A milestone every seven or so years … hey, that’s not bad!

As a rule, my husband, Ben, and I don’t do anything in a rush. We got engaged seven years after dating. Given that inclination, I’m impressed we pulled off our wedding within two years of the engagement! Then, eight years after getting married, we are now expecting our first child, a boy we are naming Eli Vinh. So of course, I am typing this at 12:35 AM on June 18th, his due date — because I’ve only had nine months to get this together!

So, what’s with the name of this blog? For those unfamiliar, “For the Vinh” is a play on the internet slang “for the win” (often abbreviated FTW). It is generally used to express approval or enthusiasm for something. Coming from a multicultural background — I am a Vietnamese, born and raised in Thailand; Ben is Jewish — we needed to pick a name that was pronounceable (i.e. no unfortunate words) in English, Thai, and Vietnamese. Eli, his Jewish name, passes this test. For his Vietnamese name, we settled on “Vinh,” which means victory. The /v/ phoneme, however, does not exist in Thai; it is instead approximated by the /w/ phoneme, so Vinh, in Thai, would be pronounced “Win,” which still means victory in English — and makes the name of the blog even more apropos! Don’t you just love when things work out so perfectly?

Ben … dedicated to sympathy pregnancy since 2013!

I hope this blog provides me with a forum to post all the pictures I will undoubtedly be taking of Eli, while also recording memories I will want to remember later on. Ben, a software engineer, jokes that we are about to program the most powerful computer we’ve ever had. Whatever it is we’re doing, I’m sure it won’t be dull! You’re welcome to tag along with us on our adventures as we figure out this whole parenting puzzle. ❤