The "welcome" table. An add with Rhonald's picture will run all week in the local paper.
Rhonald, Cole and Rhonald's nurse, Marcy
Cole with Becky, the clinic manager
Most of "the gang" after the party Today Rhonald was honored with a "welcome" party at his new clinic. They closed the clinic early and invited all of the patients to come and meet Rhonald. We had no idea how many people would come and support us in this new journey. There were many, many patients there and all of them greeted us so warmly (Cole was the star of the show of course). There were also several doctors, pharmacists and other hospital employees that came to introduce themselves to us. We were so thrilled to meet so many wonderful people that will be part of our lives for a long, long time. 3 of the 5 doctors that Rhonald is now partners with were there with their spouses so it was also nice for me to meet them. Cole did great even though he was ready for a nap about half way through. He put on that million dollar smile and warmed up the room! Rhonald is working with some very wonderful and successful people that can teach him so much. They have made us feel so at home it is unbelievable. We are so very thankful that God has blessed us with this amazing opportunity.
Ben, Cole and Owen
Cole and Laney
Miss Mya enjoying her first taste of cake
Before
After
If you have talked to me in the past few days you know there has been one thing on my mind...should I let my son sleep on his tummy like he wants? Being a nurse, with a doctor for a husband, we teach (or taught in my case) people all of the time that "back is best" for sleep with babies. Well, that has worked well for us until now. Rhonald and I have been working very hard with Cole to get him to start putting himself to sleep and, most importantly, to stop waking up so much at night. We knew the wake ups were out of habit (like every hour wake ups) and it just didn't seem healthy for him or me. Cole is so smart and he caught on very quickly and is doing SO WELL with the sleep thing, however, he has found that sleeping on his tummy is the way to go. I think I have asked every mom I have run into their opinion and even went so far as to call our pedi about it (thank goodness she is a friend). The answer that each and every person gave me...if he rolls himself onto his tummy then let him stay. He rolls around all day and I know he can roll back over so I am becoming ok with that. Our pedi did recommend taking my cute bumper pad out of the crib though because he does get very close to it when he is sleeping. I love that crib set and I was so sad tonight when I had to take it down. Maybe I will get to use it again sometime....oh well....safety must come first!
After a fun day of playing in the pool, going for walks and playing with toys it was time for dinner. Since Cole was needing a bath I stripped him down and sat him in his highchair to eat. We hardly ever let him go without a bib but I simply forgot and this was the mess that I got to clean up! Cole has recently learned to blow bubbles and decided to do so while eating his squash. As you can imagine squash was everywhere. I could not help but laugh because he was having so much fun and was so proud of his new trick!
Cole loved banging the balls together!
Cole and Marla playing on the slide
What big boys!!!! Cole and Ethan balancing on the ball.
Cole and Mya playing with the balls. Mya liked taking them away from Cole when he wasn't looking.
Today was a fun new experience for us. Cole and I headed to Gymboree Play and Music to help Keira celebrate her 3rd birthday. I cannot believe she is already 3 years old!!! We had such a great time. I wasn't sure what Cole would be able to do but he found a lot of neat things to play with. Mostly he loved watching the big kids play games and sing songs. I could not help but think about how big my little guy is getting. It seems like only yesterday he was born and here he is at a birthday party playing with other kids! I love seeing him make friends and develop relationships. He and Ethan sat by each other and shared toys which was really special since Ethan's mom, Margaret, and I grew up together. Overall, we had a fantastic time and I am so glad that we were included in Keira's big day! I loved playing with Cole so much that I even signed us up for "mommy and me" gym classes....I am sure you will be on the edge of your seat waiting for pictures!
Recently Rhonald has really become interested in photoshop! He has always been the artistic one in our family and he has been looking for new ways to share his creativity. While he had a few weeks off this summer he began learning about photoshop. These are just a couple of the pictures that he has been working on. It is so much fun to take pictures and then hand them over to him to see what he can create! I may be biased but I think he is doing a great job.
It was so nice to have a visit from Grammy and Pops this week! And boy did we get a lot done!!!! My mom helped me redecorate our living room (pictures to come later) which I have wanted to do for a long time, my dad cleaned up our yard, they taught Cole how to drink from a sippy cup and they gave him lots and lots of love! It is so much fun to see him enjoy his time with them and get to know them better. I think they were a little shocked at how big he had gotten and how many things he could do. He loved playing with them and cuddling with them. I know he will miss them so much. Hopefully they will be back to see us soon! 
I have decided that my favorite days are the days we spend together as a family. Saturday was definitely one of those days! After we woke up we decided to head down to the Farmers' Market. We had not been there in awhile and we were shocked at how much bigger it was than when we were there last! We strolled around, listened to live music, had some coffee and, of course, bought a bouquet of beautiful flowers!!!! Cole seemed to enjoy the market just as much as we did. He loved looking at all of the dogs who were there and he liked the music too. There was so much to see but we headed home after about an hour so Cole could take a nap. 
It is so hard to believe that it has been 7 months since our little Cole was born! What an awesome 7 months it has been. Looking back it seems like it has flown by. Cole is growing like crazy and doing so many things...including saying "da-da" and "ba-ba." Both are a nice change from the usual "Gee" that he used to say all of the time (although we loved hearing that too). We both freaked out when we heard "da-da" and now Cole says it all of the time! He is getting on his hands and knees and scooting around the house...backwards! As I type this he is scooting under our coffee table of all things. He just got his top 2 front teeth (that makes a total of 4). He loves eating his homemade baby food (which I love making for him). His favorite food at this point is Mangos or Mangos mixed with yogurt. He loves singing songs and going for walks. His favorite song is the VBS song "The Wise Man and The Foolish Man." He loves the hands gestures. We are working on sign language but so far he just laughs at us when we sign to him...maybe one day he will get it! As you can see it has been a very eventful month so far!!!! We say this all of the time, but we are so blessed to have Cole in our lives. Although everything about our life changed when we had him we could not be happier!
So today marks a big day for me...my 30th birthday!!! I was lucky enough to get to celebrate it in 2 parts. The last night we were in Florida the girls and I watched the movie "13 Going on 30" - one of my favorites! The guys made a yummy lobster and shrimp dinner. Then we ended the night with a strawberry ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery (it was wonderful!). It was so much fun to celebrate a little early with friends. There was a horrible cold that was passed around our house in Florida and I was so thankful that I had not gotten it. Well, yesterday I woke up with it and today I felt horrible! I was bummed about being sick on my big day but we made the best of it. My boys took me to Eureka Springs where we visited Blue Springs Heritage Center...a place that would be beautiful and much appreciated in the Spring, however it was 100 degrees today so we made our stay there very quick. Once we came home we put Cole in the baby pool and played and then had dinner at Logan's Roadhouse...one of my favorite places. It was so nice to have a low key day with Rhonald and Cole. I cannot believe that I am 30 years old!!!! Rhonald and I watched the movie "The Bucket List" after Cole went to bed last night...it made me think about all of the things I have done in my life and all that I hope to do. It was a nice time of reflection and I can honestly say that looking back over the years I am happy with the person I have become. All I can say is...thank you boys for a wonderful day. I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you!
Our camera broke the day after we got to Destin (of course!). So, as an early birthday gift to me, we bought a new one. These are 2 of my favorite pictures that we took using our new camera! I have always taken lots of pictures but I think I will be taking even more now! To add to the excitement of our week Cole FINALLY rolled from his back to his tummy once we got home. We decided a while back that he was going to skip this milestone but I guess watching Audrie do it all week inspired him!
We just got back from our amazing week in Destin, FL. It was so relaxing and fun to hang out with our friends in the sun! We went with 2 other couples and their babies, as well as Gloria and Terryn...2 girls that Cole totally fell in love with!
Our house had a great pool and a nice covered porch so many days were spent outside, however, we did bring the babies in during the heat of the day to play. Cole and Audrie are almost the same age so they had fun sharing toys. Ben is quite a bit younger but Cole had a blast tickling Ben's little feet and watching him play!
Rhonald, Cole and I walked to the beach every morning. That was my favorite time every day. It was so peaceful then - very few people were out and the sand was cool. We loved walking along the beach together. Every day we talked about how much fun it will be to bring Cole to the beach every summer. And I hope that we continue to take our morning walks every summer too!
Jim, Jamie and Rhonald spent one morning deep sea fishing and caught several King Mackerel. They had such a blast fishing and we all had such a blast eating!!! I must give a shout out to Jamie...it was his first time and he ended up catching the biggest fish!
This spider, called a Golden Orb Spider, became quite an obsession of Rhonald's. He checked on him each and every day to make sure he had not moved. I think it was around the 4th day when he and Gloria realized that our house was surrounded by these yucky things so they googled them only to find out that Destin is their main home and July-August is the main time that they can be found! Luckily they also learned that they are harmless.
(thank you Rachel, Rhonald LOVED this picture so much!)
(and I loved this one!)
Cole was not a big fan of the ocean! He loved the sand and enjoyed the ocean a little more every day but did not appreciate it when we stood him in the water. As you can see from the pictures above he never took his eyes off of the water when we were standing in it holding him. It was almost as if he thought the water might jump up and get him. When Rhonald would hold him he would simply stare, however, when I would hold him he would bury his face in my neck and slowly peek out every now and then!
Cole may not have liked the ocean but he LOVED the pool! We spent lots of time in the pool and he would laugh and play the entire time. The poor boy would be so worn out from swimming that he would go to bed by 7:30 pm every night. I am afraid that he will be so bored now that we are home. Rhonald and I had so much fun playing with him and watching him enjoy the trip so much. We were a little worried about taking a trip with 3 babies but they all did so well. They loved every minute of their vacation just as much as we did.
