And the decision is...

The Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine! After much comparing & contrasting, discussing, and praying, we knew that OCPM was right for us. We are excited at the prospect of living close to Rachel and Brandon and their family soon, but we are also saddened to not have the opportunity of living close to my parents that we would have had by going to Midwestern--yet, we take comfort in knowing that we are following the Lord's plan for us. And we feel great relief in finally knowing where we're going and in having a plan! Thank you to all of you who have had us in your prayers during this time of decision! (It was definitely a tough one!) Now we just have to find somewhere to live and make the final preparations (sigh)...

A Baby Update...Finally!

We've been so busy with podiatry school interviews (and catching up in school after the interviews) that I haven't had time to give a baby update...until today! So, here it is: our baby update for Week 16.
From "What to Expect": "With a whopping weight of anywhere from 3 to 5 ounces and a length of 4 to 5 inches (just larger than a navel orange), your baby is growing up fast. Muscles are getting stronger, especially the back muscles, enabling your little one to straighten out even more. Your baby-to-be is looking more and more adorable, with a face that has eyes (complete with eyebrows and eyelashes) and ears in the right spots. What's more, those eyes are finally working! Yes, your baby's eyes are making small side-to-side movements and can even perceive some light, though the eyelids are still sealed. Your baby is also becoming more sensitive to touch. In fact, he or she will even squirm if you poke your belly."
Updates from Weeks 13-15 include: our baby's intestines are now in their permanent place; Garbonzo now has vocal chords, a longer neck and a more erect head, head and body hair, and can now also breathe, suck, swallow, wiggle it's fingers and toes, kick, flex, and move it's arms and legs.
I can't believe how quickly our little one is growing and developing! I mean, it's actually looking and acting like a real baby now! Some of my personal experiences that coordinate with what I've shared from "What to expect" are that (1) I am "showing" now (just a little bit, but my pants are definitely feeling tight!), and (2) for about the past 2-3 weeks, I've been able to feel little Garbonzo kick and squirm inside me! The first time it happened, (about 3 weeks ago) I was in bed (just after waking up), and it felt as though Garbonzo had done a quick flip or two in my tummy. I thought, "Am I actually feeling our baby?" And then, as similar things started to happen on a regular basis (about a week later) I knew I was indeed feeling our baby move inside me. It's been so fun and exciting to feel the baby and KNOW that it's really in there! Now we're just waiting until those kicks and squirms get strong enough so that Travis can feel them (there have been a couple of times when I have been able to feel the baby kick with my hand pressed against my belly, but never when "daddy" was around!). And, yes, I'm still feeling nauseous, but being able to feel our baby, and know that it's there, makes still being sick feel so much more worth it.
Oh, and since I never did post and say how things went at our Nov. 4th Dr.'s appointment, I'll go ahead and tell you now! The Dr. told me that, from the results they got back from all of my tests and from feeling my belly, that everything looks and feels good and normal--Hooray! The Dr. also did an "ultrasound" on my belly, where I got to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time! It was so emotional and exciting! It's heart beat so fast, and the sound of it was kind of like Darth Vader breathing (being muffled), but it was a wonderful sound to me. =) I didn't want to stop listening to it. And then, at the end of the appointment, the Dr. told me to come back in 6 weeks for another (real) ultrasound...which means...that on December 15th we get to find out what the gender of our baby is!!! I can't wait! I was window shopping online for baby stuff the other day (again), and got so excited about buying things for our little one, realizing that in just 3 short weeks, we'll know if we need to be looking for everything "pink" or "blue."
We're so grateful everyday for the opportunity to be parents-to-be, and look forward to the day (about 5 1/2 months from now) when we'll finally meet the newest little Holloway!

Midwestern Update

Just to give you all an update, we recieved a letter from Midwestern last Thursday which announced that Travis had been accepted to their School of Podiatry (we knew he would!). So...check back later today for our final decision!

Latest Craft

This past Wednesday, our ward had an Enrichment activity, where we had a potluck Thanksgiving dinner and made a holiday craft. I was super excited about this activity because (besides eating great food) I had been hoping for an opportunity to make a Thanksgiving decoration. After stuffing myself with food, making some careful decisions, and about 2 hours of work, this was my final product:

I love it! It feels so festive and homey, and it makes me HAVE a heart full of thanks! Now to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner...

Interview with Midwestern

Hey everyone. I have another interview update for anyone interested. Jenny and I just returned from Arizona where I interviewed at Midwestern University. Six of us pre-podiatry students, four of whom (myself included) are LDS, interviewed on Monday the 10th. They started us right off with an introduction and welcome from the director of the podiatry program. He talked to us and answered questions and really gave us a great first impression of the school. After that we just sat in a waiting area until the commitees were ready to interview us. I interviewed with a panel of three people who took turns asking questions and then answered my questions at the end. It was a bit more intimidating and challenging than my interview at OCPM but they asked some really good questions and I hope they liked my answers. When I finished my interview I went into another room where they had a financial aid presentation that was nice but not very helpful. The person in charge of financial aid was gone so they grabbed a sub last-minute and she didn't really know what she was doing. I know it wasn't her fault but still, a bit frustrating. After that, we waited for almost an hour while the DO applicants continued with interviews. Waiting wasn't that bad but it would have been much more productive if they let a student come talk to us. In my opinion, the opinions and advice of current students are huge. I'd rather have an honest student tell me why they chose the school and what they like about it than an admissions employee get paid to say nice things about a school they aren't attending, just working for.
When the DO's finished they took us to the cafeteria for lunch. It was fine, but there were no podiatry students to talk to. We ate at our own table then went outside (it was sunny and in the 70's) to shoot some hoops before they took us on a tour of the school. The school has nice buildings and some new ones that should be ready for use in the fall, including a very large auditorium that will be the White Coat Ceremony venue in August and be used for class lectures. I'm glad they showed us all the buildings but again, there were no students on the tour, just an admissions guy who was nice...but probably more concerned with his Monday Night Football tailgate plans than hanging out with us. After the tour we filled out a short survey and left. I should hear back from them in the next couple weeks. Overall it was a good day. I'll get over not being able to talk to any students... It really is a nice school -- very different from Ohio's school. Ohio is completely independent; Midwestern is very integrated with their other programs (DO, dental, PA, Pharm...). Class size in Ohio is capped at 125; AZPOD is around 30. OCPM has been around a long time; Midwestern's podiatry program graduated their first class this year. Glendale and Independence are two very different cities as well. All in all, they're both nice and we have a very difficult decision ahead of us. I know this was long and probably not that interesting but thanks for reading it anyway. We'll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

A Milestone

Just had to quickly post and let you all know that the baby and I have officially graduated from our 1st trimester of pregnancy/mortal life and have entered the 2nd! Here's to the many nausea-free days ahead and to learning more about our baby!

Ohio Trip--Day 1

Day 1: We flew into the Cleveland airport, where we were picked up by Travis' brother's Jason and Brandon, and then headed over to Rachel and Brandon's house, where we were greeted with a scrumptious pasta dinner (compliments of Rachel)...yum. And after dinner? We decorated caramel apples (a Halloween tradition that should never be overlooked if you ask me)!

Rachel helped the kids out with their caramel apples first. It was so fun to watch them decorate and eat their caramel apples! While Jenna and Cailyn were big fans of the toppings and savored each sugary bite, Kaden was primarily concerned with the apple slices themselves (picking off the caramel as if it didn't belong, and then eating the apples like a watermelon slice). So cute!



The girls choosing their toppings (so many great choices!):














And our other "caramel apple-ing" buddies:

Brandon here, happily drizzling extra caramel on his apple.



















Jason and Mindi, just before they dug into the "caramel apple-ing" fun.



















Jason and Cailyn:















Kaden was kind enough to entertain us while we decorated our caramel apples (and was just so darn cute as he did!).
Here he's showing us where his eyes are...



















His ears (don't you just love that ADORABLE smile?!)...



















And his big muscles (his expression is perfect for this shot!).



















Travis with his delicious finished product.



















My caramel apple.



















Everyone's caramel apples...scrumptiliumptious!


















With our apples completed, and the kids in bed, we adults headed off to the living room to watch some episodes of "The Office" and finally eat our caramel apples (mine was seriously the tastiest, most decadent caramel apple I've EVER had--yum-o!). And to finish the night? We all played musical catch phrase (and laughed, danced--Thriller, anyone?, and sung ourselves silly)! Thanks for the great night Holloway fam! More on our Ohio trip to come soon!

Interview Update

Howdy. This is Travis just giving everyone the news from the Ohio intreview. It went well. There were seven other prospective students interviewing the same day. After some brief introductions we were turned over to two first year students who took us on a tour of the school and answered any questions we had for them. That lasted about an hour. After that we went to a conference room where they talked to us about financial aid, housing, insurance...stuff like that. The lady who interviewed us each individually talked to us for a little bit before she started pulling us out one by one for the actual interview. (The dean normally interviews us too but she was out of town at a conference.) After the first five interviews they fed us lunch and had the Vice President of the school talked to us and we asked him questions. When we were done with lunch the individual interviews continued. At the end of my interview she told me that Dean Lott had reviewed my file and wanted to offer me a conditional acceptance. The conditions are that I send my letters of recommendation and send them a final transcript when i finish at BYU-Idaho. Overall I was very impressed with the school and I liked the area. We'll go to Arizona next week and see what we think of Midwestern. I'm glad Jenny gets to go with me to both Cleveland and Glendale so we can make a decision together.


















Jenny insisted on taking a couple pictures of me at the school after the interview so here you go.