A teenager in the house!

More than any other of my kids' birthdays, I struggled with this one! I am not ready to have a teenager and I'm still catching myself doing a reality check. Cooper seemed to take it all in stride, but there is something very different about telling someone I have a 12-year-old vs a 13-year-old. It just sounds different and OLD. I always get very emotional around the time of his birthday thinking back to how scary his beginning was and this year was no different. I was actually at work and looked at the clock at 2:50 a.m., which is when he was born and had to pull myself together. Here I was, working as a nurse, thinking about all the great nurses who helped me after he was born. I would have never pursued a nursing career if not for Coop. It feels so good to be giving back and to be a small glimmer of hope in the lives of other families with sick kids. Whether your kid has croup or a major heart defect, when it's your kid, it's awful.

Cooper has taught me that I am stronger than I thought; that success is sometimes measured in just getting through the day; that being a parent is the hardest, yet most rewarding job I'll ever have; that pride is something you never really understood until you are a parent; that cursive is a waste of time; and that our trials make us stronger.

He is by no means a perfect kid (we do our share of battles), but he is a good person to his very core. He has a conscious stronger than most adults I know, admits his mistakes, can talk to any adult about any subject, and just has a huge heart.

I only let my kids have a big birthday party every other year and Coop was long overdue for one. He actually skipped a formal party for the last several years (his choice), so when he decided he wanted to have one for his 13th, I couldn't argue. We had very little time to plan after getting back from vacation, but it all worked out great.

We let him open gifts from us on his real birthday, but that was about the extent of the excitement that day since he had school and basketball practice. Saturday night was his friend party and I am still amazed how good it turned out. I was a bit paranoid about that many 12 and 13-year-olds in my house, but they all behaved and had a good time. Doug took them all to get wings at Buffalo Wild Wings while I took the girls to a DU gymnastics meet. Then, we all met back at our house for video games, cake, presents and a serious game of tag. I figured they would all be glued to the video games, but they acted more like little kids playing tag around our house. I had several kids come say 'thank you' on their own and most were very well behaved (including one that was not so nice earlier in the year). I was honestly impressed. Cooper had a blast and seeing him interact with his buddies was fun.

Sunday night was our family gathering and he enjoyed a third day in a row of gifts! He had a basketball game over the weekend as well and although it appears his team won't be setting any records for wins or high scoring, he played well. It took him until the very end of the season last year to score, but had a bucket in his first game. Not too shabby!

This group chowed down over 100 wings!

The whole gang!

He's hoping the bat swing trainer also comes with lessons from Brandon!

The kid loves his hats!

Time to go shopping!

Bat bag from Papa

Ready for baseball season already!