Rhonald M. Searcy, MD at Your Service

Today marks a very big day in our family! This morning Rhonald signed a contract for a job here in Northwest Arkansas! Since the day we moved here we knew we wanted to stay and we have been hoping and praying that a great job would come our way and allow us to do so. Rhonald seems to have found his dream job. I have not seen him this happy about being a doctor in a long, long time. He will be working in a clinic here with several other doctors. He will be working Monday-Thursday and the best part is that he will not have to be on call or work weekends. He will be able to serve the community and spend lots of time with Cole and I. It is so hard to believe that Rhonald will be finished with his residency in June. It seems like he has been working toward this day for years...well, I guess he has! Rhonald and I started dating the week he took his MCAT before his senior year of college...we have been through college, medical school and now residency together. Nothing could make me more proud than to see him graduate from the AHEC and move on to something that he is so excited about. I am so proud of him and so happy for all of us!

Cole's Laughing Part 2

Ok, so we are very proud parents and love to hear our son laugh! Plus we are trying to figure out this video thing. This is a video of Cole laughing again but this time you get to enjoy watching his sweet smile too! Another funny thing about this video is Mason. It is so obvious that Mason wants in on the action. As you will see he sneeks into the video as if to say, "hey-I was here way before him and no one ever took a video of me!" Enjoy!!!

The Sweetest Sound

We are finally trying our hand at putting video on our blog so please bear with me. This is a video of Cole doing one of his favorite things...being tossed above my head. In the video I promise he is laughing...there is a point on here where it kindof sounds like crying but I swear it is not! Cole has just learned how fun it is to squeal while he is laughing which is so darn cute! I hope you enjoy our little guy's laugh and our attempt at being film makers (ha ha)!!!!

Spring is finally here!!!

Many of you may not know it but ever since we bought our house 2 1/2 years ago I have wanted a new front door. Almost every house in our subdivision had the same front door and it was so ugly. Well, this is the year I got my wish! As you can see it is so pretty and allows a lot of light to come into the front of our home. We both love it and are so thankful that we finally bought it. I am sure Rhonald is so glad that he does not have to hear about our ugly front door any longer!

I love this picture. Pugs do not have the luxury of enjoying the hot summer very easily so spring is a great time of year for Mason. The sun is out and it is warm but not hot so he has no trouble breathing while he is outside. It is so much fun to watch Mason enjoy the change in season too. He loves sunning on the deck and running around the backyard after birds and bunnies.

Rhonald and I have always enjoyed working in our yard once Spring arrives. We love planting flowers and laying mulch in our flower beds. We simply love getting our hands dirty and watching our yard come alive again! Above is an example of some of the flowers we planted in our flower beds. They are so pretty and add a lot to our backyard. There is also a picture of our newest addition...a cute little Jap. Maple tree that Rhonald has wanted for some time (kindof like me and the front door). It is so pretty and adds a lot to our front yard. We love it!!!

I just realized that this is the first post since Cole has been born that I have not mentioned him. For those of you that are interested...he is doing well. He seems to like Spring a lot too. We have been going on walks and spending time on the back deck playing. He does not, however, like when the sun gets in his eyes. I have invested in a few sun hats for the summer to keep those sweet eyes covered. He is learning about his hands these days. He watches them and talks to them...he can even clasp them tightly but then gets frustrated because he cannot always remember how to get them apart. He still sleeps better when he is swaddled. This makes me anxious for 2 reasons: what do we do when he gets to big to swaddle and how do we keep him from getting too hot this summer when he is swaddled. I am sure it will work itself out just like everything else has!

A Big Thanks To Miss Kellie

One day last May, soon after we found out we were expecting a baby, I had a funny conversation with my friend, Kellie. Kellie was about 12 weeks pregnant with her son, Ben. For months all we could talk about was how badly we wanted to get pregnant and have babies!!! That day when I saw Kellie she said, "I had a dream about you last night! You were pregnant!" Of course I was torn. We had not really told many people about our little one yet but I had to say something. So I said, "Don't tell anyone but I am!" We quietly celebrated and went about our business. The next time I saw her she brought us a gift for our baby. A sweet little blanket. I loved it and dreamed of seeing our little one falling asleep holding it. I have had this blanket in Cole's bed since he was born (don't worry - it was off in a corner no where near him) and wondered when he would seem to like it. Yesterday was the day! We have noticed that lately he loves to grab things...anything, so I brought out his blanket and he loved it! When we rub it across his face he laughs so loud and he loves chewing on the bear's ears!!!! What a sweet sight...so, thank you Miss Kellie. We love our blanket!

In other Cole news....he rolled over today and he did it right in front of the "bug man" that was doing our quarterly treatment!!!! We both cheered for him. What a nice "bug man" we have (who also has 2 boys). It was the most exciting thing I have seen in a long time. It almost seemed like it was happening in slow motion! I can't wait for Rhonald to get home from work to see him do it!!!!

Good Night, Sleep Tight....

Bedtime has become one of our favorite times with Cole. We have been reading lots of different books on how to help him sleep well - that is a work in progress. We have also been trying very hard to establish a relaxing bedtime routine. We give him his bath, read a few books, dim the lights, he eats and then we rock. We all love this time together. Cole is going to bed around 9:00 pm and sleeps until about 7:00 am, waking up twice (usually) to eat during the night. I can see him thriving with this routine and I think he really enjoys it as much as we do. It is such a nice way to end our day and wind down. I don't think there is anything more precious than cuddling with a sweet smelling, sleepy baby. Rhonald and I have both realized that reading to Cole is so much fun because we get to remember all of the books we loved as children. Goodnight Moon is an all time favorite for both of us and it is so neat to read it to Cole. Well, all of this talk about sleep is making me even more tired so I am heading off to bed. I hope all of you have a restful night with your family!!!

A Day at the Park With Friends

Cole and Mya

Drew

Owen

Kellie and Ben, Sarah and Laney

A group if girls that I used to work with and I have started getting together one morning a week to let our little ones play together! Really I think it it just as much, if not more, for us than it is for our kiddos. Either way we have a lot of fun talking and watching the kids interact with each other. As you can see there are lots of babies too - they play in their own way and I know we are all excited to see them grow up together and all of the changes they will go through. I love these get togethers so much - I have been blessed with these friends who offer a lot of advice and support. When we moved here from Little Rock I was so worried I would never find friends like I had there but that worry was so worthless....these girls are wonderful and I am so thankful for them!

3 Months Old Today!

Isn't this the sweetest face that you have ever seen? I am so blessed to be able to look into these big blue eyes each and every day. This was taken this morning when Cole woke up. He is always in such a great mood when he wakes up and after he eats! Cole is 3 months old today and growing like a weed!!! He is starting to really enjoy playing in his bouncy seat, his swing and on his tummy (sometimes!). He is talking to us more and more each day which is so cute. He thinks "raspberries" on his tummy and his cheeks are super funny. He enjoys going from room to room with me as I do things around the house - I think he enjoys the lights and the new sights he gets to see. He is napping well and sleeping pretty well at night. He really loves to be with Rhonald when he gets home from work---I know that melts Rhonald's heart and can turn any bad day into a good one. He still loves his bath a bunch too. He now has 4 teeth buds in his little mouth - 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. We estimate that Cole weighs 13-14 lbs but are going to officially weigh him tomorrow at the clinic where Rhonald works. Well, that was just a really quick update on our little prince on his big day!!!!

A Huge Sap

Happy Birthday Cole - January 11, 2008

Cole at 10 1/2 weeks

Ok, I learned this morning that I am not going to do well with Cole growing up! Cole has been wearing 3-6 month clothes for several weeks now and today I took a second to finish packing away all of his 0-3 things...clothes, blankets, hats, socks, cradle bedding. I thought it would feel great to have some more room in his dresser (which it does) but as i folded each little item I felt a little sad. I think I remembered each and every time he wore a certain outfit, a memory made, never to be forgotten. I saw the little receiving blankets that he loved to be wrapped in and thought about holding him that first week we had him home. Cole is almost 3 months old and it has been a fabulous 3 months! I cherish all of the memories that we have made together and look forward to making many, many more memories in the future!

Hey, Who Is That???

The other day I was walking by a mirror in our hallway and noticed Cole seeing himself. He simply stared and stared at the little face he saw in there and then he started smiling at it, as if to say "hi there!" We were given a little mirror as a baby shower gift and had not used it yet simply because he was not really paying attention to very many things. I pulled it out yesterday and laid him in front of it and he was thrilled!!! He just kept looking at himself and then up at me and then back at himself! It was so cute to watch! We played with it again today but this time I sat him up and he could see himself and me. He seemed to really like that and smiled quite a bit when I would make faces and funny sounds. What a ham!!!!

Another thing we are currently working on is getting Cole to sleep in his crib and do so without putting up a fight! We are making a lot of progress in this area and I am so proud of him - and of Rhonald and I for not giving up. He is napping in his crib every nap and only fussing for his 3:00 nap. For some reason that is a hard one for him. For the past 3 nights he has only woken up one time to nurse and then goes right back to sleep. That in itself is a huge gift to me - I have been praying about that for a few weeks now. He is really learning that being in that big crib is ok and that, for whatever reason, makes us very happy!

Lunch With The Ladies

Cole and Audrie

Every Wednesday afternoon Emily, Rachel and I have a lunch date. It is so nice to get together with these girls and talk about all things important...what diapers we like, who should win American Idol... you know, the important things. It is always an interesting lunch with Cole and Audrie around. Sometimes we sit to eat, sometimes we stand...sometimes we eat together, sometimes at different times but one thing is for sure, we always have fun! Audrie was born the day Cole turned 3 weeks old and it has been so fun watching them grow together. Ben, Emily's son, is due to arrive around May 20th. We are all excited to have him here to play with too. It is wonderful to be able to share such a fun time with our friends and create friendships for our children as well.