VBS and Swim Lessons

The past two weeks have been very busy. Two weeks ago the girls had VBS all week. In the past, I've always helped, but since Coye was still so little, I decided to take this year off. (Plus my friend Jan was in charge and told me that I was not helping this year. :) It was really nice to take the girls to school in the morning and then come home for two hours and just hang out with Coye and try to get a few things done. It was great, but it was hard being out of the house by 8:40 a.m. every morning, especially since we've been used to sleeping in and taking our time getting ready in the morning. The girls had a blast though and really enjoyed it. The VBS was Hometown Nazareth, so they had different "shops" set up in the gym that the kids went to and learned about what things were like back when Jesus was a kid. They also got to wear costumes every day which was pretty cool too. The ladies in charge did a fabulous job and the kids really loved it. My girls came home every day telling me different things they did and what they learned about Jesus. When I asked them what their favorite part was, they said all of it.

After VBS week came a week of swimming lessons. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking scheduling two week long things in a row. In a way it was good that the girls could go somewhere fun following a fun week of VBS, but it was hard having another week of getting up and rushing around in the morning to be to swim lessons by 9:00 a.m. Last year Aubrey took private lessons from a girl named Marissa and had such a great experience that I decided to spend the extra money and do private lessons again for both of them. They each got a half hour lesson. Aubrey would go first and then Chloe would get her turn. They both loved them! Aubrey learned so much this year, it's incredible to think that this is the same girl who two years ago wouldn't even put her face in the water! She can now front and back float by herself. She's better at the front float and will float for almost 15 seconds by herself! She also learned how to glide, which is basically pushing off of the wall with her feet and holding her arms straight by her ears like she's diving, while putting her face in the water and kicking. She does this by herself in our pool too. Marissa also taught her to tread water and Aubrey did this for 15 seconds by herself in the 5 foot part of the pool. She practiced big arms, frog and flutter kicking, backstroke arms, blowing bubbles, and jumping in. She did amazing! Chloe also did great! When we first opened the pool this summer, she was terrified and would cling tightly to whoever was holding her even with her life jacket on. At swim lessons, Marissa worked with her on putting her face in the water and even managed to get her to go under water several times each lesson without Chloe crying. Chloe practiced kicking, blowing bubbles, and moving her arms forward and backward too. Her favorite part was jumping in. I was so pleased with the progress both girls made and hope that Marissa continues to teach swim lessons next year too. She's amazing! I've been having the girls take their life jackets off one at a time in our pool so that we can keep practicing what they've learned. Chloe likes to kick, and we're trying to work on floating but she still doesn't like to put her face in the water even though she doesn't mind too much going underwater. Aubrey yesterday picked up frogs off of the bottom of the pool and even sat down on the bottom. She also jumped off of the ladder, popped herself up, and then swam back to the ladder all by herself. They love swimming and are such fishes, it's great!

Aubrey practicing floating on her back Aubrey's front float by herself

Coye slept through every lesson except one.
Aubrey gliding

Aubrey jumping in

Chloe waiting her turn

Chloe practicing her back float

Aubrey warming up after her lesson

Chloe's favorite part - jumping in

Father's Day

We spent yesterday, Father's Day, out at the campground where Luke and Shelly have their camper. Luke grilled hamburgers, porkburgers, and smoked sausage and the rest of us brought food to share. The food was yummy and the weather was nice - overcast, but still warm enough that you didn't have to wear any coats but you weren't sweating either. When we got there, Luke was still grilling the meat, so the girls watched the game of Ladders that was being played before they took a turn. Coye hung out in his stroller sleeping, like he normally does when we are out and about. The girls had fun throwing the rope at the ladders, trying to hook it over one of the rungs. Shelly took the girls and I for a golf cart ride around the campground before we ate. After eating, we headed out to one of the ponds to do some fishing. The girls have been practicing casting off and on since last summer and have become pretty good at it. They were anxious to get out there and try to catch some real fish after so many times of pretending. I wasn't sure if we were going to get anything, but it turned out to be a good fishing day. The girls each had their own poles, while Danielle used mine and I borrowed one. Calvin kept busy helping the girls with their poles, putting worms on, and taking the fish we caught off and throwing them back in the pond. Aubrey caught the first fish and reeled it in all by herself. Chloe caught the second one and after that we just caught a steady stream of them. Even Danielle caught one. She was pretty excited because she'd never been fishing before and was hoping to catch at least one. Aubrey ended up catching five. Chloe caught five. Danielle and I each caught two and Calvin caught one. They were mostly little bluegill, but Danielle did catch one small bass and Calvin caught a catfish. We ended up fishing for probably two hours. Chloe got bored after a while, but Aubrey pretty much fished the entire time. Coye spent most of the afternoon either sleeping in his carseat or sleeping in someone's arms. The only thing we didn't do that the girls wanted to was play on the new playground they have. Luke told them that we can come back any time we want though so that helped to pacify them some. Next time we'll have to be sure to do that and bring their bikes so they can ride around the campground. They are really good at riding on the gravel now.

Calvin and the kids

Aubrey practicing throwing
Chloe wanted to practice too

Getting ready to fish

Danielle's first time

Aubrey's first catch

Chloe's first one - she even touched it!

Fishing with Grandma

Danielle's first catch

Coye has been growing like a weed! He's definitely getting heavier - my arm gets tired after holding him for a while. He's been sleeping much better at night. We've gotten into more of a bedtime routine - bath, feeding in my room with music, and then to bed. Most of the time he will go right to sleep and then get up between 2 and 2:30 and then between 5:30 and 6 and then go back to bed until 8 or 9. It's been nice to have around an hour or so to myself before going to bed at night. During the day he's been pretty fussy lately. He's been having a lot of gas, no matter what I eat so I'm going to try giving him gas drops and see if that helps any. He also refuses to nap during the day in his bed. I still try but usually don't get more than 10-15 minutes at a time. When I get really desperate for him to nap, I stick him either in the swing or the bouncy seat, and then he'll sleep for at least an hour. I remember Chloe going through the same phase. I shouldn't complain though because he does sleep pretty good at night. Now if he would just learn how to sleep quieter and not make so much noise when he's sleeping, we'd be great! Calvin can't wait for him to move upstairs.

Coye and Grandpa Wagner

Sleeping the day away with Grandma

Sleeping in his carseat under the netting - it worked great to keep the bugs off of him

T-ball

Aubrey is halfway through her t-ball season and loving it! So far, she's had four games. These games aren't the typical baseball games. There are no outs. There are only three innings. Every person on each team gets to bat once every inning, while the other team's players are spread out around the infield to get the ball and throw it to first. While there aren't any outs, the kids are still learning and practicing the basics like throwing it to first every time and running around the bases, touching each one. I love going to games and watching her play. Aubrey likes to bat the best. She's finally stopped holding onto her helmet as she runs, which makes her run faster. (The helmets are huge on her little head and she's afraid they're going to fall off and hit her.) She will go after the ball if it comes to her and she does pretty good throwing it to first. It's been a lot of fun going to games and watching the kids. They are so cute! Coye usually sleeps through the entire game, while Chloe either plays with some of the other kids or stays by me. Calvin has made it to three out of the four games, which makes Aubrey very happy. She loves having her daddy there to watch her play too. She only has two weeks left in her season, and I'm sure she'll be sad when it's over.

Chloe watching the game

Coye sleeping through the game
Running back to the dugout after making it home

Waiting for the ball to be hit

Stopping the ball

Batting - her favorite!

Church Picnic

Our annual church picnic was last Sunday. The theme for this year's picnic was "Growing in Christ". The day started out with church outside, which I generally love, but this year it was chilly! I put Coye in his stroller hoping he would stay there throughout the service where it was warmer, but that didn't happen. He started fussing almost as soon as we sat down, so I had to take him out, wrap him up, and hold him the entire service. Good thing he had on three layers plus a hat and a hood. After church, we came home to change and then headed back out to eat and then work on our float for the parade. The Wagner family usually puts together a float for all of the Wagner great-grandchildren to ride on. I have to say that I think this year's float is the best one we have ever done. It turned out great! I loved how it turned out, plus Grandma rode on there with the kids too. After the parade, the girls sang some songs that they learned in Sunday School and school and then we headed back over to the park to visit and play some games. It was a long day - we were there until 6:00 p.m., but it was a lot of fun.

We put a time line on the float to show how many people were in the Wagner family every five years.

Back of the float
Aubrey and Chloe riding

Singing on stage - Chloe was definitely intimidated by the crowd of people, where as Aubrey has sung on the stage many times and wasn't phased at all.

First Bath

Mom was so excited to give Coye his first real bath. She's given all the rest of the grandchildren their first baths and didn't want to break her streak. His umbilical cord finally fell off after three weeks. Ridiculous! I was so thankful. Aubrey wanted to put it in a bag and show it to Grandpa and Grandma, so I let her, but then we threw it away. He loved his first bath being in the water. It's so much more fun than sponge baths!

One month already!

It's been one month already since Coye's been born. While I can't believe that he's already a month old, I also feel like he's been a member of our family for forever! He had his one month checkup yesterday. While I know he's growing, he's still so little and I didn't expect him to weight over 8 lbs. I was pleasantly surprised when the nurse weighed him and told me that he weighed 8 lbs. 15 oz., which means that he gained over 2 lbs. in the past three weeks. He also grew an inch, so he's now 21 inches long. The doctor also checked him all over and said that he's doing great - making eye contact and everything. She also put some silver nitrate on his belly button to help it dry up. He only had to get one shot - thank goodness. He screamed, but not for long and then forgot about it. I was so glad to get a healthy report and know that he's doing well.

One month old!

Coye continues to sleep most of the day. He eats about every three hours - that's about the only thing we have established so far. We have yet to come up with a good bedtime routine yet. It's hit or miss what time he goes to bed based on when he's eaten last and how much he's slept during the day. I've been trying to keep him up some after every feeding, but sometimes it's just so hard! He loves his baths, except getting his hair washed - he hates that and will cry when you start! We do some tummy time, but he only lasts for about 30 seconds before he rolls over. (No, rolling over at the doctor's office was not a fluke! He consistenly does it.) He loves the swing and the bouncy seat, although they usually put him to sleep. The girls still love him and want to hold him. We are constantly telling Chloe to get out of his face as she wants to kiss him all the time. Aubrey loves to hold him and talk to him, which is very helpful when I'm trying to get something done and he's crying.

Just chilling

I love baby feet!
Looking at something in the mirror

He hasn't lost any hair!

Swimming Again

While everyone was here for Coye's baptism, we decided that it would be a good time to open the pool. I had no idea what to do and really needed Dad here to show me how to do it. Since they still had another couple weeks of school, he decided that this weekend would be the best for him, so he brought a bunch of chemicals with him and we planned to work on it. Of course, on Saturday, it rained off and on all day, so we basically worked in the rain putting the pool back together. It wasn't ideal, but we were able to get the cover off and the filter and pump put back out. I was so excited to see clear, but dirty, water when we got the cover off. We started adding chemicals on Sunday and I continued adding them all week. Dad and I vacuumed on Monday before they went back home and we got most of the dirt off. Danielle was nice enough to get in the icy water and scrub the dirt off the sides and whirlpool to get the rest in the middle. After she did that and we vacuumed again, the water looked great. The girls were so anxious to swim, so Calvin said he'd take them on Sunday (I can't swim yet). Eileen ended up calling on Sunday too to see if she could bring Sophia, Clare, and Edwin over to swim too. It worked out great! She kept the kids inside while I vacuumed again and then she and Calvin took them all in. The older girls did great, while Chloe clung to Calvin for dear life the entire time. She kept thinking that she was going to sink. Hopefully she gets over that soon! The rest of them had a great time.

Getting ready to go in

Coye and I hung out in the shade while they swam
Aubrey

Chloe and her new goggles