Swimming

Today, a friend and I took our kids to the swimming pool in a neighboring town about 30 miles up the road. The town is very small, but that made it all the better. The pool was not crowded at all and there was a little kiddie section roped off. Annabelle, who absolutely loves playing in water, went crazy. We were in the pool for almost 2 hours straight and she still wanted more. But by that time, I knew she was very tired and had been out in the hot sun long enough. And I was right. Before we had even pulled out of the parking lot, both kids had their eyes closed and were asleep within seconds. But we sure had a blast.

Annabelle is not afraid of anything (which sometimes really makes me nervous). She has no fear of the water and went under several times. She was wearing some arm floaties (which really didn't do too much to keep her buoyant) and she loved to have me let go of her and let her try and float for a few seconds before going under. What a crazy kid. Here's a video of her jumping in and going under.

New bed

We have very fortunate that Annabelle has lasted almost 2 1/2 years in a crib. However, the time has come to make the transition from crib to real bed. Michael has owned a twin bed since before we were married and since it's a pretty comfortable, sturdy bed, we've lugged it around with us to all 5 places we've lived . It's been sitting in Annabelle's room along with her crib just waiting to be occupied.

I have been talking to Annabelle about moving to the big bed for the last week and last night as I was putting her to bed, she asked if she could sleep in the big bed. So far, she's only taken naps there; she's never pulled an all-nighter. But I figure we've got to start sometime. So, I made all the preparations for her to sleep in this new, bigger bed. I pulled the mattress out of the crib and put on the floor next to the bed as well as put pillows and blankets down to cushion the fall that would inevitably happen. All night, I tossed and turned, nervous that something would go wrong and she would somehow end up trapped under the bed or something. I went into her room a total of 3 times in the night, 2 of them because she had woken up and needed to use the bathroom and once because I was so nervous. That 3rd time I went in there, I felt in the darkness for her on the bed. She wasn't there. So, I knelt down on the crib mattress that was on the floor and I didn't feel her there either. She was on the floor, curled up halfway under her crib. I put her back in the bed and felt relieved that my cushioning was so effective that Annabelle didn't even wake up and cry when she rolled off the bed. Once we've mastered the trick of not falling off the bed and have no more use of the crib mattress, we'll get rid of the crib which will make room for Annabelle's first dresser. I can't wait for that. Right now, I've been using her closest as a dresser. It's been fine, but the dresser will certainly make things easier and less cluttered.

Annabelle the tennis player

Michael has always said that he would love to have one of his daughters become a great tennis player and I say it's never too early to begin training. Annabelle found Michael's tennis racket today and so we had our first lesson. She was pretty good at watching the ball and swinging at it. She had some nice swings that nailed me in the face, too. I have a feeling she's going to go far with this talent.

A new-found weakness

I am a list-maker. I make lists for everything- things to pack for vacation, daily chores, places to see when visitors are coming, and of course, grocery shopping. Not only does making a list before going to the store help me not forget anything, it keeps me from doing any impulsive shopping, which I don't really do anyway. I also usually only order water at restaurants on the few occasions that Michael and I decide to go out. Only on very special occasions or when we have a gift card do I splurge and order something other than water. And when this is the case, I always get a strawberry or raspberry lemonade.

Why am telling you these two weird and not-important things about myself? Well, yesterday, even with a list, I broke my rule about not giving in to impulsive shopping and got myself something that as far as I knew was only available in frozen concentrate (which was not tempting to me at all for some reason)- Raspberry Lemonade. Perhaps I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself. I know from drinking Simply Lemonade in the past, that it's pretty good stuff and I just had to try it with raspberries. Let me tell you, it is as good as I hoped. You can see from the bottle how much I've had in just 24 hours and that's only allowing myself to have a cup of it every couple to 3 hours. I can tell I'm really going to have to put forth a lot of self-control and refrain from getting 2 or 3 bottles every time I go to the store.

Random pictures

During the month of June, I (well, mostly my sister) took tons of pictures and they are just so random or funny that I had to post them.

Here is Annabelle's awesome "weed-picking" outfit.
Father/daughter fun.
Such a sweet, cute, lovable daughter I have.
Here's a short video of Michael at bat at one of his softball games.

Wonderful people

We are in the process of putting grass in our yard, and over the last week and a half, have had people out working on getting a sprinkler system in. With it ready for grass, Michael and I decided to sod our front yard and seed the back on our own. Today, we had the sod and the seed delivered to our home, and Michael was planning on getting started on the front yard after dinner, knowing full well that it would not get finished until tomorrow.

As he began the process of laying sod, he was approached by a neighbor who offered to help. I was inside with Annabelle keeping her busy so she wouldn't get in the way of the workers outside. After about 10 minutes, I decided to look out the window and see what progress had been made. Imagine my surprise when instead of just Michael and our neighbor working, I see about 12 men and boys out putting our grass in. I was amazed that in such a short amount of time, people from around the neighborhood had seen Michael working and come to help. In less than 2 hours, every piece of sod had been laid.


It made me feel so grateful that we live in such a wonderful neighborhood. As a new home-owner, I was initially a little unsure of how easy it would be to get settled in and meet new people. However, that uneasiness has been totally unnecessary, especially after today. I am so grateful that we are blessed to be where we are, surrounded by kind and gracious neighbors.

And here's a picture of one of the sprinklers that Michael and his brother put in over the weekend. (Thanks for your help, Drew.)

Summary of June

Wow, it's been a while. It's hard to keep up on your blog when you've got different members of your family coming to visit during an entire month. I can't even begin to give an account of the last 4 weeks we've enjoyed, so I'll summarize and add lots of pictures.

My brother and his family came at the beginning of the month. Annabelle and Simon had a great time hanging out. Then, my younger sister was here and shared some "special" moments with Annabelle in the bathroom. I also got to meet my niece for the first time when my other sister and her husband and baby came. And lastly, my parents were able to come and see our new house as well. Then, last weekend, we spent the 4th of July at my grandma's cabin in Brighton, UT. It was so fun to see my family, especially since we live all over the United States and are not likely to see each other again for a long time.

And now, the pictures.