Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago Brian's mom came to visit.  One of her first requests, when she arrived, was that we go get some pictures taken.  I, of course, love any reason to take Stella's picture, so I was all for it.  I also thought this would be a great opportunity for us to get family pictures done, as well.

So here is our final product...  Stella's 8 month pictures.

Stella Passed Her Swim Test

Living in Arizona most people have a pool and unfortunately each year there are reports of child drownings.  Because we are one of those who have a pool, I knew for  sure that we were going to put Stella into swim lessons as soon as we could  I ntalking to people, there was particular type of swim lessons that people talked so highly about, ISR.  This particular type of lessons teaches children to float and swim at a very young age.  As our friends described it, I thought this was awesome until the described the last part.  At the end of the lessons, they take the child, fully clothed, and toss them in the pool to see if they can float.  Crazy, right?  I agreed to do the swim lessons under the condition that I wouldn't have to watch the test at the end.  Well, we've come to the end.

For the last five weeks, everyday, the swim instructor has come to our house to teach Stella how to float.  At the first lesson, Stella's teacher warned me that for the most part the kids usually cried through the lessons, so I prepared myself.  But not Stella, she enjoyed every minute... of the first week.

 But then the second week came and Stella hated swim lessons.  She screamed a fought it.  But thankfully that only lasted about a week.  For the next two weeks, she learned to float and then to roll. This week was testing week, the week I originally couldn't bear to watch.  However, as we got to this week, I was no longer scared to watch her test, rather I was excited to see what she could do.   We started on Monday with light summer clothes, yesterday was pajamas, and today was full winter clothes.

 I can not believe how well she did.  I can honestly say, that the money and time that we have spent doing swim lesson have hands down been best that we have ever spent.  Obviously, I would never leave Stella alone by the pool but I now have a better peace of mind with her around water.  For now, my nine month old can roll into a float all on her own.  In April, we will begin the process all over again as she learns to swim.

My Little Girl Is Growing Up...

For the last couple of weeks Brian and I have discussed that it is time for us to lower Stella's crib.  I went to do it last weekend, took the bumpers off, took the mattress out only to realize that we did not have the proper tool to complete the project... aka an allen wrench.  So we put it off. 

This afternoon, I went in to make sure that Stella had fallen asleep and this is what I found:

At this point I decided that today would be the day that we lowered the crib.  So daddy went out and bought the proper tools and together Stella and he lowered her crib.

 For my friends that do not have kids, you make think I'm crazy because this minor event made me sad.  But, everyone tells you how quickly they grow up.  This was my first realization of how true this is.  We just want to keep her small for as long as we can.  So far now our baby is back to being pinned in.

Weren't You Just Complaining That You Didn't Have Time to Read People???

For the past year or so I have actively read and admired blogs written by a couple of my friends.  I have admired their ability to capture important events in their lives and share them with loved ones all over the country.  Once Stella was born I really considered starting a blog because our family lives so far way.  Obviously, this would be an easy way to keep everyone informed of new milestones in her life.  But I convinced myself that a blog may not be for me because 1) I am constantly complaining that I have no time and 2) although I love our life, we are actually pretty boring.  However, to steal a quote from a friend of a friend... "If Kim can do it, so can I."

So, in a nutshell, here is what you missed thus far...
About seven years ago I met the man of my dreams, we got married and had a beautiful baby girl.  No, it didn't quite happen that quick, but close enough.
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