Activities in the Summer...

So before we head off on our annual Beach trip I wanted to blog about some of the happenings that Braylen has been involved in this summer.

I will start with Gymnastics! We go every Wednesday morning at 9:30 and it is only 30 minutes. Can you imagine occupying a toddler any longer than that....or trying to teach them....man! We start out in a group circle doing activites then we move on to circuit training learning how to do the balance beam, the bars, front rolls, cart wheels, trampoline....etc. We then end the class in the circle again where they lay on their stomachs and sing a "Bye Bye" song! This has been a fun experience and I plan on keeping her enrolled through the end of August and then taking a break since she starts back Mothers Morning Out in September.

Our next adventure was SWIM lessons! Mrs. Jill is the swim instructor and she is known as the SWIM WHISPER....how funny is that! Anywho, she believes in starting the kids out at a VERY young age and then their progress will be less difficult the older they get. The video I am going to post is Braylen swimming to the ladder. They start out up and down until they can gain control to put their heads in the water and float on their stomachs. She loves floating on her back and is very good about swimming under water and kicking her legs till she gets to the side of the pool or your arms. We are VERY pleased with how she has down and will continue to keep Braylen in swim lessons once a week starting in the FALL....! Grant was a swim baby and did swim team growing up and would really like to see Braylen enjoy that sport! Swim lessons lasted ONE week and were about 15 minutes each day (she charges a $1 a minute,) I think if they are older the lesson last a little longer but it is hard on the little toddlers. Oh and parents aren't allowed in there until the last day...so this is the video I got....and of course she was crying for me to rescue her....lol! Ever since her lesson, when we go to the pool, all she wants to do is practice her swimming. That just blows my mind because Mrs. Jill mentioned not to over do it with them at the pool...just review it a little in the beginning and then just let your kids play like the others.....however....all Braylen wants to do is practice and swim....so neat! And one last thing....every time we talk about the pool, Braylen says "Jill gives suckers" that was her reward after every practice...Mrs. Jill gave them suckers and that sure got Braylen through it....lol! This is a picture before we go into the lesson and then the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlrWhHrEu9c

I have more videos of her lesson but they are too short to share but once again we were super impressed with Mrs. Jill and look forward to Braylen continuing her journey of swimming with her. Oh and this picture is her eating her lunch after swim lessons.

Outside of going to the pool and playing this summer we have also enjoyed the sprinklers. She is so funny about them....she would rather drink the water than run through them and play. Well whatever floats her boat but she sure was cute doing it.

We also have been with a lot of our friends this summer and the babies below are my best friends from highschool kids. Addie is Nikki's little girl and A.J. is Nicole's little boy, they are only 3-4 weeks apart.....they are about 8-9 mths old. Braylen loves treating them like they are her babies. I am sure we will have NO problem with her playing with our new addition!

Sorry for the long post but lots to share but I also wanted to let my followers know that I am doing GREAT! Went to my specialist appt. last week and there is NO MORE fluid in the kidneys, baby still measures small but not abnormal and everything looks great! They even said I could ask my regular O.B. if I could stop going to the specialist and they could do my ultrasounds monthly to monitor the umbilical cord.......! So I go today and definitely will ask. The specialist did say, don't be disappointed if they say NO...it would only be because of Insurance purposes. So that is that update and one last thing....I THINK WE HAVE A NAME!!!!!

Carsen Faith Schmeelk (we are still working on the spelling of Carsen but I am pretty definite this is the route we are going... can't wait to meet her!)