The gallop

He has been doing this ever since last week when he rode the pony. To be honest (and fair because come on he's only 1.5 yrs old) I have no clue if the two are related but it's pretty funny :)

This one is from the beach. It's Declan's ADD at it's best :)

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And the verdict is.............

Of course I do :) Again!

Shocking does not really describe the moment when the ultrasound tech looked at me, looked at the screen, looked at Declan, looked back at me and says "yep, they can share a room". WHAAAAAT?!??!!!? A boy? No friggin way! I was sure. Like 99.84379732% sure that this baby was a girl. Paul and I hadn't even discussed boy names. Not for a second. I was looking at white cribs online. I googled and pinterested little girl nursery rooms to get ideas. I went into the baby girl section of Carters. I was imagining wedding dress shopping 26 years from now with her.......

 I'm not sure where I went wrong but we are 100% (I saw it about 8 different times :) ) having a boy. Declan is going to be the big brother to a little brother. Trucks will continue to rule my life. Ball games will take over the television. Blue will abound......................... :) 

I am not, in any way shape or form, disappointed to be having another boy but I will say that I am a little sad. I was trying to explain it to Paul last night and the only way I can describe is that I look at the two of them, and I see the pride in Paul's eyes when he looks at his son. He sees a bit of himself. He sees the two of them in the future going to a Yankee game, cheering on the Dukies (sorry dad) when they're playing Carolina in basketball, giving him a secret high five before he heads out on his first date knowing exactly what his teenage boy is thinking at that moment ;) He's not a little Paul, but he is a little Paul. And I wouldn't have it any other way.....but there's a small piece of me that would loved to have had a little "me". A BETTER "me". I'd love to consult on clothes, hair styles, dresses, boys....whatever. I would love to watch her be a total kick ass competitor on whatever playing field she decided to play on (because she WOULD be an athlete :) ), I'd love to hold her 5 days after she gave birth to her first child and know I was the only one who could make her feel better. 

There are things a father and son can only experience and the same goes for mothers and daughters. In the same breath though, the exact same goes for mothers and sons and I will get that times two now. I think the thing that I'm having a hard time getting past is knowing how most little boys grow up - they love their mothers, without a doubt, but eventually they leave. Girls always come back around. Girls ALWAYS need their mothers. Boys do too but its not the same and I suppose I'm just mourning this future that I thought was going to be there (because obviously we were gonna be really really tight ;) ), thus the emo blog post :) My aunt put it very well at one point when her boys were getting married. She said, "this is what you want.....you raise them to be strong, independent men who will start their own family................but then they start their own family." I will do my damndest to raise these boys to be loving, respectful, honest, hardworking, incredibly upstanding men who will attract equally amazing women who will in turn include me in their lives :) Deal boys? Ok, thanks!

In any case........................ I love Declan more than life and I know the same will go for this little boy so while I needed to get this out, and like my sister-in-law said to me last night, although I probably need 24-48 hours to get over it, I WILL get over it and enjoy this unbelievable blessing that Paul, Decky and I have been given. I truly believe God gives you what you need. And apparently another boy was it for our family. So thank you, Lord, for this little fella........................I know how much I love Declan and as hard as it is to imagine loving another child this much, I know its possible and I look forward to what he will bring into our family as I know it will be absolutely amazing. I believe that. Just have to keep telling myself it until I can get over..........myself :)

Our first pics as a family of FOUR!

Lion King............3D!

My little big brother :)

Here was decky before we went to the doctor yesterday. I love him so :)

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Family days....

Are so rare during season but we had a really really great one yesterday. I don't remember the last time we had Paul all to ourselves for an entire day. I really don't....... Maybe sometime in may or June :( so this was needed and decky and I both loved it.

Paul got back around midnight on Saturday and by Sunday morning he was up with Declan letting me sleep in. Here they are reading together:




We went to see a matinee Lion King in 3D and actually made it the entire time. He made it on Pauls lap, eating popcorn, for about 40 mins and then it was over. He and i climbed the stairs for the rest of the movie but at least we stayed in the theatre minus any serious meltdowns. I must say I've been dying to take him to a movie and this one was perfect and he was beyond cute sitting on Pauls lap, cuddled up with popcorn and the two of them wearing their 3d glasses :)

After that we grabbed lunch and went to the men's soccer game. It was beautiful weather so it was very nice to just sit (or run after Declan) outside. We theeen came home and all took naps :) when decky woke up we took a walk to the park and played until dinner! Paul put the boy down and I went to outback to get adult dinner and then we passed out :)

It was really, a great day. Our next one might be Christmas so I'll enjoy it while I can. Love you Paul!!

Pony ride

Conway had their fall festival today in downtown so declan and I went on over. And it was great! The Conway fire dept was giving kids rides on their trucks so of course we had to do that! You know Declan and his trucks ;) we got some balloon animals made, alllllmost had a face painting done but someone chickened out, ate lots of kettle corn and rode this pony! Declan spent a good 30 mins at this station (they also had puppies to pet) and I finally gave in and let Declan ride. He shockingly wasn't as scared as I thought he would be and even let this man walk around with him so I could get a photo! Thanks pony man!!!

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Beach Week - family style!

College life - see ya later - this was Myrtle Beach Beach Week 2011, Hogan/Henson style. The Hogans have a time share in North Myrtle Beach so Nana, Pop, Nancy and the boys came down and stayed there for the week which means we got to spend tons of good time with them. It was kind of a funny though because the hotel we would stay in when we'd come down here after exams was just a couple hotels down from theirs.........along with all the bars we would go to (Pirates Cove - Doey!??! ;) ). Must say though, Paul's parents stay at an AWESOME hotel. Especially compared to the sh*ithole we used to stay in. A little bit of a nicer experience this go round :)

In any case, the weather was a little iffy the week they were here (a little chilly and overcast) so beach days were limited but we did meet them at the beach a couple days, we went down to Georgetown to show off the grand baby boys to all of Nana's buddies, we got to show them our new house (woohoo!!), went to Broadway at the Beach on Friday night, cheered Paul and his girls on at a game and just generally enjoyed being in the same place on "vacation". 

It was a really really great week and we miss them very much! Declan LOVES (cannot emphasize enough) his little cousins and still asks for the "ba bas". I LOVE (again, cannot emphasize enough) seeing them together....there's just something special about it and I hope and pray they grow up together knowing how special family is. It also gets me very excited to give Decky a little bro or sis!

Some pics from the week!