HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLIAN!!

Future Wildcat.  Davidson College class of 2031?

Hello everyone!  This morning at 0756, Lillian made her appearance.  She weighed 8lbs 14oz, exercised her lungs greatly, and has been the gem of everyone.  Just a few pictures now and more to follow soon.

Jaclyn is a trooper, is doing great, and not in much pain.  She has already stoo

d up and started to stretch.  Thanks for your continued prayers.

Calm before the Storm...

This is Blake. Well, tonight is our last night as a 2 person family. The coming of Lilly, while seemingly always in the future, is looming near. There is a very strange mix of excitement, fear, anxiety, peace and anticipation all for this little one. Our extended families have arrived, we are packing our bags (the typical procrastinators), and I am going to try to load the car tonight in order to be at the hospital at 5:30am. We cherish any and all prayers sent our way for a very uneventful and smooth surgery and recovery of both mom and baby.

Here is one last pregnancy picture of Jaclyn and her sister Tara, and as of now, the baby should be out in approx. 9 hours!!

Hysterical Post

Hello - It's currently 0425am and I'm on my last night of nights in the PICU. In between fiddling with vents based on the recent rush of ABGs and getting the incessant flow of pink progress notes started, I read this post from a blog called stuff christians like. evidently, this has been around for a year or so but I am just learning about it. While i have no idea who writes the blog, the author is a particularly witty mix of funny and thought provoking; much like the christian blog version of "Scrubs." This post made me laugh out loud in the middle of the ICU, so I thought I would share...particularly the part about transformers. Enjoy! The comments people make at the end of the post are pretty funny too!
http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2009/03/505-visiting-people-at-hospital.html

A perfect Match!

Last fall my grandmother came and helped me plant all these great flowers. I just wanted to share how cute the front of my house looks :)

Yesterday was Match Day! For those not in the medical field, this is the day when all fourth year medical students in the entire country, or world for that matter, who are trying to begin residency in their chosen field next year find out which program they will attend. Due to the fact that Blake is in his second year of residency and applying for a fellowship in heme/onc at St. Jude, Memphis was pretty much our only choice. As I have said before, single parenting as an intern is really not that cute. The day began with a brunch and gathering of my entire class at a building downtown. Friends and family were present and excitement was definitely in the air. Close to 12pm my class all took their assigned seats to await the "passing of the envelopes" containing our fate. Though I knew where I was headed, I found myself getting excited. Once the envelopes had been distributed an announcement was made that we could open the envelopes. I found it more interesting to see where my friends were headed, than even looking at my own letter. There were tears of joy and disappointment, but at the end of the day, most of us will be doing what we want next year even if it is not in our desired city. The moment was also surreal as it was the first time I realized... this is the beginning of the end. My medical school career is quickly coming to an official end, and I have made such great friends over the years, whom are now scattered all over the country. We truly have one of the most fun, best classes ever!

Here I am with my breakfast, Lilly in tow, getting ready for the big moment!
We will be together in Memphis :)
the chairs were labeled and waiting!
here we sit...will the waiting end?
Here it is!
Sadly... (for me) but great for her... Malinda is heading to Mayo next year. My gifts will have to switch from Kitchen utensils to sub-zero gear!

Later that night we headed to a bar downtown to hear one of our classmate's bands play for our official match day party! What a blast. I had no idea Fred was so good, although I was not surprised. After hours of dancing, my swollen feet carried me home, and I ended the day thinking about the beginning of an end. What a challenging, frustrating, and ultimately fulfilling 4 years this has been.


In my last blog I mentioned the 3rd annual crawfish bowl :) This was a blast. See some fun pics below!

We rented a cotton candy machine for the occasion... mmmm I love cotton candy!

Here we are gathered around the tables, downing some mud bugs.

Malinda, Annie, Anju, Melissa, Minesh all take in the action

Me with the newly engaged Kat Wells! Congrats Kat!

This was one of the funniest moments of the night. Bryant wanted to show off his belly, and freaked out about mine :) He thought my belly button was gross. Can you believe that ?

cake baking and a big week!

Well, things are progressively moving toward the inevitable. I am due two weeks from Thursday which is crazy. One of the advantages to pregnancy has been my increased craving for sweets. Luckily i have had ample opportunity to bake cakes of late. My favorite is this chocolate layer cake found in the bride
and groom cookbook from WS. I highly recommend it as nothing in there is bad. The other cake pictured is a raspberry cake, which is nice for a spring day, but definitely not as WONDERFUL as the chocolate. I really hope that my ability to pass up cake returns when she comes out :) Both of these cakes start out with a boxed mix and then you add to it. This method of cake baking is definitely my preferred style as it ensures the cake does not become too dry. It also ensures that for the first time ever I am not sad to be taking left overs home... this is sooooooooo dangerous. I really am carrying blake's child!

Monday I found out that I matched in Med/Peds somewhere... hopefully Memphis, otherwise Blake is going to think I did not rank as we discussed and we are going to be heading to counseling, as well as figuring out how to get me out of a contract I have technically already signed. :) Hooray for having a job! Thursday I find out where.

In other news, we had yet another shower, man are we loved, I got my jogging stroller :) and my belly has continued to grow.

\This is the huge view :) The next is the more realistic, but equally large view. (~36w)

This is the long and largely anticipated BOB iron man- mac daddy- jogging stroller. Lilly will be spending much time in this, she just doesn't know it yet. Thanks Aunt Malinda and Aunt Robyn... you two are too much :) I am borderline obsessed with this stroller! (~37w)

This week is crazy. We have events every night! Tonight we have the third annual crawfish bowl.. maybe that spicy food will encourage a little movement towards labor induction. Tomorrow I have my weekly check up and we are getting pedicures in preparation for Saturday's med school prom. Thursday is match, with pretty much a day long party, not to mention the fact that the NCAA basketball tourney starts. I have been known to 1. win my share of pools, and 2. schedule ankle surgery around the date so I could be home for the best 4 days of ball in a row instead of going to high school. ;) Friday we have another picnic, and Saturday, as mentioned before is med school prom. Surely there will be many pics that come from this week.

the end of an era... showering of love... and nights of insomnia

I have recently passed a major life milestone that merits mentioning. As of last Friday, I have completed all of the schooling I will most likely undertake...EVER. I finished medical school! So now I have tons of time to finish getting things in order for the next adventure.

Sleep... I have already begun to appreciate the rare, uniterrupted night of sleep. Tonight I went to bed around 9:30, only to wake up before midnight and not be able to fall back to sleep. I am not sure whether it is the weird position Lilly has placed herself, or the indigestion that appears without any relation to what I eat or when I eat it. It is now 4:19am, and I have been out of bed since 1. I tried to lie there for a while, but hearing blake sleep so soundly just made me jealous, and I thought my tossing might wake him. After a couple hours of perousing old Southern Livings (thanks emily), reading the happiest baby on the block, in hopes of charming lilly out of excessive crying, and switching lastly to March, the latest novel by Geraldine Brooks, which is about the father's experience from Little Women during the civil war, I have now resorted to watching The Bachelor: After the final rose, and thinking how much more productive sleeping would be. This confirms it... I hate the bachelor. Oh my gosh, this is the most pathetic passage of time I have chosen in quite sometime. In order to make myself feel a little better about my choices, I have chosen to blog simultaneously and only occasionally switch to see the screen. I mean this episode is dripping with all the drama and emotion I typically dispise! I am so sorry that things don't work out when you court 27 women at once... big stinking surprise that you are a little confused. ~whaterver.


Now onto more productive topics: Blake and I have had the tremendous blessing to be given two baby showers to help us prepare for Lilly. Still having one more to go, I find myself overwhelmed by the generosity and love of our family and friends. The first shower was hosted by Blakley Fowler, Kristen Bowman, Erin Sturdivant, Anca Sommerville, and Lauren Chipman. The shower was hosted at Blakley's house and was attended by many of Blake's fellow residents, as well as our moms
My mom gave a little spa treatment to each guest to help us all relax. It was terrific, and we received so many great gifts. Lilly now has a diaper bag, carseat, bouncey chair, onsies, pretty dresses, socks, toys, blankets, and more.

The second shower was thrown in Nashville by Kera and Pam. Pam had spent a ton of time preparing for this event. She is one of the craftiest, most creative people I know, and the spread for the shower was no disappointment. She made the most beautiful diaper cake ever, the table was set with silver, crystal and everything was accented by pink.








Having such parties starts to make you realize that there is actually a little one on the way. Many friends and family attended from the Nashville area. We were again blessed with laughter, games, and many gifts. High chairs, baby bjorns, oneise, bathing supplies, jumpers.... The list goes on. The house has been transformed and taken over by Lilly, and she is not even here! (this take over is not helped by the fact that currently all of our furniture is in our main room while we are redoing our floors, which are almost done!)


With one more shower to go, we are unable to adequately express our gratitude for all the gifts and love of our friends and family. We hope that the love will continue on the emotional rollercoaster we are about to encounter.