Grant Money

Well, I am sorry to be silent on this issue for awhile, but when you are dealing with the government, that is what you get :) Tim is the inspector that we are dealing with and he is a VERY through(spelling?) guy. He just got the paper work into Lori~the person in charge of distributing funds, this morning. So we have made a large step forward. Please continue to pray that God's will be done with our basement. I love our house and I want to live here for years to come. With Dash getting to be a bigger boy we really should be seperating them soon. However that is not going to happen until we are able to put our room in the basement~which isnt going to happen until it is water free for 1 year.

3 things....

3 Things that I believe all home owners should own:

1. Dry/Wet Shop Vac~but not that brand it stinks~Craftsman is a good one.

2. An industrial Fan

3. Dehumidifier or two

This comes after I have shop-vaced our basement 4 nights of the past week due to water leaking. Now you may not have a water issue now, but you never know when there will be water in your basement. 

Ali 1st Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated Ali's 1st Birthday. Winston, Kim, Sharea?, Grandpa and Grandma Cohan, Beth, Grandma Kitty, Uncle Jim, Grandpa Mikesell, Dash, Sammie, Daddy, and Mommy were there. It was a small party, but thats ok. You fully enjoyed your cake! Congratulations Ali, you win the messiest 1st Birthday Cake Award in the Cohan house.

To view more pictures of her big day, visit http://www.rscohan.shutterfly.com/

Ali's numbers for her 1 year dr appt were: 21.1 lbs (50%) and 30.5 inches (75%)

Broke Down

I finally broke down today and brought up MY bucket of Toy Story toys for the kids to play with. That's right I have let the kids play with my toys. The ones that I wasnt going to let them play with.
It was not a hard choice today. Especially since we went and saw Toy Story 3 last week friday and Dash was playing with the Woody and Buzz that were in his toy box like Andy does in Toy Story 2.
The kids were very excited, Sammie loved Slinky Dog, so much so she took him for a nap!

Gator Soccer

This is Dash playing soccer. This was not one of his better game, the guy helping to Coach the team I dont think liked Dash too much because he was a ball hog. But as my friend Molly said, it didnt look like most of the kids wanted to be playing soccer. Because seriously, if they wanted to be playing, theyd be fighting over the ball, not just watching Dash take it. Oh well, Dash had a blast. Last week he scored 4 goals and his team won 4-0!

Toy Story 3

Every year Ryan and I make it a point to go to the new Pixar/Disney film in theaters. This year is was the long awaited, many times denyed they were making, Toy Story 3. We, mostly I thought it would be fun to take Dash to go see. WRONG!!! TOY STORY 3 IS NOT A KID(YOUNG AT LEAST) FRIENDLY MOVIE. Yes, Im sure a 6,7,8 year old would not be as scared, but a newly 4 year-old was on my lap and I dont know how well he will sleep the next few nights. A major question Ryan and I had about this movie and their toys was answered. We wondered why Pixar would create their own toy (Lots-o Hugs), when they have plainly used toys that exhist. Tonight our we were given our answer, and I will not give it to you because that will give parts of the movie away. I will have to admit that I balled my eyes out! I had tears dripping down my neck! Part of it is my love for Woody and Buzz and gang~yes even Jessie :( and the other part is my hormones a mom. Enough said, I will be in the stores on the day of release purchasing the DVD and trying desperately to not buy all the paraphanila to join my plastic bucket of toys downstairs.

PS Cars 2 expected release date is June 24, 2011

Beth

Pastor Guy praying for them before they leave. I love this picture, I think it is something amazing, seeing Beth's mom standing there with her arm around her praying with her before she leaves.

The group shot~Dash went through naming the people he knew and when he got to Donnie, he very clearly stated....."Aidyn's Daddy"

Beth left for Nicaragua on Monday June 14th. She went with church on a mission's trip. She was so excited to go and I know that God had really laid it on her heart to go and serve Him there. Ryan and I have been meaning to put together a prayer photo album for over a year now of people we know and those put in charge of us so we can see their picture at breakfast and pray for them each day. Well, we finally have 2 pictures in the photo album, one of beth and the other of the team. We have been praying for them every morning and if I forget~or it sounds like I am going to forget, Dash chimes in~and Beth. Also all day Monday, every time the kids heard an airplane they had asked if that was Beth's plane. We miss you Beth and will be glad to have you back, but know we are praying for you daily.

Happy 1st Birthday Alicia Grace!

Her actual birthday was June 16th

What a differance a year makes!

Ali has perfected the throwing a of a tantrum. She waves her arms, kicks her feet, stomps her feet and then sometimes throws herself on the ground, all topped of with a few screams! She is also a lot of fun when not turning of the TV, playing in the bathroom, screaming at me, hitting me or the kids. She is quick to smile and easily giggles. She loves to dance, point to things, EAT, go to the zoo, play outside, do whatever the other two are doing. She a great climber and a good slider. She loves to play in the water and is a total Daddy's girl. I think she has forgotten how to say "mama". She can wave bye and hi, if prompted. She can give kisses and loves to snuggle when she is tired. She is a walking girl and really only crawls when she is playing 'dog'. She likes to put Dash's cars away and destroy his train tracks. She had 7 teeth on her birthday, but popped her 8th the day after. This past week she is working on developing her vocab by pointing to things and saying this. She is telling stories in her own jiberish. She is a girl that knows what she does and doesnt want. She loves her nuk~unfortunately~but it is not allowed her mouth all day, mostly when she is sleeping or when I cant take the crying/screaming any longer. She knows when her bottle is warmed~she hears the timer and knows what that specific timer means. She knows where the snack cupboard is and walks to it and flaps her arms for some food when she is hungry~not every time. She LOVES water out of sippy cup and is getting use to the taste of milk out of her cup. She is pretty good at putting her self to sleep, at least better than the other 2 at this age. She really should be taking 2 naps a day, but I try to push for just 1. She loves to go for walks in the evening with me while Daddy puts the other 2 to bed. Monday is her 1 year check up so I will have stats for that. In the mean time, I am looking forward to another great year with her.

She can say:

da~dash

hi daddy

bye daddy

this?

ja~jaybird

mama

Thank you Jesus for giving me yet another display of your wonderful creation.

Delayed!

I am very delayed in the blogging world. I have had so much that I have wanted to blog about but have not been able to. I have been helping my friend Molly and my friend Keri with their wedding invitations this month so all my nights have gone to that or house work :)

So here is what I have missed:

Ali's 1st birthday
Sammie is sleeping WONDERFULLY
Dash has hit 4 and a whole new form of parenting is around the corner....oh wait, it is here!
Beth is in Nicaragua
My mom's surgery is healing well
My pediatrician is leaving come August~going to seminary for priesthood in Milwaukee
Today Ryan and I celebrate 95 months of being together

OH YEAH and the best thing about today is:

TOY STORY 3

I have been really good and not bought all the paraphanila(sp?) for the latest Pixar film. But tonight, Ryan, Dash, and I are going to go see the movie :) Those that know me, would expect nothing less. But the best news and I think that this is something you would be excited about Cara, is that Cars 2 comes out in a year! Can't wait for that one either! And tonight I will find out the release date for that~at least I should~and will spend the next year waiting for that to be in theaters!

tooth

ali popped yet another tooth. Thats number 8!

Dog

Ali is getting so much fun when she isnt crying at me.

For awhile now Dash and Sammie like to pretend they are dogs. So they will crawl around barking. This morning, Ali got down on all 4 and followed Sammie and was panting like a dog!

Golf

I took Dash mini golfing yesterday! We had a blast. I even let him do the batting cages :) He had hit 4 or 5 of the 15 pitches. This kid is a jock~I can see it now :)

Baby Bird Needs her Mama

I will preface that this is a sad one!


Today the kids and I went to the zoo for just over an hour. While we were going into the monkey building to go potty, I rolled over something with the stroller and it squeaked. I looked and saw that it was a baby bird. Now, this bird had no feathers, no nothing, my guess is that it fell to the ground from the egg! But yet it also looked like it could be one of those really realistic sqeaky toys to prank the moms out there. I just could not tell. So I tapped it with my foot and this had brought Dash and Sammie's attention to it. It squeaked again and then tried to roll over and opened its mouth. The kids were very concerned about this bird finding his mama. So much so that we had to find a zoo worker and take him to the bird so the kids could show him what they were talking about. I was very impressed that Dash himself talked to the zoo keeper! The zoo keeper came outside to take a peek. He ened up picking the bird up to act as though he was gonna help him find his mama. Sammie felt the need to call daddy right away to tell him all about it. And she did on the phone today!

Allergies

I am 99.9% sure that I have figured out Sammie's sleep issue. Allergies. We went to the ENT on Monday and he determined that she was a borderline canidate for her adnoids and tonsils to be removed. I was a bit bummed, since that is not the answer I wanted to here. It was Monday night that I started the Zyrtek test to see if my hunch a few weeks ago was correct. Tuesday night(day2) she slept for 11 hours STRAIGHT! I can not tell you the last time she slept that long and not in my bed! Wednesday morning she was a whole new girl~the girl we knew that was trapped in there! Wednesday night(day 3) she only got up 1 time and that was because she needed help adjusting her pillows, but was able to go right back to sleep~on her own and in her own bed all night AGAIN! Tonight is night 4 so we will see how it goes, but I can tell that she is getting better sleep already by her mood and attitude and behavior! I was almost in tears today as I heard my big girl~the one that we knew has been trapped in there!


PS~I didnt end up taking her in, just tried the Zyrtek daily instead of as needed.

Oil Spill

I don't know all the details and I am not going to pretend to, but what I do know is my attitude towards this issue and that's all that this is.

I understand that this was a mistake an accident. An accident that has killed 11 workers. It seems we have quickly forgotten about that and are now more upset about the oil spilling into the gulf. It is not like BP decided that they were bored and wanted to spill the oil. So let's cut them some slack as they figure out how to "fix" this. Am I sad that there is oil washing up and killing animals, YES. But I am not going to get mad and irritated at them. They are trying and they have their best heads go to work and fix it. I am sure they dont enjoy all that oil on the gulf either(thats money lost to them).  How would you like to be in their shoes? No you wouldn't, then shut up and let them do their job. You could pray for wisdom for the engineers and BP officials making the calls.  

And another twist to this is that I am sick of selfish, unresponsable, demanding, always right Americans. These workers were drilling oil for US and on our soil like we have been begging. We are quick to criticize and slow to accept any "blame". This picture reminds me of the movie Walle. If I didn't believe that Jesus were coming back some day, I would surely feel as though we were heading in the direction of that movie, all based on the unawareness of the consequences of our actions. The Earth became so polluted that they had to leave the Earth and lived on a ship for 700 billion years or something like that. WE as Americans are so product demanding and yet we dont want to think we negatively affect our habitat. SERIOUSLY~LETS GET OVER OUR SELVES and start accepting responsibility for our children's sake!

Then there is the government. Like I said, I dont know all the details, but I know what I have seen and it appears that all they are doing is saying that BP will pay for this. Lets suck it up and work together and MAYBE here's an idea, it will get done faster. Stop placing blame and work as a team, because come on now, we should be on the same team for our country. I'd rather have the government working on this oil spill than taking the time to tell me what cribs I cannot use and setting laws on that; than demanding I wear my seat belt; pushing swine flu and regular flu vaccines and whatever else they are trying to push that I dont know about yet! Yes the above 2 are for safety reasons, but they are my choice! It is my choice on which crib I use and my choice to wear my seat belt or not. WHAT HAPPENED TO FREE CHOICE that our forefathers fought so hard for? I see even less of that for my kids and for that I am sad.

Allergies

I am thinking that Ali has some sort of allergies, so I will be calling Dr. Norteness next week to see when I can get her in!

Urgent Care

Last night Ali and I took a stroll to Children's Hospital and paid a visit to their urgent care. After a seaming normal day, she woke up from her nap with a temp of 103! Since I knew that strep was floating around the house and I happen to work on Fridays, I wanted to take her in right away to get to the bottom of this! Well, strep was not present, but an ear infection is. It is in the same ear that was infected 2 weeks ago and was clear on Tuesday! Wow that girl works fast :) It took me 12 hours to get her fever back down to 98 but that is where she spent the day at. So I was able to go to work.

Ali is weighing in at 21lbs and 10oz

Insomnia

I have made it to the doctor! As a matter of fact, Sammie and I were in the ER last week Saturday, all for an ear infection, a virus, and a postitive strep culture(didnt find that out until Monday). It was recommened that we set up an follow up appointment with her pedi for Tuesday the 1st. So we did that. I mentioned to him at that point, that I think we are dealing with insomnia in Sammie. Thus started the ball rolling. Sammie is to see our ENT on Monday, June 7th, she has a sleep study scheduled for sometime in August, I forgot to write down the date~guess that is what happens when you are scheduling at the park, and I need to set up up for 3 year old screening to check her development. I am really hoping that Dr. Condon finds something on Monday so we can get to the bottom of this issue as soon as possable!