JJ's First Christmas

I hope everyone doesn't mind if I take my blog back from Sara today and give a few updates. She did a great job in my place and I expect her to continue adding posts in the months to come.

It has been a very busy month, especially in the last week... here's a quick rundown.

Saturday: Sara and I went to the wedding of her friend, Ryan, who used to work with Sara at Old Navy. The reception was at a small reception center (which I didn't know existed) by the movie theater in Metropolis. Between the wedding and the reception, there was enough time to walk through some stores and do some scouting for what I was going to get Sara for Christmas.

Sunday: We went to a post-church breakfast at Bob and Mary Francis' house. The food was great and we had a good time catching up with all the guests. I was essentially in a food coma during the Colts game that afternoon, but from what I vaguely remember they won.

Tuesday: JJ and Santa.

JJ isn't quite old enough for stranger anxiety, but I still expected him to scream instantly because my visions of Santa have been tainted by A Christmas Story. He actually did very well; only crying once he was repositioned on Santa's lap and he looked up to see who was holding him. I don't think it'll go so well next year so I'm putting this visit in the memory bank.

Wednesday: Sara, Stevie, Anna, and Betsy increased the family blood sugar by 20 points each with piles of Christmas cookies, rice crispy treats, oreo balls, and whatever else can come from a combination of sugar, chocolate, and icing.

I also received a contract in the mail from Hendricks Regional Health with a job offer. I interviewed out there a week before and apparently it went as well as I thought it did. They are offering me an opportunity to open my own practice in Avon - at 36 and Dan Jones. Barring any surprises or setbacks, I'll be signing the paperwork next month!

Friday: The Cline family Christmas was at our house this year. Donnie was able to make it back from MD or WV, wherever he is nowadays. Add in dad, Vickie and Alfredo, Theresa and the kids, and Donnie/Chandy and their kids and you have a FULL house. All went well until Jacob dropped the vegetables and salad all over the kitchen floor. Other than that it was a great night!

Christmas: Unfortunately I had to work at Wishard on Christmas morning so our Christmas didn't start till around noon, but it was worth the wait. JJ was better at opening presents than I expected, but of course his favorite gift was Cubbie's new rawhide bone. That afternoon we had Fon family Christmas, which once again resulted in a food coma. Chase and JJ got tons of gifts - as the smiles in this picture implies.

So that was a quick rundown of our busy week.

As for JJ milestone updates, he hasn't slowed down any. I don't think he was crawling for two weeks when I walked in to get him from a nap and he is standing in his crib. Now I can't keep him entertained with any of his toys because he just wants to crawl, pull to a stand, or follow Sara or me into the kitchen so he can play with Cubbie's toys.

Now is close enough to the start of 2011 that I'll throw out some New Years Resolutions:

1. Increase reading/studying by one hour/week to prep for our resident exam and board exam

2. Drop a few lbs, plan to be under 200# for the first time since 8th grade before I go to Hawaii in April. Hoping to get to around 190-195# for Matt's wedding in June, but going to be tough with all the mass I'm gonna put on working out with Andy.

3. Have JJ doing entry level algebra by his first birthday.

- Figure 2/3 won't be too bad. We'll see which ones work out by next Christmas 2011. Hope you all had an equally great Christmas. Stay safe for New Years!