I know it’s been a while since we’ve posted.  And don’t expect this post to bring you up-to-date on everything that’s been going on.  Although mainly life’s been pretty routine as we wait for Jack to come.

A couple of highlights have been some training I had last week.  The first class was called SOS (Security Overseas Seminar) that Kristen also took in April.  We learned a variety of interesting things that hopefully we’ll never have to use but if we did would be extremely useful.  The topics ranged from what to do in a hostage situation, a fire, or a WMD situation (they didn’t tell us what to do if they all occur at once!).

The other class was Emergency Medical Trauma, which was really interesting.  The basic premise of the class was what you can do if a mass trauma incident occurs.  Examples would be a plane crash, a multi-car pileup, and a terrorist attack.  If something occurs, you should triage everyone by spending less than 30 seconds on each individual to tell whether 1) he is breathing, 2)  he has a pulse, and 3) he responds logically to questions.  If the person isn’t breathing, you skip the rest of the steps and move on to the next person.  Once you’ve triaged everyone, then you can go back and help “patch” them up while you wait for professional medical help (which in some countries could be a long time).  The techniques they taught us were common sense and they encouraged us to improvise when it comes to medical supplies.  I mean, I’m not expecting a box full of pre-packaged, sterilized guaze pads if we were in some countries.  They also provided each of us with a kit full of supplies, which is in our car, awaiting any trauma incident involving Jackson being delivered in our car.  We’re almost at 37 weeks, so you never know.

We also recently bought a camcorder and have it right next to our pre-packed hospital bag.  In general, I think we’re ready logistically for him to come.  We’ve got his room pretty much set-up at this point, Kristen’s washed some of his clothes, and we have diapers ready at a moment’s notice.

We’re also ready for him to come.  In the sense that we just can’t wait to meet him.  We ask each other every day when we think he’s coming, and we’ve promised that we’ll tell the other person if one of us figures out when he’s actually coming.

Kristen’s holding up very admirably, especially considering that for over a week, Jackson’s been sitting right on her sciatic never.  Which causes excruciating pain whenever she walks, rolls over in bed, sits up, or does just about anything.  It’s basically like having a pinched nerve which will most likely last until he comes.  In fact, last week she told me that she’s officially ready for him to come.

And if anyone else knows for sure when he’s coming, please let us know.  Kristen’s sciatic nerve and I would love to know!

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!