June Vacation Week 1

We've been up to quite a lot the past week!

Emma received this cute crown and tutu from my mom's good friend Denise! Now that it kind of fits her, we couldn't resist a little photo shoot.

This past week Joel has been on vacation, and it has been simply wonderful! I love having him home. 

She loves her daddy.

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On Friday the 20th of June we celebrated Midsommar here in Sweden, the longest day of the year. Swedes dance around the pole and sing songs, it's a lot of fun. By the time we finished eating dinner and got done talking, we had to leave and put Emma to bed. Oh the life of having a baby! 

We went strawberry picking a few days ago, and it was the best! Emma was a champ and only got fussy when it was time to feed her. I was super impressed with her since I was bending down trying to hurry and pick as many strawberries as I could.

Joel hurried and took this picture of Emma right before we left to pick strawberries. When she is sitting in her new bumbo chair, I think she looks like an extra chubby little buddha.

This was the result! This is actually only two thirds of the strawberries we picked. They were the BEST  and sweetest strawberries I have ever had in my life!

Joel has one more week of vacation and the weather is supposed to be horrible next week, so we've been taking advantage of the good weather this week! Today we headed to the beach and enjoyed a good Swedish summer. This was Emma's first time to the beach, and to say she enjoyed it is an understatement. She was laughing and giggling the entire time! 

Emma at 3 and 1/2 Months

I know I post a lot of pictures of this little girl, especially on instagram. I'm kind of obsessed with her, ok?? I would hope so, since I am her mom. I figured I will post as many pictures as I want, and those that don't want to see that many pictures don't have to follow me ;)

Here are a few pictures that describe what's going on in our lives:

Emma is sitting up super well! We barely have to hold her so she doesn't topple over, but she is very sturdy and has great posture. 

We've started a new trick where Emma is laying down and I grab her hands to pull her up to sitting position. 

From sitting position, she then stands up! Today she stood up with Joel for a good two minutes. We are such proud parents ;) My favorite thing is she somehow knows she is doing awesome! When she stands up she gets this huge grin on her face like she is saying, "Look mamma and pappa I am so cool, I did it again!!"

Emma is still quite obsessed with herself and can stare into her reflection all day if we let her. When we move into a bigger apartment I want to get a mirror in her room so she can look and giggle all day.

The other day she took a super long nap, and I felt so bad because we had to wake her up. She was too dang cute and of course we couldn't resist taking a picture of her!

As a family, we've been able to grill a lot this summer so far! Probably one of my new favorite things to do. It is so wonderful to relax and enjoy each other's company, and especially hold and coo over the cute babies. We've been grilling pineapple to put on our hamburgers, and let me just say... it is my new favorite food. I might have had two hamburgers... or three... and out ate all the guys... hehe ;)

Last weekend we celebrated being married for two years! Crazy how time flies. We went out to dinner and just enjoyed each other's company while Joel's parents babysat. 

So far in our relationship we have lived in three different apartments in two different cities, bought a cat, had a baby, became certified scuba divers, done crossfit, completed the Lego Indiana Jones game together, survived two Swedish winters (barely, it seems like), helped support each other through our financial problems, survived 10 months of skyping long distance before we got married, and many other things. I love living my life with this man.

Thankful

Today I am thankful for quite a few things:

• My family's health. I believe we haven't been sick in over a year (possibly once), since we started using and loving the VeMMA products.
• A nice apartment where we feel safe.
• The chance to attend church every week.
• Joel likes his job, and looks forward to it.
• That my husband likes to cook. (I can probably count on one or two hands how many times I have cooked! I am working on it, don't worry..)
• Technology. Emma and I FaceTime my family almost daily at 5 AM Swedish time, and 10 PM in Utah.
• Our happy, supportive, and loving marriage.
• My maternity leave so I can stay home and focus on little Emma.
• Swedish summers. There is always so much light! And strawberries. And warmth. And we can leave the windows open all day and all night. And awesomeness.
• Tax returns! We were able to buy tickets to come to the states for Christmas!!! Crazy to think E will be 9 months old by then.
• Joel is such a great leader for our family.
• The Paleo diet. Joel introduced me, and we have started to focus on our health more. We have made a lifestyle change and don't focus being on a "diet". We aren't perfect at it, but we have completely changed our mentality on food.
• My family and in-law's support us and our decisions.

I love this goofy man of mine

I was thinking the other day, when I realized how blessed Joel and I are in our lives. Sure we have our trails and hard things going on, but isn't that what life is about? We need the hard things to appreciate the good things. For me I am very hard on myself, and compare to others. Which is so dumb!!! Why do we do that?? Especially now that I have Emma. I have the thoughts, "Oh that mom does that and her baby does this, Emma needs to work on that and I should probably be doing this." All. The. Time. I have to have little pep talks and remind myself that I am a good mom, as long as I am trying. Let's keep in mind that in this thing called life, we are all going through challenges and trials we might not know about and to support, help, and always be kind to one another.

9 Things I'm Glad I Did

The after effects of laughing gas

Joel caught the tail end of me using little too much gas and it completely numbed my lips so I couldn't talk. 

1. I am reeeally glad I had an epidural and laughing gas. I loved the laughing gas, I wish they had it in the states. (from what I understand they don't at least)
   
   
2. I am so glad we swaddle Emma. I've heard they are kind of against it here in Sweden, but everyone does it in the states so I figured it's fine. ;) When she was a newborn, she would jerk awake all the time and it took foreeever for her to fall asleep, and I sat there holding her arms so she wouldn't startle herself. A friend of mine on facebook said, "If I didn't swaddle my baby at night, she would whack herself in the face all night!" Then it hit me... THAT'S WHAT MY BABY DOES. Finally I decided to try swaddling her, and she now falls asleep within minutes! This is the woombie I bought for her, and I really like it! But I would recommend buying one that doesn't have the net in front (that is for better circulation they say..), because mine started tearing a hole in it a few days after she started using it... I was super disappointed. I do love how easy it is to put her in it though! Rather than trying to perfectly swaddle her in a blanket and risk her waking up more, this is SO much easier. When she is tired and ready for bed, I put her in this and it doesn't make her more awake.
   
   
3. Joel and I brought LOTS of food to the hospital. We had pre-made food and lots of snacks! After I had Emma and everything had settled down, I told Joel, "Did we bring too much food??" But we ended up staying 3 days in the hospital and it was perfect to have food all the time when they weren't bringing us meals.
   
   
4. Bought a breast pump. Even though I don't pump a lot (I will in advance if I feel like I'll need it), it was nice to have in the beginning. SO WORTH IT. I can't stress it enough, folks.
   
   
5. When I was still pregnant and huge, I came up with the idea to buy something for the baby every time we went to the grocery store. I mean, it kind of gets overwhelming thinking of ALL the stuff you have to buy! I shortened that list a little, and bought the necessities that I knew we would definitely need every time we went to the grocery store. For example.. one time I would buy wipes and binkies, and another time I would buy diapers and nursing pads. I also didn't buy too many of one kind of diapers, so I could test and find which ones were my favorite. I am extremely glad I did this, so we weren't buying even more stuff towards the end and being more poor than we already were ;)
   
   
6. I stocked up on a bunch of heavy pads before I had Emma. I heard you bleed for 3-6 weeks after having a baby, but it went on a lot longer than expected. I am glad I had a lot, let's just leave it at that!
   
   
7. I brought a small outfit and one slightly bigger to the hospital, since I didn't know how big Emma would be. She ended up being teeny, and I am glad I brought the smaller outfit because the one I had originally planned.. it would have drowned her!
   
   
8. I am super glad I brought a nursing pillow to the hospital! It was my first time ever breastfeeding, and I am so glad I had the pillow to help support Emma until I learned the right technique of how to hold her. Before we left for the hospital I asked Joel, "Should I bring this?? It's so big and bulky! I think it will take up too much room!" He then turned to me and said, "If you want to bring it, bring it! Don't worry about bringing too much stuff. You bring WHATEVER you want." Oh my gosh it was so worth it. At the hospital I was in so much pain, trying to teach Emma how to latch, and trying to awkwardly hold her. You can say the pillow helped a lot ;)
   
   
9. The last thing I am really glad I did, was buy The No-Cry Sleep Solution book. I'm not even finished reading it yet, but I absolutely LOVE how this book is focused on lovingly teach your baby how to sleep on their own and through the night. Emma is already a good sleeper (waking up once or rarely twice a night.. she's been like that since the beginning), but I wanted to buy it to understand and learn more anyways! I actually want to read the book, and I don't feel forced trying to read through it. Who knows, our next little one might be a horrible sleeper and this book will come in handy! I can't say enough good things about this book. The author writes in a very casual way, and I can just tell she is so awesome and such a great mom! My favorite thing about this book is how she focuses on teaching your little one to sleep in a loving way. I mean, who doesn't want their little one to feel loved as they fall asleep?
   

My awesome breastfeeding pillow

And there you have it! My list of things I am glad we did, and things we didn't do. I know there are a bunch of these kind of lists going around and everyone is different with their wants and needs, but I wanted to remember what I did... and maybe it could help someone out there who is ready to have a baby ;)

To go with this post, here are 5 Things I Wish I Knew.

5 Things I Wish I Had Known

1. How bad and huge my breasts would hurt when the milk comes in. I mean, I did hear they get huge and engorged.... but what happened was Emma couldn't latch because they were SO BIG. In a previous blog post I mentioned how I heard, "If only more women had breasts like you!" a couple times in the hospital from different midwives. What I wish I would have know: to have a breast pump to help let the milk out, because Emma couldn't do it on her own. After 3 or 4 days of having HUGE breasts (it was to the point where I was laying in bed on my back, Joel had to grab my hands and help pull me onto my side because they were so sore and just HUGE. I heard someone jokingly say that while the breasts are engorged you could feed a whole village. And I believe it.) Joel found a nice breast pump for 50% off! I would totally recommend buying one before having a baby, just to help yourself out when the time comes ;)
   
   
2. I heard you do a lot of laundry once you have a baby. I didn't completely understand WHY though. Sure I heard babies poop a lot... but I didn't expect the puke. And sooo much of it! Plus it is very unexpected, you never know when that fountain of puke is going to come up. It was to the point where I felt anxious feeding her, because I knew she would puke after. Thankfully my dear mother-in-love bought me a bunch of burp clothes that I keep stashed around all the main places where I feed Emma.
   
   
3. To watch for signals from Emma when she is getting tired. I don't know why I never thought about it, but I was waiting to put her to sleep when she was overly tired. Since she was then overly tired she didn't sleep well at all. I now put her to sleep awake and she has taught herself to fall asleep on her own.
   
   
4. Once I had Emma (literally seconds after) my first thought was, "She made it! She's here! Now I can focus on healing!" That was my biggest concern. I wish I would have expected the unexpected to happen. My stitches ended up coming apart, and that process of redoing them was almost worst than the whole labor part all together. I guess it's hard to know and expect the unexpected, but I still wish I would of known ;)
   
   
5. Our first night in the hospital was kind of a mess. I was up taking care of Emma (and I had just given birth not even 24 hours ago), and Joel was so tired he was basically lifeless and couldn't function. What I wish I would have know, was to call the midwives to help me out! I didn't even think about it! I'm not sure what I was thinking actually, or if I was thinking at all. I knew they could help during the day, but I don't know why I didn't connect the dots as to why there was a night shift of midwives.

To go with this post, here are 9 Things I'm Glad I Did before and after I had Emma.

Emma Elaine: 3 months old

I know I just updated Emma being two months old, but I kind of procrastinated it! Anyways, Emma is three months old now! So weird, I feel like I just had her! (I feel like every mom always says that time goes by ridiculously fast once you have a baby... but it is VERY true) It is crazy to think back on giving birth, it seems like forever ago! Like a dream. I was looking back at pictures from the hospital and I was surprised to see how much she has changed.

Emma is learning so much everyday, and it is much fun to see her learning and thinking so hard! (I feel like I am going to say that in all of her posts haha) She is starting to put her hands in her mouth more and more. She has also grabbed onto her little rattle thing and binkie I dangle in front of her face, and has started to bring things into her mouth! Her hands have also found her feet and she studies them all day. She laughs and giggles so much when she sees Joel or I! She makes our hearts melt. She is making it harder for Joel when he has to leave in the mornings for work! I feel like I spend SO much time with her. By the time Joel gets home from work she is asleep for the night, I so wish Joel could be with us more.. but he is the provider for our little family. He feeds me and I feed her, so we all take care of each other. Quite literally actually! He cooks and I clean up after him ;) which works quite well since I am a perfectionist when it comes to having a clean kitchen, so I like to do it myself. I can probably count on one or two hands how many times I have cooked.. haha. But I am learning still! Joel loves to cook so I just eat what he likes to eat, and I don't complain! ;) Wow that was a little tangent there... but anyways...

She is getting better at not being fussy in big crowds anymore. I almost used to have anxiety because I just KNEW she would be fussy and I would be occupied and trying to calm her down the whole time we'd go anywhere. Church was hard there for a while, but it is getting easier the older she is getting I've noticed.

The past week Emma has been sleeping super well. I don't want to jinx it, just in case she randomly decides to stay up all night! This week she has only woken up once maybe twice to eat! Our routines are getting better, and she also sleeps in her 'wombie' with white noise! With her soft animals snuggling her face of course!

She has a cute little soft raccoon my dad bought for her, and it actually comforts her a lot! Before my parents came to visit Sweden, my mom and dad went shopping. My mom then said, "Ok Bill! Pick out something for your new granddaughter." They were standing in front of a bunch of little animals, and my dad happens to pick the raccoon out of ALL of them. My mom said, "Really?? A raccoon? Out of all those animals, that is what you pick?";) If you notice in probably half the pictures she always has it with her draped over her face. I make sure we bring it everywhere for her to hold onto and comfort her.

Emma laughs, but she kind of reminds me of a dinosaur when she does! When she laughs she breathes in and makes this high pitched sound that is pretty cute, but still reminds me of a dinosaur sound haha. I say, "Hiiiiii Emma!" and she opens her mouth really big and lets out a huge squeal!

I took this video of Emma playing on our tablet (because my phone is dumb and won't turn on) and I think it describes her pretty well! Super happy and playing. You'll notice when she sees me with the tablet she stops and just stares. It's like she knows she's on camera!

The Liebster Award

I am pretty positive I have done something like this before on my blog, but I couldn't find it. Plus it gives me something fun to blog about. But hey! I felt like doing it again because I think it is fun! It's an award circulating the blogging world that is a great way to get to know more bloggers and find new and exciting blogs to follow. Thanks Ali for the nomination!

THE RULES

provide a link back to the blogger who nominated you

post 11 facts about yourself

answer 11 random questions set by the blogger who nominated you

nominate 5 bloggers with under 200 followers for the award

write 11 questions for them to answer

let the nominees know that you have nominated them

11 FACTS

1. After two years of marriage, Joel and I have never had a fight, argument, or raised our voices at each other.

2. We had a long distance relationship that consisted of only skype for 10 MONTHS. We were physically together only 8 weeks total before we got married.

3. I am a clean freak, and like to clean the kitchen and house the way I want it. Joel does the cooking ;)

4. I can't walk and drink at the same time. Joel thinks it is hilarious because he has to always wait for me.

5. I subconsciously cross my big toe over my little toe. I just realized I was accidentally doing it right now....

6. I did ballet growing up and drove down to Ogden 30 minutes away, 5 or 6 times a week. Gosh I miss those days.

7. I have super dry skin and rarely get zits.

8. I almost had blood poisoning on a church history trip I went on.

9. I have four sisters, and Joel has four brothers.

10. Joel and I LOVE and are obsessed with healthy Vemma products, and drink them everyday.

11. I wake up every morning with a different song in my head.

THE QUESTIONS

1. WHAT IS ONE ITEM YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT? I would say my phone, but it wouldn't turn on the other day so now I don't have a phone... and I am obviously still alive. So I guess right now I would say the computer! Sad how attached we are to the internet these days..

2. WHERE ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO SHOP? Gosh I just like to shop. Right now it would probably be KappAhl since they have sooo many cute baby clothes! For myself probably H&M. (Even though Joel doesn't agree because he doesn't like their quality. He's a quality over quantity type of guy)

3. HOW DID YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND MEET? Please read HERE. There is too much to write in this little blog post.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HEALTHY FOOD? Since Joel and I are on the Paleo diet right now, our favorites are sweet potatoes and bacon. Is bacon healthy? Depends on how you look at it ;) Paleo style= yes!! Joel also ameks delicious Thai food that is all Paleo and I LOVE that. I love curry!

5. WHERE IS THE MOST AMAZING PLACE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN? For my for my high school senior trip I was able to go on a church history tour that was 19 days long with 50 kids on a bus and we went through 25 states I think. On that tour we went to the Kirtland Temple that is open to visitors and now run by the RLDS church. We walked through the temple on the main floor led by a lady that knew the guy who was in charge of our tour. Since she knew him (he has done this tour 30+ times) she let us up on the top floor where Joseph Smith received the doctrine and covenants. The spirit on that top floor where not a whole lot of people get to visit was beyond amazing. There aren't many instances where I have felt the spirit stronger.

6. WHAT IS YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE TV SHOW? Joel and I watched all seasons and episodes of White Collar. Personally, I am obsessed with Downton Abbey!! I can't wait for September when the next season comes out.

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO WORKOUT? I absolutely LOVE kettlebells. I took 10 classes from Tommy Blom where I learned all about the technique of kettlebells, and different work outs and exercises. I feel pretty legit knowing all about it now :)

8. ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL? Joel and I stayed up until 1 a.m. last night (and Emma woke up at 5).. what is your guess?

9. WHAT IS A QUOTE THAT INSPIRES YOU? "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." and "Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections." (I feel like this describes our marriage really well by the way) and one last quote.. "Live in such a way that those who know you but don't know Christ will want to know Christ because they know you."

10. WHO IS YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH? Females are: Emma Stone, Rachael McAdams, Blake Lively, . Males are: Richard Armitage, Matt Bomer, Ryan Reynolds...

11. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? Probably the shower curtain curving in and touching me while I shower.

I PICK THESE 5 FOR THE NOMINATION

Shantel Peaden. Her blog is private, but she blogs about her super cute family and their daily lives!

Kerri Andersen. She blogs about her family. I love the way she writes, she is hilarious and I always look forward to her posts!

Megan Rose also has a private blog, and she mainly writes about her chubby little boy!

Jenna Browning blogs about life. I love how open and honest she is in her blog!

Kiana Probst. Her blog is anything from crafts, life, food, and running. She is SUPER crafty! I wish she would send me some crafty vibes!

My Art

This is where my interest in art started for me. In high school I started doodling with permanent marker on some old jeans at girls camp, and before I knew it everyone at camp was asking me to draw a cartoon character on their pants! On the last day of school, my friends and I all wore our jeans I drew for them. I so wish I had a better picture of all the pants I drew on, so I guess this will have to work. I drew on so many pants, I knew exactly how to best hold the permanent marker at an angle to let the ink all the way into the pants. I had specific colors for everything... even skin color. Apart from these disney princesses, I have also drawn: the Flash and Gogeta (a Dragon Ball Z character)



I found this picture of Fawn (a fairy off of the Tinkerbell movie) that I have also drawn.

This is one of my favorite paintings I have ever done, and one I am most proud of. I did this in college in my painting class. The project was to find a famous painting and copy it exactly. But we also had to add in an anomaly (deviation from the normal or usual order, type, etc; irregularity.. something that doesn't belong). I chose this Vincent van Gogh painting because it wasn't my style of painting, and I wanted to try something new. Not only did it take about 40-50 hours to paint, but it also took hours and hours to build! As a class we had to build our own canvas. During the process I kept thinking, "Why on earth am I doing this, I'll never need to know how to build a canvas?!" Now I am quite proud of all the work I did. I went to the Home Depot and bought all my own wood, canvas, gesso primer, staples, etc... all on my own.

Anyways, like I said I am quite proud of this painting! Not only that, but a year after I took this class I went back and visited my professor. Our class had an open gallery showing all the work we did that year, and she told me she still had people asking about my painting! I was BEAMING when she told me that, probably one of the best compliments I have ever received.

This was the first self portrait I have ever done, so I feel ok about my technique. Her name is Marie, and she is an inspiration to me, so I wanted to paint her. Marie has a beautiful determination to live life. Anyone that knows Marie personally, they know how strong, courageous, determined, and positive she is.

I painted this for a dear friend of mine. Her name is Denise, and she put in so much effort into helping me and my mom plan my goodbye party/reception before I moved to Sweden to get married! I painted this as a thank you gift for her, and little did I know how this would be the beginning of many flowers I would paint!

This painting I saw as a picture in one of my best friends college apartment. She went to BYU and I was up at Utah State, so I was visiting for the weekend. As soon as you walked into their apartment, this tiger was a HUGE picture that took up almost a whole wall above their couch! As soon as I saw it I immediately thought, "I NEED to paint that." After Joel and I got married and life settled down a bit, I decided to finally paint this tiger. My 'art studio' was in our teeeeeny first apartment, and you walked into my easel one you entered our apartment. Not the most ideal painting space, but it worked! My goal of this painting: I want the viewer to feel as if that tiger is staring into your soul and about to pounce at any minute.

This is the second time I painted a flower, this time for my sweet mother-in-"love"'s birthday in April 2013. 

I painted this for my cute sister and her new husband as a wedding gift! After they got engaged, my other sister took some pictures of them as a newly engaged couple. I took one of those pictures that she had edited in black and white, and decided to paint it. I made sure the measurements of the canvas would fit inside a suitcase, so I could bring it over without having to ship it. ;) This is the third time I have ever painted portraits, and I feel very satisfied with how this turned out.

After I painted the flower for my mother-in-love, I put it out on facebook. Shortly after I received an email from a lady requesting a painting of the typical Swedish ocean, and she said she would pay me for it! My first painting ever sold. I am really happy with how it turned out as well, especially since I usually tend to stay away from painting clouds and water. I now know I can do it though, so I am more comfortable painting it. 

I decided to give it a go again, and to try repainting the same flower I painted for Denise. That's right... this is the SAME flower! Looking back and comparing the two now, I can't believe how much I have grown. I am going to this this beauty off to my mom as a gift to her for being awesome! ;)

This sunflower is the second painting I have sold! After I put out the previous flower on facebook, I got this specific request for a sunflower. I really enjoyed painting it, especially with the bright colors.

Third painting I have sold! You can read the details about it HERE