Tuesday, March 31, 2015

March Highlights

March was pretty hectic for us with a trip to Wisconsin, as well as my birthday! Here are some of the highlights from our month:

{Davey putting on my Razorback hat :)}

{Blurry, but these two crack me up!}

{This is something I'd like to do in our living room eventually. If only we could figure out how...}

{A new puzzle at Grandma and Papa's house? Jillian was in heaven :)}

{I'd say Davey enjoyed his cupcake at church}

{Waiting to get the car serviced/oil changed before we head to Wisconsin for Spring Break!}

{Blooms on our tree in the backyard. Springtime is here :)}

{We went to a restaurant in the Wisconsin Dells that has only Mac and Cheese dishes. Very rich, but so delicious! Mine was Memphis style BBQ. Yum!}

{Relaxing at home while waiting for our first round of severe weather later in the evening}

{Here comes the storms...}

{It always makes me nervous when a helicopter flies over our house!}

{I love that I have a radar app that I can add addresses to. Thankful, Phil's folks were fine}

{A map of tornado tracks in just a certain county nearby. Notice the storm this month is going the opposite directions of all the other tracks! Yeesh}

{Starting my 29th year of life still fight a head cold. I'm trying just about everything to get rid of it!}

{Got a pedicure with my MIL for my birthday!}

{This is my gift from my brother and soon-to-be SIL! I can't wait to pick a recipe and try it out!}

{Jillian head-butted me so hard that I bit my tongue. This felt as good as it looks}

{Working on a cross-stitch project}

Thursday, March 26, 2015

29 Years Young

I'm officially at the end of my 20's! For the next 365 days, I will be "living it up" as a 20-something ;) I'm for sure going to dye some of my hair a funky color, and I'm considering getting a small tattoo. I mean, once I'm 30, I can't do things like that, right?! HAHA

Now the only big bummer about turning 29, (because let's be honest, I'm not all that scared about being the big 3-0), is that all 4 of the Coghills are suffering from a pretty nasty head cold. We all feel pretty icky. For the most part, we survived the day, and I'm so thankful for my little family :) I know turning 30 next year won't be too bad with them by my side! Plus, Phil and I will finally be in the same decade age-wise again!

The only two pictures I have from the day are these:
 {My Birthday Frap from Starbucks that Phil brought over :)}

{My birthday "cake" which consisted for 3 cheesecakes, and 3 cupcakes from Gigi's}

Here's to 29!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

First Trip to Wisconsin 2015

Now that the majority of the snow and ice is done for this winter, we were able to go see my folks in Wisconsin! They moved in the early fall, and we were unable to get up there until now. It's not much of a longer trip than where they were in Minnesota. We just get to drive through a whole new area of Iowa. {Exciting, I know! LOL} We had to wait until the weather cooperated, and luckily it did just that for Jillian's spring break from preschool!

Here are some of the highlights:

{It was pretty windy on our way through Kansas! Don't you just love Davey's hair?! HAHA}
{I did have to make two legs by myself, but it wasn't too bad :)}

{We of course had to stop at the rest area with a Dunkin' Donuts!}

{Jilly with her pink donut... and a million napkins because #toddlersandpreschoolers ;)}
{We stopped in KC, and met up with my folks! This would make the next leg much easier for me!}

{We stopped at our favorite little rest area just inside the Iowa state line. David was waiting "patiently" for his lunch}

{We got Jillian and David some milk to share, and it came in this big frosty mug. Jillian was impressed!}

{On our way through Iowa, we saw the sign for my future SIL's undergrad alma mater! I took a picture, (from the passenger seat), and sent it to her :)}

{This is actually after our first full day in Wisconsin. Someone loves books, but just couldn't stay awake for the whole story!}

{The next day was St Patrick's Day! We wore green, and then got some yummy ice cream at Dairy Queen! David decided to try his backwards ;)}

{I can't remember what Jillian said here, but she was cracking her Gee-Chaz up!}

{She also didn't seem keen on sharing either HAHA}

{Blanket fun with Jemma!}
{We went to a special dinner fundraiser for one of my mom's churches. They had a traditional corned beef dinner, and it was delicious!}

{We made a special trip to an indoor water park! Jillian did NOT like getting water in her face, but she loved the wave pool if someone was holding her. David was a little uneasy at first, but he did enjoy a little slide in a smaller kids section. The lifejacket did make him tip over a bit. He's still getting used to the whole walking thing ;)}|

{Jillian trying to crawl in the shallow end}

{The next day, we tried going to a special Circus museum, but they were closed for renovations. We did go to this little zoo in town. It was pretty neat, and the kids liked the size}

{David wouldn't nap in a bed, but he did fall asleep on the floor several times! LOL}


{We got to go to dinner with just Gee-Chaz one night, so we ended up at Famous Dave's. Jillian enjoyed her hat, we loved watching her wear it ;)}

{We went to the nearby grocery store because there is a "cow" you can milk! David loved it, but didn't quite understand how to do it}

{Jillian wasn't as sure. She told her Gee-Chaz that she had "milked a cow just yesterday", which is not true ;) Once he showed her the ropes, she gave it a try!}

We did do lots of other little things, but we mostly just enjoyed being together. Before we knew it, it was time to go home.

{Jemma and Gee-Chaz got us a hotel room to stay at in KC. It took awhile to get some sleep, but everyone enjoyed the last moments together}

{Jillian had to try on Gee-Chaz's watch before we got dressed for the day :)}
{We said our goodbyes and my folks headed back north while we headed south}

{I let the kids get out and stretch their legs at a rest stop in Kansas. They just look so free and happy :)}

The only unfortunate thing, besides the visit not feeling long enough, is that the kiddos, my mom, and myself all have colds. It looks like Phil may follow suit soon. Was it worth it? Oh yes!! This isn't our last trip to Wisconsin, but it was a great first trip!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Spark

If I'm being honest here, I've been avoiding you, Blogger. It's not permanent, and it's not anything you did.

{For real, it's me and not you. I promise!}

I've been going through some stuff. It's all deeply personal too. I have been upfront about my pregnancy losses, my post partum depression, and things like that. However, there are a few things that I just feel are off limits. Unfortunately for me, all of those off limit situations are coming at me at once. Meaning, I feel like I can't really share anything.

This song has been on my mind and heart a lot lately.

I'm doing a little better. In fact, I got a spark of light this weekend. It may be the light at the end of this tunnel, or it could just be something to get me through this particular part of the journey.

It's so hard because this is life. This is how the world is. You deal with things as they come, but you try to balance that with rejoicing in the good. My scale was obviously off balance, but I'm hoping this is the turning point. The part where I can start focusing on the good. The part where I can release certain things because nothing can be resolved immediately.

I promise I will be a little less vague soon. Until then, just know that the Coghills are doing ok. As a family, we're making it through together.

Hope you're doing well friends!

Sunday, March 1, 2015

David: {15 Months}

David -

You are 15 months old today! Your personality is really coming out, and it's been mostly fun to watch! According to our home measurements, you are 22lbs, 9oz, and 31 inches long. Update: At the doctor's appointment on 4/10/15, you were 22 lbs, 4oz and 31 inches long!

You have a few 6-12 Month onesies, but you are in mostly in 12 Month, and 12-18 Month clothes. The 12 Month pants are getting a little short, so we probably have another month or so before we need the next size up. You wear size 3 shoes, and size 4 diapers.

Eating is not a problem for you! You eat well, and you eat often. You are complete off bottled, and using a Camelbak straw sippy cup just like your big sister. You get whole milk most of the time, but you do enjoy water too! You are willing to try most foods, which is nice :)

You have 6 teeth! 4 on top and 2 on bottom. We can see more coming, but we'll have to wait until they pop out. You tend to get them 2 or 3 at a time. You can get really cranky, but I don't blame you considering how many want to come out.

As of February 12th, you are walking! Well, let me rephrase this. You took your first steps on February 12th. You then waited 10 days to do it again. Nothing we did or bribed you with would convince you to do it again. Once you walked that second day, you have not looked back! You are still working on going from sitting to standing. It will happen soon enough!

Sleep is great! You teeter between taking a morning nap, and skipping it. Luckily for me, you will take a really good nap in the afternoon no matter what! You may not be sleeping the whole time, but you will lay quietly in your crib for about 2 hours everyday. You usually have to take a morning nap only on Tuesday because of the time we have to pick up sister from preschool. Most of the time, you roll with the punches, and I thank you for that! You are usually in bed by 8:30, and you sleep until 7:15-7:30 a.m.

You finally like playing with toys. I was starting to wonder if you ever would ;) Reading is still not a real favorite, but you will tolerate it every so often. You are pointing and grunting, but not many "words" as of yet. You can play independently in the church nursery sometimes, but you seem to really like your buddies Harrison and Brock. In fact, one day you noticed Harrison was crying a lot, and you apparently kept checking on him and bringing him toys to calm him. I can already see that you have a tender heart, my boy! You can go from happy go lucky to cranky old man really fast. Sometimes you yell as loud as you can just because. You're not as calm and go-with-the-flow like before, but you are still a joy. You love to crinkle your nose when you smile, and you have this really cute look when you want us to not be mad at you. We are really enjoying your personality as it shines through.

Some of your favorite things include: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, music, dancing (or shaking your butt), balls, chasing sister, fish, sliding, anything Mickey Mouse, food, Goldfish crackers, anything red colored, spinning in circles in your stroller, and being with your mama and daddy.

The day of Jillian's birthday, (11 days after your birthday), you woke up not feeling great. That turned into two days of high fevers and uncomfortable feelings, then into a hospitalization. You had what is known as an intussusception. We were fortunate enough that it did not require emergency surgery to correct. It was quite an experience, and we are just glad you are all better! Your mama documented the stay here, here, and here. You also started the "digging in the trash can" phase. You found a discarded razor blade in one of your excursions and ended up cutting the tips of several fingers. There was blood everywhere, and your mama was panicking! The bleeding did finally slow down, and an Oreo cookie helped calm you, (and mama!).


We celebrated Christmas with Jemma, Gee-Chaz, Uncle Mike, and Aunt Julia all staying at our house. It was a little crowded, but so much fun! You loved all the extra attention :) We celebrated Valentine's Day in a very low key way. Our family has bad luck with having really special plans for Valentine's Day, but we find a way to make everyone feel loved. Also, Jillian moved out of your shared room at the first of 2015, so you now have your own room! We had a few snow days, and even made snow ice cream! You liked it ok, but you don't seem to be a big fan of cold desserts. Actually, you prefer fresh fruits to any dessert I've offered you! Everyone in the house had a cold around New Year's Eve. Luckily, it was pretty mild so we got over it quickly.

David, I can see why I was warned that time would go faster since you are the second baby in the family. Ever since your birthday, time just will not slow down! Now that you're walking, I know I'll never catch up with you and your sister. Your smile just makes my heart so happy, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us :) Happy 15 Months, Davey Boy!

Now some comparisons:



{Left: Jillian 3/2013 Right: David 3/2015}

But I Know What It Feels Like

This post is going to be awfully vulnerable and hard for me, but I really want to finally say it out loud. I got permission for my daughter ...