The Pool Diaries

McKenna's career dream has always been to be a mermaid. I think her two brothers might follow in her footsteps. My three babies loooove to swim. As a result, I take them to the Mommy and Me swim time once or twice a week at the Air Station. As a bonus, my friend, Tracy, brings her girls and I get some adult conversation.

Here is a synopsis of a typical pool day for the Knapps:

I pack the beach bag the night before. Unfortunately, I busted the beach bag at the beach so now I use various bags. I am officially a bag lady.

After breakfast, I get the kids into their suits and try to get myself ready. This is always depressing.

I have a gazillion adorable Victoria's Secret bikinis in my drawer. Unfortunately, I don't think Victoria had a mom of three in mind when she was designing her swimsuits. So, I pull out the swimsuit I wore last year when I was 9 months pregnant with Kane. Trust me, it is as attractive as it sounds. Then, I try to convince myself not to go to the mirror. But, it's like a magnet. I think to myself, "Don't do it, Kim. "Aw man, why did I do it?" "Do I seriously look like that?" I quickly step away from the mirror and convince myself that it was an illusion.

Next, The kids and I head to the pool. We get there and put swim diapers on in the van because the pool's changing room has been overrun by mosquitoes and giant moths. I long for the day when everyone is potty trained, but thank god for the van until then.

We walk into the pool and I think about grabbing my camera, but I am usually to busy trying to stop Kane from drowning himself, that I always decide to leave it in the car.

Brady gets whistled at by the lifeguard as soon as we walk into the entrance because he was running. Poor kid, he already has a reputation at the pool. He is better behaved than a lot of the kids but he is a marked man due to his previous antics.

The kids swim for awhile. McKenna can swim underwater! Brady can hold his breath underwater. Kane just keeps crawling through the water and I have to fish him out periodically so he can breath. He loves it! He laughs and laughs as he is coughing up the water.

Kane pukes in the pool due to the excessive water intake. Brady says, "EWW GROSS!! Nasty, Kaney!" You gotta love brothers.

One of the kids pulls on my bathing suit enough that my boob pops out. The lifeguards are mortified. Me? Not so much. You lose all sense of modesty when you are a mom.

Finally, the kids and I leave. The best part? They are absolutely exhausted when we get to the van.

My Crazy Boy

Brady begged me to put a picture of his two favorite cars on the blog. He watches me post and decided that his cars needed to have a photo op. He absolutely loves cars. So here it is baby boy.

A House Full of Pirates

The Knapps definitely have pirate fever this summer. McKenna and Brady have been participating in Camp Lejeune's summer reading program. The theme is Voyage to Book Island and all the events have a nautical flair. One of the most recent events was the dress up like a pirate contest. It was so much fun! McKenna refused to wear anything but a pink bandana because everything else "was not pretty enough." Brady wore a hat, eye patch, and full beard. However, Brady was a bit confused about how one actually wears an eye patch. Kaney had a mustache and hat, but drooled the mustache off before we even got to the contest. Needless to say, the Knapp kids did not win any prizes for their costumes.

I also have been getting ready for pirate hood as I am preparing to go back to grad school full time. I got accepted into East Carolina University's counseling program for the fall. The school's mascot is a pirate. McKenna's been telling everyone that her mommy is going to pirate school and that I will be a real pirate when I am finished. :) We'll see how it goes, if it doesn't work out, I may actually need to become a real pirate.

Kane Vernon is 1!

Happy 1st birthday to my sweet Kaney V! I can't believe that you are already one. It's been a whole year since you were introduced into the craziness known as the The Knapps. Unbelievable!!! Here are my favorite mommy memories from your first year.

You wanted to be born on the Fourth of July. You were ready to be born but the doc said, "No." I knew you were trying to be patriotic since your Daddy was in Afghanistan. That's okay, you were born on even cooler birthday, 07/08/09.

When I walked into the nursery for the first time after you were born, you were the only baby NOT crying. I couldn't believe it because the Knapp kids are high strung and loud. I thought, "Oh no, this is the calm before the storm." But, I was wrong because you are the most laid back kid in the universe.

You smiled at me in the hospital. For real. It was not tooters. You haven't quit smiling since.

Your first Halloween costume was a sweet pea. Daddy thought it was a green bean. He said, "Why'd you dress him up like an green bean?"


You love to snuggle. You rub your face on anything soft. Your favorite thing to snuggle with is the prayer shawl that Nammy Jan made. We call it your "Mr. Softie."

You had the craziest crawl. Absolutely nuts to watch.

You love to open mouth kiss. Boys, girls, doesn't matter. You kiss them with your mouth wide open.

You chatter non stop. You can already say, Daddy, Mama( you call me and McKenna mama), uh oh, bye bye, thanks, and once you said Brady.

You love to play cars with Brady. It is so cute to see you two crawling around saying, "vroom, vroom."

You stole your brother's girlfriend. You are definitely Kyla's favorite now.

You are the president of the Chunky Monkey club. I've started calling you Chunker Monkers for short. Brady loves calling you that. He says, "Kaney's my Chunker Monkers."

You love the water! You go under the water and crawl. It is terrifying. Please start walking soon so Mommy can quit having heart attacks.

You love to dance and sing. You love to sing your ABC's. It doesn't sound like any real letters, but I know what you are saying. You also like Justin Bieber songs.

Everywhere we go there is someone that says, "Oh, he is so beautiful."


I love you infinity, Kaney. You are the sweetest and I can't wait to see what year 2 brings.