Pink or Blue

What will it be? I find out on Thursday afternoon. Scott thinks it's a girl (he thought that with Bruce too, though). With Bruce, I was pretty sure it was a boy. But I have no clue with this one. So what is your guess?

Goodbye Borens

Today our friends are packing up and moving out. They've been down the street from us for the past few years while Mike went to business school and Diana crafted Etsy stuff, taught preschool, attended school events, and chased three wild boys. Their youngest boy is Bruce's best friend, so we are especially sad to see them go. Bruce is taking it pretty well. He is comforted by the fact that they are moving near Grandma's house so he will get to visit every once in awhile.

The video above is a classic Bruce-Christian moment. They are discussing who the real Batman is since they are both wearing Batman pajamas (Bruce has the old-school uniform and Christian the more recent "Dark Knight" version). This is why we loved having Christian over and will miss him very much when he leaves!

Goodbye Preschool!

Bruce had his last day of preschool this week. The school had a picnic in the park to celebrate. They provided watermelon and entertainment: a guy came and sang songs with the kids. Bruce was not interested in sitting down and listening to his songs though. There was open space and he was taking full advantage of it. While all the other kids sat and sang, Bruce grabbed a friend and they ran up and down one side of the park. I asked Bruce's teacher if he's always like that during singing time. The response: "Ummmm, sometimes." So much for that glowing progress report. The truth comes out.
Bruce has some awesome friends. This kid is a little obsessed with Batman and insists on wearing his costume on days other than October 31. We babysat him once and he came over in this nice outfit.
We brought Baby A to the picnic with us. I remembered to bring her lunch and sippy cup and even a little chair and tray for her to sit in, but I forgot a bib. Between the watermelon and her sandwich, she ended up very sticky and messy. When her mom picked her up, she was wearing some of Bruce's old pajamas. Oops. When I used to leave Bruce with a sitter for my one work day, he always came back totally clean and I've always wondered how that happened. I'm still convinced that the sitter stripped him down to his diaper all day and only dressed him a few minutes before pickup. How else could she keep him clean?

Ohio Hike

On our awesome trip we went for a little hike with my brother, Dave, and his son, Eldon, along with Scott's brother-in-law, also named Scott, and his son, Jared. We hiked to a river and threw rocks...
found a frog...
and just got lots of energy out. We ended up hiking farther than we thought because we didn't know exactly where we were going. We went about three miles, and by then the little boys were tired and didn't want to hike back to the cars. So Dave and Scott ran the three miles back to the cars and drove them to another part of the trail that was closer. Thanks guys!
Scott and Bruce are quite a pair. Scott had a lab party this weekend and several of his coworkers called Bruce "a mini Scott." Happy Fathers Day!

Nice Ride II

Bruce probably wore out the battery a dozen times while we were there. He loved this thing. And so did Cousin Eldon, who was a happy passenger. That kid is awesome: check out those swim goggles and foam sword.

Nice Ride

I don't know why it took me all week to finally download all my pictures and videos from our trip to Ohio last weekend, but it did. Here's a good clip of Bruce and Cousin Eldon riding the Power Wheels Jeep in my parents' backyard.

It's been a week and Bruce misses the grandparents. He drew a "map" the other day and asked me where we lived on the map. I pointed to a blob on one side. I said we were moving soon and I asked where he wanted to live. He pointed to the other side of the map and said, "Far, far away at Grandma's house."

In case you can't get through to me today...

Weekend in Ohio

My baby bro graduated from high school and had a big party last weekend. We weren't making any firm plans to go because I wasn't sure if Scott would be in the mood post-thesis, but he was so we packed up the car and drove the 10 hours. I hadn't told my parents that we were coming, so we opened their door at 11:30 p.m. and Bruce went in and jumped on their bed and gave them big hugs. One of my older bros, Dave, and his family came on Friday and we hung out. That night mom watched our kids while we went and bugged Ben, my baby bro, at work. He works as a host at a really eclectic restaurant. There are strange things - mostly meat - on the menu. There's even a 5-pound hamburger and if you eat it in an hour, you get your picture on the wall and only have to pay $15 instead of the full $30. Gross. I had a potato, applesauce, and salad, thank you very much. Scott got a giant burger - not quite 5 pounds though - as part of a weekend-long carnivorous spree before coming home to the veg life again.
My parents' house is like an amusement park. They have a pond with ducks in the front yard, a playground in the backyard, a brick oven, pavilion, patio with lounge chairs, hammock, bikes, battery-powered kid-sized Jeep, and tractor with trailer for kiddie rides. The picture above is Bruce happily playing on the playground.
For Ben's grad party, my parents put out a full spread of all kinds of food. They had a half-dozen picnic tables set up and, in the end, about 200 people showed up. Scott's sister and her family came, so Bruce had dozens and dozens of cousins to play with.
Here are some of the cousins. In the background is the beloved bounce house, which my parents set up for the party along with a volleyball court, and beanbag toss games.
Things always get a little crazy at my parents' place. Scott and I were pulling out to stop by a friend's wedding reception - that also happened to be this weekend - and Scott spotted another cousin climbing on top of a car. Just another day at the grandparents' resort.

Finished!

Scott emerged victorious! After a 45-minute presentation of his research to his committee and about 30 other curious onlookers and another 45 minutes of "grilling" behind closed doors, Scott is a doctor.
He only looked slightly relieved when he came out those doors. He was still so wound up; I think it will take him awhile to adjust to so-called "normal" life again. Just a few more months until more school...

Sunshine

We had a weekend full of sunshine and Scott, so we went outside and enjoyed it.



We told our landlord that we're leaving, so we are officially moving out. Where to? Don't know yet. Hopefully to a place we either own or has a quicker commute - or both if we're really lucky.
And it would be nice to have a tiny bit more space. We have to be out by September 1, so we will be treading the real estate market this summer. Yea!

Scott is finishing up his thesis presentation. Two more days. Wednesday. June 10. He's having some trouble paring down his talk to 45 minutes. If I gave it, it'd be like 45 seconds.

Bruce has been eating massively huge breakfasts lately. When we ask him what he wants in the morning, he responds with a lengthy list that goes something like this: "a waffle with butter and maple syrup, fried egg, bowl of cereal, cold milk in a sippy cup, cold water in a normal cup, and hot chocolate please." And like any good short-order cook, we make it up for him. And nine times out of ten, he eats every last bite. It's amazing. Even still, I think he burns all those calories in the first hour after breakfast. He just doesn't stop moving.

I've been feeling pretty good lately. I'm mostly done feeling queasy and green, but still haven't been ravenous yet either. That must come later. I had an appointment last week where I got to hear the heartbeat again; it feels good to have a little reassurance. So far, so good. I have an ultrasound in three weeks and I'm excited to bring Bruce to this appointment. He's been putting his ear next to my belly and declaring, "I can't hear it; it must be resting." We will also find out whether this little baby is a boy or girl. I still don't have a preference. After the experience of the past few years, I really really don't care what it is except that it's a live baby.

The thesis is in!

Yes, this is what we've all been waiting for. For five years.

Scott turned in his thesis on Friday. It is titled, "Molecular imaging tools for studying Alzheimer's disease." I edited all but one chapter and caught a few glimpses into what he's been up to the past few years, but I'm still not sure I could explain what fluorescence tomography is or how exactly the blood-brain barrier opens. Luckily, I'm not the one that has to do the explaining.

Scott has been really cramming the last few months to finish, even running a few experiments last week. The cramming doesn't mean he procrastinated though; it just means he worked like a maniac to get all the results he wanted and everything perfectly written. Scott even said, "This is the hardest I've ever worked in my whole life." Coming from a guy who finished a double major in three years, picked up Russian in a few months, helped his dad build a house, and takes care of Bruce and me, this thesis was no small task.

Scott will prepare his presentation this week and will defend next Wednesday, June 10.

After that date, you are required to call him Dr. Raymond. (if you do it to his face you can watch his eyes roll)