Eric, being the handy husband/father-to-be that he is, quickly went to work putting together junior's first bed. (Smile of a proud papa!!)
Eric also really enjoyed being able to park at the expectant mother's parking whenever we go to babies-r-us.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Papa bear, the new bassinet, and all the baby projects
Since we are planning to stay in the same apartment in anticipation of junior's arrival, we thought a bassinet will be the best space-saving baby furniture to start with.
Eric, being the handy husband/father-to-be that he is, quickly went to work putting together junior's first bed. (Smile of a proud papa!!)
Eric also really enjoyed being able to park at the expectant mother's parking whenever we go to babies-r-us.
Julie of course didn't lag behind in her baby craft projects. Here, Eric sports junior's new bath robe ^_^
... a cow jumping over the moon flannel fitted bassinet sheet...
and lastly, the baby blanket that took forever to finish...see the little green and yellow hearts?
Eric, being the handy husband/father-to-be that he is, quickly went to work putting together junior's first bed. (Smile of a proud papa!!)
Eric also really enjoyed being able to park at the expectant mother's parking whenever we go to babies-r-us.
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Modern Caveman
As part of our house-cleaning to make room for junior, Eric decided to clean out some of his electronic gadgets. This picture of Eric taking apart an old hard drive reminded Julie of a caveman trying to start a fire ^_^... see how he concentrates on taking the hard drive apart and uses his hand and feet at the same time to stabilize the hard drive ^_^
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Cookie mountain
Julie and Eric have been feeding their sweet tooth for the past few months. Since they got a cookie recipe book and a cookie scoop, they were committed to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe...
To remind them of what a good time they had in Paris, they also tried to replicate the quiche they had there... (this one turned out a little too cheesy)
Here is Julie and Eric's favorite cookie - the chocolate wow... and wow it is sooooooo good.
We also attempted some almond cookies...
Of course we had to try out some cinnamon pretzels...
After noticing our weight creeping up slightly every week... we decided... maybe we should take a break from our baking mania ^_^
To remind them of what a good time they had in Paris, they also tried to replicate the quiche they had there... (this one turned out a little too cheesy)
Here is Julie and Eric's favorite cookie - the chocolate wow... and wow it is sooooooo good.
We also attempted some almond cookies...
Of course we had to try out some cinnamon pretzels...
After noticing our weight creeping up slightly every week... we decided... maybe we should take a break from our baking mania ^_^
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Pregnancy poker humor
Having swollen ankles and toes is probably the worst part of pregnancy so far. Being a good sport, Julie is always able to make light of the situation.One day Eric saw Julie with really swollen ankles and toes after work and the following conversation transpired...
Eric: I see your swollen toe.
Julie: ... and I raise you another toe. ( ha! ha! ha! ^_^)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
UC Berkeley SVOSH's trip to Kenya
Julie finally got around to put together the slide show for the students and here it is:
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Is it a boy or a girl?
Eric and Julie truly enjoy watching our family and friends guess the gender of the baby. Even though we all just want a healthy baby with 10 fingers and 10 toes... it is interesting to watch the subconscious slip out ( i.e. referring to the baby as a he or a she).
Mystery no more...
(smile added for modesty! the arrow was placed there by the ultrasound technician)
Little junior was very cooperative during our week 20 ultrasound...
Eric was slightly relieved that he won't have to start practicing target shooting to chase off little boyfriends that may be coming by if we have a little girl ^_^
( at week 20)
Mystery no more...
(smile added for modesty! the arrow was placed there by the ultrasound technician)
Little junior was very cooperative during our week 20 ultrasound...
Eric was slightly relieved that he won't have to start practicing target shooting to chase off little boyfriends that may be coming by if we have a little girl ^_^
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Montreal Madness
After a very smooth trip to DC and then on to Paris, disaster struck. We showed up early for our flight and boarded. Everything was fine. Then, just prior to pushing back from the gate, the pilot announced that we would be delayed 10-15 minutes so they could run some tests...
Three hours later they had everyone deplane. But they did it incorrectly, so we had to go back through a special security line to get back to the gate to re-board the aircraft. This special security line had to be created, so we didn't make it back into gate area for another three hours. At which time they had just run out of sandwiches and water (and then lied to me that they were not giving out water or sandwiches at the gate even though I had seen this with my own eyes), so we had to settle for a nauseating salami sandwich from the airport restaurant. An unfortunate last meal in Paris...
But we were ready to hop on the flight and go to Montreal. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at 8pm. 100 of the 300 people on board missed their connection, so they split us up and told us we would be on the first flight out tomorrow morning (more on this later). They then had us get in line for customs. Luckily we found a lane with no line off to the far left, so we didn't have to wait in the 2-hour line for most people.
Unfortunately, our baggage was as slow as the regular customs line. So we waited for a few hours for our bags to come off the plane. In the meantime, I checked our flight and was horrified to find that we had actually been booked on a flight two days later without a confirmed seat. So I passed the time chatting with a reservations agent (who was polite, but powerless to get us on the next day's nonstop flight but was able to book us on a connecting flight through vancouver) and then a "supervisor" who was full of can't. As in "I can't do that." Even though there were business-class seats on the flight we wanted, she can't upgrade. Basically, as a supervisor they can't do anything more than a regular person. Very upsetting. Asked for a refund or compensation, but again she can't do that. So we accepted our fate, picked up our bags and headed for the airport shuttle. Unfortunately, the other hundred people who missed their connection were staying at the same hotel so we were in for a long wait for the 10-person hotel van.
In short, Montreal's airport is the worst I have ever experienced. Passport control, baggage claim, and ground transport were all total chaos. Ours was the only flight to be delayed, so I can only conclude that it is the worst-designed and implemented airport known to man. To top it off, everything was still in French (with English subtitles). Apparently this part of Canada isn't like America.
We finally arrived at the hotel a little after midnight, which meant that we couldn't use our "meal" voucher in the hotel restaurant. Luckily the front desk gave us a break and let us buy snack foods. Later arrivals from our flight were sent home hungry. And our flight the next day was early, so we weren't able to use our breakfast voucher either.
My hour-long chat with the supervisor must have paid off, since when we arrived at the airport the next day they had booked us on the nonstop flight we desired. So I bought some maple cream cookies for my coworkers and we flew home. Only delayed by 17 hours! We could have flown nonstop from Paris to San Francisco, back to Paris, and then back to San Francisco in the time it took us to fly on Air Canada from Paris to San Francisco.
**On a lighter note: in the midst of steam and fume, we felt our little tomato kick for the first time ^_^ (after we ate the ice cream from the snack bar). Welcome to the family little one!
Three hours later they had everyone deplane. But they did it incorrectly, so we had to go back through a special security line to get back to the gate to re-board the aircraft. This special security line had to be created, so we didn't make it back into gate area for another three hours. At which time they had just run out of sandwiches and water (and then lied to me that they were not giving out water or sandwiches at the gate even though I had seen this with my own eyes), so we had to settle for a nauseating salami sandwich from the airport restaurant. An unfortunate last meal in Paris...
But we were ready to hop on the flight and go to Montreal. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at 8pm. 100 of the 300 people on board missed their connection, so they split us up and told us we would be on the first flight out tomorrow morning (more on this later). They then had us get in line for customs. Luckily we found a lane with no line off to the far left, so we didn't have to wait in the 2-hour line for most people.
Unfortunately, our baggage was as slow as the regular customs line. So we waited for a few hours for our bags to come off the plane. In the meantime, I checked our flight and was horrified to find that we had actually been booked on a flight two days later without a confirmed seat. So I passed the time chatting with a reservations agent (who was polite, but powerless to get us on the next day's nonstop flight but was able to book us on a connecting flight through vancouver) and then a "supervisor" who was full of can't. As in "I can't do that." Even though there were business-class seats on the flight we wanted, she can't upgrade. Basically, as a supervisor they can't do anything more than a regular person. Very upsetting. Asked for a refund or compensation, but again she can't do that. So we accepted our fate, picked up our bags and headed for the airport shuttle. Unfortunately, the other hundred people who missed their connection were staying at the same hotel so we were in for a long wait for the 10-person hotel van.
In short, Montreal's airport is the worst I have ever experienced. Passport control, baggage claim, and ground transport were all total chaos. Ours was the only flight to be delayed, so I can only conclude that it is the worst-designed and implemented airport known to man. To top it off, everything was still in French (with English subtitles). Apparently this part of Canada isn't like America.
We finally arrived at the hotel a little after midnight, which meant that we couldn't use our "meal" voucher in the hotel restaurant. Luckily the front desk gave us a break and let us buy snack foods. Later arrivals from our flight were sent home hungry. And our flight the next day was early, so we weren't able to use our breakfast voucher either.
(ended up getting breakfast at the airport...)
My hour-long chat with the supervisor must have paid off, since when we arrived at the airport the next day they had booked us on the nonstop flight we desired. So I bought some maple cream cookies for my coworkers and we flew home. Only delayed by 17 hours! We could have flown nonstop from Paris to San Francisco, back to Paris, and then back to San Francisco in the time it took us to fly on Air Canada from Paris to San Francisco.
**On a lighter note: in the midst of steam and fume, we felt our little tomato kick for the first time ^_^ (after we ate the ice cream from the snack bar). Welcome to the family little one!
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