Anna Lauren had been asking to do a race and Matt had the "itch" to do a 5K so last Saturday we headed to First Baptist Jackson for the Run for the Son. Matt did the 5K and Anna Lauren did the 1 mile fun run, which was her first "real" race. We met the Cross family there and it was a fun morning for all...
Matt and John Cross at the start line...I'm assuming maybe they were listening to the run route because they both seem so "intense"...
Matt coming across the finish line...as you've seen before, I always get some sort of wave...
John thought we should be worried about these two as they were "hiding" from us...
Thomas Cross, who supposedly doesn't like girls, and Anna Lauren...I'm thinking he must like him some Anna Lauren!
Anna Lauren and Matt starting the 1 mile fun run...
Thomas got out of the car telling Anna Lauren he was going to beat her...of course, Anna Lauren went right back at him and said, NO, I'm going to beat you Thomas. Well, Thomas proved his point and beat Anna Lauren...the funny thing is that he got hot and took his shirt off while racing...
Nearing the finish line...
Matt said she did great for 1/2 a mile and then she wanted some water, her Mommy, and her Nanna...she and Matt walked some and he carried her on his shoulders some but she proudly ran the last little bit of the race. 
Almost to the finish line...
Needless to say, Daddy and Mommy were proud...1 mile for a 3 year old is a pretty big accomplishment in our book!
Walking through the finish shoot with Daddy...
And the highlight of the race...running through the sprinkler...and yes, she is running around without a shirt...guess it was time for us to head back to Rankin county!
This past Tuesday, Nanna wanted to take all her grandkids to the Exchange Club Fair in Brookhaven. Well, Matt and I couldn't stand it so we tagged along for fun!
Anna Lauren LOVED the fair...I mean she LOVED it so much that I never saw her without a smile on her face. And needless to say, she walked right past the "kid" rides and went to the "big" kid rides...here she is on the roller coaster with Matt ~ the 1st ride of the night!
Coming off the roller coaster, which she thought was great fun! Matt said he wouldn't get back on it again. Now...you must remember this fair has been around since my mom was a kid so saying the rides are OLD is somewhat of an understatement!
Mommy just snapping pictures of all these wonderful smiles!
You know she is having fun when she actually looks at the camera and smiles when I ask her to take a picture...
Sweet Reid agreed to ride the "tee-tiny" ferris wheel because we thought Bently would ride with them...well, Bently quickly told us she was not getting on the ferris wheel so Reid rode with Anna Lauren. After it had gone around 15 times (yes, Reid counted), he was thinking...why did I agree to do this?
Nanna pretty much "forced" Bently to get in a car thinking she would like it once the ride started...well, look at her face...I'm thinking she was not thrilled!
Nanna tried one more ride with Bently before giving up...what do you think? I'm thinking she was not so happy with her Nanna! Needless to say, we called it quits with her riding rides and just let her watch the big kids.
The ferris wheel...what all the big kids and Anna Lauren really wanted to ride. You cannot really tell, but that is Anna Lauren and Reid at the top and Matt and Jake behind them. At this point, I stopped and said a quick prayer because I realized Anna Lauren was swinging back and forth and was held in by one small little bar that was not even touching her. If you know me very well, you know I am not a "nervous" mom...but...this put me over the edge!
Anna Lauren smiled and waved the whole time...she LOVED it, despite her mom's nerves!
The fun is over...time to get off...
Just look at her...obviously that was a fun ride too!
And last but not least...the train! 
Unfortunately after the train ride it started raining so we had to call it a night...however, the kids would have been completely happy for several more hours!
Bently's favorite...the ice cream cone! Here she is begging for more!
Anna Lauren enjoyed her ice cream cone too! Thanks Nanna for fun night at the fair...we look forward to next year!
Matt and I are happy to report we have received GREAT news the past couple weeks at our doctor's appointments.
Two weeks ago, we began hearing a "normal" heart beat and thankfully it has continued to beat "normal" ever since. We saw the pediatric cardiologist this morning and were very comforted / pleased with her diagnosis for Cooper. She truly believes the medicine I am taking for Cooper is correcting the problem...there is some little flap (no idea what she said it was called) that is very flopsy / mopsy, which she thinks is causing the irregular heart beat. She predicts after birth, this flap will get itself under control and Cooper will be just fine and not even have to take medicine at all. Now...she used lots of BIG medical words and when Matt asked her to put it in English, she got a big smile on her face and said, "you need not to worry, your baby is going to be just FINE"!
Upon his arrival, he will wear a heart rate monitor for at least 48 hours. Dr. Shores says 48 hours because we need to make sure the medicine that I am taking gets out of his system so we can get a true reading of his heart beat with no medicine in his system. After the 48 hours, he will have some tests done, which Dr. Shores (cardiologist) will read. If we get "normal" heart beats from the monitor and the tests are good, he will not ever even go see Dr. Shores. This is her prediction...
I will see Dr. Shores in a month for her to look one more time...after that point, she says she cannot get good prenatal pictures so we will just have to wait until he arrives to do further testing. Now...we have been released from the specialist (Dr. Perry), and I will see my regular doctor (Dr. Cole) every week just so she can listen and make sure the medicine is still working and the heart beat is still normal. As long as the heart beat continues to be normal, Dr. Shores sees no reason for me not to deliver with Dr. Cole at Woman's and no reason I cannot have a vaginal delivery...unless of course, something happens in labor, which could happen in anyone's labor / delivery.
Needless to say, we are all smiles at this point and proud of our little man for being a trooper...he has been put through the ringer as someone wants to look at him at least once a week! And just for the record, he is still "wild" and takes "beautiful" pictures!
Some neighbors invited us to their "cul-da-sac" for a 4th of July fireworks show...
Anna Lauren could not even enjoy her sparkler because she was afraid that someone would shoot a firework across the street and her ears would not be covered.
This is how Anna Lauren spent the 4th of July...she did NOT enjoy the fireworks! However, we asked her over and over if she wanted to go home, and she said no.
Matt and John Cross at the start line...I'm assuming maybe they were listening to the run route because they both seem so "intense"...
Matt coming across the finish line...as you've seen before, I always get some sort of wave...
John thought we should be worried about these two as they were "hiding" from us...
Thomas Cross, who supposedly doesn't like girls, and Anna Lauren...I'm thinking he must like him some Anna Lauren!
Anna Lauren and Matt starting the 1 mile fun run...
Thomas got out of the car telling Anna Lauren he was going to beat her...of course, Anna Lauren went right back at him and said, NO, I'm going to beat you Thomas. Well, Thomas proved his point and beat Anna Lauren...the funny thing is that he got hot and took his shirt off while racing...
Nearing the finish line...
Matt said she did great for 1/2 a mile and then she wanted some water, her Mommy, and her Nanna...she and Matt walked some and he carried her on his shoulders some but she proudly ran the last little bit of the race. 
Almost to the finish line...
Needless to say, Daddy and Mommy were proud...1 mile for a 3 year old is a pretty big accomplishment in our book!
Walking through the finish shoot with Daddy...
And the highlight of the race...running through the sprinkler...and yes, she is running around without a shirt...guess it was time for us to head back to Rankin county!
