Most of my posts over the last six months have been about how overwhelming and difficult our international move was. (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C.) But now that we've been here for nearly three months and finally received our stuff (two-and-a-half months after it left Sweden!), it's starting to feel like the move is over....
Family
Prefering Privacy: A Story of Infertility and Miscarriage
A while ago, before this debacle of an international move began, I wrote a post about announcing pregnancies and talking about miscarriages. While I didn't get any comments about the post on the blog, I heard a lot from friends via Facebook and email, most of whom had lost a pregnancy at some point. Hearing...
(Meandering Thoughts About) Settling In
Finally, after nearly a month in our new home, we’re starting to feel settled. The boys have been at their new preschool (the local Montessori school) for just over a week, James has been going to his office every day and LOVING it, and Zoë and I are working out our routine together. She mostly...
Surviving, But Barely
At last, we have arrived at our new home in Oregon! It's been a long journey, and even though we've been here for five days, it still surprises us to actually be here. Somehow it seemed like this moment would never come. But let me be honest: it hasn't been pretty, and it hasn't been easy.
Spending All Day At the Playground
We needed a mini-adventure today, so we packed everyone into the car and drove into Stockholm. Our destination was a new (to us) playground in a part of town we've never visited. We stopped at the grocery store on the way down and picked up enough snacks to last us the day, and then we...
What Have You Been Thinking About Lately?
I don't need to mention how long it's been since I posted or how badly I feel about that—I'm sure those things are obvious. I've had lots of ideas for posts and zero time to write them out: we were in England for a week, visiting family; two days after we returned, we hosted family...
Announcing Pregnancies and Talking About Miscarriages
A dear friend is in the early stages of pregnancy with her second (and third - twins!) child, and she's not sure when she should begin telling people. She really wants to start talking about it (because twins!), and she's starting to show (twins!), but she hasn't yet crossed that unofficially official threshold of when...
On Overwhelm
In 2014, we moved to Sweden and we had our second child, Leif. Having a baby and moving internationally in the same year was incredibly stressful, and I vowed not to do it again. Well, it's 2017, I had a baby a few months ago, and we're preparing to move back to the US. That thing...
A Huge Announcement
So, I have something to tell you.
Raising Gender-Neutral Kids in Sweden
Last Thursday, when I arrived at school to pick up the boys before the long weekend, Leif was wearing a hot pink skirt over his pants. They'd done some dress-up for Easter and he hadn't taken off the skirt yet. When I commented on it ("I love your pink skirt!"), he seemed pleased and proud, then continued to...