The Walker Blog

1-10-11 Happy New Year!!

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Family Update, Holidays | 1:22 PM

Our Sweet Baby

Gosh it's been a while since we posted! Cathy has been super busy posting each Tuesday on Gus's blog, and then she's been posting daily on her personal blog... we guess this one got over-looked! Sorry!!

Our first Christmas together as a family was wonderful. We spent it just the three of us, and had hoped that Cathy's parents would be able to come down for the week between Christmas and New Year's, but they weren't able to get the time off of work. Instead, we spent the time together and didn't really do much. It was great!

Prior to Christmas, Cathy took Gus to Wal-Mart to have his pictures taken. She had a coupon for 30 pictures for $8. We felt it was too good a price to pass it up, so she took him to get his picture taken on the seventh of December and they were back by the 14th. The lady was so surprised at how happy Gus was and decided to take as many poses as she could! Because Cathy has her new camera and takes MILLIONS of pictures of Gus, she wasn't interested in buying anything more than the coupon package. She was able to get the coupon package (which is all 30 pictures of the same pose) and then two additional pictures. All in all, she did very well with walking out the door only spending $20.

Here are the pictures that we bought:

Naked Santa Boy :)

Rub-a-dub dub... Gus in the tub!

Black and White Jolly Boy

Gus's First Christmas

The pictures were back in time for us to send some out to Gus's birth family, and then our own family and friends.

Christmas at the Walker house was incredible this year. Not only did Santa spoil all of us, but our lives were enriched by the joy that Gus has brought to our family. The first Christmas as a family was more than we had ever dreamed it would be, and it was so very special. We went to Christmas Eve Mass with our neighbors Wendy and Ryan and their family, and then came home and prepared for the big day! Here are some pictures from our special day!

Gus all dressed up for Mass

"Let's go to church!!"

Steve got some coal in his stocking... was he a bad boy???

Gus and Steve opening presents! Gus LOVES his Tickle Me Elmo X-treme!!

Steve was not a bad boy afterall!! He got an iPad!!

Gus was so excited to open present after present!!

Santa brought Cathy a bracelet that says her favorite word: Gus

Some of the toys that Santa and friends and family brought Gus

Such a happy little guy... basking in the wrapping paper of goodies!!

After such a great Christmas, we were blessed with snow on the 26th! We had some snow back on December 4th, but it was a light dusting compared to the snow that we got on the 26th. We took Gus outside for some fun in the snow (he did NOT enjoy himself) and then we came inside to get warm!!

Chillin' (literally) in the snow...

Um... not feeling it so much...

READY to get out of the snow and cold!!!

Cathy and Gus and their matching frog hats (Christmas gifts from Wendy and Ryan and the girls)

We rang in the New Year with Ryan, Wendy, and the girls by having pizza together at their house and then watching the movie Inception. Cathy hated it, Steve loved it. Then after midnight we headed back home and then slept until ten on the first!!

Happy New Year!!!

Steve went back to work on the 3rd and then our lives went back into our usual routine. Gus has been growing and changing each day and you should definitely check his blog each Tuesday to see videos, and highlights of the week. This last week he started to try and stand on his own (by grabbing something) and yesterday he actually stood up. Once he figured out how to stand, he started cruising... we're in for it now!!

Such a cutie!

Everything was soooo funny yesterday! Here's Gus standing and laughing... looks like he's talking! He's saying, "You're in for it now!!"

Gus LOVES vanilla yogurt!

We had to include the Dayton onesie that Gus was sportin' the other day...

Well that's about it from us. Tomorrow Gus turns 8 months old! Can you believe it? Cathy will post pictures on his blog, so be sure to check it out. He has a follow-up appointment on the 13th for his second flu-shot. We're hoping they weigh and measure him and we can see what growth has been made since the six-month appointment!!

We'll post again soon!

Steve and Cat & Gus

Happy Holidays!

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Holidays, Life Update | 4:13 PM

Well, we made it through our first Thanksgiving as a family!

We had Cathy's parents for a week and then Steve's dad and Sue Ann were here for the actual holiday. While they were all here we did a lot of fun things and took a lot of great pictures. One fun thing that we did was take Gus to meet the Santa elf at the mall. He was so cute when meeting the elf and was all smiles. We're sure that this time next year will be a different story, but for his first picture, it was priceless. Here's the picture:

While Cathy's parents were here they went to Apex and took some great pictures on the tracks. Here are some of those pictures:

One day while they were here, Cathy brough Gus and her parents to The Hill Building at ATC to meet Steve for lunch and see the building. Cathy dressed Gus in a really cute tie onesie and matching orange shoes. Here are some pictures from that:

Steve, Gus, and Yola (Steve's co-worker)

Cathy's parents left and then a few days later, Steve's dad and Sue Ann came down for their visit. They brought Gus some fun Purdue gear and we took some pictures of the three of them all decked out in black and yellow!

We had our first post-placement visit and it went well. We have one more in January and then the paperwork for finalization can be submitted to the court in Michigan. We don't know how long it'll take for the finalization to be granted, but we're hoping that it'll all be finalized before Gus turns one.

We are gearing up for our first Christmas as a family. The gifts have all been bought and it's sure to be a very special Christmas for everyone! This will be the first time in several years that Cathy's parents won't be coming down to spend the days after Christmas/New Years with us. Cathy is sad about it, but understands. It's hard to be away from family, but it's especially difficult during the holidays. Thankfully we have Gus to focus on, and we'll make sure that his first Christmas is a very special one.

We don't know what 2011 will bring for us, but we are so very thankful for all that 2010 has given us. We started the year with a recent submission of our formal application for adoption. We were waiting patiently (or, not so patiently if we're being honest) to begin our home studies and were so nervous about them. January and February were the months that they took place, and then March was when they were submitted. We were anxious to go and meet with Doris and finally get on the Waiting Families list! Little did we know that just 33 days from the day we did meet with Doris (April 1st, 2010), we'd find out that Gus's birth mother had picked us to raise Gus. We thought we'd have a month to really prepare for him, and it was only a week later that we got the call that his birth mom was in labor. The months from that point are all so special and have been filled with so much joy (and sleeplessness).

We hope you've enjoyed reading Gus's blog each Tuesday and have enjoyed seeing the pictures and videos. We absolutely love sharing them with friends and family and hope that they make everyone smile.

Merry Christmas and we'll see you in 2011!
:)
The Walkers

VIdeo of Gus Laughing (November 22nd, 2010)

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Videos of Gus | 3:10 PM

Gus Laughing (11-12-10)

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Videos of Gus | 3:08 PM

Gus in the Snow (December 18, 2010)

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Videos of Gus | 3:07 PM

November Update

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Pets and Life | 6:14 PM

Where to start?? Right after Mindy Jo passed, Cathy had the opportunity to help a friend of one of the MOMS Club members. The family had a cat named Hobo and they had to relocate for health purposes. They asked if anyone could take Hobo for a few months until they were able to bring him to their new place. Cathy asked Steve about it and he said sure. We had Hobo with us for just over a week when Hobo's mom called to say that they'd be able to take him sooner than they had hoped! Just when Toebe was getting to love Hobo, it was time for him to go. This left Toebe very sad and he walked around the house crying and looking for Hobo.

Our neighbor Wendy wanted to adopt a puppy from the Wake County SPCA and had told Cathy about it. Cathy went online to the SPCA's website and saw that they had an October special... $20 cat adoptions! So on Wednesday, October 27th we went to the SPCA to see the kitties and fell in love with two. One was named Quincy and the other was Perry Como. We decided to adopt them both, and we renamed them.

Quincy became "Bing Clawsby"

He is a 14 month old Maine Coon cat!

Perry Como became "Purry Como"

Purry was rescued from a research lab here in NC

The addition of Purry and Bing has been amazing. They get along with Eddie and Toebe and even more surprising, Purry and Elphie really like each other!!

Cathy's parents are coming today for a week long visit and then Steve's dad and Sue Ann are coming next Wednesday through Saturday for the holiday. We're very excited to spend time with them and for them to spend time with Gus!!

We'll post again soon! In the meantime, be sure to check Gus's blog every Tuesday for updates and pictures!!!
:)
The Walkers

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Pets and Life | 5:11 PM

Today is a very sad day in our house. Cathy had to take our oldest kitty, Mindy Jo, to the vet this morning. For a while now, Mindy has been losing weight and not really eating. She's an older cat, and has been in Steve's life since he was in college at UD.

Mindy has had some problems with her kidneys and thyroid and was on medication twice a day. Lately, she got to the point that she wouldn't take her medicine, and started to refuse food. While very sick, she still purred and was as vocal as ever.

Cathy took Mindy to the vet this morning and they basically said that the most humane thing to do would be to let her go to a better place. It was a heartbreaking decision, but one made out of love and compassion. Mindy was a wonderful cat and loved Steve more than anyone on the planet. She was "his cat" and he was "her person." They shared a love that radiated throughout the house and it was always a pleasure to watch them interact with each other.

At 11:30am Mindy passed on to a place where she is joined by Bob and Tommy. We are sure that the three of them are playing together and are as youthful as kittens. All three passed from illness and left our family too soon.

While we cannot say that losing a pet is as devistating as losing a child, we can say that it hurts and is painful. There's a hole in our family that cannot be replaced. Mindy was loud, bitchy, and stubborn, but she was a beautiful friend and brought so much love and comfort to Steve throughout her 14 years as his kitty.

We came to North Carolina in June of 2007 and brought with us six cats, a dog, and a tortoise. We lost Bob is September of 2007, then lost Tommy this past February, and then took Hurmin to Cathy's parent's house in April of 2010. We then gained our puppy Elphaba in May of this year, and now we've lost Mindy. That leaves us with Toebe, Eddie, Elphie and Ned.

-The Walkers