The Williamsburg

everyone is healthy, happy and thriving. Praise God! We all have been in a really good season for a while now. We’re all doing what we love. Our family is a bit larger right now as we have two more people living with us. Drew and Ashley Rutledge moved in with us back in June and will be staying for the rest of the year. They are a young, gorgeous, newly-wed couple who attend the same church with us. We’re all helping each other achieve our goals. For example, Ashley left her job at Jadon’s school to become a nanny for Jadon and Caleb so that I could return to work. It’s been cool having them here.

As far as the rest of us:

Jadon is an energetic, intelligent, handsome boy of 3 years and 9 months. Like father, like son, he loves computers. Months ago, Hollis gave Jadon’s desktop computer to Caleb and bought Jadon a laptop. At first we had to turn it on for him. Later he only called us to help him get to Noggin.com on the Internet. A little later, he’d call us to help him get to a game on Noggin.com. A little later, he only called us to help him get past a challenging part of that game. Then one day he went into the office and got on his computer, but didn’t call us at all. So we went in to look over his shoulder. He was playing games on Noggin.com that we never played before–and winning! We are constantly amazed at how quickly he grasps technology concepts. Hollis was even able to TALK him through installing Window’s Vista on his laptop! But for all his grown-up knowledge, he’s still Mommy’s Baby Boy. Throughout the Summer he collected more than a few toy friends. At one point to get him to go to sleep we had to put about seven toys between the sheets with him. We’re down to three now, thankfully. But there is one that stays by his side at all times: Love. My friend, Heather, and her mom (Mama Jo) gave Jadon a snuggle wrap from Nordstrom when he was first born, and he hasn’t been without it since. We called it Lovey. Jadon calls him Love. Love must be with Jadon at all times when he’s in the house. Love must sit at the table for meals, must watch Jadon play on his computer, must watch TV with him, and absolutely must be by Jadon’s side at bedtime. The other two bed mates are Pillow (a neck pillow given to him by Grandma Vern) and Baby (a teddy bear he built from the Build-A-Bear store). So of all the comfort items we’ve had to keep up time with all Summer, these three remain: Baby, Pillow and Love. And the greatest of these is Love. (He’s so spiritual.) Jadon’s other favorite past time is “losing” things and making us all search for them. For some reason he thinks this is great fun. He has a love/hate relationship with his little brother. Most of the time he’s taking taking toys away from him and trying to push Caleb away from whatever he wants to be near. Twice I’ve caught him holding Caleb’s hand at the front door, trying to unlock it to put Caleb out. But you can’t let that fool you, because if Caleb’s not around Jadon’s asking where he is and then going to get him.

And Caleb! Well he’s just the sweetest little baby in the whole wide world! He is now 1 year and 9 months. As excitable as Jadon is, that is as laid back as is Caleb. Although admittedly he’s kind of coming out of that now. He used to be the kid who’d be in the room and not make a sound. Now, forget about it! All of a sudden, he’s aware that he’s got opinions and he’s decided to tell us about ‘em! He’s not talking at all, but he makes much noise. He absolutely loves to be outside. If the front door or the garage door opens, he moving to get out! He smiles just about all the time. In fact if he’s not smiling, then we know something is amiss. Usually it means he’s found something interesting on the floor he’s decided to chew on for a while. Our days are filled with the question, “Caleb, what’s in your mouth?” Not a finicky kid at all, he’s a good eater. We often have to take food away from him because he’ll eat until he’s so stuffed he, um, gives it back to us if you know what I mean. He loves to play, and rarely meets someone he isn’t instantly friends with. He’s a climber, accomplishing feats new each day. Ashley called me at work one day to say she came out of the bathroom and found him sitting on the kitchen table!

Life is fun, and certainly never dull, with these two around.

Hollis and I are doing great too. He’s still equally happy and challenged with his job. He puts in many hours for the company; we all do actually. But we are all hoping the sacrifices will pay off in the end. Time will tell. I am still enjoying this season of my life working outside of my home. It has definitely had a positive impact on my mental health and attitude, and has overall given me greater inspiration to be a better wife and mother. I am happy. It has been a long journey to get to this place in my life, and I am grateful to finally be here.

So this is our starting place, for this blog anyway. I’ll try to keep this site as up-to-date as time will allow.

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