Trained!...

Ellie is officially potty trained!  I hadn't thought much about training her, but a few weeks ago, I started randomly catching her trying to use the potty.  I kind of ignored it for a while--maybe I'm lazy, but there is something to be said about the convenience of a diaper when you're at the grocery store with 3 children in tow.  :)  But I figured we'd give it a try, since she will be 3 in a few months anyway.  My expectations might have been a little low, so she really surprised me with how well she did (with the exception of day 2, which resulted in more accidents than I care to mention.)  But other than that, she got it down in only a few days--so far, no accidents since last Wednesday!  She even wore underwear to church today (something I was not brave enough to try last Sunday), and the teacher said she even initiated taking herself to the potty there too!  Way to go, Ellie--We are very proud of you!!

My Little Fish...

Ellie has done remarkably well this summer in the pool.  At the beginning of the summer, we were thrilled that she was just a little more independent in the water with her Puddle Jumper floaty.  But last week, she wanted to take it off and try swimming by herself.  We were doubtful, but we let her try anyway.  Surprisingly she was able to move herself in the water pretty well for her age.  She paddled and kicked, and even pulled her head up out of the water when she needed to breathe!  This girl has very little fear in the water, which is a little frightening.  She has even taken it upon herself to jump into the water and try to swim...even when there is no one there to catch her.  Constantly reminding her not to do this is what we are working on right now.  Here she is swimming from the steps to Daddy:

Fearless girl:

Summer Swimming...

I realized I haven't blogged in nearly a month.  And I think it's because we've been busy swimming nearly every day!  Because when you have kids, and it's one-hundred and something degrees outside, there's not much else you can do.  This great pool is in our neighborhood.  We bought a summer membership, and let's just say we're getting our money's worth!

Catch me Daddy!

Mason playing noodle jump rope:

Even Miss Mollie enjoys the water:

After 2 years of buying unsuccessful floaties for Ellie, I finally bought this Puddle Jumper.  She loves it...it's awesome...I wish I'd bought it for her last summer:

Mollie only tolerates her floaty for a few minutes.  After that she starts pulling herself out of it like this:

Ellie and her friend Kyle like to play in the "little pool". 

We love to swim!