This was originally posted on blog.t24ever.com by me on 1-31-2011. It was deleted a week or two ago from that blog, and people on facebook were told that it was I who deleted it. This is not true. I have nothing to hide, and I am happy to re-post this here.
Monday, January 31, 2011, 11:56AM
Grandma Doodie’s house
Dear Rev, Xander, and Dasch,
Hi boys!!! I flew on an airplane like you did from Japan and Grandma and Grandpa Doodie picked me up from the airport just like when they came to get you. The night I flew in we went to my favorite restaurant in the world, Cheesecake Factory. I had my favorite food there: avocado eggrolls, corn tamale appetizer and chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake. I was so full and I couldn’t even eat it all, so I shared with Grandma and Grandpa, and I wish I could’ve shared with you too!
I wonder where you are, and what you are doing right now. Do you think about me throughout the day like I think about you?
Grandma has told me a million stories from the 2 days you were at her house. She sure was excited to have you boys here, and misses you so much like I do. Daschie, Grandpa told me that you were so nice to him and were his friend and he felt so special because of that. Grandma and Grandpa told me that you did such a good job at saying the prayer and remembering to say prayers while you were there. All of you are such good boys and I am so proud of you!
I went to church yesterday with Grandma and Grandpa Doodie and all of the primary kids came and sang a song about Temples to all of the moms and dads. I imagined that you were there with them and it made me so happy.
I know that so many things in your lives have changed in such a short period of time. I am sorry you didn’t get to say goodbye to your friends and teachers at your school. I bet Uta-chan and her sister miss you so much Rev and Xander! And your teachers too! Yui and Reina also miss you. One of your friends wrote you a letter that I brought with me from Japan, and I hope I can give it or send it to you soon. Please don’t be scared about the things that are happening in your lives. Mom has always taken good care of you, and we won’t ever leave you alone. One of us will always be there waiting for you boys when you come home from school, or finish your primary class at church, or whenever we are separated.
On Saturday and this morning I went to work out at the gym with Grandma Doodie. She is helping me stick to my diet and work out every day, so I can get skinnier like I want. All of the kids that live on Grandma’s street didn’t have to go to school last week because of all the snow and ice, and because the electricity went out. They were out building snowmen and snow forts on the center island of grandma’s street in front of her house. I brought my snow pants and my gloves here too, because I hoped we could all play in the snow again together.
I am sorry I haven’t been a very nice dad all the time to you boys. I have yelled at each of you lots of times, and said things that aren’t nice to you. I have been irritated, and frustrated and angry at you so many times and you didn’t ever deserve it. I really want to be a good and a nice daddy all of the time with you boys, not just some times. I want to be perfectly patient and happy and fun for you to be around. I want you to feel comfortable around me, and not feel anything but the love I feel for you. I am working with the Bishop here and I am also going to see a few different special doctors who can give me medicine and talk to me and teach me how to be a better dad, and a nice dad, and a fun dad.
I also want to tell you that I’m sorry for saying not nice things to mom in front of you, and for being angry at her and yelling. It isn’t fair to you or to your mom that I have treated her so badly in front of you so many times, or treated her badly at all. I love mom so much, and when I yell at her or say bad words or mean things to her, it makes it hard for her to believe that I love her. I am sorry boys, for not being a better husband to your mom. She is a good mom, and a good wife, and she deserves better.
I hope you have a super fun time seeing so many people who love you and care about you while you are here in America, and while we are apart. I will be here for a few more weeks, and I hope I do get to see you before I go back to Japan, but if I don’t, please know that I am thinking about you every day, and missing you, and wanting to be with you. I won’t be in Japan forever, and I will be very sad that you are not there with me, but I am excited for the time when I come back from Japan to America and get to see you again.
Be good boys and be nice to mom and help her as much as you can. I am so proud of you for how smart you all are, and how nice you are to each other, and how you make everyone around you happy. I love you!
Big big big hugs and kisses and smooshes to you all,
Dad
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Our day, Wednesday March 9, 2011
Wow, today was a long day! Daschle was up coughing almost all night Tuesday night. I kept him propped up on a mountain of pillows and we gave him some OTC cough medicine every four hours, but the poor guy just couldn't stop. So sad. He kept shifting positions to get comfortable in his bed every few minutes, and several times his head ended up where his feet had previously been all discombobulated... :)
Finally around 3 or 4AM i felt some hands on my feet and I asked, "who's that?" and he said, "it's dasch dad. can i sleep with you?" so he came and snuggled up on my shoulder and immediately fell asleep and stopped coughing. who'da thunk? needless to say, I didn't sleep a wink last night, and when Rev started to stir around 6:15AM and got out of bed in the hotel room to peak out behind the drapes to see if the sun was awake, I was ready to get up and stop pretending like I was gonna get any rest and get on with the day. Dasch was pretty tired all day, but otherwise in good spirits. The coughing only seems to come when he is in the cold air outside, or when he prone. It's weird. will definitely be getting him in to the doctor to get this chronic cough figured out once and for all. maybe we can get another nebulizer.
my mom went to run a few errands, so around 7AM or so the boys and i went to the breakfast bar at the hotel. they all started with yogurts. it was unanimous. yogurt was the first course. then rev wanted frosted flakes cereal and xander wanted a waffle. the waffle was ginormous so I split it between him and Rev (yes he wanted more after his bowl of cereal and yogurt were gone). dasch wanted a bowl of fruit loops after his yogurt, and when he finished that he also wanted his own waffle. i made the two older boys share bites with him and he was content with that. rev and xander both wanted a bagel and cream cheese after that and I finally had to say no, and to save room for lunch. they even went without spilling any of their juices, and it was me that spilled the cup of full apple juice. doh! and I didn't even cuss.
grandma made tuna sandwiches for lunch and bought some sweet potato chips and we ate in the car in Salt Lake City today on the way to the airport. Our flight to Denver left at 3PM and we had to wait FOREVER in the security line. It wasn't until the last 3 minutes of our wait that we saw a family with 3 kids older than our boys go through a separate "family" line that expedited them right through to the front of the huge crowd of 100+ people. stupid stupid. oh well...
made it through security with Dad only slightly frazzled and on edge. then we got on the plane to Denver. Southwest let us board after the "A" boarding group so we all got to sit near eachother, albeit at the back of the plane. Rev and Dasch sat with me, and Xander got to sit with my mom. We read "grandma doodies" scrap books that I brought from Japan with pictures from throughout the boys' lives, and we did Xander's spiderman puzzle, and Rev played with his Prince of Persia Legos for the short flight. We had to hussle once we got to Denver and I'm surprised our bags made the connection to the flight to BWI, but we got on that flight and this time Xander sat with Dad and Rev and Dasch sat with Grandma. Dad got a few minutes of sleep here and there while Xander was occupied doing things, but man being a single parent even with Grandma's assistance sure requires a TON of my attention. it's nice that I don't have anything else to really worry about right now but being a good dad and giving my boys as much positive attention as I can.
Look how chipper they are after flying all afternoon and evening! They are such good boys.
we made it into BWI around 10:30PM, and our bags took forever to come out, and once we had everything Grandpa was there to pick us all up in a minivan he borrowed from a neighbor. It fit all our baggage like a champ and none of us were squished inside. We went to McD's for dinner and got hamburgers and nuggets and sprite for the boys, and shortly after they finished chomping they all zonked completely out. We got to the house a little before midnight, and couldn't find Dasch's cough medicine, so Grandma went to the store and brought some back.
After family prayers it took Xander no time to fall back asleep and now that Dasch has had his medicine, he and Rev are also no longer being kept awake by the coughing. That's where I'm headed to right now! Rev and Xander are on a pallet on the floor and me and Daschle are in the bed. It's not that big of a bed so I probably will get no sleep again, but it's the best we've got until we can get mattresses and find a place to put them sometime tomorrow or this weekend.
A day in the life of those Crazy Cobb Boys!
Finally around 3 or 4AM i felt some hands on my feet and I asked, "who's that?" and he said, "it's dasch dad. can i sleep with you?" so he came and snuggled up on my shoulder and immediately fell asleep and stopped coughing. who'da thunk? needless to say, I didn't sleep a wink last night, and when Rev started to stir around 6:15AM and got out of bed in the hotel room to peak out behind the drapes to see if the sun was awake, I was ready to get up and stop pretending like I was gonna get any rest and get on with the day. Dasch was pretty tired all day, but otherwise in good spirits. The coughing only seems to come when he is in the cold air outside, or when he prone. It's weird. will definitely be getting him in to the doctor to get this chronic cough figured out once and for all. maybe we can get another nebulizer.
my mom went to run a few errands, so around 7AM or so the boys and i went to the breakfast bar at the hotel. they all started with yogurts. it was unanimous. yogurt was the first course. then rev wanted frosted flakes cereal and xander wanted a waffle. the waffle was ginormous so I split it between him and Rev (yes he wanted more after his bowl of cereal and yogurt were gone). dasch wanted a bowl of fruit loops after his yogurt, and when he finished that he also wanted his own waffle. i made the two older boys share bites with him and he was content with that. rev and xander both wanted a bagel and cream cheese after that and I finally had to say no, and to save room for lunch. they even went without spilling any of their juices, and it was me that spilled the cup of full apple juice. doh! and I didn't even cuss.
grandma made tuna sandwiches for lunch and bought some sweet potato chips and we ate in the car in Salt Lake City today on the way to the airport. Our flight to Denver left at 3PM and we had to wait FOREVER in the security line. It wasn't until the last 3 minutes of our wait that we saw a family with 3 kids older than our boys go through a separate "family" line that expedited them right through to the front of the huge crowd of 100+ people. stupid stupid. oh well...
made it through security with Dad only slightly frazzled and on edge. then we got on the plane to Denver. Southwest let us board after the "A" boarding group so we all got to sit near eachother, albeit at the back of the plane. Rev and Dasch sat with me, and Xander got to sit with my mom. We read "grandma doodies" scrap books that I brought from Japan with pictures from throughout the boys' lives, and we did Xander's spiderman puzzle, and Rev played with his Prince of Persia Legos for the short flight. We had to hussle once we got to Denver and I'm surprised our bags made the connection to the flight to BWI, but we got on that flight and this time Xander sat with Dad and Rev and Dasch sat with Grandma. Dad got a few minutes of sleep here and there while Xander was occupied doing things, but man being a single parent even with Grandma's assistance sure requires a TON of my attention. it's nice that I don't have anything else to really worry about right now but being a good dad and giving my boys as much positive attention as I can.
Look how chipper they are after flying all afternoon and evening! They are such good boys.we made it into BWI around 10:30PM, and our bags took forever to come out, and once we had everything Grandpa was there to pick us all up in a minivan he borrowed from a neighbor. It fit all our baggage like a champ and none of us were squished inside. We went to McD's for dinner and got hamburgers and nuggets and sprite for the boys, and shortly after they finished chomping they all zonked completely out. We got to the house a little before midnight, and couldn't find Dasch's cough medicine, so Grandma went to the store and brought some back.
After family prayers it took Xander no time to fall back asleep and now that Dasch has had his medicine, he and Rev are also no longer being kept awake by the coughing. That's where I'm headed to right now! Rev and Xander are on a pallet on the floor and me and Daschle are in the bed. It's not that big of a bed so I probably will get no sleep again, but it's the best we've got until we can get mattresses and find a place to put them sometime tomorrow or this weekend.
A day in the life of those Crazy Cobb Boys!
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