Self Congratulations Are In Order...

I have to brag on myself.  Erin's party is in 2 weeks and I've been ready for it for months now.

The Minnie Mouse cookies have been ordered, cake ordered, invitations mailed, gift bags purchased, all the crap you put in the gift bags purchased....  All that's left to do it order the thank you cards to match the invitations and stuff the gift bags.

I'm trying something new with the thank you notes.  I bought a download off of Etsy.  Of course, I haven't gotten it yet, so one again Etsy may burn me, but I'm trying.  I'll download it and have it printed on card stock to use.  They didn't have the exact match to her invitations when I ordered those, so I was bummed until I found these.  Super Cheers!

Can't wait to post pics of all of it.  It's all Minnie Mouse themed.  Erin will love it.  She was sitting in my lap yesterday looking at pictures on my ipad and the one of her birthday cake came up.  She started squealing and said, my birthday cake, my birthday cake.  I then had to explain to her that it was going to be a while until we saw it.  

All for now.  I'm finished patting myself on the back!

Happy Birthday Dear America...

Erin and William felt very patriotic yesterday and decided to sing Happy Birthday to America.  It's the best little video over!

Okay, I Can Admit It...

I can admit it.  I am sooooo competitive.  I watch my daughter at swim lessons and want her to be good at it without the teacher even telling her what to do.

There is a glassed in room at swim lessons for parents to sit and watch.  The class is 30 minutes long and it's one on one instruction with the teacher.  Erin does pretty good for an almost 3 year old, but there is a lot of action as there are other kids getting lessons too.  She sometimes has trouble concentrating.

I sit there willing her to do amazing with each new skill she learns.  What is wrong with me????

She hasn't mastered floating on her back yet and I want to coach her from the sidelines.  I really and truly feel compelled to cheer her on and tell her to do better.  It's the strangest feeling.  I never thought I would be one of those parents who pressured my kid into doing things, but I am going to have to watch myself in the future.

I wasn't really like this in gymnastics unless it was a skill that others were getting and she wasn't.  For the most part Erin is always on task for her age and will eventually get things.  I just want her to be the first and the best!!!!  

I know I'm making light of it here, but it really worries me about myself.  I can't believe I want my 3 year old to swim like she doesn't need lessons.  I want her to master every skill the first time.  If she could do all that we wouldn't be in lessons!!!!

Add this to the long list of things I'll probably do to her to put her in therapy later!!!

Swimming With the Fishes...

Erin's first swim lesson was a success. She liked Miss Kara and the one on one training was good for her.

We'll go everyday this week and next and then we're going to do another session with a different company later this month. I wanted the better lessons to come first then the group lessons to refresh what she learned right before we go to Florida.

Sorry the video is dark. I was filming behind a glass wall. The audio is not from her lesson. You can't see her face in the video but she was smiling and very happy when she came out of the water from being dunked. The teacher kept looking at me, but I knew she would be fine. She loves the water.

We're Back...

We're back from vacation and it's bittersweet...

I'm sad that it's over but I'm elated to get to be with Erin again.  I didn't realize how much I missed her until I picked her up in that first big bear hug.

The best part of the trip was not worrying about her at all.  I bought the internet plan on the ship and took my ipad.  We got nightly updates and pictures on what she was doing.  I think she possibly could have had more fun then we did.  It was ice cream and popsicles for breakfast and sleep was done in Gram and Pawpaw's bed right between them.

We have a very relaxing time.

First stop was Honduras.  We'd never been there.  It was very pretty.  The sand was like sugar.  The people were very nice but like any of those islands, you see so much poverty getting to the nice resort where we stayed on the beach all day.  It makes me very thankful for all that I have. It worked out fine for us.  Tommy had booked some tour off the internet and they picked us up right from the dock.  We spent the day at the Bananarama Beach Resport.  The wind blew the clouds away and we end

We then went to Belize.  We've been there twice before and loved it.  This time it wasn't quite as nice. The tropical storm in the Gulf make for a very windy day there.  It was overcast most of the day.  It actually turned out to be a good thing because it was so hot the day before in Honduras.  We needed a cooler day before tackling Mexico.

Next stop was one of our favorites.  We love Cozumel.  I highly recommend it if you've never been.  The water is beautiful and the diving and snorkeling is supposed to be some of the best in the world.  As for us, we sat on the beach again.  It was 3 straight days of beach breaks for us.  It was so nice to just sit and relax and get in the water to splash around.  This resort Tommy booked on line and they limit the spaces to us 100 people.  It was so nice and calm.  And, in Cozumel they don't walk the beaches trying to sell you crap.  You can lay out without being bothered.  Love it!