Question Mark- I can't think of a title

Yesterday my brother Andrew and his girlfriend Irene came up to visit us and we have been having a lot of fun. Last night Irene and I got to have a girls night and we had a fun time watching a chic flick that I'm sure the boys were not too sad they missed. Today we decided to go visit the ol' Alma Matter to see all of the new changes that have been made since we were all up there. Even though it hasn't been long for me, a lot has changed, but it is still so beautiful. Here are a couple of pictures from today of our pride and joy... She is getting so close to walking on her own! This is Madison NOT wading her feet in the pool that says not to wade in the pool.

Madison walking with her mom and dad! Thanks for taking such cute pictures of her walking Kate.

Madison walking with Irene and her purse and her necklaces- she is such a girly girl!

And I know that I have shown some of these pictures already but I have been taking a picture of Madison every day while she plays in her old car seat. I don't know why I think it is so funny but I love the fact that she will play for over an hour in her car seat and be completely satisfied.

I love my little girl!

Ok, so Madison is getting really close to being able to walk all on her own these days and it is really fun to watch her as she keeps getting closer and closer to walking. Yesterday while we were babysitting our friend Hayden who is almost 18 months old Madison decided that she wanted to be able to stand up from sitting all by herself. She was determined to make it happen and was trying anything her little mind could think of to get herself up. I was laughing so hard because she looked so cute trying and so I decided to grab the video camera because there was no way I was missing this moment. -She isn't wearing any clothes though because she had just dumped a whole waterbottle on herself but this video was too funny not to share. So here it is.

Ingredients: Garbanzo Bean Flour, Potato Starch, Tapioca Flour, White Sorghum Flour, Fava Bean Flour... Anything but WHEAT!

Yesterday I decided that if Madison is not going to be able to eat wheat (even if it is only for a few months and she can grow out of it) that I better know how to cook without using wheat. This task however, is not as easy as it may seem. I always figured that all I would have to do is get another type of flour and just use it in place of the wheat. But what I have discovered is that usually more has to be added in order for the consistency of the bread to remain the same. Part of the problem I believe is that the glucose in wheat that most with wheat allergies are allergic to is what holds the bread together. So when you use any other form of flour something else has to be added. I think the key ingredient is Xanthan Gum. So I started my mission to see what I could find that would be useful to me in this journey. So where do you even find alternative forms of flour? I tried Walmart and they had hardly anything. Then I went to a few "health food" stores and the first two I went to only had vitamins. The third place I went actually had a pretty good selection but everything was SO expensive! I did find a flour though that I thought would work well because it was a mixture of ingredients- hence my title. It was a 44 oz bag and it cost me $8.00!!! If anyone knows where or how I could get flour for cheaper then this please let me know. I also picked up a box of Zanthan Gum -it was an 8 oz package for $10! You are supposed to add about 1 tsp to most recipes so it should last a while but still! But I decided to try making Zucchini Bread because I figured that the chocolate chips would help hide the taste difference and guess what... it turned out pretty good! Madison as well as Karl and I, really enjoyed it. Recipe number one= success.

Also Madison has found a new spot to hang out these days. It is her old car seat that is sitting in the corner of our front room. She actually climbs inside the chair and will sit there for up to an hour at a time with just her dolly. Oh and she can also watch the TV from there as well.Notice the outfit. This is two different days but same position, same toy. Silly girl

We finally have a Wii Tooth!

Ok this post is going to be a lot of talk so you don't really have to read it all but I wanted to record it for my own record so read or don't read whatever you want. Lots of big things happened this last week for us. It all started on Wednesday while Karl and I were at the mall. We were just looking around for fun and then Karl saw that one of his favorite arcade games in the mall had a Wii as a prize and so he decided that since I wouldn't let him buy a Wii that he would just have to win it. SO... he had a few dollars in his wallet that I gave him permission to try just a few times to see if he could win. Dollar one, he made it all the way up to the last line and lost it. Dollar Two and Three had similar results. It was at this point that I told him he needed to stop because he was just waisting money. (This came just minutes after he told me we couldn't buy something that was 2 for $10 for Maddie) So what does he do? He decided to try again... and then once again even though he knew I didn't want him to do it and guess what??? HE WON! I couldn't believe it. He spent $5 and got a $250 Wii. It's got to be too good to be true right? I just couldn't believe it though because this is all we got at the time.

It was a box with a picture of a Wii and a homemade certificate inside telling us where we needed to go to redeem our prize (which was actually an hour away) so once again I just wouldn't allow myself to actually believe that it was real. But then, on Friday as we were driving to my parents for the night so we stopped to pick up our Wii and guess what, HE REALLY DID WIN! The problem though that I have been having is how can you teach someone a lesson about deliberately disobeying when the end result is so good?

Also on friday we went in for Madison's 12 month appointment. She was 18 lbs 12 oz (25th percentile) and about 30 inches tall (60th percentile). Our doctor called her little stretch because she is so skinny and tall. We also decided, after talking to our doctor that Madison should not eat any wheat anymore or at least for the next 6 months and then we can re-evaluate. For those of you that don't know, we found out a couple months ago that Madison is allergic to wheat but when we had originally found out she wasn't showing any signs of allergic reactions and so the doctor told us not to change anything at that point in time. Well shortly thereafter she started getting little baby hives. At first our doctor (not the allergist) told us not to rule out wheat completely yet just because there are so many different things that can give babies hives. But we started to notice a trend. When we gave her the whole grain wheat crackers they make for babies she was really getting hives and even little sores on her bum... so we stopped giving her whole grain and she seemed to do better. She would still get little hives but as long as we gave her Claritin she wouldn't even get those so we figured she was just fine. But then when we were at the doctor I decided to ask about this and he told us that it probably isn't a good idea at this point to allow her to eat wheat if we have to give her medicine to avoid getting hives just because wheat allergies can cause internal problems such as intestinal or "gut" problems. So even though it doesn't seem serious, it really could be. The doctor also thought it would be a good idea to have some tests done just to make sure that there isn't any internal problems we don't know about. So after one already unpleasent doctors appointment (Madison started crying when they put her on the scale to see how much she weighed and didn't stop until we left) and four shots we had to go over to the hospital and have her blood taken for testing. She obviously was not too pleased about this. But she got a really cool pink bandage...

... that she couldn't take off fast enough.

And now for the real shocker. Madison was super moody all weekend long and I just figured that it was because of her shots but then this morning I discovered that... Madison got her first tooth !!! 2 days after her first birthay she finally gets a tooth. And that tooth really wasn't there before then because the doctor checked when we took her in for her birthday. The really weird part though is that it isn't one of the bottom teeth, which are usually the first teeth to come in. I almost didn't even see it because I usually just check the bottom. So even though this picture is not very flattering I am going to post it anyway. For some reason she didn't want me playing with her mouth.And just so I don't leave you with such a sad picture, here is another one taken just minutes after the tooth picture. (she recovered quickly)

Update: Within the next four weeks Madison got 6 teeth, four on top and two on bottom! It was insane how they all came at once.

One year older and wiser too... or at least she thinks she is

Happy Birthday to you

"who me"Happy Birthday to you

"Gee Thanks"Happy Birthday dear Madison...
"It's my birthday!'

Happy Birthday to you!"Hey why did you stop singing?"Happy Birthday Madison! Today my little girl official became a big girl! I can not believe that she is already one. This year has come and gone so quickly but it was one of the best years of my life thus far. Madison is such a wonderful little girl and I am so grateful that the Lord has blessed us with her. It is hard for me to even imagine what life was like before she was a part of it. I can't even remember what it was like to not have to be worrying constantly about whether my little one is fed, happy, hungry, tired, sick, needs a diaper changed, wanting to be held or fussed over or any other need that she may have but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my little girl and am grateful for the happiness she brings me each day. In her honor, and since this is technically my journal I would like to share a few of my thoughts and feelings about her so that I can always remember the way she makes me feel.
To my beautiful daughter Madison Jo
I love the way you always make me smile and how even when you are doing something you know you should not be doing and it drives me crazy, you still make me smile.

I love how you are always so happy and content, even when you are really sick. I often wonder how you can be so happy when you feel so bad- that is a trait I wish I had.

I love your cute little toothless smile. I still don't know how you don't have any teeth yet but that grin melts my heart every time.

I love how you are full of personality. I have never met anyone who has as many "faces" as you. There is an expression for every occasion. You hardly ever leave me wondering what you are thinking because your face says it all.

I love how music always makes you want to dance and sing. I will never forget how entertaining you were when we went to "Thoroughly Modern Milly" over at Bear Lake. The way you bounced around, and tried to sing along while leading the music was hilarious.

I love watching you learn and discover new things and then clapping for yourself because you are so proud of what you have discovered.

I love how you think you are so funny- when you do something funny you are usually the first to laugh.

I love that you can be so content playing on your own and find joy in the simplest things. When you were really little all you really needed was your fingers and toes and you were happy for hours.

I love that you have always been a good sleeper- at least during the night. You may not always want to take a nap during the day but once bedtime hits, you rarely wake up before morning.

I love that you love to play with and usually play well with other children and I also love that you are willing to let others play with you as well.

I love your fake cry- you never really were a big crier so it makes me laugh when you try to fake cry to get attention. (like you are doing at this moment)

I love your little giggle- it is so contagious.

I love that you like to share- even if it is a previously owned gold fish or Binky.

I love how you say "Hi" and your cute little wave- I often times feel silly when I find myself waving to people the same way you do

I love how life is just better with you in it and I am grateful that I have you to keep for eternity. Even though at times I may get a little frustrated or tired there are so many reasons why I love you which make it hard for the frustration to last for very long. Thank you so much for being all that you are. I love you and Happy First Birthday!Hugs!

P.S. I just wanted to add these cute pictures of Maddie with her cousin Ivy. The other day we babysat Ivy and Madison did not want to leave her cousin the whole time and even made her play with her barn animals with her. She loves her cousin.

Happy birthday party Madison!

Yesterday we celebrated Madison's first birthday, even though her actual birthday isn't until this Thursday. We had all of our family come to our house to help us celebrate and Madison once again did a great job at entertaining us all. We first opened a couple of her presents. We figured it would work best if she didn't have to open them all at one time. Little did we know that all she needed was one toy. The very first present she opened was a cell phone from her Uncle Eric. She loved it. In fact she loved it so much she did not want to stop playing with it even to open another present.

Madison had a fun time showing everyone how old she was. "I'm number 1!"

After we ate lunch it was time for cake. We decided we wanted to let Madison have her very own cake and she loved it. At first she was eating all daintily...... And then she decided to dig in!And she even tried to shareAfter we gave her a bath and got her all cleaned up we let her open the rest of her presents. Ok so I ended up opening almost all of them for her so she could keep playing with each of her new toys but all in all she was in heaven.She got lots of fun stuff from purses to shopping carts and bicycles to tickle me cookie monster. (this is evidence that having a big family can be a good thing, haha)Thank you everyone for all the great gifts.But as always one of her favorite gifts was the box her new toy was wrapped inAt least until uncle Robbie started scaring her by poking his hand and a leaf through the hole on the side of the boxAfter all was said and done the party was a big success. Madison loved being the center of attention and definitely appreciates all the fun new toys and clothes she was given, in fact we have actually been having a hard time getting her away from them.

If you have ever wondered what it would look like if Madison were to throw a tantrum it's your lucky day. This is her showing me how unhappy she was because I was making her leave her toys so we could go to church today. (Isn't her new outfit just adorable? Thanks Kate and Mom)
And these next few pictures are just kind of random. I love this picture of Maddie
This is my little helper trying to help me "put away" the groceries
This is our cute little Ivy Belle enjoying Madison's party

And this picture is for you Jen! I really do think it is a good picture.

Thanks again to everyone for coming to our party. We are so glad you were all able to come.