Our Sweet Angels

Troy Jr - 19 months

2012-01-28T02:17:00.000-06:00

I know Troy Jr is almost 20 months but I have some catching up to do on blogging about our little man. He has been developing before our eyes pretty quickly and it's so amazing how fast he's grown. He's loves to play with his big sister but does not like to share yet. He will scream at the top of his lungs until he gets the toy back that he wants. I guess that's an indication to us that we are in for it. He's headstrong and will get what he wants when he sees fit. Lately he's been crunching his hands a lot doing the bye bye motion and pointing at things while he's talking to it. He always says something with the point. It's too precious!!
Just the other day he's started to put some words together and make a little more sense then baby talk. For the past month his favorite word has been, "titer" (sister) or "sissy". He just adores and loves his big sister so much. Our recent amazement was the other day, as we pass the metro station, "Kalasatama", Chloe has always just called out, "Metro", "Metro", her favorite thing and now it's become a habit. When passing the other day Troy Jr says, "metoe" is how it came out but we knew exactly what he meant. It was so awesome and only makes you realize even at that little, they do pay attention, close attention. He's probably been dishing out the usual for the past 8 to 9 months, which usually are "dada", "outtide" (outside), "hi", "CoCo", "duce"(juice) and "tank ou" (thank you). He's just adorable and has blossomed into this little man overnight. I've enjoyed every single minute of it and just watching him grow before my eyes is breathtaking. He's learning so quickly and has such character too. I can't wait to see what's in store for us next. I'm sure it's going to be a whole lot of fun. We are truly blessed to have him in our lives. He's such a joy.

A Whiny Mommy

2012-01-21T03:46:00.000-06:00

Don't take this blog the wrong way. Mommy always needs time for venting and deserves to get it out every now and then and any way she knows how. So I hope not to offend anyone or get anyone upset, but this is the true me and it all comes straight from the heart. What is a blog for anyway?!? It's a place where family & friends can keep up with you & your family from far away, and to know what's going on, on the here & now's. Well here it goes:
I'm a stay-at-home mom but most of you know that already. Just have to say, it's really tough. I knew it would be and I keep thinking lately, should I go back to work? When do I go back to work? I'm just wondering because lately it's been rather difficult dealing with a little one that is really clingy, going through that stage in his life and then our princess seems to be going through some issues of her own but not sure. When do I get a break? I know I only have two, and others have it a lot worse and have more than I do but like I said before this is my life I'm blogging about it right now and if you are interested in us then you'll continue reading about what's going on in our lives at this very moment in time.
Is it a delayed reaction to leaving the states that she's dealing with. I've had the recent comments & questions lately about Florida and going back. Apparently someone is lonesome and missing her friends. I am too but I have to suck it up and deal. I can only imagine it's probably harder for a 4 year old. Maybe it's the dealing of a baby brother that is now getting into her things and she really doesn't know how to handle it. Acting out is her solution lately. I'm not sure at this point but I am emotionally drained and dealing with my own internal issues of guilt and other things as a mother I don't feel I've done right. I'm good & really couldn't be any better even though I'm venting and I may sound like I'm not happy but I'm not happy because of the things that are going on with my children right now & I just feel like I don't know how to fix it or I worry about too much and then of course; that backfires on me always. I do know lately, I've felt like the maid, entertainer, warden, and just about anything that you could think of. It's just been a little crazier than usual. Is it the weather and this is what the snow does to you or is it that we have been punished to the house because of a little girl's attitude? Whatever the case may be, it's getting old.
I've recently found myself wondering how can I live a life of purpose when it seems like I've taken on more of a role as the housekeeper & playmate. I just want to know because if I remember correctly most mothers (family & friends) that I know just leave the dishes, laundry, and house work alone because they say it will always be there but these precious moments won't be. I guess I just don't feel precious moments around me because I feel like it's been so much of a fight for the last week or so and my fuse is about to go out completely. When I finally realized the answer to my questions, it was so clear to me. I do have a purpose and that purpose is to teach my children about Jesus through my actions & reactions to them and their behaviors that aren't quite right. Teaching them is the key and opening up my heart the most when it's the least time to do so. I have to look at them as the Lord looks at them. All of this makes my heart smile and makes me realize that this is the hardest job I will ever have or know. I don't think worrying about getting out of the house to get a "real" job is my biggest problem. My getting a "Real" job is done, the real problem lies on me dealing with the situation at hand a lot better & I have to give a big thanks to Jesus for that wonderful blessing of the role as mother. The job I was always intended to have or that He always had for me but only when he was ready to give it to me.
Now that I've vented and got all of my feelings out on my blog, I know now or really knew what I've always been meant for in this purpose of life, and that was to be a mother to these two beautiful & gorgeous children that the Good Lord above always intended to grant & bless me with. I am humbled by his generosity, and very thankful to be given this very hard job. AMEN!!!!!!!

Surprise Surprise

2012-01-16T11:28:00.006-06:00

On Friday, January 13th, just like any other day we got up, had breakfast and got ourselves ready for our day. Left the house and went over to a friend's house so our children could play, had a great time and then we left in the afternoon to get other things done. Troy and I had plans to go to the Marine House for a function that they were having to celebrate the new snow. Anything to have a party & raise money for the Marine Ball. We almost didn't get to go because our regular babysitter started night classes and wouldn't be able to sit for us. At the last minute we had some good friends let us know that they had a sitter to bring the children to their house. It worked out great and all was well until we got to their house. The sitter was late but on her way, so we just waited & then left when she showed up. When we got there and walked in, I should have known something was up when Troy pushed me in the doorway a little, but I didn't. Clueless!!!! Troy, Jill, Chris & I entered together but as we opened the door, I seemed to be the first to walk in and I stopped because I noticed that everyone was wearing all black. My first thought was, why is everyone wearing black and then it clicked, oh no, I turned right back around and wanted to kill Troy. It was hilarious, and I was a nervous wreck. This is why I don't like surprises, I was a shaky mess. After calming down and being greeted by a great group of friends, it ended up being the best party ever. We had great time. Everyone was told in the invite that they had to wear all black. I was told by my "fake" invite that it was a "snow" party that we had to wear white, so I was the only one to stand out. YAY!! Troy!! You did it, you got me. LOL!! My husband never ceases to amaze me and of course, surprise me. Thank you honey for a very special, memorable 40th birthday. Love you so much, you are the best.

January 13, 2012

A bunch of great people, all dressed in black.

Jill & Chris Willingham

Goodbye 30's!!

2012-01-16T09:04:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, January 10th, I turned 40 years old. Turning 40 for me wasn't easy. It almost seemed as hard as 30 but even harder. Why is it that turning 40 is a bad thing? I know a lot of women curl up in a fetal position over it, but for me it was mixed emotions. I certainly don't feel 40, and everyone tells me that I don't look like I am. I just didn't know how to take it all in this time. It's definitely been a very busy 40 years. I was a Page, Maid & Queen of the Krewe of Terreanians, I graduated from high school, moved away to New Orleans for a little while, went back home, married the man of my dreams, moved & traveled outside the U.S., had two beautiful children, and now I'm living in Helsinki, Finland. A milestone birthday & it didn't feel any different nor did I. I have become more comfortable in my own skin now. I have many more imperfections than I did when I was a teenager, and in my 20's. Nothing brings those out more than having children and gravity. I am much more aware of how little I know about anything and everything in this world. I don't have a picture perfect life, I can be grumpy, I'm rather opinionated, and to the point. I struggle daily with some sort of clutter/messiness issue and I'd rather play with my children then exercise, which is a good thing... sometimes. I do know one thing, God walks with me every step of the way. There is evidence of him in every single part of my life and I know He will never leave me or forsake me, He loves me no matter what, anyway I am. I love how I use to think 40 was so old but now I don't see it that way. Although, in the back of my mind I secretly wanted a surprise party (never had one) or just a get together with cake & ice cream. I know that is so selfish of me, but I'm just being honest. The only thing, is that everyone who knows me, knows I am not one for surprises. I am just laid back and I like small get togethers where it's just my family & some friends, but you know with my husband there is no getting away with that or so I thought it was going to be just that simple.

Helsinki 1/10/12

On the morning of my birthday, very early, 3:30am to be exact we got up to watch the BCS game starring our LSU Tigers and boy was that a big mistake. I should have stayed in bed and got some more rest. I am still a Tiger fan by all means but I certainly could have used the sleep for the mood I was in. I continued to stay up because there was no going back to sleep after that game, and as any other day, the children got up around 7 and it was off to a rough start. We had breakfast, got dressed and got our day started. Troy had taken the day off, which I thought was really sweet of him to do. We didn't do much in the morning, just were lazy for a while before we decided to walk to the city and explore. We were glad to get out of the house and really had no big plans for my special day but to be together. That's all I wanted anyway. It ended up being a great day and I'm so happy that I got to spend it with my loved ones.

Afternoon in the city 1/10/12

Mommy & Daddy (photo taken by CoCo) 1/10/12

CoCo 1/10/12

Mommy & CoCo 1/10/12

Making a snow angel for Mommy 1/10/12

Chloe's Snow angel 1/10/12

Birthday cake my little family made for me 1/10/12

Chloe posing with the cake she made 1/10/12

Mommy & her babies 1/10/12

Troy Jr puts his hands up, Enough with the pictures!! Cake PLEASE!!

Mommy's little princess

My sweet husband & I

New Year, New Do, New Me!!

2012-01-16T05:58:00.000-06:00

I'm catching up a bit on some blogging that I've neglected to do in the last couple of weeks. It's hard to do it on a regular basis with two children and getting out of the house as often as we can, so I am taking some time to do that now. Hope you all enjoy reading about our life adventures.

The last couple of weeks have been rather busy for us. A lot has happened since the new year started and we have so much to look forward to also. We finally got snow for the 1st time this year on January 2nd, the day after we had a get together at our house for New Year's day. It's pretty funny, because we were all talking about how the snow hadn't come and we'd like to see it soon but little did we all know that wish would come true overnight while we slept. Waking up the next morning, Troy was off of work and he called out from the basement to Chloe & I to look outside, and sure enough, we opened the front door and looked out the window to see the snow covered everything and it wasn't just a light dusting, it was at least an inch or two. It was absolutely beautiful and it was something ~~mommy and daddy~~ the children had been waiting for so that they could play in it. It was a great day while it lasted. It started to melt and once it was just about all melted it started snowing again early Saturday morning of the 7th. Since then we've had it stay on the ground because now the temperatures have stayed below freezing and or in the teens. So it's been rather cold but we've managed to stay warm when going out.

The 7th was a really big day for me, because my friend Jill & I had an appointment to get our hair done. We both were getting our haircut and Jill was getting a highlight. A haircut for me is a big deal for those who know me well. I usually just get a trim and that usually consists of barely any hair touched. This time it was different because I was taking the leap to get it cut, really!! I had enough of having my hair the same length for almost a decade and I ~~needed~~ wanted a change. Jill & I's appointment was at 9am, so her family came to our house for breakfast, then the husbands watched the children while we took off for our appointment. We got there and were relieved to see that it was a nice place and the women there spoke pretty good English. The woman that took me to her chair to sit was probably in her 30's and the woman that took Jill to sit was probably in her 20's. We both had brought pictures with us of what we wanted and they both seemed to understand. We got started and as Jill is getting her highlight done, the woman doing my hair was cutting and it started to shape up into what the picture looked like and I was getting really excited. She finished cutting and started styling it. It was coming out so well, I really was very happy with my decision. I thanked her & paid for my awesome hair-do.
Jill, on the other hand didn't have such a great experience. Jill has naturally curly hair and the girl didn't seem to know how to handle that. Obviously she hadn't handle or done anything with curly hair before because she finally finished cutting it and then started to brush it out before Jill said something about her hair ever looking like the picture. The girl then told her it would but Jill & I kept looking at each other knowing it never would. She tried to make an attempt at curling it but with a hair-straightening iron, and that wasn't coming out so well either. I told Jill she might just want to ask the girl to start all over by washing again but by this time Jill was very unhappy, ready to go and get out of this girl's chair. I felt so bad, my happiness was overcome by heartbreak for my friend because I wanted this to be a great experience for both of us but together. As Jill put it, it was a disaster of epic proportions. She ended up getting a discount, thank god.... but I seriously would have raised 10 kinds of hell & not paid a thing. After leaving we went back to my house where the children were playing and the husbands were chatting & fixing lunch. It was really nice to be back home because of course the husbands made light of a bad situation and made Jill smile, laugh and want to kill them too. It was great!! After lunch, everyone left for football in the snow by the Embassy except Chloe, Claire, Troy Jr and I. They watched cartoons while I cleaned house and watched more of the snow come down. It was a great day and ended up being a great night too. The husbands decided at the football field to go out that evening to celebrate my upcoming birthday. It was so nice and we all enjoyed the evening.

Before

After

A Celebrity Among Us

2012-01-04T06:44:00.000-06:00

Any given day if there isn't anything planned or to do around the house, we'll just take a walk outdoors to get some fresh air. Usually that is the case, but Chloe had been giving us some trouble for a couple of days so we had to stay indoors to take a few privileges away from her and teach her some hard lessons. She must have learned because she became an angel later in the afternoon on the 28th so I decided we could go out and just walk around the island. We did just that, but when we got to the end of our street the local bus was coming so I decided to just get on it and I knew it would take us to the city so that way we could just walk all over, then I'd have no excuses not to walk more and get some much needed exercise. I wasn't close to home anymore, so we had to walk, or should I say, "I" had to walk & stroll my lovely children all over. It was ok because we went up and down the city streets and just enjoyed being outside. We definitely had a great time & it was nice to be out after being cooped up in the house for two days.
We ended up staying out in town much later so we called Troy at work to see if we'd be able to meet up and go back home together. He'd plan on taking the tram to one of the stops closest to where he was at the Embassy so we could catch the next available bus to go back home. We started our couple of blocks walk to near his location. While we were walking two girls passed us up and one of them looked so familiar and as she was passing the whole time I thought to myself, that's Kat Von D. OMG!!! THAT'S KAT VON D. I said nothing as they passed but I certainly couldn't get my phone & dial fast enough. Troy answered the phone, I screamed of course, in his ear and said, OMG KAT VON D just passed us on the street. He tells me, NO WAY!! I said yes, and he says, did you get a picture? PICTURE? OMG!!! No one is going to believe me. He said, you big dummy.... and boy did I feel like one after that. I couldn't believe it, me of all people, the talker of the universe didn't speak. Someone actually left me speechless. WOW.... It was definitely going to... (well I can't say Snow) because it will definitely do that in Helsinki, eventually... but you know what I mean. I told Troy that I was going to get this picture no matter what it took, and I certainly did do that. Let's just say, "STALKER"... that's me. My poor children who were involved in their mother's shenanigans, those innocent precious angels. I truly felt sorry for them, well not Troy Jr as much as I did Chloe who at the time was walking instead of riding in the stroller. Poor baby, she was just about running with her crazy mother to get this picture. It was hilarious, well to me it was on the inside, that I, a grown woman older then this girl I'm following is doing this only because we've seen her on t.v. and did enjoy her show but that no one would believe me without this proof or even myself for that matter. It was just crazy to fathom what I was doing or about to do. We all ended up at the street corner opposite of each other. We did stare and saw that she was staring at Chloe, of course, and smiling. As we are passing each other up, I froze in a different way. I said, Kat Von D and she said, "yes, I was just telling my friend how cute your daughter is." I said thank you of course, but all of this is being said as she's walking away from us and going into the craft store behind us. While at the same time, I'm mortified to see that my sweet angel cross the road without me and I'm just sitting there in the middle of the street looking back at her like she really is this big deal. What is going on with me? Have I really lost it, is this what the life of a celebrity is really all about. Crazy people like myself stalking them just as I did. Good LORD!! Please help me. I wasn't finished, I went got Chloe and decided to go into the store and finally ask her if she could take a picture with Chloe.
We went into the store, and as I approached her I got very nervous, nervous like I've never been before. It was ridiculous if you ask me. I just couldn't believe it but I said, "Kat Von D I'm sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you could take a picture with my daughter." She said, "Sure no problem" and got down on Chloe's level. Sweet, down to earth and so nice to us. What was I worried about?? I'm still not sure about that. She was very cool and meeting her was the highlight of our day on the 28th of December, 2011. Chloe was looking at me like I was a little out there, as if to say, "Why is my mother making me take a picture with this stranger." She was pretty funny afterwards and feeding off of my adrenaline rush because she was screaming outside at the top of her lungs, "We just met Kat Von D, Kat Von D." She was hilarious and so cute about it. For those who don't know her, she is a tattoo artist that's stardom started back when she was on the TLC program, "Miami Ink", then went out on her own and went back home to California, and started, "LA Ink". Troy and I use to watch her and really enjoyed it. Her art, her work is amazing and she's so talented. So it was a very nice treat to meet her in person. When we met up with Troy finally, we had so much to tell him. We showed him the pictures, and all Chloe kept telling him was the same thing she had repeated all night long, "We met Kat Von D, Kat Von D." She was so excited and I bet she didn't even know why. I must say it was awesome and time for us to go home and have supper and put a very happy girl to bed. We did just that, and that was a day in the life of a stalker, paparazzi and living in a place that celebrities might actually come to visit. :)

Chloe enjoyed meeting Kat Von D

She even gave her a kiss!!

Our Thanks to them all. The very well decorated.

2011-12-27T06:54:00.000-06:00

Can't help but think of those serving in the military around this holiday season. How lonely it has to be for them not to be with their loved ones at this special time. Lots of love, and special prayers go out to all of those who put on the uniform everyday to fight another day for our freedom, protecting and serving. I'm honored to know & have known such great men & women like this in my life so far. Thank you Thank you Thank you!! It is much appreciated.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T03:22:00.001-06:00

Chloe in her reindeer shirt MiMi bought her

Troy Jr in his reindeer shirt MiMi bought him

With Christmas already come & gone, there are still lots of things to do for the new year. We've already taken the tree down and most of the decorations are picked up. Christmas was very good for all of us & Santa definitely was very good to our children. It was a great time had by all. Christmas party in the afternoon at the Wood family's house was great surrounded by a group of wonderful people. Now I am just looking forward to what the new year will bring to us.

I've been sitting back & reflecting on the last years of my life & I remember someone asking me way back when, what do you see or want to happen for you in the next 10 years of your life. I am not quite, exactly sure what my answer was, but I know that the last 10 years have been some of the best ones in my life. In that 10 years, I married my best friend, moved, traveled & lived in places across the world that I never heard of or thought I'd ever go to, had two beautiful children, and lots of other tiny things that I just couldn't write down because there are so many. I really feel like I've accomplished a whole lot in those years. It seems like it will get only better from here. Life has dealt a lot of hard times but the good ones have outweighed the bad ones. It is those hard times that have made us stronger and better than we were before. I feel like I am the woman I am today because of them. With all of that being said, I'm so blessed that 2011 was the year it was. It has brought new things to my life that I thought never could have happened, and I'm looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us. If it's anything like these past years, it's going to be another awesome year.

Wood Family Christmas Party

Melanie, Tiffany, Liz, Jill & Kim

That old saying!!

2011-12-20T13:41:00.003-06:00

You learn something new everyday..... is an understatement. I've learned something new every single day that I've been here in this part of the world. Europe, I must say is a very interesting place to live. I've really enjoyed the time we've been here so far and I believe that the rest of these three years will be absolutely wonderful & we'll still be learning every single day.
The new thing that Troy & I both learned was that the Finns don't celebrate Christmas quite exactly like we do, but I wasn't expecting them too, just ~~thought~~ I mean, assumed that everything went the same way when it came to a Christmas tree but I was wrong. This past weekend, they just started selling the Christmas trees out at the markets. The week of Christmas?! Really?? That seemed very strange to us but everyone in this entire world has there own traditions and way of celebrating every holiday that they have, so no judging here, just very confused. Troy & I took the time to research & really learn about the country that we are living in and their way of celebrating Christmas. I wanted to blog about this because I find it very interesting enough to share. Please read the information I found below, it's really good.

Finland at Christmas time:

Spruce trees are cut or bought from a market and taken to homes on or a few days before Christmas Eve and are decorated. Candles are lit on the Christmas tree, which is traditionally decorated using apples and other fruit, candies, paper flags, cotton and tinsel. Actual candles are no longer used, being replaced by incandescent lamps. A star symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem is placed at the top of the tree. Just before the Christmas festivities begin, people usually take a Christmas sauna. The tradition is very old; unlike on normal days, when one would go to the sauna in the evening, on Christmas Eve it is done before sunset. This tradition is based on a pre-20th century belief that the spirits of the dead return and have a sauna at the usual sauna hours.

Afterwards, they dress up in clean clothes for the Christmas dinner or joulupoyta, which is usually served between 5pm and 7pm, or traditionally with the appearance of the first star in the sky. The most traditional dish of the Finnish Christmas dinner is probably Christmas ham, roast suckling pig or a roasted fresh ham, but some may prefer alternatives like turkey. Many kinds of casseroles are also popular. Other traditional Christmas dishes include boiled codfish (soaked beforehand in a lye solution for a week to soften it) served snowy white and fluffy, pickled herring and vegetables. Prune jam pastries, plum or mixed fruit soup, rice porridge with cinnamon, sugar and cold milk, and sweets like chocolate are popular desserts. Christmas gifts are usually exchanged after Christmas Eve dinner. Children do not hang up stockings in Finland but Joulupukki (Finnish Christmas figure)(literally means Christmas Goat or Yule Goat) visits the household, maybe with a tonttu to help him distribute the presents. An old Scandinavian tradition that over time the figure became more or less merged with Santa Claus.

The things I learn. I've loved learning so far, so maybe all who read my blog can also learn with me. It's been lots of fun.

2011-12-15T05:10:00.002-06:00

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Christmas Party/Parties in Helsinki

2011-12-14T09:30:00.004-06:00

Christmas fast approaching and right around the corner, it just doesn't seem real. It's unbelievable how fast this year passed us by. Moving here to Finland in July, still doesn't seem like we've been here for 5 months but we have. With any and all holiday celebrating, it just seems like there is party after party and there seems like no end in sight. It's fine though, no complaint here because we definitely don't mind, it gives us the opportunity to be "adults" again. Embassy parties are usually fun anyway, the ones I've been to. The Christmas party this year was held at the Ambassador's residence and was focused on "Family" because the children were invited too. It was wonderful and they had it set up where the children had an arts and crafts table to make an ornament of their own choosing. Chloe made a Santa Claus ornament and it came out awesome. She did a very good job. However, Mommy couldn't help her so the Ambassador's wife did. Chloe did most of the work and she had a great time doing it. My duty for the party was to take the pictures of the children with Santa Claus. He came in and all the children were very excited. He sat down and the picture taking began. After the children would tell Santa what they wanted and I took their picture, he'd give them a bag full of candy. It was so sweet and the smiles on their faces were priceless.
They all ran around the adults, playing, laughing and having such a great time. I'm sure that had a lot to do with the candy, and I'm sure a couple of them grabbed the soda off the table and had some, so I'm sure that contributed to their excitement. Just keeping up with Troy Jr was enough by itself. Thank God for Troy because I couldn't help, the first half of the party I was taking pictures and then making sure Santa was alright. I got him something to drink between children and families that wanted to take pictures with him. There was caroling, lots of cheer, and everyone was "Merry" throughout the beautiful home we were in. All went well and the party was a success. It was definitely a great time had by all. Very blessed to all the wonderful people that put on the party for us and thankful that we were able to share the joy of the season with them all. Such great people. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!!

Chloe & Troy Jr donating to "Toys for Tots"

Chloe excited about Santa

Troy Jr not as excited as his sister

Ambassador's beautiful tree

Snow in Finland

2011-12-12T04:33:00.000-06:00

No snow in Finland is what I should have titled this blog entry. However our first snow of the winter came and went pretty quickly. On the afternoon of the 5th it started coming down and did for about an hour or so but didn't really stick to the ground. The medium sized flurries that came down were so beautiful, but fell to the ground and melted. Chloe would watch and get excited with each one she saw & then would say, "Mommy, look it's gone." It was nice to see but we knew it wouldn't stay around for long.
The next day was Finnish Independence Day so Troy was off from the Embassy and so we were having a few people come by for a barbecue, so naturally instead of sleeping in a little, I woke up at 5am and started to watch t.v. while everyone else in the house was still asleep. I turned my coffee pot on and waited for it to brew my morning ritual. I was probably up for about an hour and then Troy woke up came downstairs to start the pit. He comes back in and goes straight to the door and tells me to come and look. What a pleasant surprise, there was white fluff on the ground. Apparently overnight while we were all snug in our warm beds, mother nature decided to play a trick on us. Made us think before we went to bed that there would be no snow in our future and we wake up to a beautiful, white fluffy yard. It was so beautiful and I couldn't wait for our sweet princess to wake up and see this beautiful site. Of course the day I want her to wake, she doesn't wake up until almost 10am. I was so happy that it had stayed cold enough because I was kind of scared that it would melt before she did wake. She was so excited when she looked out of that window. The smile on her face was priceless and of course the picture I took was dark. You can still see her expression and how happy she is.

12/5/11 Before bedtime

Very early morning 12/6/11

Our early morning surprise 12/6/11

My honey getting ready for the BBQ 12/6/11

12/6/11 Waiting for Chloe to see the early morning surprise

Chloe's 1st snow & reaction to it

12/6/11 She loves it & is so excited

12/6/11 No words can describe, my heart is smiling

The most snow we've had since winter started was on the day of the 6th but as I said before, it stayed for a couple of hours and then melted. It definitely wasn't enough for the children to go out and play in, but they stayed looking out the window what seem like was forever but I know was only a few minutes. It's just that they were so quiet, like they were at peace with the beauty of it all. Taking it all in and appreciating mother nature and all that white fluff that was given to us overnight. It was so awesome watching them and taking their pictures of course. Here we are 6 days later and still yet no more snow. I'm not sure what's going on but I've been telling everyone that it's our fault they don't have any yet. The reason is because we've been told at this time last year they had inches and inches of snow and this is very odd that they haven't seen much of any yet. What we got was apparently the biggest tease ever. Wouldn't you know, it takes us cajuns from Louisiana to mess that all up. I look at it this way, I'm just happy to have it slowly then all at once because I'd rather not be overwhelmed for my first winter here in Helsinki. Give it to me slowly and then I'll be alright. We got to experience a little colder weather with some snow while we were in Rovaniemi for our Thanksgiving vacation so that's a good thing if it comes to us slowly. I'll definitely have no problem with that. Other than that, we are so blessed and have enjoyed everything given to us so far. I will continue to blog later, thanks for reading.

Christmas Tree Farm 12/3/11

2011-12-04T06:53:00.000-06:00

WOW....What an experience that was!! Picking out our very own Christmas tree and then having it be cut down with a chainsaw, at a real Tree Farm. It was just unbelievable. At one point I felt like I had to pinch myself, because I didn't think it was real.
A group of us from the Embassy got together and the outing was arranged by our CLO (community liaison officer), which was a good thing because I don't think any of us would have ever found this location if it wouldn't have been for directions and or the best piece of technology to date, the GPS.
We all enjoyed a very beautiful, gorgeous, and "sunny" day. Rows and rows of Christmas trees to choose from, going through them all was so overwhelming but so well worth it. Just to have that experience was the best. We told Chloe she had the task of picking out the tree this year, and decorating it too, well with a little help from Mommy & Daddy. Boy, and did she find some trees. I believe the first 10 minutes she had already found 3 of them. We knew it would be hard for her to understand that we needed to just get one and that it couldn't be gigantic, like her first one was. We knew she had found that perfect tree, it was just to look at all that she had picked and of course she had picked the best one when we saw her second one.
We were also surrounded by great friends & we were with our awesome children, who could ask for anything better than that. It was the perfect day. Although everytime Chloe & Troy Jr would hear the chainsaw go off, they would freak out, we'd tell them that it's ok because that means somebody has picked out their perfect tree, just like we were about to do. Went over pretty good but when it was time for ours to be cut down, they really got very nervous but I made sure that they knew we were there and all would be ok. The guy with the chainsaw came over and went to work on getting our Christmas tree down.

The tree is picked

Tree cutting

Timber!!

After all was said and done, we were on our way back to the front of the trees, waiting for them to bag it up and put it on the trailer that would join the others that everyone else had picked out. We had to wait until we were all finished because we rode over in a trailer pulled by a tractor from the Farm house to the actual tree farm. The owner had gave Troy & I a little history on it, and told us that the entire farm dates back to 1539 and it sits on 500 acres total but only 200 is cultivated. It is absolutely gorgeous and I'm so blessed & thankful for the opportunity that we all had.

Enjoying a little conversation while waiting & getting to experience such a great thing with all of our friends and the very sweet owners of the farm. Afterwards we all headed back to the front of their property near their house, and we gathered around an outside fire where they had sausage cooking over the nice fire and various other things for the children and adults to eat. Earlier when we first arrived at the farm, they had tea, coffee, juices, cookies, biscuits, and other delicious items on their menu for us to enjoy. It was great. We had a very nice time at our first visit to a Christmas Tree farm. The perfect ending to a perfect day was when we got home and were able to start decorating our 1st Tree farm tree.

Just put it up & with a little trimming........

Chloe's proud of her masterpiece

So sweet, Merry Christmas!!

Family vacation to remember!!

2011-11-29T10:50:00.014-06:00

It's been awhile since our last post & a whole lot has happened. We have been rather busy & this post will be a mix of everything we've been doing for the last month. We have been trying to get use to the darkness among us. The days have gotten shorter and shorter. The sun hardly ever comes out and when it does, it's only for a short period of time. The weather has gotten colder but at times has warmed up a little here and there. To us we've actually gotten use to the cold. It's not too bad. For the Finns, this is "warm" as they put it. It has been in the 30's lately for the last month or so and it got up into the 40's a couple of times. Other than that, we've been doing really good. October came quickly & now November is doing the same thing.

Troy and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary at the beginning of November. We took the opportunity to get out just the two of us since we moved to Helsinki. I found a babysitter through a website we were told about. The girl I found, contacted and communicated with her via emails, came by first to meet us the week of our planned date. It was so nice to see the children's reaction to meeting her. They loved her from the minute she walked into our door. Troy Jr was all over her just smiling and watching her speak to us. It was too cute. Troy and I were very happy about that and it was on for Saturday night. We went to a Russian restaurant that I had made reservations and wanted to surprise Troy with and I'm glad that I did because it was a nice place and we really enjoyed our dinner. Afterwards, we went to a local pub and had a few drinks before heading home. Ended up being a great anniversary.

Since the beginning of October, we've been planning a trip up north to Lapland/Rovaniemi for the Thanksgiving holidays. We ended up taking the autotrain. It's not something that I would recommend to anyone with children under the age of 4. Troy Jr was not very happy about his sleeping arrangements and in the close quarters we were in, he really didn't have much choice. There wasn't much sleep that occurred. We got to Rovaniemi the next morning and went to our cabin to check in so that we could nap before heading out to experience what Rovaniemi had to offer. We had to make our first stop at the northernmost McDonald's in the World. It was nice, nothing special, looks just like any McD's that we've all seen. Just so that we can say we were there is all. Then afterwards we went to the Arktikum Museum. A place of history on the people of the north. All about the northern lights, Lapland, Rovaniemi and all the surrounding areas. It was really neat and we had a great time. We enjoyed the Aurora Borealis show that is inside a dark black room that you lay on your back and look up like you are looking in the sky at the stars. It was nice learning all about the history of the lights. We really had a great time. Afterwards we found the local mall and just walked around. We had dinner and then got back to the cabin to go to sleep and prepare for our long day the next day.

We got up went to breakfast, and headed out for our trip to Santa Village. We were so excited to surprise Chloe with a trip to see Santa Claus. She had no idea and knew she had a surprise coming to her. We got there and took her to his Post Office first and she started to figure it out but still had no clue about the meeting she was about to have. We finished up there because they were about to close and we didn't want to miss seeing him. We got there and luckily they only had a few others in front of us, so the line wasn't long at all. When Chloe saw the "Big Man", she was in awe!! It actually made me tear up seeing her reaction but also my own as well. If you believe, and you love Christmas as I do, then you'd have been in heaven. It was a great meeting and Chloe got to tell Santa exactly what she wanted him to bring her. We got our picture and headed to the souvenir shop to buy a few more things before heading out.

We had a safari tour planned for the next day on Friday but we had to cancel the snowmobiling part of it because there wasn't any snow, so the guide picked us up later than originally planned. We went to the Santa Village that we had gone to the day before not knowing this is where they were bringing us on our tour. We thought it was a different type of tour involving Santa because we were also doing a reindeer farm tour after lunch as well. We probably wouldn't have gone the day before on our own and just waited but the more that Troy and I talked about it, we were glad that we had gone and we're happy that we got to do it again. Chloe certainly was and there definitely wasn't any complaining on her part. It was fine with us because we were going to receive a certificate of our Arctic Circle crossing as well. We didn't have a long line to wait in and were in and out pretty quickly. We went into the village to do a little window shopping and while there, it started snowing. Chloe was super excited and she wanted to instantly start playing in it. We had to explain to her that it wasn't thick enough to play in. She was fine with it and just wanted to touch it. We headed to the restaurant for the typical Santa lunch. The menu, Lappish style, consisted of mushroom soup, Salmon with potatoes that had vegetables mixed in it and for dessert, chocolate ice cream. Of course the children didn't eat any of it but the dessert. We did find them something off of the buffet that they liked. We enjoyed our meal and then it was off to the Reindeer farm. It was great that it did snow because now we could really enjoy our sleigh ride with the reindeer. Chloe loved seeing the reindeer and enjoyed petting and feeding them. Before our ride we spent a little time in a traditional Lappish tepee around an open fire, while a Lapland native told us the story of the 4 winds of Lapland and the way of life in the North. Then we were off for our reindeer ride, where we were able to receive our international reindeer driver's license afterwards. It was great and everyone enjoyed it. We had a good day!!

On Saturday we took the children to Santa Park (http://www.santapark.com/index.php?la=en) It was another way of meeting Santa again and I knew no matter what, Chloe would still get very excited. She didn't know where we were going so it was great and we knew it would still be another great surprise. It was Santa Park's opening day of the season so we knew it was going to be exciting for all of us. Everyone waiting at the door was greeted by Santa Claus opening the doors for their first day. It was great and all the children were so excited to see him. Inside you walk through a tunnel that literally takes you under the arctic circle. It has the atmosphere of Christmas and the Elves are definitely all over the place working hard for the Big Man. Tons of activities for the children to do. It was great for Chloe. She got to attend Elf school, graduate & get a certificate for it, make an elf, reindeer, a gingerbread heart, ride on the sleigh/train through Santa's workshop, go through the ice sculpture exhibit, and see Santa again for the third time. It was definitely a fun-filled day for a 4 yr old. Boy, I'm just tired describing the day. LOL!!

We had a pretty good vacation and are so glad to have made the lasting memories we did. Leaving on Sunday, we had some more time to kill, because the train wasn't leaving until the late afternoon. Troy looking for something to do, found a very interesting place out in the wilderness they call, "Devil's Churn". Rautiosaari tradition landscape between old log cabins, where there are big potholes in the ground left by glaciers. All formed during the ice age about 10,000 years ago. The history we read was pretty interesting. They have 14 devil's churns on the slope of Sukulanrakka at Rautiosaari south of Rovaniemi. Three of them are large and one of the largest in Finland. The largest churn, the one we saw, is lying at the foot of the rocky hill and it's partly collapsed. It's diameter is 26ft and depth of over 49ft. The two others they say are 32 & 29ft deep. Glad that we made the trip there to see it and read about it.

Now the fun begins, our trip back home to Helsinki. The train ride, yes something that Troy and I were dreading a whole lot knowing that our precious little boy was not going to do too well with it. To make matters worse, Troy had to go and get the car loaded onto the train. While there, he and one of the workers were talking and Troy turned our interior light on to look at something and before he knew it, the car was already loaded onto the train and there was nothing the worker could do about taking it off once the car was on because of some power lines up above. It was nerve-racking to think 12 hrs later we'd have to be getting our car battery jumped from on top of a train. The beginning of this journey, to say the least was not a good one, but to our surprise Troy Jr helped it a little when he fell asleep pretty quickly once we got settled and slept for two hours with me. Of course that didn't last long. He was really restless and would just roll and roll, whining in his sleep. He just couldn't get comfortable and wouldn't give it up for nothing, so Troy took him and he cried for a while until he just passed out. He ended up making his way down to his daddy's feet and sleeping there for the last three hours of our 12 hr trip back home. Of course Chloe slept through it all and whenever we had to get up to get off of the train in time, Troy & I had to wake up Troy Jr. It was an adventure, that's no lie. LOL!!

We arrived in Helsinki early Monday morning, so worried about the car. Troy headed to the spot to pick it up and the children and I stayed in the train station to wait for him. He would call me if the car didn't start and the children and I would have to take other means to get back home. We waited for a while but he called me to say he was out in the front of the station to pick us up. We were very lucky and fortunate that the car light shut itself off. Truly blessed and so happy for the ending of our family vacation to be a success. We can say that all is well here in Helsinki. Getting ready for the holidays and having a great time doing it. Until next blog, take care.

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T13:04:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy Halloween holiday for us. We had a crazy weekend filled with lots and lots of Halloween fun. On Saturday, there was a party for the children that had lots of games and plenty of candy and cupcakes for everyone. The children had so much fun. On Sunday, Troy barbequed for a few friends and we had a pretty good day. It's just crazy that the time changed here in Finland, of all places. It's not like it's going to make it any lighter here. At least instead of Troy leaving for work in the dark, there is some light now but not for long. We didn't do much today, Halloween day. We were busy so much all weekend that we just took a break from it all and the children and I really didn't do anything. Troy, the children and I are just relaxing and having a great evening. Hope the same for you all. Lots of love, hugs, & kisses always. Until next blog!!

Our Little Moo-Cow

Our Go-Go/Witch Girl

Through the Darkness

2011-10-24T03:20:00.000-05:00

It's very weird how fast things change around here. When we got to Finland in late July, it was very bright and I mean bright. The sun showed it's pretty little face until most nights at midnight. It was crazy and so different then what we are accustomed to and a lot to begin getting use to. Besides the fact that on top of that we had to get use to no a/c in the house, it just seemed to be a lot all at one time. I mean for what was normal to us was every day the temperature stayed at a fairly constant temperature, which was hot, warm, sticky, just plain humid. Every day seemed to get a little better with time, as it got a little darker earlier in the evening but still not soon enough. Now that the darkness is starting to come, I'm still not looking forward to it, but in the summer when the sun never goes down you wonder if you'd ever sleep. Well, now I wonder if we'd ever wake. Lately, it's been great for the children because they started sleeping later. No complaint from Mommy, but if I have one, I'd like to have some light just not all of it. How could anyone wish for more light?!? You aren't able to sleep, your children don't sleep either, and it's always too bright. It does seem to drive you crazy but now the darkness is here and you still complain. WOW!! What is it with us? No matter what, we are never happy but we really are happy, it's just that we have to make the best of any and every situation we are in or come across. We'll make it, it's just scary your first time around. Everyone here that has experienced this has been great and has given us a lot of great pointers, so we are going to make it and do our very best with what we have.

We've made it through this first summer, and with the approach of our first winter here we do look forward to the first snow and all that Finland's weather has to offer us. At least I know Chloe does. All she ever talks about is the snow and all the things she wants to do in it. It's going to be great and I'm very excited, especially for her. Seeing things through a child's eyes and imagination is the best part of what life has to offer us as parents, it's so much better then how we see it. The cold weather we've been having, has been a great change and we are certainly enjoying it so far. Now with the start of the darkness approaching sooner than later, it's been a little overwhelming and scary but it's something that I've prepared myself for and I'm willing to give it all a chance and see where it takes me.

I believe that with the daytime slowly creeping away from us, that we will be embracing every second, minute, and hour of the day to be out in the sun that is shown upon us. So far, I've made sure of that. We are outside anytime the sun is, whether it is for a few minutes in the yard, up the street at the park, or a walk around the neighborhood. I guess what I'm saying is that I really enjoyed the summer here even though it was bright, and that I'm scared to death of the winter to come. It's been rainy lately and a lot more than we are use to. I'm starting to feel a sense of panic, worrying about the coming snow. As you can sense I'm not looking forward to the winter of darkness, and I'm really trying my best not to panic too much as the darkness is closing in on us, I truly feel like I have found my happy medium. While I'm not saying that I totally dislike the dark & cold early evenings and late mornings, I've realized that there are some benefits to all of these changes. Sleeping late, and getting to bed sooner than we'd like but it makes for a great morning and some really happy children lately. It's been a sad reality for me, realizing that I do love the sun, who doesn't. However I'm definitely not a big fan of stormy, rainy weather. We're here in a beautiful country that we need to make the most of. If it's darkness we are getting, then it's darkness that we are going to get use to and do what we have to, to keep us from those gloomy days of winter and the sad, harsh reality that the sun will not be around for very long. It's another lesson in life to learn of how fortunate we are, coming from the USA and not knowing what the rest of the world is all about. You live, you learn and you love what you have. So blessed!! AMEN!!

P.S. not exactly sure why I have this background highlighted color on my words, sorry!! I've tried to take it off and I can't figure it out.

Our Journey without "Daddy"

2011-10-20T11:21:00.000-05:00

It's been a hard 3 weeks but we are managing. Since October 3rd, Troy has been on a TDY to Morocco. The first week was difficult because Chloe took it hard and was really upset. She's been doing a whole lot better because I've kept her quite busy. We've gone to the science museum, zoo, and the famous play cave a couple of times. We've been also doing a lot of things around the house to keep busy as well. All in all, things are really good just getting very anxious for Troy's return in 5 days. It does make it better when we get to hear his voice over the phone when he calls. Chloe gets so excited, the love a child has for their parent, so wonderful & unconditional. It just breaks my heart but I know we are strong and will overcome this.
Other than that, Troy Jr is all over the place. He's walking everywhere and is into everything. Playing very well with his big sister and is such a happy baby all together. Both he and Chloe are awesome children and we are so blessed to have these wonderful gifts.

Chloe enjoying the cool weather

My little monster all over the place!!

A cooler Finland

2011-10-15T10:14:00.000-05:00

It has gotten a lot cooler here in Finland lately. We've been anywhere from the mid 30's to the low 40's, so it's been a lot cooler than we are accustomed to but a welcome change. We are enjoying the season of Fall here in Finland. The changing of all the leaves and their colors, it's absolutely beautiful. We did take a few pictures here and there.

The children have been adjusting to the cold very well. Chloe always talks about how she can't wait for the snow, and I'd like to respond by saying, "Mommy can". LOL!! We have been pretty busy and active lately. Troy left for another job over a week ago, and he won't be back for another 2 wks, so I've been trying to keep us busy. Chloe had some issues when he first left because she really missed him and wasn't use to him not being around. She's doing a whole lot better and I'm happy about that because it was hard for me to see our little girl like that. She still misses him, and has talked to him a couple of times, so I'm sure she's going to be very excited about his return. I think we all will be very happy to have him back.
On Wednesday, Oct. 12th we went to the Korkeasaari Zoo here in Helsinki with a group of moms and their children. It was a very nice but cool day. The children, of course had a great time, and the moms did too. It was good day all together, only problem was the wind picked up a little and made it a lot colder than it was so towards the end it was time to get home. For us it was definitely time to go because I had one cranky 4 year old. She needed a nap because she was worn out and had a long day. Despite the tantrum that continued to the parking lot, it was a really good day.

Chloe headed into the zoo

All bundled up & ready for the zoo

Enjoying the pacing Leopard

Troy Jr's eye appointment

2011-10-05T10:59:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to lie, but I was so nervous about today. Troy Jr back in May started showing signs of having Strabismus but his ophthalmologist in Florida stated to us at his last appointment before we left, that he wasn't concerned and it should work itself out and improve. Since getting here in July, it took a little while before I found a new pediatric ophthalmologist, but with a little help from the Embassy nurse we were able to locate a local one and really close too. I was very excited about that. We all got up just like any other day but I was still worried the whole time before leaving for his appointment. I prepared myself knowing that his eye would probably need a little help to fix it. Knowing all of our children are different, I couldn't stop thinking about Chloe having her strabismus surgery at 6 months old how frantic I was as a first time mother of this newborn going "under the knife". It wasn't that kind of worry because I knew it wasn't that bad and something else could be done. I had that motherly instinct, and I prayed a whole lot. The last two weeks as his mother seeing him everyday, just about 24/7, I myself could see an improvement, so I think that helped me out for today.
We got there a little before the appointment time and in no time were seeing the doctor. She was very nice, and so easy to talk to. She looked at Troy Jr immediately, was quiet but smiled, so I knew it was good already and she didn't even have to say anything. It was a great first meeting and I liked her very much. At the end of the appointment she did tell me that she wasn't worried about it because she could tell that both of his eyes were working together and that it wasn't just one by itself. They will work together, and hopefully the muscles will strengthen on their own and the strabismus will go away on it's own. She wants to see both Chloe & Troy Jr for their Ocular Albinism, just like they saw their doctor back in Florida, every 6 months to a year depending on their check ups and how they are doing. She told me that Troy Jr is doing fine but she wants to see him in March so she can check on the strabismus and see what has happened since our last visit. Any progress or if none at all. We'll just have to wait and see, pray a whole lot and hopefully he'll be getting another good report like he did today. I've always said, the power of prayer, such a beautiful thing. Prayers are answered, you just have to be patient and believe in Him. Lots of love to you all, always!! ;)

Already October!!

2011-10-04T11:07:00.000-05:00

It's already October, wow, where did September go? It is crazy how fast time does fly. We had a great month of September and so much more has been going on since then. We finally got our last shipment of things and got the house pretty much back in working order. Although, we still have a box here and there lingering around, it's only because I have yet to set up my scrap-booking working area, so that's where most of my stuff is, in a box waiting on me.
On the 1st, we started off the month with a good ol' BBQ at our house with some really great friends. We all had a great time. It was so nice to be able to finally sit outside and enjoy the great outdoors for a change, now that we have our patio furniture. We ate, had great conversation and watched all of our children play in the yard and have a ball.

Chloe having fun with the leaves

Grant driving his brother, Mason around

Patrick having fun in the leaves

Troy Jr is still getting around pretty good. With a great combination of both walking and still crawling fast, he's definitely getting the hang of this walking thing. He has done really well the last two days, and I may have only seen him go down twice, so it's lessening a bit and I'm sad. As Troy and I were anxious for him to get walking, now I'm regretting my wishes to come true. He is definitely all over the place and I've been pretty busy the last week running around after him, that's for sure. The next project, "Baby Proof House", only thing with that is, we have to put in a work order to Troy's employer for them to come and do it, so I believe we need to get on it as soon as possible being that they take forever with getting things done around here.

Troy Jr

For those of you who know about the eye condition that both of our children have or don't, (Ocular Albinism) Troy Jr will be going to his first pediatric ophthalmologist appointment tomorrow to check out the strabismus he developed back in June. It has improved somewhat but we know that he needs a little help with the muscle in the back of his eye to make it right again. Everything else is good and everyone is healthy. God is great, and Life is good.

Another quick weekend

2011-09-26T02:43:00.000-05:00

It's Monday and another week has started. Our weekend was too short, definitely went by too quickly. On Friday, Chloe, Troy Jr and I went to the Helsinki Playground to meet our friends and their children. As usual, the children all had fun and the Mommies had nice conversation. Afterwards, our husbands met us there after work and we went to the fresh food market (http://www.hakaniemenkauppahalli.fi/tiedotteet/Halli_flyer.pdf), Hakaniemi Market Place. It was nice and we got some sausage, ribs, and a ribeye. Then we all went our separate ways. We got home and bathed the children and then we all got ready for bed. Just an ordinary Friday here at the Fontenots household in Finland.
On Saturday, got up, had breakfast, and started cleaning house, laundry and all the normal chores around the house. Chloe played outside with her sidewalk chalk, while we finished up. We didn't do much more than that. Our Saturday was pretty boring, nothing too exciting.
Sunday, another lazy morning, then Troy decided he wanted to go and try out the local golf course. He called and made a tee-time, then started a jambalaya for the children and I to have for lunch. The children and I just vegged out in front of the television watching cartoons and playing with Troy Jr on the floor. I finished up the laundry from Saturday, and that was pretty much our day.
Troy got back in the afternoon and said he had a good time and liked the course but his game wasn't too good. He took a few pictures of the course for me to post. We had supper, got the children ready for bed, and then watched the Saints game. A very quick weekend again but looking forward to what the week will bring.

Vuosaari Golf course (http://golfpiste.com/vuosaarigolf/)

The simple things in life!!

2011-09-22T03:10:00.000-05:00

On Monday, Sept 19, 2011 marked 2 months that we have been here in Helsinki, Finland. Coincidentally, the day was also blessed with the rest of our household things. The moving company, a 5 man crew, showed up at 8am with two huge trucks filled with 6 crates full of boxes. When I saw them pull the first crate apart, I started to feel a bit overwhelmed. I thanked God that Troy was here with me and that I wasn't doing this alone. We had to put Troy Jr in his pack n play to get him out of the way because we definitely didn't want the crew to step on him and I couldn't put him down for his nap yet because he had just gotten up. Chloe was just watching the craziness happening before her and she was a good girl staying out of the way.
They started to unload the first crate while some of the men unpacked the boxes and Troy & I did the same. Their policy is to just take the stuff out of the box, so Troy & I would just go behind them and put the stuff away. They worked pretty quickly, and before we knew it, they were on the third crate. We continued to put as much stuff away as we could but it got away from me with all the breaks in between, taking care of the children and then noticing I had the kitchen & dining room tables full of stuff to catch up on. They got to the the fourth crate and took their lunch break after it was unloaded. While they were gone, Troy & I finished up on the things that we could and then I fed the children lunch. Afterwards, I put Troy Jr down for a nap and he wasn't very happy about that because it wasn't in his room and he had no idea what was going on in his house. He ended up fighting for a while but he eventually fell asleep. I took advantage of that and got some more things done. We are pretty much settled in just a few odds and ends to get to. All is well and things are not so chaotic anymore. Until next blog, take care!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Milestones going on over here!!

2011-09-16T07:10:00.004-05:00

Yes, there has been a few little milestones going on over here lately. On Aug. 30, 2011, later in the evening Troy Jr took a step or two from his Daddy to his Mommy on the floor of the living room. It was his very first steps in life, and it was great to watch him do this, knowing he was just practicing on what was yet to come. He hadn't bothered before because he just wasn't ready, Troy and I chalked it up as he was just being lazy and he'd do it when he was ready to do it. When he felt like it!! Boy is that an understatement. Yesterday the 15th, while out and about at the Helsinki Playground, he was leaning up against the Lego table playing and then all of a sudden looking over in his direction, I see him just let go. It was so bittersweet. He was too precious doing it. He went from the table to another table right next to each other. It was awesome, the beginning of a new chapter in his life. He hasn't mastered it by any means but he is definitely trying a lot more than he had. When we got back home he took more steps by leaving the table next to the sofa and heading for the stairs because his big sister was standing there and he made it without incident. He's doing pretty good, not too sure of himself yet but he'll get it and once he does, I actually think that's when I'll be scared to death. LOL!!
Later in the evening we decided to go out to the city for dinner. We took a few pictures of Troy Jr all bundled up in his warmer clothing. He's too cute. Chloe was acting shy to the camera covering her face, so that's why there are no pictures of her this time.

Troy Jr ready for the cool weather

Fall in Finland

2011-09-15T01:38:00.000-05:00

Fall in Finland

As you can tell, Fall has made it's way to Finland. It's been really nice and we've enjoyed it so far. The cooler temperatures have been a very welcome surprise for use who have been use to hot, humid temperatures for a really long time. Being in the 50's and 60's for the past couple of weeks have been something to get use to especially dressing the children in warmer clothes almost for the very first time. Don't get me wrong, we've had cooler temps back in the states but it's been weather that has warmed up and then that is when you start to shed clothes but not here. It's actually something I think I've enjoyed the most, well besides how nice and wonderful the country has been to see, like a tourist, forgetting that I'm actually a resident and will be for three years. I do forget myself sometimes and it's OK because I guess that's how I get the pictures I want to get. Still can't wait until Monday. Yes, Monday, the big day for the Fontenots. We get the entire rest of our shipment which is the rest of our household. We are really excited but also anxious, and nervous because we know it's going to be overwhelming. I just thank God that Troy's employer is nice enough to give him a three day time off period to be here with me. YAY!! I'm so glad that I don't have to do this alone. So, if you don't see a blog for awhile then you all know that we are unpacking and putting away our life again. I will definitely be back with more updates and hopefully pictures with my good camera. It will be so nice to have it back. I will never let it out of my sight ever again. It's like my baby and I'm so sad that I sent it, by accident on the ship. I have a lot of making up to do. LOL!! Until then, take care and Happy Fall Ya'll!!

Today, Sept. 13th

2011-09-13T01:54:00.002-05:00

After such a great weekend, of course wouldn't you know, here comes the rain everyday since. It rained yesterday and now today, but I find it suiting the fact that I've been sick since yesterday also. Thank God Troy had to go in to work really extra early yesterday, that way he got off very early and it helped me out tremendously. I really didn't feel good and I so needed that extra set of hands to help with the children. It was so nice and I was able to rest a bit. Today I'm feeling better not 100% but I'm getting there. Chloe is watching some t.v. and Troy Jr is down for his nap, so it's a little quiet now and I felt like typing up another blog, so other than that we are doing pretty good today. Rainy but we'll be in for the day and hopefully out doing something again tomorrow. Oh, and Fall is definitely here in Finland now. The leaves have been falling for about a week now. It's absolutely beautiful. Have a fantastic day.

Catch up time!!

2011-09-13T01:37:00.000-05:00

I know I'm not blogging everyday, but I try my best to blog as often as possible. That way everyone can keep up with the going ons in our life here in Finland. Lately, we've been hanging out with a great group of people. On Saturday, I finally had a "Me" day all to myself, thanks to my wonderful & very sweet husband. Melanie (J.P.'s wife) and I went to a baby shower for Traci. It was really nice and much needed. The ladies are all great and we all really had a great time. Melanie and I left, and when I got back home, Troy, Chloe & Troy Jr had made a trip to the hardware store where he bought Chloe a brand new swing for our tree. She was having a ball and I took a couple of pictures of her showing it to me.

Sunday, came and we were all planning to get together around noon to meet at the Embassy and head to a dock that was close by to get on a boat that would take us to the island of Pihlajasaari. It's really nice from what we were told, and so we couldn't wait to go. They have grills on the island and wood is provided for you, so all you have to do is bring your own stuff, like a picnic. What a great cookout it turned out to be. We ended up having 7 adults, and 8 children. It was fun and the children had a blast. Another very nice Sunday here in Finland.

Chloe waiting for the boat to Pihlajasaari

Mommy & Chloe taking a picture before getting on the boat

Troy Jr & Troy on the island of Pihlajasaari

Chloe having fun by the water

Having fun with the rocks & water

The children eating their barbeque

Troy feeding Troy Jr a pineapple

All of our children minus the two little ones

Pihlajasaari (a great island)

The Fontenots leaving Pihlajasaari

Labor Day holiday in Finland

2011-09-06T10:33:00.008-05:00

Our very first holiday in Finland, and I must say it wasn't too bad. On Friday, we had a pleasant surprise and received our new vehicle. It got to the port from Germany on Thursday the 1st, so Troy went to pick it up at lunchtime on Friday and I had no idea. He wanted to surprise Chloe and I when he got home that afternoon. Which he did around five but I was upstairs bathing the children and getting them ready for our trip out to dinner. We were all ready to go and walked outside of the house, went down the steep hilly street that is alongside of our house, and I see a vehicle right away that looks like ours. I say to Troy, that's our color, and he says, no, that's black, I told him no that's the dark blue like ours. He then knew he was busted because he had the obvious smirk on his face, and then Chloe & I got all excited because we knew it was ours and it was finally here. YAY!!
We took the first ride in our car to Itakeskus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%C3%A4keskus_shopping_centre) center to go eat supper and to look around the mall while we were there. It was a nice ride and we enjoyed it. Getting to know all the gadgets and buttons are going to be fun. We got there had supper and then we found the high-end grocery store here that someone told us about. It's called Prisma (http://www.prisma.fi/market/prisma?a_Visit:dockat=060_Lyhyesti09019b36807c871f&myymala=Prisma+It%C3%A4keskus&paikkakunta=Helsinki&osuuskauppa=HOK-ELANTO&pageName=Doc)
Troy and I were really excited to find it because it reminds us of a SuperTarget back in the states. It's pretty much the same thing but a lot bigger. The store seemed to go on for days, it does because it has 3 floors. Troy and I knew that it was going to be impossible to get it in all in one day. We figured we would try again another day. We got home, got the children to bed and then watched a little t.v. but that pretty much was our Friday night and off to bed we went.
We got up just like any other day, didn't matter it was Saturday. No sleeping late on the weekends around here. The day started with cleaning up the house, washing clothes and then getting ready for our afternoon barbeque at our friends, JP & Melanie's house. Chloe was so excited because she'd get to play with Grant & Mason. We got there after 4, and of course, the children started playing. They had a great time and played very well together. We ate supper, visited and had a very nice time. Around 8, it was time to go because Troy Jr wasn't a happy camper. He was better when we got home and was ready for bed, so I put him and Chloe to bed, then Troy & I weren't far behind them. We knew that the next day would be our biggest adventure yet because we were going to get in the car and see what other things Finland had to offer.
Sunday morning, got up and finished up the rest of our laundry, packed up the diaper bag and made sure I had extra stuff just in case because I really had no idea where the road would take us. Then secretively Troy was packing more things that I didn't know about. He had something up his sleeve and he wasn't saying. All he'd say was that we were going to check out Porvoo, Finland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porvoo) which is about 40 mins east from where we live in Helsinki. We've been wanting to go because there have been a few people tell us that it's really nice. We packed the car up, loaded the children and took off for the store first that sold GPS's. (http://www.gigantti.fi/) Then we'd be on our way because we didn't want to get too lost. We got the GPS, set it up and headed to Porvoo.

Chloe enjoying the ride so far!!

Troy Jr

It was so nice out on the open road to see all the hills, countryside, and beautiful farm houses on our way. It reminded me of when we use to live in Virginia, acres of land for days, just beautiful. On our way we saw a place that we had to stop and check out. It was something that Troy said he had seen online and it was funny because we kind of accidentally ran into it. (http://www.noark.fi/) Noark Miniature World is a wonderful place to bring your children. It's a complete model of Finland and surrounding areas, also other countries too. Their own little world, in one building. It was so cute and Chloe really did enjoy herself. We all enjoyed it and were so glad that we did stop to check it out.

Noark Miniature World in Porvoo, Finland

Priceless

Battles of the Road of Raate

Old Town Hall in Porvoo, Finland

Porvoo Cathedral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porvoo_Cathedral)

Troy & Chloe enjoying the miniature world in lights

Central Railway Station, Helsinki

Eiffel Tower

This is how Troy Jr enjoyed the tour

On our way to the city, we just rode around looking at all the beautiful countryside, and took a few pictures of a wheat farm. It's amazing when you see these things close up. WOW!! I was in awe at all the wheat. We continued to just take our time on the drive to the city. It was so nice and we loved just being together.

Wheat farm in Porvoo, Finland

We got to the city of Porvoo, and Troy wanted us to go and walk to the Old Town of Porvoo, where they have old fishing villages and other interesting things to explore. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woqW5yYpUsY) Found this youtube video that best describes what we got to see. It was amazing and we loved taking pictures of everything, so yes, we did go a little crazy with the camera, even though it's not our good one. The Iphone & touchpad got their workout because we ran them until the batteries were out. LOL!! We loved everything we saw and wish we could have taken more pictures.

Old Town Porvoo

A very steep walk

And it continues

Finally, we made it

Porvoo Cathedral

While walking through Old Town and seeing all there was to see, we all started to get hungry, so we decided to look for a restaurant with Finnish food. Since moving here we haven't had any and thought we'd try it out. We had a visitors book that had a map in it and it also had a walking tour guide in it, so we noticed through the town there were several restaurants to choose from. We decided on Ravintola Wanha Laamanni (http://www.wanhalaamanni.com/eng/restaurant.html), which was right next to the Cathedral. Troy ordered the veal for us to share and the children got the Swedish meatballs with fries. Everything was delicious and we enjoyed it very much. Now we can say that we've had Finnish food and it was good. We ate outside and it was really nice but it got a little chilly so I have some pictures of Chloe all wrapped up in the blankets that they provide. She was too cute!!

A little chilly out here!!

My sweet little family

Troy Jr having fun with the napkin holder

Chloe & Mommy in front of the restaurant

After leaving the restaurant, we decided to continue walking more of the town before heading to the hotel. We went down the street and back in the area of the shops again. While there we ran into a couple walking their dog and Chloe was sitting on the bench playing with the tour guide book. The man asked Chloe if she wanted to take a picture with their dog and she said yes. It was the cutest thing because Chloe ended up getting a lick (kiss) from the dog and he stayed still the whole time for me to take pictures of them both. It was so precious, I couldn't wait to share the pictures with everyone.

Chloe & a very sweet dog

After the dog left, Chloe wanted us to take pictures of her reading her book on the bench. Not sure why but I've noticed that she does like to pose. It's Ok because she's so darn cute!!

After taking pictures of our beautiful princess we headed to the hotel and called it a night. We planned to start early in the morning to head back to see everything again and add the village to the list of things to do since we hadn't made it that way. Most of the shops were closed because it was late on Sunday and we knew they'd be open on Monday, Labor Day because it's our holiday not the Finns. We got back to the hotel and realized that we didn't have much life on our battery for the Iphone so we switched to the touchpad hoping to get somewhat decent pictures. We think they came out alright. At least we got them, because we could have been in Porvoo for the first time with nothing. That would have sucked for me, for those of you who do know me. LOL!! We took these pictures of Chloe & Troy Jr at the hotel before going to bed to test it before trying to figure out another solution.

Chloe

Chloe & Troy Jr

Troy Jr

LABOR DAY!!!!

Just like any other day, getting up early I mean. It was a little different because we were all in the same room so we all slept ok but were up getting ready for breakfast really early. The hotel had breakfast that we went to eat and then took off for the city. Nothing in Old Town opened until 10, so we just took the opportunity to walk around and take all the pictures we took. We went into the fishing village and took pictures there first.

Chloe in the flower garden

Beginning of village tour, Beautiful fountain

Troy & I being silly

Chloe enjoying the piece of art

Troy Jr, Chloe & I

Nature, so beautiful

Chloe loving her flower

The bee that posed for the camera

Troy & Chloe being silly

Chloe playing, taking a picture of herself

A boat restaurant that we found

We saw all the boats and village, it was a nice piece of history to be able to see. Very nice and now it was time to head to the tourist information center to find out where the Brunberg Chocolate Factory and the other parts of Old Town were that we didn't get to see.

Mommy & Chloe in front of the tourist center

Old Town Hall (http://www.porvoonmuseo.fi/index.php)

We continued going through Old Town, enjoying our walk, just looking around. We didn't go to the museum because they didn't open until 12 and we needed to find a place to eat so that we could feed two hungry, tired children. We took off down the lanes and just walked, & walked, not before we took plenty of more pictures.

Porvoo Castle (now little shops)

Mommy & Chloe

Cafes all down the street

Porvoo Cathedral

Another beautiful lane headed to the Brunberg factory

Brunberg Chocolate Factory

Hanna Maria (http://www.hanna-maria.fi/index_e.html)

We were suppose to eat there but never got a chance. If in three years there is another trip back to Porvoo, we definitely will be going back. Finnish food there too!!

After our long day in the city and Old Town we decided to head towards the hotel where the car was and start heading home. On our way, we found a park and decided to stop for a little while so that Chloe could play and have fun before we left. Hoping she'd tire out on our way back. Looks like Mommy & Daddy had fun with her too.

A fountain of a boy & a fish in the park

Chloe swinging while Daddy watches

Chloe climbing the stairs

Mommy being silly

Chloe & Mommy having a ball

Smart girl making those boys pedal

I don't think anyone was pedaling

Troy Jr hanging out

Johannes Linnankoski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Linnankoski)

This was our last picture of the day, and I found it suiting because he's a Finnish author. I believe we are all authors of our destiny, and I believe that Troy, the children and I had the best Labor Day ever because we made it what it was and it turned out to be a wonderful little getaway. Us, the authors of our weekend!! I believe this chapter is closed now and we know that Porvoo is just as beautiful as Helsinki, but with a little less busyness. It's more rural and country, that's what Troy & I loved about it. It has so much history and history that we loved seeing and learning even if it was only for one day.

First holiday in Finland

2011-09-02T04:58:00.006-05:00

It has been a couple of days since I've done a blog, so I thought it was time to play catch up. With the holiday approaching and being our first, we wanted to do something different. We haven't come up with anything yet but there are several things we've heard of that are going on or happening, so we'll definitely let you all know about it later. Especially when we decide!! Since last weekend, the week has been pretty quiet. We really didn't do much of anything because of the weather. It's been raining since Monday, so the week has been hit or miss all week so far. On Tuesday we got out when the sun was out to meet Troy for lunch and then afterwards we went to the local bank (Nordea) to open an account but not before the rain started again. We have to do this in order to get the VAT (Value Added Tax) back from Finland. It's very nice and we are lucky that we are able to get that back.
We got to the bank, and by the time we finished it had stopped raining. The sun had come out and I was so happy because we still needed to get to central to wait on a bus to get ourselves home, so Troy went to work & we took off for the bus. We were so lucky, the bus was there and we got on it and just had to wait a few minutes before taking off. We were home in no time and of course, I believe it was about 20 minutes that we were home, and then the rain started again. That was pretty much our Tuesday. We didn't do anything on Wednesday because we had to stay home to wait for the lady coming over to hang our curtains that the Embassy had ordered for the house. Of course not all of them were in but it was good that she had the majority of them. They really came out nice and we are enjoying them.
On Thursday, Melanie, wife of JP who works with Troy, emailed and wanted to see if we were doing anything and I told her no, let's get together, which we did. We meet at our usual place, the Helsinki Playground (underground). Our children's favorite. Then afterwards we'd meet our husbands for lunch. The children were having a ball and as always, we've enjoyed each others company & conversation. We ended up meeting, Karen, who is from Colorado originally, but is living in London with her husband, and two children. All of our children met each other and ended up playing together the whole time. It was great and so nice to sit and have a conversation with another person that spoke English, much less from America. A real treat!! Makes you realize how much you do appreciate what you have in your life and what you've had. The couple of hours we were there was nice, and a great visit with Karen. We hope to all stay in touch with her. During that time, I got a call from Troy saying he wouldn't be able to meet us because they were that busy and he just couldn't leave the office but that JP was going to meet us. So, Melanie and I rounded up the troops and took off for the metro to meet JP at, what seems to be all of our favorite restaurant now, Vapiano's (http://www.vapiano.de/frame.php?section=home&lang=fi)

Chloe about to start having some fun

You talkin' to me!!

Our sweet little friend, Ella Grace

While walking to the metro, we decided to take the tram to Central instead. Got on the tram in about 10 minutes and were at the restaurant about 10 minutes later. Had a great lunch, enjoyed the company, and the great day we had with the Alcon's but it was time to go because I had a 4yr old that wasn't too happy with life at that moment. Of course we had a meltdown in the middle of the restaurant and then dealt with that until we left. Got her into the stroller and walked as fast as I could to the bus depot to wait for the bus to go home. It was not a great end of the day but I managed it pretty well and got it done, just like I always do. She finally calmed down a little when we got to the stop and finally started to fall asleep but ended up just resting. She and her baby brother took their naps when they got home and what was weird to me, I actually fell asleep on the couch while they were napping. Never happens here, but it did and I was kind of glad that it had. It was nice to have a little extra sleep and I felt like a whole new person when I woke. Other than that, the day turned out to be a very nice one but of course you know the rain had to come eventually. We had another downpour around 5 that evening. It wasn't too bad and it just made it more cooler. Nice, nice, nice!! Love it

A long day in the city 8/27/11

2011-08-28T13:32:00.000-05:00

We started our day by cleaning up the house first and then getting ready for our day to venture into the city and then head to Espoo for a house party with some new friends. We got to Central Railway Station and saw that they had an event going on in the square. (http://www.sinebrychoff.fi/page.php?page_id=678) It's called Syystober Beer Festival, and it was really nice. We walked through different booths and saw various different foods from all over Finland, as well as the beers of Finland too. It was all very interesting to us, so we just walked around and looked at everything. We tried a beer and then headed to the station for a train to Espoo. We got to the party, and met some more new people. It was so nice, and it ended up being a great time. Then, when leaving, one of the nice guys that Troy works with offered to take us to the train station so that we didn't have to walk. We actually decided to go into the city to the metro station and go have a drink with one of the other guys and then head home. It was nice and of course it was time to take the kiddos home, bathe, and go to bed. We got home and did just that. Today, being the 28th, I must say, another great day. We didn't do much but just hang out around the house and just relax. Now as the weekend has come to an end, I sit here and realize how very tired I am. We really had a long weekend but a very good one. Nice time in the city and a great time meeting new people, ended up being a really good time. Goodnight to everyone!!

"If Heaven wasn't so far away"

2011-08-24T07:46:00.001-05:00

If heaven wasn't so far away, I'd go by for a visit and see all of you my sweet loved ones. Today, August 24th, is my sweet brother's 38th birthday, and after 10 yrs of him missing each special day, I sit back and realize we've celebrated each one since but I guess this one is different for me for some reason. Not sure exactly why, maybe because we are far far away overseas and I just feel that much further away from everyone that I am having a little more difficulty today more than any other one we've celebrated or it's just the fact that I miss him dearly and today is no different it's just his 10th missed birthday, I don't know. I just know that I miss him terribly and wish he was here on this earth. It never really does get any easier, it feels the same but I've managed to go on with my life as well as my family has too. Doesn't mean we miss him any less, I sometimes miss him so much more than I did the day before but it's life and normal. We will meet again and be together. Death is the first step to eternal life. I was told that the year of my brother's passing by a good friend. Ever since then, I take that statement and live by it because it's so true. We aren't here forever so we need to take each day on this earth and cherish them. We don't know what tomorrow will bring but we need to appreciate what we have now and I certainly do. I love and miss all of my family and friends so much and they know that because I never go without them knowing that each day. Somehow, someway... it's possible. LOVE YOU ALWAYS!!

WOW!! What a weekend

2011-08-22T00:36:00.004-05:00

It's the end of the weekend and boy do I have a lot to blog about. Since last blog on Friday, we had a good old fashion "Louisiana" style barbeque with some new people here at post on Saturday afternoon. Troy had invited a few people we've spent time together and a few new ones that are just getting here this past week. We had a great turn out and we are so happy about that because most everyone has children. The new couple that just got here on Sunday, a week ago, have a 4yr old and 2 1/2yr old triplets. WOW!! It was wonderful for Chloe because now she had a lot of other children to run around with and they certainly all did that. JP and his wife, Melanie have three children, which includes a brand new baby girl who is 3 months old. Matt and his wife, Kim have a brand new baby girl too that they brought over, Piper who is 2 wks old and an 8yr old daughter. She's a lot more brave then I was at that time for both of mine. Our turn out was wonderful. The 8 children that could run around, they certainly did that and had a ball doing it. The adults, of course, just hung out and got to know each other. It was really nice and refreshing. We just talked about our children, work, Finland, things to do around here, shopping, and just about anything that we could think of to help each other out, advice or any pointers. It was great and a lot of new information that we all jotted down. It's great to do things like this and promised each other that we'd do this more often. Everyone went home a couple of hours later and then it was time to clean. Troy got the children bathed, while I cleaned the house. It was all done pretty quickly and then it was off to bed. Another great Saturday had come and gone in Finland.
Sunday, the 21st, wow, what another day we had. I had blogged on Friday about finding a gymnastics type place via flyer for Chloe. The class I found was 45 mins every Tuesday until November, so I signed up and had been in touch with the instructor via email. She informed us that it was in Espoo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espoo) and would take us up to 45 mins travel time. I was a little scared so that is why I wanted Troy, the children and I to take time out to do a trial run so that on Tuesday, her 1st day of classes we wouldn't be late or get lost. So, we did our journey planner via the internet on the local transportation. Buses, metro and us walking we figured out our route and were still a little lost but we figured that we'd get there OK, because we had it mapped out. We had to get on a bus by our house, then take the metro to a station that we'd get on a bus to transfer to Espoo. A lot of traveling but well worth it for our little princess, so we thought. We knew we had to count out 6 stops to get off the bus and had the name of the stop also. We did this and pressed the button to get off the bus. Realizing that we are getting off in the middle of no-where, we knew something was wrong. We looked at the map and the stops to the map were not matching up, so we knew we were in trouble. We saw another bus stop across the way, on the other side of the highway and realized that it was going to take a while for us to get there because of course we had to walk, so we just headed out and took us a nice little stroll. We then knew we didn't have a route to get back to Helsinki from Espoo so we just had to sit and wait. It only took about 15 mins before the next one came. Thank God!! We got on that one and decided to go back to the bus station (depot) and then try again maybe after lunch. We got back and found a place to eat, ate and then walked around the city for a little while, finally deciding that it just wasn't a good idea to do it at all, even on Tuesday. Too much travel time only for a 45 min class, and who knows if we'd have ever found it. Really not worth it, so we decided to try and find something local for her to join. We got back to the house late in the afternoon, and took Troy Jr out of the stroller and he joined his sister in the sandbox. They had a great time for about an hour and then came in for supper, baths, and getting ready for bed. The weekend was a great one and seemed to feel like a long one. It's over and now it's time to have another great day. Until then... have a great day!!

Things good here in Finland

2011-08-19T01:32:00.001-05:00

It's been a couple of days since last blog and nothing much has happened since. We've just been hanging out at home, and took a walk to the park a couple of days ago. Yesterday, Thursday the 18th, the children and I went to Central Railway Station to meet some new people that just arrived at Post on Sunday, and a few other spouses that have been here about as long as we've been here. It was nice to get out of the house and be able to meet new people, especially those that speak the same language as we do. Like I mentioned before, most of the Finns do speak English but you can't really strike up a conversation with them because they aren't "southern" like we are and don't just talk to anyone. Although, they are quick to help you when need be, that's about it. A few people have asked if we have met our neighbors, well not really. A couple of weekends ago, our next door neighbor, going to her car did shout out, "Welcome to the neighborhood" and then we introduced ourselves to her as well as she did to us, but that's about it. The people in this neighborhood are in and out so much, I don't think we'll ever really get to know them. That's ok, and fine with us because we'll probably be out and about more too. The park we go to at least 3 to 4 times a week is about a 5 minute walk and that's pretty much where the kids of the area gravitate too, so Chloe gets to play with the other children that way. I just found her a Jungle Gymnastic place last night online about 20 mins away, she'll go to the "Monkey Gym" class once a week that I signed her up for. She's very excited. I'm kind of excited too. Something new for all of us. I believe that we all are going to do a trial run to get there this weekend sometime so that we aren't late for her first day on Tuesday. It's nice to do these kinds of things with your children. It makes you stay young.
Today, Friday the 19th, we are going to stay home so that "Mommy" can catch up on laundry and things around here that way I don't have to do much this weekend. We are so looking forward to the next two weeks to pass pretty quickly so that we can get our HHE (household effects) shipment. We can't wait to have all of our things back with us. More clothes for me too because I'm running out of things to wear and things that fit. Everything is becoming too big for me, but I'm not complaining. It's a good thing but I really didn't want to lose it this way. I guess it's better than not losing at all. I'm feeling good too so I guess that's OK. Other than that, that's about how things have been so far in Finland. We love it still and can't wait to venture out some more. Later!!!!!

Sunday 8/14/11: Continued

2011-08-14T12:33:00.001-05:00

We did eventually go to the Helsinki Playground to bring our princess so that she could play in the bounce houses. We went as soon as Troy got back and of course you know our little princess was in heaven once we got there. We stayed there for about an hour and a half and then took off for the city so that we could go to the mall just for a stroll. It was nice to just walk around, window shop and my favorite lately, "people watch"... lol Europeans are great, they don't care about anything and especially the way that they dress. It's a wonderful thing to see, I just enjoy all the different cultures and see how others live. We enjoyed our little walk around town and then decided to head back to the house. When we got home, we ate supper and got two little munchkins ready for bed. Also got to see the Fontenots back in Houma on the webcam. It was nice to catch up with them too. Put the babies to bed and now just sitting on the couch relaxing, about to end our day. It was another beautiful, pleasant, and lovely day here in Finland. Goodnight all

Internet is a Godsend

2011-08-14T03:32:00.001-05:00

I know in my blogging of days before, I've probably mentioned a whole lot about the internet and us not having it. As most of you know already, WE HAVE INTERNET!!!! The simple things in life that can make a person so happy. It's just so great to have the access of communication that we have now. We've been able to talk to our families back home and have been able to email those of you that we love so much and miss tremendously. Since Friday, August 12th when the internet did finally come on. We've been pretty busy catching up and getting all in order. Friday afternoon, Chloe, Troy Jr and I got on a bus and then the metro to meet Troy & JP at the local mall so that we could purchase some phones to hook up for our Vonage, that way we could contact our families back home. We walked around the mall and then finally after 4 stores, found what we were looking for. It was nice to just get out and explore again. We find something new every time we do get out so it's nice to be able to learn all new things together. We then walked over to JP's house where we used his Vonage to call my parents to see if we could get started on hooking up to the internet to be able to get American t.v. It's something we found out about while being here because apparently the Finnish t.v. here has only two English speaking channels, so Troy & I decided it wasn't worth paying for cable if that's all we'd get. Of course we've missed all of our American t.v. programs and the children don't get to see any cartoons except for the constant playing of Clifford or one of several DVDs we've seen hundreds of times in the past month. It was so refreshing to hear Chloe holler out, very loudly I might add, "Mickey Mouse" whenever she saw it on JP's t.v. I couldn't wait for us to get home so that she could watch the Disney channel. My poor spoiled rotten baby. She had her Paw Paw, MiMi & Daddy to thank for the hook up that she enjoyed so much once we did get back home. She's been glued to it ever since. You know I took pictures of it too, can't wait to post them. So now that our Friday was done, it was time for some much needed rest. We all went to bed and were looking forward to another exciting day in Finland.
Saturday, it came pretty quickly but it's because we had just gone to bed or so it felt that way when a particular 4 yr old decided to wake me up so, so early. I guess I slept enough, it didn't matter she was raring to go. We went downstairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast, I put my coffee on and CoCo and I just hung out for a little before we knew the second little munchkin would be waking up soon after. We had about an hour and then the call from upstairs was a lot of chatter coming from such a sweet boy that was ready to get out of his bed. He and I came down and got his milk. We just hung out until Troy got up, then it was time for house chores. Troy and Chloe went outside, cleaned up the yard and Troy Jr and I stayed inside and did some laundry and cleaned up the kitchen. We had no definite plans for our day but we knew that Chloe wanted to go back to the jump house place. We figured we'd go later on in the afternoon after all was done around the house. Then we Troy was done he lit the pit and got supper ready. We had steaks and sausage and it was delicious. We called Troy's parents to do a webcam, and we were only able to make contact with him mom because his dad wasn't home. We got on the computer and at least she got to see her grandbabies and then Troy was able to do a tour inside & outside of the house so that she could see our new place. It was nice conversation and then we had to get off to bring our princess to her new favorite place.
Unfortunately, when checking online to see the times, we find out that they closed in a couple of hours so that gave us no time to catch a bus and get into the city before it would close. It was a very difficult task of disappointing a little girl that was looking so forward to going. It took us sometime but we finally convinced her to go bowling instead. I had seen the bowling advertised on a billboard, had no idea where it was, but had wanted to go check it out one day. It's underground too and it looked awesome from the pictures so we looked it up online and got all the info we needed and headed out. We got there late but we had to wait for a lane anyway so it worked out good. We watched a game going on next door at the arena similar to ice hockey but of course it was on concrete. It looked like so much fun and a very good workout as well.
It was time for us to go and bowl, so Troy & Chloe went to the register to get our lane. Troy Jr started crying loudly because he was ready for bed. I rocked the stroller back and forth for a little while and he started to calm down but that wasn't helping much. He really wasn't happy while we were there, so I just strolled him around while Chloe & Troy bowled. They had so much fun and I'm so happy she enjoyed it. We were kind of worried about the different place but she was fine.
We finished up and walked our way to the metro station. We got on the metro and got off at the stop where we'd catch the bus back home. Got on the bus and was home within 15 mins. We went upstairs to bathe the children, and then put Troy Jr to bed. Chloe, Troy & I went back downstairs to call my parents. We gave the phone to Chloe and she got her MiMi on the other line and her face lit up. She was so excited to talk to her and they had a small but sweet conversation. Then she wanted to talk to her Paw Paw, so MiMi got Paw Paw and she got to talk to him too. It was awesome and great to hear their voices. It sounds as if they are right next door. I LOVE VONAGE!! It's so nice to have a phone that doesn't cost so much and you can talk to your loved ones as often as you'd like too. We talked to them awhile and then it was way past time to put a little munchkin to bed besides myself. Troy & my dad continued to talk about the computer hook up and fix a glitch they had in the system. All was well, and Saturday for us was a great day, very long, but really good.
Today, Sunday the 14th, nothing too exciting yet. We woke up had breakfast, fixed coffee and started more laundry. Nothing much more than that right now. Troy had to go into the Embassy for a little while because they have visitors coming in today, so he and JP wanted to make sure they were taken care of. Then he's suppose to be coming home soon, so we can finally bring our princess to the bounce house place that she's been wanting to go back to. Troy Jr is napping right now so by the time his daddy gets home, he'll probably be up and I'll have us all ready to go. Until then, may you all have a wonderful Sunday. Lots of love!!

Our New Adventures!!

2011-08-12T05:52:00.005-05:00

Our New Adventures!! A whole lot of catching up for everyone but you have an idea of what our days have been leading up to today 8/12/11. Enjoy, we have so far... with a few bumps in the road but definitely nothing that we can't handle and have handled pretty good as a family, together. Love to you all.

Day One of the move:

July 13^th, 2011

The moving company came as promised, at 8:30 and began their process of moving in the boxes to begin packing. Troy and I just had to make sure everything went in it's proper box. We had three different shipments to worry about. The first being the important shipment of all because it's the one that would be coming to us a week or two after our arrival to Finland. It's all of our precious belongings, things we need right away. The next shipment is our household and that is pretty much everything else. Last one would be storage, anything that we'd like to keep, it would be in their warehouse facility in D.C. Needless to say, the day came and went by pretty quickly and not too bad I might add. It was a productive day and we were glad that they had gotten so much accomplished. We checked into a hotel that night and that was our last time as a family in the condo that we shared together for 3 yrs.

Day Two of the move:

July 14^th, 2011

The next day was easy for me. I just stayed at the hotel with the children while Troy managed the packing and moving again. Of course I couldn't sleep at 5:30 that morning, so I took advantage of it and went to the condo to do the last minute things I wanted to take care of. Got what I wanted done and went back to the hotel so that Troy could go back to meet the moving company. Troy and I knew that the moving company wouldn't need the extra day they always give themselves just in case they go past the second day but the more the day went on it looked like they might actually need it. According to Troy they were starting to pack the moving truck with all the boxes they had done but then he started to worry only because of the storage unit we had they still hadn't gone too yet. I guess all involved were determine to get the job done because by 3 o'clock that afternoon they were on their way to the unit and got it all done. We were finished, or so I thought.

Day Three of the move:

July 15^th, 2011

Still not sleeping, I got up again and went to the condo to get the rest of the stuff that was left to give to Frances and Evan, our wonderful friends that we made since moving to Sunrise, FL. They truly are the best thing that happened to us while we were there, well besides Troy Jr.

I met Frances there at the condo, it was going to be hard for me to open that door and I knew it would be before I did so. Knowing it was completely vacant was going to be difficult to see, because it was where I raised Chloe for the good part of her 4 yrs and of course, Troy Jr all of his entire 13 months. It was time to just let it out and I did, and that was that. We then preceded to move out everything that was left in the pantry, the refrigerator, freezer and the boxes we left for her upcoming move in August. Got everything taken care of and that was it until the afternoon to do the walk through with the property manager, Diane. Went back to the hotel, and we all waited for Sandy, Troy Jr's therapist to come over for his very last therapy session. It went well, it was a nice visit and we are very happy that we got to see her again. Although we were sad to see her go, we all told each other it wasn't goodbye, it was see you later. We will see her again.

Check out was 11, so we got our belongings and got out of there to get started on the last minute things that we had to do. We couldn't check into the hotel until 4 in the afternoon, so we had plenty to do until then. By the time we did finish up on all of our errands it was time to meet Diane and turn in the keys and button to the garage & gate. It was sad but a new chapter in our lives was about to begin. An ending to a great old chapter in our lives, to move forward to the new one that we were all looking forward to.

Day Three continue:

July 15^th, 2011

We left the condo for our last and final time. Of course you know I cried, Troy did have some tears in his eyes but didn't cry like I did. We headed to the hotel to check in, got there cleaned up a little and changed before heading out to Troy's uncle's house for crabs. They were delicious and we had a nice time. I must say for our last "American" (cajun style) meal, it sure hit the spot and was absolutely awesome. We got back to the hotel and just crashed. We had three long days of a lot of stress and it was time to relax and recoup before our stress came back for the beginning of our adventure on Monday.

Day Four of our move:

July 16^th, 2011

The day started out early as usual but it was OK, we had nothing to do but just relax. Troy & I took our children to breakfast. The hotel had a complimentary buffet which was nice and they all seemed to enjoy it. We ate and went back to our room, got ourselves ready for a wonderful day of rest and relaxation. That also was going to include our special and wonderful friends, Frances & Evan. They were coming over to spend the entire day with us and we were all so excited and couldn't wait for a very fun-filled day. They arrived a little before 11 and everyone headed out to the pool, except for Troy Jr and I because he was taking his morning nap. Whenever he did wake, I brought him to the pool to join the others, and then I took a trip to the nearest nail place to get my toes done before our long trip. I really needed it and I felt like I deserved it so I did just that. When I finished I met everyone back at the pool which at this point seem like it was time for a particular 4 yr old to take her nap. Her daddy took her back up to the room and then the four of us joined them shortly afterwards. After everyone was all bathed and dressed it was time to relax and do nothing for the rest of the afternoon. We certainly did that until it was time to get ready for dinner to meet some more friends to see them before we left. John, Frances's brother met us at the hotel a couple of hours before we left for dinner to join us. It was so nice to have them all with us. Turned out to be a really special day & evening. We had dinner at Flanigan's, and really enjoyed just being together. Then afterwards, we all went back to the hotel and visited for a little while longer before it was time for them to go back home. Definitely not something any of us was looking forward to but we knew it had to be done. We weren't telling each other goodbye, we were just simply letting each other know how much we loved each other and were so happy that God brought us into each others lives, and we'd see each other again soon. After they left, it was so hard for me to stop crying, I believe it was at this point where reality just slapped me in the face again. It was truly happening and I would be on a plane for our new adventure in two short days.

Day Five of our move:

July 17^th, 2011

Sunday, just like any other day. We took the children to eat breakfast again and it was really nice to just sit and talk about things happening at that present moment in time. We were at this point, just so ready for all of this to be done with and that we'd be in Finland getting settled in. We still had a few things we wanted to take care of before we spent the rest of the afternoon & evening with The Fontenots. After getting our errands done, we went to eat lunch at American Pie Pizzeria. It was nice, we enjoyed it but after we were done it was time to get back to the hotel for Troy Jr & Chloe's nap. While they napped, Troy & I took the time to inventory, repack and sort out all of our 12 suitcases. It's crazy how much stuff you have, but you really don't realize until you have that number of suitcases staring you in the face in a hotel room. You seriously feel like you are being swallowed up by them. It was very overwhelming but it's a task that Troy & I tackled very well. We were able to get it down to 11 because we placed a smaller one into a larger one and it worked out well. With all of our tasks done, the children up from their naps, it was time for my relaxing and time spent with the family. We left the hotel and headed to their house. We got there and to our surprise, the Noriega's were there to visit with us too. It was a special treat and we were so glad to see them and spend time with them. We hadn't seen them in a long time so we really enjoyed our time with them all. We ate our dinner and just sat around and talked for hours. When it was all said and done, it was time for us to get back to the hotel so that we could try and get a good night's sleep for the early morning we were about to embark on.

Day Six, the BIG DAY:

July 18^th, 2011

We had the bellhop come to pick up all of our bags before we went to breakfast so that would be out of the way. We went to breakfast and waited for Randy to pick us up and bring us to the airport. He showed up like he said he would and we all headed out. I wasn't even paying any attention to all that was going on around me because I was on the phone with my dear friend, and nothing else mattered at the time. When we got off the phone, it wasn't very long after that we were at the airport. We got out of the truck, got to the counter and checked in. What we thought would be forever with all the bags and getting all of our boarding passes, it took no time. We were off to security and wasn't looking forward to it but I can't knock it, it wasn't bad either. It looked like our day was going to turn out pretty good. We were flying to New York first and then our layover there was 3 hrs, and we were a little worried about that because of the children. The flight wasn't bad at all. Chloe sat with her daddy, and Troy Jr sat with me. Troy Jr slept the whole time and Chloe was occupied with music and playing with whatever toys we packed for her, in her carry-on. Things were going great for us and we were so happy that they were.

Arriving in New York wasn't bad, but it was the first for all of us. We had plenty of time so that's what we did, we took our time. Got off the plane and went to find the business class lounge so that we could get a drink and relax. Chloe and Troy Jr spent time in the kiddie room, played and had a great time. We ordered a little something to eat from the bar and before you know it, the time slipped right by us. It was time to head to our gate for our long plane ride to Finland. We were so pumped, it was time.

We boarded the plane and when we did, chaos ensued. This is the one and only time that the stress level increased, and pretty high I might add. Our assigned seats were great, pretty much up in front of the plane. Only problem is, the ones assigned didn't include a seat equipped for Troy Jr's car seat. The reason is because all of the seat belts on Finnair have an actual airbag inside the belt itself. That doesn't work with car seats. So, here is our dilemma, at first they are looking at Troy & I as if to say, you need to check in the car seat and I'm looking at all of them like they are crazy because I'm not sitting next to a 13 month old in a belted seat for 8 to 9 hrs. It's just not going to work. So, of course, Troy & I both start sweating because we are really having a time trying to figure out how this is going to happen. Then one of the ladies comes up to us and says by law he's too little to sit in the seat like that. Well we knew that already, who in their right mind would put an infant in an adult/child seat on a plane. Troy & I at this point wanted to pull our hair out. Troy was so mad that he didn't care and was attempting to put this belt on Troy Jr's seat when another lady came up to him and said that they are going to move us to the very front because that is where the only belts that they have on this plane have no airbags. Only problem is, the seat is assigned to someone else. I knew this was something that couldn't be prevented but I felt nauseated at that point. I was literally sick to my stomach knowing that there was someone about to get on this plane and would be very upset that someone else was in their seat and could do nothing about it. Shortly after Troy Jr was taken care of by his wonderful father, and I was belted in, a man came up beside me and says, I think you are in my seat. Right when he said there was a lump in my throat and I just swallowed so hard and started sweating. The lady, I guess she was the one in charge because she always seemed to be right there, came right up to him and explained the situation. He was of course, very upset. I wanted to throw up at this point. It was very overwhelming for me. I felt terrible for him because I hear him say to her, oh what I don't even get a window. Apparently the seats she had to offer him where in the middle isle of the plane. All and all, he did end up having a window seat and everything worked out like it was suppose to. I know it did, but it didn't make me feel any better at the time when it was happening. Now we're off for Finland. Our flight consisted of supper, then off to dreamland, then up again in the morning for breakfast before it was time for landing. It all happened so fast, well it seemed that way but we were glad that it was all over with. The children were awesome and no major issues dealing with them. They were really good (remarkable) for the entire 14 hours they had to endue and for the very first time. Chloe didn't want to go to sleep but if that was it, so be it. She did however end up going to sleep eventually because when Troy & I woke up for breakfast she was sleeping. We landed in Finland the morning of the 19^th, still the 18^th (evening) in the states.

Got our luggage and headed out to the two vehicles there to pick us up and bring us to our new home. It was a great ride to the house. The city is so beautiful, clean, and just simply amazing. I couldn't wait to get out and explore it all. I, first needed to get over the jet-lag. It was bad too because getting to the house and putting stuff away kept us busy for a while then all of sudden when you stop, everything stops. We were so exhausted that we all just passed out, while Troy went out to get a few things at the store with our sponsor, JP. He was awesome and took very good care of us.

When Troy got back we all started to get up and move around but it was still so hard because we were all so exhausted. Then with the summer time here in Finland being daylight all day until almost midnight, that certainly doesn't help your rest. Only in the summer does the sun stay up all day and then go down at around midnight but come right back up around 4-ish. Ask me, well Chloe too. We are experts already on that information because since Tuesday, we've been up every morning around 2 or 3 and aren't really getting back to sleep until either 5, 6, or 7. It's been crazy, this jet-lag thing but I know it will only take a couple of more days and we should be good as new. It's just been the girls in the house because the boys in the house don't seem to have a problem with it. Troy Jr did the first and second night but seems to be on track again. Troy had a issue too but he's sleeping better in the wee morning hours than we are. I know it will all work out eventually. Today is the 22^nd, my Mom's birthday and I can't even call her or email her. Along with everything else that has gone on, our cell service with AT&T ended on the 21^st. We still haven't gotten internet yet and aren't sure when that will be happening. The Finnish people have some sort of law that you must have an I.d. # to get service here for just about anything, so we have to wait for the Embassy to take care of it for us. Who knows how long that will take. I received yesterday, 21^st, my new sim card for my phone but it doesn't work because we have to get a pin # and Troy didn't have it so that's all we are waiting on for that. The television service here sucks, because they have one or two English speaking channels and it's not worth the money (Euros) to get it, so we have to figure out what we are going to do on that end. JP, our sponsor says there are ways to work around that. All in all, everything is coming along but slowly. It's OK, we are together and that's all that counts. Trust me, it could be a lot worse.

July 22^nd, 2011

Still fighting this sleep deprivation. It's crazy how long it takes to get over it. We have also realized that we are not only getting use to the jet-lag but also the heat in the house. In Finland they don't put A/C's in their homes because there is only two months out of the year that are really hot and coming from Florida & Louisiana it's really not that hot, so everyone here opens up there house and let's nature do it's thing. It's great and all, and we would do that but the only problem with that is we have to wait until our 2 wk shipment gets here with our screen that we purchased before leaving the states. They don't believe in screens on their homes here either. That is definitely a problem for us. I guess that's what happens when you are from the good ole USA, the land of the spoiled. You tend to not like change too much from what you are accustomed to. I think we've adapted pretty well so far. We have been here 3 fulls days and it hasn't been too bad with the exception of no sleep so nothing more than that to complain about. Everything is going good and we all seem to love it so far. Can't wait to venture out tomorrow. We are going pick strawberries with a few others from the Embassy so that should be quite interesting.

July 25^th, 2011

Today is Monday, where do I start.

On Saturday we were suppose to go pick strawberries but Rebekah from the Embassy called us on Friday afternoon to tell us the farmer informed her that they weren't ready to be picked, so they would have to cancel. There is always next time. We decided to make a plan to go into the city and venture out and just go wherever our feet took us.

The day came like any other day so far here in Finland. Not a very restful night's sleep but it is getting better. The children were up during the night and of course so was Mommy, but we managed to get a little more sleep to keep us alert of the day ahead. We all got ready and we were out the door by 10am heading to our nearest Metro station, a 5 min walk from our house. We all got on the metro station and headed to the city. When we got there, we took a Tram (train), almost like a trolley car but closed up, to the harbor. Where there is an open market, shopping center and all sorts of interesting things to purchase. We just loved walking up and down the walkway next to the harbor where the boats were, watching the fisherman selling right off their boat what they just caught. The area also had 4 huge cruise ships docked there. It was all so much to take in but so neat and very interesting to us all. Chloe was fascinated as well. Especially with all the sites, smells and sounds everywhere. She asked us about a million questions but it was OK because we certainly enjoyed it all and just being together experiencing all these new things was certainly priceless. It was simply amazing. When all was said and done, we had a very long day in the city, walking everywhere. It was time to get some very tired children back home. We got home in the late afternoon, bathed, had supper and just vegged out on the sofa watching “Clifford the Big Red Dog”, probably for the 100^th time since we don't have television yet. We've been here almost a week and apparently the Finnish people do everything by social security number. We are diplomats so it takes longer to do anything or get any services done because they first have to go through the office of Foreign Ministries to get all of our passports checked and then go through a little more red tape, I guess, before anything can be done. So we sit and wait. The last week hasn't been too bad, but the little (simple) things in life, such as internet, television and phone when not available, or accessible to you, you definitely appreciate them a lot more and count your blessings when you do have them. It's another eye opening experience to you when you don't have something that you are accustomed to having. It makes you stop and think, that's for sure. We are hoping to have the internet this week, we pray.

On Sunday, we didn't go to the same spot but we did find a store equivalent to the Walmart/Target back in the states. It's called K CityMarket and it has just about anything and everything you need. We had to pick up a few things and a good thing it was a few, especially when you we're on foot and all we have for storage is the bag/net underneath the stroller. We managed and everything worked out well. It's been nice to walk around and see all the things we've seen so far. We can't wait to venture out more, it's going to be great to see more new and exciting things. Until then, we'll get back to you on updates.

July 26, 2011

Exactly one week today we've been in Finland. Not too bad for our first week but our sweet baby boy has been teething the last couple of nights so last night wasn't a better night of sleep but I really can't complain because at least I'm getting to sleep some. We were planning to wake up the 4 of us and all go together to the Embassy with Troy to work but when Troy woke up early, I decided against it because Chloe woke me up a little before that and I felt like I had just fallen back asleep. Then, I heard Chloe and her daddy talking so I changed my mind and decided to get up. Got myself ready and then the children and we were off and out the door around 7:30am.

For me it has been so interesting when going out and about when we do. We walked to the metro station and right when we got to the entrance, two security guards were escorting 5 men out from what seemed to be a night of drinking. That is one thing they don't tolerate over here. Drinking/disturbances on the metro. They will definitely kick you out quickly. I just told Troy the other day, I've read about the European way of partying/drinking, having fun, but this took it to another level for me. Every time we've gone out, no matter the time of the day, seriously no matter the time, you are bound to see a couple of drunks here and there. To me it was just not like seeing the same thing back in the states, like New Orleans/Bourbon St. It was actually a shocker for me but it's OK because it was just a moment in time and a very interesting one at that. We got off the metro and took a tram the rest of the way to Troy's work. While riding in the tram with it's open glass, it's so nice to be able to see the city out of the window and what beautiful sights to see. The waters of the harbor engulf the city, just a few steps in any direction it's within sight. It's really beautiful and very soothing.

A little history I learned on my own:

Most of the buildings in the city date back to the 1800's. They have that traditional rustic charm to them. Such character and you can tell that the Finnish people take very good care of their things. Everything is clean and upkeep is regular. The Finns are very quiet, shy people. They keep to themselves, and are very reserve. However, they don't hesitate to help when you are in need. Finnish is the language spoken, but most people here do speak English. Although, it's pretty funny but Troy & I have been spoken to in Finnish several times since we're here. We've thought it was because the blonde haired children we have but we were wrong, apparently we look like the Finnish people but I guess you could look like anyone over here. There is definitely just about every nationality you can think of here and an Embassy here from almost every place in the world. Just up the street from the U.S. Embassy, is about 4 that I was told about. The U.S. Embassy is an older building, it's the typical American red brick, colonial structure that sets them apart from the other Embassies and buildings in that area. The Ambassador's residence is beautiful and is among the gardens and parks of Kaivopuisto, and overlooks the entrance to Helsinki's south Harbor. From what I'm told the Embassy has a long and distinguished history and I can't wait to learn all about it. Also, Finland is Europe's largest archipelago and most heavily forested country. About 75% of Finland is covered by forests, 10% of it is covered by water. There are approximately 190,200 lakes and about 180,000 islands in Finland, which one of them we live on. (Kulosaari)

So after all was done, I had got a chance to get onto the computer, email family and pay some bills. A little catching up but far from it. It's going to be a while before I can really catch up. I did what I could and then Troy took us to lunch. We ended up getting some medicine for Troy Jr. after and then headed for the bus that has a bus stop conveniently near our house. Troy saw us off as we got on the bus and about 15 mins we were back home. It's been tricky trying to figure out the transportation system as it's in Finnish. If we had internet we'd be able to map out a trip planner and do it in English but that's not going to happen here at the house. Troy has been planning his trips to work, on the computer at work and all has been working for him so far. Another day down and another one well on it's way. Until then!!

July 27^th, 2011

Today was just like any other day. Got up we all had breakfast, got dress for our day and sat around and didn't do much of anything at first. The children both went down for naps after their lunch and I started laundry and cleaning up around here. Trying to get ourselves ready for the first of many days of unpacking. Our first shipment hadn't gotten here yet but we are expecting it this week sometime, no later than next week. We will unpack that shipment and then of course, get the house straight, clean and all ready for the rest of our stuff and have to do it all over again. The joys of a government job and living abroad. I definitely have been blessed that we haven't had to do much in the packing department. That has always been one less headache for us. We thank God for all of our many blessings.

July 28^th, 2011

We are having our first thunderstorm since we've been here. It rained a couple of nights back but it wasn't as hard as it's raining now. We were planning to go to the market to get a few things but I guess that will have to be put off for now. Not sure how long it will rain but I'm not taking any chances going anywhere on foot. Troy and I have decided more than likely we will be looking into getting a vehicle. Co-workers keep telling Troy that he'll probably want to get one because when winter comes it will be brutal trying to walk anywhere at long periods of time especially with the children. I hate that we might have to because I was looking forward to saving the money that we'd be saving. Troy said he figured it all out and it won't be too bad. Thank God we are reimbursed the VAT (Value Added Tax). It's a good part we'll be able to save because the Euro is so high right now and things are rather expensive.

Troy Jr seems to be feeling better, he's not lethargic today but was the last couple of days. He was very hard to comfort because we thought it was just one tooth cutting through but it was two and one on the way. I'd be upset too if I had that many at one time. My poor baby boy. He and his sister are playing right now as I type this blog. I love watching them together. They are so cute and adorable. You can tell that they truly love each other. They play well together and as any brother or sister, have their moments. It's Mommy time, time for me to get there lunch together and so I say, until next time.

Children fed lunch, Troy Jr napping now and CoCo is playing with her V-Reader while I watch a DVD on the computer. It's been one rather quiet, boring day.

July 29^th, 2011

Very cool crisp morning. We were planning to go into the city to venture out by ourselves, but Troy left this morning for work with his cellphone. He's been leaving it with us because I still don't have a cellphone and I'd rather have one before the children and I venture out by ourselves. I just have a feeling that I will get lost a couple of times before I find my way around. I guess we are going to find something to do around the house like going to the park or playing in the yard. Compared to yesterday, today is such a beautiful, sunny day. We ended up getting some more rain in the afternoon so there was no going outside today. It's OK because Troy Jr was still not feeling well and we were just exhausted from have such a long boring day that all worked out, I guess.

August 2^nd, 2011

The last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous. Sun is out shining and it's been cool & breezy. We've thoroughly enjoyed the weather here. The house has been opened up and it's been so nice to have such a change from the humidity back in FL that we endured for so long. A great change.

Today seems to be a quiet day for us so far. Troy Jr still hasn't been feeling well so I decided to go to the Embassy yesterday to have the nurse check him out. We ended up having to get an appointment at the local clinic there because the nurse wanted him to see a pediatrician so that he'd get the proper care. Troy went back to work, so Chloe, Troy Jr and I hung out around the Embassy grounds to kill time until his appointment. We got to the clinic and I was really nervous because he'd been sick for so long, I just thought it was going to be bad, like bronchitis or pneumonia but my worries were for nothing at all. Thank God!! He just has a really bad cold, and he's congested. The pediatrician didn't give him anything because he said his body just has to fight off the infection by itself. It could take a while so I guess he'll be better soon because he's been sick for a while now. I certainly hope so. I just hate it when my children are sick. I'm sure he like the rest of us are all trying to get accumulated to this country and he just so happened to get sick right before we got here. Today is exactly 2 wks we've been here. WOW!! It just flew by. It's really been a great 2 wks so far. We've already learned a lot and it hasn't been too bad traveling on the buses, metro and trams. It's actually been fun and exciting to see new things and just ride around the city seeing all the sites. We are just going to lay low today and not do too much. We had a rather long day yesterday and I'd rather stay close to home today. We'll send more updates later on. Until then, have a fabulous day.

August 4^th, 2011

Today was like Christmas for the Fontenots here in Finland. We got our first shipment (UAB) out of customs and it was delivered to us today. It's the air freight that comes two wks after we've arrived and then our household shipment will be here in another 4 to 6 weeks. That would be the rest of our household things. I was so especially excited to see the diapers, because we were down to our last 5, boy did we cut it close. I was so glad that we didn't have to buy any here, at least not for a while. They are really expensive here and I'd like not to have to buy them here but I know that day is coming soon enough. We also set up the playroom in the open area on top the stairs. It worked out awesome and of course Chloe & Troy Jr loved it the minute they started playing. We had most of their toys in this shipment so you know they were really excited about that also. Everything seems to be coming together pretty good and we are settling in one day at a time. I told Troy just the other day, we will feel all settled and comfortable, and then boom, here is the rest of our house to organize all over again. LOL!! We laughed because this we know as our life. It's wonderful too. We are all in good place and all seems to be well now.

August 5^th, 2011

The children and I went into the city to meet Troy, and some of his co-workers for lunch. We went to the bus stop on time and of course the bus was late. There was another bus that showed up so we took it but I knew it would stop at central station where we could catch a tram the rest of the way to meet them. I was so proud of myself, did all that on my own without having to call Troy and bother him at work. I know he says it's no bother but I seem to be calling him a lot lately. LOL!! We have gone out a lot on our own but still no pictures because my camera isn't with us here. It was one of the things that we shipped and I so wish I wouldn't have made that mistake. I still can't believe I didn't bring it with me, I'm so mad at myself for that. We have taken a few pictures here and there with our cameras on our old phones but as for better looking pictures, of course we are going to have to wait until we get our good camera. We met the guys, had lunch, then the children and I went for a lovely, long stroll down the street, passing through a beautiful park, lots of window shopping, and then off to the park that I brought them to the other day in the city. It's a huge park that is beautiful and has a lot of sand for the children to play with and in. Chloe had fun just piling up lots of sand in some buckets she found. She told me it was her special “ice cream” that she was making. That kid has an imagination and it's wonderful too. We stayed there for about an hour and then off to another bus stop that I wasn't too familiar with. I called Troy to get the time and off we were to the next stop. OMG!!!!!!!!! What a nightmare. We got on the bus, it was just the three of us, well of course the bus driver too. So that should have told me something there, but it didn't. We got to the end of the road near the water and the bus stopped. The doors open, and then the driver looks at me and says something in Finnish and I respond to him by saying, I only speak English, and then he puts his hand out, as if to tell me to get off of the bus. I was a bit surprised, so I asked him, I have to get off, and he shakes his head, yes. Then all of a sudden, I began to get scared. I had no idea where I was, I was with my children and no where to go. I hadn't really gotten use to the bus schedule, only the ones that went from central station to the house. Troy and I knew it was the bus to take us home but had no idea that was the end of the line and they parked themselves at the end of the road and just hung out for “time catch up” to stick to their scheduled times. I just so happened to get on the bus that waits about 10 mins and then starts up the route again. OMG!! I called Troy freaking out and almost in tears but I calmed down and realized that this would probably be the first of many. I think I was more upset because it look like we got dropped off in the middle of no where, it mostly looked like the warehouse district of Helsinki. We were surrounded by lots and lots of huge warehouse buildings and a few looked vacant. The buses were down the road so I felt a little safer but there for a minute is when I felt out of place. I felt better when I called Troy and we figured all this out. I just wasn't in a comfortable place and needed help to find it. LOL!! I did get myself straight again and we were back in business, getting back on the same bus that drove us to the bus stop near our home.

We stopped in at the park on the way home. Chloe played for a little while in the big sand box, then a girl about Chloe's age came over and started talking to her in Finnish. Chloe just talks back in English and her mother & I from two different benches just watched as our children played together. This is when I learned that between children there is no language barrier. They understand play no matter what. The two of them had a ball. They laughed together, played on the slide, and swung on the swings, and enjoyed each and every moment they had together. It didn't matter what language they spoke, they knew what the deal was. Our day ended up being a really nice one.

August 7^th, 2011

It is 9am here in Helsinki and I've been up and down since 4:45am. Our son just didn't want to sleep for some reason this morning but after a little fight here and there, he's still sleeping now. As a matter of fact, so is his big sister. She woke up early this morning too and I told her it was too early to be up and to go back to bed, and she did. That's our morning so far.

We had some people over yesterday that Troy works with. John, JP, Hunter, and Hunter's girlfriend, Alyssa. They are very nice and we had a nice time. Troy wanted to barbeque on his new pit that we had shipped out here, so we decided to invite a few people and we are so glad that we did. It turned out to be a nice visit with everyone and despite a little rain the barbeque pit did the job. Everything was delicious and Troy also cooked a jambalaya, so we had plenty of food but the best part about it was that we didn't have a whole lot left. I hate having a lot of leftovers, so it worked out very well.

When we first got to Finland almost three weeks ago, we discovered that there was a pretty nice size sandbox in our yard. The sand was dirty and the wood closure needed to be worked on a little, so yesterday afternoon before our guests came over, JP came over to pick Troy up and they took off for the hardware store to get some more sand, and a shovel. They came back with the sand and a few other items, problem when they got back, it was raining pretty hard, so Troy had to hold off on doing anything with the box. Chloe still didn't know that was what her Daddy was going to the store for. We knew she'd be waiting for this day forever, so we decided to wait and tell her when he had gotten it all cleaned up. Later that afternoon in between cooking, and the rain stopping, Troy went laid out the new sand after cleaning the old, and weeding it also. It came out so good and Chloe was so excited when he was finished. She stayed in it for a while and had a ball. The weather has been awesome, with the exception of the rain yesterday. We certainly have been outside more than we've been inside. It's not cold, it's just cool & breezy. All else is well and I believe today will be another outside day.

August 8^th, 2011

WOW!!!! Troy Jr is 14 months today, and it still seems like I just had him. He's growing really fast before our eyes. Since getting to Finland, three more teeth have come out. He's on his way to walking any day now. He just doesn't want to let go right now. He's still growing to trust himself but he's so cute and adorable doing it.

We had some rain come through early in the morning, so that's why it's so much cooler than usual. I know I've stressed this through my journal entries a lot but we absolutely love this weather. I know we probably won't be saying the same when the snow gets here but the cool, crisp air is definitely a nice change from the hot, sticky humid weather back in Florida. Troy rode his bicycle for the first time to work today and he said it was great. It only took him 18 mins and that was shorter than his normal bus ride there. He said he definitely did enjoy his bike ride and can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the big day, we've been waiting 3 long weeks for it, we get our internet hooked up, hopefully. LOL!! We'll see sometime tomorrow, not sure how the Finns do it, but they are suppose to come out here and hook us up. Until then, we'll hopefully be up and running, and able to keep updating you all on our lives here in Finland. Talk to you all again very soon.

August 9^th, 2011

The big day is finally here, and it's 2:20pm here in the afternoon, and of course we aren't up and running yet. Don't suppose it will happen until late, they work very slow around here. I guess we'll see soon enough. I will go for now but not for too long.

I'm back later in the evening jotting down a few things to say about the day that has passed before I'm off to bed. The internet didn't come on as planned, and no one showed up like they said someone would. Not a huge surprise to me, oh well, what's one more day when you've been waiting weeks. Then Troy had to work late this evening so he's still at work and it's almost 10pm. I'm definitely not waiting up for him, he could be a while still. They have important visitors coming in soon and they have to get everything in tip top shape so they are going to be busting a little butt before then.

I just need to go to bed because I want to definitely sleep this day away. It was too long and nothing seemed to go right today. I'm going to bed, say my prayers and pray that tomorrow is a better one. Thanks for listening. Goodnight

August 10^th, 2011

At approximately 3:30 this morning, I was awoken by the loudest and most powerful thunderstorm that I believe I've ever heard in my life. It was so loud that I thought it was in our room. It didn't last very long but the rain has been non-stop ever since. It is 10:30 and it's still raining. I can only assume this is Finland's rainy season because it's rained every day since Saturday afternoon. We still don't have internet and Troy is suppose to be taking care of that today at the Embassy. Hopefully we'll have it this evening or tomorrow. I guess it's just playing the waiting game again. The children and I are up watching the rain fall outside and some DVDs on the computer. Nothing too exciting today until something changes, have a wonderful day.

August 12^th, 2011

Two more days have past and still no internet. We are just playing the waiting game right now because the company, Sonera says they are working on the problem because apparently there is a glitch in the system and they are trying to correct the problem as best they can and as soon as possible. I look at it this way, we've had no internet for 3 wks and 3 days, what's a few more days, or weeks. Who's counting.... me, I guess. LOL!! At this point I'm just trying to stay positive and keep an open mind about it all. I just think of others out there that don't even get that luxury in life and thank God that we are able to get it at all. I will just be very grateful when we do get it.

With all the rain we've been having since Saturday, it's been rather frustrating with all that is going on, having to stay home, with both children and nothing much to do. CoCo and I have been playing some games and we've been doing that while Troy Jr takes his naps, all three of us have had some cabin fever. Yesterday we took advantage of a break in the rain, and took off for the bus stop to go into the city. We were told of a place that had the bounce houses for children underground and have been wanting to bring them but never had the chance so I took the opportunity to do it while we were out. We got off at the metro station that we were told we should and that we'd find it pretty good from there. I had a little trouble because of course I had to collect myself, because I had no clue where we were. Then after a phone call to Troy at work and a stroll down the block, I started to recognize where I was and then here came the rain. Luckily it was lunch time and we were near a McDonalds, we zipped right in and didn't get but a few drops before the downpour. We were lucky and had a nice lunch while watching the rain come down outside. We finished and the rain didn't seem to be letting up, so I took a chance that we'd find the place pretty quickly. We had to cross the street and a few tracks where the tram passes and then across a cobblestone lot that lead to the place where we were headed. Of course it's still raining and I'm trying to keep Chloe and Troy Jr dry while steering the stroller and holding the umbrella. It was difficult but I did it and we were out of the rain in about 10 mins. Then we took the elevator down to the bounce house place. Chloe had no idea because I told her it was a surprise. Her face was absolutely priceless whenever we opened the doors to get in. She was so excited and we actually spent over 4 hours there. It was great, the place was huge and wasn't crowded at all. Another great find for the children. The day ended up being really nice, the rain had stopped, and we got to the bus stop, and only had a few minutes to wait for the next bus and was back home in about 10 mins from getting on that bus. I'm so glad that we got out of the house. What a great day it was.

The internet company just came by and they are working on the cable line, phone line and whatever they need to work on to help us out. The Finns are really wonderful people even though they are slow as molasses. We should be up and running very shortly and I am so excited. Thought this day would never get here. LOL!! Until next time.... see you online. ;)

Summer is here & moving begins

2011-07-05T19:58:00.004-05:00

Troy with our beautiful children

Mommy & Troy Jr enjoying a swing

We have been away from blogging for a while now. SORRY!! I know we say that pretty often but with our very active children, it's been non-stop around here. Troy Jr turned 1 on the 8th of June and it seems like we've been on a world-win since then. We are moving in three weeks and it seems with all we've done, that there is more to do and just not enough time to do it in. We have been very busy going through all of our belongings and weeding out what doesn't need to come with us or be put in storage. We've probably donated, if I had to guess about 8 to 9 full boxes of stuff. Felt so good to do that. Still getting rid of plenty more and setting aside what will be in storage and what is coming with us. It's just been a little hectic but nothing we can't handle.
We received an email sometime last week with the information on the house that will be assigned to our family and it's wonderful. Realizing that this move is reality and so close makes you stop and think of how fast life can pass you by, so there is no taking things for granted here. We definitely will miss all of our loved ones, great friends and all of the very important people in our lives. Did we ever think in our wildest dreams we would be living in Europe, um no. It's a wonderful opportunity for all of us and we are so very excited about it. Troy Jr can't voice his opinion on it but Chloe certainly is happy about it. She's very sad to leave Florida and all the wonderful friends she's made here but we will stay in touch with all of them. She's already made a point to tell her daddy & I that we have to call on the computer, as she puts it. So sweet, and it only reminds me how much she's just like me. The one that grows attach to everything and everyone. I just love everyone and so does she. We all do but it's harder for us girls then it will be for the boys.
As for today 7/5/11, we've had a real busy past month. Going to D.C. last week and then Baltimore to see family, we are definitely on a roll and are non-stop. We don't see it or us slowing down anytime soon. Next week starts our actual moving. The movers come on the 13th, and they will be here the rest of the week. In the process the 4 of us will move into a hotel until the day of our departure on the morning of the 18th. Until then, we will be busy busy busy. It's going to be a blur but I'm sure by the time we get there and are all settled in, things will start to ease up. Nothing more to update but we will whenever we have more to share. ENJOY!!!!

The Fontenots at the White House

The Fontenots visiting in Baltimore

What a year so far!!

2011-05-08T19:29:00.001-05:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!
It's been a while since a blog was done, and what seems like a year has passed, it has been about a month and a half. A whole lot in our lives has changed and I really haven't found the time to do this, sit down and just type thoughts onto this computer until now.

On March 28th, we lost our beloved, sweet grandmother, Frances Kornegay. She definitely touched our lives and will definitely be missed by our family. I am especially thankful for the time that I had with her and I'm truly blessed. I'm grateful that I was able to talk to her the Friday before on the phone. We had a great 15 min conversation, that I will keep close to my heart forever. She and I shared lots of memories and I'm glad that I have that.

Since then, Chloe's 4th birthday was on April 2nd. We gave her a birthday party at Monkey Joe's (www.monkeyjoes.com) on the day of her birthday. Troy Jr and I got back home on April 6. Things got back to normal somewhat.
Chloe, of course missed us and we definitely missed them both and it was good to get back to them. Easter was wonderful and we all enjoyed it. I took Chloe the weekend before to the Welleby Park here in Sunrise, where they had an Easter egg hunt for children of all ages. It was great and we all enjoyed it. We met up with her friend Emily, her mom, dad, and sister. They had a great time together and enjoyed the hunt and got lots of eggs. Then on Easter day, Troy Jr's 1st one, we went to church and afterwards spent the afternoon with Fontenots in Hollywood, FL. It was great, both Chloe & Troy Jr really enjoyed it, so did Troy & I.
We've recently started getting ready for our big move overseas. We are in the process of putting things in order. We have a list of stuff to do and are taking it one day at a time. Originally when Troy was given his assignment, he was told that we'd probably be departing sometime in either Aug or Sept, but now they really want him there as soon as possible, so it looks like we will be leaving sometime in July. We have to prepare by deciding what goes in storage and what comes with us. It's been a little stressful but we are doing well and trying to get things done in a timely manner. Everything else is coming together and our children are certainly growing. Today, Mother's Day is a day full of wonderful things. Troy Jr is 11 months, and Troy made 2 yrs since his surgery and his weight loss total to date is 146 lbs. I'm so proud of the day we have had. It's been a very nice one and I'm blessed to have had another special day for myself.

HAPPY EASTER 2011

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 5/8/11

Such a great Sunday!!

2011-03-21T10:01:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Sunday, March 20th. A beautiful sunny, not so hot day, we decided to hook up the bikes & the baby trailer and head to Hollywood Beach so that we could ride the bike path and enjoy the scenery and sun. We take the 30 minute drive there and once we start approaching the beach, traffic is backed up everywhere. It was crazy!! It looked to us like everyone had the same idea as we did. I guess living in Florida it's a given. If it's sunny, and a beautiful day outside, head to the beach. We headed out of Hollywood. Chloe was hungry so we stopped for lunch at Dave & Buster's (http://www.daveandbusters.com/), her favorite place. We ate lunch and then she played for a little while. Of course, she had to put up a fight because she didn't want to leave but with a little bribery here and there, we succeeded and left.

We decided to get our exercise by going to Markham Park. When we got there we unloaded the bikes and took off on the bike path. Chloe did awesome. It was a great family outing and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. After riding for a while, we stopped so Chloe could play at the playground. We took Troy Jr out of the trailer and put him in the grass for the first time. He's been in the stroller, our arms, and his carseat for the last 9 months of his life. We've never really gotten out and done anything like this for a while. Our lives have consisted of doctor's appointments, Troy's therapy during the week and us pretty much staying home for the most part, so we never really got the chance to put Troy Jr down in the grass for him to experience it. His daddy also gave him a leaf to experience that too. We were so excited as a family to be able to spend that time together and to see how Troy Jr reacted to his very experience of grass, dirt, and leaves. It was wonderful and we have a few pictures of it. Afterwards, Chloe played for a little while longer and then we came home ate supper, bathed the children and off to bed. God Blessed us with another lovely day here on earth and it was wonderful. We are very thankful.

Had to see how it tasted

It was a great experience for him, and one that we will do again very soon.

Happy St Patrick's Day

2011-03-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and it was a really long day for all of us. Troy Jr. had his 9 mth check up and also had a cold. The normal, sneezing, coughing and runny nose. His pediatrician said he was looking good and that his cold would just take it's course but prescribed an antibiotic anyway. She also stated that if he continues to grow as he's doing, he will definitely be as tall as his daddy or his grandfather (my dad). He's 97 percentile in height. Weight was normal and she said his helmet is obviously working because the measurement had gone up since his last appointment 6 months ago. Our baby boy is growing like a weed and we are so happy about all of his progress.

Chloe & Troy Jr. at the doctor's office
He did have his green on earlier!!

For those of you who didn't know, when he was 4 months, he was diagnosed with Torticollis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torticollis) and this is the reason why he has the corrective helmet. (http://www.starbandkids.com/) On his left side, the muscles in his neck were so tight that his preference was to lay on that side more, so a flat spot developed. The pediatrician thought it would work itself out and still referred us to a craniofacial surgeron so that he/she could make sure that his bone/skull were forming/developing as they should by doing a scan of his entire head. We went to Dr. Eric Stelnicki, and we are so glad that we did. He's an awesome doctor and we appreciate all that he's done for us so far. He examined Troy and they did the scan. He told us that with his therapy that he had started in October, it should help and possibly grow out on it's own but we had to prepare ourselves for the possibility that he'd need the helmet to help it out. His appointment was scheduled to give him 6 to 8 wks with his therapies to see if it would help. We went back right before Christmas holidays and Dr. Stelnicki advised us that it would be best to put Troy in a helmet.
Since that appointment, Troy Jr has been in his helmet since February 14th, yes, Valentine's Day. It was the best thing we've ever done for him. He is doing so well and just by looking at his head, you can even tell the difference. It's wonderful and we couldn't be any happier. We have been so blessed and couldn't ask for anything better than that. Everyone is healthy & for the most part doing well.

On another note, kind of related to Troy's torticollis diagnosis, it all has to do with the core of his body. His muscles, legs, when he twists, and just any movement he has with his lower extremities. With that being said, on March 15th, a very big milestone in his life happened that we thought might take a while, but he actually rolled over all by himself and with no assistance at all. It was very emotional for me because he's been doing all of the other things, like sitting up, talking (well babbling), crawling or should I say scooting backwards instead of forward. All of the things most 8 to 10 month olds would normally being doing at this stage in life. Then I think about that certain statement I've heard before, boys mature a lot slower than girls do and I think that's all it is but with his torticollis, I know it's not, so it just makes me appreciate my life with Troy Jr. that much more because what some of us take for granted, certain little tiny milestones, I don't. It's much appreciated to see his progress right before my eyes. I love the fact that I can be involved in his everyday activities and see his accomplishments with every therapy session he has. It's on to the next phase in his life, getting him to crawl forward now. He'll do it and it's going to be on his terms and his pace. Exactly the way it should be.
With God in your life all is well and good in it. Lots of love to you all who follow our blog always!!

March Happenings

2011-03-16T09:34:00.004-05:00

Our beautiful Queen Taylor Brooke

Our visit back to Louisiana at the beginning of the month was great. We were able to spend time with our families and some of our friends. Unfortunately the trip was such a short one that we weren't able to see a lot of the friends we wanted to see and we are so sorry for that. We thoroughly enjoyed Mardi Gras this year. It was the best ever and Taylor was the most gracious, beautiful queen I've ever seen. She certainly deserved the fabulous weekend she received. Troy & I really enjoyed being able to spend the time we did with all of them. The court was great and we got to know some absolutely wonderful people. We are so glad that they are a part of our lives now. All in all Mardi Gras was a magnificent & fantastic time.

Since returning home, we've all got into our regular routines. Troy Jr had two days of his therapies and Chloe went back to school for three days and now is on spring break this week. She returns to school on March 21st and can't wait. She really loves school and we're so happy about that. Troy Jr had his first helmet adjustment on the 14th and it went well. They informed us that his flat spot is growing out beautifully and his progress is remarkable. We couldn't be any happier. He's doing well, although he's been sick since Saturday with a runny nose, cough, and sneezing. For the most part, he's such a good baby. He's 9 months now and has his shot appointment tomorrow (Thurs). He's definitely growing like a weed. He now has 3 teeth fully out but to our surprise this last month, we've discovered that he also has 3 little white buds surfacing through his gums. They aren't completely out but the very edge of all three of them are peeking out (as Troy says). He hasn't been complaining too much. I know I would if I had that many all at one time. WOW!! In a few short months, we'll have a 1 yr old and he'll have 6 teeth, is that crazy or what. It doesn't seem normal. We aren't sure how much he weighs but I guess we'll be finding that out tomorrow for his appointment. Update on that later.

Chloe is doing well and growing like a weed too. She is going to be 4 in April and can't wait for her birthday party she'll be having at Monkey Joe's. (http://www.monkeyjoes.com/) It will be so much fun and we can't wait either. School for her, is great. Her teacher informs us that she is doing well and is a great student. They all love her so much. We are so excited about her progress and happy that she is doing wonderfully.

Also for those of you that didn't know, while we were home, we told our families where Troy's next job assignment will be. We aren't sure of our exact departure date from Florida, but we know it's around the end of August, beginning of September. We will be leaving for Helsinki, Finland. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki) and living there for 3 years. We can hardly wait. We are so excited and can't wait to be able to see all of Finland that we can, but to also travel through Europe. It's going to be so great for our children to experience. The international school (http://www.ish.edu.hel.fi/) that Chloe will be going to is amazing. I'd love to go to school with her, it's that good. She will definitely enjoy it. There will be so much for us to do, and see. We will definitely miss everyone but all of you are more than welcome to visit us anytime you'd like. It's a great vacation spot. (wink wink)

Other than that, not much else is going on over here in Florida. We are all doing pretty good and for the most part doing well. We love and miss you all and hope you enjoy reading our blog.

Playtime

2011-02-27T19:05:00.000-06:00

Chloe & Troy Jr. enjoying sometime together

Chloe loves her baby brother so much that she wants to be around him all the time. Troy or I have to bring Troy Jr. into her room so she can play with him or just show him how she plays dress up. Sometimes he just sits there and watches her and other times, he'll fuss her by screaming at her so that she will give him something to play with. Today, they just laid down on her floor and enjoyed each other. Chloe got up and played peek-a-boo with him also. It was so sweet and so, Troy had to take some pictures of them together. ENJOY!!

Just relaxing

Playing with baby brother like he's a baby doll

Mardi Gras 2011

2011-02-27T11:45:00.001-06:00

We are so excited about Mardi Gras season this year. As I've probably said before, it's a great time of the year for our family. It was exciting & wonderful when our dad was King of Terreanians for the 50th but this year is extra special because of our sweet angel, Taylor being the Queen of Terreanians and my handsome brother, Duke Charles Kornegay. It's bittersweet for me, well I'm sure for my family too, because our only wish would be that my brother, Kevin could be here in person to share this with all of us. I know he's going to be there in spirit and smiling down on us. I know he's so proud of the young lady that his daughter has become. She's not only beautiful on the inside but the outside too. I'm bias, she's the most gorgeous person ever. An aunt couldn't ask for a better niece/godchild. I'm very proud of her and I could never express into words how much, there just isn't enough paper or time in the day to do so. We wish everyone a very Happy Mardi Gras and hope it's the best carnival season for you all.

Queen Terreanians Taylor Kornegay

Duke Charles Kornegay

Here we go again!!

2011-02-20T12:32:00.000-06:00

I am not keeping up with this blog like I should or I would like to. Since the last post in January, we've just been busy with life in general. The children definitely have kept us busy. Troy Jr. finally did get his helmet on Monday, Feb. 14th, and will have it on for 3 months. He has to wear it 23 hrs a day and has been doing really well with it so far. We are all looking forward to going back to Louisiana for a visit during Mardi Gras. It's going to be a great one this year. Our niece, Taylor, is the Queen of the Krewe of Terreanians, and our whole family is really excited about it. Being a past queen myself, I'm so proud & honored that she'll be part of the tradition. Other than that, we really don't have much going on over here in Florida. Just enjoying our children and watching them grow. To all of our family & friends hope you all enjoy keeping up with all that we do and have done. Love to you all.

Way too long!!

2011-01-13T10:37:00.003-06:00

I can't believe I let the time get away from me, but I guess you can do that very easily with the holidays, traveling, and children. It's been a crazy end of the year and a rather busy beginning of 2011. We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year. It has been a world-wind for us. We were in Louisiana for the holidays and had a wonderful time with our family and friends. Although, we weren't able to see everyone, we were so glad that we got the chance to see the loved ones we were able to see. Since January has begun, it's been non-stop and we like it that way. We got back from our visit and had to bring Troy Jr. back to his pediatrician because of skin issues he's been having since he was about 2 months. Troy & I had enough after dealing with this for so long, it was certainly time to get serious about this. The pediatrician finally after a couple of visits back and forth, gave a diagnosis of Eczema. I then suggested an ointment that his nanny was using on her son. Troy Jr has been on it since the 5th and there has been a total transformation. He doesn't even look like the same baby anymore. His baby soft, smooth skin is back and I can't stop kissing him. Well, I kissed him a whole lot before but he is so irresistible now, that I just can't get enough of those cheeks. Now let's hope that it stays this way.

For those of you who didn't know, back when Troy Jr. was 4 months, he was diagnosed with Torticollis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torticollis) and has since been going through therapy to help improve it. He also had to see a craniofacial surgeron to make sure with the slight flatness to his head, that it was growing as it should be. Dr. Eric Stelnicki has been a wonderful doctor through all of this. Dr. Stelnicki told Troy and I with all of his therapies (Thank god for Ms. Robin & Ms. Debbie), the flat part of his head should get better. He gave us 6 to 8 wks until his next check up and then he'd decide if he should put Troy Jr in a corrective helmet. Troy Jr's appointment was a couple of days before our trip back to Louisiana for the holidays. He told us that Troy's head did improve but not enough, so we'd have to put him in the helmet. We were able to wait until we came back to Florida after the holidays to get started on the process. His appointment was on the 10th, so we are waiting on the insurance company and from there is takes two weeks for the helmet to come in. When it comes in, Troy Jr will be wearing it 24 hrs a day for 3 months, and the only time I get to take it off is to bathe him.

We've had a rather busy year so far in the first 13 days but it's OK, we've enjoyed every single moment of it and can't wait for what else is in store for us. I will make a promise to myself to keep up with the blog as much as possible or should I say, as much as Troy Jr lets me. heehee :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-25T09:09:00.000-06:00

We are so blessed and so thankful for all the things that we have in our life. God gave us another wonderful blessing this year in June. Our sweet little man, Troy Jr. He's the added addition that has put the cherry on top of our family "cake". We are now complete. We are so thankful for all of these wonderful gifts.

Today, we celebrate this wonderful day just the 4 of us but look forward to being with all of our family in December for Christmas. Troy is slaving in the kitchen today, cooking a gumbo and the turkey is in the oven as I type this blog, so we'll be eating good today, that's for sure. We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!! Love to each and everyone of you.

Holidays approaching!!

2010-11-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

With the holidays fast approaching us, it's been so hard to decide what the four of us will be doing for Thanksgiving. We know that we'll be going back to Louisiana for the Christmas holidays but no plan set in motion for Thanksgiving and that's next week. We are thinking of just laying low and hanging out at home, doing our own thing. Troy wants to cook something, so that sounds great to me. Before we all know it, 39 days from now Christmas will be here. Too fast!!! We are ready and can't wait. It's Troy Jr.'s 1st Christmas and we all will be together. Troy, Chloe, Troy Jr. and I will be driving out on the 17th of December to head back to Louisiana. The first time the four of us take this long trip together, so I believe it's going to be an adventure, that's for sure. Troy Jr. hasn't been to Louisiana yet so this will definitely be a treat for our family, and all of our friends that have not had the opportunity to meet him yet. We will definitely be excited and thrilled to show him off. Things here are still the same, nothing too exciting. The excitement for us is watching our children grow and seeing the world through their eyes. It's great and life for all of us is really good right now. We wish the same for all of you. Lots of love!!

Lots of new things

2010-11-14T20:41:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since last blog, so I have a lot to catch up on. On November 8th, Troy & I celebrated our "lucky" anniversary. We've been married 8 years and we had a really nice day. Didn't do anything too exciting because we all had spent the weekend together in Miami, enjoying the "Blue Angels" air show with our friend Robert. We decided to have a low key evening, also because Chloe had school the next day, so we liked that the 4 of us were all together. That's all we needed.
Since then, we've just had ordinary days where Troy Jr. and I just hang out and do our thing. He's been growing so much and getting so big. He now has started to notice the spoon coming to his mouth and now he opens his mouth for it, instead of me putting it in. He's doing all sorts of new things. His newest thing is having a conversation with you, by trying to repeat what you've babbled to him. It's pretty cute and so is he. Chloe is also getting bigger and is learning so much each and everyday. It's wonderful to watch these two angels grow right before our eyes. Such a joy!!

On Friday, November 12th, my lovely husband took me to a Florida Panthers hockey game. It was a great date and a much needed one. We hadn't gone on one since Troy Jr. was about 2 1/2 months old, so it was time. We thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a great game.

Today, November 14th, is my dear wonderful father's birthday. He is a great and wonderful man and one that I'm proud to call Daddy. I love you Daddy and hope you had a wonderful day because you certainly deserve it. Lots of love to you always, we miss you bunches!!
Chloe, Troy, Troy Jr. and I went to Hollywood, FL. to a church fair for St. Maurice. It was great and we had a good time. It brought me back to the days when I use to go to our school fairs for Vandebilt. It wasn't the same but it was nice to be able to attend one after such a long time. Today was a great day and I'm so happy to have been able to spend it with my sweet lil' family. Love to all who reads our blog.

Beginning of Baby Food

2010-11-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

Troy Jr's first bite of carrots wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different. He certainly loves to eat and it shows. He really took well to them and had no problem finishing half of the jar as recommended. Although, he probably could have eaten the whole entire jar we had to stop him there because we wanted to make sure he could handle it, since it was something new to him and his stomach. We should have known it was going to be just fine. We had them again for lunch today and he's still doing well. He's still growing and doing very good with each passing day.

Already November

2010-11-01T09:47:00.000-05:00

It's already November 1st and it seems like the beginning of 2010 was just here. It's crazy to think how fast time has flown, but luckily we've been having fun while it was. A whole lot of wonderful things have happened this year for us and we are so thankful and very blessed. It's only right that this month for Thanksgiving, that we do give thanks for all the good things in our lives and never take what we have for granted.

On another note, we all had a wonderful time last night at the "Trunk or Treat" with Chloe & Evan, as "Little Miss Ladybug & Mr. Racecar Driver". Halloween was a success again and our children really enjoyed themselves. Hoping that everyone had a good but safe one.

Have a happy month of November and before you know it, it'll be Christmas and we'll all be celebrating yet another holiday.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2010-10-31T12:13:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween to everyone. We hope that everyone has a safe one. We are so excited because it's Troy Jr's 1st Halloween. We can't wait to take him and his sister to "Trunk or Treat", which will be held at the Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, FL. The people involved in the celebration, give out candy from the trunk of their vehicles in the parking lot of the church. It's so much fun for the kids and adults too. They all decorate their vehicles with all sorts of things and it's really neat. We took Chloe last year with our friend Frances & her son, Evan and had so much fun. We will post pictures later this evening after our adventures. Have a wonderful & Happy Halloween.

2010-10-29T08:14:00.005-05:00

Today, Chloe has school off because of the teachers having a workshop, so we've just been vegging out in front of the television watching cartoons so far. We will be cleaning house together today because CoCo is such a big helper. Just finished feeding Troy his oatmeal and now we are set and off to a good day. We wish everyone a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend.

2010-10-28T19:26:00.001-05:00

2010-10-28T19:25:00.001-05:00

Halloween 2010

2010-10-28T19:20:00.000-05:00

It's October 28, 2010 and I'm just now getting to this blogging thing. WOW!! How slow am I... well, let's see 3 1/2 years to be exact. I've been raising children and not doing much more than that. The things that mean the most are definitely the small simple things and we've done a lot of those things. Swimming, going to the beach, bringing Chloe to her favorite places, and now I'm finally blogging about it. I'm actually proud of myself and wanted to share that with all of you. Now, about the children and the whole purpose of why I'm doing this blog.

Chloe is now 3 1/2 years old and is attending Sawgrass Elementary as a preschooler and absolutely loves it. Her latest interest has been playing with her toys in her room, getting books read to her and of course loving up on her baby brother. She's a great big sister and is absolutely inlove with him.

We had our second child, a baby boy, we named Troy Jr on June 8th. He's added sunshine to our little family and he definitely puts the icing on our cake. He is now 4 months, loves to eat and definitely is a growing boy. He is now eating rice cereal, and oatmeal. He'll start baby food this weekend and we can't wait. We'll definitely be posting pictures.

This year for Halloween we will be taking them to Church by the Glades, for "Trunk of Treat." We went there last year with our friend Frances and her son, Evan and had so much fun, so we decided that we wanted to do it again because it's a special one this year. Troy Jr's 1st Halloween, so we are really excited about it. We'll post the pictures after all the festivities.

I hope that you all enjoy the blog and all future blogs that are posted about us all. Thanks for taking the time out to read, view and or comment. We appreciate it and hope that you stay in touch as well.