PUMPKIN TIME!

Always "better late than never", here's a look back at October when we took the twangels out for some pumpkin pickin'. As has become the late October tradition, off we go to find the perfect oversized orange so that we can carve it up. And in our case, you gotta find TWO (standard answer with twins :-) ) So with their walking shoes on and eyes ready to spot the prize, up the road we went to a small pumpkin' patch. Once we had arrived and unloaded, Evan and Taryn were immediately entranced by the amount of "balls" that lie on the ground in front of them. And FAR more mobile than last year, they were eager and willing to scout out each and every one (and some even a couple of times) before they made their selection. The elderly man that ran the place even gave each of them a mini-pumpkin so they could have a "model" in case their attention got momentarily taken by the cars driving by on the nearby road or the birds that flew by overhead. All said, they had a great time and we left there with two large pumpkin's, two small pumpkins, and twins who were more than ready for some dinner. The pumpkins were carved up the day before Halloween and got the stamp of approval form each of their "owners.": Taryn's was the sweet bat and Evan's was the Pumpkin and Owl. 'Twas once again a successful pumpkin time in the Tuttle house

(can we hurry with the picture so we can get off this hay bale and start looking!)

(I see it!! That one right over there! Evan, you're not even looking!)

(It's about THIS big, momma...I don't think daddy can carve that one!)

(...and I love my MOMMY!)

(Evan's Pumpkin)

(Our trick-or-treater "greeters" on the porch)

(Taryn's Pumpkin)

Are You Ready For Some Football

Oh Yeah...the air is getting more brisk and the days will soon grow shorter as the doldrums and dog days of summer give way to Fall...and that's a great word because it's part of FootbALL! A big high five and a swing of the rally towel as we get set for another season...YIPPEE!!!!! And not only do we get all of the college games on Saturday and NFL games on Sunday (thanks NFL Sunday Ticket), but we also get another season of Fantasy Football. We kicked off this season with a great draft party two weeks ago...complete with dear family (Mom, Dad, Kallie and Troy) in from Texas. Chad made his famous chicken wings (aka Dad Sutt's famous wings) and the best homemade french fries in the world! That was a great precursor to the start of the draft. Needing a dedicated area to focus on the task at hand, the office was transformed into the WAR ROOM. We had four computers set up (Dad, Troy, Chad and I each got one) and we hit the draft boards all the while trying to keep our next move secret from the other guy :-) When all was said and done, it was a riot for two hours.

Evan and Taryn were even in the spirit and supported the home team by wearing the Tennessee Titans jerseys that they got for their birthday...that is only because they don't have St. Louis Rams shirts :-( well not yet anyway, I'm hoping Santa will bring them each a Rams shirt for Christmas :-).

The WAR room

The TSFFL Team owners outside the WAR room

Mema corralling the Mascots :-)

Must eat donuts to gain necessary energy to make it through the draft

Did I mention how much Taryn LOVES her Uncle Troy...well she loves him a lot. Mommy wasn't even good enough when Uncle Troy was around :-)

We bought the kids Baseball hats because they love to wear Chad's; we bought one Tennessee Titans and one St Louis Rams. And while Chad was at work, I set them on the floor for the kids to study...the ultimate question being which one would they pick. Well, "unfortunately" my girl choose the Tennessee Titan hat :-( so I guess that leaves me and Evan as the lonely Rams fans in the house. Maybe she only chose the Titans because it happened to match her outfit that day :-)...or maybe the red in the logo caught her eye (since it matches her hair!) All one big family and looking forward to our first trip with them to an actual game in the stadium. For now, TV will be just fine (and easiest for everyone :-) ) If, by chance, you play fantasy football and want to see what our league (the TSFFL) is all about, check out our league blog: www.tsffl.blogspot.com

Total Cuteness

It has been such a privilege and Blessing to watch my two little munchkins grow and discover their world. They continue to amaze me w/the stuff they pick up and learn just by exploring their world.

Evan is still so in-love w/Teebo our dog. He walks over to him and wraps his little arms around him and lays his head on him. Teebo is very tolerant which is a good thing because Evan is IN LOVE!!!!! Which unknown to Teebo actually makes him the luckiest dog in the world because he was just seconds from getting a new home but now I dont have the heart to take him away from Evan. Why oh why, did he have to discover the dog LOL. And before anyone thinks I am mean...Teebo was just going to move to San Antonio to live w/his mema and papa...who love and adore him and I felt would get way more attention and love w/them...so really it was an act of love LOL

Taryns new love is her dolly Chrissy. She started saying her name last week and carrying her all over the house. Chrissy was a gift she received for Christmas. I wanted her to have doll but I didn't want it to be an expensive or nice one since she is so young. And Aunt Teresa helped us find one at Target...it was perfect just $8.00 and all plush so it is nice and soft for her. I put Chrissy in Taryn's crib w/her right away hoping that eventually she would latch on to her and sure enough she did. The funny thing is I didn't even know Taryn knew her name...so it was such a sweet surprise. Yesterday, when I was in the nursery changing Evan's diaper Taryn came in there w/us and was reaching through the slats of her crib trying to get Chrissy out. Ahhh...such sweet moments.

When mema was here in June...she taught Evan about the pictures on the walls...now it is his favorite thing to do...he always wants picked up so he can look at all the pictures on the wall. He points to them and says 'this'. Except when he is looking at the monkey pictures hanging above his changing table...he points at those and says 'daddy' LOL.

I forgot to give an update on the teeth count in my last post...Evan has successfully cut all his molars so he now has 12 teeth and I think he is starting to cut his eye teeth...poor little man...cant wait for this teething thing to be over. Taryn much to my surprise has cut all her incisors and 2 of her molars, so she is at 10 teeth...not bad for a little girl who didn't cut her first tooth until she was 11.5 months old.

Last week we had a nice visit w/our dear friends Megan and Ziggy and their two beautiful girls. Evan and Taryn enjoyed playing w/their new friends and it gave us an excuse to finally take the kids swimming. Taryn was a little unsure at first and cried for a bit when we put in the pool but she finally warmed up to the idea and actually was having a great time toward the end. Evan need a bit to warm up to the idea as well but it didn't take him nearly as long and he loved it. We did do a little practicing of their new swim skills which they weren't too happy about but I was happy to know they still remembered what they learned during their lessons. Definitely looking forward to taking them swimming again :-)

My Sweet Baby Boy

My Precious Baby Girl w/Chrissy

200 Sales

Wow I have been busy...yesterday I reached 200 sales at my ETSY store...in just under 2 months I received 100 orders. Wow I am amazed and excited to be doing so well all of a sudden...lets see how long I can keep up w/this :-)

A Month Behind

Yes, I know I am so far behind and have so much to catch everyone up on. All I can say it is has been crazy around here but finally seems to be settling down a bit, mostly because

DADDY'S HOME!!!!!!!! And we are so excited to have Chad back.

Chad got home at 3:30 a.m. on July 3rd. I originally wasn't going to take the kids with me but failed to make alternate arrangements so I found myself waking them up at 0300 so we could go to the base and pick Chad up. They did great w/their wake up and going back to bed after we got home. They were so excited to see their DADDY. Especially Evan who seems to be so much a Daddy's boy these days. He still cant get enough of him. Taryn was a little shy at first but quickly warmed up. Which is really funny because Evan is usually our shy one. Taryn has been such a momma's girl these days, which is so unexpected but I love it :-)

So lets get to the update :-)

Swimming: Evan finished up the week before Chad got home. I am so glad that is over at least for a little while. We will have to take them for maintenance lessons along the way but we wont have to do the every day for six weeks straight again. Thank goodness...that is so wearing...I had no idea going into it how exhausting that would be.

15 Month Appointment: Kids are doing awesome and meeting all their milestones appropriately. Except for maybe language but my pedi was looking for 10-15 words...I always thought it was 3-5 words at 15 months and he doesn't count signs which I was told counted...so in my book they are on track may not by the pedis standards but that is OK with me. Their receptive language is awesome and they are very interactive and play really well and are meeting all their gross and fine motor skills so we are doing great. And they are growing like weeds...which is great. Every appointment now we seem to be moving up a little further on the growth curve and considering that we started not even on the charts we are doing awesome. They are hitting around the 30th percentile now. Evan was 30 inches and is tipping the scales at 21.5 pounds and Taryn was 29.5 inches and a petite 20.5 pounds.

Language: The new word on the block is doggie...they both will sign it and say it at the same time and walk in to where our dog sleep and go pat him...Evan loves the dog. They don't say a ton but they are really starting to repeat words or attempt to anyway which is a huge improvement from where we were a month ago. They are awesome with sign language...they have really picked up a ton of words and will repeat almost anything you sign to them. They sign: more, eat, milk, doggie, fish, all done, cheese, sleep, thank you, up, bath, clean, ball, dada, mama. I am sure there are some I am forgetting but thats all I can remember right now.

They blow kisses and waive bye-bye, and say hi and give sweet hugs. They are amazing kids and we are so blessed.

Taryn is still our little analyzer...she sits back and tries to figure things out, while Evan just jumps right in. We have determined he is going to be our blue collar child as he loves to destroy stuff, possible occupation demo man, he loves the garbage can, possible occupation garbage man, he loves to crash into things, possible occupation race car drive or maybe insurance salesman and he loves to close doors, possible occupation door man. One more possible occupation...is a milk man...OMG does this kid love his milk. We are going through 2.5 gallons a week. Taryn likes her milk too but Evan LOVES it :-)

Taryn being our little analyzer my best guess for her is engineer or scientist or maybe a ballet dancer LOL...she loves to dance :-) and walk around on her tippy toes...she is so cute and so dainty.

First ice cream - anyone who knows me well knows I don't give the kids a lot of sugar...well any unless it is their birthday but we did give them their first taste of ice cream last night. Don't worry this wont be a habit but it was fun to let them try it. Taryn absolutely loved it, Evan liked it but was done after 3 bites. Evidence below :-) I only have on pic of Evan :-( but he wasn't really into as much as Taryn so that must be why.

Kids are awake from their nap so I don't have time to upload Evan's swim video but I will do that soon (I hope)

More Swimming

I have this broke into 3 different videos. Taryn is all done YAY, Sweet Pea!!!!! Evan has a few more lessons...he isn't floating that well or actually he just hates floating but we finally made some progress this past week so hopefully he will only have a few lessons this next week and then be done YIPPEE!!!!!!

The first video is of Taryn practicing her skills fully clothed

This video is from Taryns final lesson this past Monday

This video is of Evan 2 Friday's ago...I will be able to record him practicing his skills in clothing as well as his final lesson so hopefully we will get to do both this week and be done w/ swimming...well at least for now. They will have to do maintenance lessons along the way to keep them up on their skills....as tough as it has been to watch I am glad that we did this. It has been amazing to watch them learn this new skill at such a young age :-)

Swimming #4

Here is last weeks video...I know I am so behind...maybe next week I will get up the video from this week. UGH...so much to keep up w/and so little time. Taryn is just about done....she has one more lesson on Monday (tomorrow) and Evan will probably be done after this week. He has to have a few more lessons as he hates to float so she has to work w/him a little more on that :-)

Dotted Cross Designs is now on Facebook

You can find us and become a "fan"
find us on Facebook to keep up to date on our newest products, special we are running and much more
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dotted-Cross-Designs/121079071267289?ref=sgm
or search Dotted Cross Designs


Hope to see you there

Weekend Photos

I think these photos speak for themselves...total cuteness :-)

From Here...to Home

It's miles and miles
From here to there
But I hold you close
As I pray this prayer

Dear Lord, Fill my heart
Quinch this sadness away
miles from home
There's still gift in this day

My blessing from you
Is my team of three
My family is my hope
That's what they are to me

Hold them close
As you see me through
I'm called by our nation
But I trust and hold on to You

I ask for no more
Than to get home safe and sound
The beauty in this world...
In my family is where that's found

One day at a time
The homecoming draws near
Please be with them there
As You are with me here

This time apart passes
Moments never to be gained again
But I trust that Your purpose
Has filled up what this time has been

It's pained my heart in unfathomable ways
To be away from home once more
I make the best of the now
Looking forward to what's in store

That I've been blessed by you
With such a beautiful family
Everyday, here or there
I see what they are to me

I've never worried, Lord
'Cause you've always been beside me
With life having exponential meaning these days
Home is where I long to be

Lord my world other than you
Is my wife, my daughter and my son
Keep them safe and hold them close
Until this time away is done

Thank you, Lord
For life that allows me to see and be
Part of the greatest blessing ever
'Cause that's what my family is to me

-Amen.

100 Sales

My ETSY store offically reached 100 sales today :-). YAY!!!! Here is to 100 more :-).

I started this store after some prompting from Chad and my good friend Gina who came to our house and saw my "Home Sweet Home" I had made for our living room and asked me to make one like it for her new home. Of course I was happy to do it for her and thus started my ETSY store. I have played around doing some Save the Dates and such but they weren't doing as well as the letters and ornaments so I took them off and am going to reattach them w/a different design offering. I am currently working on my first Wedding Invitation order so I will be expanding my offerings here shortly to include Wedding Invitation and possibly other wedding paper products. I will be doing escort cards, table number and beverage sings for another customer who I had done save the dates for. So there is lots of room for growth. We will just see where this takes us :-).

In the next week or two I will be adding "Baby Book" that I have been hard at work on. I will post a sneak peak below :-).

This is the book I am making for Evan

I am making Taryn a Cherry Blossom Book but dont have her book covered yet but this is what her interior pages will look like

Swimming #3

So here is the video from the end of their 3rd week of lessons...they are doing awesome. The instructor says that Taryn has the an awesome float and Evan has an awesome flip and they both are awesome swimmers :-). Also when they see the steps neither one of them want to flip they keep wanting to swim but she is trying to teach them to flip and rest until they get close and then flip back over and grab the step. There are still lots of tears but they are doing better.

And all the world is right again when they get to sit in their stroller and munch on some cheerios. The first few days were really hard because they would fuss while I was taking care of the other one. So I started bring stuff to distract them and the Munchie Mugs were the magic trick. They love them and are totally content munching on some Cheerios holding their Munchie Mugs :-)

View from the Top

So remember the post where Chad explained Evan's love of climbing...well...here it is in pictures...and I promise you that I did not help him at all...this is 100% Evan LOL. I couldn't believe my eyes as he climbed straight up and sat down like that was his purpose all along. He seemed so proud and happy on top of his perch. No worries I was sitting right by him as he made is ascent...well except for when I got up to get the camera :-). We definitely have to keep a close eye on this little guy.

Cute Videos

Taryn does this super funny thing when she eats...she likes to shoves as much in her mouth as she can as fast as she can it hilarious....well to me anyway, you can judge for yourself :-)

And this is just to show that they do like water...Taryn learned the concept of splashing last week and loves to splash her brother :-)

Swimming #2

Here is the latest from Fridays lesson. They are getting a little better but still hate every second

of it :-(

Swim Lessons

The kids had their first lesson yesterday. They did well all things considered. Evan puked all over me when it was all over...I guess he told me LOL...I feel like I have offically been initiated into motherhood :-). I will be able to tape each Friday's lesson and then the final lesson. I think it will be fun to see how much they improve along the way and I hope they learn to love it :-)

You know I just realized I never posted pictures from the birthday party. So like they say better late than never, right???

The party was awesome, the kids did awesome and were gracious as the guest of honor. They devoured their cakes as to not disappoint as that is the highlight of attending a 1 y/o birthday party. We had about 35 people here and lots a kids. It was a perfect day and the perfect first birthday party. We even had some surprise guest show up just as the party was starting...mema and papa....those little stinkers didn't tell a soul they were showing up and then knocked on the door promptly at 3:00, I guess their arrival was a big enough surprise that they didn't need to be fashionably late to make grand entrance. I will say though that with their arrival Evan and Taryn's birthday was just that much extra special because Evan and Taryn had all of their Grandparents here. My parents were here, my mother came and Chad's parents....I don't think it gets any better than that and I know Chad and I felt so blessed by their presence that it wouldn't have mattered if another soul showed up. So thank you to Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandma and Mema and Papa for making our special Angels first birthday so gosh darn special. We LOVE all of you more than you will ever know and we are so grateful that YOU are our parents and that YOU are Evan and Taryn's Grandparents. We are so BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!