Cheerios.

I love that term.

Thanks Sue Sylvester, you are awesome.

Abby loves, loves, loves cheerleading.

Honestly, in the beginning, I thought that we may only be living inside this world of insanity a year or two....um...nope, we are stuck.  Ab has declared very vibrantly and on several occasions that she will be cheering until she enters Medical School.

(I need a Sugar Daddy, but Blair says I can't have one.)

Abby and her team, Cheerz Silver, have competed in four competitions so far this season. They have placed in the top two (First once, Second twice) in 3 of them.  The only reason they didn't place within the top two in the first competition is because they did a move subjectively deemed illegal due to it's difficulty.

They are really fantastic and pretty amazing to watch.

These little bodies, especially Abby's, hold no fear.  Abby has improved by leaps and bounds this year.  She is consistently and easily completing a round off and five back handsprings on the floor, and is in the process of learning a standing tuck. 

Yep, she is eight.

Pretty amazing, right?
(Picture taken mid-yell:)

Cheerz competed in a National Competition last weekend in Salt Lake City.  It is an awesome venue, but the top two teams are required to compete twice in a "Cheer Off," which is a little intense for little people to wrap their heads around.  This competition infallibly pisses Abby off each year.  This year, they did fantastic and took second place...although the judges had thrown their arms in the air and had to take 10 minutes to announce the winner because it was so close. 

The best part of this competition was seeing our friend (and her mom), Emily. 

Emily and Abby became friends while we attended the Chromosome 18 Conference in Vegas a couple summers ago.  When I told Abby that Emily was competing in the special needs category, she paused and genuinely asked, "Why? I didn't know Emily had any special needs."

That comment was the highlight of my month.

If only all eyes were as pure.

We are heading to Anaheim in a few weeks and are excited to share Abby's first out-of-state National Cheerleading Competition with a few extra days at Disney.  This vacation has impeccable timing and has truly been tirelessly worked for. We are grateful to be able to take some time to enjoy the good stuff.

And that good stuff includes watching Abby enjoy this path she has chosen...