Florida- Pool Fun

We were thrilled when we discovered the pool was 50 feet from our house, but blown away when we walked in and discovered 4 pools that made up a beautiful pool complex. Honestly, the kids and adults all loved spending time away from the sand at times and we all agreed the pools were a huge added bonus to the trip! Especially in the hot afternoon because there were several shaded areas and very shallow parts that the kids loved having independence on.

Moving into a big sister bed!

Aunt Sherri and Mimi gave Sydney an adorable trundle bed so she can give her crib/toddler bed to her baby sister. Brent and Sydney worked several nights to paint it lavender and I am happy with the outcome. I need to work a little on what to hang over the bed, but she moved in on Sunday night and is loving life!

So here is my 22nd week baby bump- but I promise I am a lot bigger in just a week and a half! We have all been calling the baby Kate or Baby Kate, and Brent and I are still throwing around middle name ideas. I have my favorite though ;) and I am doing lots of work for Miss Kate so I think I should get to pick!

We love the lake!!!!

Sydney-rella helping wipe down the boat.
Thank you Aunt Teeny for her adorable outfit- don't worry, we didn't get too dirty!

We had a wonderful weekend over Memorial Day. Sydney got to be the princess of the tube and the boat- so you can see how thrilled she was!

Dance Recital 2010

Sydney's dance recital was last Thursday night and she sincerely had the best time! Grandaddy came by while we were getting ready to bring Sydney a "Good Luck" balloon and a milkshake.

We managed to get the rollers out and make it to the stage just in time! Her class performed a tap number to "Heat Wave" and her costume was pretty bright. She loved all the fancy ruffles and the sparkle pen on the front.

Most of the girls in her class before the big show, finding our spots on stage

We LOVE Ms. Shelly her tap teacher and the owner of the studio

And it was time for the their big number! I left her back stage with her teachers and few moms who had nervous kids and rushed around to watch. They all really tried hard and I was impressed with all the toe taps and heel steps they got just perfect!!!

Greer's mom and dance teacher Ms. Merrit, who is also 4 days away from having a baby. Doesn't she look great!?!? She organized the whole recital and I know her hard work was what made the entire thing a success. All the recreational dancers got trophies and after Sydney got hers she held it up to the girls around her and screamed "I got a trophy!" like she was the only dancer who did :).

Oh my, Sydney had an Entourage of fans. Thank you to everyone who came and watched her! All my parents were there and I didn't get a picture with them! Aunt Erin was there to see Sydney and her niece McKenzie and showed up with Abby balloons!

Sweet Melonie and McKenzie (who danced her little heart out before the music even came on!)

The Walker Clan- Uncle Rodney, Aunt Jamie, Nick and Drake who showed up with gifts for the princess. Uncle Rodney may like shopping for little girls cause his purse won Sydney's heart!

So so so sweet- Daddy got Sydney a beautiful bouquet of flowers. The Walkers all went to eat at Chilis and she insisted on bringing her flowers from Daddy in. We displayed them proudly on the table the whole meal. Oh, my heart melts when I see how crazy she is about her Daddy!!!!

Below are Aunt Jamie and Sydney waiting for our table with "THE" flowers.

Seriously, Sydney carried them around like they were her bridal bouquet! I am so proud of Sydney for going to dance each week and working hard on the dance steps, even when most of the girls are older and more coordinated than her. And I could not have been happier with the night of the recital. Sydney felt celebrated and so proud of her accomplishment of getting on stage with the big girls and showing what she has learned. We are looking forward to taking a summer break from dance, but can't wait to continue in the fall in our new fancy studio!

Safety Before Skill Swim School

Sydney has completed 3 Terms of swim school and I am really happy with the safety (and swimming skills) that she has learned. This is Coach Talia and she is amazing with kiddos!

She loves swimming all by herself with noodles while practicing her "kickers and diggers"

Swimming to the wall, always focusing on saying "When you fall, you reach for the wall", practicing holding onto the side, and scooting with her hands to either a ladder or steps.

She is so proud of her accomplishments!

Sydney's favorite- jumping into deep water and practicing swimming up and floating onto her back when she comes up

Of course I pray we never have to use these skills, but being a pool, beach and lake loving family, I know it has been great practice. We will take a little break over the summer and then plan on starting back lessons in the fall and spring. Yikes- then I will have a newborn to take along too!!!!

Oh Happy Day- It's a Wedding Day!

Here are the 2 cute flower girls from Miss Kaylee's wedding- Lucy and Sydney.
Miss Kaylee is a teacher at Sydney's school part time (as college classes allow) and she is one of our only "real" aka paid babysitters. She was so thoughtful and asked Sydney to be a part of her special wedding day. Both Lucy and Sydney were such big girls for the wedding! This is them practicing at the rehearsal. I forget how literal 3 year olds are, or how literal Sydney is. On the way to the church, Sydney asked me if she was going to be "in flowers" because I had told her so many times she was going to be a flower girl :). So I told her, no, she was going to have a special job to sprinkle flowers for Miss Kaylee to walk on. But when we got to the church, we sat down and there were these beautiful pew markers with flowers. Sydney leaned over to me with a worried look on her face and said "Mommy, I can't reach the flowers!" Such a sweet heart. She was taking her job very seriously! She felt much better once she got to practice with the basket and flower pedals.

Kaylee and Blake

While the wedding party was practicing, I put the little girls to work picking up their practice pedals.

The beautiful bride with the girls at the YUMMY rehearsal dinner.

And Saturday was the big day!!! Look how stinkin' adorable Lucy is! We were able to get ready and play in the church nursery rooms, which gave the girls plenty to do during down time

Look at this beautiful bride and her 2 flower girls!!!
They really did a great job during pictures, and then we snuck back to eat happy meals before the ceremony! I was too afraid to mess up the photographers shot during the real thing, but both of the girls did fantastic! They walked down and sprinkled flowers, walked up onto stage for just a minute, and then came down to their awaiting gifts- aka bribe presents to cooperate and stay quiet during the rest of the ceremony.

The reception was so wonderful and I am mad at myself that we enjoyed eating and visiting so much I didn't take any pictures of the beautiful flowers and tables.

Thank you again Miss Kaylee for including us in your and Blake's special day!!!!!!!