Moving day come and gone

Updates first: We have the house mostly under control. We still have some unpacking and setting up to do, but there are always those few little things that get forgotten or aren't pressing so get put off until later. But we are in a fully livable set up now, and we are really happy with the place. 

My phone interview on Friday went really well! So well that they called and asked me to come in for an in person interview on next Monday! I'm excited because I think it would be a great job, but a bit worried that they will want someone to start immediately. And I'm 8 months pregnant. Starting immediately would be kind of a waste of time. All I can do is hope they like me enough to wait for me to be ready to start!

Now, on to the trip from Louisiana to North Carolina!

We got the moving truck all loaded up over a weekend and spent the next few nights sleeping on air mattresses. Mom came in to help us with Co4q while we packed and to help share the driving burden. She was great! Mom (Nana, as the grandkids call her) and Coco went to the park and played while we did most of the truck loading, freeing up our hands and keeping Coco from needing to be held or right by our sides every minute. 

On Monday we headed out! Mom, Cora, the cat and I loaded into my car with all the little things that we couldn't cram into the moving truck (that thing was packed tighter than, well, I dunno, something else packed really tight). Geoff and the dog hopped in the truck, and we were on our way!

Cora was great for both days of the drive. Oh, we had a few cranky moments, and naps were either short or non-existent, but with the help of the iPad (a generous parting gift from my boss) and some movies, most of the time was pleasantly passed like this:

I was a bit more worried about how Soup would do. He's usually really great on car rides, but he's never ridden with Cora before. Fortunately he did great as well, and spent most of his time sleeping in the floor.

We all took some naps in the car. Sadly for Geoff, Clark wasn't much help with the driving, since he lacks opposable thumbs and can't reach the pedals. Also, he's a dog.

Cora wanted to help out, but there were some obvious issues with this. First and foremost, she was just too cute to be behind the wheel for long.

So GP wound up driving the entire way all by his lonesome. We had walkie talkies to keep in touch and made lots of stops (hello, 8 months pregnant here!) so sleepiness never became an issue for him. For us gals, yes.

We stopped just past Atlanta for the night and started out around 10:00 the next morning. The majority of the driving was behind us, and we were looking forward to being really home by the early evening. Things went smoothly up until the last hour or so, when Cora realized she'd been strapped in a car for 2 days and decided watching Movie Puppies (101 Dalmations, which we watched about 3 times) was no longer cutting it. In a last ditch effort to keep her happy and Mom and me sane, I let her play with my hair. 

It may have hurt some, and definitely needed brushing, but it beat listening to a screaming 22 month old for an hour!

Finally, we arrived, got out of the car, assessed the place, and ordered pizza. We got Cora off to bed and were about to crash ourselves when we noticed the roach infestation. Which is a story for another day. 

Mother's Day 2012

In keeping with last year's Mother's Day tradition, I decided to share some of my favorite pictures of Cora with her Mama (don't forget to click it to see it in full-size). Cora truly loves her Mama, especially now that I'm home with her during the day—nothing is more exciting (for the both of us) than when Gena gets home from work in the evening! This will be Gena's last Mother's Day as a Mom-to-One, but I know she'll be just as amazing with two. To all the Mother's out there, especially my Mom, Wife, and Mother-in-Law: Happy Mother's Day, Coco and I love you!

Family photos

I think it was way overdo—much like this post—but we finally took the plunge and had family pictures taken! I'm not sure if this would have happened without Groupon, but nonetheless, it happened. We met the photographer at Jambalaya park only to find out there was a free concert in session, and hundreds of people were there, making a photo session out of the question. We did get a couple shots taken here though, which I think may actually the best of the three of us. Here is my favorite.

Biscuit

Well here we are, 6 months along in this pregnancy, can you believe it? While we do know that we are having a boy this time, we haven't decided on a name yet. But I felt like I needed something to call the baby back before we knew the gender, so Geoff and I came up with the gender neutral Biscuit. I think it's cute, and I think I'll keep using it on my own blog as his permanent nickname.

6 months

Geoff mentioned in his last post that we are leaving Louisiana! This is one source of stress for me (other than still needing to find a job!) since I'll be 7.5ish months pregnant when we move. We have enjoyed our time here in Louisiana, but neither of us would say we are sad to be leaving. In fact, within our first few months here we had already determined that we didn't want to make this our permanent home. Still, there are some things we'll miss about southern Louisiana.

• The food. Cajun food is so delicious, I don't know how we haven't managed to pile on the pounds! Fortunately, I am a good cook, and have acquired a good cookbook full of New Orleans traditions. So we can still have our cajun food, as long as we can find some andouille sausage.

Coco, Mama, and Biscuit

• The mild winters. I will miss these, anyway. Geoff, being from the mountains, may enjoy the cold more than me. I, however, could go the rest of my life without seeing snow and be a very happy gal.

• The live oaks covered with spanish moss. These huge trees are so abundant down here! They line roads and fill parks. Yes, North Carolina is full of trees, but not quite with the beauty of these.

• Our friends. We have been fortunate to make some good friends during our time here, and we are going to miss them. The advent of Facebook and other social networking sites has made it easier to keep up with people, but that doesn't make up for the lack of human interaction.

So once again we're moving up in our careers and starting over. It's exciting, it's a bit sad, and it's a bit nerve-wracking.

News and the Fort Worth Zoo

We're having a boy and moving back to North Carolina!

Whew, it feels really good to say both of those. In truth, we're moving, THEN having a boy. I accepted an offer from the University of North Carolina Cancer Hospital for a medical physics residency starting this July. We are both thrilled to move back to NC, but a little nervous about moving across the country and starting in a new place just a month or two before our child is born. Cora has learned that her Mama's belly is now called "baby", but other than that we don't think she really knows what's going on.

A few weeks ago, we drove to TX to visit the Jester family for a few days. I had just submitted a copy of my thesis to my advisor and John and Stephanie and the kids were all on spring break, so we thought this a perfect opportunity to get back to see everyone. Cora is finally old enough to take part in all of the kids' craziness, as was evident at dinner Saturday night.

(Left to Right) Weston, Cora, Ella and Libby 

The best part of booster seats is their portability!

Weston was absolutely wonderful with Cora; you could tell he's had lots of practice with younger sisters! Ella was really good too, but tended to smother if we didn't keep her in check. Libby and Cora were so cute together, it was so fun seeing them communicate in their own language, and work things out in their own little cave-baby way.

On Monday we loaded up the cars for a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. This was Cora's first zoo trip, so she (and her parents) was very excited! There's really no better way to describe the trip than lots of pictures, so here you go.

After the Zoo we ate lunch at a Mellow Mushroom (fantastic pizza chain, I would highly recommend it!). It was here that we decided to announce our news about having a boy, followed by a video conference call with the Nichols. The video conference hit a few snags, but Cora was still able to annouce "boy" for us over the phone!

I am now incorporating edits suggested by my advisor into my thesis and plan to defend on April 17th. If all goes well, I will put an end to the combined 19 years of higher education between the two of us on May 18th, when I will enjoy a picnic in the park with my wife and daughter while my name is announced at LSU's graduation ceremony, that is sure last much longer than we care to witness.

Here are a few pics of us enjoying the beautiful weather, a great book, and each other's company. Thank you Jesters for a wonderful visit, it was great getting to see you all!