A New Adventure

The kids sent out this special Easter card to the grandparents.

Apparently, it wasn't direct enough as the majority of the grandparents failed to get the underlying message. We thought the ultrasound picture was a pretty big hint, but I suppose not ;). 

In any case, these kiddos are pretty excited because they are going to have another sibling around here and I sure do have the belly to prove it.

This is at 20 weeks. 

I know, it looks tiny, but this was only 20 weeks. AND it is definitely the biggest I have been at 20 weeks (and that tummy is definitely bigger now with still more time to grow). Everything has definitely happened a lot quicker with this pregnancy, including the hip and rib widening (which has happened in the final month of my last two pregnancies and happened in the 2nd month this time around!). It's felt a little strange for my body to make the changes so quickly and it has made for more aches than I would like.

In any case, we are all just happy to have another baby on the way. I feel like I have gone through a large breadth of emotions about it. When I first found out we were pregnant, I laughed (we've been waiting a while for this little one - I think the laughter was a mix of disbelief, relief and, most importantly, joy). Then I cried - happy tears. Then I had a slight panic as I realized that we didn't keep any baby things.

And there has been the stress of trying to navigate the healthcare system here which has fuelled some serious longing to birth in The Netherlands again. But, after lots of prayers and some serious effort, we were blessed to secure a midwife for the birth which has been a great fit. There has also been the amplified feelings of how difficult it has been for us to make new friends here.

But I think all those emotions have really caused me to dig deep and push myself to grow, in the literal and figurative sense. And to really see what matters most in the grand scheme of things.

It has also helped me focus on this family of ours. I know there will be some adjustments to having a new baby around, but I also know that there is such genuine love already growing in our family for this little baby of ours.

 As you can see, the kids are already proud and loving big siblings. They are so eager to learn what the baby is up to in my tummy and to get to meet the little one. They've been counting down since the ultrasound. And in the days leading up to the ultrasound, Milayla was counting down how many days until she would get to see the baby on the screen. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the kids at the ultrasound appointment - Milayla waved to the baby and Atticus grinned from ear to ear as Jason sat there soaking it all in.

It all made me think of this picture that is in one of the books that the kids got for Easter.

It's going to be a wonderful adventure, this new baby of ours. And we're all pretty excited for this new journey that we're on. And me, well, I am just soaking in all those little baby kicks and doing all I can to be the best mother that I can be for all three of these wonderful kiddos. And I am really starting to crave those newborn cuddles!

Maple Sugaring

Well, it took a while for the weather to warm up enough that the maple trees decided to start releasing that lovely sap, but it has begun! 

Around Quebec, you can head to a sugar shack starting the end of March which is a place out on a farm that you sit down to a big meal (typically all you can eat) loaded with maple syrup on and in everything. Then you head outside and toss syrup into the snow for a toffee tire and head home on one incredible sugar high. And while I am sure that would have been a pretty neat experience, particularly considering all the hype about those sugar shacks and that several sugar shacks have other things like sleigh rides and trains, we were pretty anxious to experience the real maple sugaring. You know, buckets on trees, boiling syrup, the smell of a wood fire - the Little House on the Prairie edition. 

After looking and looking, through all the sugar shacks in our vicinity, none of them seemed to offer that opportunity we were looking for then Jason remembered that one of his coworkers had his own little maple farm that he had started harvesting maple at last year. We asked if he would be willing to welcome two adults and two curious toddlers to his farm and he happily obliged.

Alain, Jason's coworker, was such a great host. To begin with, we were all so happy to drive out of the city. It was such a nice breath of fresh air to roll down our windows and enjoy the sunny warmth of oncoming spring. The kids were quiet as soon as we crossed the river out of the city; they just sat and watched the hills roll by. We arrived to Alain's farm to be greeted by a very kind dog and cat. The kids, who don't get a ton of time around animals, weren't too happy about that and had a minor freak out. But then it was on to learning about Maple and all was good.

Alain showed us how he boils the maple, collects it from the trees, the importance of the temperature, let us drink some straight maple (it is so SWEET straight), he let us try some sap before it was boiled (tastes like thick, slightly sweet water), and then let us go visit his horses. 

I love maple, but getting to make friends with his horses kinda blew the maple bit out of the water. Love those horses. Jason remarked how at home I looked and it sparked a conversation about moving outside of the city which is an idea that I'm not sure will take root any time soon (I love the daily convenience of the city a bit too much..). I sure would love a little getaway cottage though! 

Back on topic though, we loved getting to learn about maple and are so grateful to have had an opportunity to get to know Alain and his family a little bit better. And, of course, before we left the kids thoroughly enjoyed splashing around in the mud. It was a morning that we are sure to remember (and we brought home a few treats to help us remember it by). Thanks, Alain!

And now for the pictures :).

McCord Museum

We nearly didn't make this outting. When we were on the metro, the metro line was stopped due to someone being injured. Just as we were about ready to hop off and hike the extra metro stop home it cleared up and we decided to hop back on and continue to the museum. Let me tell you, being stopped in the metro for a prolonged period of time - not a favorite place of mine to be. And, in the even you are wondering, the man who got hurt seemed to be doing quite well when the paramedics were attending him. So that's good!

As for that museum. We headed to the McCord Museum, primarily to check out their toy/space exhibit but we also took a look at the aboriginal exhibit as well. 

To be honest, I found the toy exhibit completely void of any real purpose, short of being small, gimicky and super overwhelming for the senses it really didn't seem to have a purpose. The kids just ran around, played hop scotch, checked out some strange looking old school toys, drew some rockets and collected information for a launch code. The kids did seem to like it, but not for the museum sense, more for the play sense. In any case, I'm glad we checked out the aboriginal exhibit first - that display triggered those curious questions for the kiddos that I love so much. And as for the toy exhibit - I'm glad the kids had fun - positive experiences in regards to places like museums are always a good thing. 

One thing that was pretty cool is that the museum shop is stocked with vintage-style toys to go along with their exhibit. And I'm kind of in love with those. I think I preferred checking out the gift shop better than the actual exhibit! 

One thing is for sure, that we enjoyed our outing. And, despite the wind being painfully chilly, the sun was shining and made for a fairly pleasant walk to and from the metro. I think I would like to go back and check out the couple other exhibits a little closer, but for now we have a few other museums to tackle! Love these outings with the family!

Atticus and Milayla are pretty obsessed with shadows right now. There are grumpy days where they get touchy if someone steps on their shadow. But most of the time they just want us to look (and often take pictures of) how tall their shadows are. Here are Atticus and I as "tall shadows" on our way to the metro. Atticus thought our winter jackets made us look a little like snowmen.

The kids cannot get enough of the metro. They are so fascinated by it.

Contemporary Art Museum Montreal

One of the things that got me excited about moving to Montreal was the lovely (and large) selection of museums. Unfortunately, we don't really have room in our budget to go on a visiting spree to all those lovely museums right now. Soooo, that makes me infinitely more grateful that some museums have evenings where you can come and check out their exhibits for free. It also helps to take the stress of going with young children who may or may not want to stay and see every.single.exhibit in one go - something that tends to be more of a pressure spot when entrance fees are high. 

Thankfully, our kids get pretty excited about going to museums and I thank my lucky stars for that. 

They also get pretty excited about riding the metro. So that's always half the adventure right there. 

Positive attitudes make a pretty big difference when you spend a hefty amount of time wandering the general vicinity just looking for where the entrance to the museum is. 

The kids were pretty impressed with this though, where they could look down and see people walking around the underground. 

After wandering around outside, we wandered around inside and finally asked for some directions (yet, only the 3rd person we asked actually knew where it was). 

Getting lost in the underground was fun though.

Since we got a little lost finding the museum we sat down and gave the kids a little snack before heading in.

No pictures allowed inside the museum. But we thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits at the Contemporary Art Museum. It wasn't as big as I was expecting (particularly after being at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) but it was a perfect size for us to check out with the kiddos in the evening.

Atticus sat and watched this video that they had playing of this town in Italy where all these people lined up in a square for the honor of shaking an artist's hand. He literally jumped in excitement when he saw one of the ladies in line holding a Lidl bag! And he said "Mommy! That's from Lidl! We've been there, too!".

And Milayla took it upon herself to make sure that everyone understood that you were not to touch the artwork. When she would walk up to a piece of art to check it out she would wave her hand in the air and say "Don't touch" then turn to anyone around here and repeat herself. She found this blue gradient painting that looked like it had textures merely by the use of color and sat and looked at it for a good chunk of time before daring to venture onward.

And me, well, I just love watching my kids absorb that art and build up that appreciation for all different kinds. Just the other day Milayla made a remark that music is art, too and I smiled. We love music around here. And art.

After the museum we lucked out and got to see them setting of for this big light festival. The pictures don't really show much - sorry. But it was cool.

They had this one display where you could stand on this interactive board and open curtains on a building across the street, or project your face on to a big face shape on the wall. It was interesting.

Not too sure the kids knew what to think about that one.

And with that it was time to head back into the underground for our metro rides home. It was a great family outing. We have a few more museums on our list that the kids have been really been counting down to so there will certainly be more to come!