Swimming Lessons

Where do I even start? I’m super glad we did this… but who knew swimming lessons could be so intense at this age??!!! I remember taking Rowan to water babies when he was 7 months old. You know… singing, splashing around in the water…and a little bit of going under (which scared me enough). Well I had been wanting to get Rowan back in the water for awhile now and heard through the grapevine about a local lady who has a pool at her house and has been teaching for over 20 years. Apparently  “everyone and their mom” know about her, and she’s the best.

My mom committed to watching Isla twice a week for 6 weeks during the lesson which was SO nice and helpful. Also kind of special for me to have the time with just Rowan.

So the gal who teaches is like a freaking marine. I am not kidding. There’s no introduction, no “hi, hello, how are you?” but she means business and I actually really liked her by the end. We started out with moms in the pool for our class but by lesson #4, she kicked us out. There was ALWAYS some kid bawling his eyes out the entire time. She would stop and yell, “YOU KNOW  I DONT LIKE CRYING! STOP BEING A BABY!!!” among other things. I’m not even making this up. Totally intimidating. It’s also hard for me because we do things SO differently with our parenting style. I’m not into crying, or making Rowan tough it out. He actually really liked her though but when it was time for us to get out, he kind of freaked out. I basically sat at the edge of the pool and held his hand, coaching him through. He would say, “ Let’s talk mommy” when it wasn’t his turn with the teacher. So..I would talk to him about what we had done that weekend…or later that day. It was actually kind of sweet and a good way to distract him. He really learned a lot though. He can tread water on his own, knee dive, and jump off the diving board. The teacher asked if we were signing up for the next, and last session for the summer. My answer? No… lol. I think we had all we could handle but I would honestly take him next summer.  I think it was also pretty good for him to be pushed out of his comfort zone.

Here are a few photos.

oh, and now that i’m writing this post, I can’t seem to find any photos of him on the diving board! I know they’re somewhere…

Before I had to get out of the water… haha. You can see his flotation belt. By the end, he only had a couple on his back. It’s the method she uses and i think it’s pretty great.    

Could life be better?

for an almost 3 year old boy. I mean really…

This has been going on right next to our complex. An old house is being torn down, in order to build a few townhomes. Sad in a way… but VERY cool to watch. We went by yesterday but I had Isla in her little car, and Rowan was on his bike, and this is all behind the fence. So today, we went by in the morning, and walked. I went through the fence onto the property and motioned to one of the guys, asking him if it was okay we just looked for a minute since the machines were all off. Most of the actual demolishing had been accomplished yesterday. The guys were so great. When they saw Rowan, they decided to put on a little show. One was in a dump truck and dumped some stuff out and drove around for him, and this guy with the digger went to town. Rowan loved it. Eat your heart out garbage truck…. ;-)

Photo shoot!

We had the opportunity to do a photoshoot for Zulily and both kids were on the website for a few days. It was super fun and they asked if we would like to come back so hopefully that will happen in the near future. No… I am NOT trying to make a career out of it. Just a good time and some great photos. Rowan was hamming it up for the camera and asked them if they had a skateboard. They were really great and found one for him! Isla…not so much. She’s at the age where she’s going through separation anxiety and as soon as we put her down in front of all the bright lights and the camera, the tears started to flow. From that point on, it was a lot of patience, props, and distractions but we got through it and got some smiles. Here are a few that they just emailed me. I think they’re pretty cute!

What we’ve been up to

Nothing too extremely exciting around here. Just hanging out, enjoying the summer sun.

Laughing on our balcony. Sometimes we even have popsicles and watch the big lawn being mowed. ;-) Taking her baby for a little walk First carousel ride at the zoo. We met up with my mom and Brian, and my step sister Natalie and her daughter Katherine. Fun and busy day! I actually didn’t even take any pictures. Snagged these from my mom! Twins at church Extra tired on the way home from church… loungin..  Shoulder rides around the neighborhood A little batman cape action  Eating a banana in her new bandana style bibs from NZ.    It’s been a fun, low key summer. Can’t believe it’s almost over. Fall is my favorite though, so i’m looking forward to it!

The many expressions

of this guy….

He kills me. He really does. I didn’t even know these photos were taken. I went to upload some other ones from the camera and these showed up. Apparently Russ had a little photo shoot of his own while I was out for my anniversary mani/pedi. I’m impressed! Captured Rowan perfectly. :)

Ironworker Picnic 2013

I always look forward to this every summer. I know it might sound silly, but it’s a pretty nice event with a catered bbq, lots of games for the kids, and a chance for me to meet some of the guys (and girls?!) Russ works with on various job sites. This year was a bit chaotic with Isla walking and Rowan running around like crazy. We tried to find some shade under a tree to eat lunch and both kids kept dropping their food in the dirt, spilling drinks, and then splashing in the spills etc… Russ and I finally looked at each other, laughed, and said, “ Well…. I guess this year won’t be too relaxing!”

 

Isla enjoying some watermelon. This was the first time I put her hair in TWO pigtails. I about died from cuteness overload. :) They hired the “reptile man” to come put on a show for the kids again this year. Here’s Rowan checking out the turtle!

Here he is with a huge PYTHON!  The best part about the whole snake being WRAPPED around my son, was how it happened. Russ was saying hi to an old co-worker and I was holding Isla. I told Rowan we should go see what they were doing over there with all the reptiles. He shoved his way through a bunch of kids and ran right up to touch the snake. Now I realize the reptile man has probably pretty good control over it, but usually there’s some type of protocol about how you should touch the snake, and I know I don’t EVER want him to touch any animal by running up and taking it by surprise. I gasped and yelled for him to come back. The man then asked if it was okay if the snake could be wrapped around him. I was hesitant but said okay. Rowan thought it was very cool and honestly wasn’t that phased by it. When the man took the snake back, he just ran off. He later told us that the big bouncy slide was much more scary that the snake. Oy….

Every year they also have a ‘wine toss.’ Just how it sounds, you get 4 rings for $5, and you try and throw a ring around one of the bottles. We don’t usually even try but thought, why not! this year. Russ threw the first two rings… nothing. I am super competitive, even about stupid things like this, so I was pretty happy to get one of my two rings on a bottle. here’s my prize!

 

I usually take more pictures but honestly, it was pretty hard to do anything more than watch these two kiddos this year. :) Rowan is still talking about the picnic and wants to go back.

4th Anniversary

Last year we were out on our anniversary date joking about going into labor. Little did I know, we would come home and right after I went to lay down with Rowan to put him to sleep, my water would break- 3 weeks early. I am sad to say, that was the last date we went on. I know, I know.. everyone always talks about how important it is to get out and connect with your spouse, without kids. I totally agree.. but it’s just been a little hard. Our kids are usually in bed by 6, so we still make plenty of time to be intentional with each other, don’t worry. :) I think we’re finally at a place where our kids both feel okay when we’re not there either, and that helps a lot.

We decided to go to Agave for happy hour. It was SOO sooo nice. Russ was immediately like, “ Okay.. we have to do this more often!” It felt so great to dress up a bit, and not worry about two little people distracting our every move. I had a margarita which I’ve been craving for a really long time and we just talked and spent time together. I didn’t think we were doing gifts, and after I gave Russ his card, he handed me a box. He got me a beautiful silver necklace from Nordstrom that I had been eyeing. It says “ LOVE.” He also handed me a card that said I have an appointment at In Spa this coming Saturday at 11AM for a pedicure and manicure. SERIOUSLY?! So sweet.

 

You can see my necklace a bit in this one.

Here’s the deal people… It’s been 4 years. 4 of the best years of my entire life, and i truly mean that. Trust me, Russ and I fight. We don’t just have ‘ disagreements.’ We have fought, and yelled, and cried, and all of that. More often than I would like to admit. BUT, we really are best friends. I can’t imagine going through this life with anyone else. I am so beyond thankful God brought us together. Love you babe!