A Gentry Story

My little man is the joy and delight of my life...as if you didn't already know that. I cannot believe in less than two months he will be 3 years old!! He is SO independent and so full of energy and life. It's hard to look at him now and think of him being such a tiny, tiny little four pound helpless baby. I remember the first time I laid eyes on him and you know, there truly is such a thing as "love at first sight" because it happened with me when I looked at that angel face for the very first time.

Gentry's story is an amazing display of God's infinite love, grace and mercy manifest in such a tiny package. So many people have told us (with good intention) that Gentry is so "blessed" to have been able to have been adopted by us. And I understand their sentiment, but I always say in return, "No, we're the ones who've been blessed to be his parents. Gentry stormed into our lives quite unexpectedly and has been giving us such pleasant surprises of joy and happiness ever since. My little "Gent-man" shouldn't even be alive, but the ONE who loves him more than life thought he'd be better off with two ill prepared 30 something kids who had no idea how to parent. Then again, I guess no one's given a "test" to pass to certify them to attempt this job, huh?

So, into the parenting deal we fell almost three years ago now, and man, what a thrill of a ride it's been!

I wanted to get on paper one of his funny antics before I forget it.

Gentry has found 2 new friends. He has an imaginary, invisible cat and dog. I've asked him several times what their names were and he just simply tells me, "No, mommie...jus ki-kat and dawg." Yeah, his pop's a southerner, so he's picking up that accent even though he lives in yankee country.

Now, I know most of you mom's out there have experienced this phenomenon of these invisible, imaginary friends. I know my sister had a couple of "friends" like that when she was a kid too. But, I tell ya, when I see MY little one in his little play world, I just can't help but get a kick out of him. The other day I was washing dishes and Gentry decided he wanted to help me do the dishes. So, who am I to stop a man from helping out in the kitchen?!?! Well, we pulled the step ladder up to the sink and I pulled out a bowl for Gentry to start washing. After he scrubbed hard enough that he thought his washing was sufficient I bragged and told him what a good job he did helping mommie out. Then, I made a mistake!! I let the stopper out of the sink and down the drain went the kitty-cat! I never even knew the kitty-cat was in the sink with the bowl, but apparently the kitty-cat was getting a bath. So, down the drain went the cat along with the dishwater.

Now, those of you who know Gentry knows that he is VERY persuasive if he wants you to do something for him. So he kept telling me, "Mommie, wore(water)...back in...sink...get ki-cat." I could tell by this point that if I didn't do something quick I was going to have a "situation" on my hands. So, I put the stopper BACK into the drain and started filling the sink back up with water. Once the water had filled back up a couple of inches, Gentry cupped his two pudgy little hands together and "lifted" ki-cat up out of the water. He then looks up at me and smiles this million-dollar smile and says, "K-ku (thank you)...now I go dry her off." And off he runs to the bathroom to "dry off" the cat!!! And all was well again in the Rutland household! I just loved that "story" and had to share with you. I've been rooted off of my pillow several times because I've laid on top of dog and cat, but he still hasn't beat my mom's story of my sister's meltdown when mom left Christy's imaginary friends in the cart at the department store! I'll have to let mom tell that one. She can tell it so much better than I can, so check her blog out for that story!

Thanks for letting me share my Gent-stories! It's so much FUN getting to be his mommie!