Graduation day!

Well, the day that Stephen and I talked about and knew was around the corner, arrived...and then it went. Graduation day was such a bittersweet day for us as a couple and also as parents and a family. It was the end of something we started for our future and the beginning of that future. It was such a wonderful day and being at graduation with our daughter was such a very surreal and very cool experience. She got to see him walk across that stage and know that all of his hard work was for her and her brother and our family. Of course, she didn't understand that at the time, all she wanted was to be down there with her daddy and walk with him. But, one day, when she is older, she will know and that will be something that her and I can share together! For me, watching him walk across that stage meant that we made it through the first stage and that we can do this, will do this and will do it all beautifully with a smile on our faces and a positive attitude the entire way! Everyone keeps telling me that this is a team effort, Stephen going back to school and having a family. Yes, I do believe that but he is also the one doing the majority of the work, I am just doing what I signed up for when we got married, supporting him in what he wants to do and being there for him as his wife. So while it is a team effort, it is doing what I signed up for within the team (crazy concept this day in age ;)!! I am so excited for him to start grad school at Auburn and begin all of his hard classes, late nights, intense study sessions, research, experiments, discovering what exactly he wants to study within the field of physics, dissertation work and so much more. Graduation was one step we had to complete to get him there and he did it, we did it! I know that to some, mostly undergrads going through college for the first time, graduation isn't a big deal (it wasn't for me, so much so that I didn't even walk at Auburn). For us, it was a HUGE deal financially, mentally, as a family, as a couple, as individuals, as new parents and for our sleep deprivation. I am beyond proud of Stephen and am excited to see what the next 6-8 years (yes, you read that right) of graduate school bring for us as a family! Im sure there will be ups and downs (and I am sure I will post some of them on facebook, so try and be understanding, we are about to be beyond broke and in debt to the federal government...). This is the adventure of life and I am excited to begin the future of our life together in a new state, at a new school, with our family complete and an end in sight. I am beyond proud of my husband and am so excited to see his eyes light up on August 16th when he walks into his first class. It will be like Christmas morning to him when he was 4 years old (which was a loooonnnnnggggg time ago, LOLOL). Sorry for the mushy post, but he deserved it and well, it's my blog ;)
Below, are some pictures from Graduation and the lunch we had after with some of the greatest friends! Friends, that we will miss more than they will ever know.