Splashing Around

Allie and I joined a few friends at a local splash pad for some fun in the sun. We had never been before and Allie just loved it! She had a great time running from fountain to fountain, usually squealing with joy along the way. We'll definitely have to head back to the splash pad again this summer.

Go Reds!

Nick and I realized that we had not taken Allie to any Reds games this year so we decided to check out a recent game against the Braves. We got her a new Reds shirt and I made her some matching bows (of course). She looked so cute!

Nick's Mom was able to get us Champions Club tickets from work so Allie got to sample a wide variety of ballpark food, free of charge. She enjoyed the soft pretzels, ice cream sandwiches and popsicles as big as she was... oh and the peanuts. She could not get enough peanuts! It was so cute to hear her yell, "GO REDS, HIT THE BALL" and "HOME RUN" during the game. She enjoyed the game for he most part until the crowd went wild for an inside-the-park-home run. That led to a few tears. Her favorite part of the whole day was getting to play on the playground at the stadium. Who would have thought?

Sharing a soft pretzel with Daddy.

The popsicle was almost as tall as she was.

Big smiles after the Reds win!

Whooshing down the slide at the stadium.

What's That You See?

BIG GIRL PIGTAILS!

Allie finally has barely enough hair to pull into actually pig tails. I can't believe how grown up she looks with them in. Looks like Mommy needs to start making bows in pairs!

Zoo Day

Allie and I decided to celebrate her 20 month birthday at one of her favorite places, the zoo! We were joined by her cousins, Carson and Finnegan, as well as Pa and Aunt Holli. She had a ball!

The monkeys were in rare form, "talking" and jumping around like maniacs, which Carson and Allie found to be hilarious. She still talks about how the monkeys were talking at the zoo.

We were able to see all of Allie's favorites, the monkeys, the polar bears, the giraffes and the elephants. She and Carson also took a ride on the carousel (or the "up and down" as she calls it) with Pa.

One of the highlights of the day was the ride on the choo-choo train. It is a must for Allie during every trip to the zoo. Little Finnegan was a big fan of the train too!

At the end of the day, Carson got the feed the giraffes! He was a little nervous at first but was very excited after the giraffe at his cracker. It was a great end to a great day!

Thanks Pa, Aunt Holli, Finnegan and Carson for inviting us to share in the day with you. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again soon!

20 Months Old!

Where, oh where, does the time go? How is it possible that Allie is so close to turning 2? She is no longer my little baby and is a full blown toddler now. She is talking up a storm and learning new things every single day. She loves to build blocks and play soccer with Daddy, "help" Mommy around the house and read books. She has become a Barney freak and jumps up and down screaming when the theme song begins. She's very into her sunglasses and often wears them inside the house.

I can't get over how smart she is too! She knows her ABCs, all of her shapes, all of her colors and all of the animals and their sounds. Her favorite shape is the octagon. She loves to point them out when we see a stop sign while driving. She also loves diggers, big trucks and any sort of animal we see along the road. She's just so much fun!

Learning Cause and Effect

Aunt Holli and Uncle Brian have a cute little slide at their house. Allie seemed to be very curious about it and climbed right up. I'm not sure she was prepared for what came next.

Although she looks terrified in the picture, she actually enjoyed the slide. I think she must have gone down it 20 more times. Between the slide and the snacks, Allie was in heaven that day!

In fact, her love for the slide that night prompted us to move a little jungle gym from Nick's parent's house to our house so that she could slide more often. She was very excited when she saw the slide in our yard!

I think we'd better keep Children's Hospital on speed dial because she is a little daredevil on that thing.

Good News!

We had Allie's appointment with the craniofacial surgeon in Dallas on Friday. It was a great meeting and he had nothing but fantastic news for us! I believe his exact words were, "There is absolutely no way this child should ever have surgery for this condition."

He was able to dispel the misinformation that we were given by the first doctor and calm many of our fears. He said that the ridge should be gone by the time she is 6 years old and that she is not at any increased risk of seizures, strokes or learning disabilities, as the first doctor had indicated. I'm frustrated that the first doctor gave me such false information and made me worry for so many weeks over nothing but couldn't have asked for a better outcome.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers over the last few months. We really appreciate all of the support!