Et par favoritter

Hun sjarmerer oss i senk!!

Strolling around the local lake

Today we are a bit lazy after an interesting night of sleep.

We went for a walk around the local lake and she likes the stroller. Well prepared for Østensjøvannet in our backyard back home in Norway.

Having a nap outside in fresh air is also very Norwegian.

The first 24h as a family

We have now been a family for a little over 24 hours. Somehow it feels longer, but on the other hand it is still a lot to learn - especially about each other. And we keep discovering. It is good with wifi so that we can build on reference-parents among our friends and family to check what is within the broad range of normality! Also, thank you so much for all the gratulations - it makes us so happy that we have so many that share this joy with us! And joy it is! The joy of making weird noises, the joy of a quite successful tummy time, and I think I speak for both when I say the joy of seeing each other together with Emma Rose.
She is so lovely, in general very content, and likes to play and cuddle. Here are some more photos😍

Forever Family

Dette er den store dagen - vi har offisielt blitt en familie på tre❤️❤️❤️ Og dette er for mange de første bildene av Emma Rose🌹
Det har vært en følelsesladet dag, og den er ikke over. Vi har tilbrakt tiden etter domstolen sammen alle tre, og vi lærer (fort). Emma Rose er veldig flink til å si fra når det er noe vi bør tenke på, og ellers er hun veldig vennlig og rolig slik de nye foreldrene hennes tilsynelatende er på overflaten også😁 Av dagens magiske øyeblikk var da hun endelig roet seg nok til å sovne i favnen til Maarten og da jeg fikk henne til å le og vi lagde masse lyder sammen❤️ Dette er starten på noe veldig stort!

For the Belgians: hope you get google to translate and maybe that the photos does not need translation!

How to change lifestyle

Here is a shot of our living room table.

The game is to identify items that need to be placed elsewhere by tomorrow this time.

We took our chance at a hopefully somewhat acceptable and workable answer.

Our first encounter

Today we met our daughter for the first time!

She is lovely, cute, beautiful, and everything else we could ever imagine.🥰😍

She spent the last 8 months at a foster family that did an incredible job of providing her with a safe and caring environment to grow up in.

We played a little, fed her, and then she slept on my arm for an hour before we transferred her to Ingrids arms for a safe wake up.🤩

We spend 2,5 hours together and left her there.
This was the plan for several reasons.
Tomorrow we meet her again to pick her up and go to court, where we will become her parents officially. The court is in the same town where she lives now, so we wont have to drive her back and forth too many times. We are sure that she will have a good last day and night with her foster family.

Until court has done its job, we cannot share the pictures we really want to show. But for all those waiting impatiently, here is a first impression 🥰

Kala-liljen

Det har vært mange store og små tegn på veien hit. En som flere har fått med seg er kala-liljen. Blomsten har sin opprinnelse i Sør Afrika og er et symbol for en som bringer glede. Den var i brudebuketten, som også var på førstesiden i profilen vår. En av de som blomstret i mange hjem denne våren ble stelt så pent at det dukket opp en baby-kala. Da jeg så den på en restaurant i Belgia, så tenkte jeg at den betydde noe mer enn bare en tilfeldig blomst. Her er veikantene fulle av denne liljen og jeg kunne nyte den hele veien til og fra safari i går. I går kveld oppdaget jeg at bildet som henger på veggen her vi bor har akkurat dette motivet med tre liljer💚

Catch of the day

I think we got really lucky and got to see a good selection - sometimes really close! Beautiful geology and flowers also, and sunny all day! Happy about our tour:-)

The Big 5

Today we are visiting a private animal reserve.

Plan is to see some of the big 5 from a bit more close by.

Robben Island

Some impressions from our trip to Robben Island.

A good combination of important history, scenic views and a taste of Cape Towns Waterfront.