Catching Up... (more Greer/Charlie pics)

Charlie's doc told us to ditch the bottle, but going cold turkey was too hard - we are still doing a couple bottles a day, including a bedtime bottle.  Normally we do that in his room but I guess below was a special occasion.  ;-)

Charlie has taken a couple steps, but he really only walks well if someone is holding his hands.

 E and Kate looking cute in their stripes!

Hail storm here on Friday, March 2nd.

Kate with both of her grandkids (as I mentioned, their trips overlapped briefly) 

This was sooo cute ~ I'll try to post video soon.  Greer sat there and let Charlie push her on Thomas the Train.  :o) 

Greer's Visit and E's Birthday Dinner

Of course it wasn't just Greer who visited, we certainly enjoyed seeing Maura and Mike, but CQ was most interested in his 10 month old cousin.

Dealing with nap schedules of two little ones made getting out on adventures a little more difficult, but we did manage to go on some nice neighborhood walks.  And had lots of play time indoors.  And as we told them, there will be more visits over the years and we need to save some outings for then. :o)

Greer spent time with pets for the first time: our cat Winnie and E's dog Briley.

My parents hosted a birthday dinner for E on Wednesday.  It was amazing - beef tenderloin and all kinds of other yummy food!

And I picked up a Dessert Designs cake for E - sour cream pound cake, just like at our wedding.

Yummy!

We had a great time visiting and reminisced about memorable birthday gifts over the years. (oh, book on manners...)

That's Mark's Dad Jeff and his lady friend Pat on the left below.

Unfortunately the next day Greer got a little bit sick.  She even got to meet Charlie's pediatrician. 

Mike made us some killer grilled cheese sandwiches when we got back from the doctor.

Here she is feeling slightly better the next morning. Actually I think the flash on the camera wasn't helping.

What a cute little family! (plus cutie Charlie!) We are so very glad they came for a visit. 

A Little Sunshine on a Rainy Day

Last Thursday was a rainy day and these flowers arrived from my friend Lanier.  What a treat!  Aren't they gorgeous?  Today was pretty rainy too and we got some good news - Pat had a PET scan this morning which showed the chemo is working.  It did not show any cancer in him!  He will have to continue on with his infusions (4 more months), but luckily we don't have to switch to a stronger/more toxic "cocktail" for Pat's infusions.  This is a HUGE relief. 

Don't worry, your eyes aren't failing you, the table runner got switched. 

Thanks Lanier! And also thanks Kate for my cute bunny and new green table runner.

Recent Happenings

1.  We always seem to tackle a project when Paul and Kate are in town - this time it was a much needed Mulch job.  We started thinking it was a 6 bag job, but ended up using 18 bags I think.

Before

 During

After

2.  My Aunt Ann (yes, I actually have three Aunt Ann(e)s.  Lucky us!) and Uncle Jack got Pat this hat.  Pat's hair has started to fall out, but it's not all gone yet.  Either way, this hat is mighty funny.  And it's actually gotten several wears.

Charlie did not want to wear it for a photo. :) 

 3.  Last Friday we had a hail storm. 

 4.  My little herb garden is a growin'.  It's got basil, cilantro, and parsley.

5.  And the bad news is last.  A couple weeks ago (the day before Pat's hospital stay) my Dad's older brother, my Uncle Lawson passed away.  Here is an online obituary.  That was a terrible, terrible week.  The previous weekend I was able to see my Uncle Lawson and Aunt Anne's kids who I rarely have the chance to see (they live in Florida and Georgia) - my cousins Allison and Robert.  Here is Allison's adorable daughter Cameryn with Charlie.  And unfortunately I didn't seem to get any pictures of Robert's son Zack, who is equally adorable.

 Here we were happily thinking Lawson was improving.

Allison and Cameryn 

Here is a photo cousin Zack emailed from that night:

Family Fun Birthday Wish

It's my sister's birthday!  Remember last year?

Well, it was a little harder to do this year...

Charlie is having a ball with his cousin Greer.  Maura, Mike and Greer arrived yesterday morning, in time to see Paul and Kate before they headed out.  Family time is fun!

I owe you a lot more posts and I do have pictures to share - someday.  :o)

Grandparents are here!

Pat finished finals yesterday and today we are walking around campus.