My "Cute" New Car!

Ben and I made a list of the cars we have had since we met, here's what we came up with: A 1989 Honda Accord, A 1989 Volvo wagon, A 1986 Chevy Blazer, A 1991 Chevy Suburban, A 1998 Ford Taurus (worst car experience of my life, but that's a whole other story! I actually did a voluntary repo on this car and I NEVER heard anything from the finance company or the dealer, which is not normal for a repo, they should have been down my throat for the money, but Nope, nothing, I am pretty sure they figured out it was a lemon and they were in the wrong), and a 1994 Kia Sephia (this was bequethed to me by Kris and Julie when they moved to Florida and has been BY FAR the best car I have had in the past 5 years, we did have a few issues with it for a while, but once we worked the kinks out and put a new radiator in it, that little Kia has run like a champ! 15 years old and barely 90k miles, the one downfall is that the a/c doesn't work in it and after a while in the heat it gets a little unbearable, it's not such a pretty car anymore and it has some issues with the door panels on the inside, I can tell one of the regulators in the driver door is not workin right also, but it runs!) so getting a new car for us is like a fantasy come true. I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that I would always have a crappy car until I got out of school and could afford to purchase a new one on my own. Well, when we did taxes this year, Ben got back about 3 times what he was expecting in a tax return and he said we would buy a car with it, I dragged my feet and kept thinking there was no way it was gona happen, the check was on the fridge for months and finally Ben got on me about it and told me I needed to hurry up and get the car found and bought, otherwise I was gona be bringing this baby home in the Kia! I was going to go looking with my Dad (If there is anyone you want looking at cars with you, it is my Dad, if something is wrong with it that is gona cause problems, he will find it! He is picky as heck and that is exactly what I needed! FYI, Ben has not been so great at picking good cars in the past) this week but talking to both Dad and Ben we decided that it would be better for Ben to go look with him. So, the men went and found this pretty little thing! It's a 2007 Suzuki Forenza, has about 35,000 miles on it. I drove it home today and it rides like a dream and the a/c blows so cold I had to turn it down, Deacon crashed in the backseat he was so comfy. There is a ton of room on the inside too, it could easily fit adults in the back and they would have plenty of room, there's also a working cd player which is not a necessity but definately a plus! I keep telling Ben how cute it is and he says I am not allowed to call it that! I love it, it's just what we need right now and will get me through the next few years of school with a lot less headache! So, anyone wana go on a road trip? :)

Deacon thought it was so fun to sit with Daddy in the front seat, he was not pleased when I put him back in the carseat. Ben looks pretty good in it, huh?

Maddox

I realized I have a picture on here of Marx and a whole bunch of Deacon and not one of the man in the middle, Maddox! Believe it or not, this is actually the best one I could find of him on the hard drive! Uh, yeah, I definately need to take some more pictures of Maddox when he is here and if anyone has some good ones, please email them to me! Being a middle child myself it almost makes me feel guilty that I have fewer pictures of him than the other 2 boys! Maddox just completed kindergarten and is going into the first grade in the fall, he has come a LONG way since he first started in the special ed program in the Kyrene district when he was 3. Maddox has had some struggles in his young life to catch up with the others and he is the child that has caused me the most tears. He is my weak spot and I have been told he is Kris' weak spot as well. There is something so special about this little boy, he is so sweet. I don't think I have ever met a sweeter child than Maddox. My mother told me one time when I was younger that I made her look at the world through different eyes. That is Maddox, he makes me take a step outside of the box and look at the world how he sees it, in all his wonder. I love that little birthmark on his chin, it showed up when he was about 6 months old and I thought it was dirt at first, kept trying to clean off his face and figured out it was part of him! Julie told me that kids have recently been teasing him about it, that just broke my heart, I never thought that would happen. :( Kids can be cruel! He has even asked to have it removed because of that. Julie and I talked about him seeing a developmental pediatrician again, he has improved a whole lot since he was last seen, but there is still something there that just seems a bit off, more social than the academic side, he's a smart kid, he's not going to have any problem getting through school, but the interaction with other kids has Julie a bit concerned. I guess we will wait and see, I am going to see what I think when he is here to visit, but from what she says we think he might be on the autism spectrum (high functioning) or he may have aspergers. I am looking into that more, I have no idea what to even look for. Regardless, he is still mine, he is still wonderful and I cannot wait to see that sweet little face in just a couple of weeks. I talked to both boys today and Marx and I figured out that there are 13 more days until they get here! WOOHOO!!

Banana Bread

So, I finally decided I need to use all the frozen bananas that have been in my freezer for.....um, I have no idea how long. I counted 12 in there so I figured I'd make banana bread today, they are the ones that went brown and I threw in there peel and all. I have not made banana bread in ages but it's not real hard and I thought maybe Deacon would like to help me, he wants to do everything we do now, so why not put him to work a little, right? He actually made a bit more of a mess than I would have on my own and I am not 100% sure our measurement for the baking soda was correct, but he was really cute and he had fun dumping stuff in the bowl. He LOVED the bananas slipping out of their peels, thought that was so funny, although he did tell me it was "Gose, Mama." (Deacon speak for "Gross") He tried to help me mix it up a little bit before I got out the hand mixer, not so easy for him. He got scared and ran away as soon as I turned on the mixer (seriously, this kid is such a little wuss! He is scared of any appliance that makes noise, this includes the vacuum and the blender) but as soon as I was done he came back into the kitchen and sampled our dough, he must have approved because he licked off both mixers and I gave him a little spoonful also. I know, I know, raw eggs and blah, blah, blah....I think he will be alright. He wanted to eat all the dough and got mad at me when I put it into the loaf pans, I could not convince him the bread would be better than the dough.

We thought they came out pretty good! He wanted to eat it right away, even cried when I told him it was too hot and we needed to let it cool off. I think maybe we did this a little too close to nap time. Now I just need to make a few more loaves so I can rid my freezer of the ugly bananas.

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!