Updates

Well, Josh and I have officially decided to accept the Fulbright grant and move to Ecuador this fall! We feel it is the best thing for us. So, that means we'll have a busy few months coming up! Here's what will happen: I'll have the baby sometime in August. The due date is the 18th, but I'm really hoping and praying he'll come a week or two earlier than that, just to give me a little more time to recover and adjust to things because by Sept. 1, Labor Day weekend, we will be moving to Arizona. The baby and I will be flying and Josh will drive the car. A few days later Josh will drive to L.A. to take Step 2 of his medical licensing exam (there weren't any available days in Chicago before Sept.) Then about a week later, sometime mid-September, Josh will head down to Quito, Ecuador. I'll stay with family in Arizona another month to allow the baby to get a little bigger and get his 2 month checkup and vaccines. Then sometime mid-October I'll make the journey to Ecuador! We'll be in Ecuador through the following June, possibly til the beginning of July.

Now we're in the process of getting some of the details figured out. We just renewed our passports, and now we have to apply for visas. Another reason I hope the baby comes sooner rather than later is because we have to process a passport and visa for him as well and we have to wait until we have a birth certificate! Hopefully it all doesn't take long. Also, we plan to sublet our apartment fully furnished from Sept. to June/July, so if anyone knows someone who will be looking for a great place to live in Hyde Park, pass the word along!! It would be great for a student!!

I am planning to make my last day of work August 1st. It will be nice to have a short break before the baby comes. I think I will be sad to leave my job! Though working isn't always my favorite thing, it has been a great job to have. I'll mostly miss the people I work with. I would like to return part-time when we return from Ecuador, but my position isn't guaranteed. Hopefully they'll be hiring nurses when we return!

Monday I hit the 25 week mark (almost 6 months for those who don't think in weeks), and I'm continually growing bigger! Here's the most recent belly picture:

I'm still feeling great and really have no complaints! We think we've settled on a first name. You can tell us what you think, but it probably won't change our minds. :) We like Owen. We wanted a name that wasn't too common, one that was short and easy to spell since he'll have to spell out his last name the rest of his life, and one that didn't have any obvious horrible nicknames (I'm sure he'll still get nicknames). Owen seemed to fit the criteria. We've got some ideas for middle names, but still not decided for sure. We've thought about using a family name, but not sure about that either. We just want something that goes well with Owen.

Well, that's about it for the big updates, execpt that it's been 10 years since Josh's HS graduation! I wish i had a picture of him then but they're all in AZ. Instead I'll just post a picture from his mission, it was almost 10 years ago.