Swim lessons

It's almost hard to believe that last June Ian dreaded going to swimming lessons and cried most of the way through his first two lessons. This year was a COMPLETELY different story! He remembered some of what Ms. Amber taught him last year, so he went in with some confidence. AND ... Ms. Amber scheduled him to have lessons with two of his wonderful friends, Caleb L. and Christopher! Ms. Amber sure had to have patience and energy to keep up with the three of them, but she did a great job ... and so did they!

They did lots of practice with kicking,

blowing bubbles,

and getting their arms moving.

Not surprisingly, the hardest thing was putting it all together to actually 'swim.' By about lesson four (of six), Ian seemed to get the hang of things. He beamed with pride when Ms. Amber said he was a SWIMMER!

Ms. Amber knew just how to give the boys help when needed but to let them work hard to do things on their own whenever possible!

The boys loved monkey walking around the pool when they swam to one of the sides.

"Put your belly to the sky," said Ms. Amber.

Ms. Amber thought of fun "games" to play at the end of the classes. Here, the boys are playing Ring Around the Rosy. Other days, she had them dive for rings or jewels.

We were so impressed when Ian was able to push off the side and go across the pool to Ms. Amber all by himself. Of course, Ian still has a lot to learn, but he has gotten a great start! And, we've been able to practice his skills lots at our neighborhood pool. We try to use some of Ms. Amber's cool phrases (like the reminder to "lick it and stick it" to keep his fingers together when swimming) when we can. Daddy does a good job of pushing Ian to go longer and longer distances while Momma is still cautious with her expectations. :) Ian is getting better and better and (most importantly!) is really enjoying his all time in the water... as long as the pool isn't too cold! :)

Below are a few more pictures of our "swimmer" as well as some videos of what he learned!

Happy Father's Day!

Now that Ian is old enough to understand what Father's Day is, it was fun to have his help planning ways to make the day special for Matt.

I suggested the idea of making Matt breakfast in bed, and Ian thought that would be fun, too (as long as he could eat right by Matt in bed). Ian wanted to help with EVERY part of the meal. He insisted on cracking the eggs himself, pouring in the milk, whisking the eggs, and pouring them into a pan (after Momma fished out a few egg shell pieces). :)

Ian toasted the bread and then wanted to spread the jelly himself.

After finishing the bacon and fruit (bananas that Ian cut up) and pouring the juice, Ian was so excited to wake Matt up! Matt and Ian enjoyed eating in bed while Kim and Ryan ate their breakfast at the kitchen table.

After Sunday school and church, we came home and fixed one of Matt's favorite lunches -- egg salad sandwiches! Ian loved showing Matt the Father's Day card he had picked himself (one that played a song when you open it up). Ryan thought the card was pretty cool, too!

After rest/nap time, we headed to a local mini golf place. What good -looking guys! Matt truly is "Mr. Incredible," as the t-shirt we bought him says!

We all had fun playing mini golf!

Matt gave Ian a few tips,

and Ryan flapped his arms excitedly every time a ball went by!

Kim was excited to actually end the game within 4 or 5 strokes of Matt! :)

Ryan even enjoyed placing his ball in some of the holes.

Ian saw the go carts and asked if he and Daddy could PLEASE go! I think they were both pretty excited!

Ryan and I stayed by one part of the track to wave at Daddy and Ian each time they drove around!

For dinner, we went to Free Birds. In addition to offering free kids' meals, they offered a free meal upgrade for dads wearing sandals and socks. Hilarious! Matt can't pass up a good deal!

We all enjoyed the yummy food (though our oldest Texas boy got so cold in the a/c that Kim and Ian went outside to finish our meal while the boys who like cold stayed inside. Ha!)

What a fun day celebrating the best Daddy in the whole world! Thanks for the wonderful Christian example of patience, kindness, and selflessness that you show to our boys and me daily, babe! :)

Ryan at 13 months

 I may not continue the month-by-month tradition very much longer (especially as I'm getting later and later at posting them. Ha!). But, we DO love working as a family to make a list of all of the things that Ryan has learned and the ways he has grown within a given month ... and then marveling at how our God helps little ones learn and grow and change SO much within the first two years of life!

Here's what we noticed about Ryan at the 13-month mark ...

PHYSICAL:
*a walking expert!
*is tentative when approaching even a small step down and will usually wait at the edge of the step for Momma or Daddy's helping hand
*also tentative when walking on uneven surfaces like grass and prefers to have a hand
*can squat to stand
*can easily climb our stairs but doesn't know yet how to come down
*got his 6th & 7th teeth (now has four on top and three on bottom)

so you can see him "in action"

EATING:
*loves using open-topped cups (with just one swallow of milk/water in them)
*is starting to make progress with eating (eating more of a variety and a bigger quantity of food)
*macaroni and cheese as a new favorite this month
*other go-to choices include grapes, blueberries,  yogurt, peas, green beans, Cheerios, Rice Krispies, cheese, black beans, bread
*still doesn't like meat
*iron levels are now back to normal after being moderately anemic at his 1-year check and taking prescription iron supplements for a month
*loves to feed himself -- we've basically given up on trying to spoon feed him anything! (He still mainly just turns his head!)
*likes to "feed" us his food

after his first few bites of Oreo ... a BIG fan!

SLEEPING:
*FINALLY slept through the night (for the first time ever!) around his 13-month birthday after we tried some sleep training. (He learned very quickly!)
*has been consistently sleeping through the night from 7:30-6:00 most every night afterwards!
*is starting to resist falling asleep at nap time ... sometimes will only take one nap each day!

SOCIAL:
*loves giving "high fives" when we ask for them or he hears us talking about them
*can understand lots of words and follow directions (will often go to get his shoes if he hears us telling Ian that he needs to get his shoes on ... or will wait by the door if he hears us mention "outside")
*will stand by the fridge saying "mmm" and making the milk sign when he is thirsty
*loves saying "ha-igh" (think Texas pronunciation of "hi") and waving to EVERYONE in the grocery store/restaurant/church, etc.
*points out every ball "a-bah" (a ball)
*learned to say "uh" (short for uh-oh), "buh" (book), a-boo (peek-a-boo),"buh-buh" (bye bye), "ah si" (outside), "moh" (more)
*blows air when he hears us say "blow"
*when we ask what a sheep says, he says "bah!"
*loves when we ask him to find a monkey on his wall border. He'll point right to it, smile, and say "mmm!"
*consistently signs all done, more, bird, airplane, fish, milk
*still mainly points and grunts to communicate -- is determined to get us to understand, even if it takes us a while!
*copies words that he hears us say
*can identify his hair, head, and eyes

will often say "ah si" (outside) while watching cars, squirrels, or people out the window

DISLIKES:
*getting wiped up after a meal
*being held when he'd rather be moving around
*taking his iron drops
*being away from Daddy and Momma
*loud noises (One week he was scared by the loud noise of the recycling truck. The next week, when we went out to watch, Ryan buried his face in Momma's shoulder. Apparently, he remembered!)

FAVORITES:
*throwing balls, objects, food, sippy cups, you-name-it!
*the fake moss (even after Momma or Daddy say "no no"!)
*ANYTHING with Ian -- especially finding Ian if he's hiding and tackling Ian in his bed
*pillows
*brooms and "helping" with any task he sees Momma or Daddy doing
*spoons
*boxes
*swinging
*water of any kind
*push toys and corn popper toy
*pots & pans
*the book "Moo, Baa, La, La, La"
*dancing to music
*noticing Daddy coming home from work. (He'll say "DA!" really loud and point out the window.)
*ANY kind of ball!

Ryan's favorite thing to do in the cul-de-sac while Big Brother rides his bike!

noticing an airplane in the sky

always willing to help!

Ryan LOVES to put objects into boxes, drawers, and trash cans. Kim has been searching for her watch to no avail for the past three weeks. We think a little helper may have placed it in a perfect hiding spot, which was hopefully NOT the garbage can!

10 years and counting ...

 On June 14, we celebrated ten years of marriage! It's hard to believe it's been that long! What a blessing to walk hand in hand through life's joys and challenges! God really knew what He was doing when He created marriage!

We had a great time looking through our wedding pictures and watching our wedding video and reminiscing .... Thanks to all of you dear friends that were present to make our day so special. And thanks to our dear siblings, Amy and Jason, who shared their wedding day with us! We STILL love telling people the story of our double wedding. :)

Matt sent Kim flowers (including sunflowers ... her favorite!) the morning of our anniversary.

 Our good friends, Mike and Kati, watched our boys so we could have an evening together. What a treat! We both were excited about the prospect of trying a restaurant we've always wanted to try, The Melting Pot.

We decided to splurge and go for the 4-course dinner, including cheese fondue, salad, an entree, and a chocolate dessert fondue. Our waitress, Michele, taught us the ropes.

 What a treat to finish our conversations and to spend some time just the two of us! Everything tasted so yummy!

 Our favorite course was the dessert one. They even brought it out on a special "happy anniversary" plate.

We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our next ten years! :)