Spencer & Kassie Searle

We Have Moved...

2010-02-18T22:38:00.002-07:00

OUR BLOG HAS MOVED - VISIT US HERE

http://www.spottedcloud.com/

Bookmark our new site, and update the link on your own blog

Pics and Videos

2009-10-21T13:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know it has been like two months since the ER visit, but Christopher has another reaction last weekend so I thought I would post the pictures from the ER so you could all see how he looks. This last weekend he was so red and had hives on his back, neck, and legs. This time he throw up twice. Since we knew what was happening we just treated him at home. We gave him some medicine and let him sleep it off. He was fine by morning.

When we first got to the er.

After the nurse attached the wrong sensor, so he had one on each foot, one to play with and one to actually watch his stats.

Just hanging out on the bed playing.

Eating the sensor.

Waiting for the doctor to come back.

Topher got tired of waiting so he just went to sleep, it was about 11.

Ah, the memories of our first ER visit.

I have also attached some videos of Topher. Enjoy.

This is a video of Topher pushing stuff down the stairs at my parents house, this is a new fun game.

This is a video of Topher's first time crawling. He has been moving around on his belly for a while but never on his knees. All of a sudden this night he just got on his knees and started crawling. He crawls everywhere now.

This is all for now, I will update again soon. Til next time.

Happy Late Birthday Topher

2009-09-13T00:48:00.000-06:00

I know it has been to long since my last post, this summer has been crazy. Between school, work, friends, and family I think July and August only lasted about a week, well that is what it felt like anyway. Since my last post Christopher turned 1, we started school again, and had our first trip to the ER with Topher.

First this first Topher turned 1 on July 30, we had two parties for him, one with the Spicer family and one with the Searle family. Lucky kid he got two cakes and two sets of presents. We had two cakes at each party, one for Topher and one for the rest of us. The Spicer party was first, the Sunday before his birthday, he was not so sure about touching the cake. Spencer put his hands in the cake and Topher just shook his hands to get the frosting off. He did not eat much of that cake.
The second party with the Searle's was much more eventful. Topher knew what to do this time so he dug right into the cake and played with the frosting. He was so funny, he kept trying to give his cousin knuckles. At both parties we opened presents before the cake, he got lost of fun toys and cute clothes. We had so much fun at both parties.
Next, Spencer and I have both started school again for fall semester. This is Spencer's LAST semester. YAH. He is so excited to be done with his Bachelors degree. We start applying for graduate school in October and November, his first choice is still Carnegie Melon in Pittsburgh. We should know where we are headed by the beginning of next year. Spencer is excited to apply for a program with in Carnegie Melon that will move us to Australia for the first year of his degree then to Pittsburgh for the second year. I am nervous but know if it is where we are meant to go we will end up in Australia, we'll see. I am only taking one class again, just to keep my brain active and keep working on my degree. It is keeping my busy but manageable.

While we were at a friends house, Topher started getting red spots on his face and neck. After about 10 minutes he started to breath funny so after some advice from my brother we decided to take Topher to the hostpital to see what was wrong. We went to the IMC ER to have him looked at. He seemed to be content, not fussy or in pain, so they took us back to a room and put an oxygen monitor on his big toe. After the nurse got this monitor on she relized it was the wrong type and did not plug into the machine to monitor him so she went to get another one. The nurse did not take off the first monitor and just used the other big toe so Topher had a monitor on each toe. He thought this was great and played with the one not monitoring. He just sat on the bed and played with us while we waited for the Doctor to come check him out.

It ended up that he was allergic to something we fed him. The Doctor could not tell us what as babies allergies very, we are thinking the strawbarries. They gave him some benadryl, and we just sat and waited to see if that fixed it. By the time the Doctor remembered he was supposed to talk to us it was like midnight and Topher had decided he was ready to go to sleep. Everything is fine now, we just keep Benadryl in the diper bag now just in case.

Right now Spencer is on a Mancation with three of his brothers in Portland deep sea fishing. From what I have heard they are having a great time. I sure we will have tons of pictures to post when he gets back. Well now that I have updated the blog I am off to do homework, since Topher is still sleeping.

Til Next Time.

Catch Up Time

2009-07-01T20:29:00.000-06:00

Okay I know, it has been a long time since I have updated... Sorry!!! Live has been so crazy since our last post, Spencer and I both started school, which keeps us pretty busy. So Spencer works all weekend at the hospital, then all week at the Ranch, while attending classes, doing homework, and being a father and husband. He can't wait until August for a little few days off.

I am only taking one class this semester but it is keeping me plenty busy. I only have class once a week but the reading and homework is taking longer than I remember. I don't want to abandon Christopher during my studies so I only do homework while he is napping. I used to nap with him but now I have to much work to do, homework, housework, etc, etc. It is crazy the laundry still does not fold itself.

Since I am in school one night a week, Spencer and Christopher have a boys night every week. They have so much fun they go on walks, go shopping, and just hang out. Sometimes they have so much fun Christopher is already asleep by the time I get home.

Christopher is growing up so fast I can believe he is already 11 months old. I am sure he gets taller every day. We keep getting asked "how many teeth does he have", and "is he crawling yet"? The answer is none and no. Until Friday, there were no teeth, we saw one popping out on the bottom. It is not all the way through yet but it is trying. Every time I try to look at it he just sticks his tongue out to cover it.

He still is not crawling, he is just happy where ever he is at. If a toy is to far away he just finds one closer or just plays with his feet. We put him on his belly and he just turns in circles, but will not get up onto his knees. I think he might just be a walker. He loves to walk with us.

We took some pictures of Toffer in the bath, he was playing with his Nemo fish and started eating it, Spencer is sure this is the first step to Sushi.

We are so excited for Christopher to turn 1. This year has gone by so fast!!! It seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. I just know before to long he will be 8, then 16, then 19. I know I am getting ahead of myself but he is growing up so fast.

I forgot to mention the cake that Spencer made... Here are some pictures, it took like three hours and the whole thing is cake and frosting. It was actually really good.
Well that is all for now... Til next time.

Happy 8th Anniversary

2009-05-18T14:37:00.000-06:00

Today is Spencer and my 8th anniversary. I can not believe we have been married for 8 years it seems like just yesterday we were getting our pictures taken at the Temple after we were sealed for time and all eternity. I could not have found a better companion to spend my life with. Here are a few pictures of us together for your enjoyment.

This is our engagement day when Spencer asked me to marry him.

These are a few of our engagement photos used for the wedding.

Here are a few pics from our wedding during our dance.

This was our honeymoon, we went to Disneyland and had a great time.

Random pics of us together.

This was our tip to Mexico.

More random pics.

Us with the pups.

Our family before the University of Utah.

Our family now.

It was so much fun looking over all our memories, but hard to pic just these few pictures of us together. Spencer I love you so much and thank you for all you do for me, Christopher, and our little family.

Til Next Time.

It's Official - Christopher is a Searle

2009-05-09T19:14:00.000-06:00

We went to Christopher's 9 month doctors appointment and he has grown even more, I know can he get any bigger? Well he weighted in at 24 lbs 2 oz and was 29 3/4 inches. He is getting so big. His doctor told us he looked so healthy and happy. And this is so true, he is the happiest baby I have ever been around.

Christopher has figured out a new trick with his binky. He thinks this is so cool that he can flip his binky in his mouth. He will just sit with this binky turned like this and continued to grunt and talk with the binky in his mouth.

Well it is official Christopher is truly a Searle - he has figured out his tongue and that it sticks out when ever his binky is not in his mouth. I have put in some pictures so you can see how cute he is. You can see the drool dripping from his chin. The other night I got Christopher ready for bed I left him playing with his socks and went to get the clothes out of the dryer when I came back into the family room this is what I found....

Til Next Time.

First Easter

2009-04-22T14:49:00.000-06:00

Well I know it has been over a week since Easter but I am a little slow posting to the blog. We had alot of fun on Christopher's first Easter. Saturday we colored eggs with all the grand kids, it was fun to see all the different eggs they created. Christopher got
mostly clothes for Easter because obviously he can't have candy yet. On Easter Christopher got to wear his new church outfit then we went down to my moms house for dinner and the egg hunt. The kids had so much fun finding the eggs. I have put in lots of pictures. Enjoy.Til Next Time.

Our Big Boy

2009-03-12T17:13:00.001-06:00

We recently took Christopher to an eye doctor to have his eyes checked. Christopher's P.T. therapist thought he saw Christopher's eyes dart when were had our last appointment, and thought we should ask our pediatrician about it so we did at his 6 month appointment. He suggested that we see an eye doctor to be safe so we did. We where in the office for like 1 and 1/2 hours, we were so done by the end of the appointment. The doctor examined Christopher's eyes and everything looks good, his eyes are well developed for his age.

We feed Christopher peas for the first a few days ago and he did not like them at first but ended up eating them just fine. We will be starting fruit tonight, I think Christopher will really like it. He is happy to eat just about anything right now. He loves all the veggies we have given him so far.

The other night Spencer was playing with Christopher and we actually got him laughing on tape. This is an odd occurrence because usually as soon as we pull out the camera he just stops doing what ever he is doing and watches the camera. I have attached the video, hopefully you can hear him laughing.

Christopher is sitting up on his own now. One day I laid him on his boppy pillow when I came back he was sitting up. I was so surprised to see him sitting. From them on he just understood how to control his balance when he sat. He loves to sit and play with his toys. He still has not mastered crawling but he will lay on his belly and kick his legs so fast, but he has learned how to change directions while on his belly.

We are all doing well. Spencer has spring break next week, it will be nice for him to have a little break. I am sure he will still be so busy but at least he will not have to worry about school for the week. February was a crazy month, I think that at least one of us was sick the whole month. We just seemed to pass a cold back and forth the whole time, we are finally getting back to normal.

Spencer is trying to teach Christopher to say "Da Da" or "Daddy" it is so cute every time Spencer starts saying it Christopher just smiles and looks at him trying to figure out how to say it. He was mouthing it the other night but no sound was coming out.

Til next time.

New Food

2009-02-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

We took Christopher to his 6 month doctors appointment and found out he is 20 lbs 10 oz and 27 1/4 inches long. He is getting so big so fast, the doctor told us we need to put Christopher on baby food so we started him with carrots. He was not sure at first but he is liking them more now. Here is a little video of Christopher eating.
Christopher is starting to tuck his knees up when he is on his tummy. He is will only roll over every once in a while he is so content just laying either on his tummy or his back. We bought him a little "Bumbo" seat that he loves to sit in. He can sit up and play with his toys.

Spencer is doing well in school so far this semester, but looking forward to spring break. The count down is on, he only has 5 more classes until graduation. He is so excited, and so am I.

Well I guess that is all for now.

Til next time.

6 Months and Counting

2009-01-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

I can not believe Christopher was 6 months old yesterday!!! So much has happened in the last month so many new 1st for him.

I first have to start by saying I am sorry for not updating anything for a month I will try to be better in the future. I always thought when I had a baby and stayed home all day I would have more time to do little things like update my blog, scrapbook, work on blankets, etc. but I almost feel like I have less time to do more. Crazy.

Well to start the month off Christopher finally accomplished a roll over. He rolled from his tummy to his back. (He still refuses to roll from his back to his tummy). I have attached a clip so you all can see. He really does not know what he is doing I think the weight of his head pulls him over.

Next Christopher tried cereal. He was more interested on eating the spoon not the cereal so we tried it in his bottle and he is loving it. We will try with a spoon again soon to see if he will actually eat the cereal or the spoon. I have attached a clip for you to see that also.

That same day Christopher graduated from P.T. The therapist said Christopher's neck was strong enough on both sides to graduate. We were so excited that he has done such a good job getting strength in his neck.

Last but not least Christopher turned 6 months old yesterday. I can not believe he is already 1/2 a year it only seems like yesterday he was a newborn in my arms. Now he is like a toddler in my arms. We go to the doctor next week for our 6 month appointment so we will see how much he has grown since his 4 month appointment.

Well I will update the blog with more pictures a bit later and tell you how the doctors appointment goes them.

Til next time.

Christmas!!!

2008-12-26T17:46:00.001-07:00

I just have to start by saying how much I love Christmas!!! I love all the lights and decorations, I love the snow as long as I don't have to drive in it or feel the cold. I like the snow when I am inside and house watching it fall .

It has been a while since I updated so I will catch you up. Christopher has another P.T. appointment on the 23rd. The therapist said Christopher is progressing well, his head difference has dropped down to a 7mm. The therapist wants him down to a 5mm by 6 months. We will work harder this month to achieve that goal.

Also, a few nights ago Spencer was holding Christopher and decided he wanted to try something different to put Christopher to sleep. He said "Do you trust me?" Of course I said "yes." I wrapped Christopher in his blanket (which he loves) and Spencer took him into his room and put him in his bed, looked at me and said "give him 12 minutes before you come back into his room." I agreed and I sat on my bed listening to the monitor. After a few minutes Christopher stopped making noise so Spencer let me go check on him and he was asleep. Now you mother out there are most likely cheering, but I am a little strange in the fact that I love to rock Christopher to sleep. There have only been a few nights in his entire life that I have not rocked him to sleep. This is my favorite part of being a mother. I would just sit and rock with him all day if I could and he would let me. I am so proud of Christopher, he is such a good baby but Spencer said I would only have to do that once a week so I could continue rocking him.

Christmas was so much fun this year. We spent Christmas Eve at Kassie's moms house for dinner and presents. It is a Spicer tradition to have steaks and home made french fries. We had so much food it was so good. All the kids were there and it was so much fun. Right before dinner was ready we had a surprise visit from the Big Jolly Man himself. The kids were so cute they were excited and all had a chance to sit on his lap to put in any last request for presents. He talked with all the kids then left. We all stuffed our faces and then exchanged presents with all the kids. Then Grandma and Grandpa distributed the grandkids presents. He got P.J.'s and toys and stuffed animals. After we all exchanged we all parted to head for home to go to sleep. We woke up Christmas day and had just enough time to feed Christopher and get ready then headed down to Spencer's moms house.

We had breakfast and then exchanged gifts with the Searle family. Christopher go a cute blanket that Grandma Judy made for him with snowmen on it. Then in usual Searle fashion the women went upstairs and the men stayed in the basement playing Xbox and Wii. We all hung out and had lunch later on in the day then cleaned up and the men played some more games and the women talked upstairs. We had so much fun all together for the holidays. After we were at Grandma Judy's all day we went home and put Christopher right to sleep.

Today is Spencer's Birthday!!! Happy birthday to you dad. Christopher and I woke up and made him breakfast and then came down to the valley to hang out with Spencer's family again. We have had so much fun the last few days with the families.

I must say again how much I love the holidays and Christmas!!!!

Til next time.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

So Christopher has his first Thanksgiving and of course he won't remember anything, and he didn't even get to eat. We all go to sleep in and Spencer was so happy that he got to get Christopher out of bed, he is usually at school when Christopher wakes up. So we all got ready and headed down to the Spicer's house to visit for a bit before the meal. It was great to visit before my mom had already put up all there Christmas decorations and it was so nice to see all the lights and nativity scenes. We eat our 1st Thanksgiving dinner at about 12:30 then we all sat around and talked while Christopher took a nap with Uncle Mark and the kids and Spencer played the Wii. After we got everything cleaned up we packed up and went to Scott's house for our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner, we eat at about 5:00. After the feast the boys and dads played the Wii some more and the girls put mostly everything away. We had such a great time at both houses and we eat so much food, but it was great. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!!!

Christopher turned 4 months on the 30th and we went into our pediatricians appointment to had him weighted, measured, and immunized. Christopher is growing so fast I can't believe it. At his check up he weighted 17 lbs 10 oz and was 26 inches long. That puts him the high 80th percentile for all categories. The doctor was really pleased with his growth and said it was our choice if we wanted to add rice cereal and fresh fruits and vegetables to his diet. I think we are going to wait for a little while and see how it goes. He is not upset and only eats 3 times a day, so until he starts acting like he needs more food we are going to wait, probably only a month or so.

We also had P.T. this week and the theropist is really excited about his progression. He has got great range of motion and is holding his head correctly now so he don't have another appointment until right before Christmas. I can't wait for Christmas this year it will be so fun with Christopher even thought he will be to little to remember anything it is still his 1st Christmas. I put all my decorations up, and realized it is a good thing I don't have a lot of Christmas stuff because I don't have much room to decorate.

Til next time.

Our Little Boy

2008-11-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is actually getting very big. We went to another P.T. appointment and the therapist said we only have to go back every three weeks now because Christopher is doing so good with his range of motion. We will continue on the three week schedule until he is about 5 1/2 months then we will evaluate his progress and decide if he needs any more P.T.

Christopher has had a few growth spurts the last few days and has been really upset during the day but I think we are past them for probably another week or so. He is getting so big he smiles so much when we talk to him and he is starting to try and sit up. We will put him in his Boppy pillow and he will pull his head forward like he is trying to sit straighter. Spencer sat him on the couch and but the Boppy in front of him and he loved it. He sat for about 30 minutes just looking around and playing with his rattle.

Grandma and Grandpa Spicer went to Disneyland last week and got the cuties toys for Christopher. While they were gone Christopher and I stayed at their house to watch the dogs and the house. It was kind of crazy having more than 3 rooms to be in. We had a lot of fun at grandma's house.

We have our four month appointment the first week of December I am so excited to see how much he has grown.

Til Next Time.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T13:15:00.001-06:00

Well Christopher turned 3 months on the 30th of October. I can not believe it has already been 3 months, it seems like just yesterday he was born. He is growing so fast. Here he is on his 3 month day as Spencer called it.

Yesterday was Christopher's first Halloween. He really didn't care but Spencer and I bought him a little Chili Pepper costume. He was so cute!!! We got it from Target and it fit pretty good last week but when we put it on him last night it was a little tight. So we decided he would be our little "Stuffed Pepper".

We went to my moms house and her neighborhoods "Trunk or Treat" and passed out candy to all the little kids. It was alot of fun. After the "Trunk or Treat" we went to Grandma Judy's house to show off our little Pepper. We stayed for a while then went back to Grandma and Grandpa Spicer's house to get pictures with all the grand kids in their costumes. They were all so cute.

We put Christopher it the pot to take pictures he was not happy - he was tired of the costume and wanted it off. As soon as we took it off he stopped crying and was just looking around at everyone. After we took the costume off we put on the hat Judy made for him. It is kind of hard to see but it is a pumpkin. It is so cute on him.

Last week my whole family got together to get our picture taken. It was so crazy trying to get all the kids (and adults) to look at the camera for a good picture. We got pictures of just the grand kids together then the whole family, then Spencer and I got our family pictures taken with Christopher. He was just crying and crying. We finally got him calmed down enough to get a few good ones of all three of us. It was an adventure, I can't wait until December when we get to do it all over again with all of Spencer's family.

Til next time.

P.T. Part II

2008-10-29T11:29:00.001-06:00

Christopher and I went to his second P.T. appointment yesterday. The therapist was very impressed with his improvement over the last week. Christopher and I have been working on his stretching after each feeding. The therapist gave us some new exercises to do to increase Christopher's neck strength.

The therapist worked with Christopher for about 45 minutes and by the end he was so tired. He was starting to get fussy and did not want to play any more. After the appointment we went to visit Judy and Christopher feel asleep in her arms in just a few minutes.

Christopher is getting so big and starting to smile and play with Spencer and I more. He is very picky about his sleep time if we interrupt his naps he gets very upset and cries until we rap him back up. I am so glad he is such a good sleeper.

We have another appointment next Tuesday, I will let you know how things go. Also I will update with pictures of Halloween... I am so excited for his first Halloween - he is going to be a chili pepper and is so cute!!!

Til next time.

Physical Therapy

2008-10-23T16:07:00.000-06:00

When we went to our two month appointment our pediatrician noticed Christopher was looking to his right much better then to his left, and might have torticollis or a tight neck muscle. We went to a therapy session on Tuesday to have Christopher checked out. Our therapist did a complete work up on Christopher and determined that he has a mild case of torticollis and Plagiocephaly. Basically he has a tight muscle in his neck causing him to have a mis-shaped head. Because Christopher looked to the right more often for the first two months the right half of his scull is a little more forward than the left half.

After the therapist did some exercises with Christopher he told us that we will be able to stretch his muscles and adjust his scull shape by a few simple stretching exercises at home and watching closely that Christopher looks to his left. If we do the exercises as prescribed and have him sleep looking to his left the problem should be corrected by the time he turns 6 months.

Christopher has found his hands and is now playing with them and trying to grab things. He is so cute when he plays now, he gets so excited he kicks his legs and coos so loud. I have so much fun just watching him look around and try to figure everything out.

We will keep you updated on the therapy and how Christopher is progressing.

Til next time.

Two Month Appointment

2008-10-08T11:05:00.000-06:00

When Christopher was born he weighted 8 lb. 12 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long, but when we left the hospital he was down to 8 lb. 6 oz. We went to our first appointment when Christopher was 5 days old and had gained 2 oz.
By the time we went to our 2 week appointment Christopher had grown almost two pounds and a whole inch. We just had our two month appointment and he weighed in at 14 lb. 4 oz. and 24 inches long. He is growing so fast I can practically see the difference day by day. This is our little pill bug, napping through his tummy time.

Christopher is now smiling and making noises when we talk to him. It is so cute when Spencer comes home he will say hi to Christopher and Christopher will get so excited and smile at Spencer. He is also starting to follow us with his eyes and head when we walk around him.

He is so interested in all the world around him, when we go on our walks his face is so cute, he looks mesmerized by all the new sites and sounds. He can usually only take about a half and hour then he has to take a nap to process it all. He loves to sleep while I finish the walk and will open his eyes a few times to make sure everything is still out there.

Blessing Christopher

2008-10-07T22:51:00.000-06:00

We blessed Christopher on September 7th 2008. He was wearing the same outfit that Spencer was blessed in. The onesie was a little long but fit his big belly. Those are even the same shoes that Spencer wear when we was little. He looked so precious!!! It was great to see the support from our family and friends. We had a lunch after to visit with everyone and of course eat.

After the lunch everyone went home and Spencer took Christopher and put him to sleep so I could take a nap.

We all sleep too long and were late for dinner at my moms house. By the time we got home Christopher was exhausted again so I put him right to sleep.

Introducing Our Baby

2008-09-22T16:55:00.000-06:00

We had our baby boy on July 30th he was 8 pounds 12 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.

It was a great surprise during delivery because we did not find out the gender during the pregnancy.

We named our little boy Christopher Tyler.