All Smiles

We are so excited that Nicholas is smiling now! As you can see, he has an AMAZING smile and loves to show it off! We were so shocked that he started smiling this early...he is only 6 weeks but we are so glad. When we first noticed him smiling we kept asking each other if it was on purpose or gas and then we realized - he is doing this on purpose! Seeing him smile makes us realize that we are doing something right and that is a wonderful feeling. Before, when he would simply look at us so sweetly, we often wondered, "Does he like this/that? Are we doing a good job?" Now we have a response that melts our hearts and lets us know that, yes, we are doing a good job! It is so funny because now we spend most of our time making funny faces and noises just to see him smile - oh the joys of parenthood!!!!

Random Photos

Grandpa Searcy visited Cole on Saturday. He had not seen Cole since he was born and boy was he shocked at how much Cole had grown!

We think that Mason tries to get as close to Cole as he can so that he can get his picture taken too! Or he thinks he is Cole's guardian angel. Either way they are very cute together.

Some More Pictures To Share

Here is a picture of our sweet boy at 5 weeks! He was laying on Rhonald's legs just looking around and enjoying his evening!!!!
This is one of my favorite pictures. This is a picture of Cole watching his Praise Baby DVD. He has always calmed down to the music but just this week he seemed to notice the pictures on TV.
This is Cole at 4 weeks...I know the photo is a week old but I did not post a 4 week shot so here you are!

A Visit From Grammy and Pops and Much, Much More

This has been an exciting week for us! I finally have new pictures to share. I have realized that finding time to blog is not as easy as it once was. Nicholas is much more demanding of my time these days. He loves to have lots of attention and interaction...but who could blame him! To start off our week Rhonald was able to feed Cole a bottle, something he had never done before. It was so cute to watch Cole gobble down his milk and to watch Rhonald have so much fun feeding him! It also gave me a nice break but I do wonder if Cole was wondering how he was getting his milk from someone other than his mommy.

Cole's Grammy and Pops came to visit him all the way from Hendersonville, TN. Although they had seen Cole in pictures they could not believe how much he had changed since they last saw him! They had a great time being wtih him! Each morning my dad would lay Cole on the floor for his daily "workout" and Grammy enjoyed rocking him and holding him. The most fun part for Rhonald and I was that we were able to go out to dinner for Valentine's Day. We had not been out like that since we had Nicholas so that was a big treat! Of course we talked about him a lot but we also had fun just being together. I think that evening was the best for Grammy and Pops too.
On Valentine's Day we had a special visit from the Daniels - friends that moved away several months ago. It was awesome to see them and catch up with them. This was the first time they saw Cole and as you can tell he was a huge hit with their son, Dunn. Our favorite comment was when Dunn was standing by Cole's swing and said, "C'mon baby Cole, come and play in this!" We felt so blessed that they were able to come. We have really missed them!
The last exciting thing that happened was that Nicholas discovered his mobile last night. While I was cleaning up the living room last night Rhonald called me in to the nursery to see that Cole was staring up at his mobile. He amazes us each day with the new things he is doing and learning! He has also started enjoying looking at the lights around the house. It is true what they say...they grow up so fast!

Exactly 4 Weeks Ago....

It is so hard to believe that it has been 4 weeks since Nicholas came into this world. The time has completely flown by. We have had so much fun getting to know him and his quirks, as well as learning about one another and ourselves. I never knew being a parent could be so amazing!!! I have said it a thousand times but it really is an honor to be Cole's mommy. He has brought so much joy and love into our family. I never knew I could love someone so much and I never knew I could love Rhonald more than I did but that love has grown too. There are times when I think being a parent is the most challenging job in the world. You want so badly to do everything right and create an atmosphere for your little one that is totally perfect and then you realize...even when things are not perfect and tears are shed or naps are too short, the love you all share will get you through anything and that is a wonderful feeling. We would not trade any moment of the last 4 weeks for anything!

I have lots of pictures to post but not a lot of time so I thought I would briefly share with you all of the new things our little guy is doing. He is awake most of the morning now (and no, that does not mean he sleeps more at night) and he loves to lay on a blanket and kick and punch the air. He can hold his head up very well. He can bear weight on his little legs and "step" if we stand him up. He stares into our eyes when we talk to him and that melts our hearts (you've seen his eyes - you know what I mean!). His umbilical cord FINALLY fell off and he weighed 8 lbs and 2 oz last week. He is amazing!!! Rhonald and I laugh - if we are this excited about him holding his own head up what will we be like when he graduates from high school?

Best Friends

Ever since we brought Cole home from the hospital Mason has kindof gotten left out of things. He used to be the center of our attention but that attention quickly turned toward the baby even when we tried to include Mason. For the first few days Cole was here Mason totally ignored him and each day since he has gotten more and more used to him. Tonight while Rhonald, Cole and I were lounging around on the couch Mason decided to join us. He ended up falling asleep with his head on Cole's bottom. It was so cute we had to capture it and share it with everyone! We finally saw what we had been hoping to see all along...that Mason and Cole are going to be buddies and will hopefully continue to grow closer as time goes on. I look forward to being able to take them both to the park and for walks as the weather gets nicer and Cole gets a little bit older. I am sure we will all make many more memories together throughout the years!