A New Game

A lady I work with has a son and daughter who are a few years older than Luke and Katherine but the are the same number of years apart and her son's name is Harrison (Luke's middle name) and her daughter's name is Kate (Kathryn).  We do not get to work together much but we enjoy it when we do as we have lots in common!  We worked together this week and she brought some things she found while cleaning out her closets.  Luke's favorite is a new Thomas movie.  This movie was made in 2000 and Alec Baldwin was in. Definitely must have been a low point in his career.  It really is silly to me but Luke loves it.  She also gave him some animal flash cards.  Since he already knows all his animals we turn the cards over with the word side up.  We then ask Luke to find the different animal names -- elephant, giraffe, crab, etc.  He is pretty good at it.  If he hesitates when we ask him one we ask him to sound out the word and he determines what letter the animal starts with then looks for that letter.  We then have him spell out the word.   It is so neat to see how quickly he learns.

Breakfast for Supper

Weeknights are so busy around here.  The kids and I get home around 5 and Paul is here by 5:30.  I usually feed Katherine at some point during the time and we have to get supper cooked and on the table.  A lot of afternoons I ask Luke what he wants for supper while we are driving home. Tonight he said he wanted supper-breakfast.  I asked what he wanted and he said muffins, eggs and bacon.  Since this is a very easy meal to prepare that is what we had.

While Luke and I were cooking Paul was goofing around with Katherine.  He liked putting her Easter bucket on her head.  She thought it was pretty funny, too!

Katherine At 8 Months

There have not been any major milestones reached in the past month.  The biggest thing that has happened is the number of times we have taken sweet Katherine to the doctor.  Paul and I have commented that Katherine has had more antibiotics in 8 months than Luke has had in 3 years!  It is amazing how each child is different.

Katherine still remains a very happy content baby.  Even when she has an ear infection or runny nose she is mostly happy.  She continues to add new foods to her diet.  We have tried most all baby food fruits and veggies now.  She has decided she does not like green veggies at the moment.  I kept trying green beans hoping she would change her mind about them - she hasn't.  She did great with peas until recently and has decided those are no fun either. She still loves sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash.  She has not met a fruit she does not like - even prunes!  We have given her a few cheerios and she seems to handle those ok.  She eats solids twice at school - fruit and cereal at breakfast and a veggie around lunch time with bottles in between.

She has started "scooting" when we lay her on her tummy.  She will eventually get what she is after even if she has to grunt and inch her way!  It is pretty funny to watch.  She is still not a fan of rolling over but has been doing it a bit more. Her favorite is still sitting up although she is growing fond of standing now. When you hold out your hands she grabs on and works really hard to pull herself up.  When she does stand up she just grins and giggles like she has really done something big.

Her sleeping is still erratic.  Some nights she sleeps all night, some nights she wakes up once to nurse. We kind of told ourselves we were not going to worry about it too much while she had her cold/ ear infection.  Now that she is better I try to let Paul go in when she wakes up so she does not automatically think it is time for her to eat.  We will see if this helps!

Katherine still has not gotten any teeth yet!  I can feel one of the bottom ones just below the surface.  I know it is only a matter of time, but I feel like we have been saying that for 3 months now!

Peek-A-Boo Katherine

Tonight while Paul was in class the kids and I had fun playing at the supper table.  Luke started putting the blanket over Katherine's head and she thought it was so funny!  She would giggle and kick her feet each time he did it.  She started pulling and tugging on it.  They really do play well together.  I am hoping it stays that way!

Where did Spring go?

We were completely teased by the recent 80 degree days.  This weekend has been cold and rainy.  This morning we went to church, ran some errands, had lunch and came home.  Katherine and I took a long nap in the recliner while Luke napped on the couch and Paul watched basketball.  I got to catch up with a good friend over a long phone call.  Paul smoked a pork tenderloin for supper which was great. My friend's grandfather passed away so I went to the visitation tonight.  When I got home Katherine had just fallen asleep for her evening cat nap so Luke and I read books and ate ice cream!

Fun Day Saturday

This picture does not do justice for our fun day, but it is the only one I took.  Paula called this morning to tell us that Jon and Kristen had bought a house!  She was hoping to go see it while Jon was there with the inspector and asked if we would like to go.  We, of course, said yes!  We all went to Murfreesboro.  Both kids did great - they slept on the way!  We had a great time seeing their new house.  It is perfect for them with lots of character!  Kristen and her mom stopped by for a few minutes. It was nice meeting her mom.  After we toured the house we went to eat lunch and made our way back home.

Paula stayed to watch Luke's new Thomas movie with him.  She had also ordered two suits for him to try on for the wedding.  He loved his "wedding coat".  We laid low the rest of the evening and made sandwiches for supper. 

Katherine still seems to be in good spirits.  She started rubbing her ears this afternoon and got me worried.  We decided she was just tired since she took a long nap after Paula left.  Luke did the sweetest thing yesterday morning.  While we were trying to get ready and get out the door for school and work I saw him lean down and give Katherine a hug. (He does this a lot).  He said "thank you God for making Katherine's ears all better"....melted my heart!  He sure does love his baby sister!

Home with Mom

Yesterday morning I got a call from Katherine's school that she had thrown up twice.  Since she had her first dose of Augmentin that morning I felt like it was from that.  I called the doctor's office and talked to my pharmacist friend at work.  Both said that some babies can not tolerate that strong of an antibiotic.  The nurse was supposed to call me back and let me know what we needed to do.  I had not heard from them by the time I left so I called them.  The nurse had called our house and left a message!  I assumed they would change her antibiotic and I would run by Publix and pick it up.  Well, the doctor wanted me to bring her in so she could get another antibiotic shot yesterday and today.

I had a playdate planned with some of my college friends today but canceled since Katherine had her picture appointment this morning and we had to be back at the doctor this afternoon. Since Katherine did not have to go to school Luke did not want to go either so we all stayed home.

Luke did well while Katherine was getting her picture taken.  She did pretty good. We had to take a couple of breaks when she would get fussy.  I think the photographer definitely got something that will work for the panel pose which is the priority.  I am so behind with her pictures - today's session was her "6-month" picture and she is almost 8-months!

After pictures we went to the mall to pick up a few Spring clothes for the kids.  Luke is still wearing some size 18-month shorts!  They actually still fit but are a little short.  We played on the playground and Luke got to control the model train for a treat.  We went to lunch and then home for naps. While Luke napped Katherine and I played.  She seems to be back to her normal happy self!

We saw Dr. Patterson this afternoon after her last Rocephin shot.  She said her left ear was completely clear and her right one is healing nicely.  I asked her about what the guidelines are for putting tubes in.  She said since this was only Katherine's second ear infection and she still considered this cold and allergy season that tubes were not a consideration right now.  However, she said if she has another "whopper" of an infection in the next couple of months we would see an ENT doctor.  She did start her on Zyrtec daily to see if we can hold off some of the runny noise, allergies, etc.  We hope and pray this works!

Poor Baby Girl

Our pediatrician was out of the office today so we had to make an appointment with one of her partners.  On  my way to pick the kids up the daycare called to let me know Katherine had high temperature.  This did not surprise me since she ran one the afternoon before.  By the time we got to the doctor and called back with the nurse it was 102.8!  The nurse immediately got her some Ibuprofen.  Katherine was pretty pitiful.  Since she was pitiful and most of my attention Luke decided he was going to do everything in the exam room he was not supposed to.  We had been waiting over 30 minutes and he started climbing up in the doctor's stool - you know the kind that roll around.  I immediately told him to get down but could not grab him because I was holding a whiny Katherine.  Well, he fell straight to the tile floor and started bawling.  I rushed to put Katherine in the car seat and picked him up.  I am sure everyone in the office could hear him. And wouldn't you know it as soon as I scooped him up here comes the doctor!  She started talking to me about Katherine over his sobbing. I knew he was fine and told him to hush so I could hear the doctor.

She quickly gathered Katherine's recent ear history and took a look. She actually gasped when she looked in her right ear!  She said it was horrendous looking and Katherine had every right to be fussy and whiny.  She presented a couple of different options to me.  Since the Omnicef did not get  rid of the infection after 10-days she said that probably was not an option again.  We finally decided to give her an antibiotic shot and then do a different class of oral antibiotic for 10-days starting tomorrow. Katherine cried and cried after her shot.  I felt awful for her.  To make matters worse we had to wait 20 minutes after the shot to make sure she did not have a reaction before we could leave.

By the time we left it was after 6 o'clock and we were all exhausted. Thankfully Mom had gone to Chef's and brought supper to us.  I was so relieved to not have to worry about supper.

Family-Filled Weekend

Luke helping make the slaw

Paul and I taught Luke's Sunday School class this morning.  If his normal teachers are going to be out we usually sub for them.  Today's lesson was "God made animals".  We enjoyed a petting zoo at church!  It was really fun.  One of the members has a small farm and they brought a goat, pig, chicken, duck and lamb.  All the kids loved seeing and petting all the animals!  After our lesson and snack we went to the playground because it was so nice out.

Bill and Paula invited us up for supper tonight.  We had not seen them in a couple of weeks.  We decided to go see Memaw on her way.  Tomorrow is her 86th birthday!  She has not seen Katherine since Christmas which is ridiculous on our part.  Last night Katherine woke up crying. She cried and cried. I told Paul there was no way it could be her ears since she just finished her antibiotic on Friday. While I was getting her ready to go to Gallatin I thought she felt warm.  I took her temp and it was 101.4!  It appears her ears are bothering her again.  I called the on-call service for the pediatrician.  She advised me to bring her in tomorrow and give her Ibuprofen tonight to help with the inflammation.

We decided to go on to Gallatin since we felt sure her temperature was caused by her ears.  She was not acting like she felt bad. We enjoyed our visit with Memaw.  Luke loves going there!  We did not stay long since we had gotten delayed by Katherine's temperature.  Katherine was smiling and laughing before we left.  That tickled Memaw.

We had a great time at the Troutts.  Kitty was able to join us which is always a treat.  She got down on the floor and played with Luke.  He has a little toy stash that he always wants to raid when we get there.  Paula had bought him a neat puzzle/ spelling game.  Each puzzle had a picture of the word and spelled the word - cat, tree, dog, etc.  He loved it and was able to work it quickly.  He is still fascinated with spelling.  He can spell his name, cat, and usually mommy and daddy.  He is getting better at writing his letters although he would rather me do it.  He can distinguish uppercase from lowercase but sometimes gets confused with "L". 

Katherine was rubbing her ears quite a bit tonight so we will definitely be back at the doctor tomorrow.

Tullahoma Visit and the Pledge

I have been planning to go visit Tullahoma the past two weekends.  Since one of us has been sick every weekend for the past month we have had to put our visit on hold.  Everyone is on the mend around here and the weather is perfect so we decided to go today.  Mom and I took the kids.  It also gave Paul a great opportunity to do some things around the house and study.

We surprised Nanny.  I did not want to tell her we were coming and then have something come up that kept us from going.  There was a recent tornado right in Nanny's area so we were able to see all the devastation.  She really is lucky to not have been injured.  Her roof sustained considerable damage so she had a new roof put on.  Some trees that were over 100 years old were uprooted like saplings.  The weather really is amazing.

Thomas entertained Luke most of the day by going on wagon rides and reading books. Luke also surprised us by saying the Pledge of Allegiance!  Luke found a small American flag at Nanny's.  He started reciting the Pledge and did it almost perfectly!  Mom said she wished she had a camera to capture the expression on my face - my jaw was literally on the floor.  I had no idea he knew the pledge!  It makes me wonder what else that little guy knows that we have no idea about.  He acted so nonchalant about it. Katherine enjoyed herself to.  She took a nap and seemed to enjoy all the attention.

We got home just in time for supper. Paul had smoked a chicken and cooked some vegetables. It was great!

Friday Night Ritual

We go to eat almost every Friday night.  Tonight was no exception!  Mom has been wanting Luke to come and visit her at work.  I dropped him off this afternoon on our way home.  He helped Mom finish up some things and she showed him off to her friends.  They took advantage of the warm weather and went to the park to play and read books.  They came back here in time for us to all go to supper. We chose Mexican tonight.  You can rarely go wrong with Mexican.  It is good, quick and inexpensive.  Luke played photographer tonight and took all the pictures I posted.  He loves to take pictures but he does not like to have his pictures taken at all lately!

Katherine had her last dose of Omnicef today and seems to be back to normal.  Let's hope so!

Hanging In There

Katherine continues to slowly improve. She has slept better the past two nights.  She has actually slept all night without waking up crying.  This a vast improvement!  It is so pitiful when you can not really do anything to help them.  Katherine loves to look at herself in the mirror. She especially likes it when you hold her in front of a large mirror - she just giggles and bounces up and down.  She is changing and learning new things everyday!

Just Another Monday....

Mondays sure do roll around fast lately.  Katherine's teacher are great about texting me during the day with any concerns they have and also let me know fun things she has done or send me cute pictures.  It is so nice.  I to a text today that she did not act like she felt good and was not eating well.  I went ahead and called the doctor and made another appointment.  Paul was able to leave work and take her to the doctor.  Since he had class tonight Luke and I went to the doctor to pick Katherine up.  They were still waiting to see the doctor when we got there.  So, Dr. Patterson got to see the whole Troutt family this time!

She looked in both her ears and said the left was 80% better and the right was 40-50% better.  She said since Katherine was half-way through the antibiotics there was not really anything else to do.  We are optimistic that the antibiotics will finish getting rid of the infection.  Katherine actually seemed better when we got home.  Paul went to class and the kids and I came home for supper. 

Spring Preview

Today was perfect!  The sun was shining and it was so warm.  We tried to take advantage of it.  I am still not feeling well - can barely talk and am coughing a lot.  We have talked for months about getting a deep freeze to keep in the basement.  Our little freezer in the house stays full all the time.  We all went to Mom's so we could borrow the truck.  The kids and I ended up staying there while Paul went to get it.  Once he got there he found out that Lowe's would have delivered it for free.  We will remember that in the future.  It gave us a good chance to visit.  Katherine slept the first part of our visit and I tried to take a nap, too.

Once Paul got back we grabbed some lunch then came home.  We played outside.  Luke was nice enough to let Katherine swing in his swing but he decided Katherine needs her own swing.  He still prefers to swing in the toddler swing.  We will have to see about that.  Katherine loved swinging!  I think she would have fallen asleep if I had let her.  The boys washed my car and then we grilled some chicken later for supper.  It is so nice to know that Spring is just around the corner.  At bedtime tonight I heard Paul asking for the camera.  We never can seem to find it when we need it.  Both kids had on construction hats we used at Luke's 2-year birthday party.  Luke decided he did not want his picture made but we snapped some anyway.

On the Road to Recovery

After one dose of the new antibiotic we could see a difference in Katherine.  We also used the numbing drops, too.  She slept better last night and seemed much more content.  She went to school today and they said she did great, too!  Paul went and studied after work.  When he got home Luke wanted to play with the moon dough.  He will go through cycles of playing with different things.  We have not played with his trains all week but he has asked to play with the mood dough a lot.  I am sure next week he will be on to something else!  We really have to watch Katherine now - she has a long reach and will put anything she can get her hands on in her mouth!  I tried to keep her out of the moon dough.  Since both kids have been sick it is only fitting that I am starting to feel bad, too.  Itchy, watery eyes, dry cough and hoarse voice. 

Back to the Doctor

I was supposed to be off today but the dietitian that works on my days off called early this morning to say her son was sick and she could not come in. I know that feeling and I told her not to worry about it, although I really did not want to go to work.  Who does?  It has been very busy so I knew I needed to go in.  It ended up not being that bad so I got my work done and left a little early to take Katherine to the doctor.  The school called me around lunch and said she was just not acting like herself - poor appetite, fussy and not sleeping well. When I got there it was time for Katherine to have a bottle.  She took it all for me and smiled and cooed.  Of course, her teachers said she had not been like that all day.  So, we headed to Dr. Patterson's office. 

She was surprised to see us.  We saw her in the hallway and Luke announced he had to poop!  She and an intern from Vandy got a big kick out of that.  I explained to her that Katherine had an ear ache a couple of weeks ago and then had the stomach bug last week.  It did not take her long to figure out what was wrong with her -- double ear infection!  She said both ears were "angry".  We are going to try a high powered antibiotic and hope this gets rid of it for good!  It seems like we have had enough sickness around here.  We are way past ready for warmer weather and healthy kids!

Apples for Two

Katherine has been a lot more interested in food the past couple of days.  We finally tried some fruit with her tonight.  I could not remember which fruit is recommended first so we did apples.  Katherine loved them!  Since Katherine had apples Luke wanted applesauce.  He called Katherine's "baby applesauce".  Katherine has been so happy and playful tonight.

Yesterday Bill and Paula picked Luke up from school so I could hopefully have a little time to rest when I got home from work since I was still tired from the quick stomach bug.  Katherine slept pretty much all night. She fell asleep on the way home and slept until I woke her up at 6 to eat supper. She wanted nothing to do with it.  I ended up holding her while I ate my supper and she fell asleep sitting in my lap!  I laid her down and then I was able to do a few things before Luke came home. He had a lot of fun with Nene and Pop.  They went to a bbq place for supper that Luke called "Pot Hog".  We need to check this place out because he has talked about it a lot! 

When Luke got home I got him ready for bed, fed Katherine while Luke watched a show then put him to bed.  Katherine had a better night last night.  She did not cry at all when I put her down.  She did wake up to eat in the middle of the night but did not cry again.  She woke up around 5 and Paul put her in bed with us.  I try to get up around that time anyway.  We really are hopeful she is getting back into sleeping through the night!

Third Time is a Charm

Well, I am the lucky recipient of the stomach bug.  I woke up in the middle of the night with it.  I felt awful - nauseous and restless.  I was up and down several times.  Paul had to go to work so I asked Mom if she could come by around lunch to help with the kids.  I just had no energy.  She brought some homemade chicken noodle soup which I took a little of. Luckily my bout with the bug was short-lived.  I am feeling much better tonight.  The plan is to return to normal tomorrow - kids to school, adults to work.  I would be so thrilled if we could make it two weeks without any illnesses or unplanned absences from school and/or work!  I know it is just part of having kids but seems like we have had a lot of it lately!

It's Nene/ Nonna Day!

Paul got assigned a big weekend job.  The weekends Paul has had to work since he has been with ServPro have been few and far between which is nice.  When I realized he was going to be working 10+ hour days all weekend and that I had to work Saturday I asked Mom to watch the kids.  As it turned out Paula did not have any plans either so she came to help.  Both kids are much better now. Katherine has not run a temperature and has not had any more episodes.  Luke is completely back to normal.  Katherine is not sleeping well at night.  She still has not gotten back to normal from her ear infection 2 weeks ago. 

Luke kept saying it was his Nene and Nonna day!  They had a great time together.  Katherine was a little fussy but other than that things were good.  I got home around 2 and Mom ended up staying the rest of the afternoon.  We decided to go out to eat tonight.  For some reason I was not hungry which is very rare!

Sick Again...

When I picked Katherine up from school Wednesday they told me she threw up that afternoon.  I asked if they thought she just spit up since I have never known her to throw up.  They also said she had a runnier than normal diaper but she was happy all day.  When I started asking a few more questions I found out that a stomach bug had been going around in the nursery.  Great, I thought, here we go again.  When we got home I checked Katherine's temp and it was 101.8.  I knew immediately that she had the bug and would not be in school the next day.  A few minutes later Luke told me he needed to go to the bathroom.  That wasn't a pretty sight.  So, both kids had the stomach bug. 

I had already registered for a continuing education conference today so Paul had to stay home with the kids.  I think they were both pretty pitiful.  Katherine has continued to run a temp but Luke seems to be bouncing back quickly.  So, I will be on kid-duty tomorrow.  This will be two days in two weeks I have had to miss work due to the kids being sick.  Before I had kids I think I had only taken one sick day in 6 years of working at the hospital. Needless to say those days are long gone...