We Began the year by going to LaCosta spa for a weekend of hanging by the pool, eating well and getting massages. Boy it was nice. Around this time of course the biggest event of the year (our opinion) was when the US elected in a landslide election our first African/ American President Barack Obama. We almost cried when we heard his "Yes We Can" speech. January was also the month when I finally got diagnosed with having hashimoto disease after struggling with symptoms such as hair loss, weight gain, fatigue, constant cold, dry skin, swollen face and feet, muscle pain, swollen thyroid, cyst growths and much much more for years. I'm not happy to have this disease but at least I know what is is and can begin a road to minimizing symptoms and today I feel so much better than I did a year a go. The disease is chronic and genetic but with major lifestyle changes I responded to the medication very fast and the disease is controlled. Unfortunately at the same time they did discover that my kidney's taken a hit from the hashimoto and are not as happy as they should. But they are both working well so for now they will just monitor it and hope for the best. In the spirit of my illness me and James embarked on a cleans and detox and felt great after that. We're now committed to a healthy lifestyle with room for goodies.
February was a wet month but that never stopped us from our now every weekend hikes in Mission trails. It was a also exciting times because Bella moved from a crib to a big girls bed which she picked out her self at Ikea. Our little girl is now growing like a weed like she loves to remind us of. I also hosted my first prenatal partner yoga workshop with the help of Andrea. It was so much fun.
In March we spend our yearly family weekend in Palm Springs with the Somervilles and Meltcalfe's. The weather could not have been better and we spend most of our times in the pool or hiking. This also the times when Bella started to become way more independent and liked to choose her own food and cloths. Her favorite food for March was broccoli, broccoli and more broccoli. We had to bribe her with broccoli to get her to eat pasta, bread and protein.
April was the month of Bella's first professional haircut and her own words afterward was "Mommy I'm pretty now". Well you have always been pretty but the new haircut sure was cute. We also travelled to Sweden to attend a wedding but first we had some great time in Stockholm with Ansi and Johan. Bella also got to go on her first horseback ride and pet a couple of horse on a trip to the stable with her godmother Frida. I took one night away to go visit Nina and to meet her new addition Pauline.
May was wedding time when we got to see Susan walk down the aisle with her someone special Peter. She was so beautiful. Bella was so amazed by the whole thing she keeps telling us still that Susan got married!!! Bella got to try her very first hot chocolate and now there is no stopping her. But she is good because she knows she has to eat food first and chocolate later. On our way back to the US we stop over in London to see Miles and Sheena and their new addition Amelie. After a looooong journey home we were so happy to be home and was looking forward to a nice summer at home.
June was father's day and I took James and Bella to Catalina Island. We had so much fun and Bella loved the boat ride out specially since a school of dolphins followed the boat out to sea. Catalina is a small island just outside San Diego but it feel like your in a foreign country.
Bella got her first Hula Hoop and she loved it so much she made James get one too to join her. Now she loves doing it naked but James opts for keeping is cloths on. Probably good because the neighbors agree that's a good thing. We always love going to the beach and as of this month we had one more reason when we discovered dog surfing. Yep you read right. A friend of ours and his dog Abby is competing and we love going to see all the dog, specially Abby.
July was the month of my 40th birthday and our 80th birthday party. We decided to celebrate together this time with friends and family. But before this we celebrated 4th of July with a trip to Seattle. We had such luck with the weather and it was sunny and warm everyday. We absolutely fell in love with this City and not only because they had the best darn vegan donut. Isaella's highlight was discovering the muppets. Bella went for her first dental check up and everything looked good but two teeth were still missing.
In August Bella decided she no longer needed naps which was not true so we had a couple of afternoons when she fell asleep standing up. So after a lot of hard work we finally got her back on track with nap time. Bella's favorite cartoon is a Swedish ghost called Laban and in one episode he goes camping so Bella started bugging us about doing the same. Since we always loved camping we though it would be a great time to go. Unfortunately it was a miss since we ended up middle of the dessert with temperatures of 100f and winds so after spending a day suffering we returned home. We'll try again but not in the dessert. In August I had oral surgery after my dental implants failed and needed to come out. All I can say is it hurt like ##%$%## to put them in and it was worst taking them out. I was on liquid diet for 2 weeks and lost 5 Ibs. Not bad!!! This is also the month Bella turned into quit a climber and jumper with absolutly no fear.
We had been looking forward to September because that's when Jessica and Karl came to visit. We had blast with them and this is when "operation work" was born. It was the code name for us four going to Las Vegas for a night of fun without Bella. We knew if we told her we're going to do something fun she would be sad and want to come with us so instead we said we're going to work there. Boy was it hard work eating, drinking and gambling. Karl and Jessica also showed us how easy it is to get around San Diego by public transportation. Around this time Bella really got into helping me out in the kitchen and we had to buy her a step stole which she called by it's Swedish name pall so that she can see what is going on by the stove.
October is always a busy month for us because we have James birthday, Bella's and Halloween. So James joined me in the big 4.0 and Bella turned 3 with a huge party with friends and family. Halloween she was dressed as a princess (who's surprised?) but only tricked and treated for about 5 houses. She so much more enjoyed handing out the candy for the many many kids who showed up at our door step.
November, I came down with H1N1 flu and spent a whole week in bed but was back on my feet by the time we left for Hawaii and Kauai. Andrea came with us which gave us some time for dinner dates and yoga together for just the two of us. We rented a beautiful big house and had a great time for one week. We arrived home late Thanks Giving Night and woke up the next morning with the whole family having pink eye. James traveled the week after and me and Bella had some quality time together which was nice because I was leaving her for a week for the first time in December.
So in December being homesick for winter brought me to Sweden for a week. I have not been home for a holiday or winter for 4 years so it was time. To Bella's dismay it was too short to bring her along and she was truly sad to see me go. However she and James did great, a matter a fact they did better than I did who missed so much. I had fun spending some time with Nina, Molly, Bibbi as well as Ansi and Johan. I shopped for Christmas presents for Bella and even got to see a little bit of snow. It was great but not greater than seeing my sweethearts beautiful faces and hearing Bella's voice calling "mommy, mommy, mommy" at the airport. While I was in Sweden James and Bella went to a traditional Swedish Christmas dinner hosted by Ikea. Christmas eve we hosted our traditional Christmas dinner at our home for friends and Christmas day morning with James parents. New Years eve we had a great dinner with friends even though we all were battling a cold.
It was a great year and here are some of the things we're planning for for the next year: cooking classes, traveling to New Mexico and kiss and hug each other a lot. Happy New Year everyone!!!!
ame out which I have fallowed is the rapid decline of polar bears because of the temperatures warming up in their home area. You can read about this 
