Bella Swimming

Bella is at the end of her first session of swimming lessons, she really has worked so hard but we will have her do Level II again.

Bella literally can't float, she just sinks.  Her teacher said it isn't very often that she has a student that can't do the back float, but that's fine and we'll just keep at it and hopefully by the end of summer she will be floating away :)

Happiness

 Life has been good for our little family.  Sorry the updates on this blog have been few and far between!

We had a wonderful Easter and spent it at my parent's house, so much love when we all get together, the egg hunt was a blast even with the crazy winds and cold weather.  Bella got lots and lots of candy that will probably last her until next Easter!

She likes to pose like a ballerina when she wears dresses, she picked this one out herself.  Quite a change from her normal pink or purple!

I turned 32 this year, we had a wonderful night out with my family, can't believe I'm 32 life is going by way too fast!

We got to help my niece Lauryn get ready for her dance recital photos this past weekend.  My sister Laura helps her friend Jill who does the photography so I got to do Lauryn's hair and makeup and get her to the studio.  Bella loved watching me of course, she is really getting into fashion.

I'm thinking we're going to have a girly tomboy on our hands, we're so happy for that :)  Yesterday was a beautiful day and we live a half mile from Bella's school.  So we decided to head to the playground there and Bella wanted to run.  It was awesome, my first run with my daughter and she did great.  We ran all the way to the playground, played on the equipment and had some soccer practice with daddy, then we ran all the way home.

I already know we have a little runner on our hands and I couldn't be happier. One of the biggest positives that has come out of the changes we've made at home to eat healthier and consistently exercise is seeing Bella watch the changes in us and making better choices herself to live healthier.

She truly enjoys the protein smoothies I make at home, having a good protein and veggies for dinner, exercising.  I made some progress this week, I can finally do more push ups than Bella :)  She may be small but she is strong!

Tiny Dancer No More

Monday night after dance class Bella got her official notice that she has completed the Tiny Dancers program at Dancer's Edge!

Bella is so, so excited!  In Tiny Dancers she learned tap and ballet, now she will have the option to take Ballet I, Tap I, Jazz I, or Hip Hop I.  We will keep her in ballet for sure, it is universal and she needs that if she ever wants to do Lyrical or Jazz.

We were discussing the classes and she wants to do Ballet of course and when I asked her what else she would like to do she said:

"Well mom, hip hop of course!  I mean, I can break dance and Lauryn (her cousin) and I always do hip hop dances together."

Geez, how the heck did I not know my little girl would want to do hip hop? :)

So we're thinking she can do hip hop for the summer, if she really does love it then our little Bella will be performing in Ballet and Hip Hop for her recital next year.  I love her ambition, she can do anything and I'm so proud that she feels that way herself!

Next year could prove to be very exciting for Bella, Theatre Cedar Rapids will be giving a performance of Les Mis next fall.  My sister Mindy volunteers for them as a make up artist, Bella and I got to go with her while she did make up for the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz last Friday.  Bella LOVED it, she was amazed by the dressing room area, the makeup, the transformation, just had a great time.

So Mindy mentioned to me yesterday that they will be looking for a girl age 7-8 to play the part of young Cosette.  Ok so this musical is one of my FAVORITES, Mindy is really wanting Bella to try out for the part next spring.  I talked to Bella about it last night and she is already starting to learn "Castle on a Cloud".  She sounds so cute right now singing it, she is very excited and happy she has so much time to learn the song and learn more about singing.

I'm one happy mommy, my little princess is growing up so fast, I am so, so beyond happy that we are able to have her do these things that she loves so much.

Bella can do anything she puts her mind to, now if only we could get her to get the hang of holding her breath under water :)

Swimming Lessons

We finally got Bella started in swimming lessons, she goes every Tuesday and Thursday night.  She has been so, so excited to get started this week!

Bella is smaller, we all know that, height is not her strong point and there is nothing wrong with that.  Although when you can't quite touch the bottom at the 3 - 4 foot end of the pool where your lessons are, it can make things a tad difficult.

Her teacher thought Bella would be able to touch the bottom, but Bella told her she didn't think she could, Bella was right.  She had to hold onto the side of the pool through the lesson while the other kids jumped around in the water and Bella tried not to get splashed.  I could see the fear in her eyes when the teacher would be helping another student while the other kids were jumping around by Bella.  But then Bella would look at me, I would smile and she would smile back and put on her brave face.

I put on my brave face too as I sat there watching my little peanut and making myself stayed seated rather than grabbing her and running.  Ok, a little over dramatic I know, but honestly my anxiety was through the roof through the entire lesson.

I'm so, so proud of my girl though, she proved to me yet again that she is so brave and willing to try anything.  Her teacher was so supportive and whenever Bella said she thought she couldn't do something Jessica was right there to assure her that she could with some help, then Bella would trust Jessica and do the exercise.

At the end of the lesson they went to a deeper part of the pool, because all the other kids are fairly tall, so the kids could jump in one at a time.  Bella was scared, but with some assurance from Jessica that she would catch her in the water, she did it!  The first time Bella went under, she didn't freak out, the second time Jessica made sure she didn't go all the way under.

I was anxious to chat with Bella when we got to the car and she said, "oh mommy, I loved it and wish I could go back tomorrow instead of waiting for Thursday!"

After a few lessons I'm sure my anxiety will go away, I'm just so, so proud of Bella!