Christmas 2009

Strapping young man in a tuxedo...or tuxedo t-shirt...

Auntie Jeannie and Uncle Wayne
Barb with her good friends Karen and Madeline

Uncle Tyler

cute...

Hudson with his new (vintage) desk, from Pop Pop and Patrice

I think he likes it!

Hudson with his new (vintage) rocking horse!

Auntie Katie with Barb and Nic

Barb's neighbor Danette and her little girl Tesla

Santa Claus is here!

I love to eat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cousin Tyler with Nic and Hudson!

Hudson and Mommy in AquaTots class!

Brrrr.....

Merry Christmas kids!!!



Hello everyone,

Yes, yes, I will use the excuse of “I’m way too busy during the holidays” and “way busy with work” for the reason why I haven’t posted on here in so long.

To summarize our life’s goings-on since then, what can I say. We had thanksgiving in Atlanta with Amy and Nate, which was yummy. Nate always smokes a mean turkey. While we were there, we began our house hunting in Atlanta! Ben Yin is our realtor and took us to see 21 houses in 2 days! I’m really just using him as our realtor so I can spend more time with him =). For Christmas, we went to Dallas to spend a week with Nicole’s mom, and we all stayed at Aunt Jeannie’s house. Man, I forgot what vacation was all about! A week of lounging around, spending time with family, and seeing more of my son than I’ve seen since he was born! It was great! Barb is doing pretty well – she has finished 6 rounds of tough chemo, and now on something that she tolerates better, so she feels “like a person again”. We had so many visitors to see Barb and Hudson…they are so loved! And for New Year’s, we were back in Durham and Jenny and Jeff and the kids came to visit us! That was a lot of fun too, and the kids all got to play together…even though we all had colds! =( Well, now its back to the grind with work. Even though I’m not wanting to go back to work, its only 1 more month of interview season for us and then finally work can slow down to a more normal pace.

We’re doing well overall! New Year’s Resolutions, you ask? I haven’t made mine yet…but there’s an interesting website that will help you keep them when you make them, and I think maybe Nicole and I will try it.

http:/www.stickk.com

At Andy’s annual Christmas Party (Dec 23), I also found out that Bryan got engaged! Congratulations Bryan and Jessica! My high school friends are all growing up…Vadin, Aarish, and Danny, you guys are next…

Finally, we have had a couple of professional photography sessions – one for maternity pictures, and one for Christmas pictures. I especially love the Christmas ones, taken at the Carolina Inn on a cold, wintery day at UNC. See the links below (one in December 2009, and one in September 2009).

http://mindysea.blogspot.com/

Love,
Alan!

Visiting Barb in Dallas

Barbara and Hudson!

Nicole with her dad and Hudson

Us with Dr. Braun and his wife Ginny, along with Tyler and Katie our cousins.

Hudson likes his toes!

The Pope's, Barbara's neighbors who are so cute and check on Barb.

Hudson laughing at life's simple pleasures!

We went to Dallas this past weekend and had a great visit with Barbara. She is holding up pretty well after 5 rounds of chemo. We stayed with Jeannie, Wayne, Tyler and Katie (Nicole’s aunt, uncle and cousins) and saw a bunch of visitors – including Dr. Braun (who delivered Nicole!), Bev (Nicole’s French teacher), Robert (Nicole’s dad), Kramer (Nicole’s high school history teacher), and Barb’s neighbors.

I feel like I am impressed upon pretty easily. I feel like my world view seems to change week to week.

Last Thursday we had Medicine Grand Rounds with Roy Williams, the coach of the UNC basketball team who won the national championship last year, and the coach with the highest active winning percentage, and a hall of fame coach. I was sitting there listening to a living legend, who was talking about how he got to where he was (hard work) and lessons about leadership. It made me want to be a great leader and make a mark in the world.

Last weekend I was spending time with Barbara, and listening to her experience as a patient. Throughout the whole experience being a cancer patient, we have had to worry about metastasis, side effects, chest pain, uncertainty, thoughts of mortality, immunosuppression. I’ve seen it before in our cancer patients we take care of. The past week she has had some throat/neck pain that was very disabling and made her feel so lousy. But with a steroid, her inflammation went away and the next 2 days she was so happy and full of energy, that she was able to spend time with us and especially with Hudson. That simple ability to enjoy life made me realize that all I want to do is make patients feel better.

And when we visited with Barb’s neighbors, the Pope’s, who are in their 80’s and the husband, James Pope, was so happy to visit with Nicole and meet Hudson, it was humbling to see such simple pleasures of life mean so much. He has battled cancer twice and is still able to enjoy life.

Some days I want to save the world, and others I just want to make someone feel better, or help a nice elderly couple enjoy life a little more. Some days I want to live a life of adventure and exotic travel, and others I just want to see Hudson and Nicole roll around on the floor. My mind seems to change and wander.

Being a parent

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

On our first hayride ever!

At the pumpkin patch!

Hudson loves nature and his walks at the Washington-Duke trail!

Hudson as a glowworm and Avery as a puppy dog!

Hudson is a glowworm, Mom is a butterfly, and Dad is a butterfly catcher!

See some more pics on our latest album here.

I love having a family. Nicole is such a wonderful wife and friend, and I have to admit she takes care of more than I do. There’s something about being a mom that puts a lion’s share of responsibility on them when it comes to raising a child and a family Maybe it all starts with the unequal responsibility of pregnancy! Even with full time work, she does so much at home too, and I want her to know that I love and appreciate all she does for Hudson, for me, and for us as a family.

From the dad perspective, life has been great and we are definitely blessed, but man it is different! Of course we love Hudson to death and couldn’t imagine life without him. But frankly, we find ourselves tired a lot! Thank god that Hudson sleeps through the night now, else we may start to crack! I don’t know how everyone else feels about it, but I do wish we had more time for…variety.

After a hard day’s work, one of us picks up Hudson from Mark and Andi’s house where our nanny is. We come home around 6pm, play, feed, bathe, read a story, and put Hudson to bed by 8pm. From 8pm on, its time for “us”. But after dinner (either cooking, or leftovers, or takeout, or just cereal or snacks cuz we’re so tired), we discover that we’re both so tired that we’re ready for bed at 9. The night could have been our oyster – time for us to hang out, decompress, enjoy some wine and conversation, watch a movie. But usually the tv is on the background, and we both get real drowsy, eyelids heavy, and we both agree…we’re pooped. Now, I realize that we’re still pretty lucky – we are fortunate to have a reliable nanny, interesting careers, and a infant who sleeps well and other parents have it harder. However, I do wonder, how do other parents keep the energy level up? Are they hanging out at night, accomplishing projects on weeknights? Exercising? Doing fun things like ballroom dance lesions? Keeping in touch with friends near and far? Taking their baby out at night? Having friends over? Or are they tired like us, and end up not doing all that much besides the daily grind?

Anyways, here are some more pictures of our few recent adventures. We did go to a local farm that had a pumpkin patch, hayrides, and some farm animals which was fun! Also, I’m writing this on Halloween night (yes, its Saturday night and I’m home, Nicole and Hudson is asleep, and there is no crazy partying here). We hung out at Mark and Andi’s neighborhood Halloween party, which was fun.

Love,
Alan

Here's more!

Hudson with his friend (and nanny-mate) Avery.

Us with Sue and Chris Barger

Tyler - grip it and rip it!

Danielle and Mike with their daughter Addison, and Kristen and Colin with their daughter Paige!

The boys! Vadin, Bryan, Aarish, Andy (the man of the hour), Alan, and Danny at Andy's wedding in Clearwater Beach, FL.

Grandma and Grandpa with Hudson!

One of my favorite pictures!

Hey everyone,

Sorry its taken me so long to post to the blog. I have heard from several of you, wondering when the next set of pictures would be posted. Finally...here they are!

Hudson is doing great. He is 16 weeks old tomorrow, and finally has solved our fears of sleeping through the night. He's really learned to do this now! He only wakes up once or twice a night, but usually goes back to sleep in seconds (as long as he has his pacifier). We'll need to "Furberize" him later - get him used to sleeping without his pacifer. He is a big boy, smiles a ton, seems to talk gibberish a lot, and getting good at reaching for things. He rolls over all on his own, and now likes to sleep on his belly! (Its scary leaving him like that, but he seems to do fine).

We're doing well also. Staying busy. We just got back from Andy and Missy's beautiful wedding at Clearwater Beach. Andy was my best man in my wedding, and he married a hometown sweetheart from Galion, Ohio! The wedding was a reunion of our close friends from high school, and a great chance to see the family in Tampa! Amy taught Jenny, Jeff, Nicole and I how to boulder, which was fun.

Nicole and Hudson went to Dallas to visit Barbara, who is doing as well as can be expected. Back in May she had a renal cancer resected, and we were hoping for cure. Unfortunately, her cancer recurred, and because of her rare type, there isn't a lot of established evidence for treatment. Fortunately, she was referred to a doctor in Dallas, just down the street from her house, who happens to be a national expert in the field of renal cancer. He has the second largest practice of kidney cancer in the nation! She is undergoing chemotherapy now, having finished 3 of 6-8 rounds. She is full of courage and love, and we are hoping for the absolute best for her. Hudson is her biggest cheerleader, and has special healing powers that will help her!

We want you to see some of our latest pictures, so click this link to see some more pictures. We wish everyone all the best!

Love,
Alan and Nicole

Some more pictures

Hey everyone - we've had a busy 3 weeks and I want to tell you all about it. But, I don't have the time right now because I'm taking Nicole to the spa! (This is because she let me go to Andy's bachelor party a few weeks ago...) Our nanny will actually be babysitting today - the first time we're using a babysitter to go out. Yeah!

Anyways, I did want to show you some pictures. I'll write about the pictures a little later.

Hudson album 5 - 9/6/09

Love,

Alan and Nicole

Hudson is 2 months old today!

Here are some pictures of Hudson, and some more pictures at this link.

It feels like time has really flown by....and at the same time, it feels like we've had Hudson for a long time. Things have been great overall, but I now understand that raising a newborn is hard work! Even with 2 parents raising one newborn, with wonderful and supportive friends and family, its no easy task. I just can't imagine being a single parent and doing it alone, and I really admire and respect those who have done it.

Wonderful things -

- Hudson is smiling when we smile, and sometimes coos when we coo. He'll even be crying in the middle of the night, and when I go get him in the crib, he stops and smiles!
- He tries to use his hands to grab at things, but it looks like wild flailing!

- He loves taking baths...he wades around in the water like a tadpole...and always pees when he's in the warm water

- He's learning to sleep a little more...sometimes 4-5 hours at a time

- He's gone to his nanny for almost a week now

- He's cute as a button

- He can put down 6 oz of formula easy

- He's got big cheeks

Challenging things -

- He doesn't sleep consistently yet...arrgh

- His poops can go up (and out) of his diaper

- He spits up and occasionally throws up formula

- Where does the time go? Its hard to get things done!

We love him very much!

In addition, I just returned from Andy's bachelor party in Washington DC. We had a great time! Joe Bagierek, Andy's best man, hooked us up big time. He works for Bacardi, so we had free drinks all night wherever we went. He also had all of us stay for free at the W Hotel overlooking the White House and the Washington Monument. He arranged the festivities, which included the W rooftop bar, a stretch Escalade all night, mini-golf bar, cigars and pictures at the monuments, dinner, a trendy club, and other debaucherous activity. Good times! Great to see Andy, Vadin, Bryan, and Aarish - a high school reunion! Andy and Missy will be getting married at the end of September in Clearwater, FL.

=) Alan

Update on our lives

Hey everyone,

Having Hudson is a great excuse to spend some time on this blog. I have to remind myself not to focus too much on Hudson. One of the pieces of advice I picked up before Nicole deliverd was for the parents to take time for themselves, and for each other, because it is really easy to focus all your time and energy on your new child and forget about yourself.

So...putting that into practice, I will be writing about my and our life in this entry. Yes...more boring text for those who like pictures. However, this blog actually has been somewhat of a journal for me, and its entertaining to go back and read my previous entries. I'm quite proud that it started back in 2005!

Life has been really good. Nicole and I are doing quite well, and really lucky that our parents have been so involved and helpful. Nicole's mom and aunt were here before Hudson's birth and first week of life, and then my mom came for the next 3 weeks and took the night shift - which helped Nicole and I SLEEP! Hudson is now on a formula that agrees with his GI system, so he doesn't fuss or cry much. He does have reflux, but we have added a tiny bit of rice cereal to his bottle, so now he seems less refluxy and more satisfied. He now eats and sleeps predicatably, which is the best thing a newborn can be - predictable!

Nicole and I are now relearning life and trying to fit in the time to take care of ourselves. After 6 weeks, Nicole is cleared for normal exercise again, so she can return to running, swimming, and working out. She's scheduled for a triathalon in October! I haven't touched a weight in months, and I've gained a little weight (never thought that would happen to me), so I need to get back in shape myself. We're going to try and do some 'date nights' and keep the sparks going (hee hee), and we have a wonderful nanny who I hope will babysit for us.

As far as work, my tenure as chief resident is going well so far. I really enjoy the job I have, where I can place a big responsibility on teaching. I love teaching - it forces me to prepare and study medicine topics, and I feel like I have a pretty good ability to explain things to others and have them buy into it. Teaching sessions for residents and students seem to have gone well so far - topics such as diagnostic calculations in evidence based medicine, urines and smears, hyponatremia, and acid/base/electrolyte disorders are examples. I've had the chance to attend in resident's clinic, which I find challenging since clinic medicine is probably my weakest field. I've also had the chance to "moonlight" as an inpatient doctor, admitting and taking care of patients in the hospital, which gives me the chance to get back to direct patient care - which is why I went into this field in the first place! The administrative part of the job, running the day to day concerns of the residency, is ok. Not the most glamourous - a lot of emails and meetings - but in doing so we take care of the residents and make sure they're on the right track, which is rewarding in the grand scheme.

Our next major life event will be our upcoming move to Atlanta! I have matched for a spot at Emory for cardiology, and really excited about this. It will be hard to leave this area - the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area has an awesome quality of life. Traffic is easy, living is cheap, the airport is nearby and not big but still international, people are nice, weather is great, and its nice and green here, and Nicole has a wonderful boss that she works with and we have some close friends we'll miss. We'll miss being a part of UNC - which I love, and I'll even encourage Hudson to come to college here! Emory was great, but UNC has this sense of camaraderie and school spirit, along with really great academics for a state school, that you can't really go wrong. Anyways, we'll be leaving all this behind, and going back to Atlanta for an equally wonderful, though totally different, experience. In Atlanta, we have some wonderful friends and family, a vibrant city with lots of flair, cuisine, arts and culture, and a medicine and cardiology training program that is among the top in the country. But, the traffic is daunting, the airport is far and crazy big, and houses are more expensive. But, for the next stage of our lives, our top 2 choices would have been Georgia or North Carolina. I don't know where we'll end up after all the training is finally over (4+ years from now). My guess is Georgia, NC, or back to Florida.

It's interesting to think about what I thought I would be doing at certain points...
Undergrad: premed vs meteorology
Medical school: primary care doctor and pole vault coach
Residency: gastroenterologist, then cardiology, possibly private practice
Chief Residency: cardiologist, probably academic cardiology in a University system, where I could be on faculty, teach, and see neat stuff, and hopefully have international opportunities to volunteer, then maybe retire to be a high school teacher and pole vault coach

Other updates on things going on:
- Nicole will be starting work in 2 weeks, working 1/2 time in the clinic, 1/2 time at home for another 6 weeks
- Amy is enjoying her internship with Air Products in Allentown, PA. She will be graduating from U of Florida with mechanical engineering, and right now weighing going to work vs going to grad school.
- Jenny, Tyler and Kaelyn are about to take Amtrak for the first time, to come up and visit for a long weekend!
- Ben Yin is on the hunt for a ridiculously cheap, luxuriously loaded house in intown Atlanta..right Ben?
- Amy and Nate just had their new baby, Sidney Montgomery York! Congratulations!
- Sarah and Alex are next! Along with Jason and Amy, who are pregnant with another!
- Dave's doing research this year, and he and Karen are moving to Tampa where he'll be an allergy/immunology fellow at USF next year
- Andy's bachelor party is August 15 in DC - I for one must control myself, as I will be taking my internal medicine boards 2 days later. Andy and Missy are getting married late September!

Everyone else who is reading this - fill me in!

Ok, need to feed Hudson...talk to you soon!

more pictures

Everybody likes pictures. Here's a link to 40 more pictures of the daily happenings of Hudson!

One month old (tomorrow)

Hudson's first real bath

We've been told he looks like a glowworm. A vintage 1982 glowworm was subsequently purchased by Barbara on eBay, from Canada!

Somebody is cool...

Natalie tending to baby

Avery visiting for a playdate

New developments in the life of Hudson:

- He tracks people and objects - his favorites are Mr. Thing and Rockin' Robin

- We think he weighs 10.5 or 11 lbs. Will weigh him tomorrow, his one month birthday!

- Mommy and daddy have figured out his poopy face - its the "o" face

- Hudson had his first playdate with Avery

- Hudson met the Great Greganti!

Hudson, smiling big for the camera!

Hope everyone is doing well. Hudson is a month old tomorrow. He sure is growing fast! My mom is about to leave on Saturday. Barbara, then Jenny and the kids will be visiting, but other than that we're on our own! No more sleep for us...

Soon I'll post another Picasa album so there are more pictures available.

Love, Nicole, Alan, Hudson, and Sofie.

Hudson's growing!

"Ly see" or lucky money, often given by parents to kids or other young ones. Hudson got quite a stash from Grammy and Grandpa - he needs his own bank account now.

Tyler and Kaelyn, Jenny and Jeff's 2 cute kids!

Hudson weighs 9 lb, 9 oz today! He's doing great, except for some mild problems with reflux, but overall no big problems.

He's starting to drink more, and track objects and toys a little bit. He definitely likes to be held (ie snugglebunny). My dad was just in town to see him over this past weekend. This weekend, Hudson had his first outings (not counting pediatrician visits). We went out three times! One to a new neighbor's July 4th party (who turns out to be a friend of mine from med school!), one to Mark and Andi's July 4th party, and then to Dave and Karen's house for dinner. He's such a socialite!

Hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend!