Mamma - I'm stuck!

Noelle is into climbing now. She climbs the sofa, the chair, into her toy box, and wherever else she can climb... I turned around one day in the kitchen to check on her, and she had climbed onto the chair and was sitting there very happy! She stands up in her highchair and tries to walk on the table... Can't leave her unattended for a second. This morning I found her sitting in this orange toy box. She's funny.

"Help help! I am stuck in this thing and can't move!!!" When I want Noelle to sleep outside in her buggy I put her in her nice warm overall. I decided not to use it when she will be walking outside, since she can't move. She likes sleeping in it, but nothing else... poor little girl!

Pyssel (crafting)

Last weekend, we were invited to one of my old tennis friends for a housewarming party, and glögg of course, and Noelle got find a few new friends. They were crafting, though Noelle preferred eating the craftmakingthings...

Noelle, Felix and Måns crafting.
Noelle, Annelie, and her son Felix.

Noelle running away when I tried to take a picture of the three of them...

Glöggfika

Derek invited his classmates over to ours for a Glöggfika. We had saffranbread, gingerbread, gingerbread cookies with bleu cheese and of course Glögg! It was very nice and fun to meet all his classmates. They were from Sweden (naturally), Dominican Republic, Spain, Germany and probably somewhere else which I can't remember. Noelle loved having all the people here, and she got a lot of attention. She laughed and was cute and everyone tried to steal a little snuggle from her!

Three little pigs...

Noelle doesn't watch much TV, but every now and then we put something on the computer for her to watch. Derek found the Three Little Pigs and she really enjoys it. I also want to add that she now knows how to turn on the computer, and loves to push the buttons. I wonder if that's a sign that we spend too much time in front of the PC? I think so...

Bus! (Mischief)

I was trying to catch Noelle putting some rings on a pole, but she got distracted when she saw me with the camera. She attacked me, there was no holding back. Anyone who has some kind of appliance handy - be aware of Noelle, she will go after it!

Playdate

Today, we had a little playdate with a new friend that we met. Her name is Emilia and is one month older than Noelle. Her mother, Matilda, and I had a nice chat while the babies were busy playing!

Thanksgiving weekend

This past weekend, we invited our Chicago friends who now live in Sweden, over to our house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Since this is not holiday in Sweden, we had to celebrate it on Saturday instead of Thursday. It was great to see everyone, and the food was awesome! I made turkey with stuffing for the first time in my life, and have to admit, that it was good (I know you shouldn't give yourself praise, but what the heck...) Sandra made some awesome pies (pecan and pumpkin), Elin made fantastic sweetpotatoes, and Paula made mashed potatoes that were creamy and delicious. She also made homemade cranberry sauce that was so good that even Derek ate it (and he is not a fan of cranberries). Of course we the other fixins such as greenbeens, corn and bread... it was a funfilled evening with babies too. Noelle was the oldest, and took the mature part over Selma, 6 mts, and William, 2 mts, and belly, 24 wks.

The day after, D, N, and I took a walk in the woods with Matt, Sandra and William. Much needed after the feast!

Sandra with William, and Derek with Noelle, both babies sound asleep. Note the difference in size. Can you ever imagine that our little girl was that little? Time really flies!
The Gobles who came from Malmö (southern part of Sweden) to gobble with us.
Proud papa Thomas with Selma. The baby who partied the longest...
Us, the Diener family!
Derek carved the turkey. We forgot to take picture of it...
Noelle has eight teeth now, but I don't think you can see them...
Sandra with William and Noelle.
Selma and William.
Paula with Selma and Noelle.
The Gobles

Thanksgiving and First of Advent

Today, Friday Nov 27, Noelle, Derek and I cleaned the house and decorated for Christmas. Tomorrow we're having some of our Chicago friends who now live in Sweden over for a Thanksgiving meal (since it's an American holiday, we have to do it on the weekend instead...). On Sunday it's first of advent, so we had to get the Christmas stuff up today. Should be a fun weekend, and I will post pictures in a couple of days!

Just a couple of pictures

Sometimes I have to post a picture where nothing is really happening... here are two.

Basketball grip?

For a moment, Noelle held her bottle like a basketball, but I missed the opportunity to snap a picture of the perfect grip. We'll have to ask Grandpa, what he thinks of this?

Christmas is approaching!

Last weekend we went to our first Christmas fair of the season. Though we didn't buy anything, we had lots of fun visiting with Paula, Thomas and their beautiful little girl Selma! After the fair, the Gutmann's invited themselves over to our house. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that they invited themselves, I had actually done so, but in my current life where my memory is very very shortlived, I had forgotten it... oooops. But I am so glad, because we had so fun. I love having people over to hang out. Paula and I made dinner, while the boys looked after the girls. We discovered that Noelle will be a great big sister one day (or cousin, hint hint to our siblings out there). She sat next to Selma who is about 6 months old, and patted her head very very gentle...

Derek with hot, blonde mama! And cute blonde baby.
Noelle and Selma

Noelle and Selma (here again, Noelle reminds me of my brother).

Noelle eating cake!

I should have posted this video some time ago, but here it is. Noelle eating cake for the first time at her 1st birthday party! Her second cousin Sofia kept feeding her cookies too, so Noelle was happy as can be!

Rub the belly for good luck!

We had to get a picture of Noelle and her belly! She is a pretty slim baby, but she does have quite a gut... if you rub it, you receive good luck, just like if you'd rub Buddha's belly. Note that I have censored the picture. Derek is still pretty american and didn't feel comfortable with her posing naked... too bad since I have the cutes video of her running around naked. But now, none of you can see it :).

Noelle in the woods

Noelle is pushing the stroller here. And she is pretty fast. We found a two piece fall suit at a second hand store, which she can actually walk in, so she was happy! Loves the outdoors, our little one!

Noelle is trying to slide down towards the lake. Not to worry, we were right there, though in a semi-awkward position...

Noelle playing around with her lips. She is exploring her mouth and the sounds her voice can make more and more (this is an old thing though). She loves the echo, so if we go to a room where there is echo she shouts "ahhh, ahhh, ah, ahhhhhh, ah." She has also discovered that if he puts her head into a cup or pot or something her voice sounds funny too.

Pardon my "I haven't left the house, it's Saturday, leave me alone" look that I am posing with today. But the focus should be on Noelle regardless.

Hike in the woods

This weekend was the first weekend, in I don't know how many, when we had nothing going. Pretty nice for a change. Derek, Noelle and I went for a walk in the woods, Noelle tried sliding down into the lake, picking up sticks and trying to eat them... then she got really tired and Derek was so excited since she fell asleep in the Baby Björn which she hasn't done in such a long time. If scroll back to an earlier picture you can see the change in size...

Resting against pappa's chest. So cozy!
Exploring the lake...
Noelle being cute.
Noelle pushing her own stroller. She's a little too short though to reach the handle. But she found an alternative way of pushing - watch the video.

Morfars hidden talent

Not many people know, but my dad has a music ear. He can listen to a song, and then play it on the piano. Here is a video of him playing a Frank Sinatra song. The name of it escapes me. How I wish I had this talent! I at least hope that it may have skipped a generation and that Noelle will get it instead! We filmed in secret, so he doesn't know this exists, nor that I would post it on the blog.

Trip to Stockholm

This past weekend we went to Stockholm to visit some friends. Noelle met some new and old friends. She got to play with Petter, who is about 7 months older, and they had fun together (after a while). We also met Milla and her parents Emma and Johnny who we knew in Chicago. Milla is 23 hours younger than Noelle, and they were running up and down Kulturhuset in Stockholm. Noelle and I also met Milla and Emma on Monday for a play date! We missed Viggo and Emma (and their mothers too).

Noelle also got to play with mormor and morfar who were delighted to have her in their house!

Magic Carpet Ride

Derek took Noelle and Petter on a carpet ride. They loved it. Note how Petter falls off and then crawls back to the carpet again. So cute!

Noelle being Noelle

Ok, here are two long videos. I am just warning you. They're really about nothing, just her walking and stuff... They are really cute though :)

Sentimental Thoughts

This morning, Noelle went down for her morning snooze as normal. She woke after about 45 minutes, crying. I picked her up and held her against my shoulder. She fell asleep again, and slept with her nose nuzzled into my neck for about 45 minutes. We don't get these times very often anymore, and I remembered when we took these kind of naps all the time. I remember thinking then, that this is a good time when I can get things done, and let her sleep in her bed. Today, I was thinking - this is the best feeling ever! No way I will put her down in bed again. I will enjoy this as long as it last. Yes, I should be looking for work, or cleaning, or this or that, but, really - life is too short.

Noelle is one active little girl. She is not a lap baby, where you can sit down and read a book - she is constantly on the move. Yesterday, we went to "open daycare" again, and they have a music section the last half hour. All babies are sitting in their mom's or dad's lap, except one toddler who is standing in the middle dancing and waving her hands and having a grand-all-time - you can only guess who that baby was. She enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it. These days, she only remains in Derek's or my lap, when she is a little sleepy, otherwise she is really bussssyyyyyyy. And I wouldn't want it any other way! Apparently, my parents told me, I was the same way!

Attached is a picture when she just woke up from being nuzzled in with me. I know she has her hair in her eyes, but I clipped it back as you can see in the other picture. And no, it does not cause lazy eye, I asked the pediatrician as well as my eye doctor. It's all hereditary, so thanks a lot Drake (and me as well).

Our little busy bee.
You can see the lines from my cardigan...

Lots of Happenings!

Hi there!

It's been awhile since I updated the blog, but we have moved and didn't have Internet for a couple of weeks. Lots has happened since I last wrote.

We had visitors from WI - Grandma and Grandpa came and stayed with us for a week. We did some touring around Goteborg and they also saw a couple of castles in the surrounding areas of Goteborg. Derek was busy with school, so unfortunately he didn't get to spend much time with them. He did, however, go to a practice of the Gothia Basketball team with his dad, and came to the conclusion that he should probably join the team to help them out (for those of you who don't know, Derek is from a HUGE basketball family).

They also had the pleasure to wish Noelle her first happy birthday! We had a big party for the birthday girls - I turned 30 and Noelle 1 - worth a celebration I think! Noelle also got to try her first sweet! Her cake was delicious and her second cousins kept feeding her cookies. She was very happy for the sweets, not to mention all the delightful gifts that we received - both her and myself!

Another visitor came as well to join the celebration, and that was my best friend Louise, who is Noelle's godmother as well. It was so nice of her to come, and I can't ask for a better friend!

Noelle has now also left her baby phase - she is now a toddler as she walks pretty much all the time. We video filmed her"last" crawling since Derek was getting a bit emotional... he was concerned that we didn't have enough video of her yet... yeah right.

So attached are some pictures of the events for the last couple of weeks. I will post a video of Noelle crawling, and walking soon...

Please be patient with me, as when I am not taking care of this little girl, I am looking for work as well as an apartment. So my time for blogging is very limited :(

Talk to you soon!

And little Selma, so precious!
Trying to crawl up the slide.
On the big fish slide with me!
At the playground with Paula and Selma at Tradgardsforeningen.
Our little cutie!
Our big red tomato! Noelle got this gallong outfit from her mormor, but she has some troubles moving in it. She'll get used to it. She really has no choice, since it could be a bit wet here...
Skansen Kronan in Goteborg.
Noelle with her godmother Louise, who came from Stockholm for the weekend!
Bohus Fastning.
Hmm, I wonder if Sara is cold?
Sara cracking some crab...
Dick cracking some crab...
Derek took his parents and Noelle on a day trip to Marstrands Fastning and Bohus Fastning.
Birthday girls!
Family!
Mmm, cake.
What the heck is this? And I can eat it! Wow. Delicious!
Gifts, so many gifts.
Birthday pretty! This is the dress that my aunt (my mom's sister), knitted for my first birthday, and I wanted Noelle to wear it too!
Jewelry from her dad, that her mom could wear instead. He is so thoughtful that man :)
Noelle's birthday!
Different types of fish at the fishmarket.
Ouside Feskekorka - a famous fishmarket in Goteborg. It was a church that was redone to become a fishmarket instead.
Grandpa is enjoying some vino, cheese, and shrimp!
Grandma and grandpa are helping Noelle down the stairs.
Pushing the stroller on her own these days.
Grandpa and Grandma Diener came for a visit! Noelle enjoyed them very much! And, yes so did Derek and I (but do we really count anymore:))
Derek and my dad were taking down a big pine tree, my dad is sawing...
... and Derek is pulling the rope... he failed to yell "tiiiiimmmber"