Happy Boys!

After my rather downbeat post yesterday I was very happy to have a pretty good night's sleep. Rafi slept through most of the night and Charlie woke up at 2:30 for half an hour and then again around 3:45am, but that was it, and I even got in a row before the boys were up. Sadly the bottle situation remains and Charlie was very determined not to drink anything from it when my mum tried, but both he and Raf were happy campers today. 

Here are a few photos are caught on my way out of the door earlier today. He really is so cheerful like his brother. 

One of my colleagues very kindly gave Raf a VERY big bag of trains tracks and trains today, and when he returned home from school he was in heaven as he explored his new swag. He was pretty funny with lots of 'thank you, mummy', 'I'm so proud of you' (for procuring the trains, I think!), and, 'I'm so excited and happy'.

Work.

My return to work was a bit of a disaster. First, I went to bed last night with these rugrats and much to my dismay we had a night of tag team wake-ups. Charlie was actually fine and only woke up 2 or 3 times to nurse. His brother, however, was inexplicably awake for much of the night. He was basically up for good around 3am, and while he nodded back off to sleep here and there, both he and Charlie were fully awake by 4:45am. This would have been okay had I slept in the preceding hours but, alas, I had not so I was feeling fried before I even got into the shower. I also missed my very tiny window to exercise as I didn't think that Rich would want to deal with two awake boys at that time in the morning.. So not a good start.

Charlie had an early morning Dr. appointment scheduled so at 7:30 Charlie and I drove up to Portland for his 2 month check-up. Imagine my surprise (putting it nicely) when they said the appointment was on the 23rd???? They had already rescheduled his appointment before Christmas and then, after two days of trying to rearrange it (which involved being on hold for over 30 mins) they managed to scupper it again. It was pretty infuriating, especially since he would be closer to 3 and a half months by the appointment date they had written down. So... back home. I managed to get some work done when I returned home as he was still asleep but the rest of the day was something of a bust as he won't take a bottle still and he only ever really wants me. 

I must sound like a broken record but I simply cannot imagine how this can be good for Charlie. I wish I could stay home with him for a few months but it's simply not an option (if we want to keep medical insurance and a roof over our head, that is). 

In between doing some work we had some fun on the mat.. he was pretty enthralled with his own reflection on the play mirror he's looking into in the pic below.

Happy boy this evening...

And now pretty zonked. It was all that work :)

Happy New Year!

What a crazy year 2012 was.  January came with a positive pregnancy test; February gave us some pretty severe morning sickness (which sadly never went away) and a lovely Valentine celebration with the boys and Nana who returned home after spending some months with us after my died; March brought work craziness (not in a good way) and also freakishly warm weather during Spring break; April brought reassuring news about the baby and Easter fun; May was a month of celebrations... my birthday, my dad's, too, and the news that we were expecting a BOY!; June was beautiful with lovely runs with the boys and trips to the beach; July was Raf's 3rd birthday, a ride on Thomas, a visit from my sister and Raf's cousins as well as a big birthday party; August was the beginning of bed rest - but for Rich and Raf it meant some really super adventures on a train, to different beaches, and hikes; September marked the end of bed rest, the loveliest of baby showers, Rich's birthday, and lots of walking; October was the most special, of course, with the arrival of Baby Charlie, the sweetest little brother for Rafi, a bit of a terrifying hospital stay, and a fun first Hallowe'en; November saw lots of snuggling on the couch with Charlie, some hikes with all the boys, and Thanksgiving with good friend; December brought Nana from Europe and a really, really wonderful Christmas.

Lots of other things in between keeping us busy and often frantic and stressed, but in spite of all the challenges work-wise and career-wise for both Rich and I, the arrival of baby Charlie - Rafi's little baby Toast - has made it really very special. 

It feels so trite to say how lucky I feel to have two such lovely boys, but the truth is I really do feel that lucky. Raf adores his brother and Charlie is incredibly sweet. I am absolutely dreading returning to work fully now the holidays are over, especially since Charlie won't take a bottle, but 2013 will be quite the year, I'm sure, as Charlie and Raf grow up even more. I really just want them to stay the exact ages they are right now!

As for our New Year... we didn't do too much. We had a nice English style buffet with English crackers and pickle and vegan cheese, and at 7pm our time - but midnight in the UK - we celebrated the new year. Raf was quite excited. 

Charlie, however, was soon fast asleep...  not a partier, it seems.

While co-sleeping with a preschooler and an infant may not be for the faint of heart (it can be exhausting!), I have to admit that we do love it. This morning, Raf's first words: 'Mummy, morning. I like you best'! Mind you he then said he liked Mummy, Daddy, Charlie and Nana best, so he's not that discerning and a bit fickle :)

The boys do love to have morning cuddles, though.

It was a pretty low key day. Rich and Raf built some pretty great bridges with the legos Nana bought Raf...

Oops! "We will rebuild"... was the motto of the day after several crashes.

After too many episodes of Blues Clues, we bundled up the boys and took them for the first (FREEZING!) walk of the year. Raf had a lot of fun chasing his dad and then being chased by him. "Come and get me, Dad'!

Charlie was the warmest of us all! As we came in from the walk, Raf took the opportunity to have a bounce on the trampoline that we've moved into the garage. I'd like to think that all of this activity wore him out, but alas, I can still hear him upstairs as Rich tries to get him to sleep.

We had a very quickly eaten roast (Tofurky!) dinner tonight and a glass of champers, too. A good day to begin the year. We have lots of goals and hopes for the coming months and one of them is to write on this blog as often as possible - or to even post one picture of the boys a day - but we'll see how that goes. Frankly the coming months are going to be frantic as I return to work fully.

Happy New Year, friends!

Christmas 2012

We're a little behind with blogs... lots of advent adventures, though we had to skip a few days because a horrible bug has ripped through the house and all of us have been sick. Last night I started to come down with the virus going around and I have been a pretty miserable person because of it. Thankfully Charlie is at least showing signs of getting better. Nevertheless, we did have a really lovely Christmas.

Christmas Eve: Rafi leaves a snack for Santa. We didn't have time to make a mince pie so we left him cherry pie, a glass of soya milk, carrots for the reindeer, and, per Raf's request, a juice box for them, too. 

Before bedtime we enjoyed a pot of carrot and coriander soup with a delicious salad and garlic bread and then it was off to bed.. well, after a goodnight christmas eve kiss between the boys.  

Charlie has been really poorly and the night before Christmas eve he had a terrible night's sleep. He slept really well on Christmas eve, as did Rafi, but of course I was wide awake very early on and I could hardly wait for the boys to wake up! Alas, Charlie basically slept through the entire morning. 

I think that Raf had sort of forgotten that it was Christmas, and when I reminded him he shot up in bed and found his stocking! He was so excited and ripped through his stocking in record speed.

And then he moved on to Charlie's stocking... while poor old Charlie slept through the entire thing. 

Eventually Charlie woke up and he joined us downstairs for some breakfast: a stack of banana pancakes and festive muffins. 

Getting ready to open some pressies. 

So many generous gifts. Trains figured highly, of course, but so did puzzles and legos, which he was super happy about. Mum was much too generous and Raf was properly spoilt with a host of gifts and another stocking. Fantastic pressies from his aunts in England, too, and some nice pyjamas from his Granddad Steve and Grandma June. 

Making a train out of clay. 

Pre lunch walk with the pups.. and a nap for a super excited 3 year old.

 

My silly boys.

Very late Christmas lunch: tofurky, potatoes, and so many vegetables. Raf is a real fun of tofurky. 

Post-lunch toy playing.

One final present... a big digger.

We had dinner so late that all we had for Christmas tea was a cup of tea and some cake. Raf and I made a Christmas tree cake and it was pretty good. 

As we had our tea we watched 'The Snowman'. Raf was absolutely mesmerized.

Once Raf was in bed Charlie and I opened some of Charlie's remaining presents without the help of his brother. He's so sweet!

Again, lots of generous gifts!

A really wonderful day with my boys and my mum. Always some sadness that my dad isn't here, especially since he'll never meet Charlie, but in spite of the sickness the day was pretty great. Charlie's first Christmas... and it snowed, too!