Friday, February 20, 2015

29 Weeks

Today Raf and I headed to the ultrasound place so we could check on girl-poppet (supposed to be our 28 week scan). Raf had been poorly when we last went so I purposely scheduled the ultrasound for 7:30am so Raf could come with me and not miss school... except it's school vacation week :) This meant I had to get to the gym before 5am in order to get back, shower, and drive to Portland. It was lovely to just take Raf with me, and whilst he ended up watching youtube clips of Thomas and Friends on my phone, he was so happy to see his sister. He even got to meet the nurse who attended his birth!

Poppet Girl is doing very well. She passed her biophysical within a few minutes and she seemed very happy. She's weighing in around 3 pounds 1oz, and is around the 60th percentile for size. Her head seems smaller than the boys (thank the lord) but with longer legs! It'll be interesting to see if this is the case when she joins us some time soon...


Aside from the ongoing nausea (it's honestly pretty grim) and fatigue (pregnancy when you're almost 39, with two kids and a full time job is very different from a first pregnancy at 33!!) things have been going very well with the pregnancy. I feel much better when I can get to the gym to run, though since this involves a 4am wake-up it's not always possible to go... (see note about fatigue). last week I also failed my one hour glucose test so had to go in for the extended test the next morning. Thankfully all was good and I don't have gestational diabetes.

Not sure how I got to be this pregnant so quickly...! I am a little nervous for the next couple of months, which I am guessing will fly-by.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Valentine's Day

January and February are fairly dreary months in Maine: post Christmas excitement, it's cold, it's snowy, and Spring feels like a long way off. So we all look forward to Valentine's day as it's a good excuse to make a fuss, to have a party, and to just celebrate! It started on the 13th when Raf had his school Valentine's party at school. I was very last minute about the entire thing and had to put together a last minute little valentine's gift for his school friends (as is the tradition here). We had fun putting together the little bags and Raf helped write all the labels.



I remembered to pack him a little heart shaped sandwich (my sad attempt at a Valentine's lunch!) and off he went. He had an absolute blast, coming back with some yummy treats from his fellow classmates and teachers. He'd made some lovely cards for his teachers, too, and he was seemingly quite proud of them!


We had a busy actual Valentine's Day, mostly because it fell on a Saturday and on Saturday mornings we have swim classes to get in followed by gym class and naps for the youngest Oliver-Campbell. We were still planning a family Valentine's party, though (any excuse for cake!). That afternoon I whipped up some cup cakes and some heart shaped cookies for the boys to decorate, and we had a nice teatime icing and decorating with sweeties the baked treats.




The boys were quite generous with the sprinkles!



Charlie, especially, found it difficult to find spots for his sweeties after he covered his cookie and cup cake with so many delicious and colourful sugar sprinkles...


Nana's!



A few more, mum!

Daddy's.


And, hurrah, pressies!  The boys are all of a sudden on a chuggington train kick and they were lucky boys to receive some special treats from both nana and us.


Koko!



Raf's love note to this brother... "Charlie, I know you are excited for the party'! And indeed it was a lovely party!



Especially the lovely trains!




And after present opening and present playing, back to the table to eat our lovely decorated goodies.


Sunday, February 15, 2015

Catch up week.

Another week, another storm (or three!). Last Monday was another snow day. It's truly awful how cold and snowy it's been! We're all very much ready for spring, but the question is how long the snow will hang around. I am guessing we'll still be seeing snow towards the end of April. Indeed we had another 6-8 inches overnight, though thankfully it didn't produce the almost 2 feet we had forecast. Still, cabin fever is very much alive...!

Chas and Raf seem to be coping, though, and enjoy their cuddles on the couch with snacks and shows. They're also loving trains, at the moment, and play endless games together as they make up stories with their trains and tracks.


We may never leave by the front door ever again....!


Charlie is quite into hats, at the moment.


Last week he went to hang out with Annie and her grandma for the morning. Annie's grandma had knitted her a lovely hat and jumper, which she wouldn't wear, so they very, very kindly gave them to Charlie. He LOVES them. In fact for the next two days he wouldn't take them off. He slept in them... and after his bath the next morning he put them right back on. Even at swimming he walked out to the pool in his swimming costume and red hat!


raf has been learning the art of the selfie.


Many of them...


On Thursday night, after a last minute trip to the shops for Valentine treats for Raf's teachers and friends, we headed out for an early dinner as none of us could face cooking. It was a really nice evening with nana and the boys.


And there's Charlie in his jumper and hat...



Chin Chin...



And of course the red hat and jumper... 



Nice and snuggly...


Monday, February 9, 2015

Party, Party, Party

We're on yet another snow day (shoot me!). It was a fun packed weekend, though poor old Raf was sent home with a very high fever on Friday afternoon, which meant that he missed both his swimming class and his school's Valentine's family dance party. Very sad, indeed. Rich and I, though, were due to attend a 40th birthday party and good ol' Nana very kindly agreed to watch the boys, including a poorly Raf. It was a very, very fun evening with dinner and drinks (Mr. Poppet may have had a drink too many), and we returned home very late (for us). Charlie was asleep on the couch and poor old Raf, who'd been asleep, was up watching cartoons after a very sad evening alternating vomiting and sleeping :(

Unfortunately Charlie failed to note that mummy had gone to bed after 1am and was up at his usual time...! Poor old Rich was left to take Chas swimming (which mustn't have been fun for Rich, though Charlie said, 'I had a nice time swimming, Daddy'!). Raf stayed at home with his nana, again, and Rich and I ran a few chores with Charlie, including going to Home Depot, which Charlie thoroughly enjoyed. "I had fun shopping, Mummy" (apparently quite easy to please). Raf was feeling so much better when we returned home, but Charlie had a party to attend so off Chas and I went to celebrate the 2nd birthday of our friend Liam. 

Charlie was so excited... he declared, "gonna wear my party shirt"! 



He had a lovely time playing with Liam and the other little kiddos - and was anticipating the cake for quite some while. He was also very anxious to take a piece home for his brother.


Charlie was slightly confused that this wasn't his party... !



Especially when it came to Liam opening the present Charlie had brought with him. He managed to withstand opening the gift (which he walked around with for much of the party) until literally seconds before Liam was about to unwrap it. Charlie ripped it open and said, 'ta da!' And then cried when he realized that he'd actually have to gift permanently to Liam. Bless little Liam, who let him hold on to it for a while, which gave me a few minutes to explain to Chas that the "Charlie Train" we had gotten his friend was to stay behind. He held it together well as the news seeped in....!


Thank goodness Raf was feeling back to himself by Sunday. He'd sadly missed his other swim class and gym class on Saturday morning so he was ready for some excitement! Gideon, Raf's best kindergarten friend, was turning 6 and was scheduled to have a bounce zone party! The snow started to come down but thankfully the roads were fairly clear. On his way out of the door, he consoled his little brother with a promise to bring back some cake, and Chas gave him a big hug. I had said to Raf that a shirt might not be practical for jumping, but my boys do like to wear their 'party shirts'... So he went looking very smart, indeed. 


Raf and the birthday boy... They were so exhausted!




And both were ready for cake! It was a ninja turtle themed cake and each time he saw someone with a red mask on, he'd announce, 'that's Raphael... that's my name'. Everyone had gotten the message by the end of the party! After the case the boys went downstairs for a final bounce before the center closed. All of a sudden, though, they weren't there and Gideon's mum and I spotted them upstairs gatecrashing another party! I think they thought it was their party... When I went up to tell Raf that the party was actually over he was utterly devastated. As we walked out, crying (just him), he lamented that he wished the party had been 3 hours long instead of 2!




Charlie, however, was delighted that it was just two hours as Raf delivered the promised cake to a very happy Charlie!