Wednesday, March Break, Lunenburg, NS

Dave and I are keeping everything in balance. Believe it or not, this is our first time in almost eight years of marriage that we have played together on a teeter-totter. (Sorry, can't seem to get rid of this big gap.)

This, too, is a first.

Sr. Ilaria (Aunt Martha) and her niece and nephews going round and round.

And, this, is a second.

Benjamin and his 'godparents'. The other half of his godparents is a wonderful priest in Ottawa; but Benjamin prefers to refer to the singular in the plural. He enjoyed having his aunt/godmother all to himself in the backseat. I regret that I didn't record this; it was great fun. Dueling Jingle Bells - Jacob's only tune so far. The good sister had a pretty mean version.

Puppy Dog Tails

Thank God for my sister, Rebecca, who put in her vote for a little boy; otherwise this newest gaffer would be feeling a little blue.
My mother's instinct was hoping for the novelty of a girl but strongly telling me that we seem fated to the X/Y chromosomal combination. Perhaps there is good reason that Dave is heir to a 200 acre farm.
I have to admit that I felt a little disappointment when the baby's obvious gender was revealed; but I think it was a disappointment at the loss of the novelty that a little girl would have provided. I also wondered how little Hannah would receive the news.
Jacob and Hannah came running off the bus at 3:15 and their first words after they had created the requisite mess at the front door were, "What's the baby?"
I replied, "Well, it's not an alligator," at which point Hannah dissolved into tears and sputtered, "But we need another girl." The tears continued for the good portion of the next hour. I have to admit that as the crying stretched onward I couldn't help but think that another boy might be a good thing!
The great news is that, after I returned from my pre-dinner walk, Hannah had rallied enough to run out of the house and exclaim, "I don't care anymore that the baby isn't a boy; I just can't wait to meet him." Whew.
The other boys were very boyish in their reaction to the news: "Oh."
Benjamin managed a bit more of a reaction: "You mean we're having a baby kid and a baby boy?" He is still a little confused.
Jacob tried to muster up some tears in order to sympathise with his twin but his newest Hardy Boy book was calling and he retreated to the living room chair book in hand.
Joseph is still a little unsure about the baby in Mommy's tummy and refuses to believe that he is soon to be unseated from the baby-of-the-family throne.
Dave said, "You'll be well looked after in your old age, Elena," and smiled a little more broadly.
I tucked away the pink sleepers a little more deeply and watched as my beautiful out-of-utero boys ate lunch and joked with each other.
As yesterday was the day after the Annunciation, I couldn't help but think that Our Lady only ever had one child, and He was a Son.
I am thankful.

A Wee Poll

I have my 18-week ultrasound today at 10:45am. That means that we have the chance to find out the sex of this newest family member. So far, Hannah is rooting for a girl and Ben has come out in defense of his own sex. Jacob flip flops back and forth and Joseph votes with whichever sibling feeds him an answer first. Hannah has her heart so firmly set on a girl that I had a little chat with her this morning about not being disapppointed if the baby is a boy. Together, mostly under her direction, we decided that we would be most upset if the baby is an alligator; and that, if it should reveal itself to belong to that animal group, I will not tell Hannah the news. Thus, she will be happy simply to find out that the baby is a human. Complicated, yes.
Anyway, the point of this post is to poll my readers. What do you think we're having: boy or girl? Leave your answer in the comments and I will reveal the answer tomorrow.

Ben and His Theological Musings

For those of you who appreciated Ben's desire for a cow on his head, I thought I would write down this conversation before it slipped my mind.
We were driving to the grocery store this morning after a brief sighting of one of Ben's favourite babysitters, Anne-Marie. He asked me the following:
"Why is Anne-Marie so happy?"
I quickly responded and, yes, my answer was pat, "Because God loves her."
"So God and Jesus love her." I didn't think it wise to get into the mystery of the Trinity at this point so I just left him at that. But, he kept going.
"Why does God love her?"
"He loves us all because He made us."
"So, God likes me?"
"Yes, Ben, He does." I was beginning to feel a little chuffed at Ben's interest in the things of God.
"I don't like that God likes me."
"What?!!"
And then in a classic Ben voice (void of all enthusiasm) he let out a great sigh and said, "I wish I had a giraffe."
And that, dear reader, is where we left it.

Last Tuesday Evening in Halifax

Who can guess where we spent a beautiful Halifax evening?

Last Tuesday at Peggy's Cove, NS: Picture Heavy

Update

I think that I neglected to mention that we are away for March Break. Thus, the long pause between posts. We are visiting my family out east and have left our country home in the care of friendly housesitters and a very unfriendly dog.
We left on Friday night and drove 18 hours through night. Ack, yes, it's true. But it really is most sane to drive such a distance when one's children are in a state of unconsciousness. Amazingly, Dave did not do all the driving; I actually managed the 9-11:30pm shift as well as three hours the next morning. I do realise that those hours still leave my darling husband with most of the time behind the wheel but gestating one's fifth child is reason enough to take the passenger seat. The littles slept the whole night through but woke up on cue at each gas stop to exchange moans, complaints and "When are we there"s. Joseph, the intrepid, woke at the 9pm gas stop as if he knew that it was my turn to take the wheel. Perhaps he doesn't trust his mother's driving as he stayed awake and very alert until the moment his father took over 2.5 hours later. Interesting late night conversation. Hannah claimed the next morning to have had a few naps during the night but, "I stayed awake most of the time." Oh.
The most eventful moment of the trip came when we arrived in Perth-Andover, NB looking for gas at 4am Ontario time. Turns out that the potato capital of the world (McCain's owns the place) does not specialise in the dispensing of gas until after 6am.
6am on a weekday.
8am on a weekend.
You might have deduced that our stop was in the wee hours of a Saturday morning.
I found out this vital information at the local Tim Horton's while Dave waited anxiously in the van staring quizzically at the gas gauge while muttering, "Fumes...".
"Hmmm," I thought, "How to tell Dave that we must wait for three hours in McCain-ville?" I began to hope that Potato World, the local museum, might have special early-bird hours. But then the young woman at the cash had a sudden flash of insight when she remembered that the local bakery with its one ancient gas pump (hidden in the backyard) opened at six on Saturdays. "Glen's!" she pronounced, "He's open!"
Thank God for Glen.
We made it to his door at 5:05am where we parked and slept for an hour while we waited for the early-morning proprietor to open his doors. At 6am I met our saviour and thanked him for being a lover of the dawn. He replied in bright and early style, "Hope your day is better than your morning!" I think Jim Carrey will play him in the upcoming movie.
And that's all you get for now. In the coming days I will gather enough energy to write of our surprise visit with Brother Pio and Brother Grant (to which Joseph insisted on wearing Hannah's new pink shiny pajama pants emblazoned with little kitties). And a very poopy bum. But, you can wait for that one.

Like a balm to the soul

Spring, that is. I might be jumping the gun in calling a change to the seasons; but the last few days (and the coming week) have ushered in temperatures several degrees above zero accompanied by brilliantly blue skies. Although report cards were calling for Dave's pedagogical attention, he still relented (twist his arm) and spent the day with all of us at the farm. We trekked up the mountain partially on foot but mostly on a very bumpy wagon ride. I kept thinking that if I were any closer to my due date the wagon ride surely would have hastened the baby's arrival.

We saw many deer on our ride but my camera chose to rebel at the exact moment when three deer presented themselves for a photo shoot. The minute the deer left the camera began to work again. And, I'm not joking; the camera literally jammed until the deer disappeared. Some things are not meant to be captured.

Unlike my children; they enjoy the spotlight.

Sometimes even Hannah commits a fashion faux-pas.

Benjamin was in the midst of trying to explain something about deer, forests and maple syrup.

Jacob, ever the explorer.

Joseph, always looking a little impish.

Three generations: Dave with his mother and our children. Dave, ever the gentleman, forsook his jacket so that his mother could sit on it and keep her bottom dry. Along the same chivalric lines, we stopped in the town before the farm to buy some steaks for supper. Dave thought I was sleeping and took the opportunity to slip into the flower shop to buy bouquets for me and for his mother. The kids immediately knew what he was up to and proved their worth as genuine obfuscators:

"Oh! Look, Dad is going into the grocery store and only the grocery store."

"He's definitely not going into the flower shop."

"Good thing Mom's sleeping so that she can't see the 'steaks' he's carrying."

Dave really needs to consider his twins when he plans such surprises.
Ever jovial, Grandpa Mike.

Yes, a John Deere hat. It's Dave's and it says "Owner's Edition" on the side. He bid for it on EBay.

Benjamin in his element.

There were three in the bed...

And sometimes, when I head to bed at night, I find this.