Farewell Ruby

As we have welcomed a New Year, we are also saying goodbye to our dear Ruby. We have been aware of her having DCM (Dilated Cardio Myopathy) and were treating her with medication. It was already known that our time with her would be limited, but somewhere inside I hoped she would beat the odds and live until she's old and gray. Unfortunately, today was the day that God decided her heart had enough. She leaves us heartbroken and missing her and all her quirky characteristics. In a mental snapshot I see all these things when I think of Ruby:
rolling around in snow, jumping off the dock on a hot summer day, snuggling up in a blanket with Atlas, nose at the door when she heard "walk," sulking when she was reprimanded, chasing tennis balls non-stop and most of all... her need to be close to us wherever we are in the house.

This sensitive, gentle, funny, stubborn, and slightly mischevious dog was one of a kind. We bought her at a pivotal time in our lives when we got married and bought our first house. Some may say she's only a dog, but to that I say she's a part of our family. Our Ruby...we love you.

 

 

Watching Peter

 

Wooohoooo! The lake:) One of her favorite places to run free...Thanks Grandma D and GG!

Stunning boxer

Glad E could meet her. She was very gracious with letting him poke and pull on her.

 

The dynamic duo

 

I miss you already, friend.

 

 

6 Months Later

I have failed miserably at keeping this thing updated. I'm not even sure if anyone even checks it anymore!:) As you can imagine, there have been several months of watching Emmett grow and change. Peter and I have been super busy all summer and into the fall. There's so many pictures, so maybe I'll make a "catch-up" slide show...we'll see. Being 2 working parents with a new kid, we've been learning a lot. Most importantly, we've learned how much we value sleep and our weekends together.

Today we visted Smallwood Farm in Peshastin to find us some pumpkins. It was fun to start a new tradition and we were imagining future years of Emmett running around that place like a mad man. It was a bit cold and he wasn't sure what to think half the time, but boy is he a cutie!

We've arrived!

More interested in the grass.

 

Have we found the Great Pumpkin yet?

 

 Keeping an out for the perfect one

 

Ah, this will do!

Nothing fits better than a "sugar pumpkin" for sweet Emmett.

 

Lots of fun activities, but we'll have to settle for now with the swings.

 

What a ham:)

 

We hit up Silvara Winery right behind Smallwood to warm up and enjoy a beverage.

Emmett was busy making eyes at some ladies behind us:)

 

A perfect Sunday in my book. We got home just in time for Sunday night football and now we're ready for the new week ahead. Next stop...HALLOWEEN!!!

 

Welcome Spring...and Emmett!

Yes, we've turned a new corner...becoming parents! We are so proud to welcome our son, Emmett to our lives and the world. 

 Good bye sleep and hello new love.

We feel beyond blessed to have had such an uneventful pregnancy and smooth delivery. At times we look at him and can't believe that he's finally here. I can only speak for myself, but there is nothing like becoming a parent. The immense responsiblity sounds overwhelming if you think about it too much, but it comes so naturally as this new love takes over and everything falls into place.

Over the past 2 weeks, we've been super busy figuring out this whole parenting thing with visitors and resuming normal life. Here's a bunch of pictures of our new pride and joy and how we've been spending our time.

Brand new baby. Emmett Peter, 7pounds 3ounces 19 1/2inches...perfection.

Tired mom, pretending it was a breeze:)

Proud Papa and great partner during the final moments of delivery

Back home with Grandma and Grandpa Rigelman

Aunties Lana and Leigha made a day trip (cousin Timmy came too)

 Aunt Lana (the family germaphobe) has come a long way...Timmy on the dog beds.

I feel like just yesterday, Timmy looked just like Emmett. Now look at him, feeding himself yogurt.

Thanks for making the trip over Timmy:)

Honorary Auntie Nikki came to make us dinner, spend the night, and hang with Emmett

On our way to the doctor!

Not too happy about bath time

Ah, much better. Love this picture...our little duck.

Some quality time with the Radcliffes (aunt Pam).

Emmett gripping uncle Darin's big hand

Kisses from momma. There's an endless supply of these. 

And who could forget about our pups. We still love you:)

They've been really good with Emmett. Atlas doesn't even want Ruby to get close too baby.

More adventures to come!!!

Busy Week

Nothing super crazy happening, but maybe it's time to update the old blog. Since the new year has begun, we've started feeling some heat to get ready for baby. Yes, we still haven't settled on a name.

Last week and this week, Pete has been all consumed laying slate tile in the "man room" which is slowly turning into our "guest room." It hasn't been the easiest project considering that he's never done it before (and I had no words of wisdom to offer). He learned the hard way too. Shouldn't take too long right? Well, Pete laid ALL the tile without wiping down any excess grout, so by the time he was finished it started drying and a challenging mess remained that left us wondering if it would ever come up. Scrubbing the excess grout off proved to be a test of Pete's patience and endurance. I felt so bad for him one night that I strapped on some knee pads and helped him scrub for a couple hours (and only cleaned about 6 tiles). My frustration made it even more maddening for him so we called it a night. THANKFULLY many nights later, it's done and we just need to do the final touches by adding baseboards. Ugh. Every night I've laid my head down next to an exhausted husband with blistered hands and sore knees. All said and done, it looks pretty damn good.

Pete's endless hell

Yay! DONE!!! (Pete's helpers need some credit too)

In other preparations, we put together the crib and got the dresser finally! That's another story too. I have a recommendation of where NOT to order baby furniture from.

Other than this stuff we're just busy working, preparing, and ...growing.

30 weeks

What have I been doing while Pete's slaving away? Teaching a great group of kids with my fair share of challenging gems that keep me on my toes. Hopefully I will last until spring break (March 30th) since I think most "first babies" come late. Not sure, but sounds good to me.

Oh yeah, and we finally got lots of snow today! Love it:)





Merry Christmas

Is it me or did Christmas come and go before you could blink? We had an early Christmas in Seattle with both of our families. Pete gave me my Christmas gift early so I could document our trip...a maginificent Canon EOSi Rebel camera that I totally have no idea what to do with. I feel unworthy of all it's features, but I'm learning. Hopefully some photography classes will be in my near future:) Here's some pics of the family at the Bradbury home (Pete's oldest sister Leigha and her family).

Lana and Mama Rigelman looking fabulous

Pete, Grandma McKamy, and Marcus (Leigha's husband). She's such a trooper!

Leigha and daughter Elena

Isabelle, Linnea and her boyfriend Scott

Liam and his sisters exploring the new battery powered Minnie Cooper

It took 3 grown men to get this thing figured out...nice work boys:) The wheels turned out to be much trickier than they appeared.

Look it's Shane (Lana's husband) and his sports bra...that's what you get for being a husky fan! Of course that wasn't his real gift from us. Still waiting for a picture of him in it:)

Uncle Pete and Timmy (Lana & Shane's baby boy) playing some wall ball.

After a full fledged Rigelman Christmas, we had many other things to do on our visit in Seattle. One of those things was seeing friends! We met up down at Toulouse for a delicious dinner.

Beauties Rose and Ellen (who just got engaged to Scott on Christmas)!

The cool kids with glasses (Scott, Mary and hubby Trevor)

My girls (Ellen, Nikki, Mary, & Anna). Who ate too much for dinner on the right?:)

At the time, Ellen wasn't engaged yet but had been suspecting that it would happen soon. I can't wait to see them around New Years so I can get a close up of her beautiful rock! Yay...love weddings!!!

Another highlight of our trip was meeting baby Oscar earlier that day. Yes, Gretchen and Jordan are now parents:) Gretchen was really put through a tough labor situation and recovery. There was quite a scare with baby AND Gretch, but I thank God with all that I am that everything turned out okay in the end.  

Meet the much awaited Oscar

Proud mama Gretch admirining her prize

Ozzie...happy as a clam with Pete

And baby makes 3...the Lindstroms are complete (for now)

I guess Pete couldn't find the flash:) Thanks for letting us visit so soon after coming home from the hospital.

Needless to say, we were back home in Wenatchee for Christmas Eve and Pete's parents and sister were kind enough to travel over the pass to see us. We kept busy both days snow shoeing in Blewitt Pass and Mission Ridge. I got to play with my camera a bit and tried to take some good shots.

Beautiful Day

The Rigelman Crew...love the hat Papa Greg (he's having a National Lampoon's moment).

Very little snow, but we made our own path

My hottie husband and soon to be father himself:) He lights up my world

Snow Shoeing with my baby...7months preggo and still trying to go hang with the best of em!

Of course, what's Christmas without opening the dogs' stockings! Since we had our Christmas early, we got to watch the dogs dig in. Hopefully with a new baby, the dogs will still get this much attention now and then.

How suitable... a lump of coal for Atlas:)

What's really going on here? The dogs are watching me trying to figure out the camera. Love those mugs.

Busy break, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Glad we got to see so many loved ones to wrap up 2011!