Kids' Christmas Parties

Katherine loves her class!

Luke's best friend - Lydia!

Katherine and Luke had Christmas parties at school today.  Paul was off so I knew he would be able to go.  I have missed the last couple of events at school so I was glad when I was able to leave in time to make it for Luke's party. He was so excited that we were there!  He had so much fun.  They had a book swap and they opened gifts for the room.  They sang some Christmas carols and had snacks.  It was fun getting to talk to some of the parents that we don't see often.

Katherine's party consisted of eating.  There is another little girl around her age in the nursery. Neither are walking very well so they can't be moved up to the 1-year old room yet.  All the kids were so excited about Christmas and knowing that they would be out of school for a week!

A Night for the Kids

Some of our friends are in town for the holidays and they invited several people to meet at Chick-fil-A in Gallatin tonight.  Everyone has kids now and that is definitely a kid-friendly place.  It was a little hectic with everyone so I did not get any pictures.  Except for Hanne cutting her eye on the playground we had a great visit.  Eric and Nan's little girl is a little bit younger than Katherine and they still resemble each other.  Mary Lu was walking all over the place.  Katherine still hasn't taken off with her walking, although she is walking every day.  Just not that much. 

The next few days are going to be very hectic but will be wonderful!  We are looking forward to everything the holidays bring!

Fitting All the Christmas Movies In

It is funny how much Luke has changed the past year.  Last year he thought The Polar Express was a scary movie and he would not watch it.  This year he loves it!  We have watched it a few times and he often requests it at night.  We have also watched It's Christmas, Charlie Brown, Frosty the Snowman and Rudoplh.  Paul and I have tried to squeeze in a few movies, too - Christmas Vacation was a must!

Helping Mom

We are getting the last few presents wrapped around here.  Luke has really gotten in to helping with the wrapping this year.  He usually wants to use "fun" paper like his dad.  I have wrapped most of our gifts in brown craft paper and used different red ribbon.  Paul told me that I "better not wrap his presents in that ugly brown paper".  Like father, like son!

Fun Filled Sunday

The kids in Sunday School were wound up this morning!  Usually they are pretty calm when we take over the second hour, but they were wild.  I think we are all just excited that Christmas is a week away!  There are usually a couple of kids that are late being picked up. Usually, Paul or I will go pick Katherine up so she is not the last one left in her class.  The kids in our room love seeing "the baby".  They think she is so cute and love to make her giggle!  Luke is very protective and possessive of her.  He makes sure everyone knows that she is his sister!

Speaking of Katherine she finally took her first steps this afternoon!  I had begun to wonder if she was ever going to walk!  She started walking on her knees this week which was quite funny.  I talked with my Physical therapy friends at work to see if they had any great insight.  After answering a battery of questions from them they determined she was just simply lacking confidence.  There is no physical reason why she can't walk she just doesn't.  So, today was the day -- at 16 1/2 months old she finally took her first steps!  It helped that Luke was occupied upstairs so it was just the three of us.  She just simply walked between Paul and I several times.  Instead of holding on to her hands or fingers like we had been we held her at the waist where it is much easier to let go. She just giggled and had the biggest grin on her face!  I hope she can keep up and keep progressing. 

After church and lunch we made our way over to the mall to visit Santa.  We actually never made it last year so I was determined this year!  Luke was excited but a little skeptical.  He did not cry but would not take a picture with Santa unless Paul and I were in it, too.  So, we have a family picture with Santa.  It isn't that great, but at least we did ti!

We are still doing drops for Luke's pink eye.  He continues to make the biggest deal out of having to do the drops.  I have been in charge of the last few doeses and I finally determined they had not been getting in there like they should so we are going to continue them on a little longer.  I got some advice from my pharmacist friend. 

After everyone (including Paul and I) had their jammies on we decided to go look at Christmas lights.  We drove through several neighborhoods.  Katherine slept the whole time, but the rest of us enjoyed it.  While we were driving around Luke asked us if we knew what he wanted to be when he grew up.  We said no and he replied, " a choo-choo engineer".  We told him how great that was and we would love for him to be a choo-choo engineer.  He then said, "actually, I have changed my mind. I want to be a daddy when I grow up".  My heart melted right then and there.  We told him he could be an engineer and a daddy.  He seemed pleased with this.  I quickly added that he needed to be an enginner first, then a daddy!

Just Like in the Movies

This girl still loves cottage cheese and fruit!

We are trying to make sure we enjoy as many holiday traditions with the kids that time will allow.  Tonight, we decided to make Christmas cookies. Paula had made some batter up for she and Luke to do, but they ran out of time.  So, she sent it home with us to do.  Luke had us all put aprons on.  As soon as Katherine saw our aprons she wanted one, too.  She wore the one Luke made at Emma and Hanne's birthday party earlier this year.  Luke is always very hands-on in the kitchen and tonight was no exception.  He helped me roll the dough out and he loved using the cookie cutters to make all the different shapes.  We ended up with a lot of cookies!  At one point I looked over at Paul and we just both grinned and teared up -- such a surreal moment with our sweet kids.  Christmas music in the background, yummy holiday cookies being made and our kids thinking it was one of the greatest things ever.  Paul and I thought so, too!  I say it all the time, but this is such a precious time and we are trying to enjoy every minute of it!

Trip to Waffle House

Last night Paul and I got a pleasant surprise.  While we were out to eat for his birthday we called to check on the kids.  Paula told us she thought she would like for the kids to spend the night with them instead of bringing them back to our house.  We wholeheartedly agreed!  What a treat! 

We enjoyed our dinner.  Paul loves hibachi grill places and they are not my favorite so we do not go very often.  We ate in Cool Springs because we needed to take our rings in for cleaning and mine needed a repair.  After we ate we decided we would go over to the mall since we were not in any hurry to get back home.  It was pretty packed but we enjoyed all the holiday hub-bub.  There are several stores that I really like out there that we don't get to go in often.  We picked up a few Christmas gifts and headed home.  We got to the farm early this morning and Luke decided he wanted us to all go eat at Waffle House.  That is definitely not on the top of My Favorites list. It actually brings back memories from college -- late nights at the Cookeville Waffle House were always interesting.  I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the Gallatin location is.  The food was very good.  Their toast is exactly how I remember my Granny's -- crisp and buttery!

Paul's Birthday Dinner

Katherine modeling Daddy's new sunglasses

I decided that we needed to celebrate Paul's birthday a night early with the kids.  Paul and I have plans to go out for dinner tomorrow night by ourselves so I thought it would be fun to surprise Paul with birthday dinner!  The kids and I picked up a balloon at Kroger on our way home and had bought an ice cream Gingerbread cake at Baskin Robbins last night.  Paul was surprised when he got home and found out we were celebrating his birthday!  We ate in the dining room which was nice. 

The kids enjoyed helping him open  his presents.  Katherine especially liked his new sunglasses!

A Visit to Opryland

We accidentally left Katherine's coat in the car so we improvised when we went outside.

We were determined to make it to Opryland Hotel this year.  We have not been back since the restoration following the flood.  The kids and I met Paul to eat before going over to to see the lights.  The kids were adorable.  As soon as we walked in Luke said "wow, Mom, this is awesome!".  His eyes were as big as saucers as he was taking it all in.  Katherine would babble and point to everything.  We walked all over the hotel, cascades, delta, etc. It really is amazing!  The flowers alone are breathtaking, not to mention all the lights and decorations.  There were several Pixar characters that are available for photos.  It was so fun to see the kids excited and Paul and I loved it, too!

Early Birthday

Luke helped open Paul's present

Katherine was excited to open a present, too!

Today after church we went to Mom's to celebrate Paul's birthday which is next weekend.  She cooked meatloaf, mashed potatoes.  Yummy!  The kids loved opening Paul's gift so much that she let them each open an early Christmas present.  I can tell no one will be able to open their own gifts with two kids around!  We spent most of the afternoon at Mom's which was nice.  The Christmas countdown is really on now!

Third Time is a Charm!

Writing a Letter To Santa

Thoroughly entertained by the train

Well, Luke woke up yesterday morning with little red/brown spots around his eyes, on his cheeks, etc.  We immediately assumed he had an allergic reaction to the eye drops.  Paul took him to the doctor while I took Katherine to school and then on to work.  We were surprised to find out that the spots were not a reaction at all.  The doctor said it was petechia.  It was being caused by Luke's fits when we give him the drops.  She said it is very common in children and said normally it goes away within a couple of days. She did tell us not to be alarmed if it stayed around as long as we were giving him the drops.  There are several other causes of petechia so just to be on the safe side she did blood work which all came back great!  She said he was free to go to school and to continue the drops for 7 days.

In case you are wondering -- yes, we were at the doctor three days in a row -- $40 co-pay for each visit added up quickly!  I will be just fine if we do not make a visit there until Katherine's well visit in February!  On a brighter note, Katherine and Luke are having so much fun with a remote control Christmas train that Paula gave Paul for an early birthday present.  Katherine loves to move the signs around and Luke likes to make it go backward/forward and play the music.  It is a hit!

Spoke Too Soon

So, yesterday when I was at the doctor with Katherine the nurse commented that they had not seen Luke in a long time.  I agreed and said that he had been healthy and doing great!  Man, I should have learned my  lesson by now -- never be overly confident with your kids' health!  Luke ran in the bathroom this morning saying he could not open his eye.  What??? Yep, it was matted shut.  When I got it open it was bright red!  Pink eye - yuck!  Paul and I quickly determined our plan of action.  I would take him to the Fast Track Clinic at the doctor's office and then take him to Gallatin with spend the day with Nene and Pop.  We were the first people in the office when we got there.  The doctor in the clinic did a very thorough exam of Luke but finally said that it was indeed pink eye.  We filled the antibiotic eye drops there and I gave him his first dose before we left.  He did fine with it.

We dropped Katherine off at school on the way to Gallatin.  The center said there have been no other reports of pink eye, strange.  So, off we went.  He was so excited to be spending the day with Nene and Pop.  When I picked him up after work they said they had so much fun.  He did great with his noon dose of drops.  I wanted to give him another one before we left.  He pitched a fit!  It took Bill, Paula and I all holding him down to get the drop in.  I was astonished at how he was acting considering how well he had done earlier.  He did the same thing at his bedtime dose.  We got it in, but it took a fight.  He cried and cried.  Seven days of this should be fun...

Sick Little Girl?

Katherine has not been herself since we got home on Sunday.  I first attributed it to us being away and her missing us.  She has not been eating well and and has been very whiny.  The not eating well isn't exactly unusual, but she is not even eating things she really likes.  She is not usually whiny at all.  She has been crying when I take her to school in the mornings and is very clingy at home.  Since I was off today I decided to take her to the doctor for them to give her the once-over. You never know when it might be their ears or something else.  We were able to get an early morning appointment which was nice. She had a very low-grade temp (99.0) while we were there.  Dr. Patterson checked everything - chest, ears, eyes, throat, belly and so forth and deemed her "perfect".  She said she might be fighting a little virus and to bring her back Saturday if there was no improvement.

I was glad there was nothing wrong, but a little frustrated that we did not have an answer to her behavior.  We spent the rest of the day hanging out.  We did some Christmas shopping which she loved and then took a nap before we picked Luke up.  The kids got to watch a little Christmas show when we got home.  They get so enthralled in the TV. 

Our Weekend Away!

Katherine playing at the library

The Jenkins were there with their two grandkids, too!

 

This was our long awaited kids-free weekend!  We have been going to the mountains with some of our good friends for years. We skipped last year since Katherine was still so young.  And, boy did we miss it!  We knew pretty quickly we would not let that happen again!  So, we started planning this little weekend away a long time ago. 

Paul and I were not able to get off work Friday so we got a very late start heading east.  We had so much fun!  We stayed up way past our bedtime.  Friday night I stayed up until 2 am.  I honestly can not remember the last time I was voluntarily up at that time.  It was probably our last Gatlinburg trip.  There were four couples total and we get along so well!  We all slept in Saturday and then Paul and I cooked breakfast for everyone.  After that we all hit the mall to hopefully knock out some Christmas shopping.  We had a great lunch at a little place we have enjoyed several times.  When we got back to the cabin we all (including the guys) got our comfy pj's on and took naps.  What I love most about this group is that we are totally ourselves around each other.  Case in point -- we all stayed in our comfy clothes the rest of the night.  Other couples we might hang out with would "dress" for dinner.  Totally not what we are going for on this trip. We had a wonderful supper prepared by the Louws and Swindells.  We once again stayed up late talking.  Christina, who is our resident therapist, loves to get us to open up!  We all shared about how we met our spouses, how long we dated and so on.  We had so much fun!

Sunday morning came way too early and we were all back on the road by 9.  The kids did great without us!  They spent Friday night in Gallatin.  Paula took them to the tree lighting and an event at the library.  Paul and I were getting a little concerned when we could not get a hold of them around 8 o'clock, then 8:30....then a little before 9:00 Paula called to say they were on their way home.  They had enjoyed  a late dinner at Grecian's before heading home for bedtime.  The kids swapped grandparents on Saturday and Mom took over at our house.  She said they did wonderful, too.  They slept good both nights, but Katherine has not been eating well.  Big surprise!

We were excited to get back to see our little people, but we SO enjoyed our weekend away! It brought us back refreshed and ready to tackle the upcoming holiday season!

Easily Entertained

Katherine is good at independent play -- not sure if this is a nod to our parenting style or if it is just by necessity!  One of her favorite places to play is her bed.  Sometimes she will try to climb in to her bed to play.  We can put her in their with a bucket of toys and she is content for quite some time.  Tonight, she was playing with dishes that I had when I was a little girl.  She would line them all up along the railing, then knock them all in the floor and want me to retrieve them for her (which I did).

I think I have mentioned before how much she is in to accessories - hats, shoes, socks, scarves.  She was loving playing with the Santa hat tonight.  This is one Paul has had for years that he sports at the holidays.  It was big on her, but she got a kick out of it anyway.