Sweeper G

Gus would like everyone to know that he has fully recovered from his fall and is back to his old self. And he is very appreciative for the vacuum from GJ & Pappy. Cheers!

Congratulations

A big congratulations goes out to our friends Jason Vance and Amanda Moore with the birth of their second child, Ada Louise, who joins young Henry in the mountain clan. Jason's witty writings on his blog were the inspiration for the rutlfarm. Some of our readers in Glasgow will remember Jason from our days together in school growing up.

Cheers to Jason & Amanda!

A Tale of Two Vacations

As some of you may know Amy & I had quite an experience over the Memorial Day weekend during our visit to Charleston. We went down to visit Aunt Mel, Uncle Dude, Baby Corinne, GJ and Pappy for a long weekend getaway at the beach.

We had good days on Wednesday and Thursday as we got to play in the sand and the water at the beach, at a local park, and at Melanie and Roman's house with young Corinne and all the dogs. Then on Friday after we arrived back at the beach house from breakfast Gus fell off some steps about 5 feet onto concrete and hit his head. The paramedics took him to the emergency room where a cat scan revealed a small patch of blood on the left side of his brain from the fall. Gus had symptoms of a concussion as well -- vomiting, irritability, etc. Amy and I stayed with him at the hospital in the pediatric ICU unit that day and the next for observation, and he was released Saturday evening. Unfortunately his vomiting persisted and he got dehydrated so we had to take him back to the emergency room on Sunday for a follow-up scan and IV fluids. The scan came back with good news as the blood had dissipated so we mainly dealt with the prolonged effects of the concussion.

Amy & I drove the boys back late Sunday night once Gus was released. Getting home was good for our mentality as we could get Gus back in his bed, in his routine, and in his own surroundings. Monday was a good day for him, and he continues his progress today. He is riding around on his trucks, playing with his new bubbles, and enjoying all the doting from his mom and dad.


So while the time we spent with family did not go as any of us planned, there were some good things on the trip despite the episode with Gus. Owen had the time of his life as he received twice the attention while his brother was being poked and prodded in the hospital. Owen played with his Pappy, played with trucks and tractors, went to the beach with GJ, Pappy and Aunt Mel where he played in the sand and the water, and learned high-five/knuckles/elbows from his Uncle Dude. As Owen normally doesn't let his mom out of his sight for very long, the time away with the rest of the family was good for him to bond. Amy & I were very happy to have the family there to take care of Owen while we tended to Gus.


Likewise Tucker was a happy camper as well. He got to spend the week as the lone male dog among females with his dog cousins Sayla, Chloe and Tera. He got to run on the beach and play in the sun. It was a good old dog dream time for Tucker.


And as much as no one likes to be in a hospital, they did show Cars on-demand in the hospital rooms so we watched Lightning McQueen and Mater four times in three days. We know that movie by heart now. ;-)


So the Charleston trip was not at all what any of us expected. We were counting on a trip with lots of time for family bonding and relaxation. But life doesn't always turn out like we expect. The trip will be one that none of us -- Mom, Dad, GJ, Pappy, Aunt Mel, Uncle Dude -- will ever forget. At the end of the day Gus is recovering fine, and we'll chalk this up as one of many bumps along the way. We just need some time.

Cakes, Thumps & Poop

The latest happenings in the Casa de Rutledge....

• Amy is taking a cake decorating class in hopes of enhancing her skills. We have already seen her handiwork for the boys' birthday as she really has a knack for it. The hope is if returning part-time to IBM in a few months doesn't work out that she will have a nice supplemental income option to fall back on. And if it doesn't work out, the boys & I get some pretty tasty treats out of the deal anyway.

• Owen and Gus can now completely crawl out of their cribs. Joy. So we have abandoned the full-blown crib by taking off the side rail to make their cribs into toddler beds. The first week was oh-so-rough, as the boys were hyper with excitement at their newfound freedom. They would finally stop screaming long enough to fall asleep in the floor for a couple of hours, only to wake up several times in the night. They have settled into the toddler beds this week, although we still get up in the middle of the night at the sound of the occasional "THUMP" as they fall out into the floor.

• Amy had a rather unpleasant experience this morning with the boys. Through the baby monitor we could hear them playing & laughing from downstairs, and everything seemed fine. I left to go on a jog around the block only to return to a beaten-down mother standing at the door. Gus had gotten his hands into his diaper and smeared poop all over his room -- floor, carpet, walls, bed, Owen's face. When Amy got on to the boys telling them that was bad, Owen kept responding "Gus bad, Gus bad." CSI fingernail evidence proved that Gus was indeed the culprit, and Owen was only an accomplice. Ah, the parental joys of two-year olds. The day has gotten better since this morning. ;-)

• Amy & I are looking forward to seeing Uncle Dude, Aunt Mel, Cousin Corinne, Pappy & GJ in Charleston. We can't wait to get down there to see everyone.

• The Bender Ball has arrived. More on this from Amy B, I'm sure.

No Wonder They're the Bungles

The things people do for money. From the "endorsements that famous people should have avoided" file comes this ad that featuring Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. Unfortunately for Palmer it was in the Sunday edition of newspapers all of Ohio. ;-)

http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/05/16/carson-palmer-would-like-to-sell-you-a-hot-dog

Gus the Music Man

In celebration of Wilco's release of "Sky Blue Sky" today, Gus shows us his best Jeff Tweedy impersonation. Play on brother!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to those wonderful underpaid, overworked, do-it-all moms. Cheers!

Coming Home

Amy & I have returned from our extended getaway -- me from work trips to Las Vegas and St. Louis and Amy from spending time with family in Kentucky. We got to see lots of family and friends in Glasgow and Paducah over the past three weeks. Owen, Gus, and Tucker got spoiled with all the attention while Amy got a well-deserved break from watching the boys all day every day.

Nothing like a good old-fashioned road trip with the family.

Pictures to come.