Cambry has been taking swimming lessons now for about four weeks. She has always been a bit afraid of the water from not wanting any water in her face in the tub to not wanting to leave the step at my parents pool. I really want to not have a fear of water and to know what do do when she is in the pool. Through my friend, Kristin, I found EVO swim school and I love it. It is a really nice facility on Gilbert and Guadalupe with a large heated pool, a play area for siblings not swimming, and a nice seating area for parents waiting. Her instructor's name is Dave and she really likes him. (In the pictures her instructor was Kelly who filled in when Dave was gone and did a nice job) It took a little time for her to warm up to this whole idea though. The first day she cried for the entire 30 minutes that she swam. There are four kids in her class and they all screamed the entire time. They actually called my name at one point and I thought it was to go in and get her, which I was soooo ready to do, but they actually asked me to go to the seats where Cambry couldn't see me. I was crushed but I did it. I sat there for two weeks, but by then she was fine and now loves to go and I can cheer her on from the sidelines. I'm so proud of her to overcome such fear! I am definitely keeping her enrolled for a while because she is improving so fast. I'll try to catch better pictures next week, but it's hard to take them and watch at the same time.

Floating on her back for the first time!

We're not in Kansas anymore...

But we were a few weeks ago and it was super fun! The only bummer is that I did a really poor job taking pictures, so I blatantly stole some from my sisters blog - thanks sis. (We share everything it's fine :)
I really wanted to go to Kansas to visit my family and friends there, but it's so hard to schedule a family trip around Drew's crazy schedule. So I decided, hey, I can go by myself and the girls. Then I thought, hey, I bet my sister would like to come. Then I realized Mike was going to India and I thought, hey, I bet we could go while he was gone to eat up some of her alone time. (I usually start my sentences with "hey" when I talk/think to myself.) I started looking into flights and sure enough the weekend that I wanted to go had the cheapest tickets! A sign from Jesus? I think so. So I conned my sis into going and away we went. People would ask -How are you getting your stuff through the airport? What about car seats? How will you have a car big enough for all of you to ride in? I'm not much of a worrier, so I kept saying oh we will work it out, it will be fine - we can totally do it.
Then, I had my first -what the hell was I thinking- moment when I pulled up to airport and unloaded two children, two children's purses that they were "in charge of", THREE carry on bags, two carseats, and luckily my dad. (I didn't unload my dad he unloaded himself, and helped us to get through the airport!) I was surprisingly comforted when I saw my sister in a pile that was equal to mine in the check-in line. We just kept smiling and laughing. Everyone who walked by looked at our mountain of goods and their eyes bulged out of their heads. I know what they were thinking 1.) Glad that's not me 2) I DONT want to sit by that circus! They can eat their words though because all of our kids were perfect and pleasant on the plane. In fact they were much more well behaved than one 30 year-old-arrogant-man that sat in front of me -but that's a whole nother story.

Thank goodness for their leapfrog "computers", as the girls call them, that kept them busy.

Playing outside at Aunt Angie's. A giant yard is something these girls are not use to!
Braelyn and her papa that she had wrapped around her finger

My dear friend Shelley that I grew up with! It was such a blessing to see her and hug her, hang out with her husband, see the home that she has established, and meet her beautiful daughter Izzy!

Izzy and Colbs

The best pic I could get of these crazy girls

We went on a hike around my grandparents neighborhood and Cambry collected everything she could find!
And then she had a breakdown and needed a good o -spankin-in-the-woods. It was really funny and her little tiny hand trying to block her bootylicious booty just makes me laugh. My sis and I agreed before we went on our trip that we would take pictures through the good, bad, and ugly on this trip. I'm so glad she captured this moment. I'm sure as Cambry gets older she will be just thrilled too!
These are some of our childhood friends! The last time I saw Nick (on my left) he was maybe nine and I was way taller than him.


And our wonderful cousins Branden and Dustin came up from Texas to see us! It was wonderful and all four of our girls just love them!
It was wonderful to be back there, and the moments that my sister and I shared together were priceless! Thank you for everyone helping us have a wonderful time. We love you!!!

Catching up in February

February has been a big month here, so I have some catching up to do. It started off with a visit from Grandpa John. He came in for a weekend and Uncle Will came up from Tucson and we all had a wonderful time! One afternoon John and I took the girls to feed the ducks and I snapped some cute pictures of our outing. Thanks for all the fun grandpa!

My day with the girls

You might thinking why would she title her blog "My day with the girls" when she is a stay at home mom. Isn't everyday a day with the girls? Well, yes and no. I always have my girls with me but it doesn't always feel like we have these wonderful days to bond because there is always something to do. There are errands to run, a house to clean, laundry to sort/wash/dry/fold/put away, play dates, the gym, dance lessons, swim lessons, bible studies to prepare for, groceries to get and not to mention trying to keep up with doing hair out of my home. Sometimes the heart of my job as a mom is lost in everything that there is to do or try to keep up with. Unfortunately, the girls are the ones that suffer the most from this. When the girls are on my crazy schedule I find that's when they get in trouble the most. It's a lot to ask from them to keep up, and I know it's my fault because I say "yes" to everything. I have learned the hard way that I'm going to have to say no things for the sake of doing a better job as a mom. It's okay if my house is not perfectly clean (that's actually hard for me to type because I'm still convincing myself on this one!) if it means I can give more attention to my girls. I want my girls to have really wonderful friendships, and they do, but it's okay to say no to a play date if it means we get to stay home and play together. I have limited my clients per week and I have had to turn a few down which is so hard for me. I know that there will be times in my life when I can work as much as I want, have a spotless home, and go as many places that I want to during the day. But not right now. Right now I have the most beautiful job that I'm so blessed to have, but I'm on a timeline with how long I'm in this role. I don't want to waste this precious time, or spend it being flustered and stressed out. My new goal is to put my family first even if it means having to say "no" to a few things.
Tuesday was my first day dedicated to this idea. We stayed home in the morning playing and giving each other undivided attention. Then we did go to ballet lessons, and went right back home afterwards.



Colbie took her nap and Cambry and I played. When Colbie woke up we went and fed the ducks at Discovery Park. It's one of their favorite things to do!

Colbie wanted to pet the turtle. She named him Pink Gumball Poop. Cambry wanted to name him Rose, but Colbie found him first so we took her name.

Then we did a little swinging and playing.

This is my favorite. Colbie has started playing the air guitar with her eyes closed when she has a song in her head (which is often). I love it!

Then we came home and had a wonderful evening at home eating dinner and having a bubble bath. Colbie's Abe Lincoln impersonation.

We ended our girls day with a late night run to a new gelato place called Frost at San Tan Mall. It's amazing. You must try the Sea Salt Caramel if you go. The girls loved it.

Most days fly by and I don't even know what we did during the day. But not this one. It seemed meaningful and it felt like we had a plenty of time at home even with a few outings. The girls were really well behaved and we had some great lessons throughout the day. I know that not every day can be like this, but I'm committed to having more of them.

This weeks dance pics