There's a 6th Grader among us...

Wow, Ryan started 6th grade today!

How did that happen? Where did the summer go? I took the day off today so Joe and I could hang out with him this morning and walk him to the bus.


Joe waved as the bus drove away, it was so cute.

Verdict of the day from The Boy? 'Depressing'. Turns out that the STEM class he was allowed to partake in last year (an eighth grade science technology engineering and math class) is offered at a time of another class he can't miss. This is the one class he actually looks forward to and is where they design for the Future City Competition held in the winter. I am going to call school tomorrow to see what is up. And to top it off they are only allowed to go up for seconds at lunch. I know, where is the humanity? :-)


This weekend was very relaxing. Ry and I went to the State Fair on Thursday and the four of us went to the Mall of America on Friday. The rest of the weekend we actually just did nothing (well, in between the laundry, Target runs, the visit with Kyle's parents, and Kyle running the highest fever I have ever seen).



Joe update - nervous to even type it out lest I jinx it, but the kid is sleeping through the night in his own bed. How'd I do it? Started by laying on the floor of his room next to his crib as he fell asleep. I stuck my hand in his crib and he would curl up to it like a teddy bear and fall asleep. Granted, I also fell asleep, but I will take it any way I can get it! Some nights it works quickly, other nights he is rambling around in there for almost an hour. I think it also helps that his two top teeth are in now as well. Keep sending the happy sleep vibes though and thank you for the advice!

What a Difference Five Years Makes

So yesterday was our five year anniversary. A typical Friday for most, but a wonderful accomplishment for Kyle and I. There were many years that I never thought I would find my one true love and my best friend all wrapped into one package, but here we are and still in love. Not only are we in love, but we actually still like each other. Kyle, thank you so much for all your love and support through the years and for allowing Ryan and I to invade your life. I am so looking forward to our future.


Thank you to Ryan for making our dinner last night. It was fantastic! He made chicken breasts, steamed vegetables, garlic bread and a wonderful punch drink. Oh and an apple pie!(didn't bake it, but it was delicious) What a wonderful caring kid you are!


On a totally different topic. I am in need of some suggestions for getting an almost 9 month old to sleep all night, alone, in his crib. This week has been a rough one. Every night I have ended up passing out in his room on the couch. Not condusive for a good night sleep and I know it is forming bad sleeping habits in his little brain. We have a nightly routine that has not changed and he goes down just fine. Then he starts waking up CRYING about an hour later. Get him back to sleep and sometimes back into his bed and the pattern continues until I get so dang tired that I just sleep with him. Yes, I have tried letting him cry it out. Yes, I have tried putting him to bed awake but tired. Yes, he has a lovey in his crib. Any other thoughts on getting him to sleep in here...

and not here...

Birthdays and Beverages

July and August are busy birthday months in our family. July 21 was Bill's 40th and July 30 was Kyle's 42nd. That is just to name a few. To celebrate Kyle's birthday, the boys and I took him to Major's. I had been there the previous Saturday and had a fabulous pulled pork sandwich. Raved it up and down to Kyle. Since he is also a fan of the pulled pork, back we went. Unfortunately, not so good that day. But the company was great!



Saturday was a fun day. Started it off celebrating Bill's birthday at the Holiday Inn swimming, splashing, visiting and caking.




Then that evening, Kyle, Pam, John and I made it to the Elko Speedway (finally) and had a great time watching the races. Loud and dusty and so much fun. Following the races, we headed into the bar to watch Tim Mahoney perform. I have been following this guy far longer then I like to admit. I will just say that they have been known by 4 different names and have been there for all of them. This time, thanks to Kyle, had enough guts to go up and finally introduce ourselves. I even got to sign his guitar (swoon). Seriously, what a nice guy. Even went and had beverages with him after the show. We will have to do that again. Thank you to Pam and John for driving us home that evening and letting us stay out past our curfew. And thanks to mom and dad for watching the boys. First night we were ever away from Joe. (sniff)


Sunday, after getting some sleep and a nap, I went out and met up with some Creeps. What a great bunch of gals. Good things do come out of bad situations. What a fun weekend!


Other than that, things are OK. Joe is fighting some bug thing. In fact they are testing him for mono. Hope to hear about those results soon. He is still dang cute though and growing fast. He weighed in at 21 lbs 8oz...

Catching Up

So I am finally getting this flickr bloggin' thing down - I think. In an effort to still make it to bed tonight, yet feel good for accomplishing my task here we go. Not going to post all the pictures here, but click on one and you know it will bring you to more.

So far this summer we celebrated Memorial Day at Paul and Dawn's...

Had a great vacation in Virginia...

Joe started crawling...

Had a fun Fouth of July at Kristen and Mike's...

Went to a Twin's game for work...

Joe discovered grocery bags...

Took many random pictures of Joe...

Made it to another Twin's game. This time with Kyle and Joe...

Joe attended his first playdate with the Cribsheet folks and made a new friend...


Can't wait to see what the rest of the summer will bring.

joe crawling

joe crawling
Originally uploaded by TuttleMan

Finally able to post a video of Joe's first day of crawling. Sorry it is a month late. I know you are all keeping track. :-)

Who gets mono at age 11?

The Boy, that's who. What a great way to finish off the summer. I am definitely hoping he has a speedy recovery and isn't out of commision for a month or so. It took a few visits to finally get to the diagnosis, but where would we rather spend our time then at clinics full of sick people?

He started running a temp last Tuesday and complaining of a sore/full throat. He also fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon - not like him at all. Took him to the Target clinic (love Target - they do EVERYTHING but my laundry) and the strep test came back negative. Wednesday he stayed low and slept most of the day and startd having 'the smell'. Couldn't quite place what the smell was. He ended up puking (can I just tell you how much Kyle and I can't tolerate puke so we must have looked hysterical cleaning it up while trying to keep the contents of our stomachs contained) that evening and his temp spiked.

Brought him to our regular clinic on Thursday and saw some yahoo for 3 minutes after waiting for him for an hour. Said that it is probably a sinus infection, but couldn't guarantee it and to try these antibiotics. Normally I love the docs at our clinic, but this one we will not use again.

Friday morning came and he was still running a high temp and still had 'the smell' coming from him. Finally was able to place 'the smell'. I remember that smell from when I had mono. Nastiest thing. Anywho - called the clinic again. Must have sounded like the paranoid mom - 'you know, he hasn't been on the antibiotics for 24 hours yet'. I know, but my kid is still running a high temp and that is not like him. I think it is something else. 'All right, bring him in'. My poor mom, I gave her an hour to make sure both boys were ready to head out the door and to make the 35 minute drive. I think she was ready to kill me. Saw a different doc and she humored me and ran some blood work on The Boy. Low and behold, I was right, but I am not going to quit my day job. She also verified the sinus infection and noticed an ear infection. Why didn't Dr Yahoo notice that yesterday? White blood count was really high, but she said he didn't need to be hospitalized - thank God. And his spleen and liver were not swollen and in the right place. Told him to get lots of rest and lots of fluids. Do you know how hard it is to make a kid drink when their throat is so dang sore?

As of yesterday the temp stayed in the low 99's and this morning it was 98.5, so that is definitely helping him feel better. He rode his bike for a bit yesterday, but tired out pretty easily. The appetite is also coming back which of course will give him some more energy. I have a feeling he is going to want to do more sooner than he should.

Where are some new pictures?

I know - I have not done as well as I had hoped. I will still get our vacation and crawling posts updated with some pictures soon, but here are a couple for you all to enjoy until then...

Soooo Big!

Joe and Grandma - not sure who is cuter!!!

Guess Who's Crawling

Well, even though I am tired, I am not crawling, but Joe is!!! How awesome is that? Started moving along on Wednesday. He has had a busy couple of weeks of firsts - first plane ride, first vacation, first ear infection (day after we got back from vacation), first tooth (second day we got back from vacation and then #2 showed up the next day), and now the crawling. Still working on the sitting up, but that is getting better as well.

Friday the 13th was his 6 month check. He weighed in at 17# 9oz and 27" long. Averaged out at the 45th percentile. I know that doesn't mean much, but some people ask.

On the height note, Ryan has now passed up both his parents in that category. Swear he has grown 5 inches since last summer. He is getting ready to go on his first camp away. Leaves on Sunday and gets back on Friday. The camp is for safety patrol and it is 'up nort''

Did I happen to mention how happy I am that it is Friday???

Back from vacation

We are back from vacation - can't believe how fast that week went and that we have been home for a week as well. I will post some pictures later. Brief synopsis:
Joe is an excellent flyer - loved watching all the people. He also slept very well on the plane.
Friday we arrived and had a great dinner with John, Rebecca, and family. Loved introducing Joe to everyone. Made it over to Rob and Suzi's in time to unpack a little and hit the rack after a long day of travelling.
Saturday was very relaxing as Joe actually took a good nap in the morning and then we headed back to Emerald to hang. Then back to Rollingside for a great dinner with all the family. That evening the chicks hung at Rollingside to watch a flick, while the men went to Emerald to grunt and scratch while watching 300.
Sunday, us chicks (and Joe) went for a fun filled day of shopping and talking. Shopping is the best therapy a girl can have. Found some summer pajamas for Joe - hopefully it will get warm soon so he can actually wear them.
Monday was the Marine Corps museum in Quantico. If you get the chance, I highly recommend a visit. Great history and an awesome building and grounds. Definitely could have spent all day there reading all the information, but travelling with a 6 month old is all world according to Joe. Which was fine. Kyle and I were able to have a lunch date of our own and good ol' Joe slept through the whole thing. Then back to Rollingside for some relaxation and another great meal - noticing a food theme??
Tuesday was VERY busy. Left early AM to go see Kyle's Aunt Claire and Uncle Paul up in Potomac, MD. Had a great lunch and a wonderful visit. Thank you! Joe was a big hit! We had to head out early afternoon as we needed to meet up with mom, dad, and Ryan for the Sunset Parade at the Iwo Jima memorial. Unfortunately Joe's humor for car seat travel at that time was wearing thin, so he made his thoughts known all the way to DC. Nothing like being lost with a screaming infant in the back seat. Good times. Finally made it to the hotel for our rendezvous and then headed to the parade. Met up with the Emerald gang and some of the Rollingside gang and shuttled over to the parade location. Other than the driving rain storm, the silent drill team was AMAZING. Pictures don't do it justice. Afterwards, dropped the fam back off at the hotel and then headed back to Rollingside with the a fore mentioned screaming infant. Poor kid was NOT happy. Luckily we all survived that day and slept in a bit on Wednesday.
Wednesday was a day of infant screaming recovery. Note to self - 6 month old children need their naps. Anywho - started the day off doing some laundry and packing up to head over to the Emerald. While clothes were drying, went with chicks and children that weren't in school to downtown Fredericksburg for more food and shopping. What a quaint area. Reminded me of St Peter with the antique shops and the contemporary shops. Believe it or not, I bought nothing (lunch doesn't count) and the weather was beautiful. Headed back to Rollingside to finish up laundry, but my wonderful husband was already on top of that one. Thank you!! Hoped to transfer sleeping car seat Joe to sleeping pack and play Joe, but he had nothing to do with that, so another nap opportunity lost. While loading the car to head to Emerald he finally crashed out, so we drove around for about 40 minutes so he could sleep. What us parents won't do.... Made it to Emerald (which by the way is normally a 1 minute drive from Rollingside) in time for one of 2 tornado warnings. No damage at either location, but did experience a 6 hour black out. We had fun playing cards by candle light and just hanging out.
Thursday was our last full day there and mom, dad, and Ryan came down for the day. Lots of food, conversation, and cousin time. Only drawback was that John had to fly out to AZ for some training to help him get ready for Okinawa, so our visit with him was cut short. That evening we hung out and watched Juno. Great flick. Highly recommend. Of course I cried, but I am like that.
Friday we had to say good-bye to the Emerald bunch. Not sure when we will get to see them next as they will be 3 years in Okinawa. Hope they have an amazing time. Headed up to DC to catch our flight home. Jim Ramstad was on our plane and said that Joe is a beautiful baby - couldn't agree more. He gave Ryan and Joe these really neat astronaut pens that can write upside down, when wet, etc. Thank you! After sitting on the tarmac for an hour, had an uneventful flight back home. Joe slept for 2 hours of it. What a great kid. We were all happy to be home, but sad to be away from family again.

OK - not such a brief synopsis, but wanted to make sure I captured our trip.

Thank you so much to the Rollingside and Emerald bunches! We were thoroughly spoiled and loved every minute of it!

Chris' First Post

I am finally getting on board with the blogging as I have been sucked into the blog world. There are a couple that I check everyday as part of my morning routine: lileks.com - the bleat and of course mattlogelin.com. Matt's site has moved me to tears, laughter and a new perspective on life that makes me hug my family extra hard each and every day. Of course, as you can see by the picture, Joe and Ryan are the cutest most huggable kids around.

Ryan will be leaving for NYC with mom and dad in the morning. We won't see him until we meet up in DC on Tuesday. I am going to miss him like the dickens. Kyle and I fly out with Joe to VA on Friday morning to spend some quality time with the fam. I am so looking forward to having a non rushed vacation. One that I can actually have a few conversations and not feel like they have to be shoved into a 5 second time span. I am a little nervous to fly with the little guy, but hopefully he will do great. Hopefully Joe will do great as well. hee hee hee. See, I am a comedian.

Ryan finished up the fifth grade on Thursday. He had a great year and an outstanding report card. We are so proud of him. Lots of plans for him this summer. Besides the afore mentioned vacation, he is also busy with his train track extravaganza, summer stretch, science camp, a week long safety camp 'up north', and hanging with his little bro and grandparents. What a lucky kid.

I will see what I can do about keeping you posted while on our vacation, but I may just end up doing an end of vacation blog when we return. Now, I need to get back to work so I can enjoy that time away.

Random JOE pictures, enjoy!

Ryan had some Basketball moments...

Amazing...

Joe's Baptism

We had a great turnout at Joe's Baptism, I swear the wind chill must have been -50 that day. Thanks to all that came...

Some pictures from Christmas, with the bestest christmas present ever :P

What a great Christmas, Joe was with us and we got to see the family, even in a blizzard...

Joe's getting BIG.

Hi All,
Been really hectic over the last few months, but I thought I'd give you an updated picture of Joe, more to come...

Please welcome Joseph John Tuttle!

Chris and I were so happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world! Joseph was born on November 29th, at 11:04pm, 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 20.5 inches.

The year in pictures: 2007

Too funny...

Another year gone, Holy Cross Christmas Program comes again...

Wow, isn't he getting tall???

Lonsdale Baseball 2007

Ryan had a great time this year, made some awesome defensive plays and developed his batting skills. The boys are getting much stronger now and held their own against some really good, highly organized teams.

Ryan's 11th Birthday

Ryan has some friends over again from school, though I think that this might be the last year for that. Especially after all the general havoc, throwing up and blood loss that occurred. No permanent damage was done. LOL