Swimming Lessons week 2

Wow what an improvement Shelby has made since starting swimming lessons last week! She's got it! She can swim and float and do the backstroke! :) I'm so proud of her! I'm concerned about keeping her in a pool since we don't have one. We have friends that do but finding "Free Time" is hard to do! I'm going to have to make it a priority to keep this fish in the water! :)

 this week's class (she has different kids in her class this week that weren't in it last week) are ALL WILD! there's a lot of sitting out on the sides waiting your turn and the hands are raised because Miss Cassie was asking who wants to be a strong swimmer? Lol...
week 2:
Day 1

 if she wasn't water-logged enough, after day 1 of week 2 of swim lessons, we went and played at mammy's in her new sprinkler! lol

 She can do it!! Day 2 of week 2!!

Week 2 Day 3:

Yeap, they're sittin out gettin a "Pep Talk" LOL...

I can't believe how far she's come in almost 2 weeks!!

She's still not sure about the diving board (sorry for the mommma-talk...lol)

The last day of Swimming Lessons 2014!
Day 4:
She did soooo good today and graduated at Level II of the Learn to Swim Program! Thank you Miss Kimmy and Miss Cassie!

at the time jumping off the diving board sounded like a good idea but she'd rather jump off the sides and slide instead!

Mr. Rhett Rhett

It's been a while since I've blogged about Mr. Rhett.  It's been a whirlwind trying to keep up w/ these two babies between day to day routines, working part time, swimming lessons, summer activities, CrossPoint almost every weekend, and on and on... Rhett just goes with the flow, mostly.  He's such a good baby though. He has his moments, like all of us do, but for the most part, he's a great baby and we are VERY blessed to have such a good baby!
He's been in his crib for a little over a month now (I'm still sleeping in the room w/ him in the comfy twin bed mammy & pop pop got for his room)! He gets his "right before bedtime" nursing session and is usually asleep by 9 or 9:30pm.  I rock him and lay him down  and pat his little booty til he falls asleep.  I'm remembering how difficult it was putting a baby in this crib because of how short I am (yes, I am short but wear heels mostly because i'm in denial)! He wake up usually at midnight and 3am to nurse and goes back down mostly pretty easy.  He is up for the day about 5:45 or 6am and takes small naps now throughout the day with usually a good long one in the morning and afternoon. 
He's an excellent nurser. I never dreamed I could breastfeed a baby this long and well. He is growing like a weed! I had to stop at 7 weeks w/ Shelby because her tummy just wasn't agreeing and she wasn't getting enough (I had no idea what I was doing then and I feel like that played a part in it too!).  Rhett on the other hand, he and I got this down! I EBF (exlusively breast feed) him and only have to pump on the days I work (which is just 2 days in the summer and 3 days during the school year at SAU) and if I'm going to be away from him.  BFing isn't for the weak or slackers that's the truth! It's a full time job in itself! I have my moments where I get annoyed cause I'm the only one who can provide for him, but then I'm usually instantly reminded and comforted by the Lord who tells me that He designed me this way and I'm doing what's best for him and those thoughts go away. 
Rhett is now in 6-9 month clothes... yeap... that's not a typo! He will be 16 weeks tomorrow and is in 6-9 month clothes! LOL.. i've gotta clean out his drawers cause he can't wear what's in his "day to day" drawer anymore and I'm down to the "for future wear" drawers....lol... he's a chunk.  We go back to the dr. July 11th and I can't wait to see how much he weighs. I'm guessing he's over 17 lbs now. He was 16 lbs and 25" last time we checked and that was a while back.
I'm so blessed to have such a great little family and support system!

Shelby at 4 months old October 2009 and Rhett at 15 weeks

 Such a little ham! He's so animated now and makes the cutest little grins and giggles!

 He loves to look out the windows and all around and what's goin on when it's nursing time! LOL... makes it hard to keep his attention! LOL

Swimming lessons: Week 1

This week shelby had her 2nd year of swimming lessons with Miss Kimmy and Miss Cassie.  She gets to take 2 weeks this year.  Last year she could only take one of the weeks and I wish I had put her in both because it would've helped her so much and by us not having a pool and keeping her in a pool that hurt her too.  This time around, I'm determined to keep her in the water and get this little tadpole moving! :)
She has done SOOO WELL this week!  She went from being timid to put her face in the water, to yesterday wanting to dive under for toys! I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see how she's doing by the end of next week!
Here's pics from the week...

Day 1: Timid to put her face in the water

Rhett was not impressed with swimming lessons

"this is how you keep water from gettin in your nose"

a weekend w/ CrossPoint, Swimming lessons and summer PreK  wore this little bit out!

 Day 2 of Swim lessons:
anxious and excited to get in the water!

 Day 3 of Swim Lessons:
SUPER Excited and loves to put her face in the water and learned how to dive under for toys!

Day 4:SHE CAN DO IT!! TODAY SHE DID IT! She now pushes her feet off the bottom and swims! She can swim on her back and puts her face in the water swimming on her tummy! Next week's goal is to work on the kick!

Videos of today and the success of all week!

Shelby's 5th Frozen Bday Party

Her bday invitation I designed... I just LOVE doing this for her!

OMG Is all I can think to say!! Shelby's bday party was soo fun and came off w/o a hit! It helped to keep my mind off how big she's gotten and how grown-up she's become.....ok..wiping the tears and back to the fun stuff....
She had 15 of her friends there and over 35 people at her party! We had a blast w/ the water slide, pool, Quad Slip-n-Slide, Play House, Sand box, Pinata, treats, cake, pizza, etc... It was so fun to watch all these little bitties running and screaming and giggling all over the backyard!
It wasn't as bad preparing for it as I thought either! I had A LOT OF HELP! My mom and mother-in-law helped SOOO MUCH with watching Rhett while I decorated and made sure all the kids were happy and well fed.  Special thanks to Laura Imler who, ONCE AGAIN, made shelby's fabulous bday cake (You can see her Bubble Guppies Cake from last year. It was just as awesome!) !!
Well, so here's the party pics! there's a lot so be prepared!!

riding w/a  LARGE HEAVY cake in your lap on the lovely Magnolia roads was NOT A PIECE OF CAKE

making Olaf's!

Happy 5th Birthday sweet Shelby! we are soo proud of you!