Poo and Airplanes

Poo and airplanes are the two things that seem to wake up my baby most frequently.

This morning, I went to his room as he started crying around 5:45 and I changed him after I detected an unpleasant odor. I nursed him and put him back to sleep. Half an hour later, he is crying again and I made him cry it out for a while, but I realized that he wasn't going to go back to sleep so I went to get him. And he had pooped again. Honestly, it stinks(literally and figuratively) to have to change a diaper when they are supposed to be sleeping. After he had been awake for an hour, he pooped again. That is a lot of poop (or should I say stinkies for Janae) from one little boy in a few hours.

Lately diaper changes have become much more eventful as my sweet little man has figured that he can grab himself when the diaper is off. Maybe that was too much information, but every mother with a boy knows what I'm talking about.

We also have the luxury of living near the air force base and the planes seem to fly over our house during the nap time. Unfortunately more often than not, Saku wakes up as the roaring gets loud.

Another lovely feature of our neighborhood is the lady who does a carpool with someone across the street from us and every morning around 8 am, she starts honking her horn as she pulls to our neighbors drive way. Let's be honest here, I do not get to sleep in until 8 am, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't kind of bug me to hear her honking each morning.

What is waking you up or your kids up?

Lucky and Blessed

This little dude makes my heart smile. The one benefit of working (and sadly being gone) during the day is the fact that once I am home, I honestly spent 100% my time with Saku. I do not check my email or blogs or anything. It is serious mom and Saku time. Today we went to the park and Saku loved being the other kids there. Saku has become quite the little giggler. He has figured out when I'm trying to be funny and he just laughs and laughs. And look at those sweet two little teeth:)

I have been blessed with some seriously amazing men in my life. My dad is my friend and I love the fact that he was able to come and take care of Saku last week. I would come home and Saku would be happily climbing on dad or babbling with him. My dad isn't afraid to get on his hands and knees and play with my little man.

my family has the "apple cheeks" for sure!

Saku should become an eye model. i do not know if such thing even exists but he is so talented at making his eyes big.

Doesn't this picture inspire you to do the ragnar relay next year? He happened to start about 20 seconds before me and he actually was pretty fast.

I woke up at 6:15 on Friday morning, fed Saku, got dressed and ate breakfast before we drove to Mesa to meet at the Jarvis' house. Christina, Sharon, Spencer, dad and I loaded all of our stuff into the van and Mike (the driver of our van and Spencer's dad) got us on the road toward Prescott. Mike took a great care of us and navigated us through the night. He said he enjoyed the experience, but wasn't sure if he would do it again; the drivers didn't really get any sleep. We got to the start line about 10 minutes before our first runner Tyler started to run.

Since the team was split into two vans, we didn't get to see the other van very much. Everyone was looking fresh and excited at the start line. As the first van runners completed their runs, our van ate lunch at a park in downtown Prescott and walked around the town. My dad made a comment "Ragnar isn't so bad after all". I think he spoke too soon at that point:)

Van #2 runners sporting their official ragnar shirts. I loved hanging out with these people during the relay. Our team name was rocking relay team, which supposedly sounded like a middle age woman team name according to some young single adults that Christina talked to. Sharon said that we have included something about pumping in our name since Christina, Camille and I took turns pumping in the backseat. Poor Mike probably heard more about breast milk and pumping than he ever wanted to.

I was so ready to start my first run, which was 7.1 miles of nice rolling hills. I felt so fabulous. It was hard, but it wasn't too hard. I felt strong and enjoyed the darkness around me. About three miles into the run, I passed another runner and we ended up running together for the rest of the race. She was about 5 steps behind me, which was a great motivation to keep a constant pace. My average pace was 8:40 per mile. Troy surprised me and drove to Congress to meet me at the exchange 12. Saku was sleeping in the car, so I even got to see my little boy. After I finished my run, our van found some food at Safeway and paid two dollars to sleep on a gym floor at an elementary school. I only slept for hour and half and I actually felt terrible when I woke up. I was exhausted and stiff and wanted to keep sleeping. Fortunately, my attitude changed before it was time to run again.

My dad is amazing. He had some crazy hills and I knew that he was hurting. At one point, I almost wanted to cry when I saw him struggling during his first leg. He did a fabulous job and had a great attitude. I know he was very sore the next day, but how lucky am I to have shared this experience with him. How many dads would fly across the world to do a relay with their daughter? Thank you isi!

Due to the accident, the race was on hold for three hours or so. My van was supposed to run from exchange 18 to exchange 24; instead, the race officials made everyone drive to exchange 24. This brought changes to our distances and we ended up doubling up for several legs to make sure that everyone could run three times. We continued our run around 6 am as Sharon took off to conquer an 8.5 mile leg. Camille and I ended up running together for our second leg that was 6.3 miles. We had trainer together, so it felt good to run together during the race. We had some rough hills(just like everyone else) and I told her that walking wasn't an option so we just kept running and encouraging each other. We even passed a guy right before the finish line. We ended up running an average pace of 8:56 per mile.

We had to wear reflective vests and headlamps when it was dark outside for our safety. I did not like running with the vest on since it kept bouncing up and down and side to side. Thanks to the Jarvis' family for providing all of our gear.

Troy was one of our volunteers and ended up working at the last exchange before the finish line. It was nice to see him before I started the last easy 3 mile run. It was so nice to know that it was only three miles and completely flat. I tried to keep a pace of 8:30 per mile and I think I was able to keep up with it. My watch died after 1.6 miles so I don't know how fast I was running for the last little bit.

Camille was the one to hand off our relay bracelet to me. She made it look so easy.

Most of the team was able to come to the finish line. The team made a human tunnel for me, which was fun. We also did this for Spencer as he finished a seriously difficult run earlier.

Everyone ran toward the finish line. I know my dad said that I was being so competitive that I wouldn't wait for the team; however, I wasn't sure if they were running behind me and I was too tired to look back. Camry and Chad are leading the pack.

Camille still looking strong!

Spencer, Sharon, dad and Christina and Sam's leg. Christina looks like she really isn't sure if running is really worth it. She ran up (and down) some crazy hills and I am so impressed by her.

Christina, Camille, Camry, Sam, dad, I, Spencer and Sharon.(we missed Becky, Tyler and Dani who went home to spend time with their families)

I kept telling people that this wasn't "my relay" or "my team", but I sure am grateful for these fabulous people for joining me for this relay. I know few of them said they would do it again:) We'll have to see what's going on next year. I would definitely do it again. This time I would add some fun costumes and decorations for the vans and train little harder:)

Honestly, I don't feel like I was really able to capture the experience of relay in words. We were less stinky than expected, pretty much as tired as I thought we would be and I loved hanging out with these people just as I knew I would.

Confessions of the Working Mom

First of all, it is weird to think that I am a working mom. Second, it is very hard to juggle work and family. Third, I am so incredibly grateful for our families and friends who have offered to help us out during the first few weeks as we adjust to this new schedule.

Life has been way too busy for my taste. It has been difficult to balance a new job, training for the relay, figuring out a new calling (working with the Young Women) and trying to see my boys as much as possible.

I am not going to lie; there have been few mornings when I have woken up before 6 am and I just want to go back to the way life used to be. I hate being away from my little boy. Today I actually drove home to spend half an hour with him during my lunch break and it was so worth it. I seriously drive way too fast to get home as soon as possible after work. When Saku wakes up earlier than usual in the morning, I don't mind it because it means that I get to spend little more time with him.

I know it sounds contradictory, but I have also enjoyed using my nursing knowledge and learning more. I love using my brain in a different way than being a mom requires me to use it. If it wasn't for the fact that I was away from Saku, I would absolutely love my job.

Do I find working more enjoyable or full-filling than being at home? No way. If I had to work five days a week during the day, I think I would quit. However, I think that working three nights a week will be much better as I won't feel like I'm missing as much of my baby's life. Troy has asked me few times whether I regret my decision and I honestly don't. I feel like it is still the right decision for us. It is just a reminder that the right thing is not always the easy thing. I believe that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the knowledge and desire to take care of people when they are sick and need someone to show them kindness and help them heal both physically, emotionally and mentally.

Can I also just say how much I love the stage that Saku is in. He is so happy and fun all the time. Remember when I thought that he would be a "difficult or more demanding baby", I was wrong or maybe he has just grown out of it. My boy is such a sweet little man. My prayers have also been answered as he has done really well with Heather and my dad when they have taken care of him.

So i am tired, little sad each day as I leave home, excited about the opportunities, grateful and so in love with both of my boys.

Our ragnar relay is starting tomorrow at 10:30. Stay tuned for how our rocking relay team does!

Eight Months-Enormously Fun

Saku is eight months old. While life has been more than crazy in the last few weeks, I want to make sure to write down few things about this little boy because he just

gets better and better with each day.

Saku's eight month of life brought few fun experiences for him.

For a week, Saku got to experience what life would be like if he had an older brother. My dear friend Heather(and her hubby) and their son James stayed with us while they looked for a house.

James and Saku are 14 months apart and Saku obviously does not know how to play yet. However, he would get excited to see James in the morning and would crawl toward the bedroom where James was sleeping if he would hear James making noise.

I loved hearing James call for Saku and the boys shared the toys, binkys and the crib (not for sleeping) happily.

Saku also took his first driving lesson as we were stuck on I-10 in Phoenix after an incident of a flat tire. I was rather flustered as the semis drove 75 miles an hour passed us, but Saku loved the opportunity of crawling in the car and checking out the passing cars.

Saku gets more enjoyment out of playing with his binky than actually sucking it. He still uses it for comfort, but most of the time, he likes to be silly with it. He has figured out how to put his finger inside the sucking part and he loves to offer his binky to you. Actually he loves to offer everything and anything for you to put in your mouth and this silly mom often does put things in her mouth.

Look at this face! Even after eight months of having him in our home, I keep thinking "how in the world did I get to be so blessed to have him in my home and as a part of my eternal family".

Saku is very mobile. He crawls fast and crawls everywhere. He loves to crawl to the bathroom and stand up against the bath tub. He has learned to go down from standing up and his latest "trick" is standing in the tub and sitting down which creates a nice, big splash. Mom is not a fan of standing in the tub, but daddy thinks it's OK.

Saku can stand on his own pretty well. Sometimes he is holding onto something and just lets go and stands there on his own. He is very daring, which results in bumps here and there. His last adventure has been going down a slide in the park.

He finally got his first tooth few weeks ago, which makes his smile even more adorable.

Our first week of two working parents has gone well; however, I can't wait to be done with my day classes and be home with Saku during the day. Life is way too crazy when both of us are gone during the day. Heather has been an answer to prayers as she would come to our house and watch Saku while I was at work.

Saku, I love you. I could say it million times every day and it still wouldn't adequately express how blessed I feel to be your mother.

Sisterly Love

I love my sister Anna. We don't get to spend very much time together, but each year we seem to get closer. Every time I get an email from her, my day gets little bit better. We have very different personalities, yet we have many similar interest.

Here are few of my favorite things to share with Anna

Saku-Anna has an amazing ability to love my son. It gives me an idea of how my mom would love and treat him and I am grateful for Anna's love for my little boy.

Eating-we love to eat and we do not discriminate whether it is delicious dinners or baked goodies or just delicious Finnish candy.

Playing Games- few years ago we started to play Ticket to Ride and Settlers as a family and not a day goes by (seriously) when we are together without a good game (or three games) of these games. We talk, joke and play games.

Education-Anna and I both feel strongly about the importance of education and tend to get equally stressed about doing well. Anna has been a great support for me after I decided to go to work and she understands me and has faith in me, which makes all the difference in the world.

Talk-Many people notice that I tend to talk more than Anna does. However, I just love Anna's stories and hearing her opinion about things. When Anna gets excited about things, she just talks and talks and it makes me happy that she wants to share her life with me.

Anna will be visiting me in May and we will be taking a trip to the New York City. We are only 18 months apart in age and I know Heavenly Father knew that we would bless each other's lives as sisters and best friends.

Just What I needed...NOT

My niece and I were hanging out today and I was lucky enough to be part of this conversation

McKenna: "you are having another baby".

I can already tell where this is going, but I am hoping that I am wrong, so I ask her "do you think Saku needs a sibling"?

McKenna: "No your belly is way out here, there is another baby in there"

You have to love the brutal honesty of a four year old. I have to defend myself and say that I do not think my belly is "way out", but the sad truth is that my middle is just not the same. The numbers on the scale are actually below my pre-pregnancy weight and my legs are doing well because of all the running I do. But I do need tips of how to get rid of the softness in the waist area? I mean I know all about doing abs, but I would love to hear from people's personal experiences before I start torturing myself with crunches each morning.

And maybe I will give up sweets...tomorrow or the day after tomorrow..or not;)