Hola! We're finally back home from our holiday to Bulgaria. I was planning on blogging during our stay there, but unfortunately the wifi in the hotel wasn't too good, so it was hard to do so when the connection wasn't that great. That's why I've been MIA in the blogosphere he he...it was a much needed break, anyway. I did manage to check some messages and emails, but it was hard to write long replies using my mobile phone.
This time we didn't really feel like having a busy holiday, so we spent 2 weeks lazing around and just relaxing. It was also due to the hot weather that we didn't really feel like roaming around too much LOL!!! It was so hot during the day that I was too lazy to take many pics. I did take some pics and videos, but not as many as I used to take. Before I forgot...guess what? My brother's second baby was born during our holiday!!! It's another boy indeed and Ken is SO happy to get a baby brother! :-D I'm glad both mom and baby are doing well and the breast milk production is also going well. :-D I haven't had time to ask about the delivery yet, but it seems it took longer than it did with Ken. Can't wait to meet the little fellow next year on our planned Indo trip (hopefully it comes true - first have to save money!!!).
Anyway, here are some sneak peeks of the pics. The first one is one view of the hotel area...
While there, I played around with Paper Artist program in our Samsung Pad and created these pictures he he... Whaddya think of this spooky version of myself, eh? HE HE HE...
Here are some more pics tweaked with the Paper Artist program. Ninja R2 in action ha ha ha ha ha...
Some more...
OK, now gotta hang the laundry and blog-hop...in a few days I have to get back to work and I have some homework to do before then he he...TAKE CARE, people!!!
Baby Ken arrived at the PERFECT timing for many reasons. I'll explain them all to you in this post. First of all, Arttu and I got to see the little bundle of joy 1,5 days before we were about to fly back to Finland.
On October 22nd at around 5.30 pm, we got a phone call from my SIL's father, saying that my SIL was taken to the hospital earlier and they told her to stay there. We didn't know much more about what was happening. So my Mom decided to go there. Since I was worried of her having to take a public transit alone, I decided to go along with her and I took Arttu as well. I was torn between leaving R2 at home or taking him with me, but he said he'd come.
About half an hour later, we arrived at the hospital and we could pop in to see my SIL who had an IV already by then. The doctor put her on an IV since her water broke at around 5 pm, but still no signs of contractions. So they had to make her start having contractions right away. When we got there, my brother was feeding her in the labour room. They told her to eat so that she could get enough strength to push.
So we waited in the waiting room in front of the labour room she was in. There were already my SIL's parents and younger brother. Not long after that, her aunt and uncle came by to wait, as well. The contractions started becoming steady at around 7 pm (she was 2 cm dilated by then). So started the hellish hours!!! At one point, I could hear her crying softly for a little while from outside. My Mom was SO worried about her already that she also cried and she started praying right then and there.
We waited and waited...and at around 8.45 pm, the nurse said that she was already 7 cm dilated. So we were sure that it wouldn't take until midnight before the baby was born. At around 9.30 pm, the doctor came in to assist the labour. The baby was born at 9.45 pm and my SIL only needed to push twice. She half-screamed on the first push, but then I heard nothing else (I was standing right in front of the room to listen to the progress). Then I heard a baby's cry HE HE HE HE HE HE...and everybody who was sitting in the waiting room came out and praised the Lord! ;-D
A while later, the nurse came out with the bundle of joy and she asked if we wanted to look at him. He was SOOOOO CUTEEEEEEEEEEEEE, even though he was still "damp" he he he...However, he looked so small, too! He was born 3.1 kgs, 51 cm tall.
I saw him sneeze while we were looking at him hi hi hi...then he was taken to the baby's room. A while later, my brother came out and we congratulated him. My SIL was still "being taken care of" inside. Only after some time could we get in to congratulate her. Her legs were still shaking slightly, but she was smiling so widely. She said she was hungry he he he he he...
Almost forgot...the doctor came out afterward and said, "WOWWWWW...so many supporters!!!! Congratulations to all of you!" and then he shook hands with all of us he he he...
We were all SO glad that it went smoothly and fast!!! It's considered very fast, esp. for a first baby!!!
Anyway, another reason why the baby was born at perfect timing was that my brother had decided that the next day (October 23rd), before he found out that the baby was going to be born on October 22nd, he'd start taking his leave (he hadn't taken any leave this year). So that day, October 22nd, he went straight to the hospital from work and the next day he could stay by his wife's side without worrying about work he he he...
The other reason about the perfect timing is that the baby and the mother went back to my parents' house a day after Arttu and I went to Jakarta by bus to fly back to Finland. SO, my parents didn't have time to miss us too much since the baby would occupy so much of their time. Isn't that WONDERFUL????????
OK, now here are two pics of the baby. Unfortunately they're not too clear, esp. since he was put in that "warming box". He was feeling cold, so the doctor decided to put him in that warming box for a few days. (Note: My bro's promised to send more pics of Ken later on, so hopefully I'll get clear pics to share!)
Here's Ken's crib he he he...
And here's a short video clip R2 took of Ken. :-))))
Just wanna let you all know that we arrived back home safely at around midnight last night. We were so dead tired already. It was such a long journey, especially since we were "stranded" in Bangkok airport for 10 hours nearing our sleep time in Indo, so we didn't have enough energy to do anything much for the first few hours. We tried finding some soft seats to lie down on. Unfortunately there were only hard metal seats to sleep on as all the soft seats were taken by sleeping travellers, so we took turns in taking a nap for about 1,5 hours.
The airport itself was MUCH MUCH better than the airport in Jakarta. It was MUCH cleaner and there were more restaurants, shops, and space. Impressive!!!
Anyway, in short, our trip was WONDERFUL!!! I got to meet Trinity in Bandung and also Blur Ting, her sons, and CH in Singapore (and I got to taste her delicious food - boy, she cooked SO much for all of us - her sons are LUCKY to have her!!!) ;-D
I also got to wait on my SIL when she was giving birth to her son on October 22nd. My brother went in to support right next to her. So I got to see my little nephew after all HE HE HE HE HE...;-D I'm an AUNT!!!
I still have PLENTY of stories to tell, but I need my rest first. I need to do so many things for tomorrow. I have to go find either a training place still or a work place and I have to report to the unemployment office and buy grocery. I'm going to tell you my holiday bit by bit. I still haven't had the energy to upload all the pics and video clips I've taken, so we'll see how it goes. Our bodies are still following Indonesian time, so we're still groggy. I'll catch up with you this week bit by bit, OK?
Hope you've all been fine and been sheltered by God's angels!!! Miss you all!!! THANK YOU for all of you who've visited my blog while I was away and for all my EC droppers. I'll return the favour once I'm well rested he he he...
Last Friday I met a friend at her house and we talked for 5 straight hours ha ha ha...It reminded me of my university days when I used to do that with my closest friends. I LOVE having a one-on-one chat. Of course it's also fun to meet a group of my friends altogether, but I find that usually it's more satisfying to have a one-on-one conversation as the topics are more "controlled", esp. if the group of people consist of many chatty people who have LOADS of topics of their own.
Within a group of people, there are times when some of them are talking to themselves and some others are talking to other people and you wish you could split yourself in two (or more) so that you could follow all the conversations he he he he...
The other day I sent SMS to my brother, asking him about his baby's name. Contrary to the people in Indo, Finnish people don't usually have ready baby names when their babies are born and they usually publicize the name on the newspaper once the baby has been christened at church.
Well, my brother said that the baby's name would be Kenneth Octavian Winarta (he'll be called Ken). It means that he's handsome and trustworthy he he he he...
As I said in my earlier post, I'm not sure yet whether I can meet the baby or not since the due date turns out to be October 20th, whereas I'm flying back to Finland already on October 24th. We'll see then how it goes.
3. Wisdom Tooth.
Yesterday hubby stayed home as one of his wisdom tooth was extracted. He bled a lot, but thankfully no sign of a swollen cheek. He has to take antibiotics, though, of course. He keeps the tooth and the roots are SO long. Yikes!!! He said that it was so hard to get it out, so when the dentist managed to pull it, it "fell" into his throat, so the dentist asked him not to swallow. Oh dear goodness!!!
I've only got 3/4 of a wisdom tooth out until now (yes, only one has grown), even though I'm almost 30 years old. The problem I have with that is that there's a gap between that 3/4 of a wisdom tooth and my last molar, so I have been chewing in one side of my mouth ever since that wisdom tooth started to come out. It's getting harder and harder to clean that gap, so I don't want to chew there. I hope the wisdom tooth really grows FAST!!!
If I remember correctly, that tooth only started to grow after I moved to Finland ---> is it a sign that I was getting wiser by moving to Finland that it decided to grow only then? LOL LOL LOL!!!
To anyone of you who've got all wisdom teeth out, how slow did they grow???????
4. Customs Tax for the Chess Set.
The customs officials sent me a customs tax bill. The tax I had to pay was around 72% of the cost of the chess set itself (The Chess Set itself was only around €22, whereas the customs tax was around €16,50).
I guess since it's an electronic device, then I had to pay the customs tax. I mean, I've bought vitamins from ebay which cost more than the chess set, but they never asked me to pay the customs tax. But anyway, at least I have the money to pay the tax HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...
The silly thing was that I was still sleeping when the postman rang the doorbell this morning. I woke up sometime during the night to pee and when I got back to bed, I started remembering something and I just had a HARD time going back to sleep. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR...
I THINK the postman must've wanted to give me the chess set. Stupid me!!! Now I have to wait againnnnnnn...I hope that I can get it SOON!!!
5. Health Matters.
I haven't been taking a shower since last Saturday (though I did wash my hair two days ago) since I'm still sneezing every once in a while (esp. when going out in the cool weather) and my throat feels phlegmy and my nose feels rather runny, though I have no fever or headache or whatsoever. I'm kinda impatient in wishing that I'd just DROP sick next week or something so that nearing my departure date I'll be completely well. Oh well...We'll see how it goes then.
Now time to blog-hop he he he he...Hop, hop, hop!!!
Found out the other day while talking to Mom that my brother's baby's due date is actually on October 20th. Ugh...knowing that most first babies are born later than the due date, I don't know if I can meet the baby or not. FYI, I'm flying back to Finland on October 24th.
The "fun" scenario would be that she starts having signs of labor while Arttu and I are still there, so that we can ALL go to the hospital HA HA HA HA HA HA...That'll be good practise for Arttu, as well hi hi hi hi...
When I wondered out loud to Mom about this, she said to me, "Well, if the baby wants to meet his aunt, then he'll go out while you're in Bandung. If not, then..."
It seems that they're going to name him Kenneth (they're gonna call him Ken), but it's not 100% sure yet he he he...Picking a baby's name is TOUGH!!! My SIL's on her 33rd week of pregnancy and the baby's predicted to be around 2,3 kgs already he he he he he he...Well, whether or not I'll be able to see him, I hope and pray that everything goes well until he comes out to the world.
1. Beautiful white dandruff from heaven he he he he...Yes, today it's snowing again and the flakes are pretty big, so it feels like pure, white dandruff from heaven...mmmmm...
2. Helping the trainee at our course pronounce words in English he he he he...That was SUPERBLY FUN! ;-D
3. Hubby saving some snack for me since he thought I'd want some. THANK YOU, Bonbonhoneypie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Hubby scraping my back again when I felt out of sorts. He's getting better and better at it HO HO HO HO HO HO...And he's calling me a masochist HA HA HA HA HA HA...
5. Calling my Mom again and having fun talking to her. She's SO supportive. She doesn't mind if we go to Singapore later in October if we can do it, even though that means that my time with them will be reduced.
6. Mom told me that the other day she had a talk with my brother and his wife about how many kids they wanted to have. My brother said three and his wife and my Mom was curious why he said that. These days everything's so expensive, so many people opt to have maximum two kids. What he said made me wanna cry and hug him SO tightly in my arms!!! He said, "Look at me! I only have one big sis and now she's living FAR away from me and I'm all alone now."
Well, I hope that his life will be more fun with the birth of his baby later on in October he he he...
7. The smell of menthol body balm from Indonesia. Mmmmmmmm...
8. Opening up the front door for the old man on the first floor. He talked to me a bit, but I could only understand half of what he was saying hi hi hi...but at least I did talk to him a bit, so that was a good practise, right? *GRIN*
9. The possibility of going on another trip together with my friends next Monday or Tuesday and maybe we can grill some sausages in a park or something. I HOPE SOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! ;-D
