Watch this guys!

This week the kids took swim lessons again.  Since their first lessons last year, they have always seemed pretty comfortable in the water, but I was still a bit unsure and anxious to see how they would do.  This year we decided to do private swim lessons at the house…well worth it when you have four!  First off, let me just say, at times I felt as though I was torturing the kids (no different that last year, I suppose)…the first mention of swimming with “Mr. Clay”, they went NUTS!  Like crazy nuts.  He would work with 2 at time for 40 minutes.  We couldn’t be outside but we did watch through the windows.  He was UH-mazing with them! They would cry through the whole lesson (not too bad, they really did settle down and by the last day there weren’t any tears for a couple of them!) but they did EVERYTHING he asked.  He was really pleased with their progress and boy, was I shocked, and frankly a little nervous, about how quickly they became VERY comfortable in the water.  I got a few video clips from today.  In these clips, they were just warming up.  By the time they were really “warm,” I had to put the phone down and get in! 

This is Rocco showing his skills…

Sloan first (she is in the pink ) and the Jagger.

Oh and I didn’t get Sloan coming up, but I assure you there was a smile on her face and she rarely takes in any water!

Rocco again – he was really active today, but I really liked Jagger splashing around in this one!

Madden is the least likely to jump in and take off on his own, but he will do it!  I thought this was funny of him pretending he was going to jump…love that take off position!

Our summer days are going to be very active!  Whew! I’m already tired.  But it is so much fun and I am so proud of them!

We also want to remember and honor all of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  Prayers and love to their families too.  To the men and the women that are still serving, THANK YOU…

“This pop’s for you!”

Happy Memorial Day!  Blessings to you and your families!

And the award goes to…

When the babies (because they will always be babies to me) were really babies, I can remember we use to joke each night and award a “best baby award,” with criteria being sleeping the most, crying the least, and eating the best.  No, it wasn’t an actual award of course, but it just might have earned them an extra squeeze that night

Each of their personalities are SO different and certainly have evolved since then.  And since I believe that they might change over the next 10 years, I thought it would be fun to write down some baby superlatives at age 2.  I jotted my answers down and then quizzed Nick to see if we had any differences and surprisingly there were a few.  So on those, I put my answer in pink and Nick’s in blue.

And the award goes to…

• Most Talkative – Jagger & Sloan – both very chatty.
• Best Sleeper – Sloan.  God love her – she must be just like me because the girl can sleep (in her bed) anytime of the day
• Best Eater – Madden.  Don’t get me wrong, Rocco, Jagger & Sloan can all put away a meal from time to time, but Madden, by far, is the most consistent eater not to mention the smallest…go figure!
• Biggest Clown – Jagger.  This dude keeps us in stitches all the time and you can tell he feeds off the laughs.  Lord help us!
• Biggest Cuddle Bug – Rocco.  He’s always willing and ready to give a hug!
• Best Smile/Laugh – Madden.  Seriously melts my heart EVERY time!
• Biggest Helper – Sloan & Rocco. I really was torn on this.  Sloan likes being the little mama and feeling like a big girl…so in that sense, she helps.  BUT Rocco is very helpful with picking up toys.
• Biggest Daredevil – Jagger.  NO. FEAR.
• Most Fearful – Rocco.  Clowns, coin operated rides, lizards, bunny ears, strangers.  Aw…poor buddy.
• Most like Daddy – Madden & Jagger.  This was kind of hard for both of us.
• Most like Momma – Sloan. 
• Biggest Charmer – Madden.  Must be the smile :)
• Friendliest -  Jagger.
• Most Independent – Sloan.  The girl loves to do her own thing!
• Easiest to tell apart (of the boys, of course!  Sidenote:  I always get crazy/funny comments, but I recently received one about how impressed she was that I can tell them apart, “especially the boys!” – ha! are you kidding me!?!) Rocco.  It’s really not a problem for either of us, but Rocco is always so obvious.  His full face I guess.
• Most shy – Sloan & Rocco.  Sloan is usually the last to warm up to someone and I especially notice the difference when I take her somewhere by herself compared to when I take one of the boys, she will cling to me more than any one of them will. 

We are so humbled that God chose us to be the parents of these four precious beings.  It is with the greatest joy that we watch them develop and grow every day! We love these little boogers more than we ever imagined possible!  

The Story of Us

Here we were…

     
                    Me – age 3                                       Nick – age 3?

So how did we get to be us? Was it love at first sight?  I can answer that with a big fat N-O!  This is how the story goes…

We had the hangout house,  you know…the one where all the kids come and hang.  I have two older brothers.  Nick was a friend.  He showed up sometime shortly after he and my oldest brother, Jason, graduated from high school, circa 1991.  I was almost 13.  Since Nick lived in the same neighborhood, he quickly became one of the “regulars.”  Even if my brothers weren’t home, he and another one of their friends could often be caught hanging out with my mom watching “Days of Our Lives” – back when Marlena was possessed.  Because he was cool like that

We also had a computer.  Back in the day of AOL and dial-up internet connection.  Those of you who know Nick, know that he is a computer geek.  Back then was no different.  He would spend hours on our computer.  So what does that mean to a 13 year-old girl?  Ummm….it means he was on my phone line and he was interfering with my social life!  I could NOT stand him.  I can remember shouting from my bedroom,  “GO HOME! Get on your own computer!” And of course to him, I was just the pesky little sister whom he enjoyed tormenting. 

Fast forward about 6-7 years. I’m grown…in college doing my thing.  Me and my friends actually started hanging with my brothers and their friends/girlfriends from time to time.  This is when Nick and I became friends.  Seriously just friends.  If you want to know the truth, I might have been still a little grossed out by him.  After all – he was Nick!  It wasn’t until October of 1998, that he came in my bedroom while I was studying (yes, he was still hanging out at my house) and the conversation went a little like this…

Nick:  “Kami, do you think we could ever date?”

me:  (after picking my jaw of the ground…seriously in shock) “uh…that would be weird Nick.”

Nick:  “Yeah, yeah, that would be weird.”

The very next day, I started thinking.  "hmmm…he IS kinda cute (which I had thought all along, but he was just NICK…gross) and he is a good guy.  He is a Christian…”  I mean, really, HOW could I resist this face?

So I gave him all the signals that I was interested and the rest is history!  It was a  shock to everyone!  It was fun for us to tell people we were dating and get their reactions.  All they could think of was how much we used to fight and how much we “hated” each other.  It was SO weird for everyone, it earned us this spot on our family picture wall at my parent’s house. 

It was even weird for us in the beginning.  We would look at each other and say, “Ewww…you’re Nick” or “Ewww…you’re Kami!” – probably something that is not typical and NOT what you want to hear when you first start dating! Haha! 

A few pics from our dating years…

It really only took me about a month or two – I can remember the exact moment but not the date – when I realized he was the man that I would spend forever with.  We dated for 3 1/2 years, and were finally married on this day of 2002.  (So I guess the moral of this story is – that we need to HAND PICK Rocco, Madden & Jagger’s friends! I kid, I kid.)

Our first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Lambe

Never on that day did I ever imagine – NOT in my WILDEST dreams- we would be here 7 years later…

and here 9 years later…

Nick,
I am so blessed to be celebrating this day with you today.  There is no one I would rather spend this crazy, chaotic, joyful, and beautiful life of ours with.  You make me laugh and I love you for that.  Thank you for loving me always.  Thank you for my children.  Thank you for these nine years.  I love you with all my

The Mighty Mississippi

I took the kids for a stroll on the Baton Rouge levee yesterday.

Crazy and scary to see the water so high

Praying for everyone in all the areas that have been and will be affected…

Happy Momma’s Day :)

This is how my day started…

That’s right.  Nick let me sleep in!  Believe it or not, Madden out-slept me by thirty minutes.  13 1/2 hours - those little boogers can sleep!  After breakfast, we played upstairs for a bit.

The kids giving me a card

LOVE LOVE LOVE my necklace from Nick and the kids!

Then we went to the park to spend the day with my mom and extended family.  The kids had a blast.

Rocco is not a big fan of slides yet, tunnels are more his thing

Looks like fun guys…haha!

Hiking with daddy

“Ready for our picnic lunch momma!” (J, R, M)

My sweet baby girl!

Momma & Me…yeah, she’s pretty terrific!

Then we headed back to the house for our long overdue nap.  Ahhh…there’s nothing like a Sunday nap!  Nick took the only pic of the day of me with all four right before our nap.

Such a blessing to me…these monkeys are!

Just for kicks, here’s another video message from our little ones…

Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Easter Bunny too!
P.S.  HUGE thanks to Jennisa of Once Upon a Blog Design Shoppe for setting us up with our new blog design and layout!  We LOVE it, hope you do too!

Goodnight Everybody

A sweet video from our sweeties…

Sleep tight!

Love,
Kami