Our Blessed Christmas

Well, Christmas is over and it was a great one. I don't remember ever having a really bad Christmas though. We spent Christmas Day with Eric's huge family in Eatonville. We knew Christmas Day was going to be crazy so we decided to make Christmas Eve very low key and just the three of us. We didn't have to rush and get ready in the morning which was nice. We spent the day just getting ready for Christmas and tidying up the house. Eric had the great idea to go out to eat since there would be lots of cooking the next day. So we had an early dinner at Red Lobster before heading to the Christmas Eve service at church. When we got there we found that there wasn't any nursery. Well, it was open if parents needed to take their kids in but there wasn't anyone working in it. It was Gabe's first time in the adult service. He was actually confused and kind of disappointed because he is so used to going to the nursery. He was really good during the singing but when everyone sat down, he wanted to walk around. We were sitting in the section for parents with small kids and he knew some of the kids there from our small group. So, he thought it was play time. Eric tried playing with him in the nursery for a while but he wanted to come back in. Then he started getting squirrly again so I asked if he wanted to go to the nursery and he got all excited and said, "Yes!" So, I missed the last half. It was o.k. though. I thought it was good for him to go in and at least see what church is. He really liked the guys playing instruments and singing.
When I lived with Ruth and W.T. they had a tradition of always reading the Christmas story from Luke before opening presents Christmas Eve. Since Eric and I have been married we have also done that. We read it from one of Gabe's story books though because obviously that kept his attention better than reading from the Bible. Then we opened up Grandma's Christmas Eve presents which are always pajamas. Then, it was bedtime. It was a perfect day. I am so blessed to have my family. My whole life, this is what I have wanted and God has blessed me even more than I dreamed.

My New Friend

I just have to tell you about this interesting experience I had last week when I took my brother to his doctor's appt. at Harborview Hospital. Now Harborview is the hospital where they send people that don't have insurance. I have seen so many homeless and "not quite right" people ever since we started this ordeal. Anyway, we get to Eddie's appt. and Gabe starts fussing and wanting out of the stroller so I decided to go walk around with him while Eddie is seeing the doctor. I got some food and something to drink at this little stand they have and we go to this sitting area where you can look out the windows to occupy Gabe. When we were about to head back and man comes up to me and says he has to use the restroom and doesn't want to carry all his stuff with him. He had a briefcase, a bag, and a big drinking bottle that looked to have coffee in it. He asked if he could set his stuff at my table while he went. I said sure and he noticed I was pregnant so he asked what I was having and if it was a boy or girl and when it was due. I told him and he asked what sign she was going to be. I told him I honestly don't know. He seemed surprised and said, "Oh, do you not believe in that. Are you a Christian?" I said I was and I just didn't really know anything about that stuff. He wasn't rude just seemed really curious. He had an accent and introduced himself. His name was Marek. He said it was Polish, which made me say, "Oh, my dad's family was from Poland." He looked at Gabe and said, "What is your husband? Obviously not African American." I told him Norwegian and he asked if he was Norwegian Jew. I said no and thought what an odd question. Well, let me tell you. It was not the first odd question. This guy was not afraid to ask me anything. All of that was before he even left for the restroom. While he was gone I was like, "Should I keep talking to this guy? I've told him I'm a Christian so I don't want to seem like a snob. I want to be friendly. I'll just be careful and not tell him too much and make sure he doesn't follow me or anything." Plus, I was actually very curious about him. So, he came back and kept on asking me questions. What does my husband do? What do I have a degree in? How old am I, How old is my husband. How long have I been married. Where did I go to college. I was pretty vague with my answers. No last names, exact birthdates or the name of the town we live in or the name of the camp. When he found out I lived in California he mentioned that he lived in San Francisco in the late 60's and in his words NOT mine this is what he said. "This was before San Francisco became sleezy with all the faggots and dikes and transvestites. It was just us weird hippies." I was so shocked that he said that! Then I told him that my dad was a hippy too and we found out that they are just two years apart. Then he started asking about my mom and if my parents were together. I eventually told him that she was in prison for drugs. He asked what kind and when I told him methamphetamines, he said, "Oh so her skin is all bad and she has bad teeth huh?" I said ya and he responded, "So she wouldn't be for me then." Hmm, that's a weird thing to say. Then he asked where I live and I told him about an hour away. I am not kidding, he asked me next, "Are there any single women where you live?"
"No." I say. He looks at me funny. "All my friends are married." Ding Ding bells going off in my head now. Luckily Gabe started fussing and I said I better go.
He says, "O.k., would you like my number?"
"Uhhh, no that's alright."
I then realized that we are going to the same elevators so I go into this other area to just wait a while so he doesn't know where I am going. Luckily my brother was done and found me while I was hiding in Radiology.
Isn't that a funny story. I've never answered so many questions with the words "umm" at the beginning. I was always so taken aback though that I needed a second before I could answer. I didn't feel threatened though just amused. He wasn't that big and I figured I could take him. When I told Eric he laughed and congratulated me on getting hit on. I tried to explain to him that he wanted a single woman not me but all Eric heard was that he asked if I wanted his number. For some reason Eric didn't feel threatened or jealous. Hmmm, I wonder why.

The busiest time of the year

Whew, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Sorry for no blog. Last week we had the Rasmussen boys in town. Dave, Tim, and Rob stayed out here at the camp. Unfortunately it was because their Grandpa died but it was a very good visit. Eric got very little sleep but loved every minute of it. It was good to see them and get caught up with what is going on in their lives. We also got to meet Scott's wife and new baby girl. I noticed that all the guys (including Eric) have really seemed to grow up and calm down. Not the wild and crazy guys from college that I remember. I guess three kids each will do that to a guy.
After the Rasmussens left my brother was back for a short visit for his last doctor's appt. It was just a check up to make sure he is healing after the surgery. Everything looked good and he is back in Long Beach now. Now Gabe and I are off to Eatonville for cousin Brooke's birthday party. Eric is off to do his Christmas shopping. We are so busy but very happy. Hope you all have a blessed Christmas and enjoy being with your loved ones.

Christmas Spirit back on!

Well, we got a nice big snow last night. Totally put me back in the Christmas Spirit. That and my awesome husband working his butt off this week and getting so much done. Gabe stayed the night with Grandma and Grandpa so it was just Eric and I hunkered down while it snowed. It was so nice to just watch a movie, eat cookies out of the oven, and sleep in. The snow had melted at Eric's parents so Gabe didn't get to play in it there but luckily it was still here by the time we got back from picking him up. He thought it was pretty cool but kept saying, "Mess!" He was having fun until Eric and I started throwing snow at eachother and some hit Gabe in the face. It wasn't bad but he did NOT like that! So, we went back inside. We did make a little snowman first though that Gabe named, "Guck" (That's truck in Gabe lang.) We had a busy week painting and organizing but it was worth it. The living room and family room are totally done. We have thrown out so much stuff that I was just holding on to although I don't ever use it. The kitchen is closer to being done. The only reason it isn't is because we are waiting on other people to order cabinets and to use their tile cutting saw. Anyway, back to the snow! Here's some pics. I am so not good at taking pictures. They don't really show how beautiful it was here.

Christmas Spirit mood swings

I think they are pregnancy induced but I'm having Christmas Spirit mood swings. A week ago I was so stinkin excited for the holidays. I got all my cards ready and written in, and planned all the presents I am going to make for some people. I was fighting the urge to buy egg nog and listen to Christmas music. I was even trying to talk Eric into going shopping early Fri. morning. I've never done it before because I am so not a morning person but like I said, I was on a Christmas Spirit high. He did haul up all the decorations for me Friday morning though. But then we realized that we are still going to paint the livingroom so it would be pointless to do too much. So, we just did the tree. Then, it all came crashing down when I paid the bills and balanced the checkbook Friday afternoon. Due to some unexpected bills, I realized we were broke. I'm sure you can all understand my predicament. It just stinks that it happened at this time of year. I know God will provide and we'll be fine once my paycheck comes, but I wanted to get started now! So, now I am in a Christmas depression. I just think of things I want to do and give and how that all requires moolah. I know that is not what Christmas is all about and I shouldn't feel this way but I do! So, I'm just going to concentrate on working on the house for right now and realize that I still have lots of time to do all the things I want. I do have a bright side! The pumpkin cheesecakes I made for Thanksgiving turned out really good. I was so nervous! One of Gabe's little cousins said that it was the best pie in the whole world. Of course he is five and I think that he was just excited because he got to eat a piece of pie but I'm still taking it.

Home Improvement

Can I just tell you how many projects we have started in our house right now that are not finished? Well, there are the kitchen cabinets that are still missing some doors and need some touch up paint, the kitchen sink which is leaking, the backsplash that is not even started, the kitchen walls have splotches of spackle and paint colors from when we didn't know what color to use, a half painted wall in the living room, and today we started painting the family room that is now vacant since my brother left. We have the babies room cleaned out but have not started on that yet.(Thank God) The problem is that I am not a lot of help. I usually love doing that kind of stuff and don't mind painting but I am so not feeling it right now. Eric has had to do all the painting. He isn't the most detail oriented person and doesn't want to do the trim. I understand and agree with his decision but now I'm so big that it is hard for me to get down on the ground and up again to do trim. So we have walls that are painted except for the trim. It's hard too because Gabe wants to be in the middle of everything so it can only be worked on when we are both home and one of us can take care of him. We are also waiting on other people for some of it (cabinet doors to be ordered) After Thanksgiving though Eric is taking a vacation and we will have everything done! I've already enlisted his mother either for babysitting or helping with the painting. (She loves that kind of stuff and is really good at it).
The sad thing is that I don't even notice it anymore. Every once in a while I look at it as others might and I laugh because it must look crazy! We have legit reasons of course but it still doesn't change the multi-colored walls in our living room and exposed dishes in the cabinets. I just need a crew of people to come in, move all the furniture out of the way, paint and install everything in a day, and put everything back nice and pretty. I guess that only happens in HGTV land though.

Little boys

I have been telling everyone I know this story because it is just too cute. For the past week, Gabe and Eric have been sick. As you know with kids with runny noses they tend to get gross and crusty and of course they don't want you to wipe them. So, I have been telling Gabe that he has bugars and he has to let me get them. He usually throws himself on the ground with his face in the carpet to try to get away from it. So, the other morning he saw me grab a tissue and he looks at me, points to his nose and with a sad little inquisitive voice says, "Bugars?" I can't help but laugh. He's such a boy. Now he has resigned himself to the fact though that he is going to get his nose wiped. He still whines but no more carpet tantrums.

Christmas Movies

Well, it's that time of year and I am already getting in the mood to watch Christmas movies. One of my favorite things about the season. I've seen a lot of previews lately for Fred Clause and that has gotten my Christmas spirit starting to bubble up. Of course one of my favorites is the classic It's a Wonderful Life. I cry everytime! Another oldie I like is Holiday Inn. The one I want to buy now is ELF. It cracks me up. I remember as a kid I loved Charlie Brown's Christmas and The Santa Clause. I haven't seen either in a long time. I wonder if Gabe would like Charlie Brown if I got it for him. I don't know if he has the attention span for it. So now I want to hear about all of your favorite Christmas Movies. I know it is still early but maybe I can inspire you to spend an evening curled up with hot chocolate and watch a good wholesome movie. I know when I do I always remember what a blessed life I have and how I owe it all to our Savior.

I hate hospitals

My brother had his surgery this week so I have been at the hospital quite a bit. Plus, Gabe had an appointment and I had to have a follow up ultrasound this week. Eddie is doing well but ready to come home. I dont' blame him. It's a pretty depressing place. Especially where he is at. He has a homeless guy staying next to him who stinks. Eddie said the nurses tried to bathe him today and he wouldn't let them.
I hope you all had a good Halloween. Gabe was a dog and walked around howling like Grandma and Grandpa's dog Sally. Our church had a carnival but it was pretty crazy so we didn't stay long.

Go WSU!

We had the best weekend! For Eric's birthday back in August I got tickets to a WSU football game for this weekend against UCLA. WSU doesn't have a great team this year so we expected them to lose but they won! It was such a good game too. We left early in the morning Sat. so we could get to Pullman early and Eric could show me around the campus and town. I was so overwhelmed at how big it is. I only went to small schools so I can't even fathom going to a school with that many people. We walked so much my legs are sore. The campus is on a couple different hills so nothing was flat. It was a beautiful campus though with a lot of nice facilities. We were there early enough too that we got to watch the basketball team scrimmage. That was a nice little bonus since they actually have a really good team this year. We froze our butts off at the football game but that's o.k.; we could stand to lose some of our butts. After the game we went up to Spokane and stayed at a hotel. It was so nice to sleep and not be woken up by a baby. We slept in till a whopping 7:30!
Gabe had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's. He went to the pumpkin patch with Grandpa and cousin Brooke and Eric's sister Kara. He had so much fun he didn't even miss us. We walked in the door and found out that Grandma introduced him to chocolate milk over the weekend. She said it was the only way she could get him away from Grandpa. I was so excited to take pics. of our weekend. Of course though we got in the stadium, I turned the camera off and it immediately turned off because the batteries were dead. I have the worse luck with that!

Baby Talk

I just have to write about the cute stuff Gabe has been saying lately. He's finally starting to really talk and try to form words. He has had his favorite words for a while like Mommy, Daddy, car, truck, and so on. He is really trying to say people's names now and it is so cute. He realizes that everyone has a name so he'll point to whoever we are talking to like he is asking their name. Then, even if they are not around he'll be obsessed with that name for a couple of days. For example at that family gathering we had the other weekend Eric's uncle Marcus was driving away and a couple different people asked who that was or where was Marcus so like 4 times in a row Gabe heard the name Marcus. He couldn't even tell you who Marcus is but for a week we just heard Marr-Kiss, Marr-Kiss. He's so proud of himself. Well now it is Mee-ya for Amelia. Some of his favorite names are people around the camp like Bucky (Becky) and Muk (Mike).
He's also starting to put the ends on words that he previously left hanging. It used to be cah and buh for car and bus. Well, he can't put the s on the end of bus for some reason so he will get excited and start yelling, "Butt, Butt" We'll try and repeat it back to him and really pronounce the s. He will then respond by just pronouncing the t that much stronger so it sounds like, "Buttah, Buttah."
His cousin Brooke is 3 months older than him and already talking in sentences and with singular and plural form. She can also sing twinkle twinkle little star and her ABC's. I know you aren't supposed to compare but I just wanted to see if Gabe was ready to even try to say some letters so I was telling him to say A,B,C. He then goes, "D, D, D." He has this toy that when you push the button, it sings the alphabet. He'll push it and start singing, "D,D,D." He's so proud of himself and has the biggest smile that I can't help but laugh and smile at him too. I'm actually proud of him because he has the melody down just not the letters.
Just some cute things that brighten my day.

Our crazy day

I just have to write about our day. One of Eric's cook's daughter is working at a new Cheesecake Factory that is opening later this week. So, to get their staff ready for opening they will have practice days where people get to come and eat for free. They want a full house so they can get everyone ready. So, we went today for lunch. I was so excited. We knew it would probably be slow and we would probably have a limited menu. One of Gabe's babysitters offered to walk around the mall with Gabe while we ate. Well, they somehow lost our appetizer order so it was about 30 minutes before we got that. Then there was some other mix up and we didn't get our entre until we had been there an hour and a half. We actually didn't mind that much but we had so many people coming up to us to say sorry that it kind of made it worse. Plus, we felt bad for Becky (the sitter) because there is only so much of the mall Gabe can take. So we finally got our food and asked if we could take the dessert to go. They weren't supposed to for this test run but they made the exception for us because we had to wait so long for our food. The info. card said to expect the whole thing to be about two hours but we didn't expect to have to wait to eat that long. So then we picked up Gabe and went and got gas. We had to hurry so I could get back in time for work. When we got back in the car though, our key wouldn't go in the ignition. We tried everything! We could see that there was a little piece of metal in the way. Well, we kept calling information and they kept giving us locksmiths that couldn't speak english and didn't understand what we were saying. We called a Buick dealership and they said that we needed a locksmith. Finally I went to the good old phone book and called a local place. They told us that we probably would neet a new ignition but that they could do it right there at the gas station. So an hour has gone by now and I had called work and told them I would be late. I was so scared about how much it was going to cost. Gabe was so good though. I think he liked looking at all the cars and trucks driving by. The new locksmiths were there in ten minutes and all the guy had to do was spray it with WD-40 and wiggle a little tool in there. It was fixed in about 10 minutes. Praise God, it only cost $75. He said they usually have to replace the ignition because people have torn it all apart and bent their key trying to fix it themselves. Luckily Eric had the good sense to not use our key. Instead we were using the end of one of Gabe's spoons that we found in his diaper bag. Plus, it was a normal english speaking guy who gave Gabe some candy. It was kind of funny because our lunch came out to around that much (if it wasn't free). So, our free lunch cost us a whole day and $75. Luckily, I was only about 30 minutes late for work though. One of those things to laugh about. If we weren't worried about the babysitter we would have sat there longer. It was so nice to just visit in a nice restaurant. Well love ya all; hope you get a laugh out of this like we have.

This one is for Melisa

I know that Melisa gets homesick so I thought I should let her know that our power was out for a while yesterday. I was so convinced it was going to be out for days again like last year. we were actually lucky becauses a lot of people were out all night. I bet you don't miss that. It's rainy and cold and muddy! And you are always afraid a tree is going to fall on you. I was watching the news and there were four different cars in the area that trees fell on! They are just driving down the road and boom! So, I was looking for the bright side and I thought of Melisa. I hear the weather is great in Texas right now.

And the baby is.....

We had our ultrasound today and again it was pretty clear what the sex was. It's a girl!!! I'm totally shocked. I really thought it was a boy. I cried (out of joy) and wanted to ask her if she was sure. Then later on she was trying to get some measurements and we got another good look and there was definitely nothing there to indicate it was a boy. I'm kind of scared. I feel like I know boys better than girls because of Gabe and having brothers and all boy cousins. I'm so excited too though because I can do all the things with her that I didn't get to do with my mom. So the name we have is Amelia Joy. Eric agreed on it because he can shorten it to A.J. I will be calling her Amelia though. When she is older she can go by whatever she wants. O.k. I have a tired little boy who wants me to get off the computer. I just had to tell you all though. Yeahhh!

Just some pics.

I really have nothing to talk about so I just thought I would show some pics. of Gabe. One is from the summer in his beloved tractor. The other is of him in one of the cupboards right after we put it in. Last one is of him trying to be like Daddy and play video games. He was so proud of himself.

Calling all books!

O.k. ladies, I am in desperate need of some escape time. I need a good book to read. I don't know how I'll find the time but I don't care. So... give me some titles or authors you have read that you liked. It's been a while since I have read anything so I don't even know what is out there that is new or what series have continued on without me. Love ya all and I can't wait to hear from you.
Britt

We're back!

Yeahh! Our computer is back! I didn't quite have the withdrawals that Eric had. We have been pretty busy so I haven't had time to think about it. We had a big reunion on Eric's side this last weekend. It was so crazy! There were babies everywhere! There have been 7 babies born in 18 months between Eric and his cousins so this was the first time we were able to get all 7 of the "Pruitt Baby-Boom" together. Eric has a cousin who lives in Hawaii and he was here visiting with his 8 month old. It was a lot of fun though. I had the night from hell though. Everytime we stay at Eric's parents we say we are never staying the night again. But then about 6 months later we must forget because we always do it. Gabe sleeps horrible there and it is an old farm house where you hear everything and everyone. I kept getting woke up right after I fell asleep so I didn't actually get to sleep till 7 in the morning when Eric took Gabe downstairs. The poor little guy. He had gas so bad he kept waking up every half hour or so and cry. I was so frustrated. Well, I better get to bed. We are finding out what the baby is a week from today so we'll keep you all posted.

I just wanted to tell Jen Happy Birthday. Sorry I wasn't able to tell you on your birthday. I hope you had a great day! I love and miss you.

Computer is down

Our computer is in the shop. We should be back soon.

The Fair

I got a chance this weekend to meet Eric's parents at the fair with Gabe. He was so cute and he had a blast. We saw animals, had some corn on the cob, and his favorite, sit on the tractors! You would have thought he went to heaven. He just kept moving the steering wheel and playing with all the levers. It was so hard to get him off of them. He also rode the carousel with Grandpa. He smiled the whole time. Afterward a lady came to me and said how cute he was and how you could tell he loved it. I did have a scare though. We were sitting in the Pioneer Farm area which is for kids to play with Pioneer stuff. We were sitting there and eating our corn on the cob. Gabe would take a bite and walk around a bit but no more than 3 feet from me and Eric's dad was standing next to him. A couple walked by and asked where we got the corn and we pointed to the area. I looked back and Gabe was gone! I said, "Where did he go?" Luckily a guy standing right next to us told me he was right behind him. Sure enough he was on his way out of there. He was right in the little gateway about to go into the sea of people. It was so fast! Seriously, 2 seconds. I've decided to get one of those leash things. His cousin has one and it's actually kind of cute. It's a little doggy backpack. Pre-kids I thought those things were weird but now at least I'll know nowone is stealing him.

Next Poll

O.k. so we are putting up the poll for girl names now. We are more sure of what we like with this one. I won't say what it is until after the poll though. I also want to tell Tony to stop telling my husband that he isn't a man unless he gets our child named Maximus. Love ya all and hope you are all doing well.

Name Poll

Hey everyone. Just in case you didn't notice, we put a poll up to see what name people preferred for a boy. Next week, I'll put one up for a girl. Eric insisted on putting Maximus in there just because he thinks it will prove it is a cool name. We are really debating between Grady and Ian. We like Grady but not necessarily with Gabe. We are afraid people will ask us if we are going with a G theme, which we are not. We also like Ian, especially the meaning which is God's grace/God is gracious/God's gracious gift. I've seen all three of those meanings depending one what website you are on. I'm not going to guarantee that the winner will be the name though. I'm excited to see what people think.

Nothing exciting

I wish I had some excuse for not writing for so long, but I don't. The first part of the week Eric took a couple of days off to work on the kitchen. We didn't get nearly enough done. The paint that we are using for the cabinets is oil based and takes forever to dry and everything needs two coats. Plus, Gabe won't let us just work without screaming and wanting to get into the paint so only one of us can work at a time while the other plays with him. We also bought a few gallons of paint to change the color of our kitchen and living room. Of course we got it home and hate it. Both Gabe and I have had a cold too so I haven't had much energy. Sorry.
I also wish I had something exciting to say, but, again, I don't. The camp has been taken over by gnats! I guess it happens sometimes at the end of blackberry season. They are all over. Because we had all the doors open when we were painting, they are now in my house. I know they will eventually go away, but it is driving me insane. I wish they would die already! O.k. now Eric is making fun of me for what I am writing about. He said there are some ants outside I could write about too.

Touchdown!

We are so excited for football season! I don't usually get like this but it's become a family affair as you can see. The jersey was one of my anniversary presents by the way. Eric went last Sunday and found each of our jerseys and then made us put them on for a preseason game. He was so cute. Last year we taught Gabe to lift his arms in the touchdown sign when we said touchdown so my brother took a pic. of all of us making the sign. Because I am only using one arm Eric said I remind him of the one-armed ref who use to ref for football and basketball. I said it was at Trinity but he says it was at DMCS. So, we need some help in remembering this detail. Where was the one-armed ref? He was an older guy and was a little overweight. It's been bothering me. Anyway, Go Seahawks! Oh and I should say that Eric also got me a gift cert. for a pedi. as another anniversary gift.

Blessed

I took this picture the other morning. I was up early (as usual) and I looked out our sliding glass door. Can you believe this is where I live? I look at other houses on the lake and they are beautiful and very expensive. We're not rich! We're not supposed to live here. But we do! I am so blessed. I have a great family, a beautiful place to live, and a job I enjoy. God hasn't just forgiven me and delivered me but he has blessed me so greatly! Just wanted to share this with ya'll that haven't been here. Don't you just want to get out your fishing pole Jen???? Hint Hint.

Birthday Cake and Bee Stings

I'm just sitting here enjoying a nice piece of left over chocolate birthday cake and a glass of milk. Gabe is in bed and I am getting ready to watch my Sunday night show. Life is good. Eric's birthday went well. We went to his parents so that he could get away and not feel like he is at work. Gabe always loves going there and playing on the tractor and chasing the dogs. The big news is that he got his first bee sting while we were there. It took us a while to figure out what happened. I knew that he was hurt by his cry and he was playing with his hand but when we looked we couldn't see anything. Then it started to swell a little. Both Eric and his mom went to where he was standing and didn't see anything. We first thought bee sting but we were inside and Gabe kept pointing to the door and crying. When I couldn't find anything on his hand like a bite or cut we thought maybe he wanted outside, but that didn't stop the crying. Finally, Eric's sister found the bee sitting on the edge between the door and the glass. By this time it had been about 10 minutes so we knew he wasn't allergic. Neither Eric nor I are allergic so we weren't too worried anyway. Cake soothed him for about a minute but I think I ended up with more on me because I was holding him. Then we tried putting baking soda and water on his hand and that ended up getting all over me including in my mouth! Nothing was helping the crying though until we let him play with cold water first under the faucet and then put his hand in a cup of cold water. He thought that was pretty cool so that helped. Then we gave him a little baby benadryl to help the swelling. This morning he woke up and you couldn't even tell what finger it was.
Well nothing else big to report, which is nice. My mom went back to court on Fri. and from what I know she was taken into custody. I guess she can't have any outside contact for a month. I haven't gotten any phone calls though saying that she didn't go. I talked to her right before and she was bawling. I feel bad for her yet relieved at the same time that it is finally over. Well, love ya all. Now it's time for some ice cream while I watch Design Star. I dont' know if any of you watch it but I'm rooting for Will.
Britt

No book this time, I promise!

O.k. my novels are done. I had to share these pics. Tonight while I was at work Eric took Gabe swimming in the lake. He got him home, gave him a bath, and went to dinner. Well, on the way home he let him run around and apparently he found the sprinkler!
How can you not be happy with this little guy? Love ya all,
Britt

My mom

O.k. so most of you know that my mother was arrested at the end of April for 3 counts of delivery of a methamphetamine and one count of possession with the intent to deliver. So, what happened was that someone who she would get meth for got caught and for a lighter sentence they snitched out my mom. Then, when they arrested her, she had some meth on her. She gets a social security check for her lupus and when she was in jail she kept wanting me to give that to a bail bondsmen and then sign a waver that said if she didn't appear to her court dates, we would pay her bail. Well, we wouldn't do it. So a few weeks went by and I got all kinds of letters about how sick she was and that the nurse said she was a stroke waiting to happen. She also would call Eric's work and have a bail bondsmen talk to him. I went and visited her a couple of times and she said she understood. Her tone changed and she was a lot calmer. She was very accepting of the fact that she was going to prison and was starting to look at the bright side of things like maybe taking some classes while she was in there. But then she had her pre-trial about a month after getting arrested and she started calling and begging again. She said since she was going away for so long she needed to take care of some things. She needed to get her medical records, figure stuff out with her social security, get her things in storage and get her car out of impound. Her next pre-trial was in two weeks and she lead me to believe that she would be pleading guilty at that time and going to prison. So, I said I had to talk to who she would be staying with, she could not see her boyfriend anymore since he was also involved with it, and I had to talk to her everyday. So I get a call from a lady who seemed responsible and said how she wouldn't tolerate any drugs in her house. I got her phone number and address so I knew I could get a hold of my mom. I knew that I shouldn't do it but I was tired of feeling guilty and I thought it was only for two weeks so I did it. I knew as soon as I picked up my mom that I shouldn't have. She said how she wasn't sure she was going to stay with this lady and that she really didn't know her too well. But it was ok because she had another friend who she could stay with. I got mad and told her that wasn't part of the deal. She said that she would probably stay with this lady but she just wanted to let me know. So, I drop her off and tell her that if I go one day without hearing from her, I'll call in the bond and she'll go back to jail. Well, within 3 days I get a million phone calls from the lady she is staying with about how my mom is never there and that my mom is hanging around with Scott, her boyfriend. So I talk to my mom and she of course has an excuse about him seeing her walking in the rain and he gave her a ride somewhere. She also says that this lady is crazy and she is not going to stay with her. Instead she is going camping! Camping! She said she was going with another friend and her kids camping but that it's close by. I said I better hear from you everyday. She promises she will. Well, two days later no sign of my mom and just voice mail on the prepaid cellphone she bought. So, we call to see if we can call in the bond. We're told it will cost us $300 and we have to know where she is so a bounty hunter can get her. If I knew where she was, I would get her myself! At this point I'm so mad at myself and embarassed because of my decision. Everybody told me not to but I thought by bailing her out all the stress of it would go away. Plus, I thought, it's only a couple of weeks. I knew I would hear from her eventually so we decided to not call in the bond. When I did, she had some crazy story about how she got lost in the woods and then her cell phone died. The drugs have eaten her brain!! It's hard to even talk to her because she lives in her own reality and doesn't listen to anything. O.k. this is getting too long so I'll try to shorten it.
So, we go to pre-trial and nothing happens. They set a trial date. I ask my mom what is going on and she's clueless. She says that the prosecution must not have offered a plea bargain yet. Oh and she has another pre-trial for 3 weeks later. This starts the long list of pre-trials that I have been driving down there for. I feel like I have to go because if she doesn't show up, I have to pay 5 grand. Also, I'll have no way to know what is going on because she is never able to explain what happened. I feel like I've been played and that I am now trapped. If I get too mad at her and tell her that I want nothing to do with her, then I'm afraid she'll run and leave the state and we'll have to pay the money. My only leverage is the threat that if she runs away, she'll never have anything to do with us again. So eventually the prosecution does offer a deal but she doesn't like it because it involves prison time and she thinks she should just get rehab. Don't they all! Her plan is to wait them out and make them sweat because then they will have to reveal their snitch and they'll lessen the deal. I knew it wouldn't work out that way but she truly believed it would. Well, instead of going down, they went up and added enhancements to her counts. Turns out all the places she made these deals were within 1000 feet of a school bus stop which adds two years to each count. She's now looking at a minimum of 8 years. I almost laughed out loud! She was so mad at them. But it worked and she decided to take the plea. Thank God! So, we go last week (3rd time this month) expecting her to sign the plea and her lawyer informs us that the paperwork wasn't ready and we'll have to wait till next week. So, when he tells the judge this the prosecutor gets up and laughs and gives it to him and is like, "Oops, here it is." Since my mom needs time to look it all over and sign it they give her another week. We decide that she'll have to find her own way next week because it is more important for us to be at the sentencing because that is when she'll be taken into custody. She promises she can get there.
She met with her lawyer and signed it on Wed. However she finds out that she'll be taken into custody right then. So, I run around and get Friday off and have to tell my sister in law last minute that she needs another babysitter for Fri. morn. I get it all taken care of and even took Gabe so she could say goodbye. Since we have Gabe my brother and I decide we aren't going to stick around but say goodbye when court starts. We do and Eddie, Gabe and start the 3 hour drive home from the town that her court is in. I thought I would feel relieved and like a huge weight is gone. I do but I feel sorry for her too. She was scared and I kept picturing her in prison and knew she would be crying because she is so emotional.
Then I get a phone call today! That's right, it's not over! My older brother down in CA calls and says that he talked to someone and they say they saw mom and that she didn't go to prison. "What!" How is that possible. Well, when I told her on Wed. that it would be really tough for me to get there on Fri. she said she would call her lawyer and try to get another week. She never got a hold oh him though just his sec. so she told me she couldn't do it. I even asked her on the way Fri. if he wasn't going to try and get her another week and she assured me that no that there was no way he could do it. Well, I guess something happened because we finally got a hold of her boyfriend and he said that she got another weeks so she could get her medical records. Has she called me to tell me anything? No! I dont' even know how she got home. She lives an hour away! She could have told her lawyer to forget it and to just take her then but she didn't. I've called her cell and it just goes straight to voice mail. I'm in shock!
So, that's where I am at right now. There's more details but I'd be writing all night. I haven't wanted to tell anyone everything because I'm so embarassed. I got totally played and I can't believe I made such a bad decision. But now I'm just feeling tired and like I need my friends. God really spoke to me last Sunday in church and I know I can't hide away. Poor Eric has had to deal solely with all my frustration and guilt. He has been so amazing though. I knew that he didn't want me to do it but he never forbid me and has never even made me feel like " I told you so." There has been times where I said that I'm through with my mom and she's out of my life and he reminds me that she is still someone who can be saved and that she won't be crazy in heaven. I can't imagine that. She's been "saved" so many times I don't even know what to think of her. I'm sure next time she's caught she'll get "saved" again. Sorry this is so long. I'll write when I know what is up with her and I finally hear from her. I love you all and thanks for those who have called and not let me hide.

My crazy life

Hello everyone! Sorry so long. Things have been pretty crazy. I have a few family things going on right now which have kept me on the road to and from Long Beach which is about 4 hrs. one way. When we started this blog I told myself I didn't want to write about everything going on with my mom right now. I wanted this to be a light hearted thing and to share pics. of Gabe and stuff. God has been showing me though that I need to share and vent a little. I'll talk about my mom later though. Today I'm going to update you on my brother, Eddie. For the last 3 years Eddie has had some kidney problems. It started with kidney stones, which he went to the ER and took care of. Afterward though, the pain didn't stop and he was peeing blood. He had a pretty good construction job but it didn't have insurance and he didn't qualify for state aid so urologists that he did call, wouldn't see him. Finally, after quite a few trips to the ER, a nurse called a urologist and got him an appointment for only $75. That doctor ran a test and told him that he had a blood vessel that he was born with blocking the output in his right kidney and that he needed surgery. Since the kidney stones, it was inflamed and that was why he was peeing blood. Well, there was no way he could afford the surgery so he changed some of his habits like no caffeine and little sugar. He used to drink energy drinks but he hasn't now in years. Anyway, that has helped a little. When he gets in pain, he goes to the ER and gets the pain meds he needs. He'll save them for when the pain comes back. When they don't help he'll go back in. He ended up losing the construction job and two more because of days he misses due to pain. He's been staying with friends and and int he softball field dugouts lately. The pain has actually been pretty good until about 3 weeks ago. Nothing was working so again, he went into the ER. The doctor told him that he has to have surgery. His right kidney has shrunk and is starting to tear. Eddie again told him he doesn't have insurance so the doctor called a urologist himself. He told Eddie that he told the urologist he doesn't have insurance and can't pay up front but will make payments and the urologist agreed to see him. He didn't say this to Eddie but Eddie thought that meant he would do the surgery. Well, when he went in the next day the urologist looked at the CTscan that Eddie brought him and talked to him for a few minutes. He told Eddie that he needed surgery and possibly the kidney taken out but that he wouldn't do it and that he doesn't work for free. Eddie said he doesn't expect him to work for free but he just said he has to pay the light bill. Then my smart aleck brother asked him what kind of car he drove. It was a BMW. So, Eddie left very disappointed. The only other option the ER doctor gave him was to come up to Seattle next time it was bothering him and go to HarborView (one of the hospitals up here that often treats people without insurance) So, since I was going down to Long Beach anyway, I picked him up and brought him up here with us. Last week he and I went and Praise God, they are going to do it! They said that he needed more tests and the whole things with recover was going to take 6-8 weeks. So, guess who has a house guest for 6-8 weeks! It's actually been nice so far because he has been helpful. This is a very busy time for Eric and it is nice to have someone who can watch Gabe when we need it. We are also gutting our kitchen this week and putting in all new cabinets, countertops, and a dishwasher. So, he'll help with that too. I just wanted to let you know what has been going on and ask you to keep praying for him and us. 8 weeks is a long time no matter how helpful a person is. My prayer is that this will help Eddie get his life back on track and that Eric can be a good role model for him. He's already stopped smoking since being here. Well, that's one update. I'll write more when I have time. Love ya all.
Britt

Gabe's Room

I don't really have anything else to write about so I thought I would show a pic. of how we painted Gabe's room. I while back some of you asked to see it. It's not really anything special. If you can't see it very well, we painted the walls a light grey with an orange racing stripe around the room. His bedding set has orange in it so that's why we went with that. Have a great day!

Dr. Appt.

We had our first dr. appt. on Wed. We found out I'm nine weeks which is what my head was telling me however, my body felt more than that. But, our dr. said what I figured and that it is normal for second pregnancies. Our official due date is now March 5. So, the kids birthdays will be less than 3 weeks from eachother. It was so cool. We saw the heartbeat and were able to hear it as well. I didn't cry when we first heard Gabe's but this one I got teary. Then again, I cry a lot lately! As we were looking at it, it started moving! The doctor said, "Look, that's it's foot right there." It was kicking! I didn't know they could do that at nine weeks. I said, "It has feet already?" Eric then says, "Well, one at least." Our doctor laughed and said it was the angle we were at. It was like a little paw dancing around! The first thing that struck me was that nobody can tell me that it is not a baby at nine weeks. I didn't believe it before, but now I'm thinking every woman considering an abortion needs to have an ultrasound. I've heard Focus on the Family has a ministry out there that is trying to do that free of charge to women considering having one. What is also interesting is that the last few days I had been thinking that it was a girl but for some reason ever since I have seen it I keep calling it a him. I wonder if it is because I am used to saying that with Gabe. Who knows. I'd love either.

blog vacation

Sorry for not posting anything in a while. I've been so tired! I don't remember ever being this tired in my life. This pregnancy is definitely different. I'm already not fitting into my pants, I take at least one nap a day, and my body is just wore out. The thought of giving Gabe a bath or doing any other chore just seems overwhelming. I feel so guilty because our house badly needs cleaning. Eric does as much as he can, but he is also working and really busy right now with that. Each morning I wake up and decide I'm going to get a bunch of stuff done but then after doing one thing I feel sick and need to sit down for a while or take a nap. Isn't that pathetic! My poor flowers are all dying from needing watering and being invaded by weeds. I did water this morning finally and then it decided to rain. It wasn't a big rain though so I'm still glad I did it. Sorry this is a depressing blog. I just don't have much to write about. Nothing too big happened this week. How can it when all you do is take naps!! Gabe stayed the night with Eric's folks again Fri. night because we needed babysitters for both Fri. and Sat. morning so might as well make it a sleep over! He came back crazy! He was like aggressive and seemed mad or frustrated. He kept clenching his teeth and throwing little tantrums. I think he was just tired from all the excitement. He's normal today after getting a good night's sleep. Does this happen to anyone elses kids? I don't think they gave him sugar or anything but man he was crazy!

Yeah for date night

Eric and I have recently realized that we have not gone to a theater to see a movie since Gabe was born. So, Gabe stayed the night with Grandma and Grandpa last night and we got to do all the stuff we never get to do anymore. We met them at Eric's cousin's wedding and left Gabe early to go see a movie. The wedding was exciting because we got lost on the way and ended up in dowtown Seattle. We somehow found our way through detours and parade routes though and we weren't late! We saw I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry. There were some really funny parts but towards the end the whole gay thing was starting to get old. It just seemed like it was the same joke through the whole thing. It was still funny though. It's classic Adam Sandler humor so if you don't like him then, it's not for you. Then we went and ate at Panera!! yeahh! This was my favorite place in IA and they just opened up one near us. I was so excited when I heard but we haven't had a chance to go. Luckily, it's right by the theater. One of our favorite dates to go on before having Gabe was to go to Borders, drink some coffee and look at books and magazines. It's cheap and nice to talk about our interests. Well, you can imagine how tough this is with a toddler. So, that is what we did after eating. It was such a nice evening. I was so tired by the end of it. It was a long day. But, it was so good for Eric and I to have that time. Usually when Gabe stays the night with Eric's parents it is because we have to work and need them to watch him. We don't really get time to have fun together. Probably the best part of all was not getting up at 5 am. ha ha and it was my morning too! Now we gotta go get our little guy. I already miss him, but I know how much he loves Grandma and Grandpa's.

I hate tag.

So, Jen was tagged by someone to write ten things about herself and then she proceeded to tag me and some others. I've been dreading it but thought I would get it over with. I have seriously been thinking about this for days! I don't know if I can come up with 10 things!

1. I too love to read. I am useless once I start a book because I can't do anything until it is finished. I love Christian fiction. Some of the secular stuff just has too much filth. I like contemporary just as much as the historical fiction. I've read some allegorical but I'm not a huge fan. I don't want to have to think too much when I read. Some of my favorites are Liz Curtis Higgs, Karen Kingsbury and Lynn Austin.

2. For some reason, I love reality t.v. And not just the usual stuff like Survivor and Amazing Race (my favorite!) I even like the shows that go into real peoples lives like Little People Big World on TLC and on A&E they have Gene Simmons(from KISS) Family Jewels. This show cracks me up because this guy totally views himself as the cool rocker dude and then in his family life he is totally whipped by his long-time girlfriend/wife and his kids make fun of him. They are actually a pretty normal family and not at all like the Osbournes. His daughter is 13 and very modest and plays volleyball. His son seems very intelligent and witty. They aren't disrespectful toward him, they just laugh at him like any of us laugh at our parents. I don't know why I like these shows. Eric gives me a hard time. I think I just really enjoy watching happy normal families and am very interested in how they live.

3. My dream job would be an elementary school librarian. I have even thought about getting my masters in it but I know that it would be so hard to get a job. They are in such low demand and a lot of schools are cutting them down to part-time.

4. I'm not proud but when I was 18, I got a Minor in Possession of Alcohol ticket. It was my first year at the junior college in my hometown and my friends and I thought we were cool and went to the coast for spring break. I think we thought it would be like MTV but it totally wasn't. We got caught in a Hotel 6 parking lot holding our bottles. When we went to court the judge moved it to an infraction and we had to pay fines. It's still embarassing though.

5. I am extremely afraid of rodents and cockroaches. All rodents- even hamsters freak me out. I don't know what happened because when i was a little girl, I had a hamster. Now though, I want to cry even thinking about rats.

6. I love step aerobics! I totally miss my gym back in Iowa. The gyms out here just have pilates, spin, and other classes that don't sound interesting to me. I just want some good old fashioned step. I went to one spin class and I picture that as what hell is like.

7. Someday, I want to build a house for habitat-for-humanity. I think it would be so cool to build something like that from the ground up and see your efforts come to life. Maybe it is because my dad was always in that line of work. I once helped him build a deck and it was so fun to me. I want to learn how to use power tools and build stuff!

8. I am the worst decision maker! I will just continually go back and forth and when I do make a decision, I'll regret it later no matter what I decided. I have always been a follower and when adults used to say things like, "Do you want to be leader or a follower?" Inside I was always saying, "Follow, Follow!" I have gotten better at this since I've gotten older and have let the teacher in me come out.

9. My husband is my best friend. I feel so comfortable sharing my heart with him and being silly with him. As pessimistic as he can be at times, he is always optimistic when I need him to be. He makes me laugh like nowone else I've met.

10. Last one! ummm, Oh ya! I actually like watching ESPN. My favorite show is Pardon the Interruption. Well, I like it when it is not on all the time and I'm not watching the same Sportscenter for the 5th time. I don't like Cold Pizza either because Skip bugs me. Occasionally they'll have these pieces about kids who they make their Sports wishes come true like Make-a-Wish and I am always in tears!

So that's it. It was hard. I would tag 5 people like Jen did but most of the people who read this and have a blog have already been tagged. You know what that means Cheri!! You are the only one so tag, your it.

Two toilet plungers and a microphone

I came out of the shower this morning to find Gabe playing with the toilet plunger. Before you freak out about how disgusting that is, he wasn't playing with that end of it. Plus, I always rinse it off after it is used but it is still pretty gross. Anyway, it seemed like he was playing with it like it was a microphone stand. He was talking into the end of it and then laughing. I could not think of where he might learn what a microphone is and that they are on stands. I started thinking of tv shows but most of them we watch after he is in bed. Eric came home to see him playing with it and says, "Oh you have the plunger, That's disgusting." I explained to him what he was doing. After putting it away and disinfecting Gabe's hands, we walked to the dining hall to breakfast. That's when we realized, the dining hall has a microphone (on a stand) that the counselors have been using the last two weeks while camp is going on. So, we figured it out and went on with our day. Well, Eric decided to let him talk into one of the microphones in a lodge while I was at work. Now, the kid is hooked. Everything is a microphone. The pics. are of him using a drumstick and the end of a bat. He will also put it in your face and want you to talk into it also. He gets so excited and laughs! It's been cracking me up all night.

News

Surprise! We're expecting again! I'm not very far along but we figured we would tell all of you anyway if we had a miscarriage. I had taken a test two weeks ago and it was negative so I decided to wait two weeks. Well, after a week I told Eric that I was pretty sure I was pregnant. I have been so unbelievably tired lately! I also had a gag reflex when I brushed my teeth, got up a couple of times during the night to use the restroom, and uh, certain parts of my body, had been hurting for a while. But I waited the two weeks anyway. Well, the test was one of those where if there are two lines then it is positive. At first there was no second line and I was very confused. Then after a few minutes there was a faint line but it was almost off the little screen thingy and not really close to the first line. I even had Eric come look at it and he was as confused as I was. So, I called the doctor and they said I could go to the lab any time and take one. I had to wait till Mon. though because I was so busy on Fri. Well, during the weekend the morning sickness started and now I feel awful so when they called me this morning with the results I already knew. Eric said to tell the Mumms and Nubiles that we are catching up with you! He's so competitive!! Well love ya all. Pray for how sick I feel. It seems worst than last time.

Gabe has been doing the funniest thing lately. I can tell when he gets mad now. When I take something from him or don't let him do something he'll drop anything he has in his hand, clench his teeth so that he has an underbite, and then head butt something. Here is this kid butting his head against the cabinets! He doesn't do it hard enough to hurt himself. Sometimes he'll come to me and grab my legs and hit his head against them. It is so hard not to laugh. I try and let him know that I understand that he's mad but that he can't do whatever it is but I end up just laughing at him because he is so stinkin cute. Luckily these little tantrums don't last long. I love this age and seeing his little personality come out.
-Britt-

Fireworks

At our camp we want to make 4th of July special for the campers who are here during this week. So we buy $2000 worth of large fireworks. It is enough to fillup a small U-haul truck. Then we set them up all over our dock and put on our own show. I get to be one of the 3 people that lights them. I get a propane torch and I run around for 20 minutes lighting every fuse I can find. At the end my face is black with powder. Each year there are some duds that just go up a few feet and blow up. So pray that I don't blow my face off.

Baby Boom

Eric has a pretty large and close family. His mom is one of eight and they all live in the area and have lots of huge get togethers. Well, the Pruitt clan (Mom's maiden name) has been having a baby boom. It started last Dec. with Gabe's cousin, Brooke. 18 months later there are seven new little ones. 3 girls and 4 boys: Brooke, Gabe, Trace, Virginia, Asher, Evon, and Kalana. We had a family gathering a couple of weekends ago to introduce the last one, Kalana. I was hoping six of the seven would be there.(Evon lives in Hawaii with his parents) Unfortunately, only 4 out of the 7 made it. The picture is Aaron and Asher, Eric and Gabe, Zarin and Kalana, and Kara and Brooke. Brooke and Gabe will be in the same grade, but then the next 5 will all be in the same grade. We like to joke about how the year they all graduate will be a tough one with all the graduation ceremonies, parties, and of course presents. It makes me so glad that we made the tough decision to move home. It was hard at times because I really miss my friends but I've grown very close to my mother and sister in law. It was also tough at first financially, what with getting pregnant right after we move and before I had a job. However, God has it all planned out and is holding us all in his hands. We are so blessed and just look at each other every day and wonder at the great life we have. I am so thankful for Eric's family. I look forward to every get together we have. I had to also include some funny pics. of Brooke feeding Gabe and Gabe trying to hug Asher. He is a hugging fool! He hugs all babies and little girls that he sees.

The Glorious Sun!

We had a beautiful day today! The sun was shining, it was in the 70's. It was just what I have been craving. So, we took Gabe down to the lake for a bit. He did not like being in his little raft thing at ALL. When we took him out though he just dove in and went under. I was right behind him and he only did it once, but I was freaked out so we didn't stay too long. We did play out in the sun. All the life jackets we have checked out are too big, so we just play with him on the shore mostly. He's so funny because he'll see the sand under the water and reach down to pick up a rock or something and then his face will go under water and he'll come up all confused like, "What just happened?" Here's some picks we took of the day. Have a great summer!

Look what I found!

You know, Cheri told me that she was pretty sure that we got some pictures of all three of us when she was down visiting last fall. I knew that I had a print of this so I finally decided to check and lo and behold! The ONLY picture of Eric, Gabe, and I. If you haven't read our first blog you may want to go back and this will make more sense. Love ya all!

Discipline

A friend of mine just had a new baby. She invited me and another friend over for lunch because we had thrown her a babyshower and she wanted to say thanks. Her mother was staying with her for a few weeks to help out and she wanted to make us lunch. Since it was during the day, I had to take Gabe. Susan, my friend, has three other kids so I knew that he would be entertained. Well, as soon as I put him down he takes off and starts "exploring". My adorable son then started getting into everything and doing things that he knows he isn't allowed to do. He kept pushing the buttons on their t.v. and playing with their blinds. Now, at home he has learned to stop when we say don't do that because he gets a timeout if he doesn't. But I didn't know what to do since we were at someone elses house. I just kept having to distract him and attempt to give him other things to do. And you could totally tell that he was testing me because he would do it and keep looking at me with a mischevious grin. What do you do in that situation? I don't want him to learn that he can misbehave out in public because Mama can't discipline him when we are not at home. I didn't want to ruin everyone's visiting either with a screaming child if I did discipline him there. Oh, what to do, what to do?

Scary Day

With our summer fast approaching I let our Food Service Director (Susan) take her staff to the ocean to camp for the night. While they were there Susans daughter and two of my food service staff took a dip in the ocean. However the rip tide was strong and before they new it they were being pulled out to see. After calling 911 Susan called us and was talking to our director. She could not see any of the three because they were beyond the waves and it had been 15 minutes. The coast guard went out and pulled all three out alive. Susans daughter was treated for water in the lungs but they will all be okay. God is good.

O.k. I know that those that live in places that are cranking up the air conditioning right now are not going to feel sorry for me. However, I am desperate for some sun and heat. It is still in the 60's here during the day. If it gets to be 70 it's like the best day ever. The sun comes out and I'm a new person. I'm smiling, singing in the car, and have a ton of energy to go out and get things done. Now, I am a person who HATES humidity and being all sweaty but right now that feels like heaven. It's amazing how much you thirst for the sun when you don't get it that much. That's a total analogy to God though isn't it? When I spend time with the Son, it changes my whole attitude. Also, it reminds me how much that people who can't worship Him freely must be desperate for Him. It's supposed to get warmer next week, but I've heard that the last few weeks. I'm not complaining, I'm just sharing my "observation" with you all. O.k. I know that is still whining no matter how I word it. Well, have fun with your summer barbecues and kids playing out in the sprinkler and otter pops and everything else that is great about summer!
-Britt

Jeffrey

I'm a little bummed today because one of my favorite students at Sylvan had his last day yesterday. Jeffrey has been coming for about 6 months, and he cracks me up all the time. When he first started he would come in and tell us that he had a different name that day. Some of the popular ones are George Washington, Noah, Zia, and lately, Old Man Jenkins. When I tell him to write his name on his paper he would insist on these names so I finally told him he could put whatever name he wanted as long as he also put Jeffrey. The other day he wrote Old Man Jakins and underneath in quotations "Jeffrei" He heard somewhere that boys spell their names with an i and girls put a y at the end of their names so he insists on putting an i at the end of his name. He comes in everyday with a wild story that he has made up about the other teachers. He also tells us everyday that he is 17 years old and in high school (7 yrs. old, 2nd grade). One day he came in and told the teacher at the next table that he was in college. I said, "Yesterday you said you were in high school." He looks at me and sticks his hands out in complete exasperation and says, "I graduated yesterday!" Like, duh, how could you ask such a silly question. For a while he had a hard time with rhyming words and he would say that rhyming words make him crazy and make his head hurt. On Monday, he did the funniest thing ever. I told him he needed to draw pictures on his sheet. He said that his brain told him to not draw pictures because it makes it like this, and he squeezed his fist and scrunched up his face. He said it makes his brain small. I told him that drawing pictures is good for his brain and will make it stronger. He said no, my brain will turn to water. I said, "I promise you your brain will not turn to water." At that the table of older kids next to us started cracking up and looking at us wondering what in the world we were talking about. So, anyway, after we debated and he finished the other parts of his sheet, all he had left was the pictures. I told him it did not have to be good and I started to draw some stick figures showing him that it didn't have to be nice. He said,"Wait, let me ask my brain if it's alright." At this point he starts humming to himself like he's talking to his brain. "Mmm Mm M Mmm Mm Mm." Then he announces,"O.k. my brain said it was o.k." I cracked up! I am so going to miss him. I love my job and I love that I get to spend time getting to know kids and helping them so much without all the work of full time teaching. I get to do what I love and stay home with Gabe during the day. I do miss dinners with my family but I try to make lunch our time instead. We are so blessed. God has given me everything I ever wanted and it is even better than I thought.

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day here. I did a lot of reflection over how blessed we are to even be able to celebrate this holiday. I remember days when I thought we would never be able to celebrate Fathers or Mothers Day. God has truly blessed us and I am so thankful. I'm also thankful for what a wonderful dad Eric is. He works so hard to take care of us and doesn't even think twice about taking Gabe for the day so I can get away and have some girl time. In fact he is the one that makes sure that I get some time away or buy some things for myself. He is constantly making me smile and laugh. His joy sets the tone for our home and we thank God every day for how happy we are.
I also thought a lot about Mark, Eric's dad, and what a wonderful example he is. I attribute how supportive and patient Eric is to having such a great man to look up to his whole life. Mark is a man of few words but still finds ways to show how much he loves you. He will drop everything to come babysit for us when we are in a pinch. He enjoys walking Gabe around when he is fussy and showing him things. He has a great way of passing his peacefulness on to Gabe and everyone else around him. Even with all the crazy moving we have done in the last 2 years (4 moves!) he is the first one to help and the last to leave. It's no wonder that his two grandchildren fight over him. Brooke, Gabe's cousin, is so possessive of Grandpa! She has a sixth sense of when he is holding Gabe and not her. She will run from another room to be picked up too.
I'm also thankful for W.T. Gillum who allowed me to come and live with his family when I was fourteen. They took me in and showed me what it meant to be parents and to live in a Christ-like home. I don't want to think of where I would be if it weren't for them. Ya, he was strict but I longed for rules and boundaries and someone who cared enough to set them. We have a special relationship that even my husband has noticed. He says that when I talk to T. I get feisty and awnry. I love to give T a hard time and joke around with him. He has been in poor health the last few years, and I fear the day when I have to say goodbye.
Lastly, my dad. I've always been a daddy's girl. My dad had his issues and was an alcoholic for 30 years. I so admire him though for turning his life around. My dad has taught me to look at all sides of an issue and to not judge people. He is an arguer and debater by nature which I now see prepared me for marrying Eric. Because he was always so up front with me, I knew I could go to him for anything. I've been blessed to actually get to know him all over again the last nine years since he has stopped drinking. I love our long phone conversations where we debate politics and religion. Although we disagree we never yell or get mad.
I hope all of your Father's Days was just as great.

New Business Idea

I (Eric) have been putting on a little bit of weight. So I was thinking of a business that could take advantage of my new figure. So the other day I was driving and I came up with this great idea. I want to open a restaurant similar to hooters but with male waiters. We will call it MAN BOOBS. We will have flat screen tv's that are always on TLC. The guest can drink sexy shots from our hairy man cleavage. I figure we can make a killing off of bachleorette parties and girls night out. I am counting the cash already.

Sleeping In

I was "blessed" with a baby that wakes with the sun. That's alright during the winter but now when the sun rises at 5 in the morning, I go a little crazy. I am NOT a morning person. Well, Eric and I have a system of whose turn it is to get up with him but because Eric goes to work early I still end up getting up at 6:30 so that he can get ready for work. Well, this morning was his morning and he had nowhere that he had to be so I slept until, are you ready? 8:00!!! I don' remember the last time I slept in that late. I so needed it. I woke up happy, which Eric needed as well. It's got to get old waking up to a bear each morning. It is my belief that a big part of PostPartem depression is sleep deprivation. But again, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

"mama" and books

I'll warn you now that there will probably be a lot on this blog about Gabe. I only work part time and the rest of the day is spent with him so that is really all I have to talk about. So, I'm sharing today his cute little nuances. All the mothers out there will probably agree that they love to hear their babies say "mama". Well, for some reason Gabe refuses to call me that. No Ma, mama, or even mommy. No, I'm Da. When Eric walks in the door there is a big smile and Gabe points at him and says loud and clear "DA!!" I do get a big smile when I get home but no Mama! We even ask him "Where's dad?" and he points to Eric. Where's Gabe? points to himself. Where's Mama? Big smile and points to Eric and says, "Da" He's capable of saying Mama. He always says it when he's whiny and crying. At first I thought that maybe he wasn't that smart but he gets this big mischevious smile when he looks at me and says, "Hi da" I think he is doing it because he knows it drives me crazy! He seems way too proud of himself. I thought I had a few years before the rebellion started.
Being a teacher, I have really wanted Gabe to be interested in books. Since he was an infant we've been reading to him. Usually it is more fun for him to throw them than sit still and look at one. Well, that has definitely changed. He has entered the stage where he wants to be read to over and over and over again. And usually it is the same book again and again. I am so sick of "Inside, Outside, Upside Down." I got home last night and Eric shows me where he had a big pile of books that he hid so that Gabe would stop sticking them in his face to be read. What is really sad is that I then showed Eric behind the couch pillow where earlier in the day I had hid some as well. Be careful what you wish for!

Blog???

So, I just found out this morning that we have a blog. Eric says he told me but let me tell you how the conversation went a few days ago.
Eric: I went to start a blog for us but I found that we have no pictures of all of us as a family.
Britt: I know we have no pics. of all of us because one of us is always holding the camera. Yada yada yada about not having pics. of all three of us.

That's it!! I took that to mean that he didn't start one because he couldn't find the pics. This morning however, I was looking at Jen's blog and he says that I should check out ours. Really! I say. So, he tells me how, and lo and behold there is a picture of me without a lick of makeup! yeahhh! There's nothing to do but laugh. Just shows you the difference between male and female communication. I wouldn't have it any other way though. It was very sweet of him to start one because he knows that I enjoy reading Jen's and keeping in touch with her through it. Hey, it gave me something to write about! I'm sure you'll see a comment in response to this one coming soon from Eric. Love ya all, Britt

We have arrived

This blog party can get started because the Sivertson's have arrived. Who are the Sivertson's you ask? Great question! Our family is comprised of myself (Eric), my wife Brittany and our son Gabriel. Gabe is 14 months and is getting big fast. I work at a Christian Camp in Ravensdale WA and we live on site. Brittany works at Sylvan learning center. We look forward to keeping people informed on what we are doing.