Top 11 of 2011

2011 was quite a year!  There are more than just 11 tops of the past year but we'll focus on the best 11 things of this past year.

In no particular order, here we go!

1.  The arrival of our 2 sweet little boys!  Life has been anything but easy, and even better than amazing. 

2.  Celebrating 4 years of marital...marriage.  It's been hard, wonderful, full of laugh, a fair share of tears, growing together, learning, and the greatest love a wife could ask for.

3.  Growing into myself.  I'm slowly learning the In's and outs of motherhood, marriage, and life.  And learning that I don't have to please everyone.

4.  The moment my family got to meet our newest babies.  O how precious that moment was.

5.  Endless cuddles from the 3 sweetest boys any mommy could ask for.

6.  Our 3 mini vacations.  From water parks, to the cabbage patch factory, to weekend trips to Atlanta.  Great memories were made.

7.  Slowly (and boy do I mean SLOWLY) learning that I can do this motherhood thing during this period where Allen is working LONG, LONG, LONG, hours.  It's hard when the kids are asleep when he leaves, and in bed when we comes home but I'm learning how to function without daily breakdowns. 

8.  Little Miss Paiton (our niece) made her debut in February of 2011. She is such a doll baby and now I have one more niece that I can buy girly stuff for.

9.  Daily learning that my parents are full of wisdom and love.  I used to know it all and now I realize I know nothing but man am I glad I have realized my parents do know it all and are happy to share with me.  But not in an annoying way :)

10.  Christmas with our babies.  The joy...the wonderment....the magic of the season.  It was everything I'd hoped it be and more.

11.  Lessons.  Even the ones I learned the hard way...which were most of them ;)

Another List

I love lists. 

I love them so I'm going to share yet another list with you today.

It will make zero sense.  Which is exactly how much sense I've been making lately.  Hope you enjoy the insanity that takes place at "Ups and Downs, Smiles and Frowns".

1.  After a recent visit to the Cabbage Patch Factory aka Babyland I am making arrangements to live there.  I'll be listing our furniture and belongings on craigslist and contacting a real estate company.  Babyland is where I choose to spend the rest of my days. 
 Please foward all mail to the cabbage patch world. 

2.  Glory be to Jesus, Let the Hallelujahs ring.  Sweet little baby is FINALLY coming out of his "hold me all of the time or I'm going to bust your flippin eardrums out crying" stage.  I love holding him.  But it gets dangerous when it comes time to cook, clean, do laundry, give the other 2 children attention and other domestic things.  I understand the whole "let them cry it out" concept.  But "crying it out" makes me want to have a nervous breakdown and I try and avoid those at all costs.  So, this new development makes this Mamma so very happy.

3.    Potty training is in full swing for our 2 year old!  This means we spend 89% of our day in the bathroom because there might be a distant possibility pee pee might happen.  Great fun.  My baseboards, bathtub, sink, and bathroom floors have never been cleaner.  Waiting on pee pee gives me time for bathroom scrub downs.  Man alive!  That is fun!  We alternate bathrooms so that each bathroom gets scrubbed at least 7 times a day. 

4.  Ethan.  Good ole Ethan.  The same Ethan that almost got kicked out of Kindergarten is now EXCELLING in first grade.  His teacher smiles when she sees me!  Do you understand how amazing it is to be greeted by a smile when seeing your childs teacher?  I am no longer on a first name basis with the principal.  In FACT she hasn't called me once this year.  I love first grade, so does Ethan.  It's a wonderful life. 

This is the award winning pumpkin I carved last year.  I'm proud.

5.  Our annual Pumpkin Carving par-tay is coming up.  I'm really hoping I can do better than I did last year.  As it turns out pumpkin carving isn't a strong point of mine.  In fact I won the "worst pumpkin carver in the entire universe" award.   At least I won something. 

6.  I hate our attic.  For several reasons.  The ladder that goes into the attic looks like it would fall apart under the weight of a newborn.  Let alone the weight of ME.  The attic however is HUGE.  It could store a small Mongolian village.  Which is why almost all of our things are stored up there.  Which presents a problem.  The ladder.  I'm also afraid that every single time I pull down the door pulley string that a "Christmas Vacation" moment is going to happen and the ladder will hit me in the face and kill me.  Which is why our house may never have fall decorations up, or Christmas decorations, and we may have to purchase an entire new winter wardrobe since all our winter clothes are up there too.  I have no idea how all our things got up that skinny ladder but somehow they did and now they are stuck forever. 

7.  I have worn yoga pants for 10 days in a row (except for sunday when I put on a baggy dress).  I am not ashamed.  They haven't been the same pair of yoga pants which is an improvement from my last yoga pants record.  The best part of the yoga pants record is that I haven't participated in yoga since college.  I haven't participated in any excersize type activity since college.  I don't even run.  My boobs are to big is the main reason.  The other reason is I've never had a murderer chasing me (I'm very grateful for both of those reasons). 

8.  I had a real life nightmare come true this week.  While in route to a doctors appointment which I was running late for I quickly pulled into the closest and first parking garage I could find.  I didn't pay any attention to signs because I was running late and it was a very important dr visit.  I park and rush into the dr.'s office. I get done with my appointment and head back to my van.  Which I suddenly realize is in a parking garage you have to PAY to park in.  Normally this isn't a big deal.  As luck would have it I've lost my debit card, I had ZERO cash, ZERO quarters, dimes, or nickels.  What I did have was my check book.  To add insult to injury the only thing that the automated money taker (not a real person a MACHINE) would NOT accept is a check.  Panic begins to swell up inside me.  I search the van and find coca cola nasty sticky pennies.  Don't judge me you know good and well you have change in your car that a beverage has spilled on making them a nasty mess go ahead and own it.  By the time I get all my coca cola pennies into the machine 11 cars are in back of me waiting for me to exit the paid parking garage.  I was hoping they would take up an offering.  They didn't.  That my friends was the day I was almost held hostage by a parking garage.  It's now a story I will pass down to my childrens children.  It will go down in history. 

These are not my pennies.  My pennies were nasty and had coca cola all over them.  It all Google had to offer.

9.  That's all I've got for this installment of my list post. 

Our Tee Vee

Guess what time of year it is?????!!!!!

I'll give you some hints. 

It isn't Christmas...yet.
Easters long gone.
Thanksgiving has yet to make its appearance in 2011.
Fourth of July is behind us.
Labor Day is gone...so put up your white shoes or my grandmother will alert the authorities.

So, have you guessed it?

OK, I'm sweet so I'll tell you.

It's season premier time!
Can I get a woot! woot! ?

I love season premier time.  All the shows I had to kiss goodbye in May are back with new plots, schemes, laughs, and characters. 

In honor of this glorious time of year I thought I'd give you a sneak peek into the shows that take over our DVR.  Some old, some new, some trashy, some wholesome.

I love ALL the real housewife shows.  There I said it.  Some I enjoy more than others, but I'm addicted to them all.  I'm slightly ashamed of myself...but not enough to stop watching.  Right now I'm enjoying Real Housewives of New Jersey and Beverly Hills.  Man! Those women wack-a-doodle doo.  They make me feel a little bit better about myself.
 

The Sing Off.  I have to hand it to NBC they have the market cornered on Talent.  Being the music junkie that I am I love what the sing off brings to the table.  The talent of even the worst group is better than some of the best musical talent on other shows.  (I'm also a HUGE fan of The Voice...but that ship has sailed and won't return until the first of the year)

Modern Family.  Goodness.  Gracious.  I've been very disappointed in comedies since Friends and Will and Grace.  I had deep concerns that there would never be another sitcom that would invoke gut wrenching laughter.  Then Modern Family came along and I've been busting a gut every wenesday night since. 

Greys Anatomy.  Confession:  I cry during every. single. episode.
I laugh too...but I always cry.  I love love love love greys.  Every season I think "it can never be as good as last season" and every season it's better.  If they ever cancel Greys I'll need some type of rehab to cope with the loss. 

Desperate Housewives.  This will be the final season.  I almost can't even bare to type those words.  I will miss the crazy, wonderful, ladies of Wisteria Lane and all of the drama they manage to create.  Is there a medication to help with the depression of saying goodbye to the wives?

20 Kids and Counting.  Everyone has their opinion on the Dugger's.  Some nice...some not so nice...some don't care.  I like em!  I always feel encouraged after watching them, and I like that.  You may not agree with the values they have set for thier life and family but at least they have set them.  I think we all could benefit from setting values and beliefs and not be afraid to live them out for all the world to see. 

A few new additions to our list include

-The X Factor. 
     I gave up on American Idol several seasons ago...it just wasn't holding up to the standards I place on music.  I don't know if the X-Factor will be any different but I'm willing to give it a shot.  Plus I enjoy Paula Abdul being drunk, and Simon being mean.  There ya have it.

-Up all Night.
     The reason is simple.  Christina Applegate.  I love her.  She's a cutie patootie AND funny.  I also completely relate to being "up all night" cause I am up all night.  I watched the first episode last week and I will admit I'm slightly dissapointed...but I'll give it a few more chances before I take it off the record list. 


So, there ya go.  A little glimpse into our weeknight television habits.

A list

Here's a list of what we got's a going on round bout these parts-

1.  I'm currently watching Madea's big happy family for the 3rd time and need to have a morphine pump inserted into my body I've laughed so hard I'm in severe pain.  Since I have to watch in between loads of laundry, feeding babies, breaking up fights, and other various domestic stuff I have to play...laugh....pause.....rewind...re-laugh....play...pause...repeat as follows.



2.  I went yardsaling this morning with Melissa and it was slim pickin's.  End of yard sale season = waste of time and gas money.  BUT the laughs with Melissa was totally worth it...and again adding to the pain of non stop gut busting laughter. 

3.  Pain caused from gut busting laughter is the very best pain one can ask for.

4.  I heard Ernie Haase and Signature Sound singing "We Shall See Jesus" while organizing the little boys drawers and I'm almost positive I went to heaven..saw Jesus..cried...testified about my love of the song and Jesus...and cried some more.  All while sorting onsies and sleepers. 

5.    It's football time in Tennessee which means I will not have a husband on Saturdays until December.  Football time in Tennessee = Project time with an emphasis on arts and crafts for Becky.






6. My husband got a new laptop which means I will be a widow to his new toy for the next few months.  I just got him back from his recent IPAD purchase...and now I've lost him all over again. 

7.  Our 2 year old got a motorcycle riding toy bike thing for his birthday and he enjoys washing it with a washcloth instead of riding it.  Ethan stares in complete confusion.  So do I. 

8.  I'm only speaking in Madea language from now until eternity.  Deal with it.  Hellerrrrr!

9.  Sweet baby has learned to pull his passy out of his mouth....but has not learned to put his passy back into his mouth.  It goes a little like this.
-baby is content and happy sucking on passy
-baby remembers he can pull his passy out of his mouth
-baby pulls out passy
-baby laughs because this game is fun
-baby realizes he'd like to suck on passy again
-baby can't get passy back in his mouth
-baby screams bloody murder until someone inserts passy
It's a real fun game, come over and play with us sometime...while I nap.

10.  I can't decide on whether to clean my microwave or go buy a new one.  I'm leaning towards the second option. 

11.   C-ya!  Headed to the wal-marts to purchase a self cleaning microwave.

26 things about being 26

I've been 26 for a whole day so far, and I already have 26 things say about it.  Most of this is idle ramblings because I have bloggers block. 

1.  I've not had to cook the entire time I've been 26.  That trend will end when Ethan wakes up in the morning...but it was a nice break while it lasted.
2.  The filter that stops me from saying EXACTLY what is on my mind, EXACTLY when it comes to my mind has completely stopped working. 
3.  The dark cloud that has been hanging over our family since April 15th went away yesterday.  So 26 has been dark cloudless.   That will make sense to those who know the attack we have been under since April 15th.
4.  My son is much more handsome since I've been 26...and tomorrow he will be even cuter.  I'm a psychic.  I don't see his cute/handsome streak anytime soon. 
5.  I'm an emotional train wreck. 
6.  I'm still truly, madly, deeply (shout out to savage garden) in love with my husband.
7.  I want to be the mother of multiple children more than ever.
8.  It still overwhelms me that God has entrusted me with Ethan.  I am soooo thankful for this gift.
9.  I have a HUGE desire to be a better mother at 26 than I was at 25.
10.  I have a HUGE desire to be a better wife at 26 than I was at 25.
11.  I have a HUGE desire to be a better person at 26 than I was at 25.
12.  Pink is still my favorite color.
13.  I love black nail polish on others and hate it on me.  Yes, I painted my nails black for the first time during my first 2 hours of being 26. 
14.  The older I get the shorter my hair gets. 
15.  American Eagle is not cool, and Mast General Store is.  Proof positive I'm growing up.
16.  I have not conquered the "yes" syndrome.  I just don't enjoy telling people "no, sorry I can't". 
17.  I haven't clipped any coupons since turning 26.
18.  I've not gained any weight since I turned 26.  Let's all rejoice in miracles!
19.  I've not lost any weight since I turned 26.  You can stop rejoicing now.
20.   I've been exhausted the entire time I've been 26. 
21.  I love funny people and don't enjoy boring people and I'm not afraid to say it.  Refer to number two if I've hurt your feelings.
22.  I had hoped I would overcome my addiction to "Real Housewives of Every County" but I haven't.
23.  Allen and Ethan got new shoes on my birthday and I did not, and I will rub that in their face every chance I get to prove I'm not selfish.  Which will annoy them...which will make me happy.  Gloating over non selfishness is not selfish is it?
24.  I'm getting "set in my ways".  Sooo that boils down to the fact that it's my way or the highway.  I need to work on that. 
25.  Insomnia is still running wild during my 26th year of life.
26.  The end.

A little bit of this, A little bit of that

Here are some of the comings and goings from the Pruitt household...

The meeting we attending yesterday regarding the 2 babies didn't go terribly, and it didn't go exactly the way we wanted either.  Once again proving that "His ways are not my ways".  It will be a waiting game...have I mentioned I'm not a fan of that game?  Don't get me wrong the meeting went REALLY well, the speed of how things will progress is longer then I thought but I have a peace about that. 

We are currently shacked up in a fancy shmancy cabin in the booming metropolis of Pigeon Forge.  We are with our sweet friends Jami and Melissa.  We are having a blast!  We have been planning this weekend for what seems like 3 yrs.  I think this weekend was greatly needed by all who are in attendance.  Our plan is NO plan.  And boy do I love that plan!

Ethan is with Nanna and Papaw!  I haven't even had a crying fit about it!  To be honest I was wondering how I would do being away from my little man since I have issues in that department.  I am happy to report that he is happy and having a wonderful time, and I am having a wonderful time.  I miss my little snot but am pleased that we have crossed this milestone.  It really is quite miserable to live in constant fear that something will happen to your children.  He is perfectly safe and sound...I know this because I call him every 10 minutes.  Ok so not every 10...but at least every 15!

To prove that Allen and I are kids in adult bodies we got up this morning and watched Nanny McPhee Returns.  We have no kids, we could have been doing a number of different things and yet we chose to watch a cute children's movie.  It made me miss Ethan and his mischevious ways...I need a Nanny McPhee takeover at my house!

Well guys I'm signing out!  I've got great friends, an awesome enviroment, and a town full of shopping to get too! 

Scary Excitement

I am an open book. If you want to know something there is a great chance that you won't even have to ask I'll go ahead and lay it out on the table regardless of whether your interested or not. That's why I blog! Well, one of the reasons.

There are some things that are developing in our personal lives that I want to tell you about...it also makes me very nervous to openly disclose all of the information. It is very difficult not to blog about the one thing you are completely consumed with. I am going to attempt to tell you some of the changes we may be facing very soon. I am also going to try and NOT tell you everything, it is to early in the game to show you all our cards. So much is up in the air, and I don't want to blab details that arn't set in stone.

Anyone remember the wonderful news we recieved about Gabby late last summer? Well, none of what we were promised would happen never took place. We were given information from the decision makers and then everything fell through. EVERYTHING. After that expierience we learned that nothing is "for sure" until you have the baby in your arms and the documents signed. That was devestating for our family. To know beyond a shadow of a doubt you will be reunited with your child and then it never happens. It was like losing her all over again.

We learned this lesson the hard way with Anna too. It was a "for sure" thing we would be adopting her. On Monday we were told to get prepared for her adoption, and the wednesday of the same week we were told to pack her things she would be leaving Thursday morning. Talk about some hard lessons to learn!

I'm telling you all of this because we are getting excited about a few things taking place in our personal life right now. We understand that to get excited at this point in the game is a very dangerous. When working with DCS you must always remember that you are swimming in dark and murky waters. This isn't always the fault of DCS there are policies and procedures that must be followed regardless of the hearts and lives it may ruin along the way.

We have a very important meeting on Friday at 3:00. If we recieve the news we are hoping for it will forever change our lives. It has been the desire of our heart to add more permenent children to our family we will find out if this will happen on Friday.

If I have said it once I've said it a million times. I want children regardless of...
What womb they come from
What problems they come with
And what race they may be.

I feel that we are going into this meeting with a lot on our side. I feel like we have a wonderful chance of coming out of the meeting with more children then we walked into it with. I also know what waters I am choosing to swim in. We are very excited, and we are also very scared. When I look at this situation it is evident that God has His hand in this. I just don't know what the end results will be.

I am asking some very specific things from you, I would be greatly humbled and eternally grateful if you would pray for our family. Prayer changes things. I believe that God hears our prayers, knows our hearts, and He takes care of His children.

Pray for the people who will be making the decisions on Friday. Pray that they will do what is in the best intrest of the children.

I ask you to pray for us to have peace about the situation. It would be foolish of me to tell you I am not lost in excitement about these new developements. If this isn't meant to be I will need peace to understand and accept that. God isn't just God when He is answering "yes" to my prayers. God remains the same regardless of my understanding of His will.

If we are the family picked to parent these children we will need your prayers. Due to the circumstances these babies will come with a different set of needs. The nights will be long, and so will the days. Pray that we are able to parent these children in the most affective way possible. Pray that Ethan will have an easy adjustment to his new role as a big brudder.

Pray for the children. Please, please, please pray for these precious babies. They need a hedge of protection to surround them. Please, pray for the children.

I also ask to you pray for the member of our household who will transitioning out. We are foster parents and understand that children will come through our home. We were the parents we needed to be during the time alotted. As that time is coming to a close pray for an easy transition.

Again, thank you so much for taking time to read this, if ever we have needed prayers we need them now.

Blogging Lessons

In the grand scheme of things I'm new to blogging.  So I don't have the type of lessons that a seasoned blogger has but there are some things I've learned since I began this adventure. 

1.  My grammar is horrendous.  Commas, periods, the whole 9 yards.  So bare with me.  If I don't have my punctuation correct...and I won't.  Or my sentences are fragmented, or words are just straight up spelled the wrong way I apologize.  If spell checker doesn't catch it then don't count on me to come through either. 

2.  Writers block makes me feel like a loser.  There are some days when I could post 15 blogs a day.  Then there will be a week when I couldn't put words down if you payed me money.  The pioneer woman intructs you to write through the block.  I struggle with that.  But I love PW with a passion so I am trying to take her advice.  For example I currently am expieriencing a case of writers block but I'm posting this list.  Awesome. 

3.  I always have awesome things to blog about when I have a list a mile high of housework that needs to be done. 

4.  Knowing that people might possibly read this can give you a very big head.  In fact I recently told Allen that I couldn't do laundry because I needed to blog and  my "readers" might miss me.  I'm lame.
If I'm feeling fat then I remember that I just might have "readers" and I feel skinny.
If I'm feeling blah then I remember that I just might have "readers" and I feel perky! 
If I'm feeling hungry then I remember that I just might have "readers" and I feel....hungry.  Darn!  I wish it worked that way...then maybe I wouldn't feel fat.  O well, one can dream.

5.  This is a lot cheaper then therapy.  I can vent and get out what I need to say and it doesn't hurt my pocketbook. 

6.  I have to remember that this is still the world wide web and I can't put everything out there.  I'm a very open person and there have been many an occasion that I've had to backspace an entire post.  Just because I feel it is very relavent doesn't mean the entire universe would or should. 

7.  I'm always so humbled and grateful when people take time out of thier lives to read about ours.  It touches me in ways I can't express.  So to my "readers"  thank you so much!  I feel skinny, perky and hungry!