What a night

It's hard to find the right words to describe "An Evening for Georgia". Friday night was a HUGE success, but it was more than the dollars raised. It was amazing to see so many people from throughout our lives come together to support Georgia, Alison and Brian. My dear friends Jayme and Sarah along with a few others worked so hard to put this event on and it came together beautifully. Over 150 people were in attendance and as for the money raised...let's just say these ladies far exceeded their goal!

I feel like I should mention a few of the businesses that made Friday evening possible. Ross Andrew Winery and Mark Ryan Winery graciously donated their space and a portion of their wine sales from the evening went to the Handakers as well. They both have fantastic wine and great space if you are looking to do a little wine tasting. The Volunteer Park Cafe donated the delicious food at cost (thank you to our volunteer servers as well - no one went hungry!). And lastly, Joci Besecker as usual went above and beyond. This girl never misses a detail. She designed the logo and all of the signage, which was beautiful and her printer, Spot on Print & Design, was kind enough to donate all of the print work. Every one's generosity was simply overwhelming.

Here are a few photos I took early in the evening. Kurt Smith, one of my photography idols, took the "real" pictures. I am sure Alison will post some of them in the near future.

Jayme & Meredith hard at work

Wine grab - I came home with one of the best bottles...and one of the worst!

Georgia's Uncle Wade, Aunt Alexis....and coming soon TWO new cousins!!

Quilt Square

Every year The Children's Garden has each class puts together a quilt to be sold at their annual auction. I was told to design a square that represented Blake and incorporated a ladybug (his class is named "the ladybugs"). Hmm, I literally don't own a needle or thread - that's what dry cleaners are for. I had no idea how I was going to pull this thing together. Diana, my dear friend and babysitter to Blake and Lauren, said she could help. This is what she whipped up overnight with some fabric she had on hand! I am still amazed. It has Blake playing baseball, Louis, "W" for Washington of course, the sunshine in the sky is a yellow heart with a purple "G" for Georgia, basketball with the number 3 and a tiny toy that represents Lauren's favorite toy at Diana's house. Not in a million years could I have put this together - thank you Diana!

Stairs

The base of our staircase is rather wide. Way too wide to put a gate across, so I put our "baby yard" across the opening. Today Lauren let me know how worthless my little plan was.

The Athlete

Lately Blake and I have been playing outside while Lauren naps. We play basketball, baseball and soccer. The other day while playing basketball Blake asked "Mom, why do you keep missing?". Today we played baseball. He was the batter, I was the pitcher. When he'd hit the ball he'd say "that was a big hit" or "oh, I got a piece of it". If he'd miss the ball he'd say "we want a pitcher not a belly itcher" or just flat out "that was a bad pitch". Great. Blake isn't quite 4 and I don't think he'd pick me for his team!

GO GAGE!

We went to watch Gage's swim meet bright and early this morning. They were competing against other kids from as far away as Wyoming, Hawaii and Alaska. Gage did a great job and it was so fun to see him swim!

Gage's cheering section

Gage is ready to dive in - lane 4

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Blake came home from school today with Leprechaun ears that say "Blake McPittman" on the back and some "gold" he found on the playground. Sounds like all of the kids had a blast today.

My Little Peanut

Lauren had her weigh in on Monday and she gained 6 oz. I looked at the nurse "that's good right?" she said "no". Luckily Dr. Schroeder was a little easier on me, he said 6 oz. is the minimum he'd feel good about. Lauren dropped from the 15th percentile to the 10th. He said she is behaving more like a toddler than a 10 month old, she likes to feed herself and she is always on the move. So, I am supposed to butter up her veggies and continue my quest to get some weight on my little lady. Thank you Auntie for all of the suggestions, we hit PCC today and picked up some coconut butter (18 grams of fat per serving!) and Lauren seems to like it. At the end of the day I think Lauren is healthy, maybe just a petite girl. (Never in a million years did I ever think I'd use the word "petite" to describe one of my children!)

This girl LOVES broccoli...Grandma Claudia would be so proud :)

Thank You Georgia!

In an effort to cheer up Alison and Georgia, who now sit in isolation at Children's Hospital, I thought I would post a few pictures of Lauren in the new duds she got from her cousin.

I went to meet Alison and Georgia for her procedure at Children's yesterday. As if Alison doesn't have enough going on in her life right now, she was thoughtful enough to bring some clothes Georgia had outgrown for Lauren. When I arrived Alison was almost in tears, she said Georgia had a fever. She knew they would most likely be checking back into the hospital. We spent the afternoon running around, chest xrays, blood draws, Children's Hospital, SCCA and back to Children's Hospital. I will leave it to Alison to post the specifics about what Georgia has going on, but it sounds like they will be in the hospital for the better part of two weeks. :( Just crummy. We love you guys and things will be better soon. Blake wanted to get in on the action too.

Happy 10 Months Baby Girl

This past month Lauren has perfected the way she expresses her opinion, rather dramatically! She is a climber and she is pretty fast too. Lauren doesn't really like to be held by people she doesn't know very well, but she sure LOVES it when her daddy holds her. When she sees him she holds her arms out and then lays her head on his shoulder, it's very sweet. Evidently she has also figured out what to do with a telephone. I'm pretty sure this is the second time I've said this...but I swear I don't talk on the phone that much! :)

Pittman Family Hike

We had another Pittman family outing this morning, we hiked to some waterfalls on the Snoqualmie river. Well, we hike close to the falls anyway. Maybe we'll make it all the way to the falls this spring. Everyone was great, Blake loved the hike (I thought he'd get tired, but no, he wanted mommy to run with him the whole way back to the car :) meanwhile Lauren was having a ball pulling at daddy's ears and giggling.