Annie's First Dance Recital

I had been a bit worried about Annie's first dance recital all week. And I wasn't feeling much better about it this morning. She'd just had surgery two days before the big day, and it was anyone's guess how she'd be feeling by showtime. And the way she whined and cried all morning the day of her performance had me pretty convinced I was going to have a sobbing elf on my hands when it was her group's turn to dance. And the all-morning-long weepiness was making it hard to keep the mascara cleaned up off her face. But, we had our own little Christmas miracle. Her class was scheduled to dance last, which meant she got to just sit on Mom's lap and watch the other kids, slowly cheering up throughout the show, 'til it was finally her turn and she excitedly took the stage. Yay. It was adorable, she did so well, and as always, watching three and four year olds try to all follow the same dance steps at the same time is hilariously heartwarming.

Here she is before the show, the first time I'd gotten her to stop crying long enough to clean up her eye make up. She was so cute.

About 2/3rds of the way through the show, she'd finally cheered up, and started mugging for the camera while we were sitting out in the audience.

Here she is during the actual dance . . . I can't wait to see my father-in-law's pictures, since his camera kicks my camera's butt.

Annie's the short one there in the middle :-)

Annie had quite the supportive entourage, with 13 people cheering for her from the audience. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts & Uncles, Mom & Dad, Ellie, and my awesome friends Jessi and Dalan. Afterwards, a bunch of us went out for ice cream to Leatherby's, and afterwards Annie's Aunt Talina and Uncle David took her to go see the new Disney Princess movie. It was a very, very good day.