Mother's Day!

Today, we went to Vermilion for my first Mother's Day dinner. My mother wanted to do this for me. She made my favorite dish, and had a couple gifts all wrapped nicely for me. We had such a good time there. Everything was perfect. After dinner, we went for a walk, and visited Jean (a familly friend). We had a beautiful visit with her. She was happy to finally meet baby. The walk was AWESOME!!! It was so beautiful out. Baby got to spend a lot of time out. He loves it! Every time we were near a tree, his eyes just sparkles. He kept looking around him. He saw the cats, birds, trees, and so on. There will be lot of time to be spent out with baby now.

My nicely wrapped gifts!

 I got a beautiful "MOM" frame with a picture of baby and I.

And a wonderful book called "Forget me not" by Dieter Uchtdorf.

The book came with a pouch of forget me not seeds that I am going to plant.

Father and son. Love them <3

 Mother and son <3

Marc and I are going to celebrate Mother's Day at home too, on the day they celebrate it back home. I can't wait. Marc will be in charge of that one. 

Projects on the go!

We  finally found the hardwood flooring for our master bedroom. YAY! Because we have the family fun run this coming Saturday, Marc is going to install the flooring next Monday (can't wait). Soon, we'll be able to check one thing off our family project to-do list.

On Friday, Marc's parents came and got our plot for our vegetable gardens ready for us, so all we have to do is to plant our seeds. Aren't they AWESOME? They did that, so that Marc doesn't have to and can spend time with his family (us) after work instead of going out. Nice of them, eh! We usually do everything around our house ourselves but it is nice to have help from time to time. My in-laws have been spoiling us with kindness a lot. When Marc came home from work, we all had Chinese food together, yummy.

On Saturday, Marc started working on my flower beds. He could probably have finished both flower beds BUT we HAD to go and run a million errands before finally starting working on them. We want to spend a lot of time working in our yard this year, and make it look the way we want to. We spent so much time working inside the house that we didn't do much with the yard. We love our yard, it is really big, and it can look so much better than it does. I'll get my brother to help us with some projects :). I forgot to take a pic of the finished flower bed, oh well...

Nothing like having our little supervisor close by, lol!

FHE Board.

I finally finished my FHE board. My board was in my friend's van the day we were suppose to finish it, so I couldn't do mine. I brought it home, and completely forgot about it. Last week, I finally decided to do it. I like it even though I didn't get our names done in vinyl, so I bought some stickers to do it. It's not quite the same color than the rest but Marc and I like it.

Photos on facebook

I post a lot of pictures of my son on Facebook. I mostly do it for my family. It is the best way for me to share photos of him with my parents, siblings and the rest of them, and also to share it with my friends that live far away. I wonder if people ever get tired of seeing them, lol. I don't really care though, I know my family LOVE THEM. I post videos too, but those, I just post directly on my sister's wall. She downloads all the photos and videos for my mom to see. I miss my family :(. I am glad that most of them have Facebook. It makes it easier to see what they are up to. Phoning all of them is way too expensive. I just call my mom and siblings once a month. Anyway... Facebooking is not always a bad thing :)

Baby's hair

Baby's hair is thinning :(. It makes me kind of sad to see all his hair everywhere. If you look at it, you can see that it is thinning. He still looks CUTE though :). I'll still love him without hair, haha!!!

Can you see?

 Love my brownie bear <3

Is it June yet?

I am getting REALLY excited about my brother's visit. He is staying with us for almost 4 months. I  CAN NOT wait to see him. Everyday, I think about the things I can show him, and places I can take him to. He will be the first member of my family to ever come to Canada. It will be so AWESOME to show him the way I have been living for the past few years. Life here is SO different from life in Tahiti.

Yann (my brother) is a wonderful man. I have loved him ever since he was born. I was 8 years old when he was born. I read him books, fed him, changed him, bathed him, and so many more. He is the reason why I have always wanted to be a mommy, and that's why I named my son after him. For the past few years, he has put his life on hold in order to take care of our mother. His visit here will be a good way for him to relax and just take a break from it all.

I can not wait for him to meet my baby. I have been working on making sure that he gets everything he needs when he comes here. His room is "almost" all done. I just need to hang pictures on the wall, get his welcoming basket ready with some treats in, and have a nice picture of him and mom on his night stand, so that she is next to him, :). June is not coming fast enough for me :).

There he is!!!

Yann and mom :)

It's been one week!

It's been one week since baby started to eat solid foods. So far so good. He eats his cereals daily, and is loving it. Fruit wise, we know that he dislikes pears, and REALLY likes bananas. He hasn't done any allergic reactions to any of the foods he has been eating yet.

He still drinks his formula, of course, and will keep doing it.

Grandpa brought the special chair he made for baby today, so that we can put his feeding seat on it. I can't wait  to weigh him. It's been a month since we last weighed him. He's probably over 14 pounds now. He was 12Lbs and 3oz a month ago.

Sunday tradition.

When Marc was a little boy, his family used to go for walks at the park on Sundays. Now that we have a son, we decided that we would continue the tradition, Marc had with his parents. Today, after church, we went home then Marc prepared us sandwiches and a few goodies to take to the park for a nice picnic.

After enjoying our light lunch, we walked around the park and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. We met Kari, Barrett, Indie and Daniel there with Luke.

We enjoyed our little family outing. So, from now on, we'll go to the park every Sunday (weather permitted), and just make memories for our family. I love traditions. Ever since Marc and I moved back here in Canada, we started doing things that have become traditions, and I just can't wait to share them with our boy.

Really didn't need the jacket it was so beautiful out.

Baby Food.

Well, baby had his first taste (well, not really first because he had bread before) of REAL food. Today, he ate Gerber Rice cereal (starter one). He STILL drinks his formula and WILL continue to do it. I will only feed him food during the day, but not every time he is hungry.
We only prepared half of the recipe for the cereal, and baby ate almost all of it, but the last spoonful. He really didn't seem to mind it. We could actually hear him swallow it. Not a lot of mess, all in the tummy.

I know that it seems like it is too early to feed him food, but I am raising my baby the way we do back home, because that's the way I know. It is not uncommon in Tahiti to feed babies before they turn 4 months.

I will, eventually TRY to make most of his food myself. But like every mother out there, I will give him Gerber foods (or other brands) too. I mean , let's be honest, which mother doesn't buy Gerber food (or else) for their babies.

Home renos.

After almost five years of living in our house, we just have 2 major renovations plus 1 minor one left to do in our home. If we find the flooring we want for our master bedroom upstairs this week, Marc will work on finishing our room on Saturday. It won't be all done by then, but at least the biggest part would be. The 2 major renos left after the bedroom will be, the bathroom (upstairs), and the kitchen (which I can't wait for us to start doing). We are probably going to do the bathroom this year too, but we are not sure yet. We have to price things out first. We have saved a lot of money with Marc doing everything himself, thank goodness. Home renovation is not cheap. We've been really blessed to be able to work on our house without taking loans, and always having the money to pay for everything we needed.

Beside using the bedroom downstairs as a temporary Master bedroom, we haven't really done anything with our basement since our tenant left. Hopefully, we will soon be able to start furnishing the living room downstairs. We could use it as a relaxing, family room. I am going to turn the kitchen area as a playroom for baby with a drawing/painting station. And also a craft station, and a cozy reading area with pillows, and a nice rug. Of course, there will be toys. (Haha, I know, I am silly! But I have everything planned out in my head. I just have to make it happen.) I started using the cupboards to store my Christmas ornaments and all. And I am also using them to store all of my crafts supplies (papers, ribbons, glue gun, and more...), It has been really handy having the extra storage space. Baby and I can use the kitchen sink downstairs to clean any "messy" craft or activity we do together, without having to ruin the nice sink in the bathroom, lol. Can't wait to do more work in our house.

YAY!

Last night baby slept for 7 hours straight. It is a first for us. For the past week, he has been sleeping longer but never that long. He doesn't wake up every 2 hours any more. He, most of the time, sleeps for 3 to 5 hours straight, and there are days where I only wake up twice at night. I am loving this. Hope he continues on that path :)...

Top Apprentice.

Well, it's done! We left Lloydminster this (well yesterday) afternoon, and went to Edmonton after leaving baby at grandma and grandpa's house in Vermilion. It's our second time leaving him with other people. Was still a little bit hard for me. We were gone for almost 9 and a half hour. I couldn't help thinking about my boy, and wondering how he was doing. And NO, I didn't call grandma once. Grandma said that he was a good boy :).

We got there a little early, so Marc and I waited in the parking lot until people started to show up. At 5:30pm we went in, and were greeted by someone that Marc has known since he was 8 years old or so. They had a nice visit, then we went to our table. Marc's bosses came with their wives, and we all sat at the same table. We visited and waited for the food to be served. At 6pm, the reception started, and we all went to get something to eat. The food was REALLY good. We all pretty much had seconds, lol. It's free food, why not eh! :). Around 7pm, they started their speeches which were really really boring. Some of them gave really long speeches, some just kept it short (our favorites). After many hands clapping, and fighting to stay awake, and a short break. They had all 49 (out of 61) top apprentices go up to the stage and down. One by one they were called and received their awards, and had their picture taken. Of course, at our table we waited for Marc's turn so that we can fervently applaud him, and see him receive the award. Once Marc got off the stage, a guy stopped him, and gave him his business card, and told Marc to give him a call. I think it is about a job in Calgary. Marc isn't interested in it, so he wouldn't be calling that guy. Maybe if it was in Lethbridge, he will consider it, hihi.

We were ALL extremely PROUD of him and his accomplishment. Out of all the students in his trade that passed their journeyman tickets, and red seal (in 2011), Marc is the one that had the highest grade both in the exams taken at the college and the provincial exams. It is such a GREAT accomplishment especially for someone like Marc who has ADD, and has a hard time focusing. He worked hard, and studied really really hard. I am proud of him, and know how dedicated he was for 3 years studying all night. It paid off!

Next, Marc is seriously thinking (and I am pretty sure he will) about getting the blue seal. The blue seal is mostly about learning and studying the management aspect of the trade which can open new doors for him. I think it is the highest seal you can get in the trades (don't quote me on that, although I am pretty sure it is). Not many trade people get it. That will be a new challenge for Marc :)... We also heard a rumor (from a guy who is a member of some board related to the apprenticeship program ) about the opportunity for trade people like Marc to have their journeyman ticket and red seal count towards obtaining a Bachelor degree in Art (or something like that, again don't quote me on it). But that won't be effective until the next 2 years or so. Again, like I said it is just a rumor, and if that really happens, well Marc will probably do it too :))).

All in all, it was an awesome day!

Denis (Marc's parts manager) and his wife.

Murray (Marc's big boss) and his wife.

Lakeland College has 3 top apprentices this year.

Marc is standing by his favorite instructor

which told Marc's bosses and I quote "Marc was an excellent student :)".

Marc with Denis and Murray.

Sorry, if I seem to brag a lot about my husband. I am proud of him, and he deserves to be bragged about with such accomplishment.

Oh ya, I won something. I got to take home the center piece that was on our table. It's a nice floral arrangement with purple orchids, haha. It made me happy. I love orchids :).

First of many :) !

Tonight, Marc and I went to my good friend Jasmin's surprise birthday party at the ROOT. I called Faith and asked her if she could look after Yann. We wanted to take him but weren't exactly sure what to expect. Letting him was a little overwhelming for me at first. Marc and I never went out without him. I could feel the tears in my eyes but didn't let them out. Faith is AWESOME and I knew Jeff and her were going to take GOOD care of him. I did miss him, and thought a lot about him.

We listened to the music, ate some refreshments, and then they started to serve the first course which was salad, then soup.  While they were preparing to bring the main course, Marc and I decided that we wanted baby to be with us, since there was a lot of baby at the party anyway. So he went out, picked baby up and came back to eat his meal. I guess babies were allowed after all, and few friends have asked about him, so I didn't feel guilty when we went to get him, lol. We wouldn't have done it if they weren't any babies there. I know we are big SUCKERS, hahaha!!! We watched the belly dancers dance then stayed a little bit and visited with a couple friends. Not long after our friends left, we said goodbye to Jasmin and came back home.

I enjoyed the little "us" time we had tonight but our son has been in our minds, and thoughts all night. I guess that's how it's going to be from now on... next Friday should be our second outing without him but this time, we are going to Edmonton and leaving him with grandma and grandpa B in Vermilion. We'll see how that one goes, eek!!!

Father and Son!

A post about Marc and Yann!

It's amazing to see how these two interact with each other. Marc has become an even more wonderful man since our baby was born. He is a dedicated father who gets so excited to see his family after a long day at work. He is such a sweet father to our son. He never gets tired to hold him, hug him, snuggle with him, and giving him kisses. He never complains about changing diaper. I have never seen someone being so willing to change a soiled diaper, lol.
Marc and Yann have a little "game" that they play that makes baby smile like crazy, and gets him really excited. There are days, where Yann misses his dad when he is at work. He gets fussy, and will only calm down when I wear a T-shirt Marc has worn the night prior. I am sure that's a sign of him missing his dad, isn't it?
After work, Marc makes sure he spends a lot of time with baby. I just love to see the impact a child has on his (or her) father. Fathers become another kind of man. It's like they discover that sweetest part of them they didn't even know they had before.

Yann is 12 weeks old now. He has grown so much. I catch myself watching videos of him when he was born or was just a few days old, and can not help but wonder where the time went. He is looking more and more like me, and is getting so big. He's still not the best sleeper ever but we have had some days where he slept five hours at the time. He makes the cutest sounds ever sometimes. He sleeps in his bed every night now, and gets a rather HUGE snuggle from either his mum or dad at night. The daunting task of putting him in the car seat is not as daunting as it was any more. He does no longer cry when we do it. He is a very quiet baby unless he is really hungry then he will make full use of his lungs, haha!  He loves it when momma sings to him, and reads him books. I think it's because I do it being 100% goofy so that it makes it interesting for him :). I do it the serious way to, and he doesn't seem to mind that either. I like the goofy way though!


I love how our baby has changed the way we do things, and how our lives have changed so tremendously. I don't know how we have ever lived without him before. We enjoy being a family, making memories with him,  and are looking forward to take him on big trips like going to Tahiti next year (hopefuly), and go places we've never been.


LIFE IS SOOOOOO GOOD!!!!

9 weeks!

Baby had his first set of shots yesterday (Monday). He is supposed to get it next week but had his this week instead. Marc held him while he got the needles. He cried a little bit. His dad gave him snuggles and kisses, and then it was mom's turn :). He is really healthy and is averaging 52% and 82% for his weight and height. He is getting close to double his birth weight. He was 7lbs at birth and is now 12Lbs 31/2oz. He measures 22inches and 3/8 (20inches and 3/4 at birth). Our little boy is growing. He was so little when he was born and now he is just getting fuller and heavier. LOVE MY BABY!!!

Taken after church. He was waiting patiently for his bottle.

He's NOT always patient when it comes to getting fed, lol!

Tradition!

On Saturday, we celebrated baby's second month of being part of our life for eternity. We took him to the "Border City Collectors show and sale". It's basically a toy and antiques collectible show". Marc and I have been going there for 6 years now, so it's like a tradition for us. This year, we shared it with baby even though he really doesn't know the meaning of it yet. For those who know Marc, he is a toy collector and has been ever since he was 8 years old. He has totes and totes filled with toys in our basement's storage room. Some of his toys (lots of them) are now collectors item and are still in their original packaging. He collects cars, trucks, tractors and other cool farm equipments. He collects mostly ERTL, Johnny Ligthning, Hotwheels, and Matchbox. Anyway, going to a toy show is inevitable in our family, lol.

It was such a beautiful day out that we got to use baby's stroller for the first time. We enjoyed our little family outing. I am glad I have a boy. There's lot of trucks for him to play with in our basement :).

Grateful!!!

In June, Marc and I will be renewing our mortgage at the bank. I can't believe it's been five years already. One of our dream is to have the mortgage paid off as fast as we can. I am grateful that the mortgage is the only debt we ever had (well, still have). We don't have to worry about car payments or credit card bills or other monthly payments.

I am grateful to have grown up the way I did. I am grateful for my dad who has shown us how to live on a budget. Grateful for my mom who has been a great example to me of how to spend money reasonably.

I may not be the best money saving person in this world, however, I know I am not the worse money spending person in it ether.

That said though, It doesn't mean that I never spent money unwisely or unreasonably. I am still human after all, lol!

First shot!

Tiffany came by today to teach Marc how to give me my shot, so I don't have to go to the clinic once a week. She gave me my shot and also explained the whole procedure to Marc. She is really good at what she does. I didn't even feel the needle go in and out.

After it was done, we invited her to stay for supper, and she got to snuggle with baby for almost an hour on the couch while watching a movie. Marc then made us both a banana split for dessert. Mine didn't have bananas because I HATE them.

I am glad to be back on my shot. I had to have it done because things were getting out of control. The RA has spread to my spine, so I couldn't afford to wait any longer. It was getting really hard to do even the simplest thing like holding my baby or opening a water bottle. Hopefully the "drug" kicks in fast, so I can enjoy life with less pain.

THANK YOU TIFFANY LOW !!!

Pinteresting again!

It's been months since I've been on Pinterest. It's time to go back and get some inspiration, lol! Tomorrow, I'll make a dish that I've pinned a while back and hope to do a lot of cooking from Pinterest. I need to get crafty again, and get some ideas for Marc and Yann's birthday next year. I know it is early but I want Yann and daddy's first, well second birthday together to be AWESOME!!! Let's pin some ideas again!!!!

Clingy!

Saturday was quite an interesting day for both Marc and I. For some reason, baby decided that he didn't want mommy, lol. The only person he wanted was his daddy. Marc had to often stop doing what he was. Baby was so clingy. It was all about his dad. It was quite cute to see, lol. He usually is AWESOME with both of us but saturday was daddy's day. Marc LOVED it!!!

ps: the date on the camera is wrong, lol!