The Seidel Family: Whoop! Charley's Aggie Graduation

Monday, May 16, 2011

Whoop! Charley's Aggie Graduation

Well, I might as well keep blogging the first 2 weeks of Atticus life, but also want to talk about Charley's Aggie Graduation!! First of all, we have had 2 great weeks of family in town. I was very set on wanting to have family wait to come until our baby was here. This was mainly because Vic and I needed all of that labor and delivery time to ourselves since we didn't really know what to expect. Our families would have been there in a heartbeat to sit in the lobby and wait or visit or do anything we needed them to do. But, we decided that until the baby arrived, we'd do this on our own.

We did have Charley and Ana, who were already in town, come to bring Vic lunch and they even waited all afternoon until Atticus arrived before they left to quickly get ready for Aggie Ring Dance! They also helped update family members throughout the day. I never actually saw them, but it was so special that they were there.

Anyways, as soon as Atticus arrived so did our families. I mentioned this in another post, but it worked out so great to have GG here while I was in the hospital and then relieve her and have my mom here for our first few days at home. Vic's parents and sister Jill also came for the first weekend at home. Then, we had a day to ourselves and Molly came to visit for a couple of nights. Then, my grandparents, Melbo and Pa, and GG and my parents all came again the 2nd weekend to celebrate and attend Charley's graduation!! So, it was a whirlwind, but wonderful to see everyone and let everyone meet Atticus right away!

For the 2nd weekend, when all of the Erwins were here, we celebrated Charley's graduation! It is hard to believe that the 4 years went by so fast. Charley has been a big part of mine and Vic's life, from his first semester when we got married all the way to his last semester when he became an uncle! I couldn't be happier to have had that time with Charley. He was always a phone call away to come help Vic with some project, celebrate events and holidays in College Station with us, house sit, or come eat dinner and hang out. And while Vic always teases that he never knew his first kid would be college-age and Charley always gives Vic a hard time about being so "old", the truth is that he and Charley have become great friends. So, to say the least, as happy as we are about his graduation, we are going to miss him being here. A lot. Good thing we had a baby to attract him back down here as often as possible for a visit!

Charley graduated on Friday, May 13th at 9am with a B.A. in History and a minor in Business. Because of feeding Atticus so often and because it was easier for my grandparents to miss the stair climbing and walking around Reed Arena, the 4 of us stayed home and watched graduation online. My aunt, mom, dad and Ana attended the ceremony. It was perfect though because Melbo said she had the best seat in the house to watch him graduate on the computer! And she literally had the "best seat in the house". As soon as the ceremony was over, they all came back to the house for his family party! Even our cousin Mary got to come hang out too! That night we all enjoyed a dinner of fried fish and sides, and jalapeno/shrimp/cream cheese/bacon appetizers, and homemade pie! Everyone played darts and sat on the back porch visiting and everyone got their share of turns holding Atticus! It was fun and relaxing and just a wonderful memory.

Molly had to miss the weekend, but otherwise, we do not get our entire Erwin Family together that often because of the 4 hours between us. So, it was extremely special to have everyone in my house at the same time! We are all so proud of Charley! He is headed back to the DFW area to look for a teaching and coaching job and we are praying he finds the right thing at the right time!