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!

Meeting Baby Finnegan!

Nick's sister, Holli and her husband Brian, welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Finnegan Lewis, to the world on March 28, 2010.

We all went over to meet the little cutie and welcome him to the family! It was a great night of sweet newborn cuddles and being in awe of Finn's adorableness. Definitely makes us want another one soon! Even Carson got in on the snuggling action.

Allie said hi to "Baby Finn" as she calls him a few times but was much more interested in the slide. Maybe she was coming to realization of just how outnumbered she is now.

Welcome to the world Baby Finn! We love you and can't wait to watch you grow up!

The Best Toys In The World Are...

Diaper boxes, at least according to Allie. We bought a new pack of diapers and I heard her giggling as I was putting them away in her room. I came out to find this:

At least she's easily amused.

Easter Bunny = FAIL

I opened the mail the other day to find this adorable dress from Nana Shell and Grandpa Eddie. I had another dress in mind for Easter but this one was so much cuter that I knew it was perfect!

Aunt Kelsey was in town for the weekend so we got Allie dressed and took her to the mall to meet the Easter Bunny. While we were waiting in line, Allie kept waving and talking to the "hop hop" as she calls him. All of that excitement turned to shear terror when I put her on his lap. Luckily, the picture girl was able to snap one shot for us so that we can always remember just how much Allie hated the Easter Bunny in 2010!

A Trip To The Farm

Allie and I headed to PA to visit with my Grandma, Aunt Mary Ellen and cousins Katie & Jenny. It was great to see everyone and catch up a little bit.

Grandma had a lot of musical dancing toys that Allie had a ball with. She danced her little heart out and would ask for more when the music stopped.

We visited that dairy farm next door on afternoon. Allie wasn't too sure what to think of all of the cows at first. She got very excited when they started mooing though! She also liked running up and down the ramp outside of Grandma's house.

All in all, it was a GREAT weekend! We can't wait to go back in August for the family reunion!

Climbing Queen

Allie's favorite thing to do in the whole world is climb on things that she is not supposed to. Thank goodness there is a children's hospital within a few miles of our house. I have a feeling we're going to need it. We're also considering purchasing stock in companies that produce stitches and casts. The way we figure it, Allie could put herself through college with the money she will most likely earn for those companies in the next few years.

Free For All

Allie dumped a box of cereal on the floor at Ma & Pa's house. The kids were in heaven eating all of the cereal off of the floor and were trying to gobble it all up before Pa got it with the vacuum. Good thing Ma keeps a very clean house!

Allie loves all of the snacks at Ma & Pa's house. She knows exactly which cabinet is the snack cabinet and makes a beeline for it as soon as we walk in.

1st Trip to the Zoo

I recently purchased a zoo membership for our family. We decided to test it out for the first time a few weeks ago by meeting our friends Tricia and Jacob at the zoo. Allie was in heaven! She was so excited about all of the animals and all of the open space to run around. We ended up losing Tricia and Jacob because Allie did not want to wait for anyone. She wanted to see what animal was next and would run from exhibit to exhibit. The train was a favorite of hers as well. She waved and cheered everytime we saw the train and had a blast riding it. I have a feeling we'll be regulars at the zoo this year.