2 months and 2 years...

Today is our 2 year anniversary! It's so hard to believe how time flies and how much has happened in our lives over the past two years. With each new day, I love Tim more and feel so blessed to have him in my life. If it weren't amazing enough just being married to the guy, now I also get the opportunity to parent a child together with him! I'd say I'm the luckiest gal in town, or maybe in the whole - wide - world!

Sebastian just had his 2 month well child check yesterday. Again, it's incredible to comprehend how fast time is flying by, how old (relatively speaking) he's getting, and how much he's growing. We had taken bets on his weight and height from our family and friends over the past week or so, and we were surprised to find out that no one was close on his weight. I think everyone we asked guessed over 13 pounds for his weight. I guess those cloth diapers add some extra weight, huh? So here's his shot on the scale:

He weighed in at 12 lbs, 7.5 oz... rounded up to 12 lbs, 8 oz, which is the 65th percentile. Our guessers seemed to do much better at his height, which was 24.5 inches (92nd percentile). So, he's turning out to be tall and lean, just like his Daddy.

Sebastian has taken to sucking his fingers these days. He sucks on them so hard and pushes them in so deep, that he often gags himself. I'm working on behavior modification... but he just hasn't quite gotten it yet. ;) Those fingers must taste good, and I haven't put anything tasty on them!

He had some shots yesterday as well, and he did just fine. Of course he did. Much better than his Mama. I'm guessing this is how many things in his life may turn out...

Tim & I are going out tonight for the first time since Sebastian was born. When I say "out," I mean out alone, no baby, just the two of us! Seems like an impossible task, but we're actually going to have our first date night since Seb joined our family. And what a better choice of nights than our anniversary?!?! Again, I'm sure this will be one of those things that will be much more difficult for Mama than for the babe. Eek! But, he'll be in good hands; our dear friends Rachel and Peter have agreed to keep him for a couple of hours. So thanks in advance. :) I'm sure he'll be well behaved for you!

So much goodness to celebrate! Which is a great thing right now, because there are other things going on around us that could potentially get me down - like thinking about going back to work (in 19 days...sigh), craziness at work that's been brewing while I've been out on maternity leave, witnessing domestic violence disputes in the street outside our church and having to call 9-1-1 (with a small child physically caught in the middle - literally), a messed up health care system and bad economy, PBS wanting to get rid of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, and much, much more.

But really it's so much better to focus on the good things in life - because there are so many really good things! ...like a wonderful marriage with a wonderful husband, a beautiful, healthy baby, a house with a roof, clean, bountiful running water, projects that are making progress around the house, jobs with benefits, awesome family, grilled beets, corn on the cob, ice cream (had to throw some of my summertime favorites in there), a new chest freezer, restful nights, state representatives that go to bat for us (yeah, Mike Sturla), great friends, the best group of partners a doc could ask for, and the new phones that Tim got for his birthday that can double as an intercom system so I can be three floors away from my little guy while he naps and hear him when he wakes up! (I know they make these things called monitors, but why bother when you have technology working for you already in your home.) Anyways, there is so much to be thankful for... and so many good things!

And just to refresh your memory... a blast from (not-so-distant) past:

Happy Anniversary, Timmy! I love you more with every day! And happy growing, Sebastian! You bring us great JOY!

An anniversary getaway to the Poconos!

Our lives are busy - busy enough that Tim and I both forgot that it was our anniversary this year! And not just any anniversary, but our first anniversary. I was on call the weekend before our anniversary, we planned a meeting at our house the night of our anniversary, and I was on call the Friday after our anniversary. Eek! We were able to laugh off our forgetfulness (chalking it up to wedded bliss), feeling like every day is like our anniversary.

So, even though it was a bit of a challange to get everything coordinated, we were bound and determined to get out of town and do something fun, just the two of us, to celebrate our 1st anniversary. We packed up the camping gear (leaving only a few important things behind, like the sleeping mats and the camping coffee percolator), put our bikes on the bike rack, and headed to the Poconos. It took us forever to get there on Saturday, because we kept stopping about every 15-20 minutes to check on the bikes, since it seemed that our bike rack wasn't holding them quite tight enough - and after all that trouble, we ended up never riding them while were on the trip! We arrived to Hickory Run State Park, where we set up camp. It's a large State Park with lots of things to see and do. We had a little rain (but not enough to ruin our time), some great food cooked on the grill, wonderful camp fires, a trip to a boulder field, some noisy camping neighbors heading out to the races at 4 am, and a little excursion down the Lehigh Gorge on whitewater rafts on Sunday.

I thought a rafting trip in the Poconos would be somewhat reminiscent of our honeymoon, whitewater rafting in Costa Rica, but we quickly learned that we were a far way away from the class 4+ rapids of the Pacuare River. First, we arrived to this huge operation with people scattered everywhere, then we went to get our life vests. When I asked where our helmets were (coming from the experience of nearly losing my husband on day three of our marriage in the middle of a ginormous rapid in Costa Rica), we were told that we wouldn't need them; only the folks who traveled alone in kayaks used them. Huh? No helmets? Then we got paired up with a family from eastern Europe, who said they had done this before. They all wanted to be in charge, at the same time, and didn't have the commands down to guide the team of rowers. Previously, I had only rafted with a professional guide in each boat. This outfitter had four "guides" on kayaks corraling the herds of rafters - there were probably 40 or more rafts in our group. Again, a very different experience from rafting in Central America. After running into several rocks and losing two of our fellow rafters to the river, Tim finally took the guide's seat in our boat, and the rest of the ride was smooth sailing. All in all, we had a fun time, had nice weather, and got out on the water. We had several things to laugh about during the day, and we dreamed of being back in Costa Rica, at our favorite honeymoon spot.

It was a short, but much needed, getaway, and we came home with sore bodies, but refreshed minds and spirits. One year down, and a gazillion more to go.

The week in review...

So I realized that it's been a very long time since I've done much posting - almost a month, as a matter of fact! Except for the pictures of my jewelry that I posted yesterday before the power outage (lasting 4 hours) and the -even worse- cable outage, lasting almost 24 hours. I'm as happy as a clam to have internet back, and figured it was time to do some blogging. It's crazy to realize how dependent we are on the internet, at least in this household, in 2008. We don't have TV, so this is our source for all things informative, not to mention how I check on the jewelry business, communicate with friends and family and follow things at the hospital while I'm on call (like right now!). Anyways, the internet is back, and so am I!

Since it's been so long, I just thought I'd post some updates...

First, we have a wonderful new outdoors patio set, which we just assembled last night. Check out the picture (a view from above on our balcony) - it was made from tropical woods (maybe acacia?!?) in Indonesia, and we were ever-so-pleased to purchase it, knowing that it was Forest Stewardship Council certified, which means sustainable and responsible methods of forestry were used to get the wood to make our super sweet table. The best news is that I ordered the table, chairs and benches on clearance, and when I ordered them, it said that there were only three chairs left, so, I ordered three chairs and two benches to have seating the whole way around our 7 foot table. When they arrived, the cartons for the chairs said "two chairs per carton." What a surprise! No where did it say that on the website nor the order form... so it seems like we got 2 for the price of 1! And we thought they were a bargain when they were the price for just one! So now we have a table, six chairs and two benches. We put the extra bench on the front porch for now, to create a sitting area out there to watch the cars and people go by on our quiet city street. Isn't our furniture lovely?!? Now you'll all have to come over and have dinner with us! We're starting with my parents tonight to break in the new table and chairs.

While having new patio furniture is exciting, it was a bit of a sad week, because I went to my third-ever funeral of a patient. This funeral was particularly sad, because it was a baby that I had delivered the week before, that was born still-born. Everything seemed fine up until the day the baby was born, when the teenage mom developed belly pain and all of a sudden didn't feel the baby move anymore. We still don't know what happened, and likely never will. My patient is doing as well as can be expected, but this is incredibly difficult for her and her family. Some things are so hard to understand no matter how old you are, but especially when you've just finished 9th grade. I was glad to be able to get coverage during my office hours to make it to the funeral - my patient and her family were all very appreciative.

We had a lovely surprise in our front yard! Which was a wonderful reminder of growth and new life (even when there are sad times and death). My sister-in-law, Lydia, had done landscaping for us in the front yard (which is gorgeous!), and somehow snuck in a surprise. About two weeks ago, I noticed leaves that didn't seem like anything else in our yard, yet strangely familiar to me. Sure enough, out popped my favorite flower, a calla lilly, and then more and more. They keep coming, one at a time! They're beautiful, and in MY yard (as opposed to some garden or alongside the road in Mexico). Thanks, Lydia.

Tim and a friend, Jason, spent the day doing the prep work to re-do the electrical work in our master bedroom. We only have two outlets, as it stands now, but soon we'll have a total of 6, plus lights in the closet, that don't currently exist. One step at a time, the master bedroom will become a wonderful retreat! Can't wait to have lots of zzzz's in that space. :)

Tim and I both must have been distracted this week, because three days in a row, we did a load of laundry and forgot that it was there! Of course, with the dampness and the hot, steamy days of July, by the next day when we remembered, the items were asking to PLEASE be washed again! At least we use eco-friendly laundry detergent, but so much for doing our deed in terms of minimizing our carbon foot print this week!

I guess we didn't do too badly, now that I think about it - we dry all of our clothes on drying racks or on the line (some day I'll have a wonderful pully system to dry our clothes on, but for now it's been added to the "list"), Tim has upped our rain barrel count to 10 (I told him that I bet no one else in Lancaster City owns so many rain barrels), and I ride my bike to work while Tim car pools with two other guys.

We're coming up on our 1st anniversary very, very soon! Just three days away! So hard to believe that we've been married now for one whole year. When I think about what the year has brought, I'm overwhelmed with joy and blessings. I have a wonderful husband, a great house (with lots of projects to keep us all busy for a long time), a fabulous group of partners to work with (go SELHS!), family and friends close by, and wonderful vegetables to eat everynight from our local CSA. Yum!

Speaking of vegetables, it's time to get on with dinner - chard cheese bake (delicious recipe from Simply in Season), grilled corn on the cob, beets, sweet potatoes, and pineapple (not from the CSA, sadly, but every now and then we break down and go with the splurges beyond what our local produce can offer), fresh baked bread from Ric's Bread at Central Market, something to do with cucumbers, and surely blueberries for dessert... all at our new table! Summer is great!