David: {Six Months}

David –

You are six months old today! Your personality is starting to come out, and we just love it! Plus, you are such a blondey with a little wave/curl on the top of your head that's so cute :)

According to our measurements at home, you are 16 lbs, 5 oz and 27 inches long. You have a doctor's appointment next week so I'll update your official stats then. Update: You are 15 lbs, 12 oz and 26-1/4 inches long!

You are wearing 3-6 Month and 6 Month clothing. Mama recently packed up your 3 Month clothes and it was a bittersweet moment. We just switched you to size 3 diapers.

You eat 4-5 bottles a day, and drink either 7 or 8 ounces if you finish your bottle. You drink Target brand similar to Similac Advance. We started solids with you, but then you had a tummy virus and we just restarted solids. So far, you've had rice cereal, oatmeal, green peas, carrots, and avocado. So far, you're not really impressed so far. Hopefully you'll find a food you like soon :) Mama is making your baby food now, and you've got quite a stockpile going!

Sleep is still a good area for you. We are very blessed that you and your sister are pretty good sleepers naturally. Overnight, you go down between 8 and 9 pm, and you sleep until about 6. We can give you your pacifier, and you'll stay in your crib until about 7:15. You are definitely an early riser. You are also a very restless sleeper. You move around constantly, even if you're fast asleep! It's fun to see what position you've moved to ;) As far as naps go, you take 3 every day. You usually sleep for about 30 minutes around 9 am, a 2 hour nap around 11 am, and another 30 minute nap between 5 and 6 pm. We've started swaddling you with your arms out at night, but we still have to swaddle you normally for your nap.

You are a no-funny-business bather. You would rather get cleaned off and get out. Anytime we try to introduce bath toys to you, you want nothing to do with it. However, you got to play in a pool last week, and you seemed to really like it! You do like water, you just like to get baths over with.

Chomp chomp chomp. You are drooling and chomping on just about everything. However, you still don't have any teeth poking out. 

You seem to gravitate to girls instead of boys. I don't think it's the beginning of stranger anxiety, but I could be wrong. You definitely have favorite people, and it usually takes you a little bit to warm up to new people. You are quite the flirt too ;)

In terms of being mobile, you are definitely trying to get into crawling position. You also scoot on your bottom to get new places. You love standing up straight and bouncing. If you end up skipping crawling, I won't be too surprised. You also love to sit up more than being put down on your back. 

We recently stopped using your infant car seat and switched you to a convertible car seat. The infant seat was getting to be too heavy for mama to carry around. For the most part, you seem to like it ok. The worst part is buckling you in. You will lift up your butt and slink down the seat so I have to readjust you in order to buckle you. Once you're in there, you're usually calm :)

Your sister has been extra affectionate towards you lately, and you don't seem to mind. She'll give you big hugs, and even gives you kisses. You're a good sport and let her without much of a fuss. She does make you laugh from time to time. It's so cute to watch you interact!

You like classical music (and Fleetwood Mac), your jumperoo, playing peek-a-boo, and making spit bubbles.

You don't like loud noises, being left alone/on the play mat for too long, and being up past your nap time.

We took a weekend trip to Kansas City for a family wedding last weekend. You and your sister were such good sports! Overall, you did well in the car, and you were very flexible since your nap schedule was completely out of whack. You and your sister spent the night with your Jemma and Gee-Chaz in their hotel room one night. I was told you were on your best behavior :) We even took a quick trip to Columbia to visit your Uncle Mike and Aunt Jessica! As I said before, you also tried out the swimming pool and seemed to enjoy yourself.

I am a little sad that you're closer to being a one-year-old than my squishy little newborn baby boy. However, it's so much fun to watch you as you grow and learn. Your smile just makes me melt, and I think you're just the sweetest little boy. I love you LT :)

A few outtakes:

 {What a sweet smile :)}

 {Proof to his Jemma that he does indeed blink sometimes! HAHA}

 {<3}

 {Nothing is scaring them... unless their daddy counts ;) He was just trying to get them to smile}

{Jillian said "Cheese" for this one, but David is still focused on daddy}

And comparisons:

 

{Months 1-3}

{Months 4-6}

{Left: Jillian 6/2012 Right: David 6/2014}

{Read Jillian's 6 Month Update Here}

Progress As Promised

It was not my intention to ignore this blog for as long as I did. It was nice having scheduled posts for April, because I didn't have to worry about it ;)

This past Sunday night, I got a bath ready for both children. {Phil is not allowed, (by me), to kneel on the tile, so I usually fill up David's baby bath tub and place it on the counter next to the bathroom sink so he can bathe him while I wash Jillian. Once his tub ready, I finish filling up the big tub for Jillian.} This particular night, I used some bubble bath. For whatever reason, I was very generous with the bubbles. We placed the kids in their respective tubs, and watched them play.

Jillian was trying to place some bubbles in her hand and blow them off like we do for her. Unfortunately, she's lacking some lung capacity to do it. I decided to show her how to clap her hands together with the bubbles to make it look like it was snowing. She loved it. We spent the next 10 minutes just making it snow together. I had bubbles in my hair, she had bubbles in her eyes, and the tub had bubbles all over it. We would say "It's snowing!" or "Merry Christmas!" as we clapped our hands. I laughed and played with my daughter.

This was one of those moments in life where I will treasure the mental pictures I have. I didn't need to run and grab my camera or my phone. I was perfectly content just living in that moment.

Then it hit me - this is what I'm supposed to feel like. This is the most "normal" I have felt in a long time. I'm not on the verge of a panic attack. I'm not worried about a million different things. I am soaking in this moment of my young childrens' lives.

Every day, I have been having more and longer moments where I feel like myself. Well, my old self. I'm not even talking about how I was before my post-partum depression. I'm talking more about myself during the 3 months between my wedding and the announcement of change. When I was still experiencing life and the challenges that it throws at me, but I did it without any kind of bitterness, worry, or anxiety.

Don't get me wrong, those are things I'm sure I'll struggle with for awhile. It was very encouraging to know that I could live in moments where I didn't have to overcome any emotional battle. I could just... be. I am so grateful that the medicine I am taking it not only getting the me before post-partum depression back, but the real me back too.

That's part of the reason I lost touch with my blog this month. I have had the drive and energy to deep clean the house. I've had the focus and desire to cook. I even entertained the idea of working out. Say what?! {Notice I haven't actually worked out yet, but it's progress none the less!}

I hope to continue to progress and feel content more often.

Oh Happy Day

{Photo Credit for Far Right: Colorband PhotoArtisans}

Yesterday was a very important day here. Not only was it the year anniversary of the large tornado in Moore, and the 3 year wedding anniversary of one of my besties, it was also a special birthday.

Phil, my wonderful hubby, turned 30 years old.

I tease him because he's significantly older than me, even if it's just under 2 years ;) 

I really wanted to make the day special for him since it is a milestone! I devoted lots of thought and energy into the day. It was a quiet celebration, but one he was happy with. 

I sent him on a scavenger hunt with the help of our leftover Easter eggs. For dinner, I cooked a special stir-fry. We ate a green cake, (Jillian wanted to color the batter), with a special candle my parents sent for him. After dinner, we set up Phil's big gift - a small propane grill! We've wanted one for awhile, and there just happened to be a sale this week! We put it together, and he is looking forward to using it :)

It's hard to believe he's already 30 years old. I'm not far behind, but it doesn't feel like we are that old. All I can say is, there's no one else I'd rather grow old with! 

Love you Phil! Happy 30th Birthday!!

David: {Five Months}

David –

You are five months old today! Time is just speeding by, and it's hard to believe you're already almost 1/2 a year old! I hope I can soak up some of the moments we share while you're this little :)

According to our measurements at home, you are 14 lbs, 9 oz and 26-1/4 inches long.

You are wearing some 3 Month clothes, but you're starting to wear more 3-6 and 6 Month clothes right now. You honestly need 6 Month PJs because you're so long! Currently you wear size 2 diapers.

You eat an average of 32 ounces a day, and feed either 5 or 6 times depending on your mood. Formula of choice is still Target brand for Similac Advance. You started solids this month! So far, you've only had rice cereal and oatmeal. Neither are a big favorite of yours, but we'll be trying veggies soon. 

Sleep is going great! You get a good night's rest at night, but we're still working on naps. Similar to your sister, you fight sleep unless you're just exhausted. You get squirmy and fuss a bit until we get you nestled in our arms. Once you're asleep, you remember how much you love it and usually stay asleep. Well, unless big sister gets noisy or you lose your pacifier :) 

You are usually pretty good with baths. You like the water, but you don't like to take too long by playing with toys. It's very much a "let's get down to business" kind of attitude. The hardest part is keeping you in place! You like to put your feet on the end of the tub and lift your bottom. It's the funniest thing!

Teeth are almost here! Your bottom two teeth are on the verge of poking out. You have been chomping on fingers, and drooling like a St Bernard for a few weeks now! It'll be adorable once they come in.

You are almost over another cold. When you are sick, you are a bit more irritable, but you are also extra cuddly. {Lucky for mama, you're cuddly anyways, so it's sweet that you want to be held even more.} You do not want to be put down, and you hate being left alone. You don't like getting your nose cleared out, but you don't always cry about it. When you want something, you want it NOW. Also, you will only nap if you're holding mama's hand.

Overall, you are my sunny boy :) Unless you're hungry, (and you will send out a warning fuss before you really cry), you usually don't cry unless something scares you, or you don't feel well. You are giving big smiles, especially to the ladies ;) You have several girlfriends at church thanks to your smile and your beautiful blue eyes! I hope they stay that color, but I'm sure whatever color they end up will be perfect!

You don't seem to have many favorites right now, though part of that could be that your sister usually takes whatever I give you within minutes. Sorry sweet boy. Once you get bigger, you'll be able to keep your toys if mama isn't around :) You do like to sit in laps and be read to.

Things you like: classical music, sitting up like a big boy, bouncing, books with pictures of other babies and tractors, mama singing, sleeping (once you're asleep), kisses on your neck and chin, your sister laughing/crying, girls fawning over you, the jumperoo, and your zebra toy.

Things you do not like: loud sounds, being scared, being tired, being hungry, faces close to your face, the taste of solid food, and feeling lonely.

In terms of being mobile, you're doing pretty well. You can roll from back to belly consistently, but you don't do it often. Rolling from belly to back happened once. You also scoot around while lying on your back. The other day, you even turned a full 360 degrees by scooting on your play mat! Tummy time is tolerable for a few minutes.

Your daddy got hurt and had knee surgery this month. Not only did that make mama a little more frantic than normal, it also meant more time in the car and being in doctor offices. For the most part, you did excellent with the new schedule. This made mama's job just a bit easier. Thank you for being such a trooper!

Your relationship with your sister is starting to blossom. You watch her closely, and smile at her from time to time! One day, when you were sick with a cold, she hugged you and you stopped crying. It was just the sweetest thing! I can't wait to watch your relationship grow and change over the years.

This past month we traveled to Minnesota and back to see your Jemma and Gee-Chaz. For the most part, you did really well in the car. You were also baptized this past month! Later this month, you'll make your big debut with some of mama's extended family in Kansas City. Trust me when I tell you that they'll love you to pieces :)

I am so happy and honored to be your mama. Your smile just melts my heart, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us. Love you sweet boy :)

Now some outtakes:

{Playing with his feet}

{I can eat the sticker, right mom?} 

{Daddy is so funny!}

{Jillian heard us talking to David and came running while shouting "I'm here!!"}

{She then posed just like this}

{What a face :)}

{We took some photos of Jillian by herself. She did all of these faces on her own!}

{Silly Jilly - I sure do love her <3} 

{Then she hopped like a frog!}

{Left: Prepping for the hop Right: Landing}

And some comparisons!

{Months 1-3}

{Months 4 and 5}

{Left: Jillian 5/2012 Right: David 5/2014}

{Read Jillian's 5 Month Update Here}

Easter 2014

He is Risen!

If I'm being perfectly honest, Easter is not at the top of my list for favorite holidays. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to celebrate! I'm usually just so busy that I hardly get to enjoy it. If I didn't enjoy all the things I do, I would not agree to participate. However, this usually means I'm at church 5 different nights during Holy Week, around for every service, and ready to pass out by lunch time on Easter Sunday because I've been up since 5 am.

With Phil's injury, I had to be extra vigilant about getting everyone ready to go and where we were going on time! By the grace of God, we were able to make it to everything in a timely manner :)

{Jillian with the family Easter basket the bunny left for us! She was very excited :)}

{David chilling on the couch before we all got dressed}

I thought I'd be able to get some cute pictures of the kids dressed up before church. My toddler had other ideas...

{Outtakes of David in his Easter outfit}

{He's so adorable in that hat!}

Jillian was unfortunately in a cranky mood most of the morning. This is the best picture I got of her before we left for church.

{Are we done yet mom?}

Then I tried to get them together. This is how well it went.

{Yep}

I did get one decent one of them looking at their daddy!

{That's better...}

Then we did a group shot before we left for church.

{The Coghills on Easter 2014}

Jillian got to do the egg hunt at the church playground! She would say the color of the egg before she picked it up. Then she decided she needed some of the rocks in the playground too. When we got home, there were ants in the bucket :-/ We washed it out, and she still had plenty of candy :)

{Egg Hunt Action Shots}

Like my family growing up, we got home and just crashed. We were at church nearly every day that week, so we were happy to hang out at home in our pjs the rest of the day. We called in for pizza, which is super fancy you know ;)

{nom nom nom}

We had a good day, and we were so happy to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus!

David Tries Rice Cereal

Since I am a glutton for punishment, I decided that during Holy Week, and adjusting to Phil's injured leg, we should start giving David rice cereal! Well, it needed to happen anyways because the poor boy was eating an average of 36 ounces a day after we got home from Minnesota. You can see the post about Jillian trying rice cereal here.

Tuesday, April 15th, I got David ready for his first taste of rice cereal! Cuteness ensued...

{All set up and ready to go!}

{Here comes the wind up...}

{and the pitch...}

{GAG!}

{His face told us it was disgusting, but he kept most of it in his mouth}

{Jillian stuck her hand in the bowl of cereal, so daddy had to wipe off her hand}

Jillian asked if she could feed the baby. We reluctantly told her yes.

{Big sister feeding the baby}

{She did well, but she did gag him towards the end. The eating stopped shortly thereafter ;)}

{This is probably my favorite picture ever. It's a little blurry, but it's just hilarious!}

David probably ate about 1/4 of an ounce, but that's pretty good for the first time.

{Overall? A successful first taste of solid food! Next up, Oatmeal :)}

Phil's Injury

The exciting thing that happened the day of David's baptism? Phil injured himself.

Well, let's start from the beginning.

Two years ago, when Jillian was about the age David is now, Phil bent down to get her out of the swing we have. When he did that, he heard a big "pop" in his right knee. It hurt pretty good, but he was able to work it out. From then on, his knee would give him trouble from time to time. Times like when he ran a 5K last year, kneeling to bathe Jillian, etc.

On Sunday, after we got a little rain from the storms, I had an idea. We have this bush in the front yard that looks dead, and I thought we could get it out. The next morning was trash day, and the ground would be soft because of the rain we just had. I thought it was perfect timing!

Well, this "dead" bush is not dead at all. It looks like it, but the root system is pretty strong. So strong, in fact, that it broke our shovel. {That's right.} So Phil had the idea that he would get a board from our garage, and pivot it on a rock to get this plant out of the ground. He got on ok, but then he stepped back onto his right leg. That's when it happened.

He yelled in pain, hopped over to the grass where I was, and laid down. He told me he couldn't straighten his leg at all. We ended up going to the emergency room to make sure he didn't break anything. The good news was that he didn't have any broken bones. The bad news? We would have to take him to an orthopedic doctor.

{At home after the ER trip}

Fortunately, there is an orthopedic doctor at our church who squeezed us in on Tuesday. The only issue we had to confront early on was the fact that Phil couldn't drive because it was his right leg. He wore a brace all week, and even bought crutches on Amazon to help him get around.

{He still did things like read to the kids. This just warms my heart :)}

After an exam, and an MRI, we found out Thursday morning that he would have to have surgery to remove a piece of his meniscus that was stuck in his joint. {This is why he couldn't straighten his leg}

We somehow made it through Holy Week with one car, and an injured leg. I still don't know how we got everywhere, and on time. It was truly God's grace. Fortunately for us, the doctor could fit him in on Monday morning for the surgery. It was nice to know Phil would get relief soon!

{Phil's main mode of transportation}

He got pretty good at maneuvering around with his crutches. He was even able to play with Jillian in the playground at church!

{Cuties}

Sunday night, Phil's dad drove down to sleep on our couch. Then at 4:30 am Monday, the three of us got up and headed to Phil's surgery. We had some lovely people at church volunteer to sit at our house while the kids slept so I could be there. 

After about 40 minutes, Phil's surgery was over! They worked on the best case scenario, and he should back to his old self in the next 2 weeks or so. He was a little cranky when he woke up, but that's ok ;)

{Resting at home after surgery}

I'm so thankful we were able to get him fixed up as quickly as we did. I'm also so thankful to have the support system that we do. I honestly would not have made it through Holy Week if I didn't.

If anything, having one of the hardest weeks of my life coinciding with Holy Week and Easter Sunday was such an eye opener to me. It showed me not only do I need a little more work to have a servant's heart, but it showed me just how amazing grace truly is. Giving it, receiving it; all of that is a blessing. Without the sacrifice of Jesus, I would not be granted grace so freely. I don't deserve it, but it is given to me as a gift. How beautiful love is when you see it through the eyes of God. I may have not been the perfect wife and mother that week, but I definitely see love, and Easter, in a whole different light. Thanks be to God!

Phil has some physical therapy to go to, but overall he is healing well. The doctor did explain that this is a chronic thing and we would have had to do surgery at some point soon. At least it's over and done with!