Christmas at Nana and Grandpa's

Luke sportin' the Titans jersey
Uncle Jon gave him.

Lauren and Luke with their great-grandmothers.

Check out my new toy!

Let me help Mom...

Grandpa trying to get Luke to take a nap

Christmas morning we all slept in a little bit which was wonderful. Luke woke up around 6 as usual but then fell back asleep in our bed which was so sweet! After we got up we did Santa Claus. I can't believe this but we did not take a single picture of Luke with his gifts from Santa! I was so upset when I realized it that night. Paul was busy videoing everything and I was helping Luke open everything. I guess we needed a third person here to help us. I would post the video but it is really long so I will not bore you with it. Luke got a John Deere tractor, the Little People Farm House, some blocks, DVD, etc. He seemed to be pretty excited about his tractor!

We headed to Gallatin mid morning for Christmas with the Troutt's. We opened presents and had brunch. Luke was into everything! He did so well at all of our Christmas celebrations. Paul and I were so happy! Christmas was so fun this year. We know it will get better and better each year with Luke!

Christmas Eve

Ready for gifts!

Let me help Daddy!

Christmas Eve was a busy day. I worked that morning and the hospital was really busy which is unusual for the holidays. Paul and Luke went to breakfast on the square in Gallatin with the Christmas Eve gang. It has been a tradition for several families to get together each year on Christmas Eve for breakfast. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get away from work long enough to join them. Luke and Paul had a good time visiting with everyone.

That afternoon we just played and napped before going to a Christmas Eve service at Long Hollow Baptist. We came home and did our Christmas with each other. We made sure Luke was in bed early so Santa Claus could come!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to our good friends Angela and Jamie Fitzpatrick on the birth of their son, Jake Ryan, born Saturday December 27th. We are so excited and thankful for this perfect blessing!

Christmas at Nonna's

Andrew and Mandi

Luke cheesing for the camera

We celebrated Christmas at Nonna's tonight. Paul and I both worked today so Mom offered to keep Luke. Since Andrew and Mandi do not get to spend much time with Luke we thought it would be a good idea for them to spend the day together. He did wonderful! He took 3 naps which is unheard of and had fun playing with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Mandi.

Nonna cooked a wonderful supper including her famous beef tenderloin. It is my favorite meal all year! We let Luke open all of his gifts before supper. He needed a lot of assistance because he kept getting distracted by all the paper! We all got way too much stuff as usual but had a great night spending time together. We realized it will be 4 months before we see Andrew and Mandi again which is really sad.

I have to work tomorrow so Luke and Paul will be hanging out in Gallatin before we have our family Christmas tomorrow night. We hope everyone will enjoy a wonderful Christmas!

A Christmas and Birthday oh my!

I could get used to this.

Hmmm... is this a ride?!?!

First taste of cake...

Christmas presents first!

On Sunday we drove to Tullahoma to have Christmas with my Mom's family. Since Andrew and Mandi will not be here for Luke's birthday we decided to have a little cake and presents combined with Christmas. Luke really did not get in to the cake like we thought he would. He would eat some of it if someone feed it to him. He never really "dove in". He did like to rip the paper off his gifts. I think he really liked all the attention. He got several new bath toys and a Leap Frog game. Between Christmas and his birthday he is going to be gifted out.

A Night With Friends

Connor, Cade, Christina, Me, Luke,
Katherine and Emma

Saturday night we went to the MacLean's for Christmas gift exchange and supper. It was so fun watching the kids interact. Cade is in kindergarten and Connor is almost 4. They were so good with Emma and Luke. The shared all their toys. They even showed Emma how to push a big Tonka dump truck really fast around the house! Connor shared his Teddy Ruxpin with Luke. He wasn't so sure about it at first. The kids exchanged gifts. Luke was most interested in the Hot Wheels track we gave Connor. He needs to wait a few years on those!

It was such a great relaxing night with good friends. We decided to make it an annual tradition! Next year we will have a new addition. Katherine and Rico are due in June!

Coming Full Circle

April 21st, 2008....Luke's first day at His Kids Academy day care. I remember it like it was yesterday. Paul and I both went to drop him off and we both cried like babies. I called every hour to check on him until I picked him up at noon, which was as long as I could stand it.

December 19th, 2008...Luke's last day at His Kids. The night after Paul got laid off one of Luke's teachers called us at home to tell us the church board had met with the daycare staff and told them they had decided to close the daycare. We were devastated. We felt like our world was crashing in around us. This was Luke's extended family. We did not worry about him being there. All the teachers loved on him, kissed on him and treated him like their own. I just knew this is where he would be until he started kindergarten. This was the first time I experienced hurt for Luke. It pained me to know he would not be able to stay there. When I picked Luke up last Friday afternoon I cried. It was so ironic to me that the very place where I cried to leave him is where I cried because I could not take him back.

We still have not been able to get him in a daycare we are comfortable with. Fortunately, God is looking out for us. One of Luke's teachers lives in Hendersonville right on the way to Gallatin. She has offered to keep him until we can find something else. Yesterday was his first day at Ms. Terri's. Even though Luke has been with her every day for 8 months I was still nervous because of his recent episodes of separation anxiety. He went right to her and didn't make a sound. He had a wonderful day which made me feel so much better. He will start full-time with her after the first of the year.

Our Little Santa

Ho, ho, ho...

Merry Christmas!

We found this cute Santa outfit earlier this fall and had to get it for Lukey. We put him in it one day for daycare. He wasn't so sure about the beard at first but ended up keeping it on longer than we thought. He was adorable!

Pictures, Take II

We took lots of pictures when we were in Destin for our Christmas cards. Well, I decided I did not want to use those. Luke has changed so much since then. So, we tried our hand at taking our own pictures last weekend. After lots of attempts we finally got one we liked. Luke pretty much had the same expression in every pose--very solemn! Merry Christmas!

Helping Dad

Can I open it?!?!

Paul let Luke help him open his birthday presents last night. He really likes to rip the paper! We know this is all preparation for Christmas and his birthday, both of which are just around the corner. Paul and I had fun last night. Supper at Carrabba's was great. Since we had not been to a movie since Summer of 07 we could not believe it cost almost $10!!! So, we decided to forgo the popcorn and soda. We saw Four Christmas's. It was really cute. I think Paul had a good birthday!

Nonna had a little trouble getting Luke to bed. We started putting Luke to bed without nursing or a bottle this past weekend. So far, with us, he had done great. I guess it had something to do with Nonna not being Daddy and he just didn't want to go to sleep. Nonna even gave him a bottle. It took her close to an hour to get him to sleep. Hopefully that will get better.

Lauren's Christmas Program

If you look real close you can see Lauren,
middle left.

Where's Mom and Dad?!?!

Sunday night we went to Franklin to see Lauren in her church Christmas musical. It was really cute and she did a great job! We were in the auditorium for an hour and a half and Luke did great. He just looked around and babbled to whomever would pay attention. We passed him around a little bit. As I mentioned in a previous post Luke has a case of separation anxiety. When most anyone holds him he whimpers for Mom and Dad. He even cried (hard) when I took him to daycare this morning. He has never done that!

After the program we all went to eat Mexican for Paul's birthday. It was a great time. Luke was still happy, as long as he was eating! Kitty was able to join us. It amazes me how much she does at 93!!!

Breakfast With Santa

Not a big Santa fan yet

Luke is not so sure about this Santa thing

Nanna got Luke a balloon animal!

Last Saturday we went to Breakfast With Santa at Fairvue. It was controlled chaos but a wonderful time! We met Nanna, Grandpa and Uncle Jon for breakfast and pictures with the Big Guy. Luke did great until we actually put him on Santa's lap and he was not a happy fella! Paul and I sat on either side of Santa and that calmed him down a little bit. We know it will take a while for Luke to like the idea of Santa. He has started having separation anxiety again. He briefly went through this around 9 months but it seems to be back in full force now! We saw lots of people we knew so it was fun to see everyone's kids and enjoy a good time.

Update

I (Paul) have not written a blog on here in a long long time. Usually I am in charge of the question and Kelly does the writing. I just thought I would put a quick one on here with a few updates. As some of you all may know, I got laid off from my job at Barge Waggoner on November 18th. It was a total shock, but quite possibly a blessing (that is still yet to be determined). I was very fortunate to find another job within three weeks. I am working in Gallatin at Precision Castings of Tennessee. The owner of this company is Ted Bransford, a long time friend of mine and my family's. He has given me a great opportunity here to work for only a few weeks if another job option comes up or possibly staying long term. This is my second week and so far everything is going great. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. I promise Kelly will be posting some new pictures in the next few days.

Happy Birthday Paul!

I am severely behind in the blogging lately. We have lots of pictures to post and stories to share soon. But, today is Paul's birthday! So, we are going out to eat and to a movie to celebrate while Nonna watches Lukester.

Tech Savy

I must preface this by saying this is a true story and I did not make this up! Wednesday morning after Luke had his bottle I put him back in bed with us. He loves playing with any sort of phone so Paul gave him his cell phone. He has been known to call people from time to time. He was laughing and pushing buttons. We then heard my cell phone ding from the other room to let me know I had a text message. Guess who the text was from?!?! That's right....the Lukester! He had texted me! Of course, it was a blank message, but nonetheless, pretty impressive, huh?!?!

So Happy

Last night we tried a new Mexican place. We both love Mexican and eat it more than we should. Luke does really well when we go out to eat, as long as he gets to eat something, too! There weren't many people in the restaurant since we got there about 5:15. Only another way our lives have changed since he came along. The waitresses got a kick out of watching Luke bounce up and down in his seat and babble. When we got him back out the car I was trying to put him in the car seat and he grabbed on to the back of the seat and just went crazy! He was bouncing around and squealing. Paul and I were laughing hysterically. I happened to have the camera to capture some of it. We wished we had the video camera, too. We both said what a fun age Luke is at and how much we love having him!!!

No Peeking!

I'm not doing anything...promise!

So, we have our Christmas trees up and house pretty much decked out for the Holidays. Luke loves the trees! He especially likes the glittery ornaments. It doesn't take him long to have them off and in the floor, but it is so fun to watch him! He also likes to play with the packages. He has discovered that he can rip the paper off already, sorry Nana!

A Little Nap

Taking a nap on Grandpa

Entertaining Nana and Grandpa

After going back to the doctor this morning Luke was still pretty puny. He seemed to brighten up this afternoon just in time to go to the Troutt's for Thanksgiving. He did really well and even enjoyed some turkey and a dinner roll. It is amazing how much one little person can entertain everyone. All weekend people have said "what did we do before Luke?" It's true; he is so fun to watch.

Paul made the observation Wednesday night that Luke has been sick on basically all major holidays since he was born. We got to talking about it and he is right. So, we put a special request in with Dr. P today that Luke not be sick for Christmas! We just hope and pray he gets over this respiratory virus and will feel better soon!

Football

We spent yesterday swapping Luke between us. He did not want to be put down and we were trying to get some Christmas decorating done. He has still been pitiful. The breathing treatments have not seemed to help at all. We decided last night that if he was not any better this morning we were taking him back to the doctor. He has been so sleepy and whiny. He is hoarse so he can not even cry. It is so sad. This is by far the worst he has ever been. Luckily, Dr. Patterson was in the office today so we could get her opinion. She did blood work and swabbed his nose for RSV. He does not have RSV, yeah! His white count is fine. It is definitely some type of respiratory virus. She says some kids always get ear infections but Luke gets respiratory infections. I think we can thank daddy for that.

Unfortunately there was not really anything else she could do for him. He does not need antibiotics. It basically has to "run its course". She said if the breathing treatments do not seem to be helping him then do not do it. We did not give him one tonight before he went to bed so we will see how he does.

I took these pictures yesterday. Luke loves to stand in the living room window. There were some people playing football in the street. He was tapping on the window and waving to them. It was too cute!!!

Look At Me!

Even though Luke has not been feeling good at all the past few days he has had a few happy moments. One thing he has started doing is crawling up in the dishwasher! If the door is open he makes a beeline for it! He loves to stand up and roll the racks in and out. Paul assures me the door is sturdy enough and will not break. Let's hope so!

More Thanksgiving

All the grand kids, grand kids-in-law and
the only great grandbaby.

Cousin Thomas with Lukey

Nanny and Luke.

We had a good time for Thanksgiving at Nonna's house. It was so nice to not have to worry about getting our house ready and the food cooked like we had planned. It definitely worked out better this way. Luke was pretty puny all day until we got there. He perked up and did really well, smiling and showing off for everyone.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for. We have planned to host my family for Thanksgiving for about 2 months now. Well, Luke woke up sick Tuesday and wasn't any better by yesterday so Paul took him to the doctor. He has a virus. He has also had a chronic cough since he was a little baby. The doctor recommended him to have breathing treatments at home up to every 4 hours until Sunday. After that he will receive a daily breathing treatment for the next six months. This will hopefully prevent him from developing asthma. Paul had asthma as a child and our pediatrician has told us in the past it was highly likely that Luke would have it, too. We just hope these treatments will help him from being officially diagnosed. He does not like the treatments at all so it is difficult for Paul and I to give them, but we know it helps him so much.

My Mom graciously offered to have everyone come to her house in case Luke wasn't feeling any better by this afternoon. So, we were able to relax last night and spend time with Luke instead of running around cleaning and cooking. Thanks, Mom! Luke seems to be getting back to his old self today. He is also on a liquid steroid until Sunday. The doctor said he should definitely be feeling a lot better within 48 hours of the medicine. Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Get Away

Well, Paul and I are going in to uncharted territory this weekend. We are leaving Luke overnight for the first time. We are heading to Gatlinburg for a much needed weekend away with good friends. Nana and Nonna are splitting the Lukester duty 50/50. I know we will miss him terribly and call often but we know it will be good for us to get away and good for Luke to spend some quality time with the grandparents. We will post pictures when we get back! Happy Weekend to all!

Me and Lukey

I know I have mentioned several times before that I have the best husband in the world! I have had a very busy few days. I worked late Thursday night, went scrapbooking Friday night and helped host a baby shower Saturday morning. So, to say the least Paul and Luke had lots of quality time! When I finished with the shower we took Luke to Nonna's so Paul and I could go to Christmas Village. I felt like I hadn't seen my Lukey in forever! When we got home last night we gave Luke a bath, put him in some new fuzzy pj's and he and I hung out before bedtime. I love my little fella!

Baby Jake's Shower

Amy, Me, Angela, Audrey and Jessica

The decorations were beautiful!

Jessica checking the beverage table

Amy keeping things straight in the kitchen

This weekend has been a whirlwind! But, by far the highlight has been helping host a baby brunch for my friend Angela. She has been on light duty the majority of her pregnancy so we had the shower at her house which worked perfect. There was a wonderful turnout and I had fun helping with everything. We can't wait for little Jake Ryan to get here in January!