Happy New Year !!!

It's Down To 30 days...

First of all, hope everyone had a great Christmas Holiday. After today, Anh will be working for another two weeks until January 9. That's when she'll go on her long 4.5 months of maternity leave. After having been off for a week, I know she's really looking forward to working again tomorrow... NOT ! :-)

30 Days ... 720 hours ... 43,200 minutes to go until the big moment. At this point, I'm feeling like a little child counting down the days until his birthday. I can't wait anymore. At this point in time also, I'm trying to think what else Anh and myself need to prepare for before little Baby Huynh comes out. We've picked out her name officially today, but we're going to keep it a secret until she's there. As far as preparation goes, I think we're pretty set for now. We've packed our Labor stuff for when the big day comes, filled out the paperwork for when we have to go to the hospital etc. Last week I contacted the Dutch Consulate General in Los Angeles to go through some questions regarding adding our baby daughter to my passport, as well as going through the process of how to apply for a Dutch passport for her. This girl will have the privilege to have a dual citizenship. And to keep options open (you never know what might happen in the future regarding her residence), I want to make sure that she'll be able to call herself Dutch-American (or vice versa). Which brings us to another question... what language will we teach her?

After having searched the internet, I found a Dutch school in Hollywood where we can send her to at the age of 4. Meanwhile, I'll be the Dutch teacher while Anh will teach English to her. We will also add some Vietnamese (with the help of the family) in the mix. And if Anh's Chinese is still up to date, we'll try that too. One thing's for sure ... she'll be well-rounded in her language. Today I ordered a High Definition video camera to capture all those beautiful moments to come. Sometimes I wish our parents had that technology back in the day. How fun would it be to watch my 3D/4D pictures when I was still in the womb and see my toddler experience in HD!

This coming week we have to stack up on some extra coconut butter. As Anh's belly is growing, we're covering a huge surface of coconut butter to keep those stretch marks as minimal as possible. Our baby's movements are becoming stronger and stronger. Especially, at night she tends to be very active. I realized during Christmas dinner how fast kids grow. Anh's sister's baby (Yenna) is only three months. But in those three months she's grown so rapidly. I can still remember seeing her all wrinkled and so tiny after her birth. By now you can already see her laughing and responding to us playing around with her.

With all this said, time for me to hit the sheets so that another day can go by faster. Until the next post.

Preparing For Our New Arrival!

It's Christmas Eve and I am sitting at home in the living room making a list of all the things that I need to pack in preparation for our baby girl's arrival. I was checking online to see what was needed for the big day and didn't realize that there was so much stuff that I needed to pack for myself, the baby and daddy. I guess I better start packing because you never know when the big day may come. It could come early or later depending on when she wants to come out.

The big day is approaching and I am kind of scared about how the labor and delivery will go. Some questions that have crossed my mind are: how will I know when is the right time to go to the hospital?, how long will I be in labor? am I pushing the right way?, etc. I have been watching dvds with Minh about the labor and delivery process and am somewhat prepared for the big day but you never know things could change when that time comes.

I am anxious, nervous, excited and scared at the same time about the arrrival of our baby girl considering that this is our first child but with Minh by my side I am sure that things will be alright. Together we will do our best to raise our child in the best possible way. Well, now it's a matter of time until she comes so that we can hold her in our arms and love her unconditionally.

Merry Christmas !!!

The chestnuts will be roasting on an open fire here in SoCal this year. For the past two years (or should I say, ever since I got here) the two of us spent Christmas time in Holland. With Anh still having 34 days to go, we obviously won't be able to travel. 

Looking back at this year, I can definitely say a lot of things have happened. Obviously we got ourselves 'knocked up' and I'm impatiently waiting for our little one to pop out. The thought of becoming a parent is still surreal. I think I would also like to give a huge shout-out and show gratitude to my best friend Ytja back home. Thanks Charlie, for helping me out with my dad earlier this year. For the readers, Ytja has been like a brother to me ever since we were little kids. The brother/neighbor from next door. Best friend a person like myself could ever wish for! Meanwhile, I just realized how old I am ... I've known this fool for over 20+ years now ... but then again, age ain't nuthin' but a number.

Back to Christmas ... currently, I'm seeing people running around like crazy trying to do their last minute Christmas shopping. We just got home from the mall ... and it's crazy to see the shopping madness. Too bad Americans only celebrate Christmas. Back home, when Christmas time comes around people just shut down ... celebrate Christmas, Boxing Day (2nd Day of Christmas, or 2e Kerstdag) and start stacking up on fireworks for New Year's Eve. In my case ... December 26th (2nd Day of Christmas) is another working day for me :-(.

Anh has this week off. Most of her time, she's sleeping in (cuz the phone won't be answered until after 10:00 am.) and cleaning up our place. We're going to have a Christmas dinner with her family tomorrow. What the plans are for Christmas Day ... we still have to plan :-). Depending on how the weather is this weekend, I might take a small snowboarding trip to Big Bear. That's the good thing about SoCal. You can either go to the beach here in Santa Monica, stroll down the boulevard and enjoy the sun or just go up north a little bit for 4 to 6 feet of snow. Enough diversity, I should say. 

At this point in time, the final touches are being added to our little masterpiece. She should be 5.5 lbs by now and approximately 18 inches tall. The kicks have turned into small wiggles and stretches due to her growing day by day in that little space called Anh's womb. I read somewhere that she will be adding her final layer of fat this week which will result in her having her daddy's dimples (I hope). Also, her lungs should almost be fully developed (meet your new competitor, Michael Phelps). And her liver is starting to process the waste products (thank God we've already stacked up on those diapers).

How much longer can a person count down for her arrival in 34 days? Again, I can't wait ... maybe by hitting the sheets now will make another day go by faster. 

Lastly, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy the food, each other, the family (if they haven't been snowed in or being stuck at the airport due to weather conditions). 

Until the next post :-).

Baking Chef...

Part of being a future parent is being able to bake a pie. I haven't baked any pie or tart whatsoever for a long time. So, with Anh's help and my Dutch background, here is the end-result of a traditional Dutch Apple Pie ("Appeltaart") with a twist of American flavor. 

We just need to let it cool down and with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream ... Hmmm !!!

Anh saw her doctor today for her check-up. Everything is still good to go. The baby's heart rate was 141 which was perfect at this stage. She'll have her next check-up in another 2 weeks from which points we'll start to having weekly check-up until Anh's giving birth. 

Around this time last year, we were spending our Christmas and New Year's in Holland... something we obviously won't be able to do this year because of the baby. Even though the weather is cold, I do miss the cold cold (freezing cold) weather back home. So instead, we're planning a trip to Santa Barbara tomorrow. 

Meanwhile, our appeltaart is close to cooling down. And for some reason, our stomachs are really growling... 

Until the next post :-).

34 Weeks Pregnant...

Lately it seems as if the father has trouble sleeping. Meanwhile, Anh's getting her early rest. Hmmm ... shouldn't that be the other way around, knowing that close to 75% of all the pregnant women have trouble sleeping in their third trimester. 

At this point both of us are waiting, waiting ... and ... waiting. Instead of driving ourselves crazy (mainly daddy), it might be better to utilize the time that we have left to spend with our friends, family, together, etc. I can imagine that soon everything will revolve around the baby, and Anh and I will wish we could have some downtime. 

Currently, little baby Huynh is the size of a doll (close to 18 inches) and weighs about 5 lbs. At this stage, she should be ready to start descending down or at least, be in that downward position. Things to do this week is to start filling out the hospital paperwork regarding her birth plan... whether we want rooming-in or have her go to a nursery for a couple of hours after the delivery, contacting the pediatrician, medication, etc. Anh's going to deliver at Hungtington Hospital in Pasadena. Also, I suggested to start watching those DVD's again ... just to refresh our memories. This coming Saturday we're seeing the doctor again ... and every week thereafter.  As far as activities goes, our little one has been very active lately. Unfortunately, still now belly button pop :-). 

Speaking of popping, time for me to pop the light switch. It's bedtime. 

Until the next post.

The Set-Up... It's All About Time

The saying goes "Money Can't Buy You Happiness". I say "...but it buys you the things that make you happy". 

(By the way... Thanks Babe for those words... I love you too)

With our little one coming in less than 41 days, I've been extremely busy trying to put a plan together for her. There are a couple of things certain in life: death, taxes and time. So, what I have been asking myself the past couple of days is what we need to do to set this girl up, so that she'll have less things to worry about in the future. What can we, as future parents, give this munchkin what our parents haven't been able to do? Meanwhile, I was running a couple of numbers today. And I came to the conclusion that time is the keyword. 

The next thing is to find a way to generate tax-free compounding of earnings inside a vehicle. The longer we can keep the money invested, the greater the wealth accumulation. So, what better way to start accumulating a large amount than to start during childhood? When tax-free and tax-deferred compounding has more than 50 years to run its course, a relatively modes savings plan can produce substantial wealth. 

The final objective is to put a plan together that protects our munchkin's life, while generating a supplement to her future income too. Since I want to create an interactive blog (and since I don't want to give away the farm), here are some examples. Did you know that...

- If you start putting a life insurance policy together for your newborn child by paying $75 a month, your child will be able to retire at 65 with a TAX-FREE annual income stream of over $136,000 a year for the next 25 years (total of $3,400,000 income)!

And assuming her life expectancy is 100 years old, her legacy to our grandchildren would be at least another $3,000,000.

- As far as starting a tax-deferred and tax-free vehicle for her, I'm thinking of funding a Roth IRA for her. But don't you need to have income and be at least 18 years old? The answer to both is NO. It's difficult to prove this income. The Internal Revenue Code says all income is taxable unless an exception is made, and there's no exception for amounts paid by parents to family members for household chores. So little baby ... be ready to do some paid chores around the house. By the time you're 30, you should be on your way to have your first $100,000 in your account. Cost? Another $50 a month.

It's all about time ... $550-600 for your child a month (that's how much day care costs nowadays) shouldn't be much to ask for. That will take care of:

- $250,000 college tuition 20 years from now

- $100,000 down payment for a house or something else

- generating a retirement income for her of $136,000 for 25 years thereafter AND $3,000,000 in estate benefit. 

Too good to be true? Absolutely not ... a combination of timing, caring parents will do just enough. Remember, take the emotion out of life and it all becomes a numbers game. 

Speaking of preparation. Meanwhile, we did some shopping at Babies R Us, Target and Walmart yesterday. And I'm proud to say that we're the owners of 368 diapers... which will probably last us only 1 month, assuming she'll consume 8-12 diapers a day. Hey, but at least we're prepared. All we need now is for her to come out.

Until the next post ... L'Chaim

My Hero! My Super Minh!

I know I haven't expressed my gratitude to Minh that often but words cannot express how much I really appreciate everything that he has done for me throughout my pregnancy.

He created this blog so that all of our family and friends could be updated on my pregnancy. Minh already set up a savings plan for our daughter two years ago considering he is my financial planner and he is planning for our daughter's future since going to college will be very expensive by the time she gets there.

He's been there to support me during my mood swings and cravings. It's funny how sometimes Minh has cravings for certain things considering the fact the I am the pregnant one not him. The baby registery took some work but he was able to help me update it. Not to mention all those doctor's visits, which he was there for me whenever I had to go see the doctor.

He helped me out with all the handy work such as putting the crib, stroller and car seat together, etc. It was fun going shopping with Minh for baby stuff because there are so many cute things out there for babies nowadays. He does have a great sense of fashion when it comes to shopping.

Minh is so considerate because whenever I need anything, he will go out of his way to get it for me. He is the most caring and loving husband and I know that he will be a great father to our daughter. Now it is just a matter of time before our little arrives.

Thanks a million for everything honey! You're the Best!

Thank You So Much !!!

Today Anh had her baby shower (the 2nd one). Initially, the weather forecast wasn't in our favor. Fortunately, we just had to deal with the wind instead of a rainy day. We hope the food was good. But most importantly ... 

... THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE GIFTS !!!

For the ones that were unable to attend, thank you for your kind gifts also. I'm crossing my fingers now, hoping that a baby girl comes out in 45 days. But then again, boys in pink onesies can be fun too. Only real baby boys wear pink. Anh and I would also like to express a special thank you to Tran & Marilyn for organizing all this. Just to let you know, Anh's sister Tran recently gave birth to her little baby girl Yenna. So doing all this ... again, great job!

For the pictures and that 1 video, just click on the link that leads to Anh's Photo Gallery. For those who had brought their own camera and want to upload the pictures to Anh's gallery, you have that option. The ones that would like to have a copy of these pictures, downloading is possible too. And for those who are not computer savy, just give us a buzz and we'll snail mail it to you :-). 

So after this ... no more baby showers. I was told by a couple of friends to do the things I still wanted to do (such as snowboarding or spending time with just the two of us). In 45 days we'll embark on a new journey that is called parenthood. Initially, a thought that we are freaking out on since everything is new. But then again, the thought of having a little one on the way that we both can call our own is amazing. 

Other than that ... welcome to the wonderful life of Anh & Minh (we'll keep Baby Huynh's name a secret until she comes). We might even start our own reality show. But for now, we're counting the 45 days that are still ahead of us. 

L'Chaim and until the next post!

PS. I was told by a good friend of ours to cut back on the writing. My stories are too long. If any of you readers agree, just comment down below. Maybe I'll just post a general poll to see what the majority wants or likes about our blog :-).

48 Days and still counting...

While momma is getting her early rest, once again it's my job to keep this Blog updated. 48 Days and still counting. I can't believe we're almost there. It almost feels as if yesterday we found out about that little peanut in Anh's womb. At this point, Anh is going into her 33rd week of pregnancy. The little munchkin should weigh roughly 4.5 lbs by now. And her length should be about 17.5 inches. Other facts this week are:

- her respiratory system should be almost complete.

- she can literally make a distinction between light and darkness.

- her body is starting to gain fat for protection and warmth. 

I see myself checking for Anh's belly button to pop every day. But up to now, still no pop :-(. 

In addition, Anh's been experiencing excessive tiredness (that's why she's sleeping already). But then again, maybe's her tiredness is due to her work she still has to deal with for the next couple of weeks. Unless her pain level is high, we haven't experienced the so-called Braxton Hicks contractions yet. All in all, everything is still going smoothly. Our baby's heart rate is normal to excellent and all the activity tells us she cannot wait to come out. 

The past couple of weeks I've been emphasizing on our baby's future a lot. Doing a lot of calculations regarding how much her college would cost us 20 years from now. Fortunately and compared to our peers, we have a 3 year head start. We started putting some bills away 3 years ago. Taking the current average inflation of tuition into consideration (6.9%), in 20 years the average cost of one year at a private college is estimated to be $76,406, while public schools will average tuition of $23,832 per year. Since we already have a head-start, our New Year's Resolution is to contribute $400 a month to her 529 College Plan for the next 20 years. I don't want to count on anything such as Financial Aid or anything else. Another option could be sending her back to Holland to go to college (since she'll have a dual citizenship by the time she's born). At least right now, education is somewhat subsidized over there. But then again ... it might not be in the future. I'd rather not bet on that. 

Can you imagine? This is just the education-planning. Being the adviser that I am, I cannot stress enough how important it is to start early. So for all you parents out there ... You WILL see yourself complaining about these expenses in the future if you don't start early!

Just come and see me :-).

Other things that I'm looking into right now is to get ourselves a nice HD-video camera to capture all those precious moment awaiting us. As of now, Anh's baby shower which will be held this coming Saturday already has 48 attendees. I hope the weather will be in our favor since we're having it at a local park. As long is there's food, I guess people will be happy. 

I see that I have typed way too much already. Time for daddy-o to join momma in her beauty sleep. Until the next post ... 'On y va' (that's French for 'off we go').

Minh "The Toolman Taylor"

Sign, Sealed, Delivered ... and Finished !!! Those were my words when I finished turning the last screw of Baby Huynh's crib. For those who still remember that series Home Improvement ... I felt like Tim having his beloved Jill support him. I therefore would like to give a shout-out to my baby momma Jill (I mean Anh ... heheh) for looking pretty and helping me hold certain parts together. Not to forget the half-time coffee breaks. Those really helped. We had to run off to Babies R Us to get the mattress and a couple of little things. The only thing we need now is for Anh to pop and have the little one enjoy her new crib. 

Anh had her biweekly checkup Saturday and everything seems to still be going prosperous. Her sugar level was slightly high due to her rich breakfast of pancakes and Dutch syrup. Not a big deal. Hey, as the husband you have to satisfy these cravings. I don't want to end up with a big momma with an attitude :-).

As time goes by, her stomach is getting bigger and bigger. And a lot of activity has been going on. Our little girl is almost able to kick 2 remote controls off of her mother's belly. We still can't believe that we have less than two months to go. Honestly, I can't wait for her to pop out. 

I'm going to keep it short today. In closing, we would like to wish Cheryl the best in these bad times. It seems as if death has been occurring a lot lately. We want to express our sincere condolences on this tragedy. 

Life Events & Growing Up

In the time it takes you to count to 10, more than 40 babies are born worldwide. Unfortunately, death is another life event people are confronted with daily too. Another death in our network of friends has caught our attention. Our sincere condolences go out to you, Rebecca ... having to cope with your uncle's loss. Try not to be sad about his passing, but try to reminisce on the good times. 

As we count our 54 days until our little baby girl's arrival I'm starting to think about the process of growing up. This might sound corny. But as you get older you slowly start to realize how tough it is being a parent. The more I think about myself becoming a parent, the more respect I have for my father. All those verbal and physical reprimands have indeed made me a better person. I think I can write a whole book about how spoiled this new generation is, how minimum their work ethic is nowadays. Let alone, the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what the youth already knows or believes, and new information or interpretation. In short, the young bloods nowadays just don't seem to understand. Claiming you're independent, yet at the same time living off of parents ... that's just not right. But hey ... maybe I'm just too old-fashioned. I wondered what happened to those days when I had to wake up at 3.30 am to prepare for my paper route, just to make some extra money being a 14 year old kid. How will we raise our little baby girl? Making sure she doesn't have anything to worry about or making her work for what her parents have set up for her? The latter to me still seems like the best option. All I can say is ... thanks Dad for raising me right. Those beatings were exactly what I deserved back then. So little Baby Huynh ... if you ever see or notice your parents reprimanding you for something you don't understand (yet), just keep in mind we're trying to prevent you from turning into this spoiled kid. 

At this moment, I can almost say we're one the biggest coconut butter cream consumers out there. Each day I'm trying to rub Anh's belly with that stuff to prevent her from having stretch marks. There a huge surface to cover each day. That stuff smells gooooooood, though :-) !!! Both mom and baby seem to enjoy the coconut butter cream massage al lot. Especially our little one, there seems to be a lot activity during these massages. 

About a week from now we're having another baby shower (thanks Tran & Marilyn for organizing this). That should be a lot of fun for Anh and myself. So for the ones that haven't been updated ... we have our registry with Babies R Us :-). 

Getting Closer

First of all, we hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Hope you guys had lots of Turkey. But most importantly, we hope everyone had a good time spending with family, friends, co-workers etc.

We got back on Sunday from our Vegas trip. Can't believe this will probably be our last trip together. I still have to visualize myself walking around with a stroller, a diaper bag and this little munchkin in less than two months. It's exciting, though! And both Anh and myself are really looking forward to her finally popping out after those nine months. The stroller has been put together (piece of cake), the crib still needs work... but we'll probably get that done this weekend.

We stayed at the Palazzo in Vegas, but we spent most of our time at our favorite hotel ... The Wynn. The service is excellent, the employees are very hospitable. Don't know if it's because of our bankroll and the amount of hours we play (...lol...). As always, we were comped the buffets and we're treated excellent. Even one of the dealers that we have gotten to know there gave Anh a little baby present. Thanks fors the bibs and Precious Moments shawl, Mary!

Traffic was terrible on our way to Vegas (not to speak about driving back ... it took us 5 hours to get back and I was averaging at least 80 mph ... luckily, this time without a speeding ticket). Did some shopping at the premium outlet on Friday and bought our little baby girl some nice clothes. Momma needed some maternity clothes too ... to look good for the coming X-mas holidays. So we had to raid some maternity stores as well. All in all, we had a good shopping experience. We spent most of our time just enjoying our stay at the hotel, walking around and playing some games. It was good being out there for a long weekend, not having to deal with work and our daily chores.

At this point, we still have 56 days to go until the little one comes. Anh's seeing her doctor every other week now instead of once a month. Speaking of which ... another appointment coming up this Saturday. The baby's movements have gotten more frequent. It sometimes almost feels like she's preparing herself to be the next top So You Think You Can Dance finalist. And she should be around 17 inches tall and her weight should be somewhere in the 4 lbs.

This week we also found out about one of Minh's friend's father passing away. I hereby would like to express our sincere condoleances on this loss. Especially, during times like these and with X-mas coming up it's very tough having to experience a life changing event like this. You know who you are! Keep your head up.

Life events happen to everyone of us. It just gives us more reason to spend more time with the ones we care about the most and make sure that we protect them whenever we can. So you parents out there that have not set up your kid's college plan, nor have gotten yourself life insurance, nor that living trust you've talked about for all those years ... GET IT !!! Your child(ren) will be very thankful in the future. Or ... just give me a buzz and I'll hook you up with a complimentary, no-obligation X-mas financial consultation. Speaking of which ... time for me to go home and spend some time with my baby momma. Until the next post.