Colin's Collage from Sears. We got some in poses that were similar to pics we had from Alex. I can't wait to get them back! It was so nice to not have to drive 45 minutes to a portrait studio!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Colin - 8 1/2 months
Colin's Collage from Sears. We got some in poses that were similar to pics we had from Alex. I can't wait to get them back! It was so nice to not have to drive 45 minutes to a portrait studio!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Cute Video
A couple years ago, Great Grandma and Grandpa Miller bought Alex the Hallmark singing snowman and snowdog. Colin had fun dancing to it.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
8 Months
Colin has finally started rolling around during the past couple of weeks. He's much happier playing on the floor now that he can get off his tummy when he wants to. He's also finally back to sleeping at least 7 hours at a time during the night. Now the trick is to get him to take a decent nap or two during the day! The outfit he's wearing is one Alex also wore. The top pic is Alex wearing it at 3 months and the bottom one is Colin wearing it at 8 months! It's a bit big on both of them, but you can still see the size difference between the two.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Praise!
I got back a little while ago from a meeting with the principal at a local school here! She heard (through the school nurse) that I was back in town and she called yesterday to see if I'd be interested in taking a 3 month maternity leave position at her school! Of course, I jumped at the chance! It is in the Learning Disability room which I don't know a whole lot about but I'm sure I can piece things together and I know I'll have lots of help from my coworkers! The best thing about it (besides having a job every day in the same place for 3 months) is that after 15 days of sub pay... I start getting the daily rate that I would receive if I was a permanent teacher. This is more than double what I would make as a sub!!!!!! We'll still have to try to live on our sub pay and save the extra for the summer in case we are without work for a little while. But that is a great sacrifice to have to make!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Long Time... No Blog!
Holy cow! I came home from subbing today to a very quiet house and no family in sight. I'm going to assume they are upstairs napping and take advantage of the few minutes of peace (although there are dishes, laundry more unpacking etc.) to fill you all in on the million things that have been happening in the Rayment family lately.
To begin... I'm never moving again!!!! Ok, I really shouldn't say never because I should have learned that lesson when I told God I wouldn't be a teacher or go to Indiana Wesleyan. Obviously He had other plans. So I'll rephrase it and say I hope I never have to move again... or if we do, the house will need to be sold first and then I don't think we'll ever buy a house again. Because that is the main reason we ended up back here in the first place.
Anyway, packing was H-E-Double Hockey Sticks! Loading the truck was even worse... if that is possible. Needless to say our original plan of me having both boys so that Alex could help occupy Colin was thrown out the window when we needed to still find room for the baby swing, rocking chair, vacuum and a bunch of other little things that we thought would fit in the truck. Bottom Line - We have way tooooooo much stuff. Alex ended up in the truck with Chris which he loved! I had Colin and the two cats, thankfully the tranquelizers worked and kept the cats quiet. The plan was to leave Friday night but because we were still trying to load everything in at 8:00 pm we went to plan B. A huge thank you goes out Krista who watched the boys, Catie who helped me finish packing and cleaning, Ann who let us spend the night at their house (which is a whole other story), and Tom and Ray who helped load the truck! We couldn't have done it without you guys!
So we spent the night at Ann and Gordon's, and got up at 3:30 and were out the door by 4:30 am on our way to Marion! The ride went well and Colin slept a whole lot more than I had anticipated which is a huge answer to prayer!
To make another long story short, less than an hour after we arrived and started unloading the truck I was bit in the mouth by a Boxer dog. Chris and I then spent the next 4 hours in the ER while the wonderful people from Chapel Pike Wesleyan unloaded the truck for us. Other than giving a few reading lessons to a couple of mischievous helpers (such as how to read the words... bathroom, kitchen, boys' room), we couldn't have done it without Chapel Pike! Not only did they unload the truck, they cleaned our house and carpets and filled our kitchen cupboards before we moved in! They also put us in a hotel for 2 nights which was a godsend!
So 9 stitches later and a day later we set about to unpack and re-move back into our house. We have already starting subbing in the local schools and have been busy just about every day. Alex has returned to Debbi's daycare and is loving it. Colin is finally starting to adjust to our new schedule and is back sleeping in his crib for at least the first half of the night. My project over Christmas break is to get him to go back to sleep in it for the second half as well.
I can't wholeheartedly say we're glad to be back yet, but I know this is God's will and we will continue to adjust. It is very nice to be back with the friends and church we dearly missed, but as for the "big" city life, crime and traffic... well, that's a whole other ball game. We will really miss the small town life of Black River Falls and the awesome friends we made there.
I am very thankful to put the uncertainty of the past six months behind us for the most part. We don't know from day to day whether or not we'll have jobs at the schools and it looks like I won't be getting a teaching position anytime soon since they layed off 58 teachers the week we moved back. But we're trying to keep our eyes and minds open to new possibilities.
In addition to subbing, I am the lead teacher for the SPECTRA tutoring program two afternoons a week and Chris is focusing on getting his computer business back up and running. There is also a possibility that I may be able to take a long term sub position from Jan. - March which would increase my pay during that time.
As for the boys - Colin is finally rolling all over the place, babbling a lot and loving his solid food. Alex is having a blast preparing for the Christmas program at church this Sunday. Christmas pics and our newsletter may be a bit late this year but I hope to get started on them soon.
To begin... I'm never moving again!!!! Ok, I really shouldn't say never because I should have learned that lesson when I told God I wouldn't be a teacher or go to Indiana Wesleyan. Obviously He had other plans. So I'll rephrase it and say I hope I never have to move again... or if we do, the house will need to be sold first and then I don't think we'll ever buy a house again. Because that is the main reason we ended up back here in the first place.
Anyway, packing was H-E-Double Hockey Sticks! Loading the truck was even worse... if that is possible. Needless to say our original plan of me having both boys so that Alex could help occupy Colin was thrown out the window when we needed to still find room for the baby swing, rocking chair, vacuum and a bunch of other little things that we thought would fit in the truck. Bottom Line - We have way tooooooo much stuff. Alex ended up in the truck with Chris which he loved! I had Colin and the two cats, thankfully the tranquelizers worked and kept the cats quiet. The plan was to leave Friday night but because we were still trying to load everything in at 8:00 pm we went to plan B. A huge thank you goes out Krista who watched the boys, Catie who helped me finish packing and cleaning, Ann who let us spend the night at their house (which is a whole other story), and Tom and Ray who helped load the truck! We couldn't have done it without you guys!
So we spent the night at Ann and Gordon's, and got up at 3:30 and were out the door by 4:30 am on our way to Marion! The ride went well and Colin slept a whole lot more than I had anticipated which is a huge answer to prayer!
To make another long story short, less than an hour after we arrived and started unloading the truck I was bit in the mouth by a Boxer dog. Chris and I then spent the next 4 hours in the ER while the wonderful people from Chapel Pike Wesleyan unloaded the truck for us. Other than giving a few reading lessons to a couple of mischievous helpers (such as how to read the words... bathroom, kitchen, boys' room), we couldn't have done it without Chapel Pike! Not only did they unload the truck, they cleaned our house and carpets and filled our kitchen cupboards before we moved in! They also put us in a hotel for 2 nights which was a godsend!
So 9 stitches later and a day later we set about to unpack and re-move back into our house. We have already starting subbing in the local schools and have been busy just about every day. Alex has returned to Debbi's daycare and is loving it. Colin is finally starting to adjust to our new schedule and is back sleeping in his crib for at least the first half of the night. My project over Christmas break is to get him to go back to sleep in it for the second half as well.
I can't wholeheartedly say we're glad to be back yet, but I know this is God's will and we will continue to adjust. It is very nice to be back with the friends and church we dearly missed, but as for the "big" city life, crime and traffic... well, that's a whole other ball game. We will really miss the small town life of Black River Falls and the awesome friends we made there.
I am very thankful to put the uncertainty of the past six months behind us for the most part. We don't know from day to day whether or not we'll have jobs at the schools and it looks like I won't be getting a teaching position anytime soon since they layed off 58 teachers the week we moved back. But we're trying to keep our eyes and minds open to new possibilities.
In addition to subbing, I am the lead teacher for the SPECTRA tutoring program two afternoons a week and Chris is focusing on getting his computer business back up and running. There is also a possibility that I may be able to take a long term sub position from Jan. - March which would increase my pay during that time.
As for the boys - Colin is finally rolling all over the place, babbling a lot and loving his solid food. Alex is having a blast preparing for the Christmas program at church this Sunday. Christmas pics and our newsletter may be a bit late this year but I hope to get started on them soon.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
A Time to Trust
I will update soon with Alex's 5 year and Colin's 7 month pictures. But this is from my devotional today and I needed to post it here... more for me than anyone so I won't ever forget how God has provided in our time on need. Now that we have made plans to move back to IN, I find myself relapsing into my habit of trying to plan everything and convince people that everything is under control. When in reality I have no clue what to expect. Yeah, we're planning on going back to subbing but that will still leave us for at least a month without an income because of a 3 week Christmas break and a 2 week delay in paychecks when we do have sub jobs. And that is MY plan. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if God has something totally different in store. I know God still has everything under HIS control and we will be taken care of but I must continue the struggle to leave it in His ever capable hands.
Do You Trust Me?
Today's Truth
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:6, 7
I believe that when we go through a trial which wounds us deeply, God can use it to teach us valuable lessons. Some of those lessons are a deeper understanding of who God is, of who we are, and of what we truly believe. Our faith grows in the Petri dish of struggles in the laboratory of life. One of my most valuable lessons, through all my wounds and scars, was a decision to stop saying "why me" and to begin saying "what now." But the lesson that continues reverberating like a gentle thunder is the truth of God's unfailing love.
During the months that followed the loss of our child, I struggled with God. Just as Jacob wrestled with God through his dark night of the soul, I wrestled as well.
How could He love me and allow this to happen? Why would God withhold my dream? Is He able? Is He kind? Is He really there?
It was a dry summer...in my heart and soul. No one could help me, comfort me, or lift me out of my despair. And while I didn't want to talk to God, He never left my side. Patiently, He waited for me to cry out to Him... to say, I will trust you even though I do not understand.
No matter what you are going through today, you can believe this my friend. God's love never fails and He will always be by your side. You can trust Him.
Let's Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, sometimes I do not understand why bad things happen, but like a child who loves her daddy, I trust You. Help me to move past the pain and find the purpose. Even when I cannot see the road ahead, help me simply to take the next step, trusting You in the dark. Thank You for giving me just enough light for the step I'm on.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
Thursday, November 01, 2007
The time has come...
We are giving our 30 day notice today and making plans to move back to Marion. We will hopefully be back in IN that Sat. or Sun. after Thanksgiving. God could still intervene and we would be open to that, but we both have a peace about moving back as well. We can both start subbing right away (Chris can't sub here without a big hassle and they have a ton of subs anyway) and Alex's daycare provider is ready take the boys back in an instant (which was another problem here... no infant care). We found a wonderful church here but are looking forward to being back in the flock with Pastor Steve and Pastor Brian. So.... Marion here we come!!!!!!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Carving Pumpkins
This past weekend Chris' Great Aunt Mary and her daughter, Cathy, and granddaughter, Ariel, stopped by for a visit on their way to the Mall of America. We had a great time hanging out, carving pumpkins and swimming at the hotel pool. Alex is doing awesome in the pool now. I never thought I'd see the day when he wasn't clinging to us in water deeper than 2 feet but he can now swim the length of the pool with his life jacket on and loves jumping in. He's definitely ready for swimming lessons next summer.
Ariel's is the Boo!, Colin's has 2 bottom teeth, and Alex wanted the vampire.
Ariel's is the Boo!, Colin's has 2 bottom teeth, and Alex wanted the vampire.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
A bunch of stuff
Not a whole lot going on around here. God continues to provide and we continue to wait on his answer to our prayers. In the meantime, here are some more peaks into life right now.
We put together the crib last week. Although we will likely be moving (either to IN or somewhere else in Black River), we decided that if it would help us (and him) get more sleep for 5 weeks it would totally be worth it. It has worked like a charm. He's back to sleeping at least 7 hours in a stretch at night and has put himself back to sleep many times. The whole putting himself back to sleep thing has been unheard of to this point. He's also sleeping at least one 2 hour stretch during the day which is a miracle, too. Before this we were lucky to get an hour here and there. I've also taken out the nightlight (because Alex is sleeping in our room anyway) and I think that helps him when he can't look around and wake up even more. All in all, it was definitely worth the hour it took to put together. The next step will be to reintroduce Alex into his bed at night after Colin is more consistent.
We put together the crib last week. Although we will likely be moving (either to IN or somewhere else in Black River), we decided that if it would help us (and him) get more sleep for 5 weeks it would totally be worth it. It has worked like a charm. He's back to sleeping at least 7 hours in a stretch at night and has put himself back to sleep many times. The whole putting himself back to sleep thing has been unheard of to this point. He's also sleeping at least one 2 hour stretch during the day which is a miracle, too. Before this we were lucky to get an hour here and there. I've also taken out the nightlight (because Alex is sleeping in our room anyway) and I think that helps him when he can't look around and wake up even more. All in all, it was definitely worth the hour it took to put together. The next step will be to reintroduce Alex into his bed at night after Colin is more consistent.
Colin loves to suck on this rattle. It looks like he's licking a lollipop.
Blowing bubbles
The birds are back! I put the feeders back out yesterday and we have been bombarded with birds. Some of which we have never seen before. We found an ok website to identify them but are going to look for a better bird book at the library to assist.
Mrs. Cardinal
Mr. Cardinal
Mr. Jay
Blowing Raspberries
Colin was so funny last week. He spent a good half hour blowing raspberries. You can just see the slime glisten around his mouth. He is going to have the best "car" sound around when he gets old enough to play cars with his brother. Who knows, we might also have a trumpet player in the makings (see Mommy grimace?).
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sitting up
In addition to cutting 2 more teeth this past week (for a total of 5), Colin learned to sit up for at least 5 minutes by himself. Someone still has to be close by because we never know when he'll topple over but he is loving his new view. 
Apple Cider
Yesterday we had a wonderful opportunity to make a Fall Favorite - Apple Cider. Chris' friend, Jerry, has a cider press and he, with the help of Marci, another friend, invited us out to make our own cider. We had a great time. Thanks Marci and Jerry!
Washing off the apples.
Putting them into the chopper.
Getting ready to press out the cider.
Here it comes.
Sifting into the containers.We made just over 5 gallons! It was delicious!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
6 months
Colin had his 6 month check up today. He weighs 16 pounds and is 26 3/4 inches long and got 2 shots. No more shots until April!!!!! Last weekend we went to Cain's Apple Orchard and attempted some family pictures. Although neither of the boys were very cooperative we got some decent pics. I used Picasa2, the new Google picture program to do a couple cool effects on Colin's bathtub pic (look in the mirror in case you missed it) and with Alex's pic. We got a good pic of all of us but you'll have to wait until Christmas to see it.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
100th post
I was trying to think of something earthshattering to write about for my 100th post. But since I'm not an earthshattering kind of person here goes nothing.... We have another tooth... and pink eye... I'd been checking Colin's mouth off and on last week because he was an absolute bear at night and still nothing. But yesterday I checked again and he had cut it through. That makes 3 teeth before 6 months. I'm sure the 4th won't be too far behind.
BTW, I'm finally getting the hang of this "one-handed typing at 6 in the morning" thing. But I shouldn't complain because Colin's back to sleeping almost all night and he actually put himself back to sleep at 1:00 this morning. Alex loves having Colin in his room and sleeps through most of Colin's fussing but I hate letting him fuss too long for fear I'll have 2 boys to put back to sleep. Last night, though, Alex slept with me since Daddy's enduring a few more nights of 3rd shift. So I didn't worry about Colin waking Alex up and let him fuss. Took about 20 minutes but he did it! Colin did wake up this morning with a poopy diaper and what appears to be pink eye. Hopefully the poopy diaper didn't happen at 1:00 but I wasn't about to go in the room unless he was really crying. Got a call into the doctor to see if I need to take him in, but it's been going around at the daycare I work at so I might have brought it home (although I do wash my hands before I love on Colin when I get home). Fortunately I have a high immune system and rarely get the "sickness bugs" but not so for the rest of my family.
Well, (20 minutes later after a load of laundry, Chris coming home, Alex waking up, and a failed search for my slippers because it's a chilly morning) as I close my 100th post, I'd like to thank all you faithful readers. When Chris first started this blog, he had no idea I would TAKE OVER and soon kick him off and his deep thoughts off MY blog. But thank you Bear for introducing me to the Blog World. It has been a wonderful experience!
BTW, I'm finally getting the hang of this "one-handed typing at 6 in the morning" thing. But I shouldn't complain because Colin's back to sleeping almost all night and he actually put himself back to sleep at 1:00 this morning. Alex loves having Colin in his room and sleeps through most of Colin's fussing but I hate letting him fuss too long for fear I'll have 2 boys to put back to sleep. Last night, though, Alex slept with me since Daddy's enduring a few more nights of 3rd shift. So I didn't worry about Colin waking Alex up and let him fuss. Took about 20 minutes but he did it! Colin did wake up this morning with a poopy diaper and what appears to be pink eye. Hopefully the poopy diaper didn't happen at 1:00 but I wasn't about to go in the room unless he was really crying. Got a call into the doctor to see if I need to take him in, but it's been going around at the daycare I work at so I might have brought it home (although I do wash my hands before I love on Colin when I get home). Fortunately I have a high immune system and rarely get the "sickness bugs" but not so for the rest of my family.
Well, (20 minutes later after a load of laundry, Chris coming home, Alex waking up, and a failed search for my slippers because it's a chilly morning) as I close my 100th post, I'd like to thank all you faithful readers. When Chris first started this blog, he had no idea I would TAKE OVER and soon kick him off and his deep thoughts off MY blog. But thank you Bear for introducing me to the Blog World. It has been a wonderful experience!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Baby dance video
Hopefully all the posts today will make up for the severe lack of posting lately. We really haven't been able to figure out if we're coming or going lately. They boys are still doing well. Colin would be doing even better if I could figure out what makes him sleep 8-10 hours 1 or 2 nights a week and then be up to eat 4 or 5 times a night on the other nights. Letting Alex cry it out really worked but since they share a room, I'm not sure I'm really ready to try that yet.
Other than the sleep issues, Colin is doing great on his cereal and I think we found a good formula to supplement with that he doesn't puke back up. We're done nursing sooner that I had hoped but I'm still pumping as much as I can, mostly because it's free, and I know it's good for him. He's still only rolling over the one way, but is reaching for everything and is learning how to make many different sounds in addition to screaming and blowing raspberries. It's hard to believe he's almost 6 months already. Mommy still rates 3rd on the play toy list after Alex and Daddy. He squeals with delight whenever they are around and will stop everything when he hears their voices.
Alex's first published works
Alex's first ABC's. He did this all by himself a few weeks ago. I was so proud. Not bad for a boy who won't be in Kindergarten until next year (but I may be a bit biased).
Alex was playing on http://www.starfall.com/ this morning while I was in the shower and came to show me he had written these words. He picks up on things so fast and daily amazes us with something new!My Boys!
I sure have some crazy boys. They love being with each other. My prayer is that they will be the best of friends for life (like the song from The Fox and the Hound!)
Tubby Time
This was Colin's first time in the tub with his big brother. Alex sure was thrilled to finally have a tubby time playmate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)