Rick's First Day of School

So yesterday, August 13, was Rick's first day of school/orientation at the Leeds School of Business. He was excited and had a great day. He really liked a class he had to take called "The Art of Small Talk," and met a lot of really interesting people. Jessica and I went to the Spouse/Partner Orientation in the afternoon and then met up with Rick for the welcome BBQ in the evening. We sat with some of the international students and met some of the professors and ate way too many lemon bars for dessert. I think I made some people nervous because they knew it was my due date, but there was no excitement there- I did bring some towels in my purse in case my water broke though.

"I'm so excited to go to school today!"

Still got my balance.

Picture of me on my "expected due date"

I have had some contractions, but nothing major so while Rick is at school today Jess and I are heading down the road to the Celestial Seasonings Factory. It is about a 1.5 mile walk and part of the tour includes a peppermint room- I hear that strong scents like that can help induce labor? We'll see...

Can't believe it is already June!

Even though I have been done with school for a couple weeks now, I still feel very busy somehow! Graduation weekend was so much fun, all my family was able to come down except for Kevin and Rachel ( we missed them!!!) and my Grandma and Grandpa Holt also came down from Idaho which was very sweet. We had a great time just being together and some of us headed down to Mexico for some tacos and shopping. As always, it was an adventure, but this time there was NO ONE down there because of all the swine flu and drug cartel media that is scaring people--- so we pretty much had Revolucion street to ourselves. I really wanted to go one last time before we move because I broke our last set of margarita glasses from there and so I needed to replace them, Rick wanted to get another sun hat because his brother Nick anonymously borrowed his last one and lost it on his way to Chile, and we also wanted to get some cute Mexican dresses for the baby in my tummy. Too bad we ran out of time to get our names written on a pice of rice. I will miss our random trips to Mexico:(

I met with my midwife and doctor last week and it still amazes me how different the appointments are... I really learn so much more information about nutrition and the birthing process from one appt. with my midwife than all my Kaiser appointments combined. I guess at Kaiser they just don't have the time to really sit down with you and answer your questions and give you information. I don't mind going to both sets of appointments though because it is always fun to hear the heartbeat.... not so much fun to pee in a cup and weigh myself though. I am 30 weeks along and have gained about 27 pounds. I have a new bundle of cellulite on backside that I lovingly refer to as my chunkalunk. The baby and I are healthy and happy and I've been told I am "the picture of good health," a phrase that Jessica really found amusing and keeps repeating to me.

Rick and I are just packing away-- I am using all my nesting like energy to pack and organize:)

Rick is a fabulous photographer. Here is the latest picture of my belly at 30ish weeks.

We're going to Colorado!

So it is official- Rick has accepted his invitation to attend the MBA program in Boulder this fall! It was a tough decision between Boulder and Thunderbird, but in the end we feel best about Leed's, and are really excited!

All along I have been asking Rick when his programs would begin and he always assured me that it wouldn't be until the very end of August/early September. So our original plan was to move out after the baby arrives partly because we are planning a homebirth and just love our midwife Marla! So when we found out that Rick's prgoram actually starts on my due date, we realized that our plan was very unrealistic and we have had to switch it up a little bit. We are planning to move in July, and I have already started speaking over the phone with some midwives who I can transfer to and will meet with some my first day there. It will be nice to be all settled in before the baby arrives instead of moving shortly after.

So we have a long checklist of things to get done before we move...

-Sell Rick's business
-PACK! AHH

-Find a place to live in CO.

-Find a new midwife

Well, I guess it is not that long, but it feels like a lot for some reason...

We will miss California and the beach and being somewhat close to both of our families, but we are so excited to move to beautiful Boulder and explore the mountains there and meet new people!

Cheers!

Rick received an email a couple days ago that he has been accepted to the Business School in Melbourne Australia! It is the second best business program in Australia and it is a great feeling to know that we have the option of going there:) We are not sure if it is a very realistic option for us because it would be such a big move away from family right when the baby is born and because we are not sure how easy it is to get recruited back in the U.S. after the program.  We should be hearing back from Leeds in Colorado and Thunderbird in Arizona later this week and we're crossing our fingers to get into one of those programs.  If not, then we will have to decide between reapplying next year or heading out to the land of Oz.  So life is good no matter what, and I'm sure it will work out exactly the way it should.  Good job Ricky!