the cottrell family did what?...

...Barricaded the Bedroom

2010-01-23T07:55:00.005-06:00

Finnie loves his Ceci and follows her where ever she goes. Cecilia loves her little brother and cannot wait until he wakes up from his naps so they can play. Sibling bliss overfloweth here... most of the time. Here's how it went down. A few days ago Cecilia grew tired of playing with Finnie so she went into her bedroom and barricaded the door with her toy chest so she could have some "personal space." I hear the little man screaming at the top of his lungs so I enter the living room to investigate. I discover he's been exiled and ask Cecilia why she's refusing to let him in her room. I do not get a verbal response, I get a visual one slipped through the crack in the door...

...Lost a Tooth. Literally.

2010-01-05T07:11:00.003-06:00

Ms. Cecilia's first loose tooth has finally fallen out. Funny part - it happened in her sleep and we cannot find it. It's totally MIA. Hmm, what to do now? Leave the Tooth Fairy a note? Needing some suggestions here people.

...Listened to Nana Debbie

2009-11-05T12:00:00.000-06:00

You ask and you shall receive mamasita! I have created an album of Cecilia's scanned school work, grade cards, etc. I plan to make an album for each year of school! Her progress will be posted online for all to see! Soon Finnie can join in on the fun! Check out the link below:

Cecilia's 2009 - 2010 School Work [Kindergarten]

...Raised a Smart Cookie

2009-10-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd share some of Cecilia's recent stuff. Man, I do not remember bringing home this much paper when I was in Kindergarten. Our mixed paper recycling box is overflowing with the stuff. (easy Grandma's...I do keep some of it!) Cecilia busted me once and totally reamed me for throwing away her work.

...Packed a School Lunch, Retro-style

2009-10-17T09:10:00.006-05:00

Cecilia has be BEGGING me to allow her to take a sack lunch. Apparently there are a few in her class who do not like school lunches and regularly bring their own. Nuts, right? I loved school lunch and can remember running to the lunchroom with my English classmates our Senior year. Yes, Senior year. If it was Crispito day, look out. You could loss a limb if you got in our way.

Okay, back to Cecilia... so, the last thing I want to add to my mornings is making her lunch *ugh* but she was insistent. I told her if she reminded me after dinner one night, we would prepare her lunch for the next day. This way we wouldn't have to do it in the morning. She reminded me THAT night of course. Crap. What do we pack it in? She gave me a "duh" and ran to her arts-n-crafts drawer in our kitchen and pulled out my old tin Strawberry Shortcake lunch box (which we had been using to house markers).

"This of course!" said Cecilia.
"Perfect," I said, "but we need to add your name to the top."
[Can you see Megan Herring in faded red writing?]

...Rubba-Dub-Dub Returned to The Tub

2009-09-14T23:12:00.006-05:00

Finnegan snuck back into our sssllloooooowwww draining bathtub AFTER I dressed him for bed. Gross Finnie. Gross.

...Returned to The Alley

2009-09-13T10:08:00.028-05:00

My favorite place to be on crisp Fall Saturday afternoon is an alley. Not just any alley will do; it must be filled with BBQ smoke, the constant sound of aluminium cans being opened, 1000s of friends and every where one looks the most beautiful colors in the world wave about - crimson and blue of course.

Last Saturday Wade and I returned to our alley for another season of Jayhawk tailgating. We hang in the alley next to 11th St. between Alabama St. and Illinois St. - within steps of Memorial Stadium. Several season ticket holders from our town park here. The parking fee at this location (an apartment complex) is steep so Wade and I choose to hoof it; we park 3-4 blocks away. It is a haul, but it is so worth it!

Because of our Williams Fund donation, Wade and I were invited to attend KU's Select-a-Seat at Memorial Stadium in June. Our good friends Amanda and Andrew are also donors and have about the same number of Williams Fund priority points as we do. Because of this we were able to pick our seats on the same day. We coordinated via a couple text messages and got our season ticket seats right next to each other - something I hope to continue until we are old and gray.

Amanda, Andrew and Wade - three of the four coolest fans in Section 9, Row 38.

Can't wait until next Saturday! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

...Never Looked Back

2009-08-17T08:00:00.006-05:00

After battling Strep throat and missing her first day of Kindergarten last Friday, Cecilia finally experienced first day school excitement this morning. She woke up via her new alarm clock at 6:15 am, got dressed by herself and brushed her teeth. She wasn't happy about her hair so she had me flat iron it. This was new. She's NEVER cared about her hair before. I am taking this as a good sign. I have been dying to doll up her hair with bows and such ever since she grew it! Maybe now I'll get my chance. After she was all ready, we had the classic first day of school photo session. Here are the results:

Wade, Finn and I drove her to school. Our plan was to walk and make a video on the way, but it was raining. Blast! We circled around the school with the other car riders and stopped at the side door. The van in front of us brought two of Cecilia's good friends to school: Reichen and Paige. As soon as Ceci saw them she was off, and never looked back.

It was a bitter sweet moment for us all, especially Finnie. He watched her go into the school and began whining for her, "My Ceci. My Ceci!" Then his lower lip came out. The pouty lip combined with sad little sniffles did Wade and I in. We teared up as it was probably the most pitiful thing we've seen him do. As soon as we got him inside the house "His Ceci" was quickly replaced by his boots and baseball shoes - his current favorite items:

...Rocked Our Kasbah at Territiral Days

2009-06-30T14:41:00.017-05:00

CLICK HERE to enlarge this collage

In two days time, we spent roughly 20 hours at Territorial Days. Lucky for us we have Big Granny's house to use as a refuge. Her porch is just a hop skip and a jump from all of the action.
Finnie enjoyed the all three of the rides he was able to experience, but hardly cracked a smile while he kept a death grip on their handle bars.
We made five coffee cans of Mint Julep (thanks to our friend Jess). Fast becoming a Perry tradition, we wrap our coffee can full of Mint Julep in a kitchen towel and duct tape and then pass the thing around until it is gone. There is only one rule with the Mint Julep can-o-goodness. Don't ever set it down. Here is a shot of Wes partaking in its refreshing goodness for the first time.
Yeah!...a photo of me with one of my kids. I do exist.
This was Mr. Finn's third Territorial Day's experience, but this was the first time Mommy and Daddy dropped $18 on a wristband so he could enjoy unlimited riding fun. Carnies make bank on those wristbands.
Wade always said our kids would experience their first kisses at Territorial Days; I just didn't think it would have happened this soon.
Our turtles, Bella and Edward (yes, we are HUGE Twilight fans) did not win us any grand prizes but they definitely gave us their best effort. This was the first time Cecilia has ever touched her turtle, so at least we won THAT battle. If you have never seen a turtle race it is definitely a sight to behold. Check out one of Bella's trial runs HERE.
(Dear PETA - no turtle was harmed during the festivities and we let ours go in the country the day after the race.)

...Finished the Season 0-8

2009-06-29T19:00:00.001-05:00

It was bound to happen...a team full of preschoolers never had a chance against teams full of 1st graders. Ah well, at least we had fun!

...Posted the Cutest Video EVER

2009-06-25T19:23:00.004-05:00

...Made the Most of a Rain Delay

2009-06-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

Cecilia's softball team had their last regular season game against Lecompton last night. It began to sprinkle as soon as the game started. No lighting, so the game continued much to the girls delight! By the top of the second inning it was raining buckets so the umpire had the teams head to their dugouts to wait it out. After about twenty minutes, the rain slowed down and several of the coaches pushed the water off of the field. It was sooo like being at a Royals game. While the rain was a fallin' I took out my camera and started snapping photos.

(Haylee Gonzales and Finnie are usually attached at the hip. Finn is into older women.)

(One of my favorite shots. Gracie Gonzales, who is 5, is used to being the shortest in a pack. She's taking advantage of her height and teases Finn with the ball...so he kicks her.)

(Cecilia told Coach Speedy that she was tired of playing first base and wanted to try catching. I was shocked! She was VERY proud of her "costume".)

...Turned Two

2009-06-10T20:00:00.006-05:00

Finnegan Thomas turned two today! He had a great day, but has actually been celebrating his transition into the Terrific Twos since Sunday. We had a small get together at our home and just kicked back and relaxed. Everyone enjoyed watching Mr. Finn as we sang Happy Birthday to him. It was the cutest thing - he suddenly got super shy and ducked his chin down, closed his eyes and grinned. Since it caused a laugh from his audience he continued to make this silly face as he ate his cake. I began snapping photos of him doing the scrunched up face but as you can see, he got a bit perturbed with me and started yelling "STOPPPP!"

(Cute as a button.)

(Mommy's getting THE look.)

("STOOPPPP!" Doesn't he look like a little Vampire Baby here?)

One of Finnie's favorite birthday gifts is the race car track that Nana Debbie and Papa Tom gave him. We are already on the second set of AA batteries in each car. He makes Wade lay on the floor next to him to watch the cars. My heart melts each time.

His other favorite gift was this GIGANTIC gummy bear. His daycare provider, Rita thought it was a perfect gift for Finnie. I just about pee'd myself when Finn took a bite of the bear's bootie and then said, "Bite Butt!" He even shared the gummy beast with his sister and Daddy. I passed.

This morning he got a visit from the Birthday Fairy who left him balloons in his favorite hues (crimson and blue) as well as a super yummy cookie cake for breakfast. He was elated to eat such a fine breakfast. So was I...cookie cakes are my favorite. Good thing I am in good with the Birthday Fairy.

...Brags

2009-05-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

I just have to brag on my big brother. He was recently named Leavenworth's 2009 Officer of the Year. He is the very first officer to hold this distinction. This has been a busy year for my Stevie!... A few months ago he was also promoted to Sargent. Such an over achiever.

I should also brag on his wife, Danielle. She was recently promoted to Detective. It is so fun to hear them "talk shop." It is like I am on an episode of Dexter or something. Well, without the serial killer part.

Sorry for the crappy photo quality...
I took this photo from the body of an email.

...Gears Up For Another Ball Season

2009-05-07T12:00:00.002-05:00

Cecilia is playing coach pitch again this summer. Yipee! I cannot wait for the season to begin...and of course there's the sunflower seed spitting - always an added bonus.

**UPDATE: All Games are at 6:30 pm**
The schedule is as follows:

Sunday, May 17 [Perry @ Royal Valley]
Thursday, May 21 [Meriden @ Perry]
Sunday, May 24 [McLouth @ Perry]
Thursday, May 28 [JCN @ Perry]
Thursday, June 4 [JCN @ Perry]
Sunday, June 7 [Perry @ Royal Valley]
Thursday, June 11 [Perry @ Lecompton]

Cecilia has been working hard on her batting skills and is doing quite well. Now if we could just get her to RUN!

...Pedicures, Jayhawks, Branson, Oh My!

2009-04-26T07:56:00.032-05:00

April is about to pass me by. Crap. I better start updating you people on what the Cottrell family has been doing. It was a semi sick free month - Mr. Finn's head cold from March rolled over into April. After 16 days of snot we finally decided to try antibiotics. He was much better the day after we started meds so I'm confident he did have a nasty bacterial bug up in there. I am a big advocate for letting a cold run its course and not throwing anti's at children when they might not need them. Our doctor is on the same page, which is great. Finnie's only had them twice and Cecilia's still an antibiotic virgin. Finn got better just in time to contract the April snotty nose. Daycare kids get 10 colds a year, blah, blah, blah...I know, I know.
Cecilia and I missed Jayden Weissenbach's 6th birthday party so we decided to take Jayden and her Mommy [Jenny - my BFF and Boss. Sweet combo, right?] to get pedicures! It was Jayden and Ceci's first time and the salon treated them like princesses...even got little white flowers on each big toe. We had a blast.

After the pedi's we hooked up the the rest of our family members for lunch and then headed to Allen Fieldhouse for the Women's NIT Championship game. It was almost a sellout game with 16,113 in attendance; a record for the lady Jayhawks and a Big 12 Women's record. They Hawks didn't bring in a win, but they put on a hell of a run in the last few minutes. The entire joint was on its feet jumping around. I believe I sweat off 3 lbs of water weight. Fun time!

Post game activities: Finn passes out and Cecilia gives Daddy a pedicure.

We also spent a weekend at my parents house in Branson. It was a whirlwind of activities as usual. My mother is a super planner and has our itinerary and menus set before we even arrive. She sends me emails weeks in advance reminding me of things I should be packing. [Now you know where I got my planning sickness from.] Friday was a rainy day so Cecilia dyed eggs while Finnie ate them. That night we had Dad's famous home made pizza. Cecilia got to help, kind of. Dad is a perfectionist and basically redid all of her work.

Saturday was beautiful so we took the kiddos down the street to Silver Dollar City. Finnie has been to SDC several times but this day he got to experience his very first amusement park ride. He loved it. Cecilia actually got in line for the Giant Swing, but ended up being about an inch too short. I was SO relieved. Now she keeps measuring herself and saying, "Big Swing?!" When she is tall enough I am going to make Wade ride it with her. I don't think I will be able to handle hearing her screams. Wade and Dad spent a good 20 minutes in the water gun section of the park pelting other kids with water. Cecilia and Finn got soaked. Cecilia plans to wear her swimsuit when we go back this summer. Good plan.

...FINALLY Wrote a New Post

2009-04-18T14:35:00.023-05:00

I am a blog slacker. This I know. Because of this I have received quite a bit of hate mail during my blog hiatus so I thought I'd better get my act together. Actually, I am just too anal. I got behind in my posting due to the March Sickness and because I hate to do anything out of order my post ideas have gotten severely backed up - kind of like our bathroom sink (more on that later). Hum, let us see where I left off...oh, yes - In March Cecilia completed 8 week Beginner Tumbling class with Lawrence Parks & Recreation. She enjoyed every minute of it but wants to take Dance next. Wade and I think this is a sound idea as we're pretty sure she will be too tall to be gymnast. Here she is getting her certificate of completion.

Since I last wrote, Finnegan can now read on a 10 grade level and is zipping through books like crazy. Here he is reading Memories of a Geisha in his favorite reading spot - the kitchen floor.

During March we thoroughly enjoyed the Madness (when we were not cursing our sickness) and were very impressed by our young Jayhawks and Coach Self. Finn has become a true fanatic and screams "HAWK!" anytime he spots our beloved bird. As usual, the kids were decked out in crimson and blue and Jayhawk tattoos all month. Cecilia sure comes up with unique places for her tats.

The kids also enjoyed hanging out at Nana Marla and Papa Tim's ranch last month as Spring time equals calf time around there. I love these photos I snapped. Cecilia is a master at climbing Papa's fence and Finnie's looking up at her like, "How is she doing that? She is amazing." I love her shoes in that photo too.

We hung out with Amandewucs and Mitcholleton one afternoon at Mitchell and Nicolle's new house. That place is freaking bizarre, but it is SO Mitchell. We tried to get a photo with all four of our kids together, but Leyton wasn't having it. Check out Lucas. This dude has more hair than Wade and he is only like 6 months old.

So ends our March adventures. This post is getting quite longish, so I shall quit here and begin a new with our April news.

...Celebrated Sofie

2009-03-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Girl!

...Celebrated Another KU Win

2009-02-24T22:04:00.005-06:00

" Oklahoma who? Bring on Mizzou!"

(KU tutu courtesy of Cecilia)

...Finally Got the Tower Back Online

2009-02-13T22:00:00.001-06:00

We have had crazy internet connection issues for a while now. Thank goodness for our Blackberry's. I cannot go 12 hours without checking Facebook. Our nice cable company sent someone out this morning and he fixed us up. Ah, it's nice to type on a keyboard again.
Not much has happend since my last post, but we did go to a super fun birthday party last weekend for our pal, Zeke. It was the largest kid party I've even been to - over 50 children. No lie. Thank goddness it was at a community building in Lawrence. The theme was Carnival and each kiddo was given tickets in exchange for a can food item (no gifts = sweet). They could use their tickets to play carnival games like Ring Toss, Go Fish, Cupcake Walk, Face Painting, Fortune Teller, etc. Brillant idea. The family did such a good job on the whole sha-bang.

... Made Progress on the Kitchen Remodel

2009-01-26T21:17:00.006-06:00

I promise to post photos of our kitchen, but only when it it completely finished! I have vowed to finish it before April 1st. We moved back into our house on April 1, 2008 after living at Big Granny and Gramps house for two and a half months. Has it seriously taken us a year to put up the backslash, trim, lights and door? Yes, yes it has. Seems crazy because it only took Wade two and a half months to completely demo the entire room, put in new plumbing, electrical, insulation, drywall and flooring. Insane.

Here are some shots of my men hard at work yesterday afternoon:

Finn likes to eat leftover waffles while using the circular saw.

How freaking cute is this? I mean seriously? How cute?!

...Reminisced With Waffles

2009-01-26T20:12:00.010-06:00

We admit it. We've been having withdraws. Waffle withdraws. Big Granny and Gramps have been in Texas since the end of December which means we haven't enjoyed waffles for lunch for the past four Sundays! The weekends are just not the same. *sigh*

Along with the delicious waffles, we miss hearing the local gossip from Gramps as well as the occasional, "God Dammit!" heard coming from his easy chair. So sad. We also miss Big Granny's cookie jar that magically has 5 cookies in it every Sunday; two for Finnie, two for Ceci and one for Gramps. *double sigh*

Yesterday we decided to do something about our craving. We needed a taste... just a little bit to help us through this though time. Something to ease the pain in our tummies... so we borrowed Big Granny's waffle maker and attempted to recreate the feeling we once had on Sunday afternoons. The first few attempts were flops [not enough batter], but finally...FINALLY we had success!...

We even spiced it up a bit by making blueberry waffles. Yum.

Finn's face when told he had to wait for his next waffle.

Cecilia gave our waffle and fried eggs a thumbs up...but admitted they weren't as good as Big Granny's.

We will not be whole until they return in April and we are once again together for Waffle Sunday.

...Called It

2009-01-20T20:38:00.007-06:00

Check it, my Cecilia called it back on March 4, 2008. Look!

What an amazing day. Our IT guy set up the conference room screen and had CNN streaming live during the Oath of Office and Obama's speech. We all got chills, shed some tears and broke into applause after his oath and his speech.
Several of us at CREW had a "Broccoli Celebration" lunch at the Yacht Club. Because of my story about Cecilia, "broccoli" became our code word during the election if we wanted to talk politics. Our CEO put the kibosh on water cooler discussions on the topic. I am pretty sure it is because she was in favor of the other guy and was sore that her side was losing. We were banned from wearing any buttons, shirts, etc. during the election. We totally enjoyed getting to wear our shirts today - you cannot ban patriotism baby!

...Dunked Donuts & Oreos

2009-01-17T21:30:00.011-06:00

Recently Finnegan was introduced to two of my favorite things: Oreos and sprinkle donuts. He definitely approves of both.

Thanks to my father, Oreos are my favorite cookie. Cecilia and I sat down a few nights ago to show Mr. Finn how to dunk some Oreos. He caught on really fast and before I knew it, our Oreos were gone. Wait, let me rephrase that... our Oreos were at the bottom of Ceci and Finn's cups. Note to self, teach children to hold Oreo in milk for 3 seconds only. If left in milk for too long, cookie will break and fall into milk. Man I wish we had some right now. I could easily eat a whole package of those delicious little yummies. Most of you know this about me, but did you know there are rules that must be followed when eating them? Well, there are.

1. They have to be official Oreos. Do not even bring fake Always Save cookies into my house.

2. They cannot be the double stuffed ones. That is just too much of a good thing, plus it throws off the delicate balance of crisp cookie and smooshy middle.

3. I have to eat them with milk so I can dunk them. Yum.

4. I only eat Oreos at home or my at parent's house. They get all up in my teeth and that is so not attractive.

Last weekend Wade and I showed the kids what we used to do for fun on Saturday mornings before we were parents. We would go to Dunkin' Donuts for the coffee/donut combo and then walk over to Pet World to browse around. [Man we were so broke back then.] Ceci and Finn enjoyed the donuts, the animals and the experience. We walked out of the pet store empty handed, thank God. Wade and I bought three cats and several fish during our "hey-we're-bored-so-let's-walk-around-Pet World" adventures.

...Skipped the Black-eyed Peas

2009-01-01T17:46:00.005-06:00

Fresh New Year's Day tradition in the Cottrell household - Old Fashioned Hot Dogs. Yum. Makes 'em just the way I like 'em...glistening. Thanks for the OFHD machine Nana Debbie and Papa Tom!

... ZZZZZzzzzz, ZZZZZzzzzz, ZZZZZzzzzz

2008-12-31T12:00:00.004-06:00

Whew. 2008 wore me out...

...Enjoyed a New View

2008-12-30T23:00:00.016-06:00

Wade's company, P1 Group, Inc., is currently working on a project at Allen Fieldhouse with Turner Construction Company. Wade has been at this job site for a few months now and is really enjoying it... mostly because he has been able to indulge his man-crush by watching the men's football and basketball teams workout. He has even stood before the 2008 National Championship trophy case for several minutes with no one around to block his view. Lucky man. Turner Construction Company gave Wade two of their tickets to tonight's basketball game. Turner is a rather large construction company, so we knew they had to be awesome seats. Key word here - seats! We got to sit on the East side in the Allen Fieldhouse wooden seats for the very first time! For those of you who have never been inside the greatest building on earth, I shall explain. The majority of The Fieldhouse seating is made up of bleachers. Out of 16,300 spots, only 1,100 of them are of the coveted wooden seat variety. Under normal situations bleacher seating would be just fine. In The Fieldhouse you dare not burp for fear of losing precious space between you and your bench mates. It is that jam packed in there.
Sitting on the wooden seat side was so different. For starters, we could hear Coach Self yelling clear as a day. I think it is fun to watch the bench's reaction to the game and I am glad I got to experience the other side of Phog's house.

What a view. Go Hawks!

...Rocked Out / Chilled Out

2008-12-27T23:00:00.002-06:00

My immediate family is pretty small. It's just Mom, Dad, my brother Steve and me. Add in our spouses and the three kiddos we've created and you get 9...and that's just fine. We all gathered at my brother's house in Leavenworth today for a laid back Christmas. No rush. No fuss. After opening gifts, we ate yummy brisket that Dad picked up from Famous Dave's BBQ along with baked beans, green bean casserole and mom's delicious crunchy/cheesy potatoes.
To help digest our food, we rocked out on my nieces new Wii. We were all pretty good at it. Okay, on the beginner level but we were still proud of ourselves.

...Spread the Word in Missouri

2008-12-25T23:00:00.002-06:00

We spent Christmas Day at my Uncle Phil and Aunt Nancy's house in Garden City, MO. To make Coach Fambrough proud we drove there with our Jayhawk auto windsock flying high. After that win in Arrowhead last month, we could not resist rubbing it in a little.
We plan to exchange gifts with my folks on Saturday, but my mom brought the kids a few to open today. Our favorite by far are these super cozy KU fleece blankets she made for them. Uh, I want one. It is definitely on my wish list for next year.

...Awoke with Wonder

2008-12-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

Santa was very good to Finnie and Ceci this year. Finn got a wooden tool box, a Sit-n-Spin and a rather large Rice Crispy Treat (his favorite). As requested, Cecilia received a Barbie Princess, as well as a real microphone/mini amp and a stocking full of goodies. They both received disc sleds and we cannot wait to try them out at Uncle Wes' new house. We spotted some good hills there so bring on some snow!

...Souped at Big Granny's

2008-12-24T23:00:00.005-06:00

We spent a relaxing Christmas Eve Day at Nana Marla and Papa Tim's house. We were two men down because Jacob and his new bride, Carmelle, now live in Chicago. They were missed by all, especially Finnegan who drowned his sorrows in the enormous tub of cheese balls that Papa Tim insists on getting every year.

Later, everyone met up at Big Granny's for wine and her traditional oyster soup...or ham if you cannot stomach oysters.

...Stole the Show

2008-12-23T23:00:00.026-06:00

This year at Rita's Daycare Holiday Party the kids put on a mini Christmas program. Each kid had their moment in the spotlight as they all sang a particular holiday song that matched their outfit. Angel wore a cloak covered with Jingle Bells. Tyson was Frosty the Snowman. Isaiah was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Ceci warned the kids that Santa Claus is Coming to Town and everyone ended up Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree that Rylee wore. Finn was a holiday groopy who danced around the stage and cracked us up with his token head tilt move. View photos here>>

Finnegan also had his 18 month visit with Dr. Carla today. She was very impressed as he had a leap on his growth charts: 29 lbs (80th percentile) and 34¾ inches (96th percentile) . What a hoss.
His vocabulary is still pretty slim and consists of: ball, Dad, Ma, Sis, hot, hat, shoes with his only "phrases" being uh oh and My, My, My.
Because Finn has had a runny nose and cough since Thanksgiving, Dr. Carla and I agreed to try a round of antibiotics. Four weeks of icky snot means something just might be growin' up there. This is the very first time either of our kids have had to take antibiotics. Dr. Carla was happy to hear this and said, "Good for you guys and good for us doctors!" I call it dumb luck.

...Had a Chocolate Covered "Dip-Off"

2008-12-20T23:00:00.008-06:00

Dipping stuff in chocolate has become an annual holiday tradition at our house. Wade is famous for his chocolate covered Ritz peanut butter sandwiches. I decided to try my own yummy dipped delight this year in hopes of dethroning Wade. I mimicked Hershey's TAKE5 candy bar: pretzel, glob of peanut butter, drop of melted carmel, topped with chopped peanuts and then of course dipped. We plan on having taste tests to see who the winner is! Cecilia made chocolate covered pretzels and had a blast even though she ended up being banned from sprinkling...

**UPDATE - Wade is still the champion.**

...Visited St. Nick

2008-12-13T14:06:00.005-06:00

Four Cottrells waiting in line.

Mr. Finn's first time on the Big Guy's lap.

A seasoned pro, Ceci asks for a Barbie Princess.

Check out more photos HERE

...Experienced a Streak of Bad Luck

2008-12-13T11:14:00.038-06:00

I have become quite familiar with bad luck the past two weeks. It all began the night after the totally awesome KU/MU game. My throat hurt. I know, I know. That is what I get for sitting out in the rain and snow for several hours, right? Well, I still think it was worth it. That was the best football game I have ever seen. Plus, we got to ride to Arrowhead in this wicked cool bus with hardwood floors and a huge flat panel TV [which we watched highlights from last season on!]. You're jealous, and that's okay. I would be too.

Anyway, back to my bad luck. The next day was Sunday and I spent the entire day curled up on the couch with chills, aches-n-pains and a fever. I was fearful I had caught the flu even after receiving the shot in October, so I stayed home from work the next day to rest. Wade's foreman sent him home from work to take care of me. What a sweet guy. I still felt like doodoo on Tuesday with a headache and a sore throat but figured I could pull sitting at my desk, responding to emails for 8 hours. By Thursday afternoon my teeth and upper jaw began to ache. Ah, yet another sinus infection. Brilliant. That night I woke up at 1:30 am and felt like Wade had been kicking me in the face all night. I stumbled into the bathroom and mixed up a cocktail of distilled water and whatever is in a sinus rinse packet and proceeded to shoot it up my nose. What came out of my nose that night haunts me still. Di-sgust-ing...and yet fascinating, ya know? I layered ice packets on my face and watched Erin Brockovich on Showtime...and then half of Enchanted on HBO until I finally fell back asleep around 5:30 am.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday came and went, and I still had that stinkin' headache and sore throat! While at work on Monday I had decided I was going to stay home the next day to rest and kick this Sinusitis' ass once and for all. What I didn't know was that another bug had bitten my ass - a nasty vomit and diarrhea causing bug. Yep. That's right. I was up all night Monday puking my guts out into the trash can while sitting pretty on the toilet. In between puke sessions, I lay curled up in bed praying that my kids would not catch what ever was ailing me. I had that scene from Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood where all four of Vivi's children are in the bathroom vomiting and pooping everywhere embossed on my brain. Remember how she stepped in it with her bare feet? Ugh! Having both Finn and Ceci sick at the same time scares the living hell out of me. I am most definitely a sympathetic puker.

On Tuesday I had Wade take me to the the doctor at 3:00pm. Come to find out I was very dehydrated and my heart rate was pretty high because of it. My nurse said the heart beats about 60 to 80 times a minute when we're at rest. My heart rate was 140. Yikes! My doctor gave me two bags of fluids, a round of an antibiotic called Rocephin, a short term and a long term anti nausea medication and my favorite - Demerol. This blessed drug put an end to my headache and allowed me to stand laying on the doctor's hard ass exam "bed" for four hours. I think Demerol has replaced Percocet as my favorite drug. Don't worry Mom, I only take them when prescribed... and I enjoy every minute of it.

The needle the nurse used for my IV was a small one and on top of that my IV was positional, so it took FOREVER to get the two bags of fluid in me. Wade was able to pick up sandbags for his truck at Ace Hardware, go to Home Depot to get parts for our house, pick up the kids and take them home so Nana Marla could feed them all before coming back to pick me up. I got home around 7:30 pm and passed out.

Wednesday I slept all day and it was wonderful. The arm that had housed my IV was a bit sore, but I thought nothing of it - that is until I pulled up my sleeve and noticed a red, hot puffy streak traveling all the way from my IV site up to my shoulder. Uh, this can't be good. Called the Doc, they said, "Nope that's not good. Come in right now." I have what is called Phlebitis - basically inflammation of the vein caused by the IV. My Doctor said it was pure "bad luck." Uh, yeah. I'm familiar with that phrase as of late. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory med for the vein and gallons of fluid and time off from work because I still looked pale when I stood up. So I set up camp on the couch and watched a lot of Showtime, HBO and Encore.

Thanks to my handy dandy Blackberry I was able to keep up with my work emails right from the couch. My favorite email came from my fellow sCREWed employee, Janice. It had the subject line "Come Back Soon...Please!" with this photo attached. A couple coworkers had constructed a "stand in" for me out of boxes which had accumulated in my cube during my hiatus. [Christmas presents I had shipped to my office.] I guess Freaky Megan, as she affectionately came known to be, was a tad shorter than I and therefore did not fool some. Damn, because I was hoping to reconstruct her in case I needed a few more days off in the future.

...Pretty'd A Pink Tree

2008-12-03T19:30:00.004-06:00

I am the luckiest girl because mommy & daddy bought me a lovely pink Christmas tree for my bedroom. Mommy helped me put the silver balls on it and I added the ponytail holders as a finishing touch.

I love it.

...Found A Familiar Face

2008-12-02T19:43:00.011-06:00

[…And isn't it a beautiful face?]
So, it was with much reluctance that I signed up for Facebook (FB) a few weeks ago. All I needed was yet another online distraction, but my curiosity got tickled and I ended up doing it. Let me tell you, this online monster can be a huge distraction and is very addictive so beware. I started off slow; promising myself that I would only accept Friend Requests, never Search for friends and never post a Wall-to-Wall comment. Who was I kidding? Finding old high school and college friends is SO easy on this site. It is really amazing how this site’s database works and I have done a complete 360° on my view of FB. Yesterday I did my very first search. I have not been able to locate one of my best friends from high school for the last eight years. I’ve Googled her a million times and a few years ago I even did one of those quick $9.99 internet searches in an effort to locate her. Yeah, it did not work. [Me = Sucker] All I had to do on FB was type in her first and last name and Voila! There was Angelica Suffren! I was wicked excited. Next thing you know we are emailing each other and catching up.

The last time I spoke with Angelica she was a referee for the NCAA. Just look at her now! I am so proud. I bet my mom and dad will be extremely excited to read this post. Geli was definily one of their favorites.
"Don’t knock it until you try it" definitly has a home on this post. I think everyone should try FB. You just might find a Face you’ve been missin’. I did.

...Gave Thanks

2008-11-27T20:00:00.001-06:00

1. THANKFUL FOR HAPPY SURPRISES.
I am almost ashamed to say it, but I feel I have to come clean. I have not used my film camera since I bought my digital one in August. I recently picked up two rolls of film I have had at the lab for a while and remembered one of the reasons why I love film. Opening up a packet developed of film is like Christmas morning. You never know what you are going to get! Here a few of my favorite shots from the rolls:

1. THANKFUL FOR PILES OF LEAVES.
We had a blast these past few days playing in the leaves. The weather has been very cooperative. I felt like a kid again.

1. THANKFUL FOR THE COMING SEASON WITH FAMILY.
Cecilia has been begging us for weeks to put up our tree. The neighbors across the street who put theirs up on November 1 didn't help. We finally agreed and got the holiday gear out of the attic on Sunday. Finnegan was mesmerized by the tree. It was so cute.

...Reunited the CIA

2008-11-21T22:32:00.008-06:00

Cecilia was the seventh and final baby born at Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) on Tuesday, October 28, 2003. Her pal, Isaac Riffel was the first. Twenty eight hours after her birth, Ceci's buddy Anna Twedt was born. They are all truly friends since birth....well almost.

Wade and I met Dan and Becky Twedt while attending our 6 week prenatal class at LMH. They took notice of us, well... because everyone in our class did. Who could ignore Wade and his wild personality and crazy questions? The Twedt's ended up in another of our classes at the hospital and so we sat together and ended up exchanging email address that night.

I still remember Dan walking into our hospital room the day after Cecilia was born. He popped in to say they were in labor in a near by room. It was so ironic and I kept saying, "I cannot believe they are here too!"

About two weeks later I decided to attend a breastfeeding (BF) support group at LMH. I was extremely nervous, especially about nursing in public. Looking back I just laugh. Why on earth was I nervous to whip out my girls in a room full of chicks doing the very same thing? It seemed like everyone in the room had known each other for a very long time and they were all pros at BFing. I remember feeling a bit embarrassed about having to wear a nipple shield. Cecilia destroyed my nipples with her bad "latch" technique the first few days of nursing. I was to wear this shield until I healed, but I was so afraid of her "latch" that I ending up wearing that thing for four months! What a pain in the butt that thing was. Okay, I am off track here. Where was I?

Ah, yes. The support group. Well, since no one in the room would talk to me I decided to strike up a conversation with the coolest looking chick in the joint. She was about my age, had tattoos and this was the kicker - she was having latch issues with her munchkin too! Ah, someone who knew my pain. Literally. This hip chick [aka Anj Riffel] and I hit it off and ended up hanging together at the weekly BF support group.

Soon later Anj, Becky and I started getting together. We were new moms, we all BF'd our kids, and well, our kids were all born within 48 hours of each other. Too cool, eh? I think it was Anj who came up with our play date group name The CIA - Cecilia, Isaac and Anna. It has to be the coolest play date name ever. I love putting it into my staff calendar at work. "Tuesday, May 4 - CIA Lunch" My coworkers think I am nuts.

And here they are... 5 years older and a sibling each later...The CIA.
[Also pictured "The VFO" established in 2007. Sorry Vivi, Finn and Owen. I Googled this and got Variable Frequency Oscillator (VFO). Pretty lame when compared to the CIA.]

...Got Rowdy On Monday Night

2008-11-17T20:22:00.003-06:00

Hank's got nothing on us.

...Inherited Her Mother's Eye

2008-11-16T09:59:00.003-06:00

For her birthday, Cecilia got her very own digital camera from Nana Debbie and Papa Tom. She took to it like a fish in water and began snapping away. I downloaded her beautiful work this morning and created her own Picasa Web Album online. This link has a permanent home on the right side of our blog. Ceci and I hope to update it frequently.
After weeding out several images of our hardwood floor, the remaining shots make up the first collection of her work. I think the shot of my rump is the best one...

OCTOBER

...FINALLY Uploaded Halloween Photos

2008-11-13T07:00:00.003-06:00

I was planning to create this rad Halloween video with our costume photos, but I never got around to it. My mother is dying to see the her super hero grand kids dressed up to save the day so I gave up and uploaded our shots.
...uh, Jayhawks are too super heroes! More shots can be found in our October Web Album.

...Requests Your Help

2008-11-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Sweet little Sofia had a CT scan yesterday and the doctors discovered she has reherniated yet again causing some of her bowel to protrude into her chest cavity. Her parents are such strong people, but having to go through this surgery for the third time has to be exhausting and stressful. My heart just sank when I read the last few posts on her blog.
Please send your positive vibes, prayers and thoughts in their direction today as Sofie undergoes yet another repair surgery. This pretty lil' monkey is strong, but she can always use our support!

...Joined ebay

2008-11-09T09:56:00.003-06:00

I usually give our no-longer-used kiddo gear/clothing away and everyone exclaims, "Why don't you SELL this stuff?" Honestly, I was intimidated by ebay. I was afraid of doing it wrong. My mom actually took a class called "ebay University" and my good friend, Lanette is a professional ebay seller/shopper. Their experience humbles me. Mom, Lanette and any other ebay master - please check out my current listings and give me some feedback. I am facing my fear head on!

http://myworld.ebay.com/mamajayhawk

...Voted with Flair

2008-11-04T07:30:00.003-06:00

...Practiced Free Throws

2008-10-28T21:45:00.000-05:00

Just too cute... I had to share this shot from last weekend.

...Moved to the Top Bunk

2008-10-28T21:00:00.001-05:00

Today my daughter turned 5 years old. Most mothers freak when one of their young reaches this momentous age. I did not. Seriously, and it is all because Cecilia came into this world exactly 58 days after the cut off for starting school. Wade and I get to enjoy an additional year of toddler hood and Cecilia gets another year of learning and socialization under her belt. Fall kids rule. I am a bit biased being an October baby myself.

Cecilia enjoyed her 5th Birthday immensely. Her morning began with surprise decorations from the Birthday Fairy - who went Green this year by using old newspapers to make the streamers and Ceci's birthday crown. This Eco-friendly Fairly even blew up the bags our newspapers come in to create a fun place setting for Cecilia's birthday brownie. For those of you who do not know, the Birthday Fairy comes during the night before ones birthday morning and decorates to celebrate your day. This Fairy has visited our house ever since Ceci's first birthday.

Cecilia continued her birthday festivities with treats, singing and dancing at Ms. Rita's Daycare - a place that is always hoppin'. We wrapped up the evening with a small family celebration that included tons-o-pink presents, yummy cake and home made ice cream. D-Lish.

The grand finale is her sleeping locale tonight. When her daddy and I bought her the bunk bed she was told that she could not sleep on the top until she was 5. Man, she held us to that promise...almost exactly to the minute. She was born at 8:43 pm five years ago today.

...Had a Bloody Good Time

2008-10-26T07:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Wade and I met up with Amanda and Andrew at Louise's West to sip some of their amazing Bloody Marys and cold Schooners before the game - a Homecoming tradition for several years now. Don't we look happy? I did not take any photographs after the 63-21 annihilation by Texas Tech. What a disaster.

...Wigged Out In Houston

2008-10-22T09:12:00.004-05:00

I have been MIA from the blog world these past few weeks. I was in Houston for my company's annual convention from 10/13 to 10/18. I am so glad it is over as it is such an exhausting week. Nothing like working 75 hours in six days. This is a shot of a few of us in the hotel bar on the last night. Our past CEO, Linda Hollemon [pink wig] joined "us" to reminisce. It was a great way to end the week.
Why the wigs?...yeah, I am still not sure. The theme to our Friday night celebration was CREW Network Odyssey 2008: Blasting into the New Frontier. Such an original idea, right?...I am sure no other convention in Houston has ever used a space theme...[ahem]. Anyway, our meeting planners thought it would be fun if the entire staff wore these crazy wigs. As it turns out, none of the meeting planners wore theirs. Man, the rest of us are a bunch of suckers.

...Waved the Wheat

2008-10-22T08:50:00.006-05:00

Wade and I took Cecilia to her first KU football game in Memorial Stadium on October 11. She thought our seats where too high and did not understand why everyone had to yell all of the time. I was bound and determined to explain the game to her, but found that it is much easier to do while watching it on TV. She is a master at the sport when she can see the "yellow line." After some popcorn and a pop, she loosed up and even got the hang of yelling during a 3rd down...

I had a great time sharing my love of KU with my daughter and I will never forget the first time I saw my kid Wave the Wheat...

When she knew it was in the bag, Cecilia decided to rest. It is hard work being a Jayhawk fan.

...Turned Finn into a Jayhawk, literally.

2008-10-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

This has to be the coolest costume EVER and my son with have the honor of wearing it this Halloween...hell I might just put him in this on every game day until he out grows it. I cannot wait to see him in it. Rock Chalk!

...Forgot About Latex Diva

2008-10-04T13:58:00.007-05:00

How could I forget to mention the Latex Diva we met last night at the GDT celebration? She does wonders with latex - by way of balloon animals that is...

...Went Down Town

2008-10-04T13:22:00.008-05:00

We went to the 3rd annual Get Down Town celebration in Lawrence last night. It was a blast. We Cottrells highly recommend going. Admission was free, all of the kid activities were free, there was wicked cool live music [Trombone Shorty rocked by the way] and most importantly - they served beer, margarita's, mojitos, etc. Being able to drink beer [legally] while waiting in line for the moonwalk is killer awesome. This should be allowed anywhere adults have to wait in line with young children. They put those cup holders in strollers for a reason you know!

...Chopped Some Hair

2008-09-29T20:31:00.005-05:00

Our good friend Jess cut a ton of hair off Finn's noggin last night. It was definitely time for his first big boy haircut. I would have loved to let it grow out into that trendy surfer style that is popular right now, but his hair was curling under in the back - giving him that 70s bowel look. Wade wasn't having it. The current cut is a bit shorter in the back than Jess and I had planned, [due the equipment available on hand] but this will keep us from having to cut it again so soon. This dude's hair grows like crazy.

To keep him occupied we set him on the bathroom vanity and gave him a Popsicle. This idea was genius for the most part. He sat really still and sucked and sucked on this rare yummy treat, but then it got hair on it...and he kept sucking on it. [shuddering] I think I gagged a couple of times as I pulled the gooey orange flavored hair out of his mouth.

...Posted a Video for T$

2008-09-26T23:27:00.002-05:00

It is my distinct pleasure to post photos and a video of the beautiful new family, Amandrewcus.

...Welcomed Luke To The World

2008-09-25T20:48:00.009-05:00

My very best friends, Amandrew had their baby boy at 5:05 pm this evening. This little cutie's name is Lucas James Steinbacher and I can hardly wait to I shower him with smooches tomorrow. He weighed in a little over 7 pounds and was 20 inches long. No wonder his mommy's ribs were getting pounded!

This little monkey's arrival is a long time coming...in more ways than one. I think I will open a bottle of wine and drink to him & his mommy and daddy. You have done good Amandrew, very good. Here's to you Luke baby. Welcome to Earth.

[T$ - I will post a video of the squirt tomorrow night! Enjoy DC!]

...Glimpsed the Future

2008-09-23T21:33:00.000-05:00

I got a Blackberry yesterday and now know first hand why they are affectionately called "Crackberry's." Could this thing be more addictive? Every time I turn it on I find something new to love about it. My current favorites are the Voice Dialing and Send Voice Note features. My old Razor had voice dialing, but you had to program it in by recording your voice for each person in your phone. Uh, who has time to do that? I think my brother-in-law Wesley was the only person to obtain voice dial programing status on the ol' Razor. My wonderfully cute Blackberry [Hey, I think I shall name her, hum, nothing comes to mind just yet...], anyway this phone AUTOMATICALLY knows how the names in my phone sound. I just select the little icon on my screen and say, "Call Wade" and a woman's voice replies, "Which number?" Then I say "Mobile" and voila - it calls his cellphone. A great feature when you are already doing five other things like: holding a 25lb 16 month old while combing peanut butter out of a 4 year old's hair as you try to locate the Disney channel on TV before Hinkley Town Heroes ends while moving your coffee cup before aforementioned 16 month old spills it on the toaster you just put bread into. [whew]

The other fabulous feature is like a mini recorder that I can record my random thoughts into. This feature will hopefully replace writing notes on my left hand. The totally cool thing about this feature is I can immediately email the recorded message! I envision using this handy tool kind of like Ross did in that one episode of Friends, you know the one where he leaves himself a message on his answering machine? It will go something like this - I am driving to work after dropping the kiddos off at daycare. Our fabulous childcare provider, Rita, has just informed me that Finn will need diapers the next day. I could type myself a Task, but that would require typing and driving, which I suck at. So, I'll just select the little Voice Note icon and record a note and then email it to myself. When I get to work I will see it in my INBOX, remember and either Task myself or make a sticky note on my purse. I know what you might be thinking, "You are really going to forget in the time it takes to go from Rita's to work?" Uh, yes. I will. Which is why I usually write on my left hand. With the use of this fabulous phone I will no longer look like a chick who used to be in jail and did homemade prison tats on her hands.

When I picked up Cecilia on Monday I showed her my new phone and she immediately asked if she could have my old one. I was like, sure you can play with it for a bit. No harm, right? Well, she ended up "talking" on it all the way home and for another hour while I cooked dinner. I ended up taking it away and telling her she had talked on the phone enough for the night. When we got home this evening it was the first thing she asked for when we walked in the door. "Where's my phone?" has replaced "Mom, can I have a snack?" This is big. Phone over food. We are in for it.

...Ate Cookie Cake After Eight Years

2008-09-16T20:11:00.004-05:00

Photo by Cecilia / Massive crop job by Mommy

Happy Anniversary Wadie Babe. I love you like I love cookie cake.

...Shared Experiences

2008-09-13T23:44:00.002-05:00

The inaugural Momtourage was a success. I would like to thank the following moms who ventured out to my "rural" location: Tracy, Jenny, Tenille, Anj, Becky and Karen. The next date will be set soon; this was just too fun to not repeat! Well, I am of to finish my bottle of Pinot Noir...I get to sleep in tomorrow. It will be blissful.

...Traveled Home

2008-09-11T21:32:00.006-05:00

I travel this road twice a day on my way to and from Lawrence. Lately its' sign has been adorned with sunflowers and for the past week I have said, "That would make a neat photo."

Today I took the time to slow down, stop and take it. It is not an amazing shot, but I am proud of myself for doing something I wanted to do... something out of the ordinary, outside of my normal routine. If you know me well, you know this is something I sort of have a hard time doing. [understatement of the year, huh?]

...Sent Birthday Wishes to Chi Town

2008-09-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

I hope you have a very happy birthday Uncle Jacob.

Love, CECI (& FINNIE too, but mainly me)

...Crowned a Princess, uh I mean Prince

2008-09-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

...Partied with Ben

2008-08-31T23:00:00.001-05:00

Ben is one year old and he is pretty serious about it. Doesn't he look like he is in the middle of a campaign speech here? "I am committed to bringing on the Terrible Twos with a vengeance... and you can take that to the bank!"

Congratulations to T$ for making it through her first year of motherhood.

...Enjoyed the Home Opener

2008-08-30T23:00:00.005-05:00

Here is the view from section 3, row 61, seats 3 & 4 in Memorial Stadium. Being up high definitely has its advantages. We can see everything! We are in love with our first "real" season tickets and to top it all off, our best friends Andrew & Amanda have season ticket seats just 10 rows in front of us! Amanda sent me a text message during the first quarter and asked where our seats were. I replied with our location and a minute later Drew pops up right below us! It was hysterical.

Here is a shot that Wade made me take. I zoomed WAY in. Not to shabby for a lil' digi cam.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

...Put on Lipstick?

2008-08-30T12:39:00.003-05:00

Thanks for the cupcakes Nana Marla!

...Tiled the Backsplash

2008-08-30T10:07:00.004-05:00

The install job in in progress, but I thought I would give you a sneak peak! I am SO EXCITED!

...Learned Table Manners

2008-08-27T18:50:00.007-05:00

Finn is mastering the fork. I love how he starts to use his hand but then changes his mind. You can definitely see him thinking...

...Graduated High School 12 Years Ago

2008-08-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

My niece was born on August 27 of 1996. I had been at KU for like, maybe a week when I got the call from my mother telling me Lauren had arrived. I can still remember driving from Lawrence to Leavenworth to see her in the hospital. She was a beautiful baby.

I cannot help but associate her birth with my entry into college. With every birthday celebration she has, I am reminded of how long I have been out of high school. Normally I am like, "Holy crap! I graduated high school eleven years ago?!" This year was different. This year I said, "Oh. My. God. Lauren is 12 (going on 18) and has become a beautiful young lady over night." She will definitely be giving my brother a run for his money, that is for certain.

Happy Birthday Lauren. We hope you have a most wonderful day.

Aunt Megan & Uncle Wade

...Jumped In Wet Pirate Balls

2008-08-25T17:00:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I introduced Wade and the kids to my hometown's annual festival, Tiblow Days. We met up with my Mom, Dad and Lil' Granny on Saturday morning and enjoyed the parade together. Thankfully the rain stopped in time. Now I might have a jaded memory, but I am pretty sure the candy thrown out during a parade now-a-days is WAY better than candy I scrambled for as a child. They even pass out goody bags for the kids to collect it in. Genius! I do not know why, but we were obsessed with having Cecilia pick up every last bit of candy thrown her way - "Ceci get that piece. Ceci, look over there...." Then we go home and limit what she can eat. Poor thing is going to have a complex I am sure.

After the parade, Wade and I walked the kids down to the carnival and dropped 17 bucks for a wristband allowing Cecilia to enjoy unlimited amusement riding fun. Her favorite by far was the carousel. Her least favorite was the Black Pearl - basically a fun house decorated to look like a pirate ship. Even though she ran its course 3 consecutive times [hence the beauty of a wristband] she informed us later that she did not like it because of the"Wet Pirate Balls."

**UPDATE**
I feel like I should clarify. The aforementioned "wet pirate balls" actually describe the multi-colored plastic ball area in which the kids had to crawl through. It rained that morning, so they were wet.

...Hit a Nerve

2008-08-21T12:00:00.001-05:00

So, Momtourage has received quite a bit of interest and excitement. Woohoo - I am not alone in my desire to converse with adults of the female variety! I will be sending a detailed email soon to everyone who replied with interest, but for now mark your calendars for Saturday evening on September 13. Can't wait!

...Built a Momtourage

2008-08-19T21:30:00.002-05:00

Have you ever yearned to be apart of the book club or Bunko group you hear other people talking about? I do. Some of these groups are even challenging to join! One of my co worker's Bunko group actually has a waiting list. Seriously.

Everyone knows these groups were created so one has a good excuse to get together with like minded women and just talk. It is amazing how good you feel after talking with other women. I miss this type of mindless release - reminds me of college when my roommates and I would sit around and just talk for hours. Now when I have a random spare moment to chat with a good friend I notice awkward pauses that were not there before. Did we talk so much in college that we do not have anything left to talk about, or maybe I have become boring?... Na! I am just out of practice! That HAS to be it. I blame my problem on sitting at work on the computer emailing all day, then going home to two young children and a husband. Do not get me wrong I love my family dearly, but we all know the type of conversations a women usually has with her family is totally different. It is often one sided. My husband would call this type of conversation "nagging." There are also the funny conversations, which are nice, but they do not make any sense... except for in a four year old's mind. An example from today:
"Sister and I went fishing today and then a leg came out of the TV and I was like, Actually, I don't think so." Cecilia's response to "What did you do today?" Wade's grandfather would call this type of conversation "Dutchy."

So in an effort to curb my "nagging" and therefore increase the positive vibes in my life I have decided to build my own group - a Momtourage to be exact! I got the idea from this great blog written by the writers at Parents magazine - GoodyBlog.

Here were some of their start up suggestions:

First, identify a common thread. Hmmm, okay - Motherhood?... or an obsession with People magazine or yummy coffee maybe?
Carve out a space in your home. Uh, small house, but doable. Would make more space by sending the children and husband to another location.
Establish a schedule and take turns hosting. Easy enough, right?
Connect. Making certain the time together allows for the most important thing - adult conversation!...oh, and do not forget the yummy coffee. Okay, who am I kidding? It would probably be beer or wine.
Stick with it. Remind each other that we are better women, moms, wives, and daughters because we are connecting with other women. No need for guilt!

So, what do you think? Interested in joining a Momtourage? I am tentatively thinking of having the inaugural event at my place on Saturday, September 13. Nothing grand. Just good snacks, good spirits and good conversations. Send me an email, call me or post a comment if you are game.

**UPDATE** Non moms. soon to be moms, women in general are welcome! I just really liked the name Momtourage, but now I am worried about what it implies! Sorry to confuse. The childless however should beware of a series of labor stories as well as multiple comments on the gross things that come out of children's bodies.

...Discovered a Cool Term on a Cool Site

2008-08-18T12:24:00.005-05:00

I came across this neat website last night and I just have to share it with my fellow working mommies. I love the term they use to describe us - "Stay-at-Work Moms."

http://www.mommytrackd.com/

...Devoured The Leftovers

2008-08-16T19:30:00.003-05:00

Wade has been working six days a week, 12 hours a day. Yeah, holy moly is right! His current foreman happens to be his Uncle Gene. No nepotism here as Gene treats all the guys exactly the same...except for when it comes to cupcakes. Gene's wife, Aunt Kim, felt sorry for the guys and made them cupcakes. Gene let Wade take the leftovers home for Cecilia and Finnegan.
The kids loved them and here is the proof...

...Raised a Couple Olympians

2008-08-16T19:09:00.014-05:00

Today the kids and I spent the afternoon at Lawrence Gymnastics Academy (LGA). They hosted a free open gym to celebrate the Olympics and to advertise for their gym's fall enrollment. They had a demonstration on each area, a moonwalk and free hot dogs & lemonade. I love getting to do fun stuff with my kids. I love it even more when it is free. I have taken Cecilia to LGA once before. They have open gym a couple times a week. They normally charge a few bucks per kid and then allow them to come in and play around on the equipment for a few hours. I wish they would have an adult open gym so I could jump off the trampoline into the pit of foam and then play on the uneven bars. [don't they look fun?]

The kids had a good time and even won two medals...

...Celebrated Thirty Years

2008-08-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

May Taffy in the Tree live long in your heart

and we'll forever be twentysomething.

Have a great one T$.

...Walked the Plank

2008-08-10T20:29:00.007-05:00

Aye...we went to a swashbuckling good birthday party yesterday. Captain Ceci and the rest of me hearties even dressed up for the occasion. Because she had the cool black hat, according to her we were just "mateys." Nothing like being demoted by a four year old pirate.

Blimey...look out! It's Cap'n Ceci!

Poor matey, he's been run through. Now he's shark bait.

The wee one even got his first tattoos. One on each arm, Popeye style.

...Raced a Lawn Mower

2008-08-09T02:08:00.001-05:00

My brilliant husband, and our equally brilliant neighbor Andy, decided to race their lawn mowers a couple of nights ago. That's all I have to say about that.

...Tried to Learn the Language

2008-08-06T19:47:00.006-05:00

I have just about had enough. Every time I turn around I make people laugh with the words I say. For instance, today at daycare I was playing beauty shop with Ms. Rita and I hit my elbow on the corner of a shelf. Man did it hurt. Ms. Rita checked it out and said it would be okay. She thought that if I stretched my arm in and out a couple of times I would be able to "shake it off." I told her not to worry about it, and that I would just put an ass pack on it when I got home. Apparently, she did not understand me because Ms. Rita giggled and asked me to repeat myself. So I did.

"Uh, Rita. I said don't worry. I'll just put an ass pack on it when I get home."

This made her laugh really hard. Ms. Rita even repeated this story to my mommy when when she came to pick Finnie and I up. I don't know why, but my mommy laughed so hard she snorted. Argh. I wish I knew why putting an ass pack on your elbow was so funny. I don't laugh when my mommy takes one out of the freezer to put on her sore back.

~ Cecilia

...Ate Cake

2008-08-05T22:15:00.000-05:00

Some of my very best friends [Amanda & Andrew] are expecting their first munchkin. Mini Drew is set to arrive around September 15 and I can hardly wait to meet him. A couple Sundays ago, a group of us threw Amanda a baby shower. I volunteered to do the invitations and the cake; my two favorite things about any kind of social gathering! Getting an invitation in the mail is so exciting, I don't care who you are. Knowing you were thought of when someone was creating a guest list creates such a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Unfortunately, I am an invitation snob. It is my first impression of an event and I can always tell if the invitation was an after thought. You know the ones. Usually an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper with cheesy clip art hap hazardly placed with at least five different fonts used on it. Yuck. Two fonts at the most people. Please.

The invitation I chose for this shower is perfect. Amanda is the most stylish pregnant person I have ever known. She still wears high heels people. I have a hard time wearing heels period, let alone when with child. When I saw this invite with a chic pregnant chick wearing heals I had to use it.

Cakes. Fun to look at, even more fun to eat. I am pretty proud of the cake design I came up with for Amanda's shower. I found a couple of ideas on the Internet and had Hy-Vee combine them. This was the end result...

I wonder if Hy-Vee will "borrow" this idea from me too. While ordering the sweets for Finn's birthday, we heard Cecilia say, "Hey, that's my cake." We turned around and there it was, our Jayhawk Princess cake on display. What?! We where shocked. Before Cecilia's 3rd birthday I asked her what kind of cake she wanted. She replied, "A Jayhawk princess one." After a couple of days I got the idea to use the typical Barbie cake, but have the baker use KU as the theme. They hit it dead on. Here is our version, which was featured in the Friends and Neighbors section of the Lawrence Journal World on January 1, 2007...

...And here is Hy-Vee's current display cake, even labeled as their "Jayhawk Princess" cake which sells for $44.99! The Baker said someone brought in the photo of Ceci and her cake from the newspaper. She still has it hanging on the wall in her office. It was so popular they decided to make a display of it. Cool, huh? I do not know why I am so proud of these two cakes. I did not make them and could never come close to creating something like them. Kudos to the Hy-Vee Bakery on 6th street in Lawrence! You make me look good.

...Found the Courage to Let Go

2008-08-03T15:03:00.006-05:00

I guess making baskets just was not enough for Mr. Finn. He needed to accomplish more this weekend. This morning I could tell he had found his courage to walk. He was letting go of things and attempting to take steps on his own without encouragement from anyone. I figured he was never going to walk if I was constantly making him try to do it, so I found a little courage of my own and just let him be. He needed to figure out that he did not need me to do it. I sat down at my computer and let him wander the house by himself this morning... after I put the cat food up and closed the bathroom door of course. He was still pretty much glued to me, but occasional he let go.

I think [okay, I know] our house is just too small. He does not have far to go to find something he can grab for support. Our 888 square foot house had become his crutch. It took the wide open spaces of Big Granny's living room to do the trick. Luckily I had my new handy dandy Canon digital camera in my purse. I got a couple seconds of video before the 32MB memory card that came with my camera filled up. I bought a 2GB card, but had not opened it yet. Doh! Wish I had. He was zooming all over Granny and Gramps house and he was pretty sure of himself by the time we left. Even though it is such a short video, I still Meganized it. What do you expect?

...Raised a Hoops Star

2008-08-03T08:37:00.006-05:00

Finnegan has always like playing with balls. From about 6 months of age he was able to play catch with us, and for a freakish amount of time if you ask me. Most babies get board with something after a minute or two, not him. He could play catch all day [stopping for food breaks of course]. He would even play catch with himself if no partner was available, throwing a ball out in front of himself and then chasing it. Wait, that sounds more like fetch. Either way, it was hysterical to watch.
Well, this weekend his talents have extended to include making baskets and of course we got it on video. I love how he looks for his daddy's praise after he makes each shot. Oh, and by the way...his sister is the one who designed his outfit. She is also the one you hear serenading us in the background.

...Limted the Use of a Viewfinder

2008-08-01T14:41:00.004-05:00

I finally did it.

I purchased a digital camera. Shocking, I know. My cute little Canon PowerShot SD790 IS was delivered to me today! I plan to still use my film camera, but will carry this little bad girl around with me in my purse for those moments you just cannot plan for. It's battery is charging as we speak so get ready for a barrage of FourCottrell Photos!

...Sent Birthday Wishes to Chicago

2008-07-28T12:00:00.003-05:00

Carmelle, you think you're special because it's your birthday today. That's complete nonsense... you're special every day! Seriously though, may the best of your wishes be the least of what you get.

Happy Birthday,
Wade, Megan, Cecilia & Finn

...Got Hurt Bone

2008-07-27T07:52:00.005-05:00

Last night Daddy went somewhere with neighbor John, so Mommy and I made a date to watch Disney's Enchanted and eat sunflower seeds and popcorn - our favorites. I liked the movie okay, but I wish the characters would have stayed pretend instead of real.

I also ate way too much food because I got what I call hurt bone. When I told my Mommy about my hurt bone she keep making me repeat myself. "I said hurt bone, MOM!" [Geez]
She laughed a lot and then told me she calls it heartburn. Same difference.

~ CECI

...Finally Finished The Birthday Video [Geez]

2008-07-22T22:00:00.002-05:00

I have finally finished the video from Finnegan's first birthday party. We have had a very busy summer so far and I have the bruises to prove it...literally.

After things calmed down, I went to finish this project only to discover that Vista and Windows Movie Maker do not like each other. Every time I went to publish this video, a huge green bar would appear on the bottom of the screen smooshing my lovely video up at the top. After several attempts to finalize it, and a lot of nasty words, I finally Googled, "Windows Movie Maker Green Bar." Eureka! I found out I am not alone in my video publishing pain, but more importantly I discovered a blog post with a solution. Alleluia!

So without further ado, please enjoy Finnegan's First Birthday Party caught on film.

...Prayed for Sofia

2008-07-21T16:25:00.002-05:00

Special request...baby Sofia Miller needs our prayers and postive energy. She is being admitted to the PICU at Children's Mercy this afternoon because she has reherniated - allowing bowel to move up in her chest. They also see an obstruction in her bowel. She will be undergoing yet another surgery tonight. She is an amazing baby who has gone through so much already. My heart just aches for her parents.

Please keep the Miller family in your thoughts.

...Added to Our Gallery

2008-07-17T07:00:00.003-05:00

shown left to right: Aphrodite (my cat), Me, my Daddy and Finnie.
Not shown, my Mommy because she is in my tummy. You can't really see her.

Ceci

...Continued a Tradition

2008-07-06T20:30:00.016-05:00

Wade's home town of Lecompton, Kansas has quite a background. It is known as "the political birthplace of the American civil war.” Lecompton was the official capital of the Kansas Territory from 1855 to 1861 and played an important role in Kansas and United States history. The Lecompton Constitution was written there and ignited a chain of events that divided the nation and helped lead to the Civil War. It was debated on the floor of Congress and in the President’s office. Okay...I feel like I am writing a paper for school [shuddering].

Every third weekend in June the town celebrates its history with Territorial Days. Wade gets giddy with excitement in the days leading up to this annual event. His family convenes at Grandma and Grandpa Weeks’ house for the day as they live within seconds of all the action. We arrive early on Saturday morning and do not leave until the very end. A tradition every Leomptonian cannot miss out on or they will be shunned by family and friends. Believe me; we still get slack for the few times we had to miss it.

The festival has all the typical all American flair: a parade full of Shriners, carnival games & rides, yummy food, a talent contest, a turtle race [did not find one to race this year, bummer.] tricycle races [Cecilia won 3rd place and won $2 even though she cried the whole time.] and grand finale - a street dance featuring music by a favorite local band, Nodding Lizards. This year marked the first time we allowed Cecilia to stay up for the street dance. Did she enjoy it?...uh, let me just say that her and I were THE FIRST people dancing in the street. She wowed us with her dance moves for roughly 2 solid hours. We had a blast.

Finnegan enjoying the Parade.

Cecilia bought a huge snow cone with her race winnings.

Finn could have stayed in this swing all day...except when it was time to eat.

She always picks the Mustang. Smart girl.

...Visited the Doctor

2008-07-01T20:01:00.020-05:00

Mr. Finn [nickname back by popular demand] enjoyed a visit to his doctor this afternoon for a 12 month well baby check up. All went swimmingly. Developmentally he is doing all the things a happy healthy little boy should be doing... like putting objects inside each other, pointing at what he wants and shows definite understanding of a few simple words. NO being the one he hears the most. He can even stack blocks. Five of them to be exact. A feat typically accomplished by a 19 month old baby. What?...am I bragging? Yes. Yes, I am. His growth is most excellent too, continuing nicely on a perfect little curve. I know all you fellow mommies are waiting to hear his stats, so here goes:

24 lbs. 1 oz. [60th percentile]
32 inches [95th percentile]

Because I was curious, I spent 15 minutes digging Cecilia's growth charts out of my cedar chest to...yes, compare them. Cecilia weighed slightly less at 22 lbs. 4 oz., but they both measured at 32 inches. No big surprise, but still interesting... and probably just to me.

Wade and I have been working on a video of Mr. Finn's birthday party. It is our first attempt at editing video with Windows Movie Maker. Fun, yet challenging. Kudos to film editors who do this everyday. Hopefully we will get that video uploaded this week. In the mean time, here are some of my favorite shots from his BBQ blowout...

...Took 1st Place

2008-06-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

Cecilia's team took 1st Place in league play for Jefferson county this summer. They had an amazing season, going undefeated during their regular season, but unfortunately they choked during the tournament last weekend - losing two games in double elimination. I am pretty sure Wade and I were more heart broken than Ceci. She had a great time. Her favorite parts of the tournament were:

eating multiple snow cones
getting to play all four innings of BOTH games
receiving her 1st Place League Play medal

...Longed to Be Outside

2008-06-23T12:30:00.001-05:00

I picked up a roll of film over lunch today and could not wait to share these awesome pictures of Cecilia and Finnegan. Enjoy.

...Replaced the Flair

2008-06-22T14:42:00.005-05:00

**UPDATE**
Sold the Flair on 8/29/08 for $75 bucks. Glad it is off of my front porch!

Is is tacky to try and sell something on your own blog? At this point, I care not. I just want this beast off of my porch. I have listed it on a million sites (craigslist, larryville.com, KansasCityStar.com and on this Google Group made up of Flair Fanatics), and I have only received one bite. Unfortunately for me [and for him] he lives in North Carolina.
The beast is a 1960-61 Frigidaire Flair Custom Imperial oven/range. Know anyone who wants one?...PLEASE pass on my info to them. The thing works perfectly, it just does not go with my remodeled kitchen. It is a steal at $100. Here are it's stats:

1960-61 Frigidaire Flair Custom Imperial - $100 (obo)
Model Number RCIB645
White/Stainless Steel
Pullout Range
Double Oven
Good Condition (needs some TLC with a good cleaning!)
Buyer Pick Up

Spread the word!

...Grew a Smile

2008-06-20T12:00:00.007-05:00

Mr. Big went to his very first dentist appointment today. He was very excited to sit in their butterfly chair to have his picture taken, as was Cecilia the first time she went to see Dr. Kelli at Growing Smiles Pediatric Dentistry. This place is amazing. There is this super cool water fountain right out front that looks like a big bowl of overflowing water. The waiting room is beautiful, with the coolest artwork all over the place, plus they have great kid toys and of course a fabulously huge flat panel TV on the wall. There is also some kind of video game unit that I am sure Mr. Big will adore some day, but for today he was happy to just sit on my lap and watch Sesame Street.

When Cecilia gets her teeth cleaned she gladly reclines in the chair, pops on some headphones and watches cartoons on the flat panel TV located on the ceiling directly above her chair. I. Am. Jealous. I spent quite a bit of time in the dentist/orthodontist chair in my day and never did I have such luxuries. They even have chocolate chip cookie dough flavored toothpaste at this dentist office. SO, not fair.

For Mr. Big's examination, Dr. Kelli and I sat facing each other with our knees touching. I held him, facing me and then laid his head back into her lap. He thought it was fun until she started feeling around in his mouth. I told him he was scaring the other little kids in the waiting room. The exam was short and sweet, so he did not suffer too badly. Dr. Kelli said all is well inside his little mouth and told me we should start brushing Mr. Big's toophers. Even gave us one of those cool finger brushes to use. I am volunteering Wade for that job.

I know what you are thinking, "Uh, he is only one. Why are you taking him to the dentist already? I didn't take my kids that early." I will give you three reasons why:
1) According to Dr. Kelli and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, a child should see a dentist by age one or when the first tooth appears. Finn is a year old and has three teeth.
2) Wade has amazing dental insurance that covers two exams a year and we do not have to pay a dime. Why not take full advantage of it, right?
3) Mr. Big will learn from an early age that going to the dentist is cool, plus I get to leave work and take him!

...Played with Worms

2008-06-15T18:30:00.003-05:00

While Sister Bear fished, I played with these squishy things. Mommy and Kristan would not let me eat them though. What's up with that?

...Caught 20 Fish

2008-06-15T15:00:00.001-05:00

We went fishing today at Papa James' pond. Daddy says I am an excellent fisherman. My mommy says it's in my blood. I am not sure about fish being in my blood, but I really did catch 20 fish today. Papa James says they are called Bluegill, but I didn't see any blue on them, or IN them for that matter. I watched as Kristan cut them all up. Everyone kept saying "clean the fish." It was disgusting and I didn't see anything "clean" about it. After she cut them up, Kristan fried them and we ate them. Bluegill are yummy.

...Celebrated a Wonderful Father

2008-06-15T00:00:00.004-05:00

How very blessed Cecilia, Finnegan and I are to have Wade in our lives. I am sure we do not express this to him enough so we put together a Top 10 Reasons Why We Love Daddy:

10 He is a Grill Master - whipping up yummy marinades on the spot
9 He always has time to share a Popsicle with Cecilia.
8 He tears up while watching Sleepless in Seattle.
7 He renovated our kitchen mostly by himself [in 3 months].
6 He has been to every one of Cecilia's ball games.
5 He did not leave my side during either of our children's births.
4 He loves his family and calls his Grandma all the time just to talk.
3 He supported my choice to breastfeed 100%.
2 He would give up going fishing to spend time with us.
1 He is the most unselfish man we know.

Enjoy our tribute to one heck of a Daddy - Mr. Wade Franklin Cottrell.

...Devoured a Breakfast Cupcake

2008-06-11T06:48:00.008-05:00

Finnegan is 1. Crazy, right?! We had a mini celebration during breakfast yesterday morning. I HAD to be the first one to give him cake on his birthday! As you can see, the "Birthday Fairy" visited our house in the middle of the night and decorated Finnie's chair. This Fairy has decorated our house for birthdays ever since Ceci's first one... but Cecilia thinks that Fairies should not decorate for boy birthdays. In fact, she is pretty sure it would be okay if Finnegan did not have a birthday at all. She had some issues with the attention he received yesterday. Wonder how she will fair at the Birthday BBQ Blowout scheduled for Saturday [please no rain, please no rain, please no rain...]

...Turned One Year Old

2008-06-10T00:00:00.003-05:00

...Lost Some Hair & Got A New View

2008-06-08T08:32:00.007-05:00

Last Wednesday Finnegan got his very first haircut from our "family stylist" Jessica Hammes. She has cut our hair for several years and was the first to cut Cecilia's hair as well. She has become a close friend and just bought her first home right across the street from us! How cool, right? Finally I know someone in this town [who is not related to me].
Finnegan did so good sitting still. I am pretty sure that was the first and last time that will happen. The look on his face is priceless...

Another first for Finnie last week was a new view in the car. On June 1 we turned his car seat around, 9 days ahead of schedule. His poor little legs where all smooshed, so I waited until his birth month instead of his birthday. He was so excited to see the cartoon on the TV. As you will see from the video, he is pretty amazed and keeps pointing at it in disbelief.

...Uploaded, Uploaded and Uploaded

2008-06-01T15:21:00.005-05:00

While the kiddos napped this afternoon I have been uploading a TON of photos! Check out our albums online. I plan to upload to our new Google Picasa Web Albums from here on out! You have enjoyed our videos, now enjoy the photos.