Swim lesson update

Tides have changed at swim lessons. I am VERY pleased to report Lilly does not hesitate when it comes to putting her head under the water. Hooray! Water going up the nose doesn't appear to be a problem anymore. She does well opening her eyes underwater, "diving" for the toys in the shallow end, floating on her back with the help of her teacher and kicking. Sometimes she tries to swim by kicking her legs in front of her; this does not get her far. When she does this it looks like she's trying to ride a bike, so she has to be reminded to kick behind. Here's Lilly eagerly awaiting the start of swim class... patiently sitting on her towel.

Here's our little Lilly jumping off the diving board- still a bit hesitant to do so, but she does it nonetheless. Go Lilly!

Big splash!

And yes, she did come up for air. Way to go!!

 

Gelato all around

We took the girl crew- Claire, Lilly and Hannah- for gelato last week. 

All three ate their fare share and enjoyed our little outing. I thought you'd like to see a photo of our buddy Hannah. She is doing great with the chemotherapy- the tumors are actually shrinking! Praise God!

 

High Centered

We were on our way out the door- to swim lesson to be exact. Just as I reached for the door to the garage, I heard a muffled cry for help. "Mama, Help! Mama, Help!"

I retraced my steps back to Claire's room and found this...

Claire, high centered...

Yes, I admit I left her there for just a brief second while I ran to get my camera from my purse. She wasn't in need of urgent assistance, and I thought it was pretty funny. She must have tried to climb back in her crib to get her blanket; you shouldn't be without your blanket during a car ride, you know. In the process, she became super stuck.

That's our Claire, or shall I say, Linus?

Swim School

Lilly began swim lessons yesterday. At first she was excited- looking forward to playing in the water, wearing her reversible Tinkerbell swimsuit and using her monogrammed Princess Tiana towel. She was very comfortable with the other children in her class, as well as her instructors.  I thought this was going to be a snap, that is, until they asked her to put her head under water. The screaming began when the water went up her nose- not a pleasant feeling as we all know- something seasoned swimmers know to avoid. All in all her first day at swim school was a success- great job with the kicking and arm scooping and a grade "B" general attitude. Fast forward to day 2 of swim lessons. She let me know right away she was not interested in going back. Rob took her this morning and reported she screamed the entire time. She reports she did not like putting her head underwater to "dive." We will wait and see what tomorrow brings. It may very well be a LONG two weeks of swim lessons.  The reward when all of this is over- a trip to Kansas to swim in Nana's pool- now that is something she is looking forward to!

 

It's official- baby on the way

Surprise! Surprise!

The Z family is proud to report Baby Z #3 is due in January.

Claire is oblivious, while Lilly is hoping for a kitten named Nagan. 

Girl or Boy? 

We don't know but will be sure to post as soon as we find out.

Name? None yet.. but we are open to suggestions.

We are excited!

Saturday in Sedona

The radar told us Sedona was in line for cooler weather from a rain storm this weekend, so we packed the car for a day trip north on Saturday. We drove to Sedona just in time to find a local park and a healthy (uh hum) lunch. Food that is quick of any kind is in short supply in Sedona, so KFC was the best we could do. We enjoyed a real picnic on plush grass, something that is in short supply in Phoenix! Notice the thunder clouds in the background.

 We played and played until it started to rain- then we put on our sweatshirts and played in the rain some more. Claire and Lilly loved it- what a treat to play in the rain! This seems so silly as I'm typing, but rain is in short supply at our house! Notice some of the beautiful mountains of Sedona in the background.

In this photo, Claire is enjoying the swing while rain poured down all around us and sprinkled through the covering on the playground... the temperature was about 78 degrees.

When the rain become too much, we dove in the car in search of another place to play.

We ended up in Jerome- up the winding mountain. We drove through Jerome and down the switch-backs on the other side of the mountain to Prescott.  We learned something interesting on this trip- Claire gets motion sickness when we're not driving on the straight and narrow roads. We stopped at this scenic lookout to give her tummy a little rest... poor thing threw up a little in the car. Nice.

 Lilly was quite the trooper. Her portable DVD player got a workout, and she enjoyed the scenery all the same...

 Leaving Jerome on the way to Prescott- what a beautiful place- the pictures just don't do it justice. Shortly after leaving this lookout, we drove through a massive rain storm where the temperature dropped to 47. Nice!

 It was a great day- great to get out of Phoenix, great to see beautiful scenery, great to spend time with the family and a great day to learn we need to buy Dramamine next time we venture to the mountains.

Lovely ladies

We spent the morning moving from store to store in search of the perfect birthday dress for Lilly. And of course we found it, thanks Macy's. We finished our shopping adventure just in time for lunch and just before the heat of the day set in. My car indicated it was 112 outside- give or take a degree. HOT!

I know you want to see the dress, but you'll have to wait to see what it looks like in a future post. Until then, here are a few shots of the girls I took this afternoon. Ever since this hat arrived in the mail last week, Lilly  has been proudly wearing it. Thanks, Nana!

 Claire smiled each time AFTER I snapped a photo. Here she is in all her cuteness anyway...

Have a great day everyone! Stay cool!!