4 Months and Counting!

 Hello, my sweet 4-month-old! I proudly whispered to baby girl today, as I cuddled with her in bed, breathing in her fresh scent of milk, and tracing the outline of muscles forming along her dimpled arms and cherubim-like legs. She's growing stronger with each passing week.

Ruby's latest developments include her current obsession with turning over - or trying to, as much as possible throughout the day. The other night, Ken watched baby girl turn over twice. And then yesterday afternoon, Ruby was able to turn from her back to her stomach nearly five times in a row. She isn't quite sure how to get from her belly onto her back again after the initial turn, so I assist her in returning to a comfortable starting point. Baby girl is very active, and tries to put everything in her mouth these days. Rattles, toys, fingers (hers and mine), bibs - everything around her seems equally tasty. I keep checking for teeth but there's no sign of them yet.

Our little one loves to smile and makes all sorts of fun noises throughout the day. Ken and I refer to one such noise as 'the pterodactyl', which is a high pitched scream. Ruby enjoys our daily walks to the nearby park and seems to focus on the trees swaying in the summer breeze. Green might be her favorite color.

Baby girl's hair has changed from light brown to blonde, and her eyes are now a more pronounced hazel-green, with blueish-gray edges. We are so curious to see what color her eyes and hair become and eventually stay, by her first birthday hopefully. She is such a beautiful little girl, loved deeply by family and friends.

This past month, we've been blessed by Ken's mom in coming to watch Ruby for intermittent date nights. Being a mom is a unique and wonderful blessing, and I recognize that in order for me to be great at this new role, I need downtime to recharge and rest (when possible) as well as quality time with Ken. This space during dates has allowed Ken and me to dream together, and consider our goals for the future. Where we might live next, what we'd like to pursue vocationally, and travel ideas - there are so many fun things to discuss as we consider our vision for family, community, and living intentionally.

As Ken and I prepare to celebrate our 5th anniversary in a few weeks, I can't help but praise God for this special season of our lives. We became parents this year to a very special little girl. Ruby, we love you so much.

*In sitting down down to finish this blog entry (writing is something I come back to throughout the day as Ruby allows), Ken got home from work and surprised us with a slice of dark chocolate raspberry cake from one of my favorite bake shops. What a treat. He knows me so well!

Happy 4 months, baby girl!

Our Month in Europe: Reflections on Last Summer Abroad

A year ago, today. That's when Ken and I started our month-long travels throughout Western Europe. June 26, 2013 was the beginning of an epic summer abroad with my amazing husband. We kicked off Ken's graduation from the University of Washington's school of engineering, along with our third anniversary, in what was the culmination of three years of intense saving followed by six months of dedicated planning.

We traveled to 7 countries, if you include the Vatican. The lineup consisted of Germany, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Vatican City, Switzerland and France. I tallied about 15,752 miles traveled for us in those 29 days. Ken and I felt extremely privileged to find such great deals on travel and accommodations, as we did our research and relied heavily upon Rick Steves' famous travel books and videos (thanks again to our dear friends Kim and Sarah who gifted us with these things!) In total, Ken and I spent less than $7,000, an extraordinary feat for what we got out of our money. Our round-trip tickets from Seattle to Europe were about $1250 each, our week-long all-inclusive cruise along the Greek Isles was about $1400 for the two of us (with all taxes, gratuities, surcharges included), and we were able to rent cars in every country at a great price through EuropCar.

Together, Ken and I lived off of a daily budget we laid out a month or two in advance, and stayed mostly at hotels (in the most basic sense) that we booked through Expedia's web site. My favorite things we purchased on our trip were the postcards I sent friends and the little chocolates and souvenirs that I gathered in each country to gift to others. My favorite memories include the scooter ride Ken took me on through the narrow, hilly streets of Mykonos, Greece, eating chocolate croissants and sipping cappuccinos while perusing the local markets in Florence, Italy, hiking up the Swiss Alps with packed picnic lunches (and taking the gondolas that scared me to death), jumping out of our little boat and into the refreshing, pristine waters once we got inside the Blue Grotto along the island of Capri (off the coast of Southern Italy), dining on fresh baked bread with homegrown olives, tapenade, and coffee in the steep hillside town of Lakones (which translates to "God's Balcony") in Italy, along with all the cultural interactions we had with the people we met from Europe and other continents. Some great connections, along with some misunderstandings.

I'm so thankful that Ken and I were able to embark upon such an incredible journey together - one that started well before Europe, I suppose, and continues on in this season of being homeowners and settling into life in Alaska. I'll leave you with some photos from our European adventures.

Ciao!