Parker in 3D, updates & graduation

Here's Parker in 3D - we went for our scan today and here are some of her best shots!

She's super cute! But as dentists, we are concerned with her finger-sucking habit already! Parker was in non-stop motion for her entire 3D scan. She had her hands over her face for most of it, even after we pushed on my belly and I drank cold juice. She was biting her fingers and her umbilical cord but she is adorable. We got to see her open and close her mouth and see her stick out her tongue! The technician also pointed out her long eyelashes. She has long fingers, too. I guess she got those from her dad :) What I thought was her head is actually her butt - she has in fact turned upside down... so she must have gotten her big butt from her mom!

The technician said that her nose looks smooshed because that's where the probe was pushing up against my uterus, so don't worry if you think it looks like a little snout - hopefully it will be much cuter in person :)

You know the saying "Curiosity killed the cat"? Jack is testing it. He has recently developed the habit of jumping to the highest place possible - including the top of doors and our shower in our master bathroom. So far, he has been able to jump down and seems fine. It is pretty funny when he jumps on the doors because he doesn't anticipate the swinging and always looks surprised!

One of the UTHSCSA 1st-year residents got married on Sunday at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word. It is a beautiful chapel and the Mass was also very beautiful. It was a 'black tie optional' wedding, but this was the best I could do - and why do they make maternity dresses with horizontal stripes? Corey looked very handsome, so I am hoping that made up for my more casual dress!

The reception was held at the McNay Art Museum and it was very lovely. They had a cocktail hour (which actually went about 2 hours) with sushi bar and hors d'œuvres. Many of the hors d'œuvres involved raw food or brie so I just alternated between water & diet coke at the open bar. I would love to go again when I am not pregnant :) The dinner was a 5 course meal, but Corey and I left before they cut the cake - which was sad because they hired our cake lady and we know how good that cake is! My back was killing me since there was ONE bench available during the cocktail hour and I had to stand for quite a while before dinner (and had taken my shoes off as often as possible!) We left at 10:15 and they still hadn't cut the cake, but we didn't make it home until 11 pm and I was EXHAUSTED.

On Saturday, Corey and I went on our first 'date' in a LONG time! We went to see the new Star Trek movie and got popcorn and an icee. For some reason, the guy also said we got free milk duds. Seriously... I didn't argue :) After the movie, we went to Half-Priced Books and got some parenting books and other random books and then we went shopping. Corey got a new shirt at Macy's - check it out with his suit and we also got Parker a little Ralph Lauren outfit. We used a gift card we found from our wedding :)

We also went to Babies R Us and got more items that we need for Parker. We got a baby monitor, a high chair, and a full-size swing. In addition, we got some mattress pads and lap pads and little accessories like sponges and teethers. We used the gift cards we received from our showers and we need to say "THANK YOU" again to our generous friends. It was great to get to the register and hand over those gift cards! I also picked up a few basics at Wal-mart and we are going to try to pack a hospital bag over the next week or two. We are now signed up for 4 classes: childbirth, breastfeeding, daddy bootcamp and infant care. The last one is on June 24th (infant care) so hopefully Parker won't make her grand entrance before then!

When we got home from graduation Friday night, we had a surprise waiting for us - the window by our front door was broken! The little sign you see says "our 2 cats are INDOOR ONLY - please help keep them safely inside" - I might keep this sign for future visits from my father-in-law [Ed, I still haven't forgotten about the close call :) ] The window is double paned and only the outer pane is broken, so at least we don't have to put up plastic (that would look great to potential buyers, huh?) I was having a mini-melt down because I can't believe all that we have been spending to buy necessities for Parker, renting a car/losing my car and being unemployed for 6 months. It turns out that our lawn guy is paying for it - he was using a weed-eater and a rock flew up and broke the window. He is going to have someone fix it tomorrow. Luckily (or not!!) we haven't had ANY showings yet, so at least no one has seen it that might be interested in our house.

Corey and I (and Parker) were the first 2 graduates on Friday. We received our Master of Science degrees so we can technically add that to our name - Corey R. Anderson, DDS, MS and Jennifer D. Anderson, DMD, MS. Feel free to use that when addressing us from now on... just kidding :) Since we were the first two across stage, they had a special practice for us with our mentors. Corey went first so we were thinking he could just help me down the stairs, but they didn't want us to do that in case everyone else thought they would have to also do that (like a bunch of Masters & PhD candidates couldn't figure it out). The school arranged for someone to help me down the stairs, but I was at the bottom before he even got up! It was only a few steps and I was more worried about tripping on my gown!

Parker is already so educated! She's taken 2 oral boards, 1 mock board and the ABP in-service exam at UTHSCSA and also went with me to present at the Volpe last week. I am not sure how helpful she was during my first trimester because of the heartburn and nausea, but now I really enjoy having her with me at all times. Except that during the procession out of the ceremony, about 5 strangers touched my belly. Why? Why do people feel that they can do that? San Antonians are generally obese and I am often tempted to return the gesture. Anyway, we hope that she is a healthy baby, but we won't be surprised if her first words involve periodontics terminology :)