Labor Day Celebration

It was nice being able to spend the day as a family and relax without having to worry about doing housework, etc. I spent the morning working on a new mural in Brooke's room (which is now complete.....minus the GIRLY chandelier I eventually want to replace her fan with!) I promised my Mom that I truly am done working and changing her room. It is so beautiful and such a girly/girl space that I find myself staring at it and wishing that I had a room just like it when I was little.(not to say that my Mom did a bad job decorating, but I shared a room most of my childhood, so Brooke is truly blessed to have such a space to call her own) After naps we went to my parent's house to get in a little swimming before fall is upon us and the dog days of summer where we could relax by the pool all afternoon are nothing but a distant memory. We had a great time! Brooke and Austin decided to swim with only 1 floatie each for a while and then Brooke decided she was too cold and wanted to get out and sit with her Granni. I was able to focus on Austin while Jeff played with Addi. I asked him if he wanted to try to swim without the floatie and he said "no". He then thought about it and looked at me and said "Mommy, I want to try to swim without my floatie." I was happy because I REALLY would feel more at ease if these kids could swim on their own without the dependence of arm floaties. My Dad looked at us a few minutes prior to Austin's decision and said to me "I bet he will be swimming before Brooke does." So, the floatie came off, Austin stuck his head in the water and SWAM!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. HE was actually swimming!!! It was like something came over him and he just knew how to do it. He's only sunk to the bottom before so this was truly a miracle. I knew it was the real thing he did it over and over and over again. He even jumped in and then swam to me. It was such a proud parenting moment and I even got a little weepy from how overcome I was with pure elation for Austin! The only problem we have no is that he thinks he can do anything and he has no fear. He isn't proficient on the whole treading water thing so if he's not actually swimming with his head down in water he doesn't know how to stay afloat. That will be our next thing to work on, but for now we are so proud of him!