For Parents of Young Kids without Dogs

I have a serious question.  Whatever do you do to keep your floor clean after meals????  Oh.my.gosh!  I pretty much HAVE to vacuum or sweep after EVERY meal!  This totally stinks!  Pretty sure I'd never cleaned the floor after a meal in nine years of being a parent.  (And I now secretly think you parents of little ones sans dogs are most definitely my heroes!)

Things I Thought I'd Never Miss

Clumps of dog hair....um....everywhere!

An extra body in the kitchen when I'm cooking.

"Let me in!" barks, five seconds after he "asked" to go out.

I sat down to type this list thinking it would be LONG.  Everything I've thought of aside from those three, just makes me chuckle now.  Toenails on the tile, snoring (Clay did a perfect imitation last night when we were talking about how quiet it is without him).  Funny how grief totally changes your perspective.  I even did Clay's chore on Monday (vacuuming the downstairs) just because I wanted to be the one to pick up those last clumps of dog hair.  I hated the dog hair prior to Sunday afternoon.  Really, the only part of owning a dog that I didn't like was the hair.  Now, I even miss that.

Yesterday, I was full of grief.  I mean, it floored me.  Felt suffocated at times.  I don't think I've ever been so sad in my life.  It was so hard to go through our normal day without him.  Every time I sat here or did that, I'd think, "Boomer would be laying there" or "doing such and such."  I pondered how trivial losing a dog must seem to people who never had one; maybe even some who have.  The only explanation I've come up with was that he was just that much a part of our family.  Today, I feel measurably better.  I miss him like crazy still.  Like.crazy....but feel like I can breathe again.

Ronnie and I have reminisced a ton over the last couple days about all the crazy, funny, awful, sweet, infuriating, precious things he did in our 12 1/2 years together.  Looked at lots of pictures.  It's been sweet.  And really hard.

Things I know I'll miss....

Hearing Elena say "Baba" when he walked by.

Petting my dog, especially while he snored away.

Being greeted every morning with his "feed me" shenanigans.

Coming home anytime after 6:00 pm (his dinner time) and being greeted with his "feed me" shenanigans.

Seeing how happy he was everyday when Ronnie walked in from work.

Remembering our favorite friends (who were also Boom's favorite friends) and how he always lost his mind when they came by....even if it had been years in between visits.  Tony and Grace, thinking of you!

I still haven't been able to dump his water bowl out.  I keep telling myself I need to.  Water in the bowl is waiting for a dog and he's not coming back.  Thought I could do it tonight, but I still can't.  We've cleaned up/out a couple things and I packed away a couple things I'm not ready to part with yet.  All in due time, I suppose.

One more thing I know I'll miss....

Clumps of dog hair....everywhere!

Hard to Say Goodbye

Our loyal dog of almost 13 years died today.  So hard to say goodbye.  His health has declined as he's gotten older, mostly just this past year.  In September, he would have turned 13.  Ronnie and I got Boomer on November 2, 1999.  We'd only been married a little over four months.  We lived on the second floor of an apartment.  So dumb to get a dog; a puppy in that situation.  He cost $200 and we couldn't afford him when we first saw the ad from the breeder.  Looking back, I still wouldn't do anything differently.

Ronnie took him to the vet today for a routine check.  He essentially collapsed on the way.  Although we didn't think we had years left with him, we didn't really think today was the day either.  It would have been hard no matter when it happened.  The kids and I were able to make it to the vet in time to say goodbye and love on him one last time.  Ronnie and I stayed with him while he drifted off peacefully.  It was hard to see him that way, but I'm grateful for that time.

This was Boomer just a couple weeks ago....waiting patiently for Elena to drop some food from her highchair.  He was very predictable at meal times (if ill-trained!)  Just a little focused on the task at hand....never mind those blinds!

We have a ton of crazy memories with this guy.  He was a terrible puppy.  It was most definitely our fault.  We had no idea what training a Labrador puppy was like, and remember that apartment?!  But now, remembering him tearing the siding off our base house is just funny.  He destroyed the first piece of furniture we bought as a married couple too.  Countless memories we have of "Boomer Bad Puppy."  But....he was always loyal, always gentle with the kids, loved attention and being pet, and popcorn (among many other things!)  

This was the little tyke not long after we brought him home.  I mean, have you ever seen a cuter pup?!

I hadn't come home to an empty house in almost 13 years until today.  I can't say I liked it....at all.  But....I also knew he couldn't make the cross-country drive that is coming in just a month.  He didn't have any particular health problems though either to justify not bringing him.  Seems God made that decision for us.  I'm glad that he won't have to make a journey that would be so hard on him.  How I would have loved to see him play in the real grass and shade trees of our new backyard in Virginia though for just a day.  

Miss you my sweet, sweet boy.  Thank you for all the years you loved us.

Lock Box

It's official.

Our house is for sale.  Seven years in this house.  Three babies brought home here.  And now that little blue box on the garage represents lots of pending change (and it's all happening so fast!)  Vegas has never been my ideal place to live, but it definitely feels like home.  More sad than excited tonight (except for leaving the heat!  Trading it for east coast humidity though....hmmm....)

God is preparing the way for our move, totally confident in that.  Have already seen His hand at how things are falling into place.  Grateful for that.  Praying that I will be able to "grieve the good" of this very special season of our lives.  (Clay was a new two year-old when we moved here.)  Lots of memories.  Lots to process.  And it's happening very fast.

4th of July

We had a really fun 4th.  Went over to a family friend's house after the girls' naps for swimming and barbecue.  I didn't take any pictures; just had lots of fun.  It was a crazy LOVELY 77 degrees!  Super unusual for this time of year.  We enjoyed the heck out of it.  

We headed home a bit after 8:00.  The kids loved watching random fireworks all over the valley as we drove home.  Gaby kept saying, "Kaboom!" (very demonstratively).  Super cute!

When we got home, put E down for bed and headed out front to do some fireworks of our own per the boys' request.  Ronnie was pretty excited about kids old enough to set off fireworks with.

Sparklers in the driveway.  Totally thought G would be scared....nope!

Lots of people in the surrounding neighborhoods were setting off fireworks much bigger than the ones we bought, so we got a pretty good show at home.  Gab, my pink fan, said with just about every firework that we or others lit, "I want pink!"  Too much!

Quick Update in Photos

He (the big one) wanted a buzz cut a couple weeks ago.  Not my favorite.  Maybe glad his hair grows fast. ;

He's officially ready for Christmas!

We left the kids with our sitter on Friday night and stayed at a hotel to celebrate our anniversary.  A lovely and utterly refreshing 18 hours.

He had his first swim meet on Saturday after only four days of swim team.  Great effort!  Maybe that buzz cut was fitting.  ;)

She loves her some corn on the cob....

and watermelon!

She's just dang cute (if maybe exerting her independence a little more than I'd like these days).  Good thing she's dang cute!