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Cutest Drummer Ever

2012-01-22T20:04:00.003+01:00

We got to church early today because we were the ones setting up for fika. We were the first ones there for awhile. Sylvia sat at the drum set from 3 to 4, banging away, the last 15 minutes while the worship team was up there practicing! She loooooved it and zoned out.

And while she was doing that, Esther had a microphone (no sound on), singing while we were alone there, and then when the worship team was practicing she stayed up there with the microphone, swaying and enjoying herself! Crazy kids.

Another magical Christmas at the island

2012-01-01T22:21:00.008+01:00

Excited to be at Farmor and Farfar’s house with both Fastrar (aunts).

Farfar’s divine photo skills

I personally never went through a princess phase. I see no end in sight for Esther’s princess phase.

Everybody in Sweden watches cartoons at 3 pm on Christmas Eve. This is Esther’s reaction.

Mrs. Claus came and delivered our Christmas presents. Esther isn’t sure what to think, since we have been discussing that Santa Claus is just pretend.

Opening presents.

Superstar Sylvia takes the stage.

Happy after opening all the presents.

Poser

2011-12-22T17:24:00.000+01:00

Christmas Concert with Toddlers

2011-12-10T18:23:00.005+01:00

Possibly the funniest thing that's happened all of 2011: Esther and Sylvia's Christmas Concert at their daycare.

Their daycare happens to only have young kids right now, even though it is supposed to be ages one through 5 1/2. Esther is the oldest by a whole year, which is why she is going to start at a new school with some peers after Christmas.

So that meant that what the daycare teachers had to work with for this particular concert was ten kids aged 1 1/2 to 2 1/2, plus Esther, who doesn't exactly think it is fun to sing for others in a concert type setting. (mostly she doesn't like it because she doesn't like being told what to do. If she had come up with the idea by herself, she would steal the show. That is just Esther).

So anyway, here we were, all the parents, sitting waiting for these young kids to come out and sing, sure it was just going to be the cutest thing ever. The door opens, the kids start to come out, and then the inevitable happens: one kid sees all these grown-ups staring at her and she starts WAILING. That starts off a chain reaction, and within, say, 15 seconds, at least eight other kids start WAILING. Meanwhile the teachers are all cheerfully singing the Christmas songs they have been practicing together for the past two weeks.

And, as Niklas and I predicted, the ONLY kid (out of the 11) to REALLY get into it and sing loudly and do ALL the hand motions is.......drumroll: SYLVIA THE SUPERSTAR! She stole the show! She loves to be on stage and if she could have, she would have held a microphone for effect. That's just Sylvia!

(I can't post photos containing any of the other kids, so just this one will have to do!)

Christmas Tree

2011-12-05T19:43:00.005+01:00

Now that Esther's birthday festivities are over, we can decorate for Christmas!
So we bought a small fake tree (just works best that way at this time in our lives) and decorated it tonight.

Esther took these photos all by herself!!! (I look exhausted and zombie-like because of this stupid sickness I have had for the past few days) Somehow I will have to teach her to hold the camera level, but it is really big for her small hands.

Love my Esther-girl, who is FOUR!

2011-12-04T20:15:00.002+01:00

(More photos below in the next post)

My sweet, precious girl turned four today. FOUR! Aaaaccckkkk! It’s so weird having kids. They grow up! Since when was that allowed?!?!?! And at the same time, it’s the coolest thing to watch them grow up! That must be one of the biggest paradoxes in life: wanting your kids to stay young because those young ages are just so great, but also looking forward to watching what and who they are becoming. So, no, I don’t seem to be dealing with it very well!!!

Poor Esther was miserably sick in the two days leading up to her birthday and to her party, so she couldn’t even really get excited about it. And on the day of her birthday she really seemed to have turned the corner, seeming full of energy and no fever. But the poor kid wasn’t quite herself for the actual party, which was a bummer.

Niklas was the master chef. He made meatballs that I turned into small mice on each kid’s plate! Chips for ears, raisins for eyes, a curly fry for the tail. I was supposed to put pretzel sticks in there as whiskers but I forgot. Then we made chocolate toast sandwiches in the shapes of giraffes. That was the lunch. Then we played a whole bunch of games, and I realized once again how much I like doing that sort of thing (leading kids in kids’ games and hanging out with young kids in general). I have a knack for it, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately I was starting to feel AWFUL a few hours before everyone arrived, but I forced myself through it, fever and all. And I know for sure they had fun!

Then they ate chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing. Or I should say, one kid out of five ate theirs. These Swedish kids are just not used to really sweet sweets! I am proud of Sylvia, however, who ate her entire cupcake and could have eaten two more. Talk about a sweet tooth! Whoa!

After the party Esther did okay for awhile, then started feeling miserable again, poor kid. When I was getting her tucked in, she wanted to have a looooong conversation about the day and everything that happened, and she was just so cute sitting there talking to me about all kinds of stuff. When I got up to go downstairs, she said, “Mamma, could you talk to me a little bit more?” So we did. How could I resist?

I am so proud of my precious sweet Esther-girl. Mothering is incredibly difficult; harder than I ever ever ever thought it would be – and she is only four! But having Esther in my life is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. She is one of the coolest people on the planet and the times that she and I have together just the two of us are some of the greatest times I’ve ever experienced. I love having such a front row seat to what God is doing in her life, and I love the relationship she is cultivating – on her own – with Him. Today when I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, she said: Jesus! And when I asked her if she thought was going to get a lot of Christmas presents from her aunts, she said, “No Mamma! Jesus gets all the presents because it’s His birthday!” I just think that’s so cool.

Anyway, I’m just bragging on her. She is a great kid and I love her. And now she is FOUR!!!

Photos from Esther's 4th Birthday party

2011-12-04T19:50:00.005+01:00

Birthday morning (she is in a My Little Pony phase)

Appetizers with South African flags (there were Rice Krispies Treats that none of the Swedish children would even touch!)

Can you see the mouse meatballs? (Swedish meatballs with a few condiments to make them look like mice)

Party thingies. These were a hit. They induced much giggling. Which is easy when there are six 2-4 year-olds at a party.

Birthday girl

Game leader despite my by-now really high fever. I thought I might keel over right then and there, I was so hot.

Four candles for the four year-old! But we forgot to sing Happy Birthday for her. Oh well. I am not Super Mom.

Party favors

Love my Esther-girl!

Go Sylvia Go

2011-12-03T21:14:00.004+01:00

Sylvia is making so much progress in so many areas lately. Just these past few months have been like an explosion in her development.

Her two favorite things right now are:

1) to "preach" in the toy microphone, loudly and sincerely, for like ten minutes straight or more

2) to sing songs with hand motions, as demonstrated here.

(sometimes she prefers to sing solo)

Close-ups

2011-12-03T21:13:00.000+01:00

She's got the look

2011-12-03T21:12:00.002+01:00

Punch Balloons

2011-12-03T21:12:00.001+01:00

The E and S Hair Styling Salon

2011-12-03T21:11:00.003+01:00

This, for some reason, was one of Sylvia and Esther's main activities while their grandparents were here.

Inevitable

2011-12-03T21:09:00.000+01:00

Toe biting is inevitable when Grandpa is around!

Already missing Nai Nai and Grandpa

2011-12-02T21:17:00.001+01:00

Visit from the Grandparents

2011-11-23T20:27:00.003+01:00

My parents were here for 10 days. The joy knew no bounds. Good moods all around. No, GREAT moods, and of course I am referencing Esther. She was overjoyed at having them here. We haven't seen my dad since January, so they had a lot to catch up on. And they certainly did! Games, and playing make believe, playing hide and seek, discussing deep matters, and learning and practicing letters pretty much nonstop all day long. It was so nice to see Esther sooooo happy almost allllll the time.

Sylvia had a blast too, as evidenced by the fact that her speaking expanded by about 2,359% while they were here. Not necessarily coherent words, but just in terms of how much she had to say. Her current favorite thing to do is to hold a toy microphone and talk LOUDLY into it for several straight minutes, addressing anything and everything about anything and everything.

Happy kids for ten straight days!

Playing with Grandpa

2011-11-23T20:24:00.002+01:00

Reading with Nai Nai, laughing at Grandpa

2011-11-23T20:22:00.001+01:00

Under the umbrella-ella-ella

2011-11-23T20:21:00.000+01:00

Big girl bed!

2011-11-21T15:29:00.003+01:00

Last week, while Grandpa and Nai Nai were here (another post on that soon), Grandpa helped us assemble Sylvia's new big girl bed!

And, since Sylvia continues to be an incredibly easygoing and easy-to-please child, she took to it right away and had no trouble adjusting whatsoever!

This is Sylvia in her new bed, in her new giraffe pyjamas!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-02T20:15:00.003+02:00

(Niklas is VERY proud of this photo he took. He went to a photography course last week!)

We have had amazingly beautiful weather for the past week or so. Not fall weather, more like summer weather, but better than the weather we actually had this summer. But, there are still fall activities despite the summer weather, and what better than a pumpkin patch with obligatory cute photos of children holding pumpkins?!

Goofball

2011-10-01T22:55:00.003+02:00

This is what happens when you ask a soon-to-be 4 year-old to smile for the camera.

A typical Sylvia look

2011-10-01T22:51:00.002+02:00

Cutie girl July 2010

Cutie girl September 2011, deja vu!

VERY thankful

2011-09-11T21:31:00.005+02:00

Esther has entered into a new phase of life. AND MAY I ANNOUNCE THAT IT IS A HUGE RELIEF. She has, you see, left the whining-whining-whining phase, it seems. You know, the one that seemed to start around 2-ish and didn't start winding down until a few weeks ago, around after passing the 3 and 3/4ths mark.

Her behavior and attitudes and overall general mood and contentment have vastly and noticeably improved in the past two or three weeks. We're not exactly sure what brought this on, but I would theorize that it is a combination of things:

--She started school again. It is the kind of place where she can have a social outlet, both with adults and peers, can take some responsibility for herself and for her sister, and can have other authority figures in her life besides just her parents. All of this has combined to make her more self-confident and more stimulated and just more content somehow.

--I have changed my diet and thus am eating healthier, which has given me more energy and a clearer head, and I think I might have started dealing with her small annoyances in a wiser way, which helped the minor ones not turn into major ones enough consecutive times that we may have successfully broken a detrimental pattern.

--When the kids are at school I can get a lot of work done during the day, so I am not stressed out in the afternoons or evenings and can thus spend real quality time with them during those times and not constantly be thinking about the need to get some work done.

--And I am sure there are several other factors, like her just maturing in terms of her age, and other such things. Also, I have specifically prayed for peace in her thoughts, will and emotions nearly every day for the past few weeks.

Whatever may have caused this wonderful change for the better in her, I am exceedingly thankful and it makes my life SO much easier and more enjoyable. She and I have lots and lots of great conversations about all kinds of things and we really really really enjoy spending time together. Sometimes she will just turn to me with that look on her face and say, "Mamma, I really like to be with you." She is such a cool kid, and I am really thankful. (interestingly, however, Sylvia's such phase has just kicked in. Help!)

Fashion Model

2011-09-11T21:29:00.002+02:00

Sylvia has very set opinions about fashion. She insists on picking out her own shirts when it is time to get ready for school. And sometimes she thinks she needs an accessory (like the bandana) and other times she is quite sure she doesn't.

Finally

2011-09-11T21:26:00.002+02:00

This is - literally - the first family photo we have had taken of us since June 2010!!!

(A certain member of the family doesn't like to be photographed - hint: it's not Esther)

Family Picture

2011-08-31T09:07:00.001+02:00

It's really hard to get a family picture around here, so Esther and I had to draw one instead.

Goatees

2011-08-18T20:50:00.000+02:00

Crazy kids.

Pretty in pink

2011-08-18T20:49:00.000+02:00

Sylvia stylin' with her bandana

Backyard pool

2011-08-18T20:48:00.002+02:00

Crazy kids.

Late summer view from our upstairs bedroom window

2011-08-18T20:47:00.001+02:00

A few days at Dyrön

2011-08-18T20:41:00.005+02:00

We were back at the island for a few days last weekend. The girlios LOVE it there. Esther enjoyed the freeeezing cold water. They both enjoyed running around on the back deck. It's pretty cute when they do Ring Around the Rosie.

First day of pre-school

2011-08-18T20:39:00.003+02:00

Esther started pre-school in January, but has had a long summer break. Sylvia started for the first time on Monday.

They wanted to wear their "party dresses" to school (photo taken minutes before leaving for their first day). Sylvia has had no problems with the adjustment to school life. It took Esther a few days.

Baby Sylvia laughing

2011-08-02T20:56:00.002+02:00

Found this video on Niklas' phone of Sylvia laughing when she was a baby.

Photos from Niklas' phone

2011-08-02T20:31:00.005+02:00

We recently transferred the photos that Niklas has had on his phone since December 2009! Here are some old ones and some recent ones.

Overheard on Tarragon Street - the Uh-Oh edition

2011-07-25T23:26:00.001+02:00

Sometimes I don't know where Esther gets stuff. Today was one such time.

I was putting Esther into her carseat in a parking lot. The car next to us was parked so close that it was an awkward angle for me to put her in. I inadvertantly pinched her arm as I was helping her get buckled in, and she said, "OW, Mamma! You hurt me!"

I said, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Are you ok?!"

To which she replied: 'Yes, but can you say, "I'm sorry, your highness"?'

To which I laughed my head off.

Wow.

2011-07-18T19:18:00.002+02:00

Some web acquaintances of mine finally passed court in Ethiopia to adopt two little girls - both with Down syndrome! Wow!

I think their story is amazing. And the photos are so precious! Check out their blog here.

Sistahs

2011-07-16T16:44:00.001+02:00

Summer bliss

2011-07-16T16:40:00.005+02:00

Every summer, after we've visited the luxurious vacation resort otherwise known as Dyrön, I try unsuccessfully to capture in words how wonderful it is. So photos are best! I didn't take very many this time, but here a few.

Overheard on Tarragon Street

2011-07-06T21:25:00.002+02:00

We were on our way to a fast food restaurant. Esther LOVES restaurants, by the way. She is always in seventh heaven when we're in the USA, because we go to restaurants so much. Here in Sweden we only really ever go to fast food places. But she LOVES that. It's one of her favorite things to do.

So anyway, in the car on the way there, I asked her what she was going to have to eat at the restaurant. She couldn't remember the word for "burger" and was trying to think of how to say it.

So she said, "Mamma, I want a pancake meatball!"

Captain Esther

2011-07-06T21:24:00.000+02:00

A happy moment

2011-06-27T22:32:00.001+02:00

This photo says a lot.

I think I will like it for a long time to come.

Squealing in Tu-Tu's in the late evening sun

2011-06-24T20:20:00.001+02:00

Serious or cheesy

2011-06-21T12:57:00.002+02:00

With Sylvia and photo-ops, there is no in-between. Either she is very serious and contemplative, or she does this really cheesy grin that isn't quite genuine. So I decided to CHEESE too!

The Nai Nai Invasion

2011-06-21T12:44:00.005+02:00

So far Nai Nai's visit has consisted of: tutus, dancing, twirling, Hokey Pokey, reading, laughing, Esther talking and talking and talking, lots of hugs & kisses, new outfits, long walks, potty training, and Every Day From Here to There, Funny Things are Everywhere!

Different hair-dos

2011-06-08T17:27:00.003+02:00

Until I had kids from Africa, I never thought about how kids of African descent might have very different kinds of hair types! Now I have learned, after having informed myself, that there are many different kinds of African hair, and there are even ways to categorize it, etc.

Now that I have Sylvia, I realize how relatively "easy" Esther's kind of African hair is, in terms of its coily texture and softness and springiness. Sylvia's is very difficult to manage because it is none of those. It naturally tends toward mattedness (the vernacular would be "nappy" I suppose).

So, it would have been better to loc Sylvia's hair instead of Esther's, but of course I didn't know that until we got Sylvia. Esther's hair would have been quite easy to do up in different African hair styles, but I just didn't know that. So now Esther's hair is in locs and that is, well, permanent - until we do something drastic. But I will wait until she is the one who comes up with the idea of doing something different. Right now it is EXTREMELY low maintenance, to be African hair.

But, I don't think I want both of my kids to go around in locs (for various reasons that I won't go into here), so I will have to figure out some other way to style Sylvia's hair, and that is NOT going to be easy.

My first attempt, now that her hair has gotten long enough after we took a hair trimmer to it last fall, was the easiest hairstyle for African hair: POOFS!

Adoption Day present

2011-06-06T20:11:00.004+02:00

We are going to make it a tradition to give presents on Adoption Day, so that it is celebrated just as much as the girlios' birthdays.

When I asked Esther what she wanted, there were three things she could think of.

What she really really really wanted most of all was....ROLLERBLADES!

She tried them out right away. She has really good balance, and more patience than I expected of her. I was proud!

Watching Adoption Day Videos

2011-06-06T20:04:00.003+02:00

Every year on the girlios' adoption days, I want it to be a tradition that we all sit down as a family and watch their Adoption Day videos, both the actual videos from that day as well as the slideshows that I have made of their first months at home.

So this was the first year we did that, now that Esther is old enough to understand what is going on. They were very interested in these videos and watched very closely!

This is Esther watching the video of her own Gotcha Day, when she comes around the corner as the cutest baby we had ever seen! (see, even SHE knows she's cute!)

This is Sylvia watching the video of her own Gotcha Day! Hooray!

This is Esther demonstrating how much she bounced up and down excitedly on the sofa in the room where we met Sylvia for the first time!

Prettiest girl I know

2011-06-06T20:01:00.002+02:00

The many - and typical - faces of Sylvia

2011-06-06T19:59:00.001+02:00

Strawberries for Breakfast

2011-06-06T19:56:00.001+02:00

Video from Sylvia's 2nd Birthday

2011-06-05T15:18:00.001+02:00

Here is a 4-minute video from Sylvia's Birthday Morning, when she turned TWO!

Adoption Day for both girlios!

2011-06-01T16:52:00.005+02:00

This is a busy and special time of year for our family. So many wonderful things to remember and celebrate around this time of year!

-May 29: Sylvia's birthday
-May 31: Sylvia's Adoption Day (2010)
-June 2: Esther's Adoption Day (2008)
-June 14: Katie's birthday
-June 15: Wedding Anniversary (2002)

We have decided that we are going to celebrate both girls' Adoption Days together, since they are only two days apart. And when they are still so young we can just choose which date around that time works the best for us, and this year it happens to work best on June 2, Esther's actual Gotcha Day!

We are going to watch their special Adoption Videos and talk about those wonderful days when we became a family, then open some presents, and then do something extra special together as a family. I want these Adoption Days to turn into something very important for them, and something they really look forward to.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

In case you missed them, here are both Esther's and Sylvia's Adoption Videos.
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Esther's is a slideshow that I put together six months after she came home.
Go to this link:
Esther's Adoption Day Video

Sylvia's is from nine months after she came home.
Go this link:
Sylvia's Adoption Day Video

Later I will post photos from our Adoption Day celebration!

One year ago!

2011-05-31T19:24:00.003+02:00

One year ago we got to meet and hold Sylvia for the first time! Today is her Adoption Day!

I could write a lot about that, and about what I remember, and how proud I was of Esther, but I simply don't have the time right now. But I did want to post something on THE day...

One year ago Sylvia was a very tiny, skinny, and withdrawn baby girl who spent a lot of time sucking on her fingers and staring off into space.

One year later, she is a robust and vibrant, giggling and squealing mischief-maker (who, about 3 minutes ago, just learned how to crawl out of her crib - uh-oh).

We are so thankful for the way Sylvia has enriched our family!

Mys med Pappa

2011-05-30T16:29:00.000+02:00

Sylvia is TWO!

2011-05-29T21:12:00.005+02:00

Syllie Syllie Sylvia is TWO today!

Last year, on her first birthday, we couldn't be with her quite yet, so this is our first birthday celebration together!!!!!!

Her Farmor and Farfar were here to celebrate, Esther helped me make birthday cupcakes, and then she opened presents. She had a great day, with lots of squealing and giggling. She knew about ripping off the paper and eating just the icing.

She definitely understood that it was a very special day! When you ask her how old she is now, instead of putting up two fingers on one hand, she puts up one finger on each hand!

I love my Syllie Syllie Sylvia. She is my surprise miracle baby. She is very quirky and sneaky and silly, and she loves to dance and giggle and moo. She has grown by leaps and bounds, both physically and cognitively, especially in the past few months, and God has a special plan for her life - a plan that has already been set in motion! She is a miracle and a blessing, and I am thankful that we could be with her today to celebrate her special day!

Mother's Day!

2011-05-29T21:01:00.003+02:00

It was Mother's Day in Sweden today!

All I really wanted (besides chocolate, which I never did get!) was a great photo of me with my girlios. Need I mention again, how hard it is to get two small children to smile at the same time? This time Niklas couldn't do a dance behind me because he was the one taking the photos. Oh well.

I think he took about 50 photos in 30 seconds. Below you will find some bad ones, some not so good ones, some silly ones, a maybe-almost-okay one, but unfortunately no great ones.

Maybe next year!

Evolution of a Kiss

2011-05-24T21:20:00.003+02:00

Fun in the Rain

2011-05-24T21:17:00.001+02:00

Mys med Pappa

2011-05-24T21:16:00.002+02:00

Africans in flamenco dresses!

2011-05-02T20:56:00.006+02:00

These beautiful dresses are from Spain, from Farmor and Farfar.

Happy in the sunshine

2011-05-02T20:55:00.002+02:00

Matching clothes

2011-05-02T20:52:00.001+02:00

I never thought I would have my kids in matching clothes, but, well, it IS kinda cute.

Niklas the Inventor

2011-04-26T23:06:00.003+02:00

We found a huge well in our back yard full of lots of clear (cold) water. The pump is broken so Niklas attached a string to a bucket and just hauls it up when he needs to water plants, etc.

We've had lovely weather for over a week now, so I got out our little pool.

Niklas thought of a way to fill it for free with well water! He is quite the inventor. The girlios liked it because it was like a waterfall!

Pretty girl

2011-04-26T23:01:00.003+02:00

African Fairies

2011-04-26T22:50:00.003+02:00

Esther had dress-up day at school a few weeks ago. The only dress-up clothes she has are fairy ones, and thankfully we had two sets of wings so that they could both dress up and fly away.

Smile!

2011-04-12T18:37:00.002+02:00

One of the challenges of having kids: getting all of them to smile at the same time for the camera. Sometimes you have to enlist the help of the older one to prompt a smile in the younger one - although in this case Esther came up with the idea by herself!

Two smiles = too hard

2011-04-06T10:55:00.002+02:00

In addition to the many things that become more difficult when you add another child, one of the more challenging things is getting a good photo of both of them at the same time. Our only current solution is to have Niklas dance behind me as I take the shot, but he wasn't available for this one.

New spring dress

2011-04-05T17:21:00.002+02:00

Spring is here!
So is the new spring dress!

Preacher Pappa

2011-04-05T17:17:00.003+02:00

How do kids keep getting cuter?

2011-03-24T20:03:00.006+01:00

This is my pretty Silly Silly Sylvie Sylvie. You will learn from these photos that her face is very expressive and that she always has a runny nose!

The Thumper Phase

2011-03-24T19:57:00.004+01:00

Esther goes through phases.

Right now she LOVES the movie Bambi. It all started when we were at my parents' house this Christmas and they had an old-timey book about Bambi and read it to her often. I decided to show her the movie a few weeks ago and she just loved it. Animated movies from back then aren't like they are now. They are very slow-paced, with not much dialogue, and lots of classical music. Not exactly flashy. But she loves it. And she especially loves Thumper.

I remembered that one of my favorite stuffed animals from when I was little was Thumper (I got him on one of our trips to Disney World), and sure enough my mom found him in the closet (I asked them to never get rid of any of my stuffed animals - for such a time as this!).

So my mom sent Thumper and the old Bambi book in a box by mail and Esther was thrilled to open her package from Nai Nai.

She took to Thumper right away and took him wherever she went, often carrying on entire conversations with him. (Like, "Look Thumper! Isn't the sky beautiful today!")

Bleak

2011-03-24T19:49:00.004+01:00

Keep in mind that this is Sweden at the end of a long winter, so there is no green to be found, but I just thought this photo was so funny because it looks like it's the two of them against the world on the set of that movie (book) "The Road", based on the current barrenness of our backyard.

Any given moment...

2011-03-24T19:34:00.003+01:00

...you never know what things are going to look like around here!

(Esther is in a mittens phase and won't part with them. Sylvia is in a holding-her-Bunny-by-the-ear after waking up from a nap phase) In this case, each of these phases coincided with a sudden urge to dance.

Just funny

2011-03-24T19:31:00.004+01:00

We don't have any TV service, so there is hardly any time all 4 of us sit together and watch anything.

But sometimes we put on episodes of The Amazing Race and all sit and "watch" it (this usually involves jumping, bouncing, squealing children blocking any and all view of the TV the adults are trying to watch).

But right when i took this shot, Esther was content to get under the blankie with Pappa, and Sylvia took over the entire chair! It was funny.

Pappas tjej

2011-03-20T11:21:00.001+01:00

Hair wrap

2011-03-09T12:32:00.002+01:00

Esther really liked this hair wrap that I had bought for her a long time ago. It's supposed to "keep your style" when you sleep, but she thought it was pretty and made her look like an African queen. Hopefully we can find some other ones that are more colorful and fun.

Just some photos

2011-03-09T12:28:00.003+01:00

Hahahahaaaaaaa

2011-02-26T19:03:00.000+01:00

A new bathtub!

2011-02-25T17:53:00.003+01:00

Niklas' dad spent a day and a half with us and while he was here he installed a bathtub! We have needed one for a long time, and we are thankful for handy fathers.

This bathtub was Niklas' choice. (Well, actually, he would rather have had a big ole jacuzzi but this was his second choice).

Isn't it fancy?! It looks like a bathtub fit for a king!

The girls used it right away. Esther used it mostly as a slide. She now has her own personal waterpark inside her own house.

One thing I am sure my friends will notice is that it has lion's feet.

Är du min kompis?

2011-02-25T17:47:00.004+01:00

Our good friend Annette knitted a beautiful afghan quilt for the girlios and delivered it a few days ago. She also made a cute little one just like it for the dollies!

Esther is in a phase where she asks everyone if they are her friend. She asked her, "Annette, är du min kompis?" approximately 3,000 times while she was here.

Rare sunshine

2011-02-19T15:57:00.005+01:00

We actually had a few hours of sunshine today (imagine that!), so we bundled up the girlios and played outside for awhile.

We had fun until Sylvia fell twice, busting her lip and then her nose (Esther is still learning to steer her scooter).

It was cooooold, but fun.

Sisters

2011-02-13T11:21:00.002+01:00

In these photos they are soooo excited, waiting for the arrival of Farmor and Farfar!!!

Pretty girl

2011-02-13T11:19:00.002+01:00

All of Sylvia's teeth decided to come in at the same time, so right now she is drooling all over the place, but she is still my pretty girl!

Double focus

2011-01-31T13:08:00.003+01:00

I just realized how indicative these photos are of the challenges of parenting two kiddos. It's hard to focus on both of them equally at the same time! But, I am learning to get better at it!

Silly Sylvia

2011-01-22T16:21:00.002+01:00

Sisters

2011-01-22T16:17:00.001+01:00

Sylvia gets her groove on

2011-01-22T16:02:00.004+01:00

One thing we have noticed these past few months is that Sylvia seems to have more "rhythm" than Esther does. Of course, Esther can "dance", but it's not really...coordinated.

But when Sylvia hears music, she can bounce in rhythm to it, and bang objects in rhythm to it, and she really likes to get her groove on. She has even taught herself to twirl around now that she is steady on her feet.

It is so funny when they both get to dancing at the same time. Their favorite song right now is "Waka Waka". It makes me laugh!

First day of pre-school

2011-01-15T21:57:00.002+01:00

This past Monday was Esther's first day of pre-school, jetlag and all. Thankfully I had the idea of buying her a special "school dress" that she would get to wear on her first day of school, and she really got excited about school just because of the dress. So much so, in fact, that she wore the dress EVERY SINGLE DAY LAST WEEK. Oh well.

Drama Queen

2011-01-15T21:53:00.004+01:00

This is the Fairy Princess outfit Esther got from Farmor and Farfar.

She insists on wearing the fairy wings with it so that she can "flap my fairy wings and fly!"

She is quite the drama queen. Sylvia just watches her and laughs.

Bye-bye USA

2011-01-15T21:52:00.000+01:00

Bye-bye USA, thanks for a wonderful month!

Sooooo typical Esther

2011-01-15T21:51:00.000+01:00

Swingin' Sylvia

2011-01-15T21:50:00.000+01:00

Grandpa and Esther

2011-01-15T21:49:00.001+01:00

These photos make me smile!

2010-12-29T02:47:00.001+01:00

Sunshine and warmish weather - yes, thank you!

2010-12-29T02:46:00.000+01:00

What a walker!

2010-12-29T02:45:00.003+01:00

Sylvia has been walking for about a month now, and she is doing a great job! Here she is walking un an uneven surface in chunky boots, and she is still doing a great job!

Coordinating Christmas dresses

2010-12-29T02:43:00.001+01:00

Christmas morning

2010-12-29T02:42:00.003+01:00

Pretty girls

2010-12-29T02:42:00.002+01:00

Sylvia and Oscar

2010-12-29T02:40:00.001+01:00

Esther doesn't like Oscar very much, unless he gently plays tug and chase with her.

Sylvia really likes him, even though he does provoke some interesting facial expressions.