The M & M's are coming!!!

This is Marx, he just turned 8 in April and he got glasses not too long after. He is turning into a handsome (sp?) little man, I can't believe he is so big already! Where did all those years go? It probably seems like it went faster for me since he has lived more with his father than with me in the past 5 years. The resemblance to my side of the family is unmistakable though, he looks so much like me and my dad. I love it, my other two boys both look just like their Daddy's, Maddox is Kris to a T and Deacon is a little compact version of Benny. I wouldn't trade any of them for nothin, but it's nice that at least one looks like me some! Marx is an amazing kid, he is going to be part of something big and important one day, I just know it. He is a first born through and through, a great big brother and smart as a whip. He actually scares me with how smart he is! I have already learned a lot being Marx's Mom and I know he still has a whole lot to teach me as he gets older. I can't wait to see him! They will be here with Julie on July 8th (she is an absolute saint, by the way, she will be on a plane with 4 kids for like 6-8 hours! Hats off girl, I don't know if I have that kind of patience!) We will get to have the boys with us until the 23rd or the 24th, Kris was not sure what day they were actually going to leave when I talked to him. I don't care, it's more time than I thought we would have originally and it's BEFORE baby instead of after, which is better for me. I will be able to function still at least, those first couple weeks after a c-section are pretty rough and I spend them in a haze, usually. This way I can enjoy the boys more and we will get more quality time together. I keep thinking we will be looking for things to do but the more I think about it, I think we will be able to find plenty to do. OK, now to make time move just a tiny bit faster!!! I am antsy to see my big boys!!

Farewell to a Man's Best Friend

Last Saturday, June 13, 2009 Ben's 8 1/2 year old PitBull, Turbo passed away. Ben got him as a puppy barely old enough to be away from his mother, he always told me he chose Turbo because he was the runt of the litter and he had so much spunk. He named him Turbo because he could outrun just about any dog and when he got going he would tear around faster than seemed possible. Pit Bulls are known to be active, happy dogs and they are great with other pets and kids. When Marx and Maddox first met Turbo they put him through every test a toddler can imagine and he never once snapped at them or showed his teeth, just layed down and took it. He was a lot of fun for them and a great companion for Ben. It was just the two of them for a long time and when we first met Turbo was not impressed with me at all. He did not like that I took his place by Ben on the couch and I took Ben away a lot. He eventually decided that if there was going to be a woman around it might as well be me and we got to be pretty good friends over the years. I did make Ben kick him off the bed, I will defend myself here and say that I didn't really want to kick Turbo off the bed, I wanted to kick my own dog, Shryn off the bed because she is huge and she spreads out and takes up the whole freaking thing, Turbo was actually really great to have in the bed, he would curl up at Ben's feet and stay there all night long, never moved. (Sorry, Turbo, if I could have kept her off and let just you on, I would have.) He did drive me crazy because he urinated on everything that did not smell like him and that is just disgusting, Ben had refused to get him neutered when he was a puppy and it's not such a great idea to neuter and older Pit Bull, but he was a good dog and right up to the very end he lived up to his name. 100 miles an hour at the push of a button! He was always faster than Shryn, even when she was a puppy and he was 3 years old. Turbo was one in a million too, slightly retarded we are convinced, he could only wag his tail one way which made him do this funny dance when he got excited that Ben dubbed "the super C", he would also hop around on just his two front legs when he got super excited, he always had to have a sock in his mouth when he met Ben at the back door. We had some battles over the stupid socks that Turbo carried around. I swear he ate half of them, and the other half he bit a hole in or ripped apart with Shryn. Socks were Turbos favorite thing, he prefered Bens and he prefered them dirty. I cannot tell you how many half pairs of socks Ben now has because of his dog! Turbo went on his last camping trip with Ben about 3 weeks ago. Ben and his friend Andy took Turbo and Shryn and both of Andy's dogs up above Payson and hiked through some switchback for a couple of days. Ben said that Turbo was just like he always was on a camping trip, romping through the stream with Shryn and walking ahead of Ben on the trail to scope things out, he loved being outdoors and could handle just about any kind of terrain, ben had nicknamed him the "Mountain Goat" because he would climb over anything without hesitation. After that trip Turbo began to deteriorate. At first we didn't really notice anything was wrong with him, then one day I saw him trying to urinate in the backyard and he was getting nothing out. The same thing had happened a few years ago and I took some extreme measures to fix the problem, that time it was a blockage in his urethra. This time I gave it a couple of days to see if anything changed, it did, it got worse. Only this time he had different symptoms, which I looked up, of course, everything I came across said that the problem was more than likely his prostate and for a dog his age (Pit Bulls life expectancy is between 8-12 years) and being unaltered (not nuetered) there was not much we could do without the aide of special testing at the vet and if it was cancer there was no point in treating it, he would die anyway. We do not have the extra money to spend on a vet visit so we made the decision that if he was really that sick and he was going to pass away we had to let him go. I know it killed Ben to decide that. Last Friday I spent most of the day with my Mom watching my brothers kids and Ben worked all day so we got home late that night. Turbo was outside in the backyard and Ben went to check on him, he was curled up in his hole under our bedroom window and Ben came in and asked if he could bring him in for the night so he at least would not be outside, he could tell he was not doing well. Ben brought him in and laid him on the futon on an old comforter, it didn't take long for Turbo to start moaning, it was the sadest sound. Turbo tried to get up at one point and Ben had to help him get off the futon, he stumbled across the room and barely made it to the kennel. We knew he was in bad shape at that point. He laid in the kennel and moaned most of the night, at 4 am Ben moved him to the shop so he would not wake up Deacon. When we got up in the morning at 8 I went to check on him, he was quiet so I put my hand on his side and I knew he was gone. Ben was behind me and I couldn't turn to look at him, I sat down on the floor by Turbo and he knew. I have rarely seen a man cry, the only time I can remember my Dad crying was when my cousin was killed, so I was not prepared for Ben's tears. It broke my heart to see him cry over his buddy, he was already late for work, but he sat there for a while with him. I had Tim take Turbo's body to the vet clinic up the street after he got up, funny enough, they don't just take the body and burry it, the options they give are cremation and they handle the ashes or cremation and YOU handle the ashes. I knew Ben was going to want the ashes back so we now have to find an urn for the ashes of a dog. Never thought I would have that in my house. (Anybody else reminded of Meet the Fockers?)

Oh, The Joys of Pregnancy!

This is sad, this is regularly used items in just the past few weeks, it was like once I hit 24 weeks I started feeling a bit better tummy wise but everything else fell apart. I did't include the body pillow or the box of kleenex I have had within arms reach usually. The cup is actually full of ice only, I don't want anything in it, just the ice and it HAS to be crushed, none of this cube junk! There is one place in Coolidge that has the right kind of ice, it is just up the road from the house so I send Tim and Ben a lot, Ben knows I want ice when I just look at him. It costs $0.15 for the big cup. The Tums have become a regular part of my diet, heartburn has hit me hard, I have to be so careful not to eat anything too spicy. The Iron supplement is to treat pregnancy induced anemia (again), I hate taking it, the side effect is not pleasant, but I am SOOOOO tired when I don't take it. Water because it is one of the few things my body will let me drink without getting sick. Gum and tea for nausea, if I am chewing gum then my body thinks I am eating and I must not be nauseous.

One of the not so bad things about pregnancy and me is that I nest big time starting at about 5 months. It hasn't been quite as strong as it was with Deacon yet, but I may still find myself on hands and knees cleaning floors the day before I have this one too. This is the spice rack that I created using IKEA parts, I did all the measuring and taped everything off so Ben just had to drill holes in the walls, insert anchors and screw the bars into the wall. (OK, so maybe he did a little more work on this one than I did!) I am probably going to add another bar above and another below the one in the right side. This space used to have a cupboard that filled it, but has since been destroyed. At least I don't feel like it's complete wasted space now. Next project, I don't know right now, I am too tired.

Easter

Deacon knows that Papa is a complete and total sucker for every single one of his grandkids, I don't care how old they are. Sometimes I swear my Dad was made to be a Grandpa, he is just what every kid hopes to have in a Grandpa, he lets the kids follow him all over the house, the yard, the garage, takes them all to the park, plays their goofy games that the moms have played so many times we never ever want to lay eyes on again, and don't forget, he will give them treats even when you have told the kid they can't have it. Deacon knew just how to play his cards right and somehow convinced Papa he needed to have some delicious, chocolate dessert. I am thinkin' it really didn't take much, I have uttered the phrase, "It's a damn good thing you are Papa, cuz that would never fly with anyone else!" several times.

Papa hangin' out with Jack and Deacon after dinner and naps and egg dying. I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked, seems like I always remember to pull out the camera too late. There was an Easter Egg hunt after this and the kids all found their baskets but Deacon and I had to go get Ben from work and could not hang out for it! I was sad, it is getting so old and so annoying to have to leave everything early because I have to work around HIS schedule! OK, everybody pray for Ben's tax check to get here so that I can get a newer, more reliable car, and pray that a 2006 Kia Spectra5 with low miles goes on sale in the next few weeks! (yea, I been dreamin!) Then I won't have to work around him anymore and I can leave when I want to!

Miss Charly slept a little later than Will so she got to dye her eggs all by herself (well, with some help from Brook for the dunking and retrieval) , she was quite cute about the whole process.

This little guy is Jack, he is the youngest of the Tuttle grandkids (for a few more months, then he will be bumped out of his spot by my little kicker) and about as cute as a baby gets. He belongs to my brother, Travis and sister in law, Brook. He looks so much like his Daddy it is uncanny, my mom refers to him as "Baby Travis." Pictures of Travis at this age really show it, I can't stand how darling little Jack is, he was a little crabby (his mom would probably say he was a LOT crabby) for the first few months of his life but he has chilled out since he has gotten a little older and he is quite sweet andso fun to have around. I loved that Jack had my Dad laughing so hard, Dad had been tickling Jacks feet and was making him laugh that graeat baby laugh. Don't ya just love babies!

The Belly and The Artist

The Belly at 24 weeks 2 days. Now that I am finally out of denial and really getting excited about it, I figure I better document the little stinker. Found out there is ANOTHER little boy in there last week. I always said I wanted all boys, just never thought I would actually get it! Now the name battle ensues, wouldn't be surprised if this one doesn't have a name for a little while! Ben and I do not agree on names much. Sulley? Come on! (I will note that I took this pic by myself with the timer and this is the best I could get!)

Deacon's Masterpiece. He has become a little artist lately, wants to color all the time, I set him up with this easle/box from Marx & Maddox's old stash of toys and he loved it, probably spent a good hour coloring this day! What did I do during this down time? Homework. I am kicking myself now because I think I left the box at my parents when I was there for Easter last week. Who knows when I will have a car I can drive without having to take Ben to work first.

Here's the little artist at work

He was totally intent on the coloring and was paying absolutely no attention to what I was doing until the camera came out, then he would not stop looking at me and saying "Cheese" I finally just took his picture.

We're Baaaack! :)

Finally got the password fixed and can post again! Plus we have internet now, which helps. Too much to update all at once so I will do a few of these prob. My sister was here a couple of weeks ago and she and I took the 3 kids to the zoo and the natural history museum. These pics are from the zoo.

Nana and Molly by the zebras, we love our "monochromatic" friends, Deacon called them all Marty. (I think he has seen Madagascar one too many times)

Our Uncle Bill, his wife Teresa and our cousin Brittaney (along with her 2 little boys, Brayden and Maddox) met us at the zoo, this is all the kids at the flamingos. Alan said the same thing he did last year, "Some have 2 legs and some only have one." He is so stinking cute!

Alan helped Deacon see a little better. Deacon loved having Alan to play with, he followed him around all week long.

Um, yeah, this picture pretty much summarizes how Deacon felt about the merry-go-round, he was not impressed and I ended up taking him off and holding him at the end. Hate to say it but my son is a wuss!
I thought this picture came out so cute, he looks like such a peaceful child sitting there like that. I rarely see him like this.

Fall FINALLY!

It's finally fall in AZ! Well, as much fall as we really get, seems like one day its hot as heck and you are roasting your tush off and before you know it it's nice and bearable outside, then suddenly you need a sweatshirt! Could it be just a little more gradual? This is my favorite time of year in Arizona. My digital camera got dropped by one of Ben's coworkers so I cant even take any pics to put on here. Deacon is so huge, he's cruising the furniture and trying to stand all by himself, he learned how to wave but he holds his palm toward himself so it looks like hes waving to himself, pretty cute. He hasn't done anything to scare me recently, thank Goodness! He has become a Daddy's boy recently and whenever Ben gets home I might as well just disappear for all the attention I get! He wants nothing to do with me accept maybe nurse, otherwise it's all Daddy! Nothing really new going on at the moment. We are going to Minnesota for the first time in 3 years next week so we are pretty excited about that, we are flying and it will be Deacons first plane ride! I need to take some hints from Brook on how to handle that one, it's been ages since I've been on a plane with a baby. Im hoping that the novelty of the experience will keep him entertained. Yea, right. Until next time, farewell!