Science museum

Fammo and Faffa are here for a short visit before we go to Finland. Edith has been asking to go to the science museum in Oklahoma City, and we decided to do it while they were here. It's a great museum and we had lots of fun. Johannes did really well too. Just wish we had more time - or lived closer so we could go again - as there was so much to see and do.

Matilda tre år

I fredags skulle Matilda ha fyllt tre år, och just nu sitter jag och tänker på hennes sista timmar på jorden och på vad som hände efteråt. Dödsdagen är en sorglig dag, men av någon anledning har födelsedagen varit jobbigare för mig, och var så även i år. Jag tänker på henne nästan varje dag, men inte så ofta på allt som hände under hennes tre dagar här, men det går ju inte att undvika nu. Det är så sorgligt att höra Edith prata om henne. Jag bakar alltid en liten tårta på Matildas födelsedag, och vi tittar på foton och på de få saker vi har efter henne, och pratar om henne. I år hjälpte Edith mig att baka tårtan och har därför pratat mycket om den; "jag hoppas att Matilda tycker om tårtan". När jag svarat att hon tyvärr inte kan smaka, sa hon "men mamma, kan jag låtsas att hon är här". Och när vi skulle äta den "jag ska sjunga Happy Birthday jättehögt så att hon hör". Och när jag grät "det är ok, mamma, vi kan låtsas att hon är här". Mammas hjärta går sönder... Kan inte fatta att det gått tre år redan. Vi längtar så efter att få se henne igen. 

New Year's Eve 2014

One year ago today we found out we were expecting this handsome little boy. 2015 has been a good year for us, with more joy than sorrow. We thank God for the two precious children we get to have here with us. 

Johannes - 3 Months

Johannes turned three months on Saturday. The past month he did his first major trip, when we flew to Alabama for Thanksgiving. He did really well on the airplane, no crying at all, and just fell asleep when he was tired. This also meant more driving than we have done with him before. Turns out he's not the biggest fan of the car, better than Edith for sure, but driving to Alabama would have taken a really long time, since he doesn't like to spend more than 1,5-2 hours in the carseat. He did really well while we were there, but had a few days after we got back when he was quite cranky. Most nights he still sleeps great, only eats once or twice. He has learned to nap in the swing, and a normal nap is 45-50 minutes. Nursing works well these days, and he doesn't need supplements anymore. He is generally a happy boy, loves to smile and talk. He doesn't want to lie down, but sit up and look around. Watching big sister play and sing is one of the most fun things he knows. We love this little boy so much, and enjoy watching grow and become more social. 

Alla helgons dag

Johannes besöker storasysters grav för första gången.

Halloween

For Halloween, we did beautiful princess and chubby baby. We have pretty cute babies, if I do say so myself. Love these two to pieces.

Johannes smiles

Not the best pictures, but too cute not to share.

Johannes -- One Month!

We have realized how little we remember of the details of Edith's first months, so this time we'll try write down more. The first month of Johannes' life has gone by very quickly. The first two weeks were hard, as we were dealing with newborn fussiness, hungry baby because of low milk supply, pregnancy hormones going crazy and just learning to live with a new baby. He did sleep a lot - took 3 hour naps in the swing every day - and still does, but now he has to be held to stay asleep. He may sleep for 30 or 45 minutes in the pram or the swing, but then he wakes up (reminds us of big sister who didn't take more than 30 minute naps until she was well over a year). Unlike Edith, he needs more sleep, so we have to hold him or put him in the sling so he stays asleep. At night he sleeps quite well though, usually eats 2-3 times. At his two weeks appointment he hadn't gained any weight, so we started supplementing more, which made him more content. Next appointment is on Thursday. He is a big, hungry boy though, so he still wants to eat a lot and very often. He got his first cold at three weeks. Thankfully it was a pretty mild one. This past week he has become much more alert, likes to look around, is focusing on faces now and has smiled a few times. He is content to lay on the floor and "play" with Edith for 10-15 minutes, which she is very excited about. Unfortunately, he has also had an upset tummy with a lot of gassiness lately, so now we're trying to figure out what's causing that. He was baptized at 8 days, which went really well. So far he's slept through all the church services, making it easier for Mama to learn how to wrangle two kids in the pew. Other than that, we've been out a few times; taking a few walks, going to the library and to the Friendship Festival in town this past Saturday. Johannes has been very good at these. Mama is feeling pretty good now, after battling lower back pain, UTI and a cold. Milk supply has increased some, but he still needs supplements. Fammo and Faffa were here for his birth, and Auntee came for the baptism. Now we are waiting for Mommo and Moffa to come and celebrate Christmas with us. We are so thankful for this little boy and so excited to watch him grow and become more alert. 

First Day of School

Today is a very exciting day - Edith's first day of school. We are doing Classical Conversations homeschooling with one community day a week. A new adventure for us all!

First Haircut

Edith has been asking to get a haircut for a while now, and last week we finally agreed. We've had a pretty mild summer her, but recently hit 100 degrees for the first time, so we started feeling sorry for her. 100 degrees with long, thick hair is not fun. She did really great at the hair dresser.

Vi har haft en "mild" sommar här i Texas, men för ett par veckor sedan hade vi 100 gr. F (=37,8 C) för första gången, så vi tyckte det var dags att låta Edith få klippa håret. Det är svettigt med långt, tjockt hår i sådana temperaturer. Lite sorgligt dock för mamma att behöva säga farväl till babylockarna!

Before:

 After:

Fun With Fammo and Faffa

Fammo and Faffa came out for ten days to watch Edith while we were in Colorado for a few days. We all enjoyed their visit, and Edith had lots of fun playing with them. As usual, there are not many pictures of that though :(.

Ett barns sorg

I dessa dagar pratar vi här hos oss ofta om hur många bebisar mamma har haft i sin mage: först Edith, sedan Matilda, sedan Jesse, Jamie och nu Johannes. Edith var bar 14 månader när Matilda föddes, så hon har inga konkreta minnen av henne, annat än det hon lärt sig när vi pratar om henne och tittar på bilder. Hon var över två när vi väntade Jesse och Jamie, men vi fick behålla dem så kort stund, så hon kommer inte heller ihåg dem. Hon vet dock att alla tre är hennes syskon som väntar på oss i himlen, och speciellt Matilda är ett nästan dagligt samtalsämne. Hon säger ofta: "jag är lite ledsen att Matilda är borta" och vi funderar över vad det betyder att hon är i himlen. Sorgen över syskonen färgar också väntan på en mycket efterlängtad lillebror, vilket vi ser på kommentarer som denna: "mamma, om den här babyn också går till himlen, kan vi få en annan då?". Det krossar en mammas hjärta att en treåring ska vara så välförtrogen med livets skörhet och sorg. Glädjen över ett nytt barn är alltid blandad med längtan till himlen - för oss alla.

Pneumonia

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Edith. She is finally getting better, but the last two weeks have been hard. It started out as a bad cold with fever. She was already getting better, but then she got fever again and started coughing. As the cough just got worse, we decided to go to the doctor. It turned out she had a pneumonia, and before the antibiotic had a chance to kick in, she was very sick. We are so thankful for God's gift of antibiotics. If this had happened 70 years ago, she would be dying now. So there has been a lot of coughing, sneezing, sickness and snuggling in this house lately, and very little sleep. This is by far sickest she has ever been. All this while we have remembered Matilda's birth and death on the 29th and 31st. Difficult weeks indeed, but we are so thankful that we seem to be over the worst for now.

Doctor Fammo

Edith and Uncle Sean

...doing puzzles together.