Christmas 2008

Here are some highlights from our Christmas 2008 adventure:

• We went to Marshall the night before Christmas Eve to Ty's dad and stepmom's house. Mark and Destin were there as well and we relaxed on Christmas Eve. That afternoon Ty, Mark, and Pops went hunting and Pops killed a deer. Ty took Jake outside when they came back to see the deer. Jake kept saying, "uh oh..." I was thoroughly horrified, but Mark and Ty assured me it was perfectly normal for little boys to see a dead deer. I guess he's been immersed in the hunting world already...I'm happy to stay inside and bake cookies :)


• Ty's brother Eric and his wife Jill and Zach and Matt came by that afternoon to see everyone. They bought Jake a basketball goal for Christmas which he loves! Uncle Eric also taught Jake to do the Florida Gator hand clap to make me mad :) Eric is a huge LSU fan and loves to antagonize my Sooners. (OU plays Florida this year for the National Championship so obviously I don't want Jake learning Florida clapping!) We were still really glad to see them :)

Jake doing the "Gator clap"

• Christmas Eve night the rest of Ty's siblings came over and we opened gifts with the whole family. Jake and his cousin Elsie Jane played together. She was so cute--she had to wear her tierra while playing basketball with Jake. Ty's sister Casey asked Jake to be the ring bearer in her upcoming wedding in April...his first wedding gig. I'm sure Elsie Jane can pull him down the aisle.

Jake and Elsie Jane

• Christmas Day we went over to Mooringsport, LA to Ty's aunt and uncle's house. Jonesa and Al were also there so we opened gifts with them that afternoon. Jake got really fun Superman PJs that light up. His favorite gift was the singing vacuum Jo Jo got him. Jake with Jo Jo and Papa Al--in his Superman PJs and his buck teeth pacifier...


• Christmas evening we had dinner and also had the 4th year of Cochran Family Fear Factor. The parents get together and create a Fear Factor game for all of the cousins. Its always hilarious! This year we had to zip line across the lake (but Destin and I were exempt obviously), shoot a target with a gun, and eat a whipped cream pie with no hands. They definitely went easy on us this year. Ty's cousin Klint won because he didn't do the zip line, but instead dove in the freezing lake and swam across. Kip is in Iraq so he wasn't there so we had a little Army bear to represent him in each event.

The 2008 Fear Factor contestants



"Kip"


• The day after Christmas we hung out in Mooringsport. Jake loves the lake and being outside. He got to play with his cousin Landon, and we met baby Kennedy for the first time. We went back to Marshall for the next day to spend a bit more time with Pops and Nonnie.Baby Kennedy (Ty's cousin Katie's baby)Jake, Ty, Landon, and Uncle Kenny riding on the RangerJake swinging on the tree swing


• We had a great time hanging out with Mark and Destin who we travel from place to place with on the holidays. Destin and I took about a million more pregnancy pictures and we also got one of Mark and Ty.Mark and Ty in their matching Colorado t-shirts (our nephew Matthew runs track for U of Colorado and brought these t-shirts for them)

Destin and I in our matching shirts Jonesa made us.

• We had a great Christmas and can't wait for next year when we'll have baby Grace with us as well!
  

A Christmas party with Jo Jo

Jake has finally decided to call Ty's mom, Jonesa, Jo Jo which is a cute name for her. Jo Jo took Jake to a Christmas party with her last Sunday at a friend's ranch. They had a horse for the kids to ride, but apparently Jake did not want to ride the horse, but he would kiss it right on its mouth. Finally, he agreed to sit on the horse with his Jo Jo. This family lives next door to an exotic animal farm so Jake also got to see a tiger and some kangaroos. It was so cold that day, but Jake was bundled up pretty good and really enjoyed himself. Here are a few pictures:

My amazing husband

I meant to post this before Christmas, but I got busy wrapping presents and getting ready for our Christmas road trip to East Texas and Louisiana. My 32nd birthday was the 17th and this year Ty really surprised me and threw me a surprise party. Last year on my birthday, Jake had his heart surgery, so he wanted to celebrate Jake's recovery and make this day special for me. Ty invited some of our close friends here as well as our good friends, The Moore's, from Sugarland and my high school friend, Priya, and her family who live in Pearland. Priya and I reconnected this year via facebook and it was so sweet of she and her family to come. He had a cake and pizza and even had the tables covered in table cloths. Ty also hired a guitar player to come and play for the event and had my brother make a slide show of our past year. I had been over at my friend Claudia's making sugar cookies with Jake and she stalled me from coming home early by hiding my keys and pretending Jake or Jackson had hid them (sneaky, Claudia!). In all my worry about my keys, I accidentally left my camera at her house and didn't get any pictures of the party. I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband who would go to all of this trouble for me...he's so thoughtful and really made the day special for me.

Stef Tarapchak

It's been a while since I've posted but I feel like this deserves it. During Jake's heart issues in mid-late 2007 I ran across the blog of a guy named Stef Tarapchak from Ohio. Life was tracking along as normal until on July 23, 2007 he was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic colon cancer. He made a committment to keep track of his journey with cancer and even started a campaign called "Refuse To Lose" that gained attention of many friends, family, and even got him a call from one of his heros, Jim Tressel of the Ohio State Buckeyes. I have made a habit of checking his blog every so often and found out this morning that he passed away early this morning leaving behind a wife, 2 young sons and a daughter.

Even though I've only known of him through his blog his words helped me to stay positive during Jakes ordeal. He describes his blog as "random thoughts of a Christian man doing the best he can!" but he put together some of the best stuff I have ever seen on perserverance during difficult situations: See http://tarapchak.wordpress.com/page/4/ to see what I'm talking about. If his words encourage you please pass around and use them to help you remember what's important in life. We'll have to count on meeting this friend in heaven but by passing on his words I know he will have some everlasting effects.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

My amazing Dad

I just wanted to brag on my amazing father today. Yesterday he graduated with his Masters in Adult Education from the University of Central Oklahoma. He's been working on this degree for the past few years by taking classes at night and on weekends. He not only graduated yesterday, but graduated with a 4.0--only one of three people in his department with that distinction. I'm so proud of the hard work he's put into this and the many creative ideas he has. He's an elder at my parent's church in Oklahoma and has been a Bible school teacher for many years. His classes are always thought provoking and interesting, and Ty and I love listening to him teach when we go home. He's not sure what he'll do with his degree yet, but it gives him different options when he starts to retire from his main sales job. I also think he'd be a great Education minister at any church (just my opinion). Anyway, just wanted to let him know how proud of him I am!

By the way, Mom, I'm also really proud of you!!! :)

Mom and Dad after the ceremony

Aunt Cindi, Dad, and Ryan (above)

Dad and Uncle David (below)

Miley Cyrus

Believe it or not, today I went to a Miley Cyrus concert. A family from Northland who I've taught two of their children, the Lanier's, have a HUGE Christmas party every year for their law firm. They have many blow-up bouncy castles, carnival rides, funnel cakes, a petty zoo, great fajitas from Lupe Tortilla, a train ride, and always a big musical act each year. Last year Ty and I went and took Jake to see Brooks and Dunn--it was actually the day before his surgery was scheduled last December. This year my dear friend Lauren who now teaches at Northland had an extra ticket and brought me as her guest, and the concert this year was by Miley Cyrus. The concert is held under a huge tent on their property, but it was already at maximum capacity when we got there so we ate and walked around and saw old friends and students. We found a side entrance to sneak in and got in for a few songs and took a few pictures. I honestly don't know a single song Miley sings but know she's revered by many little girls. While we were in there, she talked about how glad she was to be at a Christian venue with people who also loved God which I thought was pretty cool. More than anything, I enjoyed the afternoon with Lauren who I don't get to see very much these days as she's the Drama teacher at NCS and quite busy and we're in different life groups at church now. I also loved seeing some former kids I taught who are now all grown up and in college. I love hearing how great they're all doing. It was a great, festive afternoon--much fun!

Lauren and me--you can definitely see how big my belly's getting here...yikes!

A December Miracle

This afternoon after Jake woke up from his nap, I looked outside and to my amazement, snow was falling from the Houston sky. This is a very rare occurrence in our part of the world and I quickly bundled up Jake and took him outside to experience the wonder. The snow wasn't exactly sticking to the ground as it was still slightly above freezing, but it definitely was coming down and sticking to the plants, trees, and cars. Jake didn't really understand the importance of this phenomenon, but still laughed and enjoyed being outside. I took several pictures trying to capture the miracle, but didn't quite do it justice. I also thought I might capture the ever elusive Christmas card photo that I can't seem to take this year, but I'm not sure I did that either. I might have to give up and leave that job to a professional :) Its been a good week...snow in Houston, OU will be playing for the national title again in football, Sam Bradford is up for the Heisman, I finished the first two books in the Twilight series, I've gone three straight days without having morning sickness...I do love December!

Ho Ho Ho!

Jake met Santa today and had his picture made with him at the mall. The mall photographer got a cute picture with Jake all smiles, but I could just get the solemn face with my camera. Santa was good with Jake and gave him cars to hold to distract him from the fact that he was sitting on the lap of a big, hairy stranger. Lately, Jake isn't too fond of strangers and has become clingy so I was relieved he wasn't terrified of Santa. Jake called him Papa instead of Santa so I guess he thinks he looks like a grandfather...he has the right idea.

A Thanksgiving Blessing

We will always remember Thanksgiving 2008 as the holiday Gentry Rose came into the world! My sister-in-law, Crystina, and brother, Ryan, welcomed their little girl early Saturday morning after Thanksgiving. It was wonderful because we were there to see her when she first arrived. Crystina is literally an amazing woman. She woke up Friday morning and thought she felt like she would have the baby that day. She went ahead and went into work and got finished with some loose ends so she could officially start her maternity leave. At 5:00 that evening she took a short nap for 30 minutes and her water broke. She labored for just 8 hours and Gentry was born. Mom and I went up to the hospital as soon as Ryan called to see our new blessing and Crys looked great...her hair wasn't even messed up! I told her she needs to give me some lessons for this time around :) I mean how many women just have a feeling that their babies will be born that day and then they are??? I tried to will Jake out for 2 weeks but to no avail. I didn't get very many pictures of the baby, but will post more when I get some from my brother. My nephew Hendrix is very proud of his baby sister. When he saw her for the first time, he was wanted her unswadled right away so he could see all of her fingers and toes and told her over and over again that he loved her. How sweet is he?

Gentry just after being born--not too happy to have the flash in her face :)

The rest of the week was great as well. My dad met Jake and I in southern Oklahoma on our way up last Monday to go hiking (Ty flew in on Wednesday when he got off work). Jake had a great time looking at the little waterfalls we saw and splashing his hands in the water. He was really excited to see his Papa and his Papa was really excited to show Jake one of his favorite hiking spots.

My grandmother from Detroit came down for the holiday and met Jake for the first time. All of my dad's family came to my parent's for Thanksgiving day and it was great to spend time with my cousins as well.

Hendrix and Jake with their Great-Grandma while watching OU beat OSU (another Thanksgiving blessing!)

We had Christmas early since we won't be back next month and the four grand kids loved opening their gifts. We just missed having Ryan and Crys with us since we did "Christmas" on Saturday and they were obviously a little occupied at the hospital.

Mom and Dad with their four grandkids (minus Gentry who was just hours old and of course Grace who is on the way)

The only downside of the trip was that my mom, my grandma, and me all got an upper respiratory infection. On the way home on Sunday, my coughing induced nausea and I couldn't keep down any food for a day and a half so Monday I spent the day at the hospital getting re- hydrated through IVs. Baby Grace was fine though. They hooked me up to heart monitors, and she was so feisty she kept kicking the monitors off. The nurses decided she was definitely fine if she moves that much :) I'm feeling better now and just wishing I lived a little closer to Oklahoma so I could spent some more time with my new sweet niece!

The Tea Party

Last Saturday Jake went to a birthday party for his friend, Nora Bella. The theme of the party was a tea party and all of the kids were supposed to come in their Sunday best. Of our group of friends, there is only one other boy Jake's age, and Jackson couldn't come to the party so it was just Jake with all of the girls. Lindsey did a fabulous job with the party and had little tables and chairs set up for the kids with tea pots on each table. She made little quiches, mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and pistachio sugar cookies shaped as little shoes. The kids had milk as their "tea." Amazingly enough, the kids (all under two except the newly two birthday girl) sat and ate and pretended to have tea. I will say the girls all did a much better job than Jake who tended to bang the tea set instead of drink out of it. Jake also table hopped and sat with several different girls at the party. I think he has the right idea :) I promise when he gets bigger I won't let him go to any other tea parties, but this was too cute to resist.

Jake and the birthday girl, Nora Bella in her adorable pink dress

Jake drinking his "tea"--granted most of it ended up on his tie instead of in his mouth

Jake and Claire having tea--he was telling her something really important here.

Jake and Harper--If I made this black and white and took out the car in the background, it could be the 1920s...so cute!

Grace's first echo

Today I had an appointment at Texas Children's for a fetal echo for Grace with Dr. Altman. My friend Claudia was sweet to keep Jake for me so I wasn't trying to keep him still and quiet while I laid still for 45 minutes for the test. Her heart basically looks very good, but the doctor did find some leakage in her aortic valve. Most of the time that means absolutely nothing, but given our family history Dr. Altman was interested. I gave her Jake and Ty's history as well and told her about Jake's check-up last week when Dr. Reddy found the extra membrane under Jake's aortic valve. When I told her that, she pulled up Jake's echo from last week as well as all of his surgery notes and past echo results on her computer. She compared the different results and noticed Jake has leakage in his aortic valve too. Its possible that the membrane that has developed is because his mitral valve (the one fixed in surgery) tried to correct itself and formed the membrane which causes the slight leakage. All that to say, she is wondering if leaking in Grace's valve is similar.

She wants me to come back at 34 weeks (I was 27 weeks today) for another echo to see if there is still leaking. If the leaking is still there, she suggested I might have to deliver Grace down at the Med. center instead of in the Woodlands so that she could have an immediate echo after birth and appropriate doctors on standby. I'm praying that isn't the case and that I can have my regular OB, Dr. Turner, still deliver. All of this is probably nothing, but she says she prefers to be overly cautious. She spent a good 30 minutes going over all of this with me and looking over all of Jake's notes. Ty had a meeting today and couldn't come with me. I always feel quite incompetent when I go to these appointments by myself. I explained to her that I'm an English teacher and have worked hard these past few years to indoctrinate myself with all of these heart terms but still feel like a deer in the headlights at times. She laughed and said her 4th grader brings home grammar homework she doesn't understand. I told her I would be glad to help with that :)

Please just pray that the leaking in Grace's heart is nothing and goes away by the next appointment. Also, continue to pray that Jake's leaky valve slows down and doesn't get worse. She agreed we should take him back to Dr. Reddy in 6 months for another echo to evaluate his membrane issue. Hopefully all of that made sense...I'm still processing what I heard myself.

The Remodel

For the last few months, our house has been turned upside down. To make room for Grace's nursery, we decided to move the office downstairs to the dining room. Jake's new room will be what was the upstairs office and then we're switching Jake's old nursery and guest room. Grace's nursery will be the old guest room and the guest room will be in Jake's old nursery. Confused, yet? I am and I live here! The whole project started when Ty decided the new office downstairs needed french doors to make it look like an office. We had those installed and had to add some sheet rock to the wall to make it work. Then, the office needed to be painted so Ty painted it a nice dark olive color and painted the trim to match the new doors. While we were at it, we painted the whole downstairs and stairway which was in a dire need for new paint. I believe it had the original paint from 1982...not too good. The living room is now a nice dark khaki color and the hall and stairs are a light khaki color which match our bedroom color. After all of the painting was finished, we added new flooring. Our entire downstairs was a white tile which was nearly impossible to keep clean. It also had begun buckling in the kitchen because apparently the previous owner of our home hadn't put it down correctly. Ty took up about half the tile which was incredibly hard work. He rented a mini jack hammer and went at it. We decided to pay the tile company to do the other half. We now have new tan tile in the kitchen and laminate wood floors in the living room, hallway, and office. Pretty much a new house! I took some pictures this morning of it. I'll throw in a disclaimer that they aren't too good, but I was trying to hurry while Jake still slept. We're just left with switching the upstairs rooms and decorating Grace's room. I have Jake's new room done but I'll post those pictures later.

The new french doors to the office

The new office...this was Ty's desk growing up that Al made for him and of course his deer head (which ironically he shot on my birthday in 1987--we were meant to be!)The main desk in the office...Ty's lighthouse picture has also moved from over the sofa to over the desk. I'm saving room over the sofa for a really great Jake and Grace picture when she comes. You can also see the pretty laminate floors...they turned out great. Oh, also notice the bear rug...more wildlife--Ty's grandad killed that in Alaska. Jake likes to ride it :)Here's a glimpse of the living room (including the lovely Lego's table--my $20 secondhand store bargain for Jake). You can see the new wall color and the floors. Eventually I want to replace the fireplace cover and change the gold to black.And, the new kitchen tile...I already love it. Cleaning the shiny, white tile was pretty much the bane of my existence...I welcome the nice tan color!

Let's go Fly a Kite!

I have a great husband. We've been remodeling our house and Ty has worked non-stop for a few months now trying to get it all finished. Everything was finished on Friday so this weekend we've worked on hanging pictures back on the wall and moving everything back into its place. Sunday afternoon we were working on the office when I realized poor Jake had been neglected all weekend. Not really neglected, but we'd been so busy working that we hadn't spent any real quality time with him. He'd heard a whole lot of "Jake, don't touch that" and "Jake, put that down" all weekend. So to remedy the situation I thought we needed to take a family outing. I absolutely love flying kites so that seemed like a fun solution. Ty really wanted a Sunday nap but instead took Jake and I to the park with Jake's Mickey Mouse kite.

We learned a few things during our kite excursion. One, you need wind to fly a kite. It turns out that Houston may not be the best kite flying city. Remember I grew up in Oklahoma so wind is pretty much a given any day. Two, toddlers don't really fly kites. Jake wasn't interested in the kite in the least, but he did LOVE running up and down the hill and having Ty chase him. They played and played and rolled down the hill and we pretty soon forgot the kite. BUT, we had a fun family day outside. I really appreciate Ty for giving up his plans on Sunday and having good family time. He is such a great dad to Jake as is evident everyday when I see how excited Jake is to have Ty home from work. He loves his daddy :)

The Binky

Jake still LOVES his pacifier...loves it. We were doing well for awhile at limiting it to bedtime, but I've regressed. We've had a busy fall and it was much easier to give him his "binky" when he was upset at times. When Jake wakes up every morning, he throws the binky back into the crib. After breakfast when we're upstairs getting dressed for the day, he'll take it back out of his crib and is ready for his day. We're working on leaving in the crib! Jonesa found this shirt for him, I thought it was really appropriate. I had grand visions of Jake not having his pacifier when Grace comes, but we'll just wait and see...