Its been a busy summer and fall and its hard to believe it is already spring. I finished my summer classes in august and then we hosted a number of people through August and September. The fall saw Andrew taking classes while I watched the kids and he also made 2 trips back to Canada to get his canadian citizenship. We are thankful he got it and that is all done now.
We also discovered that we would be welcoming another child into the family this June! The kids are excited and our 3 year old asks almost daily if the baby is ready to come yet. (we are not finding out the gender). He is excited to play with the baby and thinks he should feed it yogurt and cheerios when it is born.
In January we hired a local lady to watch our kids so Andrew and I could take language classes together. We have always had to trade off time-one of us in class and one at home with the kids- we wanted to really get the most out of our time, especially considering that it will be harder to take classes once the baby is born. So since we are in the same level, we signed up to take the next class together that ran from January until the end of February (7 weeks). We also decided to put our 3 year old boy into preschool. We wanted him to be able to make some local friends as well as learn the language so that when he starts kindergarten he will have more of an idea of what is going on and it will not be such a shock. He is really enjoying going there so far...he goes 3 days a week and he really likes his teacher. A (our almost 2 year old) stays home with our nanny. She is picking up the language very quickly as there is no english spoken. Our nanny does not speak any english so A is learning lots. Its funny to hear the kids talking to each other in the local language once in awhile.
In the meantime, Andrew and I have finished our class and will now be working with private tutors during the week. I will be meeting with my new tutor 2 times a week and she is quite intense and gives lots of homework. I hope to continue with her until the baby is born and then will re-evaluate after that. Andrew is going to meet 4 times a week with his helper and might take another course in april that finishes just before our baby is due.
Right now we have our nanny coming 3 mornings a week while we are in lessons and the other mornings I am home while Andrew meets with his helper or studies.
The afternoons are a bit more relaxed which is nice. We spend time with the kids or run errands, do homework etc. We are settling into routine again now that formal classes are done.
This summer will be low key with the baby we will be laying low and doing lots of visa paperwork for the baby and looking forward to having family come in the fall where we plan on visiting a few places around the country. Then we will probably travel in the fall quite a bit as we try to get an idea of where we will spend the next few years and what we want to do. I have some ideas of what I want to do here but not sure how it will all work out yet. Lots to think about and ponder. In the meantime, I am enjoying the slower pace of working with my tutor and being a mom to my 2 energetic kids, while getting ready for the baby (who will be born here in this city). Thats life for us right now. Learning to live in this culture is not always easy and I often long for the familiarity of home. its been over a year since I have been home and likely will be at least another year before we have plans to visit home again. I especially miss the ease and convenience of having a car...i hate taking the bus when pregnant and having to walk all over the place and up and down tons of stairs...its keeping me in good shape but its tiring as well...not sure how it will be in a few more months when I am even more uncomfortable. We keep going forwards though and I am ready and excited to meet this new little one who already has a place in our little family. Looking forwrd to once again having a newborn in the house (i know that seems crazy-but it feels easier than the 2 kids who get into everything-having a baby that is not mobile will be fun!)
