Hangin' With Ernie

Katherine's new friend

Brother is never far behind

Luke and Katherine play really well together. Luke always wants to be right where she is.  He really is a great big brother.  He just can't wait until she gets a little bigger so they can really play together.  Right now their playing consists of Luke trying to get her to grab on to toys and to bump elbows.  That really is quite a sight!  He pays very close attention to how Paul and I talk to her because a lot of times I hear him talking to her and saying the exact same things we do..."it's okay Katherine"..."hey sweet girl"..."what are you doing baby girl" and so on. 

Four Months!

Little Katherine is four months old today! The big changes she has had in the past month are that she is a lot more interactive with us.  She loves to smile when she is talked to and she has this little belly laugh that is so darn cute!  She is a little stingy with it though. You have to work really hard to get her to do it but the hard work pays off.  It makes me giggle every time.  She is reaching for objects and putting them directly in her mouth now.  I remember this drove me nuts with Luke but I don't give it a second thought this go round.

Sleeping:  Katherine is not as consistent as I would like with her sleeping yet.  I typically nurse her around 8:30 and put her to bed.  Some times she sleeps until 5 or 6 which is heavenly.  Several times the past week she has woken up around 2 or 3 and is hungry.  We are striving for 8+ hours of consecutive sleep around here!  If it is the weekend of my day off I can put her back to bed after she eats and she will sleep for 2 or more hours.  So, sometimes she does not get up for the day until 8:30!

Eating: Since starting school Katherine usually nurses first thing in the morning and then has 3 bottles at school usually 3- 3 1/2 hours apart.  When we get home in the afternoon she nurses again around 5:30 then at bedtime.  We should get the go ahead to start solids at her 4 month check up Wednesday but we may wait a little while on that. 

Routine: We are in more of a routine now since I am back at work.  On school mornings we have to wake her up to get ready.  We hate it but that is just how it is.  She is a very routine baby, as was Luke.  She is most comfortable when she gets to eat, stay up for 1 1/2 or so then take a little power nap.  At home she will take a good morning, afternoon and evening nap.  School is a different story.  She still hasn't quite gotten used to being somewhere other than home yet.  So, we are still working on her school naps.

We are relishing every minute of our lives right now.  It seems as though it is going by in a blur and the kids are changing every day.  We learned very quickly that no phase in a baby's life lasts very long so we try to enjoy all of it!

A Troutt Thanksgiving

Paul did a great job smoking the turkey again this year

Bright eyes

Not sure who was entertaining who

Carving (and sampling) the turkey

Katherine loves being with Nene and Kitty!

Kitty was so sweet talking with Katherine

Kristen looking very domestic!

I love this picture of the three grandkids

Nene and Katherine

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Troutts on Saturday.  Since Paula is still recovering from surgery the kids all decided to do the cooking.  We did let Paula make the dressing -- none of us are ready to tackle that!  Everyone had so much fun cooking different dishes.  And, it was all amazing!  There are definitely some good cooks in the family.  Paula said she could get used to us doing all the cooking!  We had a very relaxing night just hanging out as a family.  Both Kitty and Memaw were able to be there so that made it really special.  Tony and Sue weren't able to make it at the last minute but Jenny, her boyfriend and Travis came a little late.  I realized I did not get a picture of them and I hate that because we generally only see them at Thanksgiving.  Bill said a special prayer for Paula as she begins her chemo very soon.  As Paul's brother, Jon said -- this holiday seems to be more meaningful every year.  We are so thankful for our wonderful families and what they mean to us.

Turkey Day!

Mandi, Luke, Cynthia and Katherine

Cynthia and Katherine

Luke loves when Nanny reads to him

Cute pic!

Aunt Sheila and Katherine

Yes, Andrew introduced Luke to video games...

Sleepy girl

Luke convinced Thomas to read to him, too

Thanksgiving was so fun!  We took it easy that morning with the exception of Paul smoking the turkey and me making the sweet potatoes.  We went to Mom's around lunch time.  Everyone enjoyed seeing and playing with the kids.  No one could believe how big Katherine had gotten.  We had a late lunch which was very yummy then settled in to the normal post meal activities - talking, eating dessert and watching TV.  Luke had a great time being read to and learning how to play the Wii.  Paul said if Luke asks for a Wii for Christmas he is going to blame Uncle Andrew!  We all have so much to be thankful for.

Getting Ready for Turkey Day

Luke was really taking it easy!

Morning fun with Mommy!

Sad little girl since she can't eat turkey!

It was so nice for everyone to be off of work and school and home enjoying the holiday.  The kids were so good and Luke had so much fun helping us cook.  He loved going to check the turkey with Paul.  He was anxious to get to Nonna's house.  He kept saying "Happy Thanksgiving" over and over.  We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  Luke loved it!  He actually laid down on the couch to watch it and fell asleep.  We were so glad he had a good nap before the busy afternoon.

Holiday Kickoff!

Books with Mandi and Andrew!

Look at that shiner he has!

Happy Daddy...Happy Baby!

We kicked off the holidays early by going to Mom's tonight to see Andrew and Mandi.  They drove in this afternoon so we went to visit.  Mom cooked a great supper and we enjoyed hanging out.  Luke enjoyed reading, playing blocks and watching YouTube with Uncle Andrew.  When Andrew comes home he usually tries to educate Luke on music.  Last night they were watching Stars and Stripes performed by a trombone quintet.  When we lift Luke was asking what a piccolo was!  It is never too early to introduce all forms of the arts.  Katherine played for a while and then fell asleep on Aunt Mandi. We were super excited to get the holidays started early!

Good Night

Luke is at the age that he does not want to go to bed at night.  It is a battle most nights to get him showered, pj's on, teeth brushed and so forth.  This is usually Paul's battle since Katherine's bedtime is the same time.  Sometimes "bribing" him by letting him pick a book helps the process along.  He gets to pick two books every night to read before bed.  The funny thing is that he usually "reads" them to us!  That boy has such a good memory.  He will pick a book that we have not read in a couple of weeks, open it up and start "reading".  He usually can pretty much remember word for word what each page says.  It really is fun to see him grow and learn so much.

One day this week on the way to school he kept asking me how to spell different words - people's names, things he would see out the window, etc.  He would then repeat it back to me.  He will be reading in no time!

Lazy Day

This picture says it all!  Sunday afternoon meant naps all around!  We went to church.  Luke always gets so excited to be going to his class.  We are so happy he loves it there.  Katherine did well again today, too.  The teachers said she is so sweet -- we know!  The kids and I fell asleep watching the Titans.  We did not miss too much as I understand.

Tonight we went to Gallatin to see Nene and Papa.  Bill had a meeting at church so we all met him at El Rey for supper.  Katherine cried some until she finally fell asleep.  Luke was his usual energetic self!

While Mommy's Away...

Yes...that is underwear on her head!

The kids will play!  Saturday morning I met Virginia for coffee.  Paul and the kids stayed home.  I was looking at the camera later and this is the picture I found!  Poor girl...who knows what else she was subjected to!  I was so excited to see Gigi and get out of the house for a bit. Our coffee easily turned in to lunch time as is usual with us!  Paul said the kids were great.  He and Luke brought up the rest of the Christmas decorations from the basement and Katherine took a good nap.

We actually did not leave the house the rest of the day.  We spent the majority of the time doing housework, playing with the kids and taking down Fall decorations and putting up Christmas stuff.  There really was not any good football on either.  We had a wonderful day!

Is it Morning Again?

Ready to go to school

Where is Luke???

It doesn't help to hide under the pillow...

This morning came way too early if you ask us!  Katherine was awake again around 4:!5 to eat.  I just sat and rocked her until I needed to start getting ready.  I am very glad that I decided to go back to work for two days and then will have the weekend.  Luke did not want to get up this morning.  He has started waking up in the middle of the night again.  He is scared of something.  We thought it was the  popping and cracking of the heat ducts.  Paul was able to fix those and he is still waking up.  Needless to say he does not want to get out of bed in the mornings.

I actually did more work at work today which was good.  The day flew by again!  About mid-morning I got a call from Luke's school saying he had run face first into the fence gate on the playground!  The replayed it from the security cameras and said there was no one around him and he literally tripped over his own feet.  For some reason, that does not surprise me.  They said he had a huge goose egg on the middle of his forehead but seemed ok.  Well, within 30 minutes the assistant director called back to say he was acting "spacey".  This is also not unusual for that time of day since it was close to nap time. I made a call to the pediatrician's office to ask their advice.  After going over some pointers with them and relaying them to his school we decided he would be ok to stay.  I called back to check on him after lunch and he had asked for seconds!  I knew he was ok when I heard that. 

I took the kids this morning so I did not get to work until 7:45 which meant I could not leave until 4:15.  This is early to the average person, but late for me.  I could not get to the kids' school fast enough!  They were two of the last ones to leave which made me sad.  The school closes at 5 and most kids are gone by 4:30.  Not sure what all their parents do for a living!  Luke's forehead was horrible!  It was blue, green and yellow but he said it did not hurt at all.  He is a tough little guy.

Luke requested breakfast for supper tonight and we happily obliged him. He still loves to help in the kitchen and does not want you to do anything without him being right there.  We are looking forward to a relaxing, fun weekend around here.

It's Back to Work I Go...

Enjoying the end of the day

Well, it was back to work for me today!  Katherine woke up around 4:30 again which has been her norm this week.  I fed her then started getting ready for work.  Paul took the kids this morning so I could be at work by 7:00.  By this time Katherine and Luke have gotten in a routine of going to school every day.  I was very sad to leave them but knew the day would fly by.

My day at work went great.  Everyone was so kind and welcoming!  I spent a lot of the day catching up with friends and coworkers.  I am not sure exactly how much work I did.  The kids had a great day.  Katherine's teachers asked me if I could start sending more milk for each of her bottles.  They thought she still seemed hungry when her bottle was gone.  We will try that tomorrow and see how she does.  Poor thing was wiped out again and fell asleep on the way home.  We spent most of the evening trying to recuperate from our busy day!

What to Do?

Pretty mellow after school

Put on a happy face

Today was my last day of freedom before returning to work.  My plan was to take both kids to school and leave them a full day so we would get in the routine of what our normal week will be like.  I took the kids this morning.  It was rainy and messy so I decided to come home.  In hindsight I wish I had planned something exciting for the day.  I had several things left on my to-do list but did not want to do any of them. Instead I washed all of Katherine's new bottles which took forever, tried to take a nap, did laundry and finally landed in the kitchen where I cleaned it from top to bottom.  There is something therapeutic about cleaning! 

I was so excited to go get the kids and see how their day was.  I got there and picked Katherine up just as Luke's class was coming in from the playground.  He came running down the hall to greet me.  There is nothing better than seeing that smiley face coming towards me!  Katherine had another great day.  The teachers say they fight over who gets to hold and rock her.  She is definitely in good hands there.  Makes me rest easy to know she is getting spoiled like that. 

Tonight I was so tired!  I think it has something to do with Katherine waking up between 4:00 - 4:30 to eat. It actually is working pretty good.  I feed her then put her back to bed.  We wake her up in time to leave and she gets her first bottle at school around 8.  I am hoping in the next week or so she will make it until 5:00 which is when my alarm goes off anyway.  She is still not sleeping that well at school so she is worn out when we get home.  The past few nights she has fallen asleep on the way home and I have to wake her up to eat at 5:30 and she usually goes back to sleep pretty quick.  Then I wake her up to feed her and put her to bed.  I know it will take a couple of weeks to get her in a better routine and naps at school.

A Good Little Helper

Helping cook supper

Putting up yet another tree!

Today was a good day.  Paul and I both took the kids to school again since Paul was off.  After that we headed to the gym.  Paul goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings but I have not been able to go with him because they do not have child care.  We had a good time walking around the track.  I was surprised how crowded it was.  After that I rushed home to get ready to go preview Katherine's 3 month pictures I had made last week.  They were all so good!  It was so difficult to choose which ones to get.  I did a few errands and some housework and went to get the kids when Luke got up from his nap at 2:30.  Katherine had another great day!  The teachers all bragged on what a happy, content baby she is.  She is eating every 3 - 3 1/2 hours there and takes all 4 oz in her bottle. 

Tonight Luke helped Paul cook supper and then Paul and I brought the big Christmas tree upstairs to start decorating.  After Luke had pretty much covered the bottom half with ornaments I realized it was put together wrong. The bottom section was shorter than the middle section and it looked really funny.  So, we took off most of the ornaments and fixed it. By that time we were all tired of working on the tree and stopped for the night. 

One Sad Mommy

Looks can be deceiving

Daddy went to school, too

This morning I was one sad mommy.  Today was the day that has been on the calendar for over 3 months.  Katherine's first day of school...I got up at 5 this morning to "practice" getting myself and everything else ready in the mornings.  Katherine woke up around 3:30 this morning to eat.  I had to wake her up to get ready around 6:00.  She usually goes 3-4 hours between feedings the day so she was surprised when I woke her up to eat.  Considering everything that must get ready and done I was pleasantly surprised that we were all out of the door shortly after 7 this morning.  Paul and I both went to take Katherine for her first day.  Both kids rode with me and Paul followed behind.  I must say I have been dreading this day but knowing all the teachers and the routine at Luke's school made it a lot easier on all of us!  Katherine's teacher is the same as Luke had in the one-year old room.  That girl loves babies, especially rocking babies!

Luke ran in to his room then Paul and I got Katherine settled in her new room.  Luke thinks it is neat that Katherine is at his school now and the teacher promised he could visit anytime he wanted. Katherine smiled as I kissed her bye - nearly broke my heart.  Somehow I did not cry!  I decided to keep myself busy until I went back to get her around 11:30.  I am easing her and me in to her school routine.  I went to the grocery, K-mart and the post office all before 9:00.  It is amazing how much quicker errands are without kids in tow.  I made a pit stop at home then headed out for more errands before I picked her up. 

The teachers said she did great.  She cried a little and really did not have a nap.  That is what I was afraid of.  She only slept 20 minutes out of the 4 hours she was there.  Needless to say she has pretty much been asleep since we got home around 12 with the exception of waking up to eat and play for a little bit.  Poor girl is worn out!  Tomorrow I plan to leave her until mid-afternoon and then a full day on Wednesday before returning to work Thursday.

Can It Be???

Paul and I enjoyed a Date Night this weekend!!!  And not just any date night...a whole night without kids date night!  We have had this planned for a few weeks now and were not really sure if it was going to happen or not.  Paula is feeling so good that she decided that it would be fine for Luke to stay with them overnight.  Mom kept Katherine at her house.  Ms. Wanda came and helped and enjoyed rocking Katherine.  Luke had fun and got to go to a party at Papa Rick's house across the street.  Paula said he was an angel and on his best behavior.  Katherine also did great.  Mom gave her a bottle around 8:00 and she slept until 3:30 and had another bottle.  She woke up for the day around 8:00.  Mom brought her home in time for us to go to church.  It was good for me to be away from her that long since she is starting school Monday.  That is by far the longest I have gone without feeding her so it was good practice for both of us.

Bill and Paula met us in Hendersonville with Luke in time to go to church.  It was kind of weird getting both the kids back and then taking them straight to the church nursery.  But they did not seem to mind.  Paul and I enjoyed dinner at Carraba's and were planning to go to a movie. We even went inside to the ticket counter but when we realized it was $11 per person and we did not have a coupon we decided it was not worth it.  We walked around and window shopped instead.  It actually worked out better because we got to talk instead of sitting in a movie theater.  We got some Christmas shopping done then enjoyed dessert and some football at a local sports bar.  The strangest part was coming home to an empty, quiet house.  It took me forever to go to sleep without the hum of the monitors.  It was a wonderful, much needed night away from kids!  Thanks to all the grandparents and Ms. Wanda for making it happen!

You Can't Catch the Gingerbread Man!

If you're happy and  you know it...

Paul prepping the gingerbread

Luke putting his touch on it

The finished product!

As I mentioned in earlier posts we are easing in to the Christmas Season around here.  We realized we do not really have a block of time coming up that we can dedicate to getting the house all ready for the holidays.  So, we are doing a little bit at a time when we have time.  Tonight we decided to decorate the Gingerbread House.  Luke absolutely loved it!  He called it his little house and named the gingerbread man "Jimmy".  Not entirely sure where that came from but I think it is going to stick!

Katherine was not too thrilled with the whole process so I had to walk her around most of the night.  That girl only gets fussy when she is tired and she still loves to nap!

Yay for Hand Me Downs!

K was tired of me taking pictures

A much happier Katherine

I was so excited when Amanda came to visit yesterday.  I was even more excited when I saw that she had a bag of clothes for Katherine!  Shelby and Katherine are exactly one year a part so Shelby's clothes would fit perfectly.  Amanda is so sweet to let us borrow so many cute things. She pretty much brought a whole winter wardrobe!  And everything is so cute...she has dresses with the tights and hats to match, cute sweaters and great holiday outfits.  It helps that AJ and I pretty much share the same taste in everything!  This is something we quickly discovered almost 15 years ago at TTU.  I just had to try some of the outfits on to see how they looked...so sweet!  Amanda also gave Katherine a super cute bow holder that matches her room.  I had not bought one yet since Katherine does not quite have enough hair yet!

Today was spent trying to get some things done off my to-do list. I am struggling with how to spend my last few days before I go back to work -- be productive vs. be lazy!  I do have several things I really want to work on like Katherine's baby book, getting pictures printed, doing some Christmas shopping.  Then there are things I have to do like finish writing thank-you notes.  Gifts for Katherine continue to come in and we are so grateful!  I know the next few days are going to fly by so I just want to take advantage of my last few days at home and enjoy it.

We have been talking to Luke about Christmas, Santa Claus and so on.  When we ask Luke what he wants Santa to bring him he says "I have plenty of toys." Love his sweet heart!  But, when we ask what Santa can bring Katherine he says "Toys, she doesn't have any". What a great big brother!

Wednesday Playdate

A little dazed and confused???

Looks like Thomas has a secret!

AJ and the kids

Three of my college friends and I have been trying to get together for months now with all of our kids.  Since I go back to work next week the pressure was on to settle on a date.  We were to all meet at our friend Allison's in Franklin Wednesday.  But, she lost her father-in-law very unexpectedly and prematurely Sunday  night.  We were all shocked by the news.  After discussing it Amanda and I decided to go ahead with the plans to see each other.  She, Thomas and Shelby came to visit us!  We had a great time. The boys played really well together. Luke is always fascinated by anyone older than him.  Thomas turns 4 this week.  We enjoyed a simple sandwich lunch and tried to have adult conversation while trying to watch four kids!  Katherine did so great.  She was not awake much and when she was she was fairly content.  After our company left we all took naps!  AJ and I decided we really need to make plans for an adult only outing so we can actually carry on a conversation uninterrupted!

Super Sunday

Nene helping Luke read his new book

Luke opening a present for sister

We had a great day!  When we woke up we realized the time had changed.  Even though Paul and I mentioned it to each other several times over the weekend we never set the clocks back.  How exciting to realize we had an extra hour!  Even with that extra hour we  barely made it to church on time.  It still amazes me how long it takes to get four people ready, packed and out the door.  We should be trying to perfect this since I go back to work next week and will have to do it every day.

After our Sunday lunch at Subway we came home and played with Luke. It was weird not having a Titans game to watch. The kids and I had naps before we went to Gallatin to see Nene and Pop!  I had put a roast in the crock pot after church for our supper so we took that to share.  Luke had so much fun reading books with Nene.  Some of Paula's friends had brought gifts for the kids when they have visited her since she came home from the hospital.  Luke got a fun book about being a big brother and Katherine got a sweet stuffed lamb from the Mays'. Katherine fell asleep while I held her and ate at the same time.  Bill took over Katherine duty when he finished eating.  We had a great visit and are so thankful that Paula is feeling well!