18 weeks

i don't remember the last time i felt bored. i know as a kid i was probably bored a lot. in fact, i can imagine my mom saying things like, "time flies sarah", you can't possibly be bored. just look around. life is changing all around you. well, that is certainly one constant truth of adulthood. time is flying. life is changing all around me. and i am most definitely NOT bored.

3 weeks from today we leave to finish our second year in honduras. i never thought i'd experience a longing for honduras, or at best the life we had there. but, i do. even if only a little :)

i'm looking forward to taking a step back in time...the pace of living is so much slower. life doesn't seem to require as much from you. the demands are less. the desire to spend is certainly less...whether it's money, time, yourself. it took us a while, but we seemed to have found our groove towards the end. honduras will always be a very special place for us. we discovered a little bit more about ourselves. we started to grow so much closer together and in deeper ways. and now, we were surprised by the most amazing of gifts. whenever we look at our little bambino, we'll always remember honduras with love and fond memories.

even though i can think of ways i'll enjoy my life back in honduras, leaving our home, our friends, and our family seems like an insurmountable barrier. again. in just about a month, we have reconnected with close friends. conversations, days at the park, meals, surprise visits, games...you name it. after a year of feeling the loss of our deepest and closest friendships, this summer provided a much needed relief. we love you guys. we've also enjoyed time with family, all of them! we spent a long weekend in texas with our milano family, which is always a fantastic time. we've had to privilege of seeing jason's grandma redelman and grandpa huston. and, we spent hours upon hours with the csukor side. wedding(s), showers, picnics, parties...the list goes on! there truly is now place like "home", and we're realizing more and more (especially through this experience) that home is where your heart is, and our heart is with the friends and family that we love so much!

here i am sport in' my new colombia shirt in honor of our friends and roommates for the summer wells and austin. we sure do love them and wouldn't have wanted to spend our sleeping and waking hours with anyone else. thanks for sharing aurora with us!

here i am at my cousin hannah's wedding to paul. they picked an amazing venue...st. james farm. the wedding was a beautiful display of their love for each other and for christ, as well as a grand celebrations for our family!

one of the best parts of the wedding was being able to see my sister "Joey" (you're welcome!!) and her husband brian. we don't' see each other nearly enough, but we cherished every moment we had together during that wedding week!

here we are...exhausted, but so overjoyed after such a beautiful wedding. i had coordinator duties for the wedding, while jason was on "Luca" duty. by the end of the week's events, luca didn't want to leave jason's side. super cute. i think he's as ready as he'll ever be for this!

the summer has had it's fair share of busy, though, too. jason (mostly) and i taught a science summer school program for 6-8 grade ELL students in the neighboring communities. i began my type 75 program with a week long residency downtown at depaul as well as through taking a couple of online classes. i also had the opportunity to earn my district trainer status for the CRISS program and will be training our colleagues in honduras when we get back. we've had to squeeze in a lot of busy-life stuff, like doctor's appointments and gathering official documentation we'll need in order to apply for bambino's passport. it's been a whirlwind! we're definitely looking forward to a couple weeks of downtime coming up, before we head back on august first!

now for an update on bambino...

Cambios y Noticias:

Weeks 14-18

You have grown from the size of a plum, to a peach, and now this week to a naval orange

Your hair is growing...everywhere. between the milano and redelman genes, i feel pretty bad for you kid. let's just hope it cute and curly!

Your skin is very thin and translucent, making it easy to see the small blood vessels you are forming beneath the skin.

I am feeling much more energetic and have been able to resume some of my normal activity. between long walks, prenatal workout videos and the exercises we are learning at our bradley childbirth class, i get worn out pretty easily.

I haven't had any significant food aversions or cravings. it's hard to tell, though. we are craving just about anything we see! we have really missed american food, and mexican food, and thai food...who am i kidding!? pretty much anything and everything. our diet was pretty limited in honduras ;)

I have started to feel side stitch-like cramps more regularly...likely due to my growing belly.

We are overjoyed to be able to be public about this exciting news. we have felt the love and support from friends and family constantly. thank you ALL for helping stay excited, calm, realistic and hopeful.

and now some updated bump shots...

liz and spent a fun day downtown, walking the streets, eating some delicious vegan/gluten free/organic food, and finally laying at the beach.

a new perspective on the bump...it's always there!

we spent the 4th with my parents in davenport...it was super fun to be just the four us, and on their turf for a change. fireworks by the mississippi river were incredible! love you mom and dad!

here i am waiting for our favorite dessert, "deri delite" on the east side of aurora...the school behind me is where i did my student teaching during college.