Thursday, April 30, 2009

Happy 1st Birthday!!

Today is Cohl's first birthday. It was funny earlier today I was sitting in my classroom while my kids were busy working and my para (Teri) said "11 years ago today I was sitting at Sea World in California"...I looked at the clock and it was the exact time that Cohl was born a year ago and I said "a year ago right now I had just delivered a baby!" She laughed and said I won! It seems so sureal that I had a baby one year ago, it just doesn't seem possible that a year has passed. What a year it has been filled with lots of wonderful memories that mainly have been captured in pictures! Thank goodness for digital cameras. I think I can honestly say that I have just as many if not more pictures of Cohl than I do of Jyllian and I often catch myself taking pictures of just him now rather than both or just of Jyllian. Its almost like I want to capture everything Cohl does. I can't wait until summer when I am home with the both of them to get tons of pictures. If only I scrapebooked or did something with them :) rather then just posting them on the blog. However I did find a neat website that will put all of your posts into a book from your blog--I think that would be neat to do. Anyways I have tons of pictures from today of my littlest boy and know I will get plenty more this weekend. I will try and get pictures posted from today soon!
Happy Birthday my sweet boy! We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, April 24, 2009

A Week From Yesterday...

I am just amazed at how quickly time goes--can you believe one week from yesterday Cohl will be ONE! Oh my goodness. I can honestly say it feels like yesterday that I was in the hospital still pregnant with him--the million times that I was in the hospital :) It wasn't the best pregnancy but so worth it--ever single minute of it! And so a week from tomorrow we will be having his FIRST Birthday party!!! I remember Jyllian's...of course its nice enough in June that we can have hers outside...I am not positive that we will ever be able to do with Cohl. I remember the day I brought him home from the hospital last year and we were having a snowstorm. We may just be having a snowstorm again this year on his party with the way the weather has been around here lately. Speaking of weather--I'm not very happy with the weather. Its been in the 70's almost 80's all week and then today COLD, GLOOMY and RAINY! Supposed to get some snow tonight and the rest of the weekend, I mean come one Spring! Anyways back to Cohl's birthday, I made two different invitations and couldn't decide on which one I liked the best so both went out :) I thought I'd post them on here for those of you who live far away could see them. I think they turned out pretty cute--but of course I'm biased :) I will be sure to post lots of pictures of Cohl's big day next week. We actually get to take him to his 1 year checkup on his birthday :) It will be interesting to see what he exactly weighs on exactly one year after he was born--almost the exact time too. He has definatly grown :) We're guessing he weighs about 18 pounds but thats just a guess. We're excited about him getting to have a forward facing car seat soon--I think he will be excited too. The little things you get excited about :) He has been doing lots of fun things but still not walking yet. Will walk holding on to our hand but not by himself--will walk all the way around furniture and has attempted to take his first step several times but thats about all. He will stand on his own for several seconds but nothing more...Jyllian didn't walk until about 13 months so we'll see what Cohl does. I will save all the things he can do for his 1 year post!!! Be sure to check in for that next week. If anything excited happens over the weekend or I get any good pictures I'll be sure to post :) Have a great weekend!!! We're hoping to get healthy as this is day 3 that I've been home from work! Has to get better from here right?!?!



Which one do you like the best????

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wonderful Weather but NOT Wonderful Health

We've been feeling under the weather here lately....but that is not at all what the actual weather has been like! It has been BEAUTIFUL out...in the high 60's low 70's! Goregous out...too bad for us that we are not feeling the best to go out and enjoy it. Jyllian and I both have come down with what Justin had last week. YUCK! Poor Jyllian has had a fever for the past 3 days and as long as her fever stays away she feels ok with the exception of her awful cough! I feel so bad for her. She is just miserable. I on the other hand started to feel icky on Sunday and by Monday I knew I had it too. My voice is almost gone, my throat hurts and I too have that terrible cough...POO!!! So we're hoping that we get better soon. The weather of course is supposed to be crappy this weekend with rain and you guessed it SNOW! Whats up with that?!?!?

We're not the only ones battling some health issues. We are actually quite fortunate, I mean really really fortunate that this is all we have going on in our lives. For these other people its much more serious and I hope that you will take a minute to read their blog and PRAY hard for their little ones!



I'm sure you remember me asking for prayers for this little baby girl back in December and a lot has happened since then. She actually was doing awesome and once again was so close to getting to come home....and then she had surgery and they are now thinking that she is brain dead. Can you imagine what her parents are going through?!?!? They could really use your prayers!



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This sweet little boy Ethan was born with several birth defects but one required him to have open heart surgery at only 3 days old. Poor little guy! He too was doing really well after the surgery and was looking at getting to come home this weekend and then today he started to go downhill. They are not sure why but all of a sudden his heart stopped! He stopped breathing and coded. Oh tears just come to my eyes thinking about it! They have revived him and he is now in ICU and they are possibly going to put him in ECMO which is a heart and lung bypass. I cannot even imagine what they must be going through and they definatly could use our prayers! Ethan's parents are good friends with Diana (my bestest friend from back in NC) and her husband Jason.

These are just two of the little ones out there that I'm praying for tonight! It really makes you realize how lucky you are if you have healthy babies!

We love you all!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Calm Before the Storm...

MONDAY April 13th, 2009







Last Monday Justin and I both had the day off and so we were able to spend it outside with the kids. Justin actually was starting to get sick, but we still went outside and let the kids play. Jyllian really wanted to ride in her jeep since we haven't had it out all winter. We thought well maybe Cohl would enjoy riding in it. We did not think he would enjoy it as much as he did! He LOVED it and it was the cutest thing ever to see Jyllian driving her brother around. We decided that we had to save these pictures as Cohl probably won't think its too cool later in life when he has to have his sister drive him around not to mention he is in a PINK BARBIE Jeep. Too cute. They had a lot of fun, playing with sidewalk chalk, riding in the jeep and Cohl walking in his walker. It was absolutely beautiful outside. Hard to believe later in the week we got snow! The rest of the week was a little rough. Justin ended up getting a really bad cold and had to take time of work (which is very unusual for him) both kids got sick too. I on the otherhand have not gotten it so far. I am keeping my fingers crossed that its not going to happen. I have a feeling that I am a carrier for most of the illness' that everyone has gotten as I have gotten most of them. Thank goodness--I am not complaining :) Not only did the kids and Justin get sick but we also got hit with yet another.....you guessed it SNOWSTORM! Are you kidding me?!?! So here is a picture of the snow while driving to work on Friday morning---I was stopped at a stop sign :)

We ended up getting around 5 inches and it was a big wet mess outside. But by today it was all melted and its beautiful out again. This week we are supposed to be in the 60's and 70's thank goodness! I am going to love it as I really have Spring Fever!!! So here hoping that it gets and stays warm!!!!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

A Wonderful Easter...

First Easter Basket found!
She also found Cohl's behind the TV

Jyllian's 2nd basket found


Its overflowing :)
Cohl's nickname is Bug-a-boo! How perfect was it that we found this?!?!







Happy Easter from our family to yours! We've had an awesome day with family...what more could we ask for. As you can see from the above pictures we started out the morning finding the hidden Easter Baskets. That Easter Bunny was pretty tricky this year in where he hid those baskets...one was behind the TV and one behind the chair and one was even in the kitchen cupboard. Eggs were also hidden inside as it was too rainy and cold for them to be outside. What a smart Easter Bunny he is! Jyllian woke early this morning to inform me that the Easter Bunny had come and I tried to get her to go back to bed, but that didn't happen, so we ended up getting up by 7:30 and the hunt was on. Jyllian of course got 2 baskets as the Easter Bunny couldn't fit all the goodies into one. Maybe next year the Easter Bunny shouldn't go so over board :) It was a great morning!
Later in the day we went to mom's for Easter dinner. The Easter Bunny had gone to her house and hid baskets too! Wow!!! We had lunch, found baskets, took family pictures, made cupcakes, ate a delicious dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, baked mac and cheese, fruit salad and rolls. Yes way too much food for the 7 of us but it was yummy. Afterwards Justin, Shane and Jyllian went outside and Jyll rode her tricycle. It was funny because she would "fall" off it after going a ways. She thought she was pretty funny.
I hope you enjoy the tons of pictures I have on here...and can you believe that is not all of them :) It was an awesome day!












Saturday, April 11, 2009

Look's Who Is a Big Boy!!

And no I don't mean Justin!!!! :) Cohl is drinking out of a sippy cup! Yay!!!! Not even one yet and already drinking from a sippy cup. Granted he still drinks from his bottle too, but I'm happy that he is at least attempting to drink from something else. Jyllian really stuggled with giving up her bottle so we will see if we can get Cohl to kick that habit before Jyllian did!


In other news Cohl is also eating more and more table food. It is difficult with so many things because of his allergies, but we are attempting to give him as much table food as we can. We found that he absolutely loves dried fruit so we have been giving him that, and he likes bread (what child of mine wouldn't LOVE bread!), and ham, green beans and peas (not a huge fan of the baby food version though). So as long as we keep the milk products away he is good to go! He is also getting two more teeth! What a big boy. Bless his heart he has been fighting a cold on top of getting teeth. Poor thing! He loves to walk along the furniture and has attempted his first step from the chair to the ottoman which was a couple feet away from the chair, of course he didn't make it but he tried. We found a walker today and have tried that and he loves it so I'm sure he will be walking before we know it. He loves to say Dadda, Hi, Nigh-Nigh, Momma, huh, bad and down. Its cute he tells the cat and dog "down! and bad!" Hmmm do we say that too often :) Can you believe he turns a year in three weeks! Ahhhhh where in the world did the time go? I'm sad yet excited as I love this stage in their life. Its too cute and fun! Tonight we'll be dying Easter Eggs so I'll be sure to post some pictures of that soon!
A Special Happy Birthday to Stacey in Japan! Hope you had a great day we love and miss you!!!

Thursday, April 09, 2009

One of many Easter Dresses...

Today Jyllian had preschool and had her Easter Party so of course we had to get all dressed up :) She had gotten 3 Easter dresses this year so we had to be sure to wear them all. She LOVES dresses and I knew she would end up wearing each and every one of them. I never have gotten those dresses that are just too frilly and fancy that she will never wear them again, there are always springy and cute but something we could wear over and over again because she loves them. She is all girl for sure! So she had her party today and told me that she had to bring her bunny to school. I am still not sure this was the truth :) but still she got to bring him. She got the bunny last year from Uncle Shane for Easter.
She had a great Easter party. This was the only party that her daddy was going to be able to go to and of course Cohl had to be cranky and tired and so he couldn't make it. I think he made the last 30 minutes of it, but oh well. There will plenty more holiday school parties to come. She said she enjoyed it. She had a very busy dad though as daddy had to go teach at the Police Academy and so her friend Brook and her grandma came over to watch Jyllian and Cohl while he was gone. She also got a surprise visit from Justin's cousin Sherri and Jesse. Jesse leaves for Iraq for the 2nd time next weekend so they came through on their way to Denver to see the kids and Justin before he left. Hopefully this will be the last time he will have to go! Thursday night Justin and I had volleyball that Jyllian was determined to come to, so Grammy came over and watched Cohl while the three of us headed to the gym to play some v-ball. We had 2 games so we were there for over an hour and Jyllian did awesome! She played and helped keep score and was the ball getter :) had lots of fun. So it was a busy busy day for her but did great. So here are some pics of the pretty girl!






Wednesday, April 08, 2009

An Early Easter Surprise!

We came home today from work/daycare to find a package waiting for us on our front steps! Jyllian could hardly wait to open the package as she just knew it was for HER! Of course it was for us...who else would it be from :) I told her she had to wait until Daddy got home. We had every intention of waiting until we could get ahold of Pappy and get the webcam set up so he could watch..but patience only lasts so long in a 3 year old! So as soon and I do mean as SOON as daddy got home from work she was ready to open the package. Justin did manage to get himself changed out of his uniform before opening the package!
Thank you Pappy for the great Easter package! We love it!!! We love you~Jyllian and Cohl