But we’re back, baby, and better than we were before — we are new and improved with the addition of Micah the Mäusle-Bär four months ago (time, flying, etc. etc.) And scientific tests prove that he is the winner of Lifetime Achievement Best All-Around Baby Award (it’s true — Patrick is a scientist and our claim is peer-reviewed).

I’ve been home with Micah so far, and will probably continue to do so while we’re still in Germany. But don’t pin any motherhood awards on me just yet — I still can’t find a real job and the government is paying me to stay home for one year. I never thought I’d be a stay-at-home-mom, but here I am. The jury is still out on whether this is the toughest job I’ll ever love — mostly its just kind of boring, punctuated with giggles and poop.

Patrick has been working his little tail off, as usual, and is about to start a long project in the States. We’re going to join him as soon as Micah gets his American passport. He already has a German one, but needs both to travel to and fro either country.

Other than that, it’s same old, same old (isn’t it always?). It’s cold and rainy here, but not much snow this winter. We’re getting rid of our car soon, since I walk everywhere during the week and we rarely ever use it on the weekends. We’re looking forward to taking our very first real vacation (outside of our honeymoon in 2006) this spring and introducing Micah to the ocean.

What’s on your agenda for 2010?

We’ve taken a few photos — but most of them are trapped on my digital camera, since I seem to have lost the device which allows one to release them — so we snapped some “interim” ones on the trusty iPhone to tide you over until I can learn to be more responsible with my things (hopefully, I will learn to do so within the next five weeks). There wasn’t much to look at before, really — I didn’t “pop” until a couple of months ago, and I’m still relatively small for my gestational age… but, I can no longer pretend that I just ate too many doughnuts for breakfast (if for no other reason than there aren’t really any doughnuts here).

In our gallery, you’ll see the clinic where I’ll deliver. As you can see, the face of socialized medicine includes manicured grounds, bubbling fountains, balconies off of private rooms and excellent food and care. I believe they have the Death Panels after Pilates class.

We’re almost done decorating the baby’s room — although I imagine there are still more trips to IKEA in our future. We’re particularly proud of our changing table and crib — both re-engineered by Patrick to make them bigger, faster and stronger than they were before. The changing table is actually three Billy bookcases put together — two small ones in front, and a tall one in back: it’s the perfect width for a changing mat, and the perfect height for us to do the dirty deeds without having to bend down. And, the best part, is that it magically turns back into shelves when the time comes.

Now let me draw your attention to the crib — you’ll notice that one wall is missing, but that a “foot” is supporting the middle. The foot is a new addition, designed by Patrick to give the crib stability when we place it next to our bed with the open space facing me. No need to get out of bed for feedings during the first few months. Genius! (The missing wall will attach once we move the crib out of our bedroom.)

We’ll post more updates and photos as soon as I can spring them from my camera (hopefully, in a couple of weeks). It’s getting real now — before, I was just stretching out my pants, but now, with the baby actively trying to escape (seriously, you can see the outline of feet pushing on my left side. Yes, it’s exactly like Alien) we’re beginning to realize that, shit, we’re going to be parents.

I assume we won’t leave him in a hotel, like I did with my camera charger.

Welcome to our new and improved photo gallery — now it’s easier to navigate and you can download any photo you want, or even the entire album. Enjoy!

After a rainy start (and a macbook air tumble), we drove through almost all of Germany (and a tiny piece of Denmark): Hamburg, Rügen, Copenhagen, Berlin, Weimar, Black Forest, Lake Constance and Munich. Many many miles on the Autobahn. Many many schnitzels. Many many beers. Two babies. Two weddings. And a partridge in a pear tree.

We can’t believe summer is over and we had a lot of firsts: our first year in New York, our first married year, our first apartment together, our first trip to Coney Island, our first US Open and our first Pickle Day.

Click on any of the thumbnails for photographic evidence for some of this and more.

Just when you thought it was safe to get into the toaster — here are some more wedding photos! Wait, these are taken by you, our very favorite photographers (and, according to Time magazine, persons of the year). And by “you”, we mean Matt L., Reshma K. G. and Chad S.

Click on the thumbnails to get to the gallery.