Busy, Busy Summer

It must seem like my mourning period for Bob lasted longer than it should have when it comes to dogs… since my last blog post was nearing two months ago.

Yes, I was sad about Robert and yes, I’m still sad about the poor guy.

But that isn’t why I haven’t blogged … It’s laziness.

Though while I was home in Sedan recently, I happened to walk across a wet spot on the floor and had to catch myself from cursing Bob’s name. The dog was old enough to know better than to pee inside but whenever he was in Sedan, he seemed to think my parent’s entire house was his own personal pee pad.

Anyway, the past two months have been filled with, obviously, the mourning of Robert. As well as baby doctor appointments, all that have gone well and all that seem to continue to tell me that this baby is, still, really coming! We are approximately six weeks and some days away from the actual due date for this baby… and we are only 12 weeks away from actually being ready!

Pregnancy number one was so easy because I wasn’t working, I wasn’t chasing a toddler around all day long and I wasn’t cleaning up after a toddler all day long. My days seemed pretty carefree compared to now! I had time to get Sloane’s room ready, my house was clean pretty much all the time, I had everything organized and ready to go by this time during that pregnancy… and now… I have my baby boy’s ‘stuff’ in a paper grocery sack, hanging up in the guest bedroom.

Oh, and aunt Janet got his bedding done. His bedding that has no crib to go on because his crib is still in use by his sister.

So… I definitely have things to get accomplished before he arrives and luckily for me, I will have visitors for the next few weeks that will not mind watching Sloane while I get some of these things accomplished. Such as getting the bassinet out of storage and cleaned, purchasing a carseat, finding a new dresser for Sloane so her dresser can become her brother’s so I have somewhere to put his stuff, getting his clothing washed so the poor thing has something to wear, buying some diapers (for both him and his sister) … I’ve had this list of ‘to do’s’ for a few months now and though part of the problem is me, I do blame my husband a tad.

I have told Matt about this list of things we need to get done and his response is the same every time.

“It will get done.”

Yes, yes it will. It will get done when we stop saying that it will get done and actually get it done!

The last few weeks I’ve really had to reiterate the fact that this baby is coming sooner rather than later and that at some point, we can’t keep saying ‘it will get done’. Or he will be here and all of those things that we were going to get done, never actually got accomplished, and I will FREAK out.

And who wants that?! 🙂

So… the goal over the next few weeks is to get this ‘to do’ list knocked out and a few other things in case baby decides to have an early arrival (though I’m very excited to meet him, I prefer he stay put until his due date).

I ask that everyone keep us in your thoughts the next couple of weeks. I ask that you pray for the baby’s health… but also for our sanity… and for us to accomplish these important to do’s!

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, wants a pissed off pregnant woman! 🙂

Sad Times

Though I really wanted to sit down and blog about the last few weeks, which included a trip to Kansas to celebrate the impending arrival of three new babies to my three good friends, our first visit to Arkansas to see Jenna and Josh as well as getting to meet my brother’s girlfriend, Alex, for the first time.

But instead, I feel it only appropriate to dedicate this blog post to the one and only Bob. The annoyingly smelly, yet hilariously happy basset hound who graced my brother and our family’s presence for close to four years, but passed away yesterday due to, after some googling, Gastric Dilation and Volvulus (GDV). This is when the stomach becomes bloated and and then twisted which has sever effects on circulation as well as the entire body.

What makes this the most sad is that my brother was not expecting it! He took Bob in to the vet because he was planning on getting his manhood removed (something that was long overdue!). Matt said that Bob must have sensed this was happening and decided to move on to a better place, where his manhood could stay intact forever!

But once they were at the vet, he noticed the issues Bob was having and sent Jord and Bob to Topeka for a surgical procedure. Jord was forewarned that he might not make it out of surgery and unfortunately, he did not. He was taken and buried in an open field somewhere in Topeka and Jord did all of this on his own.

I realize that this is just a dog, so what I’m about to say might sound ridiculous. But I know I speak for all of my family when I say that Bob wasn’t just a dog, he was a part of the family. And he was my brother’s best friend.

When my mom called me yesterday afternoon to tell me the news, I was in instant shock because I was certain she was wrong – I knew Bob was going to outlive all of us! And after a few minutes of letting it sink in, I could not stop crying. Neither could my mom.

When I calmed down, I called Jord who didn’t answer, so I called Matt. And cried.

Then Jord called me back.

And we both cried.

My brother doesn’t cry people. But when you lose something that has been apart of your life as much as Bob has been in Jord’s, the only thing you can do when you lose that something is to cry.

I’d give anything to be able to chase Bob around the yard one last time, while he tried to chase me back. Or to scream, “ROBERT!!!!” one last time. I did this alot when he was our roommate for nine months.

Here are a few posts that I thought everyone would enjoy re-reading about Bob’s time with us in Wichita, as well as a few pictures.

Robert, I hope you are happy up in dog heaven, eating all of the disgusting things that you usually ate while on earth, and chasing/barking at the others that are trying to invade the space near your food, and chasing your tail, and running all around open spaces because you aren’t trapped by a gate or fence, and then ending your day by laying on the largest bed ever made that is to your height so you can jump right up on it.

We will all miss you … maybe not your stench … but you!

Bob Posts & Pics:
Growing Up
Why I Think Bob will Live with Me Forever
Report on Roberto
Baby It’s Cold Outside… and I’m Not Moving!
Who Let the Dogs In

When we were all home at the same time, this is where you would always find these two...

One happy family!

Ladies Lunching

Sloane and I took our friends Emily and Grace to lunch on Tuesday to thank them (slash Emily) for watching Sloane a few different times when we have had doctor’s appointments.

Sloane loves Emily and Grace… and I think Grace has finally adjusted to Sloane and her ‘wild ways’! Grace is our petite princess so when Sloane is around, she can be alot to take in!

Thanks Emily and Grace for letting Sloane come over and play!

Storm of the Year

… Gave us maybe two inches of snow!

But I’m not complaining! We dealt with this for our first winter in Minnesota last year!

I will take two inches of snow as the storm of the year compared to 18!

On Monday, we were told to expect 6-12 inches and I braced myself thinking this really would be our big storm, so let’s just get through it and move on to spring. By the afternoon, it had switched to 4-8 inches. By yesterday morning, it was 1-3″… and by last night, we were just getting rain.

But we did wake up to more snow this morning. Which meant the only way for Matt to get to his car to leave for work was to either a) suck it up and RUN to the car in his dress clothes or b) shovel the sidewalks before he left.

He chose B which I appreciate because if he didn’t do it, I knew I would have to just for Sloane and I to get to the car. That’s right people… when it snows here, we don’t hunker down! We live our lives! 😉

So… thanks to my wonderful husband for really getting down and dirty… in his dress clothes.

The Art of Sharing

Sharing has become a new word in our daily vocabulary in the household.  We try and teach Sloane this basic idea since in less than five months, she’ll have to do plenty of it when baby boy Clark arrives!

But I have come to realize that sharing isn’t something that you learn when you are a toddler and that’s the end of it. It’s something you have to do your entire life.

It happens in a major way when you get married and have to split times between families for holidays. You can feel the sense of betrayal as you walk out the door from your own immediate family to head on to the husband’s immediate family.

OK – that’s all in my head because I’m sure it’s just myself that feels like I’m betraying my family – I’m pretty sure they just open up another bottle of beer and go about their day!

It gets harder when you bring a child/grandchild into the family and have to split time between grandparents/aunts/uncles. The parents/sisters/brothers no longer care about what you or your husband or doing. It’s all about the baby. And when we leave from one house to go to the next, you again feel that lingering feeling of betrayal…

And this is not in my head … I’m sure my dad has said, “Why are you leaving us?” Followed by a pouty face. 

Sharing is a part of life and as I have been experiencing these new parts to the world of sharing, there is one part that I hadn’t really had to do.

And that is share my own siblings.

God bless both of them but for awhile, I was the only one with a significant other. We chuckle about it (but only for a second until we realize we are really aging ourselves) but my sister was 12 when Matt and I started dating. So you see… he has been around for a long time!

Lauren had a pretty serious boyfriend for a few years but they parted ways almost two years ago. One will never forget T-Mac though. At least not from my wedding…

My brother had a girlfriend for a few years, but once Libby got into college, they also decided to part ways.

So… it has basically been, me, Matt, Jord and Lauren at Hills family functions. One can never say that we didn’t enjoy each other’s company. See pic below.

But in the recent months, things have started to change.

We’ve had a shake-up in the relationship sector of the Hills family. And the shake-up involves my brother and sister.

My sister started dating a lovely man by the name of Sam (last name to be withheld since now he is an official man of the uniform) whom she had basically been best friends with since her freshman year in college. They have been ‘official’ since August and so Sam has been able to soak in some time with the Hills clan.

One needs A LOT of time to soak in with us before they truly grasp what we are about slash what is wrong with us.

My brother just recently started dating a gal by the name of Alex, who just so happens to be one of my cousin Maria’s good friends (as well as her husband’s cousin). Maria actually set Jord and Alex up and from what I’ve seen and heard, the woman is a good matchmaker! I have yet to meet Alex (which I hope changes in a few weeks!) but my parents and sister have met her and have nothing but wonderful things to say about her! The only downfall we know of is that she is a Husker fan AND graduate (not something you find much of when it comes to Nebraska faithful). Luckily for us, Nebraska is no longer in the Big 12 so we shouldn’t have to worry too much about it.

Thank goodness she didn’t go to KU or we’d have an entirely different issue on our hands…

Anywho… from the looks of it, these two folks seem like they might be keepers.

Meaning they aren’t going away anytime soon.

Which means my days of leaving my house in Sedan at Christmas to go out to the Clark’s, only to come back and find everyone still there, might be short-lived.

Which basically means … I think I might have to … SHARE THEM with other families!

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

“Grow up, Allyson! Siblings get married. They start their own families. Life goes on!”

And I totally get where you’re coming from…

But these are MY siblings — who I actually enjoy spending time with! They are suppose to never really grow up, always be my baby brother and baby sister and always be at my parent’s house… waiting for me to come back from my other family’s house.

It never occurred to me that I would have to share them with other people and other families one day!

I told Matt last week that I was pretty sure I was OK with Jord and Lauren having a girlfriend and boyfriend, but wasn’t sure I was OK with the idea of them ever getting married. Matt informed me that they NEED to get married eventually because Jordan needs someone to clean up after him and Lauren needs someone to chauffeur her around so she doesn’t get lost under a bridge… or just lost in general.

Though I see his point, wouldn’t it be so much easier on everyone if they just stayed single?

Just stayed my single baby siblings forever?!

As you can see, sharing isn’t just a lesson you teach your toddler. It’s something you deal with your entire life.

And as Sloane and I work on passing toys back and forth, I will have to remember that sharing isn’t just about giving. It’s also about receiving. Even though Jord and Lauren might have to grow up on me and get married one day and spend time with other families, I will always know that at some point, they will make their way back.

Sharing sucks! Who thought this was a good idea?! 😉

 

 

And Baby Two is…

Matt and I went to the doctor this morning to find out the big news… if Baby Clark was a boy or a girl!

If you recall my last post, I had found out at 13 weeks – with 75 percent accuracy – what the sex of the baby was. Matt and I both opened the envelope together and both knew what we ‘most likely’ were going to be having, but decided to keep it a secret from family and friends until we were closer to 100 percent accurate what the baby was.

We stepped into the ultrasound room this morning and the first thing the tech says to us is, “Did I tell you what you were having when you were here a few weeks ago?” I told her yes and she says, “Well, just a heads up. I told a patient she was having a boy at 13 weeks and it ended up being a girl at 20 weeks.”

I looked at Matt and you could see his face turn white… and I knew he was immediately contemplating how he would handle life with three women.

Which means at my 13 week appointment, the tech said we were – with 75 percent accuracy – having a boy.

And after moving the wand around my belly a few times, she told us that her previous guess was correct.

And then Matt wiped the sweat from his brow. 🙂

We are having a boy! Officially!

We are very excited! I have been in total awe of my husband and how he has been such a wonderful dad to Sloane. I can only imagine how he will be with his son.

And now that I say that, I can only imagine how much more camping crap – EXCUSE ME – camping ‘stuff’ that we will have to find places for now that we are sure we are having a boy. Oh… the joy!

PS. Remember this post from last year? Yeah. I got to deal with that again at 6 a.m. this morning. A definitely crappy way (pun intended) to start my day!

I Hear it… Don’t you?!

This girl talks.

Alot.

And 98 percent of the time I have no idea what she is saying.

But tonight, while we were getting ready to watch the K-State/Mizzou basketball game, I do believe that I know what she is saying. Surely you do, too!

Never too young to know who to cheer for – GO CATS! 

Now you’ll excuse me as I return to the game that we are winning and remember to breathe. Hard to do when we have a lead in any game, in any sport!

Keeping Secrets

… is NOT one of my strong suits. Depending on the severity of the secret, you can almost guarantee that I will tell one person.

Luckily for the secret tellers, the person I usually tell is my husband. Who forgets what I told him after two hours.

Fine when it comes to secrets, not so fine when it comes to things I really need him to remember – secret or non-secret – such as the date of our 20 week appointment to find out if we are having a boy or girl.

No big deal… just the sex of our baby. Something we will live with the rest of our lives!

At the beginning of January I had a nuchal translucency test ran just to make sure everything looked OK with the baby … and so we could actually see the baby since the only ultrasound we would have is at our 20 week appointment. I had put this appointment in Matt’s phone as a reminder. And he remembered. But because of work, he couldn’t make it (if his work could physically fight, I would have kicked its a** up and down the street by now).

So I went by myself and while doing the ultrasound, the tech asked if we wanted to find out the sex.

Ummm… wha??? I had no idea that was something that she would be able to know that early on (I was just over 13 weeks at that point). She said with 75 percent accuracy, she could tell me. Since Matt wasn’t there, I didn’t know what to do! Should I find out, hold it over his head that since he didn’t make it to the appointment, I knew if it was a girl or boy.

Or not find out at all (BOOO!).

OR have the gal write it down and we would find out together.

Since he didn’t answer his phone to tell me which option to go with, I went with option three. So the ultrasound tech gave me an envelope with the important information inside and home I went.

Without peeking.

All day long.

It was a looong day.

We didn’t get to open the envelope until after 8 p.m. that night and ofcourse, as soon as we found out (with 75 percent accuracy) what it was, I wanted to call my family.

But we also wanted to be more sure that it was what the note said it was… so we decided to wait until our 20-week appointment.

But ever since then, my dad, the all-time WORST secret keeper, has continued to question me, beg me to tell him what we are having.

He must have me pegged for a fool! The last time I told him to keep a secret, he sent out a mass text to everyone in his phone that he was going to be a grandpa… before we had told anyone!

This pregnancy, my sister decided to out me on Facebook.

So you can see why it is hard for me to keep secrets. I come from a family of non secret keepers!

But I must pat myself on the back this time around. Though I have divulged the secret information to a few select people, I have not told my family or friends what we think we are having. And that’s a LONG time to go having to watch what you say when it comes to talking about the baby.

My sister asked Matt to give her the first letter of the sex of the baby. Matt replies ‘B’. I look at him, like, ‘Dude? What are you doing?’

He responds, “Baby starts with ‘B’!”

You know what also starts with a ‘B’, honey?

Good grief…

So… we are a week away from releasing the secret.

You can expect a text from my dad with the news!

Happy Valentine’s Day

From my Valentine to yours…

And yes, she is smart enough to type ‘Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Sloane’ in to the iPad! 😉

And just in time for Valentine’s Day…

Well… isn’t this just cute?

Olympic Swimmer Proposes to Girlfriend

Not bad looking either!

Also… I went and saw ‘The Vow’ last night. I was nervous the movie would be a flop after seeing six previews prior to the movie starting of AWFUL movies coming out. I  mean seriously… I think I’d prefer to watch a two-hour documentary on the life of snails than watch some of these movies coming out!

But, luckily, ‘The Vow’ was a very good movie! Completely sad at times, but with a great ending. But yet another movie with an over-the-top representation of love. The kind where you question your own relationship and how it could not be as extraordinary as it is in the movies. Why do they always do that?!

Anyway, I recommend it if you’re searching for something to see… ‘Breaking Dawn, Part 1’ also came out over the weekend and I HIGHLY recommend it. The best of all the Twilight films – acting wise. Both Rob Pattinson and Kristin Stewart actually do some acting, not just fumble over their words and try their hardest not to look at each other. It will REALLY REALLY question your relationship! 🙂

Happy early Valentine’s Day!

AND…

GO CATS!