I cannot believe (and I think I say this every year!) that Alana is 9! She was just my fist, new, sweet baby girl. With her traumatic entrance into this earth life, we were so emotionally overwhelmed when not only did we become parents, but we met Alana on this earth for the first time. She was so good, barely making a peep and slept through the night right away. Her independence started at 18 months when she realized she had her own 2 legs, places to go and people to meet. She was a hard toddler, with a determined mind of her own. As she has grown, she continues to amaze me with her confidence, determination and self will. She knows exactly what she likes, what she wants and how she will get it. She just finished the 5th Harry Potter book. We have been hesitant to let her read it, feeling it is a little much for her age, but decided to let her after a few agreements. So, for her birthday she wanted a Hedwig cake. (Sorry Alana, this is a sad attempt but will have to do with our time crunch!)
We partied Alana style with a few friends, (it was not supposed to be a friend year but since we are moving we let her choose 3) pizza and chuck e cheese.
This is her good friend David. They have been good buds since Kindergarten and hang out every day.
Cortlyn, our sweet neighbor gave her a dog bank. Perfect for Alana!
This is Ashley our very awesome neighbor friend. Ashley loves Alana. Alana knew that one of Ashley's favorite things was pizza and so she decided that Ashley needed to be one of the friends to come. She loves to come walk over to our house (shoes or not) and watch or borrow a movie.
The gang
Happy Birthday to you!!!
Halle loving Grama and Pagah
Grama and Pagah. We are so sick about moving away from them. Even though it will only be a few hours, as mother says, "you might as well be moving to Florida!" She doesn't drive anywhere. Maybe we can talk her into learning to like it? Or we will just have to visit a lot. I can't even think about it! And she just scheduled another hip replacement surgery for June!!!
Chuck E Cheese. Where a kid can be a germy-filled, nasty pizza-eating kid.
At least they had a good time!
Lana loves this stinky, dirty, rotten, good, sweet dog Zorro who chews binkies and sleeps at the foot of my bed and comes when I call him. (at least he doesn't potty in my house!) She couldn't be happier to have this pup.
This is Alana's science project. They had to make a simple machine. She chose the pulley and crane. It had to be made from objects around your house. So, with paint sticks, play blocks, and some spools from Grama, we had a finished product:
It seems that as your oldest grows, you wonder how this earth life could pass so quickly, yet so slowly. Alana's pregnancy seemed to last 10 years and her last 5 years of life seemed to be only 1 year's time. I can't imagine life without this angel. She is spunky, annoying, funny, rambunctious, silly and totally unpredictable. She is starting to grow up though. I see traces of it everywhere. She told me that at school the other day she played soccer with all of the boys and a girl watching told her, and Alana said this sentence and she recalled it "exactly," "Let's just say you're good at everything but soccer." Alana told her that she wanted to play and they told her she could and that wouldn't make her stop playing soccer. Yeah, that's my girl. I just pray that we have taught her enough to be the kind of person she is needs to be. It almost feels like my motherly influence is not needed as much anymore. That all I can do now is continue to help her be confident, honest and loving. She truly is an amazing daughter, lent to me for such a short while.
Happy 9th Birthday Sweet Lani. I love you more than the whole universe and the biggest Elephant!
Halle with her Daddy that she LOVES oh so much!
And this is a random picture but illustrates the Cothran kids at play this winter. Yes, a sled with Alana pulling it and Ammon riding on the back with a stool. It's good to have these crazy shots back on the blog. :)
