That loving feeling

It's day two of our Australian (ad)venture. It means that the jet lag is weighing heavily on my shoulders but I am happy!

 

It feels great to have brought our daughter to her home country, she does have dual citizenship but for some reason I primarily think of her as Australian, don't know why. I obviously (try to) raise her with my Scandinavian values in mind, but I also wan to incorporate with that all that I love about Australia and it's people. Because to me Australians are friendly, open, easygoing and warm. Australia is a country that is accepting and encouraging to people of all sorts of background. I'm sure it's not perfect, I doubt any place is. It may not be my home country, but it very well could be. It's a country that I have been in love with since I was 12 and that feeling is still there :)

The mission for today is to get over this jet lag somehow (I feel like I have gone through a mincer) and most importantly, teach our daughter to say "G'day".

Happy Sunday everyone! If you have that loving feeling, share it with those around you!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Homebody

With five trips in less than two months I am REALLY happy to be able to spend the coming few months at home. Preferably curled up on the sofa or playing with our daughter that is just such a little bunch of giggles!

Or why not enjoying a cup of coffee with a cupcake on the side?! Happy Sunday everyone!

Finland 6.12

I was hoping I would be able to blog regularly during my Finland visit. That did not happen, I managed to keep myself busy with other stuff. Here's a quick recap in pictures.

Ett litet bildkollage från senaste Finlandsresan. Tyvärr blev det inget av det mer regelbundna bloggande som jag hade hoppats på. Istället blev de bland annat en eller annan kopp kaffe me brorsan, lite shoppande och träffar med kompisar.

2012 - The year of the family

2012 was indeed a year of the family, not only did we add to our own by welcoming a little baby girl, but we also got to spend lots of time with our parents, siblings, aunties, uncles, cousins and lots of other relatives. I have to say that I use the term family very loosely and in my understanding of the word I also include lots of my wonderful friends. We are blessed with such great friends both near and far, I have said it before but I will say it again, many of them are so close that we consider them family!

Here is a look at 2012 in pictures, oh what a year it was...

2012 kallar jag för familjens år. Inte bara för att vi själva blev stolta föräldrar till en underbar lite flicka, utan också för att vi kunde tillbringa en hel del tid med en massa släktingar, föräldrar, syskon, mostrar och fastrar, kusiner mm. Sen ska jag tillgga att jag använder uttrycket familj väldigt generöst, jag inkluderar också en hel drös av underbara vänner i denhär kategorin. Vänner som bor både nära och fjärran, och som vi anser vara en del av vår familj!

Här får ni en titt på vårt 2012 i form av ett bildkollage, vilket år det var...

January - enjoying the winter weather in Finland
Januari - Njöt av vintervädret i Finland

February - Visiting my husband's brother in Canada. Who knew that my better half would be such an ace on skates?
Februari - På besök i Kanada hos min mans bror. Jag hade aldrig kunnat gissa att min bättre hälft skulle vara en sån rackare på att skrinna!

March - Enjoying the outdoors in Saudi Arabia before summer kicks in. I was very pregnant and very over it at this stage
Mars - Passar på att njuta av vädret innan sommaren slår till! Men jag var mycket gravid (tyckte jag då) och tyckte att det sku kunna vara dags snart!

 

 

April - Celebrating our niece's birthday
April - Vi firar vår systerdotters födelsedag

May - off to the hospital to have a baby, yay!
Maj - dags att checka in på sjukhuset, de e dags att vräka babyn :)

June- so in love with our baby girl
Juni- kärleken och babyn växer varje dag

July - Taking a bazillion photos of our little darling, also trying to get the perfect shot for her passport
Juli - massor av bilder tas av lilltjejen, i synnerhet som vi försöker få till ett acceptabelt passfoto

August - The first trip avec baby, we are in Medina
Augusti - första resan med babyn, vi besöker Medina

September - Off to Finland, a pram form the 80's induce the best naps ever
September - I Finland, en Emmaljunga från tidigt 80-tal där lillflickan sover många, LÅNGA tupplurar

October - Both big and small suffer from a cold, I medicate mine with buckets of coffee
Oktober - Flunssa för både liten och stor, min medicineras med mycket kaffe

November - We are mezmerised by the magic that is Scotland
November - Vi är fulla av beundran på vår resa genom Skottland

December - More family time spent in Canada in freezing temperatures. And no, baby # 2 is not on the way
December - Kalla vinterdagar tillbringas tillsammans med familjen i Kanada. Nej, rocken gömmer inte en babymage!

Red Bull Baby?

Maybe this kid is getting Red Bull instead of milk. She's slept half an hour since she woke up at 7.30 this morning. So technically she should be very tired by now. This is what greets me when I look over towards the cot :)

*********************

Kanske dethär barnet får i sej Red Bull istället för mjölk. Sovas ska det i alla fall inte... Det verkar vara mycket roligare att gå runt längs kanten på sängen!

Half a decade and a day

Yesterday marked our fifth wedding anniversary. We celebrated by being completely jet lagged all of us. We had a great trip, I'll try to share some photos from it very soon :)

For now I'll share a photo of a very tired baby recovering from a long trip!

The day everything changed

The entry to my hospital room
Ingången till mitt rum på sjukhuset

Today marks exactly six months since the birth of our beloved daughter. Like any new parent I can tell you that those months have flown by. There has been tears, crying, sleepless nights and more laundering than I ever thought possible. There has also been smiles and laughter and most importantly, there has always been love. Me and my husband feel eternally blessed for this gift that we waited for so long.

I have scheduled this post to come online at 4.38 am, the time our daughter was born (just in case anyone wonders about the wird hours of the day that I seem to spend blogging).

Idag är det exakt se månader sen vi välkomnade vår älskade dotter till världen. Ett halvår som har gått i ett huj. Månader som har fyllts med skrik, tårar, sömnlösa nätter och ofantliga mängder med byk. Men dagarna har också fyllts av leenden, skratt och viktigast av allt, kärlek. Vår dotter är en gåva som vi väntade länge på, det går inte i ord att beskriva hur tacksamma vi är.

Dethär inlägget kommer att komma upp på bloggen klockan 4.38 på morgonen, samma klockslag som vår dotter föddes.

Family matters

For the past five months I have had my in-laws living with me. My husband's older sister has been here since before our daughter was born and my mother- and father-in-law joined us later. Tomorrow they are all heading back to India and it'll be a while before we meet again.

It has been great having them around and we have had some wonderful family moments. I am glad that my daughter has been able to spend this time with her extended family, although she won't remember these early months of her life. But I want to teach her the importance of family and ler her experience the love that her family provides.

I will be very sad when all of them leave, it's a good thing we are off to Finland in a few days so the void will be filled.

I feel privileged to be part of my husband's family and it is humbling to try to experience life from their perspective. We might not always agree on everything, but we are family, and that is all that matters!

First things first

Source: img0.etsystatic.com via Susan on Pinterest

Det kommer säkert att vara lite tyst på bloggen för ett tag framöver, vi är fullt upptagna med att beundra detta lilla mirakel som vi har fått ta del av. Lycka.

It will probably be a bit quiet here on the blog front for a while, because over here we are busy admiring this little miracle that has blessed our life. Happiness.

Now we are three

On 25 May at 4.38am we welcomed the newest member of the family, a little baby girl. Strategic measurements: 3,1 kilo and 52 cm (so much for a short baby as we were told in week 38). She ended up being born by emergency caesarean section , but despite any difficulties on the way I would not hesitate to have another baby (not quite yet though). We are so much in love with our precious daughter.

Den 25 maj, klockan 4.38 kom äntligen vår lilla dotter till världen. Strategiska måtten, 3,1 kilo och 52 cm (vi hade några veckor tidigare fått veta efter ultran att bebisen var en "kortis"). Förlossningen slutae med ett akut snitt, men trots endel svårigheter tvekar jag inte flr att skaffa fler barn (om några år förhoppningsvis). Hon har varit så efterlängtad och det är helt otroligt vilka känslor det egna barnet väcker hos en.

1461 days

Today's post is dedicated to my awesome husband, he has brought a sparkle into my life since the first day I met him. But if someone would have suggested to me back then that we would get married, I would not have believed them.

Today is our forth wedding anniversary and it's the first time that we have to spend this day being apart. It is heartbreaking, but hopefully I'll be able to travel back to Saudi Arabia. Back home, because home is truly where the heart is.

In the meanwhile I am looking back at our years together. I feel forever blessed for having this guy in my life. I am looking forward to the year to come (and of course those beyond) but I think the coming year will be the most exciting so far inshallah!

********

Ettusenfyrahundrasextioen dagar. Så länge har jag kunnat titulera mej själv "fru". Idag firar vi vår fjärde bröllopsdag.

Det här året är det första gången som vi "firar" på skilda håll. Men förhoppningsvis så dröjer inte separationen så länge till; min man meddelade idag att min bröllopsgåva är att mitt visum till Saudiarabien har blivit beviljat.

Fyra år kanske inte verkar som så mycket, men under den tiden har vi gått igenom en hel del som många par aldrig behöver uppleva. Det har varit både skratt och tårar, men nu verkar vi äntligen vara på väg mot ljusare och väldigt spännande tider! Jag ser fram emot dom kommande åren med min man som är värd sin vikt i guld!

Something to remember

"Because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean that they don't love you with all they have"

- Unknown

I am grateful for all the love that I have around me, near and far. Have a great Monday everyone!

It's Sunday but not a weekend

One of the hundreds of pictures taken on my own wedding day in 2008. Photo by the amazingly talented Toni Snell.

It's Sunday which means that the weekend has started for most people on this globe, for us here in Saudi Arabia the weekend has just ended. As Friday is the compulsory day off in muslim countries, it means that our weekends are on Thursday and Friday. This makes it quite confusing and I find it really hard to know what day of the week it is.

We had a busy weekend, we did some exploring of this land of sand, I'll post some pictures later. Yesterday I had to watch the royal wedding, I needed to see what the dress and the hair looked like. I was stunned by the beautiful trees that were used to decorate the Abbey, it created such a romantic feel...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Spot on

Me: International Women's Day. Out of 365 days women get one day... Is there a need for a women's day, you think?

Hubby: I think every day is Women's Day!



I give him 10 points for that one!

Happy International Women's Day everyone (yes, everyone)!

What are you thoughts on this day? Is it needed, is it sexist to have a Women's Day?

Love... and stuff

I've had today off from work, and I've spent the day walking in a leisurely pace around Surry Hills. A cute little suburb just south of Sydney's CBD. The area is full of shops that sell all things creative, be it clothes, furniture, homeware or stationery. All the things that I like love. Unfortunately many shops were closed due to their extended Christmas holidays, so I had to settle for window browsing.

For lunch I had a seared tuna salad with green beans, potato and lemon aioli. Yum! Ironically, across town, my husband also had a tuna salad for lunch.

I bought these cute old scrabble letters from a second hand store. On a day like today the letters were quite easy to pick! Today's our third wedding anniversary! This will be my anniversary present for us both, as I haven't bought anything else. Moving a bit ahead of time seeing that the traditional wedding present for the third anniversary is leather, wood would be for the fifth wedding anniversary. Normally I would try to come up with a gift that follows the traditional anniversary gifts, but this year I didn't really prepare in time! Does anyone else follow the traditions when buying anniversary gifts, or do you buy any gifts at all?

Idag spenderade jag min lediga dag med att vandra omkring i Surry Hills, en stadsdel nara Sydneys centrum. I denhar delen av stan hittas en massa butiker som saljer en massa lokala produkter. mobler, klader, husgerad, postkort mm. Tyvarr sa begransades jag till en hel del fonstershoppande eftersom manga affarer hade stangt pga jul/sommarsemester. 


Jag lyckades hitta en liteb butik som salde en massa gamla saker, bland annat gamla Alfapet bokstaver. Jag bestamde mej for att dagens ord maste vara Love eftersom vi idag firar var tredje brollopsdag! Domhar bokstaverna far bli dethar arets brollopsgava, aven om den tradiotionsenliga gavan pa den tredje brollopsdagen ar lader. Vanligtvis brukar jag faktist forsoka komma pa nagot som foljer tradtionen, men i ar sa hoppade jag tydligen lite i forvag. Tra ar namligen den tradiotionella gavan pa den femte brollopsdagen, pa den tredje brollopsdagen ska gavan vara av lader. Foljer nagon annan traditionen nar ni koper gavor pa brollopsdagen, eller koper ni nagra gavor alls?