Happy 29th Brandon!

 

Last week was also my sweetheart's 29th birthday.  One more year in his 20s!! 

This will be a short post, because Brandon probably won't read it anyway ;)

I am so proud to be Brandon's wife.  He is such a sweet, kind-hearted and honest man.  In truth, I don't know anyone that doesn't like Brandon.  He is my rock - my best friend, the one person in the whole world that I want to see when my world feels like it's caving in. 

Since we were high school sweethearts, I can say that I think I love him more the older he gets.  I also think he's getting more and more handsome.

Brandon - I am so proud of the man you are.  You are kind, honest, hard working and sincere.  You are such a good husband, and the best father a child could hope to have.  I am so blessed to have you to help me with this parenting gig.  Love you!  Happy birthday!!!

Will @ 5 Years

I can't believe I have a 5 year old.  That seems so much older than 4.  A 4 year old is a preschooler - a 5 year old is a "grade schooler".  Wow.  I'm so not ready. 

We've made many transitions with Will this year.  He's no longer wearing clothes in "toddler" sizes.  He's no longer wearing shoes with velcro.  He got glasses.  He's becoming more independent.  Sigghhhhh.... my first baby is growing up.

Will is really growing by leaps and bounds.  I'm not sure how tall he is or how much he weighs.  I don't own a scale and I avoid the doctor's office like the plague.  He wears size 5 pants and size 5/6 shirts.  He wears a size 13 shoe.

This time last year, I had to distract him to eat.  Now I can't get him full.  He wants to eat all.day.long.  He barely gets breakfast down before asking for a snack.  He still loves his usual kid-foods and rarely tries anything new.  His favorite foods include cooked (he won't eat raw) veggies (all except green beans which I can still make him eat with the proper bribe) and all fruits.  The only meats he will eat are chicken, bacon, and hot dog (does that count as a meat if its all beef?).  He loves breakfast foods like homemade waffles, biscuits, hashbrowns, muffins, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs (sometimes with cheese), and coconut or soy yogurt.  He loves grilled cheeses, PB&Js (with homemade strawberry rhubarb jam), and cinnamon toast.  Of course he loves fries (regular or sweet potato), chips, cookies, crackers and other kid junk.  He begs for sweets - candy, cupcakes, cookies, you name it.  He doesn't eat anything except what's on this list - so I have to really get creative.  He drinks almond milk (we reallllllly limit his dairy intake because of tummy issues), water, juice or gatorade (as a special treat when he's playing baseball).  Still never had soda or tea.

His best buddies on his 5th birthday are Brooks, Baron (my nephew), and Skyla (our neighbor).  He is crazy about animals (especially horses), his Gram, "farming", and Tom & Jerry cartoons.  His favorite toys are legos, tractors, toy horses, playdoh, and playing on my laptop. 

He has an imaginary farm in our backyard - complete with horses, cows, goats, pigs, a garden and a barn.  You can NOT convince him that those things are not real and he's not a real farmer.  His imagination is through the roof right now and that's one of my favorite things about him.

He still says his "r"s and "l"s like "w" and according to most that I ask, that's still normal for his age.  He is beginning to learn to read - successfully sounding out most two and three letter words that I quiz him with. He is getting better with his handwriting - this is something we're working on daily as it was brought to my attention that he needed a little help in that area.  Now you can pretty well make out what he's writing.  He hates to draw though.  He's definitely not got the creative gene.

He is the best big brother you can imagine.  He often talks about how "perfect" and "beautiful" his baby sister is.  We'll see if he still feels that way when she's 14 ;)  He is also very protective of Brooks.  It's the age old saying - he can pick on Brooks, but no one else can.  Just this last weekend, the kids and I were riding bikes through the neighborhood and Brooks was dragging along, wanting to walk and me push his bike home.  I began walking ahead and told Will "come on let's go - Brooks will just have to stand there.  Maybe someone else will come and help him push his bike home." (Obviously just kidding but trying to motivate Brooks to keep up).  Will jumped in front of me and made a road block with his arms, yelling "NO!  That's my little BROTHERRRRR!"  He is such a little caregiver.

He has such an innocence about him that I just love so much.  If he's watching his favorite cartoon, Tom & Jerry, and it goes off and another cartoon comes on after, he will turn to me and ask "am I allowed to watch this Momma?  Does this have bad people or bad words in it?"

He is a wonderful story teller - often pausing in the right spots, and adding just the right amount of facial and hand expressions in there too.  He's such an "old soul."  He also loves to listen to stories - and listens so earnestly while you're telling them.  We're reading "The Little House in the Big Woods" right now and he has never once been hindered by the fact that it's a chapter book with no pictures.  He listens along, asking questions and imagining the storyline. 

He probably asks 150,000 questions a day.  Seriously.  And you can't give him half an answer.  He knows when you're not being 100% truthful about something.  And he's so perceptive.  He notices things along our drives and in our world that I've never noticed.  His memory is SO good.  His teacher once told me that his reading comprehension was excellent, and I believe it.  He is like an elephant - he never forgets!  Yesterday we were in Home Depot and the kids and I walked away from Brandon all the way across the store.  When it was time to go back, I asked Will to lead the way, in a way to test him.  He did.  Without hesitating, he walked on his own all the way back to the aisle where his daddy was and Brooks, Tessa and I followed him. 

He is my cautious child.  He thinks and worries over everything. (The complete opposite of "Bulldozer Brooks").  I've recently had to start reminding him when something is a "little thing" and not something worth worrying about.  I'll say, "Will, this is one of those little things that I told you is not worth worrying about.  If you waste your time worrying about the little things, you can't enjoy the big things."  I wouldn't say it's working yet, but I'm trying at least to get him over his worrisome nature.

Of course like every mother, I think Will is a smart boy :)  He isn't the child that will sit down and write his ABCs perfectly, but he is "smart" in a very different way for a 5 year old - he uses *mostly* perfect grammar - he says things like "perfectly" and "precisely".  He uses words that most other 5 year old probably don't use on a regular basis.  He is a good problem solver, he's good at grouping things, story telling, pretend play, directional games, reading & math.  He does NOT like sensory or messy play.  He doesn't like markers because it gets on his hands.  He doesn't like glue bottles because of the mess - he prefers crayons and glue sticks.  He HATES for his hands to be "sticky".  He also doesn't like doing something he feels he isn't good at - but he responds really well to patient encouragement and praise. 

At 5 years old, Will knows his address, his birthday (not the year), my phone number & how to spell/write his first and last name (but often forgets the "u" in Rutledge), and can also write the names "Brooks" and "Tessa".  He knows what a compass is, and often asks me to give him specific directions like "we're going north".  At the eye doctor's office, he explained to me what an anemone was (the coral reef in the aquarium).  Where in the world did he learn that?! He said he learned it from a cartoon.  Go figure - you pay for private preschool - he blows you out of the water from something he learned on tv.

Will is very stubborn at 5 years old.  Once he sets his mind on something, he will NOT give it up.  You simply cannot change his mind about it.  He will ask the same question 150 times if he thinks you're not answering him fast enough - "Mom can I have a cookie?  Can I have a cookie? Mom I need a cookie.  Mom I would like a cookie.  Can I have a cooookkkkkkkiiiiieeeeee?!" CRAP! YES YOU CAN HAVE A STINKIN' COOKIE.  I WOULD RATHER PAY THOUSANDS IN DENTAL BILLS THAN LISTEN TO THIS ANY LONGER!!!  He can still be very whiney and he's recently started talking to me like I talk to him "Do you understand me?  You WILL do this because I said so."  Ugh.  A smart pants 5 year old makes for a mother who wants to be drunk before noon time. I handle it best I can.

Despite his whininess, Will is still one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world - not just because I gave birth to him, but because of his way of seeing things.  He is inquisitive, curious, perceptive and sooooo imaginative.  I love to see him smile and get giddy with excitement because he is so serious most of the time.  He is an old soul and his own little person.  He couldn't care less about what his peers are doing.  He follows his own path.  He loves his family - he told his class yesterday to save a birthday cupcake for his brother.  He asks for his sister immediately in the mornings.  He walks away from his class and asks me for a hug in front of them all.  I know these days are numbered.

Last night, when he fell asleep in the car and I carried him to bed, his toes kicked me in the shins as I walked.  He's so big.  He's so heavy.  I just look at him sometimes and remember the little baby he once was - my first born who taught me what it meant to be a mother.  He changed our lives so much and paved the way for our home to be filled with lots of little giggling children.  We have learned so much from Will - way more than we have taught him in 5 years.  I love him sooooo so much.  And although I can't wait to see what kind of man he becomes, I am saddened to think that he won't always want mommy to lay beside him at night and snuggle.  Along with his brother and sister, Will has made me the person I am today.  Love you Will.

Randomness

Whew.  It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks here in the Rutledge home.  We've had a lot going on and I'm not even sure I can remember what all we've been up to.

Up first - Will is playing t-ball again this year.  He's really enjoying himself.  Similar to last year, he loves to run the bases & bat.  His swing has improved quite a bit this year, and he does at least attempt to go after the balls in the field.  Most importantly - he's having fun and that's what counts.

I also did The Color Run Atlanta with some friends a couple of weekends ago.  It was fun.  Traffic was HORRENDOUS and for that reason, I'm not sure if it's something I am dying to do again.  I had "color" EVERYWHERE.  

We've also been making a few changes around the house - we've painted our kitchen (no photos yet) and we also took to painting our interior doors dark (Pinterest inspired).  My walls are not green at all - more like a dark toffee brown.  Poor lighting I guess.  I do love the look though.  I'm happy with it.  My husband, the painter - maybe not ;)  We used Benjamin Moore's Dragon's Breath.  It's really a charcoal gray.  It looks black in the hallway, but gray in the kitchen on the pantry door where there is more natural light. 

We also had Will's class pet at our home for spring break.  Hermie the Hermit Crab had many adventures while he was here, including attending Easter dinner at my parent's home.  Will was very enthusiastic about the crab but let him go back willingly to school (which was surprising).  He had to write about Hermie's adventures while at our home.  He wanted to write "Hermie slept in my room while mommy was painting the kitchen."  (For the most part, I kept Hermie in the kitchen on the bar-top table to avoid the hands of one very mischievous 3 year old, but moved him to the boys' room while we were painting.)  But Will eventually decided it would take far less time to write "Hermie is shy."

And we've also been enjoying lots of time outdoors with our neighborhood friends since Spring finally decided to join us Georgians.  

And just because we need ANOTHER something to feed in our home - daddy brought home our first pet yesterday - a baby turtle.  He found it in a box under his desk at work and knew the boys would love it.  I prefaced our conversation with the boys by saying "if this turtle gets too big, we may have to return him to the pond."  I'm hoping they remember that if this thing bites the dust and/or gets huge.  They are very excited and are brainstorming names - so far they've suggested "crabsy, heidi, and kermie."  I think its cute that Will is trying to make it rhyme with "hermie" from school.

And just because I didn't include any pics of Tessa - here is a recent one of her playing in the playroom with a toy that we just unearthed from her pile of Christmas gifts that we never opened.  The boys usually steal it from her immediately.  Why is it that the older kids want to play with baby toys when they see them??

I'm sorry for the long post - we've just been crazy busy lately.  Next week is both Brandon and Will's birthday and I haven't even THOUGHT about what to do for them.  sigghhhhh.....

Tessa @ 8 Months

Our girl is growing by leaps and bounds.  She is getting so big and it makes me both happy and sad.  Happy because she's healthy, and every day is a new and great big adventure to her.  Sad because I know that she is my last baby.  On the very rare occasions that she falls asleep in my arms, I'm reluctant to put her down because I know just how fast they grow and that in just a few more months, she won't be pint-sized any more. 

Tessa is wearing anywhere from size 9 months, to 12-18 months, depending on the style and brand.  Her feet are still tiny - with growing room still left in her 0-6 month shoes.  I've been really nervous to buy her any cutsie shoes and sandals for this summer because I have no idea what size her foot will be.  I keep expecting her foot to experience some sort of growth spurt, but so far that's not happening.  She's wearing size 3 diapers.

Her sleep has finally back to normal (praise the LORD).  She's back to sleeping from ~7:30 - 7 without waking.  Occasionally she'll wake up and roam around for her paci, but she goes right back to sleep. 

She eats lots of foods - I really think she likes the savory foods over the sweets at this point, but who really knows.  But the girl can scarf down spinach, rutabagas, broccoli, beets - you name it.  She does make a sour face with banana yogurt, but eats it nonetheless.  I'm pretty sure she also gets quite a bit of other yummies from grandma - including gravy & biscuit, pizza crust, shredded cheese, etc.  She's also made big strides this month with her pincher grasp - she is officially getting at least half of the puffs in her mouth. And she's is doing better with her sippies - she will drink out of them like a champ, but (just like with her bottle) she prefers not to hold it.  I hold her bottles for her - not the sippies.  We prefer the Nubi (with handles), Gerber soft spout (with handles), or the Playtex 1st Sipster (also with handles).  Each of those sippies have handles and a silicone OR soft spout.  We haven't graduated to the hard spouts yet.

She loves to play with her toys in the floor, and loves all the attention her brothers give her.  She laughs so hard at those boys.  I can only hope that they continue to love and adore each other the way they do now.

New developments this month include:

• A 3rd tooth (that makes 3 on the bottom)
• Learned to clap
• Said "papa" (her first word)
• First visit from the Easter bunny

 

An Evening In My Shoes...

I've always said that my hardest job starts after I leave the bank.  The hours of 6PM - 9PM are "go time" in our house.  I mean - it is a real zoo at the Rutledge house in the evenings.  I'm not so sure that people always take me seriously, so today I am giving you a recap of my evening yesterday.  Brace yourself.

5:20PM - I walk in the door, check the mail and change clothes.  Brandon hasn't gotten home with the kids yet, so I breathe in the quiet air and put on my tennis shoes.

5:30PM - I meet my neighbor on the sidewalk for one of our usual walks.  I really walk for my mental health more than my physical health.  It's a total sanity saver.   Have I mentioned to you all that I'm doing The Color Run this Saturday?? Yea - not ready for this one at all.

6:20PM - I am done with my walk and my family is home.  I walk in the back door to Brooks who meets me with a big happy smile and yells "We're cuttin' the gass momma!  I go with Daddy!" Brandon confirms that he's taking the boys outside to cut the grass.  Tessa's crying in her exersaucer because Brandon walked out of her line of view, so I go to pick her up.

6:23PM - Brandon asks the boys to go change pants before cutting the grass.  Brooks immediately goes to change clothes.  Will simultaneously starts whining that he loooovvvvveeeessss his current pants (pj pants) and doesn't want to change them.

6:25PM - Will is pitching a royal fit and still in pajamas.  He's literally crying so hard you would think his leg has been torn off.  (I'm going to let you in on a dirty little Rutledge marriage secret - the biggest source of angst in my marriage comes from Brandon saying one thing, and me saying another.)  So even though I couldn't care less if the child wears pajamas to cut the grass, Brandon said change clothes and I am sticking by him.  Will has to change to go outside.  I tell him that he has to stay inside with me until he can calm down, stop whining and change pants.

6:35PM - Tessa is in high chair with a Mum Mum (I really don't know what that is other than to say it looks like a disgusting baby rice cake - but she loves those things!)  Will is still crying.  I get all the ingredients for meatloaf out.  Brandon has been asking for meatloaf every night for at least a week and this is my late attempt to please him.

6:40PM - I put Will at the table with crayons, scissors, pencils and a few workbook pages.  He's still upset (and in his pajamas) and this is my feeble attempt at distracting him long enough to get the meatloaf in the oven.

6:41PM - Will is crying because he can't cut straight on the lines of his workbook page.  I remind him that he picked that page (not me) and that he can choose another page if he likes.  I still haven't touched the meatloaf.

6:45PM - Will has decided to practice handwriting rather than cutting, so I give him a new page & throw away the one he gave up on, give a crying Tessa her second Mum Mum and move back to the meatloaf ingredients. 

6:50PM - I have my bowls all ready to go - measuring cups are out and I'm about to get elbow deep in the ground beef when Will starts crying because he's noticed that I threw away the old sheet and he was "going to keeeeepppppp itttttttt."  I put on my best patient face and get down on his level - I explain that we can get a new sheet, but that he needs to calm down so that he can go outside with Brooks and Daddy.  He remembers that Brooks and Daddy are outside and goes storming off to his room screaming at the top of his lungs.  I try think about all the things that I love about him, instead of the fact that I want to strangle him.

7:00PM - Before I get all messy with ground beef, I decide to move Tessa from her high chair to the floor so that I don't have to worry about giving her snacks with ecoli hands.  Will is still crying in his room.  I shut his door to block out the noise.

7:05PM - I start dumping ingredients as fast I can into the mixing bowl.  I mix the ground beef in with my hands. 

7:06PM - Will is now kicking something in his room.  I swear under my breath and put everything back in the bowl.  I wash my hands, dry them off and walk to Will's room.  Tessa sees me walk past her room and she starts crying too.

7:10PM - I ask Will why he's crying and he says (while crying) that he doesn't know.  He's been crying for almost an hour now.  My mommy senses make me think something else is going on.  I check for fever - no fever.  I finally get him calmed down by giving in and telling him he can go outside if can change clothes and put his shoes on.  I put some blinky noisy toys in front of the crying baby and head back to the meatloaf.

7:15PM - Still mixing the meatloaf and Tessa is crying so hard that she's holding her breath.  I look at the raw ground beef in front of me and seriously consider licking it, in hopes that a good case of ecoli would mean I could lie in bed alone for a few days.  I wash my hands again and go pick her up.  I put her back in her high chair and give her another pack of baby rice cakes.  I wonder if too much rice will make her tummy hurt, but I'm too stressed to think of another solution.  She takes it, and eats it still crying.  It's her bed time and at this point I consider the time and the fact that the meatloaf takes more than an hour to cook.  I make the decision to let her cry and hurry through with getting dinner in the oven so that we can eat before 9PM.

7:16PM - Will comes into the kitchen and asks for help with his shoes.  I don't want to set him off into another crying fit, so I wash my hands and agree to help.  The baby is still crying.  And because I've washed my hands about 10 times in 30 mins, my skin feels like it's burning off when I rinse them off.  I want to cry.  I want to take the meatloaf and stick it up Brandon's nose.

7:17PM - Will finally has his shoes on and I say something funny to get a smile out of him.  He laughs and snot flies from his nose into his mouth.  He immediately starts crying AND gagging.  I hurry to get the snot out of his mouth before he pukes.  That is the last thing I need.

7:18PM - I send Will outside, put the meatloaf mixture into the baking dish and wash my hands again.  I'm pretty sure I see my actual skin peel off and go down the drain.  Tessa is still crying, so I go to her first.  Brandon walks in for a drink and I make a smart comment about how much I hope he loves his meatloaf.  He shoots me a look and slams the door as he goes back out into the yard.  That didn't go well.  Siggghhhhh.....

7:30PM - I sit down to feed Tessa.  She's as happy as a clam now that I'm holding her.  I immediately forget about the hell I've just been through and snuggle up to my sweet girl.  I think about how I was just at work 2 hours ago.  It was only 2 hours, but it feels like a lifetime ago.  I think about how different my life is from anyone I work with. 

7:45PM - The boys come in and head for the shower.  I apologize to Brandon for smarting off and he not-so-graciously accepts.

8:15PM - I lay Tessa in her crib and turn out her lights.  One down, two more to go.

8:20PM - The oven timer goes off and I put the topping on the meatloaf and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes.  The boys come bounding into the kitchen asking for their supper.  I consider the time and my energy level.  Knowing Will won't eat red meat anyway, I pop a few corn dogs into the microwave, throw some cheese puffs and applesauce on their paper plates and call it dinner.  Hey - it could be worse. 

8:35PM - The boys are done eating and beg for me to read to them.  We brush teeth, get vitamins, and head to bed with our latest (and first) chapter book - The House in the Big Woods. 

8:50PM - From the boys' bed I hear the oven timer go off.  I hear Brandon get out of his recliner and get the meatloaf out.  He sits it on the stove top.

9:15PM - I finish another chapter of the boys' book and tuck them in.  Two more hugs.  One more tuck in.  Night light on, then off, then on again.  All three children are now in bed.

9:22PM - I walk into the kitchen to find that Brandon has already cut himself a big piece of meatloaf.  There's only one problem with it - the inside is still red.  I ask him if he ate any, because obviously it needs to cook longer.  His answer "I was going to ask you about that.  How much longer does it need?"  I want to cry.  I put it back in the oven, and set the timer for 25 more minutes.  I think about how hungry I am, but also how chubby I am.  I think that the last thing I should do right now is eat meatloaf at 10PM.  So I go to bed.

At 9:30PM I walk into my bedroom, finally take off my sweaty walking clothes, brush my teeth and go to bed.  I don't shower.  I don't take my makeup off.  I feel defeated.  I feel like a crappy mom because 2 out of 3 of my kids cried all evening.  I feel like a cruddy wife because it's late and Brandon hasn't eaten dinner.  And I'm hungry.  So I just curl up in my unmade bed and go to sleep.

And THAT my friends is what a pretty typical evening in the Rutledge house looks like.  Not always - but often.  Does it make you jealous?  Yea - I didn't think so.