Dear Friends,

This is by far the hardest and scariest week of my life. Well, a few years ago I had a very hard week when my parents separated. However, I think we surpassed that this past week.
A few weeks ago, Matt's granddad got very sick. Last Sunday (6 days ago), his granddad died. On Tuesday around 2pm we headed to TN. It was already going to be a hard week. The car ride was Ruthie's best road trip to date. She did so great. She was happy, ate her food, slept a good bit, and went straight to sleep that night when we arrived around 10:30pm.
On Wednesday morning, Ruthie woke with a 102.6 degree fever at 5:30. I thought "I need to find that tylenol". It was no where to be found. Around 7 Matt headed to Walmart to get some meds. He was gone for less than 30 minutes. In the mean time, I got her some food and drink and Matt's mom got her a luke warm bath prepared. At 7:30ish, I see Matt pull in and I unbuckle Ruthie high chair and take her shirt off to put her in the bath. As Matt walks in the door and I pick Ruthie up she starts seizing! People, I have never, ever, ever been so afraid that I was going to loose someone in my life. We put Ruthie in the car and I called 911 as we sped away to the hospital.
The trip to the hospital should take 15 minutes and we made in there in less than 8! Ruthie stopped seizing in 3.5 minutes, but this momma was very very worried. We pulled into the hospital and rushed her into the ER. She was taken back within 30 seconds (even though that seemed like 5 minutes). She was given some sleeping/seizure meds and laying with no movement on the bed. Matt and I were a wreck! By 9:30, we were being transported to Knoxville's Children's Hospital. They took great care of us at both hospitals.
By 2pm we were headed home from the hospital. Well, headed back to Matt's parents' house. After xrays, urinalysis, and blood work they said she just had a virus and seized b/c her temp went so high so fast that her brain could not take it. Turns out that when we got to the hospital her temp had rose over 1 degree in less than an hr. Also, 1 in 20 kids between the ages of newborn and 5 years old will seize from a high temp/a temp that rises too fast. Ruthie is one of those kids!
So we dealt with Ruthie. I stayed home with her while Matt and his family went to his granddad's funeral. I was sad to not be there to support Matt and to say goodbye to such a great man. That man will be missed so so so much! He was such a wonderful man and godly man! He was so wonderful and welcomed me into the family as one of his own! I'm sad that he is gone, but I know where he will spend eternity so we are all ok!
Well, you would think that was it, but no! My dad has been in a manic stage of bipolar disorder for a few months now. On Friday, he left home and hasn't been seen since. We are estranged at the moment due to some different things, but boy is it still hard on our little family.
Then today, my mom just told me that her sweet little dachshund, Puppy, died tonight. I am just so heart broken. I just want this week to be over.
Ruthie is still sick with a sore throat now from a virus that our dr. here in Brunswick says is going around. My dad is still missing. Granddad Stout is still gone and now so is Puppy. It is just a sad time. Please pray for Matt, Ruthie, me, and sweet Olivia who I'm sure has been stressed since her momma has been. Matt and I have really been able to lean on each other during this time. I am so blessed that we have each other and God during this time. We also have great family, churches (College Place and GCF), and friends that have been so supportive. Hopefully, all will be ok very soon, but until then God is our strength and peace.
I just needed to get this out so thanks for reading. It was helpful to me to be able to just put it out there.

Questions for Parents...

I have 3 questions that I am trying to figure out before Olivia arrives.
1. Is Ruthie too young to move to a big girl bed at 23 months old? We don't want to have to buy a new crib but we also don't want to have Ruthie up all night playing in her room when she should be sleeping. Suggestions please!
2. How old is too old to be taking 2 naps? Ruthie is almost 19 months old and still takes 2 naps except for on Sundays when she goes to sleep at 11:30 and wakes around 2:30 or 3. I think she only stays awake at church because there is so much stimuli that she doesn't want to sleep. When we are at home though just the 2 of us, she gets very tired around 10am and can't seem to stay awake. She just cries and is very fussy. Suggestions on this one too, please!
3. I know a few children who potty trained around Ruthie's age (Kennedy comes to mind, Lindsy). However, I am not sure Ruthie is ready. How do you know when the kid is ready?

Any suggestions and thoughts are welcomed. And thanks!

Ruthie turns the big 18 Months!

Better late than never right? Ruthie turned 18 months old on July 18th! Crazy how the last year has just flown by. Our sweet girl had a really fun and crazy 18 month! 

We had fun times in St. Simons for the 4th!

 Eating her huge piece of watermelon which is her favorite summer friut! She still loves her bananas and is enjoying tomatoes also these days!

Daddy and Ruthie

Momma and Ruthie

Cute girl drinking from her juice box at Cow Appreciation Day!

 Dressing up in Daddy's shirt

 Cow Appreciation Day with Ruthie, the cow, Momma, and Olivia!

This month Ruthie found out that she was going to have a baby sister in December! I know she doesn't understand it now, but soon they will be the best of friends!

Ruthie learned more words such as "night night" and "puppy". We are working on lots of other words and she has lots of words she uses, we just don't understand her personal vocab sometimes! ha

Ruthie is just getting so big these days! She loves balls, playing in the water, loving on her puppy dogs, and getting into EVERYTHING! 

She had her first ER trip when she cut her finger on a piece of glass that she found far under the fridge that momma somehow missed. Luckily, it wasn't serious, but there was a lot of blood and her momma and daddy were very worried.
**This month Ruthie had her car seat turned forward facing on the day before she turned 18 months old. She loves being able to see everything and seems to travel better. 

Ruthie loves being naked these days. She will strip down to nothing and just run around the house. 

She has become an escape artist! She can get out of her jumperoo all by herself. It is very funny and yet very sad. We can't just leave her in the jumperoo any longer to get things done. It is pretty great though! 

She is just so joyful and independent. She has found her voice this month! She is learning though that you can't just scream to get your way. However, she is still one of the most well behaved and happy babies I have ever met! She is just so curious and adventurous. She is living up to her name which means "companion/friend" and is always making friends! it is amazing! 

Ruthie Roo we love you very much! We are so happy you are our baby and can't wait until your baby sister gets here b/c I know she will be your best friend and the 2 of you will explore and play together all the time! 

Drumroll please...WE HAVE...

a girl! Her name is Olivia Kate. We named her Olivia b/c we like the name and it means peace. We named her Kate which means pure. Kate was my great Granny Smith's middle name and is a variation of Matt's mom's name, Kathy. We are so excited! We will be meeting our baby Olivia around early December. She is measuring perfectly and her heart rate was 167. It was exciting to see that she was indeed a girl and all her body parts were just right, but the most exciting part for me was being able to see her little heart pumping away! What a precious miracle! We are just so in love! Maybe I will post some ultrasound pics once I can get them scanned and stuff...maybe.

Baby Teapot 2 is...

we don't know yet! ha

We are in the 18th week of our pregnancy though so that means soon we will know if we have a boy or a girl! Woohoo! 

We have our ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday July 11th and will find out if baby is growing properly and if we have a boy or girl in my ever growing belly! 

So post your guesses below! Hopefully, we can also announce the name on Wednesday. The boys name is pretty much set, but the girls name is up for decision. We like old fashion names and biblical names. We like Miriam, Esther, and Vivian, but are still looking. Any suggestion can also be posted in the comments section. 

As for baby Teapot's growth, The Bump says he/she is about the size of a sweet potato. He/she is also pooping and moving a lot. This week we actually both felt baby move and I have been kicked a few times in the bladder. I didn't like it very much, but it is nice to know that baby is able to move and is growing properly as far as activity is concerned. 

Come back on Wednesday to find out if we will be using Robots and blue and orange, or some girly decor! (see we are ready for a boy, but have no idea what to do if it is a girl as far as decor and names are concerned. apparently we used all our creative juices with Ruthie...)

Ruthie Roo is 17 months old!

This month was a fun filled and busy time. Ruthie has been to Wild Adventures (which means she went to a zoo, an amusement park, and a water park all at the same time), she tried her first taste of Thai food, and she   is learning so much. This month she really enjoyed her new tinkerbell Ball that Gigi and Aunt Hannah Leigh got her at Christmas. She can even say ball (well she says baa). She also was in her first wedding as the flower girl for Merry Anna's wedding. She still loves her some food esp chicken nuggets and fruit. Here are some pictures of Ruthie this past month!

See Ruthie in the bottom left as the flower girl (she was kinda tired)

Ridding in the van with the youth to Wild Adventures

Enjoying the giraffes at Wild Adventures- she really loves looking at all the animals

 Riding her first amusement park ride. She loved it! She said "woooo" the whole ride. She also rode 2 other rides and then was wore out...

 so she took a nap!

 Playing with TRex

 Dancing at Marshside grill to the band that was playing. She sure loves to dance and sing!

 Trying her first taste of Thai food- a spring roll. 

 Enjoying spaghetti

 eating Chicken nuggets!

14 weeks!

We are now into week 14- 14 weeks and 4 days to be exact! Baby T2 is the size of a lemon. We went to the dr. yesterday and the heart rate is great and strong. I will not share the heart rate as to not have anyone starting rumors that baby is a certain gender due to the heart rate. haha We find out on July 11th if we have a baby girl or baby boy arriving in 26ish weeks! We are very excited about finding out if we have a boy or girl to start preparing for and are ready to get the nursery done! 

For now nothing is new here. Just working and spending lots of time with youth now that summer has arrived! Also, Merry Anna is getting married this weekend so pray for everyone esp as we get little to no rest from doing wedding things.

Thanks for reading our little update!