Photography
19 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in The Pregnancy Tags: photography
As some of you may know, I used to have a nice film SLR camera. I enjoyed taking photographs and, though I wasn’t great at it, I had enough control to get some great results occasionally. Well it’s been a while and I have been looking for a good excuse to spend too much money on a new DSLR. And what is a baby, really, other than an excuse to spend too much money? (Don’t answer that.)
When I say I’ve been looking for an excuse, I mean it. I spent months doing research before our wedding, looking for the perfect camera. I wanted to have something nice to take on our honeymoon. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired to keep me from purchasing one at the time. I did, however, have a great camera picked out back then. It didn’t take me too long, a year and a half later, to realize that it is still a great camera — but now it’s several hundred dollars cheaper! Score!
So armed with my research and armored by my little gestating excuse (aka Freckle), I approached Jenny prepared to duel for the fate of my photographic future. Can anyone stand against one so armed and armored? Don’t blame Jenny for her failure to protect our precious funds, nobody could have withstood that assault. Also, pregnant women fight like…well, like pregnant women.
To the victor go the spoils. I present to you, my new Nikon D5000:
Nikon D5000
Now I have six months to learn how to use it to take impressive photos of tiny humans. Wish me luck!
DISCLAIMER: No pregnant women were hurt in the making of this post. Some or all of the facts may have been changed to embellish the innocent. Ownership of said camera is technically joint between both parties. The author of this post does not wish to get beat up or yelled at by any pregnant women and apologizes in advance, just in case.
So you’re having a hapa?
13 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in The Pregnancy Tags: hapa
I used the term “hapa” previously but it occurred to me this morning that many people reading this may not have heard it before. According to Wikipedia, “Hapa is a Hawaiian language term used to describe a person of mixed Asian or Pacific Islander racial or ethnic heritage.” I don’t know that I heard the term before moving to the Bay Area, but it’s very common around here. (Apparently my spell checker has never heard the term either!)
The rumor is that hapas are more beautiful than pure Asian or white people. It’s a modern urban myth…or is it? According to this article in Psychology Today, “…according to a study…hapa faces are rated as more beautiful than European or Japanese faces. Researchers say the finding may extend to other racial mixes as well. ” I tried to find the source of the study, but only found older references to it. But who needs proof, just look at a hapa and you can tell!
As if our hapa-to-be didn’t have enough advantages with the enhanced beauty and the amazing parents, it turns out s/he will be generally healthier as well. The same article states “…evidence suggests that half-Asians’ diverse genetic ancestry would enhance health…”. Besides general health, they say “Genetic diversity, or heterozygosity, is associated with a lower incidence of some diseases. Genetic diseases, such as hemophilia and Tay-Sachs…”.
So the next time you hear us use the word hapa to describe Freckle, you’ll know we’re talking about our half-asian/half-white baby with +1 charisma and +1 constitution (Edited because my nerdy wife called me out on the original numbers).
Papa-D
Good News, Everyone!
12 Jan 2012 3 Comments
Hooray! I am 8 weeks pregnant! I feel tired throughout the day, my cough and leaking nose just won’t go away, and I can become instantly famished in a matter of seconds. And the craziest thing is, I cannot be happier!
What adds to the excitement is how our family and friends are so supportive and happy for us. We’ve received so many well-wishes over the last few days and I feel so lucky to have such a strong network of great people to help us as our family grows.
Of course, most excited are the grandparents. We knew this would be the case, which is why Dan and I planned on making the announcement to them very special.
After Dan and I got married, we made both our parents promise to not ask us for grandchildren for one year. Since they were good (for the most part) about keeping this promise, Dan and I wanted to surprise them with the big news.
Since Dan’s parents were scheduled to come to San Francisco a few weeks after we found out we will be having a baby, we decided to hold off on telling them right away. We had it so that my parents would come to San Francisco to have dinner with the Browdys (our excuse was that they haven’t seen them since the wedding). And after they all sat down at the table, Dan and I handed them both cards and said it was a “late Christmas/Chanukah gift”. I remember Dan’s mom pretending to be disappointed and said, “Aw… Your mom was hoping for a different announcement.” I kind of laughed off the idea and said, “No, no… that’s not it.”
Both our moms opened the cards and on one side was a picture of an ultrasound, and on the other side the card said, “CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING GRANDPARENTS (again!)” It took the moms a second or two to comprehend what the card was saying, but when they finally understood, they both squealed with joy! The people sitting at the tables near us all thought our moms had won the lottery! (Although if you ask our moms, this news is probably way better than winning the measly lottery.)
So now, I think we’re all just enjoying the idea of having an addition to the family. In the next week or two, Dan and I will start to get really down and dirty as far as preparing for the arrival of the little one. There is lots to do and plan, as I’m sure many of you can imagine. But just like when we first got engaged, we just want to sit and bask in the joy of this new stage in our lives for a little while longer.
Grandparents with their cards.
Grandmothers with their cards.
-J
Hello world!
12 Jan 2012 1 Comment
Hey everyone, Jenny’s pregnant! The Browdy-to-be’s code name right now is Freckle. Seeing as how me and Jenny are both afflicted, we thought it somewhat appropriate.
Our first ultrasound
Note the heartbeat. That made Jenny melt when we heard it for the first time. I wish I had a picture of the look on her face to show you. 🙂
In other news, my friend at work has started calling me “Papa-D” so I thought I’d try it on and see how it feels.
Papa-D