Our Family Christmas

Katherine is ready for Christmas!

Paul loves playing Santa

Luke loves opening presents

Katherine actually tried to get the paper off her gifts

All the excitement was too much for our little one

When I got home from work we all changed in to our Christmas clothes and opened our presents to each other.  Luke was so excited to be opening presents!  I think he helped us all open ours.  We gave the kids the Little People Nativity.  We unwrapped all of them and set it up.  I know we will enjoy putting it out every year.  Both kids got Christmas books from us and another gift.  Katherine got a little kitchen and Luke got a Leapfrog laptop.  He is always so interested in playing on the big computer that we thought he would enjoy his own computer.  Paul and I gave each other very practical gifts this year which was nice.  It is always nice to get something you need and know will be used.

After our Christmas together we hit the road for the Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Gallatin. 

Christmas Eve Breakfast

Mary Lu and Katherine all snuggled up!

While I was working this morning Paul and the kids went to the annual Christmas Eve Breakfast in Gallatin.  Several of the Troutt family friends met at Larrivieres Restaurant. Paul said both kids did great.  Bill and Paula were there so they were able to help.  I think everyone was impressed that Paul got both kids out by himself and seemed to do it so effortlessly!  He got to meet Miss Mary Lu Beaty who is a little over 2 months younger than Katherine.  I hated to miss everyone.  Work was extremely busy!  I was hoping to only work a half day but ended up being there until mid-afternoon. 

Luke's Class Christmas Party

Luke and his best buddy - Ethan

Each child brought a book to exchange

Luke and Katherine happy to be hanging out

Today was Luke's last day of school before the break.  His class party was this afternoon.  Paul and I were both able to make it. Paul was off and I left work a little early to get there in time. Luke was so excited to see both of us!  We missed all the eating, but were there in time to see the book exchange.  All the kids made these cute reindeer shirts using their feet, hands and finger prints.  It was also a good opportunity for us to meet several of the other children's parents. We met Luke's best friend's parents so that was nice.  The kids are so fun to watch at this age.  They interact with each other and can carry on a conversation like adults. We came home and started cooking for Christmas Eve with the Troutts.  Paul will be home with the kids tomorrow and I will work.  Bring on the Christmas holidays!!!

Last Minute Shopping

Trying to get a good picture

Luke is constantly entertaining his little sis

Today I spent most of the day running around all over town trying to get all of our last minute Christmas shopping done.  Paul and I both learned quickly that we are not very productive since Miss Katherine came along.  There is always something to do at home, especially if both kids are there.  So, I tend to rely on my Wednesdays off to do the necessities and Paul often runs errands before he comes home from work. I think I was able to mark most everything off of my list which is great!

When I picked the kids up from school one of Katherine's teachers casually mentioned that there were three teachers in the 2-year old room - the class that Luke is in.  The teacher also has a child in that room.  I panicked because I only bought a gift for two teachers.  I thought the other teacher was a "floater" but she has recently been permanently assigned to the room.  So, Paul will have to pick up another gift card when he is out tomorrow before we go to Luke's Christmas party. I spent the majority of the afternoon wrapping until I went to pick the kids up.

I tired my hardest to get a cute picture of Katherine in the sweet hat that Laura gave her.  I promise she smiles and giggles all the time but I can never quite capture that look.

Look at Me, Mommy!!!

What's wrong with this picture?

Luke is about 99.9% potty trained.  We still have an occasional accident but overall he is doing great.  He even wears his underwear to bed - no pull ups.  Paul got tired of taking a perfectly dry pull up off him every morning so we stopped those a couple of months ago.  He is also fairly independent in the restroom.  He can go by himself.  Tonight he was being silly and put his underwear on inside out and backwards.  He has such a funny sense of humor.  He knowingly put them on wrong but acted like it was perfectly normal to have his underwear on that way.  When I started laughing he said "what's wrong mommy, what?" then he broke into hysterical giggles!  That boy is something else!

Is is over yet?

Luke loves making K giggle and smile

Pretty serious

Feeling better???

This crud has been  hanging around long enough!  We have laid low all weekend.  After Paul took them to the doctor yesterday we learned that Katherine had an ear infection and needed antibiotics.  That explained why she was so fussy at school.  Luke's strep was negative and they said his chest was clear so he just has a bad head cold.

I worked Saturday morning for a few hours, but was not feeling too good.  Just a stuffy nose like everyone else.  Since no one else had been out we decided to go find something to eat.  We went to Blue Coast Burrito in Hendersonville.  It was good but we had to wait forever because they were very short staffed.  Luke's appetite is still not full speed yet so he did not eat much.  Katherine did great during the meal so we thought we would run over to The Streets to do a little Christmas shopping...wrong...she wanted nothing to do with that.  She started crying as soon as we got in the car.  I thought she would stop once we started moving but she didn't.  Paul and Luke ran in one store then we decided to call it a night and head home.  Katherine has started  feeling better overall.  We can tell the antibiotics are working.

We decided to stay home from church today.  The kids are still on the mend so we didn't want to take our chances.  Paul had to work for a little while so the kids and I hung out, sang Christmas carols, danced around and did chores.  It was a fun morning!  The afternoon was spent napping and wrapping some more presents.  The plan is for everyone to return to normal tomorrow - school for the kids, work for the big people!  Keeping our fingers crossed that everyone survives!  I am also hoping everyone is well enough for me to go out with my girls for our Christmas dinner.  Paul will have the kids to himself. I hope bedtime goes smoothly!

No Such Luck for Paul's Birthday

Opening presents

Neither one of us look like we feel good

Well, today did not go exactly as planned.  Today is Paul's birthday and we had plans to go eat at Carrabba's with Paula, my mom, Jon, Kristen and the four of us.  Both kids went back to school today.  Katherine slept great last night and did not cough once and was in a good mood when she woke up.  She hasn't had a temp in several days. Luke was coughing some but acted like he felt fine.

I got a call at work around 2 that Luke's teachers were afraid he was getting sick.  He woke up early from nap and was complaining of a sore throat and headache.  Thankfully my mom had taken a vacation day today so I called to see if she would go pick him up.  I have missed two days of work this week and Paul has missed one so it was a big help that she could get him.  When I went to get Katherine after work her teachers said she had been extremely fussy all afternoon and that is not like her.  I was also told that two babies in her room had the croup and that strep throat was going around Luke's room!  Yuck! 

Katherine was pitiful so I called the doctor about both kids.  They advised us to bring Luke in because he had all the cardinal signs of strep, great...So, Paul will be home with both kids tomorrow and is taking them to the doctor to see what we can do to help both of them get better!

Paul did go on and have dinner with his mom, Jon and Kristen and had a good time.  Mom brought Luke back home in time for supper and she stayed and helped me get all my Christmas cards addressed, stamped and stuffed.  Katherine slept most of  the time.  When Paul got home he opened presents before we put the kids to bed.

Miss Independent

Little Katherine has become quite independent recently.  She has started holding her bottle by herself and tonight she grabbed the breathing treatment mask from me!  We joke that she does not reach for toys much, but bottles, other people's hands and apparently plastic masks grab her attention!  We are still on the mend around here.  Luke went to school today, but Katherine and I stayed home again.  She is still not sleeping well and is coughing a lot.  Hopefully we will be over the crud soon!

The Crud.

Little K is on breathing treatments now, too

It did not seem to bother her at all

Luke helped her with her treatment

Well, Katherine officially has the crud.  We spent a good bit of our morning at the doctor office.  Katherine was not any better this morning so I am glad Paul had made an appointment.  Dr. Patterson looked her over really well and decided she had a cold/virus.  It is not in her chest yet so that was good.  She is on a decongestant and we can give her some of Luke's breathing treatments if she is coughing a lot.  Luke and I did one this afternoon.  I also gave her the decongestant when we got home and it seemed to help very quickly.  She ate better at her next feeding than she had been and did not seem as stuffy.  We can give that to her every 6 hours as needed.  She still only has a minimal temperature.  I will probably give her Tylenol before bedtime.  Dr. P also gave Luke a little mini exam.  She listened to his chest and looked in his ears and declared him "great".  We have continued to do routine breathing treatments with him in the hopes of staying clear of any major respiratory illness.  I felt like we got 2 for the price of 1 today. 

Besides the doctor visit we have had a good day.  Luke has been great even when I am having to tend to Katherine.  We all took long naps, ate a late lunch then made cookies.  Katherine has dozed off and on all day, but not as much as she seemed to yesterday.  Dr. P said she could go to school tomorrow if she seemed to feel better.  Since Wednesday is my normal day off and their is already someone scheduled to work for me I am going to stay home and keep Katherine out of school one more day.  Hopefully she will be back to herself by Thursday which is Paul's birthday and we have family dinner plans!

A Day with Daddy

She was a good sport and smiled between coughing spells

Luke likes to do his own breathing treatments now

Paul and the kids survived a day by themselves!  He said Luke was great.  Unfortunately Katherine is not feeling any better and slept most of the day.  Paul called the pediatrician's office and they want to see Katherine in the morning.  They said in a baby that young she needed to be checked out.  The office was closing early this afternoon due to weather.  Luke took a long nap which was nice for Paul.  He was able to get some things done and relax a little before he was up and going again!

I am going to stay home with the kids tomorrow.  Their school is opening two hours late but with Katherine's appointment in the morning it would be really late before I could get Luke there and we would just have to turn around and go get him so he is going to stay home, too.  Hopefully Katherine will sleep well tonight and feel better in the morning.

Snow!

One excited little boy!

The snow was so pretty

Cleaning out the swing

Well, the weatherman was right this time.  We did get snow!  It was snowing pretty heavily on our way home from church today, but we still stopped to eat at Subway.  By this afternoon we had enough to play in.  Paul and Luke went out to enjoy it while Katherine and I stayed in.  We noticed Katherine  has developed a pretty good cough since last night. She is not running a temperature, but is coughing and sneezing a lot.  Schools are closed tomorrow so Paul will be kid-duty while I go to work. 

We had a nice weekend.  Saturday was spent cleaning and doing some gift wrapping.  Bill and Paula came late that afternoon and insisted on keeping the kids while we ran out to get some shopping done.  Surprisingly the stores were not too crowded.  We were able to finish up a few things for the kids.  We came home to a nice bowl of beef stew and cornbread.  It was great to get out for a little bit and Bill and Paula loved spending time with the kids.  And, we were home in time to watch Cam Newton win the Heisman!  What a treat!

Excited for the weekend

There is not much better than a weekend in December with absolutely nothing planned and snow in the forecast!  We hope the weather man gets it right this time and we see some of the white stuff!

Luke's Singing Debut!

If you look really close you still can't see him!

Taking in the rest of the program

Nonna and Luke

Nonna and Nene were so excited!

Luke has been practicing for the Christmas program at his school for what seems like months.  He has been singing different Christmas songs at home that were so cute.  I have been anxiously awaiting his first "real" school program!  We invited the grandparents to come enjoy this special night.  I even had Nonna meet me at the house to help me get both kids ready and back to the school by 5:45 so we would not be late for this big event!  That was a feat in itself.  Luke did not want to go back to school and did not understand why we had to go back to his school to hear him sing. 

But, we made it!  Paul went to Gallatin to get Nene so she could join us.  We were all so excited to see Luke in action.  All the kids were led in by their teachers and sat in the choir loft.  But, where was Luke's class?!?!  We were not sure.  As the program started we heard a lot of bells jingling and turned to see Luke's two-year old class marching in ringing bells and singing Jingle Bells.  Oh...how cute!  They marched in, stood on the stage for no more than a minute then exited!  Really?!?!?  Was that it...all this hard work and preparation...having the grandparents come, Paul and I poised with video and digital camera ready to capture this momentous occasion...yep, that was it.  We all kind of looked at each other in surprise . Little did I know that I was supposed to retrieve Luke from the lobby as soon as they exited.  So, by the time I figured this out his teacher was halfway in the sanctuary bringing him to us.  He sat quietly and watched the rest of the program.

It was a cute program but I am looking forward to next year when he is actually an active participant! We ended the night by going to have Mexican which more than made up for it.  And Katherine....slept like an angel through the program, dinner and the ride home!

Dear Santa...

One night the TV was on and Luke saw the Macy's commercial where the kids are trying to mail their letters to Santa Claus in the big red mailbox.  Luke was very intrigued as to what they were doing.  I explained to him about how you write a letter to Santa Claus and tell him what you want for Christmas and mail it to him at the North Pole.  Well, he said he wanted to write his letter so we finally got around to it this week.  He is still pretty much sticking to his "I have plenty of toys" answer when you ask him what he wants Santa to bring him.  He did say he would like some "logs" (Lincoln Logs) and that is about all he will admit to.  He is still anxious for Santa to bring Katherine some toys but will not say what kind of toys she should get. 

Christmas Card....Take 25....

Testing the self timer

Our first poses...didn't like the sock feet

You could just feel the enthusiasm!

I should have taken Mom up on her offer to come play photographer for our Christmas card pictures.  But, I declined citing the self timer on the camera and Paul's ability to get just the right angle.  A few minutes in to the picture fiasco I was wishing Mom was there.  She could have snapped four pictures to our one.  After taking about 50 pictures I think we got one that will work.  Stay tuned!

Cooking with Nonna

Mashing the potatoes

After Luke and I made our candy we went to Mom's to eat.  She made a wonderful Sunday lunch -- country fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans and biscuits.  Of course, Luke had to be in on all the action.  He enjoyed mashing the potatoes and then eating them!  Katherine pretty much slept the whole time.  Paul joined us after he was finished at the tailgate and we watched the Titans get beat, again. 

Making Aunt Ellen Proud

My little helper

Proud of our final product

My great aunt Ellen was a whiz when it came to making Christmas candy and pretty much any kind of dessert.  "Real" food was another story.  Any time we had a family gathering Aunt Ellen would bring the sweets.  I would like to think she would have been proud of Luke and I today.  When the December issue of Southern Living came last month -- I read it from cover to cover, twice!  It was one of the best issues in a long time.  All the recipes sounded wonderful and I vowed to actually make some of the ones that caught my eye.  When Paul ran out to the grocery this weekend I wrote down all the ingredients for the chocolate peppermint bark. 

While Paul was working the ServPro tailgate at the Titans game this morning Luke and I did some cooking!  He was so excited to be helping me.  He helped me chop the candy canes, crush the cookies and break up the pretzels.  He loved stirring the melted chocolate, too.  The only bad thing is it has to sit for 6 hours before it can be broken in to pieces.  I know it is going to taste great and I think Aunt Ellen would have loved it!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Getting the tree tied down

A rosy cheeked Katherine with Nene

Decisions, decisions

Luke and Jon Jon being silly

Getting the ornaments on

Reading one of the boy's old Christmas books

This little fella was worn out

We spent the morning putting up the last of our Christmas decorations.  I decided if it was going to get done it was getting done today or it was going back to the basement!  This afternoon we met Bill and Paula to get their Christmas tree.  Jim had borrowed Bill's truck for the Franklin Christmas parade so we decided the tree could go on top of my vehicle.  I stayed in the car and gave Katherine a bottle while Paul, Luke, Bill and Paula picked the tree out.  We looked a little like the Griswolds driving back to Gallatin.  We were going about 30 miles an hour on Vietnam Vets which was driving me crazy!  Paul was afraid the tree was going to slide off because it was so windy.  We stopped once and he and Bill tied it down it a little better.

Jon and Kristen came later that afternoon and we all decorated the tree and watched the SEC championship game.  War Eagle!!!  Undefeated!  I had put some taco soup in the crock pot earlier in the day so we enjoyed that for supper.  We had a great time visiting with everyone.  Luke played so hard he fell asleep on the way home. It was so cold and windy he wore one of Bill's hats home!