2010-05-31 More Peter Pictures

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Peter Donald Archey, born April 10, 2010

On April 10, 2010 at approximately 8 pm IDT (Israeli Daylight Time), our son Peter was born. See pictures here.

Peter Donald Archey Born 10 April 2010

Josh's World Travel Blog

For up to date information on the latest in air travel, please see my dedicated blog for that purpose:

http://makingairtravelfunagain.blogspot.com

Josh

Still waiting for Baby

Dawn is three days overdue and we are still waiting for Baby.

Getting Ready for Baby

Dawn returned a few days after I did from the U.S. Once she was over her jet lag, final planning for our son's arrival began in earnest. We are now nearing the end of our pre-birthing classes with the doula who will help Dawn and me through labor and delivery. We have read many books (Dawn in particular) and watched several birthing and labor videos together. We have a bag packed for the trip to the hospital. I am nearing the end of the third round of revisions to my MA thesis. Hopefully, the third time's the charm.

The upcoming week will be extremely busy. My advisor is organizing a conference that will happen this coming week, 30 Years of German-Jewish Studies, and we meet Sarah, our doula, for a fourth and final pre-birth session. Dawn will also be doing a technological on campus interview over two consecutive days with a university back home. We are less than a month away from the due date (April 4th).

Jetting Around the World

Well, only a third of the way around the world... Less than two weeks after our trip to northern Israel, Dawn left for the AMS / MAA Joint Meetings in San Francisco, where she had several preliminary interviews and gave a short math talk January 13th-16th. Then, it was off to Lewis Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho for an on campus interview. Having already changed her ticket to fly back to Israel from Idaho, she then decided to extend her trip again in order to have the chance for more on campus interviews, should they arise. She concluded that she would not be able to fly back to the U.S. for more interviews later in the calendar before the baby is born.

Dawn also had a preliminary interview with Valparaiso University (Indiana) on campus in the week or two that followed. Since she had extended her trip a second time, I ended up leaving on my own trip to the States before she returned. I attended MIT's European Career Fair Jan. 29th and 30th in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Though I did not receive any interviews (most companies were looking for scientists or engineers), I was impressed by how many companies from German-speaking countries were represented.

During my three and a half days in the Boston area, I re-connected with friends from high school and college. A great time was had by all, but I didn't have my camera with me on all the occasions that I wanted to. Oh well. Bright (or dark?) and early on Jan. 31st, I headed for Boston Logan International once again, planning to surprise my grandma with a brief visit to her and Richard in Huntsville, Alabama. Richard forgot that it was to be a surprise though, and asked her Saturday evening if she knew I was coming. Still, they were both happy to see me, and we enjoyed a wonderful church potluck and old fashioned southern hymn sing at Richard's church Sunday evening after my arrival. I also took the opportunity to begin catching up on my sleep.

Monday I visited with Grandma, Richard, and the breakfast bunch (Grandma's Somerby, errr... Brookdale Place friends) and prepared for my return to Israel. The requisite Target trip was made, to buy some necessities that are either unavailable in Israel or prohibitively more expensive, in preparation for our son's arrival. Then it was early to bed for my early return flight to Boston to catch my international flights from Boston back to Israel. I had built in plenty of time, but my jet lag started to show in Boston, when I forgot to ensure my frequent flier number was added to my itinerary. In all, four flights later and twenty four hours after leaving Huntsville, I arrived back in Tel Aviv and took the train to Be'er Sheva. What a whirlwind six days! (I arrived in Boston Wednesday, flew to Huntsville Sunday, and returned to Israel from Huntsville Tuesday, arriving back in Israel Wednesday).

New Year's in Haifa and northern Israel

Over the New Year's weekend, Dawn and I went on a "Babymoon" to Haifa and northern Israel for 3 nights. We toured the National Science Museum in Haifa, where Josh also saw the Body Worlds exhibition. We also toured the impressive Bahai Gardens, terraced gardens in the middle of Haifa spreading up the western slope of Mt. Carmel. I think the gardens are more impressive as a whole than when you are walking in them, but maybe if you didn't have to go down 700 steps just to go from the top level to the middle level, more attention could be paid to the garden itself. We were with a large group as well. Nonetheless, the gardens are beautiful. We also visited Stella Maris Monastery, near Elijah's Cave, and returned to sea level via the cable car at sunset. Beautiful. On our last day, we took the train to Akko (Acre) and toured the underground Crusader city and a mosque built by "the Butcher," the cruel Ottoman ruler in Akko of the late 1700s. Akko was the Crusaders most important port during the Crusades, and the city was successfully defended (with British assistance at sea) from Napoleon's attempted invasion in 1799.

From Akko, we took the bus to Nahariya, and a taxi from there to the grottoes at Rosh Hanikra, on the Mediterranean coast and the border with Lebanon. During the British Mandate period, a train line went from Europe through Palestine to Egypt. During Israel's War of Independence, the tunnel was sealed by Jewish resistance fighters of the Hagana Brigade. The grottoes themselves were narrow with low ceilings and there is definitely the potential to get wet, especially if the winds pick up. One of the rock formations looks like an elephant trunk.

We stayed at St. Charles Guest House, also known as the German Guest House, run by an order of Catholic nuns, who are amazing. The guest house has a large garden with benches and numerous orange trees. We even had fresh squeezed orange juice!

It's a Boy!!!

Dawn found out at her comprehensive ultrasound this week that we will have a boy! We are happy to know what we are having, though we both agree that what we most want is a healthy baby. We also toured the local hospital, Soroka Regional Medical Center, the major medical center for all of southern Israel. More babys are born at Soroka than at any other hospital in Israel. We were pleasantly surprised. Depending on when the baby comes, they may or may not have their new maternity ward open. It is slated to open in late March or early April, and will feature all private rooms. Our new arrival will land on or around April 4, 2010 (Easter Sunday).

Getting Her Kicks

Dawn felt the baby kick, or punch, or something similar, yesterday for the first time! She said it felt like being elbowed from the inside. We're still waiting to find out if it will be a boy or a girl. An ultrasound is scheduled in about a week. Thanksgiving party planning is underway. It will be a joint party with our new American-Israeli neighbors. They have a two year old named Zowie. I had a productive day yesterday writing on my thesis (over 5 pages) and hope to have another one today.

Another Country Heard From...literally

During late September and October, Dawn and I had the chance to return home to visit our families and attend the wedding of Dawn's sister Ruth and her fiance (now husband!) Hector. It was a beautiful wedding, and we were honored to both be part of the bridal party, Dawn as Matron of Honor, and me as a groomsman. There was even a rainbow after a brief rain shower on the way from the wedding to the reception!

We also enjoyed spending time with friends in and around Eugene, Oregon, and I had the chance to visit some good friends in Austin, Texas for a day or two, including my best friend during my elementary school years, Mark.

Dawn and I also embarked upon our "Grandmothers Tour 2009" and enjoyed spending time with each of our grandmas and our extended family. At the end of our 9 day "tour", we had been from Michigan to Chicago to Alabama and back again, with over 1500 miles driven! We also enjoyed a fun afternoon and late lunch with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, who all converged on the Lansing area for a great get together. Thanks to all the aunts and uncles who hosted us overnight on our trip, and to our friends in Eugene and Austin for providing a place to stay during our visits!!

Finally, we began planning in earnest for our new arrival, with shopping for baby items and strategizing on what we would need and wouldn't need over in Israel. Many thanks to our parents, especially Dawn's mother, for her tireless efforts on our behalf to help prepare us for our new adventure! Besides the USA, another country will be heard from along about April 2010 when our new bundle of joy arrives!

If you would like to hear more about our adventures in the U.S., please e-mail me.