Fazer Visit

Aino and Tatu got creative with their Christmas present this year and arranged a visit to the Fazer candy factory. 

Saku was disappointed at first as he wanted a gift that he could do something with, but I think he changed his mind after the visit. They got to sample candy, learn about the factory and even brought home a goody bag. Eerika was excited and graceful about the visit all along and wanted to wear her beautiful Christmas dress for the occasion. I love that while her clothes decisions sometimes clash with fashion, she is herself and wants to show respect for the occasion or use her imagination. 

Aino and Tatu are so wonderful with the kids. 

Finnish Kids

One day in Finland it was -20 C. I went to the temple with dad and Paula and as we were driving home, I saw kids walking around and I made a comment that Finnish kids are resilient and I thought that I should try to teach our kids to be more resilient. When I got home, the house was empty and Troy had taken the kids to the park nearby.

The kids played there over an hour. We have resilient kids:) 

20 weeks

This morning I woke up and could feel Little Moose moving around. Usually I feel him in the evening. At exactly 19 weeks, Troy could feel Little Moose moving around for the first time. 

I feel really blessed about this baby. I know I felt like that about Saku, Eerika and Aleksi, but after an emotionally challenging first trimester and even the weeks before I could feel Little Moose move, I was having some fear that something would go wrong. While I do think that this will be our last baby, and this made me happy during the first trimester as I struggled with exhaustion, nausea and anxiety, I am not 100% convinced that I want this to be our last one. I am not saying that I want more babies or that it is the plan for us, but during this easy part of pregnancy, it is not hard to imagine that this could be done again. I feel blessed that I feel so great and that I can feel the baby move. 

I was really consistent about working out until our trip to Finland and the lack of gym and regular rigorous exercise has left me feeling anxious about weight gain. It is just psychologically hard to know that someone will be weighing me and tracking my weight for the next 20 weeks. However, Troy took a picture of me yesterday and I feel great about the way I look so it gave me some anxiety relief. It is vain but it is hard to have your body change in such a public way. 

We find out the sex of the baby on Tuesday so only four days away. We are thinking that it is a boy. since that was the doctor's prediction at the 15 week appointment but it will be nice to have it confirmed and make sure that everything is going well with the baby.  Eerika and Saku are both hoping for a girl. 

Aleksi's Exploding Vocabulary

Aleksi is talking nonstop. Daily, sometimes even hourly, he comes up with a new word or a phrase and we are so excited.  Somehow he has become this little boy and I think he is really happy and proud of it. 

Tonight he pointed to "where the baby is" and then when I asked him who he was "a boy" he proudly said.

He is constantly asking "where did ukki/mummi/isi/äiti/saku/tatu go?" He doesn't know how to say his name or Eerika's name yet. 

Finnish words that he has learned in the past two weeks:

kissa

palju

mökki

nakki

pulla

naku

tutti

While it isnt a new word, he was happy to point out the plenty of nänni at uimahalli. Aleksi loved the vauva pool. Vauva is also a reference to anything small in addition to an actual vauva. 

He loves to say the word bum. He asks to go "eat" when he wakes up, even if he isn't really that hungry.  

It's wonderful that some things, like watching your kid learn new things, never get old even if it is your third kid. 

Christmas 2016

Each Christmas is a bit different depending on the kids ages and whether we are in Finland or in the US.  This year Aino and Tatu went to Tatu's family for Christmas Eve, so it was just Anna's family, ukki and mummi and us. It was such a relaxing day. We went to Joulu sauna as a family plus Elsa, started the day off with riisipuuro, which Eerika and Aleksi love, we just hang out with Anna and Risto and it was fun and comfortable. We ate pasteija around 3 pm because Joulupukki was supposed to make an earlier arrival. He came and the kids were gracious about receiving their presents. 

Aleksi wasn't sure about joulupukki but we got him in the picture. Eerika had made some joulutorttu for pukki the night before that she happily gave to him. We sang two songs to him and chatted for few minutes. I could tell that Eerika was looking at him VERY carefully. Both of the kids gave him hugs and then he was on his way to the next house. 

The rule was that joulupukki had to leave before they could open any presents. As soon as he started walking towards the door, the kids started opening the presents! Saku had really hoped for a watch and he was literally jumping up and down when he opened a present and it had a watch in it. He also got a huge lego airplane set from joulupukki. Our presents for him were new snow gloves, ski goggles and rollerblades which he had opened already before our trip.

Eerika had talked about this robot toy for months;the Hatchimal. She talked about how she wished for it for Christmas and if she didn't get it, then for her birthday and if she still didn't get it, she would save her money. They got sold out everywhere by November so we told her that it would be true Christmas magic if she got one. She squeeled with happiness when she opened it. She also got a diary and glittery pens from joulupukki. We gave a puppy that walks, ear muffs and footie Pjs. 

Eerika later said "I didn't get that many toys but I loved them all". She also got a scarf and craft supplies from Anna's family. Saku got legos and Aleksi got a digger.

Aleksi got five lego bikes from us and joulupukki brought him a stuffed animal moose. He got a lightsaber from Saku which he LOVES and also a toothbrush.

Each kid bought a present for one sibling and they had a great time doing it. It was fun to see them give those gifts to each other. Eerika gifted icebreaker mints and minecraft iphone game to Saku and Aleksi bought Sleeping Beauty and Snow White DVDs for Eerika.

Troy spoiled me with a luxurious robe, and two sets of beautiful ear rings. He also had the kids shop at Pentik for me so they got me a reindeer blanket, kitchen towel, and place mats.

Troy got telestrations game, a wood sign that says "eat, sleep ski" and a traveling pouch for all his tech cords. 

After the frenzy of opening presents was done, we settled down for the second part of our Christmas Eve Dinner.  Savulohi, kinkku, salad, and laatikot filled my plate. Aleksi loved kinkku and lohi. Saku wasn't eating much of anything as he said he was still full from dinner. Eerika enjoyed lohi. I think Troy sampled everything as dad likes to put out quite the assortment of fish delicacies. 

We snapped some pictures, played with the toys, enjoyed the rest of the evening until Anna and Risto and the kids headed home. Eerika and I watched Sleeping Beauty while the boys were building the jet. The boys joined us for the last bit of the movie and then everyone went to bed. 

It was a low key and relaxing Christmas. The kids were happy and kind. They showed gratitude which was huge. Good food was eaten but I didn't feel stuffed. And that night was the first night when everyone slept through the night! That is a gift itself!

December update

Eerika is so excited about the baby. She loves to give me hugs and says "I am actually hugging the baby". We decided to call the baby "Little Moose" if it is a boy and "Little Lamb" if it is a girl. Troy likes "Little Moose" but isn't sure about "Little Lamb". 

I feel amazing right now. I am going to the gym and running three miles. I go to the gym with Jess and Audra and it is so nice to have friends to work out with and keep me accountable.  I have not done that with any other pregnancy. I can fit into my regular jeans for most of the day, but in the evening they have to be unbuttoned. 

Aleksi is learning new words each day. The other day I was going downstairs and he ran after me yelling "äiti wait". He can say "broke" when his lego creations get destroyed. I asks for "kaakao" and wants "ice and milk" in it. I loves to play basketball with his hoop and makes tons of baskets. He even dribbles.  He also can really yell and screams when he gets mad. He also tries to kick you and he will randomly throw things though he isn't mad. Saku got hit with a A&D bucket in the head. I think he is 50% the cutest little boy and 50% pure monster. I might have said the same thing about the other two. 

Eerika is doing really well. She has started to love play with Emma who lives behind us. She also loves to play with Maelle who lives across the street from us. She likes to go to school and is learning. Her reading has improved while she isn't quite fluent yet. She has loved gymnastics and got moved up to level 2. 

Saku is doing exceptionally well at school. He is working on multiplication. He is thriving with his reading. We are working on some emotional outbursts that have emerged in the last two weeks. He is very hard on himself when he makes a mistake and gets very angry. It is a very challenging situation and we aren't sure how to handle it. 

I am loving the Christmas season. Taneli Tonttu is showing up at our house morning and the kids are loving the activities. There is some questioning about whether he is real or whether I am the one doing them but we are feeling the Christmas magic. 

I am the Primary Secretary in our new ward and Troy is working with the cub scouts. 

Today we went to see the doctor and confirm that I am pregnant and everything is going well with the baby. My due date is May 25th which works out to be right before school gets out.

The nurse made a comment how blood pressure was high and I did tell Troy that I was scared as we waited for the doctor to come in. It always feel so vulnerable to not know if everything is going to be okay and just wait there until the doctor comes in.

Dr. Boydston was so nice and approachable and I really felt like waiting to get in to see her was worth the wait. Troy felt the same way. 

It was almost weird to not be worried after we saw the baby move on the screen. I almost felt no emotion for a bit except being relieved. Now I am happy. Now I even have the crazy thought that maybe this is not our last one. Now I feel great. Of course I get tired but no more anxiety and no more crazy exhaustion and no more nausea. It feels so good. I am still working out 

We pulled the kids out of school early and went to Modpizza to celebrate. The kids were shocked and a bit worried to be pulled out of school. And Saku kept saying "can you please tell us why you pulled us out?" Once we sat down and had our pizza, Troy took out the ultrasound picture and said "we had some family pictures done today", and Saku immediately knew that we were having a baby. He was excited. Eerika was more practical "is it boy or a girl" "where is it going to sleep". And Aleksi is obviously oblivious.