The Results Are In: Can Paige Swim?

We survived our 2 weeks of swim boot camp for Paige! I can definitely confirm that this class is a lot easier when 1) you just take 1 kid, 2) you aren't pregnant, and 3) that one kid isn't Trent. {grin}

Upside: Paige definitely handled lessons better than both Trent and Drew did even though she was younger than both of them. I would say this is because of 2 things - first, Paige LOVES being in water, and second, she is much more of a 'chill' kid - very easy-going and happy. She cried about 50% of the first class, and she never cried after that. A few days in, she was jumping in and was smiling and loving every class! Made for a much less-stressful situation than our first time.

Bribery? What's that?

Downside: She's not as strong of a swimmer as Drew was by the time she finished which I think is just due to her age, definitely not lack of effort! We won't compare her to Trent since he was killing it by the end of class, ha. But while Drew was still somewhat nervous and didn't love class, she advanced more than Paige did by the end.

BUT the reason I wanted to do this early in the summer is that we'll have the entire summer to practice, and I really expect a lot of progress by the end of summer. We swim many times a week, and all she wants to do is jump off the side and swim to us! Where she struggles is kicking, she hasn't quite figured out how to do that consistently, but she's improving every time!

Her best kicking!

I'm excited to see how strong she gets by the end of the summer - I don't expect to trust her in the water, but it'll be nice to have some confidence that if she fell in unsupervised {God forbid} she could get back to the side.

Swim Lessons: The Second Time Around

*Did anybody start singing the Step By Step theme after reading that title? 

I started singing it as I wrote it, ha.*

We survived Day 1 of Swim Nazi swim class for the second time! After having done this with Trent and Drew, 'surviving' was about all I hoped for. {grin}

I've been so nervous about how this was going to go - on one hand, Paige LOVES to be in the pool - like jumps to me with hardly any fear, splashes like crazy, doesn't mind going under water, but on the other hand, she's not even 2.5 and this class is pretty intense. The last couple of days I've been sick to my stomach thinking about it and just praying all would go well.

We swam both Sunday and Monday which I was hoping would help her feel confident because I kept putting her under water. Well, she had a blast playing but then started saying 'I don't want to get my face wet.' Uhhhhh... So that didn't help my anxiety, but I just kept talking about what a big girl she is and how she was going to learn to swim like a fish...

Patriotic swimming

So on the way to lessons yesterday, she kept saying she didn't want to get her face wet, and I told her how important swim lessons were and it was my job to keep her safe, and she seemed okay - not great but okay. I also told her we could get a cake pop, she could have gum, she could watch Play-doh - yes, I went overboard!

During the actual lesson, she did better than I thought she would which was SO awesome...but she did scream her head off about half the class which was super sad. The first couple of times she 'swam' she didn't cry at all and would give me a high 5 when she came out of the water, but you could tell she was more in shock than actually okay with what was going on. Then she told me she needed to potty and I kept delaying her {she had gone before class started}, and that's when the wheels fell off. She was CRYING SO HARD - it was really difficult for me to stay positive and keep encouraging her when I just wanted to cry with her. But I kept telling her how awesome she was and how brave and strong she was, and she kept on taking her turn!!

She was so proud of herself when class was over and said 'I did good in my swim lessons' and seems to be okay with knowing we are going back today... With Trent and Drew the second day was at least 50% better and by the 3rd day they were both done crying. Fingers crossed for Paigey! You know I'll share video as soon as I can! {grin}

She survived! And gets to ride home in Drew's seat!

{From the} Weekend Wordless Wednesday

Life Lately

I haven't done a Life Lately post in a while, and I have lots of randomness to share.

My friends, who own Southern Peach, got invited to be on a local news show, and I was asked to be one of the models {hahaha}. We had such a blast!

 Dinner with this girl always fills up my cup!

My in-laws' new house finally getting started! Can't wait!!!!!

Brent's cousin and his family came into town with their boat, and we went out on the lake one day. So much fun just relaxing and enjoying good family time.

Poor Paige had to stay home with our nanny, ha! 

Sweet cousins

A new take on double fisting {green beans and a toothbrush}

Snow cones and popcorn at the pool

Paige got to snack on goggles

It took Rhett less than 4 months to overcome his 2 pound birth deficit from Paige and overtake her.

4th of July parade in our neighborhood - don't you love my patriotic children?

Friends in the parade!

When I graduated from college, Brent's mom gave me a sewing machine. I always wanted to learn how to sew, and she was going to teach me. 14 years later, we started our first project together - matching dresses for the girls!

Working on my July workout goal! It's hot in Texas. {grin}

'Mom, will you get me some water? With a straw. A blue straw.'

Wants to crawl sooooo bad!

Pure sweetness

3 kids in the grocery store - rocking this motherhood business!

And Paige's first time in the cart. She didn't like it at first, so for a while I was carrying her while pushing the cart. But she warmed up to it!

Glitter slime

First time at VBS, she's growing up so fast.

More cousin time. I love that Paige is eating with the big girls!

Someone is about to get an appliance to work on his tongue thrust...

This should be fun for us all. :/

More pool shenanigans with this crew

Drew's first selfie!

Summer is hard work - staying up late, lots of swimming...

Brent was in a golf tournament this past weekend, and I let the bigs sleep with me.

We went to a family reunion on Saturday. These 2 are such goobers.

She keeps pulling her headbands down and eating them.

I love that she looks like a horse with a bit between her teeth, ha.

He taught her how to play Minecraft. I love when they play together nicely.

They used to ALWAYS play together and were almost always sweet.

Now? Not so much!

{Tattoos courtesy of Saturday's family reunion. Trent wore a tank top to show them off!}

Summer is flying by - I can't believe we have just over 1 month left. Lots more to pack in though!