40 weeks aka Where's Paxlet?

I'll tell you where Paxlet is, right where he's been for the last 39 other weeks. And it doesn't look like he has any plan of coming out soon. Sure, I've been having a lot of Braxton Hick contractions this past week, but that's about it. I'm sure I'm not even feeling half of them, as I only notice some of them by feeling my tummy and realizing it is 'hard'. I know he'll come out in his own time, but I'm now at the point that he has made great use of my uterus for 40 weeks and I'd like him to now come out.

Also, I know today is Tuesday, but as I pointed out last week, the 21st of August is the official due date according to the doctors, hospital and government (where I'm getting my maternity pay). Because of this, I decided to give my weekly update today instead of tomorrow. I'm also sort of hoping maybe this will bring the real contractions on and I'll be in the hospital soon delivering my little one.

Total Weight Loss/Gain: At the neuvola appointment today, I'm up another kilo or so, most likely because of swelling. I'm at 88,1 kilos.

Stretch marks: There was about 3 minutes this week when I thought I had 2 stretch mark lines, one on each side of my tummy. I say 3 minutes only, because that is how long it took me to waddle up the stairs and look in the full length mirror after Mr Siili mentioned the marks. It turns out they are not stretch marks, but scars from my laparoscopic surgery 2,5 years ago, to diagnose and remove the endometrisos I have.

Sleep: Still sleeping well, when I sleep. Although, the last few nights I have been having major dreams and nightmares.

Movement: As usual, Paxlet moves like a wiggle worm. I've tried to take pictures of how lopsided he makes my tummy, but they just don't show up well. (See?) Basically the right half of my tummy is much larger and harder than the empty left half.

Gender: It's a boy!!
Symptoms: Swelling is still my worst symptom. Having said that, I know I have it pretty easy, but I still don't like my fingers hurting like this.

I have noticed that if I don't drink enough water (like yesterday) I feel queasy and have a bad headache.

What I look forward to: I truly look forward to finding out what real labor contractions are like. And after that, I look forward to having Paxlet in my arms and finally deciding on a name by which we will call him.

Moods: I'm just trucking right along. I even sort of got Mr Siili to agree that I haven't been that moody or horrible during this entire pregnancy and right now is no different. Sure I've had my moments, but who doesn't?!

Milestones: Paxlet is the size of a watermelon! Is there anything else bigger for Paxlet to be compared to?


My little boy has taken full use of my uterus! That's pretty amazing, especially since I've read about so many babies coming too early in the IF community.

Medical concerns: The neuvola nurse and midwife student didn't see much of anything today to make them concerned. My hemoglobin did finally fall to below 100 (it was at 99 today), but the nurse said there wasn't much to be done right now this close to delivery. So, I'll just continue to take the iron supplement like I have been and hope I don't bleed too much during delivery.

Also, as today is Paxlet's due date, the nevola nurse and midwife student will be sending a letter to the hospital to inform them of my/our status. If I still don't arrive at the hospital within the next 10 days or so in labor, the hospital will send me a letter informing me when to come in to get this started manually. I really hope Paxlet decides to come on his own before then.

Misc: This sight still cracks me up after all this time. Mansi is such a goofball, but she is our goofball that fits quite well into our family.

Does anyone have any suggestions to help get labor started? I vacuumed our entire house yesterday (ouch) and nothing more than a lot of BH. I've taken short walks. I will see if I can tempt Mr Siili for some "between the sheets" time, but after the major failure from a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure it will work.

This week's bump pictures can be seen in the Paxlet Pictures tab.
 I actually managed to remember a 39 week picture. Let's see if I can remember to get today's taken this evening.

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Fruit and more fruit!

The fruits pictured below are half of my food shopping today (minus one mango that didn't survive being home even 5 minutes). One of the grocery store chains is having their "super days" sales where many of the fruits are 1€ per kilo or container. I love it when this chain has this sale because I can get so many different fruits that I love for very cheap. Plus, the slightly more exotic fruits, such as mangoes, coconuts and sometimes pineapples, are brought in en masse and are fresher during this time as tons of them are brought in for the sale!

Now I just need to eat them all before Paxlet arrives.

15,00€ worth of fruit!

This past Saturday, Mr Siili and I went to a friend's house for grilled food, crepes, wood sauna, a swim in the lake and a few games of pool/billiards. The food was superb and we all ate way too much! The sauna was perfectly hot and the lake cool (20C / 70F) although it felt cold, which is why it was perfect to switch back and forth between the two. And once I warmed up, I wasn't too bad at playing pool. The only downside was that I was on my feet quite a bit, which caused my fingers, ankles and especially the tops of my feet to get very swollen and painful.

Sunday, Mr Siili and I slept in late, then lazed around the house on a rainy day. I took a 3 hour nap early in the afternoon and then Skyped with my family in the evening. My family is so excited about Paxlet's arrival. (We are too!) There was lots of discussion about labour, breathing, pain relief, nursing and so on. I can't wait for this next part of the journey to get underway.

Right now, this is what is in the chair next to me. I love these kitties!

Rusty & Mansi

NaBloPoMo, giving it a go

Paxlet is now free to come whenever he wants. I've seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
The concert was great yesterday and I survived if quite well. The weather even cooperated quite beautifully. The worst of it was/is the swollen ankles, which I was prepared for, and the cigarette smoke. Ugh, that I wasn't prepared for. The first two bands were Poets of the Fall (Finnish) and The Vaccines (British). The first band I know and feel are decent enough, but don't listen to the outside of the radio or someone else playing them. The second band I've never heard of and didn't really care for them. I mean, they weren't bad, just sort of boring, monotonous and very British (not that that is bad either).
RHCP was who I was there for and so excited to see. We didn't have the of places to see, as it always seemed some tall guys were right in front of my friend and I. And because we were far enough back, Anthony, Flea and the others were sort of small on the stage. That didn't diminish my excitement or the fact that I have now seen Anthony Kiedis live!! That's one thing I can write off my bucket list.

I had my neuvola appointed today. My neuvola hemoglobin is not going up at all, in fact it dropped down one more point to 106. The nurse suggested that I try taking it with some orange juice.
My blood pressure was also a bit higher than normal today. Compared to what it has been most of the pregnancy, it isn't much higher. The nurse didn't seem too concerned, although she did instruct me to call there (during the day) or to the labor and delivery department at the hospital if I start getting headaches, blurred vision, (something else) or very itchy palms/feet. As those can be signs of toxicity.
I also mentioned that I didn't think Paxlet was moving as much the last couple of days, especially on Monday. So the nurse gave me some homework to do: actively monitor and count Paxlets movements for an hour (or two, depending on the outcome) each evening over the next few days. If I get 10-15 movements during the monitoring, all is fine. If less than that, I should move around a bit and/or eat a little something sweet and monitor again. If the movements are still under 10 during that time, I should call to get further monitoring. Paxlet passed with flying colors this evening, especially after I ate some ice cream.

I've seen and read about NaBloPoMo for some time, but I've never tried it. I stumbled across it again yesterday and for some reason I decided I'd give it a go this month (as often as I feel like). And what a coincidence, this month's topic is SWEET. I can do sweet, I love all things sweet.

Today's topic is: What is the sweetest thing someone said to you today?
I didn't have much interaction with people today, but my cats snuggled with me and Mr Siili asked if I slept well. Both of those things are pretty sweet to me.
- JustHeather

It's my birthday!

Today I turned 36 years young. We don't/didn't have much of anything planned. I woke up when I felt like it (sort of like the last couple of weeks since I've been done with work), headed downstairs where Mr Siili told me there was a gift for me on the coffee table. He got me a frog card and two books, in Finnish, although I suspect one is really for Paxlet as it is about a little dog named Tessu who is making a sandcastle. On the card and envelope, Mr Siili has written the silliest of conversations, as only Mr Siili can do. After I took the two kitties outside for a bit, I made us (humans, not the cats) waffles for a late breakfast with fresh strawberries and nectarines. Mr Siili and I then proceeded to watch several episodes of Community until I started nodding off. So, I started a load of laundry and took a nap. Now I'm thinking it is time to eat some dinner of leftover Chinese food made by a friend yesterday. (OMG, it's amazing stuff!)

Not sure what the rest of today will bring (maybe I'll actually start packing my hospital bag), but I'm enjoying hanging out with Mr Siili and kitties.

Edited to add: This post has no 'real' value, except for me to document my day, because I want to.

Why I starved my cats for 12 hours for nothing (and more good stuff)

It's Friday and it couldn't have arrived fast enough! Thankfully next week will only be a 4 day week as we have Long Friday (pitkäperjantai) off from work. It will also be a 4 day weekend as we also have the Monday after Easter (2. pääsiäispäivä) free from work, which means another short week the following week.

Seeing that Easter is near, it means spring is on it's way and snow is melting. And now that the snow is melting, I need to switch to summer tires on my car again. But, my summer tires are so old and one of them won't even old air pressure, I need new ones. So, I called my FIL today and asked if he'd help me again get new tires. He said it wouldn't be a problem as he needs some for himself and one of his daughters. This means that Mr Siili and I will most likely be going to his parents house for Easter weekend so I can change the tires. Yes, that's right, I will be changing the tires! The men will just make sure the tires are on tight.

As I mentioned a couple of times earlier this week, Rusty has been acting a bit old. He is 12 years old/young after all, but I'm not ready for him to be old-old. Just to ease my mind, I decided I should take him and Mansi to the vet to have a check up. During the call to make the appointment, I explained the symptoms and age of Rusty to the vet andshe suggested some blood tests to check if everything was ok. In order to get the best results, the cats shouldn't eat for some time beforehand. So, I took their food away at midnight and our appointment was at 10:45 am today. Rusty woke up every couple of hours, went to check if his food was back and then came back to the bedroom to whine let me know that his food still wasn't there. Then I would pick him up and he's sleep for another while before repeating the process again, all night long. Needless to say, between my getting up to go pee and his alerting me to the food situation (or lack thereof), I didn't sleep too well.

I got the cats to the vet and Mansi has a bit of plaque, but other than that she checked out just fine. She was complimented on her beautiful and shiny coat. Rusty also has a bit of plaque and some pink-er gums, but no action is needed just yet and we can just watch it for now. They asked me about his pee and poo habits along with his water intake, etc. I told them that I hadn't seen any change in any of that lately. It's just that he's been acting a bit 'old'. The vets mentioned dementia and that's what has stuck in my mind most. So, because he doesn't seem to be having any of the major indicators of something wrong, I decided not to get his blood tested. Yeah, I know! I tortured my cats for almost 12 hours all for nothing!

I did get them some more fibre-rich food, and we'll see if that has any effect on them. But mainly we'll just continue to watch Rusty and see how he is. There is a product (I'll have to look at the brochure when I get home) that the vets suggested we give to Rusty in order to help with fighting dementia. But as I said, we'll wait and see a bit longer on how things play out. I just really want my cats to be ok. Rusty truly is my baby and a mamma's boy!

To make this day even better, I got some great news from work. Starting next month, there will be an increase in pay for everyone, which stemmed from the union strike and resulting negotiations last year. I personally will also be getting a small merit raise, based on my skills, performance during the last year, etc. There will also be a "one time bonus" for people. (Not quite sure if it is some people or all.) And!! April is the month when bonuses are given out based on last year's targets and profitability of the company. There couldn't be better timing for all of this! This will definitely make things nicer when thinking about buying some Paxlet stuff and also for our new house we'll be moving into soon.

And now, 20 minutes left at work, so I had probably get a couple of things wrapped up so I can go home and enjoy the kitties' and Mr Siili's company.

Mamma's berry pie

At 10:30 this evening, I realized with shock that I hadn't given our cats their evening treats (a couple of teaspoons of wet food). Normally Rusty, our 12 year old boy, is reminding us starting around 6:30 that treat time is coming up soon. But not this evening. For some reason my coming home at 7pm and doing dishes seems to have thrown him off and he just slept. So, I let him know it was treat time, like I do every night: Rusty, treat time! And he me-eowed vigorously and loudly, albeit a bit groggily from still being half asleep. He followed me into the kitchen and let me know he was there waiting. But when I put the food down he just sniffed it and sort of stared at it. Mansi on the other hand scarfed her food down. Normally, Rusty eats his first and tries to eat what is left of Mansi's too. Not this night. He sort of licked the food, looked at it some more and walked off. I sat there on the floor crying because my cat is getting old and I don't want him to die. He can't die until after the baby is born. We already lost his brother almost two years ago. I lost my mom almost a year ago. I'm tired of losing people I love.

This last weekend Mr Siili and I did absolutely nothing. Well, almost nothing. We spent the weekend catching up on tons and tons of TV shows (Lost Girl, New Girl, Dexter, Unforgettable and probably more I'm forgetting). We didn't go food shopping on Friday, nor Saturday nor Sunday. We munched what food we could find in the house on Friday evening and Saturday. Sunday we went to a very late brunch (more like a late lunch) at the Crazy Reindeer restaurant. We did wash one load of laundry. I did fill the sink full of dishes with hot soapy water and then left it there the rest of the day so we ended up draining before we went to bed. Mr Siili did make me laugh!
Last Wednesday I sent Mr Siili a text message:
Where are you at? I think I forgot my keys at home. (And I proceeded to sit outside our door for about 30 minutes waiting for Mr Siili to come home from work and let me in.)

Then on Saturday afternoon, Mr Siili must have noticed my message, because this is the reply I got:
I am home, watching tv with the old lady.

Two hours later:
Fine, don't answer. (We were still sitting right-next-to-each-other, watching tv a couple of hours later.)

Then, I got a bit bored with one of the shows we were watching and I played with my phone a bit and this is the message I got:
How is the quality time with the hubby?

The first two recipes that where shared with me when I came to Finland, were Potato bread (perunarieska) and Mamma's berry pie (Mamman marjapiirakka in Finnish). I still make them to this day and will continue to do so. Both of these recipes are easy to make and more than delicious!! A couple of weeks ago I made a twist on the Mamma's berry pie and it was so good that I wanted to make it again, but I've been so lazy after that that it took me until this evening to make it again. Here's the basic recipe, with my changes and comments at the bottom.

Mamma's berry pie (Mamman marjapiirakka)
Dough:
3/4 cup butter (or margarine)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour (can be half and half of what ever combo you like, we sometimes use graham)
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together, spread on the bottom and sides of a pie pan.


Filling:
1 cup sour cream (or non flavored yogurt)
1/4 cup sugar (more or less, depending on your taste and the berries/fruit you use)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla sugar (or extract)
2 1/4 cup berries (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, rhubarb*, etc)

Put the berries on top of the dough crust and pour the filling on top of everything. Bake at 400F for 30-40 minutes.
(*With the rhubarb, put it in the mix a little bit before pouring onto the crust.)


My notes: We love rhubarb! And sometimes adding strawberry!
This last two times, I've made it with apple, but I've switched up the dough and made a cheesecake crust instead of the traditional one. And because we don't have graham crackers here and I don't like digestive cookies, (crispy) oat cookies will do, but what I found I really like are Bastogne cookies by Lu (crispy cinnamon cookies - although, the generic brand works well too). I think the apple cooked better when I shredded it instead of thin slices, but no matter how you chop your apple, it is very yummy!

Happy 12th Birthday, Rusty!

My lovely boy, Rusty, is 12 years old today.

We got him and his brother, ^^Kantti^^, when they were almost 4 months old. They immediately took over our bed and hearts. ^^Kantti^^ was only with us for 10 years, we still miss him dearly.

^^Kantti^^ (L) & Rusty (R)

These days, Rusty's companion is little Miss Mansi. We adopted her a few months after ^^Kantti^^ died. From the start, she's only wanted to be friends with Rusty. She loves kitty-piles and wants to be in any lap that Rusty is in. He's still not sure about that. Little sisters can be such a pain!!

Rusty wasn't such a snuggly-putty in the beginning. It took him some time to figure out that humans are great cushions (so long as they don't wiggle too much) and offer lots of pets and chin scratches. Mr Siili is a great cushion, he doesn't wiggle much.

But most of all, Rusty is a mama's boy! I might wiggle more often, but I am the one he would generally prefer to lay on. He talks to me and tells me all about his day when I come home from a long day at work. He let's me know when it's time to go to bed and doesn't like it when I don't get there fast enough.

Rusty being a mama's boy.

May we have many more healthy and happy years with you, Rusty!

Cleaning the cat litter box and other things you're not supposed to do while pregnant

Yes, I know! I shouldn't be cleaning the cat litter box. But I have read up on it a bit and I've gotten some good info I rely from Pam Johnson-Bennett, feline bahviourist (amazing lady and wonderful with cats, I've had first hand experience with her, via the internet, but still directly from her). The following link gives tips on how to prepare you cat for when the baby arrives and also talk about toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.

So, while I was explaining my excuses (below) about why I still clean the cats' littler box to an online group of friends, I realized this might be a good blog post. So, here it is and here are my excuses why I am still cleaning the cats' litter box:

1. I have always cleaned the litter box, except when I am out of town (can't very well do it when you're not in the same house as the cats, right?). It was part of Mr Siili's and my agreement before we even got the cats.

2. When I clean it, it gets done on a regular basis: 2x a day, (once in the morning and once at night...), which I'm not sure DH would be good about doing. Plus, we have 2 cats and 1 box, it HAS to be done twice a day.

3. I know DH wouldn't do it as good as I do (based on past experiences when I have been out of town) and the entire box would have to be cleaned more often, which leads to wasting litter & money.

4. I use gloves when I clean the littler box, then I wash the gloves after I clean the box and then my my hands after I remove the gloves. (Side note, I should probably add a mask for my mouth and nose while cleaning the box just to be even safer. I have 2 very cute ones and they are super-duper easy to make.)

5. When I can no longer squat down, it will have to be Mr Siili's job. Plus, I hope by that time we will be in our new place, so we can have at least 2 boxes, so the urgency to scoop 2 times a day will be a bit less. (Not that we should be lazy and only scoop once a day.)

6. Our cats are indoor only and don't get raw meat (except for the rare times Mr Siili gives Rusty an itty-bitty pinch of hamburger, which I have told him is now 100% off limits), so likeliness of Toxoplasmosis isn't as high as if they were outdoor cats. From above mentioned preparing your cat article:

And that's all my excuses on why I am still cleaning the litter box, for now. What do you do (or have you done) during pregnancy that you really shouldn't be doing? Please don't let me be the only blogger that doesn't always play by the rules.

Some cats do carry toxoplasmosis but the ones most at risk are those who are allowed outdoors and as a result, hunt and ingest birds and rodents. Cats on raw food diets are also more at risk.

AND

You are at more of a risk of getting toxoplasmosis from handling raw meat, not properly washing your hands, or from using the same cutting board for vegetables that you use for raw meat.

7. Women (and a close friend) have been doing this (pregnancy & caring for cats) 'for-eva' and still had healthy kids. I have to believe the same.

8. It just makes life easier for now.

p.s. OMG! Blogger is having issues and I've had to go in and re-organize and fix the text a couple of times already.

untrained cats and dogs at xmas

 So, Mr Siili and I made it to his parents' house yesterday. The drive was uneventful and the cats were actually quite quiet most of the drive. It took Mansi and Rusty some time to calm down and settle in at this "new" place, but after an hour or two, all was well.

In the evening, I made choclate chip cookies, took a nap and then I just couldn't be bothered to do anything else for the day. We had take-away pizza for dinner and watched some TV.

Today, we had rice porridge for breakfast. It's a traditional food that can be eaten any time of the year, but usually during xmas. In Mr Siili's family, it is xmas eve's breakfast. Also, one blanched almond is put in the batch of porridge and the lucky person who finds it is supposed to have good luck the upcoming year. I didn't find the almond this year, but that's ok. :)

One of Mr Siili's sisters came over for some porridge and she brought her dog. Thankfully I heard her coming and was able to get Rusty holed up in a room (it was actually easy, because he was already sleeping in a chair there), but we didn't know where Mansi was. I asked the sister to wait a sec, but that lasted maybe 30 seconds and in came the dog. Two seconds later there went Mansi running past me and the dog close behind.

The sister said it was ok if the cats' claws were clipped. Uhm, sure, it might be ok for your dog if the cats' claws are clipped, but we'd still like to have cats after you leave. Alive and in one piece (well, 2 pieces, as we have two cats). So, we got both cats, their litter box, food and water in the same room and shut the door. Rusty didn't mind too much, as it was his nap time. Mansi, the ever curious and friendly one, just wanted to see what was going on. I moved a chair near the window so she could watch what was going on, but when the dog barked at her, she got a bit scared.

The sister and dog have left for a while, but they will be back for sauna and dinner. Same as last year, Mr Siili and I are left to figure out what to do with our cats. The dog is not trained at all and the sister gets upset when no one controls her dog or if her dog doesn't listen to her. *sigh* And the cats, well, they are cats and they are not trained. We'll either put them in a room again for the evening. :( Or, we'll put them upstairs and find a way to block the entrance and I'll be sitting at the bottom of the stairs to keep the dog from going up there. Mansi will get curious and come down the stairs to check out the main floor and it will rile the dog up. Mr Siili isn't too happy about either option, but less so of the later one. But I've got to do what I need to protect my cats. If I try to say something to the sister, it will most likely create an unhappy political situation and we don't want that now, do we? I totally forgot about this whole issue since last year, but I've got to remember it for next year. Who knows what next year will be like...

Anyway, I managed to finish baking the chocolate crinkles, coconut macaroons and assemble the pesto torta this afternoon (pictures later). My MIL and FIL have assembled the tree. The ham has been cooked (over night) and most other foods are ready, they just need to be re-heated and put in serving dishes. Pretty soon we'll go to sauna and then have our xmas dinner. After dinner, Santa will arrive with the gifts. Then we can all relax, play games, watch a bit of TV and sleep until we feel like getting up on xmas day.

Xmas eve's eve

It's late and I'm exhausted, so a short post from me.

Tomorrow, Mr Siili, the cats and I will be heading to the in-laws for the next 4 days. I like my in-laws a lot, so it is generally nice to go and visit. I really want to tell them and my family that we're finally pregnant, but being that it is too early, we most likely won't, unless something happens that makes it necessary.

I still haven't gotten my act together and actually made the cookies I've been meaning to make for the last week. I did measure out the ingredients and put it in containers so i could quickly make them up once we reach the in-laws. But I have a feeling the 1,5 hour drive is going to drain me something fierce. (When I don't drive much, the longer than around town distances exhaust me.) Oh well...I can only do what I can do.

Most everything is packed, cats excluded. They'll be packed just before we get in the car tomorrow morning. They are so not going to be happy about this. Hah, same thing every time. Rusty lets us know most of the trip the indignities he's being put through and how undignified it is to be stuffed in a carrier and forced to ride in a car. Although, he does enjoy the end result. Mansi will squeak out a protest a few times throughout the trip, but I think it is more of a faux show in solidarity towards her bigger brother.

I'm planning on taking lots of pictures to share what a typical-ish Finnish xmas is like. Let's see if I can get that done. (I still haven't done a single thing about my Shanghai pictures from Aug/Sept!)

My moose!

This is my Moose. My mom knitted it and it is now mine. All mine. I sleep with Moose next to my pillow. I've slept this way every since I've gotten back from her memorial at the end of June.

This is Mansi. She is our 2 year old girl cat. Dont' let her cute and coy looks fools you. She's a terror to all toys and things that give her lip. She has been telling us that Moose is taunting and teasing her and that is why she keeps dragging Moose into other rooms to play with him. This does not make me happy, because Moose is all mine.

This is Rusty. Rusty is our 10.5 year old boy cat. He has nothing to do with this story, but he's so beautiful against this green blanket that I just couldn't resist sharing a picture of him.

The End.

In other news, I have an appointment with my clinic tomorrow afternoon in what I hope is the kick of to IVF #3.

Let me introduce our fur-kids

I recently read about Carlia's fur-babies over at The Stork Drop Zone. They are beautiful kitties with sweet personalities! It got me to thinking that I haven't really mentioned, much less introduced my fur-babies in the 3 years I've had this blog. So, without further ado, here are my 2 kitties. The light and joy of my life.

Rusty is 11 years old and 100% a mama's boy.

We got Rusty (and his brother, ^^Kantti^^) when they were about 4 months old (2000). Hubby and I fell in love with them instantly. So much personality and 100% sweet! Rusty took a bit longer to open up to us, but once he figured out humans gave wuv (love), he was all over it. Especially with his mama, me. He follows me around the house, herds me to bed at the appropriate time, tells me all about his day when I come home after work and scolds me if I stay out too late. He loves to snuggle with me and most mornings is found laying right next to me. Rusty will snuggle with hubby, when I'm not around or if I'm too wiggly.

Rusty loves: snuggles, Treat time (yes, he knows the word 'treats'), salmon, avocado, brushing, the Cat Dancer interactive toy, strings, hairbands and being too darn cute (his mama taught him well)! Rusty also knows how to open cupboard doors. He hates traveling in the carrier, but doesn't mind sleeping in it before or after the trip.

Mansi aka Mansikki is ~1.5 years old and our spaz kitty.

About 3 months after the loss of ^^Kantti^^, we adopted Mansi from a foster home. She came to us with the name Basted (Bastet - a feline goddess of Ancient Egyptian religion) where we changed it to Mansikki (daily name Mansi), which is a common name for cows in Finland. It means Strawberry. So, this little girl went from worshiped goddess to a cow. Sorry, girl! Her personality is still developing, but she has definitely become much more comfortable with us. Mansi doesn't automatically run if you take a step in her direction anymore, unless she's in a mood to play, which is almost always. This little girl is full of energy. She tears through the house at an amazing speed, careening off walls, corners and human legs if they are in the way. We've accidentally kicked her and spun her around as we've walked from one place to another and she runs between our feet. She doesn't seem phased by it though. She definitely likes her older brother (but we don't always think the same is true the other way around). We're glad we found her, spaz and all!

Mansi loves to play with her cow, play with the Cat Dancer, play with shoe strings, hunt bugs, play with the piece of whatever she found on the floor, play with my Puff the magic Dragon (which I have hidden from her and hubby wants me to give back to her. I say no!) and she loves snuggle time on her own terms. She has also learned that licking hubby gets her attention (he hates it!).

Brother and sister spending time together.

This was only 13 days after we got Mansi. I'm not sure who was in the chair first, but I have a feeling that it was Rusty. Mansi doesn't understand personal space or boundaries, but they didn't seem to mind too much sharing the chair this day. Mansi loves to walk up next to Rusty and flop on or very close to him. Sometimes he will bite her a bit and other times he tolerates his younger sister.

We love our kitties so much. They give us endless hours of entertainment, unconditional love and kittie bonks or nose nudges. I know our lives wouldn't be as complete without them.

3 events to recognize

I love July! not only is July during the summer, but it is full of milestones, events and anniversaries that I get to remember and celebrate.

The first of which, is the loss of our cat Kantti 1 year ago yesterday (July 15th). He was only 10 years old. His death was completely out of the blue and a huge shock to hubby and I. It was something we were not expecting at all. I still miss him and can't believe it's been one year since he took his leave of us. He and his brother were the first cats I had chosen from kittens to live with me in my adult life. They were (and Rusty still is) my babies. Kantti was supposed to still be here when I had my non-fur babies (just like my mom). Gosh, I miss him!

Kantti (background) with his brother, Rusty.

On a happier note, and the second event to recognize this month is my mother-in-law's birthday. It is her birthday, today!
I love my in-laws, especially my MIL. Both of them are great people and I am lucky to have them as part of my family. Many times I've left hubby (and sometimes cats) at home and I've gone to my in-laws house for the weekend. MIL and I go swimming, pick blueberries, mushrooms and just hang out. I'm glad they like me and I've told them how much I like them. We'll be making a trip to visit them during my holiday (starting in a week!).

Hyvää syntymäpäivää anoppi!

And the 3rd item to celebrate so far this month is that hubby and I have been together for 13 years today*! I sometimes can't believe how long we've been together. 13 years is forever! And it's basically all of my adult life! Time sure does fly. We a still happy with each other, still in love (maybe even more so now) and we still have a great love life (I know this is better than back then!). I love you, hubby!

A little something my husband left for me on our bathroom mirror several years ago.

*Ok, there was a discrepancy all those years ago as to whether it was actually the 6th or 20th, so I chose the middle ground and decided on the 13th. Hubby still gives me a bad time about it. LOL


Keep looking back for more anniversaries and events that I celebrate during July!

RIP Sabby

There are several things on my mind tonight, but I'll only briefly mention them so I can post about the most pressing item on my mind: Sabby's passing.

- It's really really late (after 1am when I stared this) and I really should be in bed, but I need to get these thoughts out of my head.
- Tomorrow we have our first new home meeting and get to meet our new neighbors.
- Work is a bit stressful right now and I just wish it would go away, but it won't, at least not any time soon.

Sabby was my kitty for almost 19 years. Even though I've lived in Finland for the last 12 years and away from my mom's home for a couple of years before that, Sabby has always been mine (especially when she was in a witchy mood).

When I was 16, we had just moved to a new house across town. It was a place where we could finally have a pet that wasn't in a cage. And I wanted a black cat! At this point in my life, I was very much interested in Wicca and Pagan ways. And all witches are supposed to have a (black) cat as a familiar. *cheeky grin* We went to the local shelter and looked at kittens. We almost left without a kitten because I didn't see any black ones. But just as we were on our way out, I saw this itty bitty black thing in with some others. I wanted her immediately. Even if she did have dragon breath and worse yet, the breath of death! Yes, her breath was horrible! She would lick herself and her saliva would glue her fur in place. (Girls who used tons of hair spray back then would have been envious of this.) Her death-breath stayed with her for sometime, but thankfully she out grew it and was able to cleanly lick her fur.

As for her name, that wasn't easy to come by. What do you name a black cat? I asked her if she wanted to be called Blackie? I got a blank stare. Midnight? Another blank stare. Shadow? More staring. All of a sudden, it came to me: Black Sabbath? She gave me a wink and a chirrup and that's what she has been called ever since. Although, we've always called her Sabby for short. She wouldn't have just any ol' name, not this girl.

She had personality oozing from her. She would sleep under the covers with my sister, had a love-hate (although more love) with my brother and would hang out with me in my room. She knew whose window ledge to hop up on (mom's) to meow at to be let in. Or if it was late at night and my mom was still awake, she'd scratch on the window by the front door. She scratched that place so often and for so long, there were scratch marks in the glass. I talked to Sabby, she was my sanity at times. She even helped me paint my bedroom door. Ok, she didn't really help, but more got in the way, so I painted her toe nails red and purple. (I guess it wasn't the possibly toxins from acrylic paints that killed her, eh?) One time, I was petting her from head to tail. I would run my hand down her head, continue to along back and to the tip of her tail where my hand would stop at the ending position so Sabby had to turn around to repeat the petting process. After a couple of times of this she got fed up and bit me on the nose!

I'll miss her pissy old lady whine. But after living for almost 19 years, she definitely earned her right to talk as she please and act how ever she wanted.
I'll miss you Sabby!

My last picture of Sabby - Sept. 2010

May's ICLW

This is my first time participating in the International Comment Leaving Week (ICLW). I found Stirrup Queens' blog and everything that is attached to it about a month ago and it has been great! I am so glad I found this online community. It has been such a relief and comfort to finally find so many others out there like me. Before I found Stirrup Queens I was really feeling low and like there wasn't anyone out there like me. I know that isn't so, but when you don't know anyone who is truly going through what you are going through, this is such a lonely path. I have belonged to other online communities before (iVillage.com, for example), but have since left them for one reason or another. This community though, I feel it has so much to offer me right now and I hope to stay put.

I just recently shared condensed blog post about my TTC timeline and you can find the longer version from the tabs at the top. So I won't go into that in this post. But, while out fulfilling my ICLW duties today tonight, I did see someone had posted some confessions about themselves and I liked it, so I'm going to copy her.

Some confessions of me:
- I really enjoy getting to the end of a product, such as finishing a whole tube of chapstick, using a pen until it is gone, using the last of the dental floss.

- I collect my cat's whiskers when I find them laying around. I never pluck them from the cat!

- I am American by birth and Finnish by application/naturalization.

- I don't really miss living in the USA, but I do miss my family some. I just wish they'd contact me more instead of me being the one to initiate calls and such.

- I love my husband dearly and I will spend my life with him, but I'm not sure if he is my best friend. And I feel guilty about that sometimes.

- For years, I would collect my used contact lenses in a little jar thinking that I would turn it into an art project called "lost vision". I just recently threw it away and then this weekend when I was at the Night of the Museums, I realized that my 'vision' wasn't so far out there.

- I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up (I still don't). I started out college with art classes, but I never really felt that I was an artist, but more of a crafts type of person. I ended up getting a degree in International Business. I don't see myself as a business person either. How much farther can you get from one ends of the job spectrum to the other?

- I've won gold in a Taekwon-do competition for my belt level & weight class.

- I love love love reading. Especially Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, vampires and other horror (not scary stuff though) sci-fi, fantasy and fiction. But I must read books in order. Nothing drives me more crazy than reading books out of order.

- I am easily annoyed, just ask my husband. LOL (edited to add some examples of what annoys me: repetitious noises (ping ping of the computer each time someone in the office does something or the damn baby seagulls on the building roof next to us going "peep peep peep peep peep peep" 24/7), someone chewing their gum like a cow, etc)