Tessa @ 4 Months

Our baby girl is 4 months old.  I always feel like 4 months marks the point where the baby becomes less of a newborn and more of a little person.  It seems like around the 4 month mark is where they begin making so many new discoveries and accomplishments at such a rapid pace that I can't keep up with them all.  My case in point - Tessa rolled over for the first time (that I saw - I think she's done it once at Grandma's) last night.  She was lying on her play mat on her belly (which she really isn't crazy about) and rolled right over to her back.  Both Brandon and I happened to be in the floor with her, so it was a great moment for us. 

She weighs 14 pounds and 7 ounces, putting her in the 55th percentile.  She is 26 inches long, which puts her in the 96th percentile for length. She's officially in size 6 month clothing.  Some 3-6 month still fit, but are becoming shorter and shorter.  We've also graduated to size 2 diapers.  We haven't started any solids yet, but we will probably start cereals this week.  I know a lot of people wait until the 6 month mark - I don't.  I started at 4 months with my boys and it worked well, so we'll just stick with what works for us.  She takes 5 ounces every 3-4 hours (closer to 3) and 6 ounces before bed.

She has hit a rough patch with her sleep this month - she got her first little cold about a week ago and it really messed with her sleep.  Because she is so congested, she has started crying out in the middle of the night.  I have to go in and clean her little nose out and get her calmed down.  We don't feed her, we don't turn the lights on (except her lamp).  She goes back to sleep with no problems until her little nose becomes stuffy again.  We have elevated her mattress, used the humidifier and vapor plug ins.  She has the vicks rub on her chest and feet.  It's just one of the many annoyances of being an infant I think - a stuffy nose and not much you can do about it :(  She also had her first fever and bout of pink eye this month, a lovely gift from her brother Brooks.

She is still being swaddled for bed and doesn't try one bit to break free.  I think she knows that once she does, she'll be forced to sleep unswaddled. HA!  I know that's something we'll have to tackle shortly and I seriously DREAD it.  She is still "happy happy happy" for the most part and continues to be my most easy-going child. 

Acheivements this month include:

• Rolling over (from tummy to back)
• First fever :(
• First trip to the mall (& Toys R Us, which she apparently hates as bad as I do because she cried the whole time)

A Few (Christmas Buying) Suggestions

When you have 3 kids, you become "seasoned" in lots of areas - how to feed a baby without slowing down, the best way to calm a coughing child, and how to give a gift to a child among many others.  When I have time, I like to browse other mommy blogs and I'm always amazed at the gift suggestions or wish lists that they post for children.  I'm always thinking Ha!  That will never be used. or That will break in five minutes.  or ohhh their momma is going to HATE you for that! 

So just in case a small child is on your Christmas list this year, I have a few (Rutledge) kid-tested, mommy-approved suggestions.  These are all items that we personally love, play with, and abuse on a daily basis.  Some are inexpensive and others are more costly.  One thing that my mommy friends and I can agree on is that we would rather have NO gift at all than a gift that will break quickly or not get played with.  

Let me start by saying that if the child is less than a year old, no matter how much you want to believe that the child will love and adore whatever gift it is that you're buying, you're wrong.  The child will not care one bit about opening gifts.  If the toy feels good on their gums or lights up, you might have a winner, otherwise you will be better off buying things that the child needs like gift cards for clothes or shoes, diapers, bigger car seats, things for their room, etc.  I know that's no fun, but I'm just trying to be honest.  

On to the things I can attest for:

Fisher Price Little People Farm

This was given to Will on his first birthday and BOTH boys still play with it on a daily basis.  It still looks brand new.  We have misplaced most of the animals that came with this set, but they put any and all of their plastic farm animals in this barn.  Seriously - best toy ever. 

Anything by Imaginext

I guess this is the "big kid" version of the Little People sets.  We already have several of these sets, but Will has asked for both the Batcave AND the Castle this Christmas.  These are virtually indestructible and come with lots of available accessories to keep the kiddos engaged.

Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair

There are lots of varieties of this type of chair out there, but this is the only one I can speak for.  The boys use these on a DAILY basis in their playroom.  Obviously to sit and watch movies in, but other uses currently include fort building, and tumble mats (think turn upside down and jump off of).  They've survived the test of Rutledge time.  And that says a LOT.  This is a great gift for those under 12 months old because they won't be disappointed that it's not a toy, and they WILL use it.  I would imagine a 4 year old would be upset to find this under the tree, although it's still completely a great gift - just not a toy.  Our boys were given these by their dad and me on their first birthdays.

Automoblox

These are great.  Our boys love them.  They don't make noise or need batteries (2 parent points) and they keep the kids engaged for a LONG time switching the tires and other various parts around.  They're made of wood, so they're sturdy too.  I would suggest waiting until at least 2 1/2 for this toy (smaller parts and all).  But totally awesome.  They also make the girl varieties in pink and purple.

Other things that have made great gifts in our house include books, movies, train table, Mobigo game system, Melissa & Doug floor puzzles, flashlights of any fashion, and rain boots (ALWAYS a hit here for some reason).

These are just our tried and tested suggestions.  I would gift any of these to either a boy or a girl but at this point it's fair to say that I have more experience with the boys.  I would also suggest asking the parent for ideas.  Each child is different and the parent would know what they want/need.  

I hope this helps!

What a Turkey of a Day!

I'm just gonna go ahead and put this out there - we have the WORST luck with holidays.  There I said it.  It's true.  In fact, it's hard for me to even put much stock in whether or not we will even get to show up at our family get-togethers.  I have even stopped buying the standard "holiday" attire for my kids.  Why, you ask?  Because it seems inevitable that everyone in our family will be absolutely hunky dory right up until the night before/day of the big holiday, and then BAM! someone gets sick and we end up staying home. 

In the five holiday seasons since we have become parents, we have missed THREE major holidays due to illness.  Will's first Christmas - stomach bug for me on Christmas morning.  Brooks' first Christmas - strep for both boys on Christmas Eve and for me on Christmas day.  Tessa's first Thanksgiving - pink eye for Brooks and the nastiest sinus crud we've dealt with in a loooonnnnngggg time for the entire Rutledge clan.  Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that these are all things that we will deal with and then get over but it really stinks to be at home while everyone else in the world is out enjoying their holiday and posting the cutest pictures in the world on Facebook.  Oh welllllll - enough pouting from me...

We have been super consumed lately with trying to get everyone well.  The night before Thanksgiving, as I rushed to leave work on time and get home to take the kiddos to see Santa and his live reindeer, my mother-in-law calls at 5:15 to inform me that she's "pretty sure" Brooks has pink eye.  So instead of going to see Santa, Brooks and I had a date at the local "Little Clinic" as it was the only place open so late the day before a major holiday.  It wasn't too hard to diagnose though - his eyes were pretty nasty. 

 

And because the little fella was contagious for at least the next 24 hours, we got to spend Thanksgiving at home as a family of 5.  I had not bought the groceries to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal, so we had biscuits, eggs and bacon for breakfast and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.  Both mine and Brandon's family did bring us leftovers though.  We were very happy to see those aluminum-covered plates :)

We tried to make the best of it anyway and attempted to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  The boys were sooooo bored and were not at all interested.  After lunch, we dragged the Christmas tree down from the attic and began fluffing out the tree. 

Regardless of pink eye, we have so much to be thankful for this year.  We have a wonderfully sweet little addition to our family.  Miss Tessa has made our family complete in so many ways.  She is absolutely the calm amongst the storm in our house and just what we (especially I) needed.  The boys are happy (except when expected to share toys) and growing.  My husband is healthy and cancer-free.  We have a sweet little home that we love, cars that are paid for and dependable, a pantry full of food (even if I'm not the world's best cook), clothes that are clean, and lots of things that I know are luxuries and not necessities.  I absolutely love our life, our home, our little family.  I am crazy in love with my husband, who has been my sweetheart for more than 11 years and I find more and more endearing every day.  He is a great father, and an even better husband to me.  What more could a girl want??  Thankful - that's me :)

Tessa @ 3 Months

Tessa's 3 month mile marker was a couple of weeks ago (late post!).  We celebrated by staying at home and enjoying our weekend together as a family.  We actually only left the house once all weekend!  So nice!

I'm not sure how much our sweet pea weighs this month, as she hasn't been to the pediatrician since her 2 month appointment, but she has grown quite a bit! She is wearing size 3 month or 3-6 depending on the brand.  She really needs size 6 month for length, but those only work if they're one piece outfits.  Size 6 month pants are too big around her waist.  She still wears size 1 diapers.

There weren't a ton of new achievements this month, but there were a few nonetheless:

• She found her voice and likes to give us a big shout every now and again to keep up with her wild brothers.
• I've noticed her examining her hands a few times lately and she does really well at reaching/pulling/grasping her toys.
• She sat in her bumbo for the first time and did pretty well.  After about 7-10 minutes, she seemed to become tired and slumped over, so I took her out.

She has a steady bedtime routine - bath, lotion, jammies, bottle (5 ounces), bed.  After she finishes her bedtime bottle, I swaddle her up, turn on the noise machine, and lay her down in her crib wide awake.  She goes to sleep on her own without a peep.  She sometimes wakes up around 5AM for her paci, but mostly sleeps until 6 or 6:30.  When she starts stirring, we go in and give her the paci and she drifts back to sleep until we wake her up around 6:45-7 to go to grandma's.  So far, we've been really blessed with 3 great sleeping babies, with the exception of Will who suffered from first child (hold me hold me) syndrome for a few nerve-wrecking months.

She wore her first pair of jeans!

She also celebrated her first Halloween this month, but didn't wear a costume.  My sister-in-law made her an orange tutu and I paired it with a halloween-themed shirt (bought the night before Halloween) and called it a day.

Her hair is finally long (and thick) enough to clip :)  And her big brothers insist that she wears a bow every day!

I leave you with one my favorite photos from our recent Christmas card shoot.  The sweetness in this picture makes my cheeks hurt. 

The boys are wearing their first neckties from Petite Peanut.  I have been dying to order one of her ties and I am soooo happy with them.  Tessa is wearing Mustard Pie Fall 2012.

Life With Three

This is the first installment of what I'm sure will be many posts on what our lives are like now that we are playing "zone defense" in the Rutledge house.  I read a paragraph in a book recently (notice I said a paragraph) that said "Having two children is like having one and a half.  Having three is like having ten."  And although for us, adding a third child wasn't nearly as difficult as adding a second, there are still some major lifestyle adjustments that have come our way.  We now have a few "rules" we live by, a "code of family ethics" if you will:

• Rule #1:  Pick your battles.  If you don't - you will spend your entire day arguing, negotiating and nagging.  It's not worth it.  Let the child eat his spaghetti with a spoon.  Let him wear pajama pants with his polo shirt.  Let him wear boots in the Georgia summer heat.  Let the child watch an extra 30 minutes of cartoons.  Depending on how the day is going, you may even need to let him play with the soap dispenser in his bathroom.  Just let the small stuff go.  I promise, once you get over the thought of being stared at by parents of one or two children, you'll feel better and more free.  In fact, you may even like this new existence.  Now if a lady with 5 or more children is staring at you in disbelief, you may need to reevaluate the battles you're picking.
• Rule #2:  You don't just hop in the car and go anywhere.  In fact, "hopping in the car" no longer even exists in our world, because getting everyone into the car is a nightmare.  And I'm not talking about getting everyone dressed, fed, pottied and to the car.  I'm talking about simply getting in the car.  Buckling three children in their respective car seats is enough to make me want to lie down in front of the car as it backs down the driveway.  The baby is easy - we buckle her into her car seat inside the house and click her in.  Good to go.  Brooks, however is where the trouble begins.  He rides in the third row.  Getting him to the third row is enough of a challenge because as soon as the climbs in the car, he's going for the driver's seat.  So I have to hold his little arm and escort him to the rear of the vehicle.  (And please don't assume that you would simply "lay down the law and with better parenting, the child would obey."  Please.  This is one of those times when rule #1 comes into play.)  So now I'm struggling to lift my 38lb 2 1/2 year old into a five-point harness while my baby is crying in her car seat, and my four year old is either playing in the parking lot alone or in the already cramped car with us pulling on my pants, which in effect causes my pants to slip further and further down my backside until my love handles AND my crack are showing.  Awesome.  So now I buckle Will in.  No problem until I realize that I'm trapped in the car by carseats on each side.  I either have to climb over the center console (more crack involved) or climb over the 4 year old without breaking his legs or somehow shoving my boobs in his face.  Ugh.  So yea.  No more "let's get out of the house" trips to Starbucks.
• Rule #3:  Babysitters are hard to come by.  They just are.  People are more than willing to take one child, and maybe two if both are potty trained.  But when you are looking for a babysitter for three little people, all of a sudden things get hairy.  I understand completely.  It's like taking in a whole family.  And because babysitters are hard to come by, so are date nights. 
• Rule #4:  The clothing debacle.  Siigghhhh... My boys used to dress nicely.  Our first was always dressed amazingly well.  And because I had more than enough time to treat stains, keep laundry separated, and then store them neatly once outgrown, our second inherited a lot of amazing clothing.  But with the second child came less time for buying, treating and organizing.  And with the third child came the great clothing debacle.  HOLY crap.  We are swimming in a sea of little people clothing, all of which is wrinkled, most of which is stained, and none of which can be located when looking for it.  We have one boy in size 4, one boy in size 3 and a poor little girl with hair bows, leggings and dresses that her parents have no idea what to do with.  The right size hardly ever gets on the right boy, resulting in a 4 year old with a midriff-baring shirt and a 3 year old whose pants are falling off.  Our middle child changes clothes at least 5 times a day at his own requests and is going through a phase where he insists on wearing gloves (mismatched socks) on his hands at all times.  I'm over it.  In fact - I've come to call it individuality.
• Rule #5: You NEVER have enough time.  Trust me.  If you think you are running ahead of schedule, you are wrong.  So very wrong.  If you see that time has allowed you 15 more minutes than you thought you needed, keep right on full-steam ahead.  Because if you use that 15 minutes to do something crazy like sit down, pour another cup of coffee, or actually put on socks with your shoes, you will regret it.  As you are trying to get everyone out the door 15 minutes later, someone will pitch a fit, have to poop, poke another child in the eye, fall and scrape a knee, or forget their backpack.  I promise.  If time has allowed you 15 extra minutes, it's because time can foresee that you are going to need it.  Trust me.

I'll leave you with those things to ponder while I go find my Brooks a new pair of "gloves"....

Will's First Pair of Glasses

Wayyyyy back in July, I took Will to the pediatrician for his 4 year well visit (you know - 3 months after he turned 4, because I'm on top of it like that).  He got the necessary before-school vaccine boosters and they also gave him the hearing & vision screening.  First up was the hearing portion, which he passed with no problems.  Next, they gave him a vision screening which consisted of Will standing on one side of the 10ft long room and the nurse standing on the opposite side with a black and white flip chart of images.  He read them off quickly as she flipped through them until she got to the last page with the smallest images.  He hesitated and then tried to walk closer to her.  She sweetly instructed him to go back to the wall and try again.  He told her "I can't see them.  If you let me come closer, I can tell you!"  So she asked him to cover his left eye and try again - nothing.  He couldn't see them.  She asked him to cover his right eye and try - well this time he read them right off.  She smiled and said he did fine and that he passed the requirements for the vision screening.

When the pediatrician came in, he verified that Will did in fact pass the vision screening, but that I may want to follow up with a routine eye exam, because he did seem to have difficulties with his right eye.  We came home and I made Will an appointment at the local optometrist's office here in our small town.  Two weeks later, I took Will for his first eye exam, thinking Gosh - this is probably overkill.  I hope he doesn't have to have glasses.  SURELY I would have noticed he was having issues if they were that severe.

The exam was awful.  He FREAKED out when they dilated his eyes and he couldn't see.  He was very curious about the medical equipment and the processes that they were using, and the staff was very impatient and intolerant with him.  They kept giving him stern instructions and eventually, after asking me 1,000 times - "You've never noticed him squinting?  You've never seen him sit too close to the TV? (of course not lady - our TV is above our fireplace) You've never seen him lean too close to his schoolwork? (of course I have - he's learning to write.  MOST of the children is his class lean into their work)" they determined the exam to be finished.  After an hour of making me feel like the worst, most irresponsible parent in the world, they quickly wrote Will a prescription for full-time eye glasses and then sent me out to pick out glasses.  He was crying because he couldn't see and I felt terrible.  The lady working in the office said "We just don't see that many children."  That was my clue - I just gathered him up and left.  We needed a second opinion.

I called his pediatrician's office and told them I wanted a referral to the best pediatric optometrist in the area.  They were very helpful (as usual) and gave me the number of a doctor associated with Scottish Rite, one of Atlanta's leading children's hospitals.  (Now in no way am I indicating that Will's eyes are so bad that he needs the best of the best.  But call me crazy - he is one of the three miracles that God trusted me with, and I wanted someone who could deal with his fear, his questions, and could tell me about his eyes even if Will wouldn't cooperate during the exam.)  I called immediately and the next available appoinment was three months out.  I scheduled the appointment and we spent the next three months living life as usual and trying our best to forget that awful experience.

Well this past Tuesday was the day - our appointment with our new eye doctor.  Will was very nervous.  If he asked once, he asked 1,000 times if they were going to put that "juice" in his eyes.  The staff was very nice and courteous to Will.  They made jokes, showed him magic tricks and made him feel safe.  They asked him to read the chart and he did fine until it got to the smaller objects.  When she asked him to use his right eye, I saw the hesitation.  He finally turned his head away from the chart and when she asked him if he could see the picture, he simply shook his little head.  She asked him to try with his left eye and he read them off to her.  She went back to the right eye and again he sat silently until he finally admitted he couldn't see the pictures.  She praised him anyway and told him that he did a great job.  He perked up immediately.  She put the "juice" in his eye and he cried again.  At this office though, instead of sending him back out into a bright waiting room, they sent him to a dark room where a movie was showing.  Here we are waiting on the doctor to come in.  Notice how thrilled Will looks:

The eye doctor came in next.  He showed Will a new magic trick and then got to work.  He examined his eyes, and worked silently with his different lenses - switching them in and out and in and out.  After 10 minutes of talking to Will and going between lenses, he put the chart back up on the wall, put "magic eyes" on Will and asked him to try to read the chart again - and that's where I saw it for my own eyes - with the lenses, Will read every line - even the smallest ones.  The doctor was satisfied and wrote up the prescription.  He told me the original prescription written for Will was not nearly as strong as it should have been.  He right eye has moderate astigmatism.  He said that with a 4 year old, if the child were only borderline, he would not prescribe full-time glasses because the reward doesn't always outweigh the work - the hassle of getting a child to wear them and the expense of replacing pair after pair when they inevitably break them.  BUT - he said Will is just over the line and needs full-time glasses.  He says, without them, over time Will's right eye would get so bad that he would need a patch on the his left eye to force the brain to retrain his right.  And that was all I needed to hear.

I'm sooooo glad we got a second opinion.  I trust this doctor and we're going to do what he recommends to keep Will's eye health in top shape.  Did he completely disagree with the first doctor?  No, but he did make a better assessment and unlike the first doctor, actually tested the lenses on him before writing an estimated (and ultimately incorrect) prescription.  And it was nice that they didn't berate me over missing the signs.  In fact, they didn't even ask me if I had noticed those things.

We went yesterday and picked out his glasses.  He's not crazy about wearing them so he wasn't too interested in picking them out either.  He eventually landed on a little pair of Nike specs that seem pretty durable and bend in both directions at the leg joints.  We also picked up a cute wire-framed pair in a silver color as his back-up pair.  The lady at the store said he would most certainly break and/or lose his glasses frequently until he's much older and recommended a back-up pair.  Depending on how involved in sports Will wants to be, we will probably also invest in a pair of sport glasses, similar to Oakleys, but with prescription lenses to keep from breaking his every day glasses.  Will actually loved those glasses the best, but they are not very easy on mommy's eye for every day wear.  So we'll cross that bridge when we get there.  Here he is in his "primary" pair - the Nike's (of course, his exact glasses haven't come in yet, maybe by Monday...):

I HATE that Will has to have glasses.  No one wants to hear that their child has been having issues.  ESPECIALLY when I didn't see any warning signs.  I worry that he'll feel odd or out of place because neither myself nor Brandon wear glasses (I actually do need them but I haven't had an eye exam in years).  I pray that his buddies at school don't make fun of him - this year and the years to come.  It would break my heart if that happens.  I also hope that he learns to take care of them - little eye glasses are quite expensive!  I have already made myself an eye exam appointment for an updated prescription. I'm hoping that if I wear mine, Will will feel less out of place, and maybe even learn to take better care of them.  Let me know if anyone has been through this with their little one.  We could certainly use your advice!

Tessa @ 2 Months

I took little bit for her 2 month well-visit this morning.  She behaved like a sweet little angel until the dreaded shots.  And then she turned every shade of purple as she screamed for the next few minutes :(

She weighed 11 pounds and 12 ounces.  She was 24.25 inches long.  This means she's consistently in the 80th percentile for weight and above the 97th percentile for height.  Her noggin is huge too - 90th percentile :)

Tessa is still a cool, calm and collected girl.  She responds with smiles when ooed and gooed to.  And just this week, I've noticed her reaching for her toys on her bouncy chair.  See evidence below:

She takes a lunch break every 3 hours throughout the day and usually gives us one 5 hour stretch.  Lucky for Tessa, her employer is pretty understanding ;)  I can tell that my going back to work has messed up her little routine.  She's woken up at 1:30AM several times this week, which she has never done.  Since day one, her wakeup time during the night was 4AM.  Last night was 3:20AM, so maybe we're inching closer to our normal routine.

She hasn't been a happy camper today.  The 2 month vaccines have her down.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.  

Major milestones this month include: first responsive smiles, reaching for her toys and moving to her crib in her own room.

Back to Work

Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching reality.  Please buckle your seat belts and prepare for arrival.

Isn't it funny how quickly life brings reality back to you.  It's kind of like that beach vacation you take with your kids each year - just when they get adjusted and stop waking up at 5AM, it's time to go home.  Now the time has come for me to go back to work :(  I've spent 8 weeks getting three kiddos adjusted to mommy being at home and now we are all headed back for reality - or in their case, Grandma's.

The number one question I have been asked since having the baby is "Are you ready to go back to work yet?"  I'm not really sure how to answer that honestly.  The truth is, it doesn't matter how I feel about it, because I have to go back.  So even if I felt sad about going back to work (which I do), I have to put my big girl panties on and go back.  And that's fine - over the years, I've accumulated a lot of big girl panties, so I should have some in stock ;)  But I don't live in some sort of fantasy land where I think I am entitled to stay at home because I have given birth to a child.  The major determining factor in whether or not mommy works or doesn't in our home is health coverage for myself in our three munchkins.  Although my husband's company provides his coverage, they don't cover families.  Yes, he could find a job where they did, but he absolutely loves his job and I would never in a million years ask him to leave a job that he loves so that I can stay at home.  I think it's such a true rarity for someone to LOVE their job (not just tolerate or even like) and I'm glad he has that.

And because we both work outside of the home, our family gets an occasional vacation, my son attends a preschool that I love, and my addiction to super cool children's shoes for my kids is not seen as life altering.

I have truly enjoyed my time off with my babies. I got to take Will to school and pick him up, which to you stay-at-home mommas may sound like nothing special, but I have never gotten to do that with him. Brooks and I built lots of forts and he learned how to pedal his bicycle while I was out of leave.  I got to take all three babies on Will's field trip to the apple orchard last Friday, where we picked apples and had a picnic.  Those are all things I would have missed had I been at work.  Of course, Miss Tessa and I have enjoyed lots and lots of snuggles.  She is SUCH a sweet baby and I am truly going to miss having her as my little sidekick throughout the day.  Maybe my boss wouldn't notice if I just put her under my desk in her little bouncy seat??

As you can probably tell, I'm trying to stay positive, but the truth is that for the first time in three maternity leaves, I'm sad to go back.  Not because I think I'm an awesome stay-at-home mommy.  I'm not that great at it actually.  I am usually frazzled before breakfast and counting the hours until daddy gets home by 3.  My boys don't always mind, they may or may not take naps, and I definitely don't do any fun crafts.  Craft time is "let's go outside and play in the dirt".  I'm just going to miss my babies.  Someone once told me that it's easy to go back to work when you're children are infants, but harder as they get older.  I think that is so true.  I think a lot of the reason why I'm sad about going back this time is because I got a little taste of everything I'm missing with my boys.  I'm also pretty nervous about going back to work.  I had a REALLY bad experience when I came back to work from maternity leave with Brooks (with a different company) and as Brandon would say, I'm a little "gun-shy" this go around.  My office is pretty small - only 7 people including myself, and the group dynamic can change so much when one person is out.  I kind of feel like I'm going in blindly tomorrow.  Who knows what changes will be waiting for me :/

BUT - I do want to stay positive, and I want to give credit where credit is due:

To my husband who will probably never read this:  he has been such a help for the last 8 weeks.   Not many dads would tackle caring for three young children like he does.  I'm always amazed at how well he does with them and how well my boys mind him.  I never ever worry about leaving them with him.  I've had a couple of dinners with girlfriends, evening walks with my neighbor, etc.  and he never gives me a hard time about needing some me time.  He is also such a big support system for me.  When I feel crappy about how I look, the weight I haven't lost, or the clothes that I can't get into, he tells me how beautiful I am, he tells me to go shopping, or keeps the kids so that I can get some exercise.  Seriously, every girl should have a husband like him!

To my in-laws:  they have been so helpful with my kids.  If I needed a day with a few less bottoms to wipe, they would come and get the boys for the day.  If Brandon and I needed a night out, they would watch them so that we could go to dinner.  And ultimately, they will also be keeping all three babies 5 days a week when I go back to work and there is not enough time in the day for me to thank them enough for that.  They will be doing Will's preschool drop-off and pick-up too which is not exactly just down the street for them.  I am soooo grateful to have such wonderful in-laws.

To my parents:  although my parents both work, they are always stopping by on their days off to see the kids and me.  My boys looooovvvveeee their Gram and Pappaw and love their spend-the-night dates at my parents.  With three kids to get in the bed, and three kids who may or may not get up various times throughout the night, Brandon and I really appreciate those spend the night trips so that we only have to worry about Miss Tessa for just one night.  My mom also spent her only day off last week with me and Tessa at the mall while I tried on a blue million dresses for a wedding this past weekend.  I know what it's like to just have one day to do everything you need to get done on your day off, and I really appreciate that she chose to spend that time with me :)

For my friends and neighbors who have visited, made suppers, called and offered to help with the boys, you have no idea how much I appreciate each one of you.  If you ever want to find out who your sweetest friends are, have a baby.  They will be the ones who feed you, love on your baby, encourage you, and make you laugh even if it's just over the phone.  I am truly blessed with a great group of friends!

To all my friends out there who, like me, are working moms - I just picked up a copy of a book called Just Let Me Lie Down, by Kristin van Ogtrop.  She is a working mother of three and HILARIOUS.  In her book, she defines a working mom's balancing act:

Balancing Act: a hilarious notion that some feminist (or come to think of it, it may have been an antifeminist) came up with to describe what any working mother must do: that is, bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan.  But the skillet is very, very heavy, and on certain days you don't even feel like you can pick it up.  Other days you'd like to use it as a weapon - and would, if it didn't mean certain arrest, which would have negative playground ramifications for your kids.  On these days you really are just acting, to very little applause.

So I'm back to the balancing act tomorrow.  I'm crazy nervous, pretty sad, but more or less just ready to get back to our reality.  Say a prayer for me - that I'm nervous over nothing, that the day flies by, and that my babies have a great day at Grandma's (that part I'm not very worried about).  Thanks in advance!!

Busy Busy Busy

Things have been right on schedule here at the Rutledge house lately - "right on schedule" as in "this ramblin' wreck is full steam ahead and you better get on or get out of the way!"  Whew!  I'm exhausted as I write this post, but I am trying to keep a good memoir of our life today and so I'm making time...

Our favorite photog, Karen Baker took Tessa's pictures 16 days after she was born, and I am so happy with the results.  Here are a few a lot of my faves:

I ordered this one for our "hall of babies"

(I have a large black and white of each one of my babies as newborns in our hallway)

I like this one because Brandon rarely smiles genuinely in photos, but he did in this one

I love the boys' blue eyes and how their little feet are intertwined in the background.  I wish Tessa was facing more toward the camera, but with three, a perfect shot is nearly impossible!

I also ordered a large one of this to hang above her crib.

We have been very busy since we came home from the beach - the time has come for me to return to work.  I go back this coming Monday and the last two weeks have been filled with all the things I needed to get done before I went back (since I will have ZERO vacay or sick days) - doctor appointments, teeth cleaning, cleaning out the closets, blah blah blah.... nothing too interesting, BUT -

Brandon and I are going to a wedding this weekend in Atlanta.  One of my sweetest friends & sorority sister is FINALLY marrying her boyfriend of a gazillion years :)  I'm so happy for her, but I have not been too excited about getting in a dress and being surrounded by a room full of beautiful, and a LOT skinnier than me, people.  Having 3 children in 4 years has not been kind to my figure :/  Nonetheless, Tessa, my mom and I hit the mall in hopes of finding something cute for the wedding.  We found several "maybes" and two that I really loved.  Because maternity leave isn't exactly cheap, I went with the less expensive option.  I also invested in a pair of Spanx to help with the aforementioned figure issues.  Ha!

On top of shopping for dresses this week, I'm taking the kiddies on an apple picking field trip on Friday with Will's preschool.  Saturday is the wedding festivities and then back to work on Monday! Friday is also Tessa's 2 month birthday.  I'm going to try and get posts done for both her 2 month birthday AND my thoughts on going back to work (since everyone's #1 question is "So are you ready to go back to work?")

Until next time...

Beach Vacation 2012

Our family beach trip this year was a short, very quickly planned one.  Having been very pregnant for the majority of this summer, I've been quite sad as I watched our friends post pics of their families hanging out in the sand, while I was hot and huge and miserable at home.  Imagine my husband's surprise when as soon as Tessa was born, I started talking about taking a newborn + our 2 and 4 year-old boys to the beach.  He thought I was crazy.  Fast forward 6 weeks and we have just returned from our first vacation as a family of 5!  We had a great time - not very similar to the relaxed vacations that I'm used to, but we had a great time nonetheless.

The boys LOVED every second of playing on the beach - in fact we only spent about an hour total at the pool in the 4 days we were there.  Once we were in the sand each day, the boys were really no trouble (except making sure Brooks didn't just walk out into the ocean, which he nearly did several times).  Tessa was pretty easy on the beach as well, mostly napping in her baby beach tent the whole time.

Our mornings were spent eating donuts for breakfast, and watching the ocean from our balcony and our days were spent digging in the sand with our boys.  After a late lunch each day, the babies took naps and I got a few quiet moments alone on the beach.  Dinnertime was absolutely the hardest part of our beach trip.  Taking 3 small kids into restaurants, keeping them occupied and happy during wait times, keeping them relatively quiet and mindful of others at the table, and actually getting food in their mouths was the biggest challenge of the whole trip.

Our favorite restaurant (you know the one you talk about all year until the next time you go) is on a marina and I just knew the boys would love it.  I dressed their little sun kissed behinds in brand-new white polo shirts with every intention of taking their pictures in front of all the fishing boats.  Well wouldn't you know it, there was no wait time for a table that night, so I decided that taking their pics after dinner would be fine.  The very first thing Brooks did was dump an entire cup of honey mustard down his white polo shirt.  So much for pics :/  I couldn't dwell on that though, because Will sat right next to me the whole time pulling on my arms, whining and asking questions about each and every boat at the marina - "where is that boat gonna go?"  "when is it gonna leave?" "I want it to go Mom!" "let's go look at the boats!" "mommmmmmmmaaaaaa!"  The WHOLE TIME.  All of this while I fed a newborn at the table and my food sat there looking at me.  After an hour of misery, we drove the half an hour home to the glorious sounds of an overly tired and cranky newborn and a 4 year old who was hungry and whiney (because he spent his dinner whining instead of eating).

The boys enjoyed lots of fun time while on vacation, and I can truly say that seeing their excitement makes the entire trouble of dragging 3 babies to the beach worth it.  They rode their first ferris wheel, took rides on the merry-go-round and played for hours and hours in the sand.  Take it from me, there is not much you need while on the beach with 2 and 4 year old boys - a bucket and a shovel will keep them occupied for hours on end.

After the most challenging dinner time, the only other big challenge was the car ride to and from the beach.  This is normally a 5.5 or 6 hour drive time from our home, but put 3 small children in the car and it becomes closer to 8 or 8.5 hours.  Within the first hour and a half on the way down, I had probably answered "How much longer?" about 100 times.  Not kidding.  Then the whining began.  Tessa actually was the best car rider - we only had to make one stop specifically for her on both trips.  The trip home was worse - at least 5 stops for "I gotta pee!" then you get back on the road only to hear "I gotta poop!"  We officially found the NASTIEST bathroom in Alabama on the way home thanks to Will and his unwavering 10:30AM poop.  Holy moly - when I stumbled out of our car in the garage last night, I could have literally kissed the garage floor I was so happy to be out of that car.

Here are (LOTS) of pics of our trip:

(Will smelled "cigared" as he calls it)

(Brooks wouldn't comply with sitting in this chair)

Waiting in line for the ferris wheel

I was so proud of Will - who is my cautious/nervous child - after a LOT of discussion, he got on and once we went around a couple of times he said "Mom, quit holding me.  I'm being brave." 

Brooks looks so big here

Tessa really enjoyed the rides as well :)

A few final thoughts on our whirlwind trip with 3 babies:

• I would probably eat more dinners at the condo and then take the boys out after dinner for fun time.  I would pick a few fave restaurants and then save the headache of eating out on the mediocre restaurants.  
• Take less sand toys.  A shovel and bucket will do the trick.
• There is no good way to travel 6+ hours with 3 kids.  Just buy some earplugs and drive as fast as you can (you know - in between the 17 stops).