Our new life :)

If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness."

Les Brown

Christophe and I have always seen eye to eye on one thing : We enjoy stepping out of our comfort zone.

We like to try new things, and take risks and when we believe in something, we just go for it. When he had job offers that made sense we were always ready to jump in ! That's how we moved to the US, then later on to Ft Lauderdale, then almost moved to Australia, and finally ended up in Texas. Buying Real Estate, starting a family, we were getting into a new comfort zone . . . the next logical step ? Adopt a puppy :)

We both love dogs and always dreamt of adopting one. Since it is harder than we thought to have another child, we thought it would be the perfect time to adopt a puppy. After a full weekend I am so happy to have a puppy, a little shaken from my normal routine, but overall full of love and happiness and looking forward to our new adventures with my 3 boys ;)

Adrien and Carter got to hang out - here they are watching Thomas the train - same posture-

Thanks to Brian and Jodie's help, Christophe was able to put the Pergola up this weekend. We are so excited to have it installed and I feel so relieved not to have the box in my entryway like it has been the last two months . . . !!! Thank you so much guys !

The new member of the family: Duff Hanckowiak , a cute 4months and a half black labrador retriever. We adopted him from the DFW Labrador rescue club and his foster parents brought him home on Saturday morning.

Adrien is starting to learn to be potty trained, and was half naked all day today. It helps him know & feel when he has to go and it worked pretty well. I am basically potty training a puppy and a toddler at the same time - talk about being out of my comfort zone ;) We spent most of the day outside though to increase our chance of success !
Duff is pretty laid back, he's hyper in the morning but after a little exercise and play time, he seems happy to just sit and observe.

We took "the boys" to the park this morning. We wanted to see if we could do it. It was fun but a little stressful. Duff gets super excited at other dogs and Adrien wants to hold the leash, Duff wants to lead . . . and we're learning to become the "alpha dogs" of the pack ! Never I thought I would add that on my to do list but it's up there now.

We really are so happy to have Duff with us !

Christophe and I were still able to go out on a date Saturday night, we went to the melting pot and had a delicious dinner. The last time we had a date was in december so it was long overdue. The best part was to talk and catch up after the last two weeks. It was just what we needed and we had a wonderful time !! After our meal we just had to walk to Borders and purchase the Idiot's guide to owning a Lab - we've been reading ever since, a chapter here and there and are learning a lot. I know what you're thinking . .. probably should have read the book before getting the dog. Our hearts were ready but we definitely have a better understanding now of what the next few months will be like.

Life is good!

Christophe has been away working hard in France and we had to keep busy the last two weeks. He had made an effort to have short trips especially after the end of Feb but he really to go this time. I reassured him I would be fine but the truth is I was apprehensive and dreading the trip. I've been a little emotional this year and so it was hard to keep it together at times. But this is where life is so wonderful and I am very lucky to have such amazing friends and family !!!!!

My little sister Kelly came to spend a few days with Adrien and I. He loved seeing "Lyly" as he calls her and even though she had to practice we were able to spend good quality time. She got to go to 2 Stroller Strides class with us and we even got to go out for dinner just the two of us on Wednesday before she left. Then my awesome friends came in to the rescue and we were busy all throughout the end of the week and weekend. Adrien and I had a lot of fun. Thank you all so much !!

We got to jump in the pool for the first time last week, the water is 78 so it's still cold but it was refreshing and fun for a little bit ;)
On Saturday we went to FOSSIL RIM with our friends Amber, Phil and Jake and had a wonderful time. The animals came to our car and we got to feed them - it was really fun ! Now a little embarrassing fact about the visit: guess the only animal I was scared of ? . .. the cheetahs ? . . NOPE . .. the rhinos ? . . . Nope . .. the ostrich .. . YES !!!! their eyes were fixed on me and I had goose pumps . . . LOL :)

The little baby giraffe (6ft tall) nursing :) Too cute !

I spent mother's day - one on one with Adrien - my cute little man who was adorable all day long. When he woke up I told him it was mother's day and he told me :" ah mommy, aime mommy " toddler translation - " aw, mom , I love you mom " and gave me a big hug . . . Christophe was sweet and sent me beautiful flowers too so I felt so loved !!

we decided to go to the Dallas World Aquarium and had a great time. We had lunch together and it was so fun to talk to ADrien, it's like he knew he was the man of the house while daddy was away because he behaved so "grown up" . He was eating with his fork and knife, talking, . . . we really bonded and had a great time.

Adrien also sang to me and played his guitare- no need to say the crowd LOVEd it ! ;)

Thank you all for being so loving, empathetic and caring. We are so fortunate to have you in our lives and we are better people because of you. Big hugs !