Constitution Day 2008 Photos

They're mostly photos of Magnus, but here they are: Constitution Day 2008. I think he looks adorable in his outfit which is the suit Ørjan wore for his first Constitution Day in 1975. Unfortunately Magnus isn't as big so we had to leave the blue overalls at home. Still, so cute. I think he has an Emil thing going on.

I love my kids so much.

Flickr just got alot more wonderful. VIDEO! Now I'm glad I renewed my pro/paid account.

Day 2

It's day number two of having both kids at home. The first day was a bit hard mainly due to Magnus' behaviour (Not pointing blame, but he was acting like a spoiled brat after spending a week at grandma's) but we got through it. I actually find it slightly easier to take care of two children under the age of two than being pregnant and taking care of a toddler. Magnus is very curious and actually very gentle with his little sister, but I sense that he's feeling slightly left out when we hold her. I don't think it's jealousy, but we see that he's very impatient and needy now. He constantly wants to be picked up and held whenever we show her attention. I won't lie, it's hard it hold them both at the same time. Sometimes while I'm breastfeeding her in my lap I have to pick him up with my free arm and put him next to me. While I have no problem with this, it's a struggle because he'll want down back to the floor, and only minutes later he'll want back up on the sofa with me. Doing this several times while trying to feed Sophie is not an easy task. At least Sophie isn't a screamer and she sleeps for most of the day so I really only need to worry about Magnus for the most part.

I'm not as exhausted as everyone expects me to be which I suppose is a plus, but maybe I'm a fool for not trying to ask for more help or try to slip in a nap when possible. I just don't really feel like it at the moment. I spent the last 3-4 months extremely tired while carrying Sophie and having to run after Magnus, and now that I'm no longer pregnant I have so much more energy that I want to use. I want to be doing the things I wasn't able to do in the past couple of months. Eh. Tomorrow Ørjan's mom is coming by to help me... whatever that means. If this means looking after Magnus I have no problem with it.

I think now I'll try to catch a quick 30 minute nap while I can. Sophie is sleeping and Ørjan is upstairs napping Magnus so I really have nothing else to do. I wanted to do a few other things but I'm afraid I'd make too much noise in the house.

More later... I still want to post something that is completely unrelated to babies. :)

I'm sure it has to do with the fact that I haven't spent the week holding Magnus, and I'm sure it probably is because I've only been occupied with Sophie, but holy cow - Magnus looks huge! He looks like he's shot up a couple of centimetres and it looks like he put on at least a kilo! My little guy is home and now he looks so much older. It's strange.

The weekend has been slow and we've been able to relax, the only probably is that now, and only now, has my fatigue started to kick in. Ørjan goes back to work tomorrow and I'll be here alone taking care of Sophie and Magnus... Who knows how it will be. As long as I get enough sleep tonight I'm sure I'll be able to handle things.

Must sleep now. I really want to post something but it'll have to wait until tomorrow when I have more time.

Love

I love him so much.

Almost a year already?

I can't believe our little guy is almost 1! Today I found myself hugging him and saying, "You've been outside mummy's tummy for a year." Every day with him brings us so much pride and joy. This afternoon I finished wrapping up the last of his gifts and tried to decide upon the baked goodies that I'll make for his birthday celebrations on Friday. I've always wanted to plan a party for a kid/baby and now that I can, I'm so overwhelmed! I wanted to go with a theme but I think I'll wait for another occasion when he's older.

I also tried taking some photos suitable for submitting to Rana Blad for their birthday announcements but it was so difficult... I really only ended up with outtakes!

A few updates.

I'm not quite sure if it's that nesting instinct that's kicking in, or whether I'm just being responsible and prepared (for once!) for the next baby, but I've been trying to clean, organize, and order/buy new items for the home and for the baby. I've been buying new bedding, ironing curtains that I've been considering using, and have probably done over 12 loads of laundry this week. I've also been keen on trying to keep myself occupied despite the fact that I just want to sleep at least 20 hours of the day. (I love Ørjan so much for taking more time to look after Magnus while I try to get in some extra rest.) It's been somewhat of a struggle lately since I'm alot bigger than I was with Magnus. Not only is this baby already bigger, but the size of my stomach is larger. Trying to sleep is a nightmare because I don't have a body pillow and I tend to move around and wake up on my back, and it's not easy when you roll over and find a baby next to you. While Magnus has been very good at sleeping in his own crib, some nights are just too hard and we have to take him into our bed between 3 and 6. I also have this tendency to wake up around 4am (to pee of course) and stay up for an hour or two. After an hour of being up I tend to feel hunger pangs, eat something, and then stupidly try to sleep again. Oh well.

The Lunar New Year is almost here... well, not quite, but I'm just so excited because not only is it the year of the Rat (I'm a rat) and the beginning of the cycle, but this year it lands on Magnus' 1st birthday. I'm not quite sure what I can manage to do for his birthday because we're all afraid I might actually be in labour or have given birth at this point, but at the least we can all celebrate together the new year. For Magnus' birthday I plan to decorate the house with all the decorations we purchased during a shopping spree in Chinatown this summer, and I've already started to prepare and freeze dim sum for the little feast we'll have.

Must get back to cleaning now. Thank god Ørjan is upstairs napping with Magnus... I'm afraid I'd never get anything done.

Still holding on to something strong

I will be 30 weeks pregnant next Monday. It's strange to think that I can be so far along but if I'm realistic it makes perfect sense. We have a due date for February 20th, 2008 (which happens to be the date they gave us for Magnus just a year ago!) which, well, sort of means we got busy the same date as in 2006. Some people ask us if we planned this (This was not a planned pregnancy!) but now I see that it's not the end of the world. Infact, it's great for Magnus because I see that he really needs a playmate. He's always been an active baby and now that he's walking and crawling around the house (still only 9 months!) he's constantly disrupting us from what we were trying to do. Whether it be making dinner, cleaning the house, trying to organize, or even sit down and eat dinner, Magnus is all over the place looking for attention or playtime. Unfortunately for him despite having a cat that appears affectionate towards Magnus, our cat is more interested in sleeping than playing with an overly-active infant. Since I'm home during the day you can guess what my mornings and afternoons are filled with.

So, at almost 30 weeks I can't make too many complaints. This pregnancy has been considerably easier than when I carried Magnus. I have a few different aches and pains, I seem to be gaining a bit more weight (EVERYWHERE), but I'm less scared and anxious since I did this same thing only last year. A worry that I do have this time around is my pregnancy anemia. Since this second pregnancy was so close to the first my reserve for everything needed was next to null. Honestly some days I feel so tired from the vitamin-supplement cocktails that I have to take. I have to take more vitamins, eat more food, and try to get more rest... Not quite sure that one actually happens though. I haven't had a day-time nap in a very long time due to Magnus' energy reserve. All my tests always come back in normal ranges so I'm not too worried about this next child being like Magnus (SGA - small for gestational age: he was only 2kg) but since I now have a history of it, and with this pregnancy being close to my first, it could be very likely. You'd think that it would be reasurring to have so many appointments and ultrasounds, but sometimes the constant monitoring just worries me more.

Anyhow, time to go. Lucky for me Magnus has been sleeping so well this morning! Unlucky for me is the fact that I have to go spend the next 8 hours doing for prep for our party tomorrow.

Satisifed and accomplished

I feel slightly accomplished. Not because I necessarily think that I've managed to achieve or complete a handful of tasks, but because I've actually completed what I had set out to do and finished it while being satisfied. Some weekends I think, "Ok I'm really going to clean this kitchen" but then only spend an hour doing the dishes and reorganizing the fridge, but this weekend was different. I felt better, slightly more rested, and I didn't bother to make my usual TO-DO list.

We haven't really had a weekend to just relax and actually feel relaxed. Satruday started off rough (partially due to the suspicion that Magnus has more teeth coming in) because Magnus wouldn't go down for his usual naps, Ørjan was off playing Hemnesberget's 24-hour tech support (helping someone configure their new net connection), and I couldn't help but feel extra heavy due to my growing stomach. Thankfully Magnus slept through the night without any fussing, Ørjan and I managed to squeeze in some very good sex, and we all slept in until 9:15 - it was wonderful. During lunch I actually said, "I can't remember the last time I actually felt this good and I'm smiling!" because I couldn't get past the fact that I woke up on a Sunday feeling rested and ready.

I also spent some quality time calling my mum for a couple hours (which I haven't done in a while since I don't accept calling her at work as quality time) and it felt good. I mostly let her do the talking but I suppose it was good for both of us. Mum sounds quite excited about joining us in Prague this summer for our little vacation. Of course she's excited to come out and see Magnus (and the new baby!) but I think the idea of travelling has fired a spark within her. I also sat down and went through my lists for christmas cards and packages in fear of being overwhelmed if I put it off any longer. And while on the subject of Christmas I should probably also mention that Christmas Cookie Madness has officially begun. I started my first batches of Christmas cookies and goodies this afternoon - check it out here.

The laundry never got washed, the bathroom and shower stall still need to be scrubbed, and I never managed to clean out the fridge, but I'm completely happy with not having done it. If I had attempted to fill my weekend with cleaning I'm sure I would have done it half-assed and complained about it later. At least this weekend I managed to accomplish my few tasks with satisfaction, spent some quality time with my mum, and had a good time with my husband and son.