4th of July 2011

To start off our 4th of July holiday, AnnaBeth and I went over to Tammi's to swim in the pool at her apartment complex. 

 Headed to the pool

Love my kids! :)

There were a bunch of bigger kids playing when we first got there so AnnaBeth was fairly content just sitting on the steps.

 Watching the big kids play

Ventured out from the steps just a little bit while the big kids were still in the pool

 Once they left, the fun really started!

 We never actually let go of her and she just thought being "tossed" was the greatest thing!

  Working on her kicking

A shot of Mason at 26 weeks and 2 days gestation

 Wanting to jump in like she saw the big kids doing

 Willing to try with a little help

And she did it!

Working on her swimming

Getting a bit more comfortable swimming on her own

Jumping in the pool

For fireworks tonight, AnnaBeth donned a very festive outfit and had just as festive hair.

 She didn't actually wear the flip flops tonight but let me put them on her long enough to get a picture.

 The whole ensemble

These days there aren't as many fireworks displays as there used to be. Gilbert had one main event that was put on at 3 locations. We went to the main location and the church parking lot and the main road the church is on was packed. We ended up in a neighborhood just South of the church and parked the car in the part of the neighborhood that faced the dirt field where the fireworks were going to be done. We walked down the block from where we parked and followed the sidewalk to a nice grassy area that wasn't overly crowded with people.

 Smashing ants as we walked to our grassy seats

We had front row seats as we could see the people who were in charge of show! It was both awesome and very loud :)

 

AnnaBeth was a little scared at first so she and Kent headed back toward the car at her request.  He only went part way and made a big deal about how pretty the fireworks were and eventually she asked to come back to sit with me. 

 After they came back to sit with me

 In awe of the fireworks (they are being illuminated by the fireworks)

 After the fireworks were over

I didn't video the entire show but did get a few different segments

This longer clip includes the finale

If you want to see all of the pictures from today, you can view my facebook album here. Enjoy!!

Rice Krispy Treats

**Disclaimer: Please forgive my counter clutter and my ragamuffin child in the following pictures.**

AnnaBeth made her first batch of rice krispy treats today. She was a great helper and at the moment we are waiting for them to cool so we can enjoy them. 

Seeing how it's done

Tossing some in by hand

Some decided to jump on the floor

Helping some more

Wanted to pour in the cereal herself

Happier now that she gets to do it all on her own

 Making sure it's all pressed in perfectly

Cars 2

Today was a very special day for AnnaBeth. She went to her first big screen movie! 

On our way to the theater

We went to the 9am showing and the place was nearly empty :)

Waiting in line to buy tickets

 Went to see her favorite friend, Lightning McQueen

Mmmm Icee! 

Eating some kettle corn we smuggled in while watching the previews

Not exactly in the mood for a photo as we were leaving the theater

This is what a 2 year old looks like after running around the theater for nearly 2 hours after consuming a bunch of gummy worms

All in all, she did fairly well. She sat through the previews just fine but ended up showing little interest in the movie itself. All of the spy stuff was a bit over her head I think. She was, of course, the first kid to start running amok. After awhile, a boy a bit younger than her joined her. He kept trying to make some moves...running his hand along her shoulders, trying to rest his hand on her waist and even persistently tried to hold her hand. He would chase after her trying to do all of these things yet she continued to refuse his attempts. Eventually he sort of started slapping at her. She was telling him no and resorted to slapping back at him, which is when I told her not to hit the baby. His mom came over and told him not to hit to which he responded by hitting her. Oh the joys of discipline :) Toward the end, when there was a lot more action with the racing, she started paying a bit more attention. For only being 2 years old, it wasn't a horrible experience at the movies but we will definitely be waiting awhile I think before taking her again. We only attempted it while she was this young because she just LOVES Lightning McQueen and Mater so we thought she would sit still for it. It was nearly 2 hours long though and that's just a tad too long for a 2 year old. But I will definitely be buying it when it comes out on DVD!

Recorder

I picked up a pink recorder for AnnaBeth yesterday and gave it to her to play with on our way home from Nana's. She LOVED it as you can see in this little video:

However, she hadn't had a nap yet by the time I picked her up which resulted in her falling asleep on our way home.

24 Weeks

It looks like my belly button is going to turn inside out this time instead of going so flat that it disappears :) And you can see my few stretch marks above my belly button that are from AnnaBeth that are getting just a tad worse with Mason. However, I'm not complaining because that's the ONLY spot I have them.

Hoppity balls have many uses

AnnaBeth got a hoppity ball for her birthday, very similar to this one:

And yesterday, this is how she was using it: