Rome, Italy

Okay, so it has been awhile since we last posted on the blog. Things have just been a little busy lately. If you haven't already heard from one place or another, I accepted a job to stay in Switzerland for another two years. So, the last few months have been busy with returning to the US to pack up our things and send them overseas, and getting our house ready to sell.

Now we are getting settled again in Switzerland, and have just about a month until #2 arrives. So we know for sure now that the baby will be born in Switzerland. However, unlike the US, Switzerland does not grant citizenship automatically to people born in the country. So, he will not have dual-citizenship - which would have been kind of cool. Nicole is doing well with the pregnancy - we have been having very rainy and cool weather here, so she is probably the only person in Switzerland enjoying that right now. We found out today that the baby could be kind of large, so she is starting to hope for an early delivery.

Anyway, back to Rome. So Nicole is unable to travel at this point, but I had a three day conference in Rome last week, and I stayed an extra day (like the dutiful husband that I am) to see some of the sights. Actually, despite the fact that I look like a terrible husband for leaving my 8-month pregnant wife at home for the weekend, she actually agreed that she had less interest in seeing Rome, and so this was a good way to get it out of my system. After reading a book on Roman history and Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, and watching the awesome ROME series on HBO, I was excited to take a look at some of the ancient ruins and famous architecture all over Rome. The city definitely doesn't disappoint. It is every bit as loud and crazy as everyone says, but there is so much to see there it is hard to know where to start. In just about 24 hours, I was able to see St. Peter's at the Vatican, as well as almost all the Roman sights, and many of the famous piazzas and fountains designed by Bernini around the city.

So, our travel is pretty much at a stand-still from this point forward. I don't suppose we will be going much of anywhere until well after the baby is born (maybe not until we come home for the holidays). So, I guess that this blog will become the new baby posting blog in the meantime. I will try to post pictures as soon as the big day arrives. Hopefully sooner rather than later for Nicole's sake!