Happy New Year

Well first I wanted to do a look back at 2011, but that will just be way too long. So to keep it short this must be my favorite post this year... can you blame me? Becoming a mum has definitely been the highlight of my year:)

I just looked through my post from the last year, and what can I say? It's been a really good year, so 2012 you better kick into gear if you have to match 2011. My only complaints this year was probably passing my due date... and there was a lot of complaining about that in the end of February and they I did a mad post in the middle of December when someone had promised to deliver a car and didn't... honestly if that is all I have to complain about, well then I should just shut up! So yeah 2011 has been a great year, Jonas totally being the best thing happening... keeping my fingers crossed that 2012 will try to match up:)

Happy New Year everyone:)

Christmas is over...

I almost tend to say Christmas is finally over... as much as I love Christmas, I am also happy that it is over. Those days over Christmas has been busy, filled with lots of people, we have enjoyed their company, but now it's enough... for Jonas at least, the last couple of days he has been exhausted, and have been sleeping a lot, I guess he has a lot to catch up on.

Christmas was crazy, he got a million presents, and the sad thing is he doesn't get why, and he is mostly interested in the wrapping paper...

Here is just a few pictures from our Christmas days. We decided that Jonas should get his presents little by little, instead of all at once. So on the 23rd he opened the first present from my parents. The little car itself wasn't really the most interesting thing, but the plastic orange in the little basket was his favourite... especially if someone would pick it up when he threw it:) A friend of mine had bought him some Lego Duplo (her husband just started working at Lego), he got that present in the morning on the 24th, but at first he loved the paper, until we got the box opened and he could throw the blocks... My brother went crazy and got him a train that rides on tracks that takes up half the floor space in the living room. Jonas likes to ride the train some of the time, but not if he is too tired. All the "boring" gifts as clothes, shoes, books etc. for him we opened while we opened our presents in the evening of the 24th. On the 26th we went to a family Christmas party at my parents house, and my cousin and his girlfriend brought along Jonathan who is 4 months older than Jonas. He is walking and starting to talk, which meant every time he saw a santa figure he went "ho ho ho". Though it doesn't look like any of them like to be photographed during lunch...

The next couple of days will be spent relaxing and getting ready for New Years Eve. We are spending NYE at some friends, which we also did last year. The will be lots of adults and kids, though most of the kids are between 10-15, but I guess they can be babysitters for the smaller kids;) Though I am staying sober so I can drive home, because it is usually hell getting a taxi on NYE and I can't be bothered with all the trouble with getting the car seat in the taxi etc. I can have fun without drinking... I did last year, so I will again this year.

Happy New Year everyone.

Guest Post

Hi and Merry Christmas, hope you are enjoying the holidays!

Just wanted to let you know that today I have a guest post over at Vanisha's life in Australia. I "met" Vanisha through Krysten's "Must Have Summer Swap", and we have stayed in touch since. I hope that our friendship will continue to develop in the years to come.... and maybe even someday we will get to meet, I would love to go to Australia some day:)

I will be back to blogging in a few days:)

Christmas is only a few days away:)

So are you ready for Christmas? I think we are about to be, still got a little grocery shopping to do, but my parents arrives on the 22nd so I guess I will have my mum to help out a little:)

Our tree isn't up yet, and it will probably be a few days before we get it up too. Because with Jonas rolling around and getting into everything... well it's just easier not having the tree up for all that long. But I have found the tree decorations, and this year I have made a few new ones. Sorry for the poor picture, but I think you will get the idea!

Jonas also wants to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Here is the picture we used for our Christmas cards, and every time he sees it he will be laughing out loud, which is so cute. Unfortunately when we got our Christmas cards developed they got really dark, but I didn't have time to order some new ones, so people had to make do with the dark picture.

Just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and don't know exactly when I will be back to blogging, since the next couple of days are pretty much booked. Enjoy the holidays:)

Cars...

Are you guys getting tired of hearing about cars? Well we never got hold of the guy who we thought had sold us his car on Sunday. After I had calmed down a bit I started looking again.

I found one on 35 km from here, and got my father in law to go with me yesterday, so it wouldn't be sold before Frank would get home from work... but a picture might be worth a 1000 words, well then seeing it in real life was worth a million words... It was horrible, lots of dents (the picture only showed a smaller one) on the front I think he had hit a chicken or something there were loads of feathers, and yeah we decided right away it wasn't going to it. But since this time we had gone to a dealership there were other cars to look at.

The salesman asked if it was because I was in love with that brand of car, and I said no, but I think I am in love with the price of the car:) So he told me he would show me a Hyundai Accent. We went to take a look, I saw the price tag (which was almost twice as much as the first one), but before I even said anything he went down with 40%... my father in law took it for a test drive. Afterwards we talked to the salesman, and he told us that this deal would only last till Sunday, which was fine because then I could take Frank to see Saturday.

But after Frank saw it online, and talked to his dad we decided to get it... so tomorrow we are picking up my car:) I am so super excited, it's an older car, but I don't car, I will now be able to get around more. I will be able to do my grocery shopping during the day and not in the evening when Frank is home. So hopefully this will be the last you will have to hear about my complaining about not having a car:) Have a great weekend everyone.

Pissed off...

I'm a little pissed off at the moment. Our car was suppose to be delivered on Monday evening, Monday evening the guy called, said he was missing some papers so he would deliver it on Tuesday evening instead.

But Tuesday came and went, and there is still no sight of either the guy or the car... and of course now the idiot doesn't answer his phone. I'm sure he has ripped us off (if you can call it that since he didn't get any money yet), and now he is screening his calls.

If he would just have called that he had sold it to someone else it would have been fair... well not fair, but I wouldn't have been this pissed, just a little pissed, and I wouldn't have had to spent my Tuesday evening waiting!

I'm just happy he didn't get any money yet, so I haven't really lost anything, but I had made plans for what I could get done before Christmas, and I could get everything done without having to spent my evenings and weekends shopping etc.

Sorry for the pissed off post, just had to get it out!

A weekend without plans...

This weekend we didn't have any plans, so I decided that it was about time for me to get a new haircut... though it turned out my hairdresser is closed every Saturday until after New Year (which is the only day I can go without having to get a babysitter). So I took a chance and made an appointment at another hairdresser. I actually googled "hairdresser, Esbjerg, online booking", and I went with the first one, maybe a bit risky, but I need a change and couldn't wait till after New Year.

I got a haircut and a darker colour, and I really like it, and I think it will be easy for me to do every morning, which is probably the most important thing.

In the afternoon, a friend of ours called and asked if my husband wanted to come to a concert with a U2 coverband, since they had an extra ticket. After putting Jonas to bed I spent the evening on the sofa with a Christmas movie, and then afterwards "Walk the Line" the Johnny Cash movie was on... I really like that movie, but since I have seen it so many times I went to bed halfway through.

My "new" car, I think it's okay, it is for sure better walking or taking the bus:)

Today we went to take a look on a used car, so I will have a set of wheels as well. It was really cheap, it's from 1996 but it looked pretty good. Every 2 years cars in Denmark has to go through a mechanical check, and this one has just been through it, so hopefully we will have a car for the next 2 years. Though we won't get the car until tomorrow night, but I guess that will be okay.

So for a weekend without plans, I think we did pretty good:)

Recycling has never been this fun:)

I must admit I am not good at recycling and saving our planet, but I found a way so save the planet from just a little bit of waste. I know I'm not the first one to do this, and I am probably not the last one either, but I had fun:)

You see, in our little household we drink quite a large amount of coffee, and we are enjoying every cup of it:)

But it also means we are using a lot of coffee beans, and they are packed in these plastic bags which I bet is not good for the environment.

So after having seen these purses everywhere I figured I would give it a try as well, and the result turned out fairly okay if I have to say it myself.

I had a few problems with the zipper, I guess I should have made the bag just a bit smaller or bought a longer zipper. But I bet with a little practice I will get better. So I now have people collecting bags for me, well mostly my parents, who have friends at their old workplace who are collecting bags for me, so I will be making more. It does take quite a few hours and bags making one purse, but I find it a bit relaxing, and will be cutting and folding bags while relaxing in front of the TV in the evening. Then it somehow doesn't feels like a complete waste of time being in front of the TV.

Who knows by this time next year I will be a pro and everyone will get something I made from coffee bags or chips bags... it would save my the hassle of Christmas shopping. I thought I finished up yesterday, and then this morning I got an e-mail that one of the books I ordered online last week couldn't be delivered! So have now put my faith to amazon.com and are hoping to get it here before Christmas, the things is that it is now more expensive than if I had bought it at Danish site, since the shipping from the USA cost more, the other was free... amazon then promises to deliver between the 21st and 24th of December, with my luck mine will be set to be delivered by December 24th which is the day we celebrate Christmas in Denmark and no mail will be delivered... if so my brother will have to do with a lousy t-shirt until it's delivered (he doesn't read my blog, so I can tell what I'm getting him).

Ohh this wasn't suppose to turn into a complaint, but it did, sorry. Have a nice day, and enjoy your coffee:)

Some busy days

Okay I guess once again it went almost a week before I posted again, I don't really know what happened... well I kind of do.

On Thursday Jonas didn't sleep much during the day, and when he slept I tried to do a little cleaning, otherwise I spent my time entertaining Jonas. Friday was pretty much the same, but both of us were doing better so we did go to the baby swimming class.

Saturday we were hosting a small Christmas party for a few friends, so I spent most of the day cooking and getting ready for the party. We had a really great time, it was so much fun. We did drink quite a bit, that is usual for a Danish Christmas party, so Sunday I spent doing a little as possible. It was not that I was hungover, I was just really tired. So I spent a lot of the day laying on the floor with Jonas, he moved more that I did:)

Today I had to take the bus to meet with the girls from my midwife group. It was really nice to see them again, and we really enjoyed ourselves, but man a day passes by quick when you spent 30 minutes on a bus each way as well.

I'm not going to make any promises about when I will be blogging again, because I don't seem to be able to keep them:) Besides I should probably get around to writing my Christmas cards if I have to get them out before Christmas.

Have a great one:)

Christmas has entered our home

First I want to thank you for the get well wishes for Jonas, he still has as cold and so do I now. This morning I ended up taking him to the doctor because I didn't like his coughing... thankfully nothing is wrong he just has a cold, and he has to drink a lot. But him having a cold means that he doesn't sleep much during the day, I am thankful that he sleeps during the night, but it also means it leaves me a lot less time for blogging, so that is why I haven't been around for a while.

Though being a little under the weather hasn't stopped Christmas from entering our home. So here is a few pictures. First my Advent candles, where we burn one every Sunday the last 4 Sundays before Christmas. Then my calender candle, where I am ready for the countdown for Christmas tomorrow. Those candles are something I remember from my childhood, and I think almost every home in Denmark will have one during December... and yeah I am into purple this Christmas. And just to make sure we get in the right mood I have found a few Christmas CD's... Jonas loves when we dances to "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus". I really enjoy being on leave during December, and even better I don't have to work between Christmas and New Year, I don't think that have happened since before I got my first after school job! Even though he might be sick, he is still a happy camper... at least most of the time, if you don't count the 1½ hour of screaming yesterday afternoon, and nothing helped... that is just one of those times you think "why did we decide to have a kid?", but when he smiles like this while waiting for his dinner, and you know why.

I hope I will not be this far between my next posts, but for now I have decided that today is my day off, so when Jonas is sleeping I will be doing nothing (and now I'm blogging, but hey that doesn't count:).

Happy weekend!

Well I have been MIA this week, and this is going to be a short post, because Jonas kept me up most of the night. He has got a cold and is coughing and his nose is running... poor baby. He decided that the best place for him to sleep was on my tummy, which means not much sleep for me.

Just wanted to wish you all a happy weekend, and Happy belated Thanksgiving to the USA. Jonas is sleeping now, so I am also going to get some rest. Enjoy your weekend.

Bike rides

Last week our neighbour gave us a bike seat for Jonas, they didn't need it any longer since their girls are big and in school. They also had a bike helmet so Jonas can be safe riding with us.

So yesterday Frank got the bike seat on my bike, and we took Jonas for a short ride down the road. He really enjoyed it, and if the bike doesn't have a flat tire tomorrow I will bike to meet the girls from my midwife group... so I really hope I don't have a flat tire, because if I do I will have to walk, and it's an hour walk each way.

Getting a bike seat for Jonas is making me more mobile, so I think we will be getting out a bit more, well depending on when the winter will arrive here!

Have a nice week everyone:)

I am watching way too much TV

But hey when you are on maternity leave, and stuck at home without a car, well besides from cleaning and cooking there isn't much to do, and who wants to be cleaning and cooking? But I must admit the daytime TV here is not so much fun, you can only take a certain amount of Dr. Phil and According to Jim.

We have this extra channel that changes every month or so. It shows a channel that we don't have, and at the moment there is a channel that shows a lot of shows that I haven't seen before, which really beats watching Americas Next Top Model rerun for the 5th or 6th time.

So I am watching "The Cake Boss" and what can I say, those cakes are amazing. Though today

they dropped a sweet 16 cake down the stairs, and I must admit my heart skipped a few beats... yep that's how much I get caught up with a TV show:) They ended putting another cake together for Lexi in just 2 hours...

via

I wish Buddy and his team live a little closer... on the other hand I would be eating cake all the time, so probably a good thing he is so far away.

I am also watching "Jon & Kate + 8", which they are now called "Kate + 8" so I guess they split up... yeah I didn't see what happend, but with 8 kids I think I would be too scared to leave my husband!

Well that was just a bit of what was on my mind right now:)

Candy, Reading and Bingo

This have been a weekend that consisted of a few different things. Yesterday while Jonas was napping I made our Christmas candy. I made 3 kinds of truffles, cornflakes tops and oatmeal balls rolled in coconut. 2 of the truffles contains marzipan which I don't like, as well as I don't like oatmeal and coconut... This is all with good reason, because making things I don't like I won't be eating it all before Christmas and I will not gain the weight... smart huh? And just to be sure that I'm not eating the ones I like I put them all in the fridge in the garage, I know I will be way too lazy to go out there to get them:) But if I have to say it myself the cornflakes tops and my nutella truffles are amazing... but before they all went to the fridge I did take a picture.

Starting with the one in blue wrapping and going left it is nougat and marzipan truffle, cornflake top, nutella truffle, oatmeal balls, and truffle of marzipan and dark chocolate.

After Jonas' nap we read the adds, to see if something good was on sale next week, or if there was something we needed to put on our Christmas wish list.

Today our Staff Association had arrange a bingo game for us at work. There we loads of prizes... like a 40 inch TV, an Ipad, a camera, packages of books, a bike... name it and we could win it. The thing is I am hardly ever lucky at bingo, but it is usually really fun. There consolation prizes for the one sitting next to winners, so I got candy, chips and a knife sharpner (not bad at all). In the end they pulled numbers out of a hat for the rest of the prizes and I won a small trimmer for bushes and grass. So I guess I was luckier than last time where I ended up with a bottle of wine. I must say I was really impressed with all their work, and had a really fun afternoon.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that the week ahead will be a good one:)

Is it really Friday again?

This week has gone so fast, I can't believe it's Friday again. I haven't had time to blog, and hardly had time to read blogs... and honestly I don't feel like I have been all that busy.

It has been a week of a couple of "firsts" for Jonas. Monday he had his first haircut, he could use a little trim, so when Frank had an appointment at the hairdresser Jonas and I tagged along, and luckily she had time to trim Jonas' hair as well. Though it didn't take long, but probably for the best because he had a hard time sitting still.

On Tuesday he had his first dentist appointment... at 8 months, honestly do they really think they will get babies to willingly open their mouth at that age? In Denmark going to the dentist is free until you turn 18, so they call you in about once a year, unless you got braces. I guess the first time is when you are 8 months, but she tried to show us how to brush his teeth etc. And it all went pretty well.

Yesterday I had invited my brother for a concert with an Danish artist. It's not because he is a really good singer, but the lyrics are quite entertaining. This was a solo concert, I have been to concerts with him before, both solo and with a band. He simply is better solo than with band, mostly because of the stories he tells in between songs. Ahead of time we had dinner at the a restaurant, the food was okay the service was just lousy yesterday, it usually isn't. We waited 40 minutes from ordering our food to getting it... good thing Frank and Jonas came along, because then we started a bit earlier than we would have if it was just me and my brother. We came 2 hours before the concert started, and that turned out to be a good thing, because we just made it to the concert 10 minutes before starting, since we also had to wait for ages to pay. Though we did get a free beer due to the wait...

After the concert we went out for a beer before heading home. But I must say that today I am really tired, so I think I will be going to bed early tonight. Right now I am just relaxing on the couch, Jonas is asleep and Frank went to see a soccer game at a friends house... so now it's quiet time.

Have a nice weekend everyone:)

A nice weekend:)

We had a nice, relaxing weekend. It seems like after knowing that Frank has a job from November 14th, well we just seemed to be able to enjoy his time off a bit more. Friday night Frank went to see our local soccer team play their last home game for the season, and they won 4-1 and are currently number 1, though that is not too impressive since last year they were last and had to go to another league, but hopefully next year they will be back in the best league again:)

Saturday was a relaxing day, not doing much. In the evening a friend of ours stopped by, and we watched the Danish Music Awards... I must admit I didn't know a lot of those new Danish artists, well then I heard some of the songs I had heard them before, but I had no idea who was singing them... I guess I don't listen much to the radio anylonger! But it was a great show, and the 2 guys hosting it was the best!

Sunday we went to visit and friend of mine from Kindergarten and her husband. They had prepared the best lunch... we had tapas and I couldn't stop eating, so I ended up skipping my dinner last night:) We had a really nice time, and got to catch up again, we haven't seen each other since our Survivor party in August.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, and have a great week:)

A Happy Day!

Today is a happy day... Frank got a called around noon, and on November 14th he is starting a new job:)

Last Tuesday someone called him in for a interview, it all went by really fast. He got the phone call in the afternoon, had the interview in the evening, got a contract which said he had a job by November 1st but only if the company got this big order from a windmill company. I decided not to blog about it this time, so that I wouldn't jinx it (I'm not superstitious, but I figured it was worth a try). Then Friday he got a call, the company didn't get the big order, so he couldn't offer him a job! Then this Tuesday evening another company called and asked if they could send his CV to windmill company, because they were bidding on a job. Yesterday the company from last week called, and said they were bidding on a job again, and if Frank was still interested, they would like to have him. Though none of the places would hear anything before sometime next week. Then today the company from last week called and said they had a job for him no matter what, they didn't want to loose him:)

So now the contract is signed, and we can relax for the next 1½ week, before Frank starts work. The best thing is that it was the job he wanted the most he got, so today is a really good day. So we celebrated by going out for lunch.

Have a great early weekend everyone:)

Happy Halloween...

Well Halloween isn't really a Danish thing, though more and more kids are starting to celebrate Halloween in Denmark. The stores are decorating more, more places sell pumpkins etc. So I bet by the time I'm a grandmother, my grandchildren won't believe me when I say we didn't celebrate Halloween when I was a kid.

Since it has become more popular, and the last couple of years there have been kids here to trick and treat I went out to buy some candy to hand out... yeah I considered just handing them an apple, but I didn't want to be the lousy house on the street, you never know if they will take on the tradition of toilet papering a house as well:)

Nonetheless I'm now sitting on the couch eating the Halloween candy, because only 5 kids rang our doorbell... so I'm happy I didn't buy totally lousy candy:)

I've only celebrated Halloween a few times, and only one time it was the real deal.... that was when I lived in the USA back in 1998/1999 and I really had a great time, and if you want a good laugh here is how I looked on October 31st 1998...

Well I dressed as a nun... the thing is I couldn't dress up as something scary since Ryan (who was 5) were really scared of witches etc. so as a good Au Pair you don't want to scare the kids... and as a good Au Pair you don't dress too sexy either, though there were a lot of costumes showing a lot of skin in the stores... So I ended up as a nun. I really can't believe it's 13 years ago, and I'm shocked everytime Meghan (the baby) post pictures on her facebook page... I still think of her as that little baby, but I feel worse seeing the picture of their oldest sister who is now 21 with her posting pictures from parties... in my head she is still 8 years old:)

Well Happy Halloween everyone:)

Language misunderstandings...

Okay I just started using Google Chrome and on the top it suggested to translate the pages to Danish for me... let's just say I had a good laugh:) Google translate isn't always right, but it for sure is fun... well is not like the meaning is wrong, but the grammar, oh a little accent and I would sound like our Queens husband (he is French and have never learned to speak proper Danish).

The language is a funny thing... just a few hours ago we were watching a TV show (Grand Designs) well this couple were trying something that had never been done... so they were guinea pigs, which in Danish is the furry little animal, though with the meaning of this guinea pig we would say a test rabbit:)

Language can be a hard thing, cause a lot of misunderstandings, but for sure also make you laugh:)

I worry...

That the Danish school system might not be as good as I thought it was. I always thought the schoolsystem was pretty good in Denmark, and best of all it's free. But this Saturday I started to worry... I went to the post office (which is a part of a supermarket) there was this girl who was probably around 18 behind the counter.

I handed over my package and told her "I would like to send this to Scotland" (yeah Wendy something is on the way for you). She said something, but I didn't hear her, so I didn't answer her, she looked at my package, typed something.... then she turned the screen so I could see it and said "isn't that how you spell Scotland?" I told her that in Danish it was with a K instead of an C... but honestly how hard could that be. Well she typed it with a K... then she asked if I was sure, because Scotland didn't exist in her system... I looked at her screen again. There were a lot of flags, and I told her to use United Kingdom... and this was when I really started to worry because she said "But Scotland isn't a part of the UK" I told her it was, and she asked if I was really sure.... it's one of our neighbouring countries, you should know this!

Is it just because I always loved Geography? Or should you know this? I could understand if it was a country on the other side of the earth... but not our neighbour!

Parenting...

I read an article of Danish women who had given birth in different countries, and how thing are done differently everywhere. Like in Denmark we put our babies to sleep in their pram outside during the day, we believe the fresh air is good for them... but I didn't know that we are pretty much the only country in the world who does that.

Here is just some of the things that are done differently from what we do in Denmark...

One girl living north of Los Angeles gave birth in the hospital, and shortly after they put an alarm around the baby's leg. They even practised what to do in case a baby was stolen, just like you have fire drills. That would never happen in Denmark... well hopefully that will never be necessary.

One girl gave birth mid summer in Brasil, but the people at the hospital looked at her and her husband as if they were bad parents because the only put the baby in a body stocking and wrap her in a blanket... Brazilian mothers put their babies in wool body stocking, sweaters, hats and gloves.

Another girl gave birth in Honduras, and after showing the baby to the guard at their house he spit on his fingers and rubbed it around the baby's face, because he said he had bad eyes and the baby could get sick from him looking at it.

One girl, who lived in Belgium and married to a German man got really confused... because in Belgium she was told one thing, her in laws told her something else, and her own family a third way to do things... she said the thing she learned from it was to trust her own intuition.

I guess the last girl is right, because who says what we in Denmark think is right is really the right way to do it? The way they do it on the other side of world must work as well... they have survived for years! Besides it's funny how thing changes over time, what was right when I was a baby is not always what they recommend now... 15-20 years ago the recommended than newborns slept on their belly, today they have to sleep on their back etc.

In the end I think you just have to listen to yourself and do what you feel is right... you get a lot of advice from everyone after having a kid, and I have come to the conclusion that some of them is worth listening to and others should just be blocked out.

Brunch

Last week was pretty much a week of eating... I guess in some ways I was celebrating not having to update you guys on the babyweight challenge.

On Thursday we went out to brunch at a cafe down by the harbour. In different cities in Denmark they have recently started selling what they call sweet deals, you are offered all different things to a really good price, and you got to be fast because there is only a certain amount for sale of each deal. We had bought a sweet deal for Brunch which was 50% off...

via the cafe we had brunch at, stolen right from the website

We had the best brunch, the service was so great and we really enjoyed ourselves. The weather was great so we did go for little walk at the harbour, though thats the thing... the harbour area is still very much industrial.... they are starting to convert it to a usable place since there is hardly any fishing done from Esbjerg anylonger, but I'm sure it will be great when it's all done.

via yet again a stolen picture from their website... hey I was eating = way too busy taking pictures:)

Yesterday was my sister in laws birthday and she had invited us for brunch at her apartment, so once again I was eating... it was a really great brunch, and she had baked the best brownies (I might have had more than one).

So after eating the whole week I was a bit afraid to step on the scale this morning. Yeah I still keep track on my weight every Monday even if I'm not updating you guys... but I had lost almost 1 kg since last week... had I only known that brunch was the way to go I would have been skinny by now:)

Have a great week everyone!

You know you are a mum, when...

You go to Legoland, and appreciate the nice room they have set up for you to change your kid.

You are no longer called by your name, I am now Jonas' mum.

You go shopping and end up only getting stuff for your kid.

Jonas and me in the small boats, he laughed all the way!

You go to Legoland and appreciate the "boring" rides because your kid loves them.

You don't mind waking up during the night because your kid lost his pacifier.

Bye Bye Babyweight, week 12

So it's the final week of my baby weight challenge, so let's start with the weight.

Start weight: 82,8 kg

Last weeks weight: 79,2 kg

This weeks weight: 79,0 kg

Gain/loss: 0,2 kg

Total weight loss: 3,8 kg

So that isn't all that impressive, but I have come to the conclusion that a slow weight loss has a bigger chance staying off, than a fast loss. Besides I did measure myself before and after, and that actually changed more than I expected.

Waist: 84 cm, which is a 4 cm loss

Hip/ass: 106 cm, which is a 5 cm loss

Thigh: 62 cm, which is a 4 cm loss

Upper arm: 31 cm, which is a 1 cm loss

So the weight might not have come off as much as I would like, but I guess it has been remodelled:) It does mean I can fit into most of my pre pregnancy pants, which makes me happy. I will continue to try and loose a few more kilos.

The thing that helped me I guess was that I allowed myself to eat cake, candy etc. because banning it would have made me crave it even more, and I know that as soon as I was done loosing the weight I would go nuts and eat a lot. So trying to eat smaller portions, a bit healthier and less cake and candy than normally was what made me loose a little weight.

I didn't do much exercise, I tried in the beginning, but that is just not really for me, I hated every minute of it, and that was just not worth it. I did instead go for some long walks and pushing Jonas in the pram just added to the walks.

That was what worked for me, but I'm sure if you can cut out all the unhealthy things of your diet you will loose more, and exercising will give a lot as well... but that was just not for me. I guess everyone has to do what's right for them in order to stick with it.

A great weekend!

Well our weekend started early... well none of us are working, so I guess it's weekend all the time right now. But yesterday Frank had a job interview 70 km from where we live, and really close to it is a big shopping center, so Jonas and I tagged along and spent a few hours at the shopping center while Frank went for his job interview. Afterwards we met up and had lunch, which was a really nice start to the weekend.

Yesterday afternoon Jonas had his swimming class, and he really enjoyed it yesterday, and we stayed in the water longer than we usually do. After dinner and putting Jonas to bed we watched the soccer match between Denmark and Cyprus, which Denmark won 4-1.

Today is going to be a relaxing day, and tomorrow Jonas and I are going to Legoland, if it's not raining too bad. Our neighbour had free tickets, and invited us along. If the tickets hadn't been free I wouldn't go, since I doubt Jonas will enjoy it too much yet, it will probably be more fun in a few years. I haven't been to Legoland since Wendy visited in 2004, but we had a lot of fun back then.

So this will be an enjoyable and funfilled weekend:) Have a great weekend everyone!

Photo shoot:)

Well now that Frank is unemployed (hopefully just for this month) we have plenty of time do take pictures... and since Jonas now is able to sit by himself we figured it was time for a little photoshoot. He has been able to sit by himself for almost a month now, which is more than some of the other kids in the mothers group, though Jonas is a bit lazy so he doesn't move around like some of the others... why should he when his mum brings him everything?

So here is just one of the pictures of Jonas, me and monkey Gareth (which was one Wendy gave him, and he loves it:)

Bye Bye Babyweight, week 11

It's all ready October can you believe it? Today Jonas is 7 months... where did those months go? The last week or so the weather here has been fantastic, almost better than it has been all summer, so it doesn't really feel like it's fall yet.

Well let's get to it!

Last weeks weight: 79,0 kg

This weeks weight: 79,2 kg

Loss/gain: +0,2 kg

Well, what can I say? I did go for 2 long walks last week, but I also ate a lot of cake, and other bad stuff! I had baked chocolate cake for the home party with kids clothes on Tuesday, but there was a lot left... and when something tastes good, well I can't get myself to throw it out... so as I said I ate a lot of cake:)

I guess for this last week I really need to starve myself in order to reach my goal of 74 kg... NOT! I guess it will just take a bit longer to get there. I don't have any walks planned, but since I now have a stay at home husband he might want to join Jonas and I for a walk!

Frank had his last day on Friday... though he has a job interview today, and another one on Friday. Though remember he had 2 interviews almost 2½ weeks ago? Well he haven't heard anything from them... honestly the least they can do is write an e-mail that he didn't get it. So again I'm asking for good vibes being send this way:)

Have a great week!

Coffee is my friend...

This week has been busy and a bit exhausting this far, but also a lot of fun... but coffee has saved me this week!

Monday I was meeting up with the girls from my midwife group, and the walk there only took 45 minutes, and the weather was great, so I really enjoy it. On the way back Jonas was awake, which made the trip even better, wouldn't you just love the company of this little guy?

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture... I guess that is why I never take photos with my phone!

I was really nice meeting up with the girls again, and it's fun to follow their kids too, and see how big they are getting.

Tuesday I was hosting a kids clothes party in the evening, so I spent the day baking and cleaning. Though a lot of the people I had invited ended up not showing, there were a lot of lousy excuses, and a few real ones. But honestly when people know so far in advance, and say they will come, how come they change their minds a day or two before? Any ways the ones who showed seemed to enjoy themselves, and we did get to buy new clothes for our kids. It was one of my former colleagues who had started selling clothes in her spare time, so I also got to see her again:)

Yesterday I was meeting up with the girls from my mother group, which again was a 45 minutes walk each way, so I have really got some walking in this week... but I have also been eating cake...

So today I'm really happy that I don't have any plans, so now that Jonas is napping, I'm just relaxing with my good friend... mr. coffee:) and getting a bit of laundry done!

Bye Bye Babyweight, week 10

So it's Monday again, and let's jump on the scale!

Last weeks weight: 79,9 kg

This weeks weight: 79,0 kg

Loss/gain: -0,9 kg

Well surprise, surprise I almost lost a whole kilo. I didn't expect that, because the long walk on Tuesday was cancelled, I'm meeting with the girls from my midwives group today instead, so the long walk will be in a few hours. On Wednesday I ate a lot of cake at my neighbours birthday brunch. And the night between Friday and Saturday Jonas thought he should have a 2 hour party in the middle of the night... which resulted in a pretty tired mummy on Saturday, which means a weak mum who goes grocery shopping, well I ended up with cookies... so I honestly thought that I would only have lost 0,1-0,3 kg, so a 0,9 kg is pretty good:)

I will probably not reach my goal of 74 kg in 2 weeks, but I think this will be better, loosing the weight slow, then hopefully it will stay off, instead of being really strict with my diet, and as soon as I go of it, well the weight will magically appear again. So I guess slow and steady wins the race:)

Have a great week everyone!

Fill In The Blank Friday

It's been a while since I participated in Lauren's fill in the blank, but with a lack of something to write about, I figured I would give it a go this week:)

1. The best thing I did all week was attending my neighbours birthday on Wednesday. There was a big brunch and lots of cake... it will probably not be the best thing on Monday when I jump on the scale again, but I enjoyed the day:)

2. Seeing Jonas smile and hearing him laugh makes me super happy.

3. Pets are great, especially Gustav the cat, who for some reason know he should be nice to Jonas, even when he pulls his tail... I'm sure if I did that Gustav would be pissed, but when Jonas does it, he looks at him and walk away... I guess Gustav is smarter than he looks:)

4. My family is the best thing about my life.

5. With cooler weather I'm looking forward to what cooler weather? The whole summer has been cool.

6. Something that is on my "wish-list" right now is for my husband to get a job... because then I can justify getting some new clothes that is on my wishlist:)

7. This weekend I'm going to do absolutely nothing, well I don't have any plans yet, besides baby swimming class tonight, but we are probably going to visit some friends.

You can link up to Laurens fill in the blank right here.

Bye Bye Babyweight, week 9

Okay, I was seriously considering telling you that I had forgot to jump on the scale this morning, and I was considering abandoning this challenge all together, with the excuse that I can almost fit all my pre pregnancy clothes now (which isn't true, but you guys wouldn't know that).

I was dreading the scale a lot this morning, because I didn't get a lot of walking done this week, I had cake yesterday because my parents were here to visit, and to top it off we ordered pizza last night, because I just couldn't be bothered making dinner.

So here we go, again after gaining last week, I was really fearing it this week!

Last weeks weight: 80,3 kg

This weeks weight: 79,9 kg

Loss/gain: -0,4 kg

This really blew me away! Not only did I loose weight when I was thinking I had gained, I am also below 80 kg now, not much below, but I'm under and hopefully I will stay under 80 kg:)

Tomorrow I have a long walk planned, because I'm meeting with the girls from my midwife group, and we are meeting at one of the girls who lives an hour walk away from me, so a 2 hour walk is waiting tomorrow, though there might be a little cake too:) On Wednesday I will have to try and motivate myself for a walk in the afternoon, since I'm going to breakfast/brunch at the my neighbour who is turning 30, so there might be cake too! Though by Thursday I should not have more cake for the rest of the week, but you never know:)

On another note, your good vibes might be paying of... my husband is at his 3rd interview today, though it is at the place furtherest away, the other 2 interviews he is still waiting to hear from, but that was on Thursday, and let's face it Friday there isn't much happening, because the weekend is so close... so if you could please just send a few more good vibes this way, please:)

Have a great week everyone:)

Election Day!

3 weeks ago they set the date of today for the Danish population to go voting! Ever since they have all been campaigning, and I must admit it feels more like 3 months than 3 weeks.

So today I went to vote, and are really glad it's almost over. Though our prime minister might not be the same after today... which I'm not super happy about. Our parliament consists of 179 members, and the one who in the end will have 90 members or more pointing to them for prime minister will get "the job". Which is fair and very democratic, but the polls are right now pointing to the "wrong" side if you ask me, but it's so close that they are talking about it might come down to the 4 members from Greenland and Faeroe Islands (2 from each).

Election 2011 via

Right now there are 9 parties in the parliament, and just a little more than 50% point to the blue block (we got block policy in Denmark) which is the liberals, but after today the majority might be in the red block (the democrats)...

The thing is the woman the red block is pointing to be the prime minister (which means the first female prime minister in Denmark) well she doesn't exactly act like a democrat. She says people have to support the public school system and put their kids in public school, all while her kids are in private schools. And there has been several stories about her not paying her tax, because her husband is British and is not the Denmark most of the time, well a bit complicated to explain. So as cool as I think it would be with a female prime minister, well I just hope it's not going to be her and not now... and I know there is stories about the liberal leader as well, that's another reason I'm happy election day is here, because the dirt tossing will be over for a while then:)

Bye Bye Babyweight, Week 8

Well this week I shouldn't call it bye bye, more like hello birthday weight! Here is the truth!

Last weeks weight: 80,0 kg

This weeks weight: 80,3 kg

Loss/gain: +0,3 kg

And I blame my sister in law:) She invited us for her boyfriends birthday yesterday, and she had been baking all day, so 4 different homebaked goodies were on the table... and I have good manners, so of course I had to taste everything! So I guess I blame my parents too for raising me with good manners:) But you know what, it tasted delicious!

But honestly, I don't really care that I failed big time this week, because on the job front it looks even better for my husband now. He has yet another interview on Thursday, so 3 interviews within a week... hopefully that will land him a job. So I'm just too happy about this that a small gain can't bring me down... I guess I just have to work harder and eat less the coming week.

I did actually manage to fit in 2 long walks (1 hour) and a short one (30 minutes) last week, I wish I could do so again this week, but I'm not sure because the weather is really bad at the moment, so maybe I should bring out the Wii again!

Have a great week everyone, and keep your fingers crossed for my husband to land a job:)

Good Vibes, please!

Please send good vibes our way during the next week or so... my husband didn't the get the last job he interviewed for, I guess you had all ready figured that since I hadn't mentioned anything about it.

Anyways he has 2 interviews the coming week! One on Monday, which is a second interview, though that one is really far away, so he will have an even longer drive than he does now. The other one is on Thursday and is right here in town, only 5-10 minutes drive from home, so that would be perfect. And to top it all of... a guy called today, he had seen my husbands CV online, and asked him to send him an application letter! Though that is a bit far away as well, but he can take the highway there so it won't take as long as the first one, which is only smaller roads, which means more traffic!

So I hope the coming week will land him a job, even if it's further away, I will be really happy if he gets a job... because let's face it by October 1st he doesn't have a job, and my maternity leave salary isn't really much.... we will manage, but it won't be much fun. So please keep your fingers crossed that he gets one of the jobs, preferably the one here in town:)

Why not to watch "Desperate Housewives" with men...

We visited some friends last night, and Wednesday night is "Desperate Housewives" night here, that is a show I don't want to miss, and the friends we visited, well she feels the same way... but our husbands don't!

Well we are probably a bit behind compared to the USA, but last nights episode Gabrielle had to explain to Carlos why she spent $800 at a doll shop... my friends husband say "isn't he blind?", what do you think, he is reading the bank statement? Yeah I'm pretty sure he isn't... he goes on "but he used to be blind, didn't he?" yeah he used to be blind... like 3 or 4 seasons ago, get in the game! A little later he asks why she cares so much for the doll, and you try to explain the whole Juanita vs. Grace situation, while trying to keep up with this new episode... after having explained it he says "I don't get it!" to which his wife says "Well do you really care?".

via

I now know why I used to ban my husband from the living room an hour on Wednesday nights... though now my challenge is usually to get Jonas to sleep before the show comes on, otherwise he is not my child for that hour on Wednesday night, that hour is mom's time:) And well just in case I have started to record it, so I can always watch it again later:)

Bye Bye Babyweight, week 7

Monday again, so let's just get to it!

Last weeks weight: 80,2 kg

This weeks weight: 80,0 kg

Gain/loss: -0,2 kg

Okay not the biggest loss, but I must admit I didn't really watch what I was eating this week, I have been eating cake, candy etc. so a little weight loss is definitely okay:) Before falling asleep last night I was trying to convince myself that no matter what it had been a good week, because you know what? I can now fit into my pre pregnancy jeans! YEAH!!! Okay not completely comfortably the first day, the thing about jeans is they stretch as you wear them, and right now they fit best on day 2 or 3, so a few more kilos will be good, but nonetheless they fit!

I had 2 long walk last week, on Tuesday I was meeting with my midwife group of girls, and walked there and back which was almost an hour each way... so since I had walked there I convinced myself it was okay to have piece of the chocolate cake:) Wednesday I met up with my mothers group, which was 40 minutes walk there and 30 minutes back! How did that happen? Well Jonas was really tired so I left a bit earlier than I was suppose to, so he could fall asleep in the pram, and took another road than I usually do... and well it was a bit longer and I got a bit lost... well not really lost, just ended up the wrong place first!

This week the mothers group is coming here, so I have no walks planned, but I will try to do some by myself, even though I'm not going anywhere! And I will try to watch a bit more what I am eating... though Sunday I will have cake, because we are going to my sister in laws boyfriends birthday.

Have a great week everyone:)

Liebster Award

Vanisha has awarded me the Liebster Award, I got to "know" Vanisha when Krysten paired us up in her Summer Must Haves Swap, and ever since I have enjoyed reading about Vanisha's life in Fiji, which will soon be back in Australia, because at this moment she is busy packing up her apartment to move back to Australia.

Liebster means dear, sweet, darling, beloved in German.

The aim is to bring more attention to blog with fewer than 200 followers, that people think deserve some additional attention.


There is a few rules in accepting the award:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. Thank you very much Vanisha

2. Reveal you top 5 picks, and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog

The 5 I will pass the award on to is:

Kattrina at 365 days of happiness she is an American girl married to her Honduran husband, I love reading her blog, which is about finding the joy in everyday life, but also because she live close the Washington DC, which was near where I live during my year as an Au Pair.

Rebekah at Adventures of The Childlike Empress, she is a Scottish ballerina who first danced in Ljubljana and are now dancing at the ballet in Cairo, Egypt. During the big riot in Cairo I thought of her many times while I watched the news... it's funny how you can relate to people you never met in real life, and while watching the news I couldn't help but wonder if she was safe.

Carrie at Living It Up in U.P. I started reading her blog when she was doing her Wedding Wednesday post, can you believe she had her reception at the Space Needle in Seattle? At the moment I'm enjoying reading her post from her vacation in several big cities in Europe.

Alicia at Sweet-a-Licious who just recently started her own baking business, she makes the most amazing cakes, and I'm both happy and sad that it's so far away, I would love to have her make cakes for me, but honestly if it was too close by I would not be loosing any weight at all! She used to have another blog, on that blog she used to do a "Move it to loose it" series where she was loosing weight after giving birth, and I must say she had a bigger backbone than I have, and she lost weight!

Erin at Pugh's News who lives in Canada, she is the mother of 2 wonderful boys, and I love reading about her every day life. Every Friday she does a series called "Flowers for your Friday" which always puts a smile on my face.

That should be it, you should go check out their blogs, you will find some good reads:)

You know you are a mum, when...

you catch yourself singing childrens songs when your kid is nowhere around...

This is how we like to spent Sunday afternoon... well maybe tomorrow afternoon:)

Last night I stopped myself halfway through one of the songs we sing for Jonas only to brush my teeth (Jonas had been asleep for a few hours...) honestly I should start listening more to the radio than then few childrens CDs we have. I doubt Jonas really cares what we are singing, as long as we are singing to him!

Bye Bye Babyweight, week 6

Monday = Time to jump on the scale!

So let's just get right to it:

Last weeks weight: 81,4 kg

This weeks weight: 80,2 kg

Loss/gain: -1,2 kg

Finally I get some action! I'm ready for another week!

I'm totally okay with this weeks result, since on Thursday I went to the movies, and you can't go to the movies without candy, well at least I can't. Friday was my brothers house warming party, but since we had decided to drive home instead of spentdng the night I guess I didn't drink much alcohol, and Saturday night we had a block party, which meant quite a bit of alcohol... I was asked if I was on any medicine this year, because last year I hadn't told people that I was pregnant at the time of the block party so I said I was on some medicine that didn't mix well with alcohol, because I had got sick from all the ac mixed with warm weather and a long flight home from our vacation! So this year I wasn't on any "medicine", so I got quite a bit of wine etc. Which I doubt is good on any diet.

But this week and the coming weekend we don't have any parties to attend, so hopefully that means I can eat a bit more healthy and no alcohol to mess things up. Besides that I have too long walks planned (that is the great thing about only having 1 car), so tomorrow I'm meeting with the girls from my midwives group, and it takes about 50 minutes each way to walk to her house, but it will be good exercise, I'm just hoping it won't be raining that bad tomorrow, otherwise I will have to dig out my rain wear! On Wednesday I'm meeting with the other mothers group, but that is only 30 minutes walk each way, but still some exercise:)

Otherwise I'll try to eat healthier, but I'm skipping the diet shakes for now, but I have them if I need an easy meal at some point, but after a while they get boring. But this being week 6 means I'm halfway through... but not halfway through my weight loss, I lost 2,6 kg since I started, but still have 6,2 kg left to go... I'm not sure I get there at the end of my challenge, but if I'm just getting the right direction I will be okay with it, and I will be super happy being under 80 kg again, which hopefully will be next week, but then again I have also pulled some small numbers, so I might not be until week 8 I will be under 80 kg.

This and that

Well this will be a post about a little of this and that...

Friday Jonas started his baby swimming class, and he really enjoyed it, and so did we:) People often talk about how you feel lighter in water... well I have never really thought of it, then again I didn't really go swimming during my pregnancy (which probably the time I would really have felt lighter in water), but after having been in the water and going up the stairs with Jonas on my arm, well he suddenly felt really heavy. Well I did actually go swimming when I was almost 6 months pregnant, when we went to Punta Cana, but I guess since I had a really easy pregnancy I didn't feel much of a difference to whether I was in the water or not... except from when I had to get out of the water, I had to use the stairs I couldn't just jump up the side of the pool:)

Speaking of Punta Cana, we went there to attend the wedding of this cute couple...

and just the other day I got a e-mail from her, and guess what? She is pregnant:) And the funny thing about it... she is due on Jonas' first birthday! But I know better than anyone, that the due date is not necessarily the date you give birth, but it's still a bit fun:)

As mentioned before this Monday my Mum turned 70, and we celebrated her birthday on Saturday. The brass band I used to play in wanted to come a surprise her, which was really fun. I went in first with my horn, and said that I hadn't prepared a speech, but I wanted to play a song instead... the look on my mums face was priceless. She tried to look like she was really happy about it, but you could see she was thinking "is she really going to do this, and will that be any good?" thanks mum! Well then I said, "no not by myself, I brought along some friends" and the rest of the band came in, and she seemed to relax a bit... did she really think I would play solo? and if I did, did she really think I would be that bad, so I would embarrass myself?

Well I guess that will be it, enjoy the rest of the week:)