Farewell to Grandma

Today was the last day of Katie staying home with her grandmother for this week. Amy will stay with Katie tomorrow while I go to work. Happily, Katie was fairly pleasant for her grandmother today and reasonably cooperative. She was happy and high energy, so she acted like almost any other two year old today.

We certainly do appreciate what Kathy is doing for us by taking care of Katie three days a week for a while so that we don't have to use up all of our sick days so quickly. It is also very nice of Katie's grandfather, Art, to live on peanut butter sandwiches for three days while his wife is here caring for his granddaughter. Thank you, Grandpa Heart and Grandma Kathy. The future is so terribly uncertain that we have no way of knowing how much time we may have to take off from work later. Luckily, we have a vacation coming up soon, and the end of the school year creeps closer and closer (as long as we don't have any more snow days).

This evening, we took Katie to North Country Hospital for her weekly blood test. It wasn't pretty, but it was better than last time. She really is getting better at letting people stick her with sharp objects. Afterwards we treated her with whatever she wanted - she asked for Chinese take-out...

(Amy here.) I, for one, am learning to hate Chinese take-out. There are so many foods that will never look the same. Fortunately, Katie has been eating calorie rich--not calorie dense--foods high in protein, and that is just what the doctor ordered. Turkey roll-ups and hot dogs dominate the menu, but yogurt makes the occasional guest appearance, too. I'm waiting for Katie to request a milkshake.

I have taken over the computer to put commas where they belong. I also wanted to continue with further expressions of our gratitude. Many thanks to my cousin Kristi and her family and to my Aunt Sisty, who have sent bright and cheerful packages. I have not seen my Michigan family in so long...Many thanks to the Home Dem in Newport Center for the beautiful quilt. It matches the colors in Katie's room perfectly. Many thanks to the Parents Association at Lake Region for their support. That was quite a surprise, and it brought the tears that come when I am literally shocked by our neighbors' generosity. Many thanks to Kim and Michelle and Colleen, who are planning events to bring our community together. Thanks to those of you who continue to send along brightly colored notes and to pray for Katie's health. We appreciate all that you do--really. We have learned an important lesson about the health and the strength of our extended family, and we thank you.