Anniversary Number 15!

Today is our 15th Wedding Anniversary. 

In case you wanted to buy us a gift, the suggestion is Crystal.  It's probably not really necessary or practical because 1) we have too many kids and nowhere to put and or use crystal.  And 2) we have no other crystal items because we registered at Target and at the time they didn't have crystal. (maybe they still don't, I have no idea)

After our wedding Gabe had to return to the tuxes of his groomsmen who were too busy lazy to return them.  Upon dropping them off at the rental shop the salesman said "I always like to check the pockets to see if anything got left behind".  He holds up the pants, starts shaking them and "clink clink"....Gabe puts his hands into the pockets and pulls out....FOUR SPOONS.  Why on earth did they need 4 spoons from the reception?  I have no idea.  But, in our box of stuff leftover from our wedding, we have 4 spoons.  A nice memento I guess!

Here is a picture of Gabe and I early on in our relationship.  This picture was taken during a phase in my life when I only took pictures of myself.  Shockingly, this didn't turn out too bad.  But, WOW, were we young!  (I actually think we are in our 20's in this picture.)

Quit reading now if you don't want to read me getting sentimental...

15 years.  It feels like a bit of a milestone.  If I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now,  I would change many many things, but there's not a doubt in my mind that I would still say yes.  I feel like I uncovered some lucky penny somewhere that granted me this amazing wish.  We have no money, we are worn out from raising kids, we don't get to see each other enough; but if you asked me to dream up my perfect marriage, I wouldn't change a thing.

Required Ear Tubes Have Been Issued

Remember this post?

Today, Olive received her Rutledge required ear tubes.  She had Bilateral Myringotomy because she has had repeated ear infections in a short amount of time.

On a side note, she is 10 months.  Pictures will be posted later.  My apologies to myself for failing miserably at keeping this blog updated.  My life is more overwhelming than I could ever imagine possible.  Basically every area of my life has been given the same status as this blog.

 This evening Olive seems to be feeling well.  She's always really happy, so I can't say I notice a difference in that area.  She sleeps horribly, so I'm hoping this may help.  (I can dream!)  She fell asleep in my arms tonight, I'm hoping this means that the Dr slipped some type of sleep inducing drug through her ear tube!

4 Months and 5 Months!

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...

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!

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

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

Today is our 14th Anniversary

or

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!

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!!