Catching up with the Raymonds

It's been too long, so I won't even try to document our comings and goings chronologically. But here's what we've been up to since I last posted...

• Christmas in Ohio! We drove to the motherland, got lots of face-time with family, and scored some loot. I got Scott some nice headphones. Bruce got plenty of Legos. Phoebe got lots of firefighter stuff. Oliver got a few toys. Scott got me some awesome mom jeans (high waist, mile-high fly, a bit short on the leg...); they may not look so awesome on the outside, but they are lined with flannel, so I am totally wearing them all winter. 
• The Drive Home. Scott had to fly back to Boston to work after Christmas, but I stayed with the kids for a few more days of fun (and Cousin Camp at an indoor water park!). I started the drive on New Year's Eve; it snowed for a few hours and I got lost in the boonies of Pennsylvania, but we eventually made it to Anika's house! We stayed there for the night, got a New Year's Day run in the morning, and then drove the rest of the way to Boston in nice weather.

• Firehouse Saturday! It has been on my bucket list for awhile to take Phoebe to the Boston Fire Museum. It's one of those dinky museums that has limited hours and is run by volunteers (retired firefighters in this case). Bruce loved playing with a switchboard, Phoebe got to pull a fire alarm, and Oliver slept through the entire thing. We also went to Firehouse Subs for the first time for some grilled cheese sandwiches and firefighter hats. 
• The Plague entered our house. When we got back from Ohio, Oliver started throwing up. Then Phoebe. Then Bruce. Scott wins the medal for cleaning up most of the barf. While Phoebe had surprisingly good aim in the bucket, Bruce missed in epic fashion. He had the bucket next to him in bed because he wasn't feeling well when he went to bed, but he woke up and leaned over the side of his loft bed, and let loose the contents of his stomach all over the Lego-covered rug/ walls/ ladder to his bed/everywhere. He is really out of it at nighttime. 
• Creepy sleep-walking Bruce. Speaking of being out of it, Bruce occasionally has sleep-walking episodes. He will walk out of his room, turn on lights, say really weird things, act really strange, and then not remember any of it in the morning. I grabbed the camera for his most recent episode. I thought he'd be embarrassed by it, but he thought it was hilarious when he saw it the next morning and said I should post it on the blog. So here it is: he is scared of his bathrobe, wonders why we have it or his bed or something, and says he hates the bathrobe but wants to get inside it...

• Hosted a Blood Drive. I organize and coordinate blood drives at church every few months. It's kindof a pain to get people to sign up, but it is always worth the hassle. Whenever I hear the I-don't-like-needles excuse, I shrug. I know what that's like, but you're really going to let that stop you from helping someone out?! 
• Marathon training! Yep, it has begun. I am excited, but also nervous. I was counting on Oliver breastfeeding a bit less by this point, but he still wants me every third hour or so. Just give him a bottle, you say? Nope, he won't accept imitation: he wants the real deal. That might make long runs tricky - maybe I need a pit stop with a jug of Gatorade and a hungry baby. Someone suggested I get La Leche League to sponsor me and have a designated breastfeeding stop on the marathon course. Classy.
• Bruce started piano lessons again. He had an awesome teacher awhile ago, then a not-quite-as-awesome teacher that moved so slowly he was getting bored, then no teacher because I didn't want to trek around town to lessons with a new baby. Throughout it all, Bruce has been great at practicing on his own and has really improved his skills. When he met his new teacher, he played a few songs for her. At one point he started beat-boxing while playing and his teacher said, "Is that beat-boxing?! Genius!"
• Skiing! Winter is upon us, so we took advantage of the snow and headed to a tiny ski resort. I hung out with Oliver in the lodge, Scott taught Phoebe to ski, and Bruce flew down the bunny hills about a million times. He is fluent with the T-bar.

• Oliver is growing up and looking more and more like a little boy. He loves watching himself in the mirror, watching Bruce and Phoebe anytime, eating (especially when others are eating), and playing peek-a-boo and other little games.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 was a quiet holiday, but a good one nonetheless. We'd planned on having another family over to eat the big meal with us, but their plans changed on the Monday before. On Tuesday, Bruce started throwing up so we decided it'd be best not to invite anyone over. Bruce's bug was gone by Wednesday - he even requested bacon and eggs for dinner that night - and we had a day of peace before the next round of sickness.

I love Thanksgiving and I'm so glad we had that one day barf-free. Not only do I love the food, but I love that it's a whole day of gratitude. We had a "thankful jar" that we filled with things we were grateful for (the top picture is of Bruce reading the slips of paper in the jar). I am thankful for Turkey Trots: I ran a 5K on Thursday morning and ran an 18:53, placing sixth for ladies. I wasn't sure what time to expect since I haven't run a road 5K in awhile, but I'm happy that I broke 19. Now to break 18 minutes...

Thanksgiving has become extra special since Phoebe was born. She came home the day before Thanksgiving last year after what felt like an eternity in the hospital. Last year's Thanksgiving was not as polished: I'd stayed up all night staring at Phoebe making sure she was breathing and unable to sleep from joy and excitement. We'd moved a few days before and still invited friends over for dinner. We unpacked the necessary cooking items and fired up the oven, only to find out that our brand new oven had a defective part. We ended up going to their house for dinner. Everyone cooked while I slept on a futon. I missed out last year, so I'm happy to say that I fully participated this year.

Back to this year: Phoebe started throwing up Thursday night. She vomited lots and vomited frequently. After a few hours of that, I called Scott in a panic (he was working at the hospital that night). He came home, checked Phoebe out, and helped clean up lots of barf. It's taken her longer than Bruce to recover; she threw up this morning and is still a sad sack.

On Friday, Bruce and I braved the crowds and did some Black Friday shopping. We got boring stuff like a battery for our thermometer and a winter coat for long-armed Bruce, but we got them at good prices! After our trip to the mall, we headed to the Museum of Science for some fun. We went to the new K'nex exhibit and Bruce got to make a little windmill to bring home. He has taken apart and reassembled those 15 pieces about a hundred times since.

Bruce helped me decorate for Christmas on Saturday. We have the ugliest fake tree ever, but we decided to put it up and then if we get a real tree, we will redecorate. After putting the kids to bed that night, Scott and I relaxed and watched Teen Wolf, which I had never seen. I think that's the best movie we've seen in awhile (it doesn't help that we've seen some real bombs lately - Waterworld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alice in Wonderland).

Now it is Sunday and I woke up sick. I'm hoping that my recovery time is more like Bruce's and less like Phoebe's!

Things to be thankful for

'Tis the season to be grateful.

Three things I'm thankful for tonight:

1. Large kitchen sink with garbage disposal.

2. Washer and dryer that don't require quarters.

3. Machine washable rugs.

Scott is at the hospital delivering babies tonight, so a friend came over to watch the kids while I went to track practice. But right before I headed out the door, Bruce barfed everywhere. I sent the sitter home, put the kids to bed, and cleaned up vomit. I'm grateful for my "barf cleanup toolkit."

Let's hope this bug gets out of here by Thursday.

Kid Power

Phoebe is back to herself again. After a few days of on-and-off fevers and a nasty rash, she is healthy again. At her worst, she was 104.6 degrees. I'm glad that's over. It's a good thing she didn't go to Montana though.
Phoebe can roll all over the place now, and is rocking back and forth on her knees thinking about crawling soon. She still doesn't have any teeth poking through her gums, but chews on everything and constantly has a waterfall of saliva down her chest. She is eating more than ever and, thankfully, sleeping more than ever now too.
Bruce has a few more weeks of preschool left before summer break. He will miss his friends from preschool, but he is ready to move on. This morning we told him it was time to get ready for school. He said, "Kindergarten?" I replied, "No, preschool. Kindergarten starts in the fall." He rolled his eyes and made an "awwwww" sound like he's so over preschool.
Bruce now believes he has "eye power." We've been reading chapter books to him for awhile and we read Matilda a month ago. In the book, Matilda moves things and breaks a TV by looking at them. Bruce told me he opened a door at preschool with his eyes. We've tried to explain the difference between fiction and non-fiction, but this gets lost on him (today's conversation was how Star Wars is fiction and that Jedis aren't really real, but something some guy named George Lucas made up). Anyway, the other day he told me he lost his eye power because he couldn't move something. Perhaps it'll make a comeback.

Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad

Phoebe is a happy baby most of the time.

But she spiked a 102-degree fever on Thursday night.

Which was too bad because she was supposed to fly to Montana with Scott on Friday morning. We gave her medicine; it didn't work. We thought perhaps she'd sleep it off. Nope. She was still 101 degrees on Friday morning, so Scott got on his plane alone and I got a sick kid and a hyper kid for the weekend.