A big week at the Cota house

Last week was a big week at the Cota house. Little Ed had another awards assembly and got his first Perfect Attendance award ever and most exciting a Physical Education award from his P.E. teacher.We know he is our superstar but love that others see how special he is as well. While we were waiting for the assembly to start I managed to get a picture of Diego at his best. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of Ed receiving his awards because my batteries died so the Diego shot is all I got. Another very exciting and amazing accomplishment was Big Eddie celebrated ONE YEAR SOBER December 5th. We are very proud of him and his accomplishments and for all that he does for our family! We celebrated his accomplishment at Tahoe Joes with my parents which we all enjoyed. WE LOVE YOU DADDY! I LOVE YOU BABE!

Another exciting event is Lil Ed has decided to run for Attendance Officer at Harloe. We are very proud of him and are having fun with the campaign. He had to make posters and next he has to prepare a speech to present to the school. He took this upon himself and although there are alot of kids running it's all about having fun!

On Friday we were able to play in the snow here in Pismo Beach and got to see Santa and tell him what we wanted for Christmas.

All about sports

We just finished Lil Ed's soccer season which was fun and eventful. Big Ed was assistant coach which he enjoyed as did Lil Ed, now on to basketball. When I went to sign Lil Ed up they needed coaches so I decided to help the league out and signed up Big Ed to coach :) . We have had two games thus far in which both Big Ed and Ed have enjoyed. Big Ed has been a very positive coach and Lil Ed is playing well and making amazing shots all the team needs is a better name besides "yellow". As of now we haven't won but I tell the boys the season has just begun.

The same evening after a long day I was able to capture this adorable picture of Lil Ed and Diego watching Avatar, I know Diego is a bit small but he loves watching TV!

Thanksgiving 2007

The pictures above are from our first Thanksgiving at home! Usually we travel far but this year we had the pleasure to spend this special holiday with family. Big Ed had the turkey duty which happened to weigh in at 24 lbs. I was very nervous considering the turkey is the main dish but of course the turkey was amazingly moist and delicious!! I included a picture of the men trying to carefully remove it from the oven (that was a little scary). It was such a pleasure to have both my family and LeRoy's family all together in one home. It was especially nice to have Great Grandma Dorothy their in which she loved spending time with Diego. On Thanksgiving weekend Diego had his first car trip to Eddie's mom house. We were able to spend quality time with Lil Ed's and Diego's cousins. The following photo is all the cousins but not including baby due in the beginning of January, mommy being Kweeks.Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Our busy weekend

What a weekend for the Cota family especially Little Ed. This weekend Ed had his soccer tournament which consisted of two games Saturday and one game today. He managed to score 3 goals all together and today Big Ed had to coach the team. Our game today was extra rough because we were down 3 players so no breaks! Although we didn't make it to Regionals this year Ed had a good time playing and Big Ed was an excellent Assistant Coach! Now on to the basketball season for both the boys, this year dad is the head coach.

Today Diego is 5 weeks old and on his way to recovery with his food issues. We've learned that Diego loves to be swaddled which makes our nights so much easier. Each day he is doing something new and our favorite thus far is his smiles! Now that he is bigger Big Brother Ed feeds him and plays with him but NO changing diapers. Big Bro is very loving and concerned for his brothers needs which we love to see.

Diego's tummy problems/Mommy's BIG 30

It's been a rough couple of days for baby Diego! We found out on Monday that he is Lactose intolerant and had to change his formula once again. It's been very rough for us all especially him but I do have to say he is a trooper. On day 4 I think we're on our way to recovery with the help of the $27.00 a can formula :) The things we do for our kids! Below is a picture of a not so good moment!

We did manage to enjoy a nice birthday dinner with my parents at Tahoe Joe's. WOW I can't believe I'm 30! Thank you MOM and DAD! BTW-thanks to my Big sis and Melody for this amazing camera!

Halloween 2007 and Ed's school award

This Halloween was eventful for us all. Above we went to the Avila Valley Barn and picked the perfect pumpkin. Our Halloween celebration began on the 25th (Deigo's actual due date) trick or treating downtown Farmer's Market. Little Ed was a obviously a Lego (special thanks to Grandma Lee) and was the biggest hit with everyone! Diego, was our little sleepy dragon. On Saturday we continued the trick or treating at our friends church which was called "trunk or treat" YUP more candy out of car trunks.

On Halloween day we trick or treated the ENTIRE Arroyo Grande Village and then decided to continue on at an upscale neighborhood and ended at Grams and Gramps!WOW we have tons of candy!

Another special event on the 25th was Little Ed was awarded a "Math Achievement" award during his 3rd grade assembly. We are very proud of him especially being the very first awards of the year.

We're going to do our best in keeping this blog updated so we can share, with all our friends and family, our ever evolving life. We are very excited with our new addition, Diego Amani, to our family. The day of arrival was very eventful, it all started late Saturday night and ended on Sunday evening at 8:12pm. Starting around 9am on Sunday I noticed that I was having pain but wasn't sure of what kind of pain. The boys had baseball so my mom came over to hang out. Together we timed the contractions but the midwife said to wait until they were 4 minutes apart and lasting a minute long. So me and my mom continued on and managed to clean the entire house with ongoing breaks hunching over every couple of minutes in pain. The boys came home around 3 or so and my pain was getting stronger but I was sure it was nothing. I managed to lay down and read an entire People magazine and by 6pm we contacted the midwife who said it's up to you if you want to come in or not. I was hesitant in going because I just knew I was dialeted to 2 and would be sent home but I did notice the pain was getting stronger and the contractions longer but not the minute long more like 45-55 seconds. Finally, I told Ed let's go. Once we hit Shell Beach my contractions were intense and arriving every 2 minutes or so and by the time we reached the hospital it was 7:18pm. All I wanted was drugs and at this point the pain was gnarly. My midwife came in and said I was dilated to 4 and probably wouldn't be delivering until midnight so I asked for the drugs right away. It was me, Big Ed, our nurse and the phlebotomist in the room and all of a sudden my water broke. All I remember was saying NO we don't have the camera and I need drugs then two pushes and Diego arrived. OH MY GOSH we barely made it to the hospital but all in all it was an amazing experience. Big Ed did amazing considering he had to deliver Diego with the nurses, my midwife couldn't even make it. So we're home and doing well and learning our new life with a newborn. I love every minute of it and we're all adjusting well.

Diego Amani Cota has arrived!!

On October 14th, in the year 2007, a new edition to our family was born. After what seemed like forever, but was really only an hour, Diego Amani Cota entered the world at 8:12 P.M.. Much to the delight of all who were present, as well as, to those who were not. Stay tuned for more of the story. Eddie C.

The Cotas

Hey everybody, this is our new blog!!