Happy Birthday Cole

Yesterday was Cole's 25th birthday! He is gettin up there! Here is a picture with his birthday pineapple up side down cake.
He loves pineapple so I found this recipe and tried it. It turned out pretty good. Along with loving pineapple I thought I would post 25 things that people may not know about Cole-OK you may know some of them but it was hard to come up with 25 unknown things!!
1. He has a phobia of old food
2. The first diaper he ever changed was Cade's
3. He used to be an extremely shy person
4. He loses things easily (he lost his wallet once while in CA so he missed his flight for this brother's wedding and his parents had to drive down to Vegas to get him. I think that story is hilarious!)
5. Was one of the top wrestlers in the state of Utah
6. Has gorgeous blue eyes
7. LOVES playing sports
8. He took Shan out on a few dates before we started dating (no they did not kiss thank goodness!)
9. Has a fear of heights and deep water
10. When he proposed he flew out to Dallas and surprised me!
11. LOVES watching sports
12. a very loyal friend
13. Loves to share the gospel and is very good at it.
14. Very stubborn
15. Loves the rain
16.Loves drinking soda
17. Hates being late
18. Obsessed with fantasy baseball
19. Did I mention sports?
20. Served his mission in Baton Rouge, LA (his first area was completely destroyed by Katrina)
21. He is a super good daddy-plays Mr. Mom more often than I get to! (to0 bad that doesn't include nursing Cade in the middle of the night!)
22. Favorite color is red
23. Always willing to help others
24. His first name is Gary
25. He said he would never marry a red head (both of his sisters have red hair also!)

Cade

Thanks Grandpa!

Dad found these and bought them for his grandson. They are a little big but he can grow into them. They are the ones that light up when you walk on them. We thought we would try them on. So cute!

Cade at 4 months

Cade has made huge milestones since he hit the 4 month mark. He is 14.8 pounds, 25 inches long and healthy as can be. He is usually a very happy boy and will usually give you a smile and a story if you talk to him. We started feeding him with a spoon for the first time on Thursday. We fed him rice cereal and he was so cute! I was impressed at how much he actually got in his mouth. On Friday when we tried again we couldn't feed him fast enough. So it seems like he likes it-just doesn't always know what to do with his tongue! Here are pictures from his first experience with a spoon.



Also today Cade rolled over for the first time!!! We knew he should start doing it anytime now. We had him sitting in his bouncer and he was kind of twisting around. We thought we would put him on the ground just to see what he would do. We laid him on his stomach and within 30 sec he had turned over onto his back. He did it so fast it took us by surprise! We hurried and got the cameras out. He did it two more times and then was done. Here's the footage.

Congrats Cole!

Thursday and Friday we attended commencement exercises for Cole's graduation. He graduated with a degree in Marriage, Family, Human Development (MFHD). This will led him to his master's program of Marriage and Family Therapy. The ceremonies were excellent. Elder Bednar spoke on Thurs evening about how we should develop a love of learning. It was fun to have family members come celebrate with us -we are all very proud of you Cole! (I thought Cole looked very handsome in his cap and gown!)

Back to Real Life

Last week was my spring break and it was wonderful! I was really needing a break from school. Plus, it meant I got to be with Cade all week all day! Mon and Tues Cole was finishing up the last days of classes and so I just enjoyed myself! I went to breakfast with friends, hung out with Shan, watched Sense and Sensibility (love it!), scrapbooked, read, and of course played with Cade.

Then on Wed Cole and I flew to Kansas so we could look at housing. We found a couple of good apartment complexes and now are just in contact with them as we do paper work and watch vacancies. It was really nice to be able to visit the city where we will be living next. (Manhattan, KA-they call it the "Little Apple") I really liked it and the campus Cole is attending is beautiful. What helped make our visit so nice was the people we stayed with. My dad's cousin Valarie and her family live right in Manhattan. They were such a wonderful family and we had so much fun playing with their kids. They did an excellent job of holding Cade! Thank you so much to them-they really helped make our visit wonderful. We are sad that they will be moving over the summer.

I was worried about Cade on the flights but he did so good!! He either slept or would just sit on my lap and talk and coo and just be a happy little boy! Especially on Saturday-we got lost on the way to the airport and ended up missing our flight. So after a very long day at the airport, 2 stand-by flights, and some tender mercies we were able to get back to Salt Lake. Cade was a trooper through it all! It has been extra hard this week to leave him after being able to be with him so much. But I do feel very rejuvenated after the break and feel like I can make it till the end of the school year still going strong. (Although I do know how many days we have left but who's counting...) I guess because I was feeling so refreshed I guess I was acting different and one of my students noticed and she left this note on my desk. It said:

Dear Mrs. "Ratcliffe"
I think that you and your sister might have switched places.
PS. Let me know
Sincerely, Dorkus (name has been changed)

She is referring to Shanna who teaches in a school 4 minutes away. We have told them that maybe one day we would switch places on them. So I am not sure this was a good thing or a bad thing. Was I acting better or worse? Not really sure but I thought her conclusion as to why I was acting different was hilarious.

Other exciting news:
Cole is finishing up finals and graduates on Fri!!!
Kayla tried out for the 10th grade drill team back home and she made the top position of Captain!! Way to go Kayla!
The 3rd Fablehaven book came out yesterday and Cole bought it for me at the BYU bookstore. I am excited to read it with my class. I read aloud to them the first two and we are hooked. I recommend them. They are good fore adults and children: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (he is an LDS author)
And Cade won the most adorable baby ever award according to his parents!

Daddy and Cade