Rumour has it

Just before Owen turned 1 and had started walking, Josh decided that he was no longer a baby and therefore, it was time to have another baby.  This was the conversation: 'mommy, since Owen isn't a baby anymore, we should have another baby.  I want a baby sister and I need another player for my basketball team.  Oh, and when she's not a baby anymore, we can have another one and then another one'. So, is this how the family on TLC has 19 kids?  My response was 'I agree, we should have another baby but you will have to talk to daddy!'. 
What I thought would be over with that one conversation, has been an obsession ever since.  Atleast once a week, Josh asks me when is he going to have a baby sister. The other week, he asked me when I was going to grow a baby in my tummy.  I told him not for a while and he said 'oh, so by Christmas, will I have a baby sister?'.  Mmm, maybe next Christmas?  He actually wants lots of baby sisters and told me that he would help me take care of them and showed me how he was going to rearrange the furniture in the living room to fit all of their cribs.  He is also going to teach Owen how to change diapers so that he can help.  Wait a minute, if Josh knows how to change diapers, I should be getting him to change Owen's.
The other week when at a completely random time, he told me he wanted a baby sister, I asked him that if we do decide to have another baby, what if it isn't a girl?  His response was 'no, it has to be a girl because I want a baby sister. I want lots and lots of baby sisters'.  Oh yeah, and last week, he told Mike that he is going to name her Sophia.
So, it seems like a very cute story but here is where the trouble lies.  Since Josh thinks that one day he is going to have a baby sister, he has started telling people that 'I am going to have a baby sister'.  A few weeks ago, his teacher told me that Josh told her that he is having a baby sister.  No, I am not pregnant.  Last week when skyping with Grandma, he told her that he is going to have a baby sister.  No, I am not pregnant.
So, if people start asking me when I am due, I'll try not to be offended.  I will just assume that my 3 year old told them that he is going to have a baby sister.

Missing Home

Maybe it's because I've started listening to Christmas music and it makes me think about not being able to go Christmas shopping with my mom (or mom-in-law) this year or getting to sit at my piano to play Christmas carols while Mike and Josh sing along.  Maybe it's because we had my brother visit and it makes me realize how much I miss everyone.  Maybe it's the fear of the unbearably cold winter that this wimpy westcoast girl is scared of!  Maybe it's that whenever I tell someone that I just moved from Vancouver, their response is always 'but why, Vancouver is so beautiful'.  Whatever it is, I miss home!
I must admit that I am enjoying living in Toronto more than I thought I would.  To be honest, I thought I would be crying everyday but surprisingly, there have been no tears (yet).  The other week, before we came inside, Josh stomped his feet and said 'I don't like living in Toronto, I want to go back to my house at Burnaby Lake'.  My heart broke a little bit for him and I wanted to say, 'sometimes I feel like stomping my feet and saying the same thing'. 
Ten years ago, when Mike and I started this journey, we would have never guessed that we would have packed up our family and moved across the country to live in a little highrise in downtown Toronto!  And even though I am missing home, I have never felt more sure that this is where God wants us to call home for the time being (however long that time may be).  Maybe we will have to take a break from some of the traditions we have come to cherish, but in the meantime, we can start new ones like getting to build a snowman in the winter, iceskating on an outdoor rink and taking the train to Montreal or driving to Florida for spring break (hey, I can dream)! 
And while we begin new traditions, we can always cherish the memories with family and friends that we have been so lucky to have and reminisce about all the great fun we had in the summer before starting this new chapter in the book called 'Our Life'!

Our first overnight guest!

We were lucky enough to have my brother, Dan stay with us this past weekend.  Although he tacked his visit on to his business trip, it still counted for us as a special trip!
Josh woke up at 6am on Saturday morning because he was so excited that Uncle Dan was coming!  He had been counting down the days until his arrival.
We had a wonderful time.  The boys loved getting to play with their uncle, Mike enjoyed getting out to see a 'guy' movie and Mike and I had fun checking out the Distillery district, all by ourselves!

Thanks for coming and making our weekend special, Dan!

(cuddles with my uncle!)

(I think adults enjoy colouring just as much, or maybe even more than kids do)

(da boyz)

Mike and I had the luxury of going on a date while Uncle Dan babysat.  We checked out the Distillery District.  It's a historic little area with neat restaurants, cool (overpriced) shops and funky galleries.  The architecture inside the stores is pretty magnificient because it has the bones of the original buildings.

(This is taken from the second level of a coffee shop - the coolest coffee shop I have ever been in!)

(Mom, this one's for you - this pic. is made completely out of spools of thread)

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here are a few pics of our Junior Firefighter Josh and his firedog (dalmation) Owen.