Our family of six is expecting an addition this year! The ultrasound confirmed our intuition that it is a boy. It will be fun to have a baby around the house again, and to have a baby boy again! It's been twelve years since our last boy was born. That means I have been a mother for twelve years!
The ultrasound also gave us his due date: May 18th.
That's all we know about him so here is an update on the rest of the family:
Rus: working as an educational assistant at the Raymond Elementary School in the preschool program. He has been there since September 2008 and he still likes it. It is the perfect job for him and he is a local celebrity with the 4 and 5 year olds. He has also been doing some exploring in the past few years of the local rivers with our canoe and likes to take the kids to the ridge south of Raymond where they always come home with news of wildlife sightings. His aunt has given us permission to use her condo in Fernie, BC and we stayed there for the first time last summer. I think it will become an annual event as we love being in the okanagan during the summer holidays. His current church calling is cub leader, which also suits him quite well as he gets to take the boys exploring.
Elisabeth (me): quit working as a library assistant at the Raymond Public Library when I got my calling as Relief Society second counselor. I had to take something out of my life and after some internal struggling, I figured out that that was the only thing I could take out. I am glad I was ready to quit because although I loved it, I don't even feel like I miss it! To satisfy my need for intellectual stimulation (and to secure an education too of course), I have been working towards a Library and Information Technician Diploma from Mohawk College, a technical college based in Ontario. I take all my courses online, and only one or two per semester. I occasionally have to take final exams through the college in Lethbridge. I am about one third of my way through. I started in January 2009 and have been loving it. Right now I am taking two courses and will be taking a break for at least one semester when the baby is born. I am enjoying being a mom, wife and homemaker and have really grown to love this little town that we live in.
Liam: has his first job! He has a paper route that he has two days to complete every week for $34 per week. He started it about one month ago. It has been very good for him and he has started recruiting his friends to help him, even though he has to share his pay with them. They have fun and usually stop at the gas station for a hot chocolate along the way. I'm sure that will change to a slurpee during the warmer months. He was taking piano for the last two years but lost interest in it so we let him quit. He has already done two years and has the basics and we don't want him to resent that piano. He still likes playing with Lego although a lot of his attention has turned to hanging out with friends and video games of course. He will be 12 years old next week, so he will soon be ordained a deacon, and will be passing the sacrament at church and be able to go to the temple to do baptisms. I am excited for Rus and I to go to the temple with him.
Ila: is now in grade two and is an amazing reader. She can devour two Geronimo Stilton books in one evening. She was enrolled in gymnastics in Lethbridge last fall and will be again in the spring. We wanted to take a break during the winter months because of the driving. She was a natural at it. The instructor had asked her if she would like to try something more advanced next time she comes. She is also in Brownies, Skating lessons, and Choir (through the school) and now that she is 8, she also participates in activity days.
Mei: is quite the missionary. She is always asking to invite one of her friends to activity days or to church and she just gave her friend one of her own copies of the Book of Mormon. Like Ila, she is also in skating lessons, choir, brownies and activity days. In addition, she has been taking tap lessons since September which she loves.
Ila and Mei were both baptized and confirmed last fall by Rus. It was a wonderful day with family and lots of good friends. We had snacks at the church and then we just didn't want to end the day so we invited everyone over to our house after.
Freya: is already three and a half. She is a good worker and loves to cuddle. Her and Ila and Mei almost always end up in our bed by the end of the night! She loves to play her guitar (which is really a ukele) and sing songs, especially Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Happy Birthday. Her and I go to a parent preschool class every Monday morning and we try to have playdates as often as we can with her best friends Raelynn and Donovan. We do respite babysitting for Donovan's younger brother Dillon and Donovan comes along too. We all love to have them here.
It has been a beautiful winter so far with only a few days of cold weather with below zero temperatures. I am enjoying it but am also wondering how such warm winter weather effects the ecosystem? We have not gone on a getaway trip during the winter for a few years now though, so it is nice to have good weather.
