Brett Pritchard Family Blog

I initially was dreading this Christmas because I didn't know how to do Christmas with out all my children here. Then I decided I had to have a good Christmas with the children I still have home.   The season didn't start for Brett and I until last Saturday morning when we woke up and made our gift list.  We had only purchased three gifts from the AT&T store. We still had to buy every other thing and Christmas was less than a week away.   I have been working full time since Ellie went home 2 weeks ago and my testosterone is very low again and I really didn't want to go get it inserted because it costs me $300 every time.  Poor Brett is also very low again and it costs $700 every time for him.  Needless to say, we had not gotten anything other than necessities done.   We woke up on Saturday morning and made our list and left here at 11:30am.  By 5:45pm we had every single thing purchased, every gift and stocking stuffer, and had it all wrapped and under the tree.

My heart is so heavy tonight. After 7 weeks of separation, Ellie's Mommy and sister couldn't stand being away from her any longer. They asked if I would be okay if they changed their mind, and took her back.  With Ellie being Nancy's niece and not her daughter, she had no idea how strong her bond was until she was separated from her. I remember telling her, "From my experience in the past, of raising another mothers child,  you will not know how strong your bond is with Ellie until you are separated from her."  I was reflecting back on memories of my 6 week separation from Mariela, when she was 10 months old. It was the worst experience of my life, up to that point. I had no idea how it would affect me until she went to her uncles.  That same thing happened to Nancy. I understood and had to let Ellie go home. I am missing her so much. It's amazing how I could love a child so deeply, so fast. I feel like I was suppose to be her mommy, even for a brief t