Swimming Videos of My Little Fish

Swimming Little Fish


Grabbing the Wall


Jump In and Swim


A Long Swim






Ben loves his friends Kelly

Swim Swim

Tomorrow (Thursday) closes up our swimming class. The last 2 weeks been has been going to swimming lessons in Westlake. Today grandma Donna and cousin Holly were able to come and cheer Ben on (and take pics for mommy- thank you so much!) Ben has really loved it and I am proud of the great little swimmer he has become.

Love this boy


All set and ready to swim


Ben and Cousin Holly


Ben and Grandma Donna


Ben loves playing the balancing game with Kelly


Peek-a-boo




This boy loves to jump!






Kelly: thanks for playing with Ben this week during lessons. He had the best time with you and we both love you so much!

A Day to Celebrate

Today Bryan and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary! I can not believe it has been 5 years already. It seems like our life has just flown by: getting married, buying our first house, having Ben,and now getting ready for Ben to turn 2! We are so blessed to have great friends and family that have walked along us the past 5 years and shared their wisdom with us to help us grow closer during these past 5 years. We have been through the honeymoon phase, infertility, losses, birth, tears and triumphs. We are not perfect and neither is our marriage but knowing we have great friends, family and the Lord on our side I know we will share many more years together . . . and I can't wait!

Tonight to celebrate our anniversary, my parents and sister watched Ben so we could go on a date. Ben ate pancakes for dinner (he loves pancakes), went on a walk with Auntie Den and my mom, then came home and went swimming in the spa with Aunt Staci. He had a blast and was tuckered out by the time we got home :)


While Ben was off having a great time, Bryan and I went to dinner at a place called Cafe Firenze. It was really nice to sit down and have an uninterrupted conversation and really catch up on all the things that have been going on in our lives. The food was great and I was sitting next to the best looking guy in the restaurant!


My dinner: chicken parmesana


Bryan's dinner: fillet and shrimp


For our anniversary Bryan got me this beautiful necklace that I have been wanting for a long time. It is made by Lisa Leonard : I am in love with her work. This was totally a surprise and I think it is just so pretty! The necklace says "mama: hand holder, dream soother, love giver"


Bryan- you are a great husband. You remind me to slow down and enjoy life. You make me venture out and try new things (even when I don't want to), you are a wonderful provider for your family and keep me laughing and on my toes. Not only are you a great husband, but you are a great dad! Ben just loves when you get home and always has a million things he wants to do with you. I love to watch you two play and rough house and I especially love to watch you two laugh and giggle together. I look forward to watching the Lord work in your life as you continue to grow closer to Him and continue to learn how to be the Christian leader of our home. I love you so much and I can not wait to see what the Lord has in the plans for us and to walk along that journey with you! XOXO, Melissa

What A Day!

Today has really been an interesting day. It started by me walking into Ben's room this morning to find him dancing in the mirror in the middle of all this mess. So after getting all this cleaned up, we headed out the door to pick up our friends the Hesters and head off to swimming lessons.







After swimming lessons we went to a park in Thousand Oaks to play with our friends then came home to take a nap. After naps, daddy came home and made us hamburgers for dinner and a special treat for dessert: smores! This was the first time Ben has had smores and he loved them. Daddy made them on the BBQ and they were actually pretty good :)

Swimming Lessons

This summer Ben is taking swimming lessons. Last summer, he took lessons that were pretty much to just get comfortable with the water but this summer he is taking intense swimming lessons with a professional that specializes in getting babies to actually swim on their own. We started talking about it with him the past couple days so he was really excited when it actually came time to go this morning. He was a little nervous at first but he got the hang of it really quick and had a great time! We will keep going this week and next week and then he will be a swimming little fishie!

Getting All Comfy




My Handsome Little Swimmer




Suckers for all when lessons are done


Our Friends the Hesters

Shine Your Light

We are getting ready to go camping soon with our friends/family the Millers. So today I let Ben pick out his own flashlight at Target. He LOVES it!!! He has been shining the light on everything and hiding in closets to play with it. I am pretty sure he is just as excited to go camping as I am :)

Scoot Scoot

Ben has a couple friends that have scooters and he is always wanting to ride them. So today he was thrilled to find out that daddy had got him one of his own! He has been riding it all over the house and thinks that he is just hot stuff!

AT LAST!!!!

When I was a little girl I remember playing with special coloring books in which you added water and it made paint. I loved these books and have been looking everywhere for them. Today though- I finally found them and to my excitement a whole activity book was only $0.89! So, I bought all 6 that they had :) Not only are they fun but they are great for restaurants because water is always available and they are a great at keeping the peace :)
I hope that Ben loves them as much as I did when I was a little girl.

Mommy and Ben Time

After church this morning, the weather was so nice that Ben and I decided to go get a Jamba before heading to the grocery store. So we sat outside by a fountain and sip our smoothies and pointed out the buses, trucks, and motorcycles that drive by. I love just sitting with Ben and watching him learn.





Then tonight, we went to my parent's for dinner and hung out, had dinner, and enjoyed dessert. Then we decided to watch Toy Story 2 because Ben had never seen it before and he was riveted watching all the different toys talk and interact. It was pretty cute to see his face light up.

Swimming Fun

Today we headed to my parents and spent the day playing in the pool. Ben is really loving blowing bubbles and jumping into the water. I really love how he doesn't mind his face in the water and am looking to swimming lessons in a couple weeks.

Blowing bubbles