Happy Birthday Hubby!

Today is hubby's birthday and he's in Jönköping attending a hockey match with his brother, Hans. It is almost like a tradition that Hans treats him to a hockey match on his birthday, and he'll stay over at Hans' place before driving home again the next day. I think it's nice of Hans to do this, so hubby can have a chance to go somewhere to enjoy himself without having kiddos bustling around. I just wish that my best friends are here, so I can also have a day off without kids...

Since hubby will be away today, we decided to celebrate yesterday. I made him his favorite schnitzel for dinner and baked him a simple cake, nothing elaborate, just something simple and cozy.


We had to light the candle thrice! First time, we were almost done singing "Happy Birthday" and the minute I put the cake on the table, Ivan blew the candle off. So we re-lit the candle, hurriedly finished singing the song so that hubby can get a chance to blow the candle. However, Ivan got really sad that he didn't get to blow it off again, so we lit it again for him...


A simple cake decorated with the candy which hubby likes.


Hubby enjoying the cake.


A pair of jeans from me. I can't believe that after spending 20 minutes trying to decide among 3 colors and 2 designs, I managed to pick one which is exactly the same as the one I bought for him in June...


A sweater and a shirt from mom.


And of course hand-made cards from Jovan and Angel.

We're both stress and tired this year because of the arrival of Chris, in a good way of course! Hubby has been trying his best to make things as easy and as comfortable as possible for me, however, I find it difficult to get my energy up, and my mood has not been sunshine all the time. These few days has been better, now that Chris is sleeping longer in between feeds.

Happy 3Xth Birthday Baby! I truly appreciate all that you've done for me. If not for your encouragement, support and consideration, I won't be here...having to live so far away from my family and friends, in a country which still makes me feel like an outsider after 3 years just because I refused to speak the local language... but nothing else matter as long as we stick together!

Arrival of Our Little Prince!

This post is 1 week late and finally it's out! Last Sunday, 6 Dec 2009 at 1323hrs marks the arrival of our youngest prince in the family. He was supposed to be due on 26 Nov and after much anticipation, he decided to make his appearance 10 days later!

The contraction started sometime in the middle of the night. I woke up 3 times due to the contraction pain, however, with the experience of false labour pain a few days ago, I didn't think that this would be it, so I continued sleeping. At 6 something in the morning, the pain was so great that I woke up and was basically just sitting in the sofa making record of the intervals between the contractions.

At around 9 something, I woke up hubby and told him that I think the baby will be here today. He got up, went happily to brush his teeth, took a look at the record I made and called the hospital to ask for advice. The midwife at the hospital said that we can go now if we want and she thought that it should be ok if we want to wait a little longer. So we decided to call our first line of support, hubby's friend, Mårten, to alert him and get him to come over to babysit. All 3 kids clicked very well with Mårten. Next we called our second line of support, my mother-in-law, who had to drive for about 2 hours to reach Linköping. Then we had breakfast (I just had coffee coz the pain was getting stronger, no appetite to eat...) took our bag and off we went to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at around 1030hrs. By then my contractions were coming very often and the pain was impossible. We were led to the delivery room and the midwife strapped me onto the machine which monitored the heartbeat of the baby and also the contraction.

Hubby was a little too into the machine, commenting that it must be really old, since nobody in their right mind will make a machine in mustard yellow (I'm actually surprised that he knew such a color exist, he's more a basic color kind of guy.) Then he found out that the machine does measure the contraction and everytime when the percentage started rising, he went,"ok, it's coming now." which makes me extremely nervous while anticipating the pain. So I had to ask him to stop commenting. About 1 hour later, the midwife came in to check how much I have dilated and we found out that I have already reached 9cm! So I changed into the hospital gown (which hubby commented that whoever designed the gown has got no fashion sense) and waited to reached the full 10cm before I could start to push.

Finally it's time! Man was I pushing hard! I was totally focused on pushing the baby out, breathe, push, breathe, push. (I was so engrossed that I totally forgot that I do have the option to ask for pain killer like injection or gas! I realised it after when both midwife and hubby were saying how good I was... but the pain was worth it though!) Suddenly I heard the midwife said,"Now we can see his hair. Ok, Sylvia, stop pushing and rest a little for the next contraction to come." However, my body just want to push and the midwife had to push the baby in a little so that I wouldn't tear so bad. The next contraction came and with one final push, baby was free! And boy, he was screaming! Welcome to the world little prince!

The midwife immediately put the baby onto my chest and tried to get him to start sucking, while they work on getting the placenta out. She asked both of us when it was out if we wanted to look and both hubby and I politely declined her kind offer, we felt that we had had enough adventure for the day. Next they spent what felt like hours stitching me up, hubby asked if they were doing a makeover for me...

After resting for about 3 hours in the delivery room, I took a quick shower and we moved to the maternity ward. We had to stay in the hospital for at least 6 hours and the baby had to be checked by the baby doctor before we could go home. However, since it was a weekend and there was just 1 baby doctor in the whole hospital (which is just ridiculous! Imagine the poor guy running between the emergency department, the children ward and maternity ward no wonder he was just a bag of bones... poor thing!), he couldn't make it to check on our baby, he could only do it next morning. So we had to stay in the hospital for the night.

The next morning, the doctor came and gave little prince a clean bill of health and the green light to go home. Finally we're going home!

When we got home, Jovan and Angel had already gone to school, so it was just mother-in-law and Ivan who were home. Ivan looked like he had just woke up which was strange since he usually wakes up real early and it was already 10 something. Later mom told us that when they went to bed last night, Ivan was pointing at hubby's pillow and said,"Pappa 没有..." which means no daddy... And when she woke up suddenly at 4 something in the morning and found that Ivan was missing! She went to check in kiddos' room and found Ivan sleeping with Angel... Our heart ached for the little guy, he had a tough night...

However, everybody was really happy and excited to meet our new member. Ivan came up to the baby, pointed at him and said,"Beebee!" Jovan and Angel ran home after school eager to meet little prince. Angel even told her teacher that the baby is coming home today! ^_^ Family and friends sent their love and warm wishes and asking what his name is. Hubby and I want our kids to have a name that will work both in Swedish and English - an international name that will work anywhere. So after much deliberation (and hubby's sudden weird obsession with Christopher Columbus), we finally decided on the name Christopher Nicholas Strömbäck.


Welcome to the family little Chris! We aren't the best parents in the world but we will love and protect you like a precious gem. We will do our best to lead and guide you and will always be there for you every step of the way. Thank you for choosing us to share your life with.

Daddy Knows...

Last night, Jovan and Angel had one of their usual small fight and Angel was crying (one of those pretend ones which is actually asking for sympathy or attention). Hubby sent them both to bed and was talking to them a little to ease the "tension" a little.

Hubby:"You know, daddy can tell when you and Angel are pretending to cry. And I know when you are truly sad too."

Jovan and Angel:"You DO?!" (sounding amazed)

Hubby:"Yup. And I also know when Ivan is pretending and when he is really sad."

Angel:"What about mummy? Do you know when she's pretending to cry?"

Hubby:"Huh? Mummy never pretend to cry." (clueless where she got that from...)

Angel:"Yes, she does. When she's cutting onions."

.......

Our New Car!

We have been discussing about our car issue since we got pregnant. Initially we were thinking of getting 2 cars after I got my driver's licence (which God knows when!) but it feels silly to drive 2 cars to the same location (like visiting mother-in-law or the shopping mall) and most importantly, hubby and I have always enjoy chatting in the car, especially during long drives when all the kids are sleeping.

So when we have made up our mind to buy a 7-seater, we started to take note of those selling in the market to shortlist the make and model. Since we wanted to buy a second-hand car (because we don't want to get a loan or at least we try not to), our choices are quite limited. From the reviews we have read, we have came to 2 choices - Toyota Previa or Volkswagen Sharan. Hubby had tested the Previa earlier and he didn't get a good feeling about that car, he thought that it is bulky and felt clumsy. Last week, we saw an advertisement for a Sharan and he went for a test drive. The car feels good to drive and although it is a 7-seater, it doesn't feel like driving a bus. (Being a bus driver has never been one of his ambitions growing up...) Hubby arranged for me and kiddos to take a look at the car before we decide. Everybody likes it and so Sharan it is! All transactions were completed on Monday and we are happy owners of the new car - the Volkswagen Sharan 1.8T!



And today, hubby has set up both the car seat for the baby and Ivan's car seat in the new car and we're all ready to drive the family around!

Hubby has also cleaned and taken some pictures of our old car, Volvo V70, so we can sell it. After all the cleaning, he fell in love all over again with this car and said that he can't bear to sell it...



We really like our Volvo, it has served us very well and is a nice car to drive as well. Too bad we can't afford to have 2 cars... we hope that the new owner will take good care of the car.

And now it has dawned on me that I have to learn driving in this BIG car next year!!

Glad Fars Dag! Happy Fathers' Day!

Today is Fathers' Day in Sweden. Hubby woke up with headache which has been bothering him for the past 2 days. We have nothing much left to eat since we have planned to go groceries shopping later today. So I send Jovan and Angel to the small supermarket near our place (about 15 minutes walk away) to buy milk, bread, a cake and some chocolate for hubby. I also told them that if they have any money left, they can decide what to buy for daddy which will make him happy.

Half an hour later, they came home, bought everything I asked them to and even managed to get flower for daddy! After putting the groceries away, they started making coffee and bread. This was what they came up with.

See the pot of flower beside the breakfast tray? That's what they managed to buy with the reminding money. They said that most flowers were expensive, like roses, etc. (I guess bouquets are more expensive) So they asked an auntie who is working there what flower they can buy with the reminding money they have (I think it was about 30kr left) and the nice auntie suggested this. Great.... now I have to take care of the plant...

So we marched into the bedroom with Jovan and Angel holding their presents for daddy, Ivan holding the pot of flowers and me holding the breakfast tray. These were what Jovan and Angel made for hubby.





Jovan learnt how to make these beaded butterflies in school and has taught Angel how to do it. So they make a bracelet for daddy! How creative!

So while daddy was enjoying breakfast in bed and mommy keeping him company, kiddos went to the kitchen to set the table for breakfast (more like brunch). And while Jovan and Angel were busy, Ivan wasn't free either. He was busy poking his small finger into the butter and tasting it... yup, he really likes butter...


So after breakfast (or brunch), Jovan and Angel went out to play while Ivan took his afternoon nap and mommy and daddy enjoyed some quiet moments, surfing and reading the newspapers. Ivan woke up about an hour later and we went groceries shopping. Hubby wanted me to stay home since I'm in pain. But I need to do the shopping in order to buy the ingredients to make his favorite food - Schnitzel with mash potatoes and salad!



Today went by quite peacefully. I didn't get any present for hubby this year (on behalf of the kids of course!). I have been feeling tired and lacking of energy to do anything, I will make it up next year!

Hubby seems to be quite happy with everything we have done. He is a very easy to please person, he gets happy over the smallest stuff. Jovan, Angel and I were discussing yesterday what we should do and make today and Jovan said,"We're lucky that daddy is our daddy." It almost brought tears to my eyes, they really do appreciate all that hubby has done for them.


Hopefully Ivan will feel the same way as they do some day...

Happy Fathers' Day, baby! Thank you for everything you have done for me and the kiddos. We know you have been working hard and going the extra mile to make our life as comfortable as possible. I also know that all you want is give our kids a happy childhood and create lots of happy memories with them and to bring them up to be sensible, responsible and considerate adults. Though you have always been the stricter one between us both, you are also the funnier one. I know for sure that Jovan and Angel respect you a lot and love you dearly. Let's hope that we can do an equally good job with Ivan and the little one who is on his way.

We love you very very much!

Pregnancy Rant - 36 weeks and counting!

I'm 36 weeks pregnant today and counting down to D day! This pregnancy feels like it's taking a harder toil on my body. Maybe it's because on top of being pregnant, I had to "serve" our little prince Ivan - chasing after him (to change diapers, dirty clothes and to put on clothes after bath), coaxing him (to eat more and drink more), carrying him (it's like doing serious weight lifting or body building, trust me! He is getting heavier each day!) and playing with him (which includes, running, crawling, hiding, pretending to be his customer and be served coffee and a slice of pizza one thousand times in half an hour...)or maybe simply because I'm getting old...

But seriously speaking, I think hubby suffers the most during my pregnancy. Beginning from the first trimester, he felt bad to see me suffering from morning sickness (who came up with this term really?! My "morning" sickness lasted the whole day!), tried to find ways and means to make me feel better, making me tea and buying me digestive biscuits, reminding me to take my vitamin pills and having to endure my sour breath (from vomiting so much!) whenever he kissed me... and not to mention having to interact (or try to) with me who was just like a sack of potatoes lying on the sofa at the end of the day.

His sufferings continued when I was in my second trimester. He had to reassure me that I still look pretty and light as a feather when I was complaining about the changes in my body every 5 seconds.

"I'm fat!"
"No you're not. You're like a feather."
"I can't fit in my clothes!"
"Let's go shopping!"
"Maternity clothes make me look like auntie!"
"You want to borrow mine?"

His suffering escalates now that I'm in my third trimester. Since the round ligament pain started, I have had problem walking due to the stabbing pain. So not only am I wading like a duck, I am limping around from the pain. About 1 month ago, hubby told me that I didn't have to join to go shop for groceries, he would go with Jovan and Angel and the 3 of them would laboriously carry 6 or 7 bags of groceries up to the 3rd floor, while Ivan and I would stay home, put our legs up and watch tv, poor babies! Since our last checkup at the midwife when she told us that the baby is engaged in position and ready to descend, hubby and my mother-in-law has been really really nervous. Hubby gets super nervous whenever I call him at work, "Should I come home now?" "No, but can you buy milk on your way home?" ...

My mother-in-law is so sweet, she called me last week to ask me how I was feeling, did I feel like the baby is coming? She even told me to call her first before we call the hospital if we suspect the baby is coming, so she can start the almost 2 hours drive earlier. She called me again last night to check the status. My mobile phone ringing...) "Hej, mamma!" "Hej, sweetie! How are you feeling?" "Baby is still in the tummy! No signs of coming out yet."... She has taken 1 week off from work next week and was planning to go Denmark for holiday but has changed her mind and decided to stay in Sweden for her holiday, because it is getting close to my delivery date.

Jovan and Angel have been great helps too during my pregnancy. I have been slacking in doing housework now since my mobility is a little difficult. They have been helping to wash dishes, vacuum the floor and helping to keep Ivan occupied when I really need to lie down. They even helped to make dinner a couple of times, macaroni and meatballs and hotdog with bread. Not the most healthy meals but like Jovan said, they make with love!

Ivan has no idea that there is a baby in my tummy . He probably thinks that mommy has a big tummy and that's just the way it is. I tried to tell him by pointing at my tummy and said,"Baby in mommy's tummy." since he understands what babies are. But he just looked at me like I'm raving mad and started laughing... It'll be interesting to see how he's going to react to the new member in the family in a few weeks' time!

Ivan turns 2!

Our little guy turns 2 today! I wanted to say how time flies, but come to think of it, sometimes 1 day felt like 1 week....

2 years ago this day, my water broke at around 6am. We were really happy that finally it was time! Ivan was overdue for 2 weeks, and after daddy threatened to charge him "rental" for the tummy, he finally felt that it was time to start his journey. We called the delivery ward to ask for advice and were told to come in at 1pm, unless contraction came very frequently, then we have to go in immediately. So there I was sitting on the sofa, changing towel after towel - no contraction. So we went in at 1pm, unsure if Ivan would really make his appearance that day.

After strapping me onto the contraction monitoring machine, my contraction started! The midwife checked and informed that I was about 8cm open (for guys reading this - you need to be fully dilated at 10cm to be able to push the baby out, yeah - OUCH!), so she asked us to walk around which will speed up the dilating process. We decided to re-park our car at the carpark which is about 10mins walk and we barely made it to the door of the delivery ward when my contraction came really intensely and at an interval of 5 mins between. So we walked back again (I was almost crawling!) and called for the midwife and after checking, she happily informed that now the process begin!

Breathe innnnn...... breathe outttttttt...... I was really pushing and trying to focus on meeting our new baby instead of the tearing pain in my tummy. All this time, hubby was chatting happily with the midwife and her assistant about Wii and how popular it was..... After several pushes, the midwife said that she could see Ivan's head! I was motivated and after 2 more pushes, Ivan's head was out! "Are you ok?" asked the midwife. I turned my head, thinking that she was asking me. But she was asking hubby, because he had a funny look in his face. "Are you ok baby?" I asked, with Ivan's head still sticking out. "Huh, I'm fine." Hubby replied. (Later I found out that since this is the first time he saw a real birth, he didn't know that a baby looks so weird when it first came out.....) Finally, the midwife said, 1 more push and he would be out! She asked me to take a break and gather all my strength for the final push. Immediately after she said that, I had the weirdest feeling in the world, it felt like my tummy is filled up again! At the same time, I heard everyone else who were looking "down there" said, "Huh??" Ivan went back in!!!!! I wanted to just go home at that moment! After all the pushing!!! "Is this normal?!" asked hubby. The midwife joked that maybe Ivan is too comfy inside and it is not so common that the baby decided to go "home" like that. She encouraged me to gather all my strength and push really really hard. And finally at 18.40hr, Ivan was out....

Oh, he was screaming once he got out! Not so happy to be evicted, I guess. Weighing 3950g and 53cm long, he was a healthy and strong baby. We stayed 1 night in the hospital and went home to Jovan, Angel and my mother-in-law, who were really eager to meet the new member.

I was very worried about having a baby without my mom with me. She helped me with Jovan and Angel, and now I was left on my own. (Although I have my sweet hubby who is always ready to help, but this is his first time experiencing a small baby!) Ivan was suffering from colic in the first 2 months, so he was crying mostly at night. Hubby and I had to work in shifts, so that we can both get some sleep. He worked the night shift, while I worked the day shift. It was not fun but we managed to stay sane. We learnt how to take care of a small baby, one tiny step at a time.

Looking back now, I think we have both done a good job, so far. Ivan is now a healthy, active, playful, cheeky, sweet and very affectionate toddler. 2 years old is not really a milestone yet, but we tried our best to make it a special day for him. Here are some photos to share:

Birthday boy starting his birthday with a good breakfast.

Card from grandpa.

Drawing from Jovan.

Card from Angel.

It says, "Congrats on your birthday, Ivan. Congrats" from Angel.

I was trying to create some party mood!

It is hard to take a good picture of this guy....

This is the cake I baked for him, with his favorite cartoon character, Rorri - the racing car. It looks horrible but Ivan loves it!

Candy cars used as decoration, I'm so lousy in decoration! I had to make those "racing" flags because I can't pipe properly!

He was too fast in blowing the candle! Puff! And mommy missed it!

Totally focused in cutting the cake, with daddy's help of course!

He was very interested in playing with the small Rorri which I put on his cake, after some coaxing from Jovan and Angel, he finally turned his attention to his real present.

It's the talking Rorri!
After 5 mins of "Turn left" "Turn right", hubby and I started to regret our choice...

He really enjoys the cake! I'm happy!

Happy Birthday sweet baby! Mommy hopes that you will continue to stay happy and healthy!

34 Weeks' Pre-Natal Checkup

We went for our pre-natal checkup this morning. As usual Baby Strömbäck is doing well and is at a good size (I wish the same can be said about mommy though - mommy's size is way TOOOOO good!).

Our midwife, Marie, felt around to determine his position. She said that his head is down and he has already lodged himself into position and is really to go! That explains why I have been feeling like the baby is falling out when I walk, that's because he is pushing downwards, getting into position for the journey of his life. Marie also said that I will be getting minor contraction pains from now onwards, which should go away after 1 hour or so. However, if it gets extremely painful and happens in close intervals (every 15 mins), that means I'm in labour. So we should call the hospital to inform that we're coming in.

I told her I've been experiencing contraction pain already and the reason why we have our bag packed, was because I was in quite a lot of pain the other night. While I was sitting on the sofa waiting for the pain to pass, hubby was running around like a headless chicken with a bag in his hand asking,"So what do we need?! Baby clothes - in! Socks - in! Which underwear do you want to bring? Ok, you like this one, we'll bring this one...." When the contraction has passed, our bag was almost packed!

Hubby got a little nervous when he heard that the baby is in position. "Is it normal for him to get into position so early? We have 4 more weeks left!" Marie explained that it is normal and he may decides to come 1 week later or 4 weeks later, so basically he is ready and may decides to show up anytime. "But if he decides to wait 4 more weeks, won't it be uncomfortable for him to get his head stuck like that for 4 weeks?" Marie patiently explained that it is getting too cramp inside the tummy for the baby to do anymore flipping around, but generally, the baby is happy and warm inside.

When we left the midwife's clinic to get our car in the carpark, hubby said,"I think his head will have a funny shape when he comes out." "Why is that?" "Coz, he has been stuck for weeks. Poor thing." "You mean he's gonna look like an alien?!"

Well, we'll see. The waiting continues...

Special Delivery from Singapore!

I received a note from the Post Office that I have a parcel to pick up, and I had been really curious and looking forward to Saturday for hubby to drive me there to pick it up. Today I woke up having headache which changed to giddiness in the late morning and aches all over my body, so hubby stayed home to help take care of Ivan and me! And to make me happy, since I'm sick, he went to pick up my parcel and bought me chocolate...

And this is what I got all the way from Singapore from my superbest friend - Diane!

A keychain and Japanese name stamp with my name!

I think these are cookies.

These are for Angel!

Nail stickers, nail polish and a pretty Hello Kitty pouch! She went crazy over these!

A cute magnetic bookmark!

Delicious wasabi pistachios! These are 100% better than the usual wasabi green peas, I'm not so keen in peas...

2 storage bags - Hello Kitty and Precious Moments!

And the main highlight of them all are..... Pocky!!! My favorite snack of all time!!!

Ivan insisted that I open the Hello Kitty one to taste, which of course I gladly obliged! Even the plastic wrapper is cute!

I was over the moon as I was going through all the gifts. And I thought I could smell the familiar air of Singapore as well.... which seems to smell like shoes... Just kidding, the box smells of lotsa thought and love and all these are miraculously packed in this small shoe box!

Thank you so very much Diane for sending these and paying the expensive postage! They really brighten my day during this gloomy autumn! Now I'm looking forward to enjoy the Pocky!

Finally A Reply From CMPB!

My days of waiting are over after sending out the email regarding Jovan's passport and military service issues. I finally got a reply from the Army which helped to ease our anxiety a little.

The lady who replied me was from the National Service Registration & Enlistment Centre (NSREC). She told me that the passport control for National Service (NS) liable Singapore males has been removed since Aug 2006. Prior to Aug 2006, NS-liable Singapore males were issued with passports of limited validity. With the introduction of biometric passports on 15 Aug 2006, all passports will be given full validity. Those who are applying for new Singapore passports will be given full validity of 5 years. The “Immigration Overseas Scheme for male citizens between 11 and 16.5 years old” for extension of passport has already been removed. Hurray!

She also mentioned in her email that "In addition, your son will be affected by the exit permit requirements when he reaches the age of 13 years old. Under the exit control policy, a young male aged 13 to 16.5 years is required to apply for an exit permit if he intends to travel or remain outside Singapore for 3 months or longer. If he is remaining outside Singapore for 2 years or longer, his parents will also need to furnish a bond of minimum S$75,000/- or 50% of the combined annual gross income of both parents for the preceding year, whichever is higher. The bond is usually in the form of a banker’s guarantee issued by a bank in Singapore. However, for boys who are accompanying parents on overseas employment, they may be eligible for bond by deed (personal guarantee) with 2 sureties. An exit permit will be issued after the bond has been furnished to MINDEF. Under the Enlistment Act, all male Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents who are liable for full-time National Service (NS) are enlisted at the earliest opportunity after reaching the age of 18 years. They will be enlisted after completion of high school education (GCE ‘A’ level or Polytechnic Diploma equivalent). No deferment will be granted for university studies."

Which means to say that if we choose to renew Jovan's passport next year, he'll be granted a 5-year one and we do not need to about his exit permit till he's 13, which gives us about 4 years to review and see how things go.

She stated that these prevailing policies are periodically under review, so it'll be good for us to check every now and again. She has also given me some phone numbers to call if I need more clarification and attached some documents to clarify and advise on the requirement and conditions for the bond.

Now we have 4 years before we need to think about this issue again and probably by then, Lars's business would have brought us back to Singapore again, we'll see!

Hubby's Shopping Mishaps

I have to say that autumn is the season that I like the least, it is gloomy, rainy, cold, windy and muddy shoes. Hubby mentioned last night that it is time to bring out our "bunny shoes" - fluffy and warm indoor slippers which we usually wear from late autumn to early spring. I told him that mine had 1 missing sole, so I would really like to have new ones this year.

He said,"I bought them for you last year and now they're broken? Don't you like them?" "I do like them baby, I'll like them more if they're the same size." I replied. That kicked off a discussion of all my hubby's shopping mishap which made us laughed so hard, we almost woke up the neighbours!

I've always know that hubby really can't be bothered with shopping, his idea of shopping is to dash into a shop, grab whatever he needs and dash out - all done within 5 mins or less, if possible. His incompetence in shopping was really magnified when the family moved to Sweden 3 years ago. Some are minor ones like wrong brand or wrong quantity, others are just so ridiculously off that he got teased to no end by us!

When we just moved here, I told him to pick up shower cream for kiddos and reminded him that he needed to get one for sensitive skin because Jovan's skin was easily irritated by chemicals and weather (after living here for half a year, his skin and asthma problem just disappeared! Maybe it was because of the air quality, it is less polluted here than in Singapore). He came home with a bottle of shower cream, or so we thought... For several days after that, kiddos were complaining that the new "shower cream" wasn't good, it didn't produce any bubbles. We thought that kiddos were just complaining since they like to play with bubbles in the shower. Then I decided to just take a closer look at the bottle to make sure that we don't buy the same brand the next time. Hubby got it right by picking one for sensitive skin, but it wasn't shower cream he bought, it was MOISTURIZER! No wonder Angel was saying that she was oily after the shower!

During Christmas, I think was 2 years ago, he bought me a very cool, white Nike hooded sweater. I was really happy that he spent time to shop for clothes for me. When I pulled the sweater out from the wrapping paper, I was thinking,"Hmmm... looks kinda small...". When I tried it on later, the sleeves reached about 5cm away from my wrists and sweater stopped about 3 cm above my belly button... ok, I thought maybe he got the wrong size, I can just go back to change it. So I check the tag to see what size he bought... it was size M for JUNIORS!! I know I was slim (much slimmer than now!) then but was I sooooooo small in his eyes?! I decided to not change it because I had to pay much more for adult size. So that sweater became Jovan's present the following year instead and it fits him perfectly...

Last year, he surprised me with a new pair of bunny shoes since my old ones were so worn out and "holey". He brought Angel along since she is considered the next good shopper after me. They came home with a pair of nice looking, black wool slippers with embroidered flowers. My shoe size is 36 and one look at those slippers I knew they had gotten the wrong size, but it didn't matter since I was just having them indoor. When I tried them on I realized that the left one was size 38 and the right one was size 40... So I was wearing those really wrong-sized slippers and flopping around with them so much, the sole of the size 40 one finally came off, so what was left between my sole and the floor was a thin piece of wool...

Early this year, hubby and I decided to spring a big surprise on the kids by upgrading their Xbox to Xbox 360 and get them a Guitar Hero World Tour set. Kiddos were so excited when they saw 2 huge presents and they couldn't wait to tear off the wrapping paper. They were both dancing around when they found out what we had bought for them. Then Jovan said, "Daddy, the Guitar Hero is for Playstation 3." Daddy replied coolly, "Hmm....don't open it then, I'll go get it change to the right one."

I don't think he'll ever change (well, I don't think he feels the need to), so it will continue to be a interesting, hilarious and sometimes, worrying surprise when he's out shopping!

Kiddos' Night Talk

Jovan, being the big brother, has told Angel that whenever she wakes up from a nightmare and feels scared, she can wake him up and he can talk to her a little. I know, that is so sweet of Jovan and he himself wakes up from nightmares crying and will always look for mommy or daddy. However, it is very good that he shows that he's willing to be there for his little sister. So last night, Angel woke up in the middle of her sleep (and she didn't get a nightmare). This was the conversation they had:

Angel: "Jovan..."

Jovan: "Hmm... did you have a nightmare?"

Angel: "Hmm..."

Jovan: "Do you want to come up and lie with me for awhile?" (Jovan sleeps on top of a double-decked bed)

Angel: "No..."

Jovan: "Do you want to read a little?"

Angel: "No..."

Jovan: "Do you need to go toilet?"

Angel: "No..."

Then there was some rustling and Jovan found out that Angel has went out of the room. 3 minutes later, she re-opened the door of their bedroom. Jovan sat up and looked at her. She stood at the doorway, looking back.

Angel: "What?"

Jovan: "Did you go to the toilet?"

Angel: "Yeah."

Jovan: "Didn't I just asked you if you need to go? Then you said you didn't need to. Then now, you went. So why did you say no when you actually did need to go?" *nagging nagging*

Angel: (already in her bed and getting comfy) "....hmmm....."

Jovan: "Angel...Good night..."

Angel: "Good night..."

Jovan and Angel Made Dinner!

I have been feeling drained these few weeks and am really getting lazy in making dinner. Thank God for sending me 2 little angels who, with suggestion from daddy, volunteered to make dinner tonight!

So what's on the menu tonight? Macaroni and meatballs!

They had also set the table and tried to make it look nice. "Best mommy"

"Best daddy"
Ivan enjoying dinner.

Our 2 young chefs! Well done kids!

Our "Piffi Allkrydda" (All Spice) boys!

Piffi Allkrydda is a seasoning which claims to enhance the flavor of almost everything, chicken, eggs, vegetable... Jovan and Lars even started discussing what they can add the seasoning to, and they came to the conclusion that it covers almost everything except cakes, water (like put it in water and drink it, YUCK!), and probably ice cream... I don't like this seasoning at all, I don't use it and have been trying to discourage the family to add this to their food, which apparently is not working so well...

Tonight's dinner is simple fare but it was made by my 2 kids, so I was truly happy and enjoyed it. Never underestimate what a child can do, they just need to be given a chance to try. I'm proud of Jovan and Angel. Mommy loves you all sooooo much!

They ARE growing up fast and I have mixed feelings about it. Some days I wish they will stop growing and never reach teenage years, but on days like this, I'm glad they are growing up and maturing well so far.

Hopefully they will continue to mature to be responsible and sensible young adults, will keep my fingers and toes crossed!