No Turning Back Now...

Ryan and I are expecting! 

I know what you're thinking....How do the Kirchners make getting pregnant looks so effortless and cheap? One day we decided, "Let's have a baby," and the next month we had 2 blue lines on a stick! Actually, it pretty much happened nothing like that.

But all of our efforts were not in vain. We are so excited about the upcoming arrival of Baby K, also known as Chica Boom! Chica B already has a strong personality...she loves performing acrobatics when I sit down, poking my cervix, and listening to her father do the Tulowitzki (a Colorado Rockies baseball player) chant against my belly.

Fortunately, my pregnancy has been rather smooth. It's like the fertility gods looked down upon us and said, "I think they've been through enough." I'm hoping to ride that wave for the next 18 years! Aside from fatigue and an affinity for plain foods, my worst side effect was an extreme onion aversion in the first trimester. Seriously, I could taste those things from a mile away. The Onion Knight and I would have had some serious words if he'd been around during those first twelve weeks (anyone? Game of Thrones?). I don't want to jinx it, but even if my symptoms get significantly worse in the next 6 weeks, I think I've escaped relatively unscathed. Swollen ankles and pelvic groin pain are nothing compared to morning sickness while teaching. Yuck!

My friend Julie threw us a baby shower about a month ago. Julie and I have been friends since my second year in Thailand. With two kids less than two years apart, she is Mother Extraordinaire. I joke with her that she does such a good job, I'm going to have her raise our daughter. (Top secret: I'm not joking.)

Here are some pics from the day.

Julie, amazing hostess.

In true Kirchner style, betting on the day the baby will be born.

Playing "Match the baby pic to the adult in the room." It was intense!

What a spread! Julie loves her some healthy food!

Sunny is also expecting, and Paulina is my fellow Latina in Hong Kong.

And here are some pics from a beach trip last weekend at 34 weeks....

I'm pretty sure that after this baby my bikini wearing days are over.
I'm milking it for all it's worth!