Little Ladybug

I got to visit Alison and Georgia today. Georgia is great, she was eating some lunch when I arrived and we got to spend some time playing on the mat together. She showed off her Halloween costume as well.
So, Children's Hospital does a lot of things right. Choosing Halloween entertainment is not one of them. Seriously, Batman?? Where are the Care Bears or Puppies or something?

Luckily, Mom knows how to make everything all better :)

"We are so funny"

Georgia is standing with all her weight on her left leg... a sign of good things to come.

G's Trust

I think it was about the second week Alison, Brian and Georgia were at Children's Hospital they got a visit from a dear friend of theirs who walked in, took one look around and said "well, it's not the Four Seasons, but they charge like it is". She's right.

It seems like after the "marathon" that will be Georgia's recovery, the Handsakers should win the lottery - there should be some sort of prize for going through all of this. Instead, they will be stuck with a giant bill. Some of Alison, Brian and Georgia's new "neighbors" have lost their homes, lost everything due to medical bills. And while Alison and Brian aren't in that boat, thank goodness, there will be extreme medical oversight for Georgia for the next five years. With that in mind, Brian's cousin was kind enough to set up a trust for Georgia. If you have any interest in donating you can go to any branch of Bank of America and inquire about the Georgia Claudia Handsaker Irrevocable Trust.

Pumpkin Carving Marathon

Saturday evening Chad and I (okay, Chad) cleaned out all five of our pumpkins so they would be ready to carve on Sunday. Blake was beyond excited to get started on Sunday morning. Chad and Blake got to work, Lauren napped and I took a few pictures. Then I headed to the hospital to visit Alison and Georgia. When I got back, four hours later, Blake was still in his jammies and they were still carving!

Sitting Up

Last night I was trying to get a few pictures of Lauren showing of her new skills - she can sit up now (for a little bit before she tips over). Some how my little photo shoot turned into a wrestling match/love fest for my kids! My big girl!

Her other talent...lots of drool.
Some how hugs and kisses turned into the WWF...

....but Lauren can hold her own!

Big brother in a headlock :)

Dinner for the Handsakers

So many wonderful friends have asked how they can help my sister and her family while they are living at the hospital. I set up a "meal registry" for anyone interested in delivering dinner to the Handsakers while they are at Children's Hospital. Please visit http://mealbaby.com/viewregistry/290050 if you'd like to sign up!

Thanks so much - Leslie

A little justice

Last fall, we were shocked to hear about the death of our dog trainer, Mark Stover. We learned on Friday that Michiel Oakes was found guilty of murdering T. Mark Stover. Chad and I have followed his trial and were even contacted to see if we would be willing to be character witnesses on Mark's behalf (evidently Ichiro was busy :) Mark is the ONLY reason Louis is still a part of our family, and for that we (mostly Chad) are grateful. Louis had been kicked out of ever class and boarding facility in town when we found Mark. He truly had a gift for working with dogs.
We hope the Stover family finds some peace with this guilty verdict.

Local News Guilty verdict in slaying of dog trainer Seattle Times Newspaper

Halloween Fun

Last night our doorbell rang twice at 8:45 p.m. I was a little annoyed, both my kids were asleep...who was ringing my doorbell? Our neighborhood has a little pre-Halloween fun, each night someone gets a ghost stuck to their door, instructions and some candy. Once Chad and I had polished off half the bag of candy, I was less annoyed :) Tonight it was our turn. I tried to get some pictures of Blake and I with our candy bags before we headed out. Instead we got some pictures of Blake, Lauren and I...no candy bags. Oh well - Blake and I had so much fun, he wanted to deliver candy and ring door bells all night long.

I included the last two pictures because I think they show a new side of Lauren we have seen lately. Little Miss Party Pants is becoming quite the social girl. She thinks anything that has to do with her brother is a riot! She tries as hard as she can to get to where ever he is. Blake entertains her by pretending to be a frog, which is evidently hilarious, you should hear her giggle :)

Proud Parents

Chad and I just returned from Blake's first preschool conference. The entire report was glowing...the first sentence of his review was "We experience Blake as a friendly, bright, articulate, confident boy." Way to go Blake, we are so proud of you!

Afternoon Playdate

Today I brought Lauren to visit Georgia. Georgia's friend Charlotte was visiting too, so the girls had a little playdate. I think all of the ladies had a good time. cousins

"Um, who brought the girl that can't sit up yet??"

Lauren was no match for these two, they were twice her age :) At one point Georgia was (gently) pulling at Lauren's hair while Charlotte was chewing on her shoe. I think Lauren was more of a toy than one of the girls.

G & Mom

Georgia & Daddy

Charlotte

Georgia

Pumpkin Patch

It has been a very stressful couple of weeks and we thought it was time to try and do something "normal" as a family. We headed out to the pumpkin patch. Last year we went to Remlinger Farms where we ran into half my graduating class from high school and way too many WSU alumni. This year we though we'd shoot for something a little more authentic. We went to Fall City Farms, it was charming. They had live music, animals, they were pressing cider, making donuts and they had a hay ride. This was more like it. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Chad dragged two pumpkins from the field to the giant line at the cash register....where we left them. Thanks Fall City Farms, it was fun. Now I'm headed to QFC to buy some pumpkins :)

There are no words...

I can't begin to tell you how hard the last two weeks have been. My niece has been sedated for a surgery or procedure four times in little over a weeks time. I have tried my best to be strong for my sister, but when they brought Georgia back from the surgery where they inserted a Hickman catheter, I lost it. My sister, Georgia and I sat in their hospital bed and just cried. Georgia came through her surgery perfectly fine. But the insertion of the Hickman is one of the last hurdles before they can start chemotherapy. Heartbreaking.

Friday I attended a "team" meeting to discuss Georgia's condition and plan to be well again. The plan, all be it long and very hard on Georgia, will make her well again. I asked one of the heads of the oncology department how this could happen to a baby? She launched into an explanation about cells mutating and dividing, etc. I think I was looking for more of a justification. How could this possibly happen to my niece? There are no words to say how heartbroken I am that little Georgia has to endure chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. There are no words to tell you how heartbroken I am that Alison and Brian have to watch their baby girl go through this. Please keep sending your prayers and positive thoughts, they are helping.

A dear family friend once told Alison and I "sometimes you just have to do it with grace". I continue to be amazed at Alison and Brian's strength and grace. We have received some pretty scary information over the last couple of days. Today, I got to the hospital just after Georgia was coming out of her second bone marrow and spinal procedure. She was happy and alert. After spending all of 5 minutes in their room, there were nurses to check Georgia's vitals, change her dressing, draw her blood, weigh her diapers and on and on. Then a team of TEN doctors showed up...they just kept coming in the room. I though it was overwhelming. My sister calmly asked questions, even the ones she knew these ten doctors didn't really want to talk with her about. I told her I thought she was brave...she said "she's my girl".
Many people have touched base with me to find out what they can do to help - THANK YOU! Everyone's continued support will be so important in the weeks and months ahead. Right now, Alison, Brian and a giant team of experts are trying to formulate a plan that is best to get Georgia well. Once they have a plan in place, everyone will have a better idea of what is needed and who Georgia will be able to have exposure to during her treatment. Stay tuned, I'm guessing some home cooked meals delivered to Children's Hospital will be much appreciated in the coming weeks.

a little comic relief while we wait...

The past week has been excruciating for everyone. Waiting to hear scary news allows for your mind to wander. The only thing that's made me smile a little over the last week are the kids. Seeing Georgia will make you smile, she looks great and you would never know anything is wrong. My kids make me smile too. Blake says the funniest things, the other day our family was out to lunch. When the waitress asked "what would you like big guy?" he replied "SUGAR!!!". Then today he came home with the "news" from school. (Each week one of the teachers sits with each child and writes down their "news" for the day. Then they photocopy the whole thing so all of the parents can see what the children said.) Blake's comments were "Daddy makes pancakes and we eat them with syrup and butter. Mommy can make them too, but Lauren and our bulldog Louis can't make pancakes". (I make Blake a hot breakfast 6 days a week but Chad gets the honorable mention...) In other "news" Blake said "when our baby cries mommy feeds her. She nurses from mommy's nipples". Yep, that's what went home with each and everyone of his classmates.

Pumpkin Patch

Last week my mother in law rushed to town to help me with Blake and Lauren so I could spend time with Alison, Brian and Georgia. Jean took Blake (and Lauren) to all of Blake's activities, including his field trip to the pumpkin patch. When he left he said he was going to come home with the biggest pumpkin...and he did. Grandma had to cart home a 40lb pumpkin! Thank you Grandma!! Notice Blake is always next to a little girl...my boy loves the ladies!

Here he is sitting next to Rylan. Blake asked me if the next time he's goes to school could it be just he and Rylan. :)

five months old today

Lauren is officially five months old. She continues to be the sweetest baby in town. She seems to be pretty social, she'll give a giant smile to anyone who says hello. My favorite part about the past month has been her belly laugh. Blake was chasing Louis around the back yard and Lauren thought it was hilarious. She would giggle and laugh, so Blake kept bugging Lou saying "but Mom she's laughing". Anything to keep our girl happy :) Lauren also continues to be a Daddy's girl, you should see her light up when Chad walks in a room. It is very sweet. (She also looks exactly like her Daddy)

and now we wait...

Georgia had surgery on Wednesday and although all of her medical experts hoped to have the pathology reports back by Thursday evening, now it looks like it will be Monday before we know what is going on inside little Georgia's body. You think that would give the Handsakers a few minutes to catch their breath (if that is possible) but every time I go to the hospital someone is checking Georgia's temperature, giving her medication, checking her incision, giving Alison and Brian medical updates, and on and on.

My sister and Brian continue to be amazing parents. Half the time I feel like I can't breath and I'm ready to throw up at any moment. When I watched the nurse wake Georgia to check her temperature and give her some medicine I wanted to scoop her up and run away - quit bothering her! And I am only her aunt. My sister remains calm and so strong for Georgia. I get to leave Children's Hospital and get in my car and sob. For Alison and Brian there is no time for that, they stay strong for Georgia. I get to come home, tuck my kids in bed and crawl in my own bed for the night. Alison and Brian are on their 5th night at Children's Hospital, they've been told they will not be leaving before next Friday, and they stay strong for Georgia.