The Walker Blog

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | e-Mealz | 3:16 PM

e-Mealz

So when Cathy and Gus returned home from MI we decided to start using e-Mealz for our dinners. Cathy's friend Aimee had told her about it while she was back in MI, and she got really excited at the thought of actually being able to make dinner and it be easy. Steve was excited at the thought of Cathy actually cooking and us not having to eat out all the time. Besides-- with Cathy staying home with Gus, we really can't afford to eat out anymore!

Anyway, Cathy has been doing AMAZINGLY well with cooking delicious dinners for us to enjoy! Here are some pictures of some of the recent meals that we've had thanks to e-Mealz and Cathy's cooking!

Crunchy BBQ Chicken, pasta and broccoli (8-10-10) This was deeeeeelicious!!

Chuck Roast in the crock pot (8-13-10) Very yummy!

Cherry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (8-15-10) This was a recipe that one of Cathy's former co-workers shared with her via Facebook. It was absolutely to die for!!!

Marinaded steak tips, mashed potatoes (from scratch) and veggies (8-15-10) The steak tips were marinated in Coke (as well as other items)... it was so good!!

Garlic Butter Chicken, pasta, and oven roasted squash and zucchini (8-16-10) The chicken was coated in sour cream and then breaded with potato chips! Then baked and then you add the garlic butter to coat it and then bake a little longer. It was one of the best meals so far!!

One Dish Nacho Bake (8-17-10) The name says it all! Next time we'll add some lettuce and black olives- but it was reallllllllly yummy!!

Baked Spaghetti and Garlic Bread (8-19-10) It was a new twist on an old recipe that Cathy made up!! She did it herself (not e-Mealz) and it was really good!!

Be on the lookout for more pictures of the great things that we're eating after making ourselves at home!!

:)
The Walkers

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Family Update, Gus | 4:26 PM

Well we are happy to report that we're finally home in North Carolina!! We came home on Gus's two-month birthday! Steve got the call from our attorney on July 9th and he was able to get a ticket for Saturday the 10th.

As much as we hated being apart and not having the first two months together as a family, but the timing worked out well. Cathy's oldest brother David came into town with his family from Arizona. They arrived late on the 9th and then Steve arrived on the 10th. For the first time ever, Cathy's mom was able to see all six of her grandchildren and her three children with their spouses at the same time. It was wonderful!!

We came home to NC on the 11th, which also happened to be Gus's two-month birthday! It was so nice to be home with him! Since we've been home, we found a pediatrician and took him for his two-month well baby appointment. He weighed in at 11 pounds and 5 ounces, and his height was 23.75 inches! That's almost two-feet tall!!

Gus has his very own blog, be sure to check out his blog and follow him!! We also have a lot of videos posted to our family YouTube page! You should check that out and subscribe as well!!

We had our first baby shower yesterday at Burt's Bees. Steve works with some of the nicest people! Cathy brought Gus up and everyone enjoyed meeting him. He was all smiles and was in his usual good mood!

Today Gus is 12 weeks old! It's hard to believe that twelve-weeks ago today we were in Michigan in a fog of bliss! A week from tomorrow Gus will be three months old and we don't know where the time has gone. Gus has become the major focus of our lives, and we cannot remember life before him! We both feel like he's the greatest thing to happen to us, and we've concurred that he's the world's greatest baby.

We'll write again soon...
The Walkers

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Adoption, Gus | 2:41 PM

Gus being swaddled (7-5-10)

Happy boy showing off his smile (7-5-10)

Fourth of July shirt (7-4-10)

Lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Walker (7-3-10)

Well, it's been eight weeks today since we got the call that Gus's birth mom was in labor. In the last eight weeks, our entire world has changed for the better, but has changed none-the-less!

On the 30th of May, Steve had to fly back home for work. He left Cathy and Gus at the hotel and headed home with the hopes that we'd all be reunited in just a short week or two. Obviously, it was more than a short week or two, as Cathy and Gus are STILL in Michigan, and Steve is in NC by himself.

The most frequent question that we get from friends and family is, "WHY ARE YOU STILL SEPARATED??" The basic answer to that complex question is, we're separated because of human incompentancy. It took four weeks before our paperwork was even submitted to the Interstate Compact Office and Macomb County Courts (June 8, 2010). It took four weeks because there was a problem with the birth parent history form being submitted with the correct information (it was filled our incorrectly at the hospital), and there was some problems getting members of Gus's birth family to cooperate and help us.

So the papers FINALLY got submitted on June 8th and then we thought we'd have 2-4 weeks to wait for the Interstate Compact Office to give us the approval to take him home. On July 6th it'll have been four weeks. Then there's the papers to the court, so 30 days from the date of submission is Thursday, July 8th (also our fourth wedding anniversary).

We assumed that we'd get the approval to bring him home, before the court date for his birth mother to appear before the judge adn terminate her parental rights. We assumed wrong.

When the papers were submitted to the ICO, the person who was supposed to deal with out case was on vacation. Apparently when that person returned to MI, the papers were "misplaced" and missing documents. Our attorney never called to tell us this... Steve found out when he called to check on the status of things. The attorney told Steve that it's been taken care of and they're expediting things, but it could be another two-four weeks.

To say it was a set-back would be a HUGE understatement. We were devistated. This is the longest that we've been apart EVER and it's so difficult for us to have a newborn and yet, not be together as a family. We're praying that we hear something soon and can get back together as we're meant to be.

When we do get the okay, Steve will fly back to MI and then we'll be driving back to NC together.

On the positive, Cathy's older brother Dave and his family will be arriving in MI on the 10th, and Cathy's excited for them to meet Gus. Cathy's mom and dad are excited to have all their children and grandchildren "home" together. Her mom plans on having pictures taken of all the grandkids together, since it'll be the first time that this has ever happened.

Cathy is excited to get home and start being a stay at home mom. She will be taking some time off from teaching to raise Gus. While it'll be an adjustment for all of us, we're so excited! Cathy hasn't been out of the classroom in ten years and while she'll miss teaching, she's looking forward to teaching Gus all that she can about life!

Steve is doing well with his job. He's eager to see what changes come as the company moves into the new fiscal year. He's always eager to go to work and loves what he does, and for that we're both grateful.

This weekend was the Fourth of July weekend and we spent it apart, but Cathy was able to spend Saturday the 3rd with Steve's dad, Sue Ann, and Steve's Aunt Priscilla. They drove up from Indiana and spent the afternoon with Cathy and Gus. They went to Buddy's Pizza and spent some time visiting at Cathy's parent's house. They were surprised at how big Gus was! They had not seen him since the baptism on May 22nd!

We'll give another update soon. For now we're excited to report that Gus is going to be eight weeks old tomorrow, and will be two months old on Sunday! He's had quite an eventful two months! He's starting to make a lot of noise and has discovered his tongue!! He likes to stick his tongue out and he has also been smiling a lot! He does very well on his tummy and has even rolled over from his tummy to his back! He's getting taller and filling out more. Cathy will be taking him to the pediatrician soon for his two month check-up. He'll be getting his shots (sad face), and will be weighed and measured. We're certain that he's close to ten pounds at this point!!

We'll write again soon! If you'd like to follow Gus's development each week, check out his blog: Gus's Grandiose Gabble. We also have a YouTube site where Cathy has been posting videos of Gus. Be sure to check it out and subscribe!!

:)
The Walkers

We Are A Family!!

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Adoption, Gus | 2:57 PM

We have had quite a few weeks! We traveled to Michigan on April 30th (Friday) and were in town for Alex's First Communion on Saturday, May 1st. We had a great visit with Cathy's side of our family and enjoyed seeing Scott, Christie, Alex, Lily, and Cathy's parents. We decided to take Cathy's mom and Christie to dinner on Monday, May 3rd to Outback Steakhouse, to celebrate Mother's Day (we wouldn't be in MI for the holiday).

While we were at dinner, Cathy got a message on her phone from Fb from her cousin Jessica that had her phone number and it said to call her. Cathy told her that she'd call her after dinner.

Cathy's cousin Jessica lives in MI and is a nurse. She has a co-worker named Sharon. Well, Jess is on Fb and has been following our journey with us, as many of you have as well.

So a few weeks ago, Sharon came to work and was telling Jess about some things happening in her family. Sharon's sister's daughter (Sharon's niece), had just found out that what they thought was the flu, was actually a pregnancy. So the family was a little concerned and were trying to work out what they were going to do. The niece is a minor, and bascially decided that she wanted to find an adoptive family to adopt her baby.

So Sharon was telling Jess about this and Jess mentioned to Sharon that we were in NC and in the process of adopting. She told Sharon that we had our home study completed and were on the website and waiting for the right match. Jess gave Sharon the link to our profile on the CAS website, just for them to see it if they were interested.

Well... they were interested.

When Cathy called Jess, she told her the story (way more details than she is putting in here) and said that basically, they had chosen us to adopt their baby. We were in shock. When Cathy asked when she was due, Jess said May 28th.

So... Tuesday the 4th started our quest for an attorney in MI because our agency only deals with NC children due to the Interstate Compact Agreement. We talked to Jess a lot and got more and more information.

On Wednesday, we said goodbye to MI and hello to Indiana. We still were trying to work out information with an attorney. We had two that we were talking to and trying to find the right one for the best price.

While in Indiana, we decided to bring home a new puppy that Steve's dad had found. She is super cute and her name is Elphaba, we call we "Elphie" for short. She's really Ned's dog.

We drove back to NC on Saturday the 8th. We got home pretty late... it was after 9pm. Got up on Sunday and did laundry, Steve put together the new crib that Cathy's parents had bought for us while we were in MI (the old one was missing parts to connect the drop down side... and the company informed us that they don't make replacement parts, so her parents just bought us a new one). Then Steve mowed the yard and did the bills.

On Monday, Cathy had lunch with some friends, took Elphie to the vet, got her Rx sunglasses, and got her nails done. Got home and chilled for a little and then headed off to Burt's to pick up Steve for our Old School Showdown at the Old Durham Athletic Park. The Bulls were playing at their old stadium for one last game. We got there around 5:00 and found an awesome parking spot. Then we realized that the gates didn't open until 6, so we just sat in the car, slowly watching everyone start to arrive and park.

At 5:40ish... Cathy got a cell phone call from Sharon. Instantly she was confused, because she had only been texting Sharon, but she answered the phone and Sharon said, "Hi... it's Sharon. I wanted to let you know that she's in labor..." so a little bit of panic ensued, but we left the parking lot immediately, headed home, called our parents and freaked out a little (A LOT), and got home around 6:00. We threw as much as we could into bags and packed the baby stuff that we thought we'd need, and loaded up the car.

Our neighbor, Wendy, is a life-saver. She came over with blankets and clothes, and said she'd watch the cats for us. She also said she'd watch the dogs overnight, and take them to the vet in the morning to be boarded. We were on the road by 7:30 pm.

We drove through the night and at 3:40 Cathy got a text from Sharon's sister (the birth-grandma) that said it wouldn't be long and the birth mom was doing well. Then at 3:51 I got another text that said, "It's a boy!" I started crying... not only was I excited that the baby was born, but I was exhausted, stressed, and a HUGE ball of emotions! Oh, and I was in the middle of WV. HA!

We ended up getting a picture of Gus a few hours later and that's what killed us. Seeing that he was real and was going to be our son was too much. We both cried and kept on trucking to MI.

We went straight to the hospital and arrived there around 8:30. The nurses were aware of the situation and knew that we were coming. When we got there, they showed us to the room and we walked in and met his grandma and mom. They were very kind, and baby G was laying in the crib thingy. Then his birth grandma picked him up and brought him over to us and gave him to Cathy to hold. She instantly broke down and was crying like a baby. It was amazing to hold him for the first time and to realize that he was her son! Then Steve held him and he started crying too and it was an amazing first moment as a family.

We stayed in the room with them for a while and then they wanted the mom to take a shower, so we headed out of the room and into the room that they had set aside for us to stay in. It was very thoughtful. Cathy was given the other id bracelet (the baby and mom have to have the same matching numbers on their bands) and we went to the room. We talked to the grandma for a while and got some info and just tried to settle our nerves.

The remainder of the hospital stay is a blur at this point, but we spent most of the morning of the 11th with him. He was 6 pounds 8 oz at birth, 19 inches long and his head was 12.75. He has blondish hair with some red, but not a lot. He has beautiful blue eyes.

We asked if they had a preference for a name and they said they wanted us to name him. We started calling him Gus from that point on. :D Cathy's parents, Christie, and Lily came up to the hospital on Tuesday night to meet him, and they were in the room with everyone. It was very neat to have Gus's birth family there with his adoptive family. One big group all together for the love of one beautiful baby boy.

The mom was released from the hospital on Wednesday the 12th around 11:30. Then Gus was released around 1:30. We were able to say our "see you laters" to his family and it wasn't an awful exchange. We are going to have as open of a relationship with them as they are comfortable with.

We headed to our extended stay hotel with Gus and enjoyed spending time with family. Over the course of a few days, we were visited by several friends and surrounded by Cathy's side of our family. We feel so fortunate to be here in Michigan with family to be apart of the first moments of Gus's life.

There have been some ups and downs during our stay, and we have moved hotels... but it's pretty good. Steve has to fly back to North Carolina while Cathy and Gus stay in Michigan and wait to be cleared from the Interstate Compact. Gus is a great baby and is growing each day! His looks have changed so much from the 11th to now!!

Be sure to check in for more updates on our family!!
:)
The Walkers

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Bulls Baseball, Update on life | 9:30 AM

Planet Earth Celebration 2010

Last Saturday we went downtown to the third annual Planet Earth Celebration. It was another wonderful event and we had a great time. This year we were stationed at one of the waste stations- not the most glamorous job, but it was fun. Cathy was quite impressed by how much Steve knew about composting.

We are very excited for our upcoming trip to Michigan and Indiana. It's been almost five months since we saw Cathy's family, and it's been seven months since we've seen Steve's dad and Sue Ann. We're looking forward to spending time with our nephew Alex, who will be receiving his First Communion next Saturday, and our niece Lilyanne. We'll also be celebrating Mother's Day while we're there, since we won't see Cathy's mom on the holiday this year.

Cathy is currently tracked out (she's super excited). She is excited to read on her Kindle and get some sun (but not too much), and plans on taking a day-trip with some friends to the beach over track out.

Steve is speaking at NC State this upcoming week. He'll be talking about what Burt's does in regards to sustainability. He's excited to share his passion and knowledge with others.

No news on Tadpole... the people that Cathy works with are planning a baby shower for her on June 16th and we're hoping to have heard something by then! We are still getting gifts from friends and family and are so appreciative of their thoughtfulness and support!!

We are going to see Wicked today at the Durham Performing Arts Center. Cathy is more excited than Steve is-- but we'll be meeting some friends for lunch and then heading over for the 2pm showing.

We attended the Spring Training Showdown at the DBAP a couple weeks ago and watched the Durham Bulls take on their affiliate Tampa Bay Rays. The Bulls lost, but gave a good fight! We went to our season opener last Sunday and watched the Bulls close out the series against the Norfolk Tides. The Bulls are currently on a seven game winning streak!! We have excellent seats this season... a little closer to the field.

Well-- that's it from us for now. We'll be in touch!!
Thanks for reading-- leave us some love!!
The Walkers

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Adoption, Update on life | 6:38 PM

We are on the CAS website!!! Definitely check out our profile!!! We are on the bottom of the first page!! We were placed on the website this past Wednesday (April 7th). We are super excited and cannot wait for whatever happens next!!

We had the Wake County Teacher of the Year Semi-Finals Reception on Wednesday night. We went with Cathy's principal and her IRT (Instructional Resource Teacher) and had a nice time. They called each semi-finalist up and gave them a keychain that says "2010 Teacher of the Year" and then announced the finalists.

Cathy was not one of the 12 finalists that they named, and while there was a bit of disappointment, she was proud nonetheless. She would have had to do an interview with the committee of 20 people- which was a bit overwhelming to her. She was just honored that her fellow teachers had chosen her as the Oak Grove TOY.

There are more than 9,000 teachers in the county and of them, there were 190 named as Teachers of the Year for their individual schools. Of those 190, Cathy was in the top 24 which is something to be very proud of. The group of 12 is made up of a lot of middle school and high school teachers (only five elementary teachers) and several men and minorities.

We received another package for Tadpole Walker this week. Cathy's friend Andrea (from Phi Sigma Pi) sent us some goodies and we were pleasantly surprised with her gift. We have quite a lot of things for Tadpole and our collection keeps growing. We don't have any bottles or safety things, and very few clothes, but hopefully those will come when we get matched.

Anyway- it's been a beautiful weekend here in NC and we're both doing well. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we wait for Tadpole. As they say, the waiting is the hardest part.

With love,
The Walkers

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Adoption, Life Update, Work | 11:05 AM

We are on the waiting list!!! YAY!! We went to Charlotte yesterday to meet with Doris and spent about two and a half hours talking with her and sharing more about ourselves. It was a great visit and the best part was leaving the three Adoptive Family Albums and Expectant Mother letters with her! We should be on the CAS website in about a week or two.

Things are going well for both of us at work. Cathy has the Semi-Finals Reception on Wednesday for Wake County Teacher of the Year. She'll find out if she has been selected for the Finals (top 12 teachers in the county) on Wednesday night and she's already nervous about it. She had her observation at the beginning of March and didn't really get any feedback (positive or negative) about her observation. She wrote about it in her blog, so if you're interested in getting more information, definitely read her blog.

Steve is getting excited for the 3rd Annual Planet Earth Celebration with Burt's on the 17th of April. We'll be going downtown and volunteering, though we don't know what we'll be doing this year.

Steve is especially proud of recent accomplishments at work. His hard work and determination has helped lead Burt's to being a 100% Zero-Landfill company! That means that everything that they use each day is diverted to other places, and NOTHING goes to the landfill!! This is quite a feat and Steve is very proud of his effort, but also proud to work for a company that is able to do what many are not!

This weekend (tomorrow) we have our first Bulls game of the season. It's not the regular season yet, but we're going to the DBAP for the first ever game of the Bulls versus the Rays! A Minor League team versus their Major League Affiliate team!! We are going to cheer loudly for the Bulls and are excited for the forecasted 80 degree day tomorrow!! What a great way to spend the weekend!!

Last night we celebrated as we watched UD (University of Dayton) beat UNC (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) in the NIT College Men's Basketball Championship!! It was a great game and UD won 79 to 68!! It was a HUGE victory and Steve was especially excited. When on Earth would UD ever have the chance to play a power-house like UNC??? And then to win... it was amazing!! Steve wore his UD Basketball t-shirt to work today and proudly took his UD Flag that Cathy's parents bought him last year for Christmas. He is definitely soaking up the win!!

That's about all the news for us for now. We'll keep everyone updated on things with the adoption for sure. We were told that it could be very soon that we're matched, or a while. It's all a matter of what God has in store for us and we're asking for plenty of patience... and all the prayers that we can get!!

We've had several people ask about our registry (we're not having a baby shower), so we thought we'd put it out there again. We posted it a few months ago, but if anyone is curious about it here's the link again: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/2JQYX39EHGS21.

We'll write again soon...
:)
The Walkers