Troy's Graduation from UC San Diego

CONGRATULATIONS TROY!

Troy, Chad's brother, graduated from UC San Diego this weekend. Congratulations Troy! Lots of family made the trip to San Diego to spend the important weekend with the accomplished grad! We were all so proud of Troy - watching him walk across the stage to get his Bachelors degree. He is going to be staying in San Diego for at least another year and work full-time for a law firm. He's a SMART cookie!

He found us in the large crowd while waiting till it was his turn...

Troy Derrick Holan!

YAYYY!!!!

Picture time...

Troy and Papa

Papa, Brooke, Troy, Chad and Me

Chad and Me with The Graduate

Jeromy, Michelle and Samantha posing with Troy

A proud father!

The whole group (except for me the photographer)

So proud of his 3 college grads - 05' from Long Beach, 07' from Berkeley and 09' from UC San Diego.

Celebrating at dinner...the Langdon family of 3 with one on the way :)

Chad and I (we missed Coopie who was home with my parents for the weekend, but enjoyed some "just the two of us" time)

Table shot...

Before the graduation on Saturday we went to Old Town San Diego...we walked around in the shops and ate lunch at a delicious Mexican Restaurant! Yummmy!

Myself, Mammaw and Brooke modeling in front of Old Town

Pappaw with his grandsons in front of the "Old Jail"

Mammaw with her Brookie

Daddy and Daughter

On Sunday we just ate breakfast at our hotel and hung around with the fam until it was time to head for the airport.

Brothers - Chad and Troy.

Waiting at the airport...Jerry Rice is somewhere behind us...he was on our plane back to San Jose. Chad said "What's up Jerry" as the brushed shoulders in the aisle of the plane.

and just me...wasting time waiting for our delayed flight!

Such a fabulous weekend for such a wonderful celebration! Congrats again Troy - what an outstanding accomplishment!

Good-Bye 2008-2009 School Year!

The last day of school for my students was Friday. It was bittersweet. I love my job. I love our students. I love having such good friends at work and being able to see them every day. The sad part (but happy, too) is saying goodbye to our 8th graders. Last year that part did not seem to affect my too much but this year I truly was sad to see some of them go. It will be a different school without them - but I am looking forward to hearing about their lives and where they end up in the next few years.

After the ceremony it was party time and we all deserved it. Hans, our school Principal, and his wife, Jennifer, has the entire staff over for a bbq/potluck every year on the last day of school. I have great friends from work and it was wonderful to just relax and spend more time just laughing and discussing everything you could ever imagine. I had such a FUN filled afternoon/evening. The school year is over and it's time for Summer...10 weeks of playtime without the stress of working those 8-10 hour days...oh how I will miss some things but I am looking forward to this extra time with Cooper.

Krista, Pam, Me and Vicki @ the End of the Year Party. We took TONS of pictures - it was impossible to get the perfect one because we thought everything was so funny...mostly because Vicki is out of control and says and does the craziest things ever...after looking at all our pics I had to post a few of the 4 of us, just b/c they are so funny and totally remind me of how much fun we were having and how big we were smiling at the time...good times with great people!


Mid-laugh...

one more...

Pam, Hans and Me...What would he do without us?!

It's time for a TODDLER BED!

I have so many mixed emotions about this big switch from a crib to a toddler bed. Cooper has been an excellent sleeper - he sleeps like 12 hours a night! We have been pretty spoiled, I guess. One weekend (when I was in Tahoe for the family girls trip) Chad was staying in Stockton with my dad - during nap time, Cooper found away to climb out of his pack and play...Chad said he did it over and over again - he ended up taking his nap in Papa's arms (probably was a sneaky plan Coop already had in mind). Anyways - we got home that night and put him to bed like normal and he climbed out of his crib at home. We were doomed! He ended up going to sleep that night in his crib and I thought everything would be back to normal - and it was - but only for a week. Cooper began climbing out during naps all the time. One Saturday afternoon, we did not even hear Cooper climb out and like an hour later we went to check on him in his crib and he was sleeping in our bed! Wow! Then, it was not just naps, this little boy was now climbing out at night - right when we put him down to go to sleep. He began asking to sleep on the floor - I tried putting his mattress on the floor for a couple days - that didn't work great, although, it was better than having him climb out and possibly fall and hurt himself. So here we were stuck - not wanting our little boy to grow up so fast - could taking down his crib and making it into a toddler bed mean he is no longer a baby?! NOOO!!! I love my little BABY...and he is growing right before my eyes...but then I think, WOW! How exciting! Cooper is growing up, becoming independent and will even have a big boy bed. So last Monday night Chad did the work needed to be done and took off one side of the crib and put the toddler rail up. Here it was: Coop's "big boy" bed!



We kept our bedtime routine the same - hoping Cooper would go right to sleep and continue sleeping 12 hours a night like this new bed was nothing new...haha...we are still working on this transition. Sometimes he will go to sleep okay - but then wake up in the middle of the night. Other nights he cries and doesn't want to go to sleep. A couple nights he has slept on his floor (that makes me feel like I am torturing him when I see that) and ONE night in the past 7 days, he has slept his normal 12 hours in his big boy, toddler bed!

Kisses "ni nite" in front of the "big boy" bed. Cooper taps his chest with his hand and says "my bed mama, my bed!" I think to myself "yes, Cooper, your bed...sleep in it, all night PLEASE!"


When I am done reading him books before bed, he often enjoys taking a book to bed to read himself to sleep. It's so cute! "Ni nite Coopie!"

A close up of our handsome big boy!

Buzz Cut

So it was time for Cooper to get a haircut again - his hair grows SO SO fast. Chad said, "Why don't we buzz it for Summer?" I thought, why not, if I don't like it, it will always grow back. So we got the clippers out, set everything up outside and Chad began buzzing our 2-year old Coopie's head. Cooper was so good! He just sat there keeping his "chin on his boobies" so Daddy could shave away...

Finished product! I LOVE IT!!!!

Coop wanted to help :)

The barber and his client...

Chad missed a spot so he had to catch Cooper while going down the slide...Coop was still smiling.

All done! YAYYY!!! Loving going down the slide with his hands in the air.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Happy Birthday Tyler! Last weekend Cooper's friend from school had a 2nd birthday party at his house. Coop had so much fun seeing his friends from school on a weekend. It is so cute to see him interact with children his own age and know they have such a good relationship since they are together every day at school. Coop and Tyler are enjoying jumping in the bounce house!

Chad playing with Coop and Tyler - they think he is so funny!

Cupcakes with Bella, Tyler's sister.

Cooper, Mikey and Tyler with Ms. Danielle. The three boys are all within a month of each other. So cute!

Cooper's Birthday Party

Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper Graham

On Wednesday, May 27th Cooper turned 2! I really cannot believe that Chad and I have been lucky enough to be the parents of this amazing little boy for two whole years already! He is growing so much every single day. It truly is unbelievable. At 2, Cooper's favorite things to do are play basketball, soccer and baseball. He has found a new love of playing with big trucks. He continues to LOVE playing outside and has a hard time when it's time to come inside. Cooper enjoys reading books in his chair and likes it when Mommy and Daddy read to him, too. He has even memorized some books - like Time for School Mouse. Cooper will eat cheese and yogurt ("yacka") all day long. All other foods he may like one day but unfortunately not the next few days. Coop loves bath time with Daddy - I hear nothing but constant laughter coming from the bath. Cooper no longer drinks from a bottle - I just started putting his night time milk in a sippy cup instead of a bottle and he never questioned it - I guess I was nervous for nothing. Cooper absolutely loves his school. He cares so much about all of his teachers as they do about him and he has some great friends, too. Coop has a true love for doggies...especially my parents dog - Misty. They have become the best of friends. Cooper loves all of his Papa's SO MUCH! Even though we do not see our family members everyday, Cooper knows who they all are and gets so excited when he does get to see them. Cooper still sleeps great. He has started climbing out of his crib, although, this has not affected his night time sleep yet. In the morning, Cooper would love to stay in bed as long as possible...I have a difficult time waking him up every morning...though, it's quite nice on the weekends :) I love this little boy more than I could have ever imagined. He is constantly making me laugh and smile. His personality shines at every moment. His smile is so bright and his huggies and kisses just make me melt. Happy 2nd Birthday baby boy! Your daddy and I are so lucky to have you as our baby.

Photo shoot on Coop's birthday morning. There was an airplane flying by, hence the open mouth and point!

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So sweet...

Looking up at Daddy

Posing with one foot forward...little ham!

Mommy and he 2-year old Coopie!

After work I brought cookies to Cooper's class for a mini-birthday party. He loved the special attention from all his friends and teachers.

Cooper and his best bud "Mi Mi" AKA Mikey!

Yummy, Mommy!

Playing in the back yard after school. His new favorite word is "outside!"

Present time!

So good at tearing off the paper...and actually interested at what's going to be inside.

ELMO towel!!!! Yay!!

A swimming pool with a slide and basketball hoop. Yayyy!!!

Something's under the blanket...from Mammaw and PawPaw...

This is my favorite, Mommy!

So in love with his Cozy Coupe! He rode it through the house and then outside for at least an hour and a half. He was thrilled!

Clown cone for dessert. The plan was to go to Baskin Robbins to have ice cream there - but Coop refused to leave his new "Cozy Coupe" car so I just had to run and pick up a cone and bring it back. It ended up being a better idea anyway since he turned out to be one messy boy!

TASTY!

Lickin' every finger!

"All done!"

Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper Graham!