My nephew's graduation

On Friday afternoon the kids and I drove into Midland to watch my nephew graduate from Midland College with his certificate in aviation mechanics.  I meet Darrian when he was 5 years old, the years have sure passed.  What an accomplishment on his part to achieve this goal, I was so glad we were able to be there to watch him walk across the stage.  Allison and I came by our selves and I left the boys with my sister.  It was a enjoyable graduation we had great seats!!  I think I enjoyed being by my self without the boys or constantly keeping my eye on an active baby.

Saturday during lunch we had a family party to celebrate Darrian's graduation.  My Mother and Father in law have done so much for Darrian, they threw a wonderful party.  The weather was fairly nice and we all sat outside and ate hamburgers and hot dogs together.  The kids had fun running around with there cousins.  Beckett kept trying to eat rocks!  My niece and nephew in law came with there three week old baby Connor.  My brother in law bought Cooper some cowboy boots last week and yesterday he brought Cooper a cowboy hat.  Beckett even got a chance to wear it.  It was such a relaxing time with family, I was so sad Richard had to work. Congratulations again to my nephew!!

10 months

On Monday Beckett turned 10 months.  Its been such a busy busy week I haven't had time to blog about it!  Little B fits right in with our family.  He knows his siblings and follows them everywhere.  Beckett knows the way around our house, and believe me he is all over the place!  Beckett will stand for a few seconds on his own and then of course falls.  He doesn't have the greatest of balance yet.  One of B's favorite things to do is play at the dish washer.  When he hears that thing open or sees me over there he crawls super fast!  Beckett is so interested in everything, he doesn't like to be held in my arms for long!  Some times while I hold him he is desperately trying to jump out of my arms.  Last week when I locked us out of the house we walked to the park and Beckett was so frustrated in the stroller so I sat him on the grass.  The wind was blowing and he loved it, the kid sat there with the wind blowing in his face for at least 30 minutes.  Beckett has started to do this silly thing were he will crawl all over the place find me then just gently lay his head down on my lap or leg.  B is in a I want mommy stage, he rarely goes to other people with out grabbing for me or crying.  The other day Cooper and Allison were dressing up in there power ranger costumes and Cooper asked me to play the red ranger.  I put the mask on and then B crawled over to me, apparently I scared him he cried and cried when he saw me!!  Beckett doesn't seem like a baby to me anymore he has grown a ton.  Two more months until the big 1st birthday!!

Allison's 8th birthday

Planning Allison's 8th birthday was not easy especially planning two events out of town.  I have been planning for this for over two months.

Saturday my daughter turned 8!  Its a bittersweet age, my daughter has always been more than I could have imagined and is truly a special soul.  I will never forget that foggy morning pulling into the hospital parking lot.  I was straight up scared out of my mind!  I remember the exact feeling like it was yesterday, I was afraid of being a good enough mother, I was afraid of the unknown, and most of all I was afraid of the PAIN.  Five hours later my Alli-cat was born and my life began. 

Saturday we had Allison birthday party at the ice skating rink in Odessa.  Unfortunately we had all of Allison's friends cancel on us but one!  Lets just say it was a busy weekend for a party!  I am thankful that Allison's has a ton of cousin's and family that showed up to help celebrate!  Almost everyone ice skated!!  It was fun seeing all the adult cousin out there skating.  Did I mention it was freezing?!  After the kids ice skated we played monster high bingo, and then some of the kids colored there monster high characters.  Once the games were over we had cupcakes and opened presents.  I didn't take a single picture of all the decorations, I spent a ton of time on the theme Monster High, oh well!  I have to say the party was a success!!

Next was the most important part of Allison's birthday, her baptism!  There were a few minor details we had forgotten but were easily fixable.  Everything else went entirely smooth!!  Allison was dressed so beautiful, as her mother I couldn't have been more proud!  Allison was so worried "Does Uncle Manuel know how to get here, does Grandma and Grandad know what time to be here?"  My daughter is so loved by many there were 43 people in attendance.  All of our family came, and all our friends we invited came but one.  The baptism went so well.  My mom gave a beautiful talk on baptism, which I was so thankful for.  Watching my husband the love of my life baptize our daughter was beyond beautiful, words just aren't angelic enough to describe.  Then I was up to talk on the Holy Ghost,  I knew it was going to be hard but I think it went well.  I am so proud of our daughter and will forever cherish her baptism day.  After the baptism I was able to get a few pictures of all the family.  My camera was on the wrong setting so the pictures aren't that great and then it died and I didn't get a picture of just Allison and Richard and with Allison and my mom, I am so bummed about that!  We ended the special day by eating all together.  I feel so blessed to have the family that I do.  My family is my biggest blessing in this life.  I am speechless when it comes to how thankful I am to my in laws the Sanchez, Lujan's, and Morgans.  I know I am probably not what they imagined in a spouse for Richard.  Having my children has opened my eyes and help me realize how important family is.  I strive to be the best person, daughter, sister, wife, mother, daughter in law, aunt, and friend that I can be.  Thanks to everyone who made this day such a special one for our daughter!

Second grade Program

 

Friday Allison had her second grade program.  She has been singing for weeks, I was excited to see her in action.  Parents field the entire gym!!  The kids sang five songs.  I had a perfect view of Allison and boy was she singing her heart out.  B woke up from his nap and we had to keep grabbing him because for some reason he wanted to crawl out of the gym!  Cooper was excited to see his preschool teacher Mrs Morgan, her daughter goes to school with Allison.  Cooper sat with her for a few songs.  Beckett enjoyed dancing to the music the second graders sang.

 

After Allison's program we went to Denver City to pick up our niece and nephew to take them into Midland with us for Allison's birthday.  We drove into Midland and Richard dropped me off with my mom at her hotel.  We would meet up later at the drive in.  I forgot to mention that I flew my mom into Midland for the weekend.  Her flight landed early Friday.  I had a full car load and was unable to buy all the drinks for the party, and I decided to take me mom to dinner and then make a quick run to HEB.  We had dinner at Outback.  Dinner was delicious and I enjoyed every second alone with my mom.  I haven't had her to myself in so long, I think we must do a girls only outing every time we see each other!  After dinner we went shopping for a few things left on the birthday list.  My mom then dropped me off at the drive in and I meet back up with Richard and the kids to watch the new iron man movie!  It was a good movie and the kids had a great time with there cousins!

Soccer season over

I can honestly say I am happy that soccer season is over!  It was a super tough season.  With Richards crazy work schedule we were barely able to manage time for practice, games, or tournaments.  In fact Richard missed a handful of practices and two games.  We also didn't participate in any tournaments this season.  On top of Richard being gone a lot we had some morale issues going on with a certain player and her parent.  Although I am very thankful that we had two assistant coaches helping out this season, these two men were very giving of there time to the girls!  The last two games were terrible, we lost our first game in three seasons!  It was a tough game to swallow, Allison scored the only goal of that game.  Richard was upset for two days.  Then we nearly lost the last game but thanks to a penalty shot of Allison's we won the game!  We still have the girls end of the season party next week..

Cooper on the other hand, I enjoyed his soccer season!  I love the coach and his wife and all the players and parents.  The innocence of the game is still very present and that's probably what I enjoy the most!  Cooper also came alive this season!  He even scored his first goal his second to last game.  Cooper loves his trophy and is sooooooo proud of it!  His team had there end of the season party last week at big cheese pizza, Cooper has a blast!  Beckett even enjoyed himself there. 

Piano recital

Allison had her first piano recital.  I cant explain how many times Allison practiced her songs.  Every time she passed the piano she would play.  Richard had to work Sunday but he was able to get off early and we were all able to go to the recital together.  Allison was the second child to play and she played two songs.  The boys were actual pretty rowdy during the recital!  I think Cooper's was active because I had made him lie low for 24 hours because of his head injury.  Beckett had just woken up from his nap so he was ready to play.  There were several students who played in the recital, there were three from our church that we knew.  Allison was so impressed with some of the older children who played.  She asked me "Mom how long do you think that boy practiced to play that long song and have it memorized?"  The "boy" Allison was refereeing to is actual in my Sunday school class that I teach.  When I asked Elliot how long he practiced that particular song he said 16 months!  Richard and I are so proud of Allison's commitment and perseverance with the piano.  I am excited to see her continue to progress. 

Autism walk and Emergency room visit

I drove into Midland on Friday afternoon so I could participate in the Autism awareness walk Saturday morning.  My friend Jessica, her oldest son is on the autism spectrum.  I meet Jessica almost 5 years ago when our boys were babies.  Jessica was my walking buddy when we lived in Midland.  I supported and walk the Autism walk in 2010 and 2011, but last year with the combination of being 8 months pregnant and Allison's birthday I didn't attend the walk.  This year I was determined to walk!  I am so glad I made it this year, there was an amazing turn out!  This years walk was held at the centennial plaza in down town Midland.  There were several blocks, that were blocked off specifically for the walk.  So many company's vendors, families, and friends were out in attendance all in the name of Autism!!  I was able to walk with my friend Jessica's parents, both of Jessica's sons, and Jessica's mother in law.  Along with hundreds if not thousands of people!  At one point at the end of the mile I looked back and what a sight of people behind me.  One of my favorite things about the walk is each team makes there own autism awareness shirt.  Some of my favorite shirts were the angry bird, keep calm, and the star wars inspired Yoda shirt! 

I made it back to Hobbs shortly before five.  On our way out of town I grabbed chickfila which the kids ate before falling asleep and sleeping the whole way back to Hobbs.  The kids had been so good the whole day when we drove into town I decided to pick them up ice cream and take them to the park to play.  We weren't even at the park ten minutes when Cooper got hurt.  Allison was on this piece of playground equipment where you stand and hold on to these medal bars with your hands and jump.  Cooper decided to climb on.  Allison jumped up and Cooper nearly fell.  Richard told Allison to stop and for Cooper to get down.  Well Allison jumped again and Cooper bounced up and hit the lower back of his head on the metal bar.  He immediately began to cry so hard he wasn't breathing.  We saw a huge knot with blood in it on his cerebellum.  Richard looked at me and said he thought it was serious enough to take him to the hospital.  Cooper immediately began to act drowsy.  It was a long stay at the ER.  While we were waiting for the ER Doctor Cooper asked me to take a picture.  (I love this picture because it shows how dark his hair has gotten but you can still see the light blond at the front of his hair)  I was trying to distract him and keep his cognitive skills alert so I obliged,  little did I know what he was asking.  Cooper quickly told me "No mom a picture of my boo boo!"  The little guy wanted to see a picture of his knot.  I never did get the picture because the Dr came in and tested several of Cooper's developmental skills.  She also looked him over, and concluded a mild concussion.  We were discharged after a long wait and with strict instructions to watch him closely the next 24 hours, place ice for thirty minutes on/off for 24 hours, and to wake him every two hours through out the night, and explained the worst case scenarios.

We survived the 24 hours and Cooper seems fine, thank goodness!  Hopefully I can keep him less active this week to continue to heal!!!