the ladies' turn...

Monday the girls went swimming in their summer clothing

...and Tuesday was their full winter gear!

(or for El, a coat, 2 pairs of pants, along with hat, mittens & boots that we learned are all a tad too small!  She has been busy growing!!)

ISR swimming - girls in winter gear - 6.25.13 from jniferjoy on Vimeo.

They both did AWESOME!

So proud of them!!!

I asked Dani what it was like to swim in her snow suit.

Her answer:

"it feels like purple!"

ummmm. Okay! :)

Eddie's SUPER silly swim day...

aka : swimming in FULL winter gear!

 on Tuesday Eddie went in with his hat, coat, mittens, snowpants and boots

after wringing everything out and putting it in a trash bag for the ride home we realized it had to weigh at least 25lbs with the water still in it!!

Ed said floating was easy and that his mittens bothered him the most.

SO PROUD of him!

Swimming - Week Three

Week Three Highlights

Eleanor

• doing SO well!!  
• will still get caught up on her leg at times - but is able to get it over while floating on her back
• had her first experiences 'falling' into the pool.  Went into the water & came right up on her back floating!  AMAZING!!!!
• still cries through her lesson...but she flips to her float! :)
• Michael said next week may be her last week!!  We'll see how next week goes - but she's floating!  (next year she'll learn the float & flip to swim that the other kids are doing now)

Eddie

• LOVES SWIMMING!
• floating and swimming - doing awesome!
• worked on swimming to the side of the pool and pulling himself up and out.
• had his first experiences of being dropped into the water in different positions - and came up floating and TOTALLY CALM each time!!  He even had one where he was flipped into the water & came up with a smile!!  My heart was in my throat & I was SHOCKED!  I can only imagine the screaming and panic that would have taken place just a few weeks ago!  
• has been enjoying floating and does his own mini version of the backstroke to get around
• wanted me to buy him a swim shirt so he could be like Mr. Michael
• Monday he is swimming in his summer clothing and maybe Tuesday will be his winter gear!!  Going to have to get his snow pants and boots out of storage!

Dani

• LOVES SWIMMING!  (we go after nap time & today when she asked if it was time to get ready for swimming & I said no - she said, 'awwwwwwe', in her super disappointed voice)
• our speedy little swimmer.  When she gets moving, her head pops up out of the water!  
• doing awesome with her floating and flips - they are smoother and less awkward than the ones she did last week
• sometimes she will try to just tip her head back instead of floating onto her back so she ends up vertical instead of horizontal...sounds like breaking that new habit will be part of next week!

 (this is her goofy float...that really isn't floating)

• working on swimming to the wall 
• still finds it hilarious when she gets people wet with her big kicks
• worked on her 'pops' into the water from the side of the pool - doesn't phase her a bit, she swims to the bar or Micheal's hand - total calm.  It's AMAZING!!

(can you tell I am LOVING these lessons??!?!?)

Swimming - Week Two

Week Two Highlights

Eleanor

• changed to being 1st in the pool instead of last.  Before she would watch her brother and sister swim and cry more and more as it got to her turn.  Going first is helping her be a little less worked up when she get in (still cries...but now she isn't whimpering for 20 min :)
• while she doesn't love lessons, her actions are showing that she is getting more comfortable.  She is no longer thrashing as much and waving her hands as much in the water
• her shoulders and hips are turning in the same direction.  This is HUGE!  Last week her shoulders went one way and her hips the other.  She isn't fighting herself anymore
• she is twisting herself around in the water...AWESOME!!! 
• still gives me the stink eye that breaks my heart.  As much as I want to 'rescue' her - her lessons are just too important.  Totally falls into the 'I'm doing this for your own good' category and 'you'll thank me later'.  A few phrases I remember thinking I'd NEVER use once I had kids.  Oooo! I also heard 'you're building character'.  I've already used that one on Ed. :)

 Eddie

• can we say SIT DIVE?!?  He is so unbelievably proud of himself for this one!!  
• Last week he was doing floating-flipping-swimming, this week it was diving-swimming-floating-flipping-swimming!!!  He swam almost the entire length of the pool!
• LOVES swimming.  (We even have been playing swimming at home...see below :)

 

 Dani

•  last week was floating and swimming...this week...FLIPPING!!  She is now working on her float-FLIP-swim
• finds it hilarious when her splashes get Mr. Michael wet
• She also LOVES swimming and has been disappointed when we haven't been able to go this weekend

 ---------------------------

Eddie and Dani were also super excited to show off their skills to Grandpa & Grandma on Friday.

 And as the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest for of flattery...

Grandpa asked Eddie if he can walk on water yet.  

Eddie said 'no...but Mr. Michael can'.

ISR lessons

So my parents have a pool.

Most people say, 'how awesome!' when they hear that.

I thought that too...until we started to have kids.  

Then it struck fear deep in my core.

When we first talked about moving in for awhile between houses, I started to wake up with panic attacks in the middle of the night.  They would often end with me waking up Mark to calm me down and pray.  (he usually didn't remember this in the morning...but I really appreciate how kind he is after I shake him awake)

After moving in, they kept happening. 

We have special locks on all the doors that go to the pool, don't allow the kids on the pool deck alone and are trying to teach the proper respect, but......my plan of keeping them away from all water just isn't possible.

When my Aunt Jenny posted some swimming lessons on our family FB page, I looked into them.

And signed all three kids up.

Oh my.  We are one week in and I am AMAZED!!!

Amazed in the program & AMAZED at our instructor.

Okay - on MONDAY none of them could swim.  

Eddie was the best in the water...but...I wouldn't call him a swimmer.

By FRIDAY they could do this:

OH MY!!!!

Mark and I are beyond proud of them all!!!

The program is ISR (Infant Swim Resource).
And our awesome instructor is Michael Petrella.

I can not believe what he taught in a week.

This doesn't mean that we are any less vigilant by the water and that I no longer worry, but I am sleeping through the night again.

We are SO excited to see what they learn in the next few weeks!!

(If you can't tell...I HIGHLY recommend this & am SO glad we are doing this.)

And because I am so proud...a few more pictures.

gotta love the STINK EYE she gives me during lessons ;)

It's been a big week.

Dani (and Mama) are jumping for joy

because THIS little girl

 

wears BIG girl undies!!!

 

the secret to our success
has been Hello Kitty undies.

(and I am totally joining in her achievement.
we started last Tuesday and I totally wanted to give up after the 1st morning.
but 24 hours later she had gotten the hang of it and is doing awesome!
We are so proud of her!!! )

 

SHE

has gone from NO interest in walking to this...

amazing!!!

Super proud of her too!!

No milestones for him last week.
He is still our little super hero

and loves to show off his moves!!

Dani Dance Party...a year later

No light show like last year, but still extremely adorable.

Also loving her interest in her tutu.  

She had to wear it to church this morning...under her dress.

She loves chapstick, which she was playing with when she didn't want her picture taken.  Something she has unfortunately learned from her brother [the not wanting her picture taken part - Eddie doesn't care for chapstick :) ].

Dani reading: Fifteen Animals

In case you haven't read this Sandra Boynton book before, 

ALL the animals are named BOB, except for the turtle on the last page. :)

On a cool side note...
Mark had a student with the last name Boynton a few years ago.  

I said he HAD to ask if there was any relation...AND THERE WAS!  

Sandra is her Great Aunt.

I was star struck.

Dani's Dance Party

Dani LOVES to dance.

Music, no music...doesn't matter to her.

She has started to have her own dance parties.

Daddy's alarm clock is within her reach.  She turns it on and rocks out!

She has recently started to add her own lighting affects.

(she is a diaper baby because I took this after church last Sunday.  When she gets home from church she wants her tights off ASAP...Sunday, that wasn't enough.  She wanted her dress off too!)

little boy named David.

 Eddie has been huge into Bible stories lately.

He will be playing & tell me to watch out because right there - (and he will point) - right there is where God will send fire down.  Then he'll tell me to be careful, because it is hot.

His favorite story to re-enact is Little Boy named David

I taped Eddie & Mark playing awhile ago, but have not been able to get it to load until now. :)

 

 (at the end he is singing the Little Boy Named David song.)

lunchtime laughter!

Oh how I love these two!

I don't know why it was so funny,
but I love how they laugh together.

we have a walker!!

We knew it was only a matter of time.  

  She has been able to for awhile now, she just didn't see the need.

A week ago, she took her first steps:

I really need to take a new video - it is amazing how much faster she has gotten!

[she has also started to bend her legs. :)]

Look at her go!!

Dani started walking behind her car...and Daddy caught it on tape!

Dani and her

army/butt wiggle crawl

(I could not believe all the fuzzies on the floor after I uploaded this...no wonder Dani tries to make snacks out of them!  I really do clean! :)

crawling & quoting

Dani is officially crawling!  

 

I am saying it is official now because she has gone the length of the livingroom.  Before she would only do a few pulls before she would roll (she is a very skilled roller).  She has a rather awkward looking army crawl that I am sure will smooth out soon!

In other news, it was only a matter of time before Eddie began quoting movies like his Daddy.  He is a big fan of Wallace and Gromit and has started to say; 'crackin' toast Gromit'.

finding her voice...

Daddy is working really hard to turn the babababaa's to dadadadaa. :)

they make us laugh everyday...

When he thinks no one is listening.

I snuck in and caught Eddie's jabbers after nap time.

squeals & smiles

child of God

On Sunday, Dani was baptized.

It was a very special day for our family. Dani wore my baptismal dress and was wrapped in the blanket that my Dad was baptized in. She was adorable.

In my head I pictured Mark & I holding our children standing before friends and family pledging to bring Dani up in the Lord. While we did do that...I did not anticipate that while Pastor Matt was reading the verses, my silent prayer would be that I would not lose my grip on Eddie.

I hardly heard a word that Pastor Matt said...I am not even positive what I promised to do.

I do know that once Mark & I said, 'we do, God helping us', the words 'a lot' just sprung from my mouth.

We joked after the service that everyone got a good look into our life. At first Eddie wouldn't even sit by us. He had BOTH Grandpas in the sanctuary and did not make it a secret that he would rather be by them. Once he did join us, he squirmed and loudly pointed out the guitar and drums at the front of church. About this time Dani began to cry out in Mark's arms.

This is when I pulled out the fruit snacks and Mark motioned to Matt to speed things up.

When we were up in front of church, Eddie continued to squirm. (now he could see his Grandpas) All we could do was laugh.

This is my favorite picture from the day. I had my arms clamped on Eddie, Dani has her pacifier because she was squirming and Mark is laughing.


The rest of the day was great. We had coffee and cake at church and then immediate family out to Mark's parents' house for lunch. I did a bad job & didn't take pictures - I didn't even get one of the 4 of us. (I had forgotten to get one of the 3 of us at Eddie's baptism and had even told Mark the night before to remind me...but we both still forgot!) It was really nice to sit back and relax with our family.

The service wasn't what I had expected, but it was still perfect. We were able to celebrate Dani with our families and our church family. (And though I did want Eddie to stay by us, I do think it is sweet how much he loves his Grandpas and wants to be with them.)

While Pastor Matt carried Dani around the church so everyone could see her, her slide show played: