The last couple weeks

Well, time is just flying! Grandma has come and gone. It was GREAT having her here and so sad when she had to go back to America. The kids absolutely loved her and I loved not only having an extra set of hands around helping with every little thing, but also the touch of home and familiarity that she brought with her. It was nice to be around MY family (well at least one person in my family) and be able to speak English and talk about things that only those who grew up in America would/could understand. Grandma Alder left having defrosted our freezer, weeded our little garden, planted flowers there, mopped the floors and the bathrooms, picked Samuel up from preschool every day, played with Samuel and Sofia for endless hours, told countless stories, woken up in the middle of the night to "deal with" our stubborn Sofia, and made dinner every single night for us! She really was a HUGE help! We're looking forward to aunt Heidi coming out in July and uncle Steve coming out in August!!!

Last Friday was a holiday so Chris was home. We had a great weekend. The weather's been beautiful (not so hot, but beautiful!), so we spent the day Friday in our huge down-town city park (Samuel and Sofia got to ride horses!), then Saturday we were at the beach (not so much beach as "rocky ground by ocean"). The ocean is about a 40 minute walk from our apt, so I took the stroller and meet Chris and the kids there. Samuel was sure it was warm enough to swim (60F), so he insisted on bringing his swimming suit, but after he waded in knee-deep, he quickly admitted it might still be a bit too cold.

In other news, I think we've finally decided on a name for out little princess. For some reason this has been so hard trying to decide and we still have yet to decide on a middle name, but I think we've landed on Emily (something) Malm and then call her Emmy for short. We've been so indecisive and changed her name so many times, that Samuel and Sofia have a hard time remembering what her name is and have to ask all the time. They end up referring to her as "the baby" most of the time. :) It's kind of funny, but hopefully they'll get it soon.

Emmy has been such a great little baby. Eating and sleeping like clockwork. But, I guess that's what most newborns do. I don't think the responsibility of having 3 children has hit yet since she kind of seems to just be in the background so far with sleeping so much. Samuel and Sofia are very cute with her. Although Sofia gets bored with her quickly since she doesn't really DO anything. Samuel on the other hand loves to just hold her and talk to her. It's very sweet.

Anyway, this post is long enough. Just thought we'd send some pictures of what's been happening. Enjoy!