Goin' Swimmin'

Last year Thomas and I took a swim class especially for moms and babies at the Provo Recreation Center with a bunch of other moms from our ward. It was so fun, I definitely wanted to do it again this year! A couple months ago, before we moved, I started looking into finding the nearest pool to Saratoga Springs that offered classes. Through a friends' blog I found out about the Lehi Legacy Center...it is the coolest place! They have all kinds of programs, camps and classes. The building has 3 gyms, an indoor track, a weight-room, cardio-room, rock-climbing wall, a daycare, and the Aquatics Center is awesome. The pools are open year-round and they have a sliding glass ceiling and walls they can open or close depending on the weather. Inside there's a big waterslide, a leisure pool, lap pool, hot tub, lazy river, a really cute "waterslide baby mountain" and this huge, cool fort with a giant bucket drop! The lazy river also goes outside where they have a kiddie pool and a bunch of picnic tables and lounge chairs.

I was so excited to discover the Legacy Center! I signed Thomas and I up for a Mom & Tot swim class that started at 10 am, the perfect time to give me a chance to get out the door and to get back for Thomas' naptime. So, every weekday from June 2nd-June 12th Thomas and I went swimmin'. We loved it! The class was pretty loosely structured--we played games and sang songs, just teaching the kids to be comfortable in the water at first, and then tried to teach them basic things like kicking, "scooping" or paddling, blowing bubbles, swimming on their tummies and laying on their back. We held our kids while doing all of this of course, we weren't expecting them to truly learn to swim by themselves. Thomas was cute though, because he was often impatient to get to the play areas or wherever he wanted to go, and he would start kicking and struggling to get out of my arms, like he was trying to swim there himself! Funny little fish. Last year he took to the water really well, and this year he was even more into it! One of his favorite things to do was climb out of the pool on his own (with me there spotting him) and then jump off the edge into my arms. He wanted to do it over and over again!

Our teacher/lifeguard Kallie was so nice and was the mom of a toddler herself. One of the things she challenged us to do was to work up to a point where we could dunk our child (quickly) all the way under the water. I did this with Thomas in our class last year and he did really well at about 10 months old. So at the end of the first day of our class I tried it again and dunked Thomas all the way under, and he did great! He came up spluttering a bit but didn't cry at all. The great thing about this year is that I can explain to him what's going to happen and he really understands...I could tell him that I would count to three and then put him under the water, and that he needed to shut his eyes and blow his bubbles. The teacher also told us to blow in the kids' faces right before we put them under, because it would make them close their eyes and (supposedly) hold their breath. Pretty much all the kids in the class got good at being dunked. Sometimes Thomas even started getting excited about it, probably because of all the praise he got afterward!

The class was so fun and even though it was a little hard to have to load Thomas in the car and go somewhere every single weekday morning for two weeks straight, I was really sad when it ended. The Legacy Center opens to the public in the afternoon, and Thomas and I have gone once since our class ended. It is so much more crowded during public hours and was a little overwhelming to both of us at first. During our class there were very limited numbers of people in the pool and we got used to having a lot of swimming space to ourselves! =) But we'll definitely be making many more trips there this summer. Our subdivision is building a brand new clubhouse that is supposed to have a pool, and I wish they would hurry and finish so I didn't have to drive 15-20 minutes to go swimming!

The very last day of class I decided to risk the life of my digital camera and bring it into the pool to get some pictures of my cute water baby. Thankfully I managed to get a few good shots without dropping my camera in the water and ruining it!

It Begins

About an hour ago I put Thomas down for a nap. When I go to lay him down he always says "tummy" because he prefers to sleep on his stomach. Its so cute because he lays exactly the way I used to before I got pregnant: on his stomach, with his arms tucked under him. I've never been able to get comfortable sleeping that way again since pregnancy...I got thoroughly trained into side-sleeping I guess! Anyway, when I laid him down he put his hands up by his mouth with his face down in his hands. Then he must have blown out some air or sighed loudly or something, because he blew a strong, clear, bonafide fart sound on his hands! He's never done this, we have never shown him this and it happened completely by coincidence! He erupted with laughter and of course continued to do it over and over again. I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud because I didn't want to encourage him....he was supposed to be going to sleep! But it was so funny and cute how delighted he was at his discovery. Before I busted up laughing I decided to just go out and see if he would eventually get bored with it and fall asleep. But, his achievement had gotten him pretty excited and he just started talking and playing and jumping in his crib. I finally had to go in and lay him back down. He went to sleep that time, and here I sit!

So begin the days of my son amusing himself with fart noises. Oy. =)

Home Sweet Home, Finally!

I'm excited to announce that over Memorial Day weekend we finally moved into our new home! It is wonderful to finally be here and for all the waiting to be over. We have been in the building process for over a year (we got our lot in March of 2007!) and it was starting to feel like we would never be done. Now that we are finally moved in it feels a little surreal...Ryan and I keep looking around and telling each other we can't believe this is actually our house and we live here now! I absolutely love our home...its really a dream come true for both me and Ryan.

I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband. He has worked tirelessly...nights, weekends, every spare second...for a very long time, both in his regular job and as the general contractor for our house, in order to provide such an awesome home for his family. Ryan is the hardest working man I've ever known and I want to thank him for all he does for us...he is the whole reason this dream became a reality. I love you so much Ryan!

We also really love our new town of Saratoga Springs. We are so lucky to have a gorgeous view of Utah Lake, the Wasatch Mountains, and the city lights across the lake. We can even see the Mount Timpanogos temple, where we were married! Every day and night is beautiful here. Ryan had Memorial Day off and we were at home most of the day just unpacking and winding down from the big move. It was raining all day, but we thought it was actually very pretty...one of those cozy, comforting kind of rainy days. We turned on the fireplace and enjoyed looking out over the valley. In the evening we decided to go out to dinner, and as we drove we saw an awesome double rainbow over the whole valley...it was gorgeous and I was so sad that I didn't have my camera!

So, it was a great weekend, and I am so happy to be in my home sweet home!

Some of our family and friends have said they want to see photos of the house, so here's a slideshow of pictures that were taken before we moved in, when the house was clean and there weren't boxes everywhere. I'm so excited to get all unpacked and start decorating! =)

Hometown Pride

Best Life Magazine recently published an article where they researched and created a list of "The 100 Best Places to Raise a Family." Guess what city was #3?

My hometown, Billings, Montana!

I always thought Billings was a great place to grow up, but I have to admit, this surprised me! So many people think Montana is full of nothing but small, rural towns with nothing to offer. This article makes me so proud that someone is recognizing Billings for what a great place it is. I always felt it was just a small enough town to feel cozy in, but large enough (the largest city in Montana, actually, at 100,000 people) that there were things to do. Billings also felt very safe and clean to me, and if you love any kind of outdoor sports and activities, its the place to be. I went to a newer high school where I feel I got a great education and where there were good teachers that I remain friends with to this day. The church members there were wonderful, and we were lucky enough to have an LDS temple built in Billings and dedicated when I was a senior. I was also fortunate to live in a beautiful neighborhood on the quieter end of town, one mile outside city limits. People had one-acre yards, there was no traffic, and the sunsets were some of the most beautiful I ever remember seeing. I'll never forget all the evenings I spent sitting on our trampoline watching the sun go down.

This article made me realize what a lucky girl I was to be raised in a good town...though my parents no longer live in Billings, I miss going there and will always have a special affection for the place where I grew up!

If you want to see the rest of the top 100, here's the link to the article.

At the bottom of the article is another link, "Video: Best cities to raise kids," where you can watch Al Roker interviewing one of the editors of Best Life Magazine about the top 7 cities. So crazy that my little hometown in Montana is up there along with places like San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii!