We also found out that the baby is a boy. It's been nice to stop referring to him as "it." It's also nice to be able to start planning for when he comes. We've actually already gotten quite a bit for him. Rebekah won us an awesome stroller in an online giveaway. My advisor had a son about 2 years ago, and she gave us approximately 2 years worth of baby clothes and some gear (another stroller, a bouncy seat, a slide, a scooter, and a boppy--whatever that means). Now I just need to go and buy a basketball hoop, and I'll be all set.
I also got some really good news at school. I got an article accepted for publication in a really good journal. In the paper, I showed that you can change people's attitudes and behavior toward animals if you get them to think about the human-like qualities that many animals have. So, if you get people to think about how dogs are their friends, they're more willing to adopt dogs from animal shelters. And, more generally, they're less willing to do things like eat animals and use products made from animals' bodies. I also used fancy statistics to show that the change in attitudes fully explains (in a statistical sense) the change in planned behavior (i.e., adoption). This last part is what made the paper interesting to the reviewers because no one has ever shown this before. Publications are the name of the game for my career, so it's nice to actually get one. Now I just need 10 more. This year.
I also found out that I got a accepted to a special program to go to a conference in South Africa after the baby is born. The program is sponsored by the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation, so it's a real honor to have been accepted. I applied before I knew Sarah was pregnant, and I was hesitant to go after I found out that I go in. But Sarah insisted. The good news is that the APA and NSF are giving me about $2000 to cover expenses. The bad news is that this will only cover about half of my expenses (plane tickets alone are more than $2000--it's really far away). The better news is that I convinced the university to match the APA grant, so everything will be completely paid for. I wrote an email to the dean pleading for money, and he actually gave it to me. This is very unusual.
I emphasized that it would be a great marketing opportunity to promote my school to an international audience. Which is true. I'll be presenting my research on disease prevention and environmental conservation at the conference, which had 10,000 attendees the last time it was held (only a small fraction of these people will hear my talk--that's how conferences work; there are lots of small presentations going on simultaneously at any given time, and you choose the one that most interests you).
Anyway, I'm feeling especially blessed right now. Thanks be to God and to everyone who has been praying for me over the years!
