December first!

Saturday was a busy day at our house. Grandpa came to help Marc with the plumbing and get all the fixtures in the bathroom out.

While the men were working on renovations, I decorated our Christmas tree. I waited for December to come around and was glad it finally was there. This year, we are using our fake tree and will continue to use it until the boys are old enough to help pick a real one every year so it can become a family tradition the way it was in my family. I love to change colors on the tree. This year, I was inspired by a set of Christmas place mats I have received years ago from Marc's mum. So, I added green to our usual colors on the tree, and cannot wait to set my table for Christmas eve. Yann was a wonderful little helper. He didn't bother me at all while I was decorating the tree. He sat quietly and played with the boxes of ornaments. Once the tree was done, I continued on with wrapping some presents and put them under it, it looks so much more festive this way. Once the lights were on, Yann got so excited and couldn't wait to go and touch presents and pull ornaments off the tree. We decided to get creative and used the coffee table as a fence to keep mister little elf away from it all. I am so glad that we are finally December.

Playing with the ornaments

 My bearded hottie and the tree, LOL!

 Joy to the World!!!

 Peace to all!!!

 My tree!

 Oops, I went a little bit crazy on the presents for Yann. I started buying things one at the time not realising that it was piling away in the basement. Next thing I know, I have a bit too much gifts for our little monkey, eek!!! It's his first Christmas though, that has to count for something, LOL!

Stupidity!

I am NOT liking blogger lately. Somehow, I can't upload pictures any more and my second blog is M.I.A.... Not happy at all.

Second hair cut!

We decided to cut Yann's hair this week. This time, we did it while he was wide awake and after he had a bath. It wasn't a good idea at all, lol. While his hair was still wet and daddy was done cutting them, it look really good. Once dry, we noticed all the imperfections. We laughed a lot at first then decided that we should really try to improve our boy's new hairdo. So, I took the scissors and did the best that I can. There's still some imperfections but at least it is less obvious, well kind of less. However, he still looks awesome, and it really doesn't seem to bother him, haha!

Since we are renovating the bathroom upstairs

baby had his bath in the kitchen's sink.

 My boys!!!

 He still looks so HANDSOME!

Funny little character!!!

Here's a few pics of some of the funny things Yann does when NO one is looking ;)

On this one, Yann decided to "steal" momma's juice box while she was doing something else. Because of this, we discovered that our son knew how to drink with a straw. Where he learned it? We have NO clue. It's funny!!! That little guy is not usually fond of juice.

 In this one, I went to put something away in the fridge, and when I came back, Yann had once again "stolen" something from me ;). A waffle. I ran to get the camera and here what he did....

 He ate it!

 In this one, this little guy figured out how to open the pantry door, and was playing with the chocolates, and was starting to pull things off the shelves.

He makes us laugh a lot, and surprises us quite a lot. We love him. He makes our days every day coming up with some of the cutest things ever. The joys of being parents!

Preparing, anticipating....

As my tummy grows and my due date approaches (still 13 weeks to go), I can't help but think about how a lot of things are going to change at home and in our lives. People tell me all the time, or seem to remind me all the time how crazy busy I am going to be and how full my hands are going to be. Everyday, I seem to be catching a glimpse of it when my son becomes over active or "demands" cuddles.

It's amazing and scary to think that I am going to be a mother of two little boys who are going to be so close in age. I wonder if I would be able to tend to both of their needs in the same time. Holy! How do mothers of more than one child do... I have so many questions running through my heads that I scare myself sometimes :). I guess I'll find out about it soon enough.

I just hope to be able to handle it without ending up in the coo coo's nest, haha!!! Just kidding! I'll be fine, I know I will. I will probably be really tired and cranky at times but I'll do just fine, won't I?

I am preparing myself every day to receive our new bundle of joy and am anticipating not only the best of it all but also the craziness.

I am EXCITED to have a new baby. I have grown a lot since becoming a mother. It has taught me a lot about the person I ought to be and the person I actually am. Hooray to motherhood!!!

Double the craziness next year :)))

Teething!

Can you spot his top teeth?

I am glad teething is over for now! 2 top teeth are out, well the one teeth is well on its way and the other one is getting there. No more diarrhea, no more fussing and is sleeping better. I know there will be more teeth coming but it is nice to have a break for now.

My little man!

My son turned 10 months on Saturday! He is an adorable little boy most of the time but there are days when he gets so over active that he can actually drive me  nuts, hihi!!! I still LOVE him though. It's kind of hard not too :). Marc and I can't believe that our baby is going to be a year old in a couple months.

Beside the usual "he is so cute" or "look at all his hair" I get from friends, family or strangers, some people will occasionally tell me how "tiny" he is for his age. I don't take offence at it because as his mother, I do know he is tiny. He is probably not the tiniest 10 months old out there but he is for sure not the tallest one. I am short and so is his dad. But really, he still has time to grow and maybe be taller than we are, who knows eh? ;) I was the tallest baby in my family and look at me now. I am definitely the shortest one. My siblings all out grew me. I don't necessary think that at this age you can really tell how tall a child will become later on in his life. Although I don't take offence, I might get a little bit annoyed if I get reminded of it too many times, haha!!!

Everyday we fill bless to have him. He makes us laugh a lot because of all the cute adorable things he does. We love being his parents!

Playing with daddy;s winter gloves :)

Is it December yet?

December is for sure one of my favorite month of the year. I love to sing the Christmas hymns at church, read the story about our Savior's birth, buying new nativity sets to add to my collection, celebrate Christmas at home with Marc and now our son, and also celebrating our anniversary.

As soon as Halloween is over, I look forward to see the new Christmas wrapping papers, colored tissue papers for packaging, bows, ribbons, gift bags and tags the store will have. I am addicted to buying Christmas wrapping papers and all that goes with it, seriously I am. Fortunately, I have me a wise husband who always finds the perfect thing to say, so I don't get over bored :). Winners has been one of my favorite place to go to for the past couple years. They carry some pretty fancy looking papers sometimes. Superstore is awesome for it too. Today, I bought more wrapping papers there. They were all 50% off which is a plus when you have an "addiction", hihi!

I like having a white Christmas! It is so much more different from what I grew up with. I HATE the cold but really don't mind the snow at all.

One thing I like about December too is the Christmas lights people decorate their houses with. My dad used to take us for a ride around the island to go look at Christmas light when I was younger. It didn't matter what time it was, we always enjoyed it. It has become a tradition for Marc and I to do the same every year. I really enjoyed it!. My dad used to decorate our house with lights, and even the palm trees we had in our yard.

December is a great month! Marc and I get to celebrate our anniversary 4 days before Christmas every year. For our tenth anniversary, we decided to do a "12 days of anniversary" instead of 12 days of Christmas. I am REALLY looking forward to do that.

One other thing I like is coming up with ideas to decorate my table for Christmas eve. We always do Christmas day with Marc's parents since mine are far far away, so Christmas eve is the big day for Marc and I. That's how it is in Tahiti too. I like to make my table look somewhat fancy :))).

I like decorating my tree as well. I really am not good at it but I still try, lol!

I also like unpacking my nativity sets. They are so special to me! I like what they symbolise. I really enjoy looking at them every year. They are my favorite decorations!!! They are a true reminder to me of what is really important this time of year. They bring me peace and joy. I have my sad moments before Christmas when I think about my parents, siblings and nephew. It's been 8 years since the last time I celebrated Christmas with them, so thinking about My Savior is really comforting.

I really love December!!! With all the snow we've been having, I feel so tempted to put up my Christmas tree and start decorating. BUT I have to wait until December first. I didn't wait to watch Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music though. Marc and I just didn't have the courage to wait, hihi!

It's been REALLY hard to find nativity sets in the stores for the last couple years. It's really saddening.

Ps: got the december picture here, and nativity one here.

Bathroom renos!

We are starting the renovations in our upstairs bathroom this year. It probably won't be done until after the holidays but at least we got the new window in. Grandpa came to help Marc put the window in on Monday while grandma played with Yann.

We have the new toilet, vanity, flooring and wainscotting already. We just need to get the new bathtub, shower, light and the rest. I can't wait for it to be done, and finally enjoy having a shower upstairs. No more running down in the basement to shower.

Here's some before pictures of the bathroom:

Marc took the casing around the window.

Ugly flooring.

Ugly wallpaper.

 Old window is out.

 Grandpa working on the hole to fit the new window.

Although we had the new window custom made,

they still found a way to screw up with the measurements.

The new window.

 The shelf above the toilet is gone.

Our new bathroom will look close to a picture I found on Pinterest (see link) a few months ago. Same setting and all. We love the color too.

After the bathroom, it will be the kitchen and we are DONE!

Snow Day!

Marc decided to take baby out to play in the snow. As usual, momma was the photographer. It's beautiful out today, so it was nice to see Yann "walking" in the snow. He event got a taste of it. We just went out in our yard, lol. Grandpa and grandma are coming to help put the new bathroom window in, so we couldn't go anywhere far.

Tasty snow ball, haha!

Marc and Yann's footprints in the snow.

Pregnancy updates!

Here's some pregnancy updates. I am 23 weeks now. Feeling good and doing good most of the time. Had my first cramps with this pregnancy a few weeks ago, and some bleeding but I am fine now. My little baby is a kicker just like Yann was. This time around I am craving junk foods, pops, and fast foods, eek! I tried not to cave in but sometimes just can't help it. I have lost 3 lbs, and am not supposed to lose any more, lol. I can't complain a lot about this pregnancy beside the bad cravings.

With my first pregnancy, I had a lot of testing to do here in Lloyd and in Edmonton. With this one, I have none. With Yann I craved mostly fruits, and salads. Well, this one not so much. I don't have insomnia like I did with my previous pregnancy, thank goodness.

 All in all, everything is looking good. I am enjoying the baby kicks, and am looking forward to meet my new baby boy. It is really amazing not to worry about getting clothes and other things this time around. Got all of Yann's "old" clothes organised and stored away until the nursery gets done.

So here it is! Doing good and feeling good.

Family Date Night!

I took my boys out for dinner tonight, and decided to make it a date, a family date. Once Marc came home from work, we all had showers and cleaned up before going out. We went to BP's and each ordered something to eat (including Yann). We had a great time! It was so much fun looking at our little man getting excited about balloons, TVs and anything that moves. Since we were going out, supper time wasn't at our regular hours so Yann was really hungry by the time we got there. He ate his food while enjoying the balloons that were floating in the air. I am grateful that he is such an awesome eater.

From BP's, we went out to do some grocery shopping (Yann napped), and then proceeded to get some "early" Christmas shopping done. I said early because usually Marc and I start our Christmas shopping in December, 2 weeks before Christmas, lol. We are not really the kind of people that stress out much about it. But this year is our little boy's first Christmas ever, so we wanted to start buying gifts earlier. I have already bought him a few presents months ago. We want to make it special for him this year, and no it is not all about toy.

After our shopping, we came home, had some play time with our boy, and then just relaxed on the couch while watching a movie. It was a fun night for us. It was simple just the way we like it, and we were all together which is the most important thing.

SORRY FOR THE BAD LIGHTING!

My boys!

Father and son fell asleep on the couch.

Thanksgiving!!!

We had our thanksgiving dinner on Saturday in Vermilion. My mother in law had everything ready by the time we got there. It was Yann's first thanksgiving dinner. He ate everything grandma had to offer, turkey, potatoes, gravy and so much more. I am so grateful that my son is such a great eater.

We have been so blessed for the past couple years. A beautiful son, and new baby on its way and so many other blessings. I am grateful for my family and friends. Grateful for the gospel in my life who has blessed me with a deeper understanding of what I need to do in order to live an exemplary life. I am not perfect but the gospel sure guides me so I can better myself every day. I am so grateful for my family back in Tahiti. No matter what, no matter where I am, they remain one of the greatest strength in my life. Life is good!

Pictures from thanksgiving day:

Grandma has the best toys ever! Most of them are old ones

from when daddy was a little boy.

My boys!

Grandma always lets baby "play" on her piano.

After dinner was done we visited with family then came back home. Grandma sent a lot of left overs with us, so we could have a mini left over thanksgiving dinner on Sunday :)))). After conference on sunday, we had lunch then decided to do one of our favorite family thing. I got a bunch of blankets and pillows out of the closets, then put them all on the floor and made a big nest for us to cuddle in. We put a movie on and just snuggled up with our son. Most of the time, the movie is just there for back ground noise. We just enjoy looking at our son playing, and trying to climb "us" so he can get on the couch. It's such a great family fun time for us.

Pictures from our family time:

 The aftermath of a turkey dinner. He just crawled to the pillow,

put his head down and fell asleep while holding his favorite little truck.

 Cute photo taken this morning. Brushing his bottom teeth :).

You got mail!

Here's the post about how we met and so on:

We met in 1999! We were both 20 years old. Marc was a missionary in Tahiti, and I was a brand new investigator. My cousin invited me to a fireside held by the missionaries (including Marc). After the fireside, Marc's companion, a former classmate and childhood friend of mine, came to say hi. He introduced Marc to me. I remember that day as If it was yesterday :). Marc leaned on one of the wall in the Church and I for some reason thought he was shorter than I am. He looked at me and asked me if I knew that there was 63 Bennetts in the phone book in Tahiti, seriously he did. At first, I thought man is that weird or what. Really, who counts names in the phone book... anyway. Our first time meeting each other lasted a whole 10 or 12 minutes. We said good night and went our separate ways.Marc told me later on that he thought I was hot when he first saw me that night, hahaha!!! I seriously wish I had a scanner so I can scan the pics I have from back then.

7 months or so after our first meeting, my cousin came and asked if I could write a little note to go with a present (Hawaiian shirt) she bought for "Elder Bennett" who was going home. He was done his duty and it was time for him to come back to Canada. I agreed to help her, and wrote him a farewell note. My cousin asked me if I could write it because she wasn't really good at writing.

A few weeks later, my cousin came and asked me if I could write a letter this time. She wanted Marc to send her a photo of him wearing the shirt she had bought. Once again I agreed! This is the first of many letters to follow. The beginning of our pen paling and friendship.

Nice as he is, Marc responded to the letter and sent my cousin a photo. As you may have noticed, my cousin had a little crush on Marc :). At first, I was just her writing hand and wrote whatever she wanted me too. Marc knew I was the one doing the writing, and would often asked me a few questions about myself in his letters. We did that for a few months then my cousin moved to another island to work. Somehow, we decided to keep writing to each other.  NO, I DID NOT STEAL HIM FROM MY COUSIN.
By then, we have come to know a lot about one another. I knew about his family, work, school, dating plans and all. Same for him. I shared a lot of things with him that even my closest friends, and family members didn't know. Every time a date wouldn't go through for either one of us, we get a letter in the mail that would just make everything go away. We were faithful at writing our letters months after months. Little by little, I noticed that the tone in Marc's letters was changing. He would in a subtle way "flirt" with me. It was flattering but I never really saw him as a potential date. He was my good friend, my best friend even, since we were sharing a lot about each other like our biggest dreams. I did love him then but just as my best friend. It has been a year now since that first letter. We decided to finally use emails. We still wrote letters, and sent them through the post office but emails were faster. I loved to see Marc's hand-writing and see all the drawings that accompanied each letters and also the photos but with the internet, we sometimes were able to chat :))). More months went by. One day, Marc told me that he was coming to Tahiti to see "some" friends but he didn't know where to stay. I asked my parents, and they said yes. We made all the preparations for his visit. 

December 19, 2001: Marc arrived in Tahiti. We picked him up at the airport really early that morning. You have to know that at this point Marc had prayed and asked Heavenly Father if I was the one for him.
My family was really excited to meet him. For the longest time they called him Bennett because he was an elder, lol. Of course rumors were spread in my family such as "Bennett is coming to marry her" or "they are in love" or "he is her boyfriend", etc etc... I DID my very best to let people know that I WASN'T in love with him and I WASN'T going to marry him either, lol! The same day (after we all had a little rest), we went to my uncle's house then Marc and I walked down town. I bought Marc some lunch, and we decided to eat it at the City hall. The City hall down town is really huge. Lot of people go there for lunch. It's quiet, and it has a beautiful garden with a fish pond :)... we had our lunch then we went on one of the balcony of the city hall that overlooked the city. We talked a lot! At one point during our conversation, our eyes met. The way he was looking at me was telling me a lot about the way he felt. He had the softest, shiniest way of looking at me :). Even today, Marc will look at me the same way he did all those years back. I fell in love with my best friend on that balcony that beautiful day of December. I didn't tell anyone that I was in love. After doing my best to quiet the rumors about us, I didn't want to give my family the satisfaction of telling me "WE KNEW IT"....

December 21, 2001: We started to hold hands secretly without anyone knowing. We walked pretty much every where we wanted. Went to the beach. Had a secret spot where we could hold hands without worrying about anyone from my family knowing :))))

December 23, 2001: We had our first kiss. There's a really funny story there too.

January 01, 2002: Marc proposed, and I didn't really say yes :))))

My family (except for my siblings) still didn't know Marc and I were in love. They all found out about it the day Marc left Tahiti. I gave him a kiss in front of every single members of my family that were there. My dad didn't say anything but my mom didn't really look happy, lol.

After that we kept writing to each other.

A couple months after he left, Marc sent me tickets to come visit him in Canada, and meet his family. And here I was in Canada for the first time in may 2002. I stayed for a whole month and was invited to Marc's brother Matt's wedding. I had a lot of fun. Marc spoiled me, and I got to see and do things I have never done before. Leaving Canada was really hard. We both knew we were meant for each other but we lived so far away. I seriously thought when I left that we were not going to see each other ever again. We would just write then one day one of us will get tired of it.
However, 2 weeks after I came home, Marc gave us a surprised visit. He asked my dad if he could marry me. Isn't he sweet? Although they weren't 100% happy, my parents agreed. They were afraid that I was going to leave them, and move in Canada. It wasn't our plan at first but I did move. I know how hard it was on them but am so grateful that they recognized the love Marc had for me, which led them to give my husband their "benediction". Marc went home to apply for a visa to stay longer, and came back. We planned on getting married in November but that didn't happen.

December 21, 2002: We got married!

A lot had happened after this day.... December is such an AWESOME month :)

January 10th, 2012: Our miracle baby was born :))))

In a couple months we will be celebrating our tenth anniversary. Together, we've gone through many trials from illness to homelessness to religious persecutions and so on. We made it through! Here's to more wonderful years together. I LOVE MY HUSBAND.

Primary and me.

Tonight we had our monthly primary meeting. I really really enjoy and love my calling. Not long after I got baptised, I got called as a primary teacher (in the sunbeams class). I was willing to do the best I can but was so scared to fail. Not only it was my first calling in the church but I have just moved to Canada, so my English was really poor. I went in knowing that this is what my Heavenly Father wanted me to do, and just did my very best to teach my children what I was supposed too. The best thing about this first calling is that the children were so innocent and never judged me when I was making mistakes speaking English to them.

My second calling in the church was in nursery. Yes, still in primary! Back then, we only had two regular children which I got to teach later on when I got called to be a teacher once again. Needless to say that I have served in primary a few times. I have enjoyed each of my callings and is really grateful to now be the secretary in the primary presidency. It is such an eye opening experience for me. I get to see what our presidency sisters have to plan, and all the organising they have to think about.

I truly enjoy serving in the church.

The proposal!

I was watching the movie the proposal recently and couldn't help but laugh and think about the day Marc proposed to me. We always make a joke about the way I responded to his proposal. So here it goes:

It was January 01 2002, Marc came to visit me (well, he told me he came to see some friends but we all knew that was a lie, lol.) in Tahiti, and stayed with my family for 3 weeks.

On new year's eve, we went to my uncle's house to celebrate the new year. We sang, danced and laughed all night long. The party went on until 5 or 6 in the morning. Marc and I talked a lot that night. Before he came we were just good/best friends, and have gotten to know each other mostly through letters and emails. I'll tell the story of how we met and became good friends in another post :).
So, we talked a lot that night and didn't sleep at all. Around 7 or so, we decided to walk down town, and just hang out. We went to the nice "park" like place where the harbor is and started falling asleep on the benches. When we finally woke up, maybe 1 hour later, Marc took me by the hand and sat me on another bench. We were near the ocean. There was a beautiful and big sail boat parked there. It was really a beautiful day and a beautiful place to be at.
So, he sat me on the bench, held my hand, and started going down on his knee. Of course, I knew what he was doing and just let him proposed to me. You know how the rest goes. Tears coming down my cheeks, big hugs and kisses and a loud and cheery yes to end this joyful moment.
Well, that wasn't quite what happened that day. Tears did come down my cheeks but they weren't quite the happy kind of tears people would expect. They were more like freaking out kind of tears. I looked at Marc and just started panicking asking him all kinds of questions like "where are we going to live?" "What about my school?", "What are we going to do for jobs?" etc etc.... I knew he was the one for me, but just had so many questions running through my head that I never actually had time to ever say YES to him until the day we got married which was 11 months and 20 days later.

We always laughed at it every time we think about this moment. I did LOVE Marc then but sure LOVE him even more today.