Most of you know that I have been doing a Spanish fast course. It has been 7 weeks of full time language school which has been quite interesting. Even in my Masters program I never sat in one class for the whole day with the same subject. My class consisted of me, one other student and a native Spanish speaker so you can imagine that there were not many people to hide behind.  My class focused on situational conversation such as calling a taxi, going to a doctor, going to the market, bargaining, and conducting other daily business.  I am proud to say that Jackson and I have completed our classes. I’m sure his developing brain has been so overwhelmed with both Spanish and English..poor little guy. Tomorrow I will take my oral evaluation and then it will be self-study from here on out until we are at post where I will likely resume classes.  Seth will continue Spanish until we leave for post so he is going to be much more advanced than the two of us!  He will be more equipped for issuing visas, and other government things. He might have to rely on Jack and me to get him food and transportation!

We are excited that Jackson has remained inutero since he gave us a few scares in the early weeks of my Spanish classes. I can remember telling the doctor when we were in the hospital for monitoring that I just needed 6 more weeks for my Spanish class then I could rest. The time has come and gone and Jackson has remained happy and healthy so we are so thankful.  We go to the doctor tomorrow so we will try to post again if there is anything noteworthy!

We are officially 2 months away from 40 weeks!  I know that’s still kinda far away in some people’s lives, but it certainly seems close when you realize your world will officially change forever!  And that’s 2 months if he comes on his due date and not before.

We have started stocking up on diapers, which is another freaky thing.  We’ve got other baby stuff in our apartment, but somehow diapers seem so different.  I mean, children’s books and toys laying around your home is a common occurrence when your wife is a speech therapist and works with children.  But diapers, I mean, those can only be used for one thing!  For some reason, that’s brought the reality home the most for me.

We went on a hospital tour today, which was quite enlightening.  We got to see where Kristen will be delivering, the baby will be sleeping, and where I’ll get to kick back in a fancy recliner while she labors away.  Hopefully it will be uncomfortable enough that I’ll remain responsive to her every need.  We also got to pull out some of our Parkland Hospital knowledge.  The tour lady asked which hospital delivers the most babies, and we got to blurt out “Parkland!”  For those of you who aren’t from Dallas, it’s the county hospital with which Kristen and I were associated through work.  The lady was quite shocked that we knew.  Thankfully, our hospital is much, much, much nicer than Parkland.  For starters, we didn’t see anyone giving birth in the hallways.

2 Months!

As of tomorrow I am 31 weeks pregnant…which means not too many weeks remain before we get to meet Jackson!! My tummy is growing so much faster than it was early on. I went to the doctor today and everything is going well. Jackson kept kicking against the doppler while the doctor tried to listen to his heartbeat. He hasn’t slowed down much although I think he is starting to run out of space in there.

We started Lamaze last week which was an adventure. It is a 3 hour class on Thursday evenings. By 9:30 pm when the teacher is gearing up for breathing exercises I have a very hard time not giggling and falling asleep. I am not sure how they expect a group of pregnant women to stay awake and last 3 hours without needing another meal! One class down, 3 more to go. I think the whole goal of Lamaze is to make it to all of the classes without having the baby. You have to get your moneys worth!

Many people have been asking me if I have been having cravings lately. Originally my answer was no. Seth and I started discussing the fact that it is hard to distinguish cravings because we have all of the yummy stuff around already, ie ice cream. I don’t really have to crave it because it’s already waiting for me! So, no craving just indulging!

For at least the past week, Kristen and I have had Spanish phrases stuck in our heads, repeating over and over and over again. They can change from day to day and from hour to hour. Sometimes they’re useful phrases and sometimes I’m not even sure if they make sense. The last couple of days Kristen has had “?de parte de quien?” in her head and I’ve had “?la de hoy?” Needless to say, it can be frustrating and make you wonder if you’re on the verge of insanity.

Which has all reminded me of a Seinfeld episode entitled “The Jacket” with the relevant parts below.

GEORGE: “Master of the house.. doling out the charm, ready with a handshake and an open palm. Tells a saucy tale, loves to make a stir everyone appreciates a…”
JERRY: What is that song?
GEORGE: Oh, it’s from Les Miserables. I went to see it last week. I can’t get it out of my head. I just keep singing it over and over. It just comes out. I have no control over it. I’m singing it on elevators, buses. I sing it in front of clients. It’s taking over my life.
JERRY: You know, Schumann went mad from that.
GEORGE: Artie Schumann? From Camp Hatchapee?
JERRY: No, you idiot.
GEORGE: What are you, Bud Abbott? What, are you calling my an idiot?
JERRY: You don’t know Rober Schumann? The composer?
GEORGE: Oh, Schumann. Of course.
JERRY: He went crazy from one note. He couldn’t get it out of his head. I think it was an A. He kept repeating it over and over again. He had to be institutionalized.
GEORGE: Really? ..Well, what if it doesn’t stop? Oh, that I really needed to hear. That helps a lot! Alright, just say something. Just start talking. Change the subject.