Cole's 4 Year Old interview

Last year, when Cole turned 3, I interviewed him to find out some of his favorite things.  I thought it would be cute to do another interview this year....here are the results...

1.  Favorite color?  Blue
2.  Favorite song?  "Hey Soul Sister"
3.  Favorite Bible story?  When Jesus died and rose to life
4.  Favorite food?  Garlic bread
5.  What would you like to be when you grow up?  Either a Doctor like Daddy or a Praise and Worship leader
6.  What is your favorite thing about being a big brother?  Playing Mary and Joseph with Lily
7.  What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  Play transformers
8.  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  Go to restaurants (I think he is referring to a date night we had where I took him to PF Changs.)
9.  Favorite toy?  Super hero's
10.  Favorite thing to do at school?  Play with friends and eat lunch
11.  Favorite book?  T Rex Trouble
12.  Favorite sport?  Razorback football
13.  Favorite animal?  Betta Fish
14.  Favorite thing you did all year?  Go to the beach

A Letter To Cole

Dear Cole,
As I sit down to write this letter to you I am filled with so many emotions.  Tomorrow you will be 4 years old.  I simply cannot believe it.  It was 4 years ago tonight that Daddy and I went to the hospital to have you.  We were so ready to meet you and it seemed like it was the longest night of our lives.  Once you made your appearance into this world we were changed forever.  The second you were placed in my arms I knew life would never be the same.  Each and every day of these 4 years has been wonderful...even the hard days.  You have grown up so much this year...you are getting to be tall like Daddy.  You have lost every bit of babyness and are finally a full out little boy.  You have become very funny and very creative.  Every day with you is an adventure....we are always pretending to be something different which always keeps me on my toes.  I love your heart...it amazes me really.  Cole, you talk to us about God every day, you ask us to pray for you and you remind us to be thankful.  You love fully and honestly.  I cannot tell you how many times Daddy and I talk about how amazing you are to us.  You are 4 years old yet you seem so close to God it blows me away.  You love for us to read you your Bible and we talk about the stories until we run out of answers to your questions.  You love to learn and I know you get that from Daddy.  You question everything - you always want to know the reason behind things.  You love to learn about animals...all animals and I love to do that with you.  One thing I have seen grow in you this year is your confidence.  You really seem to be finding your place in this world and you are not afraid to let anyone know who you are.  I love that about you.  I love that you look after other people and love to help.  From stopping your soccer game to help a friend who has fallen down to helping me set the table....you never have to be asked and I appreciate that so much.  I pray you never lose that trait.  I am so proud of the person you are becoming.  Watching you change and grow is so much fun!  You have really started to enjoy trying new things and testing new waters.  You love cook and do art and creating things.  You see the beauty in everything and you remind me to do the same.  You are so much like Daddy and I though in that you want everything to be just so.  You are very routine oriented like we are and, even though some people don't understand it, it makes me smile.  You are so smart, Cole!  You love music so much and can remember the words to all of your favorite songs.  You love to dance with me (to any and every song) and we have so much fun doing that...it is a memory I hope that you hold on to forever.  Every morning when you leave your room you say, "Good morning Mommy." Before you can even see me and I wish you knew how sweet I think that is.  It reminds me every day that I have a very important job ahead of me.  Being your mommy has been such a gift and I take it very seriously.  I never knew I could love someone so much as I love you, Lily and Daddy.  You test me for sure but you make me the happiest mommy in the world.  Cole, I cherish every bit of you and I am so excited to celebrate you tomorrow.  I pray you always know we love you more than anything.  Happy birthday sweet boy!!!

"I Love You"

Last night before bed Cole and I were cuddled up watching a movie.  We started talking about an upcoming trip we are taking to visit my brother, Mark, and his family.  Cole is beyond excited about this trip and had so many questions about it.  A few minutes later he said, "I want to tell them I love them tonight."  So I said we could text them and he, out of the blue, said he would like to write it on a card.  Now, before this Cole has only been able to write his name so I was 1. shocked that he would want to try it and 2.  skeptical of him being about to write all of those letters.  But we grabbed a sheet of paper and began....and this is what he did.  All on the first try with a only a few descriptions of what the letters should look like.  Needless to say I was freaking out and so excited at what a wonderful job he had done!  I am still beaming with pride over this huge accomplishment!

The Dune Racer

 Seeing the dune racer for the first time

Cole will be turning 4 years old on Wednesday ... something I am having a very hard time with actually.  I keep thinking...only one more year until Kindergarten...ah!  Anyway, Rhonald and I bought Cole a power wheel weeks ago and have been hiding it in the garage forever.  We have talked about it in secret non stop and have been so excited to show it to Cole.  As I have mentioned before, we have been stuck inside for quite some time and this week God blessed us with 60 degree weather and healthy kids.  Well, we decided we had to do it...we had to give him his Dune Racer a week early and seriously enjoy the weather.  He was so excited when he ran out into the back yard and spotted his gift!  He was not afraid at all and jumped right in and began driving all over the place.  There was a bit of a "training period" to learn how to work it but once he got the hang out it, he was off!  He has used it quite a bit over the past few days....he pretends to run errands and go to work.  Today he was delivering Dino bones to a museum, as well as getting milkshakes at Chick Fil A (that's my boy!).  He loves to drive Lily Kate around which she also loves (although she really wants to be in the driver's seat).  It has been so much fun and I am so thankful that, even with a January birthday he has been able to enjoy what we have been waiting so long to give him!  I cannot wait until Spring when we can really get outside and see what the Dune Racer can do!

Lily Kate at 15 Months

Here is a shot of Lily Kate reading to one of her baby dolls....LOVE!

 This past month has been absolutely tough on the Searcy family.  Not many pictures have been taken because, honestly, we have all been sick as all get out.  Lily being one the sickest.  Lily had a cold, then got better and then had RSV and an ear infection.  If sister isn't looking her very best in these pictures you now know why.  Despite being sick we have still had fun!  At 15 months Lily Kate is totally up to no good and we love it.  Here are a few pictures to capture her at 15 months.  She tickles on Cole every chance she gets.  That girl sees her brother and runs toward him to tackle him and love on him.  And he loves that very much!

 She still loves to blow kisses and will do so for minutes on end to anyone and everyone....when she is in the mood.  Ask her for a kiss when she is not in the mood and she shakes her little hand in your face :)

 Lily Kate is all about books right now....especially lift the flap books and touch and feel books.  She will sit and look at her books quietly forever.  It is so sweet.  Lily gets so excited when she lifts the flaps in her books and sees something new.  The funny thing is that at this age Cole would sit in our laps and read and read and read....Lily will bring us a book, crawl in our lap for about 20 seconds while we begin the book.  At that point she will jump up and go get another book to start but not finish.  The only time she will be snuggle and be still and listen to us read to her is bedtime...she could do that for hours if we let her.

 Lily has become totally obsessed with sitting on the furniture.  She and Cole have their own little chairs but she still loves the big chairs.  And this is how she gets up in them.  First she climbs up on the ottoman and then she stretches her legs to the chair and then she pushes up with her arms until she is sitting.  It makes us nervous every time but she seems to have a system going.  If she ever gets stuck she will call for help which is nice :)  She is definitely our dare devil.  Today she climbed up the ladder on the swing set without any trouble (Rhonald was right there with her). 

 We have started letting her use a plate with her meals and every now and then she will try using a spoon.  She typically gets frustrated with the spoon and chooses to use her hands.  The plate is going well and, so far, it has stayed on the high chair tray.  She is growing up so fast!

No matter what the weather is Lily Kate loves to be outside.  She laughs and runs and plays so happily out in the yard.  It is so fun to see her out there these days.  She can even kick a soccer ball with Cole pretty well.  She loves to slide and loves to swing and really, really loves to play in the sand box. 

Lily is pretty quiet.  Cole was speaking in sentences at this point but Lily is more reserved and still just says "mama" and "dada."  She answers questions with nods and shakes of her head and she points.  When she really wants something she points and opens and closes her hand....as if to say "give me that!"  She totally knows what is going on though and I truly believe she simply hasn't had the need to speak yet.  One of us is always there getting her what she wants.  She is so stinkin' sweet it isn't even funny.  Even though we have had a rough few weeks she still puts a smile on our faces every day.

Christmas Day 2011

 This was an action shot of Cole seeing that Santa had actually come to visit on Christmas morning.

What a day!  My day began very early as I woke up at about 5:00 am so excited about seeing the kids on Christmas morning that I could not go back to sleep.  Around 6:30 Rhonald woke up and we heard Cole talking in his room but he knew he should not come out yet.  After a few minutes Rhonald and I could not stand it so we went and got Cole.  He was so excited as he ran down the stairs to see what had happened through the night.  He made sure to check and see if Santa ate his cookies and if the reindeer had enjoyed their snack and then he dove in.  Lily Kate was still sleeping and since she had no idea what was going on we let her sleep in and we enjoyed special time with Cole.  He was having a blast playing and opening, opening and playing.  It worked out perfectly because as soon as Cole was done opening Lily woke up so we had the chance to focus on her.  Even though Cole desperately wanted to play he choose (on his own) to help Lily open her gifts and stocking.  She enjoyed the paper and the excitement but, of course, the gifts were secondary at her age.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing together.  We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and then Rhonald took dinner over to a friend's house - they had just had a baby and planned on frozen pizzas for dinner.  We all had a wonderful day and we were simply pooped by the end of it.  We all curled up together in our pj's and watched Kung Fu Panda 2 before bed.  We read Luke 2 on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas night and talked so much with Cole about the real meaning behind our celebration.  He was so interested and asked so many sweet questions.  As we finally made our way to bed Rhonald and I could not stop smiling as we recalled every moment of watching the kids take in the day.  Merry Christmas to all we pray you had an equally wonderful day!

The Gingerbread House, Reindeer Food and Cookies

Christmas Eve was filled with last minute, important Christmas activities like decorating cookies, building our annual gingerbread house (we are getting much better every year) and spreading out our reindeer food so Santa's reindeer have a snack while Santa is hard at work.  One thing we did this year that we have never done was attend our church's Christmas Eve candle light service.  It was so nice to have time to refocus our attention on what we should be focused on all of the time.  It was a family friendly service so Cole came with us into "big church."  We decided to let Lily Kate go to the nursery and I am so glad we did.  We all got to hold a candle....can you imagine the fight we would have had over that?!  Rhonald's parents came in to town and got to enjoy the "festivities" with us which made it even more special.  It was so much fun watching the excitement build up in Cole.  By bedtime he was beside himself with excitement over everything that was about to happen.  I loved each moment of it and I hope I remember it forever.