Just chillin'

We've been doing a lot of this lately. . . just kicking back, enjoying life. I've been handling the summer heat well. . . I walk from the porch to the car to the clinic to the hospital to the clinic to the car to the porch. And otherwise I stay inside :) We're quite pleased that our first house update was to install central air conditioning when we moved in. Granted, we haven't gotten our first utility bill, but we agree that its worth it, whatever it is.

We've achieved so many milestones in the last couple of weeks!

• We (and by we I mean Dale) harvested our first goods from the garden (leaf lettuce--love it!)
• Logan is pretty much completely off baby food (and formula!). Now we just keep trying to come up with clever foods and snacks. The kid is a trash compactor. He ditched the bottle and now is ready for a birthday!
• I'm officially more pregnant (and still on my feet) than I've ever been. Tomorrow (Wed) correlates with the point in my last pregnancy when Logan demanded a birthday party. We had a quick trip to the doctor today and it looks we're gonna make it (at least past tomorrow :) Now we're in bonus territory, where each day is just a win for us. We get to stop having so many ultrasounds. I'll continue progesterone shots for a few more weeks and after that just try to be a normal pregnant person (that's the tricky part). She assures me each time I go in that I have the right to be a crazy woman, but I don't know if completely understands my baseline.
• We've had some fun times with family--enjoyed a nice relaxing day with Curtis and Jenn over the weekend. They were awesome houseguests (so maybe we all took 2 hour naps in the afternoon). We're not getting out and about as much as we probably usually would, but its nice to stick close to home sometimes too. We're looking forward to the 4th of July weekend this weekend. Unfortunately, we'll miss the Comstock extravaganza this year (which might be okay, because thats where I went into labor last time. . .oops) Anyway, it will be replaced by the Arcadia Q125 festivities, which we're also sad to miss. I'm on call over the long weekend so we'll take in our first ever Lone Tree Days here in Central City.

Alright, I should get off of here; there are things to do. Unfortunately, many of them are on my butt, but there's work to be done nonetheless. If mother nature cooperates, I'll be taking boards two weeks from today. It will be nice to have them out of the way.

Hope you're having a "cool" summer! Enjoy the holiday weekend and be safe (and stay the heck out of my ER!!)

Love to all of you from all of us.

Still cookin'

Hey thanks for your prayers. After this weekend I was pretty tired, and I think my body paid the price. I started feeling pretty rough. We had a routine ob appointment today, and everything continues to look great. Thank goodness! Fatigue and pregnancy hormones can be double trouble, and I went in expecting the worst. Logan is really excited to meet his brother/sister and clapped when my doctor walked into the room. So. . . we stay the course. I continue to be thankful for the awesome helpers in my life (i.e. my husband) who keep my burden light here at home, and my friends and family who try to keep my craziness in check.
Happy Hump Day tomorrow!

Think Tank

*sigh* This has been a week. Not one that I want to repeat anytime soon. It was full of grown-up stuff. I don't mean bill-paying, make-sure-there's-healthy-dinner-on-the-table grown-up stuff. I mean lessons. Life lessons that rock you to the core and make you survey your entire being and purpose. Ouch. I was reminded of a lot things.

*life is fragile

*we are not in charge

*sometimes even your best effort isn't enough

*life isn't fair. . . and it isn't supposed to be

*people will appreciate you for who you are, even if you fall short of your expectations

*failure isn't ours to assess



I'm grateful, however, that these were reminders, instead of things I was having to learn for the very first time. You see, I'm a big believer in practice. I don't necessarily believe that practice makes perfect, but I believe that practice makes prepared. For what?? We'll know when the time comes. In college I had a very insightful friend with whom I frequently spoke about relationships and the future. I'm not sure how we ever stumbled upon the topic, but I remember talking over coffee about practicing to be a great wife and mother, and about asking God for opportunities to do just that. As it turns out, I didn't meet my husband (or my child(ren) for that matter) for many years. But I do believe practice makes prepared. Sometimes life seems a bit mundane, but if we continue to practice, when the time comes (and we'll know when it comes) we'll be ready.



I wasn't the only one who had a rough week. I wouldn't say my week was rough. . . I'd say it was insightful. . . and blessed. Last week I watched a friend, who had obviously practiced, have to take the stage as an outstanding father, husband, friend, physician, teacher, and mentor, all in a period of about 48 hours. He was called to step up to the plate more than once. And he did a great job. He handled his challenges with incredible grace. . . all because he'd practiced. Was it glamorous? Certainly not. Did he win? Not by everyone's standards. Unfortunately, we were all also reminded of the importance of practicing what matters most. . . being a child of God and being ready at the very second we're called Home. . . whenever that may be. We were reminded that we're only human, called to do our very best, but that ultimately (and I've said this before) we are not in charge. We just work here.



It hurts to fall short. But it hurts a little less when we fall short of our own expectations and humbly realize that our earthly efforts, while part of God's master plan, are not meant to determine fate. They're practice.



I was humbled this week, and a little overwhelmed by the gifts I've been given. I've been gifted a spouse, and charged with the task of helping him get to heaven. I've been gifted a son (and sometime soon, but not-too-soon another baby) and what a huge task. . . to help them along their earthly way! I've also been gifted a profession where I have witnessed both the resilience and fragility of life, in a very real way. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life; for helping me practice for the next time I'll be called to an incredible task.

JUNE!

Sorry for the little photo--Allyssa took it and I stole it off of Facebook. I love it. . . I haven't been able to capture a full-on smile on camera.

Holy cow, has it been almost a month??? Sorry for ditching the blog lately. We've been loving the warmer weather and have been running around a bit. I swear, May flew by like a rocket. We enjoyed lots of family time and celebrations and transitions: graduation, retirement, and a celebration of life, just to name a few. Logan got in Gma and Gpa time here and there. He is still growing like a weed. He's starting to be a little mischevious, and requires more attention now. He's mobile with his crawl/belly flop/roll/bear crawl routine. He also loves to be up on his feet, found out what happens when he puts one in front of the other (with help, of course), and wants to take everything apart.


Baby 2 continues to look great. I'm going in for appts every 2 weeks, and so far things are good. Someone asked today how far along I am. I answered 27 weeks + 3 days. The she asked me, "And who's counting?" I am. Man, I have such a new respect for every single day of healthy pregnancy (someone please remind me of that in August when I'm as big as a house and ready to be done :) So until further notice, I will count every single day. And be grateful for it. (S)he is growing well and likes to play footsie with big brother when he's sitting on my lap.

Work is intermittently busy. I'm hoping to take boards again in July, if the baby behaves, so I'm trying to sneak in a little bit of studying here and there. It will be nice to be done with them as they've loomed over me for a while. Dale continues to be an awesome at-home dad and "domestic manager" (hehe). Seriously, he keeps this place afloat. Between him and our nanny, Rachael, Logan is well cared for and loved loved loved!

Any big plans for you this summer? We're going to stick close to home for obvious reasons, but we always love visitors. I got some rockin' chairs (literally) for Mother's Day that are perched on the front porch and are pretty darned relaxing at dusk with a cold beverage. If you're going to be in the area, give us a call!

Enjoy the sunshine! Until next time. . .