Holidays and Halfways

Happy Holidays, tenacious readers who still check my never-updated blog.  We had a quiet but enjoyable holiday season this year - no traveling and no big family gatherings, but lots of family and friend time.

Christmas was spent with our friends the Allens, beginning with a Christmas Eve party at their house.  We enjoyed incredible food and another night with our closest friends in Korea. Christmas morning we opened presents, Skyped with all the grandparents, and gave Sophie's brand-new tricycle a try.  She was a very happy girl, enjoying all of her new clothes, books, and toys.  Christmas evening was spent at the Allens' again.  We ate beef bourginon (salmon for me) and toasted the holiday.

Opening stocking stuffers with Mommy

Showing Grandma and Grandpa how she can do ballet

Pedalling her new tricycle!

The Friday before New Year's we got a surprise snow storm, and Keegan got to stay home from work. We really enjoyed our long weekend together as a family, an unusual treat.  We celebrated our friend Eli's fourth birthday, went swimming, played at the play cafe, took long naps, and discussed without end our upcoming move.  New Year's Eve saw another decadent dinner with our friends Anthony and Inna and the Allens, and New Year's Day brought a chance to watch the sunrise from our friends' the Jins' house.  Sophie and I enjoyed baked French toast and a glorious pink/orange sun.  Keegan, feeling significantly less pregnant than me and longer-legged than Sophie, enjoyed a hike up the mountain behind our house to watch the sunrise from on high.

Keegan enjoying the first sunrise of the new year 

We are at a halfway point everywhere these days, it seems.  I was halfway through my pregnancy on Christmas Day, so I'm currently at 21 weeks.

The belly....it GROWS!

My belly is noticeable, and the baby's kicking is quite noticeable as well.  I'm hoping I can make it through the next six weeks or so in my extra-long, non-maternity Korean sweaters so that I don't have to buy new maternity clothes that I'll only wear for a few weeks.   I'm feeling well: a little fatigue and discomfort as my belly grows are the only things I can complain about.  I'll have a big ultrasound next week, but we still plan to wait to find out the sex of the baby.  Sophie continues to be excited about her growing companion.  She likes to listen to my belly and then report that the baby is saying "Waaaaaah, I love you, Sophie" in a high-pitched voice.

We are also midway through our preparations for our big move back to Virginia.  I am busily clearing things out of our apartment and trying to organize what's left.  We spend hours looking at real estate listings in Williamsburg, even though there's been NOTHING new on the market for a while.  I often spend my last minutes before falling asleep fretting over the never-shrinking list of details that have to be attended to in the next couple months.  We can't wait to see our friends and family in Virginia, but we are trying hard not to think about leaving our friends here.  

So, Happy New Year, everyone.  My your new year bring as many wonderful things as ours is promising to.