Happy Birthday, Grandpa Mac!!

Dear Elzora,
Today is your Grandpa Mac's birthday. I know he reads your blog and I am pretty sure that he will love this picture. I hope we can go to Michigan and visit when the new baby comes.
Today is Saturday but pappa has to go in to work for a few hours. We are just taking it easy. You are sleeping and I am going to take a little rest myself.
You are so cute.
Love,
Mommy
PS Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Happy Birthday, Farfar!!

Dear Elzora,
Today is farfar's 60th birthday. I know that if you could talk that you would say "Grattis, farfar!! Jag älskar dig med min hela hjärt!"
When daddy comes home we will go to Timmele and celebrate!
Love,
Mommy

Cousin Kayla Superstar!

Dear Elzora,
Here is your cousin Kayla's basketball picture from this year. Isn't she beautiful? Grandpa Mac says she is the team superstar!! I wish that we could go and see her in action. We are all looking forward to our next trip to Michigan. Go Kayla!! Go Bucks!!

Love,
Mommy

New Book!!

Dear Elzora,
Just one more thing. On Tuesday this week Anneli and Wilgot came over and brought you this book. I LOVE IT! WE had a super good time and I think we will go to baby swim with them on Tuesday.

Oh, I started Vatten Gymnastik för Gravida last night. It was so much fun and the new baby just loved it. After I got out of the water he-she was moving around like a crazy sea monkey!! Sorry that I didn't go to the class when you were in my belly, but I didn't even know about it.

Love,
Mommy

PS Thank you Anneli and Wilgot and Ulrik for the book and the tea!!

Max and Anton

Dear Elzora,
Last Friday (I can't believe it's been a week already) two of your favorite people in the world stayed the night at our house... Max & Anton!! It was so much fun. Anton brought his PS3 and we got to see the new game that Santa brought him for Christmas, Little Big Planet. It's so cool.
And we played Guitar Hero World Tour and Anton sang Hotel California on the mic and it was amazing. He is definitely going to be a star. We also watched a movie that Anton made for school... singer, guitar player, director, screenwriter, skateboarder!! Anton is a talented guy. And Max, at age 7, is right behind him. Mommy loves having them over because not only are they super fun and really nice boys, but they are both speaking English. We love Max and Anton and we hope they come over again very soon.

Last weekend we also celebrated the birthdays of Uncle Morgan and Elvy. It was a lot of family fun.

Also, you have started repeating words. Yesterday you said Google, Thank You and Teamwork!

Today we are going to Lysekil (I think) with our family and Mimi and Jerry's family.
I should be packing and not blogging.

Love you.

Love,
Mommy

UPDATE: We were in Bokenäs!

Holiday Highlights 2008

Dear Elzora,
Here are some of the pictures from 2008's Christmas holiday season. What a celebration! I'm sorry that we didn't get a tree this year, but we spent most of the time with farmor and farfar & Linda, Morgan and Siri and they had trees. You found the beauty of the Christmas tree both fascinating and alluring. You did a pretty good job keeping your tiny hands off of the ornaments, but I could tell that you were often tempted to just reach out and pluck one from the shiny green branches. I am very proud of you and I can't tell you how much joy it brought to all of us to hear you say "Oooooooh!" or "Wooooow!" everytime you entered a room that had a decorated tree. I promise, next year we will have our very own Christmas tree.

Above is the e-card your pappa made to send out via email. He was pretty good about sending it out to all of his friends, but I had about 15 minutes on December 23rd to email my cards out, and I didn't do a very good job. Poor, mamma!







Our First holiday engagement was Jul Frukost (Christmas Breakfast) at Bryggan down by the lake with Molly and her moms, Harry and his family and Susanne's cousins from Skåne. What a feast!! Unfortunately for Bryggan, but fortunately for us, there were very few people who came to enjoy the wonderful breakfast buffet. We basically had the place to ourselves and everyone had a fabulous time. We have to do it again next year if they decide to host the breakfast again.

We had to get up kind of early to go to the breakfast and you weren't really that happpy about it.
But, you pulled it together and made the perfect little gingerbread girl.

It was also Lucia Day in Sweden, but I didn't get the Lucia outfit together in time, so that is something for next year... if you are into it. I am perfectly happy having you be a gingerbread girl again.



After the Lucia breakfast, we went home and rested a while and then around 5pm we went to Jessica, Christian and Becca's house for a Christmas dinner and party. We had the Christmas porridge and played the Christmas game and mommy ate a bunch of the homemade candies that Anneli brought over for Jessica. They were so gooooooooood!!

I am not sure exactly why, but we didn't get very many pictures. I think we got a lot of video footage. But I did manage to get a picture of you playing with Wilgot, Becca and Jessica. For some reason you kept putting this plastic bowl on your head. I don't know why.




On December 23rd we went over to farmor and farfar's house to prepare some of the Christmas food. We decided to go for a walk in the woods and who did we find warming himself by a fire and taking a break? Santa!! And he had a gift for you and for Siri. You both got little ceramic Santa bowls filled with raisins! You were quite happy. I am sorry to report that you actually broke your bowl a few days later trying to eat raisins and do something else at the same time. I am sorry. At least you have a picture of your sweet little santa bowl. And actually Siri had some candy in her bowl, but Santa knows that you are not old enough to have candy, yet. That Santa is a pretty smart guy!







On Christmas Eve Santa visited us once again at Linda, Morgan and Siri's hourse. So many presents and lots of good food. It was a fantastic night that culminated in a dance around the Christmas tree at about 11pm. You were exhausted and at one point just laid down and kissed the floor. We kept you up too late. Next year, we will have to ask Santa to come a little earlier in the evening.





On Christmas day we went to the Karlsson Christmas party. You spent most of your time in the play area with Ella. Notice that you are wearing your tennis shoes. You were running around like crazy and you kept falling down and tripping on your slippers, so I just put your shoes on in the house to try to cut down on tears and bruises.





And finally, here is a picture from NYE at Molly's. I am so sorry we didn't take more pics, but mommy was not feeling well and you and I had to leave the party early. Read Molly's blog for all of the fabulous details. It was a fun party complete with fireworks, champagne and cigars.

We also went to Linda an Morgan's for a glögg on December 20th. I will try to get a picture or two from Auntie Linda.

It was a wonderful Christmas season, Elzora.
I look forward to sharing the holidays with you and your new little brother or sister next year.

You are the best present in the world.

Love,
Mommy

PS I am super happy that we don't have to watch Elmo's Christmas Countdown for a whole year!
PSS Thank you to farmor, farfar, Linda, Morgan, Siri, Liisa and Jeremy, Becca, Wilgot and Ella for all of the wonderful and precious Christmas gifts.

New Camera!!

Dear Elzora,
We just got a new camera and your Papa Andreas took this awesome picture of you. I love this picture because in it you can really see all of the gorgeous colors in your eyes. You are stunning!!

I have a lot to blog about, but I'm not doing very well at making it to the computer. I definitely want to post some holiday photos and post a picture of your new fish, Mr. Noodle and Dorothy. You love them!!

We went to the BVC today and met our nurse and friend, Kerstin. She measured and weighed you and checked in with mommy on how you are developing. You are 80cm long and you weigh 10.9 kilos. Mommy informed Kerstin that you can now say Mamma, Pappa, Ja, Nej, No, Tack Tack, Natt Natt, Hej då and cheese. We also got to see Pernilla and we sang some songs at the open preschool. Maybe we will go again on Friday with your cousin Siri?

More soon.

Love,
Mommy

Retro Mommy

Dear Elzora,
Pappa Andreas and I decided that we wanted to get you a little doll for Christmas. While we were out shopping we kept finding plastic dolls with plastic hair that just didn't look very sweet or very cuddly or very fun. Pappa didn't want anything that required batteries and he wanted to find a doll with "real" hair. I just wanted to find something super cute like my own little Elzora doll.

Just when we were kind of giving up on the idea of getting you a doll at all, mommy noticed a box up on the highest shelf in the the doll department. Pappa was able to reach the package and to my surprise... it was a Cabbage Patch Kid! I was shocked. I thought that they had stopped making these dolls years ago. I just couldn't believe it and I told daddy how much I LOVED my two CPKs when I was a little girl and how Grandma Mary Jo could only find one of these dolls the first year they were out in the US and my sister Jessie and I had to share one doll that Christmas. But we didn't care, we were just so happy to have one. Pascha also got one for a present that year from her parents. Her name was Olive Jean. For some reason I can't remember the names of my CPKs but I do remember that they were both girls and that one of them came from Spain and we bought it at the Sears catalog store in Grayling, Michigan.

I don't think pappa reallly had a choice when it came down to the decision of whether or not to buy the doll. I mean, I think I was walking on air for the rest of the day just remembering how happy I had been back in the day when I got to adopt my very own CPK. It felt so good to buy that same doll for my own daughter.

Thankfully, when you opened the box on Christmas Eve that contained your very own little baby girl, Charlotte Carmen, you were also filled with excitement and joy and you gave your new little adopted dolly a great big mommy Elzora hug.

It was a wonderful Chrismtas for all of us.

Love,

Mommy