It's February 11th today, and while most of our friends and family have been buried under inches upon inches of snow amidst a polar vortex for over a month now, we have had the joy of a winter in France. It as been a beautiful winter, with mild weather, a lot of sunny days, and only a handful of days below freezing. With the addition of your brother and being at home most days, it has been such a blessing to be able to take our daily walks and get out some bottled up energy in the beauty that surrounds us here in the Alps. You love being outside exploring the world around you, and I love watching you find new things on each and every walk and the happiness that oozes out of you!
The ranch down the road is our favorite place to visit, and the horses are your favorite friends along with the chickens that we pass on the way. The little creek that follows the road is full of bull frogs, muskrats, beavers, and other exciting things for you to discover. There are almost always puddles to jump in, rocks to be thrown, sticks to go poking around with, and horses to be fed. You have no fear when it comes to the horses, and I am always astounded by your fearlessness with big beauties. In one of the pastures there is a particularly mean brown horse that bullies the others when we bring carrots and apples for them to eat. He is constantly nipping at the others, headbutting, and throwing hooves their way. You always make sure to yell at him, and let everyone know that he is "MEAN!!"
Our walks are filled with Zaylee conversations, and I can never get enough of your stories. They go something like this, "Walk. Mamie. Orsie (horse). Chinens (chickens). Mean!! Bite. Papi. Yah Yah. Rock. Wayer (water). Jyump (jump). Anna. Fog (frog)." You remember EVERYTHING and love to relive your walks through your every growing vocabulary to tell and retell your stories to whomever will listen. It is my favorite thing to listen to you and watch your very expressive, entertaining facial expression and hand gestures that bring the stories to life.
Marcel is a lover of walks as well, and is usually tucked in close to me in the carrier. This week we started putting him in the stroller, and he seems to enjoy looking around and feeling the fresh air on his cheeks. You liked the fact that my arms were free to pick you up when you were tired or heard a car coming. "Vroom! Vroom! Hold you. Hold you," is what you say as you stretch your arms up high for me to pick you up. You are so cautious when a car is coming and immediately run to the side of the road and stop while you watch it pass us by.
I am so thankful for our time together outside, and can't wait for you to have Marcel to explore with. For now, I will enjoy having him close to me or staring up at me from the stroller while watching you run free exploring.
When we decided to move here to France, Grandma and Grandpa knew without a doubt they would be coming for the birth of our little Marcel. I couldn't wait to show them the home of your father, and the place I had grown to love so very much. It was a big deal for them both to take off of work, fly across the Ocean, and be surrounded by people that speak a language they have no knowledge of. (Grandpa D tried to use his Spanish in hopes people would understand what he was trying to say. HA!) I prayed that baby boy would come a little before they arrived to allow for plenty of activities as there is so much to see here in the beauty that I call home. Marcel decided to come the night they arrived, and I was so thankful they were here for the birth regardless of my hopes that he would have come a bit sooner. It was perfect. I was home two days later and didn't miss a beat the whole time they were here. We explored, ate out, went to Italy, and tried to squeeze in as much as we could in the short amount of time we had together.
We started out with a Thanksgiving celebration with a few other North American friends in the area. It was nice for them to see the way a meal is done here in France, as it is one of the things I like best about life here. Mornings were slow going, and lunches were spent with the Tabailloux family around the table. We had dance parties, lots of pictures were taken, quality time with each other was had reading books, watching Elmo, and just being together. Grandpa LOVED the cheese and wine, and spent for too much money spoiling our palettes. It was so fun to see him so excited, and just what I needed to erase my feelings of homesickness. Grandma just loved being with you and your brother, and I was so thankful for the instant bond you two had with one another as if you hadn't been away from her at all.
It was so great to have my two worlds together, and for them to see what I have fallen in love with here in France. To see where you sleep, play, and all the nooks and crannies you are constantly getting into in our home here. It is so special to me that I had BOTH sets of Grandparents here for the birth of our Marcel. I am so thankful that you have two sets of loving Grandparents to love on you. What a blessing it truly is! We sure do miss Grandma and Grandpa D, but know we will see them again soon. I'm so thankful for the memories we made in those two weeks we had together here in Crolles. They sure do love you and your brother, along with your 12 cousins, a whole heaping lot, and I am so grateful for it.
In the first two weeks of your brothers life we went up in the mountains, had pizza and gelato in Italy, visited Napolean's castle, watched you on your first horsie ride on the carousel and eat your first handful of snow! We are blessed to be living in such a beautiful place and I can only hope to capture each and every moment and memory for you to hold onto in the years to come. As much as I miss home and family, it already makes me sad when I think of leaving our home here in France.
