Growing Up Rutledge

4 Months and 5 Months!

2011-10-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

Olive is now 5 months

I skipped her 4 month update! School started and my thyroid is at the point in recovery from the pregnancy where it's exhausted and returning to it's old horrible functioning state. So, my housework and my blog have suffered!

We'll start with 4 Months

4 months old with Olive The Other Reindeer

She had her 4 month check up and is doing great. She weighs 12 lbs 1 oz and is 23 ¼ inches long. Shockingly, she is smaller than Maisy was at this age. She has Reflux pretty bad so much of our time is spent managing it so that she doesn't hurt too much. Babies with Reflux sleep terribly. As her Reflux has progressed, her sleeping has digressed. Which is why I feel like a walking zombie most of the time.

One day in September Olive made a shocking, yet exciting discovery!

While getting her diaper changed, she looked down and saw her toes! Her toes and feet are her favorite toys. She gets very (VERY!) upset when you put her in a sleep sack because she can't play with her feet. This is hindering my nighttime attire choices for Olive because I love using these for my babies. Both Johnny and Maisy used these until they were walking. (actually, after they were walking too!)

5 months old with Olive The Other Reindeer

Olive's personality is really developing! She is very soft and sweet and silly. She likes to laugh alot and still loves playing with her toes. Everything she sees, she puts in her mouth. You can watch her make eye contact with an object and open her mouth even before reaching out for that object.

Olive's friend Parker loaned her this exersaucer. She loves to play in it and tries to get the toys into her mouth. Recently she let go too quickly and hit herself in the face with her hand. She has a very sad cry when she gets hurt or scared.

Parker and Olive had a play date while Maisy and Brynn (Parker's older sister) had a play date. They seem to be great friends and spend most of the time trying to grab each other's faces. Parker was born in December and is 5 months older than Olive.

When I was pregnant with Olive I had a very vivid dream about my baby and she had red hair. I woke up and told Gabe all about it and we laughed and spent the entire pregnancy talking about my "red haired" baby. Sometimes the light catches Olive's hair in the right way and it looks red, which always shocks us that there is a tiny bit of truth to my dream. She still has very blue eyes and looks like both Maisy and Johnny at various times.

Both Maisy and Johnny over-love Olive and sometimes I have to feed her in a separate room with the door shut and closed so that she can actually get some quiet while she eats.

School is in full swing and for the most part Johnny is really enjoying 3rd grade and his teacher, Mrs. Barber. But some mornings he still looks like this

The vote is still out on Maisy's thoughts on preschool. We had a conference with her teacher this week and learned that she is very VERY quiet at school and barely talks. We were completely stunned by this news. I wonder how we can get her to act like that around the house!

Our weather has returned to rainy, but Maisy did not let that stop her from enjoying the outside.

She spent the morning outside playing in the pouring rain, just like this.

Our next post will probably have the kids in their Halloween costumes, which we've been planning since July!

On the 3rd Day of the 3rd Grade...

2011-09-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Johnny started 3rd Grade!

His teacher is Mrs. Barber and so far, she's the coolest teacher ever.

Johnny got off the bus on the first day of school and said "I have a couple of good things and a some bad things to tell you. AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO TELL ANYONE THE BAD THINGS because I really don't care about them".

1. This kid had an angry birds shirt and I asked him about one of the birds and he said "You disgust me". (Johnny and I couldn't figure out why this boy had such a strong response)

2. Ethan B. said daddy is an idiot because he can't beat level 3 in Angry Birds Rio. That's harsh! I'll bet daddy could beat it if he played it more.

And the GOOD THINGS....

Our teacher gave us root beer! And we are doing that experiment with the gummy bear that we did this summer so I already know how it ends; but don't worry, I didn't spoil it for anyone.

AND

RJ got in trouble. First he got a warning for saying "shut up" and then he got in trouble for saying "holy crap".

Johnny insisted on posing with Olive. He's so in love with her right now!

On the 2nd day of school he got off the bus and told me that his teacher gave them gobstoppers and they are doing an experiment with them! And RJ got in trouble for saying fart.

On the 3rd day he got off the bus and told me that their teacher gave them Coke and guess what! Coke is GOOD! They are doing an experiment with coke and mentos. And RJ got in trouble for coming in 7 minutes late from recess.

All in all it was a great week. Johnny drew some pictures of spongebob, squidward, patrick and plankton. And they were pretty good. I actually thought he'd traced them.

Maisy missed Johnny during the school days. She missed her favorite play toy that she bites and kicks and pinches and chases around the house and steals his toys. She's tried to use me for these tricks, but I'm not as agreeable as Johnny is. She starts preschool on Tuesday and I'm hoping that helps give her a little "direction"!

Maisy is currently in an inappropriate phase! Today she ordered me to the kitchen and said "mama! Get me my water!". I replied with "Maisy, how would be a nice way to ask". So she rephrased and said "Mama, can you please get me my water?". Later she came up to me and said "Mama! I'm going to rip your phase off!". I said "Maisy, we don't talk like that, it isn't nice talk." She she said "Mama! Please I'm going to rip your face off.". She's really a delicate little flower! (I'm really hoping she doesn't embarrass us at preschool!)

Johnny said to me "I don't get it mom. Daddy's funny, but he's not THAT funny".

I'm hoping this positive first week of school will set a nice tone for the year.

3 Months!

2011-08-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

OLIVE IS 3 MONTHS OLD!

Hard to believe that 3 months have past since Olive was born! She is the perfect addition to our family. So sweet and calm. She sleeps pretty good too! Definitely different from her siblings!

She's working on rolling from her back to her stomach, having mastered the other direction after 2 weeks of life! She's likes to hold things in her hands and is very engaging! If she catches your eye she will smile and laugh. She is also doing a little bit of a social coughing as a way of communicating with people. It's very adorable and she looks so proud of herself!

Like I said, she's sleeping pretty well. She usually eats twice a night and, most often, sleeps till about 10:00 am. (thank you Olive for agreeing with our families routine of not being morning people!)

Her hair is coming in nice and high! It's got some blond and red highlights in it, but there's not enough hair to tell exactly what color it will be. Early in my pregnancy with Olive I had a very vivid dream that my baby would be a girl with bright red hair. Everytime we see red in her hair it makes us smile!

Maisy LOVES to help care for Olive! (don't worry, those are my hands in the back)

Olive and her friend Parker! Parker is the little sister to Maisy's friend Brynn; she was born in December.

Johnny is absolutely in love with Olive. He walks around saying "How did Olive get SSSOOOO cute?". He thinks she is the best sister ever and can't wait to be with her every day. It's very sweet!

Maisy loves to "carry" Olive. She needs a little work on her dismount as she isn't always the most gentle with Olive.

Olive has terrible gas. Awful, horrible gas. The kind that makes people give her back to me because they can't stand the smell. Everyone is certain she needs a new diaper, but it is never the case! Maisy walks around saying "Olive is a stinky, stinky baby".

She finally has a nickname! We usually end up calling her "Little O". Johnny was "The Beaver", Maisy was (and still is) "Cakes" and now Olive is "Little O".

Summer, Sleep, Swimming, Smiles & Sisters

2011-08-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

The most exciting thing in our house right now is that OLIVE SLEEPS!!!

Unlike her siblings, she actually understand that sleep, at night, should occur in increments of more than 45 minutes!

Elmo and Papa took Maisy and Johnny to Lakefair. Last year Maisy was too short to ride the rides. During the last year many nights were spent discussing how she was so sad she couldn't ride anything at the fair by the water. This year, Elmo taught Maisy how to stretch as tall as she can so she will be tall enough. (she still wasn't tall enough for all the rides and some of the fair workers wouldn't let her on! Poor girl, she still hasn't reached 3 feet!)

Johnny loves Olive and tries to hold her every chance he gets!

Johnny is finally (sometimes) getting Maisy to play games with him. This weekend he and Maisy here "spies". The gloves are all part of Maisy's "spy wear". In this picture she is playing dead. He's taught her all about Ben 10 and she can tell you all about each character and say their catchphrases.

Olive LOVES smiling. She gets to happy anytime she sees us. Her smile brightens up the whole room and Johnny spends alot of time waiting for her to wake up so she can smile!

Maisy started swimming lessons. The 2nd picture is a result of her being tired of me taking pictures! Even though she thinks she can already swim, she LOVES her swimming lessons!

Maisy is really enjoying taking care of her sister. She helped me give her a bath. Olive thought this was pretty funny. Maisy did pretty good too and there was only one incident of her dropping a wet wash cloth on Olive's face. (You can't see me, but I am the main person bathing Olive!)

Johnny hasn't been too pleased with us this summer! We limit his computer and tv time, we make him do school work, we make him clean his room. All of this takes very little time out of his day, but he feels like we are torturing him. Somewhere he has heard this phrase, but he's using it incorrectly. (and I'm not going to correct him!) He walks around, glaring at us, saying "I'm in heaven".

Maisy has adopted a phrase from her Great Grandpa Rutledge. She can often be heard saying "For Crying Out Loud". The other day she even performed a freestyle song she'd written entitled "For Crying Out Loud".

With the exception of a few disastrous trips (our apologies to the swimmers at the pool last night) having 3 kids hasn't been too difficult of a transition. Olive is the sweetest baby ever and rarely makes a peep. She is the perfect baby for our family and thankfully her siblings love her. We were a little worried about how Maisy would respond to her sister, thankfully we have been pleasantly surprised.

14th Anniversary

2011-07-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today is our 14th Anniversary

our "Ivory" anniversary

Gabe and I got married when we were 23 years old. We had been together for 3½ year and I considered myself an old spinster. Patience has never been my strong suit. Finally we got engaged and married.

This year I gave Gabe the best anniversary presents ever.

#1) I am letting him take a nap

#2) I found 2 socks for him to wear (that match) in the gigantic laundry pile, that is now level with the dryer.

(he is not appreciative of either gift!)

In recent years I have really worked on my patience and letting life happen on life's terms rather than my own. While spending a week in the hospital after Olive's birth, I had a lot of free time to reflect and think about my life. Gabe and I have had many trials over the years and the main thought I kept having was that I am thankful I was patient enough to see where life would take us; because it is much better than I ever could have imagined.

Gabe is an amazing husband and our relationship is better than I ever thought marriage would be. We have three amazing kids who enhance our lives in so many ways. (unfortunately not always positive!!!) Gabe is a very natural father and I am lucky to be able to parent with him. I began taking parenting classes when Johnny was 3 months old to learn what Gabe already seems to have inside of him.

On this anniversary I am glad that I have found the patience to see what life has in store for me.

Here is my favorite picture from our wedding...

This is our friend Kelly with Gabe's grandmother (left) and Aunt (right).

Please note, after we came home from our honeymoon, Gabe returned Kelly's tux to the store. They were doing a "once over" to make sure nothing got left in the pockets and they found...4 spoons, taken from the reception.

2 Months!

2011-07-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

Olive Is 2 Months!

It's hard to believe 2 months have passed! She's doing great. She weighs 9 lbs 12 oz and is 21 inches long.

She is very sweet and is starting to smile alot.

Olive finally has her own bedroom! Grammie made her bedding and it's ready for her to sleep there...when she's ready!!

Johnny had his last day of 2nd grade. The year was a challenge filled with a lot of new learning experiences in many many ways. Johnny worked very hard and really liked his teacher; but he was ready for summer.

On the last night of school Johnny and I had a sleepover and watched a movie. Olive joined us for the movie and Johnny and Olive snuggled while watching.

Cousin Bailey got a new puppy and stopped by for a visit. She named her "Ellie" and she is the most adorable puppy ever.

The best part is that Ellie the puppy shares a birthday with Olive. They posed for a picture together!

Tonight while taking Olive's 2 month picture, Maisy jumped in to play with Olive. This picture was taking shortly after Maisy "helped" Olive roll over.

Below is the very patriotic outfit Maisy selected for the 4th of July. The snow boots were completely necessary for our day at the beach! Currently Maisy is a very very feisty 3½ year old. Some days I would be willing to ~~sell her to the highest bidder~~, give her away! She is learning alot and you can see the huge developments she's making; but you can also see the HUGE tantrums she's making too!!

1 Month!

2011-06-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

Olive is 1 month old!

Olive is 1 Month old! Here she is posing with Olive, The Other Reindeer!

It has been a fast month!
Olive is eating well, sleeping....as well as a newborn sleeps, and seems to be getting bigger! Her hair is growing in quickly as well. I'm pretty sure she'll need a hair bow pretty soon! Just like Maisy and Johnny she has Reflux. But is managing well with the help of her medicine.

She can roll over from her stomach to her back and is working on going from her back to her stomach. Hopefully she won't get too crazy and get moving early like Maisy.

I think she looks like she is going to punch someone in this picture

Sister's napping together

Loved by her brother and sister

And...as usual, I have a gift for taking cross-eyed pictures of babies. Here's another of Olive:

Cross - Eyed, but oh so cute! Look at that full belly!

Unfortunately Olive is not the only one in the house gaining weight. Don, the cat, is up to 19.2 pounds. In April he was 16.8. He really needs to get on a workout plan.

Olive Kristine Rutledge

2011-05-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

Did you wonder what that yelling was on Saturday?

Don't worry, It was just Kristi giving birth to

OLIVE KRISTINE RUTLEDGE!

After an easy, yet painful labor, Olive arrived at 4:15 pm on Saturday May 7, 2011. She weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 19 inches long.

Olive's birth was quite dramatic. She was so active while in utero that she tied a true knot in the umbilical cord.

She aspirated meconium and ended up with pneumonia. We had to stay in the hospital for 7 days so she could be treated with antibiotics.

While at the hospital we stayed in the "Turtle" Room. If you ever have to stay in the hospital, I highly recommend the Special Care Nursery at St. Peter Hospital. The nurses there are AMAZING. They were so kind and compassionate and knowledgeable. Seriously, the nurses there are just about the best people on the planet. The level of care we received was absolutely astonishing.

Olive's arrival home was eagerly awaited by Johnny and Maisy. They were both very worried and confused about why she didn't get to come home right away, but they adjusted nicely. Thankfully we have an amazing support system who stepped in to help and we are very grateful.

Olive is doing great and adjusting to life in the Rutledge house. Maisy has decided that SHE is Olive's mother and I am still Maisy's mother. (I guess this makes me Olive's grandmother) Johnny thinks it's funny that she laughs in her sleep.

As you can see, the majority of her weight is in her cheeks!

(The pajamas Olive is wearing were worn home from the hospital by all of the Rutledge babies!)

The Countdown Begins

2011-04-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Submit your vote for Rutledge #3's Birth Stats!

Rutledge Baby #3

(this is an amazingly awful picture of all of us!!!)

Rutledge #3 is due in exactly 1 month! The atmosphere in our house is excited (Johnny), confused (Maisy), worried (Gabe) exhausted (Kristi), and looking like he's having a sympathy pregnancy (Don).

(Johnny pouring himself a "small" bowl of cereal!)

Johnny can't wait. He was pretty bummed when he realized that the baby would not be sharing his room; he really wants #3 to sleep in his room sometime while she's still cute and tiny and not bossy like Maisy.

(Maisy decorating cookies)

Maisy's just confused. Sometimes she thinks the baby is her stuffed toy, sometimes she thinks she has the baby, most of the time she has no idea. She has accepted that the baby will be coming to live with us and doesn't want to send her off to Elmo and Papa's. Also along the lines of acceptance, Maisy has finally admitted she's 3. She was refusing to be 3 until just this month and told everyone she was 2.

(The Academy Awards, 2011)

Gabe is worried. He has alot of shows scheduled at various times and is hoping that the baby cooperates with his schedule. Maisy was not quite as cooperative and Gabe had to call in his back up for a Christmas party he was supposed to preform at. Let's hope #3 is more thoughtful!

Kristi is exhausted. I had no idea it was possible to feel so tired! So Gabe is able to be at home for an extended period of time after #3 arrives, he's had to do alot of traveling. Being a million months pregnant, by myself, with 2 kids who do not grasp the concept of "mommy wants to sit" is shocking! With Johnny, I was terrified of giving birth and having a new baby. Even though he was 15 days late, I could have gone longer! With Maisy I was eyeing her due date and ok with waiting and hoped she came a little early so she wasn't born on Christmas. With this one...I'm ready now. I have no sleeping places set up for her, no car seat in the car, no bags packed, but I'm ready. (by this point I know, you only need the carseat in place, everything else is a luxury!!)

And Don....Poor Don is suffering from the horrible northwest weather. We had a wet, cold summer last year and Don didn't spend nearly enough time running around working off his "winter weight". Then he added "winter weight" from this winter and his looking huge. People keep asking if our cat is having kittens. I prefer to think that he is having a sympathy pregnancy right along with me!

We'll keep you posted!

Talent Show 2011

2011-02-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

Johnny performed in the talent show tonight.

He sang "On My Own" by the band Three Days Grace.

We were a little nervous. Prior to the show he told me that "I only like the main part of the song, so that's all I'm gonna sing". Which means the rest would be standing around doing nothing. Also, he refused to practice the song because "I've been listening to it since August, so I think I know it by now".

Gabe and I were pleasantly surprised. He sang loud, and he really did know all the words. I give him credit, he certainly is brave. If you know Johnny, he's actually quite shy. But, he wants to be in the talent show, so he's willing to put that aside.

For your viewing pleasure..

Johnny, performing "On My Own"...

When we got home, Johnny said "Jokes get a bigger hit. Maybe I'll do those again next year. OR...I haven't danced yet. Maybe I should dance". (Gabe pointed out that Johnny is what the entertainment industry calls a "triple threat".)

It's a...

2010-12-20T20:16:00.000-08:00

Can't you tell?!?!

We had the 20 week ultra sound this morning. The kids were very excited. Johnny could hardly sleep last night and awoke very early this morning with anticipation.

It's a GIRL!

Maisy didn't seem phased by the news.

Johnny was a little disappointed. He was hoping for his last chance at a brother. I also think he's a little worried. The sister he lives with now harrasses him. I'm sure he's excpecting the worst! The ultrasound technician was very nice and made this picture for Johnny with a little message from his sister.

The name will be revealed when the baby arrives!

Something to Show You

2010-10-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

Yes....you are seeing what you think you are seeing. Another Rutledge is on the way. Due May 8th. Johnny couldn't be more excited and is expecting me to bring him his baby brother he requested. Maisy thinks we are having a baby tiger.

I'd post more about our life, but I'm far too sick to sit in front of the computer too long!

13th Anniversary

2010-07-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today is our 13th Anniversary. It is our "Lace Anniversary".

(I've promised Gabe some lace doilies that he's had his eye on.)

As promised last year, I will write about one of my favorite memories from our wedding / engagement period.

Gabe decided to ask me to marry him and put the plans in motion. (We were all of 22 years old and wasting away so it was high time he got on it!) He called my mom to ask if he could marry me. (aaaahhh...isn't that sweet?!?!?)

The conversation went something like this:

BBBrrrriiiinnnnggggg (telephone ringing)

Sandy: Hello, this is Sandy

Gabe: Hi this is Gabe. I have something to ask you. I want to marry your daughter.

Sandy: Can you hold on, I have another call....

Obviously she eventually came back and said yes. (If you know my mom, you can picture this scene perfectly!)

I feel as though I should apologize for my lack of blogging updates. My health hasn't been at it's best this year and it's left me extremely exhausted and not much energy to do much more than take care of the kids.

the kids are great....and fighting...A LOT. Maisy is quite feisty and harasses Johnny every chance she can get. Johnny tries to reason with her, which never works with a 2½ year old, and gets frustrated with the situation. This repeats itself throughout the day. The good thing is, Maisy is absolutely adorable and it's hard to be too annoyed with her. Johnny loves his sister so much and takes his role of "big brother" so seriously, I understand why he's frustrated with her. They are adorable together.

I hear Music Everywhere!

2010-06-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

Johnny and his class performed at the school assembly today!

They were supposed to bring an instrument to play, Johnny chose to play the zipper on his jacket.

Stay tuned until the end of the video to see his dramatic finish!

First Sleepover!

2010-02-27T23:21:00.000-08:00

This evening Johnny had his friend Haven over for a sleep over. This is the first time Johnny has had a buddy spend the night!

Last summer I asked Johnny if he ever wanted to have Haven spend the night and he said "well he can't sleep in my room". When I explained that the fun of having a friend over was having them sleep in your room he said "well, he can stay in my room, but only if he doesn't talk".

Haven is currently sleeping in Johnny's bottom bunk, and I believe he talked a little before they went to sleep. And Johnny did not kick him out....success!

Maisy LOVES "Hay-man". (that's what she calls him) At dinner we were discussing our day and Haven said "Maisy, what was your favorite part of the day?" and she looked at him thoughtfully and said "Umm...Well Hay-man.." and began babbling about something that we couldn't understand.

Tomorrow morning should be interesting as Johnny still won't get out of bed on his own and yells "it's morning time" when he wakes up. Haven may not appreciate that wake up call!

Scary Ghosts!

2010-02-09T23:26:00.000-08:00

Since Halloween, Maisy has been interested in "Scary Ghosts". (Pronounced "Skuh-Whee Gh-OH-st!")

She got a Halloween book and there was a picture of a ghost on it and Johnny enjoyed teaching her the sound effects for ghosts.

I was finally able to get video of her making her scary ghost sounds.

She's just about the least scariest ghost ever!

Talent Show 2009

2010-01-28T23:03:00.001-08:00

This evening Johnny performed in the Pioneer Elementary School Talent Show.

Gabe and I could not be more proud, or impressed. When Johnny was 4 we went to a preschool testing at the school district, when the teacher came to get him he hid under my chair crying at the thought of going with someone he didn't know. Now, he is a confident 7 year old who wanted to perform in the talent show.

I present to you....

Johnny Rutledge telling jokes

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from

Johnny and Maisy!

Maisy Is Two!

2009-12-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Maisy has something to tell you:

We celebrated her 2nd birthday on Sunday and she quickly learned how to say "opine presens". She LOVED it and enjoyed eating cake and playing (stealing toys from) with her buddies.

I made her a special birthday dress

And just like Maisy the Mouse's book, she had "Happy Birthday" on her diaper cover.

It's hard to believe that this

Turned in to this:

Maisy is so much fun and we just love watching her grow. She talks a lot and has so much to say....sometimes we have no idea what she's telling us! She loves to talk about Johnny and Don the cat. After spending her first year looking at us like we were crazy, she seems to have adapted to the philosphy if you can't beat them, join them and is just as goofy as the rest of the family.

She loves dancing and has some spectacular moves. She's very different than her brother. She will hit you with a toy and when you discuss that if you hit with toys you can't play with that toy she will bring you the toy, like she knows the temptation is far too great and she should get rid of it now! She is much less busier than Johnny was at this age, and I must admit, it's nice!

We are beginning to talk negotiations around weaning and so far she's winning. Last night she said "mama! milky yummy. mmm... good...thank you mama!". It's hard to compete with that argument! She's very posessive of me and my hair. I held baby Dash during her birthday party and he played with my hair. She came running over crying, very offended, yelling "my hair! my hair" mama! my hair!".

All around she's doing great. She's still pretty small and getting smaller, which makes me nervous for her 2 year check up! She just weighed in at 20 pounds 4 ounces which is terrible for her age (0.65%); but not to worry - her head is still very big! (she also has tiny feet so she may just topple over one day!) The good news is that she is able to wear clothes for longer since she's growing so slowly. She's getting good use out of the wardrobe "Kimmy" purchased for Bailey. (Maisy came up with that name all on her own! There is only one other person Kim allows to call her "Kimmy" and I don't think Maisy had ever her her called it)

Unlike her brother she loves to put on shoes and clothes. She got a tea set for her birthday and made Gabe open it and sat down and started making tea. I have no idea how she knew how to do this. Apparently the genetic make up of girls includes tea parties.

Maisy is an excellent addition to our family and I can't imagine life without her. It's been wonderful to see the relationship between her and Johnny develop. She adores him and he is absolutely wonderful to her. All my worries of sibling rivalry were unfounded.

Below are the remaining pictures of Maisy's "stocking" photo shoot!

Confirmation....FINALLY!

2009-12-04T22:12:00.000-08:00

We finally have confirmation that Maisy is mine!

Wasn't it nice of momo, karen and kim to buy me this American Girl doll all those years ago, somehow having the psychic abililty to know that (even though at the time I was NEVER having another child) my child, a daughter, would look exactly like this doll and eventually save me money when she gets to the age of wanting an American Girl doll and already has one!

Thank you!

(BTW....I got the doll out to show Morgan, sister to the infamous Haven, what an American Girl doll looked like, never thinking Maisy would have any interest in it. She went right over to it, grabbed the brush and began fixing her hair.)

Halloween Wrap Up

2009-11-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

About this time every year I have a bunch of Halloween photos I want to share and don't because it's close to Thanksgiving and I figure it's too late. But, this year I'm going to post them anyway.

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch.

You should see these boots...they are the smallest boots ever. Johnny wore them when he was about 1 and no child has been able to fit in them since...until Maisy. They are about 2½ inches from heel to toe!

Veggietales pumpkins! Johnny was so excited!

This picture reminded me of the picture here

Johnny's annual smashing of the rotten pumpkins, Maisy enjoyed it as well.

And the pumpkin patch pictures stop after this! It starting pouring (DUMPING) rain and Maisy slipped and fell face first into a pile of dirt. It was the saddest thing ever. She was cold, wet and bloody. We got her cleaned up and she survived with just a scratch on her nose.

The kids got to dress up at Maisy's babygym class. They are all adorable and so fun to see in their costumes, because they have absolutely no understanding that they are dressed up or what they are dressed up for.

Here are Maisy's best little buddies (or favorite people to steal toys from) Brynn and Murphy

Pumpkin decorating and cleaning. Both kids jumped right in

Somehow, playing with the pumpkin guts in a bucket is way more fun than carving pumpkins

Seeing that Johnny got to draw on his pumpkin, Maisy insisted on drawing on her "pumpkin"

Never one to pass up an opportunity to decorate, Johnny began decorating himself

Johnny and Gabe had a "sleep over" in our bed. Mommy got to sleep in Johnny's bottom bunk.

(discussion followed the next day on whether or not Johnny needs a new mattress)

We went up to Bailey's for her 4th Birthday party and trick or treating. Here are the kids before we head out to trick or treat. so many silly things are going on in this picture I had to share it!

Maisy LOVES to sit on Kim's lap and play the piano with her. It's so sweet to watch.

Kim got the kids matching pajamas with their names on them and a "sceh-wee ghost" as Maisy says. By this time the kids were tired, had candy and fiesty. I believe Johnny is trying to get back his omnitrix from Bailey who is holding on to it for dear life. Maisy is just trying to get off the couch.

Finally the sleep over!

The alarm on Johnny's clock got turn on somehow and went off at 7:00 am, which was actually 6:00 am because of the time change. Kim tried to get Johnny to go to sleep but he wanted nothing to do with that idea and both kids got up and were ready to play. Johnny proclaimed he is now ready to spend the night at Haven's.

Maisy spent most of October talking about "skeh-wee" ghosts. In fact, she still enjoys talking about them. It's actually very cute. She also likes to dance and sing, alot. Twinkle Twinkle is a favorite and she sings about every 3 word and babbles for the rest. She also enjoys singing the hand clapping songs we sing in baby class.

Bailey thinks Gabe is named "Uncle Dave". Before we came up she asked who was coming and Kim told her "Treetree, Gabe, Maisy and Johnny" and Bailey said "What about Uncle Dave?".

First Ice Cream Cone

2009-11-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

This evening, daddy gave Maisy her first ice cream cone. She was SO EXCITED!

(her brother was probably close to 4 before he had an ice cream cone....the 2nd child gets to do things much earlier!)

I present....

ICE CREAM CONE

a story through pictures

Maisy testing out her cone

Dancing around with her cone, twirling in circles saying "Eye Kweem" and "I BIG GOYLE"

It was inevitble, the ice cream fell off the cone

Daddy put more ice cream in the cone

All is well with the world

(and momo....this doesn't mean you can give Maisy an ice cream cone every time she visits you)

School Carnival

2009-10-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer School Fall Carnival was this evening. Both kids were excited to wear their costumes.

Johnny is dressed as "Ben 10 Alien Force" which is his favorite television show, toy, concept, game to play, thing to think about about, think to talk about, thing to draw, etc... He was very excited for his costume to arrive. His mother was also excited as his other costume ideas involved me sewing something from his imagination and I'm not entirely sure my sewing capabilities are up to that!

Maisy was Dorothy. Ever since Bailey was a baby I have had my eye on this costume. I offered to make it for Bailey, but she had a mind of her own at this age. Thankfully Maisy does not!!! (and her mother never gave her the option!)

Unfortunately I forgot to hand Maisy her little stuffed Toto dog for her picture!

Some of our friends (Maria, mother to Haven and Morgan and Carina, mother to Helena and Andreas) taught Maisy has to make this face, and Gabe has given it a name....if you ask Maisy to make her "funny face" this is what you get!

Here are Maisy and Johnny together...and Maisy and Johnny making funny faces at each other.

Johnny won this cake at the cakewalk. 2nd round even! Last year we probably played the cake walk 15 times before he won and selected the cake we brought. This year he found a cake that fit him perfectly. This person obviously made this cake with Johnny in mind.

Next weekend, we will be attending the birthday festivities of Bailey and staying to trick or treat and have a sleep over. Bailey told Momo that Johnny, Treetree, and Maisy were all going to spend the night in her room in her extra bed. It's a twin bed, and Johnny's bringing everything he owns, so it should be really really...um...comfortable. Bailey's extra bed is a trundle bed. Johnny's wondering if he can sleep in the "cave" section.

Below are 2 pictures of Maisy. Each snapped as she said a word. In the first picture she said "No". In the second she said "stop". I thought I did a pretty good job of capturing the exact feeling she was having.

Grammie made Johnny a new spider pillowcase. He insisted on me taking a picture of him with it. The pillowcase couldn't be more fitting...Johnny favorite color of green and spiderwebs and spiders on it. I think he probably slept well that night!

I washed his hair and told him we needed to make sure and wash it good ‘cuz the school told us to make sure and be on the lookout for lice and one of the ways to prevent lice is washing. He asked what lice was and I told him they were bugs that live in your scalp and make your head itch. He said “can they control my brain?”.

We got the proofs back from school pictures. Remember he told us he smiled like a vampire....I chose not to order that picture.

We may have a front tooth in soon. Remember Johnny knocked it out 2 days after his 5th birthday?!?! It might arrive! Unfortunately the gum is not looking good and he will be visiting the dentist on Monday, but I'm hoping this means it may be here for christmas. The funny thing is that everytime we look in his mouth we are reminded of possibly the most terrifying day of our life since he was born. Being called and told that you need to get your child from school 'cuz they've had an injury isn't my idea of a wonderful memory. Johnny, on the other hand, doesn't even remember how he lost that tooth. He has no memory of it at all.

Maisy enjoys playing in the water and Bailey loaned her this tower. Unfortunately she's still too short to reach the water, but she still finds a way to dump it on the floor...and tells us "no wa-wee" while she's spilling it all over the floor. It's a huge mess to clean up, but it means I can cook dinner without being interrupted!

It's October!

2009-10-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

It is Fall at the Rutledge house!

Maisy is learning new things every day. She learned how to climb up the couch and sit on the window sill, just like Johnny. Thankfully she forgot after this one time!

She also gets tired out easily and crashes wherever seems to work. She has attached herself to this little blanket that I knitted her, after attaching herself to a scrap I had made while learning to knit years ago. Johnny nicknamed it her "fuzzy"; but Maisy calls it her "FUDDY". When she's tired she runs around saying "BOPPY? FUDDY?". Which is "paci" and "fuzzy" meaning she's ready for "night night" as she will tell you.

Johnny LOVES to jump off everything and loves having his picture taken while jumping. He has many alien battles to fight in our house and does so on a daily basis.

Maisy got very offended when I did not include her while mopping the kitchen, so I got the swiffer out for her Uncle Joel helped also, only he didn't realize it.

Momo knitted Maisy a poncho. Whenever I put it on her she won't let me take it off. It is very warm and soft like a blanket and Maisy loves all things snuggly.

Our front porch is finished and Johnny has totally enjoyed decorating it for Halloween. This is Johnny's holiday. He LOVES spiders and this is the only time of year that is filled with spiders. We have a web out front and Johnny has collected all the spider figures he could find and put them inthe web.

Maisy continues to harrass Don. He's so tolerant of her. I love to hate Don, but really appreciate how gentle he is with Maisy. Also, I am working on a new creation for my Maisy Cakes store....a Tutu Tie shirt. (Also a plain old Tie shirt for those wishing to go tutuless.)

As usual Maisy is my model and guinea pig for all designs and creations!

Momo showed us her cat's Halloween costume and I tried it on Don. I'm pretty sure he LOVED it and wishes he had his own. She also got Maisy this furry coat and Maisy thought this was an opportune time to go for a ride on Don.

Johnny is doing great in 1st Grade. He's enjoying it and working very hard. We had his conference today and his teacher said that he is always willing to answer questions, always does his work and tries his hardest. Wow...I wish we could move into the school and have him act that way around us!

If you remember Johnny begins planning his Halloween costumes in November. After last Halloween he wanted to be a spider. But, during the summer he changed to wanting to be something that I really never understood what it was. Then he changed to wanting to be a character from Teen Titans that was on the screen for probably 30 seconds one time...and a costume that would be impossible to create. Then he decided he wanted to be a Spider King. (I even bought the fabric for this one) And then he decided he wanted to be a spider king that turned into something else that I have no idea how that would work or what it was. And finally, I convinced him to be Ben 10 Alien Force. Which has been his favorite tv show for years. I've purchased the costume, ½ price even! And he is very excited so I think this one might stick.

Maisy is going to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She even had toto in a basket. I'm pretty certain she's very excited about this!

On Halloween we will be going up to baby Bailey's birthday party and then staying to trick or treat and spend the night. Johnny is going to sleep in Bailey's room. This is a big deal! Last summer I asked Johnny if he wanted to have his friend Haven spend the night and he said "ok...but he can't sleep in my room". When I explained that a "sleepover" involved sleeping in the same room together he said "I guess he could spend the night, but he can't talk". (we decided to wait for a sleepover) I will be spending the night also so it will be a safe place for Johnny to experience sleeping in a room with someone else. (Have I mentioned that Johnny is VERY set in his sleep routines?!?!) He's pretty excited and has listed about 200 items he wants to bring to sleep in bed with him. (I'm assuming that Aunt Kim and Uncle Adam are giving up their king sized bed for this endeavor!)

Johnny LOVES to make videos of himself playing with his toys, with hopes of putting them on youtube someday. Recently he made one and Gabe was the camera man. Gabe sang along to some of the songs. When we playedback the movie on the TV Johnny said "daddy, the camera makes you sing really bad".

Johnny lost another tooth. He was pretty excited about a visit from the "pretend tooth fairy" as he calls it. He's got alot of space in his mouth right now. I have been hoping his front tooth will be in by Christmas, but I'm not too hopeful. (This is the one he knocked out when he was 5!) I actually had hoped it would be in for school pictures, but it was not. This will be his 3rd school picture missing a front tooth!

Maisy's development has exploded. She's used the toilet a couple times. (I remind you her brother was almost 5 before this occured) She is sleeping all night. (PHEW!) She talks a ton and it is ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE! She will burp and say "CUSE ME". (I never realized how much she burps)

She still loves shoes. She likes to paint and color at the easel and I think we are pretty safe in saying that she is probably a lefty. She loves to kick the ball and loves climbing...everything. She's also quite assertive with her buddies Brynn and Murphy and often (almost always) steals their toys. Sometimes she pushes, she's also been known to bite and hit and sometimes even kick, and more recently spit. As she's slowly learning that hitting isn't acceptable she will hit the air near her friends while looking at you. She LOVES to tell on herself. She has a certain voice she uses when she is doing something she knows she shouldn't and can't wait to come show you. (Usually this is when she has broken into Johnny's room and is either coloring on something she shouldn't or eating a crayon or marker.) She gets super excited on Sundays when Grammy and Grandpa and Uncle Joel come to visit and she runs around yelling "bee paw"; which means Grandpa. She sometimes tries to get Joel to move where she wants him to go and will try to push him and then look at us and say "stuck".

Johnny and her absolutely LOVE each other. When he's at school we spend most of the day saying "Johnny cool". She gets so excited when she sees his bus coming. He loves to hear about her playdates with her friends. Maisy tried out a gymnastics class a few weeks ago and Johnny was so sad he couldn't go and watch her. That is the best part. Since they are so far apart in age I never thought they'd be as close as they are. It is wonderful watching their relationship....even if Maisy does spend a fair amount of time harrassing Johnny!

Both Maisy and Johnny are in really great places right now. I wish I could freeze time. As someone in our household (who shall remain nameless...GABE) thinks we are done having babies; I find myself sad that Maisy is getting older. This evening I was reminded of a Dr. Seuss quote I've heard before need to my mantra..."Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened".

On The First Day of The First Grade...

2009-09-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

Johnny began 1st Grade this month.

His Teachers are Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Crosby.

(They each teach 2 days a week and every other Wednesday.)

So far, it's been shockingly uneventful. His favorite buddies Grant and Teddy are in his class and he still works with Mrs. T., so the transition to 1st grade was very easy. And he still gets to go next door to say hello to his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. M.

Here are the required first day of school photos

Maisy gets VERY EXCITED when she sees the school bus turn the corner onto our street.

Today was picture day. Johnny told me he smiled like a vampire. Based on the "smile" he showed me, I'm assuming we won't be ordering extra photos again this year!

So far he's been pretty excited because First Graders get to check out TWO BOOKS at the library. As far as I can tell that's about the only difference.

We have already begun selecting and changing our minds about Halloween costumes. It's going to be a a LLLOOONNNGGG month till Halloween.

Summer Catch Up

2009-09-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost over and I have, once again, been terrible about keeping up my blog.

Because of moments like this, I am too busy chasing little people to do anything that requires me sitting in front of a computer for more than just typing a search for "Lego Batman Video Game" on youtube.

Maisy likes to dress up. She also provides sound effects for all of her dress up clothes. Mostly just "ggggrrrrr"

Here is a rare moment where she is being nice to Don. Poor Don really takes it in the shorts! Maisy chases him all day. She hugs him, she tries to carry him, she bites him, (gross, i know) she pets him - and not always soft touching! But, it's not completely miserable for him. Recently she fed him cat food, one piece at a time, and he ate it from her.

Our front porch is done and Maisy loves sitting on it.

More dress up. Bet you didn't know that spiders growl? Maisy Spiders do!

Johnny was invited to be in the pet parade with his friend Grant and their family. Grant's guinea pig, Frederick, was dressed as Darth Pig. Unfortunately Johnny's storm trooper suit is about 3 sizes too small, but he didn't care. He had a great time and he's hoping he gets invited back again next year. (Gabe stepped in dog poop after the parade. Highlight of MY summer!!!)

Cousin Bailey's mother shops...ALOT. Recently I went through the next clothing size and got out shoes and put them in a laundry basket. Maisy came in the room and excitedly exclaimed "SHOES!". And sat down to play. She LOVES shoes and has spent weeks playing with them. She sorts them, she stacks them, she hands them to you and says "SHOE ON!" or "WANNA WEAR IT". If she can't get them off she says "STUCK". She really doesn't play with toys, mostly she just wants to try on shoes and clothes. I can guarantee that never once in Johnny's 7 years and 3 months has he said the sentence "I wanna wear it". Maisy says this constantly. She loves her cow coat that Darla is letting her borrow and she hands it to Gabe and says "Wanna Wear It" almost ever day. And it's not enough just to put it on. You have to zip it up also.

Here is another reason why not much gets done around our house. Maisy is a monkey. She climbs and swings from everything. (Notice the cow coat she is wearing!) Our house has remained fairly child proofed from Johnny and his parents laziness of never taking anything down. I felt confident that we were prepared for another child. I was wrong. We need a padded room for Maisy. She's climbs everything. She swings from the sink. She recently fell on her head while trying to swing from the oven door at a friends house. She climbs up and through the ladder to Johnny's bunk bed. She jumps off the couch. She likes to sit in her little red elmo chair and lean back until she falls over backwards. Basically, she terrifies me. She has absolutely no fear and is strong enough to do whatever she wants.

We got out the gymnastics bar that momo and papa gave Johnny for christmas. Johnny had a blast swinging from it. So much so that his hands started hurting. So, he developed his own pair of "grips"...spider slippers. They didn't really work, but I was impressed with his creativity.

We went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Johnny gave money to the parrot.

Here is Maisy in the Hermit Crab. Remember her in the crab last year?

Johnny posing with the lemurs

Johnny on a spider web

Johnny and Maisy on the slide

Maisy got to go on the slide herself. She had a great time and eventually got very independent. I would walk her halfway up the stairs to Gabe and then wait for her at the bottom of the slide. Before long she wouldn't hold my hand and went running up the steps trying to get away from me and point out that she could do it on her own.

Johnny continued to do swimming lessons throughout the summer and advanced to level 2. He LOVES swimming and might be the only child in class smiling during his lesson...so much that he gets water in his mouth. He likes to jump into the pool by pretending he's chopping down a tree. He yells "chop, chop, TIMBER" and then jumps into the pool. He recently told me that you aren't allowed to dog paddle in his class. They don't teach swimming to dogs at his swimming class.

Johnny loves bugs, especially spiders. Gabe told Johnny that he thought he'd enjoy being an exterminator when he grows up. Johnny said "No daddy. I was to be a mad scientist".

Johnny did a camp at the Hands On Children's Museum and made a movie called "One Last Push To Victory". He played a Robot and had a great time. The film is going to be shown at the 6th Annual Olympia Youth - Teen Fest in September at the Olympia Film Society.

Johnny recently asked Gabe: "Daddy, if you are older than Mommy, how come she knows so much more than you?". (he's a brilliant boy, isn't he?!)

Maisy is talking a lot. She also has a favorite TV show. "Mickey Mouse's Club House". But she calls it "Toodles". Toodles is a minor character on the show, but she thinks it's the name of the show. And the name of Mickey Mouse.

She can often be heard saying "hep!" or "wanna wear it". She also likes to tell you she'll "be right back" as she takes off running down the street. You know she's up to know good when she's silent. I was enjoying a moment of peace and quiet when I realized I had no idea where she was. I found her. Quietly coloring on Johnny's bunk bed. (She's lucky! Her brother had colored on it long ago!) Sometimes when she knows she isn't supposed to do something she tells on herself and yells "mama!". You'll find her in Johnny's room holding a pen just waiting for you to see her so she can write somewhere she isn't supposed to.

Maisy thinks that "mama" means she wants something. When she wants something she points to it and says "mama". I'm not sure how I feel about her equating me with the word she's supposed to use to get what she wants.

She also repeats whatever you say. Recently I burned my hand and learned the full effects of what Maisy will repeat. And Repeat. and Yell. And keep repeating over and over again. Until Gabe, in a truly genius parenting moment, taught her to say "shut the door" so now she just says "shut" all the time. And "shutty door". (feel free to add it to your parenting skills!)

1st grade starts Wednesday. Johnny will have Mrs. Crosby and Mrs. Martin and is very excited because Teddy and Grant will be in his class again. He's also going to teach all the 1st graders who only did ½ day kindergarten how to eat lunch in the lunch room.

Here is a video of Johnny swimming. He's actually even improved since this was taken.

(if you are viewing this in your email you need to click the "view article" button below and log onto the blog website and view the video online)

He Swims!

2009-07-23T17:13:00.001-07:00

Johnny has been terrified of swimming lessons since he was 3 years old. So, we've avoided them. Until this summer. We finally decided it was time to force the issue! Johnny tried to convince us that he really does know how to swim, since he's quite proficient in the bath tub, but we knew better and signed him up.

This week he has made a breakthrough. Gabe and I think he may actually swim on his own someday. Even better, he's loving it!

This is Johnny swimming to the wall after his teacher gave him a shove.

Jumping into the water.

Note - he's the only child in his class who makes sound effects as he's jumping into the water

Maisy loves shoes. She brings you her shoes, sits on the floor and says "Hep SHOOS". I found these cowboy boots at a garage sale...she's in love! She's carrying Johnny's pajamas. A favorite past time is breaking into Johnny's room and stealing his clothes from his drawers. I guess she figures he's not wearing his clothes so someone should find a use for them!

A monumental event has occurred in the Rutledge house. Johnny is now riding in a booster seat. Even though he could have ridden in one when he was 4 years and 40 pounds, his mother is quite the carseat nut and kept him in a 5 point harness carseat as long as she possibly could. So, at 7 years and 2 months he has finally outgrown his carseat. Personally I think he can stay in his booster seat until he's 18, but I suspect he may not be allowed to take his drivers test while riding in a booster seat. Much support and hand holding has been given by my equally carseat conscience friend Tracey as I release a little control over Johnny's car safety.

Maisy enjoys trying on Grandpa's hat

But it was a little too big

So she decided to make Uncle Joel try it on

And he couldn't get away quick enough

Silk and Linen

2009-07-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Today is our 12th Anniversary....Our Silk and Linen anniversary.

Below is a picture of us on our honeymoon. We are posing with at the Churros stand. It's a traditional honeymoon pose enjoyed buy newlyweds throughout time!!!

When Gabe and I got engaged we were in Disneyland. We experienced our first taste of Churros and fell in love...with Churros. We were already in love with each other! I'm pretty sure we ate nothing else but Churros during our trip. We felt like it was such a monumental part of our engagement that we decided we needed a picture on our honeymoon. The boy in the picture looked at us like we were insane when we asked to pose for a picture, but politely obliged!

Check out this picture! Look how young Gabe looks!

(I'm sure you'll notice that I, on the other hand, look petty much the same!)

We got engaged at Disneyland. Gabe and I went to Disneyland one evening and went to Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We looked over the water and Gabe said "I want to talk to you about something and I don't want you to talk until I'm done". He began by talking about our relationship and eventually said "We've been through some good times and some bad". Ignoring his original statement I broke in and said "Are you breaking up with me?". Exasperated Gabe asked me to be quiet and eventually asked me to marry him. He had put the ring in a zippered pocket in his coat and had some trouble getting it out, but eventually he did and we kissed and hugged and....

out of nowhere a woman came running over to us excitedly yelling "you just got engaged! Congratulations! Hey everyone they just got engaged!". She was crying and hugging us and telling us that she'd watched the whole thing. Gabe and I were both looking at each other trying to figure out who this crazy person was. She proceeded to blubber for another couple of minutes announcing to everyone that we were getting married and how excited she was and then she left. No one we told matched her level of excitement.

We celebrated by going out last night. In true Rutledge fashion we (and by we I mean Kristi) lost the invitation to the party we were invited to. After searching online for the address I found it and "thought" I remembered seeing that the party started at 4:00 pm. So, we decided to be fashionably late and arrive at 5:30 pm. We found the location and drove by only to see the hosts unloading stuff from their car and realized that we had the wrong time. We did a quick drive by turn around, short of ducking down below the dashboard and went out to dinner. We eventually went back to the party to say a quick hello before going back to relieve Grammie and Grandpa of their babysitting duties. On a positive note, Johnny enjoyed making a secret potion at Grass Lake with Grandpa! Don't tell him I said so, but his secret potion is kind of smelly!

Johnny has recently learned that he can't marry Maisy and he's pretty upset about it. He doesn't understand why he can't marry Maisy and have babies with her since he loves her so much. To see how much Johnny loves his sister makes me so happy. Even if in 5 years he'll deny this statement!

Happy Anniversary Gabe.

(maybe next year I'll share with you the conversation that occurred when Gabe asked my mom if he could marry me!)

San Diego Trip 2009!

2009-07-17T22:14:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go on vacation with the Rutledge's? Now is your chance to experience it!

We went to San Diego to visit Legoland and Seaworld with Momo and Papa and we are sharing our pictures with you. Be warned! This is probably more pictures than you ever wanted to see of the Rutledge's. Shockingly I'm only sharing the "best" ones!

The trip was great. Johnny LOVED it. Legoland was the perfect place for him. He saw all his favorite Lego characters and got to go on rides and see different Lego exhibits and movies. He got brave towards the end and went on the Coastersaurus with Mommy, Daddy and Papa. After much discussion with him that we weren't sure he'd like it, he was very firm in his decision to attempt this ride. After the ride was complete he exclaimed "I thought I was going to die!". He has decided he never wants to ride a roller coaster again.

Johnny's favorite ride was the "Lost Kingdom Adventure". He took everyone on it many times! Personally I think he just enjoyed that you got to shoot a laser gun!

Maisy enjoyed the toddler areas of Legoland, but she isn't big enough for any of the rides. She liked walking around, but enjoyed riding in her stroller more. She was an excellent traveller, just going with the flow and taking LONG naps in her stroller or in her carrier. It was wonderful! (Her brother was not quite as adaptable at her age, so we were a little worried about what we were getting in to. Thankfully she far exceeded our expectations.)

Seaworld was by far Maisy's favorite. She LOVED the Shamu Show. They have you do something with your hands in the air called the "Sham Slam" to encourage the whale to slam it's tale on the water and splash the audience. Maisy picked it up very quickly and is still walking around the house making the hand motion. She laughed and clapped all through the performance.

Johnny also enjoyed the Shamu Show, but was a little disappointed. He thought he would get to get in the water and swim with the whales.

We were greeted by some rather rude dolphins during the Dolphin Discovery show which resulted in us being splashed and getting quite wet. Unfortunately the salt water got in Johnny's eyes and we had to leave the show early. Needless to say we don't care to see Bubbles the dolphin again.

Our favorite area of Seaworld was the Sesame Street Bay of Play. It was really neat! They had tons of Sesame Street themed rides and exhibits and Maisy, Momo and I got to watch a performance by Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Grover, and Abby Cadabby. After the performance we met the characters which made Maisy a little uncomfortable.

We are home and have recovered from our trip. The only downfall was that Maisy got sick on our trip and ended up at the dr with pneumonia. She got on some medicine and got better quickly and is back to normal now.

And now....too many pictures from our trip!

The Rutledge's....2009

Darth Vader is made out of Lego's
(or as Johnny calls him - Dark Vader)

A HUGE breakthrough for Johnny. He's been terrified of "dressed up" people for years!

The inauguration...in Lego's

Johnny's favorite - the Lego Bionicles

Maisy at the Sesame Street Bay of Play Water Fountain

Maisy, fast asleep with her new Shamu stuffed toy

Maisy doing the "Sham Slam"

In the hotel playing with Gameboy

Momo and Johnny on a river boat ride. Momo let Johnny steer. At one point they were going backwards. 7 boats passed them. Gabe was impressed with this feat!

Johnny and Papa in a helicopter

Johnny at the entrance to Legoland

Johnny posing with the Lego fish in our hotel

Maisy and Mommy on the airplane. It was her first flight! She slept throughout the entire trip. When we sat down the woman next to me did not look pleased to see a baby. She looked at Maisy, looked at me and said "she's looking at me". I honestly wasn't sure how to respond to that statement! At the end of the flight she said "well, she did pretty good".

Johnny has decided he's ready for Disneyland. His parents have decided they should start saving their money and hoping he'll be patient!

Ear Tubes....CHECK!

2009-07-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

No Rutledge child is complete until they've received their ear tubes.

Today Maisy had Bilateral Myringotomy; or - ear tubes. (Her brother Johnny had two sets, hopefully this will be Maisy's only pair.)

In December I uttered the famous last words, "Grammie, Maisy's almost 1 and has not been on antibiotics once!" (Johnny was very sick the first year and on antibiotics often) The next week she got her first ear infection. Since then she has had 4 more.

Surgery was this morning and we had to be at the surgery center at 7:10 am. Unfortunately Maisy was not allowed to eat after midnight. When her 5:00 am feeding came around, Maisy was less than pleased to learn she was not getting milk and chose to stay awake and express her opinions rather than going back to sleep.

After we got checked in they gave her something to relax her so it would be easier to take her back to the operating room. Unfortunately the surgery before hers was cancelled so the medicine was not really in her system when they took her back. She was very very upset when the nurse pried her off of me, leaving Gabe and I with a memory of the saddest face ever as they ushered us back to the waiting room. 10 excruciatingly long minutes later the dr came out and told us that everything went well and Maisy would be in recovery shortly and we could be with her.

Maisy had a hard time waking up from the anesthetic and was pretty groggy and had very little control of her body. It was like holding a 19 pound floppy newborn. But, she got some milk and enjoyed cuddling and calmed down very quickly.

Maisy slept when we got home and woke up in a much better mood. She's had a low fever off and on during the day, and has no interest in being away from mommy, but is doing well otherwise. By this evening she was back to stealing Johnny's toys and hitting him.

Here is Maisy riding in the wagon at the surgery center, before she knew what was about to happen!

1½ Years!

2009-06-21T22:04:00.001-07:00

Wow! Maisy is 18 months... It is really hard for me to believe. She's becoming more toddler than baby.

She now weighs 19lbs 11oz and is 2ft 4½ inches.

She's alot of fun. She's very silly and laughs and plays alot. She's currently going through a bit of a clingy phase and enjoys holding my hair while she attaches herself like Velcro to me. (Which means I have a gigantic knot in the back of my hair that I can't comb out!)

She's starting to talk alot. Still most of it is "trash talk" as Papa says; but you can pick up a word or phrase here and there. She enjoys yelling through the house "mama! wut dooo-in". Usually she doesn't really care about my answer! She also LOVES to answer questions with "no" or "yes" and usually she answers inappropriately! You may say "Maisy, are you done eating" and she will smile and say "no" as she tries to get out of her chair.

She's working on jumping and sometimes gets both feet off the ground at the same time! She also likes to walk on her tip-toes and stand on one leg. She also LOVES drawing. I keep her entertained during Johnny's karate class with a pen and a pad of paper.

This week she seems to be sleeping ok. Last week, not so much! She's working on getting her bottom molars. If you notice in her picture - she still only has 2 teeth on the bottom. I keep reminding myself that she probably does have more teeth down there; but occasionally I have a panicked moment where I worry that she may only have 2 teeth on the bottom. (she's the second, I worry about very little with her so I'll give myself this one thing!)

She LOVES taking showers at Momo's house. If she breaks into Momo's bedroom she will run straight into the bathroom and hop in the shower. Tonight she got to take a shower and we had a hard time getting her out. (she's not crying, this is her while playing with the water)

I have no idea where she learned to talk on the phone!

What started out like this....

Became this...

Class of 2021....YOU ARE GRADUATED

2009-06-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

...FROM KINDERGARTEN!

Kindergarten Graduation was on Thursday. Johnny had a wonderful time. He was SO PROUD!
He woke up in the middle of the night with a cold and started crying because he was worried he wouldn't get to speak at his Kindergarten Graduation. Luckily he was well enough!

He asked me to arrive early so I could go to recess with him. Little did I know that he wanted me to actually participate in recess with him. He wanted me to play all the things he plays during recess. I drew the line when the boys began playing war and were choosing sides and shooting at each other!

Johnny got a memory book with some of the special art work he made this year. It was amazing to see the difference. In September Johnny couldn't write his name. He could make a "J" and that was it. Last week he got a "gold glitter name"; which you earn when you are able to write your name using the proper "school" letters. I honestly didn't expect that Johnny would get a gold glitter name this year. His main area of delay are his fine motor skills. Writing is very hard for him and in the past his stubbornness has prevented him from working on it. This year Mrs. M. really sparked an interest in him and he LOVES writing and drawing. His improvement is directly related to this and it is wonderful to witness.

Johnny with Mrs. Muzatko

As we left the school parking lot I said to Johnny "Wow, what a great year!" and Johnny replied "Mama! My year with Mrs. M. was my best year ever!". How wonderful it is to see my son so in love with school and learning and his teacher.

Johnny with Mrs. Thacker, the para educator who helps in their class.

After kindergarten graduation we went to Meconi's to celebrate and then to pick up Maisy from Momo and Papa's house. In the evening we went to a classmates birthday party at Skateland. It was a wonderful way to finish the last day of school.

Maisy loved "skating". At least she thinks she did! They had rented the entire skating rink for the party, so she got to run on the floor. She watched the kids for a while and then she would walk a few steps and then dramatically fall down to her knees and stomach. Then she would look up at me and raise one hand in the air for me to help her up; exactly like she'd watched me to with the other kids. We repeated the process all over the floor. It was adorable. Johnny's skating is improving and he only had 1 wipe out!

I suspect in the next few days Johnny is going to be a little sad when the impact of no more school hits him. It has been a much loved activity this year.

Look how much Johnny and Maisy have grown this year.

This picture was taken on the 1st day of school

And this picture was taken, 9 months later, on the last day of school.

Here is a video of his "kindergarten speech". In case you can't understand him, he says "I like kindergarten because I made really good friends".

Tomorrow we are off to watch cousin Bailey perform in her very first ballet recital. She is going to be a bear. When I told Johnny he said "will she growl and eat the other dancers?". I guess my idea of a 3 year old bear ballet recital is much different than a 7 year old boys idea of a 3 year old bear ballet recital. Either way, he's very excited to see Bailey and if the weather is nice he wants to swim in her pool.

Dinner's Ready

2009-06-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

Eating has never been Maisy's favored activity, and I know my cooking is pretty bad.

But was this necessary?

Actually I was more surprised.
Johnny was 3½ before he ever just "dropped" off to sleep. And I think it's happened one other time since. He is/was a child you had to "put" to sleep.
Also note, shortly after I snapped this picture her head fell forward into the watermelon, waking her.

Thank You Pioneer Elementary School

2009-06-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight was movie night at Johnny's school. Johnny watched the Bee Movie while Maisy ran around and chased president Woods' daughter, and got chased by president Woods' daughter, and stole the ball from president Woods' daughter, and gave the ball back to president Woods' daughter and then tried to hit president Woods' daughter and then chased president Woods' daughter some more. All the while laughing and squealing.

We came home and Johnny wanted to watch his Friday night programs. It wasn't quite bedtime so I put Maisy in the red elmo chair to watch tv with Johnny while I tried to sneak in time to check emails and Facebook.

Gabe is gone for two weeks and Maisy is in a VERY CLINGY phase. Every email I have read/typed this week has been with Maisy on my lap or Maisy clinging to my leg, or Maisy yelling at me.

For the first time since Sunday, I was ALONE checking my email, reading what all my friends are doing on Facebook, tending to my Facebook farm, answering a few emails I've been ignoring. I was really enjoying the peace and quiet. Finally I realized that it had been 20 minutes of peace and quiet and decided that I would go ahead and put Maisy to bed now and continue on with my peace and quiet.

I went down to the Orange Room and found Johnny's running back and forth across the couch, jumping and yelling, and Maisy...

Johnny spotted my camera and wanted to make sure he got in on the action!

So I say thank you to Pioneer Elementary School for having a movie night and wearing out Maisy so much that I got a few minutes what feels like stolen peace and quiet! It completely made my day.

By the way...If you are the owner of the phone number just like mine but ending in 2143 and you ever get a call about Johnny Rutledge, can you forward that call to me. No matter how much we work on Johnny's phone number, that is what he thinks our phone number is. So, if we could just work out an arrangement, it would make my life much easier...

Rock Quarry 2nd Generation

2009-06-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

One of Johnny's favorite places in the world was the quarry. Maisy enjoys the quarry also.

Maisy has been enjoying painting. She actually keeps her brush on the paper and has only painted other places a couple times. I'm stunned! I thought Rutledge children were only capable of painting like the Tasmanian devil! So far she seems to favor her left hand. I'll be interested to see what she ends up using permanently.

When Gabe is out of town Most mornings Johnny and Maisy get in bed with me and watch TV. Right before I snapped this picture Maisy was curled up with Johnny holding his hand. She moves very quickly!

Grandpa had to get something out of the attic and Johnny helped him. Maisy couldn't resist getting in on the action and spent about 20 minutes climbing up and down the ladder.

Both Johnny and Maisy love swinging. This is a picture of them swinging at Momo's.

As you can see, Johnny is ready for swimsuit season.

Maisy is swimsuit ready as well!

The next 2 weeks are quite busy for the Rutledge's. Next Thursday Johnny will have kindergarten graduation. He has informed me that he will be one of the student speakers. He clarified that you don't have to speak if you don't want to, but he really wanted to. I can't wait to hear what he has to say.

From his parent's perspective, it's been an amazing year. We couldn't have had a better kindergarten experience. His Teacher is absolutely amazing and I spent the last half of the year trying to talk her into following the class to 1st grade. Unfortunately I don't think it will be happening, but we are so lucky to have had her for this year. Johnny has thrived this year and I can't believe this is the same child that started school in September. (mmm....I wonder if Mrs. M. would be interested in moving in with us over the summer?!?! Think she'd mind taking the bottom bunk?).

There's a little section in Johnny's class room that they call "Bunny Planet". This is where kids can rest, read books, or just take a break. We noticed that Bunny Planet could use a makeover so Johnny and I had each of the kids made a bunny picture and we turned it into a quilt. Mommy sewed the top, and Grammy did all the rest. It turned out wonderfully and Mrs. M. loved it. Johnny was worried that his friends wouldn't know it was from him, so he got to introduce it to the class today and was very proud.

Yesterday Johnny's friend Grant had to get stitches in his chin. Johnny was fascinated as I received updates on Grant's dad's facebook page and kept Johnny updated on how his buddy was doing. On the way to school this morning, Johnny wondered if Grant would be there or if he'd stay home and rest. Johnny said "Well, I know he didn't sleep at the hospital. Only mommies can do that". I asked why? "They have to stay there after they have babies and the babies aren't ready to sleep in their cribs yet. They sleep at the hospital until they feel ready". He was stunned to learn that actually anyone can sleep at a hospital if they are sick enough.

This evening Maisy was running around our cul-de-sac like the woman in charge that she thinks she is. Our neighbor came out to talk to her and said "wow, she really runs around like a bat out of hell". Sadly, she's right! Maisy may be small, but in her mind she's a giant. She has no problem stealing any toy from any child she meets in her baby class. If she can't steal it, she'll push them, or hit them or chase them until they run into a wall and then steal it. If they try to steal a toy from her she will screech at them like a howler monkey. I have to admit, it's a little embarrassing to be the parent of the toy thief! But, I'm learning...quickly! She's also very cute and cuddly and happy and very friendly. She's say "hi" over and over and over again to the same person in the grocery store or drs office. She's working on so many skills right now. She likes to jump, stand on one foot, walk on her tip toes, she can even pedal a bike. Unfortunately the poor girl has a Rutledge head and requires a helmet suited for a large melon! We tried on the "toddler" helmet, but her head didn't even fit inside. Being so small, she looks very funny with this huge helmet on, but she is very diligent about making sure her helmet is on whenever she's outside! (which might be a good thing because so she's very risky and tends to fall alot!) When Maisy rides her bike around she yells "WA-HOO". It's very cute.

Tomorrow morning Johnny and Papa are going to "Donuts With Dad" at Johnny's school since Gabe is out of town. Johnny has asked me at least 5 times a day to remind him to go because he's so excited. Tomorrow evening is movie night at school. I asked Johnny if I could get a babysitter for Maisy so just he and I could go, but he said "No, Maisy hasn't seen The Bee Movie and I want her to see it with us". Sometimes I wish he wasn't so attached to his sister!!!

Recently Johnny excitedly got off the bus and announced that he'd learned something new at school. "I CUT THE CHEESE". He was so proud. He had absolutely no idea what it meant so Gabe and I had to explain it to him. Like I said, he's really learned alot this year.

This morning, while getting dressed, Johnny wondered why they only have pictures on the back of his underwear. That doesn't make sense, he said. Honestly, I've always wondered the same thing.

I'll be videotaping the kindergarten graduation ceremony so I'll be sure to share the inspiring words of Johnny Rutledge.

Kindergarten Performance

2009-06-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

Johnny's class performed at the school assembly today. They sang a song about appreciation to the 5th graders.

As we near the end of the school year, Johnny has told me that he will be a car kid on the last day of school, have alot of home days, and then return to the same school where he will be in 1st grade with a different teacher. He said that Mrs. M. will have new students too, but if she misses her old class too much she can just get a different job.

When I mentioned to Johnny that he's almost done with school he said "I know! I only have 17 more years!". (I took that as a good sign that he's counting on going to college too!)

Here is the Kindergarten, 1st and 3rd graders singing "We Appreciate You".

Johnny Is 7!

2009-05-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

We've been building up to it for 11 months!

Johnny is officially 7 years old!

He's been planning his party, making invitations, planning decorations, fine tuning the guest list...SINCE LAST JUNE!

He woke up today at 7:27 am today and yelled "Is it morning? Am I 7?". He got out of bed, and instantly began dressing, by himself, for school. (Johnny still needs help dressing and it is actually quite hard and frustrating for him to dress, so he avoids it whenever possible!) He was so excited to begin his 7th birthday! Once at school he told everyone he saw that it was his birthday. He was also "Person of the Day" today, a complete coincidence. He got to wear a birthday crown, have the birthday bear sit at his table and Mrs. M. gave him a birthday pencil, he chose green - of course! The kids sang happy birthday to him and they wished him a happy birthday over the loud speaker during morning announcements. He requested Daddy come and have lunch with him and bring McDonald's for lunch. We were also in charge of snack today so we brought cupcakes. He then got to be a car kid and the whole family came to pick him up. We returned home where he opened presents. He then watched some TV and then we went to Red Robin for dinner and singing!Johnny has listed this schedule over and over during the last few weeks. By 9:00 am I was pretty certain that he might explode and birthday candles and confetti might shoot out of him! Johnny LOVED having them sing to him at Red Robin. He stood up on his chair and held his ice cream and spoon high up in the air. He looked SO PROUD. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Johnny has been quite shy in the past and never wanted them to sing to him. It was another marker of how much he's grown this year. All in all it's been an amazing year. In all honestly, I think this has been the year I've enjoyed Johnny the most. He's grown so much this year it's unbelievable. He LOVES school. He LOVES his friends, especially Teddy and Grant. He LOVES his sister and is the best big brother ever. He honestly wants to spend time with her and misses her when they are apart. He has a very sweet nature about him and it's so fun to watch.

Johnny will be having a party with his friends on Saturday. In years past we have requested our guests not to bring presents in hopes of teaching Johnny that everyone is here to celebrate him. This year he's on to us and realized that most kids get presents at their parties. He spent a good portion of the year wanting us to write "PLEASE BRING PRESENTS" on his invitations, but we decided to leave that off.

Gabe and I both feel like today was a little kick off party for the rest of the week! It could be an exhausting few days!

Happy Birthday Johnny!

1 year and a few months...

2009-04-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Maisy is 16 months.

Johnny is almost 7.

And Kristi has been horrible at updating her blog!

The winter was filled with illness and ebay sales and it took up much of my extra time. Maisy and Johnny are both so much fun right now, to be honest, I've been enjoying them and haven't felt like writing about it!

Maisy is silly, cranky, fussy, naughty, happy, spunky and just plain adorable. She's a little bit of a monster too! She bites, she hits, she kicks, she steals toys, she hits with the toys she steals, if you try and steal her toys she'll screech like a howler monkey. She's starting to talk and says Mama and Mommy, Daddy (day-yee), Johnny (Nonny), Don, Cat, Dog and all those other words kids start talking with. She also says Thank you, which is shocking and I'm never sure if I heard her right. She babbles alot and talks alot of trash as Papa would say. She walks around saying "dobby, dobby dobby dobby" all the time. We aren't entirely sure what it means. It has different inflections, different tones and different exclamations each time! (we equate this to Cassidy's saying "oh-ba-dah" as a toddler). Maisy loves to go outside and climbs everything. She's really strong and coordinated and fearless. We were spoiled with Johnny. He was far more interested in digging in the dirt then climbing to the sky.

Johnny is doing great in Kindergarten. He's made some very good friends and is learning to read and write. He LOVES to draw and will take any opportunity, and blank piece of paper, to draw an alien he's created. He's got his entire life planned. At 13 he'll be able to make youtube videos; 16 he can drive a car and begin learning animation; at 19 he can begin making his own toys and tv shows which he will make in his toy warehouse. He's going to sell some of the toys, but keep most for himself to play with. Alex just turned 13 and Johnny is very excited that he will now be able to create youtube videos on his own. Johnny started karate at Premier Martial Arts and LOVES it. He'd like to get a black belt someday, but REALLY wants a green belt. (it's his favorite color). His favorite part of karate is a game called dodge pad that they play at the end of each class. Johnny has decided when he gets older he wants to be in a band. He's going to pay the microphone.

I have sat down to write this post for months and months and get distracted and never finish. Most of these pictures are old, but if I don't post it now I never will.A year of Maisy in a stocking!

Maisy got this ladybug for christmas. She can barely touch the ground, but she loves it. Watch out when she drives by - she might run you over!Maisy's new carseat...the girliest print ever! Daisy Head Maisy It was time for a haircut! Her first!
Momo cut her hair

Maisy decided to do a taste test on the hairNot exactly a taste she enjoys!Finished product!If Johnny is sitting on the floor, Maisy will back herself up to him and sit on him. It's the cutest thing. Sometimes I find them sitting like this and can't resist a picture. If you leave the bathroom door open, Maisy will TP the house in seconds. She loves to wear her earmuffs around her neck while she works!

Here is Maisy's 1 year video that I never posted! It's long, get some popcorn, put your feet up and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Gwyneth Rose

2009-01-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

Maisy and Johnny just wanted to send birthday wishes to Gwyneth Rose on her first birthday.

Gwyneth is a very special little girl who was born 15+ weeks early and is now celebrating her first birthday.

In honor of her birthday, Maisy is wearing pink and brown today. Johnny didn't feel like getting into the pink spirit - but he's very excited that it's her birthday and wonders if she will eat cake tonight.

You may remember Gwyneth modeling the hat I made for her

And here she is now
Here is a picture of Maisy modeling the hat I made for Gwyneth for her first birthday. (it's probably rude of me to show a picture of someone wearing a present I made someone else, but I wanted to get a picture before I mailed it since it was my most challenging hat yet!)
Happy Birthday Gwyneth Rose!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T23:04:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's Christmas time again!

It seems like yesterday that I posted this

http://johnnyjohnnyg.blogspot.com/2007/12/merry-maisy-christmas.html

We celebrated Christmas this evening with my family. Maisy and Johnny were very excited! Maisy walked around stealing presents and wrapping paper and standing on boxes. She totally loved the gifts she got and had no interest in sharing.

Johnny also LOVED his presents. He got a new Ben 10 Alien Force T-Shirt and he's very excited to show it to his good friends Grant and Teddy when school resumes. He's pretty sure they will be impressed. He also got a box of Lego's and some helicopters and airplanes and instantly began building an airport and other planes to add to his fleet. We actually had a hard time getting him to leave because he wanted to continue playing with his toys.

Tomorrow we will have the Rutledge's over and Johnny can't wait. He thinks we should open gifts starting with the oldest kids, only after checking to see if Uncle Joel was older than him and if he was a kid or an adult. After discerning that Uncle Joel is an adult he went forth with his plans. I think he mainly just wanted to find a way for him to open his presents first!

Maisy is very huggy right now. Here she is hugging Momo's toy rocking horse. Prior to this picture she was riding it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happy 1st Birthday Maisy!

2008-12-21T21:34:00.000-08:00

Maisy is One!

Tomorrow I will take my final picture of Maisy in her stocking. I took the first picture of December 22nd and felt it only fitting that I take the last on that date as well.

11 months

2008-12-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

Maisy is 11 months!

(i know...she's almost 1, but sleep is rare around here and it actually takes brain power to type these and i find that i have very little when i don't have much sleep!)

Turn your back for a second and you are liable to find her like this

She got all bundled up in her snowman suit and watched me deck the halls!

She is donning her gay apparel, and her Grinch diaper cover in honor of the holiday spirit!

She visited Santa for the first time and was mostly very confused by him.

Her hair is getting longer and I am having a great time fixing it. I'm pretty sure she's enjoying it too!

Johnny and Maisy had a great time looking through all of our Christmas toys.

I'll admit it, I made her a new Santa hat!

We bundled up Maisy and Johnny and took them to get our Christmas tree.

Johnny got right to work decorating.

Maisy got right to work undecorating.

Don went to sleep.

Eventually we did get the task completed.

(with nothing on the bottom half of the tree)

Johnny posed on a tractor at the farm.

Johnny still enjoys taking many many baths. At least one a day, usually more. Bathing is not a quick activity, lasting sometimes for hours at a time.

Santa came on a firetruck to Grammie and Grandpa's house. Johnny was too nervous to go see him. Just as I snapped this photo, Maisy started to cry. I guess she finally decided she's had it with being passed to strange men with big white beards.

Johnny is eagerly awaiting Christmas. This year he would like "The Ben 10 Alien Force Alien Creation Chamber and all of the 'Each Sold Separately's"

Johnny has been quite emotional recently and has many fears. We currently have an ongoing discussion, and crying session, around getting blood drawn and when you might need to have blood drawn. Johnny is terrified of the thought of having blood drawn and at any moment may breakdown over the issue. (Johnny has not had blood drawn since he was 12 months!)

The other day Johnny began crying because he was scared that he might have a beard when he is an adult and wouldn't be able to get rid of it and it might make his voice sound funny. After much discussion we realized that sometimes Daddy grows a Christmas beard and his voice sounds the same as when he has his shaved face.

At Bailey's birthday party Johnny announced to me that someone must have had gas because it smelled like "lots and lots of poop". I explained to him that it isn't polite to comment on smells. Weeks later we were in Target, browsing toys, and I became aware of an odor. Trying to figure out if I was going to need to change Maisy's diaper or take Johnny to the restroom, I asked Johnny if he'd had gas. He looked at me and said "remember mama, it isn't polite to comment on other people's smells". Lesson learned!

Johnny is really in the spirit of giving this year. High on his list to buy for...his blankets. Johnny has informed us that he would like to buy his blankets a Christmas present. What do blankets want for Christmas? Initially he thought they may enjoy something to snuggle with, like a stuffed animal. It quickly became clear to him that he loves snuggling with his blankets and why not buy his blankets something to snuggle with as well, like a blanket. So, he is shopping around to find the perfect blanket to give his blankets for Christmas. (I am confused by this on so many levels that I haven't even hit the point of being worried that my son wants to buy a present for his blankets!)

Maisy is doing great in every area, except sleeping. She still doesn't sleep well. She's sleeping better compared to the waking every 45 minutes, but I personally feel sleeping longer than 2 hours at a time sounds even better.

She's starting to talk and repeat what we say. This is all new to us. Johnny talked very very late (starting around 2½) and he never repeated us. He didn't say a word until he could actually say it and know exactly what he was saying and how to say it. Which is probably why we spent months upon months in speech therapy with Johnny never speaking to the therapist. (Finally she heard him talking to us in the waiting room and released us from therapy.) Johnny was about to jump off the couch onto Maisy and Gabe yelled "STOP!". Since then Maisy has been walking around yelling "OP!" very loudly. Anytime you say Johnny's name she begins saying "OP!". She also sat in front of his door one morning, while he was still sleeping, pointing to the door saying "don-ah" over and over again. I finally realized she was saying "Johnny" and I thinks he wanted to see him. It was very sweet.

Johnny and Maisy have a wonderful relationship. He has far exceeded my expectations as a big brother. He loves her so much and wants to spend as much time with her as he can. He can't wait to play with her and is always looking out for her. She lights up with excitement when she sees him. Honestly, this is probably my favorite part of having Maisy. The bond they share is something I had never expected to see and I feel like it's such a gift to have the opportunity to watch it develop.

On a sadder note, Don the hermit crab has passed on. I should clarify, Don, the larger of the 2 hermit crabs; the 2nd Don the hermit crab to join our family; who originally joined us in a rainbow colored shell and we called him "Rainbow Don" but quickly moved out of his shell becoming "Big Don" the hermit crab. He will be missed. Kind of. Actually probably not at all. He was like a pet rock that you have to put in water once a week. Don't worry, we still have our other hermit crab, also named Don. (not to be confused with Don the cat!)

Johnny has informed us that his teacher told him that hermit crabs get lonely and we need to get Don a new friend soon. Also to be named Don. (we have never really known exactly why Johnny likes the name Don so much. After we went to Hawaii in 2006 Johnny began naming everything Don. For a while he called our car Don)

Don the cat recently jumped in the car while I was loading up the kids. We were going to dinner at Grammie and Grandpa's. Almost to their house a small "meow!" comes from the back seat. Don the cat was in the car. Worried that he might jump out at Grammie and Grandpa's house I exited the freeway and took him home. Unfortunately he has not learned his lesson and still gets in the car every chance he has.

The Rutledge Squat

2008-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

If looks didn't convince you, we have hard evidence that Maisy is a Rutledge.

Maisy and Johnny come from a long line of people able to sit in the most uncomfortable looking squatting position for long periods of time. (It's a really awkward position that I cannot sustain for any length of time. You have to be born with Rutledge blood to be able to do it, marriage doesn't count.)

Whenever Grandpa, Daddy, Johnny, and now Maisy are playing or working on the ground, they squat. (I've heard rumors that great Grandpa Rutledge used to squat while working out in the yard and I'm guessing there were probably a few Rutledge's squatting on the Mayflower.)

Below are examples of various generations doing the Rutledge squat.

Grandpa and Johnny squatting in the yard

Daddy and Johnny squatting on the beach

Maisy squatting with toys

Now, back away from your computer and try it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today was Maisy's first thanksgiving!

Johnny and Maisy dressed up in their holiday best and posed for a few pictures!

Maisy ate turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and grapes. She LOVED everything...as you can see! She followed up her meal with a bath.

We had a wonderful day visiting with family.

Johnny has had an explosion in his drawing and writing and it's been amazing to watch. Johnny has a fine motor delay and this has been an area of enormous struggle for him. He has spent the last week drawing during every spare moment he has. He spent the entire day drawing and coloring aliens. He's so enthusiastic and proud. It is so exciting for us to be able to watch.

I got beat, badly, in a wrestling match with my nephew, Alex, and will spend the next few weeks training for a rematch at Christmas!

The Rutledge Elves

2008-11-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

Charleston Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Disco Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Country Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Classic Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

10 Months!

2008-11-12T21:33:00.001-08:00

Maisy is 10 months old!

She's walking all the time, it's her only mode of getting around. She looks like Frankenstein when she walks, very WIDE, stiff legs waddling side to side. It's very cute!

Sometimes Maisy gets very excited and likes to walk around flapping her arms and bouncing up and down.

I believe she's inherited a bit of Bailey's climbing gene. While at the grocery store, even though she was tightly buckled in, she managed to get her legs up and under her and stand on the seat of the cart, while twisted up in the belt. Her legs are so short that they don't really "hang" down, making it easier for her to maneuver herself into these precarious positions!

To get an idea of how short she is...today I realized she was standing underneath the toilet paper roll (and holder) and her head was just barely touching. No one should be able to stand up under the toilet paper roll! That seems wrong!

Johnny and I picked out this Halloween costume for Don. As you can see, he LOVES it!

We raked leaves last weekend and Johnny had a great time INSIDE the lawn clippings bin. He spent about ½ hour in there with the lid closed talking and playing. Don't worry - he had a bath after.

When I finally got a pile of leaves rakes I made Gabe bring Maisy out for a photo. She did not care for the feeling of the wet leaves on her feet.

It has been an exciting month of firsts for Maisy. Probably the most important is her first pigtails! Notice her long luxurious pigtails! She's very close to having all her hair up!

(I know it's exciting! Take a deep breath before looking at the pictures!)

Maisy has also begun playing in the Tupperware cupboard. A timeless tradition for all children. It has led me to ponder why I have so many containers. You'd think I cooked a lot and had tons of leftovers! In any case, Maisy is thoroughly enjoying how many containers her mother has.

She still falls asleep wherever she feels like it!

There was a time when I thought I'd continue taking her monthly picture in her stocking past her first year. As you'll see below, this is getting harder and harder to accomplish.

Here she is laying in the stocking...

She stands up...

She begins moving away...

She's now walking away from me trying to catch her...

She falls down...

She's up again ready to go...

Maybe they really are friends, here are Maisy and Don looking outside. (I didn't include the pictures of her grabbing his fur!)

You may notice that Maisy is already "donning her gay apparel"! She has quite a selection of holiday clothes and I want to make sure she gets a chance to wear it all, so we've begun early. I bought this outfit on eBay very cheaply and have been dying to put it on her. As she turned and walked away I realized it looked like I'd stolen the skirt from a Christmas tree and wrapped it around her waist. Still, totally worth it and she will "don" this gay apparel again!

Johnny's class was collecting beans and rice for a sensory table at school. While purchasing our beans Johnny asked why we were buying them. I told him that Mrs. M. asked us to bring a bag of beans for the bean table in class. He looked at me and said "Well, actually, I think I'll tell Mrs. M. 'no thank you because I don't really like to eat beans".

Johnny had a little cold. He came running in from playing outside and told me he'd dropped his cookie on the ground, but it was ok because he was already sick so he ate it anyway.

Johnny and Maisy are starting to play together. It's really fun to watch. They laugh at each other and he enjoys giving her toys to play with. He's really excited to buy her a Christmas present; and also excited to see what she's going to buy him for Christmas!

This past week I've gotten a few coupons and fliers in the mail for baby's 1st birthday cakes or other stuff around baby being 1. I must admit, I'm not ready. I knew she'd turn 1 eventually, I just didn't know it would only take 12 months! (and Gabe thinks he's the comedian in the family!!!)

Watch Out Don...

2008-11-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

It's the Maisy Monster....

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treat!

Maisy was Tinkerbell and Johnny was a bat

Johnny wanted everyone to see him with his bat wings "folded"

We went Trick or Treating with Haven and Morgan. It was a wonderful evening and Johnny had so much fun spending Halloween with his best friend.

Johnny enjoyed the decorations in the neighborhood and said this pumpkin looked "terrifying"!

Daddy had to work in Arizona. Johnny thought Daddy was probably trick or treating there. Johnny also decided he was going to share his candy with daddy. He will take a bite and leave the rest of each piece for daddy. (I bet you can't wait to get home to that treat Gabe!!!)

Johnny went to bed and said "phew, it was a long day. I better get all rested up because tomorrow is another BIG day. It's Bailey's 3rd birthday party and it's going to be important."

Maisy is walking everywhere and she walks a little like Frankenstein. Good thing it's Halloween!

She waved to me this morning when I got out of the shower. I quickly shared the news with my MOMS Club friends and learned that she waved at some of them yesterday. Then I told Gabe that Maisy was "wave-cheating" on me and he said she'd been waving at him for a few days. Apparently she's been waving for a while...just not at ME!

Next year Johnny is going to be a spider. He wants everyone to know he's prepared!

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today we carved our pumpkin!

Johnny has spent the last week "coloring" all over our pumpkin; various characters from Ben 10 Alien Force. Johnny's coloring imitates how he does everything in life...with full force and gusto and ALOT of action which usually results in a beauty that only Johnny fully appreciates.

We brought our pumpkin over to Grammie and Grandpa's house. Johnny brought in the pumpkin and said "Grammie you may see two of some guys but that's because I drew them in different modes". (To truly appreciate this comment look closely at the pumpkin in the picture. Not one area was left uncolored and by the time the pumpkin made it to Grammie's house it was messy and runny. Crayola washable markers don't draw well on pumpkins.)

I was planning on making our pumpkin look like Maisy - two bottom teeth; but Johnny chose the moment of me cutting the mouth with a very, very sharp (grandpa sharpened) knife to say that he thinks he's ready to cut the pumpkin with the knife. He thinks he can handle it. In my utter shock and fear I forgot what I was doing. So, I decided the pumpkin has the top teeth that Maisy does not have!

Yesterday Johnny returned home from school and told us he'd used the bathroom all by himself. He took care of everything. Then he said to Gabe, "Daddy, I think I forgot to wipe so you'll want to check on that". (If you know Johnny, you'll know this is actually a HUGE accomplishment and we are actually very excited by it! Amazing how much parenthood changes you...never would I have thought I'd be excited over someone using the bathroom!)

Maisy continues to practice her walking. She is actually more interested in walking than crawling these days; which means it takes her a long time to get places. She takes a couple steps, squats a little to regain her balance, then takes a few more, then falls on her bum, then gets up, then gets balanced, then takes a couple steps, then squats to regain her balance, then takes a few more steps, then falls forward, then gets up.... It takes her all day to cross the room. She's very excited though. Sometimes she stops and starts clapping and bouncing and then falls because she gets too excited.

Halloween costumes are completed and ready for trick or treating on Friday! Johnny is very excited because we are going trick or treating with his best friend Haven.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-24T20:20:00.001-07:00

We visited the pumpkin patch today!

Johnny enjoyed a trip down the slide

Johnny's annual tradition of stepping on the rotten pumpkins

Maisy seemed to think this was pretty funny and was wide eyed the entire time
Johnny selecting a pumpkin Johnny making a last minute change in pumpkins

Maisy looking adorable with the pumpkins!

3 Rutledge's staring at pumpkins

Entering the hay maze

Getting lost in the hay maze

Finding our way out of the hay maze (with help from daddy standing above giving us hints!)

It was another great year at the pumpkin patch. This year Johnny enjoyed feeding the goats. Maisy seems to have inherited my fear of goats gene. I took her to see them and a goat put it's hand on the fence and made a noise and Maisy screamed and started crying and shaking. (if you don't know the story ask me! I'm too lazy to type it right now! Maybe, if you are lucky, some day I will post a picture of the vicious Knotts Berry Farm goats attacking me!) By the way, I am no longer afriad of goats.

On a positive note. Maisy has been "Jay Gordonized" and is sleeping excellently. I've gotten at least 6 hours of straight sleep for 4 nights! I feel like a new person.

9 months

2008-10-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

Maisy is 9 months!
(ok...she's almost 10 months but her mother isn't getting much sleep, so she hasn't updated the blog!)

Maisy is doing great. She's starting to walk, despite our best efforts to keep her immobile until she's 2! She loves to harass Don the cat and has been known to try and "taste" his ears. Shockingly he's been very patient with her. (he seems to be taking his aggression out on birds as he's become a bit of a serial bird killer. We have feathers all over our carport!)

Maisy LOVES Playing with Johnny. His blanket, his cars, him....she can't get enough. She's kind of a monster crawling over and attacking whatever he's playing with. He's very patient with her and good about making sure small toys aren't near her. He completely exceeds my expectations of how patient he is with her. Johnny can't get enough of Maisy and is always wondering how she is and what she's doing. It's very heart warming.

Maisy is not sleeping very well and we are in the midst of "Jay Gordonizing" her, as I like to call it! (Dr. Jay Gordon has written what I feel to be a fairly humane approach to getting her to sleep for longer periods of time)

Maisy "visiting" Don while he is snuggling up with his favorite sleep friend

Maisy is not a big fan of being used as a doll!
We began baby gym at the Olympia Center this month. She LOVES it. She dances and plays and enjoys diving head first into the ball pit. She gets to see her buddy, Murphy also. Seeing all the babies playing is just about the cutest thing ever.

Maisy enjoyed playing with cousin Bailey's dress up clothes! (maybe her mother enjoyed it more!)

Johnny is playing Soccer with the "Fire Dragon's". This is a picture of him going after the ball for the first time. It was an exciting moment!Maisy in a Halloween outfit at 9 months

Johnny in the same Halloween outfit at 5 monthsJohnny is still enjoying kindergarten. He enjoys learning about all the rules and workings of the school system. He also enjoys coming home and telling us which kids get in trouble and who has to go to Principal Woods' Office.

Halloween preparations are underway. Johnny is going to be a bat, and mommy is "building" his costume. Maisy is going to be Tinkerbell. Next year Johnny is going to be a spider. (Maisy's mother hasn't decided what she will be next year, but she has her eye on a Dorothy pattern that she thinks Maisy might enjoy!)

Gabe visited during lunch recently. Principal Woods was reminding the kids that sometimes people are allergic to things and they can't eat certain foods so we need to be extra careful to not share lunches. Johnny leaned over to Gabe and "whispered" (as all 6 year olds whisper in a very LOUD voice) and said "I'M ALLERGIC TO POISON". (it's a good thing we know. We wouldn't want to accidentally give him some and have a reaction!!!)
The following is a real conversation between Johnny and I. It was adorable and funny and a wonderful moment!

Johnny: Look! Someone littered and they put all the icky cigarettes on the ground. Don't touch them mama! They might kill you. Cigarettes are very bad for you. They have stuff in them that will kill you and it's really hard to get them out of you and it makes you want to keep using them.

Mama: I know Johnny. Mommy used to smoke a long time ago and it was very hard to stop. They are very bad for you and they DO make you very sick.

Johnny: (in awe) Mama! YOU defeated cigarettes! CONGRATULATIONS! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU.

Mama: Thank you Johnny. I am really proud of me too. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I'm really glad I stopped smoking. my body feels alot better since I stopped.

Johnny: Good Job Mama!

First Assembly Performance

2008-10-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

Johnny's kindergarten class sang a song at the school assembly today.

It was very cute and we were surprised to see that Johnny actually sang along.

(when his preschool class preformed for us he just smiled while everyone sang)

This is his first school performance. I'm guessing there will be many many more! Maisy got in on the action towards the end of the singing.

The Anatomy of a Photo Shoot

2008-10-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

Every month I take a picture of Maisy in the stocking they gave us at the hospital after she was born. As she gets more mobile, it's getting harder and harder complete this task.

I present to you, Maisy, trying to escape from her mother taking a picture in her stocking.

I never did get a picture I liked, which means I will not be posting her "9 months" post until she cooperates!

How is the Eating Going?

2008-09-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

People often ask me how Maisy's eating is going. I've posted this video to answer everyone's questions.

This is a video of a typical feeding session with Maisy. She is eating peas, not dirt as she seems to think it is.

First Tooth!

2008-09-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

This little girl spent the night working on her first tooth. As you can see, she's feeling self conscious and doesn't want everyone looking at it!

Johnny started soccer this week. It's his first sports team since the disastrous basketball experience of 2006. He's playing on a YMCA team with a few of his friends. The first practice was on Wednesday and he seemed to enjoy himself.

While I was unloading the dishes Maisy decided she needed to help...

I had a flashback to another little person that wanted to help.... (this i s Johnny at 18 months)

Recently Gabe helped Johnny select an outfit to wear; look familiar?!?! I'm pretty certain Gabe has the same outfit, minus the Transformers underwear!

Maisy is enjoying daddy playing guitar for her. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth and dances.

Yesterday Maisy tried apples for the first time. Her face sums up her feelings on the experience.

Johnny had his first full week of school and LOVES it. He was especially excited to realize that the Curious George blanket he took for rest time "works". It didn't used to work when he sucked his finger with it but now it does. You'll be pleased to know that it's flavored banana.

Maisy is crawling all over and standing and walking along stuff like spiderman. She looks pretty ridiculous as she's very short. It's funny to glance over and see something the size of a doll standing and walking around. She's BUSY and into everything!

Johnny's First Day of Kindergarten!

2008-09-05T19:55:00.001-07:00

Johnny began Kindergarten today!

He got off the bus and proclaimed the day to be a "500". (500 Points. So far, 100 has been the highest!)

He told us that their class has only 1 bathroom and when you use it you need to put the bear on a string on the door knob. If you have to go and it's an emergency and someone is in the bathroom you can use the bathroom that more than one person can use; but not the bathroom that is only for adults. (I'm guessing they spent quite a bit of time discussing the bathroom!)

He ate his lunch at school and was very excited to have two chocolate chip cookies in his lunch. He didn't eat nearly as much as I thought he might and returned home with most of his lunch; minus 1½ cookies. (Gabe and I were assuming that lunch was over in the middle of him eating his last cookie so he put it in his lunch box and pretended that he saved it for after school!)

They had 3 recesses and 2 snack times. (snack was goldfish crackers) And, he didn't show anyone his new transformers underwear. He has a third grade buddy, he thinks his name is Aaron. And in this class you aren't allowed to borrow stuff like you were in his last class; but you can save stuff for later. During rest time you are allowed to sleep or read books. You may get 3 books to look at but you have to get them all at once and look at them quietly. He looked at books. His teacher, Mrs. Muzatko, also read them a book called Mrs. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten and people in the story were talking animals. Mrs. Bindergarten is a dog! And...his bus drivers name is Chuck. He also listed off all the his classmates names; and I think he remembered everyone. Half the class went today and half went yesterday and they will all go together on Monday.

Johnny is in class with Zoë. Zoë and Johnny met in baby class at South Puget Sound Community College when Zoë was just 10 days old and Johnny was 4 months old. They have been in playgroup together ever since. (Zoë is also big sister to Maisy's BFF Solome'!) I tried to find a picture of them together when they were little babies, but I couldn't find one that showed their faces. (they were always moving too much) But I did find a few pictures from Halloween when they were 1. Zoë is dressed like a Penguin and Johnny is dressed like Curious George.

Johnny was very exuberant in his smiling for their first day of school photo!

And a few pictures just because...

Johnny is very excited that Maisy is working on a new skill! She's standing and walking around her toy box. (and falling and crashing a lot too! Her face is pretty bruised!) She's also wearing two ponytails for the first time! (and yes - she is shorter than the stereo speaker in the background. It looks absolutely silly to see someone standing on legs that are probably 8 or 9 inches long!)

Here she is after a nap with her two ponytails! Her hair looks a little bit like Grandpa Munster

8 Months!

2008-09-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

Maisy is 8 months old
She's crawling and standing and getting into absolutely everything. She sleeps terribly, (which is why it's taken so long for her mother to blog!) We went on a trip to Seaside, visited the zoo, experienced Lakefair and have enjoyed many summer time activities.

Lakefair

In this picture I think it looks like Johnny is floating down the hall
Johnny finally got to feed Maisy a bottle. He's been waiting since he found about her...

Johnny lost his tooth on vacation!

(it wasn't really THAT loose...he was trying to get Gabe's attention by biting his pants and ripped it out! OOPS!)

Johnny tried to catch a seagull and put sand on it's wings to watch the sand go everywhere as it flew away. Needless to say he never caught one...just got really close and threw sand everywhere.

Maisy and Johnny looking at the sharks at the zoo

Johnny in a nest

Maisy in a nest

Hermit Crab Maisy

This is Maisy eating a cheerio and NOT liking it...

Johnny in a spider web at the zoo

Maisy fell asleep while jumping

I think this would be perfect for the cover of the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block"

(not that I've actually ever read the book...)

Maisy and her favorite Uncle Joel eyeing the same toy

Maisy and her favorite toy Don

THE BEST PICTURE OF THE SUMMER...

Johnny: daddy will you play a game with me
Daddy: let's play a game where we pick up all the toys in the house
Johnny: I want nothing to do with that game

Mommy: Do you think Maisy will ever play with dolls?

Johnny: No, Mama...she's ROCK ON like me

TRUCKS!

2008-08-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

It seems that my little girl loves trucks just as much as her brother!

No matter what toys we put around her, she always finds the trucks!

See Grandpa...

2008-08-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

Girl Buddies like hammers too!!!

Grandpa got a toy hammer just like this one for Johnny when he was about 6 months. Johnny played with this hammer until he finally wore it out last year. We searched and searched and finally found one for Maisy.

(Johnny reminds us that he is Grandpa's Buddy and Maisy is Grandpa's "Girl Buddy")