NYC Trip

And we're back (after an unintentionally long hiatus)!

I've been meaning to post to the blog for a while, but time's been running away from me. Now well into the third trimester, I find myself needing more Z's than usual, and that means less time for pretty much everything else, including blogging. (Though I'll try to better about it in the upcoming weeks. I promise.)

Sleepiness aside, as our period of childless freedom draws to a close, Bryan and I are doing our best to make the most of our last couple months on our own. This past weekend, that effort included packing our bags and taking a long-anticipated trip to New York City--and, I must say, never before has an 8+ hour bus ride proven so worthwhile. We enjoyed a wonderful holiday visiting family and friends--dining on fabulous exotic foods (Do Hwa for some authentic Korean, El Cocotero for scrumptious Venezuelan, and, although not foreign, Bubby's offered some of the best pancakes I've ever had the pleasure of eating), brushing elbows (well, almost) with Topher Grace from our front row seats at an off-Broadway play, and trying on our art critics' hats at the cool and quirky MoMA PS1, among other things. Regrettably, we didn't take any pictures to share, but I guess when you're having so much fun, snapping those vacation shots gets to be low priority!

In baby news, this weekend we also had the honor of sharing our baby's kicks with their first third party. I'm so grateful to my very good friend Leslie for her enthusiastic interest in Archie's wild and weird belly antics! It was a really pleasure to see someone else marvel at this strange miracle, after spending so many months is wide-eyed disbelief ourselves.

Archie continues to perfect his/her acrobatics on a daily basis. It seems that lately we've moved on from simple kicks and jabs to dramatic flips and spins. As a result, the landscape of my stomach is ever-changing and almost always asymmetrical. Growth seems to be occurring much more rapidly now, too. Even Leslie noted that my stomach looked bigger after just three days of visiting (although our many delicious meals might have been partially at fault, as well)!

Less than ten weeks to go. Just unbelievable.

Neighborhood Yard Sale!

This morning our neighborhood hosted a huge yard sale, and Bryan and I took advantage of an abundance of deals on baby supplies.  Check out our haul, collected for just a little over 15 bucks:

That's easily over $200 savings on:

A Boppy Nursing Pillow,
Baby Tub,
Crib & Floor Mirror,
Prenatal Yoga DVD,
3 Bibs, and
~20 Clothing Items (some still with original tags, most in sizes we don't yet have)

I feel like we hit the baby supply jackpot!

An August Anniversary

Assuming we have a reasonably punctual babe, Bryan and I may be celebrating our growing family only a few short days before we celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary (which coincides with our 9th anniversary as a couple) in August.  It'll be one milestone-filled month, and its approach reminds us continually of how fortunate we've been to share almost a decade together before expanding our twosome to three.

It's been a pretty awesome journey, full of bumps and hurdles that have made our relationship stronger, not short on adventures that have tied us together with a lot of laughter and tears.  I love to think that it's on this foundation that our relationship with Archie will be built.  And I can't help but anticipate how the memories Bryan and I have already made as a couple will feed into the new ones we'll create with Archie as a family.

In anticipation of August's milestones (when our hands will probably be a bit too full to blog about these things), here are a few highlights from the past nine years:

Our first year...

Okay, well, not our first exactly, but our first married year.  This one was special.  Only four days after tying the knot, we moved to China so that I could intensify my studies of Mandarin while Bryan pursued an unusual opportunity to collaborate with a Beijing lab.  We rented a small apartment within bicycling distance of the universities and, from that new home base, we consumed opportunities to study, travel, sample cuisine, explore art and culture, meet new people, and so on.

Only four days after we married,
we moved--halfway around the world.

Bryan and I grab a smooch on a cable
car up to the Great Wall at Simatai.

We traveled at every opportunity while in
China; here's a shot we captured while
hiking in Outer Mongolia (a country
particularly dear to my heart, by the way).

A year apart...

At a David Sedaris book reading years ago, the author cheekily penned "Good luck with your first marriage!" into one of the works we had brought for him to sign.  We were aware that marriage at the tender age of 22 sounded like a risky venture to most people.  And we knew that we would face some hurdles; it wasn't going to be a simple matter to balance our youthful ambitions with our commitment to each other.  Yet committed we were.  Even when Bryan and I had to live different cities (for a while different countries)--seeing each other only about once a month over the course of a year--we found in the experience an opportunity to add new depth to our relationship.  There's something wonderful about knowing your relationship transcends space, in addition to time.  And, odd as it may sound, I think it was another experience we were lucky to have.

Getting comfy with domesticity...

After those first few unconventional years, Bryan and I finally found ourselves both living together and in our native country some time prior to our fourth anniversary.  It was an easy transition that allowed us to savor some of the simpler things:  we've spent the past several years pursuing our interests in food and wine, hiking, gardening, reading, museum-hopping, and the like.  Though we sometimes miss our more ambitious adventures, this domestic turn suits us, too.  And we try to fit in what travels time and budget allow; hopefully, we'll be able to maintain (if not even improve upon) this balance once Archie enters our lives.

Bryan and I share some wine at our
favorite vineyard in Carneros.

Last year we enjoyed a whirlwind trip
through Western Europe; Scotland
(Edinburgh pictured) was a hands-
down favorite destination.

We were fortunate enough to get to Brazil,
our first South American destination,
 on a business trip a few years ago.  Here
we are savoring fresh fruit juice at
a stand in Rio de Janeiro.

And then recently...

Okay, so our stint at Cornell last year was not a huge success in the traditional sense, but it taught us a lot about what we want out of the next chapter of our lives.  Consequently, it was hugely formative in getting us to where we are today.  And I suppose we wouldn't be amiss to say we're now embarking on our biggest adventure yet!

We've so much to be thankful for, not least the luxury of time we've had together up until this point.  And, though we couldn't be looking forward more eagerly to our new arrival this summer, we really are grateful to have had such a lengthy exposition to Archimedes's debut.  Come August, we'll sure have a lot to celebrate, of both the future and the past.

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

For the past couple days, Archimedes has seemed to be constantly on the move.  One minute, our little karate kid is kicking my left ribs, the next minute my right.  Watching my stomach is increasingly reminiscent of watching the earth quake:  the globe that is my abdomen undulates in random patterns, almost without pause, under the pressure of Archie's flaying knees and feet.  I sometimes wonder if our baby ever sleeps.

Yesterday, Archie's movements were so distinct and so close to the surface that Bryan and I were able to map out a tiny baby body just by touch.  Head down.  Back pressed against my right side.  Legs kneeling.  Feet tucked up near my right ribs.  Then the sudden growth of my left half, accompanied by deflation of the right and a tickle under my left ribs, indicated that Archie had flipped into a mirror position.

These reminders that there is a real, live human being in there--with a solid, if miniature, body--continue to feel surreal.  Just like those first movements once surprised and amazed us, now the feel of a bony foot pressed against our fingertips brings us that much closer to the reality-to-be.

A Baby Project: Update

Three days of sewing and hot gluing later...

...we have a mobile to go over Archie's crib!

Thanks to my friend, Jen, who shared the idea with us.  For anyone who might be interested, the basic mobile design and a pattern for the birds can be found here.

A Baby Project

After a Sunday afternoon jaunt to Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft, we finally have the raw materials for our first baby project.  Can you guess what item we're going to handcraft for Baby's nursery?  Here's a little hint:

Week 28

It's another big week for Baby!

By this week, there's a good chance that Archimedes is finally opening and closing his or her eyes (and if we could sneak a peek ourselves, we might now be able to get a  preview of Archie's eye color).  This newfound ability is perhaps being practiced in rhythm with Archie's increasingly stable sleep schedule. Though not the same schedule Archie will keep as he or she gets older--or even as a spankin' new infant--our little baby is now taking regular 20-30 minute naps between more active periods throughout the day.

Archie's sense of smell also reaches full functionality this week; in fact, according to the BabyZone week-by-week newsletter, Archie is now smelling pretty much everything Mom inhales or eats. This enhanced olfactory ability is a logical accompaniment to Archie's already practiced sense of taste.  Have I mentioned that Archie now has more taste buds than he or she will ever have again, even at birth?  Truth be told--not surprisingly and not unlike Mom--Archie is already showing a proclivity for sweet foods.  (If you want to feel Archie kick, be sure to bring by some ice cream to share.)

In our 28th week, we've got not only a whopping two and a half pounder on our hands, but Archimedes is already stretching out to almost 16 inches long!  (Those length measurements, by the way, are now coming crown-to-foot, rather than crown-to-rump, as Archie's graduated, I guess, to a new level of fetal development classification.)  Here's a pic of how Baby's recent growth translates into belly size:

Mom (and baby): 27 weeks and counting