Oh So Kos
First off I want to apologize for the delay in posting. With the holidays, two colds, and a spell of the flu I wasn't able to find time to get anything together. On that note however, my posts will likely be more sporadic in the months going forward. Although the excuses listed above are good ones, my excuse going forward beats them all. Scroll below to learn more..
Yup you guessed it. We are having a baby!! The little bundle is expected to arrive early April and we couldn't be more excited! I have been wanting to share with my readers for quite awhile, but felt it was best to hold off until we were in the "all clear" given our history of miscarriages in the past.
Of course when planning our maternity pictures I wanted them to have some Scandinavian flair so I picked out a few elements to add to the photos. One element that is best pictured in this photograph is my grandmother Marcy's Norwegian broach. The sweater can be worn multiple ways, which I will explain in a bit, but when worn this way it seemed natural to use a pin to help hold the top together nicely. I called my grandma just a few days before we were going to take pictures and asked if she had anything I could borrow. She did of course and what a special piece to have included in the pictures!
This photo is a great one to explain a very Nordic element of the photoshoot. That being the weather. It was FREEZING outside! They say in Norway that there is never bad weather, only bad clothing. I couldn't agree more so whenever someone invents a cool winter jacket that showcases a big ol' belly bump like this well enough to take pictures I will gladly wear it. We took these photos this past weekend while visiting Iowa. It was snowing, blowing, and just flat out cold. I wasn't planning to take any by this old pump house. We did because it served well as a wind block. The red captured the snow nicely though so we were lucky.
The pictures were taken at my brother Matt's house in NE Iowa near Highlandville. The location holds a special place in my heart because this very land is the land our family settled on when they came from Norway. They picked a beautiful place with rolling hills and views for miles. It must have reminded them of home with the exception of no coast line. This is about 15 minutes from the Mississippi with creeks and the Upper Iowa River meandering their way through which allows for some great fishing nonetheless.
This picture is a little bit sassy. It showcases a lot of special things though. Starting with the sweater, I purchased it on Etsy from SANDtextile. It can be worn long like in this picture and also flipped around making the longer tail a bulky collar (seen in my first picture). It came all the way from Latvia and is handwoven and knitted. It may not be Norwegian, but it is beautiful and warm having been made from merino wool.
The necklace is also special because it belonged to my husband's great grandmother. My mother in law was getting rid of some random old jewelry that had been passed down through my father in law's family and asked if I wanted any. I snagged this one up pretty quick. My husband's grandparents immigrated from Norway allowing this piece to have roots in Norway too.
Last, but not least is our little family photo. The blue and brown mittens were made by a member of my husband's family, Solveig Martinsen residing in Bryne, Norway. She and her husband Helge gave similar mittens to my brother and sister in law for their wedding and while they opened their gifts I remarked at how beautiful they were and offered to pay Solveig to make and ship us some. Not very long after that we got a surprise gift in the mail with mittens for both Tor and me!
The pups in front are our babies too. Mae on the left and Brin on the right. We were lucky to get a photo with them looking! I made the little jackets they are wearing our of merino wool, Norwegian sweater clasps, and Nordic style ribbon. I will be posting more about those in a future blog. My hubby Tor wore a Fjallraven fleece sweater too. The company is based in Sweden.
The final special feature in this photo are the trees. They were planted over 40 years ago by my dad and my grandpa. The entire hillside is full of these providing a windbreak for the house. My grandpa passed before I was born so I never met him. My family has taken many pictures on this farm as well as my parents' farm, but never in these trees. I bet my grandpa never expected it to be the location for his 12th great grandchild's first photoshoot. :)
Thank you again for being so patient with my posting. We are looking forward to April and have some grand Nordic plans in store for the little one too!
Also a big thank you to my sister Sarah Amundson for fighting the cold weather and using some of her spare time when back from Seattle to take these for us. Thank you to her boyfriend Lance Loney too for sticking out the cold to help with the dogs! We appreciate it!
