Nathan is 6 Months Old

Wow, time is really flying by here at the Allen house. Not only did we celebrate Braden turning 6 years old this week (8-15), but we also celebrated Nathan turning 6 months old as well (8-17). He is doing so many things! He is attempting to crawl, by this I mean he gets up on his hands and knees revvs a few times then shoots himself forward. This gets him to where he wants to go, so he is happy. the grabs at EVERYTHING including just a few small hairs on mommy's head, "ouch". He smiles constantly, coos, laughs, and loves watching his older brothers do anything and everything. He is eating like a bottomless pit as well. I am not looking forward to the teens years with all these boys. I am going to need a refridgerator for each of them.

Nathan and I went to the doctor on Wednesday for his 6 month check up and shots. He did very well duringthe shots! He cried, but as soon as he was in my arms and the nurse smiled at him he smiled back at her and was happy. What a flirt!. Dr. Roberts said he is growing very nicely and is healthy. He weighs 13 lbs 9.5 oz (< 5%) and he is 25 inches long (5-10%). She said not to worry about him being so small though. He is happy, healthy, and doing everything he should be doing. He is just a small little boy. I figure he is so small now that when all 3 boys are older Nathan will be the biggest one.

First Day of School

Well, after a long, hot Summer the school year has begun!! Yesterday we went over to the school to drop off school supplies and meet Braden's first grade teacher. It was a quick trip since we already knew her (hard not to since it is a small school and she subbed for his teacher last year while she was sick). Braden is 1 of 23 students in the class (first grade). This should be another fun, exciting year at St. Joseph School. I am so happy that we are able to give him a good education at a Catholic School here in Knoxville. I truly believe that he is getting a better education, more one on one time, and just overall a great experience here versus an area public school right now. I just hope we can keep this up once Logan and Nathan start school. Only time will tell, but we will enjoy it for now!

Happy 6th Birthday Braden!!!

Braden chose for his party this year to have a Bowling Party. We invited friends from school and cousins only. Man, if we would have invited everyone we knew, we would have had the entire place to ourselves. Braden and his friends had a wonderful time. Not only did the kids get to bowl, but they had arcade games to play, a prize drawing, & everyone got a glow necklace as well. Nay-Nay & I made Braden cookie cakes instead of just a cake. It went over very well. Nay-Nay even decorated one of them like a bowling lane. Too cool! Logan had fun too & he is still bowling with the plastic pins every day. Maybe we should just live in a bowling alley. I know the boys would be happy about that.

On Monday, his actual birthday, we had a quiet day at home. Nay-Nay came over for a bit & the boys enjoyed birthday cookie cake for breakfast. Braden was surpirsed by the UPS man bringing him a present from our cousins in Georgia too. That evening we went out to dinner with our friends Amanda & Scott Durham. Their daughter Gracie and Braden share the same birthday, but Gracie is a year younger. Everyone had an, well eventful time. I mean come on, 5 kids ranging in ages from 6 down to 6 months! Yeah, it was eventful!

A Few Randowm Pictures from Our Chicago Trip

Travis had some last minute things to finish up at the office before heading back to Knoxville on Tuesday , so the boys and I hung out in the hotel, packed things, up and just relaxed while watching some TV. Once Travis was bacl and we had loaded up the car we stopped off at my cousin Becky's house and enjoyed lunch together. It was nice getting to see her and the kids once more before heading out. Erin just loved Nathan to death and would not leave his side!

Some random photos I took from the trip are here as well. One is of the boys just chilling in their bed one morning watching cartoons, then I have one of Logan passed out on the couch while watching Despicable Me. He is usedto getting a nap during the day and that was hard to do in the hotel without his own room. Another is of them sleeping in the bed. I caught this one just before stepping out to grab breakfast from the hotel complimentary bar downstairs.

The Chicago Children's Museum and Our Last Night In Chicago

On Monday (July 25), our last full day in Chicago, Jennifer and I took all the kids to the Children's Museum in Navy Pier. The boys had a blast! There were so many different areas to play and explore. They had a water room where you could pump water, spray water, and lots more. They had a camping room, bug room, dinosaur room, Braden found an enlarged chess set, and so much more! After the museum we enjoyed lunch at one of the restaurants in Navy Pier and then watching the water spouts in the atrium while we waited for the dads to meet us after work. Travis and Bryant were so nice, they decided that Jennifer and I needed some time away from the kids, so they took the kids back to the Children's Museum while we had girl time. We walked back to the hotel, had a glass of wine, and then hit Michigan Avenue for shopping. We browsed around for a few hours, but didn't find anything worth purchasing. Although we did find a Disney Store and ended up getting skateboards for the older boys and Phineas and Ferb plush dolls for the other kids. Figures! We get time away from the kids for ourselves and what do we do? We buy things for the kids!

Before heading out to dinner we enjoyed the Manager's Recetpion in the hotel lobby. They had free drinks and snacks for all the hotel guests. Logan must have had too much fun at the museum that afternoon, becasue while sitting in Travis' lap he just passed out. Once he woke up (he took a 10-15 minute power nap) the 9 of us headed out to dinner again in the city. We walked down Michigan Avenue, again, to the John Hancock building where at the bottom we found The Cheesecake Factory. We had another nice dinner with drinks, and yummy dessert that we took back to the hotel to enjoy.

Some Chicago Sites

On our way back into the city we were able to get some nice views of the Chicago skyline, Soldier Field, Lake Michigan, and Navy Pier. We did not make it to Buckingham Fountain and it was on the opposite side of the road when we were heading back to the hotel. Next time!

Travis wasn't the only one from Scripps to be in Chiacgo doing some work at the office. His co-worker Bryant was up there with us as well and he brought his wife, Jennifer, and their 2 kids, TJ and Macie. The 9 of us went to dinner that night at Lawry's Stake House. It was yummy! Travis and I split dinner and then I just enjoyed dessert on my own. I had a chocolate bag : hollow chocolate bag filled with berries and cream, and an adult rootbeer float : vanilla ice cream, rootbear, and vanila liquor. YUM!

The McCarthy Side Of The Family

On Sunday we traveled 45 minutes outside of the city of Chicago to visit with some of my Aunts and Uncles on my dad's side of the family. We met up at my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Carol's house to see them, their 2 dogs Copper (13 years) and Kona (3 years), and my Uncle Bill and Aunt Jary. It was another wonderful visit with family. Aunt Jary had brought some toys for the boys to play with that she keeps at her house for her grandaughter. Logan really enjoyed playing with the McDonald's ice cream station. Copper and Kona liked it as well sice they kept stealing the ice cream and the cones.

Logan befriended Copper and they stayed side by side a good part of the visit, until Kona stole a few chips from Logan and decided to just plop down on the couch beside him. Nathan again was passed from Aunt to Aunt, but he loved every second of the extra attention. Braden and Logan aslo took quickly to my Uncles Bill and Kevin. I was very surpirsed with both families how easily he adaptoed to them. He is usually so shy and he was not that way with them. I guess he could tell they were "ok".

We did have a little mischievious puppy on our hands with Kona. Not only did he steal chips from Logan, toys from the ice cream toy, and boxes from the supermarket toy, but he also deicded to run off with the minivan. It was kind of funny watching him walk around the house with this purple minivan in his mouth. Oh, well, no harm done.

The Gaz Side Of The Family

Saturday evening Travis, the boys, and I met back at my cousin Becky's house for dinner with the family. By "the family" I am not just talking about Becky, her 3 kids, and her husband Dan, but my Aunt Cindy, Uncle Buddy (mom's brother), and cousins Mary and Angala as well. My cousin Dan couldn't be there with us since he lives all the way in Minnesota (we will see him soon, for his wedding in May). We had a lovely visit catching everyone up on all the stuff going on with us back home in Tennessee. Braden and Logan enjoyed playing with their cousins for another evening and Nathan was just passed back and forth from relative to relative, and loving all of the attention. My cousin Becky even took him outside for a little mini photo shoot. I cannot wait to see the pictures! Braden also made his way down to the basement to challenge my cousin Mary in a game of Scrabble. He won! I think we all had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and enjoying real Chicago pizza! It was so good to see all of them again!

Chicago (Part 3)

Friday night in Chicago was a fun and adventurous night. Travis had to work all day and very late into the night, so I was on my own with the 3 boys. My cousin Becky and her husband Dan decided to take the boys and I on a tour of downtown and see some sites. We started the evening with showing off our hotel room. The kids had a blast looking out our huge window and getting a view of the city.

Once we had everyone packed up into their strollers we were off. We headed toward Michigan Ave. to check out the statue of Marilyn Monroe. I think she stands around 28 feet high. She is only in Chicago for a year, so I am really glad that we had the opportunity to check her out. After our visit with Marilyn we headed off to Millenium Park. Here they have some fun things for the kids to do. They had a water area that the kids were able to run around and burn up some energy. The boys loved it! After the water we saw The Bean! This was the highlight of Logan's trip. He had seen a pictire of The Bean on the internet when I was checking out the hotel and what was around. Once we told him we were in Chicago all he wanted to do was "see the Bean". He was trilled to see it and he even got to touch The Bean.

After all the excitement we headed off to dinner at The Corner Bakery. Yes, 3 adults and 6 children had dinner in a restaurant. It was acutally nice and peaceful. I think all the kids were worn out and hungry from running around, so they were too tired to be rowdy at dinner. We had a blast that evening.

Once we said good-bye to Becky, Dan, and the kids it was just the boys and I for the night, because Travis was still working. I was a little dissapointed, but that's why we were there, for him to get some work done. It just happened to storm that night, badly. This was the night that Chicago just happened to have the most rain (7 inches) in one storm that it has had in a long time. I was worried that the storm would wake the boys, or one of them, but I guess everyone was so worn out from the past 2 days of the trip that they slept right through.

I was so tired that I forgot that Travis was not there and left the door completely locked that he could not get into the room when he returned early in the morning. I did not realize anything until the next morning when he was not in the room and I finally had to text him to see where he was. He had bunked with the other guy from Scripps that was here working as well. They had worked late into the night (early morning) and were drenched from the rain. Poor Travis, he was soaking wet and could not get into his hotel room, so he had to sleep on the cough in the other guys room until I woke up and realized what was going on. Sorry!

The Allen Family Takes Chicago (Part 2)

While visiting the lovely city of Chicago we not only saw some of the sites, but we took this opportunity to see family too. The first morning in Chicago, at my cousin's house, Nathan and I were up at the crack of dawn. My cousin Becky was already up and getting ready for the day and so was her oldest, Sean. Sean and Nathan took this opportunity to get to know one another while the other 4 kids were still sleeping.

Later that morning, after everyone had breakfast and showers we headed off to the hotel to get settled in and Travis had to get to work. Our hotel was pretty cool (Embassy Suites on the lakefront). We had a nice view of downtown Chicago from our 13th floor window. There was a pretty cool clock on the ground that we are guessing the hands broke off or it just worked another way, but it was still pretty cool to see. Braden really wanted to ride one of the double decker tour buses, but time got away from us and we did not get to ride one.