Will @ 3 Years Old

Where in the world do I start with this boy?  Will turned three this past weekend, on Easter Sunday no less.  He has a super fun Thomas the Train birthday party planned for this coming weekend, so really he'll have a whole week of birthday celebrations before it's all said and done.  He is such a funny guy.  I mean really funny.  He hangs out with his Poppa all day (Brandon's father) and he's copied so many of his phrases and mannerisms, that I often tell people that Will is a 50-year-old man trapped in a 3-year-old's body.


Maybe he's not so much an old man as he is a wild animal - take a look at how he ate his cake this past weekend! 

So now, I will do my best to list 36 fun facts about William Garrett.  A few of them may be funny things that he has said over the past couple of years - after all, that is one huge part of his personality!

1. He wears size 3T shirts, shorts and pants and size 9-10 shoe (depending on the brand).
2. He has been fully potty trained since about 2.5 years old.
3. His favorite pastimes are tractors, farm animals and anything related to tools.
4. He is such a great big brother and never missed a beat when Brooks was born.  We are however, having a few issues now that Brooks is older and wanting to play with Will's toys :/

        5.  He is a very cautious child - it takes several attempts at something new to get him to warm up, and sometimes his wariness never fades at all.

        6.  He is a picky eater.  His favorite foods include chicken, fruit, broccoli, chips or potatoes of any kind (like his momma!), and of course chocolate.  These are not the only things he eats - just the ones he would choose if I left it up to him.

        7.  He looooovvvveesss milk.  Plain ol' whole milk.  

        8.  His favorite people are his Poppa and his Gram.  

        9.  He has one of the worst southern drawls you have ever heard on a small child.  

       10.  His "R"s and some "L"s are pronounced as "W"s.  So for example - "Wiwl Wutwedge".

       11.  He can spell his name.

       12.  He HATES sprinklers.

       13.  He says when he grows up he's going to "be a truck driver, then a farmer".  Hmmmm...

         14.  As I was lying in bed with him a few nights ago (this is not something we do all the time, but he sometimes has a hard time falling asleep), he was talking about all the things he wants to do when he "grows big" - "drive Poppa's truck and turn the radio on" and "go fast on the highway", when he put his arm around me and said "Momma, I don't want to grow big.  I want to stay little.  If I grow big, will you grow me back down?"  :)))))

        15.  He can be verrrrry whiney.  I'm not sure if this is a three-year-old thing or just a Will-thing, but it's awfully annoying when it happens.  It's like nothing pleases him when he gets that way.

        16.  He has the memory of an elephant.  If you tell him you are going to do something, do it please. Don't leave my kid hanging.  He will bug me to death about it.  

        17.  He likes to dress himself occasionally -

        18.  His favorite t.v. "pwrogwams" (as he calls them) are Barney, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Super Why, Calliou, Chuggington, Word World or Thomas.  We DVR them and save them for rainy days (or when Mommy needs to clean, change a nasty diaper, or maybe use the bathroom herself!)

        19.  He also likes to color, paint, or play with play-doh, but nothing seems to hold his attention for more than 10 minutes or so.  

        20.  He loves to ride his bike and is pretty good at it if I say so myself :)

        21.  He has a crazy cool imagination (at least his mommy thinks so).  He loves to pretend to be a farmer - he often pretends my ironing board is a chicken house heater.  He'll say "Now wait jus' a minute now momma.  I need to turn my heaters on."

        22.  Instead of saying "before", he says "but for".  

        23.  He also says "dern-it, dog-gone, and dad-gum".  I'm not kidding when I tell you that the very first time he gets in trouble for this at school, his Poppa will be attending the PTC with me!!!

        24.  He likes church because "Jesus gives me snacks."

        25.  He does not like to have his picture taken and absolutely refuses to look at the camera.  The only time he will smile is when someone OTHER than me is taking the pictures and I am behind the camera acting like a wild woman.

       26.  Gram has him spoiled rotten.  I have the photographic proof.  Here we are in Panama City and Gram is crammed into a bunk bed with him asleep, only after telling him bedtime stories for an hour -

       27.  He is so much like me it's scary.  I've never told anyone this, but when I was a little girl I lived in a neighborhood with not many children.  My brother was nearly 9 years older than me, so often times I played alone.  When I was outside playing in the yard, I was fine until a car drove by.  And then I froze.  I was embarrassed to be playing by myself and didn't want the driver of the car to see me.  So what did I do?  I ran and hid behind the bushes every time a car drove by.  Well friends, one day not too long ago Will and I were playing with sidewalk chalk and a car drove by.  What did Will do??

I almost gasped when he did it.  I knew without asking, but I did anyway.  When I ask him what he was doing, he replied "I don't want that car to see me."  

         28.  He does not like to swim in big pools OR little baby pools.  He hates it in fact.

         29.  His favorite books are The Little Engine That Could, Going on a Bear Hunt, Click Clack Moo, Giraffes Can't Dance, Where the Wild Things Are, and My Truck is Stuck.  

         30.  He absolutely hates having his toe nails cut.  You would think we were removing a tooth with no anesthesia.  

         31.  He can now open the fridge door, open car doors, START a car (or tractor) engine, and unlock all different sorts of locks and deadbolts.  NOTHING is safe.

         32.  Again, like his mother, he has bad dreams sometimes.  

         33.  He loves to help me in the kitchen - stirring, pouring, and adding ingredients.

         34.  He can draw circles and sometimes a "w".  We were working on this more frequently, but we've been slacking lately :(

         35.  His hair is beyond thick.  Everyone has a different opinion on how his hair would work better, but the fact of the matter is - it's just thick.  I think no matter what, it will stick up and be hard to manage.

         36.  Lastly, he can identify many different letters and words that they start with - A, W, M, C, K, P, O, E, and T are the ones that I think he knows.

Will is such a smart guy.  I have officially registered him for preschool this year, and I'm excited to see how he does (if his smart mouth doesn't have him kicked out!)  I'm sure it will be a shaky start.  He has his mother's worrisome nature, and I'm sure it will take some getting use to for us all.  I'm so blessed to be his Mommy.  He has taught me so much about myself and how to be a better mother.  He can definitely be a handful sometimes, but when he looks at me with those big blue eyes or puts his little head on my shoulder, my heart just melts.  I can't wait to see where this child goes in life.  Maybe he'll be a rocket scientist or maybe the farmer he dreams about becoming - either way he's sure to be a show-stopper :)

Our laid-back Easter Sunday

Easter snuck up on me this year.  It could be all that we're going through with Brandon, or perhaps the three birthdays that also fell on April 24th this year that caused this sneak attack - probably both!  This is the first year that my boys were not sporting a precious new outfit for Easter service.  This momma simply swung open the closet doors an hour before the service began and picked out something that wasn't wrinkled :)  Oh well - at least they were comfortable!  I promised myself that next year I wouldn't let it sneak up on me like that.  Maybe next year my boys will be dressed appropriately for the most sacred day of the year.  I did manage to fill two easter baskets -although you may remember the shoes from a previous post.  Call me practical Patty - when they arrived a few weeks ago on the doorstep, I thought "yep - I'm totally saving these to put in their Easter baskets."

We did make it to church though, and afterwards we enjoyed a nice family lunch with Brandon's family out on the farm.  I love to be on the farm on days like yesterday.  Warm (but not HOT), a nice cool breeze and plenty of sunshine.  PERFECT day to pile the chicken-n-dressin' on your plate and eat on the picnic table under the shady oak tree.  Ahhhhhh.  And that's exactly what we did.  We filled our tummies and then planned an egg hunt for the kiddos.  This is where it got interesting.  Apparently, my boys are not all that impressed with the idea of the Easter Bunny or hunting brightly colored eggs.  Will did not pick up one single egg.  As soon as we said the word "GO!", someone cranked a tractor and Will literally dropped his empty basket and ran.  Brooks tried to follow in pursuit, but bless his heart, he's small enough for momma to scoop up and force him to stand with his basket for pictures :)

TRACTOR!! 

Brandon and his parents with Brooks. 

All the kiddos ready to hunt eggs. 

Brooks is looking at his brother playing on a tractor...

This is what distracted Will from hunting eggs. 

After all the fun on the farm, we headed home for a short nap before heading to my parent's for a birthday/Easter celebration.  There was more egg hunting and cake and even birthday presents.  I'll save the birthday related stuff for a later post, but here are a few pics of the outdoor fun -

Don't be fooled - he still didn't pick up any eggs.  He just ran like a wild man with the basket :)

I have lots more to post this week - I still need to do Will's 36 fun facts and then Brooks' 14 fun facts on Wednesday.  Brandon has a doctor's appointment on Thursday and then this weekend is packed with Will AND my nephew Baron's birthday parties.  Have a great week friends!

A Spring Update

I thought the blog could use a little "spring cleaning".  What do you think?  I love spring.  Not as much as fall, but definitely a close second.  We are in spring mode here at the Rutledge house as well.  We've filled our planters with pretty spring flowers, moved our winter clothes to the basement, and we even  have a mean sweet family of birds nesting on our front porch.  Spring is such a busy time for us - Easter, birthdays, and Mother's Day seem to make this time of year fly by.  And here in Georgia, lets be honest - we only get about 3 - 4 true spring weeks before it turns dreadfully hot and humid.

We've had a few stormy days and nights around this part of the country lately, and I don't mind one.single.bit.  I LOVE to lie in bed at night and listen to the sound of rain and thunder rolling in the background.  It always reminds me of my childhood when my father would scoop me out of bed and take me to the front porch swing to watch the storms roll in.  Sounds crazy, but his plan worked - I'm not one bit afraid of storms.  In fact, I think it would be neat to chase storms :)

The only thing that bugs me about the rain these days is our mailbox!  Some super nice person ran into our iron mailbox several weeks ago and left no information, so now we're left with a very expensive crack right down the middle of our mailbox and our mail gets soaked and ruined every time it rains.  (I wish this meant I didn't have to pay the bill, but alas - it just means I have to air dry the bill out!)  So I've added this project to Brandon's "honey-do" list :)

But I did receive a sweet package in the mailbox today - our digital images from our most recent session with Karen Baker Photography.  Here are few of my favorites -

Happy spring friends.  I'm sure we'll chat soon!

A Birthday Surprise

I successfully pulled off a surprise birthday dinner for Brandon tonight.  I do think the birthday boy was pleased if I do say so myself!  The idea came to me a few weeks ago after Brandon was diagnosed with cancer.  I knew that Brandon would need a lot of encouragement during this time in his life and I thought there was no better time than for his birthday (April 24th).

So in a very last-minute rush, I called his favorite burger dive, ordered, addressed and mailed 30 invites and called a local baker for his favorite cake - carrot cake.  The planning wasn't too hard to keep away from Brandon.  He usually doesn't ask too many questions about what I'm doing on the computer or rushing to the post office for (I think this is probably typical "man" behavior, no?)

I finally told him a few days ago that we had dinner plans with our long-time friends Ann and Blake for Thursday night and that I had arranged for his parents to babysit.  On the way to the restaurant, I was texting my mother - "getting off the interstate" or "in the parking lot", all the while telling Brandon that I was texting Ann because we were running late.  We even parked next to our neighbor's one-in-a-million BMW station wagon with a bike rack, and Brandon never noticed.  We rounded the corner into the restaurant and everyone began singing "Happy Birthday"!

Brandon turned beet red and was grinning ear-to-ear!!  He had noooo idea!  I know that he was glad to see everyone - all of whom have been so supportive and encouraging to him over the last few weeks.  All the way home, he talked about how awesome it was to see everyone - especially our neighbors and friends from out of town.  So thank you to everyone who brought your families out on a school night to help us celebrate Brandon's 27th birthday.  We have so much to celebrate this year and we are so blessed to have each of you in our lives!  Here are a few pics from the party (excuse the date on the pics - not sure about that?) -

Surprise!! 

Brandon's uncle Doug 

Brandon's friend Horace 

My family in a sea of Rutledges :) 

He was sincerely happy to see everyone! 

A special conversation with a 7 year-old :) 

Ann and Blake with the birthday boy 

Brandon and his mom

I broke down and got him the Playstation 3 he's been wanting :) 

I'm still pretty smitten :)

Here's a joke for ya - how many Rutledges does it take to blow out 27 candles?? 

Brandon and his grandmother 

Brandon's uncle Jimmy, keeping everyone laughing as usual.

Brandon and his sister, Kristian 

Brandon and his dad

The verdict is in

and Chemo it is.  After Brandon's oncologist spoke with his colleague in Indiana, they recommended chemotherapy.  Brandon has done plenty of thinking, praying and talking about his options over the last few days.  Even before he heard back from the doctor, Brandon was leaning toward the chemo.

In his words - he "just wants it to be over and move on."

So Brandon will go tomorrow for blood work, and again next week to meet with his oncologist to finalize the plan and get a few remaining questions answered before starting the chemotherapy the following week.    Both doctors recommended only one round of BEP chemotherapy.  This is good news.  For Brandon, one "round" will look something like this:

Monday (4-5 hours of treatment)
Tuesday (1-2 hours)
Wednesday (1-2 hours)
Thursday (1-2 hours)
Friday (1-2 hours)
Saturday / Sunday (no treatment)
Monday (4-5 hours of treatment)

After those six treatments, he will be "off" for 3 weeks, but still going in weekly for labs, blood counts, etc.  BEP chemotherapy is tough.  There are plenty of side effects, both short and long-term.  Short term side effects include nausea, exhaustion, hair loss, immune deficiency, acid reflux, dry mouth, etc....  Long term side effects include sterility, possible lung scarring and kidney damage, and greater risk of developing leukemia later in life.  I will be honest and tell you that we're both nervous.  Probably me more than Brandon though.

He is strong, both physically and mentally.  I know he can handle the short term side effects.  I have full confidence in Brandon.  Neither of us however, expected to have to make a decision about fertility at 27 years-old.  We had not decided 100% that we would never have another child.  We definitely knew that it wasn't something we wanted right now (we have our hands full as it is!), but we always wanted to keep our options open for a few years down the road when the boys were older and more independent and we weren't scrambling to get through the day with two babies.  Yes, we could look into sperm banking, but that is quite expensive on a monthly basis, not to mention the cost of artificial insemination when we're actually ready to use them.  If we wanted to have another child soon, then yes - that would be a no-brainer.  But because it may be 5-7 years, the cost alone is too daunting.  So we've decided not to bank the sperm (you may remember Lance Armstrong just having a child last year through this method.)  We have always talked about a possible adoption in our future, and if anything, this just solidifies that desire.  But to be honest, I came home last night and looked at my precious boys - one who looks like his mommy and one who looks just like his daddy, and it made my heart ache to imagine never having another little chubby-cheeked or thick-haired baby with Brandon's eyes or my mannerisms running around.

I just keep reminding myself that this is all part of God's plan for our family.  I have no idea why he chose this plan for us, but he did and we have to trust him.  It's easy to get down.  It's easy to wonder "why Brandon?"  or "what did we do to deserve this?"  But I try to push those feelings aside and focus on the positives in this situation - Brandon and I have been through soooo much with only 5 years of marriage under our belts.   Our relationship is stronger than ever.  We have done a lot of leaning on each other throughout this time period and I know that we can handle whatever comes our way.

Continue to pray for Brandon as he enters this phase of his diagnosis.  And of course - I'll update along the way :)

Playing in the mud

We had such a nice weekend at home this weekend.  North Georgia saw a few strong storms again on Friday night, which left for a muddy Saturday.  Which brings me to another must for my dream home - a mud room!

My boys and I made a trip to Pike Nursery on Saturday.  I love that place.  I could spend a fortune in there!  We left with a few new additions for our flower pots, but couldn't plant them Saturday due to the cold night ahead.  So the nice new plants spent the night in the garage, all warm and toasty.  But I wasn't ready to let a little mud ruin our family weekend, so I put the boys in their new rain boots and let 'em rip!  Here are a few pics of the boys playing outside -

 Why must someone always put something gross in their mouth!?

Sunday was much nicer, and after my training session (and yet another trip to Home Depot!), I spent the afternoon planting our new flowers.  We planted gardenias (right by the front porch - smells heavenly for your visitors!), azaleas, geraniums and tons more.  I even made Brandon get to work!  Not to worry - nothing major, just a little rose-bush-staking :)  I love to work in the yard.  I wish I had the time and money to do all the things I want to in the yard, but for now I'll settle for working in the existing beds and pots.  But a girl can dream -

We have such a busy week ahead - Brandon has a few doctor appointments (I'll keep you posted on those), Will has a special friend who is turning 4 this weekend, and Brandon, Will and my nephew Baron each have a birthday on Sunday - not to mention that it's also EASTER Sunday!  Whew - hopefully I'll be able to make time to sleep ;)