Three Days and All Is Well

Three days…we managed to make the trip from Bengough to Abilene in three days. With lots of stops at parks and McDonalds playplaces along the way of course. Sure, we had a few cranky spells along the way, but all things considered, the kids traveled exceptionally well. We learned a few things too…like don’t give Jesse macaroni salad to eat while we drive! Rebecca added her fair share of laughs to the journey too. One morning, I had just fed and diapered her before we left. She was in her carseat, all ready to go, and she pooped. So, she came out of the seat and I changed her while Mike took a load down to the van with Jesse. Just as Mike came back through the door she pooped again (it had been about 5-10 minutes since the last explosion). So, out of her seat she came again. Mike flipped on the TV to watch for a few minutes. We waited about 10 more minutes before changing her again. Luckily three dirty diapers seemed to be it, so we managed to get going about 20 minutes after we first were ready to go. We had a pretty good laugh over the whole ordeal.

When we got to Texas, we could sure tell…if by nothing else, by the temperature. It was over 80 by 9:30 am, and 100F when we stopped for lunch. But, it didn’t deter Jesse from playing outside for a while. So, we arrived safe and sound in Abilene on Sunday night – relieved to be here, but also disappointed in several things. When we first walked in our apartment, we noticed a strange smell…we had mold growing on the walls in two rooms! We also discovered several species of bugs living in our house, including spiders, carpet bugs and cockroaches. Nice, eh? The mold has since been cleaned up, and we see less and less bugs everyday. Jesse did try eating a cockroach though (at least we assumed he did…the dead bug was there one minute, and the next time I turned around Jesse was spitting something out and the bug was gone. I did find the head later, placed on the table by Jesse I assume). I guess some pretty crazy stuff happened the week before we arrived back. First there was a water usage ban, then there was a boil water advisory, and the day we arrived the river and lake had overflowed (courtesy of the hurricane storm) and flooded the downtown. It was so bad, church was cancelled. I never realized that the hurricanes could affect us was up here, but apparently the storm can travel pretty far inland dumping lots of rain.

So…things have been pretty exciting since we have gotten back. We still have boxes packed from when we moved (I guess that’s what happens when you have a baby a few days after you move!) Plus, we are still unpacking from the summer. Lots of work to be done. We are still working on getting our internet connection up and running, which is why there are no pictures up recently. We will try to keep you all posted!

Our Trip Northward

I am so far behind on my blog...that I didn't even write about our trip from Texas to Canada. Luckily, I did jot things down along the way so I would remember to write about them. So, here we go...

We left Abilene on Friday morning - on time, no less. That's a first for us. We were quite happy with the start to the day. The morning was fairly uneventful, and we didn't have to stop until lunch time...in Canadian, TX. We really wanted to take a picture by the "Canadian Visitor Center", but we didn't have time. We went to the town park, and found that the only picnic table they had didn't have any benches anymore, so we sat on our blanket and had a little picnic. Jesse and Rebecca found a puddle and had fun playing in it. After our lunch break we packed up and headed north again. Both kids napped in the afternoon, which is always nice. Rebecca, while she was sleeping, said "Uh-Oh," and then continued on with her snoring. It was quite funny we thought. We stopped for supper at Garden City, KS at a McDonalds (with a PlayPlace). It was raining, so I was glad we were inside for this meal. After supper we had 105 miles to drive before we reached our evening destination. We ran into a nasty storm that spit some golf ball size hail at us. We thought it looked cool to watch them explode as they hit the road, but it wasn't so cool when they hit our windshield. I don't think we suffered any major damage though. Later that evening, as I was watching the TV, a weather warning came on and apparently there were tornados in the area with the storm we went through. I was glad we were inside and settled for the night! We all went down to the pool and had fun swimming for a bit before bed. Everyone went to bed and slept well.

Day two...We actually got going almost on time (20 minutes behind schedule). We stopped for lunch in Julesburg, CO at a rest area/visitor center. It was quite nice. We had a shaded picnic area, and the weather was nice a clear. The visitor center had all sorts of maps and pamphlets, a lookout tower, and free internet. Plus, they had free coffee, so Mike filled up his mug before we left. We stopped for an afternoon break at a beautiful park in Chadron, NE. Jesse and Rebecca had a great time running around, and even trying out the merry-go-round. Then back in the car for a couple more hours. We had planned on stopping at Rapid City, SD for the night. I had a hotel picked out an everything. Unfortunately, I had forgotten it was the long weekend...and being so close to Mount Rushmore, everything would be booked. We tried 3 or 4 hotels in Rapid City (and they were all full), before driving on to Sturgis. The first hotel we stopped at there was also full, luckly the next one we tried had saved some rooms for "stranded visitors". We were so thankful. The hotel didn't have a pool, but we weren't complaning...we were just glad to have a room. The kids were starving and ready to get out of the car, and since we had seen a McDonalds just a block or two away from our hotel, we drove over there and had supper, and the whole PlayPlace, to ourselves. The kids had fun, we were all happy to eat and relax for a bit before going back to our hotel for the night. Again, the kids slept well (once Jesse finally fell asleep). Just after we all laid down and turned off the lights...Jesse was looking up at the ceiling and exclaimed (very excitedly), "Star! Red star!" He was looking at the little light on the smoke detector. Mike and I had a good laugh. Jesse was quiet for a while again...and then we hear the pitter patter of feet running in the room and suddenly the bathroom light turns on. After we got him back in bed that time, I think he finally fell asleep.

Day three...Are we there yet? I am so glad our kids aren't old enough to be saying that. We left about 20 minutes late again, but since we were 20 minutes further down the road than we had planned for, it was okay. We stopped in Miles City, MT for our lunch break. We had a short break in Sidney, MT at yet another PlayPlace. This one was completely empty and there was even stuff for Rebecca to do which was nice. And then the long stretch home. We had 156 miles to get to Bengough. The kids did great. We got to the border early, had a nice visit with the customs officer (who happened to know someone from Abilene (his uncle), whom we actually knew too), and managed to get into Bengough almost an hour early. We had a great supper, the kids were so happy to run around (although still a little leary of this new place we were at), and I think Mike was just glad to be done driving.

Some other random notes and tidbits...
- we didn't hit any birds this year (last year we hit like 6 or something)
- we saw a funny sign in Childress TX "Do not pick up hitchikers in this area". I think there was a prison nearby.
- in Hermosa we saw a sign that said "50 mph/88 km per hr
- at mile marker 43 on highway 16 to Sidney, we saw the first Sasktachewan plates on a vehicle


So, after the long drive to Canada, and one short night of sleep, Mike gets in the car Monday morning and drives to Regina for orientation for his summer job. He's working on a bridge in Estevan for Westridge Construction. He comes home on weekends and spends the weekdays in Estevan, living at Darren & Sandra's. The kids and I miss him, but I think we are settling into the routine. Our first weekend here, we had Rebecca's birthday party (a little late) complete with a turkey dinner. It was fun. John and Brenda, and Dan, made it out to celebrate with us. Aunty Judy came from Weyburn, and Lissy from Regina, and even Aunty Yvonne all the way from BC. We had a full house, and it was great.

The second weekend we were here, Mike, the kids and I all traveled up to Saskatoon for a job interview. The weekend was good, but we didn't feel that well rested when we got home Sunday evening. The third weekend we were here (which just passed), we stayed home. Mike preached on Sunday, and we did a little shopping in Weyburn on Sunday afternoon. Then we even had a short visit with Nana and Grandad (since it was Fathers Day and all...) We've had mostly cold, rainy weather so I am looking forward to some nice summer temps soon.

And, to finish off, here are two funny things that Jesse had said recently:
- while we were in Saskatoon, we stayed with Rob & Diane. They have a little boy named Niles. Jesse calls him "Smiles" or "Sniles". Very cute.
- as we were driving through Regina, I said to Jesse, "Did you know we used to live in Regina?" He says, "Elijah?" I said, "No, Regina." And he says, "Elijah." (He misses playing with you Elijah, and still talks about you!)

If you've read this far, I am impressed!! Leave a comment if you like. :o)

It's been an interesting week for me...We bought Rebecca's birthday present on the weekend. I've been busy planning her birthday party, which has been fun. On Monday I attended a brunch for the present and future steering team members. It was so much fun and a real highlight for me. Then, on Tuesday, I found out that my 15 month old nephew (Eoin) has leukemia. He's in Edmonton getting treatment right now. As devastating as the news was, it was really encouraging to hear about all the people praying for him and the family. My MOPS friends and mentors have been praying, and some have been getting their small groups to pray. Our church family in Benjamin has been praying, and our church family in Abilene at Minter Lane has been praying. Mike's classmates have been praying. And that's just here in Texas. There are people all across Canada who are also praying. So, in the midst of sorrow, I feel refreshed by the support of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Eoin has a CarePage...a place where you can go and get updates on his treatment and how he is doing. It's great, I love the idea and it's also encouraging to see the support Angie and Reed are receiving there. Please take a look. http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=Eoin07&ipc=cpinviteemail

Things have been going on as normal here...at least for the kiddos. Rebecca toddles around everywhere and manages to keep her balance pretty good even when Jesse bumps into her. Jesse is learning about sharing. I say learning because he doesn't quite understand the concept yet. Right now he is at the stage that when I tell him to share with Rebecca, he gives her something before he takes what she has. Unfortunately what he usually gives her is undesirable. And other times, he will sweetly share what he has. He has even shared his ice cream and cake with her.

And, to end on a funny note...tonite as I went to move the kids laundry from the washing machine to the dryer, I noticed that the laundry smelled...unusual. I didn't quite know what it was, so I started moving it over anyway. About half way in, I saw what was causing the odor. A diaper. No, not a cloth diaper (those go in a separate diaper pail and haven't gotten mixed in with our regular laundry...yet.) It was a disposable diaper. Neither Mike or I know how it got in the laundry basket. Luckily, it wasn't a poopy diaper, and it was neatly folded up (and didn't come undone), and didn't burst and get the gel everywhere. So, I'm washing the laundry again right now...

Has it really been that long?!

I can't believe it's been almost two months since I last wrote. I'm going to blame Facebook, dropshots, and The Wiggles...that's right, The Wiggles. Almost every time I have the computer on, Jesse wants to watch The Wiggles, and that means no time for me to use the internet. Oh well, there are more productive ways to spend my time. So, here's whats happened in the last month or two...

We had company over spring break. My grandma and grandpa, and little sister Lis came to visit. It was great! It was so nice to have family here, especially since we haven't seen them since we left Canada in August. It was fun to show them around Abilene, have them meet our church family in Benjamin, and eat out lots (thanks grandpa!!) Now I can't wait until summer and we head north again. The countdown is on...30 more days until we arrive in Bengough (if everything goes as planned!)

Rebecca has started walking. She walks everywhere now. It's hard to believe that she will be a year old next month. I've started making plans for her birthday parties (yes, parties...she is lucky enough to get one here in Abilene, and one up in Canada although it will be a bit late.) And, she also has four teeth now. She likes to use them to bite little pieces of food off...it looks like a mouse nibbled on it. I can't think of anything else new that she has done recently, but there are lots of cute pictures and videos on our dropshots site, so if you haven't been there recently you really should go take a look. www.dropshots.com/trinacoghlin


Jesse has moved into a big kid bed. He loves it. He seems so proud of himself when he gets up in the morning and comes out of his room all by himself. He adjusted to it so well. Only once since we have moved him, has he gotten up in the middle of the night. And he has started to talk a lot more. He even talks on the phone. Before, when we would hand him the phone, he would just listen and get a confused look on his face. Now, every time I'm on the phone, he wants to talk to whoever it is (usually it's my mom, so I let him). Today, when we came home from the store he said to me, "Talking...phone...grandba?" (He calls both grandma and grandpa "grandba" at this point.) Most people, other than me, don't understand a lot of what he says, but he really is learning more every day. He's a pro at counting from 1-10, and he even has his ABC's down pretty well. Jesse has also discovered the joy of two-footed jumping. He wants to jump everywhere...over cracks/lines in the sidewalk, off the bottom stair, up onto a curb. He thinks it's great fun. Sometimes he will even do two or three hops in a row.

We got a large amount of rain the other day (you can see the videos on our dropshots site). Jesse had so much fun playing in the puddles (and by puddles, I probably mean streams of flowing water.) Sometimes the water was up almost to his knees (yes, I was holding onto his hand) and he just giggled and splashed. It was so fun to watch. And Mike loves driving through puddles (or whole streets that have been flooded.) It was fun to watch him enjoy it so much too.

Mike is busy, busy, busy with school. He had two papers due this week, and I think he stayed up all night two days this week to get them done. I really don't know how he's even staying awake during the days!! He only has one more week of classes, and then 3 final exams. Then, he has one week off...which won't really be a week off since he will be preparing for his block class that starts on the 19th. One May 23rd we start driving toward Canada. I can't wait. There is lots to do before then...getting the house ready for the summer, doctors and WIC appointments, Rebecca's birthday party, so I'm sure the time will fly by. In fact, this may be the last time I write before the summer!

What is that splatter???

Yesterday I noticed a splattering on red on my wall near the table. It hadn't been there when we last are a meal, so I was quite perplexed as to how it got there. I asked Mike and he wasn't sure either. Both kids were asleep at the time. So our day continued on and soon it was supper time and we all gathered around the table to eat chicken sandwiches and salad. At one point in the meal Jesse asked for some tomatoes (he loves tomatoes.) As he reached for one I asked him if he knew what was on the wall, since if did kind of look like tomato juice. Right as the words left my mouth Jesse squeezed his cherry tomato and it exploded juice and seeds all over his chest. Using my CSI knowledge of recreating a 'crime' I found that the tomato splatter on Jesse's chest was almost an exact match to the splatter on the wall. Mystery solved!

On another note, Rebecca learned a new trick...she started clapping yesterday and boy is she proud of herself! Tonite I was singing, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands," and she started clapping for me. Almost every time I say, "clap," she does. It's cool to know that she is starting to understand some words. And, I think she may be getting some teeth. I can see some bumps right under the gums. Some days I wonder if she is going to end up getting four all at once! I guess we'll see. We had her at the doctor just this past week...she's doing great, other than her weight. I guess she hasn't been gaining weight fast enough, so I was told to start feeding her solids more. Right now, she weighs just over 17 lbs and is 27.5 inches tall (she's about 9 1/2 months old). I figure she's just burning off a lot of calories crawling around and trying to walk.

Well, I should log off...there is a thunderstorm happening outside right now - with hail. I just looked out the door and there were hail stones bouncing past our door (and it's a good 10 feet from the edge of the overhang).

Jesse is growing up so fast! He continues to amaze me with the things that he knows. He knows how to use my iPod Touch...he can turn it on, unlock it, select a game that he wants to play, quit that game and select another. He knows how to unlock the door with a key. He knows his shapes...and not just circle, square, triangle - he knows an oval, rectangle, diamond, and is learning an octagon. He knows how to count...he can count to 10 most of the time, although he sometimes forgets a number. And, he's learning his alphabet. He likes to do his alphabet puzzle, and try to point out the different letters to me. The path up at ACU has scripture engraved in some segments of the concrete. We were walking up there last night, and Jesse walked over one of these segments and got excited. He kept saying, "ABC's!" This morning he tried singing the song. He made it to "g", then skipped to "q,r,s", and the to "w". It was cute. And he's talking more and more each day. He had a couple of phrases that he really likes. For example, he really likes to say, "Lucky duck!" Apparently, we have said that to him a few times. If he gets something that he likes (like ice cream) he will say it. His other new phrase is, "sorry." Sometimes it's at an appropriate moment, and other times not. The other day I walked into Rebecca's room just as Jesse bumped something off the table. Right away he exclaimed, "Sorry!" It made me smile. We have been trying to teach him to say sorry when he hits someone or does something he should be apologizing for.

Rebecca still isn't walking, but she does cruise along furniture pretty good. And she is standing without holding on to anything more and more. She still has no teeth either...not that I really mind. I kind of like babies toothless grin!

Our family is just getting over the flu. Well, mostly I am just getting over the flu. I had a fever & chills for 4 days last week, and a horrible cough and stuffed nose. Now I just have the cough and congestion, but am really starting to feel better. Somehow Mike and Rebecca escaped getting sick. Jesse had a fever for a few days, but he pulled through quicker than I.

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day. Mike brought me tulips home, and we went for a walk last night as a family. The weather was nice, and it was just a pleasant evening. Jesse likes my flowers too. He talks about them all the time! Anyway, speaking of Jesse, I should go...I think he's finished his breakfast and wants down from the table.

Jesse is crazy! I mean, he's acting crazy. I think it's the steroids that the doctor prescribed. He's moody, rowdy, and gets real mad way faster than normal. And he's still pretty wheezy, although better than he was earlier in the week. He still doesn't like his one medicine. Last night we made a smoothie and mixed his medicine in. He had downed it in less than 5 minutes. So much better than the 15-30 minute battles before. I just hope he doesn't get tired of smoothies before the week is out. We still have 6 more days of this. Rebecca has been cranky too. My best guess is she's teething. I still haven't seen one pop through, but since she's already 8 months old she is definitely due!

So, amidst all the chaos today, I decided to bake some bread. It was kind of fun. And tasty too. Since we have no groceries in the fridge, we may just eat bread and butter for supper.

I guess I should share a cute story about Jesse too. He understands most of what we say to him these days (whether he agrees or not is another story!) So, to help with the frustration factor, we have started giving him choices in some matters. For example, we will ask him if he would like milk or apple juice. Since he knows both of those words he will just tell us which he would like. But, he doesn't know the names of the different cereals in our pantry. We will just point to one and ask, "Would you like this one?" His replies are usually something like this, "Oh...no, no, no, no" as he shakes his head. Or, "Oh, okay" with vigorous nodding. It's pretty cute I think. Best of all, we actually are communicating with each other. He gets what he wants and there isn't a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth. Now if only Rebecca could pick up some tips from him...

So Jesse is sick...like $290 sick. Good thing we have health insurance! He has an upper respiratory infection and a cough. It's sad to hear him wheezing and trying to catch his breath. I'm hoping the medications they have him on will help soon. They gave him a shot of antibiotics at the clinic. Every time I change his diaper he points out the bandaid and says,"pokey." Poor little guy.

On another note of sad news...I saw a cockroach tonight. We haven't seen any since we got back from our trip to San Antonio. We figured that we would get them again. I think it's just part of living in an apartment where they don't require tenants to spray. Hopefully it was just a random roach...

Other than that not much is new down our way.

What a helpful son we have raised...

First story...I was shelling pecans today with Jesse helping me. His version of helping me was to hand me a pecan, and then while I was busy shelling it he sat and ate two or three from the container of shelled ones. Anyway, he dumped the pecans on the floor (possibly to get my attention because I was talking on the phone at the time). But, he did help me clean them up (singing our clean up song). And after we had picked up all the larger pieces, he went to get the dustbuster to vacuum up the smaller crumbs. See...helpful, right?

Second story...tonight we were at a WCC information dinner with the kids. Rebecca ate something she didn't like and at the very end of the meeting she threw up all over me. So, I mopped it all up and figured that was it. Nope. A few minutes later, while I was visiting with some older ladies, Rebecca threw up again, twice. This time Jesse noticed and was pointing out the mess. I think he was saying, "Dirty." He saw that we were using the napkins to clean up the mess on the floor, so being the helpful son he is (at times), he grabbed my jacket and tried using it to clean up the mess. Oh well. At least it's a weatherproof jacket, and he was using the outside.

Happy New Year

I can't believe it's 2008 already. Christmas is past, and Mike's holidays are half over. We had a wonderful Christmas break in San Antonio with my parents and Mike's parents (yes, both sets of parents at one time...in one house for a week!) I love the fact that our families get along well enough that we can spend a holiday together like that. It was such a precious time, filled with lots of good memories. We toured the Riverwalk, went to the Alamo and the other four missions in the area. We also went shopping a few times, went to listen to Max Lucado preach, got lost a time or two in San Antonio, hung out in the hot tub, ate at Johnny Carino's, Mi Tierra, and Whataburger, and we even had a turkey dinner! The week went by too fast, but it was so much fun and I am glad they made the effort to travel all this way to see us.

So we actually celebrated Christmas day here in Abilene, just our little family of four. We got some small presents for the kids, and some stocking stuffers, so when they woke up Tuesday morning we all opened presents together. Jesse ate a candy cane from his stocking, and Rebecca ate a cracker from hers. It was fun. At dinner time we ate a roast chicken with all the yummy side dishes. Then Jesse and Rebecca napped, and Mike and I just hung out. It is so nice to have him around...I think I will find it difficult when he has to go back to school.

Jesse has started this annoying habit of taking his diaper off. He will strip off his pants and the undo his diaper. If we redress him, he will have it off again in a matter of minutes. This wouldn't be a big deal if he was potty trained, but he will just pee wherever he feels like. And since most of our house is carpet, it can be a pain to clean up. We have tried several tactics to keep pants on him including putting him in jeans (with a button and zipper), which he finds more difficult but not impossible to get off. We have also put the diaper on him backwards, which helps overnight. And we also continue to try potty training him, but he just doesn't seem to get the concept of peeing in the potty. I will put him on there (because I know he needs to go), and he won't do anything while he's sitting there, but a minute after I let him down he will have gone somewhere else in the house. It's frustrating. Rebecca can be frustrating too. Not because we are trying to potty train her, but because we are trying to get her to eat solid foods. She ate fine several weeks ago. Then she got the stomach flu, had a few periods of throwing up, and since then she does not want to eat from a spoon. She will eat crackers, and cheerios by the handful, but will not open her mouth to eat from the spoon. So, I have to be sneaky. When she opens her mouth to eat a cheerio, I will shove a spoonful of fruit, veggies, or cereal into her mouth. She seems to liked cooked sweet potato or carrots diced up better than the pureed variety. And I can tell she's hungry because she is wanting to eat every few hours which is really annoying during the night. But, I think she is getting better. It's just too bad that we have to deal with both children being frustrating at the same time!

We had a fairly uneventful New Years Eve. I guess that happens when you have babies. We didn't even bother going anywhere because we knew Jesse would be going to bed around 8. I woke up at 11:45 to feed Rebecca. We heard some fireworks that people were setting off around the apartment complex. And then I went back to bed. That's about as exciting as it gets!

Dan is coming to visit, and I can't wait. It will be so much fun to have him here and show him around Abilene and have him meet our friends down here. Hopefully we have some nice warm weather for him to enjoy.