Happy Mama

I can't get enough of this....

She Did It!!

We didn't take the camera to swim lessons today, but Rachel jumped off the diving board without the noodle and swam all by herself to the side!! We knew she could do it, but she didn't. She was so excited to see that she could do it without the confidence booster of the noodle. She then slipped on the board and busted her lip, but after a tearful kiss, she jumped off several more times declaring that she didn't need the noodle ANYMORE! =) Yay for Rachel!

I Think She Loves It As Much As I Do....

Kate loves to run around at swim lessons and in general just be silly. She loves to drink all of my diet coke any chance she gets and to play with cups of ice. It has been fun watching her discover things this summer as she plays. I had thought it was going to be super hard to keep her out of the baby pool at the beginning of the summer, but as long as we don't sit right next to it she does really good. Of course we do play in the baby pool every now and then, but I like to keep my eyes on the bigger two as they are learning as well. =) Had to include a few of these... they just make my heart happy.

Swim Lesson Achievements

Noah tends to swim on the diagonal. ;)

Rachel swimming her 25 meters. =)

She was soooo proud of herself when she finally had the courage to just jump!

Noah has loved going off the board for a long time. =)

Noah and Rachel have done an amazing job this summer learning how to swim - I mean really swim. Noah did swim lessons offered by parks & red in Little Rock when he was four, but he hasn't truly known how to swim until now. Rachel also has come a very, very long way this summer and just yesterday swam 25 meters all by herself. She also jumped off of the diving board for the first time ever (albeit with a noodle and after about 10 minutes of standing on the board debating whether or not she was ready) and then we couldn't get her to stop! Noah also loves jumping off the board. Noah can swim 25 meters and is now learning technique with the freestyle stroke. It is our hope that they continue to enjoy swimming and we can put them on a swim team next summer.

8 Cousins = Loud Crazy Fun

Amie's in town with Olivia and David and we all got together today to visit and let the kids play. The kids always, always pick up right where they left off. They have always played so good together. It is amazing how they fall right back in together like they just saw each other yesterday. The splashed in the pool, played on the swing set and in the sand box. I'm glad to see Amie - Still wishing she would move closer to home. Miss you A.

Big Girl Carseat

We moved Kate to her big girl carseat in Doug's car today -- She was absolutely thrilled. When we first put her in the seat, she kept pointing behind her as if to say 'I'm supposed to look that way'. It was really cute. Every time we looked back at her during our drive this morning she was grinning. She is just under 20 pounds and will reach that threshold within the month, so it's time. I'm going to miss carting her around in her baby seat though (never really thought I'd say that...). She is getting so big!

She's Learning... =)

She's learning to be gentle. She's really getting it - and Phoebe appreciates that. ;) ...and really, who wouldn't want to pet that little sweetie???