Let the Summer Begin!!!

I know it may seem early, but us Coggins' take full advantage of our summers! Especially when it's so nice outside!!!

Well, as you may have heard, "The Rapture" was supposed to occur last weekend... :) Tony and I decided that if we were "left behind", it was because we had offended Jesus' mom...an animal knocked her over in our backyard, and then when Tony found her head while mowing the lawn, he put it back up on the blocks....see? It even sounds ridiculous! :) LOL We've laughed about this one for a while, now!!

The same day the world was supposed to end, Lynne and I took the kids on a road trip down to Farmington (about an hour away) to see my friend, Kristin, at the Relay for Life of Farmington! Kristin and I met at CMU and have remained in touch ever since! Emma loved having her face painted, and Bradlee liked playing the little kid games, like the sucker tree!!! I'm really proud of the fact that Tony and I have taught our kids about Relay for Life and that we participate in it and are involved in it so much!! It's so important to both of us, and I believe we can pass that passion onto Emma and Bradlee!!

As you can probably tell, Emma got her haircut SHORTER last week! She just loves it short and loves telling Chrystal how short she wants it! :) She's becoming quite the little lady, and I can't believe she will be a 1st grader in only 13 school days!! Here she is chewing gum...it's white gum and she's holding it with her front teeth....if the gum weren't there, you would see a lose tooth trying to come out , with a gap next to it! :)

For as long as I can remember, I have been organized. And almost obsessed with being organized. It's not that I'm really consciously obsessed with it, I just know how I like things!! Well, I took my sister (Kat) to the coupon class I belong to a few weeks ago, and she was amazed at my coupon box! Then a friend of mine posted a picture of her coupon stash on Facebook, and it was crazy...an accordion folder that was STUFFED! I posted a picture of mine in response... :)

What can I say? You need a coupon for fish sticks? Assuming I have one, I know exactly where to find it! Don't laugh at me...my methods work and have saved us over $2000 in the last year alone on groceries!! :) Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I'm going to try my hardest to take some pictures at all our BBQ's we'll be attending! :)

How Much are Those Kiddies in the Window?!

Sick of the rain, yet?? Every day the kids have come home and said, "NOW can we please play outside?!" We haven't even had a chance to mow the lawn yet, so even if we were to have an opportunity to play outside, I wouldn't for fear we would lose them! :) I am waiting for some nice weather so I can transplant some flowers the kids brought home...they're taking over my kitchen window sill!!!

Last Thursday, I took Bradlee to the ENT specialist for his post-op check-up. He passed with flying colors, and the doctor even let me look in Bradlee's ear and see the tube! He said he used a different type of tube than the first time, and this one will stay in a bit longer than the first and it's opening is slightly smaller, which means it could get blocked by wax or mucus, but drops will clear it up easily. It was neat to see it in his ear and Bradlee, of course, was an excellent patient! :)

On Friday, we went north to Birch Run to do some shopping for some summer clothes for the kids...while walking past the Oshkosh store, I saw two ADORABLE mannequins!! :)

Not only were they 50% off, as the sign says...but I also had a coupon for an additional 15% off! What a steal, I had to bring them home with me! :)

Silly kids...

Emma is incredible. I've mentioned before how I thought her eyes were getting worse again: crossing, her closing one to read something, etc. Well, we went to the eye doctor yesterday (Monday) and low and behold, I was W-R-O-N-G. Emma has perfect vision. Yes, I mean, PERFECT vision. We're talking 20/20 vision. Incredible. She flew through the letter chart, then the nurse brought out the tiny little number chart and she read two lines at the bottom. Then Emma said, "Oh, I can read that last line." So she did. The nurse had to bring out a magnifying glass to see if she was right! :) Dr. Chris said her vision is great, and with her history and the surgery she had, he would totally expect her eyes to cross every now and then...especially when she's tired. The worst part was doing her eye drops...ugh. I don't even want to talk about it! :/ Anyways, he wants us to keep an eye on it (pun intended) and if it gets worse (like, when she's not tired), come back in. Otherwise, he'll see her again in 3 months!!

Tonight, I FINALLY took Bradlee to get his haircut. It had been probably 12 weeks since the last one...and man did he need it! He LOVES Chrystal and does so well on the booster seat int he chair while she cuts his hair! :) He even tells her how he wants it "pikey"! :) (That's "spikey" for us common-folk!). There was a ton of hair on the floor when we left, and a VERY handsome little boy holding my hand! :)

Bradlee Update

Well, it's been another interesting week. Bradlee went to school on Monday, and was out the rest of the week. We got a call from his teacher who said he was pulling on his left ear and saying it hurt. He had no fever, but just wasn't his usual self. So I took him to see Dr. Banerjee and although he said there was no infection in either of his ears, his left ear's tube looked like it could have been a bit blocked, so he prescribed an ear drop to help flush it out. Tuesday, Tony stayed home with him, and by the end of the day, his nose was stuffy and he had a slight fever. I believe he caught the cold I had last week...but the stupid FDA has decided that kids under 4 years old shouldn't get decongestants, so there's basically NOTHING we can/could give him to help the little guy! So, he was home on Wednesday as well. Thursday morning we called the doctor again to see if there was ANYTHING we could give Bradlee to help his stuffy nose, which was also causing the cough, which was causing a lack of sleep, which was making a VERY irritable 2 year old! :) We ended up getting an antihistamine-cough syrup...and it's worked FABULOUSLY!! He's been sleeping through the night, coughing less, and his nose is just about cleared up! HOORAY! :) I know it seems like the kids get sick so frequently, but looking back, I really think it's mostly around the season-changes...wow, sounds just like their mom.... :)

Note to self...

Don't leave your camera in your sister's room...that is, only if you don't want awesome pictures of your kids with their aunt! :)

The Easter Bunny left a treasure hunt for the kids again this year. They just LOVED it! I had forgotten, though, that one of the clues took us outside...so here's Tony's Easter Sunday fashion statement!

My favorite part was when the kids got in their play scape, and the clue they found there said, "Go down the slide and back inside...". Emma took one look at the slide and said, "Mom, the slide is wet." Bradlee said, "I go first!" :) Sure enough, Bradlee went down first and dried the slide off!

Once they found their baskets, Bradlee was thrilled with his "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book, and Emma loved her new outfit for Kit!!

We went to mass and then to my parents' house for dinner. Tony's dad and sister (mom was sick), my grandparents and Paul all came over, too! I was taking some pictures of Emma in her dress (and Kit's matching one!)...

...that I then got up to do something and forgot my camera in Karyn's room...a few hours later, I heard a bunch of giggling, and then Emma brought me my camera. :) Here's what I found...

I'm pretty sure there's no doubt that Emma and Bradlee have a great relationship with their aunts (and soon-to-be uncle)! :)

** SIGH **

What a week it's been! Up - down - and everything in between!!

First, My sister, Kat, and her fiance, Garrett, moved into their first house on Saturday! Emma and I went down (Clinton Township) early Saturday morning and started cleaning while everyone else was loading the moving truck at their apartment. Around noon, the truck...and everyone who helped pack it...arrived, along with Tony and Bradlee! We had a good time together...and by the end of the day, it was just the family that was there, which was nice. Emma was fascinated with the "Magic Eraser" and used two of them up cleaning the walls and such. Bradlee "helped" dust and helped me load the pantry...

Aunt Kat also had help doing some laundry of bedding and such...

While my mom and I were doing more work in the kitchen, we heard a TON of giggling coming from the master bedroom. I walked out into the living room, and Kat came into the living room, laughing, saying, "I think I taught them something bad. Sorry!" :) She taught them to run and jump into the king-sized mattress that was propped up in the room!! That kept them occupied for a while! :)

Sunday was Palm Sunday and we went to mass where the Youth Group acts out the Passion in a mime. It's REALLY cool. They have the story read, and then music played at different parts as well. Emma really likes watching, and every year we've been able to get more and more deeper into the meaning of what's happening. Bradlee was fascinated with the mime this year...all afternoon he was telling me that Jesus got hurt when they "banged in his toes" and then he "did dis" (puts his arms out to the side), "and then Jesus did dis" (hangs his head down)..."yeah, Jesus got hurt". LOL So awesome coming from a two and a half year old!

Monday morning we were up before the sun (Bradlee: "Where is da sunshine???") to get him to the hospital for his tubes surgery. This was the second time he's had this done (and hopefully the last), and it was even better than the first time! Bradlee was AWESOME while waiting for everything to happen! He got his fishy gown on, and the little hospital socks on (he called them "bubble socks") and just sat in my lap and watched cartoons! The nurses were just eating him up and he even got a little truck and a stuffed puppy to play with while waiting!

We weren't in the waiting room 10 minutes before the doctor called to say he was done and he did really well! I went back to the recover area to wait for him to wake up. He was a little groggy at first...and then one of the nurses told him he did so well, he could have a Popsicle when he got back to the room! His head popped up and he got a huge grin on his face and we were set! He got an orange Popsicle and some apple juice, watched some "Little Einstein's" on TV in his room, and we were out of the hospital by 9am! Bradlee was hungry and telling everyone who would listen (we went to see my mom, who works in the same hospital) that he wanted pancakes and sausage! So, Tony and I took him to a local "hometown" place and had breakfast...here's a proud baby boy with his pancake and sausage!

I guess to say that he was hungry was an understatement...he ate so well and was so good while we were at the restaurant! the waitress and the owner kept coming over and getting him more juice, seeing how he was doing and everything....he finished all that food on his plate!!

Bradlee's been doing great since the surgery. He went right back to school on Tuesday and told his teachers all about going to the "hopsible". Unfortunately, early this morning around 1am, he woke up with a fever around 103.5. Since he had just had surgery, we called and woke his pediatrician up who said to give him Tylenol and come see him in the morning. Well...Bradlee now is on an antibiotic for strep throat! DAMN IT ALL! We just can't get a break, can we?! He's been acting really well...in fact, this morning while watching TV before leaving for work, I asked him if his ears hurt. No. Throat hurt? No. Tummy hurt? "No. Numfing hurts Mama." :) Such a sweetie. Two doses of antibiotic in him already and he's doing much better...maybe the Easter Bunny will bring him a new immune system???

Emma's had a rough few days, also. She came home today in tears because her friend, Lex, is moving to North Carolina. Today was her last day. Lex was not only in her Kindergarten class, but also in Emma's Daisy Troop! We got Lex's new address and Emma is already planning on writing to her! I told her that when I was in school, I had a friend who moved away, too...when she asked what happened, I said, "You know Aunt Julie? She's the one who moved away to a different school! We're still friends NOW!" :) That comforted her quite a bit. I also told her how Aunt Julie is moving away again to Florida this summer...so Emma decided that since both of us are losing a friend soon, that when we get sad, we can just comfort each other...

Oh, by the way, last night at dinner, Tony was telling me about a "chat" conversation he had with his cousin. He was saying how his cousin wrote something, then "dot-dot-dot" (and actually said the "dot-dot-dot" part) and Emma interrupted. She said, "Oh, that's an ellipsis." Tony and I looked at each other, "A WHAT?" Emma: "Where there's a 'dot-dot-dot' in a sentence, it's called an 'ellipsis'".

Now you know. Have a good weekend and a wonderful Easter! :)

Little Stinkers...

What a Spring Break it's been! Not for me, of course...but for Tony and the kids!! Tuesday, Bradlee woke up with a fever, so off to the doctor's he went. He was diagnosed with a double ear infection. Now, we've know since at least November that one of the tubes had already fallen out. In the other ear, though, the doctor said it was so plugged that he couldn't even tell if it was still in there. So I immediately made an appointment with the ENT specialist for Thursday. In the mean time, Emma had a sleep over with Aunt Karyn! They made chocolate Rice Krispie treats, and Emma's favorite part was putting butter on her hands to press them into the pan!!!

Wednesday night, since Emma was at Aunt Karyn's, we decided to do something special with Bradlee, so he "helped" me get all the Easter and spring decorations out...he had a ball helping! He loved the ears he found in the box, and had to wear them the rest of the night...so when Tony left to get dinner, Bradlee wanted to go with him, and of course, wear the ears! We had Chinese for dinner, which is about a 10 minute drive...here's Bradlee by the time they got there!

This is also a common scene in our car now....he's such a stinker! :)

We went to the ENT specialist on Thursday morning...the doctor confirmed the infections and that the tube IS still in his ear, but non-functioning. When I told him that Bradlee also had an ear infection back in February, he said a second set of tubes is a must. So, next Monday, the 18th (Happy Birthday, Snookie!), we'll be at the hospital getting Bradlee's second set of tubes! Hopefully these will do their job in enough time for Bradlee to grow a bit more and then we'll be done with them! My fear, though, is what's going to happen after he gets these new ones in...I mean, after the first set, it was such a difference in his speech, he hasn't stopped talking since! :)

Here's my little stinker taking his "baby" for a walk...believe it or not, that blanket was just washed two days ago. :) Stinker, I tell you.