Happy Birthday Sweet Boy

As I write this post, with tears in my eyes, I am both happy and sad! Our baby boy turns 1 year old today!!! This year has flown by in somewhat of a blur but it has been the best year of our lives for sure. We have been so blessed by Cole and love being his parents so much! It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital welcoming Cole into the world! Well, enough sap....onto the monthly updates! Cole is obviously weaned and is drinking cow's milk now. That has been fun and rough all at the same time. He is getting to be a bit pickier with what he wants to eat but still eats a lot and eats a wide variety of things. He loves to snack and often crawls to his snack drawer and pulls out what he wants. He uses a sippy cup. He is standing alone very well and cruising around furniture but still not walking alone. He babbles all of the time. Before weaning and before he got this darn cold he was sleeping from 8 pm - 6/7 am. He is taking two 1 1/2 hour naps each day. He loves music and will dance to just about anything. He can point to a lot of things in the house. If I say "time to put your shoes on" he will sit down and lift up his foot (most of the time). Cole loves to play peek-a-boo and still loves to read his books. Cole has 8 teeth. I am not sure on a definite weight and length...we go to the doctor in 2 weeks so I will share that then. He wears a size 5 diaper and 12-18 month clothes if that helps! Oh - when Cole drops something (mostly on purpose) he turns his hands over as if to say, "where did it go" or "I didn't do it." Well, all of this to say...this has been the most fun year ever and we are really looking forward to what this new year brings! Happy Birthday baby boy - We love you with all of our hearts!

Taking A Nap With Daddy

We have all been sick with colds this week - most likely due to this crazy weather we have been having! Rhonald gets to come home a little early on Fridays and got home just in time for Cole's nap this week. Both of them were sleepy so they decided to cuddle up on the couch and snooze! Mason just had to join in too, of course!!! When Cole woke up I was able to snap some adorable pictures. Cole likes to have a small snack when he wakes up. He has really gotten in to snacking since I have weaned him. I think he even shared some of his crackers with his daddy which was super sweet! I love to see my guys spending time together - it just melts my heart!

Bye Bye Breastfeeding

Well, needless to say this has been a long week at the Searcy house! Cole will be 1 year old on Sunday so we have been getting ready for company and his birthday parties! So fun! Before I had Cole I set a goal for myself that I would like to breastfeed him for 1 year. It always seemed like such a long time - until that 1 year mark came and now it seems like time has flown by. I think we were both ready for this but still...it is like the end of an era. As of 2 days ago Cole is officially weaned from breastfeeding. I thought it would take a long time so I started a little early but once he got used to it he was fine. Don't get me wrong - the first couple of days were not fun for anyone but things have gotten better and I am thankful for that. He hated cow's milk at first but, with practice and patience on both of our parts, he now seems to enjoy it. And he wanted me to hold him all of the time and gave up on sleeping for a few days/nights but...things are better! Now he laughs and claps when he sees me get his milk from the fridge and we cuddle up on the couch just like always to drink. I was much more sad than I thought I would be...poor Rhonald - all he has heard about this week is how excited I am to watch Cole grow up but how sad I am that he is not my little tiny baby anymore. For those of you that have shared advice and support - thank you! No one could understand this but another mommy who has gone through it!

Mommy's Little Helper

We turned Cole's car seat around (yes, I know...6 days early). He loves it so much more! He sits back there and talks, talks, talks! I took our new seat to the police station to have them show me how to install it properly. It was so funny because the police man said, "My, how much does he weigh? I mean, I am not worried about him being less than 20 lbs but I am curious!" It is so much fun to have him right there with me in the car...I am shocked I have not had a wreck since all I want to do is turn around and watch him!

Cole and Mason both love the dishwasher and I usually save this task for nap time but today they helped me! He climbed up in the dishwasher all by himself and had a blast handing the dishes to me.

My mom bought Cole a snack cup which has been neat to use. He learned how to get his snacks out very quickly and loves using it. He also loves taking the snacks out and feeding them to Mason. Now whenever I hand Cole his snack cup Mason comes running over!

Rhonald's parents bought Cole a wagon for Christmas. It was something that I wanted him to have so badly! I know he will love it this spring/summer. Since it is too cold to ride around outside right now the wagon is sitting in our living room without wheels. Not a day has gone by since Christmas that Cole hasn't played in his wagon!

Getting Ready For Church

It Was A Holly Jolly Christmas For Sure!

Christmas dinner is so much fun when you have a sweet Christmas bib to wear!

I am a bit embarrhassed by the amount of goodies in this photo so I must explain that these were not all Christmas gifts....many were toys we have had that just had to be played with today as well :)!

Ok, seriously...have you ever seen a more precious face???

Look at our big boy - standing without any help!!!

Santa brought Rhonald ... I mean Cole ... an early gift this year. We bought an aquarium and both of the boys are IN LOVE with it. I have been enjoying it so much too but I think they are obsessed! It is so relaxing and fun to watch. And if you ask Cole "where are the fish?" he crawls over to the aquarium and points....so sweet!

We had such a wonderful first Christmas with Cole this year! Above are pictures that we took trying to capture the fun we have had! We kept saying how strange it was to think about last Christmas when we were wishing and hoping for him to make his first appearance into this world...how nervous and excited we were to meet him face to face! Now, we know everything about this sweet boy and cannot imagine life without him! Last night Rhonald stayed up putting together a few toys for Cole and I stuffed his stocking (and Mason's too of course). He loved the stocking...taking things out of containers is a big deal to him right now so that was right up his alley. I think he was a bit overwhelmed with the toys and the unwrapping but he did well and seemed to love everything he got! It was so much fun watching him take everything in today! We were lucky to have Rhonald's mom and dad here with us this year and I know they loved sharing the day with Cole as well. We had a huge dinner (which Cole also loved) and then we all settled down for a long afternoon nap! Tonight Rhonald and I took Cole out to look at Christmas lights - I think he fell asleep about 30 mins into the adventure but hey --- at least we can say we did it! I included the last picture to let you know that Cole loved every card we received so if you sent one to us I promise it was looked at at least 1 million times! There is so much more to share but I am exhausted! We hope that your holiday was amazing and we look forward to hearing all about it soon! Merry Christmas!

WOW!

I read this quote today and wanted to share it...thank you Gaylee! I know you were actually sending me a forward but this really touched my heart too!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Marianne Williamson adjusted, originally Nelson Mandela