Sometimes

-Sometimes I truly and honestly hate Summer.  Its this horrible heat.  I know Im from the desert, but I just cant handle it!!! 

-Sometimes I feel like certain shows that everyone loves are really stupid and then one day I wake up and all the sudden love them.  Its like the stars just have to align or something.  I've thought that 30 Rock was super boring for years and then I started watching it out of the blue last week and Im pretty sure its the funniest thing ever.  The episode where they keep referencing "Harry and the Hendersons" is what sold me on it.

-Sometimes I think my life would be complete if I had a $10,000.00 camera.
 

-Sometimes I am certain that Kalvin is the prettiest baby I have ever seen in my entire life.

-Sometimes I think my heart could explode with happiness every afternoon when Clark can hardly wait to wake Kalvin up from his nap, cuz he is just dying to play with him.

-Sometimes I cant decide weather I would be happier being a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance' or being a judge on "Master Chef".
 

-Sometimes I cant believe how awesome Clark is and that he gets to be my son.

-Sometimes I think its hilarious that Clark hides his favorite toys and snacks under the cushion of the recliner.. other times it just annoys me.

-Sometimes I wish that I lived in the 1940s... but with better cars and iphones and flat screen tvs and all my favorite shows and music and lots and lots of other things... I just like the thought of good people and morals and aprons and hats.

-Sometimes I crave pancakes.  That's a lie.  I always crave pancakes.

-Sometimes I am super jealous of Clark, because he gets to be 4 right now and wear a cape in public and the only pressing matter in his life is watching cartoons and stickers and lady bugs are the most precious things in the world... and he says things like "oh my barf".

-Sometimes I wish I could choose the length of my hair on a day to day basis, like those dolls from when I was a kid where you just push a button and her hair grows longer or gets shorter.  I always wanted one of those dolls.
 

-Sometimes I look at pictures of Coeur D'Alene Idaho and cant figure out why I don't live there.

-Sometimes I think about when me and my siblings decided we were all going grow up and buy an old theatre together and show all of our favorite old movies.

-Sometimes I feel really sick and dramatic and then Brad gets me yogurt and medicine and watches tv with me and I feel way better.

Hard Earned Break

Oh my this week has been wonderful!!  Its been so long since we've been able to relax and have some fun.  Between Brad's school and the boys being sick, we just haven't had a moment to catch our breath.  This last week, we were able to.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  Honestly, I'm not even sure what happened when.  The days all kinda mooshed together with lots of family and friends and happiness.

We were quite pleased to find out that Brad's program at school decided to go paperless and now requires all PT students to have an ipad... so they bought us an ipad!!!!  Its awesome and I may be a little addicted.  We'd been wanting one for so long, but there was just no way we were going to be able to afford one for quite a while, so that was a very happy surprise.

We got together for what was probably our LAST BBQ with the "married guys" from Brad's class and their families.  I really feel like we got so lucky being in the same class as these people.  They are all so great and these guys have been such great friends for Brad!!  Its been a crazy 2 years of us all together and so weird to think that in the next month, we'll all be going our separate ways.

"The PT Wives Club"

When they all started school 2 years ago, there were only 2 kids in the group.  Now there are 4 1/2 ;)  So fun!!

One of the nights last week we decided to use our gift card to Red Lobster

We ate way too much!!!  I tried scallops for the first time and loved them!!!  Who knew?  And I'm not much of a shrimp person, but the coconut shrimp there is to die for.  Cheesecake was not bad either.  Like I said, we ate way too much.

We were lucky enough to spend some time out in Overton with the Robison clan.  Clark and Kal got to spend some much needed quality time with their cousins...

...and Grandparents.  Ohhhh Clarky and his games.  He is obsessed.  Its getting to the point where if anyone sees Clark walking through the house with a game, they need to hide.  Of course they don't.  They are all suckers for his big brown eyes and sweet little "please" and end up playing "Guess Who" for hours on end.

Brad and I were lucky enough to get a date in.  Brad's sweet and brave parents agreed to take the kids off our hands so we could go see KA.  It was a Cirque De Soleil show on the strip.  It was good.  Sorta weird at some parts, but fun.  Loved the music and I was just so happy to be out on a date!!

Brad's parents kept the boys over night, so after the show, we were still free.  It was midnight and no kids.  That hasn't happened in like forever.  So you want to know what we did??  We went home and watched 30Rock and were both asleep before the first episode ended.  hah  We are so old.  But it was wonderful!! 

The next day we were going to go to the driving range so Brad could laugh at me, but it was closed.  So we just went and got some lunch instead.  By the way, I don't think Einstein's should do paninis.  They need to just stick to bagels.

Then after lunch we were headed back out to get our babies

We got to Overton to find them both as happy as could be and probably hadn't even noticed we were gone.  Such a comfort to know they have people that love and take care of them like that!! 

I love watching these two together!!!

Grandpa took us out for some ice cream and the good old Inside Scoop before we left to come back into vegas.

Kal was happy to finish what Clark couldn't.

Reminiscing about Brad's childhood and Dad told us some fun stories about him being a teenager there in Overton :)

We came to a big decision over the week.  We've known for a while that we will be moving out to Overton come August, since Brad's last two internships are in Mesquite.  We just didn't know where would be living.  Well after lots and lots and lots of conversations, we finally came to a decision.  In August we will officially be moving in with Brad's parents.  We decided it would be a good move to save up some money this last year before Brad graduates and Brad's parents are so incredibly kind and have opened their home to us without any hesitation.  We feel very blessed and although, a little nervous about this next step, very excited too!!!

We got a new lawn mower.  The one we've been using has been barely working for the last few years.  Brad's just been jimmy-riggin' it every time he starts the thing up.  Well, it finally quit on us.  Then as luck would have it, we found a lawn mower that was in great condition at DI for $35.  Good buy for sure.

We spent a whole day swimming and playing, but decided it would be a waste to spend a beautiful Saturday indoors in the city.  So Friday night found us back in the car and headed back to Overton.  Can you tell we're ready to be living out there??

Clarky felt the need to play with his trucks on the front porch at 9:30 at night once we got to Grandma's.

Saturday morning, Brad rolled out of bed at about 4:30am to go pick Brady up and head to the lake to do some fishing.  They had fun, I think.  Brad caught 2 large mouth bass and is wanting to make some fish tacos.  We'll see how this turns out...

While they were fishing, the boys and I went to play with Jessica and Cole.  They just moved into their new house, so we were excited to go see it all put together.  Its so cute!!!!  I love love love it.

We are SO excited to move out and be closer to Brady and Jessica!!   

Checking out Dad's fish

After just a few days, Grandmas got her hooks into the boys good.  Its like they never left on a mission.  I love Emily's expression, "thick as thieves".  So accurate in describing the bond between Grandma and these kids!! 

Brad's parents got iphones, so Brad was trying to show Dad how to use his and helping him set it up.  haha  You wouldn't believe how entertaining it was :)

And I guess that brings us to today...

Its been a lovely Sunday.  Church was inspiring and renewing and an afternoon of sandwiches and Arrested Development has been quite enjoyable.

Tomorrow is our last day before Brad goes back to school and we plan on thoroughly enjoying it.  There may be some swimming and some grilling that needs to take place.. but only after a few chores.  Our house has suffered this week from all the fun.

Hope your week was as wonderful as ours was!!!

Clark's Trip to the Hospital

Yesterday was one of the worst days of my entire life!!  It started it out so normal.  Running errands, planning dinner, playing with the kids, waiting for Brad to get home.  I hate that so much!  The normal and then the shock of something terrible happening. 

Brad surprised us and got home a few hours earlier than we were planning.  He had a meeting that got canceled.  I am so forever grateful for that meeting being canceled!!!  It was only maybe 30 minutes after he got home that Clarky had a seizure. 

Brad and Clark were in the living room playing video games and I was in the office on the phone with Apple trying to fix my stupid phone.  I heard all the boys laughing and talking and playing and then all the sudden I heard Brad say, "Clark??  Are you alright??"  I stopped and listened for Clarky's response and I didn't hear anything.  As I hung up on the Apple tech that was in the middle of talking to me and started to stand up I heard Brad yell, "Amanda we need to take Clark to the hospital!"  My heart sunk and started to race and it was like slow motion running from the office to the living room.  Once I saw Clark things slowed down and sped up all at the same time. 

I always thought that because my older sister, Heather has always had very severe epilepsy, if I ever had a child that had a seizure, it would be no big deal, because I've seen thousands of them before.  That was SO not the case!!  Seeing my baby laying on the floor with his eyes rolled back in his head and he is convulsing and spitting up.... worst moment of my life!!  It was horrifying and Brad nor I can get the image out of our heads.  I cant explain how it feels to see that happen to your child.  I thought I knew what it would be like and I thought I could sympathize, but you just cant truly understand unless it happens to you.  And I fell apart.  Like bad!!  I learned that I am the absolute worst person to have in an emergency!!  I was sobbing and shaking and I couldn't get out a coherent sentence, let alone process what to do.  Brad on the other hand... WOW!!!  He is the man you want in a scary situation like that!!  He was clearly terrified as well, but he just handled it all.  Maybe because he saw how I was doing, he didn't really have a choice.  I don't know, but I am so so so thankful for him and for his calmness in that awful moment.  

He told me to call 911 and with extremely shaky hands, I managed to.  As I was on the phone with the operator, Clark started coming out of the seizure. (it lasted about 1 minute, but I could have sworn it was 15 minutes.  Good thing Brad was paying attention.)  Brad told me to hang up, cuz waiting for an ambulance would take to long, so we were going to drive him to the Hospital.  So, I grabbed Kalvin and Brad got Clark and we put them in the car and left.

I sat in the back with Clark and tried talking to him and watching his breathing and his heart beat.  He was completely gone.  No seizure anymore, but he was completely disoriented and unresponsive.  That was really scary too!  I cried and cried and Brad drove like a madman.  He was seriously going 95 on the shoulder of the freeway passed traffic.  It was scary, but I didn't care at all.  I just wanted to get to the hospital.

We got there in about 10 minutes and I ran Clark into the ER.  Things calmed down some once he was there with the doctors and nurses.  I just felt better.  Not all the way better, but a little bit.  They put him in his room and hooked him up and then we just had to wait for the doctor.  We were trying to talk to him and still nothing.  Wouldn't speak would barely open his eyes and was completely limp.  The Doctor came in and asked some questions and looked at Clark and said that he was ordering a CT Scan and left.  Right after he left, Clark opened his eyes and I asked him how he was doing and he said "fine".  Oh my gosh I was so happy to hear that little "fine". 

He little by little started coming back to us and within a few minutes was his normal Clark self, asking to watch cartoons and saying that he was bored and wanted to go home.  So very relieved.  They did the Scan and it came back normal.  They don't know what caused the seizure.  Maybe a light frequency from the video game, maybe he had a fever that spiked, maybe he was dehydrated, maybe there is something more serious going on...  they said there was nothing more they could do, they discharged us and told us to go see a pediatric neurologist within the next few days to run some tests.  If he has another seizure before then, they will call in some meds.  We just have to wait for the neurologist and watch him real carefully.  No video games or flashing tv until then. 

 

He was so happy to finally be leaving the hospital.  Our sister-in-law Pauline came and got Kalvin (bless her heart) and Clark was very anxious to "go find my brother".  We picked up Kal, got a pizza, came home and called family.  We put the boys to bed, but Brad and I weren't at all tired.  I think we still had a good amount of adrenaline pumping through us.  We were up late watching tv and checking on Clark every little while.  Monitoring his fever and listening for every little noise and every little breath.  After not a wink of sleep by 3am, we brought Clark into our room and laid him on the floor by my side of the bed.  That made me feel better.  Being able to watch him and know that he is okay.  I didn't sleep, but at least I wasn't in panic mode anymore.

We have a few days of waiting and worrying and Im not looking forward to that.  I just want to know whats going on right now!!  I want to know that he is okay!!  I don't want to let him out of my sight for a second and even if he is in the same room as me and he is quiet for too long, my heart stops.  Its been tough, but we've got a lot of great support and that helps.  I've been so scared of what the neurologist might find, but I shouldn't be.  What ever the case, it will be okay and I know that.  We will keep everyone up to date on whats going on with our little Clarky.

Mother's Day Weekend

That's right!!  Brad's parents are home!!!!!  They got home last Wednesday from serving a mission for our church in Florida.  They loved it and Im sure are really missing it.  But they seem so happy to be home with family again and we are all so happy to have them back and so proud of them!  So, this weekend we got as much of the family as we could together. (Erik amd Christy live in Oklahoma, so they weren't able to be there unfortunately)

Saturday was spent just playing together

There was lots of catching up to do and lots of reminiscing

(Terrifies me every time Jesse pushes Clark on the swing, but Clark loves it)

These two are warming up to each other and starting to become good friends.  Makes me so happy!

Clark showed us some of his tricks on the trampoline

The best was the sound effects he makes while doing them!

There is always lots of good food at these get-togethers

This boy loves chips so much

The watermelon and the corn were SO good!!!!!

Kal couldn't get enough

After spending the entire day outside, the boys were about as dirty as boys can be.  Kalvin actually shoveled quite a bit of sand into his diaper.

We washed them up real good and the little cousins had slumber party in the family room and watched "Rise of the Guardians" and had popcorn.

Clark was so proud that he is now old enough to sleep in the big room with all the kids in a sleeping bag instead of in Mom and Dad's room with the baby.  He felt super important, even though he did have to come sit on my lap a couple times cuz the movie scared him ;)

Mother's Day started out busy.  That many people and 3 showers and 9 o'clock church makes for a crazy morning.  But we all made it with time to spare.

I love being a Mom to these boys!!!  They make me so happy and give my life so much meaning.  Being a Mother is the most significant thing I have ever done and I feel so blessed every time I see their sweet little faces!!!

Church was wonderful!!  Brad's parents both spoke and did such an amazing job.  Im so inspired by them.  Sometimes, intimidated by how amazing they are, but mostly just inspired.  Kalvin was a tiny monster all through the meeting, but we made it.

Sunday was nice and lazy

The Moms got spoiled with gifts and a nice dinner.  Brad's Dad got each of us a rose.  So sweet :)

Grandpa sat the family down for a good talk, like he often does.  It had been almost two years though, since they have been gone.  He talked to the kids mostly, about preparing to go on a mission one day.  He gave Dallin, the oldest Grandson, his missionary tag.  He told him to hold onto it while he prepares to go on his mission.  And then when he is in the mission field, to mail it to the next cousin in the family to go on a mission.  He says that he hopes it gets passed on down through all the grandkids to serve missions.  Such a cute idea!  Although, Dallin might have to give this tag to his older sister, Ambree, because we're all betting that she'll be the first to serve a mission in the family.

Oh and for dessert they served Danish Delight.  Its a Robison classic :)  The very first time I really met Brad's family we had this.  Makes me think of how nervous I was and how Brad made fun of me being a Dance Major.  haha  And oh how tiny all the kids were then.  Kate couldn't even walk.  They've all grown up so much!!!  I just love my in-laws so very much!!  Im so lucky I married into this family!!!

It really was a lovely Mothers Day!