Pre-Graduation and Graduation

Well...4 years has passed and it has finally happened!!!  JAY IS A DOCTOR!!!  But...I must talk about yesterday first...

Friday (May 7), Jay had graduation rehearsal in the morning.  It took a while.  Livy and I stayed around the house and did some laundry and cleaning!!  What fun!!  Then, when Jay got home, we went to a Med School BBQ at the Maple View Farm.  They had some good BBQ and chicken!!  Plus, Jay got to spend some time with his buddies!!  Livy was a crowd pleaser as always!!  We also got to see our friends Mai and Justin, who now live in Boston.  Mai looked gorgeous at 31 weeks pregnant with a little girl!!  She and I used to talk all the time about wanting a baby before either of us got pregant!!  It used to freak out Jay and Justin!!  It was a nice afternoon!!  Then we enjoyed a quiet night at home..which is always nice!!

Today (May 8) was the big day!!!!  Jay, Livy, and I all had a hard time sleeping last night!!  We all were up a few times throughout the night.  Then we were all up by about 7 this morning.  We were excited about the upcoming events!!  I made breakfast to start off the day while Jay fed Livy...yummy french toast and bacon/turkey bacon!!  Then we played around the house for a bit before getting dressed for the big event.  Jay's family showed up about noon.  Then half of us headed to UNC to save seats.  The rest of the group had to wait for Lee since he had to work.  We arrived plenty early to campus and got some really good seats.  Livy had some quality time with her Grandma while we waited.  She was very good except when she was getting hungry!!!  She wanted some food and she wanted it right that second!!  Then, the rest of the gang showed up.  (As a side note...Lee almost got into a very bad accident on his way home from work.  A man on a cell phone pulled RIGHT out in front of Lee.  Lee had to run into a ditch to keep from hitting him.  Luckily, God was protecting Lee and no one was hurt!!)

Livy took her turns with everyone!  She went to Aunt Kelley first but didn't stay there long.  She was shortly returned to me when Aunt Kelley started to smell something funky!!  So, Livy and I went to the bathroom for a change.  Then Aunt Kelley got her turn...then Uncle Lee...then Aunt Kelly...Oma.  By this time, the ceremony had started.  Livy was intrigued at first, but shortly fell asleep on Oma's should and slept for 30-45 minutes of the ceremony.  Then she just looked around while the rest of the graduation continued after she awoke.  Jay was sitting on the front row!!!  He looked so handsome in his cap and gown!!  Finally it was all over.  We were all very happy to get hugs from DR. JAMES BARNWELL!!!  Medical School is definitely hard but Jay put everything he had into this experience and got so much out of it.  There is NO DOUBT in my mind that he will be an exception doctoring, touching the lives of so many as he practices medicine.  His patients will be very lucky to have him as a doctor!!

(As another side note...My daughter is so so so wonderful!!!  She got to UNC at about 12:45, and we left about 3:30.  During that time, Livy did not get upset but when she was waiting for her bottle to be fed...and that was before the ceremony started!!!  We are blessed with such a wonderful and gorgeous daughter!!!  I think she was also at peace in such a calm and wonderful place like Carolina's campus!!!)

After the ceremony, we went to take a few family photos.  Then Jay, Livy, and I went to a reception being held for the medical students at the Friday Center while the rest of the crew went back home to get Jacob.  We only stayed at the reception a few minutes...just enough time to take a few pics with friends.  Then we headed back to the house also.  After spending some time together...we headed to Kanki for a yummy dinner!!!  It was a lot of fun!!

This was defnitely a great day that we will not forget for a while!!  We are all so proud of Jay!!!  Excuse me...I mean, Dr. Jay!!!!

Pics to come soon!!!