Last of the Firsts

Lately we have seriously been living for Cooper's first anything and everything. We are always yelling for the other one to grab the camera for Cooper's first time sucking his thumb, trying a new food, sitting up for maybe 5 seconds on his own..the list could go on and on of things only a parent would be excited about. This is My personal favorite. His first night meeting the man in the mirror..he really sat and stared at himself for a good ten solid minutes, and continues to do so every night.

This week we just so happen to have a new LAST to rejoice over. Shawn finally started his LAST first day of a full semester at the U. He is dragging it out and finishing one or two classes in the summer, but who counts that right? Not I. I find it comical because I have been counting down to this day for pretty much ever. Let's be honest, since we got married I have been thinking about how wonderful it will be to not be married to a student anymore. We had a pizookie party on Sunday night because I insisted we celebrate the fact that he is so close to being done.

But then, Monday morning rolled around, and the mental memory reel started rolling. All of his days back to school for a new semester came flashing back and my heart was a little bit sad. I remembered I actually loved meeting between classes at the University or Primary Children's cafeteria for pizza hut personal pans or egg salad sandwiches. I loved going with him up to the library before Cooper was born just to hang out and think up random things to do online so I could be there while he studied. I liked that he could come home for lunch, and tell me what he learned at school, and that I would fall asleep on the couch while he studied at night because I couldn't go to bed alone. I really liked being proud of lots of hours spent with textbooks.
I always annoyed Shawn by joking about how cute he looked with his little backpack on. Don't worry he doesn't wear it anymore. A few days before Cooper was born we woke up to a call asking us if we had spent hundreds of dollars at WalMart at 3 am, of course we are not nearly cool or crazy enough to anywhere but our bed at 3 am. Ironically the boy who can pass all kinds of physics and chemistry classes forgot to use his brain cells to lock the jeep. Backpack stolen and credit card maxed out. We laugh about it only because we got the money back. I was just happy for once a mistake like that wasn't my fault.

So you see, Shawn being in school really hasn't been so bad. We have had some pretty good times around here.

Leave it to me once it's almost graduation time, to realize how much fun the journey to get to this point actually was. Life lesson learned. I almost felt a little tear as the door shut Monday morning and my backpack-less boy headed back out the door to venture off to a new semester on campus. One Last time. But then I started cuddling with my Coop and got a little bit excited.

hello to a wide open future- whatever the word future even means for this family. We have been waiting for this..please be exciting. Wherever we go, I'm taking that life lesson in my back pocket this time.