Family of four

I don't know when i last posted but today i have a reason to post other than whining about how much i work.

We have added a new member to our family. Her name is Zoey and she is (as you can see) the cutest puppy ever. She is 6lb, 8 wk old, American Eskimo puff ball that we found from a breeder south of Chicago. Chris picked her up last saturday and we have had a great first week. Of course we have the normal puppy problems but she hopefully will learn quickly.

We are training her to go to the bathroom outside but of course she is little and forgets or pees inside and then runs to the door. we knew it would be a process though and now i know why God makes puppies so cute.

She is a little naughty and loves to play in her water bowel, attack her brother constantly, and try to bite my nose, but she is overall very sweet and lovey and follows chris and I around the house.

Ichi is happy to have someone to play with and they get along great. Sometimes he forgets that she is little and plays too rough but she quickly reminds him (and us) by crying and barking. During the last week they are either playing or sleeping from playing so much.

I feel like i have a great family to come home to and i get lots of love. for never being an animal person, i am so happy that have my babies. life would not be the same without them.

a few more thing to add to the Grand Rapids list

11) the streets are so narrow and people park on either side so when you are going down the road and someone is coming the opposite direction someone has to pull to the side to let the other through

12) People here LOVE festivals, there is a festival every weekend (Beer festival, Cherry festival, international art festival, i could go on and on) lol i am watching a commercial for the Arcadia Creek festival right now

13) People here also LOVE yard/garage sales. Monday through Sunday you can visit yard sales all through my neighborhood.

more to come as i find the oddities and wonders of grand rapids

Well, i have officially been introducing myself as "Dr. Elliott" for the last 18 days and honestly it feels like it has been months. I am religiously following the rules of surgery

1) eat when you can (which is never)
2) sleep when you can (not so much)
3) Pee when you can (it helps if you don't drink too much)
4) don't touch the pancreas (this one has not been a problem)

Doing pediatric surgery is fantastic because we operate on every part of the body from the lungs, to the testes. and yes, i do actually cut on babies. crazy. kids are so funny too. today i removed from the esophagus a penny from a three year old and a dime from a 10 month old. just wait till the day you here the words "mommy, I ate money!". I have to say though, sometimes the parents are just crazy! While i do make many mistakes, i think i am a decent doctor but i was fired twice this week!

Balancing work and home is hard too, especially with Chris at Annual Training for the Guard in AZ. I force my poor dog outside at 5am when i leave, feel guilty enough to walk him after working 15 hours, then try to study for a couple hours before crashing to bed. Everyday i say i will go to bed earlier and every night i finally make it there by 10ish. I may have fallen asleep while my attending was talking to our pt during clinic.

Life is pretty much what i imagined residency would be and even though it is hard, i am happy, learning, and feel honored to take care of all the babies.