Dinner at Dr. T's

Last night (Tuesday 6/23), we had dinner at Dr. Thomas' house . . . excellent Indian cuisine and Banana's Fosters for desert (really good!). Here we all are in Dr. T's dining room . . . the residents (from left to right: Ugur the fellow from Turkey, Matt Oomen the first year urology resident, Luke Fifer the fourth year resident, Matt and I, Brian Richardson the third year resident, and Ash Bowen the second year resident).

Matt's Graduation Weekend

This past weekend just flew by! Matt graduated from his Tulane urology residency, and we were excited to have the whole family in town for the event. We really appreciated our parents and sisters (plus David and Winford) making the long trip down, and hated to see them leave. This weekend was truly a tribute to Matt and his awesome accomplishments during the last five years, and we could not be more proud of him!
Friday night, the whole family had dinner at Dante's Kitchen (our favorite restaurant in NOLA) - we all ate in the blue room (a first for Matt and I). The food was excellent (as usual), and everyone really enjoyed the atmosphere. Much discussion was given to the naming of our children (Jackie's little boy and ours) . . . nothing decided . . .



Jackie and Winford . . .



Matt and Jackie outside Dante's kitchen . . .

Family pictures (boy, was it hot . . . over 90 degrees at almost 10pm)

Saturday morning, we all walked around downtown NOLA while Matt attended his urology conference. The weather really was dreadful - the heat was just about unbearable. I was quite miserable, and my swelling reached to new proportions (I felt like half human, half Pillsbury dough boy!).

Here, Jackie and I are posed in front of the Court of the Two Sisters . . .

Saturday evening was the graduation ceremony, a formal event at the Windsor Court Hotel (very fancy)! We arrived at 6:30pm for cocktails (none for Jackie and I of course) and pictures. Here are our family photos before the ceremony . . .

Becca and David at our dinner table, just before the dinner . . .

Matt being introduced by Dr. Thomas . . .

Luke and his wife Nikki . . . Luke is the upcoming chief resident who will take Matt's place next year . . .

After the graduation, we stopped by the hotel that Matt's parents and Becca & David were staying at . . . Matt is receiving more gifts (Fleur de leis bookends in this picture) . . .

Sunday, Jackie left at 5:30 am to catch her flight back to Baltimore. My parents then left at 10:30am to drive back to Gastonia. Sunday afternoon, Matt and I joined his family for some more shopping downtown. However, the heat was, once again, just about unbearable. We retired home by 4pm, and I think I was feeling the strain of the heat by that time. I lounged around, taking it easy, for the rest of the evening. The rest of the family went to dinner at Zea's Rotisserie around 8:30pm on Sunday night.

Pictures from Sunday afternoon - downtown NOLA was just steamy!

Paint and Dry Wall

Here are the most recent house pictures from Korey - the house is now painted, and we couldn't be more pleased with the color scheme (after our long deliberation about which colors to choose). The gray stone along the front porch has not been laid yet . . . that will really set off the exterior when completed.

Some interior pictures of the dry wall . . . the living room

dining room

master bath

bonus room

They are moving right along, and we should have a closing date within the next week or so.

Don't anger the sun spot

This past week has been full of pleasant experiences (feel the sarcasm) . . . between the dermatology appointment, OB appointment, and our warm-fuzzy buyer-seller experience, I am ready to pull out my hair! First, though, a look at our house . . . the siding is up! I am really impressed with the progress being made, and I just hope it continues. My parents are meeting with the builder tomorrow to do the pre-drywall conference, and we should hear about a closing date then. (Cross your fingers for end of August/beginning of Sept!)

So, back to my dermatology appt . . . I had/have this sun spot on my nose that has become larger/darker with the pregnancy, and I just wanted it checked it out. The dermatologist felt that although benign, it required some liquid nitrogen to burn it off. Yes, folks, the sun spot was angered! Boy did that thing hurt, and then turn black! I can't tell you how many people this week have commented about the big black mark on my nose. Ughh! (and just in time for Matt's graduation this weekend) In addition to the liquid nitrogen treatment, the dermatologist found a suspicious looking mole on my back, and decided to do a "shaving" biopsy. He scraped off most of the mole (all but a small outer edge) . . . and why he couldn't have just taken the whole thing is beyond me! Just so he can do another procedure on me if the specimen comes back as questionable. And, let me say, this has been a throbbing sore spot on my back for a week now!

Anyone watch Friends? The episode where Ross goes to the herbal guru to have a suspicious looking skin lesion removed from his rear end . . . the guru puts some potion on it, and Ross screams in pain. The guru says, "Oh! Definitely NOT the way to go! We appeared to have angered it!" Then he goes on to tell Ross that, really, the lesion just needs "La-uve!" Anyway, it reminded me of my own experience this week . . . not enough la-uve I guess.

My OB appt went well yesterday . . . and Matt was able to go with me. I am starting to dread the scale - it is not my friend! Everytime I get on the darned thing, my weight has increased. I probably shouldn't admit such a thing on the internet, but I have gained an alarming 45 lbs. Yes, folks, I have officially surpassed Matt's weight. (feeling good about myself - nice and attractive!) My swelling is only getting worse (thanks to this hot and humid Louisiana climate). On the bright side, the baby seems to be doing really good - good strong heart beat and moving around A LOT! His head is very low in my pelvis, and I am already 1 cm dilated (which the doctor was excited about). My stomach is huge, and I can't see past my belly button when I'm standing up. This makes it very hard to pee in a little cup at the doctor's office, and yesterday I accidentally spilled half the cup of urine on myself. Pleasant!

And finally, the selling of our condo here in Louisiana . . . definitely frustrating! We received another low-ball offer last night (after dropping our price from $199k to $192.9k). So disappointing! We countered back, meeting the potential buyer more than halfway, and he has now re-countered with an offer only slightly up from the original. I am so disheartened, and mad! We really need to sell this place to avoid a double mortgage (the worse case scenario), but his offer would make things so tight (financially) for us. I just don't understand . . . we made such a large concession with our counter offer, and I feel like he is being rude to split hairs like this! Not to mention, he hasn't even applied for a mortgage yet. We had already turned down an all-cash offer for the same amount, and now we aren't even guaranteed that he will be able to buy it. I am so frustrated and overwhelmed with the whole situation! So I just told Matt to handle it, and I think he is going to agree to this low ball offer. Matt is just ready to be done with it all.

We'll post again after this weekend . . . we have company (Matt's parents, sister & brother-in-law, my parents and sister) in town for Matt's graduation. We are going to dinner at Dante's Kitchen on Friday night. Saturday night is the graduation ceremony at the oh-so-fancy Windsor Court Hotel. I will post pictures next week of the festivities.

We have windows!

How exciting! Our house now has windows . . . and a roof! Our builder is definitely making progress!! According to our MI Homes agent, Korey, the HVAC system is being installed today, and tomorrow they will start on the plumbing. Once the plumbing is finished, the electricians will take over. Our next conference with the builder is tenatively set for June 18th. I don't know if I will be able to make the trip up or not . . . will have to talk to the boss.
Looks like a beautiful Carolina day in Chapel Hill! (It's currently raining here, but it does that a lot in NOLA!) We'll keep you posted as more progress is made on the house.

I'm growing more than just a baby . . .

I'm growing cankles, too! I am very swollen these days, and the Louisiana summer heat isn't helping! I feel like I'm carrying around an extra 10 lbs of fluid (in addition to the 5 pounder in my belly!). Anyway, here are a few pictures of my belly from this weekend . . . 33 weeks and 2 days.

Hope this doesn't offend anyone . . . here are my cankles!

Such a rough life! No clue as to what's coming!