11th emotional birthday

You would think after 11 years, I would quit getting emotional on Cooper's birthday. No such luck. Poor Cooper has to listen to me every year recount the hours and days after his birth and watch me turn into a crying fool. Perhaps working in the field now and watching four families lose their precious kiddos this last year has made me that much more appreciative of his life. He might want to remind me of that when he is terrorizing his sisters and I'm about to lose my mind. :) When he was born, we knew instantly that something was wrong. He was blue as a popsicle and didn't cry. After being rushed to Children's, the phone call came that something was very wrong with his heart. He had a cath lab procedure by noon all while I was stuck in Greeley. It was the one and only time in 15 years of marriage that I saw (and it was only by phone) Doug openly cry. We were new parents and young and scared out of our minds. By the grace of God and good doctors, we brought Cooper home 8 days after open-heart surgery to switch his two main arteries that were coming off the wrong ventricles. The photo above was taken a few hours post-op.

He will kill me later when he reads this for being all gushy, but I am so proud of this young man. He is becoming a very responsible, mature person. I really think God has special plans for this kid and I'm really glad to be his mom.

This is an "off" year for a party, so we are just going to enjoy it as a family and then again with extended family this weekend. We love you, Coop!