Finn Abel Cochran

Baby Finn joined our family on February 12, 1016 at 2:19am. He was 8lb. 1oz. 21 in. and has large hands and feet. 

He came in his own way. I didn't really know I was in labor really. I woke up Thursday morning and my back was killing me. I was in so much pain I couldn't pick Quentin up to get him on the changing table. After sitting on the couch most of the morning I started having a little bit of an anxiety attach so I called Johnny to try to calm me down. I think he was pretty worried cause he told me to come in to see my doctor. While I was getting the kids ready and making lunch I started having contractions, but nothing really consistent. When we got to the clinic they hooked me up to the NST and I was contracting every six minutes and I was dilated to a 5 so they sent me up to the hospital for triage. I had an ultrasound to make sure baby's head was down and it was. By the time I was done with the ultrasound Johnny had finished his last patient so he could help me with the kids. After some snacks for the kids and Palmer and Brian coming to visit us they checked me again and I had progressed so we were admitted to the hospital!

Johnny took the kids to the Taylor's for a sleepover, Dr. Jenna when home to get ready for the night, and I got to answer about 3000 medical questions. When Johnny got back he and I took a walk to try to get baby to drop some more. We ran into Jenna and we all walked around and talked about stuff. When we got back to the room she tried to break my water, but couldn't. She left and Johnny informed me he already picked names when I tried to get him to talk names with me. Dr Jenna tried to break my water one more time and it didn't work again, so we decided to wait for the attending doctor, Dr. Mirrad. My nurse was getting a bath ready for me so I could soak in the tub and relax when Dr. Mirrad showed up. We decided to let me get in the bath for awhile and then they would come back and break my water. By the time the nurse had everything ready and I was getting out of bed I had started shaking really bad. The nurse wanted to check me because she said that the shaking could be a sign of late stage labor. I was at an 8 and low so she called Dr. Mirrad back to break my water. The doctors left and I had a few contractions. It could have only been 10 minutes when I felt baby go into the birth canal. The nurse called the doctors back in and I tried to breathe through the pain. I felt baby coming though and told them it was coming so they flipped me on my back and I heard the nurse say "the head is out". So they told me not to push then to push and baby was out. It was so fast the doctor forgot to tell me the sex and I forgot to ask. Johnny asked me if I wanted to know and I of course said yes! It's a BOY! I was so excited, but sad for Daphne. I got to hold him for and minute and he was so quiet and small. I was instantly smitten. They took him away and weighed and cleaned him, while I got stitched and cleaned up. After everyone was done with the work and fed him and Johnny and I talked names. He said he had picked Finn and I loved it and said I would love the middle name to be Abel after my grandpa Burns.

We got about an hour of sleep before it was time to get things done. Johnny had to go get his patients for the day covered and get the kids from the Taylor's. He brought them to meet Finn and they loved him they were so sweet and loving. Daphne just wanted to hold him and Quen was so soft with him. I had a good stay in the hospital, but I always just want to go home afterward. 

We have been home over a week and we are pretty settled. I am so happy this sweet boy is in our family. He is so good and we all are loving him. I'm so grateful for all the meals and people who have come to visit. It has made this first week so enjoyable.

So it goes...

 

Well the month and a half went by too quickly. We had such a great time over Christmas! We enjoyed a great ward party where the kids got to "shop" for gifts for the family. I also had a super fun night at a gift exchange with girls in the ward. Once Joey got here things went into high gear. We started his visit by going to see the new Star Wars film. I thought it was great, but I think the boys had warm up to it. After church on Sunday we headed north to the Twin Cities to go to the Mall of America. We did it last year and it was a ton of fun and we thought Joey might enjoy it. It was a short trip but we had good time. 

It snowed Christmas Eve and we had the best time going out to play in the snow and we made a pretty good snowman. Christmas morning came with lots of great gifts and food. We had fun Skyping with the grandparents too. Johnny was back to work after Christmas so we spent the rest of the days trying to keep ourselves entertained. Joey gave me a day off which was greatly appreciated. I went to my doctors appointment sans kids and then had lunch with Johnny at the hospital. then I took myself to see Star Wars again!

New Years Eve Johnny was working so Joey and I took the kids to a party some people in our ward were having. We played volleyball at the church for a bit. While everyone else had dinner we went to the hospital to see Johnny and have some ice cream. We went back to join the party at the Henderson's to eat and play games. We had a great time and good laughs. 

Once Joey left it was back to our normal routine which now includes weekly doctors visits and weekly ultrasound and NSTs. The kids are not loving being at the doctors so much, but I am enjoying getting to see my baby once a week and getting to spend lunch with Johnny at the hospital. Things are going well with the pregnancy. Baby is growing at the right pace and heartbeat is good. It looks like a Cochran and we got to see some hair today in the ultrasound! Daphne is not enjoying school very much this week. We had been having so much fun with it and then we took a break while Joey was here and ever since it has been a little bit of a struggle. Johnny has been looking at job opportunities for the last couple of weeks and has had a few phone interviews that have gone well. We are heading to Wisconsin in a couple weeks for a face to face, which I'm excited for, but we are going to have to wait til after baby comes to go visit other places.

A long time coming

If I waited to post this next week it would have been a whole year since I wrote anything on here. I just couldn't let that happen, so here it goes! 

This year has gone by faster than I can believe. I cannot fathom that it is December today! We are in holiday mode and I couldn't be happier about it. I LOVE the holidays, always have, always will. We had a great Thanksgiving week. No family again this year, but we did spend it with great friends. We are expecting Joey here for Christmas, which the kids a super excited about. They love Uncle Joey! 

Johnny's year has been good. The beginning was a little rough. He was just getting worn out from all the long hard rotations at the hospital. He would come home looking so tired and drained sometimes. I worried for him, but he made it through.  We had to take a little vacation for him. We went to our favorite place Disney World. It also worked out that Joey got to come which made things even better for Johnny! I love how much more time he has now that he is into his second year of residency. He gets a little more freedom, but more responsibility now. I think he likes it that way though. 

 I haven't been up to much. Spending time with my kids, being pregnant, working on my little sewing job, serving in Primary! I did get to take my first trip by myself since I have had children. I wasn't for the best reason, My Grandma passed away, but it was a great visit with my family.

 Daphne and Quentin are growing up way to quickly and soon they will have another sibling to love. They are great little friends and I love catching them being sweet to each other or playing nicely together. Daphne is so silly and comes up with goofy ideas and Quen thinks its hilarious! They fight too, but what siblings don't? I am doing school with Daphne to get ready for kindergarten next year and she is doing amazing! Quentin is such a boy and loves to run and throw and get into any trouble he can. 

We are loving life right now and I hope things keep getting better everyday. I also hope I can get back into the groove of my blog again. I hate that I missed documenting a whole year of our lives. I can remedy that though. I WILL do it!

Singing Girl!

We had a great week! The beginning of the week I was doing little jobs around the house and playing with the kids. Wednesday after dinner I went to the church to practice a song I will be singing. I had a great time. The ladies that are singing with me are great and we sat after practicing and talked for awhile. It was nice to get to know them better and to have a little girl talk! I also took advantage of having the car and no kids, so I went to a couple stores.

Friday was the big night! We were having a party at our house. Johnny wanted to get together with his resident friends, so we made Elizabeth's birthday the excuse to get everyone together. We had a nice time. People brought over great food and my cake turned out great! The residents in Johnny's year are so nice and it was great to have company. You all know how much I love to host!

Yesterday was a busy day. I woke up early to get my shopping done. When I got home Johnny and I decided to go get Family pictures done. So after getting ready we headed out. We were happy with the pictures. We went to Costco and Lowe's while we waited for the pictures to be printed. 

We had to head straight to the church to help set up for our ward Christmas party. We got there late, but everything got done and it was a great night. We had dinner and then there were a couple of musical number and then a good ole carol sing! We did another short little practice for the song I'm singing which went great! Johnny dragged us to two more stores after the party so the kids and I were pretty pooped today. We all took a long nap after church. Daphne got to come in to primary today to start getting used to Sharing time. She did okay, but it was hard for her to stay in her chair. I can't believe she is going to be in Primary already. Where is the time going? 

Here are some cute videos of Daphne singing Christmas songs!

Thanksgiving!!!

Well all week led up to the big Turkey Day! I hadn't been excited about it this year for some reason. I think it was our trip to Minneapolis started our Christmas season early. But over the weekend we invited our friends the Harts for dinner so I was a little more excited then. I love hosting things for people! So I woke up and made monkey bread, shoveled snow, and put the parade on for the kids. Friends came over at noon and the kids were having crazy fun. The turkey took longer than anticipated, but it was so worth it! BEST TURKEY I EVER MADE! 

We had a great time with them and Daphne was sad to see her friends go. We talked to family on skype and then it was off to the races. I "love" our tradition of Black Friday shopping. We got to Wal-mart right at six and the WHOLE parking lot was full we had to park across the street. Let me just say it was crazy in there. We also headed to Target which was much less crazy.

Dressing up the house happened over the whole week. I did the outside of the house all by myself! both trees turned out good too. 

I am so excited for the Christmas season! So many things to look forward too! Lots of parties and visitors and a trip to AZ!!!!

Helpful Friends

This week was a normal one. We spent a lot of time hanging out, doing school, trying to keep warm. We had a visit from my visiting teachers on Tuesday. I love that one of them is my good friend Mindy. She has three little girls and Daphne adores them. She loves when they come to play. I told them about needing to get some things done around the house, but not having the required tools. The most pressing being our bathroom door. So Mindy, the kids and her husband, Steve, came over yesterday to help us. It was great fun and we got the door back up so win win!

M.O.A.

Sunday night it was looking like we weren't going to go on our little mini vacation. There was going to be a big snow storms in the area so it looked like a no go. We woke up in the morning and Johnny checked the weather and the traffic. It had snowed in Minneapolis, but not much and the roads looked good. So we decided we would chance it. We got in and we went out to eat Indian food. We don't have it very often, but I always enjoy it. Then it was off to the hotel to swim. This is what Daphne was asking to do ALL DAY. We had a great time. Daphne loves to swim and Quentin had a good time too. That first night was rough. We are all used to our own space and sleeping in the same room was not fun. 

We ate, got ready and then headed out to the Mall Of America. We walked around for a minute, but then we came to the rotunda and it looked like something for toddlers was about to start, so we decided to check it out. They were doing Dancercise and I thought Daphne would love it so Daddy and Quen headed to Barnes and Noble and Daphne and I stayed for Dancercise. She had a great time! So I'm glad we happened to find it right on time. 

We walked and walked and walked. It was an awesome Mall. It was four stories and each story was about a mile walk. In the middle there is a small amusement park. I wish we had the extra money to get to do some rides, but we had to pass on them. We didn't have any problem filling the time until Santa came though. There were so many stores!

I'm glad it worked out that the day we were going to be there was the day Santa was arriving at the mall. I think it is pretty ridiculous he comes so early, but it was cool for us. They had a live band playing Christmas songs and dancers. They passed out cookies and milk as well and jingle bracelets and decorative sun glasses. Then the Big Man arrived. He came over to say hi to Daphne and she ran away from him. She has always been wary of dressed up characters. We went and got pictures on his lap and then our day was over.

We got a much better nights sleep that night since we were all exhausted. We got up and took our time getting home. We stopped at a couple stores. After the Santa arrival we were all in a Christmasy mood. So we got a couple gifts and listened to Christmas music on the way home.

Friday we had one of Johnny's co-workers, Elizabeth, over for dinner. She was very sweet and indulged us in a game of Clue. Johnny's back to work with no breaks for awhile. So me and the kids are going to get back to our normal routine.   

Oh...maha!

This week seemed long because all week I was just waiting for the weekend. Not a ususal pastime of mine, but I knew once Johnny got home on Friday he would be all mine for almost a week. So I couldn't wait!

I have started doing preschool with Daphne. She isn't to happy about it and I have to say its not my favorite part of the day, but she is so smart and I want her to succeed. Monday we had a repairman at our house. Our heater was not working which is not a good thing here in Iowa. He could not figure out what was wrong with it, which was making me nervous because my thought was that we were going to have to replace the whole heater. Thankfully it ended up just being some rocks in the exhaust pipe. We also took a walk and ended up going to our typical hang out, McDonalds. I miss being able to go to a park, but its really to to cold to be outside for any amount of time. 

Friday finally came and I was so excited. After putting the kids to bed we watched a movie. Saturday was the big day. We had decided to visit our good friends the Jevene's. They were on the Island with us and its been three years since we've seen than ans it was great to see them. They also watched the kids for us so we could go to the Temple. The Temple was tiny, but beautiful. It was so nice to get to go with Johnny which also hasn't happened in a long time. We got headed home a lot later than we were planning so the ride home was hard. Church was even harder. The kids were quite tired, so they were cranky, but we got through it. 

Tomorrow we are heading north for a couple of days. We wanted to go to Nauvoo, but the temple is going to be closed so we searched for another location for our mini vacation. We settled on Minneapolis. Santa is making an appearance at the Mall of America which we thought would be fun. 

A long time missing

Okay I need to get back into doing my blog. I know if I tried to cover everything we did in the last two months I would never get caught up. Life has been so crazy I don't even know where September and October went. We had anther visit from Uncle Joey, celebrated my birthday, made three pirate costumes, Johnny did another two weeks of night shifts, we went to the pumpkin patch a couple times, I had a bout with pneumonia, and Halloween came and went and that is just a few of the highlights. I promise we will do better in the next little while. I have lots of exciting fun things coming up!

One year down, a life time to go!

Monday had some ups and downs. Quentin was a little fussy all day and I had had a feeling all weekend that he was getting an ear ache so Johnny got off work a little early and took him to the doctors. He did have an ear ache so we went back out to get his medicine, do a little shopping and Johnny took us to dinner. 

Tuesday Johnny had a delivery and so he didn't come home all day. I HATE the days he doesn't come home and so the rest of the week wasn't looking good in that respect because he was heading out on a work trip Thursday and Friday. The one upside of that is that we got the car for two days. So Thursday we took Johnny to the hospital at 5am. I didn't want to start our day that early so when we got home we I put us all back to bed and we all ended up sleeping in and it was great! When we got up we got ready and went to the mall. One of our friends just happened to be there too so Daphne had a little friend to play with and I got to talk with a new friend. After some errands we headed home for naps. Our timing for our day was pretty off because of sleeping in so Quen got up pretty late. I started dinner and then realized I had a get together to go to in 10 min. So I scrambled and got shoes on and kids loaded in the car in a flash. Turned out the host had pushed the party back by a half hour so we were early. It was a Mary Kay Party and we had a great time. 

Friday we had Mindy and the kids over. We had a fun time with them. Daphne always love friends to come over. She loves being a little hostess. After naps we went and did our grocery shopping so we could spend every minute over the weekend with Daddy. 

Saturday we spent playing games and just relaxing. Sunday was Quentin's big day. One year old. I can't believe it. He is the sweets thing ever and we love everything about him. He is cruising now. He loves following his sister everywhere she goes.  

We didn't do anything to big for his birthday just gave him his gifts and I made him a special popcorn treat. He loved his cars and his ball. 

Back to Life

This week I tried to get life back to normal after our week with our guests. That basically means cleaning up. I also spent a lot of time outside planting grass in our not so grassy patches. It was a good work out doing all the yard work. We spent time playing and reading books. We also worked really hard on potty training and I'm happy to say she is doing really well. she will even stop and go potty when she is playing with friends, which is a really big step.

On Thursday we went out to the mall. Daphne had been asking if we could go for awhile so I decided to take her. We had a great time getting out of the house we did it again on Friday. We went to the library to meet so friends. We also got a library card and Daphne was so excited to get to bring home some books. 

Johnny had a 16 hour shift on Saturday so we were home all day. Sunday was my first time teaching my new primary class. There ended up being 10 kids so it was a little crazy, but it went well. I was pretty nervous about it, but I have a little more confidence now so I hope It will continue to go well.

Expected Guest

Joey came to visit us an his way to Myrtle Beach. He just got a teaching job there and we are so excited for him and his new adventure. We were even more excited that he decided to stop by and spend part of the week with us. He arrived Monday afternoon and helped me clean up the house. We had the missionaries for dinner. They were a little surprised to see Joey here again. When they left and put the kids down we settled down for a night of, what else, games! 

Tuesday we went to Adventure Land and we had an awesome time! It was so nice to get to play and go on rides. Daphne did have accidents and I forgot my swim suit, but other than that it was a perfect day. Joey took the kids for an hour so Johnny and I got to go and do what we wanted and it was nice to get to go on rides together. 

Johnny didn't have Wednesday off so we just hung around the house. I was planning on a walk to the park, but it was raining. Joey went out and got a hair cut while we did our normal thing. When he got back we did lunch and then put the kids to bed. Joey and I played games and had a really great talk about life. I think we both needed it. 

Thursday we took Joey to try Zombie Burger. I think he liked it, but he couldn't finish his burger. None of us could actually. This time we all got some intense ones and we couldn't handle it. They were all tasty, just to heavy. Afterward we headed to the State Fair to walk it off. We had a fun time walking around and looking at everything. We all eventually got hungry again and had to get some fair food. We were all pretty pooped by the time we got home, but made some time for a couple of game because we joey would leave in the morning. We always have a great time with him. 

Friday Johnny saw him off while the rest of us slept in. Quen ended up sleeping most of the day. Saturday was pretty much the same. We all relaxed and hung out. Johnny's friend Brian did stop by. He was headed home to Chicago from a Residency Program Conference. It was good to see him and Johnny got to help him out a little bit.

Today I got set apart in my new calling. I am a primary teacher for the CTR 6. I got to go sit in with them today and I think it will be a good class. Johnny got a calling as well, but won't be set apart until next week. 

Growing Crops

Monday we headed out on a walk and came across a little park. Daphne was so happy. It has a playground, tennis and basketball courts, an open field and a wading pool. After playing for a little we headed back home with a promise to return the next day. 

We did just that but this time we wore our suits! The kids loved playing and splashing and I even sat in it and cooled off.

Wednesday we took Johnny to work so we could take the car to get looked at. On the way to the mechanic the car stalled and would not start again even after some very nice guys stopped to jump it. Our alternator we JUST replaced was shot as well as the battery. Getting it fixed took all day. The kids were so good and very patient which I really appreciated since I was so stressed.

Thursday morning the kids played in the pool so I could work in the yard a little. We love having a backyard to play in. 

I forgot to mention Quentin turned 11 months last week. He is not very big. He is still wearing 6 month clothes. But he is developing. He has started to pull himself up on stuff and he will walk if you hold him up. He is still the happiest baby. He smiles at any and everybody. He is a bottomless pit when he eats, but is a little picky about food. He LOVES that he can get around himself now. I love to hear his little hands and knees charge down the hall in search of a toy or after his sister. We love everything about him!

Happy Birthday Doodles

Monday I spent my day cleaning house and prepping for Daphne's party. We really didn't decide to have a party until last week so I didn't have a lot of time to plan stuff. We decided on easy. I made a simple lunch and to just let the kids play in the pool and sprinkler and have some water balloons for them to pop. 

The big day arrived and I'm grateful to say everything went very smoothly that morning while I made all the food and got everything ready. I was a little nervous because when I woke up it was overcast, but the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. Daphne woke up asking when her party was and when her friends would be here. She was so excited. The kids had a great time and I'm so glad. 

Daphne requested a chocolate cake with berries and I was happy to oblige. I trained her well! I was happy with how it turned out and everyone loved it.

Wednesday we took advantage of having the car and went to a playgroup the stake has. It was at an awesome park in West Des Moines. It is on a lake with a beach. It has a great playground and a little splash pad. The kids had a great time and I got to meet some new girls. We are actually going to go to another play group with a couple of them tomorrow. We also went to the mall and Costco since we were on that side of town.

Playgroup on Thursday was very nice. It was at a great play ground. It was so nice to get to know some more ladies a little better. Daphne had a great time with the kids and I think my have found a best friend. Eliza is 3 as  well and they just loved each other. 

Friday we went out again cause I had some things I needed to get for the house. It was a horrible outing. Daphne pooped in her underwear THREE times. The last time I just bawled while I cleaned her up AGAIN. I am getting so frustrated with this potty training thing. She knows how to do it, but she chooses not to use the potty and it is wearing on me. We have been working on this for almost a year off and on and she does really well for a month and then decides not to go anymore. Its just so frustrating. 

Saturday was fun filled. We headed out as Johnny came in from his last night shift. It was sad to go have fun while he was home sleeping, but he needed it. We went to our ward's Pioneer Day Party. We had stick pulls and games and a cute little covered wagon for the kids to ride as well as a potluck lunch. Daphne had a blast playing with friends and getting to run around.

That night we went to the Indianola hot Air Balloon Launch! Johnny volunteered to be the doctor on hand at the first aid trailer so we got free tickets. Let me say it was so cool. Daphne couldn't believe how big the balloons were and Quen got pretty into it to. I would say there were at least 50 balloons! It was a perfect night to be out to. They had a live band playing, so Daphne and I had to have a dance party. We especially liked the parrot, monkey and puppy balloons. We had a great time! 

I'm happy to say that after a hard week in potty training Daphne has had no accidents the past two days. I think our decision to withhold movies has helped a lot. Hopefully it lasts. that would top off this awesome week! 

Lunch and Dinner and Zombies, OH MY!!!

This week was a fun one. Th

e first of the week was pretty routine, but we had a fun weekend. 

Thursday I spent the afternoon talking to my high school friend, Lisa. We had a good time catching up and we decided to be weight loss buddies. I really need this cause I'm way out of shape and can't fit in any of my clothes. 

 Friday morning I took the kids on our weekly walk to McDonald's. We always have a lot of fun going and playing at the play place. I was so proud of Daphne because she walked the mile there and the mile back. She was a "little" cranky on the way home, but it was understandable. When Johnny got home he took us on one of our family dates. We tried out a local favorite called Zombie Burger. It was a long wait cause it was BUSY, but the food was good and the atmosphere was great. We may have to go back! We had a great time walking the shops around as it was a beautiful night.

Saturday we headed down to the Farmers Market. We need to make sure to go as early as possible cause if you show up at 10 it is packed. We headed straight over to the Hart's house for Kyle's birthday party. They had some fun games and good food. My kids were pooped by the time we got home so Johnny and I played games until dinner. 

Johnny has a week of night shifts and I'm not looking forward to it. Last time he did it it was miserable, but we will have the car so we will have to take advantage.