Swimming and babies

I woke up at 5:15 and started thinking about all that I have to do.  On that list is the blog...and Zoe's birthday letter... hence I am up.  I am not yet writing her letter...but hopefully will soon.  (I wake up at 5:00 four days a week to exercise so it's not odd to wake up at 5:15 and not be able to fall back asleep but I wish I could sleep!).    Anyway..........

I wrote a bit about Andie's first day in the national swim competition.  Her second day was awesome too!  She actually got another gold medal in freestyle.   Before she started she was standing on the diving block and I noticed that her goggles were still up on her head, around her swim cap.  Even though it's supposed to be silent in the stands at the start, I yelled to remind her to put on her goggles, but she didn't hear me.  (I was once again a crazy mom).    She dove in and wasn't phased.  She actually told me she didn't even realize her goggles were not on until she got out of the pool.  Anyway, she was in second place for the large majority of the race, about 3/4 of the way down the 50 meter pool.   Right at the end, she pushed through and pulled herself into first place by just a fraction of a second!  It was SO exciting to watch!  I again went ballistic in the stands...and this time I promised myself I wouldn't.   I got SO caught up in the excitement.  I was cheering and clapping and shouting the whole time...especially at the end.  As soon as it was finished, I looked around me and loads of parents were laughing at me.  My face flushed..... I was embarrassed and so proud all at once!  I don't want to be a crazy swim mom and put pressure on Andie.   I am glad she couldn't hear me in the water.   I NEVER tell her she needs to win and I always compliment her on her effort....de-emphasizing the medals as much as possible.  I congratulated her because she shaved off 10 seconds from her qualifying time....not for winning....but the line may be blurry.  She is the only girl in the primary school who got gold medals, so she is getting a lot of attention.  All of that can only amount to pressure in the long run....  I want her to feel proud and be recognized for her accomplishments - but also want her to realize gold is not what it's all about.  There are so many other swimmers who worked their little behinds off....swimming 5 days a week to prepare for this...and they need to be recognized just as much as Andie does.  While I think Andie is a great swimmer, I also think there is an element of luck to the events....it's all about who you swim against.   Andie swam in the seven year old events.  The eight year old events were SO much quicker.  I am not sure if she will gain that time in a year or not...    I also know Andie doesn't LOVE swimming.  She does it because we want her to do it at least once a week.  I will not force her to do it anymore than that.  I don't want to force something so that she ends up  hating it.   Regardless, I am SOOO proud of her and need to stop over-analyzing it! Good job Andie!!!!

Proud mama and girl!

Warren and Andie dancing in kitchen as prep to swim meet

Relay team from Friday night.  Unfortunately they were DQ'ed just because the butterfly stroke didn't come far enough out of the water.  This is the 8 year old relay team! -(They are strict on DQ's)

backstroke...it's close!

Andie in lane 5 for freestyle

she's off!

Official results.  Andie won by .4 seconds!

After the big swimming weekend, we we to the beach for the day on Sunday.  It was beautiful.   We went with the Robertsons so everyone had a perfect playmate, including me!  It was an awesome day.

Nasilei Beach

In other, even bigger...better news....   a couple of my dearest, closest friends have recently had babies. I'm over the moon for both families.  One of the families had their third son yesterday!!  Welcome to the world Tobias June.  You are one of the luckiest kids I know to be born into such an incredible family!!!  I HATE that I won't meet you for so long.  You are one LOVED kid and I honestly think your mama is the coolest girl I know.  Also, Kaden I am so glad you are here!  Your parents have had quite the tough road getting to this point, but you are so worth it!  I absolutely cannot wait to snuggle you in two weeks!!!  You are such a lucky boy to have two parents who want nothing more in the world than you! You are so LOVED and always will be.  What blessings!!!  I know this newborn time is amazing and hard and crazy and beautiful, and I know my friends are handling it all like pros.  Love all of you!  

Proud big brothers!