This morning during our normal routine she looked at me and said, “You make me so happy.” I melted. While two events have already threatened my mood today, I feel invincible after our little exchange at 6:30 a.m. Thank you, Lord for such a precious little gift in the form of a two year old with the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard. AND.... she has NO idea how happy she makes us on a daily basis.
There comes a time in every young girl’s life where she must…well…sink or swim. Tis that time for little EB who has ABSOLUTELY no fear of the water. There are nerves when you’re at a pool, but when you’re a regular lake goer, the nerves are unprecedented and..well.. she must learn to swim. Learning to “swim” is a bit relative. By “swimming” I mean blowing bubbles in the water at this stage, but she’ll get there. Better to blow them than inhale them. 
We have a sweet friend who let it slip that she teaches swimming lessons on the side. PR by day (bless her…she sits near me) and swim teacher and wedding planning extraordinaire by night (please don’t kill me for this shameless plug, AW). I have NO idea of her schedule, but if you’re interested, let me know and we’ll see if we can work it out. All I know is that you can’t have Wednesday evenings or Saturday mornings during my time because…EB must learn to sink or swim. 
I didn’t give AW enough credit. My child performs wonderfully FOR HER and is making great progress lesson after lesson. Kids are amazing and I often underestimate her abilities as a little tyke. I thought I was good with kids…AW blows me out of the water in patience, how she communicates with EB and her overall effectiveness.
So, here’s to her not making too big of a splash….
Thank you, Miss Allison, for teaching us how to swim. You are the highlight of EB's week.
Also, a shameless plug for Honey Bee Tees (that's a link). EB LOVES her fish shirt and must wear it weekly only b/c I tell her it's dirty the other 6 days that she requests to wear it.
As mentioned, EB is a DIEHARD daddy fan. She’s ALL about being a mommy’s girl until she sees him rounding the corner in our neighborhood and it’s OVER. To say he’s wrapped or she’s wrapped would be an understatement. 
She just knows that he’s wonderful-not perfect-and he’s very much the glue in our little family (or truth be told that he’s fun, will watch Tinkerbell for hours and will always give in to toddler pressure).
I’ve also mentioned before that Jason keeps us afloat on a daily basis-mentally, physically, financially, spiritually, etc. 
He can put out a fire as quickly as it started (while only occasionally starting one. Ha), calm the storms, be a voice of reason…did I mention make you batty? Kidding.
Jason is serious pretty much all the time…and I’m not. Occasionally, he’ll find his humor and is quite funny, so it’s a treat when that comes to the surface. He does 101 jobs every day, all day and I’m not sure his mind ever stops. Again, keeping everyone afloat is hard work. AND…well…he tends to be everyone’s favorite. I’m proud to stand by his side and am so thankful to have him as a first mate (I guess I'm feeling nautical today. Too bad I'm not out on the lake). 
Ironically, yesterday on our LOVELY commute home in 5 p.m. traffic she broke out into her own renedition of “Happy Birthday.” We were kidding about it being my birthday…or her birthday…or daddy’s birthday when it occurred to me that TOMORROW (today), JUNE 1 she will be two-and-a-freakin’-half. UNBELIEVABLE. So, we then had ample reason to sing Happy Birthday, I suppose, and believe you me we did! 
So, the little she-devil, as I LOVINGLY refer to her, is now 2 ½. At 2 ½ years old we have some battles, she has brilliantly conquered other battles and there are battles yet to be discovered. As we go our separate ways every morning, it goes a little something like this:
HB- EB, look at me…. Kind words today, ok?
EB- Yes.
HB- You mean yes m’am.
EB- Yessum.
HB- Are your listening ears on loud and proud?
EB- Yes
….and repeat line three. So on and so forth. 
We are at QUITE a crossroads with our manners, our sass (that’s at an all time high), bossiness and the DRAMA. WOW. WOW. WOW. She’s BEYOND hilarious to us (I have NO idea where she gets her animation- it just baffles me), but ohhh it comes with quite a price sometimes. Of course, she’s a typical two year old, but she’s mine so I think it’s over the top, sometimes hilarious and maddening. 
In the current battle with a head spinning, spitting green stuff, sass-a-fras on my hands [which will only get worse in 11 years, I’m FULLY aware], we enjoy absolutely every second with her. We now can have FOR REAL conversations that don’t involve baby talk, very few broken sentences or babble. Her grammar is HILARIOUS, but it’s a process and I LOVE it. As she is in a constant process of growing and learning, so are her parents. Parenting is a constant evolving process that I’ve grown QUITE fond of in the past 2.5 years with her little life. I by NO means have it down, but by His grace, she’s still alive, He’s teaches us every day and I’m over the moon so proud that she’s mine. While I learn to shepherd her little heart (yes, that book is NEXT on my repertoire and the title could NOT be more prefect) and life every day, despite the ‘tude, we could NOT be having more fun and enjoying this stage of her life. 
The other day I read a tweet that stayed in my head all weekend (yes, I am now on Twitter. Quite a momentous occasion):
Sometimes as a parent we wrestle with the powerful meaning of this, but…wow.. How refreshing, humbling (for me) and quite an act of faith when I think I’ve got everything under control JUST FINE. After all, He loves her FAR more than I could and that's a HECK of a LOT!
Today, she also starts swim lessons with a friend. 1. I hope our friend doesn’t throw the towel in (no pun intended) after lesson #1. 2. Don’t think for two seconds it wasn’t used as a bargaining ploy early this morning when she threw herself down on the floor in convulsions over having to go potty. Just a little glimpse into our 6:30 a.m. routine.
2. While it was chilly at home, it was chilly at the beach too. However, it could snow at the beach and simply because it’s at the beach, makes it ok. The water was a snappy 65-ish degrees. BUT… the babe wanted to swim, so we swam. It was all balmy after you became numb.
3. If you ask her what she did at the beach, she would tell you she played on the playground. Mind you, it was the playground at the outlet mall. Ever seen it? It’s AWFUL. I’m more fun than that playground. So, that was a bit disturbing. However, she conquered sliding down a concrete slide. GO FIGURE. 
4. HER.BLASTED.ASTHMA. I’m over it. Poor girl fought it FOR DAYS. She was a good sport and I’m REALLY good at counting breaths from a distance.(I can explain..He saw me in my bathing suit.HA!JB's eyes are SO sensitive to sunlight. Since I banned his sunglasses, he's just preparing for his mugshot)
5. We had SUCH a great time. I love the two people I live with and I loved spending time with JUST THEM-no interruptions- the entire week.
6. EB slept in a big girl bed. We called it the “tunnel.” Who knew those words were so magical. I wanted to rip it from the wall and cram it in the back of my SUV.
7. As mentioned, the pool was SO cold, but it never stopped EB from swimming. Oh, let it be known that I’m a sunscreen nut, ok. So, one day we go up for naps and I noticed that her tan lines are TO DIE FOR. I was SO jealous and Jason quickly pointed out, “HB, she is not tan….her skin is purple from the pool.” True story. Just a tad chilly. 
8. Evie Black can put back some crab legs and hush puppies. 
9. The water was stunning. One day it LITERALLY took my breath away and I had to ask if we were in the Caribbean or Destin. 
10. I almost cried when we left… I fought the tears like it was my job because I just didn’t want that week to end. 
11. (SORRY). While we were away parents got a new boxer puppy. He has a fan, but how can you resist that face (the puppy’s, I mean)??
So, May started off with a bang. It’s the month of birthdays for the family- one of us turned 34, another one will be 61 and another 80 and so on and so forth. We celebrated the women in our lives and a 60th wedding anniversary (60!). Claysus finally cut his hair. That deserves stand alone credit and I’ll gladly give it!
I’m sure our 80 year old grandparents can breathe a little easier now, as can our 61 year old father. “Long hair is a sign of the devil…” KIDDING KIDDING KIDDING, mom. It was a little unruly, I’ll give you that. 
It’s been fun….surreal…and a blessing!
