Catching Up - Part 2

So I left off in the middle of Summer, 2011, but I'm going to back up just a little ...

11 months old

11 months old

12 months old

Luke, 6 and Lucy, 1

From Joy's wedding - June, 2011

From a weekend visiting Joy & Will in NC  (took more than 300 pics that weekend, so I will save this for a post all on its own)

Halloween, 2011 - my little giraffe

Brother helping her with her breathing treatments.

Christmas, 2011

Enjoying Little Debbies in the backyard  :)

April, 2012

And now you are caught up.  I'll fill in some of the gaps as we go along.Stay tuned for an entire post about Easter, 2012.  I'll try not to get so far behind again!  :)



Catching Up!

I apologize.  I've been a slacker.  I'm going to blame that second kid.  Suddenly life gets much more complicated when there is more than one munchkin to look after.  I would love to catch you up on everything that has happened, but that would take forever.  Looks like I left off where Lucy was born.  Fast forward to today, she is a fat and happy baby.  To look at her, you would never know she was a preemie.  Sure, she's small for her age...  (she wears 12 months outfits, even though she'll be celebrating her 2nd birthday next month)... but she's got a huge Buddha belly and chunky little thighs, so she's doing just fine.  Here are some pictures of her since birth ...

5 days old..  1lb 9oz

the NICU became our home for 4-1/2 months

so tiny ...

Luke wasn't allowed to come into the NICU, so he had to watch from the window ....

She's finally home ... heart monitor, feeding tube and all!

Such a good brother!

Her first Halloween!  (5 months old)

Such a sweetie.

7 months old

Even at 8 months, she still has the feeding tube, even though we'd stopped using it long before.

9 months old

1st birthday!  (I have over 100 photos from this day alone ... yeah, I'm more than a little behind)!!

Easter, 2011 (also took more than 100 pics this day too... maybe that's a post for another day...)

It's so hard to get a perfect picture from both of them

At Joy's wedding June, 2011 (took over 300 pictures this weekend, so maybe I'll post those another day)

She's a good hiker ....  (slept most of the 11 miles)!

14 months old

I think this is a good place to stop for now ....  Yeah, I'm going to leave you hanging.  :)  Don't worry, it only gets better from here!  And I promise to be a better blogger from here on out.

Where did 2010 go??

I apologize for slacking on the Blog. So much has happened in 2010. Here's a quick recap: I found out I was pregnant on January 5th. On April 2nd, I ended up in the emergency room with complications. On May 29th, Lucy was born at 24 weeks. We spent 4-1/2 months in the NICU. Luke started kindergarten in August. After Lucy's surgery on Oct 1, she was able to come home on Oct 14th. Now here we are one month later, and it's a week before Thanksgiving. And so I ask you - where has the year gone??

When I look back now, I wonder how it went by so quickly. Of course, at the time, 4-1/2 months of driving back and forth to the hospital felt like an eternity. It's certainly been the hardest year of my life! The difficult pregnancy and subsequent premature baby came all too quickly on the heels of my dad's death. Yes, I've been through a lot in the last year! But I honestly believe it's made me a stronger person because of it!

Since I am so far behind on the Blog, I wanted to catch you up on what's been going on this year.

January, 2010

It snowed!! Luke absolutely loves the snow!

For a class project, he made some haystacks!

And after buying new red couches, we repainted the den.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

March, 2010

We took Luke to Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg! I love that place. The shark tunnel is my favorite!

I must have been about 14 weeks pregnant here.

Love the sharks!

Easter basket! We had just seen "How To Train Your Dragon" at the movies.

Looking for eggs at the park!

School recital. The last one at Westlake. :(

Luke and his best friend, Alexander.

April, 2010

Starting last Fall, Luke took Music lessons through Let's Play Music. Ms Becca is such a fun teacher.

Here he is singing his songs.

Second year, we learn how to play the piano!!

Luke and Ms Becca

Just chillin'

Hugging Aunt Joy's dog, Amber.

May, 2010

Helping Daddy and Grampa work on Grampa's old BMW.

In May, we took a trip to Cades Cove, one of our favorite places!

This particular trip, we saw 5 bears!!!

There were 2 back in this brush.

And 3 up in this tree!!!

Love it!

Having a picnic.

And after we visit the Cove, we always have to stop at the Master Burger for ice cream!!

In May, Luke took swimming lessons at Adventure Swim.

There he is jumping in for Mr. Ed.

The beginner lessons went really well. It's just too bad that we never got a chance to go to the pool all summer to test out those lessons! Oh well. There's always next year.

Preschool Graduation. I can't believe my baby boy graduated from preschool and started Kindergarten this year!

Look at him in his cap and gown! Isn't that adorable!

There he is on stage getting his "diploma."

So proud.

And that's our most favorite teacher ever - Ms Polly! She was the best!

With May comes the Market Square Farmer's Market. We headed down there on Saturday mornings. Here he is with some art in Krutch Park.

If you're on Market Square, you can't pass up a stop at Rita's Italian Ice!!! YUM!

The weekend before Lucy was born, we went to the Fruit and Berry Patch in Halls to pick strawberries! I suspect my water actually broke this day, though I don't know for sure.

So fun!

Look at that bucket full!

Luke talking to the goats.

And then on May 29th, Lucy Grace Tanner was born weighing only 1 pound 9 ounces. She was 12.9 inches long.

And that concludes the first 5 months of the year. Stay tuned for the next 5. I will continue to update the Blog on a more regular basis. Thanks for reading!