WELCOME!!

Blogger Boss needs to decide what this is going to say about how crazy her life is & how she loves coffee & walks with her hubby.


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

A new heartbeat

Today I had my 1st pregnancy check up.  At 11 weeks along me and the very friendly nurse, who spoke really good English btw, (yess!!) went over all the paper work, previous pregnancies, what labwork they need, when I will have my 1st ultrasound etc.
I stepped on the scale, and considering the size of the baby (few inches long), I have gained an unproportional amount of weight.  How can I be so hungry when I'm really not eating for 2 yet??  Ah well.

The nurse asked if I wanted to hear the baby's heartbeat, IF she could hear it!  At only 11 weeks it can be hard to find, but even if you don't find it, there's usually no reason to worry.  I wanted to try anyway.
I was delighted to hear a strong and loud heartbeat!  Our little one in there.  It suddenly made me so excited to have another person coming to share our lives!  I can't wait to meet you!

Monday, August 29, 2011

A new friend...

School has now started it's 3rd week.  Last week I noticed how my 3rd daughter acted more angry and frustrated than usual.  Teasing and bugging her sisters, getting mad and moody over the smallest thing.  Sometimes she stomped off without any expanation at all.  Well, she's female, I know that explains a bit, but still....

On Friday evening I was pretty fed up with her behaviour, when I also remembered that rarely do kids act up like this for no appearent reason.  Everybody has their "off" days, when everything is gloomy, but this girl is usually quite smiley... Something was wrong.  I took hold of her and told her to "come here"!.  She stiffly let me hold her, and I asked how her week in school had been.  That opened the floodgates, and she went limp in my arms...   Awww!  "What's wrong?"  I asked.
She told me she had not had a good week in school.  EVRYTHING was bad. 
"Well, you just told me how you are enjoying science after all, and that your new teacher is pretty neat!"
"Yeah...."
"Have you been playing with your usual friend?"
"Nooo...."
Oh.
This friend of hers was her rock last year when we were new in the country.
Actually, so was her new friend.  Her family moved from the States just before school started a year ago, so these two had hung out like two peas in a pod.
"Well, so what's going on?, Does she have a new friend? Is she being rude to you?"
"No, she just runs away from me, and she won't talk to me..., I don't know why!!"
Ouch.
9-10 year old girls can be pretty tricky to figure out.
So instead of dwelling on her friend that isn't treating her very friendly, I asked if there are any other girls she'd like to play with. 
"Maybe"
"Who would you play with instead if you can choose?"
She told me the name of a girl, and I asked who she usually plays with.
"Nobody"
My heart took a nosedive.  Whenever I hear of a kid who plays with "nobody", it stings in my heart.
I also remembered that the girl she was talking about would always smile when I saw her.
I also remembered that this girl has a few physical disabilities that makes her look a bit "different".
I asked my daughter how she thought it would be like to grow up, going to school for many, many years, never having a good friend to hang out with.  And the reason being something that is totally out of your control...
We both agreed that it would be very, very sad.

Today my little girl is making a new friend in school.  I hope they "click" and that this could be a turning point for a lonely soul.  My daughter can teas and bug her sisters, and at times be moody, but she's also smiley and pretty, and she has a very easy time to find new friends.  I feel so fortunate that she's choosing to become friends with someone who does not have the same advantage.... Good luck girls!  I'm rooting for you!
And of course I told her not to forget her friend from last year... I hope 3 is not a crowd!!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Some house pictures

I got a camera, and I took some pictures, that I will now share with you! :)

Our fireplace in the kitchen

Cool power tower for the island!

View of kitchen...

Also kitchen....

Looking upstairs from our dining area

From hallway, looking in to the livingroom,
the windows on the wall up on the right are located in our MrBedroom

Standing by the glassrailing upstairs, looking down...

There, there's a bit.  We have some trimwork and other finishing touches to stay busy with,
but we already like our new home a lot!
As things get more done, I'll post more pictures!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Announcing the latest family news!!

So folks, we have an announcement to make.  I had planned to wait maybe a few more weeks, but we told the kids yesterday (I haven't seen them that excited for a while!!), so we might as well make it public.
If all goes well we are looking forward to Welcome a new family member around March 20th!
Meaning I'm about 10 weeks pregnant.

This also means that Big Guy and I will be parents of 8 children!!  Wow.  I've gotten used to 7, but 8 sounds like a lot of kids!!  I guess 7 isn't far behind (duh!!), but when you hear the new number of kids, I guess you kind of realize that "Wow, we have a big gang going on here!"

The kids are so, so happy and excited.  Our two oldest have been literally nagging for another baby lately, and it's been hard to keep quiet...  I found out (the 7th test finally dclared it, blue line of white background, what I had suspected for a week or so back at the end of July)  the morning after moving in to our house.  Of course Hubby is over the moon, he gets all proud when I'm pregnant.  "I did it again!!"  I wasn't as excited to be honest...  This last year has been so busy, with so many changes, and after JUST moving in to our house, I really felt that some "down time" was a good idea.  But not.  I guess I'm tougher than I give myself credid for??
I am excited now thou, and despite being tired, I feel really good, gaining weight at a fast pace.  Yohoo!! 

I guess we are all crossing our fingers for a little brother for our only boy, but whoever is inside there will be very very welcome in to this big loud bunch!  A new connection to our new country.  I'm a bit nervous about upcoming check-ups etc, realizing that my Finn is still very limited in many situations...  I always had such great care back in Canada, and with our 3 youngest I had the privilage to have them at the brand new, beautiful maternity floor at the local hospital.  So far I've been happy with the health care here too, but I was a veteran in Canada, having 7 babies there, so well, I guess I'll just wait and see!!  Anyway... I guess this will give me new blog material this fall and winter!!  I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Back to school!

1st day of school here in our town.
The 4 oldest happily hopped in the car this morning for their drive to their bilingual school. (Finnish/English)
It felt good to see them all happy and excited about going.  Excited about seeing their friends again after a busy summer. Our oldest is starting 7th grade, meaning she's going to a different school for kids grade 7 to 9.  It's smart to keep those ages separate from the rest of the world, I think (age 13 to 16), as this might be some of the hardest years in a kids life.  She'll be with all the same kids from her old class, so everything isn't new, but many things will be different, and some new subjects will be added to her schedule.  Good luck #1, you get to try everything 1st!! 

A year ago they were a lot more nervous going to a new school in a new country for the 1st time.  Now they know a lot more of the language, they have friends and things have become familiar.  My hubby stuck around for a bit when he dropped them off, to see if anyone needed help finding their way, but after a few minutes he realized he had been left in the dust as the 4 of them all went on their merry way!

Good luck to all of you!  Have a great 2nd year of school in this new country of ours...

For the 3 at home I have some plans too.  Our youngest will be at home with me for now, he's not even 2 and I can't imagine leaving him with some stranger :( but for the 2 girls, who are 5½ and almost 4, I really feel they need to learn Finnish.  And it won't come from me!!  So, we have signed them up for ½ days, alternating 2 or 3 days a week, starting in a month or so, at a daycare nearby!  They are very excited, and I'm excited for them!  1st time for both of them to do anything away from home and mom!  At their ages I bet they'll catch on fast with the language, which will make it so much easier for them to get to know new friends in various situations!  (and then they can teach me a word or two!!)  Good luck to them as well!

Hubby is keeping busy around our house, trying to get the outside done, as well as some attic stuff.  He's also working with his brothers, and they have many things going on, so he won't be bored any time soon!!
Little Guy LOVES being outside with my husband, watching him work.  How can a dad get any cooler than working with loud tools, climbing on ladders and building things with his hands? 

So what am I doing??  The same as usual.  Keeping the fort down.  Making sure everything is in order at home and at school.  I'm getting more and more boxes out of the way, and soon I can get started on the boxes that we haven't touched since moving overseas last year!  I bet a lot will end up in my donation stash, as I after a year in an apartment have come to realize how little you need to "survive"!  Of course there are many neat things I will want to keep as well, so it might be kind of fun going through it all!  A trip to IKEA is definitely a must. I need more bookshelves and cabinets in order for me to properly organize anything from outdoor clothes, games and books and art stuff as well as our nice china... What else?  I'm considering continuing Finn class in the fall, but we'll see how it fits in with our busy schedule!!

Well, I did get a new camera too btw, so soon I'll post some more pictures as well!  Tudelu till then!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Our town!!

Summer is pretty much done around here.  The kids are going back to school on Tuesday after enjoying a summer break that started in early June.  It's been busy and the time has most definitely gone in fast forward speed.  We have enjoyed a lot of visitors.  Our oldest daughter got to try her wings when she went to Sweden by herself for a month in June-July.  We moved.  We are getting organized.  We became catowners of 2 sweet kittens.  Our last summer visitor left yesterday, and for the 1st time in a LONG time we sat down for a family dinner consisting of just us!! 

I feel a bit "sadish" about saying farewell to our 2nd summer here in Finland.  We might still have some warm days, but when school starts, things go back to normal, and hitting the beach won't be as easy.  I'm thankful that we took the opportunities to go to the beach as often as we could thou!!  We have enjoyed the lakes, saunas, nature, berrypicking, park and harbor visits, and many visits to the "Hiekkalinna" = "Sandcastle".  This is an annual tradition that this city is becoming known for.  They rebuild the sandsculptures each year, each time showing a different theme.  This year it's "Circus" (I feel at home there).  There are lots of things to do there; sandsculptures to look at, a huge sandbox for the little ones to play in, a mini town to play in, free rides and little snack and ice-cream booths to go to for refreshments.  This year they also had the obstacle course that our 3 oldest went on.  Well you have to move forward by your own strength and balance and courage, and they really liked it!!  Big Guy went too, and it was funny to see him balancing his way across the obstacles right after our 3rd daughter who's about half his size!!

I'm becoming a big fan of our town.  It's a family friendly place, and there are many things to do, for free, in an uncrowded, safe environment.  Here are some pictures from this summer that show you some of the fun we have had!

Here's Big Guy balancing his way across the 1st part of the course.
Our oldest is slipping on the barrels!

Sandsculpture

#4 on one of the free rides!! 

More sculptures....

Part of the little play town, the little kids have so much fun playing in all these houses.  There's coloring stuff, play kitchen toys, and in one there are a bunch of those balls that kids love to roll around in.

Making their way across!!  Many meters above ground.

I don't know how they dare...

Big Guy getting a good work out!  He said he was beat after finishing the course!!

At our friends cottage where we had saunas and jumped in the lake!!  Our kids LOVE this activity!
Sauna, lake, sauna, lake....

At our beautiful harbor downtown.

At the downtown beach.  Across the lake is the harbor and sandcastle park.


The greatest part of this beach is the super nice playground that's situated right on it!!


Big Guy and #3 on the obstacle course!!  A bit of a size difference!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Visitors, Birthday and Getting organized

Today our overseas visitors left to head back home.  It's with sad hearts we saw them leave, but with happy memories sharing the space.  We had such a great time together, and got to do many fun things.  Our 2nd oldest and her BFF had a packed schedule, including shopping, swimming in the lake, taking saunas, picking berries, visiting with friends, going through an obstacle course and last but not least, the highlight of the trip, "Horsebackriding!!"  They even got to try galloping a bit!  After a few hours on the horsebacks, they came home with huge smiles on their faces.  I'm so happy everything went so well, and now we wish them a safe trip back home to Michigan!  A special thank you to BFF's aunt who made this trip possible.  It was a pleasure to have you here, and our door will always remain open for you!  Thanks for all the help as well, our Little Guy talked about you this morning!  We will miss you both for a long time!

Our 4th girl turned 8!!!
Happy B-day dear "S"!!  I'm looking back to the day you were born, and I still marvel over the fact that you decided to enter this world 10 days early, and not the same amount of days past due, like your older sisters did!!  This made my pregnancy 3 weeks shorter, and I'm still thankful for that.  My water broke at midnight, after an evening spent with lots of friends over at our house.  I had seen my Dr the same day, and he figured this baby would follow my previous babies patteren, so he was pretty surprised to see me in the hospital hall about 12 hours after my appointment!!  At 6.13 am our 4th little girl was born, weighing 6.13!!  She was born on my older sisters 30th birthday, so we named her after my sister.  This new addition was a quiet and content little soul, and that sure made our lives easier when our 3rd daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, only 3 months after our baby's birth.  Our lives became increadibly busy, it felt like we had twins!!

The 1st year of #4's life is a blur to me, but from all the pictures we have saved, I can see "S" smiling, looking content and happy.  She could sit, or lay, and play with toys for long stretches, this I do remember, since she was our 1st baby to do that!  By 10 months she still didn't show any interest in crawling or walking, so I figured she'd be a bit later than average, but soon I discovered that when this lady puts her mind to something, she gets stuff done!!!  So shortly after her 1st birthday she was walking.
She was the same way when it was time to learn how to talk.  At 21 months she didn't say much, but by 2 years old, she spoke in scentences!!  And that's the way she is.  She's not in a hurry to be 1st, but when she wants to do or learn something, she gets the job done fast!  We love having her as a part of our loud gang, just like all the rest of them, and I wish her a blessed year as an 8 year old!  We all love you so much! xoxo

What else??  Well, this house is getting more and more livable for each day.  My hubby and I have both been busy cleaning and organizing.  Today I'm tackling some windows in the foyer, there are 8 of them, but they are tall and skinny so they go pretty fast.  I WILL get a camera soon.... then I'll post some pictures. Here are a few that our visitor downloaded on our computer....

BFF's in the woods

A beautiful evening spent at our friends cottage.  Swimming, sauna and good food.

Making a birthday cake!

Pink marzipane for the birthday girl!
(Good job big sister who made the cake!)


Obstacle course

This is high up in the air!



Our lovely kitchen (messy as usual...)

Livingroom

Horseback riding!