Thursday, June 9, 2011

Return of the Sun: Swedish Spring in Flowers
Swedish Spring is a succession of small reliefs that come with the budding of each new kind of flower.
Once the sun returns the days get longer noticeably fast.
The sunshine on the house as spring dawns
The Snodrops came out the day SwedeBoy was born, just as they came out the day SwedeGirl was born! The first flowers and the new spring babies, right in sync. They are called snow drops because of the white color, and because they might come out when there is still snow.
Our last snow came after SwedeBoys Birth, March 18th.

Winter trickers, they also come and bring the yellow color in the early spring when there still may be snow.
My first baby wearing outing into the sunny yard with SwedeBoy
The Rhubarb was starting to grow that day.
And the buds emerged on the trees powered by the rainbow light.
Then, came the crocuses.
Purple crocus, some of the earliest flowers.
The Bees came out to celebrate.
Super Daddy, carrying both kids.
The day the first daffodil bloomed in our yard, a wave of relief spread, like I been stranded on a desert island and spotted a rescue boat. Spring was finally really coming!! That yellow burst of color was promise the dark and gray days were soon over.
Yellow is happy!!!
Springtime of your Life.
In town it is warmer and the flowers come sooner, that same day the daffodils were bursting all over Lund.
There are fields of these early purple flowers in Lund.
SwedeBoy!
Twelve days after the last photo above of the Rhubarb buds was taken, it has grown this much.
Once the sun starts shining, everything bursts open in the warmth and light. You feel the power of the life force when what looked dead the day before unfurls an entire perfectly formed leaf. Coming from the tropics, I never really understood the inner work that goes on in winter, and the sudden outward power of spring. Truly, in the darkness of winter things rest and take shape then, like a new baby spring forth fully formed.

I was just waiting, waiting for our baby and for the dead gray to be replaced by green. I felt relief on a deep body level when spring arrived this year!
Meet the Family
One of the onderful things about our life in Sweden is living three houses away from my husbands sister and her family. They came on SwedeBoys third day of life to meet him.
SwedeBoys first gift, a Spot doggie, an initiation to snips, snails, and puppy dog tails for him.


Wednesday, June 8, 2011

SwedeBoy, it is.
The Zero Years Old Birthday Party.
The girls put on a birthday party for the new baby.
We made our favorite stand by birthday cake, Hersheys Perfectly Chocolate Cake, it never fails. It works fine with the gluten free wheat starch flour sold in Sweden.
Hats courtesy of grandma. The children insisted we wear them every time we ate from this cake.
Nanny was there!
Yum, chocolate covered 2 year old.
Welcome to the family, SwedeBoy!
Grandmas.
Looking over the story of spring in pictures, I have to say my mom came to visit. It was wonderful to introduce the baby to my mom, and have her help as we got settled with the baby.
My husbands mother, FarMor, with the baby too!

Blogger catch Up.

So summer is here and my friends back in Florida are torturing me on facebook with pictures of them and the friends with young children I love so very much on the beach, swimming in blue warm waters if the gulf of mexico on the beach that was just voted # 1 in the USA. It has been almost three years since we moved to Sweden, and we said we would evaluate again in three years. With a new baby, and family obligations still lingering in Sweden, it makes little sense to pack up and move back home right now, even though those beach pictures make me want to do just that. So I will return to blogging, and celebrate the life I have built here, and once again use the blog to showcase to others, and mostly myself, what makes life here so special. I must start where I left off, though, I will take you through spring in Sweden, and sift through the bazillion photos we have taken this spring and show you more about our SwedeLife!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Holy crap that was a long winter.
We finally had a good sunshine-y day, and some flowers, and I could not be happier about it!! I am not pregnant, the sun has peeked through, and there are buds on the trees! Life is returning to Sweden, and the SwedeLife blog!
And now we are three.
Kids, that is. A family of five.
I have been busy making a person, not doing much blogging.
42 weeks on the dot, on March 13th I began labor about noon and gave birth about 10pm.
We had another lovely birth at home. The kids were even here this time.
I am now a proud member of the 'mom of boys' club, and the 'I had my ten pound baby at home' club!
I am also a member of the 'I had a c-section' club from the first baby, and then joined the VBAC/ 'I had a normal birth after a c-section' club for the second child.
Home Swede Home Birth
The birth team- we hired a home birth midwife from Copenhagen, and the same doula from last birth.
Baby Hands
Yawn...




Finally settling in, 4 weeks later! Welcome SwedeBoy!!!