Ormond beach now

Just wanted to say that we are now in Ormond beach. Kathy came up yesterday and Alex will come tomorrow with Buddy and Cory. The rest (Marlee, me, Linn, Lilleba and Stefan) had a beautiful drive up here today. Mostly along the coast where we stopped a few times to look at all the nice beached. Jupiter was one of them.

South Beach

Dec 27
We went to South Beach. The weather was really really cold and not even Sweded could go in the water, but we had a good day!

Miami from the car...

Lunch by Ocean Dr
             Linn                     Morfar (Grandpa)

Marlee

Marlee with mormor on South beach

Miami Ink (from TV)

Ocean Dr, Miami beach

The past days in detail


Dec 20
My parents arrived late at night
(Linn was supposed to arrive but was delayed due to snowy weather in Germany...)

Dec 21
Breakfast outside, then took off for Key West (without Linn :-(  )

Mormor (grandma) helping with breakfast

Linn arrived to Miami late and took a Greyhound bus to Key West the next day.



Dec 22

Swam in the heated pool.

Marlee exploring in his swimpants

Walked around in Key west



Southern most tip of the US
Mormor                  Marlee                 I



Linn arrived and we had dinner at a nive vegetarian restaurant.



Linn

Dec 23

Started the day by the pool.

Took a glasbottom boat ride. Nice, but nothing like snorkeling.

Watched a lot of fund aoutdoor shows before the beautiful sunset and after that we had a very good dinner att Jimmy Buffett's restaurant Margaritaville. Yummy!

Dec 24

Left early to go back to Miami.

Stopped at Bahia Honda Beach. Supposedly the second best beach in the US according to the guide book. Quite a disappointment since the weather was cold and the water was freezing!!! But, the sun was shining and we had a nice breakfast at the beach, Marlee played in the sand and everyone except me and Marlee went swimming. I am proud of my family! ;-)



Seven Mile Bridge (Florida Keys)

A very nice Chrismas dinner was waiting for us when we got back to Miami.

Marlee got to open one Christmas present... A super cute Reindeer outfit (not in the picture) from moster (aunt) Linn.

Marlee in his Christmas outfit from Aunt Jackie

Dec 25

Christmas presents for Marlee before we left for Christmas finner at Reitnauers.

Dinner at Reitnauers. Marlee was wearing his tuxedo, which he got from my friend Johanna, nice pants from Sarah and shoes from Jackie and Doug. He was the most handsome guy at the party!!

Back home again we finished opening Christmas presents.

Dec 25

Bike ride in Shark Valley with the Meyers.

Grumpy gator!

Marlee was not too exited to see the
gators... and feel asleep...

My family visiting

It is already a week ago since my parents arrived to Miami. My sister's flights could not depart as planned because of the snow in Germany so she arrived one day late. It is so much fun to have them here and we have done a lot of fun things!

The first days were spent in Key West enjoying some nice sunny days. The pool at the motel where we stayed had a heated pool which was wonderful! Marlee had a really good time :-D

Back in Miami we celebrated Christmas. Marlee got a lot of very nice Christmas presents and wore some of them (clothes) for Christmas. My family got to meet a lot of Alex's family's friends. We went to Shark Valley with the some of them for a nice bike ride. It was nice but pretty chili.

Today we took the car to Miami beach where took a walk on the cold beach (it is really cold here now!!) and walked around the city. We also went by the "Miami Ink" store from tv :-)

Tomorrow we are getting up early to head north. The plan is to watch a basket ball game in Gainesville and after that, spend some days in Ormond and the surroundings.

It is late now so unfortunately pictures will be added later, but here is a "sample".

Visit to Key West (Marlee and mormor / grandma)

Birthday, Babysitter och Christmas preparations



He refused to lay down in the stroller...

I have not written for a while and I will try to summon what we have done the last cople of days... Took walks to the bridge to watch the fish, it has almost become one of our daily routines now.

Yesterday I went to the post office to buy stamps. After waiting in line for about 30 minutes, Marlee was behaving extra ordinary, I got my stamps and went back to the car. Put the stamps on the trunk while putting Marlee in the car. Then I left... with the stamps still on the trunk... they were not there anymore when we got home... had to go back today and buy new ones (and wait in line for another 40-60 min). Today Marlee stayed home with daddy though. 

  

Baby Fish Dish Package

Last night Alex, Cory and I went out to a bar / club with some friends, called Bardot. It was the first time I went out for a few years!! AND it was the first time I really left Marlee with someone else, my mum has taken him for about 3 hours before. We had a great time but Marlee was not doing so good. He woke up shortly after we had left the house and he did not want to go back to sleep. Finally Kathy called us and we turned back home. It was already late so we got home around two.

Today we went to get the Christmas tree. It will be interesting to see what Marlee thinks about the tree once it has all the ornaments in it...

Ah, I almost forgot. It was Alex's birthday two days ago. We organised a suprise  dinner at a restaurant and  had a good. After the dinner all the friends came with us home and had some beer and wine.

Hiding in a box

I can feel a tooth!!

This morning Marlee was biting on my finger and I could feel a little tooth coming!! Maybe that is why his cold / cough will never give up? He has been crying more than normal (normal at this moment) during the last two nights and yesterday morning Alex got up with Marlee and let me stay in bed for another 1,5 hour. So nice!!!

Today is Alex's birthday! I was planning on giving him breakfast in bed and sing for him but he got up earlier than I thought he would so I made him lay down on the couch instead :-) Tonight we are going out for dinner to celebrate. Three days ago it was Cory's birthday so there is a lot of birthday cake this week :-D Yummy!

I cooked fish for Marlee two days ago, for the first time, and he liked it. So far he has liked most of the food I have made, I guess he simply likes home made food :-)

Marlee just ate on his own! (3 videos)

It is morning and Marlee and I just had breakfast together. He took a few pieces of bread to eat, on his own, for the first time!!! It is strange how he wants to put everything in his mouth but when I have put small pieces of food on his tray he does not want to touch them. Until now!

Eating with my own hands!!

The noicy little eater (drinker):

Playing with one of my favorite books:

Yesterday we went to the Swedish Lucia Celebration. All the singing in Swedish and after it they served Swedish Glögg (hot sweet wine) and pepparkakor (ginger bread). It was nice to have some Swedish celebration and hear some Swedish.



Big Lucia and small Lucia :-)




Cold Miami and Swedish Baking

Yesterday was a really cold day here and I was actually wearing a hat during our daily stroller walk, maybe not neccessary but nice. Today I have a very busy day with baking and a nice walk to the "fish bridge" with Marlee. He is lauging when he sees the fish and it was a lot of big ones today. So much fun!



Marlee in the stroller

 

Fish by the bridge



Later Alex took a bath with Marlee so i have two clean guys now! :-)

Clean darlings!

Marlee is getting better and better at crawling and is sometimes gettin around fast! And can tell that this little guy is going to explore the world in detail very soon and I have to be there and make sure that he will not get in trouble! :-)

 

The new life west



Just tried some of the cake I made and it surely turned out a lot better than the Lussekatter I made with dried yeast... I am not good at that!



Chocolate cake with Raspberry mousse
(all made from scratch, of course!)
You might need to be Swedish to like it...?



Shopper - that's my baby!!

Sorry, I never got the crawling on tape today.. Went out for dinner with everyone in the house and after that Kathy, Marlee and I went shopping... Marlee is such a good shopper! He was sitting in the cart just laughing and having fun :-D I found a nice dress for Christmas for $30, original price $139 :-)

No more news for today!

He went crawling!!!

Today he crawled for the first time!!! Unfortunately the battery in the video camera was dead but we are charging it now so maybe we can put up some proof here later today :-)

We will be back soon!

Teething sticks

Marlee and I took a walk to a near by bridge today and watched some needle fish in the water. He really enjoyed that. He also enjoying a teething stick for a while today before he realized that he really really badly needed to be carried and bursted out in load crying to make sure I would get the point. This is a very "surprising" age... Next second he is very happy just lying on the couch playing on his own... (of course I am just next to him making sure he will not fall down). 

It seems like he getting closer and closer to crawl now. He tries once in a while but so far he always end up flat on his belly :-) It is very cute! I also think that he is starting to understand what "No" / "Nej" means, eventhough he normally just looks at me, first serious, then smiling, while he tries do it again, what ever it was he was trying to do... What a "charmtroll"!!!

Now we are going to take a little car trip to see if we can find the life west and get some baby food.

Happy Marlee

Yesterday was another nice day. Kathy left early for a business trip to Mexico and Marlee and I spent most day out walking or just outside by the canal. Alex's brother was here and helped him some with his work that was due yesterday. Buddy took us all out for dinner at an Italian restaurant. Yummy! Marlee was in a really good mood all evening and went to bed around eleven. Slept pretty good most of the night.

Yesterday I found out that the Swedish church has a St Lucia celebration here in Miami January 11th, with Glögg and pepparkakor :-D I will definately be there!!

I have not really made any plans for today but I might go and look for a life west for Marlee so that he will be safe if we go out on the dinghy (the small boat). It can be an ealy Christmas present and I can just wrap up the box for Christmas, he will appreciate the bow more than the life west anyways :-)

Well, time for some lunch, Marlee just fell asleep om the couch while listening to some classical music, just like an old man!! ;-)



Napping on the couch


This video took hours to upload so the post was published long after I wrote it...

Nice day with sun! Kathy and I went for a walk with Marlee to the ocean and after that when Marlee was napping, I went jogging for about 20 min. The first real exercise in a year!!!! I am pretty surprised that I actually manage to run for so "long"! See how I feel tomorrow...

At the moment Marlee is sleeping and he has for almost 2 hours and it is 7.40 pm now. It normally does not affect his night sleep so lets hope it will not this time either. He got some white bread with Philadelphia cheese this morning which he really liked. My dinner plan is chicken mixed with veggies and some avocados. I do need to start making him some fish dishes, too!

I saw today that the Swedish radio have a channel with only Christmas songs (and no talking) so I put that on when Marlee went to sleep. I have had it on his whole nap and maybe that is why he has been sleeping for so long!? :-)

That is all for today! Now I am going to have some of the cherries Alex's parents got for me today!!! :-D

Day in the park

Another shiny day! Alex has been working and Marlee and I took the car to the park, Dante Fascell Park.  Really nice weather! Marlee was mostly interested in watching the other kids playing but he also had some good laughs in the baby swing :-D

I do not wanna make a big fuzz about it but right now Alex is on his way to a restaurant to see a friend, Mario... AND... he has Marlee with him!! AND I am still at home. I am really happy that they get some daddy-son time together without me interfering! I am so excited and proud of Alex!

Just a random sign in our neighbourhood..

El computo has arrivo :-)

So I finally have a computer again!! Not that I cannot borrow the computers here, but it is so nice to have my own again!!! Be able to organize everything and stuff :-) But it was a hassle... Decided to get a Netbook but realized after one day of research that I would have to pay $150 extra to be able to have the keyboard in Swedish!!! Important since English does not have Å and Ä and Ö. It just was not worth it! After looking at the Internet a lot and visiting a few different stores I finally got myself a Dell and so far I am very happy. Enough of that!

So what about Booger... He is eating like a horse and have started to make "air-kisses-sound". Soooo cute!!! He is doing very good during the day, happy and giggly, but the sleeping is still an issue. Tonight I am going to try not to give him the binky when he wakes up and see how that works... There will probably be a lot of baby rocking tonight so please sent me some strength!!

Apart from looking for a computer Marlee and I have been enjoying the pool. I went swimming, Marlee only sat in the little "water thing" between the hot tub and the pool, splashing water :-) If he did not have a cold I would have let him go swimming if he had wanted to. Leon and Doreen came over the other night, too, and Marlee really enjoyed their company!

For the Swedes: Hanna Graaf and a blond dude that I recognized were on TV today. They are going to start some new show in Sweden I think..

Think that it is for now, lets see what pictures I can add and after that I am going to prepare myself for the night!



The head grew... need a new hat!



Only another 14,5 year left! (at least)



Gas leak

A wonderful hot day with sun and a little breeze :-D Marlee and I have mostly been spending the day around the house. Checked out the pool (no swimming though) and the dock. Marlee really wants to stand up ALL the time now. Sometimes he keep himself busy with a box or a toy on the floor and that is when I try to get something done... The box for the high chair his farmor and farfar bought him kept him busy for quite a while :-D Alex has had a busy day working and he is still working on an article that is due today, or I guess before tomorrow morning ;-)

So what happened with my computer you may wonder (if you have read the previous blog post)?? Marlee and I went to the store but shortly after we arrived they had to evacuate everybody because of a gas leak... The whole buiding (plus a few other ones close by) had to be emptied and suddenly all customers from all the stores in the building wanted to leave the parking garage at the same time! What a mess!! Both the fire department and police were there to organize the evacuation and the traffic...We got home safely without any problems but with no computer... Expect to be luckier tomorrow, if not, I can always go to a different store...

Jackie, I have just finished my cooking of the squash. Kathy and I had some for dinner (it was too healthy for the guys ;-) and the rest is now in the freezer.

Marlee just went to sleep and so will I now. I hope you all have some sweet dreams!

Sunny Miami

Miami is serving us beautiful weather and Alex's parents is offering us tip top service :-) Me and Marlee have visited a few stores with Kathy and the other day Marlee and I went out on Sonny's and Leon's boat together with Kathy, Sonny and Meredith (Sonny's daughter). It was a great day! I went swimming and Marlee was laughing most of the time. He even got to practice driving the big boat with Sonny!! :-) Alex had to stay home working..

Today I was happy to talk will everyone in my close family on skype. So nice!!! Miss them and is so looking forward to have them here soon!!! (Pappa, ser ju jatte bra ut pa Faro!!! Ska bli sa spannande att fa se det pa riktigt!) After that Kathy, Alex, Marlee and I went to church and Sunday mass. It was probably the most entertaining mass I have ever been too, the priest made jokes and it was great music!

Marlee is eating more and more solid food and today he had "frikadeller" with mashed potatoes. It was a hit and maybe the chicken dish I made today will be popular, too... Time will tell...

My computer is broken so unfortunately there will not be any photos before I have solved that. Will hopefully go for a laptop hunt tomorrow :-) If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know, I have not looked into this market in a few years and feel a little rusty... Now I am going to do some computer research, see you all soon!

Love

Catch up

Time to add some pictures from the passed week and give a brief update.

 

At one of the motels on the way to Florida



Alex and Marlee on the beach, Ormond Beach

  

Nancy, Betchy and Marlee in the house in Ormond Beach



Marlee with one of the dogs, she (the dog) was so nice to him!



After spending time with Nancy and Bechy in Ormond we stayed one more night and then took off for Callahan where Jackie and Doug live. Had a nice reunion dinner with them, as well as Alex's sister Cindy, her daughter Ariel and her boyfriend and brother. Super nice to see them all again!! Marlee got a lot of fun toys from Jackie and Doug! Even I got a little present, a nice book, Mother Love :-D  

Last breakfast at Jackie's and Doug's

Stayed two nights with Jackie and Doug (and their dogs and cats :-) and we got to see Troy and Michelle (Alexs's two other older siblings). During our second day at the house we had a shooting competion. It took them quite a while to convince me to use the gun. Not really my kind of thing. In the end I did use it, but Alex had to cover my ears, even though I had ear plugs. I simply dislike the sound very much. I did hit our target(a paper plate with some stripes :-)  !!!

 Foto: unknown dude ;-)                                                         
Alex,      Jorge,       Alex,         Tina
                  Marlee

On the way down to Miami we spent some time in Gainesville to see Alex and Jorge. Unfortunately, little Lucas could not come but we will meet up with them again before we leave the States. Can't wait to see him!!! 

Well, now we are down in Miami and last night we had the pleasure to have some dinner over at Joyce's house (friend of Alex's parents). Very good Turkey!

Today it is Thanks giving and we have had a Turkey dinner again. Really yummy. My favorite was the sallad with apples, raisins, marshmallows(!!!), some white sauce etc as well as the cranberries!! Marlee's favorite was surely the sweet potatoes :-D Well done, Kathy!

Quick update

Location: Miami

Time: 00:28 am

Will write a better update tomorrow and add those pictures that I have promised for so long... We have met so many good family and friends the last days and I wish that I had time to spend more time with every one of them! Thank you Jackie and Doug for being such wonderful hosts!!

Oh, and now Robyn (Swedish singer, she is good) is on TV, Late night with Jay Leno. Sweden rocks! ;-) Little weird outfit though, but I guess I am not cool enough to understand the fashion...

Well, see you tomorrow, time to sleep!

Time: 00:41 (gosh, do I write slow... ;-)

Sleep Marlee Sleep!

It is almost midnight and Marlee is wide awake playing. He does not seem to have any plans on going to sleep... We have tried stroller walks, singing, nursing but to no avail. All this travelling surely has given us some sleeping issues. Time to start waking up early and waking him up!

I know that I have promised to add some pictures but I am sorry. The energy to deal with that is just not there today.

Met up with farmor Kathy today, to hand over Snowy. It was a short visit but good to see her! After that we had our first drive through chinese food ever. Really good!

Mum, dad and Linn, Super nice to talk with you today!! And you, too, Johan and Bosse ;-)

Beach!

Great day in Daytona and Ormond! Sun, beach, good food, and above all, great company! Betchy, Nancy, Alex, Marlee and I have enjoyed the day and it ended way too quickly! Marlee got to play in the sand a little and dip his toes in the ocean :-D Early tomorrow the girls will be leaving and we will sure miss them a lot!!!

I am really enjoying being in a nice clean house! Thanks Kathy and Mike for letting us stay here!

BOOGER PROGRESS:

Marlee did some great progress today, he made it from sitting to stading by holding on to the couch table!!! (and I missed it!)

Now I am hoping to very soon see all the family here in Florida and let them meet the booger.

Pics will be added shortly.

Kentucky to Tennessee to Alabama to Florida

We arrived to Florida today. Nancy and Betchy (friends that went to school with Alex in Brasil) were waiting for us in the house in Ormond beach. They are here for the weekend to spend some time with us :-D

We spent last night in Alabama. In a very simple little motel with very bad Internet so I did not update the blog. Was not that much to tell either... Today we made a quick stop in Tallahassee, which is the capital of Florida, where Alex was going to meet some people at a Florida newspaper.

After we arrived to Ormond the four of us, plus Marlee, went out for dinner. After that we have just spend time at the house. Now it is almost 3 am so time to go to sleep... Little Snowy is here with us, too :-D

Kansas to Missouri to Illinois to Kentucky

So continued our roadtrip today. It is more transportation than roadtrip since we do not really have time to make any stops except for eat and sleep. Did one exception today and stopped in St Louis to look at the arch, the highest man made "something" in North America. It was dark so the pictures did not come out very good but I might add one when we get to Florida. Now it is time to go to sleep. Just have to make sure Marlee understands that, too ;-)

Roadtrip started (Denver - Kansas)

Lying in the bed at a motel somewhere in Kansas (Junction city). We started the road trip around lunchtime but got stuck in traffic in Denver so spent 2 hours therer before getting on I70 (Interstate 70) east. The rest of the day was spent on I70 which is a pretty long highway... Kansas kan be described as rather flat and "grassy". No trees and some small towns every here and there. At the moment Marlee is esaping his bed. We decided to put him on a matress on the floor since the crib the motel lent us smell bad. As soon as he decides to sleep I will do the same! It will be a long day on the road tomorrow!

Golden touristing

Foto: Alex

Spent yesterday in Golden together with Jenny, Inger, Göran and Tessla. Unfortunately, Chad could not come but we had a great day. Golden is a very charming little town about 30 min from Denver. It has a famous university (Colorado School of Mines) and a lot of nice art all around the town. We started the day with an art exhibition where Michele had some beautiful scarves for sale. It was a lot of very nice things to look at and buy!! After taking a walk around Golden we had lunch. The “Sundströms” (Jenny is now Gilbreath) were going to a birthday party and left but Alex, Marlee and I looked around a little more and visited the Coors brewery, which is located in Golden. Supposedly, the largest brewery in the world! Included in the free tour were 4 beers each!! Felt bad not to drink it all but what could we do… Forgot to say that we also visited a rock museum before going to Coors. They had a lot of really cool rocks (not the music)! 

The founder was a German immigrant, which
probably explains the use of the word "Bock" :-)

 

Today we went to church, spent some time at home and then went to Brittany, Joey and Charlotte-Mary for dinner. I brought a Swedish “Kladdkaka” for dessert. We had a very enjoyable evening. Back home now and I really feel like going to sleep. These nights are “killing me”, waking up between 6-10 times is no fun! Poor Marlee is having too many bad dreams...

Today is also father’s day in Sweden so I talked with my parents on Skype :-D "Hoppas att du hade en bra dag, pappa, trots att varken Linn eller jag var där... Marlee hälsar till morfar! kram från mig".

Alex and I have not really decided which day to celebrate, Swedish or American, and so far we have not celebrated any, so lets hope for more celebration next year, daddy Alex ;-)



Funny sign in Golden, apparently the bridge
had once broken because of too many cattles