For those of you who don't know me, I am Stephanie Tuttle, wife to Dan, Mommy to Alexandra Noelle (Aleix Noelle), Chandler Isaac, Cortland Brooke, and our newest addition, Cole Jameson. These four kiddos are the lights of my life, little blessings given to my by our Creator.
We live in Southwest Michigan, about 15 miles north of the Indiana-Michigan state line. The kids and I moved up here two and a half years ago to be closer to Dan, shortly after that we were married (June 2011) and formed our happy little family! Dan is a Marine Corps veteran (Oo-rah!), so we are a very proud military family!
I am currently a stay at home mom (SAHM), and am very blessed and fortunate to be able to have the opportunity. I would call myself semi-crunchy, I am not into the organic or green movements, however, I try to eat fairly healthy, I cloth diaper (CD), breastfeed (BF), baby wear (BW), and will be making my best attempt at making our own baby food to accommodate a partial baby led weaning (BLW) approach. When time permits, I would love to learn to crochet and sew... that is a whole new world I have yet to explore!
We are a Christian family, and we attend church at a little non-denominational church down in Indiana... we love our church family! It has southern roots, as our pastor (<3) is from Kentucky originally, and many of the members of the congregation are from southern states. We play good old fashioned guitar, no fancy bands, no fancy equipment. Simple. Just the way we like things.
Our family enjoys sports and the outdoors, as well as listening to our daughter develop her musical talents. Our entire family are avid hunters, mainly deer and turkey and some woodland game. Dan and Chandler are avid fishermen, mainly largemouth bass. We are also very involved in wrestling.
As Chandler approaches his 11th birthday next week, he is now in his 7th wrestling season! He is also a very talented baseball player, mainly as a pitcher, having thrown numerous no-hitters last year in his Little League. He is also quite the golfer and football player (I don't think I want to golf with him... pretty sure he will beat me).
Miss Aleix Noelle is an aspiring musician. She takes multiple musical lessons, including vocal, piano, and guitar. She is quite talented, and has been singing since she was very little. She has recently begun homeschooling, which she and I both love! This gives her ample time to practice and focus on her music. She is also a very involved athlete, including volleyball, basketball, wrestling, and softball. She hopes to play softball for the local high school next year as a homeschooled student.
Little Cortland Brooke is what you would probably call a firecracker. Always full of spunk and energy, I don't think her batteries ever run down! She wears me out, but at the same time she just has the most magnetic personality that draws you in. Everyone falls in love with Cort! Her special talent is hula hooping! She is also a wrestler, but her heart is with her hula hoops... she is amazingly talented with the silly things!
And then there is little Cole... oh our little Cole. He is a very unique baby, he has been from day one. Such a special little boy in so many ways. The first grandchild for my husband's side of the family, as well as the first great grandbaby, he is very well loved. His daddy and I knew from the start he was not "normal". The first few months were rough, as we battled through an undiagnosed case of silent reflux, but once we got that figured out and straightened out, we began to notice the precocious nature of this child. An early milestone developer, he has no problems figuring things out for himself. We are all very interested to watch this boy grow and observe how his advanced, little mind functions through his childhood. It will be interesting!
I am very lucky to have had the time to write what I have tonight, as Cole is taking the longest nap of the week! I sure hope this doesn't mean a 1am bedtime again tonight...
Good night and sweet dreams!
Until we meet again...
