Cooped up too long!

After 5 weeks of insane sickness, we're all on meltdown right now. Last night it started boiling to the point of no return. Bethany's smart mouthing everyone thinking she can get away with whatever she wants. Hope is off in lala-land and not listening to anyone. Roman is an emotional mess crying at the drop of a hat. Even little Katy is cranky, along with mommy and daddy too. We've been cooped up together for far too long with no escape. Soooooooooooo as James and I are about to hit our breaking point we decide, it's time to get out! So off to ChuckE Cheese we went! The kids know how much we despise the place, and never in a million years dreamed we'd take them without a lot of begging on a random Monday night, but we couldn't think of a more theraputic outlet for us all. It was a great time. The kids played and played. We all needed the change of scenery, and by the time we got home we were all ready to drop!

Soccer Soccer Soccer

Wednesday nights and most all day Saturdays the Trettels can be found out on the soccer field! Roman is playing in U10's this year and there is truly no living with that boy as he has earned himself the position of forward. Roman has ALWAYS been a dominate defensive player with great ambitions of being a scorer, but never quite fast enough to keep up with the natural forwards. He has an amazing foot and could send the ball the width of a full size soccer field by the time he was 6, so naturally every coach has played him back. Coach Bill sees something different in him and is using that foot to get the ball in the goal! His first game this past weekend landed him 1 assist.... though we're not 100% sure if it was actually his assist or his goal with his team mates assist! Here's the play, you decide..... the ball is passed to Roman with him in clear line of the goal. He goes for the kick to take the goal as his teammate rushes to the net signaling he is there to accept a pass. Too late, the ball goes soaring, hits his teammate in the head and bounces into the goal! Regardless of assist or goal, Roman was on cloud 9! His team won 6-1. It could have gone a lot higher, but at half time with a 5-0 win his coach asked them to back off the goal and practice their plays and passing instead to give the other team a chance.... they were very obviously the dominate team. We discussed a lot about that call on the way home. Yes they could have run up the score, but why?? His coach is awesome, we are thrilled with him. He is fair, loves the game, and instills that love in his boys.

Hope too is playing this year in the U8 division. James is coaching her team. There's a lot of individual talent on the team, but we got our work cut out for us getting them to act like a team! They lost their first game, but in the 3rd quarter James paired Hope up with the other little girl, Haley, on the team as forwards. Now I'll admit a gawked a bit at the sight. Haley is a good soccer player, when she stays focused. She easily bores or gives up mid stream. And Hope, well, she's our Hopey Hope, but God love her she is just not the most athletic one in the family. Still those 2 together were great! That was the most soccer I've seen Hope truly play ever!

A funny story about Hope this season..... on her first practice James had them all practicing goal kicks with each player taking turns as goalie. So Hope's the goalie and the first kid comes up to take a kick and she stands there as the ball rolls in not 2 feet away from her watching all the way into the net, then she begins clapping her hands and jumping up and down cheering him on. "Yeah, woohoo! Way to go! That was a great kick!" .... ummm, Hope.... let's discuss the job of the goalie again! LOL

And this year we add Miss B to the game! Bethany met her coach finally on Saturday morning just minutes before her first game. As crazy as that sounds, she and her team did fantastic! They kicked some butt on the field and had a blast. This age group is just too cute for words!

Katy-bug Update

It has been up and down for Miss Bug, but as of yesterday at exactly 3 months and 4 days Katy weighed in at 9lbs 1oz! That was up from her 8lbs 6oz weigh in 2 weeks earlier..... 11 oz in 13 days. We'll take it!!! That means that she has been growing within normal range for her age for 3 weeks straight. Go Katy!!!! She is still well below the growth curve for babies her age, but at least she has a curve now and not just a slightly sloping straight line. She is smiling like crazy, cooing, and has rolled over a few times now. In fact she did so for the doctor yesterday rolling from front to back and freaking her out a bit as she hadn't had a hand on at the time, and fortunately Katy at least rolled towards the wall and not off the table. LOL I don't think Dr. Grossberg will underestimate the bug again! She may be small, but she is mighty!!!

On the mend!

Well it's been almost a month to the day since I last updated. Since them we've battled 2 more stomach viruses, one of them lasting 19 days, and a round of influenza strain A. It's been a FUN month in the Trettel house!!!!!

Fortunately Miss Bug did not come down with anything more than a slight cold and a couple cranky days!

As of right this second **knock on wood** we are all healthy at the same time!!!!

Evil Karma?? I think so!

So we have been sick and battling some sorta stomach bug/flu thing that's going around. It's been a good solid week now with ups and downs. Every time we think we're all better someone throws up again!

Bethany is notorious for not sleeping in her bed and often sneaks in with Roman, Hope, or even us in the wee hours of morning. So Tuesday night she starts off in her bed and ends up in hours. Meanwhile Roman wakes up in his bed covered in PUKE! He swears he didn't do it and B eventually confesses that she had snuck in his room, got sick, cleaned herself up and came to bed with us. She didn't want to wake him. Ewwwwwwww!

Hope and Bethany share a room and have a single over double bunk. Hope is on top and Bethany on the bottom in the bigger bed that is wider than the top bunk. So Wednesday everyone goes to sleep in their own beds and Hope wakes up feeling sick but can't get out of bed fast enough from her top bunk, so she leans over the side of the bed and pukes.... straight down on a sleeping B below!

Roman meanwhile is sleeping in the nursery on the guest bed as his bed is airing out from B's puke-fest the night before, so James cleans up the girls and sends Hope to bed with him and B to bed with us since both their beds are now puked on. Around 5am the scream came.... Roman threw up in bed!

So, Bethany pukes on Roman, Hope pukes on Bethany, and Roman pukes on Hope. Is that evil karma or what?!? Of course little Katy is not to be left out of this fun. She just pukes on EVERYONE!

Treeing Walker Coonhounds

On April 1st our crazy psychotic hound turns 2. We adopted Trooper in June of 2007. He was just a little guy at the time. We were told his mom was some sort of small hound and father unknown but that by all appearances he looked very much like a purebred beagle. GREAT! That's exactly what we wanted. Fast forward a year and it was clear that Trooper was a very LARGE beagle. LOL Fast forward to modern day and James is watching a Nascar special in which Elliott Sadler is discussing his dogs, all 26 of which are walker coonhounds, and lo and behold, there's Trooper on the screen. He asked me to do some research on them and this is what we found per Wikipedia and backed up by numerous other online sites:

Appearance


Walker hounds stand between 20 and 28 inches at the withers, weighing between 50 and 70 pounds and their markings are bicolor or tricolor with smooth short haired coats. (Trooper is tricolor and towards the small end of this scale for both height and weight) They are extremely powerful, especially throughout the shoulder region, and have large ears compared to head size. Their legs are straight and lean, not well muscled. Some people have mistaken them as being very large beagles.

Temperament

Treeing Walker Coonhounds are great with children and get along well with other dogs. (Yup, that's Trooper) They love to nest and cuddle. Getting a walker hound out of your bed,off your couch or away from your fireplace will be a feat in itself. (Most definitely!) They love to sleep after a long day and are the perfect dogs for watching television. Generally easy to train with little trouble, (yes, he learns quickly when worked with regularly, but he's still quite irony too) they make excellent pets if well exercised. <--- if well exercised!!! This is a key that unlocks a LOT about our boy!

Training must be consistent as Walker hounds are extremely intelligent and will take full advantage of loopholes in the training regimen. These hounds have been known to use objects as levers/tools and often manipulate their environment to accomplish a task (e.g., moving furniture to climb over gates, using household objects to manipulate kennel mechanisms, etc.). They love to carry plastic soda bottles. (I don't know about the soda bottles, but the rest of this is right on! Trooper is like a canine houdini, and very manipulative. He has busted out of his crate, twice now!)


Because they are eager to please, loving, intelligent and confident, they make a splendid companion dog for an owner willing to give them proper exercise. Because this breed requires intense exercise to match its energy levels, this breed can not settle for mere walks in the neighborhood, <--- Again back to that excercise stuff!


Most Walker hounds are capable of scaling fences in excess of 6 feet so a proper yard system whether fence or electric fence is a must. (People think we're insane we tell them we can't let Trooper out back by himself or he'll climb over the fence and excape! And he's manipulated the electric fence too, so with a fully fenced backyard and a full parameter electric fence he STILL can't be trusted on his own for too long as he just seeks out trouble!) They bury bones and dig if they are on scent. In general, they are oblivious to commands when trailing a scent, (leash training has been a great task and a very looooooooooong process that we're still working on because of this) much like a beagle or basset hound so it is imperative for a walker hound to have serious training and a safe running area free of cars or other potential dangers. They have strong tracking instincts, which is why they are popular as hunting dogs. They can be quite adept at catching small varmints such as squirrels, roof rats, opossums, and skunks. They are also known for their ability to tree raccoons, bobcats, cougars and bears when hunting in packs of two or more.

I don't have a great pic of Trooper on this computer, but here is one with the kids from Christmas 2007 and I'll try to update with a more current one later:




And here are a few pics of a Treeing Walker Coonhound found on this site:





For those of you that know Trooper, the pic above and below this are NOT him, just random pics of other Walker hounds. The one above looks nearly identical to Trooper and I'll try to capture a similar pose of him to post up later. This next one looks very much like Trooper in the face....

Coach Trettel

This spring all 3 of the big kids are playing soccer. This will be Roman's 8th season, Hope's 4th, and Bethany's 1st. We have been out of soccer for 2 years now due to fall football and last year Roman's insistance on trying baseball. I am really excited to be back to soccer though and I know the kids are going to enjoy the new league we finally decided on.

So, with this being a new league and all James asked if I minded if he volunteered to assistant coach and if he did would I agree to being team mom for his team. I said sure, so he went online to fill out the paperwork only to find them asking for his social security # which he refuses to give out ever! So with that in mind he x'd out and we had sorta decided we'd just step back and just relax and check out the new league this year instead of diving in head first as we have a tendancy to do.

With that said, you can imagine my shock when I receive an email today to "Coach Trettel" consisting of his U8 Roster for this spring! LOL Apparently he got far enough along in the application portion that he was tagged and they are in need of coaches at Hopey's level! Not assitant coach as we had originally discussed, but head coach. Soooooooooo, SPLASH! Head first into a whole new league and all new rules once again. It's been 2 1/2 years since he last coached soccer. Wish us luck!!!

Katy's 2 Month Update

Yesterday we had Kathryn in to see Dr. Grossberg for her 2 month well baby checkup and weight check. She only weighed in at 7 lbs even, up a mere 4 oz in 3 weeks and just 1 lb above her birth weight 9 weeks ago. Doc wasn't pleased and I'll admit I was a bit surprised, but more just disappointed. She did grow 2 inches in the last month and 2cm in head circumferance too. She is meeting all her milestones and doing fantastic except in the weight department. Still, she was officially marked "Failure to Thrive". That isn't a title any mom wants to hear! Dr. Grossberg still believes it's a supply issue on my part and inefficient nursing on hers. I asked if she felt we should give up nursing and switch her to formula and she said NO. She's not ready to give up on us just yet, especially with her progressing wonderfully in other areas.

Katy is very alert and active. She sleeps through the night already. She can hold her head up well, and nearly rolled over at the doc office for one of the nurses who was quite surprised to see this tiny creature twisting and turning all over of the table. Her head circumferance is only at 5% and her height at a small 11%, so overall Katy is just SMALL. In otherwords, although she's been labeled "failure to thrive" she is still thriving overall, we just need her to start gaining weight.

This week's plan of action.... lots and lots of pumping (Ick! Mooooooooooo!). She'll be getting almost all expressed breast milk (EBM) that we are fortifying to increase her caloric intake. Breast milk on average is 20 calories per oz. We are fortifying it just enough to bring that up to 24 calories per oz. This will help to get weight on faster. We are logging her eating habits, and although the doc says it's not necessary, I have started logging mine. I'm finding that when I'm at work especially that I get busy and often forget to eat or drink throughout the day. When I'm at home I tend to snack a lot all day and drink water constantly. So, if nothing else, this is keeping me accountable for proper nutrition and hydration on my part.

So far today I have managed to pump 2 oz over what she has actually eaten, which is great cause I've been pumping less than she requires and we've depleted my freezer stash already. Maybe all that Fenugreek is finally kicking in??

Although we are obviously concerned that Katy is not gaining, we are thankful that she is otherwise very healthy and happy. Just the sweetest little baby girl ever!

Next checkup is in 1 week for another weight check: Monday, March 2nd at 10:15. Let's pray our plan of action for the week puts some meat on her bone!


..... James just called, Katy is on poop #2 for the day! (she's only been pooping once every 3-8 days since birth!)

It Takes a Village....

The old saying goes "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child". In our case it would seem it takes a church to raise a child. Trinity Church of the Nazarene has not welcomed a new baby in quite sometime. Never could we have imagined how excited they would be to welcome our baby girl with open arms. And I do mean open arms! LOL

James and I both play in the church band. (no snickering please... I can at least fake a half way decent bass!) So that ties us up on stage for the first half of every service. Although there are 2 toddlers and one other little baby born just a few days after Katy, that occasionally attend services, she is the only regular baby/toddler in the church right now. So, needless to say, there is not really a nursery for her to stay during the service. They're working on getting one up and running but for now, my good friend Miranda or her wonderful mother, Mary, will snuggle with Katy while we're on stage. Or she just gets passed around as EVERYONE always wants to hold a Katy-bug, and never need I worry about finding someone to hold her for the first half of service. Jim, our sound tech, is about to become a first time grandfather and is getting lots of practice in as he now shows up on Sunday earlier than ever to ensure he gets her first thing while we practice. Two Sunday's ago Jan, another lady in the church, asked to hold her for services, and now I am attacked at the door to see who gets to hold her this week! LOL So although it shouldn't be a complete surprise, I still almost peed my pants laughing when my mom came to church this past Sunday and Ms. Betty.... this tiny little old sweetheart of a woman... approached mom and informed her that they take turns holding the baby each week and this week was HER week, then scooped Miss Katy right on up and went to sit down. LOL

It takes a village to raise a child, and Kathryn is so fortunate to have her very own "village"!

Report Cards are in, drum roll please ***********

Hope Elizabeth brought home straight E's!!!!!!!!!!! Roman not only made A/B honor roll, but was only ONE B away from straight A's!!!!!!!!!!!! We celebrated at Kabuko's. It was the kids first Japanese Steakhouse experience and they had a ball. Bethany was thrilled with the onion volcano and wowed by the fire. Roman couldn't get enough of the food, especially his shrimp, and dad's steak, and my chicken, and any other meats thrown his way. And Hope was in awe of the decor and took back a whole list of "must haves" from Japan for Aunt Kari and Uncle Jay. And James and I couldn't keep from grinning at our 4 wonderful kids whom we couldn't be prouder of!

Keep up the good work Roman and Hope!!!

A moment to remember....

So, most people know I'm not the most modest of people, especially when it comes to birthing and nursing. But even I got a little tickled over the craziness of this moment today...... Kathryn has not been latching on right and therefore hasn't really nursed yet in her first 24 hours of life. We're really struggling. All day I've been waiting for the lactaction consultant to stop by. And all day I've been waiting for the bezillion of people that said they wanted to come and visit to show up. So of course, Here comes Debbe and Josh just as Alicia calls to confirm what room I'm in. And it's time to try and nurse again, so James and Josh head downstairs to get a snack in the cafeteria and in walks Miranda with Josiah, Evangelina, and Jordan in tow, followed immediately by the lactation consultant. While normally I would have asked her to come back later, instead I apologized to my guests and had her stay to assist as Kathryn still wasn't latching on. As she is busy poking and prodding and trying to jam my boob into baby's mouth, in walks the nurse who is roped into assisting the LC. While they are busy jabbing and pulling and playing with me and baby in walks Dr. Noffsinger, one of our pediatricians to exam the baby. He's roped into helping as well... so imagine, I'm laying in bed while not 1, but THREE people are grabbing my boob and my baby trying to get her to latch on all the while my wonderful friends are sitting there watching. LOL I felt sorry for them, but in the end we discovered Katy-but is not tongue-tied, she is pushing out with her tongue and is therefore basically clueless! We started her on a binky to encourage proper suction. I'm doing everything else right, just keep it up and she'll catch up eventually! What a moment to remember though!

Welcome Kathryn Ann Trettel

On December 19th, 2008, as Roman celebrated his 9th birthday we also welcomed into the world Kathryn Ann Trettel. She weighed 6 lbs even and was 19.75 inches long. She has brown hair and big blue eyes. Bethany didn't handle it quite as well as we'd hoped. On the evening of the 18th I was checked in and cervadil was started. The moms brought the kids over to say good night and Bethany asked then if the baby had to come home. "Can't they keep her here??" That was the start of a bit of a rough patch, but I'm sure she'll come around. It was apretty easy labor and delivery. The cervadil was in place for 12hours. They broke my water the next morning around 7:30 am and started the pitocin drip around 8. The epidural finally arrived around 11am as apparently EVERYONE wanted one that morning so took the anestesiologist awhile to actually get to me. Doc came in and checked around 11:30 and I was 6 cm and -2 station. She left to go back to the office (adjoining the hospital) and 2 contractions later I was announcing I either really had to poo or this kid was coming. Went from 6-10 cm in less than 5 minutes! Then it took another 10 to track down doc and get her back over. She basically walked back to her office had a message waiting and ran back to L&D! By the time she got in and everything got prepped... while waiting on doc the nurses wouldn't touch me or let me move, "Don't even breathe if need be!" knowing baby girl would basically fall out at any second. LOL I even asked at one point why they couldn't just catch and they admitted it was far too much paperwork! LOL Finally got everything prepped and me in position and of course there's no contraction to push on... wouldn't that figure?? LOL Two minutes later out she popped with one good push. So far she's a really good baby. She's been wide eyed and cooing at everyone since the second she was born. The kids came by later last night and got to meet her for the first time. We had a big celebration/birthday party as we wished Roman a happy 9th birthday and welcomed Kathryn to the world. Cake, pizza, the works, it was crazy!!! Mom, Barbara, Kari, Kermit, Abby, Megan, Emma, Miranda, Josiah, Evangelina, Jordan and the 6 of us were all there to celebrate. It was madness, but hey, the kid might as well get a crash course now in what life is like in the Trettel clan!

I have 3 stitches from her quick exit and some "road rash" as doc calls it, but overall I feel great, and Kathryn is just perfect! The big kids have a fun few days planned with the Jones's while mommy and daddy enjoy the quiet and bond with our new baby girl.

No Cowboy Fans Allowed!

In our house everyone picks and chooses their own team. We don't have a "family" team in any sport and usually everyone roots for someone different. For example, Roman is a Jeff Gordon, Ravens, Marlins fan while James is a Kevin Harvick, Steelers, Orioles fan. Hope roots for Junior and loves the Redskins, while Bethany is all about those "Rothlisbergers"! So this weekend Hope comes across her old Redskins cheerleader costume and talks about how Catherine/Kathryn will wear it someday. Bethany comments that perhaps she'll be a "Rotherlisberger" fan instead. I casually mention that she may not like either.... "Maybe she'll be a Cowboys fan!"

Hope - "C-c-cowboys??" "Maybe I could just train her from birth and make her a Redskins fan."

Bethany - "Yeah, if she's gonna be a Cowboys fan, maybe we could just give her back!"

Happy Birthday B & Happy Halloween!!!

Just wanted to wish my FIVE year old a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. And a Happy Halloween to everyone else. I will be trick or treating tonight with Captain Rex of the Storm Troopers, Gabriella from High School Musical, and a very special little BEE!

Build-A-Bear Workshop

Today we celebrated Bethany's 5th birthday at Build-a-Bear Workshop. Our leader, Darbi, was fantastic. Bethany had a blast! She was joined by Roman, Hope, Abby, Megan, Emma, Abby C, Sam, Rebecca, Elijah, Makayla, and Austin. BAB was doing a Toys for Tots drive, so each child got to build a bear to donate and one to take home. They had a treasure hunt, stuffed their bears, did the heart thing - Bethany's got a birthday wish heart from each person, that's a LOT of hearts! We then headed over to Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro for ice cream sundays, cheesecake, and of course baby plates and Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker drinks - B's favorite! All in all it was a great day and we have one super happy birthday B!

No living with him now!

Roman was on fire at this weekend's football game, as was his whole team. They won by 2 touchdowns. Roman played a fair amount today and of course... it's all because of HIM. LOL He bragged to his coaches after the game on what the season would have been like if hadn't been injured. Yup, definitely no living with him now!

It wasn't a completely perfect day though. During the Junior game, Roman and Eric got into a fight and Roman got caught off guard and fell and hit his head really hard. He went hysterical and confused and for a moment we thought we were headed back to the ER with a concussion, but in the end he was just THAT hysterical. We've had no problems with Eric this season, but last year he and Roman got into it a couple of times on the field leaving small scars on both of them. They get to playing too rough and it just gets out of control and turns ugly in the blink of an eye. Fortunately it's the last game and Eric does not attend Roman's school, so we won't have to deal with him again till next year.

We calmed him down with an unexpected visit to the Gendron's. Thank you Tracey!!! That Elijah time was just what my boy needed!

How did that happen???

Today I had my appointment with Dr. Stone and a growth scan to make sure Catherine/Kathryn is growing on target. She is just perfect. BUT, that's not the shocker. When we ran through the vitals, my blood pressure, which has been averaging 145/89 throughout this entire pregnancy DROPPED to normal levels! Seriously!!!! Heading into the 3rd trimester it is natural for blood pressure to raise, not drop. What the heck?? We'll take it though! Instead of moving forward with weekly appointments and growth scans, doc has decided we can wait and see how it goes. I go back in 3 weeks for a regular OB check, then 2 weeks later for a checkup and growth scan. That takes up to Thanksgiving. WOW!

Not even a shadow

When someone breaks a bone there is almost always a shadow of the fracture left from where the bone fuses back together. When they went to xray Roman this week, they could find nothing, no fracture, no sign of a fracture, not even a shadow remains. He's been released of care for his broken finger, and no more need for the buddy tape or splint, and he will not require any physical therapy or prolonged care from this injury. That is one HAPPY BOY!!!! We were advised to go ahead and tape his first 2 fingers together for this week's game, but that it was total precaution as he has completely healed, but may have weaker muscles from being splinted for nearly 6 weeks.

Tie in Double OverTime

Roman got to play his first real game of the season! We put on his splint and wrapped it with sports wrap (yellow to match his uniform!) and off he went. His first play out and he jumped the start and coach took him right back out. He beat himself up on the sidelines for a bit, had a quick talk with dad and finally approached coach and asked to go in. That's exactly what Coach West was waiting for! He knew he was finally ready, really ready to head back out, because this time Roman WANTED to play. At the end of the game they were tied and into overtime they went. At the end of overtime they were still tied, so into double overtime they went.... once OT started, Roman never came off the field switching between offensive and defensive lines with more determination than probably any other player on the field. At the end of the second overtime they were still tied and the game ended in a draw. Roman's response.... it wasn't a total win, but I told you we wouldn't lose if I was on that field!

Yup, there'll be no living with him now!

NAME OUR GIRL!!!!!

Okay, so we have finally decided on a name, but need help with the spelling and middle name. So, look over the choices, and weigh in in the comments section on what you think would be best. We've decided to go with Catherine/Kathryn for our newest little lady.

Soooooooooooooooooo,

Do you prefer Catherine or Kathryn??

And for a middle name, we've narrowed it down to 2 also - Ann or Alexis??


Catherine Ann Trettel
Kathryn Ann Trettel
Catherine Alexis Trettel
Kathryn Alexis Trettel

Which one would you choose?? James and I like both of these spellings and have elliminated other spelling variations, so no need to add Katherine or Katharine or Catharine or anything else to the list, these are the 2 we like. Catherine is the traditional Greek spelling while Kathryn is the traditional English spelling of the name. We may or may not use a nickname, all depends on her personality once we actually meet her. And no adding an "e" to Ann either, it's like that on purpose, after Aunt Philly and Aunt Kari!

EDIT BY JAMES: Roman threw a curveball this morning on us and came up with Rachael as a middle name. Julie and I both gave the "not bad" nod so I reckon it is on the list too.