Thank You

We are truly blessed to have a loving family and such wonderful and supportive friends. Thank you all for your best wishes, prayers, and happy thoughts. Karine is resting. I am just blissed-out in general. I think my blood pressure has been a touch high for the past three weeks. I'm sure things will calm down now that the twins are on the outside. Right? That's how it works, right? The hard part is over and now everything is super chill. That's the plan. Karine is going to write about her experience sometime soon, for now I just want to say thank you. Thank you, everyone. Our doctor did everything perfectly. All of the nurses here love what they do and they truly do their jobs with love in their hearts. Karine is my hero. We'll post more pictures of Ezra and Zadie soon. Here I just want to post one picture of Karine. It says it all. I took it about one minute after the twins were born.

True Love

Karine was all like, is it okay if I put up a picture of Ezekiel in his pjs and steal your thunder from whatever weird thing you are trying to write about. I was all like, its cool.

Family Planning

I remember a sort of goofy conversation Karine and I shared some years ago. We were exploring the flour mill ruins on the banks of the Mississippi. The light that afternoon was easy and free and we could hear the sound of the river chugging through the locks beneath us. We were feeling happy together, holding hands, walking through the ruins. It was a fine place to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine.

We entertained each other as we walked with a series of escalating goofs until we were laughing like idiots. I can’t say what it was that we laughed at, except everything. The sunshine sky was funny. The crumbling walls around us were funny. The ground beneath our feet, hilarious.

We wished we had someone to share it with. Just someone to follow us around, walk where we walked, laugh at all of our jokes about nothing, and tell us we were the funniest people alive. We were prepared to pay for this type of service.

And then we realized that we could have all that for free. We just had to have children together. And we laughed at that one for a while too.

Books

Thank God we got the luggage back. Giant Suitcase #1 contained these books. We've got only a couple of more weeks to figure everything out. I caught Karine trying to read The Birth Partner this afternoon. I said no way José. That one is for me. The last thing I need is Karine reading a book about all of the things I am supposed to be doing.

Lost and Found

Karine and I have different philosophies when it comes to luggage. Or to stuff in general. She likes more, I like less. I would love to travel with nothing. Luggage is the single worst thing about going anywhere. Here is what we had with us when we flew out of Omaha: 1) Karine, 2) Tom, 3) Giant Suitcase #1, 4) Baby Duffel, 5) The Chicco Cortina Travel System (CCTS), 6) Karine's Purse, 7) The Black Pack.

The Baby Duffel is not a little tiny duffel bag. It is a giant duffel filled with baby gear: pacifiers, receiving blankets, onesies, a Polish Pottery piggy-bank, a swaddler, baby lotions, baby creams, baby bottles, and a bear that makes noise when you press his body parts. The Black Pack is a black Jansport backpack that I have had since high school. It contains vital documents, our laptop, and our cameras. This trip is also contained our ultrasounds and a magazine about German Shepherds.

We lost the CCTS somewhere in Minneapolis. Karine spoke with a nice woman in Omaha about checking it all the way through to Chicago. Here is where our problems start. When we got to Chicago the CCTS was AWOL. This is not good. Karine loves this thing. She researched strollers for weeks. She could be a consultant in the stroller industry. She was upset.

We spoke with John down in the luggage department at Chigaco O'Hare. I call him the luggage guy. He probably has a title of some kind, luggage associate, something like that. He was pretty busy when we talked to him. He was in the middle of a dog swap. A dog swap is when you go to pick up your dog and they give you someone else's dog and say, "Here's your dog!" Then you find out that your dog is in Norfolk, VA. John was untangling one of the those when I asked him about our stroller.

We told him what happened and he typed some stuff in the computer. He took down our number at the hotel and told us that he would send the CCTS if it came in before midnight. But he didn't didn't talk to anyone on the phone. That made me feel uneasy. You think he could just call someone at Northwest Airlines in Minneapolis and ask.

We took a bus over to Midway. We were the only people on the bus. It was a big bus. We arrived at Midway with our remaining luggage just as Rolland Burris was giving a press conference upon returning from Washington. He is a US Senator, sort of.

Burris seems like a nice guy, but he was appointed by this idiot.



We walked past the press conference and went to speak with Leatrice in the luggage department. She made us feel better about everything. She got on the phone and talked to some people. She was really nice the whole time she was helping us. But the CCTS was no where to be found. It had not been located or sent anywhere. So we went to the Holiday Inn.

***Karine just informed me that she told this entire story.***

Today we discovered that everything that was lost had been found. It was waiting for us in San Pedro Sula. The luggage people at Northwest and Delta Airlines found our stuff and figured out how to get it to us. They did a good job. Our stuff was sent to La Ceiba this afternoon. The CCTS is at home now. It is in great shape.

Karine is happy. Ruby is happy. And I am happy.

Our bags had all kinds of crazy tags all over them. This one is our favorite. We hope this unknown luggage person went to that party. And we hope everyone had an awesome time.

On Being a "Stay at Home"

Today was my first real day of staying at home while Tom went to work. I'm officially on maternity leave, though Baby Lew isn't expected for a couple more weeks. It was awesome! I really think I'm going to like being a stay-at-home. (I can't quite claim to be a stay-at-home-mom yet).

I started out with a couple cups of decaf coffee on the front porch, while the neighborhood loose dogs came by to visit Ruby at the gate. The neighborhood loose dogs are loose in the sense that they're not tied up. I'm not saying anything about their promiscuity, though I am glad that Ruby has been fixed. After that, I discovered that Facebook has some fun features like chatting! I chatted with a couple of high school friends and also with a couple La Ceiba friends.

Our maid arrived to do some cleaning around 11. We chatted about the holidays and our families for awhile. Since we were out of laundry soap, I strolled down the street to buy a 2 serving bag of soap so she could do laundry. After reading a few more blogs and sitting out on the porch again for awhile, I was ready for Tom to come home from his long day at the office.
Tom rolled in around 2 on his fancy wheels- his Schwinn mountain bike- and we caught up on the day's happenings at school. I wanted to hear about all I had missed!

I definitely think that I'm going to need some projects to get me through the next few weeks. Although playing on the internet was fun today for a few hours, I don't want to do that every day. I've got a few sewing projects and cooking ideas. I also need to pack a bag for the hospital at some point. That should keep me busy for a little while. Tom suggested I take up the hobby of pickling and canning. Hmmm... I'm open to other suggestions.

Baby Atlas

I would like to publicly announce that we will not be naming our little boy Atlas. Many, many people have expressed support for this name. Some people even exclaimed that it was surely the best name they have ever heard for a little boy. Ever. After some heated discussion, we have decided to go with something more traditional. We are donating the name to our community of readers. Feel free to use and enjoy this unconventional but unquestionably awesome name as you wish.

Painting by Boris Vallejo

1 Year!

Today, Tom and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary. It's been an incredible year of new adventures for us. We are looking forward to all of the exciting things year number two will bring our way.

Tonight, we'll enjoy the top of our wedding cake.
(Don't worry- it's been frozen for a year, I'm sure it will be just great!)

Honduran Roadshow Volume #1: Tom's Knick-knacks

We brought an extraordinary amount of strange crap to Honduras. Due to my urishiol-induced, heat-aggravated cashew rash (see post) we spent most of last weekend indoors. How bored were we? We were so bored we decided to take pictures of some knick-knacks sitting on a bookcase. Karine interviewed me about these strange objects and this blog is the result. Next week I will be interviewing Karine about our kitchen appliances.

KL: What’s up with all these knick-knacks?
TL: I don't know. I guess they’re just the things you kind of hang on to. Wherever you move, there they are.

KL: What age did your obsession with knick-knacks begin?
I was very young. I suppose it started with stuffed animals. I had Rambo Teddy Bear -- a stuffed bear and Toby Steeringwheel -- a stuffed rabbit. Before that I had binky -- a binky.

KL: Which are your favorites?
TL: The cast iron train and my little tiny train (The Lionelville Express)

KL: Do you know where they came from?

TL: Yeah, I know where all my knick-knacks come from. The Lionelville Express was a gift from my best friend and my girlfriend. They ordered it off of tv. It was attached to a giant alarm clock and [the train] actually went around. The alarm clock is long gone. But I've hung on to the little train.

KL: Why trains?
TL: I’ve always liked trains. Um… trains are great. I don’t know if there’s a real short answer to my train obsession. Omaha, the U.S.A., my family, the Great Plains, taking pictures of trains. They’re cool machines.

KL: Is it important to you that you are the first owner of your knick-knacks?
TL: I’m only the first owner of one of my knick-knacks. My Lionelville Express train.

KL: Let’s talk about some of your other knick-knacks. What are these? (Reaching to touch a piece of paper sticking out of a Alice in Wonderland toothpick holder.)

TL: Don’t touch that! It’s my certificate of authenticity! It goes with Alice. And Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

KL: What are they?
TL: Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Alice. They belonged to my grandmother. She had a lot of knick-knacks. I’ve had these since college but never really looked at them until now. They're kind of scary. I don’t think I want them anymore.


KL: Tell me about the big wooden bird.
TL: It’s really ugly and it was also my grandmother’s.

KL: How about the leprechaun bobblehead?
TL: I got it from a party hosted by Casey Piersma.

KL: How do you feel about other bobbleheads?

TL: I hate all of them.

KL: Any other thoughts about your collections?
TL: I’m not planning on doing any more collecting. I never really meant to have this collection. Some things you just don’t get rid of.

Interview by Karine Lewandowski

Photography by Tom Lewandowski

Stuff We Like Posts

Well, we are a we now. We've been a we for about seven months now and, as a celebration of our we-ness, we are going to be writing from time to time about stuff that we like. Don't worry, we'll still post pictures of dog hosing and cake baking. We might even post some funny juice tasting again.

There are strict rules for items posted with the heading "stuff we like." We both have to like it. This means that Karine can't write stuff we like posts about movies with lots of explosions and I can't write stuff we like posts about sitting on the porch and talking.

Slackers go blogging!

To all of our faithful readers, I feel that I must apologize for our slacking lately. We've been so busy having fun that we don't get to writing about it.

In the news... On Friday morning, a tarantula was spotted on our back patio. He was kind of old and gray looking. I scooped him into a dustpan (the dustpans down here have 4 foot handles) and carried him back to a peaceful place in our back yard. I think he probably breathed his last spider breaths there, judging by the way he didn't scurry too much.

We spent the weekend relaxing and taking it easy. My big project was sorting wedding photos down from about 2000 to 300. No easy task, but it had to be done. My next step will be loading all our favorites into one of those "create-your-own-magazine-style-photo-book-online" deals.

Tom took Ruby for a run on Sunday while I made krumkake. We're having a staff Thanksgiving dinner party on Friday evening. I'm bringing krumkake for 20 and Tom's bringing mashed potatoes. Luckily, we got that electric mixer for a shower gift. Tom will really appreciate it when he makes his... Speaking of potatoes... I was very excited to find a random shipment of potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes) at the supermarket this weekend. Tom wouldn't dream of serving these at the staff party, but boy was I happy... Lefse- here we come! (Maybe next weekend)

Here are a few pics of the krumkake (pronounced kroom'-kah-kah) making process...

1. Mix up the eggs, sugar, flour, and butter.

2. Put it on the iron for about a minute
3. Carefully remove the hot krumkake using the pink napkin

4. Roll it around the cone form
5. Let cool and enjoy

**Special note for those making krumkake in wet, tropical climates- Though krumkake may seem firm and crispy right away, they will lose form and get soggy if left out. Freeze and bake in the oven for a few minutes before serving to retain crispiness.**

Wedding Photos!

To everyone who has been anxiously awaiting the online posting of our wedding photos, the time has come!

Visit:
http://www.camelot-weddings.com/photo/albums.html

Our wedding date is 07-21-07
The password/Event Key to view is: awesome

There are 1898 pictures to view, so feel free to scroll through pages as quickly as you want.

FYI- Lisa V. at Camelot Wedding photography was excellent. We highly recommend her!

The Sea

Living on the Carribbean coast can certainly have its perks. On Sunday, we joined 8 friends on a chartered fishing boat out to the Cayos Cochinos. These are a small series of tiny cays and islands just off the coast of Honduras. The islands are considered a natural park reserve, yet people are allowed to buy the lots and live there. Our friend has just purchased a lot on one of these islands. We spent the day lounging in the water, getting a little sunburned, eating fresh fish at a Garifuna village, and snorkeling in the reefs. It was a beautiful day!



As some of you have probably heard, we are in a red alert here in Honduras as Hurricane Felix makes landfall today. While it hit land as a Category 5 off the eastern coast of Honduras and Nicaragua, the storm is expected to lose a lot of its windpower as it passes over the many beautiful mountains here. By the time it reaches La Ceiba, we won't be dealing with the winds as much as the rain. In the past, when La Ceiba has been hit with torrential rains, it floods the rivers and the streets become undrivable. Bridges are washed out and people are not able to get out of their neighborhoods. We are still living at the Dole guesthouse (our stuff is still in the port with customs) and we are actually in one of the safest places in La Ceiba. The campus here may have some standing water outside, but is not expected to experience serious flooding. Dole has also set up several buildings on the campus as a safe haven for any employees living out in the community. Here, we have a generator and backup water, so we shouldn't be without either of those for very long. But, this is Honduras, so I can't guarantee any communication for a few days.


Bottom line- we'll be fine. That sea just likes to change things up once in awhile. It can't always be as picturesque and perfect as a Corona commercial! (Seriously- some of the islands were a tiny sand oasis with two perfect palm trees) If we need to get anywhere, we now know a guy with a boat! Besides we have today off of school, and probably another couple days depending on how the roads are!

PS- Thanks Cousin Mark! We ate at Ricardo's Saturday night, and it was delicious. I had Lobster Thermador and Tom had steak and lobster. It was a yummy treat!

La Casa Lewandowski

Mr. and Mrs. Lewandowski have just signed the lease on their new house!

La Casa Lewandowski

After a week of trying to track down the woman who is moving out so that we could look inside, we have now seen it and liked it! So, tonight we signed the papers and on September 1, we are the tenants of a 3BR 2Bath home in the Sauce Neighborhood (pronounced sow-say here!) The front of the house is currently painted a cute pink color. (seen above in flaking pink) They are re-painting in September and we get to choose the color. I vote for pink. We'll see... I just figure that this may be the only house in my lifetime that will be pink.

This is one of the smaller bedrooms.

We're working out a deal on buying the appliances from the previous tenant!

The house has many perks. There are 4 air conditioners in the house and ceiling fans throughout, so we will be able to stay cool inside. In addition, our big backyard is also home to a small shed-size building known here as the maid's quarters. Inside, there is room for a bed and dresser, there is a shower and toilet, and an air-conditioner. We don't plan on getting a live-in maid right away, but it's nice to know we have a place for her if we need it!

We've already found our guy to mow the backyard- his name is Leonardo.

In front of the house, we have a big covered terreza and 2 stalls for parking cars. Since we don't have a car down here, we'll be able to turn that entire space into a tropical outdoor living room- complete with handmade Honduran wood chairs and hammocks!

Our dog (we get to find one soon!) will have plenty of space to frolick and play. Tonight when we went to look at the house, 6 teenage boys were playing street soccer out front. Happy Honduras!

Honeymoon Update

We had a super fun time in Vancouver. We did a lot a really neat things. World Fireworks Competition. Sitting with some pretty flowers in Stanley Park. An apartment building with a giant tree growing on the top floor. On a boat in Vancouver Harbor. We think Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the whole world.