Quick catch-up of the last 3 years..

 Ok, so this is my last blog from being in Sweden: http://swedishnolie.blogspot.com/2007_12_07_archive.html. Mila was exactly two months old. My oh my.
 Here is a recap of things I remember... at ten weeks, we took her on her first trip. To Stockholm! She was an angel and we had a very nice time.
 Then we had her first Christmas, through which she slept.
 Then when she was just a day before the 12 week "safe mark", we almost lost her to SIDS. That was the most difficult time in my life. But, luckily, she was co-sleeping and I found her and we got her back to life. A night at the hospital showed no damage and no reason other than a case that would have been SIDS. Over the following months, I hardly slept and started packing on weight. The stress of nearly losing her did a real number on me. And I am STILL fighting the weight I have gained. Sigh.
 When Mila was about 4 months, we took her to this thing called Baby Cafe. It was so stupid, we hated it. BUT, after it was over, we met my friend Lisa and her newborn Elsa and her husband Fredrik. Lisa and I hit it off immediately, and are still close. I miss her!
 Ok..moving on... at 7 months, Mila had some very special visitors! My mom and grandmother came from the states to visit us. We took them to Stockhom and had beautiful weather and a fantastic time.My grandmother had some sort of allergies, but other than that, it was wonderful. Then, on the Sunday before they left, Mila was christened. It was in the castle in Kalmar, from the 11th and 12th centuries. Amazing!
  Milas first summer was nice. It rained a lot, but that was typical. She started standing up on her own around 8 months. Then was walking by holding onto things within a week. She walked by herself at 11 ½ months! That summer is also when I met my friend Ulrika and her little girl Hera(who was 2 weeks at the time). She has turned out to be a wonderful friend to me!! I also miss her!!
  Her first birthday was really fun! We had a biggish party for her and she really enjoyed herself. It was Hello Kitty themed. At this time, she was saying a few things and really communicated well with us.
  Her second Christmas was pretty uneventful. She didn't really get it, but enjoyed herself.
  Second summer started with an exciting trip to the states and a horrible, emotional blow to the family. We lost our dear sweet cat Neko. He died the day after we left for the states from sudden kidney failure. It was SO difficult and I am still not over him. Alas, we went to Florida for 3 weeks and had a great time! During that visit, Milas language blossomed! She went from maybe 50 words to well over 200 and making complex sentences.Repeating books, etc. After we got home, we sold our house in Nybro and bought an apartment in Kalmar. We spent the summer packing and getting ready to move. And also enjoying the few days of sunshine. She had a little pool that she loves to sit in on the patio. That summer I met a woman that Marcus met through work. Her name is Thelma. She came to Sweden from Australia and has a little boy named Marco. They are among the most wonderful people I have ever met! And, of course, they are missed!
 Milas second birthday came just before we moved. We took her to a really old cafe on her actual birthday, and she had hot cocoa and a little piece of cake. It was so nice. Then we had a BIG party at our house. It was curious George themed. We had a bouncy house and I made a cake with a CG airplane on it! Loads of balloons, of course. She loved it!!
 Then we moved into our apartment in Kalmar. It was nice to be so close to Marcus' job, but that was about the only nice thing about that place. It took a few months, but we got it completely renovated and nice. Just in time to sell it and move back here. lol. So last winter was the longest winter I have ever lived through. We had snow from November until April! It was freezing and yucky! I love snow, but not for that long. There were times we just didn't go outside because it was so nasty.
 But, Christmas was beautiful and for the first time, Mila really enjoyed it. She didn't get the buildup, but she loved opening her presents and eating Christmas dinner. I made an attempt to make an American Christmas dinner for Ulrika, Daniel, and Hera... but it wasn't my best effort. It was still really nice to have them over to celebrate a little.
 After the holidays, there wasn't much of anything going on in our lives. It was a depressed kind of winter. We were just hoping spring would come soon!!
 And it didn't. But, it did eventually come. lol.We got our apartment on the market and it sold. SO, we started packing (again) and getting rid of things. Man that was difficult! We limited ourselves to 4 suitcases and I think 12 or 14 moving boxes. That isn't aot. But, we got it done. And we also got a very nice summer! It was actually pretty hot (for Sweden) for a few weeks. We went to the beach several times and spent many days outside enjoying the warmth! And, Mila potty trained herself!! She decided one day in early May that she didn't want to use diapers anymore, and she didn't. She wore them to sleep for a few months longer, but no more in the daytime. Yay!!!
  Marcus' last day at his job was July 30th. We spent August packing and cleaning and getting the apartment ready for the buyers.  It came down to literally the last minute, when they came to do the walk through, but we got done. The car was packed and we were on our way to the train!
 Mila really enjoyed the train ride! She said "All aboard" everytime the train was about to start rolling. Haha.
 We spent the night in Denmark so we would all be rested for the flight. Mila did remarkably well on the flight! We expected her to be a real pain, but she had a good time. She had her own seat and got to watch movies and stuff. And she was excited to get to the states.
 We arrived in muggy Atlanta and it felt like home!! We rested up and enjoyed a night in a hotel. We met up with my friend Kelly and her beautiful new baby the next day and then got on the road. It has got to be the longest trip from Atlanta to Florence on record! I dont know what happened, but what should be max 5 hours took us 7! SEVEN! We were all so happy to finally arrive here.
  We stayed at my moms for about 3 weeks before moving into our place that we have now. It was nice to have a refuge. Our house is another story. lol.
 Milas 3rd birthday was very fun! We had her new BFF, Isabella, and her mom, my friend Shannon, and my friend Kelly and her kids and lots of family! It was great! And so nice to have an outdoors garden party theme in October!!
 Since we have been here, Mila has been going to a preschool 2 mornings a week and it is wonderful! Its called Early Arts and they focus on, well, the arts. Mila is in her element! She just loves it there. We are so grateful for that place!
 Marcus got a job at Family Ford pretty much immediately when we got here. It isn't ideal, but it is a job. He has been more miserable than I have ever seen him, so I hope something else comes along soon.
 Well..that's pretty much where we are now.

Whoa! It's been a while!!

So, I had some followers with my previous blog: http://swedishnolie.blogspot.com/ The blog I tried to keep up with during my pregnancy and the first, er, 2 months of my daughters life. Then it seems I completely forgot about it.

Wow! So much has changed. I will start at the end for today and then go back to update with whats been going on for the past THREE years!

So the end, my husband Marcus, daughter Mila and I have just moved back to the US!! We are "living" in my hometown - Florence, Alabama. It's as beautiful and podunk as you're imagining. But, it's my hometown, and it's a wonderful landing spot.

We are adjusting to life here. And, um, not adjusting as well as we'd hoped. Moving across the world when you're young and only a couple is difficult and terrifying. Moving across the world when you're not as young anymore and have a 2 year old is so terrifying that one may trick themselves into believing that it will go smoothly and that you will all just be hunky-dory in no time.  I'm not complaining about anything except my completely unrealistic expectations on all 3 of us.

Look out tomorrow, because I will (hopefully) not be exhausted and will have some nice long updates to fill in these huge blanks!

Noelle