Swimmy Karr

Aidan and his instructor, Lynette

Aidan floated for 1 & 1/2 minutes in winter clothes!

Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, but I feel very strongly about water safety! Aidan just tested out of an amazing water safety and swim program called ISR (Infant Swim Resource). This program teaches kids 6 months-6 years how to flip on their backs, and swim-float-swim until they reach the side of the pool in case of an accidental fall into a pool or other body of water. It's amazing to see, and it saves lives. The skills Aidan has learned through this program are priceless. He's 2 years old and he's swimming! He has so much confidence in the water now. He can save himself in case he accidentally falls in, and also has so much fun showing off his new skills! Before this program, he was very fearful of the water, and now he LOVES swimming and doesn't want to get out of the pool! I'm so proud! Can you tell?

This is a frightening fact: Texas, along with California and Florida, is among the top ranking states where accidental drowning is the leading cause of death in young children. It's a silent death, and can happen when you turn your back for a minute. Living in an area with 2 rivers, a lake, a waterpark, and countless swimming pools and stock tanks, we want to make sure Aidan is as safe as he can be. The pics above show him during his final test: sustaining a back float for 90 seconds in full winter clothes and diaper. The day before, he tested in summer clothes. I'm so proud of him and thankful for this program that only recently came to this area. Below is Lynette Kitchen's contact information, as well as the ISR website in case you don't live nearby. You can enter your zipcode and they will match you with an instructor if there's one in your area. Lynette is the only ISR instructor in the South-Central Texas area. The next closest is in Houston or Dallas. There is also a link to a story our local news did on ISR that ran in December.

Happy swimming! Be safe this summer!

~Brooke :)

Contact Info:

Lynette Kitchen

Certified ISR Instructor

swimmingtexasbabies@gmail.com

210.289.0075

http://www.swimmingtexasbabies.com/

http://www.infantswim.com/

www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4722bdf1-cc5a-4fc4-a297-380fe9b00f02

"Everyone needs to understand - no barriers, alarms, or locks you place between your baby and the water or any skills they learn will ever "drown proof" them. There is no such thing as "drown proof"! PLEASE WATCH YOUR CHILDREN CONSTANTLY AROUND THE WATER!" ~Lynette Kitchen

Scarlet Assassin

What in the WORLD???!!! For the past week or 2, our house has been under attack by a kamakazi (sp?) cardinal. Aidan calls him our "crazy bird". This bird sits in the rafters on our front porch and attacks the same spot on the window every 10 seconds, beginning at about 7am and going until dark. It makes you feel kind of twitchy to hear a bird impaling himself all day long, and we were afraid that he was hurting himself. We have tried shooing him away, but he flies to the oak tree and bird-cusses us out, only to resume his pastime when we go back inside. He's obviously not hurting himself, but I'm sure his head meeting a plate glass window in mid-flight isn't helping his IQ...We wanted to make it clear that we loved him, just not his behavior... ;) So... last week, I taped paper over the whole window and that took care of it--until Will Scarlet started clinging to the screens of my bedroom window and squawking at us (Are you KIDDING me?). The recent storms here tore the paper off the window so yesterday I got back up on the ladder, took all the paper and tape off, and cleaned all the little beaky prints off. It looked beautiful and our assailant was nowhere in sight. YAY!!!! I was sure he had moved on.

7am this morning, Aaron and I hear the familiar "ATTACK! SMACK! REPEAT!". Our friend is back, so any advice any of you have would be welcome!

~Brooke, Aaron, and Aidan (who really do love birds)

Oh Happy Day!

Aidan's Adoption Day, May 1, 2006

Aidan's Adoption Day, May 1, 2008 Aunt K and Aunt Aimee

With Nana and "Dad-Dad"

Grandmom, Grandad, Josh, & Mimi

May 1st is always a very special day for our family because it is the day that Aidan's adoption was finalized. Everything was settled before that, but May 1, 2006 is the date that the state recognized his adoption as final, and it was the day Aaron and I went before the judge and swore to love, care for, and protect Aidan Michael Karr.--Also known as "Gotcha Day"!

We celebrated this year with a family dinner and cake at Mimi's house. It's hard to space things out when your birthday is 3 days away from Christmas, so he also received a few surprises too!

Aidan Michael, child of my heart, God created you so perfectly for our family. I've loved you since your first breath, and even before that. We prayed for you for five years, and who knew that God was knitting together a child so beautifully matched to us in every way? You look like your Daddy, and are left-handed like me. You love to tease, and run, and make people laugh. You are such a gift to us, and we thank God for answering our prayers with you! Happy Adoption Day, buddy. I'm so honored to be your mommy. I love you!