In the midst of our joy for our baby daughter we have been met with the news of so many of our friends loosing their loved one. Within this past week we've received news of our friend's mom passing away and today came the latest news.I should know what to say, do or not say or not do - after all, I'm a pastor and I've lost both my parents. But I don't. The next is written by Rabbi Earl A.

So this is what you get with a granddaughter of two journalists. Lotta is at this very moment fighting hard to get to the keyboard - thank goodness daddy is bringing our second one home from his place of work. Since I think 15 minutes is long enough to sit on my lap as I write it'd be nice if she'd enjoy that time writing on her own keyboard and I on ours :).

n jjn j kk uuu8k ö.,The above was written by Lotta. If you can figure out what she is saying please tell us, too :). I'm especially perplexed by the o with dots followed by a period AND a comma?The little one has found that she can not only jam her fists into her mouth but also them toes ;). The photos were taken already over a week ago but I've got a very limited time frame for using the

We took some photos yesterday before Husband took me (and Lotta of course) to eat at a local restaurant called Fransmanni. It is, incidentally, kind of hard to find restaurants that are specious enough for strollers and don't play loud music. I just downloaded the photos and gave the folder the name Mia 20 yrs. Seriously, it was an honest mistake! Lotta is sitting in my lap and she's convinced

Reading really is the thing nowadays :). Daddy has taught Lotta to read Turun Sanomat and today she came after my Kodin Kuvalehti. The hair as you may notice is still doing its own thing. We went to the neuvola yesterday for Lotta's four month check up. They commented on it and said something about having quite a hairdo. I said that it was in fact kind of flat yesterday - which it really

Husband found this and showed it to me. I love that it's an Amnesty International concert and that Natalie Imbruglia has such a sense of humour :). Enjoy.

These are from this morning :). The little one , meanwhile, is getting cranky so I won't write more as I think it's time for someone to eat (watching me type is getting old very fast since I won't let her type at the same time).

Three of my close, dear friends are mourning this summer. One has lost her sister, the other her mother and the third her father. For him the funeral was yesterday. I am at a loss for words. All I know to do is to give my baby girl for them to hold and cuddle. She is six kilos of gentle joy and comfort and even fun (the thing is that in my experience true grief however devastating will

We've been kind of busy lately. Its typical that now that Husband's holiday is about to end we've gotten around to doing a lot of the stuff we could have done already earlier. In addition, there is the stuff we couldn't do earlier such as putting strawberries and raspberries in the freezer. Husband's been to the farm to help with the cauliflower harvest a couple of times, too. The photos here are

What do you think is there a resemblance? I'm not quite sure how old I am in the picture but I'd imagine that I'm about the same age as Lotta is now i.e. 3 months or so....

Here we are: today Lotta turned on her own to her stomach - four times and counting! :) Yesterday we could see that she had figured out how to get the second hand from under her when she turns but she still couldn't do the whole manouvre. Now she's got it all. She's very pleased with herself :) and we're very proud of her. I managed to video the fourth turn but it's over 100 Mt and hence I

On Monday it finally started: The 3rd Global Conference of University and College Chaplains, Campus Ministers and Religious Professionals and it is held in Tampere. As a part of my job I was a part of the organizing committee as long as I was still working and it's been a long long process. When Lotta annouced that she'd be arriving this spring I was even somewhat relieved to say goodbye to

We've seen representatives of the medical profession these past weeks. We're participating in an allergy study so Lotta had a three month check up before Midsummer. After that this past Monday I had to see a doctor because feeding her caused me excruciating pain. I literally cried because of the pain - and admitedly because of worry, too. We now have a diagnosis but the infections on my breasts

We spent Midsummer eve at my aunt and her husband's cottage and had a wonderful time. The sun was shining but because we were by the seaside the wind was blowing so our little one is well wrapped up. This is Finnish summer :). Husband, true to himself, was worried that the child was freezing took the the carrier from the pram with his daughter and her giraffe in to his lap. Mind

Husband is on summer holiday now and it's taken us the past weeks to get used to a new rythm now that he's at home. Hence, I haven't written in a while. The second thing is that the heat wave compeletely wiped me out. I have to admit - reluctantly - that I'm getting to a stage - I refuse to use the word age - where I just don't like it so hot any more. The fact that it is in

The first night after Lotta had been born she spent a couple of hours at the hospital nursery so that I could sleep a bit - having not slept at all the night before since she was being born then. Then she was brought back to me to eat and there was no way I would have given her back without a fight but no one suggested that either. As she fell asleep she started to make a sound and she still

We went the University hospital Tuesday for a check up. They tell me that everything is fine with me AND I do not have diabetes. There is a risk that I'll get it within the next 5-10 years, though, but a lot has to do with our diet and the amount of excercise I get so there's much I can do. In addition, there is a small fibroid tumor that they found but for the time being its not pressing on