waiting for spring and a baby... almost there.

After weeks of freezing temperatures, today was sort of spring'ish, and it felt soo good and energizing! 

A lot of the snow has melted, finally making it manageable with a stroller and my big bump to actually get out and move away from our own little neighborhood and join a playgroup with friends somewhere else. The past many weeks it seems we've been in hiatus at home, which has been good and needed too. I've been working on different baby prepping projects and we've gotten to know our neighbors in the building a lot better - we have the nicest neighbors! Now the baby crib needs another round of paint and the blanket I've been working on needs a last row of stitches, and then I think we are pretty much ready to welcome this little brother. Until he shows up I'm enjoying these last days of having only Silja to care for -- and with this nice weather, actually getting out and about like we used to. 

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hearts

I guess we are like most Europeans when it comes to Valentines Day: it's not a huge ordeal. But when in Rome... you might as well make the most of it. And I suppose you (me!) get smitten by the surroundings that all of a sudden are full of hearts, flowers and chocolate. So we've been crafting with hearts and eating a heart shaped cake or two (yesterday with the accompanying Happy Birthday, because cakes in Silja's book is related to birthdays strictly).

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snowed in...

Just as we started talking about longing for spring or just getting out of the freezing temperatures, the news announced with their usual drama the big 2013 Blizzard, which would start Friday afternoon lasting until Saturday: A snow storm so big it could potentially be the worst in the history of Boston. It all seemed a little surreal when schools (including Silja's day care), and offices etc. (Bjarni's too) closed down Friday morning, and there was neither snow nor wind in the air. But it was coming they said, and instead of dropping Silja off at daycare, I brought her to the supermarket to get what was needed for a big pot of chicken rice soup and grains for home made bread, which all seemed fitting and comforting when we were going to be snowed in. The snow started slowly as we turned the corner to our building. It was a quite cosy and out of the ordinary Friday, hanging out with the other parents and kids in the building, changing between apartments depending on whose toys the kids wanted to play with next.
We woke up to a completely white landscape Saturday morning and a meter of snow on our balcony. (I think they say there was a 70 cm snowfall in our area) We were fortunate to have heating and power (others were not so lucky), and went outside on the parking lot to play and watch the snow. We couldn't really get anywhere else, most public transport were shut down and a lot of the roads near us looked like the first picture. So we stayed in again with hot chocolate, little friends running between apartments, and neighbors exchanging recipes.
Sunday was sunny and we were antsy about getting out of the house and went for a small walk, which took forever because we couldn't bring a stroller and Silja wanted to stop and play in the snow everywhere. It seemed like everyone was out, either digging their cars out of the snow or just taking in the unusual scenery like us.
Today Monday all public schools are still closed. Silja is off to daycare, but Bjarni insists on bringing her both back and forth because it's still difficult to walk. Now it has started raining, so it's all slippery and wet outside with snow masses blocking the drainage.
For us it's been a great little winter adventure, although we are still very much ready for spring and warmer temperatures. That might take a while...

 (A donut for the pregnant lady is a must...)

We ran into Yonah from our building, who is Silja's good friend. They are sitting next to a car.

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