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.

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.

Olive Kristine Rutledge

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

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!

13th Anniversary

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.

It's October!

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".

Summer Catch Up

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.

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Silk and Linen

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!)