Lakeside Livin'

The large balcony.

In June we moved to the lakeside neighborhood, called Lutakko, in Jyväskylä. At first I was a little reluctant to move to the other side of the railroad tracks because it was a little further away from the city center. But actually I have become very fond of our new neighborhood and I LOVE our apartment. 

The living room.

The flat has two bedrooms (one that operates as our office/baby room), an enormous balcony, hardwood floors, and an abundance of natural lighting (in the summer that is). The sauna and heated floors will make the bathroom a favorite spot during the winter months. The lake is right outside our front door which makes taking Aspen on a walk so convenient. Luckily, this summer has given us a fair share of sunny and beautiful days, so moving here has certainly paid off...already!

The bathroom with a sauna (shiny doors) and a heated floor.

And, the 15 minute walk to the city center has been a good way to burn off those extra baby kg/lbs. 

Aspen: One Month...Sleep Deprivation, Smiles, and Colic!

Well, we celebrated our first month with Aspen this week. It is hard to believe that it has been a month since the birth...we have learned so much in such a short period of time.

10 things (raw and unfiltered) we have learned the first month:

1.) We quickly learned that neither of us function very well on a limited amount of sleep, but the hormones running through my body gave me an upper-hand in the sleep deprivation department.

2.) Breastfeeding is not always as easy or beautiful or joyful as everyone talks about it. Up until just a few days ago I would say it sucked (both literally and figuratively). Thank goodness we had a breastfeeding doula to help us through the challenging moments, because now we are exclusively breastfeeding her (no more formula--yeah!)

3.) We seem to believe that our daughter is "developmentally awesome" she began holding her head up at 2.5 weeks old and she began smiling around that time too. But, the best was when she giggled while sleeping at 3 weeks (so adorable!)

4.) While we both hoped for an angel baby...as karma will have it...we actually got somewhat of a colicky baby. Ugh! Aspen's little digestive system is still immature which means that most of our nights have been filled with bloody murder screaming and crying up to 3 hours in duration. Luckily, Charlie is able to cope with the crying, because my hormones simply send me into a crying mess too. You just feel helpless.

5.) Paternity leave is amazing! Charlie has been home the entire first month of Aspen's life which is such a blessing. During this time, we both experienced the ups and downs of bringing a newborn home and we grew even closer as a couple. This time together, as a new family, was a gift and we will cherish it forever! Now it's time for Aspen and I to experience the days together sans super-daddy/husband (Charlie goes back to work July 26).

6.) We have realized that friends (and family) are so very important during the first month (and probably months to come...) We are blessed to have a cadre of amazing international friends here who have helped us feel human in an otherwise chaotic existence. Of course, this first month has also made us miss our family like crazy!

7.) We never knew how much poop would become a topic of everyday conversation...really?! (My little kid bro is probably jumping up and down as he reads this, because until this moment of my life I refused to have these conversations!)

8.) Warm delicious meals...ha, what's that?! One love that Charlie and I have always shared is the love of cooking (together). Even though we attempt to cook almost every night (usually not together), cooking and eating has never been so unpleasant. The motto these days, "hurry up and cook/eat, before Aspen starts to cry."

9.)The best way to get over any germ-a-phobic tendencies: have a baby!

10.) Having a newborn is a major life transition filled with highs and lows, some days are better than other days...but in the end life is better with Aspen!

Our First Adventure Without Aspen

Aspen (on left) meets her new friend, Tove.

Our dear friends, Terhi & Oscar, have also experienced a new baby adventure.They gave birth to their daughter a two and a half weeks prior to Aspen's arrival. They kindly offered to take Aspen for a few hours today and babysit her. Oh my, what should we do?! We reluctantly took them up on their offer (reluctantly only because Aspen has been showing symptoms of colic lately and we were hesitant to give that problem to Terhi & Oscar). But, it all worked out...Charlie and I escaped to the Figaro Wine Bar for my first glass of wine (postpartum) and a lovely late lunch. Of course, my emotions were running high and so when Charlie very genuinely asked how was I doing...the next thing I knew I was crying in my glass of wine. After a quiet lunch we walked back, hand in hand, to pick up our lovely little daughter. The first thing Terhi said was, "Aspen has a set of lungs..." Oh no!

Colic & the Football Hold!

Super-hubby has now become super-daddy! Our nights have been filled with colic screaming and crying...so, the football hold (that Charlie is displaying here) has become a favorite. Super-dad is amazing when it comes to calming Aspen during these intense crying episodes (I just feel helpless and I cry). Since it has been consistently happening almost every night (since bringing her home from the hospital) between the "witching hours" of 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. we have decided to schedule an appointment with a zone therapist (foot reflexology) next week. This zone therapist was actually suggested by our midwife and a few of our friends--she is known to work wonders with colicky babies. More on this later...

Working with a Newborn

And this is what you see when Aspen actually sleeps...mom attempting to get some work done and eating all at the same time (oh, and pumping too...although we will spare you the graphic image of that).

Aspen's Nationality and Passport Adventure!

When a child is born in Finland, they are not automatically granted Finnish nationality unless one of their biological parents are Finnish. This means that our little Aspen did not qualify for Finnish nationality and thus we had to apply for U.S. nationality. The application and paperwork was quite extensive and we decided to apply for a passport and social security number all at the same time which meant tripling the paperwork. The most challenging aspect of all of this: the passport photo! Imagine how difficult it is to get a photo of a newborn with both eyes open, mouth closed, both ears visible, and no arms/hands in the photo. Oh my! It took us three visits to the photo shop before we realized we would have better luck taking the photo on our own. After a few photo shoots, we managed to capture ONE good photo (that the guy at the photo shop had to photoshop!)

After sending in the paperwork, we received an email from the U.S. consulate with the date and time of an appointment in the Helsinki consulate, July 17 at 10:30 a.m. We decided to make a trip out of it and spent the night in Helsinki. Aspen's first train ride was a success as she slept most of the way there and back.

Our visit to the U.S. consulate went well. In less than one hour we met with a foreign service worker, they went through all of our paperwork, we paid 164 euro, and we signed off on all of the papers. Now to wait one month for the passport and nationality documents!

Aspen: Two Weeks Old

During tummy time, we discovered that Aspen is "developmentally awesome" (as we call it)...she can already lift her head.

Aspen: One Week Old

As we learn to live with a newborn, these quiet cuddle  moments are the best!

Our First Trip...Out of the House

We had to make our way back to the hospital for another blood draw to make sure that Aspen's bilirubin levels were stable. Good news...no more blue light, her bilirubin levels are normal!

Today was filled with a lot of firsts...

It was our first trip out of the house since coming home from the hospital yesterday.

It was the first time we tried out the pram/buggy/stroller (that we call the "SUV" because it is rather large and it is engineered to cut through snow, gravel, cobblestone, and anything else that gets in its way).

It was Aspen's first time on a public bus. 

It was the first time we went shopping to the grocery store with Aspen. 

And, it all went well...no major meltdowns. 

Aspen Sophia Makes Her Grand Appearance!

She's here and we are in love!

Aspen Sophia Weimer Mathies

June 24, 2013

10:15 p.m. 

3.66 kilos/8.07 pounds

20+ hours of labor (2.5 hours of pushing)

Midsummer: The Calm Before the Storm!

40 weeks with "Binsi Birth" gear!

Midnight sun...on the longest day of the year.

Midsummer is one of the biggest holidays in Finland. It marks the Summer Solstice and most Finns celebrate by going to their summer cottage or spending the weekend outside enjoying the midnight sun. For us, midsummer weekend was a "stay-cation" of total nesting (the calm before the storm). We kept talking to our baby in the belly and telling her that this weekend was not a good time to enter the world and she actually listened to her parents. It allowed us time to make one of our favorite and very time-intensive casseroles, Greek Moussaka, we took a few naps,

Thank you packages for hospital staff.

I made "thank you" packages for the hospital staff (see photo), we watched a movie, took a few walks along the lake (including a midnight walk on the longest day of the year) and we put the finishing touches on our new apartment.
Now I think we are officially ready for her to come into our world. 

It's Official...There are TWO Doctors in the House!

Nice! My parents sent this photo to my email inbox today. It's official...I have a PhD!

Presidential Fever

WOW! The votes are in...and guess who is the next EMA President? Me, me, me. I must admit I was shocked when I saw the results, because I was not even there, in person, at the General Assembly. (I could not travel to Barcelona this late in my pregnancy.) So, I made my presentation via Skype and PowerPoint...not the easiest way to win an election. Actually there were a few other things working against me too...new motherhood. But, the EMA community never ceases to amaze me and these election results are a true testament to how an international community values diversity in all shapes and sizes. Awesome! I am even more excited to lead EMA for the next two years.

Mack-daddy in Jyväskylä

After 10-days of traveling with my brother, my retired father decided to visit us in Jyväskylä for a few days before returning to the U.S. It was great to have him in our world, because he was able to meet our friends, see where we lived, and experience life in our shoes. We stayed in our old apartment (because of the extra bedroom), even though we had moved most of our stuff to the new apartment. Our time together was relaxing and included lots of good meals and even a trip to the big second-hand store for more furniture shopping. Love you, dad!

Moving!

We rented a moving van for 24 hours with only one mishap...a parking ticket for 60euro (ouch!) But, on the brighter side, we managed to move most of our stuff from the apartment and we also picked up a few important furniture items:
-a washing machine (that was FREE, from a friend of a friend),
-a bed, bookcase, and table with chairs (from a Canadian couple who was leaving Jyväskylä),
-end tables and a chair (from friends)

The rest of the furniture (desk, kitchen table, hutch for living room, and sectional couch) were delivered to us (so nice!) On a tangent, it is amazing that we were able to furnish the apartment in earnest...and every piece of furniture is second-hand. I went on a major tour of second hand stores and websites the past two weeks. Good thing I am on maternity leave!

New apartment

10 of our fabulous international friends helped us move everything which made it super fast and super easy for this pregnant lady! We treated everyone to pizza and beer after everything was moved in. Ah, now time to NEST (finally!)