Ten Months-Tons of teeth, love and giggles

Our little boy is 10 and half months old. He has become such a little person. Few of his friends have already turned one and it just blows my mind that a year ago, there were bunch of women with big bellies(and some with small bellies) waiting for their babies to be born and now we get together and the babies are crawling and walking around.

Saku loves being outside. We took to the local park that has an infant swing and he got a kick out of it. Though he did enjoy playing with the dirt more. Saku loves putting things in his mouth and then spitting out onto your hand when you ask him to do it. He likes to help in the backyard when we pull weeds. He has his own little shovel that he pokes the ground with.

He is consistently sleeping through the night and usually takes good naps. Some mornings he wakes up and plays in the crib for a while before he lets us know that he is ready to hang out with us. This morning was a sad sight as I walked into his room and smelled the vomit before I even turned on the lights. Poor kid had thrown up all over the crib and then slept in it. Yes, I felt like a terrible mother as I scrubbed dried vomit off his face.

He has learned to shake his head when we say "no". He likes to sing when we sing. Still no real words, but we aren't expecting much since he is learning two languages and bilingual kids tend to start talking later. However, I am looking forward to the day when he says "mama".

We tend to see temper tantrums when we say "no" and during diaper changes.

Saku has figured out how to bite. He likes to give big open mouth kisses and today, he seemed to "confuse" kisses and biting and I got few bites on my face. He has six teeth: four on the top and two on the bottom.

He has been exposed to Baby Einstein lately as I have needed time to shower without him in the shower with me. Thanks to YouTube, we can watch Baby Einstein without buying the DVDs.

He is mostly getting bottles nowadays. Every once in a while, I nurse him, but it really is more for a cuddle time than for nutrition. I thought I would be sad when nursing would be over, but I think both of us were ready to move on.

Last week, Camille gave me a sweet present(though she probably didn't think of this way). She emailed me pictures of Saku while he was hanging out with Haley and Trevor. I never worried about Saku while he was with Camille, but these happy pictures of my little man made me happy. No matter what, I always feel little guilty when I am not there with Saku 24/7, so it was such a blessing to see how much he seems to enjoy the company of his friends.

Saku, you make life busier than ever before, but we can't get enough of you. You are such a social, silly baby with a curious personality. You love to give strangers big smiles and they adore your big blue eyes.

Today

Today

I was exhausted after a long, busy and stressful night at work.
I was delighted as Saku greeted me as i got home and he gave me a sweet smile with all six teeth showing.
I felt the spirit bear a testimony of my Heavenly Father's love for me.
I was relieved that a small conflict with a friend was resolved.
I laughed and screamed as Troy chased Saku and me around the house.
I received a much needed shoulder and foot massage.
I cried as i discussed the stress of being a new nurse and my doubts about my abilities.
I was comforted by Troy's support and sweet words.
I survived another day without sugar. Seven days done and 14 to go.
I was grateful to hear my hubby's even bresthing as he snoozes and I cant sleep because it means I was home and hopefully sleeping soon.
I smiled as i thought of the upcoming visits from my brother and sister.
I decided to try to uplift others more and stay away from people and situations that bring me down.
I missed my mother and her advice.
I got to learn more about myself and hopefully change for better.


Today had its ups and downs. More ups and downs and that is what counts.



-- Post From My iPad'

Climbing up from "funk"

Last week, i was in a funk. Life was good, but i was just feeling so blah and since there was no specific source for my lack of excitement and love for life, i wasn't sure what to do. The bad thing about feeling funky is that you dont feel like doing anything, which makes it even worse. It's a vicious cycle.

So today i woke up and decided to do something about it. Here are few things that helped me to get out of that nasty funky mood and feel good and happy.

I worked out. Oh, the fact that my abs are hurting makes me happy. Doing squats and lunges while holding mr. Saku gives a little extra boost to the workout. He thought it was entertaining and lets be honest, i do almost anything to see his silly smile.

I am doing a no sugar challenge for 21 days. Sometimes i just need something to work towards that has a measurable outcome.

Saku took two fabulous naps, which meant that my house is clean and i made a nice healthy dinner for my family.

I received texts from dear friends that cheered me up. I think they acted on inspiration because i needed some love like that.

I called Troy several times to chat with him and just to tell him" i love you." cheesy? Yes, but important to me.

I watched a general conference talk to bring little more spirituality into my life.

I took care of few phone calls and we all know how much i love(not) business-type phone calls.

The moral of my story. We are in charge of our moods. Nothing extra special about today, except i was ready to be out of the funk.

What gets you ouf funk?

P.s i apologize if my comment about stay-at-home moms vs. Working moms added to someone's funky mood. I dont think i explained myself clearly enough so the content is gone.

-- Post From My iPad

Catching up with life

Last Friday, Troy threw a birthday party for me. He wanted to do a surprise party but I figured it out. It worked well since I was able to help
out because let's face it, making food for bunch of people isn't easy.

I had a good birthday. I enjoyed a pedicure before my party. It's amazing how pretty toes can make you feel better. My friends spoiled me with giftcards to a running store, Chipotle, Macys and a Visa card. I love gift cards because I cant save the money, I can do guilt free shopping. I already cashed in at Macy's for a new pair of shoes and a new bra from Victoria's secret.

Troy surprised me with an iPad. I know what you are thinking, " is that a present for Troy or Eevi". He is obviously excited to have the new toy around, but he genuinely thought that it would a good fit for me since i like blogging and watching TV shows online. I am still getting used to it and i am little undecided about its user friendliness for other things than just reading and watching. Saku likes cuddling with me and watching Baby Einstein on YouTube.

On the night of the party one of our friends made a comment about how our day must have been "like a rat race" referring to how busy that day had been.

Lately I have really felt like our life is a rat race. We have been on the go for weeks. I feel like I am 80 percent stay home mom and working full time. There are days when I get about 4-6 hours of sleep in 30+ hours as I work the night shift and then come home and take care of Saku. It reminds of having a newborn and no sleep. However, it is important to me that Saku doensn't have to be at other people's houses more than absolutely necessary.















I have six nights off and I am going to enjoy this little boy and all his drool, stinkiness and even the feisty temper tantrums to the fullest. Plus simply sleeping next to my husband seems luxurious as well.

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Wrapped Around His Finger

For the first few months of Saku's life, I kept saying to Troy "isn't Saku so adorable" and he would obviously agree, but his excitement level wasn't quite equal to mine. Now that Saku is walking and playing games, Troy keeps telling me "isn't he just so awesome". If there ever was a man who was in love with his little boy, Troy is one.

Today Saku figured out how to take his diaper off. I put him down for a nap just in his diaper (rookie mistake) and fortunately, he kept crying so I went to check on him and as I picked him up, my hands found a cute naked butt. The other day, he somehow opened a bottle of nail polish and dumped on our carpet. Fortunately, he didnt eat any of it, but he does have one pink finger nail.

Saku showing off his bottom two teeth. He also has two on the top, which makes his smile even more adorable.

We took some pictures of Saku's first Easter. I didnt get him a special outfit, but he did get a little bucket that had few books and some plastic eggs filled with cheerios.

Saku's new way of smiling when he is really happy.

I didnt get an easter basket, so I bought a new dress for myself :)

This picture makes me feel like Saku and I are just best friends.

The timer light made Saku little suspicious, so he kept the poker face no matter how many pictures we took.

On Thursday morning, Saku and I were enjoying the beautiful sunshine on our backyard.

"It's so much better to have the hat in my mouth than on my head. "

"Check out how fast I can push my walker"

"Big boxes make great toys"

"But dirt is even better"

"Especially when mom is taking pictures of me, instead of telling me to stop eating it"

"I'm so glad mom seems to always have the broom out so I can play with it. It really is one of my favorite toys. I wonder why she keeps sweeping underneath my chair ALL the time."

"How did I get so lucky to have two beautiful ladies with me? Especially when they are interested in basketball!"

I loved watching the three babies play together. They are all two months apart and have such different personalities. Camille and Camry have been huge help for me in the last few months and I was grateful that I was able to offer some service back to them as they enjoyed a date night with their hubbies.

Ex-Boyfriends and the Hubby

I have always loved boys. I do not remember a time when I thought that boys were yucky. Now that I am happily married, I sometimes think back to the days of high school crushes, breakups and the drama that comes with love or what you think of as love and I am glad that those dating days are over. There are few lessons I have realized about boys and I hope to pass them along to my own daughters one day.

Boy #1. I had my first kiss when I was 15. I had gone back to Finland by myself for Christmas and New Years. I met the boy a Youth New Year's Dance and hung out for few days. He was few years older and little bit of a wild boy, but he was cute. He cried when we said goodbye. My mom wasn't happy about this boy and told me that I shouldn't hang out with him ever again. And I never did see him again.

Lesson learned: moms usually know which boys are good for their daughters and which aren't.

Boy #2. During my Freshman and Sophomore year of high school in California, I was completely infatuated with one of the football players who was in my english and history class. Yes, I was a typical high school girl and liked the good looking football player. I think he was aware of this for a quite long time. In the end of my sophomore year, I asked him to go to a dance with me. He said yes and I was in heaven. I wore a skirt that was little too short. We had a good time at the dance, hung out few times and went on one official date. We never were an official couple and things just kind of died down.

Lesson learned: A girl shouldn't feel like she is so lucky to be with a boy and if you feel like you need to wear a short skirt to be attractive to the boy, you are selling your self short.

Boy#3-I met my first official boyfriend in a math class. He offered to help me to study for a test. At this point, I was completely oblivious to his interest in me and I was just glad to be getting some help. We studied a little bit and talked most of the time. He went out of his way to do cute things such as give my sister Cherry tomatoes because they were her favorite. He wrote a poem for me and made a mix tape. I was his first kiss. We dated for a month, he gave me a golden rose for our one month anniversary and I got him a teddy bear. Few days later, he broke up with me and wouldn't talk to me for months. I was so upset, I lost weight and obsessed over what happened. Eventually, he apologized and I moved on.

Lesson learned: Sometimes you just need to let it go. I wasted so many hours obsessing over what happened. Sometimes feelings are unpredictable and can't be explained.

Boy#4-End of Junior year, i met the bf#2 at a dance. We had our first date at Starbucks, which was ironic since I don't drink coffee. He went off to college and I moved to Finland after we had been dating for few months. We did the long distance relationship for 6 months and then I broke up with him. I ended up moving back to California and we saw each other again during his spring break and got back together. We ended up having a long distance relationship during my freshman year at BYU and we were "serious". We talked about possibly getting married, but he was catholic and I obviously wanted to get married in the temple. We struggled, but I always felt that we had been together so long(2.5 years) that I had too much invested in the relationship.

Lesson learned: There are things in life that cannot be compromised and life is so much easier when you share same beliefs and values.

The Boy- I met this boy and we clicked right away. I was with my current boyfriend at a time and broke up with him because I realized that I really wanted a man who shared my values. As cheesy as it sounds, it felt like I had always known him. There was never awkwardness. We were great friends and I couldn't get enough of him. I told him that I was too young (19 years old) to get married and since he was old (24), he better be ok with this. Yet, we started talking about getting married in a month or so and got engaged after 4 months dating. We got married in a year and life has been busy, full of adventure and love ever since.

Lesson learned:when you find a boy who is your friend, who you love to kiss, who makes you happy and supports you, you better make sure he stays around. And most importantly, make sure to find a boy who can take you to the temple so you can be together as a family forever, because one day you will have adorable children and you could never forgive yourself if you wouldn't be able to be with them forever.

I know there are some fabulous people who read my blog, so I am challenging every one of YOU to share your story about your husband/wife, the crazy ex boyfriend /girlfriend, the hopeless crush you had or whatever you have learned about love.