Snowy weekend

What to do when it just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing? Why have some fun!

1. Get a haircut
Check out Keira's new 'do. She got it chopped yesterday. Cute or what?


2. Hang out at Hoppeland

Quickie Road Trip

Here we are on a quickie road trip (four hours up and four hours back the next day) to the cabin in order to deliver a washer/ dryer, bed, and bunch of other boxes that we couldn't find space for in the house. Good thing for the cabin. More room to house our junk. Got snacks and drinks. Road trip ready. View out the window. Even though it's cold, still darn beautiful! Hmmm...should we start a fire? It's kinda cold. Yeah! Fire started! Per blowing away the snow...and there was lots of it!

Every Soccer Mom's Wet Dream

Yes, you see it right. Me. The person who said that I would NEVER in a million years drive a station wagon has picked up her new XC70 STATION WAGON.

It's a brand new four wheel drive with leather interior, DAB radio, GPS, beep beeps in the front and back (so I hopefully don't hit anything when I'm parking) and it has lots of room.

There's a rubber mat in the trunk so that the trunk won't get dirty with all kinds of junk that we put in there. There's a high ceiling with room for the stroller and groceries. There's tracks in the car so that I can put netting back there to ensure that the groceries don't roll all over the place.

I can't believe I have this car, but it's great! It drives like my old car..only I don't worry that I'm not going to make it up a hill and I certainly don't have to worry anymore about the leaking transmission fluid, the leaking brake fluid, the starter or anything else. It runs and drives like a dream.

I feel so Mommy-like...kind of sporty and all grown up. I'm not sure I like that whole grown up thing...but, the sporty part is pretty cool. I'm going for another test drive.

Bye, Bye Baby

Here's my other baby of 10 years. The Volvo S70 that I brought with me from Texas. The car that has been with me through thick and thin. I'll miss you, baby! It's been fun.

Purging is good for the soul

It is amazing the amount of stuff that one can accumulate in one's life. Ok, I'm specifically talking about me and my stuff. I mean, there's just so much of it. I've spent all day just cleaning out my closet and trying to find room for all the other clothes that I have with me from my trip to the U.S. and my time in Germany.

My closet is overfilled and stuffed to the gills with clothes that I brought with me from the U.S. 8 years ago, belts that I never wear, shirts that I bought and I thought that I would wear, but I don't because they make me look fat. I even found 4 pairs of True Religion wide bell bottomed jeans that I'd been keeping around because I was hoping that that fashion would come back soon and then I wouldn't have to buy any new ones. Ha! No hope of that . Looks like skinny jeans are here to stay.

I found so many sheets and towels that I don't even use and that have probably been gathering dust bunnies on the top shelf of the closet.

Why so much crap? Well, a lot of the stuff is from the U.S. when I moved here 8 years ago and I thought that I'd probably use it some time so why chuck it?

It's been 8 years now. I'm sure if I haven't used it then, I'm not going to suddenly begin using it now.

I am happy to say that I am no longer married to this stuff that I've managed to hang on to for so long and am happy to get rid of it all. Yes! Yes! Bye bye old jeans. Adios linens and things. Hasta la vista, baby!

God, I feel good!

Year of the Tiger

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

The Rules

Daycare. What a big thorn in my side. This is where she will get used to another caregiver. Someone else besides me who is going to be there for her when she falls or give hug her when she's sad. Someone else who is going to get to pick her up and make her feel better. Don't get me wrong, I do want her to make a bond with her caregiver, but then I also question how this is going to affect her attachment with me or with us, for that matter.

So, here's the ground rules that we are going to stick by as we are integrating our little one into day care. We will live and die by these so that Keira feels loved, whether we are together or apart.

1. We eliminate all separation from Keira except for the time spent in day care. We sleep together. We don't leave her with anyone.

2. We do lots of atttachment parenting stuff, every day. Giggles and stories when she comes home. Lots of kisses and eye contact at night. Wrestling, tickling, giggling. Hair fixing, lotion rubbing, shoe lace tying are all opportunities for eye contact and attunement. Videos are watched with my kid in my lap.

3. Day care is not optional or non-compulsory. Some days I don't like to go to work, and you don't like to go to school. It happens, but we go.

4. I never speak of going to day care in terms of punishment. It's neutral. A fact. Sure, we'd all rather be together all of the day everyday. But this is how our family works.

5. I try to keep our morning routine and with low stress. Find and set out everything the night before. We have to be out the door by a certain time; there's major potential for yelling and disconnect if things go awry and I'm concerned about being late for work. Nobody needs that anxiety.

6. We remain neutral when dropping off. Pleasant and matter of fact. Goodbye honey (hug), I love you (kiss), have fun. I'll see you later. If you're too upbeat, too much on the sell, kids sense an ambush.

7. Either Per or I always pick up the little one ourselves. We will not ask others to pick her up for us.

8. I try to avoid all activities (even running errands) after day care. She's had enough stimulation for the day. We only have a couple of hours before she goes to bed and we want to make the best of the time that we have. We don't meet family or friends for dinner or fun on school nights. It's way too disruptive and tiring for all of us. When kids are tired, they're more apt to feel anxious and unsafe; we have to maintain optimal emotional health by staying rested and grounded. There will be years in the future for entertainment, stimulation and going out into the world. At this point our family is still connecting and it is best done at home.

9. I keep to the same routine every evening. We get home and I feed her a good/ healthy meal as quickly and simply as possible. I really try to keep it friendly, pleasant and loving. I don't waste our brief time together prepping big meals or doing chores. When she's older and ca help, we'll do these things together.

10. I keep in contact with the teachers. I am respectful of the teacher in fron of the child. I am pleasant and demonstrate my friendship with the teachers to Keira. We laugh and talk a bit about her acocmplishments. All serious issues will be done by phone or out of the child's earshot.

I survived

I survived an hour at the daycare (barnehage) today with Keira. I say "survived" because I've been so dreading the day when I would have to let her go. I've been so sad and depressed and close to tears for the day that she would begin at the barnehage.

I agreed with the caregiver yesterday that Keira and I would visit today. I was pretty skeptical when I got there...I mean, I think that I wanted to be skeptical in way. I fully did not expect that the barnehage would be so cozy and fun or that Kari (her caregiver) would be so nice.

Kari has two HUGE dogs who look like little ponies with hair and two cats. When we arrived, the giant size pony dogs were jumping all over us and on Keira and all Keira did was to laugh. She wasn't afraid at all. She just ran inside and started sliding down the slide and petting the cat. She was having a grand ol' time. Mamma? Mamma who?

As it turns out, today was the first of a three day orientation period. The first day, Kari likes for the parents to come with the children and stay for an hour or so. The second day, I'm supposed to deliver her, and then leave her after 30 minutes and come pick her back up in an hour. The third day, I'm supposed to deliver her, stay 15 minutes and not pick her up again until after her nap. The fourth day, she stays all day at the day care and so begins the routine.

I told Kari that I wasn't planning on delivering her until next week because I wanted to spend more time with her...selfish person that I am. But, I was told (very nicely) that it was best to begin the orientation right away, especially since the last week in February is winter holiday week. Keira needed time to bond with the other children and with her and to get used to coming every day.

I fought the idea. Believe me. I said I had to think about it and there were a lot of preparations that I had to do and so on and so on. But, really, as I am writing this, I know that the best thing to do is to let her start. She looked like she was having such a good time.

Fine. Leave me. Sniffle. Sniffle.

Mamma made me go outside

Here's our little one outside today right outside of the house. It was noon and she was soooo tired and all she wanted was her nap, but meanie mommy forced her to go outside and enjoy some of the crisp, cold air. (I didn't really want to go, but Per guilted me into going, so we can just thank Per for the experience.) She pretty much didn't move from the driveway area. She just stood outside and waited for the chance to go back inside. Poor little thing....I'm sure she'll enjoy it much more when she's not so tired.

Yeah! We're Home!

What does Keira do as soon as she wakes up? Why...play with her Christmas presents from the U.S., of course!



Our first order of business was to get some lunch and to grocery shop. Here, you'll see Keira with her first experience with snow this year. Our little girlie girl wasn't so happy about the cold in the beginning, but she soon warmed up and had a good time being outside.

Our Last Day in Dortmund

Yepp! This is the last day. Here we are amongst our boxes, playing with the toys one last time before we leave and eating the last meal.

Just a bundle of emotions

It's so weird. We are actually leaving Dortmund on Friday. We've been packing like fiends. It's amazing just how much crap you can accumulate in just a little under two years. We've got 25 boxes so far, plus three bikes, two strollers, workout equipment, bike rack, washer/ dryer and toys, lots of toys. 3 of the boxes belong just to Keira alone. Who rules this house anyway?

Now the big challenge will be to figure out how to get all this stuff in our house. The house that I haven't seen in about 7-8 months. All I remember is that we didn't have enough storage room before, so now what are we going to do?!

Other than the physical activity of packing, I have to say that I am just a bundle of emotions. First of all, I feel a little sad. Don't know why. Especially when I'm not in love with this place. I think it has to do with a closing of a chapter in our lives and then the start of a new chapter...

1. I am going back to work
Yes, the time is up and I am back to work on February 26, the last Friday of the month. I was dragged kicking and screaming into this one year maternity leave and now that it's almost over, I feel so sad.

I will no longer get to spend every waking moment with Keira. She's going to be in the care of another person at daycare, someone other than me.

I've gotten used to waking up at 7:30am with her, feeding her milk, then breakfast, playing together, watching tv together, napping together. We do everything together and now she's going to do things with someone else.

Is this person going to take care of her? Will the person be nice and caring? Will she continue the potty training like I have? Will the other chilcren be nice to her? Is she going to be ok?

Am I going to be able to perform the same way that I did at work? How is the whole work thing going to go when I'm no longer able to spend 24/7 thinking about work? Am I going to kill myself trying to do it all? OMG, the list goes on and on.

2. Daycare
I have such mixed emotions on the whole daycare thing. On the one hand, I know that it's good for her to be with other children her age and to start learning about other things in life besides hanging out with mommy, but at the same time, the control side of me worries about all the habits that she's going to learn...some good, some bad...how do I stop the bad ones and encourgage the good ones?

She'll learn Norwegian and come back being more Norwegian than American. How do I make sure that she gets all the cultures and doesn't just immerse herself in just one?

3. Life in Norway
It's been a long time since we've lived in Norway, since we've been in Germany. The last time that we really lived there, it was as a couple and now we come back as a family. It's going to be a bit hectic in the beginning with creating new routines, schedules and so on. We need to find our own rhythym again and get back into contact with friends that we haven't seen in a while.

It all adds up. All these changes. I'm sure that we will handle all of these things as they come and everything will turn out fine. It just feels a bit overwhelming every now and then, and I've just got to take some time and BREATHE and it will all be fine.

Yes, sirree, there is cause for celebration

Hot diggety dog! Boy, do I have something to celebrate today.

1. Keira GOT it. She is potty trained.
Ok, not potty, potty trained in the sense of the fact that she goes to the toilet by herself or anything. But the girl can now get on the toilet and let the pee pee go! Woo hoo! Yeah, baby and it only took 5 intense days..haha!

I have a timer that I use and I've set it to ring every 20 minutes. Who knew that 20 minutes could pass so fast or that a whole day consists of just marking when the next 20 minutes shall happen? When the bell goes off, then Keira knows that it's time to visit the toilet. The first four days were such a struggle. Either she had accidents on the floor or even if she made it to the toilet, she would sit for 30minutes at a time and nothing would happen because she didn't like the feeling of the pee pee running down her butt. I fed her tons and tons of her favorite juice and lots of salty snacks so I could get her to go more often. Well, I guess it worked!

Tomorrow...we are moving the timer to every 30 minutes. Yeah. I get an extra 10 minutes of reprieve...no, just kidding. I am so proud of that little one. She is the best. Let's just see how the whole thing progresses now as we move back to Norway on Friday.

2. Oh, yeah...forgot to mention. We PACKED all day.
Yes, we are getting the hell out of dodge. We are leaving Dortmund on Friday and flying back to Norway. I never in a million years thought that I would be happy about it, but I am SOOOO looking foward to being back home.