the rhythm of things.

It has been a busy summer, and I am so happy that fall is around the corner.  I think there is some space in my head that opens up every September when that crisp smell returns to the air and gusts of wind start showering the yard with pine-needles and leaves.  I quit feeling guilty about the disaster that has been the garden this summer, because–hey, it’s about to be rainy/muddy/cold for the next 9 months, so who cares.  Also I finally am feeling interested in my kitchen again, probably much to Henry’s relief, and am thinking about cooking chinese food and baking bread.

And we’re planning a birthday party, which is a wild concept to get my brain around, but that’s a topic for another post.

Anyway, I feel the time has come for a catch-up again.  Maybe I’ll be more regular with this thing this fall when the work schedule calms down (oh, yes, it’s going to calm down) and we are inside more due to the crappy weather.

1.  We had the parade of the Aunts in August.  Maggie came first, and stayed for about 3 weeks.  She has lived in Asia for the last (um?) 5 years and we haven’t seen her in the last 2… she’s been in India working on a master’s degree, and finally came home this summer.  Since my parents moved to Lake Tahoe, we got to have her at our house while she visited her (numerous) friends in the Portland area and got acquainted with Cora.  This is Maggie and Cora:

Maggie is now off in Massachusetts working with Heifer International and learning to be an organic farmer and cook, which she will presumably go and do in some far-flung location.  She’s going to Tufts next year to get a masters (I know– how many does a girl really need?) in public health and nutrition.

Bonnie came next, sadly for only a week.  She was in a wedding here in Portland and had to sandwich us in between a month in Ethiopia on a serve trip with her school and fall classes starting.  Bonnie lives in Madrid, and we don’t see her or Maggie as often as we like.  {A small part of me mourns the old-fashioned concept of a family all living in the same town (or country! or continent!) and spending regular time together, not buying plane tickets and obtaining passports for holidays, etc.  I think it is interesting that we live all over the frickin’ place, but I’d like everyone to be a little closer.  boo.}  My parents came up for the last few days of Bonnie’s visit, which was nice… here are Bonnie and the Bedford:

2. Last week we went out to New Jersey for the weekend to the shore house of Leah’s family, my soon-to-be sister-in-law.  She and Matt (Henry’s brother) are engaged, which we are thrilled about.  She is a beautiful, winning, kind girl with an extraordinarily nice family, and they seem very happy together.  Ronn and Margie were there as well, and it was such a treat to get to see them again after only 2 months since our visit in July to Michigan.  Cora is pretty nuts about all of her grandparents, and it has been so gratifying to watch them get acquainted.  Like an idiot, I forgot to bring my camera, so here are some pictures from our trip to Michigan in July:

Cora is growing very fond of books, and has taken to paging through them and babbling to herself, which is beyond cute.  Thanks in no small part to her grandparents reading to her and showering her with books.

Isn’t Lake Michigan so pretty?

3.  And what has Cora been up to lately?  Well, a lot.  She is a hysterically funny kid, into everything and with a sly sense of humor.  She likes to offer Henry or I a cheerio and at the last second before putting it in my mouth will change course and eat it herself, and laugh like a hyena.  It is an intentional fake-out, she thinks it is hilarious, and makes me marvel at how sophisticated her sense of humor is.  She loves to play peek-a-boo, and has started singing along with whatever music is playing.  She dances, mainly to the Michael Jackson Pandora station we’ve been listening to since all the Michael Jackson chaos this summer.  She sings along rather loudly in church, and finished the doxology a couple of weeks ago with a loud yell, which made the whole church laugh… she is generally a really happy, delightful baby.  She’s crawling everywhere, cruising around the furniture, eating dust bunnies and old food off the floor, and testing the boundaries (i.e. crawling up to the fireplace screen and then looking at me before touching it, anticipating the reaction).  She eats pretty much anything we put in front of her, and is still nursing 4 or 5 times a day.  We are still (very happily) using cloth diapers– it has saved us about a bajillion dollars, and after 11 months of heavy use are still more or less stain-free and holding up nicely.

I am still working in the ER, and trying to scale back a bit.  The usual schedule is 7a-3p mon/wed/fri, and on wednesday and friday we have a babysitter from when Henry leaves for work at 11 until I get home around 3:30.  It is working out well, but I’d like to get down to only 2 days a week and am in the process of making that happen.  I’m also working on a project or two at our church, which I’ll post about at some point.

OK, I think that’s it for now… can’t think what else to add, and feel that I’ve done my duty to posterity and Cora, whose infancy is not getting recorded in a baby book.