Swim Lessons

This summer we signed Elle up for her first ever course of swim lessons.  I intentionally picked a class with no parent participation because I'm trying to prep her for preschool this August.  She recently joined a Saturday morning gymnastics class that is also just the kids and their coach...no parents.

The week before her first swim lesson I called our parks and rec office to double check it was just the kids and their teacher, no parents in the pool. 

Here she is all ready for her first class.  

Eric had to work so I was at the pool by myself with Elle and Oliver. I figured Ollie and I would hang out in the lounge chairs and cheer sissy on. Then I noticed every other parent showing up in swimsuits and I started to panic. Thankfully an old friend from high school was there and her son happened to be in the same class so she offered to hang out with Elle in the water. Oliver and I sat right behind Elle on the ledge and I felt like the worst parent alive for the entire class. Elle was scared, didn't really want to participate and I didn't push her at all.  Poor girl was the only one in the water without her mom or dad.

Day 2 I came prepared.  Eric was working so my parents came to hang with Ollie and Elle and I got in the pool. She loved having me hold her in the water but would scream anytime the teacher tried to get her to do anything. Float on her back...no way.  Wear the noodle belt...absolutely not.  It was a lot of clingy to me as tightly as she could and screaming/crying.

Day 3 or 4 were slightly better, still not loving it but getting better about participating.  To get her to go with her teacher I would swim to the other end of the pool so she would go with her teacher and swim to me. On Day 4 she was doing really good, I was able to dunk her, she was having fun.  Then it came time to blow bubbles in the water and she inhaled instead of exhaled and was coughing so much I thought she was going to be sick.  Of course my mind immediately went to a Facebook article I read about secondary drowning (one call to the pediatric hot line after swim lessons and we were good to go :) #momanxiety

Go Sissy go!!

On day 5 they decided to try no parents in the water.  There were normally 4 other kids in her class but on this day it was only her and one other little boy.  They both did amazing! Elle did everything the teacher asked...happily.  She went under water with no tears before or after.   This was by far our best day and it ended with a trip for ice cream. 

The last few days she did good but she was insistent that she did not want to go under water. She didn't learn any real swimming techniques from this class but she is much more comfortable in the water.  She ended up loving her teacher Miss Megan and would talk to her about birds, cheese sticks and anything else that came into her little mind.

This is her laughing.  A bird made a nest in the water slide and Roni's loves her some birds! Side note - she doesn't understand why "beautiful birds" won't let her come say hi, she gets so frustrated that they always fly away.

Overall I'm so proud of this girl. She stuck it out and had some fun too. :)

Helicopter Candy Drop

In May we took the kids to the Rascals game.  It's always fun going to the games but our main reason for going was the helicopter candy drop that was happening after the game.  Elle was so excited she was counting down the days all week.

We got there and Unc bought the kids red clown noses. :)

Elle loves seeing Ruffy Rascal. Things have changed drastically since this visit to the stadium!  

All of the kids were pretty into Ruffy, except Beary...he wasn't a big fan. :)

Mary and I took the kids to run around the playground for a little while...

then stopped at the concession stand.  Best part of baseball games is the food, at least according to me, Elle and Ollie.

Smile if your excited for the candy drop!

Elle picked out her own accessories before the game.  She was also wearing a Frozen bracelet.  I love to see her come out of her room with her jewelry on.  So cute to see what she puts together!

Waiting in line for the candy drop. My mom and dad ended up walking up to the game to watch the kids participate in the candy drop so they helped occupy the kids while we waited in line. 

Once we got on the field and heard the helicopter flying over Bear held his little bag out like they were going to start dropping it right then and there. :)

My girl!

The candy being dropped ended up being a lot Easter Peeps but Elle didn't care! She did such a great job running around grabbing as much as she could! We still have a ton of pink peeps at our house!

Fun night with my babes!

Life Lately

Life lately...

This belly, those buns, the toes. This sweet boy is just too adorable for words.

I usually hang any of Eric's shirts that he doesn't want dried on the staircase. We should have added a hanging rack in our laundry room years ago but we didn't and now we are hoping to sell in a year.  So until then, Ollie will pull all the shirts down and stuff them through the railings until they fall down the stairs. 

Even though he makes messes, he also likes to clean them up!

My girl.  She requested a girls day so we went to Target and Starbucks just the two of us. 

Look at Sissy pose!

Ollie took over Elle's car!

Sidenote...Elle has no idea how to drive this thing.  Driving it along the side of the house to the backyard uses up every ounce of patience I have. If she can't just drive in a constant circle she has no idea what to do.  I need Eric to try to teach her because whatever I'm doing isn't working!

Eric took Elle fishing again so I got to have lunch alone with this cute little guy.  

After baths one night we got out the play dough.  Elle loves the hair cutting set because it came with a pair of scissor just for her. 

Oliver would nonchalantly try to take bites whenever he could. 

This is how I contain these two when Eric is working and I need to take a shower.  They always start out so good but by the time I'm blow drying my hair they are fighting over who gets to hold the iPad. 

My little backseat driver.  When she sees cars she screams "Look out!!".  The other day Eric wasn't wearing his seat-belt and she really let him have it!

Up and out the door for a busy (and chilly) day of errands!

I think that stroller is a bit too small for you, dudes!

If Elle misses a nap she will fall asleep anywhere! I turned on a movie for her while I was cleaning up before bedtime and in minutes she was passed out. 

We went to Ryker's birthday party one Sunday.  Elle isn't a huge fan of slides, at all.  As soon as we walked in Elle climbed this huge inflatable slide before I could explain you have to slide down to get down.  Once she got to the top she had a line of kids behind her and she couldn't climb back down.  I was holding Oliver so I couldn't climb up and help her and anytime I would try to pass Oliver to a friend so they could hold him he would start screaming.  Finally I was able to convince Elle to slide down and that I would catch her.  

This is her face on the way down.

We made quite an entrance to that party!

Oliver loved the farm jump house!

Elle is in the pigtails on the left side of this picture.  She did great during the pizza and cupcake portion of the party...two of her favorite things!

We ordered Chinese food one night and were planning on watching the Blues game (well Eric was, I was planning on sneaking off to our bedroom and watching the last episode of Gilmore girls...Ollie found me though! :) 

This is what Elle thinks of Chinese food.

She loves it, especially lo mein. 

This is what Oliver thinks. 

He hates it.  Oliver is our picky eater and after trying a bite and immediately telling me it's yucky while scrapping it off his tongue I got him a lunchable.  Here is his kicked back enjoying his ham and cheese. 

So proud that he is standing on the coffee table. 

Hensy got to go for a ride with Chay Chay one day when we were doing some bridal shower planning.  When he got in my car he said "this is nice Chay Chay, is it new?".  Nope babe, same car you've rode in before!

Oliver loves brushing his teeth, like really really loooooves it. His toothbrush is in my bathroom and anytime we go in there he starts saying "me me me me MEEE!" because he wants to brush. 

I'm trying to teach him to spit but that's not going over so well. 

Elle's dream of being Peppa Pig and jumping in muddy puddles with yellow rain boots finally came true!

This are two splash machines in the bathtub!  And they both always want to be the one sitting closest to the faucet...Elle usually wins this battle. 

I have noticed lately that Elle is starting to see Ollie as a friend and not just the baby.  Most of the time she still babies him and calls him her "googoo" and it's me and her taking care of him....but lately, at times, it's those two acting crazy together, playing, being silly, becoming friends.  And that is so fun to watch!

Fun at MawMaw & PawPaw's house.

I'm sure Elle is telling Mom a looooong story as I checked out at Von Maur. 

This girl can talk non-stop...and if someone interrupts her story...watch out.  She is not happy!  Sometimes she will say "I'm going to start over" and she does!

A day of shopping really wipes this boy out!

Water table and ice cream on the deck after dinner!

I had originally grabbed a Popsicle for Oliver but this is him trying to hit it out of my hand because he wanted an ice cream cone instead. 

This boy.  I noticed the other day that this black candle holder on the floor is Oliver's hoarding hiding place. Toys, binkies, crayons, even one of Eric's work shirts were found stuffed in here. 

She covered half of the diamond and told me, look it's a triangle! I was so proud of her! I didn't teach her that, not sure who did. 

Whatever night you were supposed to be able to see Mars Elle and I were all cozy in bed when I remembered.  So Eric stayed inside with Ollie and we snick outside with a flashlight, walked to the backyard and looked for it.  I *think* this is it in the picture below, but honestly it might be the moon and a streetlight!  We were never really confident that we found Mars but we had fun trying.

Ollie loves the selfie stick!

This sweet boy had his 15 month checkup.  He weighs 21.8 lbs (10%) and 29 3/4 long (10%).  The picture below is at the doctor's office after his checkup.  He needed a snack and drink after those shots!

His hair is growing like crazy, he love kicking and throwing balls, watching Toy Story and Minions and sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed. :)

His vocabulary is starting to grow, he says "look" a lot! "Go" "Stop" "Mama" "Dada" "More" "Goal" "ucky" - yucky and will shake his head yes. He loves putting his little toes in my face so I can say they are stinky, loves eating blueberries and reading books.  He is just the sweetest little thing. 

Playing a little tune for mama. 

Our little deck is the perfect place to take these two outside but keep them completely contained. 

We celebrated Eric's 32nd birthday with Sugar Fire BBQ and presents.  Ollie was giving the birthday boy some big hugs!