Daddy & Pool Time

My kids started swimming lessons!!! Thanks to our two wonderful grandmas (and 50% off plus a $25 coupon...Miami is EXPENSIVE for swimming lessons, I think high demand) we were able to put Ruthie and Will in swimming lessons this summer. I'm very grateful because I feel like they are both on the cusp of learning SOOOO much, they just need the extra attention! Will has been asking to swim without his floatie for a while now, and I started working with him in May before we moved and all we did was swim every morning and afternoon. But he wanted to dive more than swim, which can't really come first, so I'd get tired of helping him so much and make him put his floatie back on. Ruth is swimming like CRAZY but she still does a front crawl/doggy paddle mix and I really wanted to start working on strokes so she could learn those. In only two lessons (they have them every saturday morning) Will has already started swimming without his floatie fairly comfortable (besides almost drowning yesterday when I was taking these pictures, thanks Jeff for saving him, I was about to yell at you---I promise I was watching too!!!) and Sterling couldn't believe how well Will was doing. Ruthie is getting more confident, but I do wish her teacher would push her a little bit more. I can't wait for the next three weeks to be up so I can get in the pool with her and help her out a little bit more one-on-one. All in all, they are both doing great and most of all LOVING IT so it's a win.

Will who just triumphantly threw those footballs and swam to get them all by himself!

No floatie!

Our friends Jeff and Diana (moved up here because they are the same year and program as us) came over to swim for a quick hour and half before dinner time yesterday. (It was pretty much all we'll get of daddy for the next four weeks, and it was a blast!) We love having them so close that they can just whip over. And it will be even more fun when I can join in the swimming--but also when Step 1 is over so we can start up our game nights again! Jeff and Diana were awesome in Miami and they drove to our house for game nights, but they had to drive on a major road and it took quite awhile...so I'm sure we'll all be glad that we only live about five minutes away from each other now! It's also great to have ONE familiar face at church!

We LOVE Jeff and Diana! They came over and literally spent the entire hour and a half throwing my kids in the air. They had to be tired and sick of it, but every time Molly said "Again! Again!" they just laughed and kept going! They've joined us on many beach/pool/bbq/park trips and even though they don't have kids they ALWAYS spend all their time entertaining ours. Even just last week we went to a picnic for Sterling's classmates (we NEVER go to his school stuff because it usually involves lots of alcohol and we'd rather pay a babysitter for other activities we enjoy more) but we thought we'd try to start the new school year off with a little bit of socializing. Jeff was flying solo because Diana was working and he spent the ENTIRE time playing with our kids, helping them feed turtles, and then eating extra sandwiches when my kids got tired of feeding them to the turtles. Haha--thanks for taking that one for the team, Jeff! Also, they will always have a special place in my heart because when I was put into a Spanish-only primary, and we were having MAJOR issues with our five 11 yr old boys, they were able to be called and they were MARVELOUS teachers--they kept those boys occupied and took so much stress out of my Sundays! Love you guys!!!!!

More of Will swimming solo. He had to be exhausted but he was SO PROUD to show his daddy how well he was swimming! It was one of those sweet parenting things to watch. I love my boys!

Taking a break. Sterling said it felt like bathwater because its been so hot around here. I haven't noticed too much because we are inside a lot...haha. Best way to spend a Miami summer!

Sorry your arms are sore, Diana!

More of Will swimming!

READY

SET

GO!!!!!!

Ruth thought this was hilarious that it looked like she was that tall on the water.

In the meantime we were chilling by his personal fan. We were out for about an hour and a half and he was just starting to look too hot at the end when we called it. That's about his limit. 

Matchy blue striped pajamas, Will was thrilled. 

These were supposed to be Russ's going-home-from-the-hospital outfit. But he peed on them right after I put them on. So then they were washed. Then he wore them once and then I stuck them in my church bag when he was blessed in case of an accident. I just retrieved them and THEY ARE ALMOST TOO SMALL! His feet make the legs stretch tight. This is NOT OK!

Today I went to church with Ruth and Will (Sterling took them last week) and Sterling stayed home with Molly and Russ. We are pretty sure when Will got RSV he got it from Ruth, who we are pretty sure got it from nursery. So since that experience, we figure that if we are keeping the baby home, we better keep the nursery-aged child home as well, since essentially that is what you are trying to protect against. Also, Molly NEVER would take a bottle. I think I missed the window. I forgot about trying to give her one since I worked with my first two they HAD to learn to take one by the time my maternity leave was up, but Molly I didn't go back to work so I never attempted giving her a bottle. Which meant SHE NEVER TOOK ONE. Which meant, for about a year we were tied to her nursing schedule for date nights. Which is usually no big deal. But I wanted that tiny bit of freedom this time around and so our friends suggested bottles on Sunday. She said every Sunday her husband feeds her baby at church from the bottle and she just pumps. Easy peasy. That way she could also wear dresses to church since there was no need to breastfeed--bonus. So we started that last week and he took the bottle like a champ (although I was home last week with him). Who am I kidding, he takes everything like a champ. Soother? HE IS ALL OVER IT! And can I just say, I may have to wean him off a soother down the road...but I have NEVER had another child that would take one, and it is truly a beautiful thing to have a fussy baby, walk by and stick it in his mouth, and have him put himself to sleep. Not only that, but THE CAR! Ruthie will reach over and put it in his mouth and he magically is happy again. MAGIC! 

Look at that little head!!!! I love it!!! He loved it too, which was great! I am not a huge baby-wearer. We have several because we used to carry our kids to hike in all the time...when we lived somewhere you can hike...sob. But now it's just too hot. I thought it would be feasible in the wintertime, but even at 75 degrees, once you have your body heat and the baby's body heat for longer than an hour or so, it's too much. So Molly was mostly put in the stroller. And so will Russell. But I still like some wraps for things like doing dishes or getting dinner made. The extra hands are nice. Tonight I wore the wrap just to see how he would do because I think that's what I'll do for the ward breakfast on July 4th. But once around the block and we were both sweating, poor guy. We'll stick to wearing it inside!

Bundled in there like a little pea pod! He wasn't as tight and secure as he could have been, but it was our first time and he was ADAMANT that his head go the wrong direction for how I had it situated. Silly boy. But he was sure happy on our walk around the block--soother and all!