Swimming Lessons

This past week, my kids had their first experience with real swimming lessons!  I felt very fortunate that we could take private lessons in my aunt's pool taught by my cousin.  She came with her family to visit from Texas and is not only a fabulous swimmer, but an amazing teacher as well!  I'm so sad she doesn't live here (for many reasons!) because if they could take from her all summer they'd be fish swimmers for sure!  I was amazed at their progress in just one week!

The practiced their kicks:

 and their arms:

 and tried to put the two together

 Here's Madeline's attempt at kicking, doing her arm motions, AND blowing bubbles at the same time.  That many things to think about at once sort of blew her mind.  This picture makes me giggle, she was such a cute little thing out there swimming.

 And here's Ethan, he was really good at sticking his head under water.  I am amazed since he never would have dreamed to do this last year.  They also both got really good at the back float.  Ethan did the back float for 26 seconds without help and Madeline for 15 with a little help.  They also did tummy floats.  Ethan was under for 11 seconds before coming up.

 They also practiced jumping into the pool and learned the idea of treading water.  They dove for toys at the bottom of the pool (or the lower ledges) and worked on gliding and other kicks.  And they learned pool safety.

After lessons, we all joined in the pool and swam for fun.  The kids put on their life jackets and we all had a blast.

 Ethan spent a majority of the time like this:

 it still shocks me every time I think about it because he was SO against his face in the water last year!  And Madeline liked lounging about here:

 Ethan also had fun going down the slide a few times too.

And me, well . . . I have a really lovely lobster colored sunburn to show for it!  Apparently the sunscreen I put on my kids didn't protect me.  haha. I'm recommitting myself to sunscreen because it hurts. so. bad.

What a fun, hot, and wet week we've had!

Baby Quilt

I finished my baby quilt!  It was so fun to make, but I can't take all the credit this time around . . . I took it to be quilted at The Quilt Shop by my house!  Best $30 I've spent in a while! 

 When I got the quilt back, I bound it and then added this little elephant on the back corner.  I made the pattern off a picture of a mobile I saw online!

 I'm currently copying the mobile too . . . but until that's done, I'll just snuggle with the blanket!

June Ballerina

This week, I got to go and watch Madeline in her ballet class again.  Visitors are allowed to come in on the first class of each month.  Ethan came with me and we had fun watching our little ballerina dance.

 There really are lots of cute girls in tutus in Madeline's class . . . I just know how to crop them out.  :)

 I like this one a lot:

 And lest you think that she just sits on the floor during class, here is one of her doing a plie:

Done with Kindergarten!

This week, Ethan finished kindergarten!  He was excited for his last day:

 and was excited to give this card to his teacher:

 I really liked his card and was impressed that he came up with the whole thing himself.

 When school was over, he told me he was really excited and happy but that he also felt funny.  We took a picture of him by the school's sign because he won't be going to South Jordan Elementary anymore.  First grade will bring a new schedule with longer days and lunch at a new school.

I'm so proud of him!  What an awesome student he turned out to be!  I always knew he was smart, but at the beginning of the year wondered if he'd get bored and decide he didn't like school much.  But that didn't happen.  On his final report card, his teacher's comment at the bottom said, "Ethan is a rare student who has incredible skills but never puts himself above others.  He is a delightful student who finds joy in all he does."

Yes, that's the kind of thing I like to be proud of.  May he always be a delightful student, may he always find joy in school, and may he never put himself about others!

First grade, here comes Ethan!

24 Weeks

Ethan took this picture of me this morning.  It was the first time I let him use my "real" camera instead of the point and shoot.  Kind of heavy for him, but he did pretty good.  Mostly focused and he sure thought that was fun!

And me, well . . . I don't think I was this big until 30 weeks with my others.  I guess that's kind of expected with your third though.  He kicks me constantly!  I've got a very active little guy coming.  He's most active in the early morning hours too, so he'll probably be like Ethan is and wake up at the crack of dawn.  Better than staying up until 2 AM though!  Of course he'll probably do that at first too.

I've got the paint colors for the nursery picked out and the crib came!  I love it!!!  The quilt is almost done too and I started the mobile.  Fun stuff!

Good News!

I just got back from my third ultrasound and not only is all going well with the little babe, but he's doing even better than last time!  The blood was flowing slower through his brain today than the last ultrasound which is very very good - he's not even close to being anemic!

We could use some good news after this past weekend!

I still have to go back in two weeks (June 19th) for another, but I think they might let me go three weeks after than if he's still doing this well.  I think he will be.  Today I feel like he probably doesn't even have the blood complication.

And my hubby . . . he's doing a bit better today too.  A long way to go still, but it's encouraging when he can notice that he does, in fact, feel better than yesterday in certain ways.  Helping him change the bandages still makes me queasy but it does look a little tiny teeny bit better.  And that, we will take!

When Ouch! is an Understatement

I drove my husband to the emergency room yesterday.  He had his finger wrapped in a bloodied cloth and was going into shock.  Somehow, trying to open one of those impossible plastic packages with a knife, he managed to almost amputate the tip of his finger off.  My stomach was a mass of flip flops and it wasn't even my finger.  I just kept praying that he'd be okay and be able to keep his finger tip.

Sitting in the waiting room of the ER was the worst.  He was in a wheelchair and so pale.  I wanted to scream, "Take him back!  I don't care if someone is ahead in line, take him PLEASE NOW!"  The wait wasn't too long, but it felt like it was.

The kids and I stayed in the waiting room while he went back.  Ethan wanted to make sure Daddy wouldn't die and I was beyond grateful that I knew the answer to that one.  We ate chips from the vending machine and the minutes passed slowly.

We went back to visit him after he was stitched up.  He has stitches around the whole finger tip with one going straight through his fingernail.  It had come so close to getting cut all the way off.  My stomach is still nauseated thinking about it.  He'll have to wear a huge bandage for the next ten days, but I can't imagine it will be better enough by then to want to stop wearing bandages then.  It will be a long road, but in the end I think his finger will be okay.

Meanwhile, he can't write or type much.  It's his first finger on his right hand.  I'm sure that will make work in the coming weeks really great for him.

I'm just really glad he's okay.  Glad his finger will be okay.  Glad no one passed out!  Glad I have a wonderful husband.

 May today be forgettable in the most comfortable way.