Cutie Baby!

Madison is obsessed with babies! Every time we see a baby she yells, baby, baby, and she wants to go over and say hi. In church, after sacrament meeting, Madison runs out the doors, down the hall, and into the nursery. Once there she finds one of the dolls and runs out of the room. She may not be old enough yet to attend nursery so I guess she makes up for it by taking out her favorite toys. It's a good thing she is getting a little sister soon! We'll see how much she still loves babies after having one at her house all the time:) It's so much fun to watch her rock her baby doll in her blanket and feed it her bottle. She is quite the little mother.
Madison has also been exploding with all sorts of words. She will try and say anything that she hears. Some of my favorite words that she says are: eyebrow, hospital, Madison, snow, happy, please and thank you. I love it when she wakes up in the morning or from naps and just talks to herself and the animals in her room. She is such a fun personality. She is also very determined. Often she will say hi, hi, hi, to someone until she gets a response. She also loves containers and works very hard at getting lids on and off of jars, Tupperware etc. We are having so much fun watching her learn and grow. What a cutie!

Happy Valentines Day!

Madison hasn't quite figured out how to hold up a sign and smile. Thanks mom for the cute valentine outfit, she loved the sparkly hearts on her belly. We had a great Valentines day with some fun surprises. Around noon we headed to Jake's favorite place, Bass Pro Shops, so he could use his gift cards to buy some fishing flys. He is very excited for the water to drop so he can go out and catch some steelhead. We watched the fish feed at noon which was actually pretty fun to watch. It was sad to see the live fish they threw in eaten up so fast by the big fish. I don't think Madison was too traumatized by the disappearing fish. Later that evening Jake gave me flowers and made a wonderful gourmet dinner. What a fun day.

Chocolate Pudding!

Madison absolutely loved her first experience with chocolate pudding! She kept saying mmm, mmm, yum yum! What a cute little angel!

SLC Childrens Museum

We had a about a week left in SLC before we headed for Toledo. My sister Becky and her family invited us to go to the Children's Museum with them. Once again, Madison's favorite thing was the water exhibit! She was so sad when we took her away to explore other areas of the museum. I think however that Jake had the most fun of anyone. He spent a lot of time being fascinated by the ball mover and animation station. He looked like one of the kids! My family also threw me an early surprise birthday party before we left complete with my favorite carmel brownies and Gandolfo Sub Sandwiches. Gandolfos is a sandwich place in Utah that I have been craving many times while being pregnant. On our way back to SLC from Cali. I was so excited to stop and eat at one located in St. George. I had found it on the GPS and my mouth had been watering the past few hours of driving. It was the one thought that was helping me get through the past half hour of Madison being fussy and ready to get out of her car seat. We pulled up to the cafe and I pulled on the door only to find that it was locked. Confused I looked at a sign that read, due to economic hardships this location had to close. That was the first time these economic troubles have hit me so hard. What a disappointment, what luck. So.. it was quite the fun surprise to have the sandwiches at my birthday party. If you ever go to Gandolfo's Deli, I recommend the New Yorker:)

Our visit to Sea World!

While in California we decided to take Madison to Sea World! One of her favorite things to do was touch the sting rays in the petting pool. She would splash, laugh and giggle as they swam by and splashed water at us. She was pretty wet by the time we finished and probably could have stayed there all day. She loves water! She also had a lot of fun at the seal and whale show. She screamed with laughter every time the whales jumped up out of the water. It was fun to watch her clap and cheer with each new trick the animals did. What a fun place to visit. Jake really liked his interview out in California however the cost of living is outrageous. We may have to pass up the fun and warm weather on the west coast:)

Madison's first time at the beach!

While in California we made sure to take Madison to the beach. The water was a little bit chilly but she didn't mind one bit. She loved walking in the sand and letting the waves splash up on her feet. She even helped pick some great seashells, we just had to teach her they are to look at and not for eating. What a nice change from the freezing cold snowy weather! It was a beautiful day. Lets hope no one was blinded by our very white feet and legs. It's been awhile since they have seen the sun:)

Christmas Break Roadtrips

While in SLC we started out the new year on a road trip two Arizona and California where Jake had two interviews. We were able to stay with Jake's sister in Phoenix and Jake's brother in Temecula (Orange County CA). It was lots of fun to escape the cold weather and visit some of Jake's family that we don't get to see very often. On the way out to Arizona we made a stop at Hoover dam. They are building a pretty amazing bridge that will cross over the canyon and make the trip a lot faster. Madison loved playing with Jesse and had lots of fun with the Pena's dog. Thanks for letting us come visit. Jake was also able to make a stop at his birthplace (the picture of Jake standing in front of the house). A few of the old neighbors came out to say hello and take a look at the little curly haired blonde boy who was now very very big. It was amazing they recognized him! They were even prepared with cookies for Jake since going over to get one was one of his favorite things to do.

A few more Christmas memories

I need to record my memorable experience flying out to SLC. Jake had left for some interviews on the way to SLC a few days before my flight. I left on a Sunday afternoon after playing my violin in our first church meeting. It was a crazy day. Thanks Julie for the ride to the airport:) I have flown by myself with Madison two or three times and it's been just fine. Being pregnant and flying with Madison was something new. The first bump in the road was when American airlines told me they do not provide bags for car seats. I had talked to lots of friends that said not to worry about covering the car sear because the airlines have bags. I was pretty concerned because I knew the car seat would come back very dirty or maybe even torn after taking a ride on those luggage carriers. It was a very snowy and rainy day so I am sure we would have had a very wet and cold car seat in SLC if it wasn't covered. I asked if they had any garbage bags or could find a janitor that might have something, anything, I was determined. Most of the workers were kind of rude in their responses to my crazy mom inquires. Luckily one lady took pity on my and grabbed a giant roll of plastic wrap from the luggage department. She helped me wrap up the car seat and then we were off to our gate. Madison was great and stayed pretty entertained on the plane by ripping up the sky mall magazines and saying hi to everyone around her. I however got really sick on both landings of our flight. Luckily we had the whole row to ourselves because both incidents of puking were long, hard, loud and gross. It was a challenge I had never before experienced, throwing up and holding a busy one year old at the same time. The first few times I reached for the bag Madison grabbed it from me and threw it on the floor. One of the worst parts is that after we landed, I had to hold the bag until a flight attendant could assist me and throw it away. Poor Madison must have been so confused at what I was doing. On the second flight I was smart and warned the flight attendant before we landed that I would be filling up the bag and would need him to take it from me after we landed. Lets just say that I was a mess after landing in SLC after midnight. I couldn't even make it up the ramp into the baggage claim before having to find a garbage can to throw up again. Luckily there weren't a lot of people around because I am sure I was quite the site. Jake in the meantime was relaxing in his spa retreat hotel that the Memphis residency program had put him up in. Luckily he was able to fly with me back to Toledo and everything went great on the flight home.
Back in Toledo Madison was able to enjoy the present that Santa got her for Chirtmas. A cute little rocking horse that swishes his tail and makes horsie sounds. We miss our family so much but it is always nice to be at home after a long vacation.

Christmas with the Tanners

Here are some pictures from Christmas time with the Tanners and Grandma and Grandpa Cummings. Madison had tons of fun playing with all the pets, especially the kitty's. Luckily her cousin Kensie has baby proofed the cats by squeezing them, loving them, and chasing them around the house so they were very baby friendly. Madison thought her cousin Tanner made a great horse and tried to sit on him as he crawled while making horse sounds. My sisters and I had our yearly sister breakfast get together and we had a tutu party with the cousins. We had so much fun playing and hanging out. Thanks for all the fun times!

Christmas with the Snows

Here are some pictures from our Christmas time with the Snows. We had a lot of fun singing playing and spending time together. Madison had her first sledding experience with her dad in their backyard. You can barely see her face peering out of her coat. She giggled going down the little hill and cried when she had to come inside.

Christmas in Toledo

I am so very behind in my blogging and will attempt to do some catching up. There will be some very old posts and pictures out of order in the next few posts:)
This is a collage of pictures of Christmas in Toledo before we left to SLC for the holidays. Madison had her first experience sitting on Santa's lap at Bass Pro Shop (Jake's favorite place to take Madison). Amazingly enough, Madison didn't cry, she was just in shock. Afterward, we gave her a taste of her first candy cane. She loved and you could tell by the drool and stickiness that covered her face and hands. I am sure she would sit on Santa's lap any day knowing she could have a candy cane afterwards.
We also went to the Lights at the Zoo. It was pretty chilly so I made sure we were all bundled up. Madison looked like a little snowman. She had a lot of fun seeing all the lights despite her inability move very well under all those layers. We love our Zoo!

Georgia on my mind...

A couple of months ago while coveting... I mean window shopping at Bass Pro Shops in nearby Rossford, Ohio I got to talking with a nice chap about the incredible happiness and opportunity that comes with owning a timeshare. He wanted me to pay him just $59 for a three day, two night stay at one of their facilities in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and all I had to do was agree to hear a 90 minute sales pitch. Although intrigued, I resisted hoping he would throw in some additional perks. He responded nicely to my resistance and offered to throw in $50 worth of Bass Pro gift cards if I signed up, the cost to me would be just $9 plus 90 minutes of our time. For two nights in the Smokies that was a deal I couldn't pass up. With Jenny's blessing I signed up and we made plans to spend her birthday (29 years young last Friday) in Tennessee!

It was a fantastic trip! The lodging was really nice, full kitchen, fireplace, elegant 15 inch TV (that was the only downer) and a large jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. The Smokies are beautiful even this time of year and the weather was great. It was a fantastic break from the rigors of this year. We weren't quite sure what to expect from the 90 minute sales pitch but Mike D. (unfortunately not THE Mike D. from the Beastie Boys) was pleasant and accepted our refusal graciously. It was great to spend some time in the mountains, and for those of you who haven't seen them, these are real mountains. One of the coolest parts of the park was being able to hike for a short while on the Appalachian trail. I am sure that spring, summer and fall are all better times of year to visit than February... but we were still impressed with the beauty.

Aside from the natural beauty, Appalachia offered some fantastic cultural insights. Our favorite quote was the mother who said to her two girls, "Dang, it sure has been a long time since you've been able to take off yer shoes and socks and play in the mud." They promptly did exactly that, and they loved it. We were also quite entertained watching Georgia's finest youth from the New Haven Bible Church experience snow for the first time (see pics below).


This guy had a great trip


What do you mean I can't take it home with me?


Hiking the Appalachian Trail


Snow Family Vacation


Madison loved it!




Flyin' through the Smokies




Jenny Preachin' at the Ol' Church


Our home for three days and two nights



It was a great weekend!