One More For The Road

Jul 31, 2018

Molly was growing into a sweet toddler. She loved going to the park up the street from our home. She no longer sat in her stroller but I brought it anyways for the way back. She would get tired and want to be carried home. Her hair was starting to curl in the nape of her neck. She had soft caramel-colored hair. Molly was always so delicate, holding her little hands out while she walked. She had these cute white sandals with strawberries on them, my favourite. I fondly recall watching her hug each fire hydrant on our way to the park. She also stood on her tiptoes to touch the lights at the end of each driveway. We would make sand pies and she’d go down each slide. She loved the swings. I’d chase her around the playground with her stroller as she giggled. Bliss! On our way back, she’d fall asleep in her stroller and I’d read or journal while she slept.

To my surprise, it was my husband who brought up the idea of trying to conceive another child. This shocked me because when I spoke about having “children” before our first child, Vincent would say “child, not children, let’s start with one, ok?”. We had planned a trip to London and Italy over the summer. We stayed in a villa in Tuscany on a vineyard. We rented a car and visited many of the cities around us. My husband was very happy to sample the many wines on the property. Molly was excited to see the cats walking around the vineyard. I was delighted to eat freshly made tiramisu. It was a wonderful trip.

By the time we returned home, I was pregnant with Stella. I peed on a stick. When I saw the + sign, I placed it in a plastic ziplock bag and asked Molly to give it to her Daddy. I watched his expression as he saw the stick. We jumped up and down in the kitchen with Molly. She had no idea what was happening. Her life was about to change.

We were pleasantly surprised at how quickly we became pregnant. It took us nine months with Molly but, as stated in a previous blog post, that had more to do with me trying to make it happen and getting the timing wrong. This time, it just happened, effortlessly. I have been very lucky. I didn’t experience morning sickness during either of my pregnancies. I gained weight much more quickly with my second but I didn’t gain as much.

Vincent and I decided to move to a bigger, more rural property. Our neighbourhood was growing and the traffic on our street was getting quite busy. People used our street to get to and from hockey games at Scotiabank Place. If the team won, we would hear cars honking on their way home, waking our daughter and us in the process. I knew my husband could not run his business in our home while I cared for two young children. His clients are often moms, getting out of their own house for a bit of self-care. The last thing they want is to hear my crying toddler or colicky baby. We spent a great deal of time looking for homes along the 416 (anticipating less traffic than we were used to on the 417).

We found the house we are now living in and fell in love. It was the perfect house for raising a family. There was lots of land for the children to play and the dog to run around. There were two barns on the land and a carriage house. Vincent claimed the carriage house for his shop. It was a dirt floor space where the previous owner had restored cars with just a few windows. I couldn’t see his vision but I know my husband. If he can see it, he’ll make it happen and it will look great! We moved into our home in May. Molly loved picking flowers in our yard. We hung a swing from a tree in our back yard and she had many naps swaddled in blankets, swinging from the tree. I was getting tired and there was still so much to do to with unpacking, preparing my husband’s work space, caring for a toddler, finishing my semester at the college and getting through the last trimester of my pregnancy. I loved our new home and couldn’t believe I was living in this beautiful, century old farmhouse. I couldn’t wait for Stella to be born and fantasized about what life would be like with two daughters. I am so grateful that I was blissfully unaware of the challenges that lay ahead.