Happy Birthday Sophia Elisabeth!

Sophia Elisabeth Page


Born: 2.16.2006
Time: 7:35am
Weight: 7lbs 5oz
Height: 21inches

My sweet Sophia was born three years ago last Monday. It is so hard to believe that she is three. In the same way that Emily's first year has flown, so has Sophia's three. Her birth was much more eventful than Joshua and Emily's. According to my OB, she was due February 17th but according to my calculations she was due February 16th. I had an appointment on the 15th and my OB set up an induction for the 19th. She had other plans. Around 5am, on the morning of the 16th, I was awoken by cramping which, as it turns out, were contractions. I got up and took a shower just to make sure it was the "real thing" before I awoke Freddie. Since I was induced with Joshua, and quickly got an epidural, I really didn't know what true spontaneous labor felt like. You are warned that it can take hours for labor to truly commence so don't rush to the hospital because you will probably end up being sent home. And, not wanting to be an alarmist, even though after about 25 minutes I had to stop and breathe through what I thought may or may not be a contraction, I was still waiting to see if this was the "real thing". Deciding that maybe it was since they were getting more intense, around 5:30am I decided to wake up Freddie, pack our bag, and call Aunt Sandy to drive up to hang out with Joshua. The drive from her home to ours was about 30 minutes. So, about 45 minutes later, as I am desperately trying to focus and breathe through contractions coming about every 10-15 minutes, I hear her precious knock on the door. We rush outside to jump into my brother-in-law's truck that we were borrowing as I pray my water does not break on the way to the hospital. How awkward would that be? The 10 minute drive seemed like an eternity and I wanted to scream at every bump in the road (maybe I did?) - and there seemed to be many more than on a typical day to my OB appointment. We park right by the automatic doors and rush into the L&D department. They quickly get me all hooked up to monitors and around 7am the nurse begrudgingly checks me, not believing that I could have progressed that much in two hours despite me writhing in pain. Her astonished look told me differently and she announced that I was already 8cm dilated. Everyone starts moving much more quickly. They page my OB who is in his scrubs and in my room in about 20 minutes and, despite what that mean nurse told me, allows me to have an epidural at 9.5cm dilated. I was in so much pain and so scared of what pushing without an epidural would look like... I was so thankful for him in that moment and pleased as punch that the mean nurse was overruled. How kind was that? Really, in labor you become someone different. The anesthesiologist magically appears in the room with his seemingly 12inch needle - which I have never been so happy to see - and about 10 minutes after the epidural is inserted Sophia Elisabeth Page made her grand appearance into our world around 7:35am. Phew. That exhausted me just writing and reliving it.

She entered the world at record speed and hasn't stopped moving since. She is such a lovely child - drama queen at times and a cuddle bug at others. She is quite the girly girl who loves to play with dolls and purses and, recently, Polly Pockets... but she also enjoys being Spider Girl with Spidey Josh. She has the most adorable facial expressions and mannerisms and, despite only being three, she sometimes acts like she is going on 30. She has recently turned into a three year old version of a neat freak... much to my pleasure (and quite the opposite of her brother). She loves clothes, sleeping, bugs and all animals, school and her baby sister who she helps me take care of often. Thank you Jesus for Sophia and all of our children.. such blessings!

Sophia and Joshua preparing to help me bake her birthday cake.

Sophia and her second "Uncle Matthew" and her first mini-crush.

Princess Sophia preparing to blow out her candles.


Sophia making a wish.


Present Time!



Loving on "Aunt Kim"

Happy (belated) Birthday Emily Claire!

Emily Claire Page

Born: 12.31.2007
Time: 11:22am
Weight: 7lbs 3oz
Height: 18inches

We celebrated my Emily's 1st birthday in December, days before we departed to France. It is so hard to believe that she is already one. Time goes by so much faster with each additional child. She is a delightful little girl who smiles and giggles often and has expanded her vocabulary from "uh oh" to "mama" and "ball" (which sounds more like "ba"... but it counts!). She has been walking since she was 11 months old. It is so fun to see her walk because she is so petite and has the shortest little legs (wonder where she got those from?). Unless she isn't feeling well, she is rather easy going and enjoys playing by herself and with her brother and sister. She sleeps through the night - although that was a slow time coming (as it was for all of my children) - and is a great napper. She has been quite the trooper since we have been living in France as she may spend more time in her stroller than her crib with all of the walking around town we do. However, she is perfectly content 99% of the time and just sits back and enjoys the sights and sounds of Clermont. I thank God often for blessing our family with her. I look forward to getting to know her better as her personality blossoms over the next year.

Emily's birth story is rather uneventful as she was induced and I was blessed with incredibly easy deliveries. The week after Christmas I had one of the weekly appointments you have during the last month of your pregnancy and my doctor asked if we wanted to induce on December 31st and, being that I had such a successful induction with Joshua, I gladly took them up on that offer. We made plans for my mother to be present for the birth which was such a gift to both of us. It was very special. We made arrangements for Joshua and Sophia to hang out with Aunt Sandy and Freddie, Mom and I arrived at the hospital around 6:30am. After getting checked in and changed the pitocin was dripping around 8am. I think I got the epidural around 9am and then starting pushing around 11am and she was born at 11:22am. I vividly remember them placing her on my belly and she looked right at me with her big blue eyes as she screamed from the shock of being taken from the cozy and warm womb to the bright lights and chill of the real world. The nurses bathed her and warmed her up and then we were finally able to hold our Emily Claire. Joshua and Sophia came up shortly afterwards and seemed very excited to welcome their new baby sister to our family and have been smitten with her ever since. Here is a little trip down the memory lane of Emily's first year of life...

The eve of Emily's birthday.

Waiting for the induction.

Peek-a-boo!

Few minutes old on the warming table.

Nice and clean and snuggly.

In Daddy's arms.

Meeting Josh and Sophia.

Emily and Sophia

Josh and Emily - month or so old.

Emily starting to sit up.

Emily trying cereal for the first time.. not really a fan.

Emily's first trip to the beach.

Emily enjoying Fall's Park in Greenville on a warm August day.

Emily cruising around the playground last fall.

Emily and Daddy on the cold day last fall at the apple farm.

Silly Emily and Bailey this past Christmas.

Emily this past week in Place de Jaude, Clermont-Ferrand, France - 1 year old.

A few observations since perusing through my pictures and posting...

*Her first year really did go by quickly.. It seems like all of that happened just yesterday and years ago all at the same time. Makes me sad that they all grow up so quickly.

*Sophia has changed tremendously in the past year! She looks like a different child than she did just one year ago.

*I miss Greenville so much it causes an ache in my chest. I guess those are pangs of homesickness. Sigh.

*Emily is such a joy.. so fun to play with and so happy! Love her!

... and a New Car!

This photo was taken after my first bulk grocery shopping excursion when we moved into our new apartment. I was determined to not have to go shopping every day or to have no groceries on Sunday. The store is Geant Casino (Giant Casino). It is one of Clermont's versions of Walmart minus the 24/7 hours.

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Forgot the pictures of our new car in the previous post! My awesome husband deserves super french speaking kudos even though he did take a co-worker with him to research and purchase our new car. I can't even fathom doing what he did considering I get all sweaty and flustered buying eggs and a baguette.

We debated between a monospace which is Europe's version of the mini-van and the break which is what the French call a station wagon. The monospaces have three rows of seats but not nearly as much unused space as my old Honda Odyssey... nor a DVD player which was the first thing Joshua asked about. One thing I have learned in the month we have lived here - you really don't need that much space... not in your house and not in your car. I wouldn't go as far as to say "less is more" but I definitely now feel less is definitely liveable where I would have said two months ago "I can't live like this.. I need more space!".

So, I tortured my husband in the US making him drive the totally uncool Odyssey. Uncool according to him.. I loved it! Given the opportunity to purchase a new car, out of necessity due to needing to fit three car seats we went with the, in his eyes, almost equally uncool station wagon.. although, I must say, I think we are totally styling and profiling (what does that really mean anyways?) in our Volkswagon Passat station wagon. He says that is only from a Mom's perspective. You decide... is this too cool or what?? It drives like a sports car. Maybe I feel that way because I used to drive a bus. Either way, I can't wait to go on a road trip!

I just had to take a picture of the cool European license plate. :)

Some France Adventures and a New Car

SNOW! The first "real" snowfall my children have experienced. They thought it was "trop cool".

Joshua giving a sly look right before he decks Sophia with a snow ball.

The street sign "Rue Pierre Bessett" from our first apartment.

The view from our balcony looking towards Chamaliere where our good friends Kim and Matthew live. We traveled up that road many times to visit them and go to the playground.

The same view a little to the left. The road to the far left will take you to our new apartment.

The view from the kitchen window in our old apartment. The "hill" is Parc Monjuzet and the big white building in the foreground is the Intermarche grocery store that we frequented quite often.

This is going to be a hodge podge post covering the last month of our adventures in France. I should have been blogging using a word processor during that time to truly catch the emotion and experience but, alas, I did not. Frankly, it is probably a good thing, because I may not have had such glowing reviews of our new home at the time. I will start off by saying I am sure - SURE - that at the end of our experience and life here I will be very thankful for the opportunity. And, there have already been some very positive aspects to our experience, thus far. But, the overarching theme for this past month has been "wow, this is so much harder than I have ever expected and why is there so much stinkin' (literally) dog poop on the sidewalk????".

I am not really sure where to start. Things are just different here. Like, everything is different. I am not sure why I expected it to be any different than, well, totally different. And, I know that different isn't always bad. But when different means your entire lifestyle and routine change along with communication methods (sign language some times works well).... it can be quite a shock to your system. Life is faster here yet slower all at the same time. Maybe it is because you walk everywhere which means it takes longer to get from point A to point B. But, for the first month we were never on time anywhere. And, if you read French or Foe, you learn that for some meetings (dinner party, for example) it is customary for the French to be 20-30 minutes late. Now I know why! Everything closes here at 8pm and virtually nothing (except for good 'ole McD's) is open on Sunday. So, you have to carefully plan shopping excursions or you may not have any food to eat (except for a cheeseburger) on Sundays - maybe this was due to poor planning? Hmmm. I have even found myself yearning for Walmart. There, I said it... yearning for the previous bain of my existence. But, really, is it a negative for workers to be able to go home to their families at 8pm every night and have Sunday as a day of rest? No. I think not. Inconvenient to those of us who are used to around the clock service? Yes. But certainly not a bad idea. I have found myself thinking "Gosh, they could make so much more money if _____". Which, I think is totally an American way of thinking. The buck isn't #1 here like it is in the US. And maybe it shouldn't be. (Although, I do think a Chick Fil A would be a huge hit here).

Regarding the ever so available cheeseburger. We have eaten McDonalds more in this past month than I have ever eaten in my entire life. Nice, eh? No mother-of-the-year awards being handed out here. There are a couple of reasons for this. Walking into and shopping in my first french grocery store was like walking into a nuclear power plant for the first time and being told to push the button. Um, what button am I supposed to push and will it kill me and those that I love? Extreme, maybe? But it was quite daunting and nerve wracking and I am not sure why I am writing in past tense because - it still is. Especially when I set off every security alarm in Clermont which causes, yet another, lack of communication issue. It is truly the strangest thing.. sometimes it is my purse, sometimes it is the stroller and sometimes it is just me. I mean, if it was just me I may think it was my tooth filling. But, nope, it changes depending on the day and the store. I mean, really, what luck? Anyhow, I digress... the kids and I would walk to the store and go shopping together every single day for the first few weeks because I couldn't get a good shopping and cooking routine going - had no idea what to cook and how to cook it. So every day we would walk to the grocery store that was literally right behind our apartment. I was TERRIFIED that something would happen where I would have french spoken to me that would require a response that I become drill sargent Mom. Don't touch! Move out of their way! No, we can't get that thing that looks like a muskrat with his fangs still showing!

All of the grocery stores here have really cool seafood (fruit de la mer - literally, fruit of the sea) sections with all kinds of cool fish and creatures from the ocean. I thought it would be a cool learning experience for Joshua so one day we saunter through the line only to be told "Attention! Attention! Non! And many other french words that I don't understand". Eek!! I don't really know what you are saying! I have gotten sort of good at playing the "I am just an ignorant American, please forgive me" card so we got out of that one... even with a smile and a "Bon Journee!" This one particular store has a patisserie and boulangerie inside and we frequented it quite often, as well. It is so true that, initially, you may not get the most warm and jovial greeting from a french man or woman but after a few trips to the store it is like you are one of them. The ladies who worked at the patisserie seemed to adore my children and eventually knew we wanted two pain au chocolats and three croissants before we ever reached the counter. I miss that grocery store now that we have moved and plan to take a periodic trip over there every once in a while for old times sake (and for the scrumptious pain au chocolat and cheddar cheese which I cannot find anywhere else).

The other reason McDonalds has been a hit with us is because it offers us a little taste of home. It is strange how when you are in a foreign place you covet things familiar. American culture is somewhat pervasive here. Songs with English words are played in every store and restaurant and is always so nice to hear the mother tongue. Whenever I hear someone speak English on the street it is so refreshing and music to my ears.

We have taken a couple of trips through the country side... once to St-Etienne where IKEA is located and once to Saint Jean des Oreilles to pick up some items we had purchased from an expat family who recently relocated back to Greenville. The country side is absolutely breathtaking and exactly what you picture France to look like. Rolling green hill sides (think Sound of Music... I know, that was Austria, but close enough) and some big snow capped mountains. Little cottages, situated in adorable little villages, with old stone churches in the village center whose streets are about as wide as our old driveway and larger chateaus, situated on a little hill, and even rambling thousand year old castles. I really enjoyed our little excursions out of town and look forward to taking more road trips. A mental image will be the extent of the picture you get of the country side because I took no pictures! Sorry! I have not done a good job documenting through photography so far but, I promise, I will do better next time.

This is one of the McDonalds we have visited and it is located in Place de Jaude right in downtown Clermont near the cathedral and very close to our new apartment. The kids and I ate lunch here one day in our second week. As soon as the four of us sit down and find a seat, right after manuevering the stroller and directing the other two through a crowd of people, and right after I lay out all of the chicken nuggets, french fries and arrange the ketchup... Sophia announces she has to go potty... which is located two floors up. She has the best timing when it comes to needing to go potty. So, I do the only thing I know and I leave our stuff down stairs at the table and the three kids and I trek up to the third floor to find the ladies room. We return about 10 minutes later and, as we approach our table, I notice there is some man taking our food. My first thought was "oh, he works here and thinks we aren't there anymore" (despite my coat on the back of the chair and non-eaten food laid out on the table). Then, it dawns on me that everyone in the dining room is staring at us and that man doesn't work here. He dashes out of the dining room as people start nervously laughing. He stole my children's chicken nuggets and fries! It isn't like they were in the Happy Meal box.. they were laid out on the table on napkins. My cheeseburger wasn't good enough for him. It was the most surreal moment because it happened so quickly that it was over before I really knew what was happening. So, I stand there stunned while Joshua and Sophia ask why that man took their food. The only sound I can utter is "Hmm.." then I spin on my heels and giggle to myself because it is just so strange and we march back up to the counter. A nice young man who is with his toddler chases after me and in this crowded hallway starts talking to me in french and making hand gestures. I don't know what he is saying but I can gather that he is exasperated over what transpired and is telling me such and that he is sorry. I tell him that it is ok half in English half way in my poor French then we head to the counter again. Before we reach the register, the man is back, with his son in his arms, telling the manager what happened and still apologizing on behalf of the nugget thief. The management gives me a sympathetic smile and then replaces our food for free and takes it to the table for us. So, lesson learned, while many french people may not smile at you on the street or move out of your way to let you and three kids plus one stroller onto the tramway.. they will bring forth justice regarding a swiped Happy Meal. He was one of the many ever so helpful french people I have met thus far.

First Day of School

Joshua and Sophia began school at a private international school called Ecole Bilingue International two weeks ago. It is part of a private Catholic school called Massillon but is not religiously affiliated at all. Their instruction is completely in french. They LOVE it! They go four days a week - every day except Wednesday - which is typical for a french school. They have been attending half days but Joshua will begin going full days with a two hour lunch at home after this two week vacation. Their teachers - Vivian, for Josh and Pascale, for Sophia - are delightful and have nothing but praiseful "tres biens!" to say about Joshua and Sophia. Joshua came home from his first or second day and announced bashfully that he has a girlfriend. What?? We emphasize that she is a friend that is a girl. He gets all bashful when we ask about her and blushes a bit. It is cute but I am like - already? at FOUR? Sophia's teacher is super sweet and just adores Sophia. Gives her the bises (kisses on each cheek) upon arrival and departure. Sophia now loves to give the bises at home... she calls it the "french kiss". Pascale held a meeting last week for all of the new student's parents and she spoke entirely in french. I could figure out mostly what she was saying by picking out key words and context and tone of voice but it was really difficult and somewhat exhausting. I got a taste of what the kids and Freddie experience during their days. It was fun to see what they do during the day. I came home and asked Sophia if she ever had the "carte du jour" and she said no but then started rattling off the days of the week in French. On a felt board in class they have the days of the week in french and next to it a square that says "carte du jour" and a picture of one of the children in the class who, I gathered from Sophia, has the privilege of saying what the current day is and reviewing the other days along with the weather and date.

So, school thus far has been a huge success. It was bitter sweet for me as I have been home schooling them formally for the past year but informally for their entire lives. I am really torn about having them in school vs home schooling still but I know for right now they are right where they should be.

First day of school all frenchy in their boots!

Emily Claire excited on the first day of school for big brother and sister.

Sophia, with her Dora "sac à dos" and Daddy walking to school.

The red gate where I wait with my Emily at 11:30am to enter the courtyard to pick up my babies.

Emily in her recently fave mode of transportation waiting to see Joshua and Sophia. She spends beaucoup de temp dans la poussette as we stroll around Clermont. I do enjoy spending some one on one quality time with my Em.

January 2009 in Clermont-Ferrand

Afternoon rainbow following a rain shower... if you look closely you can see two.

View of the morning moon from our temp apt kitchen window.

Josh and Sophia during a shopping trip.

Emily Claire with a scratched nose :(

Sweet Emily before church one morning

Silly Emily on our bookshelf.

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Nous avons arrivés en France! Well, by the time I am able to post this entry we will have been here about a month. Which means, I have been sans internet for a month! Can you say “disconnected from the outside world”? How did we ever get by 10 or so years ago before the internet was all the rage? I miss my email, Facebook, my chats and my Christian Mommies online group... I never realized how less isolated those outlets made me feel when I was staying home in Greenville. I even had lots of friends and activities in real life there... It would definitely come in handy now.

That said, I have already made some friends here... even had one before we arrived! Kim was in my french class in Greenville and you can visit her awesome blog by clicking on Cabes in France on my blog list. She and her husband have been such a blessing to us. They greeted us when we arrived with a hot meal and a bottle of wine and we were ever so grateful. She babysat the kids for us the following day while Freddie and I attended an important meeting at his new office regarding administrative issues for our move. That day was the first day I ever experienced jet lag and, to put it rather bluntly, I thought I was in hell. I felt awful and was so tired – physically and mentally. The lenses I was peering through weren't being favorful to our new home. I have to admit, I had a few passing “what on earth where we thinking?” thoughts those first couple of days and shed a few tired tears. But, by day three, the clouds and fog parted and I was ready for whatever adventure and lack of communication France was ready to give us. And it was ready. :)

I will back up a little to our trip from the US to Europe. I could almost literally feel the prayers being prayed over us. I don't think it could have gone much better minus a few interesting incidents in the Paris airport during our layover. But, we got to meet some interesting people so I am sure God had a hand in that anyways. I attached a video of the older two's reaction to the take off from Columbia. It was priceless. They have both flown before but Joshua was less than 2 and Sophia was five weeks so, needless to say, they don't remember. They thought flying was super cool. Emily cried for about 15 minutes as we were descending to Atlanta but that was all of the crying she did the entire way to Clermont – again, minus our layover in Paris. She and Sophia slept the entire way from Atlanta to Paris. Sophia was able to curl up her petite little body and slept soundly in her seat while her head rested on me. I don't think Josh and Freddie had as comfortable a trip over the Atlantic but Joshua did sleep most of the way. Thank you for your prayers (and thank you God for Benadryl and ear numbing drops).

We had a lovely five hour layover in Paris. It was freezing there and the airport is quite drafty. The kids thought the snow was fabulous and wanted to go and play. We found a spot to hang out while we waited for our connecting flight and we ate croissants and other pastries and walked and met a mother and her daughter from Colombia, South America. She spoke no French or English. How ironic. While I spoke to her... excuse me, while I tried to speak to her I could think of all kinds of French words and phrases to use and, of course, English, but could not, for the life of me, think of any Spanish words. Not even GRACIAS? Hello, Jennifer? Have you not seen Dora enough to at least know that one? And, of course, now that I am in France and need to speak a little français... the french escapes me. Alas. So, anyways, this lady was so friendly. So loving to my Sophia. It was somewhat of an awkward experience. Her daughter came over in what I thought was an attempt to initiate play with Sophia. Again, she only speaks Spanish so we muddled through that and they ended up coloring together in one of the little girl's coloring books. All of a sudden, the little girl gets up in a huff, marches over to the trash can and trashes her coloring book. It appears because Sophia is coloring on her page. I was confused. Do I offer her a coloring book of ours and encourage this erratic behavior? Do I not? I really like the Mom and she is very apologetic. Hmm... Well, of course we are sitting right next to each other so there is still interaction between our children. The little girl has a tiny Eiffel Tower snow globe. Sophia picks it up.... and promptly drops it and glass and water and fake snow are everywhere. I think if the little girl had been a little bit older she may have punched Sophia in the nose. She was furious and sad and just heartbroken. So, meanwhile, Sophia is on the verge of tears thinking she is going to get a spanking. Little cute Colombian girl is angry and crying. Her mother is profusely apologizing and saying it is ok in Spanish while I am saying I am sorry in English and neither of us really know what we are saying but assuming based on hand gestures and facial expressions. I am red as a beet and frantically picking up glass shards from the carpet while trying to assure Sophia that she is not in trouble and a spanking is not in her future. I discreetly ask my dear husband to go to the little travel shop and purchase the little girl another snow globe and I decided to give her Joshua's Spiderman coloring book. Not exactly an even trade for the trashed My Little Pony, but, it was all we had. She was not happy about that. Alas, I tried to make amends. At that point, they either had a flight to catch or the mother thought it was best to find a new location to hang out. We all said our farewells and she came over and hugged and kissed Sophia. It was one of those strange moments after you meet someone briefly where realize you will never see them again in your life. I will always remember them though. I wish them well!

An hour after getting on our next flight were we in our new home - Clermont-Ferrand, France. A man from a real estate company met us here and guided us through the airport and claims for lost luggage. He helped us into our rental car - a Renault Espace... Europe's version of a mini-van called a monospace here. It is much smaller than my Honda Odyssey but all three of our car seats fit and we had plenty of room for our luggage. After we loaded up... we headed to our temporary apartment.