Take a dip into Michael Phelps' life with pregnant wife Nicole and sons Boomer, 7, Beckett, 5, and Maverick, 4, as they await the arrival of their fourth baby boy.

Swimming lessons were obviously part of the program for Michael Phelps' kids.

So it was no surprise when his pregnant wife Nicole Phelps recently shared a photo of sons Boomer, 7, and Beckett, 5, in... soccer uniforms?

"Maybe there's football in our future," she captioned the snap of her eldest boys in full-on Leeds United kits, both wearing No. 23 in honor of their dad's career gold medal tally.

But it's always been their way to let Boomer, Beckett and Maverick, 4, explore their own interests—and, rest assured, they do spend lots of time in the pool at their sprawling Arizona home.

"It's so cool watching them just grow up, because it happened so fast," the athlete told NBC News in 2020, explaining why he relished the little things, such as Boom and Becks being old enough to grab their own berries from the fridge. "Somebody told me to never blink an eye and I don't know where the time has gone. But I'm trying to enjoy every minute as I can, and it's awesome."

That may sound par for the course. But the swimming star, whose eponymous foundation champions physical and mental well-being as well as water safety practices, has been open about the fact that enjoying any moment can be a real struggle for him sometimes.

"My dark days look like dark days, they look like I want to climb into a black hole and be left alone," Michael explained to CNN's Christiane Amanpour in January 2022. "There are times where I feel like I am all alone."

The 38-year-old has credited therapy, journaling and head-clearing dips in the pool with keeping his mental health on an even keel when the going gets especially tough, but his "biggest support system" is easily Nicole, his wife of seven years.

"She's been with me through the good, bad, the ugly," Michael said. "She's seen every which side of me and we love each other to death. So being able to always have a hand through the pandemic, when I was struggling as much as I was, was a life saver."

Considering they also had three little boys running around... there's got to be a gold medal for that, too, right?

In a 2022 essay for Mother.ly, Nicole described the impossibility of keeping it together 24/7 during lockdown, making it more important than ever for she and Michael to pass the baton back and forth, ensuring the other could come up for air when need be.

"So we worked as a team," the former Miss California USA explained, "trading off time with the kids for 'me' time, workouts in the gym, or catching up with a friend or therapist."

They also took the opportunity to share some of Daddy's coping mechanisms with the boys, such as the tension-releasing lion's breath.

"It's just a deep breath," Michael said on TODAY in January 2021. "And at times, if they're feeling super-high anxiety or if they're frustrated, you let out a gigantic roar. You know, there is a lot of roaring in the house at times."

He and Nicole have been honest with their boys about what depression means, not wanting them to misinterpret whatever might be going on with their father if he needs a mental health timeout. Or, as he has put it, he can't fill his family's cup if his is only half-full.

"I'm very vocal and making sure that the kids are aware that maybe Michael's having a rough day and that [they] didn't do something that made Daddy feel this way," Nicole said. "It's Daddy having his own stuff."

Keeping the communication flowing is the name of the game in the Phelps household, but so is just spending quality time together, as evidenced by recent photos from Maverick's Sept. 9 birthday party (they may snack on berries but they celebrate with cupcakes), a trip to the San Diego Zoo and date night for Michael and Nicole at the World Series (where he threw out the first pitch, incidentally).

And not only is their family thriving, it's growing.

"The sweetest thing is how genuinely excited the boys are to meet their brother," Nicole told Today.com after sharing in an Oct. 30 Instagram post that she was pregnant with their fourth child. "Having four boys will be crazy but wonderful."

And yes, thank you, she has fielded plenty of comments of the you-must-want-a-girl variety.

"I would have loved to have a daughter for Michael so he could have that father-daughter bond that I experienced growing up," the 38-year-old said. "But I strongly believe you're given what you're supposed to have, and I'm really excited to have another boy."

It wasn't planned, she noted, but "he's the bonus we didn't know we needed."

Source:
courtesy of E!ONLINE

by NATALIE FINN

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