A day at the water park

Annabelle and I spent over 2 hours yesterday going back and forth between playing in the water at the water park and playing on the nearby playground. As you can see by the pictures, Annabelle has been displaying her new mermaid swimming suit. She just loves Ariel and when I went looking for a new swimming suit for her, I was glad to see a little mermaid one. There wasn't one in her right size (in fact, the store I went to didn't have any suits in her size), but we were going to the water park later that day and she didn't have any that fit her. So, I got her one that is 2 sizes too big (don't worry, I had her try it on to make sure it wasn't too big). It's a 2-piece. The top actually fits okay, but the pants are pretty loose. I had to keep pulling them up. Today, I forgot to bring something to make them fit her better, so I tucked them into her swimming diaper. This is about the only time she be able to get away with tucking her pants (or in this case, her suit bottoms) into essentially her underwear.Today, we were lucky enough to have Michael join us. We even decided to let Annabelle ride the carousel. And not only did Annabelle get to ride, Michael insisted that he and I get on a horse as well. I can't even remember the last time I rode on an actual horse on the carousel. Yesterday and today, she couldn't stay away from it and watched it go around constantly. The two videos posted don't have any sound. For some reason, when taking videos with our camera, we can't get the sound to transfer over to the computer. In this first video, whenever she grabs the reins of the horse and shakes them, she's saying, "Giddy up!". It was pretty cute.
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Here she is watching the carousel. As you can see, she is pretty enthralled and even had her face squished through the fence.(Again, sorry for no sound.)

My birthday

I'd like to thank everyone for their lovely cards, phone calls, and gifts. I had a wonderful birthday, and although for awhile, I was not looking forward to turning the big 25, I finally told myself there was nothing I could do to stop my birthday from coming so I'd better learn to like it.

I also want to wish a happy birthday today to my dad and brother. Hope you guys have a great day!

God bless the USA

This morning, I opened the blinds in the living room to reveal an American flag waving in the cool Rexburg wind in my front yard. Michael and I did not purchase a flag nor did either one of us put one up. Apparently, the young men in our ward met at 6:30 am this morning to put flags up in everyone's yard and it's been wonderful to have that reminder of how great our nation is.

Every time I returned home from several different trips throughout the day and saw our nation's flag waving in front of my house, I was struck by the importance of that flag and a wave of gratitude and pride flowed through me. Many soldiers of the past and present have shown enormous courage and dedication to their country and it is through their heroic acts that we are able to enjoy freedom today. I am so proud to be an American and want to thank those soldiers who are currently serving or have served in the past for all that they do.

Week review

Sometimes, I am blown away by how cute Annabelle is. So, I have a few things to report from this week. First, Michael played his first softball game on Tuesday evening. He and his law firm are participating in a city league, just as they did last summer. Although his team lost (they were playing a good team with really good athletes, both male and female), Michael, as pitcher, had some great plays. His cousin also joined the team and she will make a great addition.

Last weekend, Michael and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. We went out on a date, the first one in a long time. We enjoyed dinner and a movie. After 4 years, I still am so grateful for the man I married. Michael is so good to me and a wonderful father. I look forward to sharing the next 4 years and beyond with him.

The movie we saw was Angels and Demons. It was really intense, but I loved it. I enjoyed the book much more than I did the DaVinci Code and it was the same with the movie. I liked it better the DaVinci Code movie. Tom Hanks' character is more likable and the actors are very good. The movie does a good job of following the book, although it does change a few parts. I really liked it.

And of course, I had to include a video. Here is Annabelle playing ring around the rosie with her bear. (I know, another ring around the rosie video?!) She only says about one from every phrase, but it's still pretty cute.

potty training help

Annabelle has been showing signs of being ready to potty train. So, Friday we went to the store and I let Annabelle pick out a new potty, step stool, and characters on her pull-ups. Today is the day we begin. We've been going at it for 4 hours. She doesn't mind sitting on the potty. The problem I foresaw was being able to teach her how to recognize the urge to go to the bathroom and indeed this is something that we are struggling with. She tells me after she's gone in her underwear, but not before. Does anyone have any suggestions to help her learn this concept or does she just learn that over time?

Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day to all you women. I hope you had a very special day. It's nice that there's a day to celebrate our moms and remember all they have done for us. At the same time, it's almost daunting to know that there is a day once every year dedicated to our success of being a mom. I know that there are a lot of things that I could do differently to be a better mom and for whatever reason, this Mother's Day, I am particularly aware of how much of a better mom I want to be to my daughter. Parenting is hard and I would like to thank my own mom for being a wonderful example to me, as well as my mother-in-law who I know was a great mother to her children.

This weekend, Michael and I were able to attend the temple together, which we haven't gotten to do in about a year. We almost didn't get to go because of a hand injury that Michael sustained earlier that day from practicing for the upcoming softball league. Michael was pitching to his coworker, who hit a laser shot right at Michael's body, and to protect himself, Michael stuck his hand out and the ball hit him smack in the palm. (John, don't feel bad. I hear you were hitting really well that day- 3 home runs. We're just glad you're playing for our team and not the competition.) No serious damage was done, but his hand was swollen and he couldn't grasp anything with his hand. We weren't sure he'd be able to put a tie on for the temple. Thankfully, after some ibuprofen and a good nap, he felt a little bit better and we had a nice time together. (Thanks for babysitting, Christy.)

Soon after we moved into our house, we bought a stud finder to put pictures up on the wall. Michael would walk around the house, putting the stud finder up to the wall to see where we could put nails. Annabelle was fascinated with it and first chance she got, she imitated what she had seen her dad do. She even looked for 2x4's in the piano and in different parts of her body. She still loves to carry it around and listen to the sound it makes.

Silly videos

For the last week, Annabelle's been saying "owe" whenever I brush her teeth. I checked her mouth a few days ago and saw that her 2-year molars are coming in. I am assuming that this event would be the reason for her sleeping so much. Either that or she's going through a major growth spurt... or both. For the past 2 mornings, she has slept in until 9 am. I have not altered her bedtime, and she still has an afternoon nap. Other than that, she has been handling her molars coming in quit well. She's no more cranky than normal and her energy level has actually seemed to go up, which seems almost impossible.

And here are some more videos from the last few weeks.


For some reason, Annabelle has started dipping a lot of food items in her water glass. Don't ask me how, where, or why it started. In this video, it's watered-down goldfish.

"I'm back"

Lately, I have not felt much like blogging, but I've gotten so many pictures and videos that it's time I actually do something with them. So, where to begin. About every 2 weeks, I try and french braid Annabelle's hair to see if it is long enough and thick enough to do it and make it look good without falling out minutes after I finished. Today, I decided to braid my hair (it's so nice because I can leave it in for 2 days without having to do anything and then on the third day, I take them out and I have curly hair- Yea!). After doing my braids, I decided to once again try and braid Annabelle's hair... and I was successful! It's not that tight and may fall out at some point, but the point is I can braid her hair. Here are some pictures of us.It's been overcast and very windy for the last several days and so I took advantage of our unfinished basement and let Annabelle ride her bike around downstairs. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to use the basement as an indoor bike area because Michael has mentioned the possibility of him finishing the family room downstairs. That sounds like such a daunting task, but I'm sure if he did end up doing it himself, he'd do a fantastic job. Annabelle and Michael discovered a new way to play Ring around the Rosy. Annabelle wanted me to do it later, but there's no way I was getting on my head like that.

And here's Annabelle doing some of her acrobatics.