Finland Memories

Magical moment of Saku running to say hi to Joulupukki as he came through the back door. It got me, Aino and Troy almost in tears. 

Saku and Eerika both rocking their snow suits and never complaining about being cold. Even when it was -12 degrees of C.

Aleksi finally got adjusted to Finnish time and had few awesome nights of sleeping five hours in a  row and then followed by three hours and three hours. 

Saku hugging Elsa and wanting to take care of her though she doesn't need it. 

Saku and Eerika being entertained by Aino and Tatu, mummi and Ukki and Mio and Bailey.

If Aleksi wasn't around, which I would never wish for, this trip would have been one relaxing vacation as our kids have wanted to play with everyone and everyone has been so kind to play with him at all times.

Aino putting ALeksi to sleep. I love seeing my baby sister rock my baby. She will be a fantastic aiti in few years.

Ukki hanging out with Aleksi and Aleksi "talking" and cracking smiles at him.

Daddy daughter lunch date. I was a bit nervous about our outing as it was after a horrendous night of sleeping 5 am-8 am and Aleksi being in pain and very difficult to soothe, but all the kids slept while I was gone so Troy didn't have to do anything except hold ALeksi and watch his TV shows.

Professional International Travelers

Our kids did an amazing job with traveling. Our connections where Tucson-Phoenix-JFK-Helsinki. Aleksi didn't make a peep for the first two flights and then cried about 10 minutes TOTAl for the last flight. It was such a blessing. It was very uncomfortable for me to hold him the whole time and nurse him and try to rock him, but it really went well.

The kids got on their gadgets right away when we got to our gate in Tucson. Troy made a comment that we probably looked like parents who just have their kids play on electronics all the time. This is obviously not true as their screen time is very restricted, but it was a good reminder to not judge or make conclusions based on one experience/situation. 

We did allow them to watch all the movies and play all the games that they wanted during the trip though.

Troy almost didn't make it past passport control. His passport expires in February and he was in violation of the three month rule. If your passport expires within three months, certain countries don't let you into the country. Finland is one of them. We were obviously not aware of this rule. Fortunately, since I am Finnish and we had kids, they let him get through. You don't really want that kind of a situation after a long travel with kids, but they patiently waited and Aleksi slept so it worked out okay.

Aleksi's second month

Aleksi will be two months tomorrow.

Before coming to Finland, he had a pretty good schedule. He had learned to be fine in the car seat, which made school pick ups much nicer.  He took three 1.5 hour naps and one short nap in the evening. Who knows what kind of a schedule we will have after Finland. I feed him every three hours and it seems to work for him very well. 

I have been much better about handing him out to people to hold; whether it is Grandma or someone who offers to hold him at church. I don't intuitively think of handing my baby to anyone or put him down, so the fact that I lay him down and let him stretch is improvement for me. 

Aleksi very much likes to stretch out on the floor as long as you don't leave him there for too long.  He "talks" back to you and smiles big at diaper changes. 

Being in Finland has been very hard on Aleksi. His stomach issues have made him miserable on several different days and he develop a bit of a cough. I am hoping that next week he will be happier and more rested. 

Aino has become Aleksi's best friend. He will smile and make noises at her as well as fall asleep in her arms. This is obviously very much of a relief for Troy and I so we can do things together such as go to Sauna without Aleksi.

He likes the car seat that we are borrowing from Anna. It keeps him nice and snug when he has his snow clothes on. Troy even joked that we should have him sleep in it so we could get more sleep.

Aleksi's statistics at 2 months:

weight 12 lbs 4 oz (77%)
lenth 22.3 in (77%)
head 38.7 cm (32%)  

Coloring at 2 am

Eerika got a Hello Kitty coloring book from Grandma for Christmas. On our third night in Finland, Eerika was suffering from jet lag and woke up at 2 am and insisted on coloring. We put her in the garage/storage room so she wouldn't wake up Aleksi or Saku. She was as happy as could be and kept her promise to go back to sleep after she finished her picture. 

Aleksi the Finnish Baby

Aleksi likes being bundled up. His tummy does not like ruisleipä so I have to wait until my next trip to enjoy it. He was in so much pain for the past two days and we couldn't figure out why he would cry. Ruisleipä is the only thing that I can think of that would be different in my diet, so no more of that.

Husband and Dad of the Year

Newborns, sleep and staying at other people's houses can be a bit stressful for me.  I don't like to inconvenience other people and a crying baby at 2 am can do that. On the first night at Troy's parents, after 1 am feed, Troy took Aleksi to the living room and this is how they slept until 7 am. Troy did bring Aleksi back to our bedroom for 3 am feed. Troy knew that I needed my sleep and he knew that any little peep would stress me out...I guess Aleksi stirred a bit around 5 am but slept otherwise great.

So Aleksi and Troy had their first father and son camp out:) 

Both boys slept with me in the bedroom the following night:)

Cars

Saku loves cars. This is a very new development. He draws different logos. He loves to call out the makes and models as we drive from school. He draws his own sketches of cars. And when he becomes a car maker, he will give a free car to all of his family members. Camaro is Saku's favorite car.

Pictures and captions to remember our life

There doesn't seem to be enough time to write here regularly, but I want to capture few things.

Erika rides her battery operated four wheeler to preschool every once in a while. She looks awesome in her pink hello kitty helmet, Saku's old pilot jacket and sparkly shoes. I hope she will stay like this, willing to do "not girly" things in her own style.

Saku loves to play at the school playground after school with his friend Zane. Eerika joins them with Zane's little sister Layla. 

Eerika informed me that she doesn't like preschool because she has to do hard things like write her name...

Aleksi was crying and I was standing and patting his back. Eerika looked at me and said in a matter of fact voice "He likes when you move, SO walk" and she walked away.

Aleksi has started to making cooking sounds and smiles at us. We all very in awe of this cute little face.

These pictures are for his passport. The first passport picture attempt was not acceptable so we did another photo shoot. We got Aleksi's passport last week so he is good to go to Finland in six days! 

Our kids got dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner. The whole Thanksgiving weekend was awesome as cousins played. There were many hands to hold Aleksi. Troy went golfing with his dad, Kyle and Saku. Saku did 9 holes. I ran on two days. Troy biked. And Aleksi slept well enough that I didn't get too worked up.

Cambree and Eerika loved playing together over Thanksgiving, except when they both wanted to the boss and fought like cats and dogs. Eerika informed me that she wants to be Camree. When I asked her why, she said "because she has her own phone".

Why Three Kids is Hard for Me

I think I have pinpointed what makes three kids hard for me. Or maybe I should say a little baby and two other kids. I feel like I just don't get to spend quality time with any of them. Though it is mostly the older kids that I miss the time with. Since Eerika and Saku play so nicely together, I can often hold Aleksi and they don't even notice my lack of attention towards them. However, as a six week old baby requires so much time from me, I feel like I am constantly telling Saku or Eerika "hold on, I will go and lay Aleksi down" "I will quickly feed him/change his diaper" or I am pacing around if he gets fussy rather than sitting down and coloring/reading/playing with them.

I know it is a phase and most likely a phase that the older kids won't even really remember as the time when I didn't get to spend as much time with them. They still love Aleksi and so affectionally want to  touch him/kiss him/hug him/be in his face. Only once has Eerika seemed frustrated by the fact that Aleksi woke up in the middle of our game, but he continued to sleep on my lap while we played so she got over it quickly.

Oh and dinner time is hard with three kids. Or again with a baby and two older kids.  I really don't feel that it is the number of kids necessarily but the newborn. 

Aleksi really is a very calm and easy going baby. However, he isn't a baby who is okay to left in the swing or a bouncer for a really long time. He wants to be with me and then he just stares at me happily as I hold him. This is fine if I had a cook, but that hasn't happened yet, so as I make dinner in the evenings with one hand and try to have the older kids take care of their things (homework, setting the table etc), the stress can really creep into my head. Plus I feel like I am more hurried and I do more nagging lately, which I hate the words when they come out of my mouth, but I am not sure exactly how to stop them.

Yesterday was a great day. Aleksi took a great nap so Eerika and I ate lunch together uninterrupted, we read books and we played her favorite pretend game. I got to focus on her for two full hours without having to go and do something else. She went to play with Genevieve while I picked up Saku so in the car from school, I just focused on Saku as Aleksi continued to sleep. He slept for almost four hours in spite of being moved to the car and out of the car three times.

We also enjoyed a story time all snuggled together. Aleksi on my lap facing the book and Saku and Eerika on my sides. Dinner was made without an incident and consumed in a happy manner. Troy was home so he put the older kids to bed while I put Aleksi to bed. Alexis fell asleep on his own without a beep and the older kids stayed in their beds. I ran a mile on the treadmill, and Troy and I got to spend quality time together before I fell asleep at 10 pm. 

I know yesterday was an answer to a prayer as I just felt like I wasn't cut out to be a mother of three. I had emailed dad and asked for his prayers as well and I know he prayed for me and I know all of our prayers were answered.

So no matter what today brings as it is 6 am and I need to get Saku ready for school, I have a great day in my recent memory that will give the mental strength when I feel like I am not "performing" well enough.