2017's Biggest Plot Twist

I promised pictures from Christmas, and I will, indeed get to those in good time.  But I thought I might as well start things off with a bang.  As you may now have guessed, we had one very gargantuan, unexpected, life-altering piece of news come our way in November: I am currently pregnant with Richards/Simmonds baby #3.  

You can take a minute to digest this news, if you want - it has now been almost two months, and I can barely wrap my head around it.  Perhaps some facts will help:

1. Yes, this baby was a (very large) surprise. I have dubbed it the baby that really wants to be born, and I wholeheartedly believe this to be true.  For context: Clark and I have been together for almost 20 years.  TWENTY YEARS. And in that 20 years (up until this point, that is), I have only ever gotten pregnant twice, and both times were completely on purpose.  So - this is... anomalous, to say the least.

2. Seeing as I am now 37, I was put on a "high risk" list, and therefore got an early ultrasound.  That ultrasound happened a little over a week ago, and everything looks completely fine.  I am therefore no longer considered high risk, which is great! (Though it also means I no longer get the royal treatment on the high risk floor of the IWK, which was completely lovely while it lasted).

3. I have been feeling pretty miserable for the last couple of months - mostly nausea (especially at night), and exhaustion.  Today, however, marks the official beginning of my 2nd trimester, so I'm very hopeful that the grossness will soon abate.  New Year = New Me.  That's my mantra.

4. Due date has been set at June 29th. Another summer baby! This is almost exactly two weeks later than my sister Andrea, who is currently ALSO pregnant.  When I start to panic about the fact that we left baby-parenting behind many years ago (and will have to therefore start from scratch, and find a way to fit a fifth person into our perfectly-sized 4-person dwelling, and likely buy a freaking mini van, etc, etc etc), I just remember that Andrea will be mothering a newborn and a barely-one-year-old at the same time.  Sooooo... relatively speaking, I have nothing to panic about, right?  Plus, I've got two very excited helpers rarin' to go.

And that's about it!  We told the kids the day after we were given the all-clear ultrasound.  Here is (rather poor-quality) video of their reaction:

 To add a little back story to this: minutes before the video was taken, we told the kids: "come sit in the living room - we have some exciting news!" Juniper looked up from whatever she was reading, and asked, totally matter-of-factly, "are you having a baby?".  We just kind of gaped at her, and responded "just... come sit in the living room".  Then, before I turned the camera on, she kept trying to whisper to Linden "I think mom's having a baby!"  I have no idea how she guessed so easily.

Then, her first question, after all the jumping up and down and celebrating that you saw: "was this planned?"  She qualified this by adding "I've wanted another baby since Linden was FOUR, and you always said no".

Then: "This is even more exciting than a PET!"

Linden, meanwhile, was apparently listening quietly to this back and forth, and drawing his own conclusions.  He reported that he went to school the next day, and told his teacher: "We are going to have a new baby, but mom and dad didn't make it.  It just... happened".  He couldn't understand why his teacher thought this was funny.

Anyway, I'm confident that everything will turn out as it should, in the end.  Juniper has been busy making lists of possible name choices, and there has been much discussion about room reallocation and other such details.  Juniper has also been saying "goodnight" and "good morning" to my tummy every day.  It's all very sweet.

Whew!  And finally, though it now seems like an afterthought, on to Christmas!  This year, we were joined by Theresa and Scott (who stayed with us), and Clark's mom and stepdad (Deborah and Yvon), who stayed in a hotel, but joined in for all the festivities.  It was fun, and jam-packed with activities (though there was basically no outdoor-based play, as Christmas itself was completely miserable, weather-wise).  Considering all this, I actually have very few good pictures... I have not been completely on my game as official family photographer as of late, due to previously-discussed circumstances.  Here's what I managed to capture, though:

Snuggles with aunt Theresa

Mid-Christmas Eve dinner - it was delicious, took most of the day to prepare, and I didn't lift one finger.  Talk about awesome Christmas guests!

The whole gang!

Linden, being a goof, as usual.  Doesn't he look old in this pic?

Be-crowned, and finally allowed to rip into stockings

New (handmade) Christmas PJs!  Stockings!  Presents!  Christmas morning is SUCH a rush. Linden clearly can't even keep his tongue in his mouth.

Sporting their new cowls/head bling, before ripping into the gifts

Linden happily playing with his new car mat

OK, that's it!  There may well be some good New Year's photos coming for the next post... Clark and the kids are currently at the farm, and will be there until New Year's day.  I bowed out of the trip, as I am just not quite up to it yet (all this nausea, paired with long road-tripping was enough to turn me off the notion completely). So I'm just... relaxing at home, by myself.  Or, rather, not completely by myself ;)  Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to you all!

lead-up and catch-up

Annual sorting of the lights

As we gallantly battled to get the kids off to the bus stop on time this morning (for example: dealing with the heart-felt outpouring of tears when we told Juniper she wasn't allowed to wear the PJ pants that go up to her knees and the nightgown that has a huge rip down the side for PJ day), it dawned on me that not only was it Monday again, it is the last Monday before Christmas.  What is more, I completely and utterly flaked out last week when it came time to do a blog post.  So, instead of making a list of all the things I need to get accomplished in the next few days (the usual, of course - taking stock of what remains to procure, madly sewing and knitting, etc etc etc), I instead sat down to put together at least the barest of posts.  It will include both the recent lead-up-to-Christmas activities, and it will go back in time a few weeks to play a little catch-up of some things that didn't get posted when they happened.

The Lead-up:

The last couple of weeks have been filled with all the important pre-Christmas/solstice activities: choosing and decorating a tree, making gingerbread cookies, making and decorating the gingerbread house, school concerts, keeping up with the solstice fairies... all the traditions that are both familiar and unique every year.  

The Tree: we didn't quite have the hutzpah this year to go cut down our own tree, but we found a lovely one at a local garden centre none-the-less. After it was beautifully and lovingly decorated, and all the presents we have so far placed underneath, the four of us went to bed quite satisfied with ourselves (and no doubt filled with holiday spirit).  That night, I was rudely awoken at 1:30 in the morning, by what sounded like a whole shelf of dishes crashing to the ground.  Nope!  It was, in fact, our beautiful tree, having unceremoniously toppled over, leaving crushed ornaments and rivers of water in its wake.  Clark and I blearily sopped up the water (hoping that no presents were ruined in the process), cleaned up the ornaments (only a couple of true casualties, thank goodness), righted the tree, and tied it securely to the wall.  Next year, we will get a much sturdier tree stand... this is one event I don't plan to turn into tradition.

hanging the decorations

Gingerbread Galore: I love gingerbread, but really only go to the trouble of baking it during this one small period of time.  There is always at least one batch of cookies for eating, and one village for decorating.  And, despite the amount of effort involved, we always do it from scratch - it seems wrong, otherwise.  This year, we were joined by our awesome neighbours, and had a true decorating extravaganza:

patiently watching the cookies bake

assembling the gingerbread village

Joint village design and beautification: Liam and Linden

The whole decorating crew! Ruby, Juniper, Zoë, Liam and Linden (Ruby was happy to join the picture, despite only acting in a supervisory/cuteness-addition role)

Holiday Concerts: The school put on a holiday concert this year, which was a pretty big deal for Juniper and Linden, as there had been none last year (due to the work-to-rule craziness that was going on at the time).  It was exactly as you would expect: a gym filled beyond capacity, and a seemingly endless stream of excited, sincere kids taking their place on the bleachers and singing their hearts out.  Clark and I were in the very (VERY) back row, and despite bringing the telephoto lens, the pictures and videos we ended up procuring were... well, let's just say they won't win any prizes.  I almost decided not to include any (especially since the videos were so shaky that I would have to put a nausea-warning in effect), but I decided at the very least I could include a snap of each of them on stage:

Linden and his grade 1 cohorts, singing about building a gingerbread house, or somesuch

Juniper's class (and another grade 3 class), singing about red birds and pine trees, I think

Unexpected other stuff: This past weekend we had a surprise visit from Clark's mom and stepdad, who made a very last-minute decision to come to Halifax to buy a new (used) van.  It was such an unplanned, whirlwind visit that I didn't even have a chance to snap any pictures.  I did take this one, though, which depicts the unexpected after-effects.  After school on Friday, Deb and Yvon took the kids out on the town for a bit, including a stop at the dollar store, where they were allowed to spend $5.00 each on whatever they wanted.  Juniper got a tabbed scribbler and two fancy pens, deciding that the tabs would each be for a different story that she was going to write. After giving Linden one of her new pens, he also got on board, and made his own book.  They spent HOURS, quietly writing their stories, which I have yet to even read, as they are secret until finished.  It was kind of magical.

Two devoted budding authors, hard at work

The Catch-up:

Matt and Anna visit: A few weeks ago, I posted about a short-but-sweet visit we had with our friends Matt and Anna. I only had one measly photo to share at the time, but Anna had diligently snapped lots of great shots throughout the day.  With her permission, I lifted some of my favourites from her instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/a_miles_away/), and thought I should post them here as well:

Juniper and Linden made sure there was a warm welcome waiting when Matt and Anna arrived

At the Halifax Farmer's Market: both Juniper and Linden got treated to their favourite pretzels from the Cake Lady - an especially big treat, as Clark and I are rarely that generous.  Does she look pleased, or what?

Market shenanigans with a craaaaazzzy Matt-monster

Adorable Anna/Linden selfie from the drive over (poor Anna had to squish in to the middle of the back seat!)

School Photos: I stumbled across this year's school photos a few days ago when I was tidying up, and realized I had never posted them here.  For shame!  Here they are, better late than never:

Grade 3, with missing teeth, and clad in velour

Grade 1: Fancy shirt, with no stains visible! 

I will mostly likely not post next Monday, as it is, after all, Christmas Day. But there will be loads of pictures and stories to share, so stay tuned: I will likely get around to posting on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Have a very happy solstice and Christmas!

Early December snippets

Yoga assist

Every year, I brace myself for the chaos that is December.  Huge expectations, daily excitement, and a boat load of extra logistics.  It is always worth it, in the end, but it is a lot of work. This year, however, feels.... different, somehow.  Perhaps this is because it is only 4 days in, and I am lulling myself into a false sense of peace.  Or maybe we've just hit our stride.  Who knows?  Regardless, I will take the relative calm it while it lasts.  Here are some (totally mundane) snippets from the week past.  See you next time!

Linden does some theory homework.  It may have a lot to do with all of the pants he suddenly outgrew, but Linden just seems... more grown-up these days.

Dartmouth fireworks - at 6pm! 

The kids were enthralled: Linden had never before seen fireworks, and Juniper had only seen some crappy ones once, many years ago

Look what I found on my phone - Juniper not only Facetimes with Mary whenever she wants, but apparently takes screenshots as well.

Our "gnome in the home" is baaaaccckkk!

It's very late, but Linden finally planted his garlic before the snow flies

This and that

The Fall leaves haven't all disappeared

I have no grand stories this week, but I do have a few pictures to share, none-the-less.  We are currently in the wind-up to December, and all the ridiculousness that entails, so I'm considering this a short respite.

1. School

Other than daily reading and the occasional math games that are brought home, the kids still (thankfully) have very little homework.  Juniper did, however, bring home a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) project to "build a bridge with whatever materials you have at home".  Clark was SUPER into the idea, as was Linden - so all three got involved.  One quick trip to Bulk Barn later, there were enough jube-jubes for everyone to create multiple bridge-like structures:

Testing the integrity of Juniper's creation. Linden's "tent" is in the foreground

2. Crowbar

Wednesday was a day off for the kids, so Clark took the afternoon off, and turned it into a Crowbar Lake hiking adventure:

Just getting started

On the boardwalk

Snack/binoculars break

Building a shelter (using the lashing techniques that Clark taught them

3. Visitors!

We had a short but sweet visit with Newlyweds Matt and Anna on the weekend! This is a rare treat, as they live in Scotland (though they are currently on a grand tour around North America). I have literally no good pictures to document the event (I included this one only after getting over my own vanity), but Anna and the kids were snapping pictures on Saturday afternoon, so if any of those surface at some point, I'll include them in later posts!

nice smile, Juniper

4. Budding composer:

Yesterday, Linden had a surprising request. He wanted some staff paper to compose some sheet music for a family band he wants to start.  This first part is apparently for the pianist (which I believe will be him).  Next up is the guitar part (for Clark), which he is actually super keen to get started on as soon as I'm done here.  This kept him busy for an inordinately long time, and while I'm not sure it will sound the way he imagined in his head, it's a pretty good start for getting no help from anyone!

hard at work

close-up.  Not bad for a little guy!

Lest we forget

Guest post from Clark this week -- I have finally managed to fix the computer issue that was preventing Tara from downloading and managing photos (basically, we take so many damn photos that the hard drive got filled up), and in the meantime I took the kids for a Remembrance Day family weekend to the farm (sans Tara) so they were mostly my photos anyway.

There were two big reasons to go to the farm last weekend. First, Remembrance Day was on the Saturday, and I wanted the kids to be able to go to participate in a ceremony in which two of their great-great uncles (Charles Richards and William Pickett) were remembered. They were quite keen participants, and helped dad (grandpa) lay a wreath for William. The second was that it was my Dad's 65th birthday, and there was a surprise party planned.

Remembrance Day

Charles (left) and William (right). Charles was killed during the liberation of Belgium, and William was killed aboard the HMCS Athabascan.

The purple-coordinated crew heading up to lay the wreath.

Quietly entertaining themselves after the wreath-laying, while many other wreaths were laid and names remembered. It's hard to see from the photo but Linden is drawing a picture with crosses and poppies. Sniff.

After the ceremony we brought the wreaths to the cemetery. 

Farm birthday (and cousins!)

The remainder of the weekend was spent hanging out at the farm -- including the aforementioned surprise party (on the sunday), and lots of cousin hangout time due to the fact that my cousin Eddy and his two kids (Merrick and Elsie) were also visiting that weekend.

A late afternoon hike. We started out by the river and went all through the woods and the fields.  

Cousins and buddies! Linden and Merrick are very close in age, and very similarly disposed -- they had a great time being silly together. Juniper is twice Elsie's age, but she just loves hanging out with and "taking care of" little kids. I'd have to remind her frequently that Elsie was perfectly capable of walking and didn't need to be carried ...

The birthday cake at the surprise drop-in party. Note the photo to Dad's right which is of him approximately 63 years ago. The house was packed with friends and family who stopped in for a visit.

Cousins scheming. I can't help but think that Linden had them up to no good of some kind.

The next day I took Linden out for a woods adventure (to burn off some excess energy). At one point I suggested we should head back to the house, and he exclaimed: "No dad, I want to keep exploring!". Win!

Two (silly) peas in a pod.

Besties!

Even Scott's dog Sam found a buddy in Woody.

The requisite final shot under the linden tree 

 Miscellany 

Our garden pumpkins didn't produce like we hoped, but the little one that did come out of it I decided was worth carving. For scale, it's sitting in an aloe plant

A good day at the Discovery Centre -- we arrived to find that they had set up a big area with "build your own roller coaster" parts (note the orange ball flying over the jump). It's amazing how quickly grumbles about how hungry they are turn to "later dad" when they find activities like this :)