Growing leaps and bounds! We really noticed that Carsyn has been talking a lot more this past month. She's stringing together 3-4 words now. The other day she said "Ry-Ry where are you?". Some of her favorite words are 'paci', 'cereal' and of course 'mama'. Her favorite movie is Wreck-It-Ralph and it must be watched at least 2x's a day on weekends, and every night during the week. She loves her big brother Ry and must copy him in all things; such as climbing walls & fences, eating the same snacks and playing with dinosaurs. I love that she's such a tom boy. :) This girl's got spunk, character, smarts and will bust a move to music at any time. My tiny dancer.
Hook em - ready for football! 8/13/2015
stacking extraordinaire 8/4/2015
earning her keep 8/26/2015
At the beginning of August we took the kids on their first airplane ride to Cincinnati to visit my brother's family (Uncle Steve & Aunt Lil C, Mason & Harper) and meet the newest addition to their family, baby Harper. The kids had a blast and flying didn't phase them one bit. It was great to visit with family and check out the local zoo and aquarium!
Visiting family in Ohio 8/7/2015
extended family! 8/8/2015
all the littles - cousins/2nd cousins
monkeying around at the zoo 8/7/2015
at the aquarium
under water tunnel
This month we upgraded Carsyn's room from a crib to a full sized bed! It took a couple nights for her to adjust and sleep through the night in her new bed, but it was totally worth it to be done with that crib. It still takes a while to put her down because she wants you to lay there with her until she falls asleep, which sometimes takes a good hour! Poor daddy gets stuck with this routine the majority of the time as Ry-Ry now wants mommy to take him to bed. All in all a successful transition. Next up is potty training, we still haven't mustered up the energy to tackle that new adventure.
new bed for the little lady 8/25/2015
Lots of changes for the little lady (and family) this month. The last of Carsy's teeth finally broke through, all 4 canines at once! That made for a rough couple of nights and lots of Tylenol. Then we took a trip to San Marcos to visit Bro-Bro's new college apartment and stock up his fridge. The littles got a nice taste of college life. And finally Ry-Ry started pre-K in a new school, so Carsy is on her own now at daycare and at Opa & Juju's. They are growing up way too fast!
They are like an old married couple...in their rockers with their blankets at Opa & Juju's 8/11/2015
sleepy girl 8/22
Visiting bro bro's apartment at college 8/22/2015
college beanbag chair...big enough for 2 littles!
Towards the end of the month we bought the kids a new toy, a bike trailer! I've been wanting a bike trailer for a while now to cart the kids around, I can also use it to take Ry to pre-K as its only 1 mile away from our house. The kids LOVE it, especially when mommy goes fast. They rode in it all weekend long, mommy took them out in the morning and we hit up all the parks in the neighborhood. Tons of fun for the kids, lots of exercise for mommy.
2 peas in a pod, Wheeeee! 8/29/2015
Carsy & Ry, must climb all the things together 8/30/2015
tunnel adventures 8/30/2015
Next up is planning Carsy's bday. I've already confirmed the location, found her birthday present and sent out invites. Now I just need to figure out her cake!
Carsyn has really grown up the past couple of months, or so it feels like to me. :) We've started taking away her paci during the day, she only gets it at nap time and bedtime, and she's been talking WAY more. The nice thing is she actually hasn't seemed to miss her paci. I'm hoping we'll be able to fully break her of it within the next month. I think she's also grown taller and she definitely feels heavier than before. This girl is ALL muscle at 26 lbs and she wears 18-24 month clothing. Carsy climbs up playscapes and rock walls like a boss, and since ISR swim lessons she's become a guppy! She loves the water and can't get enough of swimming to mommy in the pool.
Happy 4th of July!
Veteran's memorial park for a pool party 7/5/2015
They loved that slide
I think we are also ready to try potty training this next month, heck we've already procured pull-ups. Carsy is great about telling us when she's gone #2 and needs a new diaper. We have a small training potty that she has sat on a couple times and has successfully gone #1 (only once though)! We still have Ry's training toilet seat to use as well. How awesome would that be to have her potty trained by the time she's 2!! I'm so ready to be done with diapers...she's almost too big to fit on her changing table now anyways.
Everyone is napping but Carsy! She's watching Beauty/Beast 7/12/2015
Right now Carsy's favorite movies are Wreck It Ralph, Hotel Transylvania and Beauty and the Beast. It's great because she will quietly sit there watching those movies throughout the day. So when mommy and daddy need down time we put on a movie and she is mesmerized. :) Lately she's been pushing her bedtime and not going down until close to 9pm. These kids are night owls!
She loves to swing like a big girl, she does everything her big brother does. 7/17/2015
Carysn loves playing with her big brother Ry, she follows him everywhere. For the most part they play really well together, but like all siblings after awhile they do irritate each other. My favorite moments of them together are when he helps Carsy into her chair, when they give each other hugs & kisses and when they sit down side by side to watch a tv show together. Melts my heart!
Love my little girl, Love my little boy. Love them! ❤
Once the beginning of summer hit I immediately registered both kids for swim lessons. We started the first local swim lessons in June and I just wasn't that impressed. For Carsyn is was a parent/tot class where all you did was make them comfortable in the water; blow bubbles, jump in and carry them around in circles. Ryland's classes were a little better, they taught swim moves, but they never let the kids do it on their own, they were always holding them.
One day at our local pool, Ry ran past me (obviously excited) and jumped into the deep end. The kid has no fear! I had Carsyn and wasn't able to make it to him in time, luckily another adult was in the water next to him and grabbed his quickly sinking arm. Yeesh! I knew these local swim lessons just weren't cutting it and we were tired of having to use life-vests and floaties all the time. The next day we were at my SIL's house and I saw her kids swimming, they are the same age as Ry and Carsy! I asked what they were doing differently and ISR came up. This is the 2nd time I've heard this mentioned. I looked into it last year but the price is what made me hesitate. Once I saw the results we realized it was soooo worth it to put them in these lessons.
I asked one of my running friends for their ISR contact, registered the kids for the following week and cancelled the local swim lessons. We were ready to go!
The first time participating in ISR it usually runs for 6 weeks, depending on the child's skills. They are 1 on 1 lessons with the teacher, 5 days a week for 10 mins each lesson. Then every year after that you can re-register for a refresher course which should last about 2-4 weeks. Our teacher, Ms Vicki, was AMAZED with our kids (especially Carsyn). Ry only cried the first 3 lessons, then after that he LOVED it and couldn't wait to go to swim lessons every day. Carsyn cried for probably a good 2 weeks before she was comfortable with the process. However right off the bat the teacher noticed how strong Carsyn was and how quickly she caught on. Heck by week 2 these kids made amazing leaps and bounds with their swimming skills and by week 3 Carsyn was loving it and actually started smiling during the lessons.
Carsyn on Day 4 - swim to side/bar
Ryland on Day 4 - working on float
Ryland week 3 of ISR lessons
Carsyn week 3
At the end of week 3 Ms Vicki told us they were ready to test out the following week! I couldn't believe how quickly they had mastered these swimming/survival skills. They both had to complete 2 tests. The first test was in summer clothes (shorts, shirt, sandals), they had to fall in and demonstrate all their survival/swimming techniques. Carsyn even had to wear 2 diapers!! I can't imagine how heavy that must have been wearing a swim diaper and a regular diaper. The second test was in winter clothes; pants, long sleeved shirt, jacket, socks and tennis shoes. THEY DID GREAT! I feel so much better now when we take them to the pool knowing that if they fall in they can float, swim, survive. These kids are like fish! They love the water and no longer require floaties!! :)
Below our their test out videos: Summer clothes, Winter clothes
Carsyn is such a doll and so full of life! She loves it when mommy gives her airplane rides and she constantly tries to copy her big brother Ryland. Those two mimic each other constantly; drinking at the same time, eating the same foods, racing around the house together, sharing mommy's lap...sometimes it's hard to keep up with them! Carsyn is also a cuddle bug and I adore her for it. She loves to give hugs and kisses, sit in your lap and just be near you. Some of her favorite things to say are: cheese, bubbles, hi, waves and says 'bye-bye', if something falls she says 'oh no' and tries to clean it up and of course 'ow!'. She's also an avid lover of her stuffed animals. Right now her favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast and she loves bunnies and birds and tries to catch them when she sees them. We haven't started potty training yet but I think she's close, she doesn't like having a poopy diaper and will come tell us when she has a BM. She'll pat her bottom and say 'poop'. When we ask her if she needs a diaper she will nod her head yes and start walking to the changing table. :)
swinging fools 5/30/2015
We started swim lessons in June, the first 2 weeks we were signed up with the Pf rec center. Then we went to a birthday party and saw how well my SIL's kids could swim (the same age as our kids) and asked what they were doing, ISR lessons (infant swim rescue). So we signed the kids up right away and managed to start the following week. In just 5 days they have made huge improvements in their swimming abilities. Definitely worth it!
swim lessons in Pf 6/10/2015
play time after lessons
At the Y for more swim lessons, playing before putting in the work 6/25/2015
ISR swim lessons 6/25/2015
Video of Carsyn swimming
This month was full of fun things: Playing on the patio at Sam's Boat, a Safari Champs outing, Father's day lunch, playing in the rain and at the neighborhood splash pad, and of course an awesome birthday party at Kiddie Acres. Heck we even went to Sea World to round out the month! This time I bought Ryland some fish to feed the sea lions...and I totally forgot to take a picture! Bad mommy. Anyways, the kids had a blast and especially loved the kiddie water park. During our Sea World trip it rained on us, so my phone was put away to avoid water damage, hence some missing pictures.
copy cats 6/14/2015
The bro-bro swing is a lot of fun! 6/14/2015
no daycare, so mom takes us to Safari champs! 6/18/2015
climbing like the big kids
Happy Father's Day lunch 6/21/2015
playing in the rain 6/21/2015
splash pad fun 6/23/2015
Always scaling something, trying to escape Pluckers 6/26/2015
Kiddie Acres, they loved this airplane ride. 6/28/2015
