Growing up, I always wanted to believe I was adventurous and daring, but as I have grown up I realize more and more that I am actually kind of a wimp and a bit fearful of new things. I think a lot of the "fear" comes more from my hate for being bad at things, and therefore I don't like trying something in front of others unless I know I will be at least decent at whatever it may be. This obviously takes the adventurous out of the adventure, clearly showing I am not adventurous after all. I do however like being active, and always enjoyed playing sports that weren't organized but more about just having fun and sometimes included knocking people over. (Ask me about Aussie ball and Milk Jug Lacrosse when you are older and I will tell you my stories!) I like comfort and familiarity, but moving across the ocean to a town I have only known for a total of 20 days before I called it my "home" has changed any form of that other than the family that surrounds me. I have to say it's my biggest adventure in life so far, and in our first month it has proved to be so very wonderful and full of exciting new things.
Hiking is something I have found I really enjoy, especially living in the beautiful French Alps. This past week we have gone on two hikes as a family, and you my dear girl, seem to like it too! It is extremely HOT here right now, but as we go higher up the mountain the air gets cooler and we are hidden from the scorching sun under a beautiful canopy of trees easing the heat enough to enjoy the outdoors! On our first hike, I tried to put you in our faux ergo backpack style, and quickly realized I am not superwoman after making it up the steepest part of the hike with you on my back and nearly 27 weeks pregnant to boot! Your dad (as he had before we started but my stubborn wannabe superwoman self resisted) insisted he take you for the rest of the walk. You weren't a fan of the backpack anyway, so on his shoulders you gleefully rode as we walked our way up to a 1,000 year old castle that is half crumbled to the ground, but still shows all its original beauty. Chateau de Montfort is right behind our house here in Crolles, and was a simple hike to get us acquainted with what to expect with you, little love, along for the ride. It was hot, and wiped us all out for an afternoon nap, but something we all enjoyed and vowed to make a weekly event throughout the summer. Our hope is to find different local spots and explore as much as we can together, before dad lands a job and leaves us to make a living for us. Have I mentioned he is the best? :)
Yesterday we headed out about 10-15 minutes down the road to Cascade d'Alloix, a waterfall with a crystal clear stream making its way down the mountain and creating countless little play areas for you to cool off in the water along the hike. It was beautiful and a pretty easy hike, but having you on your dad's shoulder made me a bit less than calm at moments. I prayed out loud a few times as we made our way up, up, up with only about two feet, if that, to walk before falling off the edge. He did at least take you off his shoulders for the steep climbing portions of the hike! Dad kept assuring me he was fine and not to forget that I too was carrying his child. I did have to think about my steps a few times as I wasn't trusting my own balance, but we survived and now I know not to worry for next time! I will, however, always walk IN FRONT of you and your father so that I don't have to watch and worry all the more :) We hiked up about 30 minutes, but only made it to the first, smaller of the two, waterfalls. You were over due for sleep and wore your self out jumping and splashing in the water. We stopped many times to enjoy the refreshing cold water, and we were amazed how you had no fear just jumping in and walking around the rocks. We spent about two hours there, and made a pact to go back at least a few more times before summer ends, if not once a week. It is the perfect spot to go for an afternoon picnic and refresher in this hot weather.
Somehow we managed to let you sneak your bunny our of the car, and due to it being nap time we couldn't hide it towards the end of the hike. You are kind of spoiled my love! :)
I'm excited for all the possibilities of the future, and feel confident following the Lord's leading where ever that may be. At this time, I'm so happy to be where we are and am anxious to see all the He has planned to show us and teach us through this adventure and journey in our young families life.
P.S. We need a new camera. Correction we have needed a new camera for some time now, but well we don't do so well with spending money on things (other than for entertainment), so I'm sure someday we will get one! :) The quality isn't what matters though Zaylee girl, right? Right!
On our wedding day, Aunt Jenny sang us a song she wrote entitled, "French for Life". It is arguably her best song yet (I'm biased!), and everyone had the catchy tune in their head for weeks after our special day! Dad has lived in the states now for nearly 11 years, but still very much appreciates his roots in Grenoble. It is where he learned all about life, and where he considers home to be. After all he is French for life, and now so is his wife (me!). One thing I have always appreciated about your dad is the time he takes to help me understand things, whether it be something silly or something as complex as family dynamics other than my own. It has been such a blessing to learn from him about your Tabailloux side, and has given me such a strong relationship with each of your Aunts and Uncles, and especially your Mamie and Papi, thanks to your Dad's thoughtful consideration of "letting me in" to all the inner workings. It's easy to just think every family is like your own and get hurt, confused, lost when you realize in fact that is not the case at all. Dad makes sure that doesn't happen. You will understand some day, just how wonderful your dad truly is and all the times I have said it will all make sense in your mind when you grow to know it for yourself. What I am really trying to say is, France is home to your father, and now it is home to us for this time in our life, and I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity to get acquainted with the area in which your dad was raised and build deeper relationships with the family that surrounds us. We are excited to see what this year has in store for us, and I couldn't be happier to be spending it in your father's home town with you sweet girl by my side.
People say a lot of negative things about the French, and as much as some of those things may be true, I refuse to listen to any of them and instead enjoy each minute we are here and learn things on my own. I have already soaked in a lot of knowledge on giving birth here in France from all the young moms I have met in my short three weeks here, and feel a bit more prepared and educated on what to expect and how to deal with certain things that may or may not happen in my stay at the hospital. I had been reading a "French Mama" site started by an American woman who moved to France, got pregnant, had a baby, and is now raising her children in the south. Seemed perfect and fitting for my current situation, but as much as it is a fun read, I have already found by talking to real women, in the flesh, from their own experiences here in Grenoble, that not every bit of information I had gathered from this one woman's experience holds true to the practices here in this area of France. Just as in the states, France has many different regions, many different sub-cultures, and just different ways of life all together depending on where it is you live. From this point on, I will listen and learn from the relationships I build and will do my best to form my own opinions on situation I am faced with.
So far all have been great experiences and filled with kind people that reach out to the silly American that can't put a full sentence in French together :) Even a sweet old man in the store that couldn't take his eyes off you, after I politely told him in my shaky French that I didn't understand what he was saying, spoke a few words in English to tell you that you were a pretty little girl with a beautiful smile. It made my day! You seem to make everyone smile here, just as you did at home, when we are out shopping. We are working on getting you to say "bonjour", but for now you continue to say, quite loudly and on repeat, "Hi, Hi, HI, HIII!!!" to all those that we pass by. You make life so much fun sweet girl! We feel honored that we get to be your parents.
It's been a great first three weeks here in Crolles. Other than Marc being home the first two weeks, we have had the house to ourselves. It has been great to be able to settle in with no real agenda or plan, and has made for good times as just our family of three. We are soaking in this time with dad before he goes back to work, and we are loving it. He has been getting up with you every morning and allowing me to take my time to get out of bed. It has been absolutely wonderful!! :) Our mornings are lazy, and it is perfect that way. Since arriving in France, we have transitioned you to one long nap a day, which has been good and sufficient most days. On occasion, you still need a second, but you are getting used to the new routine. You sleep in every morning until between 8-9, and that is with your shutters open, as we don't want you to get thrown off by the darkness having them closed. We all seem to sleep well here, and we are so thankful for that fact. The first thing you want to do when you wake up is open the curtains to look at the mountains. You point and exclaim, "oohhhhh!" and when you spot a Para-glider you wave frantically while yelling, "HIII!" It is the cutest thing.
We spend most of our time outside watching you dig with your little red shovel, transferring rocks from one bucket to the next while dad and I play Rummikub on the front porch. You are having so much fun here with so much room to roam and explore. Mamie Suzanne joked yesterday that I will never have the chance to get fat, as you will never let me stop moving with all your energy. She loves having you over, and you seem to adore her, giving her plenty of snuggles and kisses. It has been so nice spending time with family with out the rush of only being here for a week or two at a time. Everyone is so patient with me, and makes sure I am included in the conversation. They all try to speak bits of English with me, and always teach me new words in French. It's a lot of fun, and I'm eager to learn more! We've had a few family dinners with the cousins, and have enjoyed our time with each of them. You are particularly fond of Aunt Christine, Amandine, Jacqueline (Mamie Suzanne's niece and sister-in-law, ha!), and persuade them to take you out places when I don't feel like moving :) Andre (Papi Marcel's brother) refers to you as the queen, and finds it amusing how you can steal everyone's attention and get them to follow you. He is very sweet and makes me wish I had known your Great-grandfather. Along with family time, we have made our first friend here in France, Annalou. The two of you play well together in the dirt and rocks, and yesterday we even had a little playdate at her house where you two played for hours in the kiddie pool splashing and laughing uncontrollably. It was so fun to watch you two together.
Life has been so good these past few weeks, and we are getting used to the way of life here. We have shopped at every store to compare food prices and quality, and have had fun figuring out things I (the picky one) will enjoy. It's no surprise, but you my dear girl LOVE chocolate croissants. You always eat a full one, and aren't a fan of sharing. I don't blame you though, they are incredibly delicious. I on the other hand, have been craving cheeses that I normally wouldn't be a fan of, but always make sure they are at least pasteurized. Your brother must know we are in France :) There is a bakery a few towns over that makes a delicious goat cheese quiche, and it is SO good and always on my mind. Since my second trimester began with your brother, I have been craving salads and fruits which is a good thing since we eat a salad at every meal here. Mamie taught me how to make the perfect mustard vinaigrette, and I always have fun making it. It's tricky here when it comes to shopping as I am a last minute shopper a lot of the time, and all the stores close by 7:30 and aren't open on Sundays. Also, you have to bring your own bags as they don't have bags for you, unless you want to pay for each one, and in order to get a cart you have to have a 50 cent coin or a Euro to release it from the rest of the carts. You do get it back when you return the cart, but it is still something we often forget! Most businesses close every day from noon to 1:30 for lunch, and bakery's are closed on Monday's and some on Thursday's as well. Life moves to a different beat here, and I have to say so far I like it. Things seem much simpler here, and people seem to embrace life more. Families are always outside, eating, playing games, and just enjoying life other than being inside in the air conditioning neglecting the beauty that surrounds them. It may be the fact that there is no air conditioning here, but I like to think it's because they look at the importance of the small things a bit more.
Zaylee girl, I am so excited for this time in our lives, and pray we be richly blessed by this experience in every way possible. You seem to be loving it so far, and I pray that you continue to enjoy yourself and learn and grow from all that is being taken in around you.
On June 14th Dad had his final day of work at Porsche Financial in Lisle, IL. Shortly after we got married, the company made a plan to move the entire Porsche North America company down to Atlanta, Georgia. We went back and forth with the idea of going along with them, but in the end decided Georgia just wasn't for us at this time in our lives. They offered great incentives for both moving with them, and for staying with them until the end. We took the latter and Dad helped in the moving process, as well as, training up new employees to take over his position down in Atlanta. He was with the company for going on 8 years, and learned a lot through the ups and downs that he faced throughout his time there. The timing was perfect, and he felt ready to move on to something new. Back in November he came home from work, looked at me and said, "Let's move to France for a while!" I was under the impression he was half joking, but in fact he wasn't and so the planning began.
We have the perfect situation to do this at this point in our lives. A home to rent out and come home to, no bills (thankful for no debt!), a garage to put our car in, a beautiful apartment to live in while here in France thanks to your loving, hardworking Mamie and Papi, and a flexible little girl (YOU!) to travel along with us at an age that won't shake up your whole life. We jumped on the chance to have this experience as a family. To learn where your Dad grew up, and properly get to know the people that surrounded him throughout his life and helped mold him into the wonderful, patient, loving, thoughtful, kind man he is today. I couldn't be more excited for this journey and all that we will learn together as a little family of three, growing to four in the fall! :)
After Dad's last day of work, we packed up the house, cleaned it with vigor, and headed out to Lake Geneva to spend two weeks with the McKendrick clan before flying over the Atlantic. Aunt Michelle and your four older girl cousin came up from Florida to join us at Grandma and Grandpa's house! It was a full, chaotic, loud, wonderful time with the WHOLE family, and such a great way to spend our last couple weeks in America! We don't get to see the Ott family as much as we would like, so it's always nice when we get an extended time with them. This was the second year in a row that we all got together in June, and just like last year, they all loved on you a whole, heaping lot! :) You and Aubrey bonded once again, and it was the sweetest thing watching her play and care for you. If there is one thing you lack in life, it most definitely will NOT be love from your family!! We are blessed with all the chaos that fills the house when we are all together.
It was so fun watching you, Remington, and Cohen laugh and play together at this stage. You three are just the cutest, and we can't wait to watch you three grow up together. Your little brother will have two cousin close in age as well, but just the opposite of you. Instead of two boys and a girl this time, Aunt Erin and Aunt Janine both are having (had) girls, and we are blessed with a little boy on the way! All six of you will be so close in age, when years go by it will be fun to see how you all interact together.
Our time was packed full of memories. There were days spent at the lake, on the boat, downtown Chicago (crazy!), walking to camp, a lot of time spent in the back yard playing in the sandbox and pool, and a family party for us as a "farewell for now". It all went by so fast, but was so special and fun to be with so many loved ones.
It was sad to leave, but are so thankful for Skype and the ability to keep in touch with family even from across the ocean! The time difference makes it a little tricky, but we will survive, and Grandma and Grandpa will be coming to meet your little brother in the fall. As hard as it was to leave all the cousins and family, we were so excited to get here to France and settle in to our life here. It is such a blessing to have this opportunity and we plan to take full advantage of our time here.
At the end of our time with the Ott's, the three of us slipped away for an overnight in Iowa to meet baby Junipar Joy and visit with the Zay's in Davenport. It was a quick trip, but so good to see family and friends that are really more like family! :) Aunt Anna joined us, and it was so fun to have her along for the drive and just to be with her. She reminds me a lot of your dad, and the two of them have always had a special bond. We love her!
All this to say, we are extremely blessed, and thank the Lord everyday for all He has provided and continues to show us as we follow Him. Our pray is that this experience will be one that strengthens us as a family and teaches us far more than we could possibly imagine. God is so good!
