Lauren's 11th Birthday!

The Birthday Girl

Luke played with Lauren's
balloon so much it popped!

Nana almost caught the shrimp!

Luke tried to help Nana and Papa
decide what to order

Lauren turned 11 on the 29th. To celebrate we met them at Kabuto on the 30th. We were not sure if Luke would enjoy the loud environment and the entertaining chef, but he loved it! It was fun to watch him react to the chef. By the end of the night we had to bring him out of his flannel shirt because he got so hot. Lauren is a little shy so she was not real excited about having all the attention, but she was a good sport about it. I have to admit I was tired of eating out and really was not wanting Asian food, but it was so good!

Luke loves Lauren and I hope they remain close cousins although they have 9 years separating them.

Christmas at Nonna's House

Andrew is all smiles opening presents

Showing off my new coffee maker!

Nonna and Aunt Mandi
taking it all in

Paul loves to get car washing supplies

Luke was still enthralled with his old toys at Nonna's

Monday the 28th we went to Nonna's for Christmas. She was feeling much better by lunch time that day so we decided it was OK to go ahead and get together. Instead of Nonna cooking us her annual beef tenderloin we opted for take-out steaks from O'Charley's. They were not near as good but it sure beat all the cooking and cleaning a homemade meal takes.

We all enjoyed opening our presents from each other. Luke got lots of clothes and some Legos. He still loves to play with blocks!!! We were all pretty worn out by the end of the night. This evening officially brought our Christmas season to an end. It was a great Christmas with the exception of the stomach bug! We truly are blessed with wonderful friends and family that we are able to share the most cherished time of the year.

Christmas in Tullahoma

Smith Family photo -
minus Nonna

Luke thanking Nanny for
his cool rain boots!

Luke LOVED his boots!

Andrew modeling Nanny's new winter hat

Cynthia helping Luke with Mr. Potato Head

Andrew and Mandi got in to Nashville very late on Saturday night. On Sunday, December 27th we went to Tullahoma for Christmas at Nanny's. The stomach bug struck again...this time Nonna got it. So, we went to Nanny's without Mom which was kind of weird. We all had a good time, though. We have not exchanged gifts for several years now. My cousin, Cynthia, and I talked a couple of months ago that it would be fun to draw names this year and do a gift exchange. We had so much fun! It was neat to buy a gift for someone and then to see everyone open their gifts.

Luke got more than anyone. We decided to leave him out of the drawing so he got Christmas and Birthday gifts from everyone. He received way too much! Of course, he loved it. He got lots of Mr. Potato head stuff, some cool trucks from Thomas and some neat rain boots from Nanny. He insisted on putting his boots on as soon as he opened them!

Several days later my Nanny ended up with the stomach bug. We still aren't quite sure how he got it. Andrew also got it on Monday night. He must have contracted it as soon as he got to Mom's Saturday night even before she knew she was sick. All in all, 9 members of our family have had the stomach bug over the holidays, yuck! It is amazing how susceptible people are to "little people" germs. I work in a hospital and am exposed to illnesses all day everyday but I rarely got sick until we had Luke. Just about anytime he picks up something at school I get it. Oh well, that is the price you pay when you have kids! We still did not let it damped our Christmas!

Christmas Morning in Gallatin

You know Luke got whatever he wanted
with Uncle Jon and Nana looking on

Luke showing off his new suitcase from
Papa and Nana

We know Luke will have a blast
in the ball jump!

Once I was back to the land of the living
I helped Luke open his presents

When I got to Gallatin I started feeling better pretty quickly. I specifically did not hug anyone or even get close to anyone. I did not prepare any food or really eat much of anything. I did not want the bug to get passed on. (More on that later).

We had a great time, as always, at the Troutts for Christmas. Paula does such a great job of making everything so festive and making everyone at home. Nonna joined us for Christmas for the first time this year. It was great to have her with us! She did nap duty for Luke while we continued to open presents which was nice.

Luke received so many fun things, but also some practical gifts. He got a neat suitcase set with his name and a tractor on them. He will get to use these when he visits the grandparents for an overnight stay!

Christmas Morning

Luke was too busy playing to
look at the camera

Luke loved his tricycle!

Working away...

Santa made a visit to the Troutts!

Luke was up early on Christmas morning which is not different than any other day of the week. Unfortunately since I had been up all night sick I was not in the best Christmas spirit. Nonna came over to help us capture Santa's visit this year. She brought me some medicine and Ginger Ale which helped so much!

Luke did not know what to think of all his toys. He went straight to the tricycle and wanted to ride on it right away. He can't quite get the hang of pedaling and steering at the same time. He also liked his music set and Leap Frog toys. We spent awhile playing with everything before deciding what to do about Christmas in Gallatin. I was feeling better but still not great. We decided for Paul and Luke to go to Gallatin and Mom and I would come later. I went back to bed for a nap and felt much better after I showered and got ready.

Christmas Eve in Gallatin

The Troutts with a
special Christmas visitor

The best photo we could get

Lauren and the Big Guy

Grandpa with his favorite people

A great meal!

We went to the Troutts after church and enjoyed a great meal. Towards meal time I started to not feel very good, so I decided not to eat much. I really did not think that I could be getting Luke's stomach bug. We had fun after our meal hanging out with the Big Guy himself....Santa Claus! Charlie Roy has had fun "playing" Santa this season for several local retailers and events. He decided to don his outfit one more time for us! Luke seemed to like Charlie as Santa Clas a lot better than any other Santa we have seen. He got to watch Charlie transform in to Santa so we think that helped.

We tried numerous attempts to get a good pic with Santa and everyone looking at the camera but could never quite get it. Thanks to Charlie for being a gracious Santa and posing with us!

As soon as we left Gallatin I realized I definitely did not feel good. As soon as we got home I got sick and was up and down all night with the stomach bug....to be continued....

Our Little Christmas Eve

Luke loved opening his presents
(and ours, too)

Mom finally got her Coleman lantern

Luke liked helping Daddy put together
his new work bench

Our Christmas all started when I brought Luke home from school on Tuesday the 22nd. We had only been home a few minutes when he threw up the first of 7 times! He also had diarrhea. I stayed home with him Wednesday and he was feeling much better by that afternoon. Since I had to take off Wednesday I ended up working Christmas Eve which was a little sad since I had been looking forward to having it off. I just so happened that the hospital was extremely busy considering it was a holiday. I worked as fast as I could and left early.

That afternoon Paul, Luke and I had our little Christmas together. Luke had so much fun with his packages! We gave him a wooden work bench which he loves!!! He is in to anything to do with tools or construction. My favorite gift was from Luke--it was a book of our blog the first year he was born! I love it. I am reading it a little everyday. It is so neat to see how much he has changed and what all we experienced our first year as parents.

That evening we went to the candlelight service at Gallatin First Baptist. We were just a few minutes late and it was standing room only! So, we sat in the foyer with Scott and Sharon Jenkins. Luke loved to hear the music and would clap and say "yay!" after each song. Uncle Jim sang and it was so pretty to hear!

We left church and went to the Troutts for a get-together with friends and family....

Random Pics

Anxiously awaiting Christmas...

Hmmm...Luke looks like
he is up to something

We had a fun and interesting Christmas week. I will try my best to catch up on all of our Christmas happenings in the next couple of days. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

From our Family to Yours....

Merry Christmas!

Mr. Cool

This is what Luke looked like yesterday afternoon while I was getting ready to go out. I did not ask about the events that lead up to this look....maybe I should! The hat and glasses did not last long though!

Luke's School Party

Luke enjoying the new puzzles

I could not get Luke to look at the camera!

Rylee was really excited about her treat bag!

Luke's Christmas party at school was Friday. I was able to leave work in time to join him. The kids had fun! They ate a lot of sugar! Luke had his first juice box. By the time I got there he had already drank it all and was wanting more. I asked the teachers to give him water instead which he was fine with. After they ate the kids opened gifts they had brought to have in their classroom. There were probably 5 different boxes filled with sidewalk chalk and finger paints. I was glad we bought puzzles! Luke has so many sweet friends in his class and it was fun getting to meet their parents.

Paul's Birthday!

Luke helping Paul with his gifts.

Uncle Jon and Luke

Deep Thoughts...

Wednesday was Paul's birthday. We started celebrating the night before by letting Paul open one gift. By the time we realized it Luke had opened all of his presents! Oh what fun Christmas will be!!! We met Nana, Papa, Uncle Jon and Nonna for supper at Cheddars in Hendersonville. We had a great time. Luke loved going to look at the huge aquarium in the restaurant.

Paul and I went out by ourselves last night to celebrate again. We went to Paul's usual pick, Carrabbas at Green Hills. We tried to finish up our Christmas shopping without success. We ended the night with dessert at Amerigos.

Christmas Cookies!

Waiting for the oven

Luke did not eat all these, I promise!

Bella and Eli decorating their cookies

Bella, Eli and Sophia coloring

This morning we went to the Brewers to make Christmas cookies and eat lunch. Luke fell asleep on the way and was quiet at the beginning. We had so much fun cutting out, baking, decorating and, of course, eating the cookies! The kids did so well together. By the time we were ready to leave Luke had gotten used to everyone and was settling in to his "wild man" mode.

I was hoping that he would fall asleep on the way home and I could simply put him in his bed and he would take a 2+ hour nap. Well, no such luck. He did fall asleep in the car but woke up as soon as we pulled in the garage. I spent the next hour trying to get him back to sleep, since I desperately wanted a nap myself. Luke was having none of that. So, I finally gave up and we spent the rest of the afternoon doing some errands. My days off are wonderful but fill up so quickly!

Busy Weekend

Luke patiently waiting on his food

Hmmm...playing with the Barbie van???

Like most people December is jam packed with holiday events for us. This past weekend was no exception. Friday night I attended a black tie holiday part with my mom's work. It was at a very cool venue in Downtown Nashville with a beautiful panoramic view of the city. Despite the fact it took us 2 hours to eat supper the evening was a lot of fun!

Saturday morning I had to work and we had made plans to attend Brunch with Santa at Fairvue Plantation but decided to cancel at the last minute. Luke did not sleep that well Friday night and we were afraid he would be grouchy. That night we had dinner with some friends from out of town. After church Sunday we were able to relax for a little while before we went to my work party in Hendersonville. Luke had a lot of fun playing with all the other children there. My boss has grown children but still has a lot of their old toys. The kids got a kick out of playing with the Barbie van and convertible!

A New Friend for Luke

I just love this picture!

How sweet is this?!?!

The boys learning early to wait on the women!

Will and Catherine

Last Saturday night we met up with our friends the Kingerys who were in town from Knoxville. They were in Nashville to do some Christmas shopping and the Titans game. We decided to meet at Opry Mills to eat at Macaroni Grill. The mall traffic was crazy. What is normally a 15-20 minute drive from our house took us over an hour! We did luck up and get a great parking spot right in front of the restaurant. We put our name on the list and did some shopping. Shopping with two toddlers is pretty interesting. The husbands tag-teamed it with us so we could try to get some things done.

Luke and Will played so well together! It was so neat to see them playing and loving on each other. Will is about 9 months younger than Luke but they are about the same size! Will was such a tropper considering he had an ear infection. The last time we saw Will was last December when he was only a few months old. We always have such a good time with the Kingerys. I always comment to Paul after we have spent time with them how I wish we lived closer. Hopefully we will keep our tradition of meeting up around the holiday season!