Watch out, Natalie Coughlin!

Lily is five years old. During this summer it seems like she's growing up super fast. It's like she had a growth spurt, only emotionally, not physically. She still has bumps in the road and trying moments everyday, but she is now much more a young lady and much less a young child.

One thing that has clicked for her this summer is learning to swim. Obviously she's always been a water child. She is more herself in the water than any place else. But this week she has been in her first structured swimming lesson since April. During this latest session, something clicked. She is swimming the backstroke like she could swim it in a meet tomorrow (and she would if I let her). She's also really starting to get the freestyle (front crawl), but it's still a bit hard because she's worried about getting water in her nose. She also does cool tricks, like dive in the deep end to get a ring off the bottom of the pool and she spins somersaults under water.

If you knew me at all, you would know that I'm a swimmer to the core. I grew up in the pool. I learned about life, love and boys at swim practice. When I think of my childhood, past 1991, my fondest memories revolve around swim team and my friends there. I would be lying if I said I wasn't super happy that Lily is loving the pool so much. But, I am not getting my hopes up too high. I don't want to burn the poor girl out before she reaches the 11-12 year old age group...but I am going to provide as much opportunity to succeed in the sport as I can. If she wants to be a super swimmer, I am convinced she could be. And, knowing Lily, her sheer determination will serve her well. When you're a swimmer, it's less about talent and more about the working your ass off..if you love it and work hard, you will succeed. I can't wait to see what this girl can do!

P.S. For those of you non-swimmers who read my blog: Natalie Coughlin is the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. (And to give credit where credit is due, I copied that sentence straight from Wikipedia.)

Style Series: Julianna's first ensemble

So, lately I've been feeling time pass quickly. It seems like all of the sudden my children are entering a new phase. This is the first time since May of 2004 that I haven't had a baby or had a new baby coming. That's quite a long time to be always taking care of babies or pregnant. I mean, I'm no Michelle Duggar, but I have been consumed with children under the age of 5 for quite awhile now.

I'm excited for this new stage of parenting. I am sad to see the baby days go...they were tons of work, but there is nothing like the unconditional love of a baby. In this new stage my children are becoming so independent and turning into regular people. A very exciting thing!

To mark this burst of maturity, I have added a few new things to our routine. The kids are now in charge of loading their dirty dishes into the dishwasher after dinner. And they now do one chore a day. Like real chores. Taking out the trash, sorting laundry and washing windows. Realistically, it's more work for me, but it gets the job done and everybody feels good about it. (Don't worry, I'm not making Julianna partake in the chore list!)

And one more example of my children growing up? Julianna picked out her first outfit today. Lily did this at a very early age, and I let her. Lily had tons of hair. Tons. So, to justify letting her pick out her outfits I would always do her hair up really cute. This way she never looked like I neglected her. Poor Julianna doesn't have any hair and she looks much younger than she actually is. So, she just looks neglected. ha ha

3 going on 13

Today I told Drew to clean up the toy cars in his room. When I went to check that he'd completed the task he said, "I don't want you to freak out, Mom." Exactly what I would be freaking out about, I'm not sure. But I do know that it made my mouth hang open and gave me a glimpse into the future. I mean really. What 3 year old says that?

Seriously, I'm not going to freak out...but I am ready for a break!

Wordless Wednesday: Around 19 months

Hippopotamus

Wordless Wednesday: Corn on the cob

Patience

Let me set the scene. The kids and I had just gotten home after a long day. I was making macaroni and cheese for dinner even though all I really wanted to do was pass out on the couch. Drew had been whining since who knows when for a drink. He'd gotten one, don't worry. However, he needed something to whine about so he just kept asking for more drinks. Since I was making dinner I told him he'd have to wait for dinner to have another drink. This is how it went from there.

Drew: Mooooommm!! I want a drinnnnnk.

Mom: Drew, I'm out of patience. I'm done.

Drew: Oh, I didn't know you were out of patience. Okay.

Mom: Oh yeah? You didn't know?

Drew: That means don't talk. No more talking.

Mom:Yup.

Drew: You're not very good at it.

Mom: I'm not very good at what?

Drew: Making macaroni and cheese.

Mom: Hm.

Let me just say that this conversation made me laugh and brought me patience. Funny how that works sometimes.

Sibling love

Once Drew became old enough to understand and follow Lily's directions, they have been two peas in a pod. They can play for hours with no parental involvement. Until recently, Julianna had always been too little to become involved. However, as Julianna enters toddlerhood and Lily's been busy with summer activities- Drew and Julianna have found some common ground. They have had a great time this summer!

Here are some pictures of their adventures:

Watching Sesame Street

Buried in pillows and blankets.

I love the look she is giving him.

Drew was running the regular vacuum and got Julianna the play one so she could help, too.

Getting ready for a dip in the lake.

Touring the fire station.

 I love that Drew is the kind of child that can get along with anyone. Lily and Julianna are lucky to have him as their brother!

A long afternoon

I love being home with my kids. I love that I get to be here for so much of their days. However, there comes a time during the day, usually late afternoon, that I'd like to pause everything and get a break. The kids aren't acting up, usually.  But, I'm just tired and would like to have a few minutes where I can be in the quiet, have a cold drink and nothing to do. It's the hardest part of the day for me and once the feeling passes it's easy to make it to evening. But, no matter what I do, if the kids and I are hanging out home alone in the late afternoon, I get restless.

I have no story. No real answer. Just putting it out there. 3 o'clock to 5 o'clock is quite possibly the longest part of everyday. Does anyone else get this feeling? If so, what do you do about it?

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!

Trucks, Tiaras and Tutus introduces: Connor Judson Stivers

Christopher, Tom's brother, and his wife Diana live in Knoxville, Tennessee. That's where the both went to college, met and fell in love. Awww. Shortly after Chris graduated from school, they moved to Kansas and lived about 40 minutes from where I live. They were here only about 6 months before Chris got a job back in Knoxville that sent them packing. They were here long enough for me to get to know Diana well. For the record, I've known Chris almost his entire life. Anyway, when they moved away, they had just found out that they were going to have a baby. Selfishly, I was a little sad that I didn't get to be close by as they became new parents.

Fast forward 38 weeks. Ann called Tom and I this Saturday morning to let us know that Diana's water and broken and that they were headed to the hospital. Two weeks early! I was shocked, as most first time moms have to wait until after their due date to meet their baby.

I was so excited. I was dying to call and hear about every detail. No, actually, I was dying to hop in the car and drive to Knoxville that day. But, I must be practical. I have three young children of my own, a husband that works long hours and not enough disposable income to take a quick plane trip. So, I just waited for news.

The news came at about 4 o'clock that afternoon. The baby's heartrate was dropping with every contraction and she had only dilated to 4 centimeters. There was a long way to go and much harder contractions in Diana's future if they had let her progress naturally. It was safer for everyone if they did a c-section. Within 45 minutes of finding out that there would be a c-section, Connor Judson Stivers was born at 5:31 PM eastern daylight time. He weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. Interestingly enough, Julianna was born at 5:29 PM. I love little tidbits like that.

I didn't see big pictures of Connor until we arrived home from the lake that night. I have said before that Tom must have some sort of super gene because Drew and Julianna both look so much like him. But, it turns out, the Stivers all have a super gene. Connor looks just like Christopher. And Connor also looks just like Drew, too. Pure craziness.

The top picture is Drew at a few minutes old and the lower one is Connor.

I am so happy for the new little Stivers family. Congratulations to Chris and Diana as the start the crazy ride of parenthood. There is nothing like it. I hope, despite our geography, that they feel our support all the way from Kansas.

Muscle Men

We got patio furniture!! YAY!! I've waited for this day for a long time.

Tonight Tom came home after work and decided he was going to put it all together and Drew asked if he could help. Then he asked if Tom would be using his hard muscles to put it together.

Well, of course! Tom is known for his rock hard muscles. His cousins asked me just last week if he's been working out.