I love the Black Forest

We spent last Sunday hiking in the Black Forest and enjoying the company of our good friends Yvonne + Joachim and their kids. We ended up hiking much farther then planned and gladly went off the boring "stroller-friendly paths". When we came to this spot with a gorgeous view of Münstertal, we stopped to make a fire, grill some sausages and relax.

Yara, Cedric, me, Corbin, Joachim, Elin

We all had such a nice time! I tend forget how great it feels to get out there in the middle of nature and move and breathe in the real fresh air. Gotta do that again soon!

(Hope to have a better camera next time.... most of our pictures weren't even good enough to publish this time.)

Life goes on...

I should win an award for how seldom I update this blog. My last post was a baby announcement, and my baby is now 18 months old! I decided to never again promise, or even hope that I will update this more often. I will continue to do it sporadically, randomly, impulsively. I just want to use it as a place to put up some favourite pictures, memories and thoughts.

What an incredible summer we had in Canada! So many good friends, cousins, aunts and uncles... so many memories. Thanks to the best parents/grandparents in the world for making our time there so relaxing and wonderful. We all love and miss you all!

Sienna Jade - little piece of heaven!

She's here, our little Sienna!

Born on February 25 at 11:56 pm.

Weighed exactly 4 kilograms (8 lbs 13 oz).

Measured 55 centimetres long (almost 22 in.)

A gentle and fast water birth.

A perfect baby girl.

And we are in love again.

Welcome back!!

Today is the day I welcome myself back to my blog, after almost 2 years of inactivity! Today I cancel my piczo site and decide to try to keep this blog updated. Good luck to me! :-)

It won't be long now before we have baby pics to show the world! YAYYY! I'm pretty excited about that, but not quite ready. My official due date is Feb. 17th, and I hope I make it til then because my midwife is on holidays til the 15th, and my househelp is only available for the last 2 weeks of Feb.

This winter has been relatively cold, and I say relatively because I know how much colder it has been in Winnipeg! But we just aren't used to the cold....

Here's a shot of the boys enjoying the warmth of the fire after their bath.


We got a new camera (finally!) just before Christmas, but we aren't very happy with it and might return it or sell it again. It doesn't take good pictures inside, so we haven't been using it much lately. I will try to find some decent ones to put on here.

But that's all for now. I'll be back soon... I promise. :-)

Today is a good day to start a blog.
I don't exactly know why - it's just a random day like any other, no special date or event, although as I write that, I realize that it IS Groundhog Day! Well, if that isn't a good reason to start a blog, I don't know what is.

So yeah, winter has come and gone. We had snow for approximately 5 days. Woohoooo! Cedric really loved it though! I shovelled the snow off the parking lot and made a pile about 1 metre high (yay) and Cedric slid down it. And no, I do not miss the Canadian winters! :)))

But I DO miss my Mommy! And my Daddy and my sisters and brothers - all of you! - and all the awesome awesome people who have been the best friends a person could ask for! You guys and girls are all soooo special! I hope you know that! And Karen, I'm trying to arrange music again... why can't you be here?? Oh well, I'm suuuuuuper excited about Karen, Irene, and Rachelle coming to visit in March! Good times I see up ahead! :))))

As Corbin sleeps peacefully in my arms (or I should say "arm" - I need one for typing...), I am reminded that being a mom is really incredible! Sometimes an incredible challenge, and at other times, an incredible joy. Yesterday I had a challenging "moment" as I tried to feed a very hungry baby and put a very tired 2 year-old to bed after a long day with almost no sleep the night before. I was frustrated and I made a negative comment to Pascal about Cedric not getting to bed before 10 (he hadn't slept well the night before and really needed to go to bed early).... Pascal looked at me and said, "Wasn't God with you today? Or were you alone? You need more faith!!" I had no response. Totally speechless. I just looked back at him for a while and then looked away as the tears welled up. I thought to myself "More faith?! I don't even have any!!" And I realized that although I know that "God is always with me", I sure hadn't acknowledged his presence! Like, Hellloooooo Teresa! No wonder it's so burdensome for you when both kids need you at the same time! How about casting all your cares upon Him, for a change?!!! He DOES care for you, AND for your children!!

So I'm doing just that. Learning to, anyway. Everything in life is a learning process. And no matter how much you may know about being a good mom, etc etc, you have to learn everything again when you have your own kids!! :))))) But that's the awesome thing about it! God teaches us how to do everything the right way! It's possible to learn to do everything in the best way possible, to make it as good as possible for my precious kids and for my irreplaceably wonderful husband, to learn to communicate with others in the most effective way, to always bring out the best in those around me! As my own will fades into the background, the good of the others will come into the foreground, and then life will become more and more like Heaven on Earth!

This is my goal.

Enough for now.

I hope to be able to write in this blog at least once a week. Good luck to me. :))