BFN - And The Long Tattoo Day

As mentioned in the title, today I got a BFN. Aka - Big Fat Negative.
Yes that's right, I am only 10 dpo and I took a early response pregnancy test.
I think it may have been sitting at a tattoo parlor for 7 hours (not getting tattooed) and the constant feeling that I should be pregnant so obviously a test would show that.
And even though I got a BFN, I am still pretty hopeful. I was a 2 pack, and I will save the other one until Wednesday when I should actually be testing.
It almost felt like a relief just testing, knowing, then carrying on with my day.

And our day started super early this morning packing the kids up and shippin em' off to school. With the new spring shoes! The sale is still ongoing on Skopunkt's website - Buy 3 Pay for 2, so if you are in Sweden now's a good time to get those sneakers!

Then Richard and I were off to Tattoo World in Höör. With a chocolate muffin from the gas station in hand we made the hour long journey north to the same place I got my rib-cage tattoo last April. The plan was for me to work while Richard got a Japanese sleeve tattoo done, but ofc no one had the internet key but the boss who was in Thailand. Just my luck right?

There's Janne working on Richard right at the beginning. We were there from 9 until nearly 4:30 pm so I had to keep myself busy doing things like... knitting legwarmers, watching Teen Wolf which I mysteriously had downloaded sometime before, buying snacks, and ofc....buying the pregnancy test.

Outlines on the top side done!

Richard has been waiting 6 years to get this sleeve done so he was pretty thrilled, though right this moment covered in ink goo, Helosan, and plastic wrap....

Shading done. Look - I photobombed!

The underside of the tattoo has a portrait which was originally painted by Audrey Kawasaki. It is all just in the baby stages now, and Richard will be going back in a few weeks once his arm has healed up.

When we got home we got ourselves packed to head on up to Skövde tomorrow to see Richard's family! We will be leaving first thing in the morning - it's a 5 hour drive up north and I hope we all survive the car ride.

Until then, the kiddos are watching Transformers on the new plasma TV and the whole house is booming. Time to call it a night and hope my sad enormous tummy calls it quits. And I will certainly keep on counting days until March 5th!

Hump day -longest day of the week

I am currently sitting without proper internet at a tattoo parlor, a fact I am very unimpressed about.

But I will go over all of that this evening!  Right now I am going to be updating about our hump day yesterday... and it really was a long long day. 

 I started the day with the most delicious yogurt - peach & papaya.  Problem is lately I have been so hungry I am eating from from 8 am until 10 am nonstop and then needing lunch early at 11 :/

On Wednesday I was 9dpo, and not noticing any new symptoms beyond my constant hunger.

After a long days work and a bit of play with the new plasma TV (I work from home ;) ) I went to get the kids and their new spring shoes! Since the weather has been early spring like lately having snow boots on seem less and less practical.  

Liam's new shoes!

 I got a great deal on the shoes - buy 3 pay for 2 ... and since Jack's mom will be taking care of his spring shoes I decided to get myself a pair of bright pink gym shoes! I know I need to do some gentle exercise at this time. Nothing major as that's not recommended but, some brisk walking, yoga, something along those lines... I think will help me alot.

Dharma's are very "her".

 In the evening I took Liam headed put to Tae Kwon Do at the local sports hall. We have been going there for over a year now amazingly enough. Liam really does love running around and playing games ^_^

After I got home I pretty much passed out. I simply couldn't keep my eyes open... symptom spotting?  Maybe.

Until later today with the tattoo update! 😚

New Hair, New TV, Lots of Noise!

Okay, so I decided I will post this evening, hopefully making it a routine to do posts at this time so I can give the full scoop on what we have all been up to.

Since I last wrote I went off to the hair dressers to fix my hair. I go to Style by Peggy - she's this lovely 23 year old lady who really knows how to treat a girls hair ;)
I had ruined all of the good work she did last September by bleaching out my hair for the wedding and uhhh cutting my own bangs in the bathroom last week (impulses!!) - but I was certain she could fix it.

Before it was really orangey and gross. Full of split ends and poofiness...But now it is a nice mix of browns and blondes <3 It looks a lot more natural, I am super pleased :D

Richard met me at the salon and we then went home and lugged (rather dramatically) the new plasma TV up the stairs to the living room. I know it doesnt look incredibly big in the picture, but the thing is massive. It's a 60 inch TV and  Richard got full surround sound for it. The thing BOOMS. We are just now messing about with Assassin's Creed 4 on it, just beautiful <3

Kids home from school - playing Skylanders!

Ziggy the Cat

We got a late start to dinner, thanks to Skylanders ;) But Richard and I picked up some lovely looking lövbiff (Swedish flat steaks - löv meaning leaf) which I fed pieces of to our cat Ziggy while cooking :-P

Any Swedish person would recognize this logo - Max - Sverige's Godaste Hambugare (Sweden's Tastiest Hamburger). It's a fresh-only hamburger joint, and they are apparently now selling their sauce in the grocery store. Fyi.... it's delicious!!

¨Jack doesn't know how to smile in photos

"My mouth's full! - Liam

After an explosive dance session with the new speakers we are all tucked away in our cozy corners. Soon, I want to make some popcorn, watch Modern Family and just relax. I keep waking up super early in the morning (symptom spotting!!) this time at 5:30 am. So I definitely need to nod off soon!.

Good night!

TTC - 3 months in and feeling like a balloon

Hello everyone!

Since this my triumphant first post, I am never sure if I should just jump right into it or spend some time introducing myself :P I think I will do a little bit of both a long the way!

This is my 3rd month of TTC and I know I should really learn patience but I am fairly convinced that it is impossible. I stopped taking the pill in the beginning of December 2013 and knew that the 7 years of taking it previously would slow things down a bit!

I am 26 and healthy (enough, I don't exercise but I will get onto that later!) and figure my chances are pretty good. The last 2 months however, I haven't had any symptoms. I was so busy with Christmas and my wedding on January 25th that I didn't have time to sit and dwell like I am doing right now.

Since the end of the last week I have blown up like a balloon and have had sharp cramps. I am hoping all this discomfort is a good sign! Richard (my hubby) says I need to stop looking at my stomach like I am 6 months a long already, but honestly I am amazed that my stomach could feel so huge 8 dpo.

Can't even sit with my jeans buttoned!

But beyond my TTC journey, it is yet another sunny day in the south of Sweden! I am an American ex-pat living in a small town outside of Malmö and generally haven't put much faith into the notion of an early spring....but snowdrops are pushing their way up from the ground and the birds have been non stop!

My 6 year old son Liam was home with us yesterday for an eye check up (all good and healthy!) and we went to go look at Bugaboo prams in Beba Barnbutik. I had a look at the Cameleon, which was my first choice, but the owner of the shop pointed me in the direction of a brand called Joolz!

The Joolz Studio Collection Pram <3

It is also a Dutch brand, like the Bugaboo, but less expensive and a bit more robust. Not to mention beautiful! I completely fell in love with the new Studio Collection design. I think I was swayed. And I haven't even taken a pregnancy test yet. Talk about being prepared!

This leather handle is divine

 Today is a big day as it is new Smart TV day, which will hopefully spark the tradition of family movie night. This has been Richard's big obsession lately, along with the new sound system so I will definitely keep you updated on all of that! I for one will spend the afternoon at the salon. It's been 6 months since I have had my hair cut and I sort of cut my own bangs last week....which now desperately need to be sorted out lest I walk around town looking like Garth from Wayne's World much longer!

Off to school - in the sunlight?!

The sun is returning to us here up north and the morning walk to school was not in pitch darkness for once. Above you can see my step daughter Dharma, my son Liam, and my step son Jack.

That's all from me this Tuesday! Tomorrow I will update on the new TV, new hair, and symptom spotting ;)