Christmas 2013

This year for Christmas was spent with Joel's family! I attempted to capture all the little details that my mother-in-love is so good with. She is the cutest.

These first pictures are from a few weeks before Christmas when Joel and I celebrated Lucia by making the Lucia buns!

Now onto Christmas Eve :)

Joel's younger brother Christopher helping out with the food.

This is Eva-Linda's traditional knäck she does every year.. super delicious!

While everyone was busy with the food, I was bored and had too much fun taking pictures of myself and my Christmas baby bump.

My cute cook. I'm kind of obsessed with him.

Isn't this place just so cozy??

One of the sweetest girls I know! Benjamin's girlfriend Karolina.

Joel's youngest brother got a new game for Christmas.. and of course all the boys had to run downstairs and try it out.

These next pictures are from Christmas day! We invited the missionaries over and spent the day with them :)

I made the sisters bows and scarves! They were pretty excited about them :) I put up a million pictures of them because I love their faces!!

Aaaaand to end with a picture of my big belly.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we sure did!!

Bumpdate: Week 33!!

How far along? 33 weeks.

Size of the baby? 44 cm / 17 inches / a honeydew / 2 kilos / 4 pounds. Ish :)

Weight gain/loss? Hopefully I haven't lost weight ;) At my last appointment two weeks ago I had gained around 7 kilos (I think). It is probably more now with her getting all plumped up and everything :)

Sleep? Very off and on. I feel like I have super good nights where I sleep throughout the night, and then I have really bad nights, mostly because of heartburn. I have noticed the bad nights are getting more frequent though... But! Since I have started taking some heart burn medicine, sleep has gotten much better lately actually.

Best moment of the week? A lot of amazing things happened this week!! First of all my wonderful sister-in-law had a surprise baby shower for me!! She TOTALLY surprised me. These Swedes like to throw surprise showers (tradition I guess). I didn't think she would be the one planning it (since her baby is coming in a week!) so I thought my mother-in-law would plan it sometime at the end of January. It didn't make sense to me to have the shower right after Christmas too.

So a few weeks ago I got a text from Eva saying she wanted to have a small birthday party the Saturday before her birthday which made sense in my head. I show up to her apartment with a card and everything expecting to celebrate HER birthday aaaand there turned out to be almost 30 people to celebrate MY baby. My mother-in-law caught some of the surprise on her phone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX03Bn2sCio&feature=youtu.be

I was in quite the shock and almost started bawling. They really got me ;) I received so many wonderful gifts at my baby shower.. it made it so surreal that she is actually going to be here soon! I feel like the day would never come to have a baby shower and now it's over! Kind of a weird feeling after looking forward to it for so long. I now have all of her clothes washed, organized by size, and ready to wear!! Plus her bed is all ready with a mattress and sheets! It is so much fun getting all that ready! Even though I feel like I still have a while before she comes.. better safe than sorry right? ;)
Also I had an appointment with my midwife this week. If only you could all see how cute this lady is! All her kids are grown up so she isn't super old, but definitely motherly and grandmotherly! I feel like she knows what she is doing and knows her stuff which is so comforting to me (especially since I am in a country (without the comfort of my family) where I am still learning the language and I don't know how the system works haha). Anyways, she was super happy when she was feeling for the baby's position. She said, "her head is pushing down lower, and I REALLY like that." So if my midwife is happy then I am happy :)

Movement? Oh yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I feel lucky that she doesn't kick my ribs too often (what a weird and uncomfortable feeling that is). In the past Joel has felt her move here and there.. but the other night she was definitely awake and moving A LOT. As we were getting ready for bed I said, "Joel. You HAVE to feel this." Lets just say he wasn't expecting her to move around that much and kinda freaked out a little. Ok, more than a little haha! He kept on putting his hand on my belly then freaking out and staring at me and giving me the look of, "What is that in there??! Is this real??" It went like that for at least 15 minutes haha. 

Food cravings/aversions? Nothing much really! I was really looking forward to getting those random and weird cravings... but nothing. I'm glad I can eat all that I can! Nothing makes me sick anymore thankfully.

Labor signs? I think so, but nothing serious. Even though I know this is my body's way of preparing me for what is to come it kind of freaks me out knowing how much closer labor is coming. My stomach gets super "tight" when I walk around, and also when I stand up. Which is hard because I walk everywhere since we don't have a car (yet)! Walking everywhere is kind of nice because I feel like I'm getting some kind of exercise... but oh dear I didn't know walking would be this hard.

Swollen? Very little.... I was hoping to avoid that all together. I have noticed my shoes are more snug and my wedding ring is getting a little harder to put on and off. Then it makes me mad because I want to keep wearing my ring so bad!

What I miss? Being comfortable, and wearing normal clothes! I have felt pretty good until recently.. lately I just feel huge! I feel like I still have a ways to go, which doesn't help either haha. I also feel like maternity pants are one of the most comfortable pants I have.. I really don't know why everyone doesn't wear them! Too bad I am sick of the ones I have (because I only have one pair and I wear them all the time!).

Nursery? Yes!! Finally! :) Like I said above... her bed is up with a mattress and sheets (and clothes) are all washed! Now we need to focus on some other slightly big things. Like getting a stroller and a car ;)

Emotions? Pretty good 95% of the time I would say. I do get mad when I'm walking and in pain, but I'm fine by the time I get home and can relax! I also still have some breakdowns, and it helps me to cry it out and then I'm fine! But those are pretty rare ;)

Gettin huge folks!!

Spontaneous Things- Missionaries, Baby Girl, Birthdays, Christmas

One blogger I follow does this Spontaneous Five and lists five main things that went on that week. Well, I'm going to give it a shot but change it up a bit and see how it works. I'm going to use "things" instead, so I can have as many numbers as I wish :) I want to blog more, and I have all these ideas when I'm not sitting at the computer!! Then I forget by the time I get around to writing a blog post haha. Anyways, here I go:

1) Missionaries. There are the two cutest sisters serving in our ward and I just adore them. They really remind me of home (they are both from Utah) and I can't believe how comforting it is to talk with other Americans and makes me feel at home. Not that living in Sweden and talking with Swedes is bad, it's just culture differences that I miss. A lot. It helps that one of these sisters comes from a city about 30 min away from my house. One time I was talking to her about this certain wal-mart in town she knew EXACTLY what I was talking about and it felt oh so nice. Isn't it weird how talking about Wal-mart was somehow comforting to me?... haha :) Here are some pictures to show you all how cute these two are:

My mother-in-"love" told me it is an old Swedish tradition to decorate pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies), put them on the Christmas tree, then eat them on Christmas! That is what we are going to do! I figured we'll have these two over on Christmas day, so it will work out perfectly :)

I definitely did not take this.. good thing these two won't be home for another 6 months to see this ;)

After dinner one night Joel and I had to show these two how awesome the playground is outside our apartment. We might have been out there for a good hour ;)

2) Baby girl. I feel like she is starting to run out of room. She is also starting to kick my ribs... which didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would (and maybe it will get worse haha) it is just super uncomfortable right now. Usually I notice she kicks my ribs in the morning when I'm attempting to sleep in a little bit! Ya know, taking advantage of my sleep while I can. I usually sleep pretty good!! I have also started to notice when she is awake and asleep more. Which is kind of fun, except for the fact that she is usually awake between 11 and 2 am! I heard babies sometimes keep the same sleeping patterns after their born. Is that true??
I also love that I can tell how and where she is sitting. I love that her little bum is always sticking out to the top right of my stomach, which results her feet in my ribs though. I guess I just love knowing where her cute little bum is!! I'm obsessed with bums if you didn't know..
We are preeetty sure we're going to name her Emma Elaine Herrey. Who knows though? When she comes we could change her name... but we're pretty positive as of right now :) I still like to call her baby girl just because saying Emma makes it so much more official! Maybe I should start preparing myself.. haha!!
I feel really good! Other than it is getting slightly harder to do some simple things. Like putting on shoes and picking things up. Which is getting slightly annoying because I didn't realize how often I picked stuff up!

31 weeks. Don't mind my monkey pajama's, ok? :) I also love my little bump, and that it didn't grow faster or slower than my boobs. I feel like it was all pretty even ;)

3) Birthdays!! Joel turned 26 on November 28th, and I just turned 23 on December 15th. Yes our birthdays are a couple weeks apart and then followed by Christmas. And yes it is quite an expensive month for us. I think the weirdest part for me is I met Joel when he was 23, and now I am 23!! It's really weird to think that I've only known him for 2 1/2 years, and now we've been married for 1 1/2 and having a baby in a few months. Anyways, we celebrated our birthdays by exchanging a few presents and then Joel's family came over for family dinner on my birthday!! My only request was to have my in-laws make lasagna. It is DELICIOUS. My in-laws asked if we could have the dinner at our place and I didn't mind! Sure I thought it was a little funny and inconvenient that they asked... and then I found out why! They had bought Joel and I a Christmas tree for our birthdays!!!!! I might have cried a little, that's how much it meant to me. I didn't think we would be able to have one this year!

I have LOVED being pregnant at the same time with this sweet sister-in-law of mine! Crazy we have been pregnant for so long. I feel like it was just yesterday when we were talking to each other both finding out around the same time we were both pregnant and sending each other pictures of our pregnancy tests!! What a crazy and wonderful time that was to share it together!

Our little tree!! 

4) CHRISTMAS. I have been super excited for Christmas this year because I now know what to expect with the Swedish traditions and such :) It amazes me how Joel's family has such specific traditions, especially with food! I feel like my family has one tradition on the 24th, and then just relax on Christmas. It has been fun seeing how different our families are when it comes to traditions!
One thing that is hard for me is having it so dark during the winter. I didn't realize how hard last year was until the light finally started coming back in March. I told someone the other day how I felt kinda bad that we were having a baby in February and it is still dark and cold during that month. They then said, "Well I think that's a good thing! You need something to look forward to, to get you through those months." From then on I have tried to keep that positive perspective :)  The nice part about Christmas time is all the lights in the windows, they help a lot! That's what makes January and February so hard I guess!

No Longer Private

Yep. All that work of getting people's emails all the time was a hassle, and I'm not really up for that soooo yep. Also, the reason I made this blog is so everyone could be updated about our lives with me living in a different country than my family and such. Thus resulting in me not wanting it private anymore. :)

Clueless

All this time I thought heart burn had to do with my chest actually burning. Like, on fire. Little did I know that I have had heart burn for MONTHS and didn't know. And, I also didn't know that heart burn doesn't deal with my heart actually burning. Nope. I wouldn't say I feel dumb... but kinda close. 

My love language (or one of the five main ways I feel most loved) is physical touch. Cuddling with Joel makes me so incredibly happy. Or when he kisses me on the cheek. You get the point :) When it came to watching movies and I wanted to cuddle, I couldn't because my chest was feeling weird and I felt like I had to sit up. Which really annoyed me because I wanted to cuddle dang it!! I told my mom how I was feeling, and she said, "Oh your baby is just growing and taking up more space. Good luck!" So that's what I thought it was, not actual heart burn!

Other than that, pregnancy is still good. I can't believe how more tired I am becoming. I guess I am making a little human! It's got to take some energy right??

Bumpdate: Week 28 THIRD TRIMESTER!

I am officially two-thirds of the way done with this pregnancy folks!! How crazy is that??! I LOVED the second trimester. I feel like whenever I read blogs everyone says that, and now I understand why! I felt great 98% of the time. this week I started to get a little nervous though! Last trimester I kept on thinking, "oh labor is so far away. she's not coming for a while! I have plenty of time." Then poof! All of the sudden I was in the third trimester and I feel like she is "just around the river bend!" (I have that song from Pocahontas in my head all the time now since the due date is getting closer!) you can say it really hit me this week that it is getting closer! I'm not to the point of freaking out... yet ;)

How far along? 28 weeks. Two thirds of the way done!!

Size of the baby? 38cm or 15 inches. How does all that baby fit in there?? The female body amazes me how it can grow and stretch!

Weight gain/loss? I think i've gained around 13 lbs, according to my last appointment. Which isn't too bad I guess! My midwife was really happy about it, and she kept on asking me if I was eating haha (she was joking, btw..). I thought it was going to be a lot worse actually!

Sleep? Really good! The other night wasn't too fun though, because she was awake. At 2am. I felt like there were 9 ninjas and a circus in ma belly, that's how crazy she was going. Finally I gave up on trying to sleep and texted my mom for a little bit. There are perks of being 8 hours ahead and living in Sweden right?? ;) previously the first couple of times she woke me up were kinda cute! I didn't mind too much and was able to go back to sleep. THIS time was the most I have ever felt her probably! It was ridiculous how much she was moving!!

Symptoms? My back started aching this past week! I have been dreading this part. It only hurt on and off before, but now it is pretty much every time I walk! It isn't too bad, more of an annoying pain than a super strong pain. Something kind of funny happened... at my last appointment I was talking to my midwife and she asked me how I was feeling. I told her I had started getting back pain and she jokingly said, "well, you've got to start feeling pregnant sometime!!" I thought that was funny...

Food cravings/aversions? Last Friday we had a Thanksgiving party with a bunch of Americans here living in Sweden! Of course it isn't the same, but we do what we can! Joel and I were present at the one last year too, so I knew what food to expect. Lets just say my friend Mary made rolls last year, and when I knew she would make them again I couldn't stop thinking about them for weeks! Fiiiinally I got to indulge in the deliciousness on Friday and it felt wonderful! I think that is the closest thing to craving I have had.

Labor signs? None yet that I know of! Thank goodness :)

What I miss? I miss feeling skinny. I mean, I know I am carrying a baby but that's what I miss! Thankfully being pregnant has brought its own form of "cuteness". Like people wanting to touch my belly, I think that's funny haha! (depends on the person though! There have been some people I know of (that I don't really know) that run up to me and just grab my belly and I start thinking, "I don't really know you and you are grabbing my belly. hmmm") I am really glad that the weight I have gained is going just on my belly though making it nice and round! And not making anything else round haha ;)

What I am looking forward to? I am dying to see what she looks like and how she will change and grow out of the newborn stage. I guess I have always looked forward to that! Something more recent that I am looking forward to is getting her bed and nursery more set up! I have some ideas with how I want to decorate her corner of the room. The hard part is going out and finding my supplies! I should probably get started before I have less energy right?? ;)

Emotions? Still kind of the same. I do reeeeally good for a while, and then break down (pretty rare). And usually it is over dumb stuff that I know is just my hormones messing with me! Usually I have to go sit in some kind of corner and try to calm myself down. Ridiculous I know!!! I feel like I have to put myself in time-out to calm down! Usually if I feel my emotions heightening I give Joel a good warning, just to prepare him. I am comforted and glad that he saw me "normal" for a year before I got pregnant with all these wonderful emotions. Now he knows it is just me being pregnant ;) (Joel also said that this doesn't happen too often, so it's not as bad as I make it sound ;))

I don't feel huge (yet), just round. Everywhere haha!

Also, I think these are hilarious. Enjoy :)

Bumpdate: Week 26

how far along?  25 weeks and 2 days.

size of the baby? 35 cm/ 900 gr/or a papaya. take your pick :)

weight gain/loss? i still don't weigh myself! and neither does my midwife. i'm still just focused on eating good and not over eating. (please wish me luck during the holidays!!)

best moment of the week? monday the 4th i had an appointment with my midwife! that was nice. she is the sweetest lady! very motherly, with a hint of grandmotherly love to her. so far her English has been the best out of the midwives i have talked with. let's just say I definitely need joel there to help translate ;) i really like her though, since she tries to help me learn more of these special swedish words (like labor, breastfeeding etc...). we have a great system figured out :) she talks to me in swedish, and i ask her about any words i don't understand. joel just helps translate for all of us :)

anyways, the best moment was when joel and i got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. i think i might have shed a tear or two (i can blame it on the hormones right??). joel was so shocked to hear it! i wish i could have recorded his face! i almost had more fun watching him than listening to the heart beat. the cool part was her heart rate was beating around 130, but then she woke up and could hear her heart beat and it started to go up! within a minute her heart beat had gone from 130 to 150! we got to listen to it for quite some time, it was very special.

symptoms? my back started hurting this week.... oh dear. it is very off and on, but for the most part it hurts. i wouldn't say it is too bad, more annoying than anything. i have noticed it is the worst when i'm standing for a while, like at the grocery store. last saturday joel and i decided to go buy breakfast at the grocery store, so neither of us had eaten. well, we ended up going to a couple other stores first, and by the time we got home it was 1pm. we were not happy campers, and that was the worst day on my back thus far. it was probably one of the grumpiest days we've had! not at each other..  no food= not happy.

food cravings/aversions? no strong or random cravings yet! still disappointed in that one! i can't get near the garbage at all, that is joel's job! but. on instagram i put up a picture of our room with the new baby crib set up. my sister commented and said the middle part where the mattress would sit looked like an ice cream sandwich. once she said that i HAD to go buy one. i couldn't stop thinking about it for a few days. finally i had had enough and got all dressed and ready to go buy one, when i realized joel had borrowed my wallet. i was SO SAD. :( but don't worry, i fulfilled the craving the next day ;)

our baby bed that looks like an ice cream sandwich. YUM.

labor signs? none yet! thank goodness. at least none that i know of... and i am guessing i will know what they feel like once i get them.

what I miss? right now my comfy t-shirts that i could still wear in public aren't really fitting. today at the store i had to hold my shirt down the whole time because it kept on riding up! every time joel looked at me he laughed haha.

what I am looking forward to?  i'm looking forward to having baby showers!!! and getting more stuff for her. i feel a lot better knowing i have something for her now (and that we have enough to survive and she'll be ok), i'm just excited for everything! what is really funny is my mom and i have talked and decided to have some kind of baby shower for me in the states and put me on skype! since my parents are coming in march, they could bring all the stuff with them hehe :) i don't know how it'll work but i'm excited either way.
joel and i are waaaay excited to see who has dominant genes and what she'll look like. i know she'll change and such, but we like to pretend and think what she could look like ;) one funny thing that i am looking forward to his having her here. of course for obvious reasons, but  because i am looking forward to joel saying something other than "baby. i am your father." to my belly. random, eh? that's joel for ya ;)
ok, one last thing. i have been on pinterest lately trying to look for something i could do for her "nursery" (which will be in our room). i am also trying to only pin stuff that i think i could find in sweden, too. not easy when all i see is stuff i could easily get from michael's or another craft store in the states! so far i have found one thing i could do, so stay tuned to see what it is ;) also, if anyone has any crafty ideas let me know!

i like to pretend i'm a photographer ;)