Us Lately

So pretty much things have been chaotic, with a summer of Medical Boards, Hospitalizations, Surgery, Vacations, Moving, etc. But, heck, when isn't life chaotic?

Here's a few things we've been doing and after this, instead of trying to go back and document everything, I'm just going to start fresh. Phew. That makes me feel better.

Caleb's "tiger" aka "Guy-ger"

Caleb's not really a clingy kid, so I don't know if I would officially call this his 'lovey' but he sure does love it! He asks to bring it with him anytime we get in the car and he hugs it tight when he falls asleep. Grandpop Knickerbocker and Barbara got it for him before he had his surgery and he just loves it to death.

PS- Yes, I know, tigers have stripes, not spots. He still thinks that horses are cows, so I'm just glad he at least knows it's in the cat family.

Anything that has a wheel is a car. He loves cars. And trucks, and tractors, and cows. He's turning into a real farm boy. Who would have thought? A month ago he was still scared of grass. Apparently the transition hasn't been too hard on him.

Allison, Kay and Sage

Friends! Jake and Allison came to visit for the Labor Day weekend/picnic (they moved to the midwest last year). It was good to see them, even if it was only for a few hours. Kay and Allison were trying to get the perfect amount of smile in this picture and Sage is obviously not impressed.
I know that girls are supposed to hog the phone when they turn 13, but I've been a little surprised at how much Caleb demands to talk to people on the phone! His favorite phone conversations usually go like this:

Caleb: Hellow? 'Owareyou?

Person: Hi Caleb!

Caleb: Cows!

He loves talking to Nana, Keke (my sister, Katie) and Daddy on the phone. When he talks to Pete, he always says, "Daddy, Where are you?" It's super cute.

He's so dang cute. Just thought I would put that on record.

Anyway, there are two other members of our family, other than just Caleb (shocking, I know!).

Pete just finished his Cardio rotation and is starting his Pulmonary rotation on Monday. So far he still likes "doing" things, not just talking to sick people (heaven forbid a doctor talk to sick people!) so things like surgery, anesthesiology, Radiology, etc. are on the list. If you ask him what he wants to do with his life and he gives you a straight answer, please let me know. I have not had that experience as of yet.

I'm still working on classes and hanging out with Caleb. Our place here is under a *bit* of construction-- as in we've had carpenters, electricians, plumbers and inspectors here for the past two weeks. We think we have about two-three weeks left and then hopefully (fingers crossed) things will all be done!

Sigh. There. We're all caught up. Lovin' it.

Chao.

Umm, Is It Still July?

Caleb, Me, Lauren (holding one of the boys) and Amy
The only picture we took of the three of us the entire time we were there. Lame.

Ok, so maybe I haven't blogged in awhile. Oh well. Right before Caleb's surgery in August, I was able to get outta town for a few days to see some of my favorite people in the world. Amy (now lives in San Diego), Lauren (lives in Raleigh) and I grew up together and consequently went through many cycles of loving and hating each other. Isn't that what best friends are for?

Lauren just had twin boys, Quentin and Jackson, at the beginning of the summer. Doesn't she look fabulous? Amy and I decided to coordinate our trips to meet the little fellers, and we had a mini-catch-up-with-your-best-friends-from-high-school/help-Lauren-with-the-twins visit. (I'm not sure we helped that much.)

Yeah, to top it off, Lauren had made an additional two trips to the hospital since delivering, once for an emergency appendectomy and once for an infection from said appendix removal. I can't believe how well she is pulling everything off for such a crazy chaotic time!

Caleb pretty much just ate the entire time he was there. He loved it. He would keep pointing to the babies and shouting, "Baby! Crying!" We got to go watch Lauren's husband, Marcus, play a game of basketball and Caleb was so into it. He would follow the ball back and forth on the court and clap and shout when someone scored.

The little monsters we went to visit. They are so dang cute.

Amy is having her first child (another little boy! We're thinking of starting a professional sporting team with this crew) in December, so we pretty much sat around the entire time, passing babies, changing diapers and talking about what its like to be pregnant or have kids. It was great.

Thanks girls for the great time together!

Alzheimer's Association

Hey everyone-
I sent out some information before about the Memory Walk my mom is going to do in honor of her father, who died of Alzheimer's over 20 years ago. All the funds she raises go to help research better treatment and hopefully a cure for this disease.

http://memorywalk09.kintera.org/frederick/maryannfarr?faf=1&e=2717692321

You can copy this link to find my Mom's fundraising website for the Alzheimer's Association's Memory Walk.

If you click, "My Team Page" you can sign up to join my mom's "team" and create a webpage of your own. Then you can send out emails asking all of your friends and family to donate. If you don't feel like making your own page, please pass along the information for my mom's page.

She's hoping to raise $1,000 in honor of her dad. The fundraising page has only been open for a few days and she already has $150. Even if you can only donate $5 or $10, please donate. Every little bit helps.

Thanks so much.

Moving

As many of you know, Pete and I just moved out to his parent's place in Parkesburg, PA. His rotation schedule is going to have him out of town for about 6 of the next 12 months, so we thought this would be a perfect chance to save some money on rent in the city.

We're really sad to be moving away from friends, but we promise to visit often and we extend the same invite to all of you-- come out! There is **gasp** grass here. And, as Caleb likes to remind us constantly, there are cows. Lots of them. So if you find yourself tired of the concrete, come out our way-- we're love to have you!

We're slowly but surely getting things unpacked... ok, so that might be a lie. We're TRYING to get things unpacked, but its going slowly.

Caleb doesn't like unpacking. Neither do I.