Shoe Tragedy

This last week Madison's heart was broken when her Snow White shoes snapped in half. She loved wearing these shoes and we often had to keep her from wearing them to the park, to church and other places where they would be hard to get around in. She walked surprisingly well in them and could even run in these little plastic heels. I am so glad she didn't hurt her foot when they broke as you can see from the sharp edges.
Madison loves shoes! Ever since she could walk she would go into her closet and ask me to put on her different shoes. She was very particular about what shoes she wanted to wear. She likes to go into our closets, pull out our shoes and clomp around the house in them. It's fun to watch!

End of Summer

Madison loved swimming in her monkey pool! We bought it in the middle of July so it was like 75% off and by the time we were able to blow it up and find a good time to use it the summer was pretty much over. Hopefully we will get more use out of it next summer:)

Serious Football Fans!

One thing we have discovered living out here in Ohio is that there are some die hard football fans in the Midwest. You haven't experienced intense football until you have seen a game out here. A few weeks ago we got a flyer on our door offering daycare for the football game! I guess that was just unheard of when I lived in Utah. Daycare for a football game! It advertised two hours before the game, during the game, and two hours after. The cost was $60 per child or $100 for two. If you add that in with the cost of game tickets out here, you are paying a pretty penny for a game. I guess I am not that serious about sports! I do love the tailgating and parties that go along with football season but I think I would rather turn the game on fourth quarter:) Jake is still helping me to learn more about football so I can appreciate the game. I am still waiting for that power point presentation he started making for me when we were dating!

This last Saturday you could hear what was going on in the game even if you didn't have it on because the neighborhood roared with each good play the buckeyes made. We had organized a pre-game breakfast potluck with our street so we could get to know our neighbors. We had a great turnout and ate some yummy food! Jake made sure to deck Emerie out in pre-game football gear. He was so excited to put these little tattoos on the girls cheeks. Madison refused to have one on her cheek and cried when he put one on my check. She is very territorial when it comes to her mommy:) Oh, and for future reference, don't put these stickers on babies cheeks, I warned Jake that Emerie's skin was too sensitive and he probably shouldn't put in on...too late. She still has a little red mark and hopefully it will go away in the next few days. Sometimes mommies know more than Dr's;)

Madison Loves Water!

As you can see from the pictures Madison loves water! Anytime we are driving by water she says I want to touch the water. We went to this really fun park with an awesome playground area and they also have this fun water area. The cows udder squirts water and they have lots of little spouts all over the place that kids can turn on. There is also a big fort area with built in water guns. Jake had fun squirting Madison and mommy with the squirt guns. I didn't think it was fair for just us to get wet so I told all the little kids at the other stations to get the big man wet! Jake was just to fast, maybe next time.
It wasn't even that warm outside since it was almost dusk but Madison was laughing, running around, and having a great time playing in the water. Luckily I had an extra change of clothes for her for the ride home.

Nothing like a box!

There's nothing like a good old box for some great playtime. Madison had a lot of fun playing in her makeshift playhouse with her friends. A good thing about moving, you have a lot of boxes!

Emmie, the Alligators are coming...

For a little over a month now, as we are driving in the car, Madison's eyes get really big and she uses her "scary" voice to tell Emmie that the Alligators are coming to see her. Sometimes she just says the Alligators are coming and when I ask her who they are coming to see she says Emmie. Should I be worried? Madison really does love her sister and her time outs for being mean to Emmie are getting fewer and father in between (depending on the week).
Oh and, it was amazing Madison sat on this alligator statue. The first time she saw the alligators at the zoo she wanted to climb the fence to go see them. I told her that if she climbed the fence they would come over and bite her. I didn't want her to be terrified of alligators but she needed to know they aren't for petting. When she saw the statue of the alligator at the aquarium she wouldn't go near it. Makes sense! It took a few visits for her to be reassured it wasn't real.

Family Camping Trip

A few weeks ago we went camping at Hocking Hills with some friends. It was our first experience camping with kids and in Ohio. We went once when I was pregnant with Madison but we have never attempted it with the two and it actually went really well! I imagined I would be up all night with sad little girls but they slept great! Madison slept in the pack and play and we spread some blankets out next to me where Emerie slept. Madison loved looked at the stars at night and watching the campfire glow. She also spent a lot of time digging in the dirt and playing with all the kids. The other day she asked if we could go camping again. Of course!
The next morning Jake cooked some pancakes with his make shift cardboard spatula and then we went hiking at some nearby caves. It was a really cool place. It actually feels like you are in the mountains even though it's Ohio:)

Peanut Allergy Confirmed

Poor little Madison is officially allergic to peanuts. This post is meant to inform family and any friends that may watch Madison so they know what to avoid and how to handle any situation if she accidentally eats anything that may cause a reaction.

She has had about four incidents where she reacted after eating something with peanut butter that led to us getting her in to see an allergist. We think the first time she had a severe reaction was back in Feb. after a party with some friends at our house when I let her eat some scotchoroos. She woke up not to long after going to bed and was struggling to breath. Jake, who is usually the calm one actually called 911 because of how scary the situation was. Madison started to calm down not too long after the firetruck arrived and she seemed to be fine the next day. We thought she had just woke up with croup, looking back it was probably the peanut butter but we hadn't made any connections then. The second reaction was at church after I had let her eat the crusts of my peanut butter sandwich. We were sitting down at the meeting and noticed she had hives all over her face and hands. The only thing we could link it to was the p.b. After the second incident she had a blood test and it came out negative. We thought we were in the clear and so while traveling home from our D.C. trip I let her have a little pretzel that had p.b in the middle. She immediately started crying and developed the hives again. So we decided to avoid peanuts until we could get it figured out. She had one more accidental situation which caused her to cry and scream for little while and by the time I got to her it looked like she had been scratching her throat, her face was a bit swollen and she had developed a few hives. Last week we were finally able to get her in to see an allergist (they book six months in advance, luckily Jake was able to use his doctor power to get us in early) and they were able to confirm that she has a peanut and almond allergy.
The allergist said that there is a 20% chance she could grow out of it, so cross your fingers, but in the meantime we are to avoid all peanuts and tree nuts. The more she is exposed to peanut products the more likely it is her reactions will continue to intensify. This is because her immune system will continue to build up more antibodies causing a more severe reaction. We will always carry the EpiPen with us for an emergency. The allergist said there is no way to know if she eats (blank) amount... she will have (blank) type of reaction.

For those interested here is a list of foods that we need to avoid. Some are obvious however there are some things you don't quite think of.
Artificial nuts, Beer nuts, peanut oil or Aarchis oil, ground nuts, mixed nuts, Goobers, Mandelonas, Monkey nuts, Flavored nuts, peanut butter, peanut flour.
These foods may contain peanut protein: African, Chinese, Indonesian, Mexican, Thai, and Vietnamese dishes, Baked goods, some chocolate candy, chili and sauces, egg rolls, enchilada sauce, almond flavoring, marzipan, nougat, pesto, sunflower seeds, all tree nuts since often they are manufactured on the same equipment, Bakeries and ice cream parlors because of cross contamination.

I have been reading labels more carefully and find that it is pretty common for food to be manufactured on equipment that processes peanuts. We have still made visits to the ice cream shop, we just ask the server to wash the scooper with hot water and soap before scooping Madison's ice cream and I don't imagine us never letting her eat another donut again:) She was fine at Wixey:) We will just be careful and hope she will outgrow it. We will test her about once a year to see how things are going. About 1% of the population has a peanut allergy and there continues to be research done on the causes. They may even develop a vaccine sometime in the future. Here is a great document for family and friends about peanut allergies http://www-tc.pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/health/pdf/Binky_Peanut_Allergy_QA.pdf . Also here is a website with information http://www.foodallergy.org/

We love to dance!

Jake downloaded a new i-tunes song from the Oceans soundtrack and thought he would let the girls test it out! Check out their moves!

Baby doll abuse

Madison loves her baby dolls! In this video she drops her baby doll on the floor several times just so she can comfort her baby and kiss her on the head. It is really quite funny. Good thing her doll has a hard head:) Madison has become quite motherly and loves to burp her babies, rock them, and does basically everything she sees mommy do (except I don't drop Emmie on the floor). Madison loves to take her baby dolls on walks when we go out in the stroller. It is so funny to see me pushing Emerie in the double stroller while Madison follows along with her stroller. She is growing up so fast and has been in the do it myself stage. She loves to buckle her seat belt in her high chair. One day when I forgot to let her do it, instead of yelling at me and saying Madison do it, she said, "Yeah mommy, you did it, good job, mommy, good job!" She makes us laugh and is saying and doing silly new things everyday!

Fun at the fair!

A few weeks ago we went to a small town fair in Columbus. Madison had her first horse ride and she loved it. She smiled the whole time and waived to everyone walking by. She also had a lot of fun going down a giant slide with her dad and petting all of the animals at the zoo. The goat was a little scary and she loved the silly sheep with the bucket on its head. We ate some greasy carnival food (which might have explained why I threw up that night) and Jake went on a fun ride with his brother Bryan who was in town for a visit. We had a great time but I must say there are always some interesting crowds at the carnivals! Is that bad to think you are the normal ones?

Fun Videos

Here are a bunch of fun videos I have been meaning to post. You can pause the music on our blog so you can hear the videos. The first is of Emerie's bath time. I can't remember a time when she has ever cried in the tub. She just smiles, moves her arms, and kicks her legs. The second video is of Madison making Emerie laugh. Don't worry, Emerie survived the high swinging from Madison. Oh, and take note of Madison's shoes high heel princess shoes. She found those high heels in Grandma Tanner's dress up box and puts them on at least once a day. I am amazed she can even walk in them, she has even figured out how to run in them. What a funny girl! The last video is just a cute video of Emerie talking. She is such a sweetheart. She got her first shots today and didn't even cry until shot #3 and then it was only for a few seconds. What a good baby!

Columbus Zoo, Flight home, Sister Visit!

After our trip to Utah I was lucky to have my sisters Jaimie and Becky fly back with me to Columbus. I never could have survived the flight alone. The girls however were really great! Madison loved looking out the window of the airplane and watching Little Einstiens Videos on Jaimie's ipod, as you can see in the pictures. She was so excited to see her dad and just kept staring at him when he came to pick us up at the airport. It had been about three weeks since she had seen him! As we were getting in the car she looked at Jake and said "Daddy is soooo cute!" I agree, what a sweet little girl:)

We spent lots of time trying to unpack our many boxes but we did get a chance to visit the Columbus Zoo. The Zoo is actually ranked #1 in America. Here is the link, I had to look it up just to see http://www.wrsol.com/usatravelguide/2009/02/top10zoosinamerica/. It is a really great zoo but I think I am still a little bit partial to the Toledo Zoo. It's hard to beat the 10 minute walk to the zoo and Toledo's polar bear exhibit. I did get my picture taken with the famous Jack Hanna in the background filming a shoot about the koalas (click on the collage so you can see the enlarged version). The Columbus zoo is known as his zoo. Madison loved feeding the birds and the manatee exhibit was really great. We have a family pass with two free visitors, so if anyone wants to come visit us, we will take you there!

More Utah Summer Catch Up!

We headed to Utah a day and a half after moving to Columbus for my sister Heather's wedding. (I still need to get copies of those pictures) She married Brian Bowman and now we have Bowens and Bowmans in the family. What fun! Jake was only able to stay a few days before he headed back to start his first job as a doctor. The girls and I spent lots of time running around SLC visiting friends and family. We were lucky to head up to the cabin with the Bowens and enjoy the beautiful mountains. Madison and the girls loved watching the chipmunks eat moths. Who knew that was one of their favorite treats. Kensie learned to put up with the "one year olds" (Tanner and Madison) getting in to everything. Madison loved all three of there pet cats and loved to go to Grandma and Grandpa Cummings house to chase Poco their dog and swim in their pool. We went to the splash parks out in Herriman a few times and also went to Swim lessons at Shinsels. I used to teach lessons there as a teenager so it was fun to be back with kids of my own:)

One afternoon Madison and her cousin Makayla drenched themselves in Grandma Poco's water fountain. They loved dipping their heads in, splashing each other and laughing themselves silly.

We were also able to spend some time with the Snows. Madison loved squirting Grandma and Grandpa Snow with the hose in a big fourth of July water fight we had. She loved listening to her cousin Victoria play the guitar and playing with Becca Iasac and Jonny. Madison was also lucky to attend Grandma Snow's nursury on Sunday.
There are more pictures and memories to come. I still need to get copies of pictures taken by family. I wasn't always able to manage a camera and my too girls:)