June 2010

And a little bubble fun and relaxation once the party was over! Phew!

Presents!!! We asked for donations for Children's Hospital in place of traditional gift giving - but saved a couple just for Cooper and he LOVED it!!

We made it Coop!!!

Matias Chmiel

Enjoying the fort!

"Now that was a good cupcake!"

Carson Moxcey

McKenna Heise

Aww... Jenn playing "Daddy", Ava & the boys with Mommy Katie

Greyson

Eli Mah

Cohen.... Yumm!!

Ella & Carter Drazich deep in cupcake heaven!

Saige Weeks

Happy Birthday dear Cooper, Happy birthday to you!!! Is it really true - you are *1*! We made it!! All of us - those of you who live in my house - we made it!! Those around me who have suffered with me! We made it!! Those in my family who have watched from afar while I attempted hiding how hard it has been... we made it! And to me, the mommy who cried through most of it and desperately sought guidance in friends and faith to keep me moving forward.... I have made it! And to my dear husband, who stood steadfast in love through my tears and my desperation... who patiently listened and reassured my doubts.... who ate whatever was in the fridge on the many nights that I couldn't get together dinner for us.... who just loved me through it all.... we made it! And with tears of joy and congratulations to myself, I threw a party! Of course to celebrate Cooper's life, but also to celebrate those around us that kept us strong and prayed with us through-out the year! To celebrate our community, to celebrate our family, to celebrate what God has done in our lives despite ourselves! Thank you, to all of you who have loved us through this season!!

And so it is, Cooper is 1. Zachary is 3. I officially have 2 toddlers. I packed up the bottles today and put away the many accessories for them. I threw out the Prevacid that once defined us, but now we no longer need! Yahoo!! I put away baby shoes as Cooper attempts to walk on his own. I closed the chapter on infancy - praise be to God!

So where have I been - as you can tell, drowning in this past year. But I will no longer define myself by my weaknesses. I will step forward today to embrace the joy of my family and my friends. I will strive each day to find the celebrations, not the struggles! And I hope in doing so, will find new meaning in this calling of "mommy". And so today, I update the blog... I rejoin the world. And I hope to reconnect with all of you while doing so! Enjoy the pics from our celebration of Cooper's 1st year! More to come!.....

Zachary and I made brownies together for the first time and he got to lick the spatula.... think he liked it?? HA!

Yummy!!

One of our neighbors brought us this train table... wowee!!! It is amazing and Zachary plays with it every day!

Happy Cooper having some tummy time!

We were putting some clothes away for Cooper and out came Zachary in this get up with Cooper's hat on too! Too funny!

We went up to visit some friends and cool off in their pool..... too fun! Also goto spend some time with "Ty-Ty".

Matias & Steve, Joe, and Daddy and Zachary.

Weeeeee!!!

"See my Cooper"

Out cold! Rough life!!

Cooling off with a popsicle!

The Wiggles Live!!!!

Zachary couldn't take his eyes off the stage!

Trying to go to the Wiggles and he is so mad he can't play at Eli's house!!

Here is Grammy - which is actually great grandma to these kiddos... with all of them together! Caden, Zachary, Hannah, Cooper, Coleman and Sofia - what a cute bunch!!

Rough life for Zachary right! We went out on my dad's sailboat and the boys hit the water with the kayaks.... looks like a great seat if you ask me!

It was such a beautiful day!! Zachary LOVES Jiichan's boat!

We took the boys to Madison Park's beach area and Zachary played for hours! He is a great frisbee player!!

Thank goodness for Auntie Stacy! She is the best wife any woman could ask for! I don't know what I would have done this summer without her! Here we snuck out the mall to give Zachary something to do... we were there by 8am that day I think! Anything to keep the toddler in the house busy and occupied right!?!!

Zachary wants to hold Cooper all the time... really he is happiest if he is next to Cooper - unfortunately Cooper doesn't do enough to keep him entertained!!

"I hold my Cooper's hand!" So sweet!

This is at 6 weeks, smiling!!

This is Amy and her daughter Caroline holding Cooper at the beach! Caroline is 3 and wanted to "hold that baby". It was such a cute shot!!

Big brother holding him again! This is Cooper at 4 weeks!

Zachary can't get enough of his little brother!

We headed to Oak Harbor in the beginning of July for Grammy's birthday. Here are the 4 generations.... and we finally have added some boys! My Grampy would have loved these boys!!

This is Coopers first week in the world and his big brother couldn't be more proud of him! Here Zachary thought it was so funny that Cooper "sticks his tongue out"!

My step mom Mary holding Cooper on his first day......

My Dad and Zachary... notice Zachary is actually watching the TV.

My mom and Cooper at 2 days old. Too sweet!

Cooper with Grammy.....

More kisses.....

Zachary comes to meet his brother....

Here we are a family of four!

Ok so normally I would not include a pic like this..... however,notice the weight on the scale. That's right 9lbs 1.3 ozs.... WOW!!! A little bigger than we thought! Ouch!

And it's time!!......So somewhere around 9:30pm on June 13th I started to have contractions. By midnight we were calling in reinforcements to be here while Zachary slept and by 1am we were in the hospital. My sister started driving from Vancouver, WA and our friend Lori headed over to sleep here until Stacy arrived. Unfortunately, Zachary woke up at 3:30 am crying for me and it was all over! Lori was up with him until Stacy arrived at 5am. Once we were at the hospital, I got my epidural - I was at a 6 already - and we settled in for the night. We had a rock star nurse who led us to a 7:13am delivery of a big, healthy baby boy Cooper Everett.

Tom took Zachary on a special trip to the Reptile Zoo in Monroe. He loved it!! This is just a small window of all the great boy stuff they had! Snakes, alligators, spiders, lizards and more! Yuck! Thank goodness for daddys!!!

Zachary and I were playing and I drew a circle for him and he drew the face! Pretty impressive right! He hasn't been able to do it again since! :)

Zachary, Matias and Caroline at Zeke's Pizza - a completey nutty day out for lunch!

The kids in their all American colors for the 4th of July!

The whole gang: Eric and Sothea Mah with Lincoln and Eli, Zack and Claire Moxcey with Carson and baby boy #2, us and Garrett and Tahnee with Esmee.

Me and Zachary playing at the water park - he always tries to lick me!

See his little tongue!