Ben is home!!

Ben returned last night from his orientation, which was deserving of much celebration as we made it four days without me going into labor while he was out of state.  He had a great time and is really looking forward to his new job.  Karen and I had a lovely time in Iowa City while he was gone.  We went on a couple of adventures, ate a lot of good food, and spent most of our time avoiding the cold and gossiping... it was wonderful.

We are now bracing ourselves for what is supposed to be a big storm (beginning tonight).  We had monitoring done today, and our little guy is doing great and I wasn't having any contractions-- so we may be able to make it through the blizzard.  Tomorrow I'll be 39 weeks-- 6 days away from our due date.  It is unbelievable to think we will be holding our son in a matter of days.

Lazy Weekend

We have had a lovely, lazy weekend... as evidenced by Harlan's many relaxing moments.

We call this one the lawnchair-- when he folds himself in half.

His current favorite, laying between and on Ben's legs.

Very special dog.  He was only half asleep here.  I put a peanut butter girl scout cookie on his head and he looked at me then went back to snoozing.  He couldn't smell the peanut butter, or figure out there was something on his head.  It was only when I put it directly in front of his nose that he figured out he had snack in front of his face.

Steph stayed with us this weekend (YAY!!!) and her and Harlan had a good time snuggling.

13 days to go!!

We are now 38 weeks in and 13 days away from our due date.  According to "The Bump" our baby is the size of a pumpkin (seems a little big to me...).  Ben and I are getting more and more excited, although we have our fingers crossed that our little guy will wait until after Wednesday at 9 p.m. to arrive (Ben heads to Sandia Sunday-Wednesday for orientation).  We had a non-stress test today and everything looked great.  In fact, he was so active it was difficult for them to find a 'resting' heart rate. The best part?  He got hiccups about ten minutes into the test which we could hear over the monitor...just about the cutest thing in the world.  Second runner up for cutest thing of the day-- the golf-hating kangaroos that held up a professional golf tournament (pictured above).

Greatest Graduation Present Ever

Ben received a package yesterday from Aaron-- full of business cards.  Pay special attention to the title under his name :)

The back of the card...

Making Headlines!

Ben is the first link on the physics & astronomy department website this morning, http://www.physics.uiowa.edu/  with a really nice write-up from his advisor Tom http://www.physics.uiowa.edu/alumni/recent_grad.html.

 

 

We had a great weekend celebrating Ben's successful defense with Jim, Karen, dad, and Jo.  Layla also came down for the weekend, so her and Harlan got to have a sleepover which they always enjoy :)

 

20 days to go!

 

We are within 3 weeks of our due date!  Ben calls me his ticking time bomb :)  No reason to believe our little guy will be showing up early, although our doctor did tell us on Tuesday that she doesn't want us to go more than a week past our due date so we know the latest day that he will arrive!  Our little guy is still an acrobat from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. every night.  He is non-stop movement all day long, which has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.  While I can't wait to hold him in my arms, it has been an incredible few months spending my days with him and knowing when he is especially awake.  This week has been very entertaining because he will go nuts for about twenty minutes wiggling and stretching and acting like he is going to jail break, then there will be a pause, and then he will have the hiccups.  It has happened like clockwork every morning this week.  It cracks Ben and I up because Harlan does the same things-- works himself up into a tizzy and then exhausts himself into hiccups.   Ahhh!  As if on cue!  The hiccups just started!

 

Super sweet, Sara & Matt got Ben a congratulatory candy bouquet for defending successfully

 

 

The first thing I want to eat after we get home from the hospital--  man have I missed prosciutto! 

 

Little deer.  Harlan had an exhausting day at daycare on Wednesday.  I was given a 'report' when I picked him up (which has never happened) and that was that Har is in looooove with a 2 year old pit bull.  Apparently the staff were unable to separate them for 8 hours straight.  When we got Harlan home he crumpled on the couch in a heap of exhausted, love-struck puppyness.

 

Dr. Benjamin Olson :)

Yesterday Ben successfully defended his dissertation, "Time-Resolved Measurements of Charge Carrier Dynamics and Optical Nonlinearities in Narrow-Bandgap Semiconductors." Yay!!!  Not only did he successfully defend, he did so with 'flying colors' (that's what his committee members told me after they deliberated), and his advisor told me I should be very proud of what an exceptional job Ben has done during his time at the University of Iowa.  

The defense started with the committee clearing out the room and discussing Ben's performance over the last 6 years privately.  Then the audience was invited back in while Ben gave an hour long presentation highlighting the significance of the work he has done.  He did an incredible job presenting-- cool as a cucumber, extremely confident.  He struck me as having the composure of a visiting lecturer/professor more than a student.  We (the audience) were asked if we had any questions once he was done, and when we did not, we were excused.  Then the committee went down the line for 30 minutes asking questions about his dissertation.  After they had asked their questions, they asked Ben to step out (which is when he received a giant hug from his not-so-patiently waiting wife) and then right back in again.  His committee exited the room first, and they were all smiling and quick to tell me that he had passed.   When I got back into the room Ben and Tom were talking about his work and his time as Tom's advisee, it was very heart-warming and I'm sure bittersweet for both of them.  They have really enjoyed working together over the past 6 years.  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of Ben (I know....fail...)-- but I did get a couple of quick pictures of the room before things got started.

One of the committee members was out of the country and videoconferenced in.   This was hysterical to me because if reminded me so much of Sheldon 2.0 from Big Bang Theory.  I wanted to put a t-shirt on Michael 2.0 as he sat at the table. 

Waiting to connect with Michael 2.0....

Congratulations Ben, I could not be more proud of you and all that you do :)

36 Weeks- 27 days to go!!

It's February 1 and we are due March 1, only 27 days to go!  Ben defends his dissertation next Wednesday, so the plan for the weekend is to hibernate and make sure he is ready for his big day.  

Ben and Harlan are already settling in to their positions on the couch :)