Live from Arizona

On Christmas night we all went to the Mesa temple to enjoy the thousands of lights set up on all the palm trees and bushes. The pictures never quite do it justice, but it really was a fantastic night.

Here's a picture of us on Christmas morning with my step-sister Tiff and her fiance Fred. It was our first time meeting Fred and he was great; we're very glad he'll soon become part of our family.

Updates

The big news is that last week we received a letter from the National Visa Center informing us that Sarah is invited to an interview for her immigrant visa!! It will be on Friday January 11th at 8am at the US Consulate in Montreal, Quebec. I'm dissapointed I won't be able to go up with her (it would cost way too much) and that she'll miss my step sister Tiffany's wedding the following week, but the timing of this interview is really pretty incredible. Any earlier and we would have had to cancel part or all of our Christmas plans. Any later and it would have been getting real close to the baby's due date. It would have stunk to have reschedule an interview after having waited so long. When I get back home to NC I'll post a timeline of the immigration ordeal we've been through, but to make a long story short, acquiring this visa has been the most dominant aspect of our lives since before we were engaged in May 2006. We've essentially been waiting for this letter with an interview date since before we were married in August 06, 17 months ago!

After the interview and final processing is done, this visa will allow Sarah to do everything a citizen can do, ie go to school, work, pay taxes, etc. The only difference is she won't be able to vote. Best of all, it will be a huge relief to know that her status is permanent and to have no more stress or question marks about that part of our future.

"The man who looks like David"

I was just going through some papers and came by a newspaper Rebecca saved for me. Guillaume ( 41/2) pointed out the Canadian prime minister as "the man who looks like David" to her. Political opinions aside...I really never thought that he and David looked alike...but they both have blue eyes and comb their hair to the side. I got that a lot while we were dating and engaged- and didnt' like it. We even had a waiter take pictures with us in a restaurant because he was so stunned by the ressemblance!

If Guillaume can point it out...then I guess the truth comes from the mouth of babes...The irony is that now that we live in the US, nobody even knows who Harper is!

J'ai retrouvé aujourd'hui une coupure de journal que Rebecca m'a donnée. Guillaume lui a montré la photo et lui a dit que c'était "l'homme qui ressemble à David". C'est le genre de remarque qui m'embêtait vraiment lorsqu'on étaient au Canada...mais ici, personne ne le connait!

Je suppose que la vérité sort de la bouche des enfants...

"The Name Debate"

Many have asked what names we're considering for our baby girl, and while we have a few favorites, we're going to be a little tight lipped to let them sink in and see how they feel over time. We do think it would be great to share some of the funniest rejects. We were given a book of baby names the other day and last night went through and read every single girls name. Many were straightforward, beautiful names, like Sarah, Melissa, Rebecca, Emily, etc, but there were some, well, more unique names. My favorite least favorite name: Jersey. Just think of the teasing our poor daughter "Jersey Jones" would endure. As a New Yorker, even I would have a time not making fun of the name.

C'est une fille! It's a girl!

Nous avons eu notre echographie aujourd'hui et nous sommes fiers d'annoncer que nous attendons une petite fille! Elle est magnifique et très active...Je pense que notre moment préféré à tous les 2 est quand on essayait de mesurer sa tête et elle a secoué sa tête comme pour dire "non" et a recouvert sa tête avec ses mains!

It's really quite the experience to meet your baby for the first time. I've been feeling the baby move for a few weeks now but it's very different for David. He was the 1st one to recognize that she is a girl... It might not be obvious from this snapshot, but it became clear as she moved around and we saw her from many different angles. The picture below is as if she's sitting on the screen, with her legs sticking out to the right.

She was very active and moved around a few times during the ultrasound- making it a little hard to get all her measurements! It looks like she is an extra big baby...or we might be further along than we had guessed!

This is the 3D view of her--- alors, à qui est-ce qu'elle ressemble le plus?

You can see more pictures on David's Blog

Le petit prince

I think David was trying to give me reasons to want to come back to North Carolina when he purchased the tickets...Merci de m'avoir emmené voir cette pièce de théatre, mon chéri! We went to a beautiful play based on the book by Antoine de Saint Exupéry...I laughed and cried...and definitely missed ma belle France and my childhood...the set was incredible, the music enchanting and the costumes very clever- and the little prince? just like the drawings in the book.

"Good-bye" said the fox. "Here is my secret. It's quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."

le foot à UNC

David m'a emmenée voir l'équipe de foot féminine de UNC...elles ont gagné ce match!

David est devenu un fan de foot depuis que nous sommes ensembles- dans le but de se rapprocher de ma famille...c'est juste dommage que c'est pas vraiment leur truc!

notre bébé!

C'est vrai! Nous allons vraiment avoir un bébé! Nous avons entendu son petit coeur battre la chamade ...entre 150 et 160/minute!

UNC vs. Lenoir-Rhyne

Les sports universitaires à l'Université de la Caroline du Nord- c'est presque la NBA! Michael Jordan a été recruté ici.... and they have been ranked #1 in the country--well, up until now- let's see how the rest of the season plays out!

Au Revoir!

Rebecca and the kids took me to the airport...it was an emotional goodbye-especially when I realized that I had to check myself in at the same time as my luggage.

Une fois que je passe la frontière avecmon fameux visa, je ne peux plus ressortir! Inutile de dire que c'était un au revoir assez difficile! Vous allez tous tellement me manquer...j'attend vos visites avec impatience!

Last night in Gatineau

I asked the kids what they wanted me to tell David...I miss them already!

Promenade au Lac Pink

C'est juste le nom du lac autour duquel David et moi allions souvent nous promener lorsque nous habitions à Gatineau.

As you might guess, we didn't make it around the whole lake...but it was a beautiful walk!

Halloween!

Après avoir défilé en costumes à leur groupe de jeu ce matin, les enfants se sont de nouveau déguisés pour fêter l'Halloween avec Max (Lebeau) et sa famille.

Le principe est simple : on se déguise, puis on va de porte en porte dans son voisinage et on crie : " C'est l'Halloween, on veut des bonbons!" et on récolte des friandises...C'étati mignon avec les petits!

Of course! Guillaume was Woody from Disney's "Toy story" He was very proud to be a cowboy like his uncle Benjamin!

Estelle felt quite at home as a princess...and always loves the attention of the camera!

Visa K3 pour les Etats-Unis

Cela fait maintenant plus d'un an que nous attendons pour une "carte verte" pour pouvoir résider aux Etats-Unis, et un peu plus de 7 mois que nous avons appliqué pour un visa K3 qui me permettrai de rester indéfiniement...en attendant mon statut de résidente permanente. Certains pensent que c'est facile de venir ici parce que j'ai épousé un américain- et c'est vrai que c'est beaucoup plus rapide... mais quand même!

Lorsque nous avons déménagé ici pour que David poursuive ses études, je suis rentrée en tant que touriste...et donc ne peux rester plus de 3 mois à la fois! Etant donné que je suis maintenant enceinte...cela complique un peu les choses- puisque je ne tiens pas à traverser la frontière avec une grosse bedaine!

Après avoir reçu la date pour mon entretien avec juste 2 jours d'avance, je suis rentrée au Canada, ai passé mon entrevue et ai commencé mon attente. C'est un peu stressant de donner son passeport à une lourde administration sans avoir de date ferme à laquelle ils vont me le rendre!

Heureusement, le passeport est arrivé aujourd'hui et j'ai un visa dedans! J'ai hate de revoir David! C'est pas que je n'aime pas passer du temps en famille...c'est que j'ai aussi maintenant la mienne en route!

I got the visa!

well, not much to say about the interview itself. It was a 4.5 hour process at the end of which they took my Canadian passport away from me and told me it would be a couple of days processing before it was mailed back to me at my Canadian address...Sounds pretty routine, but after spending 1 whole week in Montreal with Emilie and Sergio and then another whole week with Rebecca and her family...I started wondering if they were really going to be sending it back.

The hardest part was not knowing! I tried calling the consulate but they were not very cooperative or helpful with me because they always started out by asking if I am an American citizen...and I am not! It was nice to visit with family, but so hard being away from David- and honestly no really having a purpose makes it harder. Don't get me wrong, I love being with my family...My belly has started showing - I am still nauseous enough to throw up a couple times a day...Anyways, I guess God knows the limits to my patience...and my faith. I had given myself today as the deadline I would have for myself to change my ticket to go back to North Carolina, and the visa came in the mail this morning!

I am so relieved and grateful for it! This means that I can stay in the USA indefinitely - though I still cannot work nor study...

Encore

Juste quelques autres photos...
Guillaume préfère prendre les photos que de poser...et quand s'est mon tour d'être prise, Estelle est toujours la première à suggérer que je prenne son bébé- accessoir indispensable!

Friday night date...eating pizza and watchin "Around the world in 80 days"

ON voit tout plein de choses pendant nos promenades- mêmes des gros tracteurs!

Guillaume s'endort toujours le premier et Estelle le rejoint...elle m'a dit qu'il y a des monstres dans son armoire et qu'elle n'aime pas dormir dans son lit juste à côté

Potty training Estelle is really fun! She spends a lot of time helping her babies with it too- so far none have been flushed away by mistake!
Estelle va maintenant aux toilettes...des fois plus qu'elle n'en a vraiment besoin!

Sébastien Couture

Il est beau mon neveu, non? As fun as it was to be around a brnad new ( 7 weeks) baby... Seeing how tired Rebecca was in the mornings was a reality check for me: I am going to be a mom soon!

Ils est très aimé de son frère et de sa soeur...Estelle porte toujours un de ses bébés avec elle depuis que Sébastien est arrivé...

Ce sera mon tour d'être maman bientôt... c'est difficile pour moi de le réaliser parfois!

La famille Couture

After a week in Montréal, I went "home" to my official address in Canada - I moved into the Couture's spare bedroom and got to spend time with them!

Quelle chance de pouvoir passer du temps avec Estelle et Guillaume! Comme les photos le montrent, on voit bien leurs personnalités : Estelle est casse-cou et Guillaume plus réservé- mais ils s'adorent et aiment beaucoup jouer ensemble!
I felt so lucky to be there at such a fun time...We took walks nearly everyday in the neighborhood to look at Halloween decorations and play at the park...

Guillaume really enjoys walking and is quite the trooper. Estelle is more the princess and likes to be taken care of and pushed around in the stroller...It's sometimes hard not being the baby any more!

A la promenade quotidienne dans le quartier "Cote d'Azur" ou Rebecca et Yohann habitent...les couleurs de l'automne et les décorations d'Halloween dans les jardins valent le détour!

Montréal

C'est une ville tellement belle et agréable en automne! I know that David and I have been blessed with great friends ...and coming back to Montréal just confirmed that!

Amy Appleton-Venu in her little "Café maman". If you ever get a chance, you should check it out! I am sad i won't be in Montréal with our baby to take some salsa classes!

Merci Annie d'avoir pris du temps avec moi! Tu es tellement belle! Annie is getting married in May-- just when I have my baby, so I won't be able to be there :(

Chez Emilie

Bon, ok, je devrai dire "chez Emilie et Sergio"...mais comme Sergio n'était là que pendant le week-end - j'avais un peu le sentiment surréaliste que j'étais chez moi à Montréal (comme au bon vieux temps!) et que je vivais toujours avec Emilie!

Thank you so much for having me and taking such good care of me! Apart from my pregnancy sickness, it really seemed like I never left and I sometimes even wondered if this last year and a half with David were really real...

I got to see Emilie's job as a receptionnist,


Her everyday life- thank you again for cooking!

and even took her out for a piece of birthday cake!