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Before Christmas, Kyun and Connie took us out to a nice Christmas/Pre-baby dinner at Canlis. It was probably the nicest restaurant I've ever been in my life, also, the most extraordinary dining experience I've ever had. (They pulled out my chair for me after I came back from the restroom...)

Connie and Kyun looking good with stunning view in the back.

My first time trying foie gras! mmMMMmm.

Kyun and Connie left for Bahamas cruise for Christmas, so Ko stayed with us for a week.

Koko just turned 12 this year. He loves Chinese food...and you talk to him in Chinese mostly. He melts my heart by standing by the bedroom door every night watching me to get ready for bed. He won't go to sleep unless Gary and I are both lying in bed. He peed our bathroom floor twice...and he slouches and bends his head because he knows he did something wrong. (and I think he feels bad seeing Gary squatting on the ground scrubbing the pee stain with tons of paper towel.)


I finally started sewing a couple days ago. Since I'm only a beginner, I chose to start with felt, a thicker, stiffer fabric that I thought should be easier to manage compare to normal medium weight cotton. (and it looks more acceptable if I leave the stitches on the outside with felt, too.) I used interfacing for the front, bottom and the back, in between the oak and brown felt. I like the feeling of sewing by hand but it was tough to keep everything lined up well and professional. (That is a cosmetic bag in the picture if you can't tell ;)


This picture is taken on the day after Christmas. I'm proud to say I've gained 30 lbs over the past 37 weeks, but also can't wait to shed them off soon (hopefully :) We spent roughly two weekends to clean and set up the baby room. Now the guest room is taken over by Zoey's crib, changing table, and all sorts of other baby stuff. It's supposed to make her coming more of a reality but everything seems to get more surreal to me as this pregnancy is coming to an end. I think that's a sign for her to hurry up and come out already, so I can post a new family picture, family of 3. :)

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Can't believe it's December already! Next week is the last lecture week of this quarter. Woohoo! I'm really really pumped for Christmas this year (to my own surprise) though I'm also constantly reminded by my to-do-list that I have so much school work to take care of before the most wonderful time of the year comes around.

Fall has been a really good quarter this year. Classes and teachers are interesting, and we have awesome lecture videos that I can watch at home if I miss a lecture or two (or every one of them!) It's true that school can get very stressful and annoying sometimes, but I think I'll most definitely miss it in the coming year.

Trying to stay awake in class this afternoon, I made a Lin family time chart for the following 2-3 years (it's mostly my plan for school and maybe baby #2. OH!) It's just for fun...BUT, notice those 20s in circles. They are my age, and I seriously find it shocking I'd be 24 someday, and it's going to come sooner than I want it to be (GASP!)


Okay, some real updates of our Novemer...

In order to prep for Seattle's rain, Gary and I both got some new gear this fall:

I love these rain boots. They make my life so much easier walking around campus when it's pouring outside. No more wet feet from stepping in puddles :)


Gary got a green jacket from Helly Hansen. His new rain coat in the last 5-6 years. He was so excited trying it on and wearing it all night at home on the day we bought it.

One of our favorite desserts this season is probably the Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting from Trophy, until we baked it ourselves (hehe):

One Saturday morning we brought all the ingredients over to Connie's and ta-da! It was surprisingly delicious. The frosting was straight up cream cheese, butter, and sugar.

Lastly, a quick picture update of Zoey from week 32:

There's less and less room in my stomach now. Though that doesn't affect my appetite at all (hence the round face ;)



Thanksgiving weekend pictures are coming soon :)

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I'm entering the 30th week next Tuesday. After that I'll have about 10 more weeks to go in this pregnancy. Hard to grasp how fast time goes. Baby Z's getting bigger now; I read about her growth week by week, and in a couple days she will weigh almost 3 lbs and about 15.7 inches long. I feel her every moment, every day since she kicks and moves around so much now :) but sometimes I still find myself uncertain about her coming.

To be 100% honest, I'm more nervous than excited about her arrival. Maybe because I'm not big enough to a point where I actually think of her as a soon-to-be reality. And I know none of the passerby can tell I'm carrying a 7-month around in my belly...yet. I'm anxious to find out how she is going to change gary and my lives, how she is going to lead me into motherhood, and change me in some particular ways as a person. It seems like the predictions and imagination I have about life with a newborn tend to go toward a negative direction. Restrictions and limitations. Things that I now enjoy so much but probably can't do as often anymore in the future.

Recently I've come to a realization how selfish I am, overall, as a person. I love myself so much that my entire life is all about me (I get guilty feelings for it from time to time, but I rarely act on them) Even right now, with Z inside my body, I'm still constantly struggling with the inevitable weight gain on my body and my rounder and rounder face each day. I'm coping with it just fine, just not with content all the time.

But it's also true and sincere when I say I want our babygirl to be healthy more than anything else. I want her to be a happy, healthy, bubbly kid that has and will preserve a pure heart and will also come to love the Lord later on in her life. Thinking about her crying face and her baby smell can melt my heart just like that. Like Gary, I think sometimes I also miss her terribly already. I know when she's finally in this world, all the things that I care right now will become the minimal.

Being in her mother's womb, she's already a big blessing God has placed in our lives. Oh, totally :)


Btw, we finally checked out Little Red Hen in Green Lake a couple weeks ago. It felt like a different world in there that night, with older people dancing and a band singing one of my recent favorite songs.

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The sun seems to hang around a lot longer in Seattle this summer, hence a sunshine September :) Lucky us!

We spent the labor day weekend down in San Diego. The weather was 80 degrees every day we were there!
Palm trees, beaches and my belly :)



My first Seahawks game @ Qwest field. There were 67,200 people cheering with you throughout the whole game.
My face: the 12th man.
Gary's face: Go Hawks!


My parents and sister are currently in town visiting me for a month. It's a bit stressful as I want to show them my daily stomping grounds but at the same time squeeze in some Seattle's must-sees. It's been a lot of funs and laughs..I'm just happy to be their first destination after they retired this year :)

@ Than Brothers. Trying pho for the first time.


A nice evening @ Gas Works Park.

L.O.V.E. :)

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It's been awhile since I came back to Seattle. During this time I've been wanting to post some update but the expanding time gap leaves me panicking over where to start every time. Married life so far has really been a blessing and it's awesome. I never knew I'd enjoy the other person's company this much - not just someone to play with or talk to, but a trustworthy life-time partner to be in love and grow with. It's amazing how God works and leads.

School doesn't start till the end of September for me, and Gary and I are just trying to spend as much time together as we can before our little one is born. After two months our new place finally looks like home...:)

Living Room Area



Our Bedroom (The picture frames are Gary's idea)


For those who haven't heard yet, we are expecting a little babygirl in January! I haven't started any baby shopping yet but today I saw these at Costco and just could not resist.

They are for 6-9 months old, and yes, it will be summer again by then!

I should start focusing on practical baby winter clothes though...:)