Eric’s parents came down for a visit to see Beth, the new addition to the family Sunday we all had breakfast together and talked about the raised beds and garden we’re planning on putting in. Eric’s parents’ gift to us this year for our birthdays is raised beds. I’m so happy to get the back yard done better, more like what we want long term. We spent quite a while talking about how we all thought it should be done. Julie and I were out taking measurements while Bob developed the layout for the beds. I’m so excited about it. I can’t wait to have our own garden and flowers out there.

Eric and I went to the Japanese gardens after his parents left. It was such a great day, so beautiful. I was glad thought that we’d been there before in December (that’s where he’d proposed). Then we were all by ourselves. This time there were a ton of people and no water in the fountains and things. It was so awesome. We took tons of pictures. Here are a few.

After the tour of the gardens we ended up at Home Depot looking at flowers and things. I was writing things down like a mad woman trying to capture the names of all the things we liked. I don’t know jack about flowers and what they look like and what they’re called. I know a few standard flowers but that’s about it. We both had a lot of fun. It got us that much more excited about the garden. We even started thinking about laying some stone in the back yard so people could walk barefoot out there. Eric’s parents are coming down the 8-9th of April to help build the backyard so we’ll see then.

Beth is here! Beth is born. Today my sister-in-law, Hollie, had her second baby, Beth. Eric and I went to the hospital to see them and Greg, her husband and Miles, baby number one. It was such a special thing to finally see this baby that Hollie had been carrying. Beth is beautiful. She looks a lot like Hollie with the dark hair. I thought it pretty funny how different Beth looks as a newborn compared to when Miles was born. Miles had no hair and weighted over 10 lbs. Elizabeth has tons of dark hair and was just over 7 pounds. How different can you get.

I was so happy for Greg and Hollie and their little family with the new addition. There were a TON of people in the room visiting Hollie and the new addition. I didn’t know you could fit that many people in one hospital room but we did. There were cameras with flashes going off, video recording and lots of “ohhh” and “ahhhh” all around. It was such a special time and a special moment. It wasn’t long after we’d gotten there that we were given the opportunity to hold the little bundle of joy and happiness. Eric did such a good job holding her. I knew he was nervous but he did great! I got to hold Beth a couple of times. I was so amazed at how beautiful she was and how tiny she was. The whole experience was a little bittersweet. I love babies and I’m so happy for Hollie and Greg and I’m glad they’re close so I can get my baby fix but at the same time it was hard to see everyone cooing over Hollie and the baby and know that it’s highly unlikely that Eric and I will have a child of our own creation. Ordinarily I don’t think I’d ben having these mixed emotions so much it just happens that earlier this week I went to the OB and got not so great news and Hollie’s just had a baby. What’s the best about the situation is that Hollie and Greg know I love Miles and I love new little Beth but they understand the struggle for me which means a lot. I’m so thankful and blessed to be in the family I am.

I am SO excited. Today is the last day of work before Christmas vacation. I’m SO looking forward to it all. I’m excited to visit family and just be away from here, read some good books and just recharge. We leave tomorrow for eastern Washington and Othello. We’re going there until Tuesday, most likely and then off to Ellensburg for the rest of vacation. I can’t wait. I love Christmas Eve in Ellensburg with Eric’s family. We play games, eat lots of food and do puzzles. It’s so nice. It’s going to be even nicer this time because my mom and brother will be there too. It’s always the best of both worlds when we can blend family activities.

Last night Greg, Eric’s brother, and Miles, Eric’s nephew, came over while Hollie got some much needed rest. It was so nice to have them over. Miles is too cute for words. I’m so glad they live so close. Last night was so funny because Miles would run around the love seat and coffee table chasing Baylee and having a great time. At one point Josh came down stairs and Miles thought it was pretty cool to see someone new. He called Josh “doss”. It’s so cute. Then, when Josh started to go upstairs I told Miles to go get him and he ran after Josh and stopped him at the stairs. They both sat and Miles talked to Josh about what, I don’t know but he talked so fast and about every twelfth word was one I recognized. Then Miles came back down the stairs and hung out for a while. Later in the night Josh went outside to talk to friends. Miles went up the stairs far enough to sit in the window sill. He could see Josh and would knock on the window and say “doss”.. “doss” and Josh would look at him. Eventually Miles would be more forcefully and sound more like a command for Josh. It was so cute… Then upon feeling defeated that Josh was busy Miles gave up and we went back in the living room where the boys watched TV, Miles played with trucks and Baylee sat eating her raw hide.

Later Hollie made it down and was able to visit for a few minutes. It was great to see her. I’m guessing she’ll be glad when she had Elizabeth…Unfortunately we didn’t get much of a visit in with Hollie because Miles was so tired and it was close to his bed time they had to go. I think the real indication was when he tried to sleep on the cat post and then moved to being sprawled out on top of the coffee table with a pillow conveniently provided by his uncle Eric.

A day home. Today the roads were way worse than yesterday. I didn’t even try to go to work today. It was a sheet of ice out there. Did I stay home? Of course not, I conned Eric into going to the house and finished painting the office. When we first got there we started to walk over to Greg and Hollie’s to find out where the mailboxes are since we now had the key. The snow on the ground was covered with this thick crust of ice so I was trying to step hard so I could crush the ice layer and actually walk as opposed to slide all over the place. We got about half way and I took a HUGE nose dive. My hands broke through the ice layer and in a matter of seconds I was on all fours in the middle of the street. Eric tried to help me up but I was being a snot and didn’t want help. I was so mad I felt and hitting the ice with my hands and breaking through it hurt so bad. It was like putting my hands through glass and hitting a million needles. My hands stung so badly and I got a cut and started bleeding. After being angry for a while I walked back to our house because I didn’t want to fall anymore.

We got all the painting done, things cleaned up and I think we’re ready to go. Now we’ve just got the curtain rods and blinds to hand up and the grout to seal. I’m hoping the weather will lift soon and everything will melt away so we can take stuff over to the house, unload it and get everything moved but the big stuff. I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I’m really anxious just to move and have it over.

The fact that I haven’t been able to get to work, or when I do no one else is there makes getting those activities done. Eric and I have quite a few boxes packed and ready to take over to the house but, again… the weather isn’t helping the situation. I have a feeling that tomorrow isn’t going to get any better since we’re in another 36 hour winter storm warning. Keep your fingers crossed that everything will work out well and we’ll get moved without incident.

Today Eric and I went over and did some more painting on the house. It’s coming together really nicely. I like the sage green and hunter green. When we’re all moved in I’ll take an after picture. When my brother tells me how to add pictures I’ll put a before and after here. Until then you can see the before pictures on snapfish.com. If you don’t have the password and log in ID I gave you then e-mail me and I’ll give it to you.

The keyword for today was tedious. It was such a pain to do the touch up work on the painting. it took forever. part of the problem is I’m anal about the paint job, so Eric says. he was a trooper and did most of the touch up while I did the touch up on the part where the ceiling and wall meet. We did a good job of taping the master bedroom too. I think that’s where we’ll start tomorrow. Just have the master and the office to finish. I think after we move we’ll figure out what to do with the guest bedroom, the bathrooms and the dining room.

We went over to Greg and Hollie’s today too. Miles was so cute. When we came in the door he held out his hands to Eric signaling that he wanted up. He loves his uncle Eric. It’s so cute to see the two of them together. We sat and chatted for a while and then went and got lunch for all of us. Greg is sick with the flu cootie. I’m hoping Eric doesn’t have the cootie. He’s had a sore throat all day and Hollie said that was how her flu cootie started. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’m so glad that we went to see Greg and Hollie. It was a lot of fun. Once we move we’ll be down the street from them. I’m excited about that. Hollie and I can scrapbook and hang out then.

Well, got to go.. time for bed. tomorrow is a day filled with painting and sealing grout… don’t you wish you were me