Sunshine and freedom

At the beginning of this year I had set my mind on finishing all three of my classes and getting started on my thesis by the end of the semester.  I am currently done with two of the classes and my research topic has been approved.  So, i'm calling it a successful year so far.

However, life got chaotic around us.  With Christian back at work, I had  a lot less time to study, and Nico has been more and more active lately.  My first two classes were very challenging, and it took a lot of effort to finish them, not to mention a few tears and lots of coffee.  Plus, the weather in Norway has been so dull that I had no energy left in me. That is why I hand't posted in a while, but...

This week everything changed! I finished my exams, started a new interesting class, and the sun came to visit us again.  I feel a lot more relaxed and I have more time to take Nico on long stroller rides and enjoy the warmness.

Today we visited The Vigeland Sculpture Park and had a lovely walk.  Later, Christian came to join us for the first picnic of the year.  It was lovely and I feel refreshed and ready to finish this semester!

Nico has been a little sick, and needs lots and lots of cuddles.  He was not the best sleeper during my exams week, but he is feeling better now.  My little baby is growing up too fast, he can almost crawl! He has become very chatty and can say "ba-baba-ba" and "ga-ga-gah", but not "mommy" or "daddy" yet.  It will be exciting to see what language he begins to use.

Here are some pictures from our beautiful day,

Love and friendship

Happy Valentine's Day!

This has been quite a busy month, so I haven't been able to post as much as i'd like.  However, I was able to get some very cute pictures of Nico today that I would like to share.

We got up early in the morning after a difficult night.  Christian had been traveling this week and so it was up to me to understand Nico by myself.  I was not sure if he was warm or cold or hungry, so I brought him to bed with me at 4:00 after he has been waking up every hour.  That seemed to do the trick and we both slept until 8:00!

Nico was in a very good mood this morning.  So, I decided to take advantage of this and make a Valentine's Day card for my wonderful husband.  I smeared lipstick marks all over the babe and we had some fun. Later, his grandma came over to babysit while I attended class.

This are the last weeks of my first block in the semester, I am taking two very interesting courses, but the exams seem very challenging!

Anyway, here are some pics from today.  Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's!

5 months

Today my baby Nico is 5 months old. He is growing way too fast.  I almost don't have enough time to enjoy his babyness! Me and Christian spend some time very night talking about him and we just try to help each other remember all the amazing things that he brings to our life every day.  I just want time to slow down so I can enjoy my little corazón.

This month was amazing.  We went to Ecuador and Nico met lots and lots of family and friends of mine. He also got his first cold, started eating solids and learned to say "bah". I am going to make a re-cap of what the Ecuador trip was, and hopefully he'll have a glimpse of all that was going on.

The main events were Martin's Baptism, Christmas, Nico's Baptism, New Year's Eve and some parties and dinners here and there.

Martin is my brother's baby.  He is 9 days younger than Nico and he had his baptism while we were in Ecuador.  Here are some pictures:

My mom and sister

Our nephew Martin :)

Primos!

Christmas in Ecuador means one thing: family. This year it gathered us together on the 24th of December at my grandparent's house.  We were lots of people.  It was noisy, funny, and loving. It is amazing how much my family means to me.  Spending some time with them every other year is definitely not enough.

less than 1/2 of the people that were there

Happy face :)

Very appropriate 

<3

He got beer from his secret Santa

Beer again!

After the Christmas holidays, we decided to baptize Nico too! We had a very little ceremony at my parents house.  It was very nice! Nico liked the priest and he really appreciated some cold water to cool him down in the heat of Ecuador.

My friends were all happy to meet the baby boy.  Unfortunately it was impossible to gather all of them at the same time, but here are some of the moments we got to spend together.

Being able to spend some time with my nieces and nephew was amazing! I hope the girls enjoyed Nico as much as he did.  They were really good at making him smile and laugh with funny faces and  sounds.  We sure miss their constant desire to entertain Nico during diaper changes.

Look up, Martin!

Look up, Nico!

There we go.

Nico's 5 month birthday was celebrated with going to the doctor, getting him a warm wool onesie and starting him on carrots! He did not like any of it. He got vaccinated in both his legs, the poor thing.  And carrots are not his favorite food at all. But he did get to enjoy mommy and daddy at home most of the day.  Christian started work again, so we schedule our days around my classes.  It is going to be a challenging semester! 

Here are some of Nico's 5 month pictures :)

This busy momma has got to do lots of readings to do.  But I will make a post soon about New Year's Eve in Ecuador through the eyes of a stay-at-home dad.  Stay tuned. 

Ecuador!

Our little family travelled to Ecuador the past weekend.  It was a very long trip, but totally worth it.  We get to spend Christmas, New Year´s Eve, Christian´s birthday and my birthday with my family and friends.

The flight was not as horrible as I had imagined.  Yes it was long, and yes we got sick from the air conditioning, but we made it!

Waiting to board

Slept through the first 2 flights!

Yay! we made it!

He took the entire hotel bed to himself :)

When we arrived in Quito we were greeted by my parents and nieces.  They were so happy to meet Nico! And this whole week has been spent meeting friends and family and showing-off our baby boy.

Reunion de primos 

They are 9 days-old apart!

I also got to enjoy some of my favorite ecuadorian things: Mangos! and try out the new flavor of beer.  It was pretty good. I missed a lot of foods from Ecuador, so we are trying to have a taste of everything while we are here.  Christian is a big fan of ecuadorian food too.

Digging through my old things I found the teddy bear that I used to love when I was little.  I decided to share him with Nico now, and he loved it!

Best friends

Enjoying each other 

This baby boy will be 4 months old this Saturday! Me and Christian can not believe how fast he has grown.  We have loved every day with him :)

No longer a new born

Since the time difference is 7 hours between Norway and Ecuador, we have terrible sleeping schedules right now.  Nico wakes up around 3 in the morning, thinking that its time to get up and play.  It doesn't help that we all have a cold.  But luckily we are on vacation, so we can catch up on sleep by napping during the day.  Both boys are asleep right now, so I am going to join them too!

First semester: Completed!

This tuesday marked the end of my first semester as a masters student.  As soon as I submitted my home exam I was done for the year, and it was an amazing feeling! Now I get to enjoy the holidays with my family.  Right now we are packing and getting ready because our journey to Ecuador starts tomorrow.

Nico helps me pack

This last weeks have been crazy.  Staying up until the early morning hours to finish papers, read, feed the baby... and then start all over again! A long vacation is exactly what we all need.  

However, we did manage to sneak in some joyful time with friends and family that we won´t see until after the winter break.  Here are some pictures of the Christmas night with our norwegian family.

Christmas dinner

Nico in a bow-tie

Santa came early this year

The first snow!

Another event that I want to mention is the end of Movember. Christian grew his beard and kept it the whole month! He was sad to shave and now he looks 18 again.  Here is the change:

And a little surprise!

Ok, back to packing! Wish us luck on Nico´s first flight :)