Easter Celebrations

The more our families grow, the harder it seems to get everyone together- especially on holidays.  This year, Easter celebrations started on March 17.  You read that right- we celebrated Easter with the Howell family over two weeks ago because that was the only time we could get everyone together for a leisurely meal and family time.  It actually made this Easter 'season' filled with such anticipation for the actual day of Easter, and allowed us to enjoy the day as a family.

I've been terrible about having my 'real' camera with me lately, so I have no pictures from the Howell-Easter-Dinner-Festivities.  The next weekend we celebrated Easter with the Cochran family, and I at least had my phone with me this time to capture some sweet moments with the Cochran's.

Mama Zo had the boys help her make a Bunny Cake.  I thought this was a really brave endeavor, since all three of these boys could pretty much live on cake and frosting alone.  These boys had so much fun getting to do this with their Mama Zo!

 This could be one of my favorite pictures from the day.  I love these boys so much!

 All three of them were so excited!

Finished product with Mama Zo and Pops!  

Such a fun memory.

Fast forward to Easter Sunday morning.  I felt terrible that we never got George's Easter basket down from the attic, but all of his Easter Bunny gifts fit perfectly in his new wheelbarrow!  Plus I wasn't sure the Easter Bunny could fill up his basket too :)  George was so excited that he could hardly touch his new gifts!  This lasted no more than 5 or so minutes... 

I love his little face in this picture.

 Clay loves that March Madness is alive and well in the Cochran house.

 George absolutely loves his wheelbarrow.  The only two things he always makes sure to have in it are this little Mickey rattle and his Woody.  Woody always rides first class with Georgie.

 Family pic on the porch before church.

 Family pic outside of church while it wasn't raining!

 After church we met Saty, Pop, and Aunt Erie for Easter brunch.  Pop and George are old souls and kindred spirits.  I have no idea what they're laughing at here.

 Saty, Pop and George

 George LOVES Aunt Erie!

 We missed Scooter, KK, Rogers, and Frannie!

Howell family pic after brunch.

 George was on a pretty good sugar high after brunch, so we played in the front yard for a while.

 This kid loves his lawn mower.

 I think he was trying to make it to the Maddox's house.

Finally time to call it a day.

This Easter was such a meaningful year for Clay and me, especially.  Our pastor, Murray, preached about the implications the resurrection has on our lives today.  He said we are either consumed with death, or consumed with life.  Whatever we may face in this life, we have to remember that Jesus has already overcome it.  This was a powerful word for Clay and me, as we face this week together.  We sang this hymn during communion, and while the music and melody are beautiful, the words of the hymn were even more beautiful to me.  Happy Easter!

"How can it be, the One who died, has borne our sin through sacrifice

To conquer every sting of death?  Sing, sing hallelujah!

For joy awakes as dawning light when Christ's disciples lift their eyes.

Alive He stands, their Friend and King; Christ, Christ He is risen.

Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! Oh, sing hallelujah.

Join the chorus, sing with the redeemed; Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.

Where doubt and darkness once had been, they saw Him and their hearts believed.

But blessed are those who have not seen, yet, sing hallelujah.

Once bound by fear now bold in faith, they preached the truth and power of grace.

And pouring out their lives they gained Life, life everlasting.

The power that raised Him from the grave

Now works in us to powerfully save.

He frees our hearts to live His grace;

Go, tell of His goodness.

He's alive, He's alive!

Heaven's gates are opened wide.

He's alive, He's alive!

Now in heaven glorified."

-Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

by Keith & Kristyn Getty

Nan

We are so excited to announce that George is going to have a little sister in August!  I can hardly wrap my brain around the fact that we are going to have a little girl join our family soon.  I knew this pregnancy had been so different than with George, but I just felt like we would have a little brother for sure.  Now George has learned that 'Baby Sissy' is who is inside mommy's tummy.  It's pretty sweet to hear him talk about Sissy.

My mom was so excited that she started to get out some of my first dance costumes- I can't wait to see Frannie and Nan playing in these costumes in the coming years!

We've named her Jane Ann Cochran, and we're going to call her Nan.  She is named for her two amazing grandmothers, who, no doubt, will have an incredible impact on her life in the years to come.  Since both of our mothers have unusual names (Zolinda Cochran and Satyra Howell) we opted to use the combination of their two beautiful middle names- Jane from the Cochran side and Ann from the Howell side.  I love that Nan will truly know the women for whom we named her.  Both of her namesakes are women of faith, strength, and selfless and unconditional love, and we pray that Nan will follow in their footsteps.

We ask for your prayers over Nan, and over us, throughout the coming months.  We ask that you pray for her health and development.  More than ever, we have seen what a miracle the Lord gives us in new life.  It is one of the greatest ways that He shows His power, His intimacy, and His sovereignty in this life, and we know that He is knitting our daughter together in His beautiful image.  I was talking with a friend about how parenthood can either be wrought with worry and anxiety, or it can lead to a new depth of clinging to the Lord.  We have learned more about the latter in the last few days, and Clay and I are so thankful for it.  We have learned that strength is not the absence of emotions, but it is seeking the Lord in the realness of those emotions.  And He has met us there every single time.  

I don't mean to be dramatic, but I also want to be real about what we've gone through in the last four days.  We are so totally in love with our little Nan already, and know that the Lord is very much present in our little house, in our little growing family.  We will be going to a follow-up ultrasound in a week and a half to see Nan again, and we are praying that she is continuing to grow in a healthy way.  We ask that you pray for her, too.  

The words of this hymn have been the prayer of my heart, and have brought me so much comfort.  I especially love the last verse, and love the thought that the Lord pleads for me, and for Nan.  

"God of my life, to Thee I call,

Afflicted at Thy feet I fall;

When the great water floods prevail

Leave not my trembling heart to fail.

Poor though I am, despised forgot

Yet God, my God, forgets me not;

And He is safe, and must succeed for whom

The Lord is sure to plead.

Friend of the friendless and the faint,

Where should I lodge my deep complaint?

Where but with Thee, whose open door

Invites the helpless and the poor!

That were a grief I could not bear,

Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer;

But a prayer hearing, answering God

Supports me under every load."

Recent Shenanigans

I guess when I last left off, we were in the thick of doing a whole lot of this:

George had a fever virus, that led to a GI infection, that led to a double ear infection, that lasted for 8 days.  Never have I ever seen this baby so pitiful.  We did a LOT of cuddling.  Then we did a LOT of cleaning to make sure no one else caught any part of this awfulness.

We knew he was feeling better when we found him Swiffering the back of our house.

This was totally unsolicited, but very much appreciated :)

Still, we played it safe and had a lot of fun just the three of us.

Here, George is making an external hard drive into a phone.  

In case you're wondering, the only two calls he makes are to 'Daddy', and 'Woody'.

Clay was the most excited he was feeling better, and wanted to take him to get some 'Glad you're feeling better' ice cream.  George wasn't too excited about the fact that he had to share, but it was a breath of fresh air (literally) to get out of the house and be around other human beings besides the doctor.

Then George started eating real food again.  With a fork!  

Not sure where he learned this, but he absolutely loves getting to use his fork.

Here is George devouring grilled chicken, and roasted zucchini, asparagus and potatoes.  I know he did not get his diverse palate from me, as I'm almost positive I didn't start eating veggies until college.

But I'll take it!

Then he got to celebrate Mardi Gras with Saty and Pop!

Finally, it was the moment we had all been waiting for: PLAY DATES!

George had really been missing just getting to play with kids.  There's only a certain level of fun I am able to bring to the table with George, because he lights up in a whole new way around other kids.  90% of our friends have girls George's age, so he has lots of co-ed play dates.  So far, he seems okay with that.

 We got to meet our newest neighbor, Olivia Maddox!  Here, Clay is reading a story to George, John Grady and Olivia.  Claire, Grady, and I were just watching him multi-task oh-so-well.

 George and Lucy!  I'm telling you- George loves the ladies.

All-in-all, George is pretty happy with the way life is going these days.

We even got to go out for pancakes- George's favorite!

...and play in arcades!  George had a complete come-apart when we had to leave the arcade at New York Pizza.  There were some bigger kids who actually had quarters to put in the machine, so we felt like they needed a turn.  George was totally content to just play the promo-video that plays while it's waiting for a new person.  

Once we finished painting George's new (future) room, we were able to put the bunk beds together this past weekend.  George is obsessed!  He won't be moving in there for a while, but I think he is really excited about his new room.  

 If I still had a desk at work, this picture would be framed and on it for sure.

Playtime on the bunk beds.

Whew!  I am glad we are on the cusp of Spring, because I don't know if I could take much more of the wet, tepid winter we've had this year.  Next week we find out if baby #2 is a boy or girl- and we are so excited either way!  The more I look at those bunk beds, the more I would love a little brother for George.  Clay keeps reminding me that it's just a 50/50 chance every single time, and we are just praying for a healthy baby!

Here's to a healthy Spring!

Getting (me) Through the Sick Season

I don't know what it is about this year, but we can't seem to keep George well these days.  Someone that Clay works with said that from birth to 1 year old, kids may get little things here and there, but overall, they stay pretty healthy.  But from 1 to 2 is a no-holds-barred kind of year where they get EVERYTHING.  George has proven that statement to be oh-so-true.

Last week he was fighting off the stomach bug, and this week, I'll spare you the gory details, but let's just say that he's 'sick'.  Really sick.  Luckily, today we seemed to have turned a corner of sorts, so hopefully we're on the mend.  All that to say, we've still managed to have some sweet moments along the way, and a few milestones, so I wanted to make sure I write them somewhere because I will surely not remember anything from this week once it's over.

George's language is growing at a rapid pace these days.  I've noticed that if it's something that he's really passionate about (food), or really obsessed with (characters/books) then he figures out the correct word for it and uses it.  Here are a few examples:

*I let him watch Toy Story for the first time yesterday simply because it was a movie-watching-kind-of-day.  So we snuggled up in bed, and within the first fifteen minutes, he started pointing and saying 'Woody! Woody!'.  It was bizarre how quickly he picked up his name.  Now he walks around the house asking for Woody all day.  

*He is very passionate about 'bites', and is loving foods (when he's not sick).  Besides fruit, I haven't found a 'bite' that he doesn't love.  Sometimes when I go into his room in the morning he's standing up at his crib pointing at the door saying 'bites pees!'

* He does still love 'mick mick', but I'm afraid Woody has edged him out.

* I've started asking him to say 'thank you', and sometimes he will say 'ank you'.  It's pretty sweet.

He still says nonsense words that Clay and I have no idea what he means, and this will frustrate George to no end.  We're in that hard place where George can communicate some things, but not everything, and he thinks he can communicate more than he actually can.  It's hard to watch him struggle, become frustrated, etc., but there is literally nothing I can do about it in the meantime.

I have been terrible about taking pictures lately, but here are a few I've taken with my phone.  

 Learning to color.  He's more into finger painting, but crayons are less messy.

 I can't remember when Saty gave him this shirt, but he was really excited when we put it on him (for fun) the other day.  

I'm thinking he may be a cowboy for Halloween this year.

 I heard him belly laughing in the back of the house, 

and came around the corner to this.

 After Mother's Day Out one day, I tucked him in his crib, and found myself contemplating snuggling up with him.  I can't imagine how hard it will be once he has a bed I can actually fit into with him.

 Best find ever at a consignment sale!  

George is obsessed with rocking chairs (have I mentioned that he's an old soul?).

 Train book from Aunt Marianne.

Here's how you know it's a favorite- when the binding is completely broken because it's been read so many times and you don't even think about throwing it away.  Thank goodness for duct tape saving this gem of a book.

 This picture, and the ones below, were taken this week while George has been sick.  Two things have made him happy: taking pictures of himself with my phone (not sure why, but this is the face he made in every. single. one.) and Toy Story!

 His best attempt at a smile.  While watching Woody.

 This is what he did 90% of the time he was awake.  There's only so much Mom can do to entertain herself with a 100+ degree baby draped over her.

Watching Woody.  He was literally on the edge of his seat, and had to walk closer the first time he watched it.

All-in-all, we've had lots of snuggles and sweet moments around here this week.  I have friends whose babies are in, and have been, in serious danger for their lives, and that keeps things in perspective really quickly.  I know that God has given me the grace and strength for today, and that is all I need.  

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus, far surpassing all the rest

It's an ocean full of blessing in the midst of every test

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus, mighty Savior, precious Friend

You will bring us home to glory where Your love will never end.

O the deep, deep love

All I need and trust

Is the deep, deep love of Jesus.

The Things We Do For Love

For Christmas, we gave our nephew, Rogers, a trip to Build-a-Bear with us (Clay and me).  I could see the let down on Rogers' face when he opened up our gift to find a teeny tiny little credit card-thing, but I knew once we got him in the store, he might get into the excitement of it all.

We didn't even have to get to the mall for Rogers to get excited.  Just the car ride out to the Galleria alone was almost enough entertainment for Clay and me.  Rogers was excited to see the escalators, Chick-Fil-A, and all of the shiny watches displayed in the department store (which, in case you're wondering, are all on a child's level).  Once we got into the Build-a-Bear store, I wasn't sure that Rogers would be able to contain his excitement, but he did a great job- and was even more patient than I was!

 We tried to explain the concept of the place to him.  Basically, he could pick out any animal and outfit he wanted, and he would get to turn it into a stuffed animal of his own.  His first choice was this pink/purple/blue tie-dyed bear with a Buzz Lightyear outfit, but we steered him in another direction.  

After he had picked everything out, we were waiting in line.  I think we're used to George who walks figure-8s around/between our legs and begs to be held most of the time.  We turned around, and saw that Rogers had made himself comfortable at the computer station.  This picture just cracks me up.

 After a lot of deliberation, he went with a tiger in a Batman suit.  He seemed pretty pumped about it!

He was such a trooper with the long line!  Much more so than Juju. 

 Finally, it was Rogers' turn!  Mackey helped Rogers stuff the tiger, and put its heart inside.  There was a three-year-old girl in front of us who had to put her very last pacifier inside her bear.  It was traumatic for everyone involved- even the by-standers.  I get the theory of it, and it seems like a good enough way to get rid of the paci, but that little girl was traumatized, and I think Clay was a little heart-broken for her too.

 After some emergency surgery (see below), the tiger was ready for its first bath!  Rogers got really into this part.

 Here, tiger is having some emergency surgery.  See, Rogers wanted his tiger to smell like cupcakes, so he bought a smelly tab that goes inside.  Mackey forgot this key part to the animal, so we had to go see the on-call animal surgeon.  I know that sounds sarcastic, but she truly had her own set of tools/needles/thread to open the animals and close them back up.  She was referred to as the 'expert sewer'.

 After careful consideration, Rogers chose a tiger, in a Batman costume, that smells like cupcakes.

I can see the love he has for Tiger already.

Finished product!

I think about all of the fun times we had with the Lee's growing up, and it makes me want to do fun things with all of my nephews (and Frannie, too!- just different activities probably).  Some of my most favorite memories from childhood are with our cousins and Marianne and Ed.  Glamour Shots, Christmas night movies, going to the hunting camp, etc., would have been fun with friends, but they are lasting memories because they are family.  With almost all of our family within a stone's throw of our house, I can hardly contain my excitement to get to do these fun things with them.  

I would not have thought being at the Galleria on MLK day would have been my idea of fun, but it was one of my favorite times with Rogers.  Clay and I had a blast with him- and it's so different because he is a talker, and the things he says are absolutely hilarious!  We are so thankful for Rogers, and for the time we get to spend with him.  This was a sweet memory that we will always cherish.

Ch-ch-ch-Changes

I borrowed the title for this blog from the most recent episode of Friday Night Lights that Clay and I watched.  It also is appropriate for our life, as it was for the lives of those in Dillon, Texas for that episode.  I've had several friends recently discover this series, and Clay has just started it over for us.  It was like being reunited with old friends starting back over with Season 1.

Anyways!

The Cochran family is going to get a little bigger in August!  We are so excited for George to be a big brother in August, and are so thankful for this little baby on the way.  It's going to be another long, hot summer for me, as I'll be the biggest in June, July and August, but the good thing is that it's all I've known, so I'm ready for it.  I'm also ready to spend my summer submerged in a pool, and I think George is on board with that idea, too.

We got to tell our families on Christmas Day with this little picture.  I'm not sure who was the most excited- our parents, us, or George.  This could be one of my favorite pictures of him.


George is going through changes of his own.  He's starting to crave more independence- which is a double-edged sword, for sure.  He knows what he wants, and an absolute meltdown ensues if his wants aren't met.  I have to admit- it is really hard not to cave.  Because sometimes what he wants isn't necessarily a 'bad' thing- raisins (he walks into the kitchen saying 'nack pees...nack pees'), another episode of Mickey Mouse, etc.  But it's not always what is best for him at the moment.  I have a hard time communicating this to him, and I look forward to the day that we can communicate and understand each other.  I guess right now we're working on ironing out the minor detail that Clay and I are the final authority in the house.

George is also extremely picky about what he eats.  But not in the way that I was picky as a kid (Marianne and Saty- no comments about my pickiness!).  I actually think it would be easier for me if he was picky like me- especially with this first trimester nausea lingering around for a while.  George absolutely loves vegetables.  We've tried a wide range- asparagus, okra, carrots, brussel sprouts, all types of squash, zucchini, spinach, green beans and then some.  He loves them all with the same passion and excitement.  The smell of roasting veggies just about makes me turn green right now, but I'm trying to power through for Georgie.  I mean- what kid cries when he runs out of okra?!  That would be George tonight at dinner.  He would rather eat okra and butternut squash than the baked chicken nuggets sitting next to his veggies.  It is bizarre.  His teachers at school asked if I would start sending in this squash/zucchini/orzo pasta salad I used to make instead of PB&J, because he wasn't eating the peanut butter & jelly sandwich I had sent.  At 8am, a PB&J is a whole lot easier to whip up than a balanced-made-from-scratch meal.  I'm just being honest.  

There are a few things that George has a true love for, and I want to make sure I record these for posterity reasons:

* He is obsessed with reading books.  There are some he likes more than others, but he gets excited for pretty much any book.  He picks it out, brings it up to us and says "REE!!" and then shimmies into our lap.  I am also obsessed with these moments.

* There are some times when I wonder if Mickey Mouse showed up to our house, if George would run away with him, and never look back.  Sometimes he points to the TV and says 'mick mick????'.  I think we're all seeing why we have to limit the TV watching around here.  The other night Clay caught George with his stuffed Mickey in his lap "reading" a book to him.  I'm telling you- it's real love.

* A close second to Mickey would be Elmo, but this one is a puzzler.  We have no books that have Elmo in them (until we learned about this love of Elmo), and we've never watched anything with Elmo in it.  Is it just ingrained in children from birth that Elmo exists, and that he is good?  Whatever the catalyst to this new friendship, George cannot get enough Elmo.

Overall, I feel like we are in the sweetest spot with George.  He's a great napper and sleeper at night.  He has the sweetest spirit.  His laugh could melt me into a puddle.  My favorite thing these days is that I can tangibly tell that he loves Clay and me.  If Clay and I are hugging, he runs up to us and wraps his whole body around our legs.  The entire first year of a newborn's life is spent taking care of any need that arises for the baby, and you do these things out of this unconditional love.  But that love is unrequited for- what seems like- forever.  Now that I see glimpses of George's love for us, it is unreal to me.  It makes me know that he will be a great big brother to this baby, and I look forward to watching him continue to grow and develop.  

Wow- this was a long post with only one picture!  Sorry for those of you who only want pictures- I'll do a picture post soon.

Cabin Fever

I feel like I need to preface this post with the obvious statement:

I really love staying home with George.  He is so much fun to me, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I absolutely treasure my days with him.

Last week was the first week back to Mother's Day Out since 2 weeks before Christmas.  I knew George would have so much fun at school, and I was (selfishly) excited for a little bit of time by myself.  Almost on cue, George came down with RSV (respiratory virus) after Day 1 of school.  We've never experienced a viral infection before, but those bugs don't come and go like a bacterial infection.  They like to stick around for a while, and get real cozy.  

Since the week after George was born, I can honestly say I have not spent an entire day within the confines of our house.  Last week, I realized why- it's because it makes me crazy.  I need human interaction and fresh air.  Coincidentally, the Northwest's wet season must have also migrated this way, as it has been raining for the last 10 days (maybe it hasn't been that long- but truly, I lost all sense of time last week).  All of these situations piled together gave me a bad case of cabin fever.  I'm pretty sure George was feeling the same way, but he was so tired that he stopped caring.  I am so thankful that Clay took care of us- and even planned a fun date night for Friday night.  I cannot express how much that was needed.  

George was such a trooper, though.  He is a good sport about doing his inhaler.  He became an expert sleeper, which is pretty much the only thing that will help him get better.  Best of all, he is now the best snuggler ever.  I was talking with a friend about how much sickness has come in and out of our house since we brought George home from the hospital almost a year and a half ago.  I can't remember ever taking a sick day from work before having George.  It was easy to avoid being sick before kids: if someone was sick, I just stayed away from said person.  Now, not only can I not stay away from this sick person, but I'm wiping his nose, covering his cough, changing his diapers, and snuggling with him in between all of this.  My only hope now is God's protection and the 2,000mg of Vitamin C and echinacea I take daily.  Fingers crossed!

I know there are a few people who check this blog just for pictures, so this one's for you!

Somehow a balloon from Publix always brightened his day.

Here's to a healthier week for us and y'all throughout this sick season!