Friday, August 31, 2012

Apologies Again...

I'm so sorry for neglecting you again. Unfortunately, I don't have anything interesting to write about, But I thought it would be fair to give you at least an idea what has been going on in here.

First of all, Fräulein and myself caught a cold last weekend. Fräulein was fine by Monday but I am still sneezing and coughing. And just when I would have needed so time to relax, Fräulein's Tagesmutter let us know that her own daughter was ill and Fräulein couldn't go to daycare. Great. So I really have had neither the time nor the energy to blog.

But not everything is a misery. We have been meeting friends, some of whom we haven't met for months. And yesterday, I had the 3D/4D ultrasound.


When I was pregnant with Fräulein, we were still living in Finland, so I had only two regular ultrasounds during my pregnancy. As we wanted the opportunity to she her once more and get to know her gender, we went to private doctor's office for this 3D/4D ultrasound.

This time, here in Germany, I have ultrasound every four weeks! So, first I thought it would not be so interesting to have that 3D/4D ultrasound. But as Herr Welle pointed out, that we would get a DVD with some video footage of the baby, I thought it be fair for this baby to have that too, like her sister does.

Everything was well and we got some great photos of her face. And yes, she was still 'she' :)


Next Monday, Fräulein will be starting in the kindergarten. The first day will be total 30 minutes long (together with me...) So, I cannot promise I'll have more time to blog next week, either.

*****
Taas on vierehtänyt aikaa edellisestä postauksesta, sillä olen ollut kipeänä eikä Fräuleinkaan ole päässyt päivähoitoon. Mutta jotain mukavaakin sentään, sillä kävimme 3D/4D-ultrassa kurkkimassa masuasukin kasvonpiirteitä. Maanantaina alkaakin Fräuleinin sopeutumisjakso päiväkodissa, joten en voi luvata bloggaavani ensi viikollakaan kovin aktiivisesti...

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Plans for New Year's Eve

Thank you all for your lovely comments you left here in the blog, on Facebook and via email! If you missed my previous post, you can check it here.

This new baby has been very active. I first felt the movements during the 13th week of the pregnancy (I've been told that you can usually feel them week 18 with your first child and week 16, if you have been pregnant before). As there has been much more kicking than when I was expecting Fräulein, I was sure that this one would be a boy. I was happy to hear that I was able to mislead some of you, too! :)

Yesterday, I went through some photos of Fräulein as newborn.
Here she is having her very first bath - quite relaxing!

I usually get a bit frustrated when planning on what to do on New Year's Eve. December is usually spent planning on Christmas and then on Boxing Day, I suddenly realize that the New Year is only a couple of days ahead and it would be nice to celebrate it somehow.

Well, this year I had the plans for New Year ready before the mid-summer: the due-date of our baby is on New Year's Eve!

Well, of course I won't be able to know what exactly we are going to do on that date, but at least I know we will be in Wiesbaden, either at hospital or home. And certainly there won't be any crazy partying...

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Kiitos kaikille onnitteluistanne! Ja oli hauska kuulla, että onnistuin hämäämään joitakin teistä edellisen postauksen otsikolla. Vauva on niin kova potkimaan, että olin itse ihan varma, että tulossa on poika.

Tänä vuonna meillä on kerrankin vuodenvaihteen suunnitelmat ajoissa valmiina: vauvan laskettuaika on uudenvuodenaattona!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Oh Boy!

So, finally to the great news I have...

I must say, that this has really started to feel like old news, as at least three other bloggers, who I follow, have recently shared similar news in their blogs...

Anyway, we are having another baby!


It is already the 22nd week of the pregnancy. I have been waiting to share this with you for so long, but we wanted to let our family and friends know about this face to face, when we spent the summer in Finland.

And I now I can finally confess that the reason it has been so quiet in my blog in the last couple of months, has been due to the fact that I have been sooooo tired. Especially in May, I was just laying on the sofa not being able to lift a finger.

But now I am feeling better and more energetic. I had the latest ultrasound on Friday and the baby is growing and otherwise OK, too!

And oh boy, we are having another girl! :D
(sorry, I did that on purpose...)

*****
Ja vihdoin niihin uutisiin: meille tulee toinen vauva! Raskaus on jo aika pitkällä, mutta halusimme kertoa asiasta kasvokkain kesän aikana mahdollisimman monelle. Mutta nyt teille muillekin tiedoksi, että Fräulein saa pikkusiskon! :)

Friday, August 17, 2012

Never Say Never


In the beginning of this year, I started to look for some daycare possibilities for Fräulein.

I had previously heard that it is almost impossible to find a kindergarden place for your child here in Wiesbaden. I knew that there are a very few places available especially for the under 3 year olds. Previously, the German mums have stayed at home as Hausfraus with their small children. But I guess  more and more often the mothers now hurry back to work. However, the availability of childcare places is not increasing fast enough (just my own thought, not based on any facts).

In Finland, the city is required to find a daycare place for all children. Although it might not always be the place closest to home or otherwise desirable, there must be at least some sort of place for each child.

But in Germany, you must search for the place by yourself. And as most of the kindergartens are private, you must apply to each of them separately.

I found a handful of places close to our home.

We took part in one introductory evening. There were about 20 families there and these evenings were held every month. So roughly, there were about 100 families applying for a place that year. And we were told that, at the beginning of next August, there would be 5 openings in the Krippe (kindergarten for children ages 1-3 years).

100 kids, 5 places. That kind of took our hopes down.

Anyway, I applied for several kindergartens. Most of them made their decisions in March/April, but I didn't get news from any of them. Only one of the kindergartens takes the children in based on the order they had received the applications, instead of the reputation of the children's parents. Fräulein would be able to start there during summer 2013.

Thus, thinking that we would not be able to get a place in a Krippe for Fräulein in the near future, I was happy to go forward with the Tagesmutter option.

But a month ago, I got a very surprising phone call. It was the kindergarten of our local church calling. They had a place for Fräulein starting the first of September. September this year! All I managed to say was "Danke schön!".

So, we have really exciting time ahead of us. And we need to start all over again with that adjustment program we already went through with the Tagesmutter... But this Kindergarten is in the walking distance from our home. And I guess there are more activities there and the days are more structured for the children, so I hope Fräulein will benefit from it, too.

Although the place is for full time, I hope we can have shorter days in daycare. And I am actually planning to continue some studies I have started a while back, so there is actually something 'real' for me to do while Fräulein is in daycare (like before, I need this excuse for myself, not to anyone else).

So, never say never!

I have also other great news for you, so stay tuned for another episode of Frau Welle - the Expat Hausfrau ;)

*****
Päiväkotipaikan saaminen etenkin alle kolmevuotiaalle on todella hankalaa täällä Wiesbadenissa (ja vissiin Saksassa yleisesti). Suurin osa päiväkodeista on yksityisiä, joten niihin on kaikkiin haettava erikseen. Lisäksi päiväkodit voivat vapaasti valita, kelle paikan antavat, joten oletin prosessin vaativan jonkinmoista aktiivisuutta, että hakemuksemme huomioitaisiin. Koska hakijoita on paljon enemmän kuin päiväkotipaikkoja, päädyimme Tagesmutter-vaihtoehtoon.

Nyt kesällä sain kuitenkin yllättävän puhelun seurakuntamme päiväkodista: Fräuleinille on siellä paikka syyskuun alusta lähtien! Aivan loistavaa, sillä toisin kuin Tagesmutterimme, päiväkoti sijaitsee kävelymatkan päässä kotoamme. Eli taas alkaa uusi sopeuttamisjakso...

Ja lisää hyviä uutisia luvassa... ;)


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Warm Welcome


We are home!

After one night in the Turku - Stockholm ferry and 1460 kilometers in our car, we finally arrived home.

Nice view when we enjoyed the evening meal on board...
...and again when having late breakfast in Jönköping

Oh boy, does it feel good to be back! I certainly enjoyed our time in Finland, but nothing beats sleeping in my own bed.

The weather has been more than welcoming. When we arrived home just before mid-night, it was actually warmer here than it was in Finland during the day...

Well, I'll just keep this post short, but I'll be back shortly with some great news! :)

*****
Kotona taas! Ensin Viking Linella Turusta Tukholmaan ja sitten 1460km ajomatka Wiesbadeniin, mutta täällä ollaan! Ja sää on mitä parhain.

Nyt näin lyhyesti, mutta palaan pian uusin aihein :)