Trash, Ham, and Reunions

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

This morning was trash day. Kien LOVES trucks -- all trucks! I told him that, when the garbage truck came to our street, we would go out to see it. He repeatedly said, "Garbage truck. See!" While he was eating breakfast, we heard the familiar sound and ran outside! This was his second time to see the truck as we went out the last trash day. That time the man on the back of the truck said, "Maybe he will be a garbage man when he grows up!"

His fascination is obvious!

I neglected to blog yesterday that a cooler appeared at the front door containing a Honey Baked Ham with side dishes from Aria's family, plus friends of Greg & Cathi's from their church small group brought fabulous food for two dinners! What a blessing! Noelle suggested that I blog that story along with the the arrival the THE official ham sandwich himself: Kevin!!! Karin had many pet names for Kevin, but "ham sandwich" was one of her favorites as it is so fitting.

Kevin burst through the circular doors in the background screaming, "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma!" and ran, jumping into my arms with the bystanders laughing. He hugged and kissed me yelling, "I love you! I love you! I love you!" He will always be a ham sandwich!

He was equally excited to see Kien when we arrived at the house. Poor Kien may have been a bit overwhelmed by the effervescence, but I had prepared him for their arrival.

Then he greeted "Uncle" Steve with a friendly hug!

Kevin assisted Jeremy with his chore of bringing in the trash containers. Kevin LOVES to be a helper, and Jeremy is willing to be helped.

Kevin had fun playing with Brandy too in her room.

Gabriel

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

Mommy is doing a bit better today. Today was clean-the-house-day and she chipped in. Hopefully, she won't pay for it tomorrow.
Mommy and Gabe resting.

Daddy and Mommy enjoying the babe this evening. Daddy thinks Gabe is the most amazing thing he has ever seen! And he is!
A friend emailed me today, "In my heart, she (Karin) somehow knew his spirit before it was put in him...For months I have been imagining Karin with the spirit of this baby, holding him and loving him and preparing him for her family." What a sweet perspective! Remember -- Greg and Cathi learned of the reality of a pregnancy within 24 hours of losing Karin, calling us 26 hours later at 2 AM 12/17. I say that they serendipitously chose the angelic name Gabriel because of his angel aunt.

Playtime and Prayers Please

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

When Cathi and I were ready to leave the house, Kien had disappeared, and this is where we found him --


This morning, Cathi, Kien, and I took Gabe to his follow up doctor's appointment. He is doing just fine with no problems. I entertained Kien in a very non-kid friendly waiting room for 1.5 hours! And Cathi had our diaper bag with supplies. Oh, well... we survived. Then we went to Daddy's work and had lunch with him.

After returning home, Jeremy was still lounging around. This time, in front of the TV with the dogs. Nice to be a kid on summer break!

This evening, I took Kien outside to play on his vehicles. I was quite surprised at how adept he is at handling the little motorcycle!

Then we played with his 4-wheeler and a neighbor (Barry) came over to play too.

Please remember to pray for Barry's wife Marilyn. When having gallstones removed a couple of weeks ago, it was discovered that she has stage 4 gall bladder cancer. She will be going to a cancer treatment center in Houston in another week.

Lackadaisical Day

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

Kien often says, "Help," or "Help me," or "Help me please," when he wants out of bed or is stuck somewhere or has a problem. We found Kien in his toybox this morning saying, "Help." I was thinking: Yeah, Kien. Play with the toys IN the toybox! ha! That thought is reminiscent of a family joke when Grandpa Walsh said to little Greg, "That's a good boy. Keep the toys in the toybox!" as he was perusing which toy(s) to take out.

Today was garbage day. I made of point of listening for the truck to take Kien out to watch it at work. He loved it, of course! One of the garbage men said, "Maybe he can be a garbage man when he grows up." I think he would rather be the truck driver! Or probably the manager/owner of the company! :)

Mid-morning, I made a run with Jeremy and Kien to get Starbucks for Cathi and me. On the way home, we stopped to watch Brandy's 230 piece band practice their marching. We never did see Brandy (nor did she see us). We watched them work on fundamentals and "slides" with a metronome. Very interesting to see how they teach them to perform. Much different than my high-stepping band.


They are not actually playing their instruments; just holding them in position for playing.

Practicing "slides."

Jeremy noted this deer face (actually, it is Bambi's face) in the bark of a tree in the school parking lot! Very perceptive. Can you see it? I identified the nose and one eye to the right of where they appear. There is a mouth and antler too!

It was a lovely 81 degree morning. Kien put on unmatched outdoor shoes and asked to go outside, so we did! :)

After sliding, he ran back and forth between Duke and Daisy giving them a pat.


This afternoon I ran a bunch of shopping errands -- one being to buy more size 1 diapers for Gabe. Take a look at the box! That is GABE pictured on the box!!! That means that he is one of the 10 most beautiful babies in the world since he is pictured on the Pampers box! But Greg says he is cuter than the look-alike on the box!

No real pictures of Gabe today. He and Mommy stayed hidden in the bedroom all day. He wasn't awake much today at all. We'll see what happens tonight...

Life in a Sleep Deprived House

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

Mommy and Daddy had very little sleep last night as baby cried all night. Strange thing... We slept on the other side of their bedroom wall and never heard a thing. Greg brought us the baby around 6 AM, and we took over the duty. I fed him, and he went to sleep! No prob! Here Grandpa is dozing holding him with Daisy lounging beside them.

While Grant took Brandy to band camp, picked up Starbucks and bagels, plus bought lightbulbs, I put Gabe in his pumpkin seat (don't know what they are called today! ha!). He came with me in the bathroom while I showered and went wherever I went -- still sleeping even after Kien was up. By 10 AM, Mommy and Daddy had to take over again. Kien accompanied Daisy, Grandpa, and Grandma to the vet's. The diagnosis is that Daisy has an ulcer on her eye. She is on an anti-biotic and two different eyedrops. Kien saw a box with a litter of ten three-day-old boxer puppies and petted a young kitty. His response: "Soft," and wanted to pet the kitty more.

This afternoon, Kien said goodbye to Grandpa before his nap. We realized that Grandpa had to have his picture taken with Gabe because they matched today!


Gabe had some awake times this afternoon. Hopefully, they were enough to make him sleepy for the night tonight! It is nearly 11 PM, and he is crying now. Hopefully, that is a good sign for sleep tonight...

The babies at home

Gabe still has some growing to do to fit his clothes.



Already looking cute for pictures!



Kien still looks cute in pictures too. hehe

Coming Home Day!

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

We all visited the hospital before church, then after church, Greg brought us home and went to the hospital to bring Cathi and Gabe home. About the same time they arrived home, we learned that Kevin had gone to the hospital ER because he could not swallow. He has strep and is now recuperating at home. He MUST get better quickly, because he is coming to TX to meet his new cousin this weekend! But he sure gave us a scare for a couple of hours!

I thought I was snapping a picture of Gabe as he came in the door, but the camera was set on movie.

We had to snap lots of pictures upon arrival!




Kien and Grampy matched today, so we needed a special shot of them.

Hummm.... We didn't get many Mommy pictures. We will have to do better tomorrow!

Mommy and Baby Come Home!

Baby Gabe's very first car ride!
Proud mommy making sure baby is safely strapped in.



He was sleeping so soundly for his 1st car ride.



The day Gabe came home to us was a beautiful day!



Mommy was very happy to be coming home to her own bed.



It was 94 degrees on the way home.

Big Brother and Little Brother Adventures

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

Greg had hoped we would come early with some clean clothes for him and have breakfast together, but we were lazy and slept too late for a hospital breakfast. Poor guy... But we finally made it there to take him out to lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant. The waiter spilled a tray of water glasses and one root beer next to Kien. Fortunately, it didn't soak him -- only splashed. Daddy helped Kien make a mask out of a tortilla noting that Mommy wouldn't approve of playing with food. It was a great distraction and didn't hurt his appetite.

After a nap for Kien and others, we returned to the hospital for a final visit with Mommy and Gabe. Kien wanted the infant cap again, this time pulling it over his eyes for more Peek-A-Boo games and saying, "Goodbye."

Grandma was enjoying holding the little charmer, Gabe, when there was a splat noise. It was time for a diaper change, so Grandma assisted Mommy in the comedy sequence. There was only one diaper left in the bassinet, only the one receiving blanket wrapped around him (and guess what happened to it), and one more clean shirt. As Mommy removed the soiled diaper, Gabe squirted himself in the chest and face. Then we had to ask for more supplies and took him for a bath. Some things are easier done at home!
Then the incredible Gabe was all clean again and ready for more admiring and loving.


His play made his thirsty, so he had an orange juice from the nurse's station.


Brandy and Jeremy were in the waiting room watching TV and missed being in these shots. We will have to work on full family shots tomorrow. Brandy is spending the night with her Mom. Brandy picked out a chick flick from Blockbuster for them to watch tonight.

By the time we made it to Braum's for a light supper and ice cream, it was quite late, but Kien was amazingly well behaved! Here he is playing with is child's meal toy with surprising dexterity!

He was catching the motorcycle every time until I took a movie.
We read Kien's "Big Brother" story for about the fifth time this week just before bed.

Day Two with Gabe!

POSTED BY GRANDMA WALSH

Greg drove Brandy to Band Camp this morning and stayed to hear the results of the tryouts which were announced yesterday. Brandy spent the day with family yesterday, so missed the post assignments. She made it!!!! Woo Hoo!!! All band members are in the Marching Band, but only 192 of them can be in the competitions. Remember -- this is Texas where football reigns and marching bands are phenomenal.

Grandpa flew in before lunch; Greg picked him up, then we met at the hospital.
Kien is wearing an extra baby cap. ha! Here is the first picture of the Walsh Men --

And Jeremy too.

The two GBWs --

Kien was enamored by Grampy today! :)

Time to leave, and Kien kissed Gabe goodbye.

After his nap, Kien sat with Grampy for his snack and to watch TV.

After Band Camp, we all returned to the hospital for another visit.

Time to say goodnight and go to dinner.

Cathi is coming along well. All of her connections were removed and she walked around -- all the way to the Gift Shop. Without the IV, she has some pain, but it is under control for the most part.
We are going to have to capture a movie of Gabe's cry. He really does sound like a little kitten.

Grandpa meets grandson!

Grandpa flew in from Canada as soon as he could catch a flight. This is the 1st meeting of both GBWs!