From Preemie to Gymnast

I have a confession to make & I never thought I would; I am struggling to keep up with my blog.  I am seriously lacking the inspiration to write and find that sometimes it is easier to upload pictures to Facebook.  However, in the end, Madeleine and Audrey are my motivators and plugging away at my blog, even when creativity seems to have escaped me, is my way of preserving memories for them.

We had a great weekend that included baking Christmas cookies, driving around town looking at Christmas lights, & Christmas shopping.  However, what made this weekend especially great was the fact that Audrey participated in her first Gymnastics meet. It wasn't so much a competition, as it was an opportunity to showcase the talent of all the girls in a holiday extravaganza.

Practicing her salute.

Stretching beforehand included a bridge and . . .

some rolling.

Chalking up before getting on the bars.

Showing off her upper body strength.

Over and around . . .

and back up again.

Giving her spectators a wave as she walked across the high beam for the first time.

A salute to initiate her floor routine.

A not quite perfected handstand, but still impressive none the less.

Somersaults . . . her favorite.

Waving at her captive audience.

Preparing to vault.

Always end with a salute.

At the end there was an award ceremony where she was presented with a medal.  After having it placed around her neck she was supposed to salute, but she was off in la-la land when that instruction was given. 

Mommy and daddy, Grammy and Papa, & Grandma and Grandpa all gave her flowers for a job well done!  In fact, she may have been one of the only girls to receive flowers.  This could be due to the fact that she was used to receiving  flowers when she danced in recitals and one day she wondered out loud if she would get flowers for gymnastics as well. I was not going to disappoint her and we may have just started a new tradition that the other gymnast families may eventually catch on to.

She is so proud of the medal she earned, as she should be.  We are so proud of her too. 

I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention that it was almost 6 years ago (the 23rd to be exact) that Audrey came home from the NICU.  Remembering her struggles and how she valiantly overcame them made watching her that much sweeter.