We took Cole down on the dock in his carrier. He really liked watching the boats and the trees. It was so sweet to see Rhonald share something he loves so much with our son. On our way home Rhonald kept talking about how much fun it will be to teach Cole how to fly fish and all of the places on the river that he wants to show him one day. I imagine there will be many weekends on the river when Cole gets older.
Rhonald's mom is known for finding random plants at Lowe's and trying to get them to grow. She planted these roses a couple of years ago and this year they have really taken off! She has many different colors and types and they are truly beautiful.
For some reason Mason loves the balcony! As soon as we get to the cabin he runs upstairs to look over everyone and he basically stays up there unless he is outside roaming around in the woods. He walks all along the balcony sticking his head out of each space. It is the strangest thing you have ever seen!!!
Rhonald spends the majority of our time at the cabin trout fishing. Seriously, from sunup to sundown he is on the river and he loves every minute of it. It was so awesome for him to have some time off to enjoy the weather and some good fly fishing with his dad.
The air conditioner broke the night we got there which would have been okay except it was about 90 degrees every day!!!! Since it was a holiday weekend there was no way of getting it fixed. Needless to say we were all very toasty all weekend. We tried to keep Cole cool by leaving him in just a diaper every day. He loved every minute of it since that meant that we had easy access to kiss on his tummy which he loves! We were all very thankful for the AC in the car on the way home.
Our good friends, Jim and Emily welcomed their baby boy, Ben, into the world last night at 9:46 pm. Ben weighs 7 lbs 4 oz. It was awesome to hold him this morning and remember when Cole was that small. Ben is the last of the 3 babies to be born to our "group." Everyone has been waiting patiently to meet him and love on him. It is wonderful to know that Cole already has so many friends to grow up with. Emily and I began talking about these babies even before we were pregnant so it was even more amazing to see Ben and Cole together today and know that they will be friends forever! We are so excited for Jim and Em and all of the many adventures that lie ahead of all of us!!! I must be honest and admit that I am both anxious and excited to see the trouble these 2 boys get in to together as they get older.
Last week my friend, Deidre and her daughter, Shelby, came to our house for a visit and to meet Cole. It was so much fun to see Deidre and catch up on old times. Dee and I went to Harding together and shared many memories there. It was so neat to talk about being moms and wives and all that is going on with us now. I was so happy to have them over. I know we will be friends forever!!!
Cole LOVES his Bumbo chair! It is so funny because there are days when he screams if we take him out of his chair...so we just put him back in it and he is happy again. He could sit in that silly chair all day if we let him. I think he loves being able to see things in a different way than he ever has before. As you can see from the picture above, he also LOVES putting everything he can into his mouth. 
Cole and I before dinner (isn't he adorable?)
My Mother's Day gift...a journey necklace with a mother and child
Obviously this Mother's Day is my first official one. Last year on Mother's Day I was 5 weeks pregnant and we celebrated by telling our mothers and grandmothers about the new addition to our family. This year we ended up celebrating on Saturday because Rhonald is on call Sunday. I am not sure why but I have been so excited about Mother's Day! I love being a mom and being with my boys so I knew that no matter what the day would be great! Both Rhonald and I are sick with bad colds (that and bad weather are 2 of the main reasons that I look horrible in that picture of Cole and I but hey - it is Mother's Day so we had to have our picture taken) so we took advantage of Cole's nap time by cuddling on the couch watching a movie...something we don't get the chance to do very often anymore. When Cole was awake we had fun playing with him and when it was getting close to dinner time Rhonald told me to get ready because they were taking me out to eat. We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Bone Fish Grill. The food was amazing and we had a very nice time. The only thing was that there were terrible storms and tornadoes going on all around us. If there is one thing I am terrified of, its tornadoes!!!! Of course the man at the table next to us could not stop running to the bar to check the weather and report back to everyone around that there was a funnel cloud in the area where we were (like across the street from the restaurant). Poor Rhonald...I spent most of our time asking him what we would do if there was a tornado... where we would go...would we take the car seat with us or leave it at the table? I thought of everything...I even thought what a relief it was that I am nursing Cole so that I would not have to worry about not having food for him if we were stuck in the bathroom at Bone Fish Grill for several hours. Luckily the storm moved passed our area just as we were getting ready to leave and we were able to make it home without any problem. Right before dinner Rhonald and Cole gave me my Mother's Day gift....a beautiful necklace! Rhonald explained to me that each diamond in the necklace represented a special time in our life together...our first date, our wedding day, our first anniversary and the day that Cole was born. Let me be the first to say that I am not usually one to cry over things like this but for some reason this got to me - I secretly think that made Rhonald feel even more proud of his gift! It was such a wonderful evening and I hated for it to end. I thought that Sunday would be fun - just Cole and I (and Mason too) but Rhonald was able to sneak away for a couple of hours to have lunch with us and told me that there is another Mother's Day surprise coming up - I just have to be patient. Overall, it was a fabulous weekend. I am so happy to be a mom and have such great guys to celebrate this day with! I could not help but look at Cole last night and say a prayer of thanksgiving that I was chosen to be his mother...it has been the most amazing experience in the world!
We were finally able to catch Cole rolling over on video for all to enjoy! I am sorry that the video is mainly showing his back but I was not sure which way he would roll when I sat down, if at all. I posted about him rolling over for the first time a few weeks ago but since that day he had not done it again. For whatever reason he chose this weekend to start rolling again and I was so glad that Rhonald was home to witness it. I was beginning to feel like everyone thought I had made it up!! We think he is starting to enjoy it because he is doing it more and more and actually looks like he might start to roll from his back to his tummy soon too! I hope that you enjoy watching our little guy - he is not very graceful at this point but he sure is cute!
Some of you know that for the past 2 weeks we have been dealing with a constipated baby boy! Yes, that is correct...as of today, Cole has not pooped in 2 whole weeks! He has been acting fine and happy and has been eating very well but we were still very concerned. After researching what to do online and looking in Rhonald's many medical books we decided to call the triage nurse that works at Rhonald's clinic. We did this yesterday and after talking with her decided to give Cole his first taste of Prune juice. He hated it (who can blame him!!!) but drank it and yet there was still no poop! Today Rhonald spent the better part of the afternoon quizzing the nurses and doctors that he works with about what to do for Cole. They basically all came to the conclusion that Cole is using so much of his breast milk that there is not enough left over for pooping!!! One doctor suggested giving Cole a little rice cereal and baby pears to get some bulk in there. Although we had not wanted to start any kind of baby food until he was 6 months we went ahead and gave him his first taste of rice cereal. At first he was not too sure what to do with it but after a few spoon fulls and a lot of cereal on his face he finally got the hang of it and LOVED IT! When I say he loved it I mean it with all of my heart!!! He was smiling and laughing and gobbling it up!!! Hopefully this little trick will work and everything will start moving again soon!
This post is a few days early since Cole will not officially be 4 months old until May 11 but I was in a "blogging mood" and had some time so I thought I would write this today. The past 4 months have been so busy and so much fun all at the same time. We have functioned on less sleep than I ever thought possible and have still smiled each and every day when we look at our sweet baby boy. Cole is growing like crazy. We estimate that he weighs close to 15 lbs now. He can hold his toys and reach out for them when he wants them. As soon as he gets ahold of them (of anything really) he puts it right in his mouth. He smiles so much - even at things that can't smile back. He really likes to smile at Mason. He laughs a bunch and can push up with his arms while he is on his tummy so that his whole chest is up in the air. He likes to watch TV - we think he likes the colors, not the shows (at least we hope). He loves to be outside and see new things. He has a really strong grip. He can sit up with minimal assistance and enjoys doing so in order to see more of the world around him. He is still waking up about every 3-4 hours at night to eat and then goes right back to sleep. He has learned how to squeal with delight and kick his legs in the tub to make the water splash around. Cole loves to be tossed up in the air and also loves to stand up and show off his leg muscles. He talks a lot - I keep telling Rhonald he is in for it since it seems both Cole and I talk a ton! He is looking more and more like a little boy which is so neat but so sad all at the same time. It is so much fun to watch him learn and grow. We can see his personality developing each and every day which is amazing!!! He is such a happy and good baby. I feel so blessed to be home with him so that I do not have to miss a thing!
After we left Rhonald's parents house we headed East to my parents house in Tennessee. We were a little nervous about our big trip but Cole did great. He slept a lot in the car and when he was awake I sat in the backseat with him to keep him entertained. Cole also had a chance to meet my grandparents. This was something that was very important to me since they are both in their 90's. They loved meeting Cole and holding him. They both smiled the whole time they were with Cole and I think seeing him made their day. They don't remember much about the present time but they do remember a lot about the past so it was nice to talk with them about how they met and the things they used to do when they were our age.
My parents had fun with Cole too of course. They babysat for us one night so we could have a date night...something we used to take for granted. I think they loved the time alone with Cole as much as we loved having time together. They had a lot of fun making him laugh and smile and really could see a big change in him since they last saw him. Overall, we had a great trip and look forward to seeing all of our family again soon.
Last week we were blessed to be able to spend time with each of our families. We spent the weekend with Rhonald's parents and grandma. Cole had never met his great grandma Searcy so that was such a treat for all of us. I think she loved meeting him and thinking about when Rhonald was this age. It is fun for me to hear all of the stories about Rhonald and compare them to Cole. Cole had a lot of fun with them...he laughed and laughed. They were all impressed with how big he was and how strong he was. It is so nice to have so many people that love our little guy - I know he will enjoy being with them even more as he gets older!!!