Dodo l'enfant do

The past couple of weeks were supposed to be nothing but calm and chilling at home finding our new rythm with the two girls. Instead, our little Maddie got sick with an ear infection, which earned her her very first trip to the hospital at the ripe age of 3 weeks old. Needless to say, our quite little rhythm went down the drain. Thankfully Madeline is a little champ, and she kicked that ear infection in the butt, karate style.


Watch, Olivia....soon your sister will be able to karatke-kick your butt too ;)

And so, I am now taking also my revenge. And taking any opportunity I have to just enjoy holding my little girl in my arms.


Watching her sleep. Listening to every little breath coming in and out. Memorizing how tiny her feet and hands are, because soon enough they won't be anymore. And catching a glimpse of a smile on her face, when my guess is something pleasant crosses her dreams. Like, probably the thoughts of the next ration of milk she will get from her mama when she wakes up :)




Sweet dreams my love.

2 weeks. 2 fast.

Before Maddie was born, I had those big plans for great shoots that I was going to do of her. I imagined I'd be taking my best pictures ever, because it was going to be my little baby for once, and I'd have all the time to just do whatever I wanted with her. But as it turns out, I've been enjoying just watching my little baby girl sleep, and the last thing I want to do is move her around and maybe risk to wake her - hehe, that's the tired mama speaking here :)


But I also knew that if I didn't catch her little hands and feet during the first couple of weeks, it would be soon too late. Before I'd know it they would already be too getting to big. So last Thursday, Troels was away for work in Finland, Olivia was sleeping at her grand-parents, and it was only me and the littelest of our little girls waking up with the sun after a (very) early morning feeding. And for some reason that escapes me, I not being tired enough to go back to sleep, I just sat there watching her. And I felt it. The urge to have pictures so I could remember this moment in 20 years.

And so I jumped on my camera, and took some pics. Quickly. Very quickly. Before my eyes decided it was time to close again and drift back off to dreamland. And now I am so happy I took these pics because I can already see the changes happening in her eyes, in her face. Oh it is so true, what they say, that these little ones grow oh-too fast.

Finding new limits

A few days ago I had a conversation with Troels about how, before having Olivia, we thought that having one child our life would turn crazy and we'd have no more time for ourselves once she'd get her. But we adpated, pushed our limits, and all was fine. Then before having Madeline, we went into the same kind of thinking, believing that once our second child would get here, then it would REALLY be over with our freedom...but as it turns out, things are magically turning out to be ok "_


We seem to be finding more time than when it was only the two of us - granted, no sleeping at night because of a newborn WILL add a lot of hours to anyone's day ;) We're giving more love than we thought ourselves capable of. We're getting more love than we could ever ask for. All limits are being pushed, and we're learning to deal with the new set of cards in our hands.


That is, most of the time. I would lie if I said that change and new limits is always welcome with open arms. Sometimes the limits are pushed on us, and it doesn't go so well. Sometimes I get scared of change too - oh it doesn't necessarily mean that I don't want the change. But sometimes we're just tired of the constant movement of things, and all we want is just want to rest. Take a breather. Not have to think for a minute.

This weekend my parents were here, and I got to test the limits of my tiredness. I had felt quite full of energy since Madeline's birth....and then my parents came, I forgot all about resting and taking naps, and before I realized my mood turned 180 degrees and I was snapping at everybody. Let me tell you, THESE are limits I don't want test again!

Regardless, we had a wonderful weekend. Olivia loved hanging out with her Papou and Mamie all weekend, and my parents were so happy to meet their newest grand-daughter.










On Friday we went to Bakken for a walk in the forest before we hung out at the fair.







And while we were walking in the forest, Troels secretly lead us to a nice spot in the shade, got a bottle of champagne and some plastic cups out of nowhere but a surprise celebration. Celebrate what? Maddie. Family. Walking in the forest. Life. Such a small thing when you think about it, but I know I'll remember this moment shared in the woods forever. How much I love this man. And that love, my friends, I keep on learning that it has absolutely no limits.








And on Saturday, we had planned a nice little afternoon picnic in the park in Hilleroed with Troels' family, but the storm caught us by surprise, and we had to run under a big old tree (the kind I like) to stay dry. Troels' mother treated us there with homemade muffins and warm drinks. And somehow, being stuck under the tree and hearing the storm with a warm cup of tea in my hands calmed by cranky mood of that afternoon. It was, in its own way, just a lovely, unplanned moment of the weekend.







In other news, Troels passed his hunter's license and golf license tests last week, so let me tell you I have a happy man at home. And more reasons to pop open some bottles full of bubbles over the weekend :)

Oh and you see this hat? Troels loves his new hat...and when I say LOVE, I mean it. They always say, happy wife, happy life......but I think it also goes the other way around ;)

And so, the minute I close my eyes and breath in, and think about all of these moments within all the crazyness, I realize how wonderful things have been getting over the last few months and years, despite -or rather, because- of these sometimes scary changes. We take chances, leaps of faith, and just have to trust that our life will change just for the better. And that we'll learn a thing or two about ourselves along the way.

And so yes, pushing our limits, it's a good thing. A very good thing indeed.