I can feed her...

Luke is still so helpful when it comes to Katherine.  Tonight he really wanted to feed her supper.  We let him with just a little assistance from Paul.  He was so cute feeding her.  He would say things like, that's a good girl Katherine and good mouth Katherine.  Sometimes be was a little over zealous with how much he put on the spoon, but other than that he did great! 

Today was team jersey day at school.  I laid out all of Luke's different team shirts including the Titans, Vols and Auburn.  He probably has 6 shirts to choose from.  When I asked which one he wanted to wear he said they one with the bear on it.  I did not know what he was talking about but he said the blue and white one.  I remembered the Chicago Cubs shirt Bill had picked him up on a trip to the Windy City last year.  That is the one he wanted!  He loves that shirt!  Katherine wore her UT shirt she got from Santa Claus.  Bless her heart, it is almost too small and this was the first time she wore it!  She is getting so big!

We had to shut the kitchen at work down due to recent storm damage. It has all been a big mess.  So, I was tied up late at work tonight.  We had tentatively made plans to eat supper with Bill and Paula but I was worn out by them time I was driving home so we decided to just stay in.  

Mismatched

Since today was mismatched day at school I told Paul he could pick out the kids' outfits.  Some of the outfits he puts Katherine in are questionable anyway, haha!  Luke would not let me take his picture. I was just glad he wanted to participate in today's festivities. 

After supper we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and play outside. Luke still loves to play on his toy.  He has  a new trick that he loves to show off.  He will stand on the patio and run really fast to jump in the swing - belly down!  He is flying like a bird and gets the biggest kick out of it.  Katherine just enjoys watching him play and squeals with delight any time he wants to include her!

No Inside-Out for Me

Today was Inside/Out day at school but we could not get Luke to wear his clothes inside out.  We tried and tried this morning but he was not in to it which is fine.  I thought that his teachers might persuade him once he got to school but they were not successful either.  Luke still is not too excited to go to school in the mornings.  He is in with the 4-year old class for less than 15 minutes but he does not like going in there.  He also does not want to leave when I pick him up in the afternoons - especially if they are outside.  A lot of days his class is lining up to go outside when I get there and always asks why I have to pick him up now.  So frustrating -- he does not want to go in the mornings but then I have to drag him out in the afternoons.  I guess that is normal....

Another Monday

Today was the first Monday in 10 weeks that Paul was home with us!  It was fun getting back in a routine.  We are still dealing with Katherine's very persistent diaper rash.  I called the doctor Saturday and had they agreed to call in a prescription ointment.  It was $50 with our insurance!  This stuff better work!  They nurse advised me to call back if we do not see some improvement within 2-3 days.  It is looking some better I think.  It does not seem to bother her at all.  She doesn't cry or try to rub it so that makes it easier, but it does look awful.  A lady I work with suggested letting her soak in a baking soda bath so we did that. 

It is The Week of the Young Child so the kids' school is doing something everyday to celebrate.  Today was PJ day so both kids wore their jammies to school.  I was not able to get a picture, though.  Luke asked me when we were walking to his room if I thought his friends would like his pajamas.  Amazing that he is thinking about that already!

When I picked Luke up this afternoon the teacher asked Luke to tell me the three parts of Tennessee.  He replied East, West and Middle.  She then asked him what part we live in and he said the middle.  I had him do the same thing for Paul tonight.  So far he knows what state, region, city and county he lives in.  He also knows what towns are close to him and where Nonna, Nene and Pop, Andrew/ Mandi, Nanny, Jim/Claudia and Jon and Kristen live. Pretty impressive little guy!

Egg Hunt

Pre-hunt meal at Cracker Barrel

Katherine napped off and on while we enjoyed the festivities

This morning we planned to go to the egg hunt at Dollar General corporate.  We got up a little later than normal and decided we had time to meet Nonna for breakfast before the hunt started.  That was a good idea - the breakfast was great and we had plenty of time when we got to DG. They were taking pictures with the Easter Bunny again this year.  I really thought Luke was going to get his picture taken.  He even agreed to get in line.  Once the kids got their picture made they got to pick a special treat.  We were trying to entice him with that.  Paul and I told him we would get in the picture with he and Katherine.  When it was his turn he walked up to the rabbit but that was it.  He would not get close to him let alone get his picture taken!  Oh well!  He has not had his picture with the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus since he was old enough to say no.  Maybe Katherine will be different.

Luke was more interested in picking the eggs up one by one once the hunt started, then he wanted to see what was in each egg. He had no interest in getting as many as he could to win the prize. It was so funny.  After the hunt was over he played on the playground awhile.  Mom kept Katherine entertained while we enjoyed the hunt with Luke. 

When we got home we tried to get both kids to take a nap but it did not work.  Paul left pretty quickly to go meet Jon and Bill for lunch and the Vanderbilt baseball game.  While he was gone the kids and I went to Target to pick up some things and Luke took a nap when we got home. 

When Paul got home we decided to stay in the rest of the night.  It was a pretty fun day!

Silly Kids

Last night we had put Katherine in her bed while we were doing some things.  Luke was being silly playing around with one of his hats.  He wanted to get in the bed with Katherine and then he wanted  her to have a hat, too.  They really play well together.  He likes to play with her kitchen and tea set and he does not seem to mind if she plays with his trains as long as he gets to pick out the train that she plays with.  For the record he usually picks out a girl train since "Katherine is a girl"!

Paul had his PE exam all day today.  He did not get through until 5:30 and then it took him an hour to get home.  We were ready to go as soon as he got home. We grabbed a quick bite and then Luke wanted to go to Toys R Us.  Since we have not been in a while we went.  He actually never asked for anything he just enjoyed playing with the train tables they have set up.  Pretty cheap entertainment actually. While he and Paul played Katherine and I strolled around to see what we could find. Luckily there was nothing we could not live without.  We are excited about the laid back weekend.

First Supper of the Season

Katherine has been waving to us for a few weeks now!

We are especially excited about the warmer weather around here!  Since it was so nice we decided to eat supper on the porch.  We have not really gotten around to cleaning the porch up as you can see.  Paul made Luke a clubhouse out of the box our deep freezer came in.  He likes to get in there and play. It was so nice to relax and enjoy the great weather.

Trying Things Out

Paula picked up this sweet outfit for Katherine at a consignment shop.  We thought it would be cute to have it monogrammed.  I picked it up from the seamstress today and just had to try it on!  I remembered she had a white hat, so we tried it, too.  She looked so cute!  Definitely made me ready for our beach trip in just a few weeks!

Rough Weather and the Bitty Baby

Holding the baby's hand

Eating the baby's hand...

Middle Tennessee has had its fair share of rough weather the past several years.  I did not think much of the forecast for possible severe weather this afternoon.  When the operator came over the PA to announce a Code Yellow Stage Two at work my stomach started getting queasy.  Each time that happens it reminds me of the horrible tornado five years ago.  Everyone made their way to an interior hallway.  We were there for an hour.  The cell service was shoddy at best. I was able to find out the kids were in the safe place at school, mom was in the garage at her work and Paul was not experiencing bad weather in Nashville.  When it was all over I heard that the daycare had lost power and all the kids had to be picked up.  When I walked to my car I could not believe what I saw--huge trees uprooted everywhere!  A large tree had fallen on a house behind the hospital, signs were down on Main Street as well as Vietnam Veterans, and most of the traffic lights were out. Surprisingly it did not take me too long to get to the exit where the kid's school is.  The huge power poles had been snapped like toothpicks!  The police had the intersection blocked off but I was able to get to the church. The school was dark but all the classrooms have a wall of windows so there was plenty of light.  Luke never knew anything was out of the ordinary and K was happily playing when I got to her room. I was so relieved!

I was afraid we would have a lot of damage in our neighborhood or that the power would be out  but it wasn't. We escaped basically unharmed.  In the midst of all this I, along with K's teachers determined she had an extremely bad diaper rash with yeast.  I had called the doctor this morning to request Nystatin but they had been unable to call it in so they called it in late this afternoon to Publix.  Mom offered to pick it up so I wouldn't have to get the kids back out.  Publix did not have power so they had been unable to fill the prescription but they sent it to the Walgreen's across the street.  I put a pizza in the oven for supper and Mom joined us while Paul was in class.

I let Katherine go naked for awhile tonight to hopefully help her rash.  I decided to get her something new out to entertain her and Luke picked Bitty Baby.  Paula gave Bitty Baby to K for Christmas but she had not played with it yet.  She really seemed to like the baby. She would hug her and pat her. She also tried to eat her hand off!  While K and I were playing Mom and Luke were reading books. Mom stayed and helped get Luke ready for bed which was nice.  Tonight was Paul's last review class.  His test is Friday.  We are praying that he does well on it!

Me and My Daddy

Katherine just loves Paul!  She especially likes to grab his cap.  She was getting so tickled this afternoon playing with his cap.  She would try to take it off of him or pull it really far down on his head.  She would just laugh and laugh and then bury her head in Paul's chest.  It was precious!

Paul and I don't know what to think...we have had plans without the kids two nights in a row.  Tonight we went to the MacLeans to enjoy dinner with the Louws and Swindells.  We decided this would be an "adults-only" night.  We rarely get together without the kids.  It was wonderful!  We all did not know what to think.  There were no kids running around or diapers to change, no yelling "stop that or do this". We all just relaxed outside on the patio and enjoyed each others company.  I can not remember the last time I laughed that hard.  It was a much needed night.  Since we all have young kids we had lots to talk about and compared notes on different things.

The kids stayed at Bill and Paula's and had a blast.  I asked them how much Katherine cried and they said she had not made the first whimper!  She had been a perfectly happy baby all night.  What a relief.  I was afraid K might be fussy, but we are pretty sure she is much better.  She has not had a temperature all day and her appetite seems to be getting back to normal. 

Love These Saturdays

We  have a very busy weekend planned.  It started last night.  Paul had a work get-together to go to so the kids and I met Mom for supper.  It took forever but Luke and K did great.  This Hispanic lady stopped at our table and oohed and ahhed over the "Gerber Baby", then she saw Luke and said "ohhh...two Gerber babies...how blessed you are!"  Blessed...indeed!  We went to JoAnn's after supper to pick up some fabric.  I am having a couple outfits made for Katherine by the lady that made all of her bedding and drapes.

This morning started with Paul making us all a great breakfast.  Katherine slept in past 7:30 which is pretty unusual for her.  When she got up her eye was matted shut and her nose was running.  Since I knew there was something going around in her room and the fact she just got over the whopping ear infection I asked Paul to take her to the doctor this morning. I had to work and knew if she didn't go we would end up needing to take her somewhere Sunday when nothing is opened.  Paul took her to the walk in clinic at our pediatrician's office.  She said K's ears look great!  She said she never would have known she has had an ear infection because they were completely clear.  She advised us to stop the Zyrtec since it was not keeping her from having drainage.  We are going to try Allegra.  We are also starting Bactrim until we go back for her 9-month check up.  This is meant to be a preventative antibiotic with the hopes that her ears will stay clear!  The doc said Katherine just has a normal cold. Her chest is clear.  She has been running a very low-grade temp but that is normal.

After work I met Virginia for lunch at Mimi's. It had been awhile since we have gotten together so we enjoyed hanging out for awhile.  Paul and the kids went to Gallatin while I was at work, too.  We all got home around the same time.  We did some things around the house before Paul and I had to go to a dinner party in Gallatin for Jon and Kristen!  I can never find anything in my closet to wear and tonight was no exception.  After I finally decided on something and was ready to go I took Katherine from Mom to give her a bye-hug.  Well, she spit up all over me...I teared up..what in the world was I going to wear now!  I quickly changed in to jeans and salvaged the shirt I had on and just threw a cardigan over it.  I got many compliments on my ensemble and was not afraid to share my story or the fact my cardi was 3 years old from the J.Crew outlet!

We had a great time at the party.  There was a huge turnout which was so nice for J&K.  I had so much fun catching up with people we have not seen in awhile.  It was a great way to kick of the wedding festivities for the happy couple!  Mom and Ms. Wanda kept the kids and had a good time!  Mom was washing bottles when I got home which was so nice.  Washing bottles every other day gets very tiring...

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!