse!

She also spent a great deal of time "driving" the car with her puppy as her co-pilot.

And this is sweet Sonja having some "tummy time" this afternoon.

Far Mar Arrives!

2008-04-07T11:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday was an exciting day. It was the day we picked up Far Mar at the ariport!
Linnea had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Far Mar so we all trekked down to Logan to pick her up. Linnea wore a dress and her sparkle shoes just for the occasion.
Linnea was also very impressed with the people-movers at the airport. It was one of the day's many highlights.

That afternoon we decided to visit the DeCardova Museum and Sculpture park with our friends Mike and Nila. The girls had fun dressing up for a "photograph" in the camera section.

Outside in the sculpture park was very interesting. We stopped here to pose for a photo with some cat sculptures. The park is actually very large and you can enjoy it without having to pay the museum admission and well worth the visit.

Rainy Day At Home

2008-04-04T16:36:00.001-04:00

Well, today was a pretty wet and dreary day. Yesterday it was lovely and we played outside a bunch, but today we had to keep ourselves busy indoors. Linnea is having fun doing a "project" and "making something" for Far Mar (Matt's mom) this afternoon. Sonja continues to keep up her afternoon routine of mostly napping. So far Sonja's schedule is pretty good, she is awake most of the morning from 8 AM on and then sleeps away the afternoon. She is awake again around dinner until about 9 PM and then sleeps the rest of the evening. She still wakes up for 2-3 feedings at night, but we aren't complaining. So far we are pretty happy with the schedule. If we could only get Linnea to sleep in until 8 AM!

This is Sonja in the afternoons...

We are all getting really excited because Far Mar is visiting soon. We pick her up tomorrow morning at Logan and she will be staying with us for 2 weeks - what a treat!

Well, Linnea just told me she had an idea and ran off to her room. It's always fun to see what she comes up with. She has many "ideas" throughout the day. Most of them consist of having ice cream or another treat or having a friend over to play. I do feel a little bad about squashing her grand "ideas", but really what kind of mother would I be if I let her have ice cream for breakfast? Lunch maybe...

Sonja "Buzzing" Linnea's Belly

2008-04-01T10:25:00.000-04:00

Linnea thought is was real funny when Sonja buzzed her belly. Actually, I think Sonja was trying to nurse and quickly got real frustrated. It was cute while the fun lasted and I snapped this quick picture!

The girls are doing really well. They keep us busy, of course, and on our toes. Linnea makes us laugh so much. Here is a conversation we had the other day on the way to church.

Linnea: "Mommy, I want a donut."

Mommy: "Donuts are treats and for special occations. When you do something good you can get a treat. Have you done anything that has earned a treat?"

Linnea: "I stayed in my own bed all last night."

Linnea: "No problem!"

Well, I thought it was funny. And she did get her donut.

Guess Who's Who

2008-04-01T09:56:00.001-04:00

Everyone comments on how much Sonja looks like Linnea. Well, here is the real test. Take a look at the two pictures below and guess who's who.

Think you've got it figured out? Let me know your answer!

Easter at the Erickson's

2008-03-25T16:05:00.000-04:00

Well, as usual, I really wasn't on the ball this Easter and didn't get any pictures of the family all dressed up for church. I actually brought the camera to church fully intending to take pictures, but of course church was busy and hurried and we forgot all about it. And once we got home it wasn't too long until Linnea had ketchuped herself and the moment was once again gone.

However, despite the photos to prove it, we had a really nice Easter. We had brunch here at our place with one of our friends from California, Peter, who is going to school at Emerson. Then the whole family took naps in the afternoon before heading out for a walk to the playground for some pretty brisk outdoor-time. As for the Easter Bunny, Linnea enjoyed opening up all the plastic eggs full of candy more than she enjoyed the candy itself and loved searching for the hidden eggs. And I discovered that Sonja fit nicely into Linnea's Easter basket.

We hope you all had a Happy Easter as well!

Sonja's First Bath

2008-03-15T11:28:00.000-04:00

Well, it was finally time to give Sonja her first bath the other night. Linnea got in on the action too by making sure that the baby tub was suitable for her new baby sister. Seems like Linnea needs to test drive a lot of baby stuff these days.

Sonja was very calm and relaxed during her bath. This was very much unlike Linnea's first bath where she howled the whole way through.

Sonja has been sleeping fairly well at night. I can't complain. She gets up to eat about 2-3 times a night and then goes straight back to sleep. Usually by about 6 AM, however, the entire family is in our bed. It's pretty cute, but starting to get a little crowded! Oh, and Sonja is pretty happy now that her ugly umbilical cord stub fell off yesterday. Mom is too! Those things are yucky.

It's girl number two for the Ericksons!

2008-03-12T11:51:00.000-04:00

Welcome Sonja Lise!

Last Monday evening, March 3rd, we welcomed "little" Sonja Lise Erickson into the world. Our new bundle weighed in at 9 pounds and 13 ounces and is 21.5" long. She attracted the attention of many a nurse with comments like "Wow, that's a big baby!"

To us she is beautiful and sweet, just like her older sister! She is a very quiet baby and is currently sleeping about 2o hours a day! She is a good eater and was already up to 10 pounds at her first post-hospital weigh-in on Friday.

Big sister Linnea is adjusting well, although noticably more excitable since the arrival of her little sis. One of the first things Linnea did when she met Sonja for the first time was to check out her little tiny toes. Now she is in the habit of talking to her in her "baby" voice and giving her kisses. She does, however, get quite upset at the fact that the baby isn't awake enough to play with.

We were surprised by Sonja's quantity of dark brown hair! We are also impressed by the spikey-do that she was born with!

We are so grateful for a healthy and happy baby. We greatly appreciate all the help we received from my mom (Diane) and from my sister Lindsay in the days following Sonja's birth. We are also thankful for all our neighbors who have and will be sending meals over every other night! We know that the Erickson family is truely richly blessed to have such kind and caring people in their lives.

Attached below is a 5 minute video I took of Sonja on her 1 week birthday. I hope those that cannot be here to see her these first fews days might get a small glimpse at what our little one is like.