I’m sitting on the train going from Le Havre to Paris, watching the picturesque French countryside go by. Lots of wheat, cows, trees, and a few houses scattered here and there. It is fun to see the churches in the little towns and watch them rise and fall as we go through the countryside. My in-laws have conditioned me to call churches in Europe kyrkas– the Swedish word for church. We visited so many kyrkas in Sweden last year it makes it more interesting to see the different architecture of the churches here in northwestern France.

It’s quite relaxing to be sitting on the training. The movement is pretty soothing; now I know why Kristina falls asleep in the back of the car when we come home from church. Anna and I always appreciate it when she does that.

France has been interesting so far. It is always fun to see the way other people live their lives, the way cultures interact, and the way they eat differently. I don’t know if I can name everything I have eaten, but I did try escargot. Ironically, I think the best meal we get everyday is at the company cafeteria.

The other neat thing about my visit so far is the room we are working in. It’s your normal conference room filled with cords and laptops. True it is the standard corporate blah, but we have a large window in the room that we keep open and it allows fresh air to flow into the room. A fresh breeze is constantly coming into the room and has probably help keep back the jet lag. The air is truly rejuvenating.

I’ll spend Friday night through Sunday in Paris which should be fun, thoug it is weird to be so far away from Anna and Kristina.

Things you think would have been obvious, but weren’t to us… and we tried them anyway.

1. Don’t buy a brand new mattress five days after having a baby. I demanded that it had to be really, really soft, since I was still in quite a bit of pain. The princess and the pea had nothing to my ability to feel non existent lumps in a mattress. Now – both Bob and I feel the one that met my approval is way too soft. Oops. A very expensive mistake…

2. Shopping for high price ticket items less than 72 hours after you give birth can lead to problems. Bob really wanted me to see some leather couches he had spotted, and I went with him leaving little Kristina at home with grandma soon after I was discharged from the hospital. Completely worried about the baby, we take off for the store. When Bob’s expected eyes didn’t find mine thrilled with couches, he was a little disappointed – but nothing like the turmoil from within my little soul – due to a healthy dose of hormones. Ultimately, the story ends with me breaking down in complete sobs in front of the store as we left, and Bob confused not really knowing what to do.

3. Forgetting to book a room the night that you are moving from one house to the next. Bob somehow thought we would both be fine sleeping on the floor. But me – being 37 weeks pregnant – didn’t think that was such a good idea. We ended up finding a (very expensive) room at midnight. Oops.

4. Buying a brand new car while trying to establish milk production for breastfeeding. We again, left Kristina at home in the care of grandparents as we trekked out into the wild world of shopping. The car sale associate took their sweet time… and then the finance guy took way too much of our sweet time. Mid way through his spiel, I could feel the big wet spots forming on my shirt. Soon I realized there was no amount of arm crossing that would hide the huge mess of milk on my shirt – now drifting down to my belly button. Luckily I wasn’t pulled over as I sped home in our old car – leaving Bob to finish up buying the other one – a full 6 and a half hours, and one soaked shirt later.

5. Allowing your newborn to cuddle up and nap in your arms a few times in a row. So fun to do yet it comes with a high price tag. The price is – now that is the ONLY way she naps. I put her down – and within about 15 minutes (usually more like 5 minutes), she figures out that she is not in my arms, or on my lap – and she wails! Yikes! So needless to say – she spends a lot of time in my arms.

Life hasn’t been a complete disaster however. We have been enjoying cuddling with lil’ Kristina, and we are enjoying our new home. So life is good!

Doing a little “housecleaning” online, and found that this somehow this never got posted. It was written some time in early June. I find it funny to read about a time that is so different from now. Man, that belly popping sure did change my world… anyway, here’s the post. And, now this is something that I can readily laugh at!

Pregnancy has been an interesting ride for me. I think that at some point or the other, I have had all of the less serious annoyances of pregnancy at one time or the other…. the swollen feet, the heart burn, and of course finicky sleeping habits interrupted by the need to use the bathroom every time I roll over. The sleeping is one of the worst for me – any one that knows me understands that I love to sleep, and get plenty of it. With pregnancy threatening to keep me awake, I have devised a vast system of pillows and other devices to get comfy for sleeping. This works pretty well most nights, and has helped me not have the insomnia problem that I was having at the 6 month mark.

Well, the other night I was up getting some house stuff done – actually unpacking for once – when I realized that Bob was no longer around. I found him in bed already (it was only 10:00) and I figured that I would just get a few more things done, then I would head to bed myself. Well, once I finished up and hopped into bed – Bob wakes for a moment. He looks at me with a steely, half asleep glare and then looks at my favorite pillow. He snatches it from me and says, “You don’t deserve it”. He throws it under his head, turns away and is right back to snoring in no time. All I could think was… what did I do?

I contemplated my moves from there – do I dare wake Grumpy to get my pillow back? Or do I just try to do with out for a night? Recalling that stare, I chose the latter, and spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what in the heck I did that was so wrong to deserve a punishment that would leave me sleepless half the night.

I can almost laugh about it now. Almost.

-Anna

Kristina loves to be held. I have walked into the house more than once to find Anna crashed out on the couch with Kristina sleeping in her arms. It is an adorable picture, but a time consuming process.

The other night I did get Kristina to play on the floor. I put her down on a play mat with a mirror and some other toys. Kristina reached out with her hands and began to turn the mirror back and forth so she could see herself better. She sat there for the next hour just turning the mirror and looking at herself in it. I’m sure she was just enjoying the changes in light, but you never know. She could’ve been thinking: “By golly, how did I get so cute. How did I already become the fairest of them all?”

The honest truth– it is just a sign of things to come.

She was calm and happy to be on the playing mat, so that was good. I try to put her back there when I’m done holding her and I need two hands to get something done.

Here are some of the pictures:

I’m finally getting some of these pictures up for all to see.
Here are some snap shots of Kristina:

I’m here:

Ummm Fingers:

Did I say I liked my fingers?

On occasion, I will open my eyes:

I like to pontificate like dad:

Smiles:

Boxer:

Eyes and Hair:

I’m cute:

Gazing in the distance

One of my first photos:

Trouble maker eyes:

We have to thank Grandma, also known as the Mamarazi, for her excellent photos.