I'm going on a trip!
A few weeks ago Simon talked about looking into tickets for me to go on a trip to BC to see Annie. I brushed it off a bit thinking that we could never afford it.
But the thought of it was just too great to brush off completely.
I looked into ticket prices but then stopped again when I realized how expensive the trip from Vancouver to Prince-Rupert was, more expensive even than the cross country flight from Montreal to Vancouver.
But after a few weeks of thinking about it and after a conversation about people using their Air Miles to make it more affordable, I decided to look into it and see if I had enoughAir Miles to cover that portion of the trip and to my surprise, I had more than enough. Suddenly, the trip was a bit more realistic price wise.
Of course, then came the idea of leaving Khéna behind… A little more than a month ago, when the idea first came up, Khéna was still nursing many times in the day and always cuddled on my lap. He nursed to sleep and was very much a mama’s boy… but with the birth of his little sister, something happened.
He isn’t asking to nurse as often, even sometimes going without nursing for a day or two. He hasn’t nursed to sleep since her birth either, instead he just lays down next to me or for the last two weeks goes into his bed and lays down with Simon next to him and falls asleep all by himself. He hangs around with his brothers more and goes to see Simon when he gets hurt. He is not the same little boy that I had a little more than a month ago. He is now a kid, a big brother, and though I know that I will miss him and he will miss me, I also know that he will be perfectly fine staying with his Dad and brothers while I take this oppurtunity that might not come again anytime in the near future.
So we decided that I should do it….
So, I am going on a trip! I bought my tickets this weekend and will be flying out to Vancouver on the 29th of March with Wilhelmina. My mom will be in Vancouver also at the that time, so she will be meeting me there and we will be hanging out together for a few days. Then, on the morning of April 1st I will be flying up to Prince-Rupert and hanging out with Annie for 3 weeks!
I am so excited (and quite nervous to be leaving my family and home for three weeks). Simon has things planned for himself and the boys so they won’t have too much time to miss me… I can’t believe that we were able to make it work and I am actually doing it!
Evening out…
A few weeks ago I asked my mom to come visit and watch the boys for an evening while Simon and I went out for supper. We were going to stay around here and maybe try out the new restaurant that opened last year but when Simon told me that he would want to go see a movie in Montreal I decided that it would be fun to head to Montreal instead and we could go out for supper and then I could hang out with Wilhelmina while he heads to the theatre.
We got ready and I decided to dress Wilhelmina up for the first time in a little dress… it felt so weird to put a dress on one of our children, I am so used to having boys that it just didn’t look right for a minute, but she was so adorable and I can see how dresses will be great for ECing…
(all dressed up and falling asleep while I was getting ready)
We left soon after my mom arrived, and headed to Montreal deciding on the way to go to a little Tibetan restaurant that we used to love to go to together in our early days as a couple. After we drove around trying to find a parking space in the heart of downtown Montreal, we finally decided to just get a space in an expensive parking lot right near the restaurant. It was just after 6pm and we got there just before the restaurant started to fill up, and with about a dozen tables, it doesn’t take long for it to do so.
We started out with “po cha” (Butter Tea) which is made of red tea, butter and milk and is rich and a bit salty and then ordered cheese momos (steamed buns with a sweet cheese blend inside) which come with marinated veggies and curried potatoes and we also took a side of steamed bread and smaller beef momos.
Wilhelmina slept soundly in our arms while we ate and talked and just enjoyed our supper, ending with a complimentary pot of green tea and we were planning our next move when Simon decided that he wouldn’t go to a movie after all and that we would go walk a bit together and find a place to sit and have a coffee and dessert…
We headed onto St-Denis to walk and as soon as we hit the corner we heard loud bangs and then realized that it was fireworks in the old port which we could see from the east side of the street. Of course even without the fireworks, Montreal is alive in the dark and the people and lights make for an atmosphere that is stimulating and never boring…
While we walked and looked into store and restaurant windows we noticed a little restaurant/pastry shop with the most delicious looking treats and decided to head in on the way back. We kept on walking and of course being in Montreal, the city of Festivals, we walked right into a mix of two festivals. The Festival of lights which was in the old port (hence the fireworks) with light shows on buildings at various places in Montreal and a Québecois film festival that included a replica of the snow fort from the classic “La Guerre des Tuques“…
The light show on St-Denis used a church as its canvas and the images and colours were impressive to see…
We then started to head back for coffee and dessert and a bit of warmth, though it was not too cold, it was humid and the warmth of the pastry shop felt nice.. I ordered a bowl of “Café au Lait” and Simon had an espresso and we shared a chocolate mouse/praline cake and the largest rum ball I have ever seen…we talked with each other and a couple sitting next to us and sipped our coffee and warmed up until we decided to start back home…
Though I don’t miss living in the city and love having a yard and space for the kids to play at a price that a single income family can afford, I do miss being close to the life that Montreal has to offer. The amazing restaurants, the night life, the people and all the things that are always happening…
It is rare that Simon and I go out without the kids but it really felt good to slow down and enjoy a relaxing meal, a walk and a treat… knowing that the boys were in great hands and happy at home with my mom and I am so glad that we did it…
I am also looking forward to bring the boys to Montreal more this year, sharing this great city with them… walking and soaking up the festivals, the people and the scenery that makes Montreal an amazing city to be in…
It goes so fast…
Wilhelmina will be 4 weeks old, a month old, this week and every day she is seeming more aware of her surroundings. Though she is still small and new, she is starting to look more like a baby than a newborn, her cheeks are filling out, she is awake for longer periods, she smiles more and reacts to who is holding her, she seems to look forward to laying in bed at night and then when morning comes she seems to not be content until we head upstairs.
Though some days she has a bout of crying in the evening, we get though it by holding her, putting her on the potty often since she needs to go often in the evening, nursing her and just juggling her ever-changing needs. I have found that most often, needing to pee is what makes her upset and in the morning and in the late evening she seems to need to pee every few minutes and if I keep up she stays content and then nurses a final time before falling asleep for the night. Sometimes though, we don’t figure out what she needs or wants and we just hold her and talk to her and sing to her and comfort her until she settles… it hasn’t happened often, but it does happen…
Nights are going so well. Once the night cycle starts (at around 9pm) she sleeps about 4-6 hours (she even did a bout of 7 hours a few nights ago from 11pm to 6am) and when she wakes she stirs just enough to wake me up… not crying, not really waking up much herself…
I reach over for the potty on the nightstand, lean the potty against me, put her over the potty and she pees then I nurse her and she lets go and then falls back asleep. The whole thing takes about 3-4 minutes and we are both off into sleepland… the next time she wakes up it is morning, we do the same routine and depending on the time and who is up, we either fall back asleep a bit or we head upstairs to start the day…
It is amazing to realize how fast they grow, how fast the newborn phase passes by…
I feel so lucky that Simon is home on Parental leave… having home takes so much guesswork out of preparing meals or taking care of the older kids needs when the little one needs all of the attention at that moment. The boys love having their dad home too of course, being able to play with him and spend time with him, and each boy gets a bit of special time doing what they really love to do. Play on the computer or on the Wii, watch a movie, play a board game, read a book etc… with four kids, having two parents at home makes a lot of sense…