a good one

In our 6 years of Cooper, we have met quite our share of doctors, nurses, and specialists.  Some good, some....ummmm... not so good.

But those good ones.  You hoard them like jelly beans at Easter.  You stalk them and learn what days they work.  You ask (or demand, whatever) for them as soon as you check in.  You wish you could do more to show them just how much they are appreciated in this sometimes scary medical scene.

Jesse is our good one.

Cooper decided that Jesse was his buddy, and no one else would do.  Even though Coop has to go get a painful shot every 2 weeks, and he gets teary just mentioning the place, I was able to get him in the door with minimal anxiety if we talked about Jesse.

We love him.

He always greeted Coop with a huge "COOOP-EEERR"!  And did his best to help Coop through a scary procedure.  He made sure to get the best person for blood draws, and always asked all the guys (Cooper is a bit sexist ;)) to come help hold.

But, unfortunately, Jesse is a traveling nurse and his last day was Friday.  I begged him to stay, but my offer of snowy Minnesota vs. sunny Florida must have fell a tad short.  ;)

Coop seemed to know something was up.  He gave more hugs than usual, and snuggled in for a picture.

this one is a keeper

We will miss you Jesse!  And when we get back down to Disney, we are looking you up for a visit.  I think Coop may love you even more (if that is possible?) outside the hospital.  :)

happy birthday gabi!

My little cousin Gabriela turned 2 this past weekend.  And since we couldn't make the first birthday party, we went to the second one.  :)  Hey, you only turn 2 once!

 Of course, her sweet parents are the perfect hosts and made the most delicious dinner and dessert.  Dave and I have been diligent in tracking our calories and working out the past few months, so we worked out extra hard before heading to the party knowing what awesome cooks Jenna and Ruben are!  Tacos and salsa and guacamole, not to mention the made-from-scratch cupcakes with chocolate frosting and fresh berries.  I could have ate 4.  :)

i'm 2!

I love family birthdays.  An excuse to get together, celebrate another year, and enjoy seeing our kids spending time together.  While the parents commiserate on the latest tantrums, sleeping problems, and feeding issues; the kids can giggle and hug and dance.  

And hit piñatas.  No party is complete without a piñata!

what could possibly go wrong?

my little ball of anger/energy.  he needs one of these daily.

the darn thing just wouldn't break, so ruben helped it along a bit.

And, of course, a dance party!

The cuteness.  It's blinding, isn't it?  ;)

hoping big sis shares the goods.

liam, playing the role of husband, while gabi slaves away in the kitchen.  Haha!

cooper loves him some ruben

and babies

Sorry, I just couldn't narrow down the pictures.  I am a sucker for a smiling little face.  

Happy Birthday Gabi!  We love you and are so glad we could share in your big day!

the big 4-0

My Auntie Amy turned 40 this past week, and to celebrate the milestone, a big ol' Wagner dance party hit the little town of Ada.

Seriously.  Our family can throw it down.  If you can't bust a move, get your butt off the dance floor.  :)

The night was made complete with family and friends driving in from across the state, delicious treats and cupcakes to die for, an old-fashioned small-town dance, orange (Amy's signature color) everywhere, a prop filled photo booth, and even a Wagner family flash mob.  (Hey lady with the pink phone that I saw video taping us, send me a copy ok?)

It was a night filled with love, smiles, and a heck of a lot of fun.  Just like Amy.  We are so blessed to have such a vibrant person in our family.  She makes us all beautiful with her amazing hair skills.  She is always there when you need her.  (She has spent many nights/days keeping me company while Coop was hospitalized.)  And she is gorgeous inside and out.  I'm lucky to have been told many, many (many!) times how much we look alike.  If I'm going to be a clone of someone, can't do much better than Amy.  :)  Happy Birthday Auntie, we love you!

little cousins in the photo booth.  the cuteness is blinding. :)

i did not inherit my uncle tom's dancing gene.

this about sums up the night.  dancing fools.

my bro and his girl.  cuteness.

my adorable cousins

grandma's still got it

the birthday girl and her sweetie

every family dance involves the song 'Wipeout' being played, and everyone on the floor flopping like a fish.  'cause we're cool like that.

salted caramel cupcake anyone?  omgoodness

me and amy.  sweaty, tired, danced out.  happy.

instagram photos #amyis40

a party

Coop had his first real-life, friends-from-school, big-boy birthday party today.

It was awesome, and Dave and I are still smiling at what a hit it was.

We went into it a little apprehensive.  We invited a list of kiddos his teachers suggested (after I asked for some ideas of kids who liked to hang out with Coop) not even knowing every child we had invited.  We didn't know if a gymnastics party would be too overwhelming for our gross-motor-hating boy.  And we weren't sure if he'd be left out while his friends ran around.

We should have know better.

Every single last kid we invited showed up.  (And we even heard that their teacher had to ask the kids to stop talking about Coop's party at school because feelings were getting hurt.  The kindergarten social event of the year?  Perhaps.  ;)  Wish we could have invited them all!)  And Coop and his friends had a blast.  It turned out perfect.  Coop held his own with his friends and we were so impressed with the caring, patient, fun group of kids that showed up.  These kids are some good eggs. :)

Thank you little 5-and-6-year-olds (and of course, our dear family and friends!) for making Cooper's big day so special.

(I blurred out the faces of his little friends in these pics, as I'm not sure if their parents want them on the big ol' www.  And my camera settings were obviously off, so some grainy/blurry shots anyways.  Ugh.  But, the obvious joy on Coop's face shines through the technical errors, right? :))

he couldn't get enough of this! 

big sissy grace was so proud.  she stayed by his side for most of the party to help him out.  i love her.

i don't think liam slowed down for the entire hour.  he will sleep well tonight!

playing tag.  happiest boy.  my heart is full.

happy birthday coop!

Happy 6th Birthday Cooper!!

Could we ever tell you we love you enough?  Give you too many kisses?  Squeeze you too tight?

I hope every day you know how much we love you.  How blessed we are to have you as our son.

Our start may have been a bit rocky, 6 short years ago.  It was a blur of emotions.  Phone calls and doctors.  Tears and tests.  Doing things we never thought we'd be doing, and feeling like we had no clue how to do it.  We had no idea that you would be arriving 6 weeks early with designer genes and a broken heart, and it took us a little while to catch our breath.

But catch our breath we did.

And now, I feel like we've hit our stride.  We've done IEP's and first days of school.  OT, ST, and PT.  Health issues and hospital stays.  Going from not even being able to utter the words 'Down syndrome', to proudly showing off our beautifully and perfectly made middle child.  From 'what the heck are we doing' to 'we got this'.

Thank you Coop for waiting up for us.  For letting us figure out this parenting thing.  We still have miles to go, but we are so glad to be along for your ride.  We love you big man.  xoxo