It was a...

...lovely week in July. Sunny weather, very hot. The perfect occasion to enjoy the beaches of southern France. However, we spent it working on the babyroom. Guim sacrificed his home office and the grandparents came to help. It turned out beautifully, didn't it?

An update on...

...the baby bump: ready to explode with an "outie" belly button. Still 2 months and a half to go. In the summer heat of southern France! Help!
We're getting very close to having everything ready and Kati really needs to stop buying baby things. She could buy the clothes for the next 12 years already. They're so cute! Baby-boy is a kicker and needs music to calm him down in the evening. Needless to say, we're starting to wonder what he's going to look like. Why can't the belly have a zipper so we could check?! Vote in the poll if you want to help us.

It's been exactly one year...

...that we left Japan. Reason enough to make a little video tribute to the wonderful time we had and the wonderful people we met there. We shed a few tears while putting it together. Hope you like it! We'll be back!

And Kati was right...

...we're having a little baby boy! I guess we all know which sport he will play. Everything is going great! "Mini-us" is very active and loves to jump around in Kati's belly - especially when she sits down to rest. Daddy is as proud as a peacock and mommy can't stop smiling. And of course, the belly won't stop growing...

The wallpaper, carpet and furniture have been chosen and are waiting for grandpa to come from Germany and fix the baby room. Lots of love to all of you from a happy little family of 2 and 1/2.

Help...

Kati's baby belly has started to grow. It's been literally exploding for 3 weeks. Proof below!

Allow me to introduce myself...

"Tadpole." – I am going to be Kati & Guim's first baby. My parents are still making fun of my size, but everybody has to start small… On the photo, I am only a little over 12 weeks old and I've just discovered that sucking my thumb is a lof of fun. At the end of October, you will be able to admire me in full size and high definition 3D.
I am looking forward to meeting all of you.

An unseasonably warm February weekend...

...pulled lots of people out of the city and to the beach - us included! Ahhh, la dolce far niente!
Sending you warm spring wishes - a little early!

Carcassonne...

...a medieval city in the southeast of France with an enormous citadel became the destination for Kati's parents second visit to the land of cheese and wine. After seeing that, we decided we have to go back there for the 14th of July fireworks. Amazing!

Itadaki mas...

We finally got around to trying out our "Sayonara" present! What do you think?

Omedetou gozaimasu...

Happy new year everybody! Guim and I just got back from a little getaway on the "Ile de Re" - 3 days of relaxing thalasso therapy, warm saltwater pools, excellent food, walks on the beach...! We really needed to shake off the stress of the last months and that was definitely the place to do it.

Other than that, the new year's starting with some good news: Guim's contract was extended until the end of March and it's still looking very, very good for us to stay here beyond that.