Pretty Flowers

Once again we have a new round of blooms in our yard. The lilies on the top were transplanted from our old house and were given to us for a wedding gift. They have bloomed on our anniversary every year since we planted them! We have several different types of daylilies in the yard which are fun to watch. It is exciting to see what color they are. Since the weather has been so nice the last week or so we have spent a lot of time outside. I wish it would stay like this but I know the 90's aren't far away!

A smile and a Wave

On Tuesday night while Paul was at his softball game Luke and I were walking around outside. I started waving to him and saying "hi" like I have done lots of times before. Luke started waving back!!! I was so excited. It never crossed my mind that he would mimic me already. I called both grandmothers since I couldn't talk to Paul to share the excitement. He did it all night which I tried to capture on video. Of course Paul still hasn't seen him do it. He did it for my mom last night when she was here but he won't do it in front of Dad. Go figure! I'll try to post the video later.

More Father's Day Pics

This doesn't look too comfortable but
Luke didn't seem to mind

Uncle Jon playing around with the little fella

Luke sporting some of Dad's Father's Day gifts

Reading a Father's Day card with Nana

Here are some more pictures from our interesting first Father's Day. This is when Luke was a little bit happier...

Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary

Paul and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary on Wednesday. Luke and I spent the day together since I was off. Paul told him to be good for mom before he left. Well he must have listened because he was great all day! We played and ran some errands. His laugh is so cute now. He is sounding more and more like a little boy instead of a baby. I love it!

Nonna came and kept Luke so we could go eat at the Melting Pot. We have not been there in a long time and we love it. We had a wonderful night out just the two of us. The past three years have literally gone by in a blur and we know time will only move faster the next three years.

More Carrots Please!

Luke got his first carrots last weekend. Just like with the sweet potatoes, he loved them! It is so cute to watch him open wide for his next bite! We will be moving on to green veggies this weekend. I am going to attempt to make his baby food so if anyone out there has done it and has some tips it would be greatly appreciated!

Father's Day

We had an interesting first Father's Day with Luke. We went to Sunday School and Worship that morning. When we picked Luke up from the nursery the worker said he had been "perfect". Wow! That is pretty impressive. Well, that didn't last long. When we got home Luke got really fussy and was that way the rest of the afternoon. We couldn't imagine what was wrong with him. We tried everything to calm him down...rocking, walking, singing, humming, bouncing, feeding and so forth. He finally took a short nap after a bottle but then he woke up even fussier which is very out of character for him. He usually wakes up really happy and playful. At this point we realized he had not pooped yet that day which he has never had a problem with! We had plans to go to the Troutt's for Father's Day supper. Paul had pretty much decided we weren't going to go since Luke wasn't happy at all. But, I convinced him that we needed to at least go for a while.
Apparently on the way up there Luke did his business and didn't make a peep after that. So, we had a relaxing afternoon/ evening with the Troutt's to celebrate Father's Day and Jim's birthday.

To Market

Luke occupied himself with his John Deere book.

Look at me!

This morning we decided to go down to the Farmer's Market. It was a bit drizzly but the temperature was nice. Luke was so good. He just took it all in and seemed to enjoy people watching. We picked up some Tennessee grown squash and corn and bought some sourdough bread from the Amish. It is yummy! We had several other errands to run this morning and we stopped by to see Nonna. I let her give Luke his bottle but she got to see him hold it himself. As soon as she started toward his mouth he grabbed it with both hands and took over! It has been a wonderful relaxing Father's Day weekend so far.

One Potato, Two Potato...

Since Luke hasn't been real excited about cereal we decided to try some sweet potatoes with him. We weren't really sure what to expect, but he loved them! He kept opening his mouth really wide when he would finish a spoonful. I think he would have eaten the whole jar if we had let him! We didn't want him to have a tummy ache though. We are going to try another vegetable tomorrow. It is so fun to see Luke experiencing new things!

Babble Babble

Luke has been babbling for a couple of months now. It seems like everyday he is making new noises. Sometimes he will babble the whole time he is in the car or we can lay him in his bed while we are doing stuff and he just talks to himself. Paul was able to video one of his "conversations." Lately he has been camera shy when we bring out the video or digital camera. I don't know if he ever realized what Paul was doing.

Luke's Pool

Maybe if Mommy puts her feet in first...

This isn't too bad

It actually feels really good!

Getting all dried off ...

just like at bath time!

On Sunday afternoon we decided it was so hot that we were going to buy Luke a baby pool. We had looked around at different places. Believe it or not it was hard to find the little plastic ones that Paul and I remember. Everything is inflatable which we didn't want to have to worry with every time we wanted to use the pool. So we took a family trip to Dollar General. We decided the gas to get there, sit in the car while I went in to get it and drive home cost as much as the pool did! It was well worth it. Paul got a few pictures of Luke's first time in a swimming pool. He liked it but didn't want to be in there too long!

To Tullahoma

Luke had not been to see my grandmother in Tullahoma yet. Since I am off on Wednesdays my mother took off and we headed to Tullahoma. We wanted to surprise Nanny so we didn't tell her we were coming. She was in her driveway when we got out of the car but she didn't recognize us at all. When she finally realized who we were she was so excited! We spent the afternoon just being entertained by Luke. He was a real trooper and acted great. Neither Nanny or my mom would let me take their picture with him so I just have a couple of pictures. Hopefully we will get back to Tullahoma soon.

Five Months

After our long, late afternoon pediatrician visit we finally got home after 7 o'clock. Before we got Luke ready for bed we realized we hadn't taken any pictures of him on his birthday. He wasn't too happy to be taking pictures but we were able to snap a few before he let us know he was ready to eat and go to bed!

Outdoor Baby

Luke loves to be outside. In fact he has grown quite fond of napping on the patio. He can be fussy and fighting a nap and we can take him outside and he immediately is pacified. It is so fun! This, of course, makes Paul a very happy daddy! He can't wait until Luke can help him work outside.

Last Sunday afternoon Nana came and kept Luke for a few hours while Paul and I went to run some errands and get supper. We haven't been on a "date" sine I went back to work. It was great to go out just the two of us and we know Nana and Luke enjoyed each other. I took these pictures when we got back that night. The sunset was so pretty!

Softball Tourney

Katie hanging out with Luke.

Luke really seemed to have a
good time at the ball park.

Up close and personal...

Man, this hand is so good!

Paul in action!

Paul's softball team was in a tournament to raise funds for a local church. They played four games and went 1-3. I think Paul was glad they were done. It was a hot day. Luke and I just stayed for a couple of hours. Miranda took lots of pictures of the guys and all the families that were there. I was so glad because I only took 2 pictures!!!

Luke on YouTube

This is a short video that our friend Miranda took of Luke at Paul's softball tournament last weekend. Thanks Miranda!

Back In Business...

Well, it is Friday night at 9:20 pm and the Comcast man just left our house! Poor guy. We hate that he spent over two hours with the Troutt's on a Friday night. Apparently our whole system was fried due to the storm last weekend. Obviously he was able to fix it. Yeah!!! Needless to say there is lots of blogging and picture posts to catch up on. Hopefully I will be able to get it done this weekend.

For Sale...

I was just looking on craigslist a few minutes ago and found something you all might be interested in. You never know when you will need an extra one of these in your backyard! Notice the sellers name.

http://nashville.craigslist.org/grd/706984848.html

Internet Problems...

Some of you all might have been wondering why we have not posted a new blog in over a week. Well it is because our internet has been out at home since the thunderstorm we had on Saturday night, and Comcast can't get out to fix it until this Friday. So to say the least Kelly is a little frustrated she can't get on the internet and post some new ones. I can get on it at work, as I am right now, but I have no way of getting pictures on here. So our next new post might be a few days. Here is a quick recap of what has happened in the Troutt family the last week:

Last Wednesday Kelly took Luke to Dr. P's office because he began wheezing some. They gave him a breathing treatment and let us take the machine home to continue them. While he was there they looked at his ears and said he didn't have a ear infection, so that is good, but they did want us to continue giving him the antibiotic.

The breathing treatments seemed to help his wheezing, but his cough was getting worse.

So yesterday, Luke's 5 month Bday, we went back to Dr. P's again to return the breathing maching. While there she checked his lungs and ears again and said they were both as good as can be. She told us we could start him on some Claritin and it might help his cough. We are not sure what to think about the Claritan because if it makes his cough go away that is great, but that means he has allergies. Kelly and my feeling from the doctor is that he just has a really bad cold, so I guess we will see.

Also while at the Dr they weighed and measured him and he was 17 lbs 4 oz. and 26 inches long. He is growing like a weed!

Hope everyone has a good rest of the week.

Third Time's a Charm

Hmm...I don't know about this Dad!

Okay, not too bad...

I think it's more fun to put my hands in it!

All done...

We have tried a couple of times to feed Luke cereal but haven't really experienced much success. After our busy weekend we decided to try again last night. This time we put him in his highchair which seemed to help. He ate about 10 bites! He also thought it was fun to stick his hands in it and rub it around.

Memorial Cookout

Virginia and Luke spent some quality
time together in the midst of Virginia's hostess
responsibilities.
Mr. Reynolds welcoming everyone. He also recognized
Luke as being the youngest attendee of the Camp Meeting.

We had to get Luke's picture with Elvis!

Sunday was another busy day. We went to Sunday School and Worship that morning. After lunch Luke got really fussy and nothing we could do would pacify him. He also started rubbing and tugging at his ear. So, we called the on-call service at the pediatrician's office. Given his symptoms and the fact that he has had a cough for a month the doctor called in an antibiotic and told us to give him Motrin. Luckily we found a pharmacy open since it was after 5 on Sunday afternoon. After his Motrin Luke perked up considerably.

We went to the Reynold's annual Memorial Cookout more commonly referred to as the Presleyterian Camp Meeting. The Reynold's have been having this party for years. We had a great time! Last year when we went Paul knew more people than I did! Small world...