flowers

The plants are also used to support Liam as he goes up and down on the deck




Here are some of the plants that I planted together with my mom when they were here (she was doing most of the planting). She wanted to see them so here's picture proof that they are still alive ;-)

Appendicitis

A few days ago, Jason started to complain that he had pains in his stomach. At first, I thought he was just being a typical male blowing physical ailments out of proportion. I figured he'd just had to much of the good Christmas food. However, yesterday morning he could barely walk when we took the dog out. At that point, we figured that he better go see a doctor. Said and done, the doctor suspected appendicitis but still sent him home saying that there was a 50/50 chance Jason would have to go to the emergency room within 48 hours. Unfortunately, that's exactly what he had to do last night when the pains got worse and he also developed fever and chills.

Jason went alone to the emergency room as he didn't want Liam to get scared in the event that he would wake up during the night without me being there . To me, that's Jason in a nutshell, thinking about others before himself.
Anyway, as he got to the emergency room, he had to wait for 12 hours to before he was examined by a doctor. Finally, this morning his appendix was removed by laproscopic surgery. The surgery went really well and he is now recovering at the hospital.

Thanks god everything went well! Still, there are some things that bother me about this story. The first thing is that the doctor sent him home without properly examining him, risking a rupture of the appendix. The second thing is that Jason had to sit at the emergency room for 12 hours in pain without being examined. To me, that's ridiculous. After the surgery, I talked to Jason's surgeon whom informed me that the appendix hadn't ruptured but looked very bad and was on the verge of rupturing.

Hopefully, Jason gets to come home tomorrow. Both Liam and I miss him lots!

Christmas Day

ok Elmo, time to chill
The unveiling of Jason's gift
The boys playing
The christmas dinner guests

We had a nice, laid back christmas day. In the morning, Liam opened some more gifts and in the afternoon we went over to Jen, Al and Luc's house to have dinner. Jen had made a delicious Ecuadorian stew which all of us enjoyed!

Christmas Eve

Swedish Christmas smörgåsbord
Viveka, Johnny and Marcel
Good company
Johanna and Ann Sofi toasting with julmust
Tomten
Elmo
Liam and I
We had a very nice Christmas Eve together with our friends! The food and company was excellent and Santa came to visit us. Liam was scared at first but got over it after a couple of minutes. His favorite toy was an Elmo doll.

Preparing for Christmas

These last few days we've spent preparing for Christmas. We went to a very nice Christmas brunch at Jen, Al and Luc's house Sunday morning, and the Christmas tree is in place. Unfortunately, Liam pulled it down over himself this morning and scared both Jason and me half to death. He was ok yet a bit shaken. Now we've secured it so it can't fall down.

On a more pleasant note, this is a very fun time in Liam's language development. I feel like he says a new word almost every day, or at least he gets one syllable right. It doesn't always sound perfect but you can definitely understand what he means. Today's word was "ljus" (light) as in Christmas lights and he said the whole word.

Another cute thing is that he's started to sing. For example, when he hears "the little drummer boy" he starts humming "pa rum pa pa rum" (or his version of it).

Birthdayparty in Boston

Beloved Aunty Jo at Aunty Dawn and Uncle Tom's house
Liam with Aunty Dawn
Liam and cousin Ben outside the grandparents house
Dawn watching a squirrel together with (big) puppy Grady
Liam admiring the christmas tree with Aunty Pam
Liam and pappa
Jason's parents' neighbors had beautiful ornaments hanging in their trees
We went up to Boston in order to celebrate cousin Ben's 10th birthday and get together with the family before the holidays. It was great seeing Jason's family and we got to enjoy some nippy weather.

the quest for a christmas card

The winner
This weekend I've been trying to take a picture for this year's Christmas card. This wasn't easy considering sitting still is not a top priority for a 1-year old.

secret woods with morfar

Today we went to secret woods nature center for a stroll. As usual, my dad took great pictures.

Liam could spend hours exploring if he got the opportunity
coffee's latin name "psychotria nervosa" makes you think about what it is that you're drinking
.

mamma's little helper

I feel so lucky that I get so much help around the house!


But sometimes you gotta have a little fun too!oops - got wet from the sprinkler
our plumeria in the backyard

Naples

Shell seekers
surfer
Bird outside Jason's parents' condo
Almost the whole gang (except Jason who is taking the picture)
Liam admiring the ocean
Jason's father by the house he grew up in
Yesterday, we visited Jason's parents in Naples. We had a great time and the weather was terrific.