Fun at Farfar's!

Farfar and Farmor have a little treehouse in their backyard that Sofia has recently learned to climb up all by herself :) These are a couple pictures farfar took while playing at their house one day.

This picture is so typical Samuel...he is always some superhero :)

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!

Ta-Dah!!!

The wait is finally over. Our little daughter finally made her grand entrance into this world Easter Sunday April 12, 2009. Weighing in at 3970 g (8.7 lbs) and 53 cm (20.8 inch). YEA!!! Everything happened rather quickly. We got to the hospital at 13.15 and by 15.30 she was out :). It still all seems so surreal since the other two took considerably longer. But, i am NOT complaining. Everything went beautifully (as beautifully as giving birth can be) and after two nights at the hospital we arrived home yesterday. We are both doing excellent. This third child is definitely going to be a challenge. Not the baby itself, but her older siblings. Samuel and Sofia are both excited, but are already showing signs of jealousy. Sofia decided to wake up last night at 3:00 am and scream for 2 hours because she wanted to come sleep with us. Unfortunately, the baby was in our bed. It'll be interesting to say the least, but we are so excited to have her and think she is beautiful!!!

ps. we don't have a name yet...suggestions, please...

Hot Dogs and Candy

The sun has continued to shine and the feeling of Spring is most definitely in the air. I am lovin' it! We got to celebrate Easter yesterday with all our cousins over at farmor and farfar's. We had a delicious dinner outside of salmon and potato salad (plus a couple hot dogs for the kids). Sofia and Samuel love getting together with the cousins and yesterday was even more special because they got to eat candy. We've said, birthdays, Easter and Christmas then they can have "real candy". I thought they were both going to puke after how much they ate yesterday, but they LOVED every minute of finding their eggs and devouring as much as they could. Sofia especially enjoyed it since this is the first time in her life she's tasted the "real stuff". So, it was a momentous day yesterday in her little 2 year old life :). Anyway, just wanted to wish you all a happy Easter!!!

(ps. still no baby...)

Our week at a glance

A couple pictures from our week...

Samuel and Conference

Today we enjoyed watching General Conference at church. Samuel's getting old enough that he's starting to listen to what's being said and picking up small things here and there. We told him to try to listen very hard and each time they said the word Jesus to raise his hand...he did quite well for a little while. Then, he got bored and started playing with his toys, reading his books, and doing whatever else he could in the confinements of a church bench. I didn't think he was listening anymore, but every now and again, he'd look up to me and whisper small words or phrases that he'd heard or ask questions. A couple that came up: Someone said something about the "Dark Ages"....Samuel questioning looked up to me and said, "what? Darth Vader?". Then when someone used the word "persuade", he said, "what? Bruce Wayne?". Finally, when a speaker by the name of Rafael was announced, he again looked up and said, "what? Rafael, like the turtles?!". I think it's quite clear what is going on in his mind as a 4 year old...bless his little heart :)

Sunny Days!

Lately, the weather's been amazing here. Especially for Sweden! Although it's still in the low 50's, it's been sunny for nearly 2 straight weeks! The kids and I have taken advantage of the sun and have tried to be outside as much as possible. The kids are just as anxious as I am to shed our winter coats and enjoy spring and summer in all it's glory! Samuel's been wearing his sweatshirts outside (with his hat and gloves and long-sleeve shirt underneath) and loving it! Yesterday when the temperature reached 52, he insisted that he needed to have shorts on because it wasn't cold outside. He got to wear his shorts, on one condition: that he wore his pants over them, and with that, he thought he'd won! :)

Yesterday we went to a little lake that's close to us (one of the many) and enjoyed a beautiful spring afternoon with some friends and hot dogs. The kids loved it and it was so rejuvenating to be in the sun for so long after such a long, dark winter. Samuel even decided it was warm enough to go swimming (it was just barely 50 degrees). We let him strip down to his shorts (that were under his pants) and get in. Although it was freezing, he managed to stay in for a couple minutes and wade out till the water came to his knees. :) Then, it got too cold. Sofia also insisted in getting in (of course since Samuel was doing it), but was only to dip her toes in before running out again.

Oh, how we love the sun!!!

(FYI: no baby yet...but we've talked about how the baby will be coming in Spring, and since spring is here, the kids are expecting the baby any minute...but not too soon, cause as soon as the baby comes, Grandma's supposed to be coming, and she still has two weeks until she flies out...time and kids...it's a hard thing).