We then drove to Normandy with a pit stop in Amiens to visit Marjorie’s uncle. It was a pretty long drive but with Marjorie juggling in the back seat to entertain both kids, it went fairly well. In Normandy, we stayed with Frederic and Sylvie who were really fantastic with the kids. Noah was so proud that he got to drive a tractor lawnmower and able to pet their farm animals and eat the fruits from the garden. Marjorie’s grandpa got to meet Anna for the first time and that was a very special moment!

It was also Noah’s first time at the beach and he absolutely loved it. It was really special that he got to discover the ocean were his mommy grew up.

Then it was the big weekend! With our 10th wedding anniversary and Anna’s baptism. Thanks to everyone, we had a wonderful time. It was so special for us to see so many people we care about together…in France. The Friday night, most of our friends from Canada, London, and Scotland arrived and we all went to the restaurant together. The next day, our friends from Germany arrived, an international affair. It was really great to see everyone together in Le Havre. We had fun dining and dancing. Noah even sang a few songs, couldn’t get the mic away from him!

The party was a lot of fun. We are so thankful to everyone for making it an unforgettable evening. The next day, we had lunch for everyone and then it was Anna’s baptism in the church where we got married (and were Marjorie’s parents and grand-parents got married and were Marjorie and her dad were baptized). It was very nice.

The week after, we rented a really nice place in Deauville. At the beginning of the week, Curtis, Marnie, Chris, Martine and Gerald hung out with us. We had some really nice seafood. The terrasse was wonderful. It would have been a bit better if the temperature was a bit higher though.
For the second part of the week, Reza, Eva, Bastian, Juju, Perrine, Loic, and Charlotte visited. We enjoyed the beautiful beach in Deauville and visited the very quaint town of Honfleur.

The following week, we met up with our friends Kevin and Melissa near Mont-St Michel at a really nice rental place called Ferme Saint Christophe. It was a very relaxing week and we still got to do a lot of fun stuff: beach, Mont Saint-Michel, visited the Fortified city of Saint Malo, had some amazing seafood including oysters in Cancale, and went to the beautiful town of Dinan. Even Noah tried some oysters in Cancale and liked them . We also spent a lot of time relaxing in the beautiful garden.

The last ten days we spent with family in Brest. It was also wonderful. Noah and his cousin Malo spent lots of time playing and Anna and her cousin Enora (2 months younger) started chatting it up . It is an amazingly beautiful area with great beaches and scenery. Marjorie’s cousin Cédric and his wife Céline were wonderful hosts and it was also really nice to be able to spend time with Tata Chantal and Mamie Rolland.

All in all, wonderful memories thanks to everyone, thank you!!

You can see our pictures in France 2011 in our photo gallery

Le vol s’est très bien passé. Nous avons commencé notre périple en Alsace chez Mamie Schmitt. Nous en avons aussi profité pour passer du temps avec Perrine, Loïc, et leur adorable petite Charlotte. Noah et Charlotte ont le même âge, et se sont bien amusés. Le décalage horaire n’a pas été trop difficile. Ça nous a fait très plaisir de passer du bon temps avec tout le monde et nous avons biensûr bien mangé (hmm, les tartes flambées). L’alsace est une région magnifique!

Ensuite, nous avons pris la route pour la Normandie avec une escale à Amiens chez Oncle Jean-Michel. Ce fût assez long mais avec Marjorie qui a fait ce qu’elle a pu pour amuser les enfants tout le long de la route, ça a été. Nous avons passé la semaine chez Frédéric et Sylvie qui ont été vraiment géniaux avec les enfants (avec nous aussi biensûr ). Noah était tellement fier d’avoir conduit un tracteur tondeuse et d’avoir pu caresser les animaux de la ferme et manger les fruits du jardin. Le grand-père de Marjorie a rencontré Anna pour la première fois, ce fût un moment magique.

Noah a aussi été à la plage pour la première fois et a adoré. C’était vraiment super qu’il puisse découvrir la mer sur une plage où sa maman a grandit.

Ensuite, ce fût le grand weekend avec nos 10 ans de mariage et le baptème d’Anna. Grâce à tout le monde, nous avons passé un super weekend. Ce fût vraiment magique pour nous de voir tant de gens qui nous sont chers réunis tous ensemble…en France! Le vendredi soir, la plupart de nos amis du Canada, de Londres et d’Écosse sont arrivés à l’hôtel et nous sommes allés au resto tous ensemble. Le weekend a été très international avec nos amis d’Allemagne qui sont arrivés le lendemain. Nous nous sommes beaucoup amusés à la soirée grâce à tout le monde, bon repas et on a bien dansé . Noah a même décidé de nous chanter quelques chansons et on ne pouvait plus reprendre le micro!

Nous remercions tout le monde pour avoir fait de cette soirée un moment inoubliable. Le lendemain, nous avons mangés ensemble le midi avant d’aller au baptème d’Anna à Saint-Jean de Folleville dans l’église où nous nous sommes mariés (ainsi que les parents et grand-parents de Marjorie et où Marjorie a été baptisée). C’était très beau, même avec Noah qui “explorait” l’église.

La semaine d’après, nous avions loué une villa très sympa à Deauville. Nous avons passé le début de la semaine avec Curtis, Marnie, Chris, Martine et Gerald. Nous nous sommes régalés avec des fruits de mer. La terasse était super agréable, ça aurait été encore mieux s’il avait fait un peu plus chaud. Reza, Eva, Bastian, Juju, Perrine, Loïc, et Charlotte ont passé le reste de la semaine avec nous. Nous avons profité de la belle plage à Deauville et visité la ville de Honfleur.

La semaine suivante, nous avons rejoint nos amis Kevin et Melissa près du Mont Saint-Michel à une location très sympa – La Ferme Saint-Christophe. Ce fût une semaine très relaxante et nous avons fait plein de trucs sympas: la plage, le Mont Saint-Michel, Saint-Malo, la belle ville de Dinan. Nous avons aussi dégusté des huîtres délicieuses à Cancale. Même Noah a aimé les huîtres. Nous avons aussi passé beaucoup de temps dans le magnifique jardin à la location.

Nous avons passé les derniers 10 jours à Brest en famille. C’était vraiment super. Noah et son petit cousin Malo se sont bien amusés et Anna et sa petite cousine Enora (2 mois plus jeune) ont bien discuté . Le cousin de Marjorie Cédric et sa femme Céline ont été des hôtes exceptionnels et ça nous a fait très plaisir de pouvoir passer du bon temps avec Tata Chantal et Mamie Rolland. La Bretagne a des plages absolument magnifiques!!

Plein de super souvenirs grâce à vous tous, merci !!

Les photos de nos vacances sont dans notre gallerie photo dans l’album France 2011

Here is his bed:

He is very talkative and loves to sing. Some of his favorite songs are ABCs, Allouette, and Frere Jacques. He loves to count things both in French and English and telling us their colors (for example the cars on the street). He is constantly asking “C’est quoi ça maman?” “What is that Mom?”. His newest questions is “C’est qui qui a acheté ça maman?” “Who bought this mom?”. He is starting to talk to Mom in French and Dad in English and to translate for the other. The other day Roger told me to get some milk and Noah turned to me and said “du lait maman”. From the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed, he talking all day long – I wonder who he gets that from?!!?

One funny thing is that he has an English accent when he speaks French, especially for the “r” sound. For example, when he says “réparer” – to fix – it sounds like rayparay.

Sharing his father’s passion, he also loves to cook and is constantly asking to help in the kitchen. Here he is making crepes with his dad.

For more picture go to our photo gallery in the album “Big Boy Noah”

Since we have been home with Anna, Noah has been really interested in her. When we first walked in the door, he used his stethoscope to make sure she was healthy.

He likes to bring her blankets and toys. He also helps burp her by gently patting her back and helps to change her diapers by dispensing the wipes and taking off the buttons on her PJs. The other day I said she was hungry and Noah ran to the kitchen to get her a glass of milk ☺.

The best is when Noah holds Anna. Hurricane Noah does not move an inch – he is so calm. He also has a huge grin on his face and love and pride in his eyes. It is too cute.

Of course, he was his moments too. He is only just two years old after all. When I am breastfeeding Anna, a few times he has wanted me to hold him. But for the most part, he is doing very well and we are very proud of him.

For more picture go to our photo gallery in the album “Noah et Anna”

After that, the doctor examined me and said “I feel a nose and a cheek” with a frown on her face and said “I will be right back”. We thought it was a good thing that our baby had a nose… To make a LONG story short, Anna was not positioned properly. She was in what is called a face presentation (see schema below). Only 1 baby in 500 present this way and very few are born naturally (1 in 5000). The next few hours were pretty stressful.

First of all, many doctors came in to examine me (head of obstetrics, high risk obstetrics, etc…) with their students of course in order to give their opinions and also to see this rare case! We were explained that it was almost sure that the baby would have to be born by C-section. They also explained that babies that present this way come out looking like a boxer at the end of a match, very swollen and bruised up because the contractions put pressure on the face rather than the top of the head. They even showed us pictures from textbooks to prepare us.

The most stressful part was trying to decide whether to go for a C-section right away or try naturally first. Because the baby’s heartbeat was excellent and because I was progressing nicely, the doctors reassured us that there was no risk for the baby to try to push. They said we would see right away if she was not able to move and go for the C-section. So they booked the OR.

Once I was fully dilated, we tried to push a bit and the baby seemed to be moving. It was a zoo in the room with 3 nurses and 6 doctors who all wanted to see the event! Once it looked like it might work everyone started getting really excited and cheering me on. Because we had prepared for the fact that it was very unlikely to work, once we felt some hope, I pushed as hard as I could to give my all. After about 20 minutes of pushing, Anna finally came out. They put her on me and Roger said “It’s a girl!”. It was such an amazing moment and such a relief. She weighted 3.5 kg or 7 pounds 13 ounces. Her face was bit swollen and red but nothing compared to the pictures they showed us. The nurses were calling her Angelina Jolie because of her swollen lips joking that Anna got them for free rather than paying like Angelina Jolie does.

Needless to say, we were so happy to meet her!

Picture with Anna Papa And Maman

For more picture go to our photo gallery in the album “Naissance Anna”

So on Wednesday March 23rd at night, I start having some contractions, which became more and more regular on Thursday. I had an appointment with my doctor that afternoon. She said I was in labor and already 2cm dilated and that I should go to the birthing center right away. So off we go.

At the birthing center, they set us up in the birthing room and put me on the monitor. I was having contractions every 3 ½ minutes. They also said I was in labor. It looked like the baby would be born on the 25th, Noah’s birthday! I could not believe it, what are the chances! A few hours later, I was still 2 cm dilated so the doctor suggested we go home until the contractions became stronger and more painful. She said I was smiling too much… During the night and into the next day, the contractions slowed down.

For the next three weeks I kept having contractions but not on a regular basis. Because we were convinced that we were about to have a baby, the next three weeks felt really long even though I was not term yet. Moreover, I was (or at least felt) pretty gigantic so it was not very comfortable. When I wanted to flip myself over in bed from one side to the other, I had to ask Roger to help me!! In the end, Anna decided to be nice to her brother and not steal his birthday. Or maybe she wanted a birthday of her own. She was born on April 15th, on her actual due date! Our friend Jordan was really hoping that she would be born on his birthday on the 14th of April so just to spite him she was born on the 15th at 00:27! She already has a mind of her own!

You may have noticed that the blog did not get updated for about a year. Not always easy to find time in our busy lives… Well, to catch up with what happened during that year, you can check out our pictures in the photo gallery. You will find pictures from Summer 2010, Halloween 2010, Christmas 2010, Noah’s second birthday and other stuff.

We will try to make an effort to keep a bit more on top of it. I am sure we will have more time now with two children .

First, our friends Alinda and Gil came to visit us for a week from Edmonton. We had a wonderful time with them. It was s o great to be able to spend time together as when we go visit in Alberta is always goes by so quickly. Noah had so much fun playing with them.

Noah’s Godfather Justin also came to visit from Alberta. Justin and his little dude had a great time together hanging out in the backward and at the Park.

That same weekend, Gerald was in town from Whistler as well as cousins from Alberta. So we had a big multi-course meal at our place to celebrate everyone being in Montreal.

Then our friends Fiona and Dave, who we met in Vietnam, came to visit from London for a week. It was so wonderful to see them. We had a brilliant time. Noah always loves to have friends to play with! We had lobster when they first arrived for a first Canadian meal. The weekend, we checked out Montreal, walking around the Old Port and the Jean Talon Market. They also went for a few days to see the Canadian wilderness.

Kevin came to visit from Ottawa the weekend Dave and Fi left. They went to the Festival Mondial de la Bière. On the Sunday, we went for Dim Sum. Noah loved it all, shrimps (guess he is not allergic…), squid (by the way, not easy to chew with 8 teeth), noodles, and even chicken feet! During the whole meal, he kept saying “Encore!”, “Encore!”.

As always, you can check out a more complete section of our photos at

On the first day, he stayed for a few hours in the morning. Here he is on his way to Daycare:

He was looking around checking things out. We went to fill out some papers and when we came back he was sitting on a high chair eating cheerios and dancing to the music.

So all in all, daycare is going really well except for acute Daycaritis! We had been warned by all of our friends but were not quite ready for it. It started with a bad cold for the whole family (4 weeks later Roger still has postinfectious asthma!), then a round of nasty gastro (Mom actually ends up in the hospital for re-hydration, of course the night before Roger starts his new job – oops, I just spoiled the big news! More to come soon…). Then Noah has a double ear infection with antibiotics, followed by unexplained fever for a week which turned out to be Roseola. Oh yeah, and another ear infection and another cold. I think that’s about it for now but more to come soon I am sure. Come on little immune system, get stronger faster .

So yes, without further due, the big news is Roger started a new job on February 1st. Although he really enjoyed spending the first months of Noah’s life all together, he is really excited to go back to work. The timing was perfect for everyone. We all needed a new challenge. Although, it was a bit harder for Noah at daycare through the sicknesses (crying when we dropped him off and a bit during the day), it is going great now. He plays by himself, apparently talks a lot, and eats quite well.

Here is “Mr. Goof a lot” eating:

and going to the skating rink for the first time:

Noah has a few new tricks up his sleeve: he now says “Papa”, makes the sign for eating, waves bye-bye, does high-five, and never tires of playing Peekaboo by hiding himself!

When I dropped him off at Daycare this morning, he was really excited to see the éducatrices. He went into their arms, quickly turned to give me a couple waves good-bye and then was asking to go towards the toys. It’s like “Ok, you can go now. People to see, things to do.” Great, he is not even 1 year old and I am cramping his style! I can already see pre-K “Mom, don’t kiss me in front of the girls!!”…

For more pictures of Noah in January and February, go to www.laforce.org/January+February