Wonderful Wednesday

My friend Amanda and I had July 30th marked on our calendars for about a month now. Amanda is one of my best college friends. She is a stay-at-home mom to Thomas Michael and they live in Murfreesboro. You would think living so close to each other we would see each other all the time. Wrong! We have been trying to get together for months and it has just never worked out so we finally decided we were picking a date and sticking to it. When I realized Sunday that Luke was sick and I would be home with him Monday I immediately thought oh no, I don't want to miss my play day! Fortunately Luke got much better Monday afternoon and was able to go to daycare yesterday. I wasn't sure if I would be able to be off today since I was home Monday. Since there is already someone that covers for my days off at work my boss said it was fine for me to still be off today. I was so excited I was actually going to see Amanda and finally meet her son who is over 18 months!

Our other friend Julie was going to join us but she had a last minute work training she had to attend. Missed you Jules! Amanda and I had a great time! We let the boys play and we tried to catch up on everything that is going on in our lives. Thomas Michael loves babies and Luke seemed to get a kick out of him running around and playing. Luke took a little nap while Amanda was holding him and that is the only picture we got all afternoon. We both agreed that we will not let too much time go before we get together again.

Monday Night

Monday night Virginia and I had plans to go to dinner. After spending the day home with a sick little one I was looking forward to getting out. We decided to go somewhere in the Five Points area of Nashville. The first place we tried, Z's Deli, looked a bit shady and closed at 7 o'clock and no one was even in the restaurant. We left there in search of somewhere else to satisfy our appetite. Next we tried Bongo Java which we discovered closed at 6 o'clock. We finally ended up at The Alley Cat Lounge which is a Tex-Mex grill. It was pretty good. I am not sure that I would eat there again though. After that we were looking for something to end the night on a sweet note so we headed over to the Pied Piper Creamery. Our friend Laura knows the owner. It is a really cute eclectic bookshop, kids store and ice cream parlor rolled in to one! So to sum up our adventure in Five Points....it is still just East Nashville to me!

Sick Day

Luke is still kind of puny today. He had a temperature last night at bedtime so we knew he wouldn't be able to go to daycare today. This is the first time he hasn't been able to go to school. I wouldn't have been able to leave him anyway. He has been so clingy and sleepy. He has a runny nose and eyes and has been coughing and sneezing. Paul and I both agree it is pitiful! Luke seems to be in better spirits this morning. I am hoping a day at home with Mom will do the trick. So far no temperature today!

Abbreviated Weekend

Our living room

The view from our deck

Luke was pretty happy when we got there

We had breakfast at the City Cafe Diner, very good!

Here comes the train!

Luke enjoyed the train ride

We enjoyed walking along the river front

Luke will love it even more when he is a little bigger!

Well we had an interesting weekend. It started off great. We got to Chattanooga by 8 eastern time and explored our cottage and unpacked. Luke did great on the way there; he slept most of the time. Friday night he went to bed fine but he woke up about 2 o'clock which he has not done in a couple of months. He would not go back to sleep in the pack-n-play so we ended up putting him in the bed with us. He slept for a few hours and was ready to get up.

We went downtown for b'fast which was really good. Then we headed over to the Tennessee Valley Railroad for our train ride. We just did the quick hour trip. It was a lot of fun. There were so many kids there. It is definitely a family friendly outing. Last night we headed over to Coolidge Park to hang out. Just after we got there a huge storm cloud came up so weren't able to stay as long as we would have liked. It rained off an on the rest of the night. Luke was able to nap some mainly in the stroller or anytime we were in the car! We noticed he had been coughing and sneezing quite a bit but he acted like he felt fine.

When we got back for the night Luke did not want to sleep at all. He tossed and turned whether he was in the pack and play on in the bed with us. This went on for awhile and Paul and I both realized that none of us were going to sleep. So we decided to pack up and head home. As crazy as it sounds I think it was the best thing we could have done. Luke was asleep within 2 minutes of being in the car. He slept the whole way home and didn't bat an eye when I got him out of the car seat and put him in his bed. He woke up around 3 and was warm to the touch. I took his temp and it was over 101. That explains why he wasn't feeling good. I gave him some Motrin and he went back to sleep pretty quickly.

He has been really tired today but his temperature hasn't been as high. We hope that the last couple of nights haven't thrown Luke off his normal routine. It is true that babies love routine. Now we just have to figure out what to do for our other two trips we have scheduled. We obviously wouldn't drive home from the beach!

Swimming

This is pretty cool!

Just me and dad....

I can float....

Wow! Look at that form....Beijing here we come!

Last night we decided to try the neighborhood pool again. There were only a couple of people there and it was such a nice night. It was a perfect for Luke's first trip to the pool. He did great! A lady I work with brought Luke the palm tree float which is just his size. Of course he was more interested in trying to eat it instead of splashing in the water! Paul and I both commented how we need to take advantage of the pool more often.

We decided a couple of days ago that we are going stir crazy around here so we booked a cottage in Chattanooga for the weekend. We are both taking off a little early from work tomorrow and heading southeast! We don't have anything on the agenda except to relax and enjoy some time away with little Luke. Hopefully we will have some neat pics to blog when we get back. Here's to a wonderful weekend....

Self Feeding...

Last night Luke decided he would rather feed himself than be fed. The end result was a green bean fiasco! There were green beans everywhere. Luke mainly likes to beat the highchair with his spoon and make music.

Not Much To Blog About...

There has not been a whole lot going on at the Troutt house lately. Therefore, as you have probably noticed, we have not had any new blogs recently. Well we still don't have anything exciting going on but we can always post some new pictures. This first one is one of my all time favorites. He is showing off his green bean eating ability. He is pretty good if you ask me!

If you blow this one up and look real close you
can see his little tooth. He has a couple more
just about to cut through.
The Lukester and Mom hanging out, only
wearing his skibbies (as mom calls them).
Playing in his seat. He tries to eat
EVERYTHING!
Most of the time he is a very happy little boy
as you can see.
Luke hanging out in his swing

Fun Wednesday!

Luke and I started our day off pretty early. His 6-month pictures were scheduled for 8:30 this morning at Reflections by Tanya. We were there so early that they hadn't even unlocked the door yet! Luke did really well at the beginning of the session. The further along we went the more unhappy he got. It didn't help that I had to wake him up from his morning nap to leave the house. I know she got some good shots that we can choose from though.

This afternoon we went to lunch at Cheddar's in Hendersonville to meet Angela Templeton and Susan Brown. Angela has been a friend to the Troutt family for years and actually used to babysit the Troutt boys. I work with Susan at the hospital and she recently got a job with Dr. Templeton's office as a dental assistant. When I found out she was working for Angela I was so excited! So we all had lunch today so they could meet Luke. He was so great considering I had to wake him up from a nap for the second time today. They both got to hold him and he was so mellow! Angela inspected Luke's new tooth and said it looks great. Little did I know boys usually get there teeth later than girls but Luke is right on schedule.

The rest of the afternoon/ evening has been spent playing, reading books and walking around outside. Luke was so excited when Paul got home this afternoon. His whole face lit up when Paul walked in!

Splish Splash

Sunday evening we decided to go over to the neighborhood pool to see how Luke would like it. We all got ready and headed over there. When we pulled in we saw several "big kids" horsing around, doing cannonballs, and making big waves. We decided that probably wasn't the best night for Luke to go to the "big pool" for the first time. We didn't want the night to end without a little playtime so Paul got the kiddie pool out and we splashed around in there for awhile. Luke still loves it. He is sitting up pretty good now and liked playing with his rubber duckie.

Nap Time

We had a great weekend. It was the first weekend in a long time that we weren't so busy. We didn't have anything we had to do which was wonderful. Friday night I finally got to go scrapbooking. I have not been since Luke was born so I have a lot to catch up on! Paul and Luke went to Nana and Grandpa's for supper. Apparently he was pretty fussy while they were there. Paul thinks he was just tired.

Saturday morning I had a pedicure scheduled so Paul and Luke were going to drop me off and do some errands. When I came out to the living room ready to go they were both sleeping! It was so sweet; I had to take a picture. They ended up meeting me for lunch and then we hung out. It was terrific Saturday!

More Happy Pictures

I took this today at Virginia's. I can
not get Blogger to turn it the right way!

Ahhh....this is comfy.

Really Dad, another picture?!?!

A Morning With Friends

I absolutely love having Wednesdays off! This morning we met Laura and Hunter at Virginia's house for brunch. Virg's Aunt Joan is in town from PA so we decided to all get together. We love Aunt Joan! She is so funny and loves kids. It was fun to hang out with all of them. I told them it felt like we should still be in High School. Being there brought back so many memories of our "Glory Days". Luke was really good. He liked having so many people to entertain him. We are going to a going away party tonight for our friends, Nan and Eric. I hope this won't be too much partying in one day for the little fella!

Giggles...

Here is one of several videos we have taken lately. Luke loves to be entertained and his giggles are so cute. We just had to share with everyone!

Keith and Kenny

Saturday night we went to the Poets and Pirates concert at LP Field with Andrew and Mandi. It turned out to be a perfect night weather wise. There was a great breeze and we didn't feel hot at all. The concert started at 3:30 but we all decided we didn't want to be out there all day so we went later that night, just in time to see Sammy Hagar finish up. Keith Urban was awesome! So was Kenny, but Paul and I had both seen him several times before.

We were a little apprehensive about leaving Luke for so long since he hadn't napped well that day. Nonna kept him. She was giving him a bottle as we were leaving about 6 o'clock. When I called around 7 he was asleep in bed. We thought he would wake up again but he didn't. He slept from 6:30 last night until 5:30 this morning and then he took a nap! The weekend has obviously worn him out.

Ice Cream Social

My cousin Anna Marie was so excited to finally
meet Luke.

The three red-heads, Me, Mille and Anna Marie.

Luke wasn't so sure about the shades this time.

Luke loves my cousin Cynthia.

Most of my extended family live in Tullahoma. We do not get down there as often as we would like. Since Andrew and Mandi were in town we decided to have a get together at my Nanny's. She invited all of the cousins, great aunts and uncles over for ice cream Sunday afternoon. We had five different homemade flavors to choose from. They were yummy!

This was the first time most of the family got to meet Luke. He was great at first but then as the afternoon wore on he got very tired and fussy. There was just so much going on and so many people that wanted to hold him. I would take him in the house periodically to cool him off and for some quiet time. We left around 3:30 and Luke was asleep within 10 minutes! Once we got in the car I realized another reason why he wasn't too happy...he is cutting a tooth! The teeth that we have been able to "feel" for two months have finally broken through the skin just a little bit. I guess that makes him not too comfortable.

When I was growing up I was the only red-head of the family. Since then we have added two more to the bunch; one on each side of the family. Although my hair is darkening quite a bit I still claim to be a red-head so the three of us had our picture made together. Millie was teething today as well so she didn't want anyone to hold her but Mommy. She was a good sport to get her picture made with us.

Fireworks!!!

Wow! Look at all the pretty colors.

Luke is hiding from the camera.
This was not too comfortable for me!

We weren't sure if we were going to be able to see any fireworks this year or not. We decided to make a last minute decision based on how Luke handled the long night. He seemed to be doing pretty good so we decided to watch Goodlettsville's fireworks this year. We had a great spot in the Publix parking lot and the show was actually pretty good. We still got home in time to watch Nashville's show on TV. Luke loved the fireworks and the loud noise didn't bother him at all.

Independance Day

One of Luke's favorite things to do....swinging!

Uncle Andrew is very proud of his nephew.

Who is entertaining who here?

Luke was excited to see Aunt Mandi again!

Friday morning the three of us drove over to Murfreesboro to do some shopping and to get out of the house for awhile. That night we went to Nonna's for a 4th of July cookout. We had a great time hanging out and catching up with everyone. Mostly we just let Luke entertain us.

All American Boy....

Mr. Cool....

Hanging out in my beach chair (in the living room)!

Happy Birthday America!

We have had a very exhausting long holiday weekend. From one cookout to the next Luke has done great. The 4th is one of my favorite holidays so I had to dress Luke in several different patriotic outfits.

Happy Baby

Luke is such a happy baby. He is either really mellow and observant or giggly and playful. He is constantly rolling back and forth now. If you put him on a blanket he ends up halfway across the room before you realize it! He is starting to reach for toys that we put in front of him. He is beginning to "inch" towards them. We know this is just the beginning of his mobility!

Yesterday at the doctor Luke weighed 18 # 3 oz and was 26" long. He is right above the 50th percentile for weight and right below the 50th percentile for length. We are still trying new foods and plan to try fruits soon. I have still not gotten around to making any baby food. That is on the agenda for this weekend between cook-outs and concerts!

6 Months

Luke is 6 months old today. How time flies! For his birthday he gets to go to the doctor and get shots. What fun! We are going to try to go out tonight and get him a little treat. Happy Birthday Luke!