A Sad Day...

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!

My Messy, Messy Man

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's First Party

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!

Rhonald's New Hobby

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.

A Visit From Grammy and Pops

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!

A Wonderful Day...

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.

The summer weather gave us a bit of a break Saturday and since it was so nice we thought we should spend as much time outside as we could. We ended up going hiking at Devils Den. We used to do things like that a lot but we had not really tried hiking since we had Cole. Rhonald carried him in our baby carrier and off we went! We went for a 2 mile hike, which we thought was pretty good considering Rhonald was carrying about 20 extra lbs! Cole liked looking around at all of the trees and being so close to his dad. He did wonderfully but he eventually fell asleep and snoozed for the remainder of our hike. I am so glad that we decided to get out and enjoy the day! It was a beautiful day and one I will not soon forget!

And So it Begins....

Well, folks...today is the big day! Rhonald began his first day of work at his new clinic at 8:00 this morning. I could not include a picture from this morning on the blog...I did not dare ask him if I could take his picture although he looked very handsome in his new shirt and tie! I am dying to call him but I know that would not go over well today either. This past weekend Rhonald's mom and dad came to our house and helped us paint Rhonald's new office and rearrange furniture. We are going to finish hanging pictures and his diplomas this coming weekend. He was able to go over to the clinic yesterday and get a bit more oriented to where things are and everyone welcomed him with hugs and smiles. I really feel like we were led to this clinic and that it will be somewhere that our whole family will grow to be apart of. I am so very proud of Rhonald and all that he has accomplished. It is so neat to think that when I met Rhonald he was starting his senior year of college and now his career goal has been met! I am also very thankful to him for working so hard to make such a nice life for us...especially one where I can stay home and take care of Cole. I know it has not been fun or easy! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and helped us make it to today....we appreciate you so much!