My Swimmer

Carter had his first swim meet last week against a team in Raleigh called Lake Park.  The pool is teeny tiny compared to ours so it was very chaotic but the kiddos didn't seem to mind!  I was nervous enough for Carter but he was cute and said he wasn't nervous at all!  He swam freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke and did so well!  We were so proud of him and loved watching all the action.  He finished 2nd in freestyle, 1st in backstroke, and 2nd in breaststroke and loved every second of it.

He's in lane 4.

Backstroke is by far Carter's best stroke and he literally smoked his competition.  He was finished before the other kids made it halfway across the pool!

Kid-catcher taking a pooped Carter the rest of the way after his breaststroke heat.

Family Time

Brian and Sarah came to visit last weekend and we really loved having a chance to spend some time with them!  The boys were so excited and could hardly wait for Friday to come so they would get here!  We went to the pool, cooked out at Nunu and Pop's, watched the horse race, and just genuinely enjoyed each other's company.  We're excited that the next time we get to see them will be only a few short weeks away for our long anticipated beach week!

I love this...Sarah was trying to get out of the way but not before speedy Coop jumped right in!

This little fish loves to jump off the side and thinks it's hilarious to go under!

1, 2, 3, go!

That's him under the water!

My happy aviator:).

Belly flops to Brian

Husband of the Year!

 June 1st was the day Jamey and I had our first "date" at a friend's graduation party.  A little background on that...my boyfriend at the time was someone my parents, brother, and friends all despised but I just couldn't see the light.  He had asked me to go to the beach with his family for the weekend but my parents wouldn't let me go.  Needless to say, as a teenage girl in 1997 I thought my world was ending and that my parents were the root of all evil at that point in time.  I reluctantly agreed to go to this party with some friends and just happened to spend the whole time talking to Jamey and the rest is history!  We don't really celebrate that day anymore because we use our wedding day but this year was a little different thanks to my thoughtful hubby.

Since it was 15 years ago (man do I feel old!), he totally surprised me Friday afternoon by coming home with flowers and a card.  At the end of the sweet card, it said to go upstairs and get changed into the dress (a new Lilly dress he picked out all on his own) on the bed and be ready to go at 6pm because a babysitter was coming.  I was so shocked and excited!  We never really do things like that but I was really looking forward to a fun night out just the two of us.  We went to a restaurant downtown and had a great time.  Ashley and Andrew came over to babysit so the boys had a great time at home as well!  Happy 15 years and I look forward to many more!  Thanks sweet Jamey, I love you so much!
  

Bye Kindergarten, Hello Summer Vacation!

Where has the year gone?!  It seems like just yesterday I was sending my oldest baby to Kindergarten for the very first day and here we are already at his last day of school.  It brings tears to my eyes to even try to describe how overwhelmingly proud I am of Carter.  As much as I get annoyed with him for acting silly and doing things without thinking, I do know how lucky I am to have such an angel as my child.  He is kind, thoughtful, considerate, caring, and smart in a way I never thought a 6 year old could be.  He loves his family, his friends, and playing and genuinely just loves life.  He is absolutely a joy to be around and I look forward to having him home with us this summer and can't wait to see what 1st Grade has to offer next year.

We had a parent breakfast for him this morning in his class where is teacher gave out a few awards and had a really cute slideshow of the class throughout the year.  We have really loved his school and his teachers and feel very fortunate to have found our little niche among the chaos that can be the school system!

Carter and Thomas

Sam, Charlotte, Carter, and Luke  (Charlotte has had a crush on Carter all year but he won't admit any reciprocation;).)

Carter getting his "Coach" award.  Miss Harris said Carter always has a good attitude and is a good sport during all that they do.  She said he's very kind and supportive to his classmates and encourages them during their recess and PE time.

Shyly checking out his award

Coop had swim lessons or else he would've been in these!

Carter and Brandon

Carter and CJ, who has cracked us up all year

Damian, Walid, and Carter

Miss Harris, who we love so much!

Bug Lightnings

All three boys have really enjoyed playing outside at night time so they can hunt for lightning bugs.  Hudson has caught on quickly and is usually very quick to spot them!  He thinks he's right in the mix with them and tries very hard to catch them but his brothers typically handle that part.  Carter has a bug playground Nunu and Pop gave him for Easter so it's come in handy as a lightning bug holder.  We usually let them take the bugs inside for the night so they have a natural "nightlight" in their room and they are supposed to let them out first thing in the morning.  We've all forgotten that part a few times but do try to free our little creatures!

Night and Day

After a little bribery after Coop's last swim lesson in the form of gummy bears and lollipops from Trader Joe's, he was a different kid for the rest of his lessons and actually had fun!  His teachers and little friends were so sweet to him on the 2nd day and kept telling him how proud they were because he didn't cry at all!

I can't believe how much more comfortable he is in the water already and has done more in two weeks than I thought he would do all summer.  He'll jump off the side by himself, go under, float on his back, and has started working on freestyle arms.  I'm so proud of my little guy!

Swim Lesson Flop

I hope one day Cooper is so happy and comfortable in the water that we can all look back and laugh at where my little Michael Phelps started.  He had his first of seven swim lessons this morning and was absolutely petrified.  He talked to us about it last night when we were tucking him in and told us he didn't want to go and was really scared he was going to sink:(.  We reassured him he would be perfectly safe and that his swim teacher would be nice and would help him do everything.  He was still bargaining and reasoning to try and get out of it but we told him good night and hoped he wouldn't lose sleep worrying about it.

This morning he started almost immediately telling me he didn't want to go but I tried to not make a big deal of it and told him we were going and he would have fun, end of conversation.  I practically had to drag him onto the steps to get in the water once the time for lessons came and he was as teary and scared as he could be.  This lesson was meant for kids that didn't even need prior water exposure so I knew it would be easy stuff he already knows how to do but watching him act so scared was an awful feeling.  They started with blowing bubbles and easing into the water and then progressed to floating on their backs with the teacher's help and finished with putting their faces under and kicking with their face in once they mastered that.  Cooper did all of it with no trouble but whined, cried, and begged me to let him get out and to take him home the whole time.

After his lesson we talked a lot about it and he just kept telling me how scared he was and that he wished Carter would've been there to help him.  It was such a sweet, cute comment from him but once we talked a little more about it he came around and admitted that it was a little bit fun and that going back tomorrow might not be so bad.  I guess we'll have to wait and see but I don't think things could go much worse than they did today so I'm hoping for a much happier experience tomorrow! 

My scared little boy.

He did great at floating but didn't seem to enjoy it very much!

Love this happy face!