Random cuteness...

Turning 40...

Here are a couple of silly pictures of Mark and the boys the day of his birthday. 

 

I decided to throw a surprise Bar-B-Q birthday party for Mark for his 40th birthday at Gety's house.
I invited a small group of friends (Mark is more comfortable with intimate settings) and ordered a delicious and beautiful cake that, by any standard, was huge!

 The party was a lot of fun – but not entirely a surprise. The plan was for Mark and I to drop off the boys at Gety's house, then we were going out for dinner to celebrate. As Mark was getting the boys ready, Adam repeated the plan to Mark, but Antoine tried to quiet him, saying something like, you’re not supposed to tell him.”
Adam replied, “no, that’s what I’m suppose to tell him ! ” At that point Mark knew something was up, just not when and where. When it happened, he appreciated the “surprise” anyway!

Circus in town...

The boys had never been to the circus, so when it came to town this year, we seized the opportunity. We told them that the circus is one of the few places where it is appropriate to yell and scream as much and as loudly as they want. They regularly took advantage of that rare bit of permission, but
otherwise watched the rest of the performances in quiet fascination (of course).
Before the main show, early arrivals could go down to the circus floor and watch performers up close. The acrobats and clowns were terrific, but their favorite part had to be the elephant that drew a picture with his trunk. Watching our boys taking it all in was one of our simple parenting pleasures this year.

 

 



I love my Daddy...

6 months...

 

An awesome birthday party...

Antoine was SO excited to dress up as a pirate to attend one of his friends' B-day party (Riley)... 

We arrived to a magical setting... Wouah... I can't imagine the hours (or should I say days...) of preparation!

Antoine has such a blast, playing on his own in the inflatable house before joining the crew on their adventures...

The kids were having so much fun that I took a ton of pictures!

I will never put that much work into one of my boys' B-day party (am I a terrible mom for saying this?) but I thought it was an amazing party and I know who to ask for great tips!

Sweet Angel...

Happy chubby...

Growing like weeds!

I took these pictures to show Adam's funny teeth... He certainly does not look like a little boy anymore... I wanted to have our Family pictures taken in the Spring before he lost his top teeth but it did not happen!! Oh well...

 

 I think that sometimes Antoine looks so grown up... He is still our sunshine and a joy to be around...

But we also have another sunshine in our home... I love this baby so much!!

Victor is learning to sit on his own and is enjoying this new way of playing with his toys!

 

I love my Daddy... and my fingers!

Loving it!

Teething cheeks...

 

Full of expressions!

An UNordinary Christmas...

Everything started great. We had a beautiful month of December, where the boys enjoyed all our traditions, from setting up ALL our Christmas decorations inside and outside to making Bratzelis and attending our annual events (Mount Vernon bells Christmas concert, our white elephant gift exchange...), not to forget about our daily mini devotionals along with our advent calendars...

The boys were so excited for Christmas morning to come and we were all ready... Adam ran to the presents under the tree (and there were many!!) and started opening speedily his. But he started having a bad attitude envying his brother's gifts  or complaining about what he had received... I have to admit that it made me sad to hear theses negative comments. In the meantime, Antoine was thrilled with his toy animals and was playing with them, leaving aside his other gifts.

After a delicious breakfast and a little bit of clean-up, we had a great time together playing with their board games and the boys had fun discovering their new toys.

Christmas was Sunday this year and we had church at 3pm. By the time we put the boys down for their naps, they had been arguing and fighting. Then they resisted taking their nap and kept coming out of their bedroom. I had had it by that point and told Mark that the boys should not be able to keep their Christmas presents and that we should pack them away until Adam and Antoine would earn them with their good choices...
You might be thinking that it is quite a harsh treatment...
Mark and I even wondered at some point that night if it was too severe of a consequence for their behavior... Well, we really want them to realize that our Family Laws are in our home for a good reason and not just to decorate our walls. We are now going back to Basics and focusing on Obedience, Peace, Permission, Respect and Order. We have created a behavior chart to evaluate how their day has been and earn one present back per 3-score day!! This is quite a motivation for the boys and we have seen quite some progress in their attitude!!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Victor!

Victor is such a wonderful baby. To top it off, he has started cooing and smiling these last few weeks and it is a true joy to be with him!!

Our precious baby boy...

3 Brothers...

Victor - first 2 weeks

2-week visit with Peggy

Here we are at Peggy's birthing center for Victor's 2-week appointment. Peggy's daughter-in-law took some pictures during our visit and graciously gave them to us... 

 

 

While I am waiting for you...

My sweet baby boy,

You are still in my belly and I am longing to meet you... It has certainly been a journey, from the day you surprised us on January 1st, finding out I was expecting... That was not exactly what our plans were but your Papa and I were already thrilled at the idea to have another child join our family... 

You have been playing tricks on me for a long time... at 14 weeks, you decided to hide, you scared me because we could not hear your heartbeat... After my first ultrasound we found out that you were a boy. Another surprise... 

I have definitively had ups and downs during this pregnancy with a lot of pains and fatigue (it probably did not help that I had a whole summer with your two brothers at home, full of energy and mischief...) but I have always reminded myself in the hardest moments how blessed I am to be able to carry you without much complication. I would also envision the day when I would hold you for the first time and it always made me feel stronger.


Recently as I was driving to see my midwife late, I was overwhelmed with Love thinking about you and how special you are, not having met you yet but feeling your spirit and your strength already...


Everyone is waiting for your arrival, sweet baby, from your brothers to your Papa, your Babou and Papili who are also here to welcome you. But the one who is even more anxious to meet you is your Maman who loves you so much already.

First camp-out...!

Back at the beginning of the year, Mark and I invested in camping equipment (a 7-people tent found on Craigslist and deluxe air mattresses) in anticipation for the annual Fathers and Sons camp-out that our ward organizes each year in May.

We learned a couple of months later that the event was going to fall right in the middle of our "Baby-moon" in St Thomas (see previous post). Mark was quite disappointed because he was looking forward to taking the boys camping for the first time; so, we found an alternative to satisfy Mark and the boys: camp in our backyard!

It was a great way to try out our tent and see how the boys would react to camping. It ended up storming that evening, and the thunder with the lightening did not make Adam feel safe; but, after a lot of reassurance from Mark he eventually calmed down and fell asleep. Antoine was fine the whole time as he was cuddling with his Dad.

Here is a pick of our adventurers!

Coming out of my shell again...

I can't believe I did it again... not blogging for months... and now I feel like there is so much to catch up with... In the past, I would just skip the past and focus on the present but I have to go back in time to share our month of May which was full of fun, travels and family memories as my parents were here for 4 weeks...

So here is a preview of our adventures!

On our first weekend with my parents here, we took them to National Harbor (Mark had never been there either) and had a great time strolling around, watching the boats and enjoying a beautiful weather. We finished our outing by taking them out to Baja Fresh for our favorite "Dos Manos" (It is probably not real Mexican food but we sure like it, and so did they!!)

 

After a couple of days of reviewing the boys' schedule and their calendar for the following week, Mark and I took off to the beautiful islands of St Thomas and St John (US Virgin Islands) for a week of rest and romance before our third boy enters our family...

We had, as you can imagine, an amazing time out there, discovering the best beaches of the two islands and snorkeling each time the weather allowed us to do so (it was an unusually rainy month of May but we got some sun every day and took advantage of it as much as we could).

We were able to see hundreds of different kinds of fish and corals and even had the privilege of swimming a few times with our turtle and ray friends... it was magical!!

The first set of pictures shows our resort and views from where we stayed, our sunburned body after our first snorkeling session (we HAD put a generous layer of sunscreen on but I guess 2 hours of exposure right at the surface of the clear water was a little too long to ask for the sunscreen to protect our backs in the end...), some of our friends, one of the many iguanas we met (I find them so unattractive but also fascinating warming up in the sun and staring at us...), and a little crab who decided to stay by us for quite a while! 

We don't have a picture of it unfortunately but one day we were walking on Koki beach and noticed an iguana who was body surfing... it was so cool to watch!

And below, more pictures of the beautiful beaches and scenes we were able to witness... this place is like Paradise!

After a week of bliss, sun and ideal water, it was time to go back to our beautiful Virginia and relieve my parents from their temporary parental roles... The boys had a great time with Babou and Papili and everything went well (it is well known that children keep their worst behavior for their Mom and Dad so my parents did not have to deal with any tantrums or crisis that we often experience!!)

We barely had time to unpack and do laundry that it was time to pack again, but this time to go to Williamsburg as a family.

We spent 4 days there and had a wonderful time showing this historic area to my parents and the boys. The highlight of the trip for Adam and Antoine was our day spent in Jamestown, the first English settlement in the US, where you can visit a Native American village and learn the way they lived their daily lives as well as hopping onto English ships and picturing ourselves sailing to the American continent... I wish I had taken more than 2 pictures of Jamestown but I was actually filming and Mark was absorbed by the wonderful tour that we took... Oh well...

Finally, in Williamsburg, the boys really liked the printing shop, the British flags and the horses pulling carriages.

Saturday with Papa & Elodie's Birthday Presents!

(Mark's post...)

Saturday Dad was in charge while Elodie attended a church event.  I had a full agenda for the day.

First, give the boys a bath.  But bath time with Dad is FUN!  After flattening all the bubble bath, Antoine wanted to "paint."  We've done this a couple of times now.  It involves shaving cream with finger paints mixed in for color, with small sponge paint brushes for painting on the bathtub's tile walls.    After multiple strokes, they announced their work with outstretched arms: Adam's was "the biggest building in the whole world" and Antoine's was "the biggest temple in all the world."  Then the "firemen" arrived to do clean up with their fire hoses.  Finally, after drying off they hid in their "caves."  But Antoine frequently peeked out of his!

After the extended bath and a battle to get them dressed, I gave them each a one dollar coin, and we went to the dollar store.  I told the boys to go in and pick out a present for their mother, one that each thought she would like.  Adam announced immediately that Elodie would like red roses.  And as if by luck, there were several silk flower rose bouquets to choose from.  He also spent another dollar of his own money to buy her a Tinkerbell balloon.

Antoine didn't take long to find his gift either.  Less than two minutes into the store and he walked up with a Disney coloring book with a pink cover.  That was his gift, he was sure she would like it. 

The point was to begin to teach the boys the joy of giving, and it was a success!  Each choose the wrapping (from pre-selected choices, of course) for his gift, and was so excited to give it to Elodie as soon as she came home. 

I gave her a pearl bracelet, a Williams Sonoma Muffin recipe book, a book about the women in Christ's life, and a black wrap that can serve as a shawl or a scarf.