It's official

After 4 years, 1 baby, 16 weeks of away rotations, 2 licensing exams, and an undisclosed amount of borrowed money, Chris is officially Dr. G. Christopher Bailey!

We had a fantastic time celebrating with friends and family.  Here are few highlights.

The pre-party...

Between parents, grandparents, an aunt, and a few obliging strangers, J managed to scrounge an amazing number of strawberries at the med school reception.  Not a bad day for him.

The family photo shoot...

J was very proud when he finally escaped from the posed shots...

 ...but not for long!

So glad our family came to celebrate the day with us!

The lawn ceremony...

 This is really the only good picture I have from the lawn - Katie Couric, the key note speaker, on the jumbotron.  I did catch a glimpse of Chris processing down the lawn, but wasn't quick enough to get the photo.  So trust me, he was there.

The diploma ceremony at the Paramount Theatre...

The after-party, with Chris's classmates George and Aric and their wonderful families.  This is a first our family - full UVA gear!

 The AMAZING cake that George's wife, Heather, made for Chris.

 Don't these guys look professional??

Chris's urological SWAG (yes, those are kidneys on that tie pin), also thanks to Heather.  She's amazing!

The 6 "graduates" - after all, Heather, Melissa, and I logged just about as many med school hours as the docs!  Notice the super corny (and awesome!) shirts we wives designed to surprise the guys.

 Hooray for Aunt Lind's team spirit!

Party crasher...

Congrats, Chris!  We're all proud of you!

Greats and Grands

Little J is lucky enough to have spent time with both of his grandmas and 3 of his great-grandmas.  

Happy Mother's Day to these incredible ladies, each of whom has faced life's challenges with grace and courage, devoted their lives to caring for others, and have inspired me to be a better mom.

Technofile

Little J loves electronics.  Computers, phones, cameras, whatever he can get his hands on.  And while he will accept a toy phone, he is in no way deterred from getting his hands on the real thing.

I have several collections of photos that go something like this...

 He's spotted the camera case.  The hunt is on!

 Almost within reach...

Mommy manages to evade his grasp. 

 Which does not please him.

Notice the change in camera angle, indicating J has now plowed over his own mother as he continues to pursue his goal.  You gotta hand it to him for being persistent!   

You know it's one of those days when...

...matching socks are not a prerequisite for taking your baby out in public.

I took this picture to remind myself that I don't have to be the "perfect" mom with the "perfect" child.  I just have to do my best.  And this was the best I could do that day.  I think I earned a mommylympic medal just for accomplishing the feat of getting him strapped in to the stroller.  Sick baby + refusing to nap = 2 cranky people.  Fortunately, he managed to redeem himself with plenty of extra cuteness.  How can you not love this face?

An Easter dream fulfilled

Several weeks ago was the Family Housing Association Easter Egg Hunt & Spring Picnic, aka one of the biggest jobs of the year for yours truly, the (now former) FHA president.  Every year, one lucky volunteer gets to don the suit, and this year my loving hubs fit the bill.  Chris is a costume kind of guy.  So I'm sure that this satisfied a life-long dream.  

He attested that he got enough of it to last a lifetime.  He definitely did his part to earn our free rent last month!  J-dog got a kick out of the egg hunt...

 ...but he wasn't so sure about his dad's voice coming out of the bunny suit.

 On Easter morning, the bunny did not disappoint!  

And I couldn't resist the Easter family pic. 

Snow day, time to play!

I insisted J play in the snow on our one and only snow day this year.  It was warm enough that I knew it wouldn't last long, so I hurried to get him into his coat and out the door to play before we headed to the library for storytime (which was cancelled.  So much for hurrying.  Who knew Presidents Day happens every year?)  J was not sure how he felt about the snow.  He surprised me by not trying to eat it.  Thanks, Stephanie and Christian, for making a snowman for him to explore!

Love that little button nose.

Party time!

 Little J's birthday party was a blast!  Everyone had a great time, except maybe the start of the show himself.  Poor kid, he was a touch under the weather and ready for a nap as soon as the first guest arrived.  He was a trooper and made it through the first half of the party before he finally tuckered out.  

I am as a rule not a crafty person, so I was pretty proud of myself for pulling off my first themed birthday party as a mom!  I even made the flag banners for both the upstairs and downstairs railings of our building.  And it was totally worth it - it cost more than the dollar store banners, and I spent about 3 hours doing it.  Obviously, a super deal!

Since J loves loves loves his push car (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa B!), I took it as the inspiration.  I even made little "cars" as a treat.  I tried to put teddy graham "drivers" in each one, but either the cracker or the Snickers bar would crack.  So much for that.

 Grandma and Grandpa B were able to come, hooray!  Can't you tell J is stoked about his party?

 Friends came too, hooray!

We had a push-toy race.  Little J just watched everyone else from the starting line.  Chris coaxed him into riding to the finish line!

 Thanks to my incredibly talented friend Kaycie, we had an amazingly cute and delicious cake, and a smash cake for J too!

When it came time for smashing, he demurred.  

Happy belated first birthday, little man!  You are loved.