Michigan Journal

Michigan Journal

Maddie's journey has begun!

July 2007

Saturday, July 7th

We made it! Madison and I arrived in Michigan yesterday at 9:30 in the morning. All things considered, our trip went quite well. It was quite an undertaking traveling alone with this little girl and all of her "stuff", so I am feeling quite accomplished! The airport and airlines were not as helpful as I was hoping, but I was able to (begrugdingly in some cases) get all of the assistance that I needed. The hardest part of the trip was getting Maddie, her walker (gait trainer), her stroller, and her car seat to the correct gates. And since we had a layover, we had to do that twice. I was so glad I insisted on bringing the gait trainer with us to the gate, though, as she was able to get some exercise a tootle around in it while we were waiting. It was either that or let her crawl all over the airport, and that just wasn't going to happen. The airline staff wasn't too thrilled about checking her stroller and gait trainer at the gate, but I had made arrangements for them to do so beforehand so they just had to deal.

Our flight left at 11:30 pm on Thursday. Derek and Savannah drove us to the airport and we all had fun together. Savannah LOVED being at the airport, and didn't get too sad when we had to say goodbye. A cookie and a ride on Daddy's shoulders did the trick. Surprisingly, the airline let Derek and Savannah walk us all the way to the gate. We had asked for assistance to the gate, but they said if we'd rather just have Derek help, they would allow it this one time. The biggest thrill for Savannah then was that she was able to go through security - take her shoes off, put her stuff in the container thing, go through the special machine, etc. She was adorable. Madison, however, was not that impressed. When she saw the security lady come towards us with her rubber gloves on, she completely freaked out. (Rubber gloves remind her of doctors and she hates doctors.) She screamed like banchy all the way through security.

Derek and Savannah got us to the gate safely and easily. While we were waiting together, Maddie choked on a piece of cantaulope and Savannah fell backwards in Madison's car seat and all of her cantaulope went flying, but those are stories for another day.

Unbelievably, Madison slept through the entire first leg of our trip - from SF to Chicago. She fell asleep during takeoff! She's always loved loud noises and vibrations, so the airplane was a great place for her. I tried so hard to get sleep myself, but I just couldn't get comfortable...

The rest of the trip wasn't easy - she was cranky, it became harder to get help, but I never felt overwhelmed. We got our rental van (thank you for the rental, Simon!!!) and set off to find our new digs. Forturnately, our little apartment is only about 10 minutes from the airport, and it was very easy to find. The apartment is cute, but a little more dingy than I would prefer... It will do though, and we have all the amenities of home - except for a dad and a sister.

We spent the weekend exploring the area, shopping, and taking walks. There are geese, ducks, and water all around us in our apartment complex - it's quite beautiful. We even saw our first fireflies! Michigan seems like a lovely place (I love the accents!), and I'm happy to be able to experience another part of the country.

Maddie starts her therapy on Monday, and I'm getting very nervous. It better be darn good and amazing! It's hard not to wonder if we did the right thing at this point. I am feeling very far away from home and I pray that it is all worth the trip out here. I think Madison misses Derek and Savannah immensely, and since she can't put her feelings into words, I think it is that much harder for her. Her and Savannah are attached at the hip at home, and Maddie is having a hard time playing without her. (Playing with mom just doesn't measure up to playing with a big sister!)

Thursday, June 12th

It's day four of therapy and things are going quite well! Days two and three were hard on both of us - reality set in and I think we both realized that this experience is going to be a whole lot of work. Maddie cried a lot for the last few days, and it was hard keeping her motivated. Today was much better, though, with much less crying and a lot more smiles.

It is very hard to explain the therapy. I've tried to get a few pictures, but it has been hard since I am so involved in it. I think I will be able to get some pictures in the next few days. The most significant part of the therapy, I think, and the part that Madison had a very hard time adjusting to is that she has to walk everywhere... She has to walk from the door to circle time, from circle time to the exercise area, from the exercise area to the potty, etc. If she crawls, they make her go back and walk! This sounds a bit cruel, but really is not, and I think it is so good for her. She is walking using a variety of methods. They have special chairs with rungs on the back that the kids push around the room. They also have a walker for Madison (very different from her gait trainer - absolutely no support...) and sometimes she just walks with assistance from the teachers and me.

The biggest reality check for me, so far, is that they told me that they don't think Madison should be using her gait trainer any more. Her gait trainer is like a walker, but it has a seat, it has a strap that goes around her chest, and it gives her tons of support. They believe this support might be hindering her body in figuring out how to eventually walk independently. They want her in a more traditional walker, and I have been consulting with her physical therapist back home (thanks Amy!) to help me make this decision. It's a hard decision, though, because Madison is finally sooo happy in her gait trainer (it took a year!) and we finally all feel very comfortable with her using it. But in Madison's life, the minute she feels "comfortable", I guess that means it is time to move on to the next thing. This can be hard to accept sometimes. Change is not easy, especially with this little girl.

Another major milestone is that I took Maddie to get her haircut today and she didn't cry at all! ;-) Getting Madison's haircut is usually a huge fiasco and she usually screams bloody murder. I talked to her a lot about it beforehand, explaining that haircuts don't hurt and I think she is understanding so much these days, she really took it to heart. But the Skittles and the nice lady could have had something to do with it!

We have been having so much fun exploring Grand Rapids. We haven't ventured too far, but we have seen a lot of neat things. On Tuesday we went to Frederik Meijer Gardens, which is a very famous garden and sculpture park. They also have an awesome kids area and Madison had so much fun. I also enrolled Madison in an afternoon Gymboree music class and she absolutely loved it! I think she was just happy to be with some "typical" kids, and to just be herself and not have her mom make her body do crazy, uncomfortable things. She was able to have a lot of free play there, also, which I think she desperately needed (maybe her mom needed that too???).

Fortunately, Madison has adjusted to our little apartment quite nicely, and she is sleeping like a champ! It could have something to do with the endless hours of exercise she is getting each day... I have enjoyed four full nights of sleep, and I feel like I am finally recovering from my jet lag (or taking a red-eye lag...)

If you have gotten this far, thanks so much for reading and being so interested in our journey to Michigan. After a lot of doubt, I feel very, very confident that we made the right decision to come here.

Saturday, July 14th

I am so proud of this little girl! She is working her tail off... We are really enjoying our time here together, and I feel very lucky to have this one-on-one time with Maddie.

Madison had a very hard day of therapy on Friday. She was just so tired - it was like working with a little wet noodle! When she was up in standing, her legs would just buckle out from under her, and even sitting up seemed to be a challenge for her. I am happy that she is getting a break this weekend. By the end of the day, though, she was doing quite well, and walked the distance of the parallel bars (about ten feet) twice, with a lot of success and smiling. She is definitely very proud when she knows she has accomplished something new!

I am having a great time working with Madison on other things, as well. She had a lot of bad habits that needed some working-on. For instance... Madison is the messiest eater you have ever seen. A lot of her food ends up on the floor. About half of this is because of her condition and her uncontrollable movements, but the other half is definitely behavior and habit. We have been working hard on this, and I'm seeing some great improvements. In the hustle and bustle of our busy life back at home, I was never quick to correct this, or even understand what was controlled and what was not. She did not throw food on the floor in a defiant way, it was more of a I-don't-really-like-this-so-I'm-going-to-get-rid-of-it kind of way. She is now learning to just keep that food on her plate, or at the very least, hand it over to me. We have also been working hard on getting her to drink out of a cup. This is difficult for her, because she just doesn't have the hand control to do this very successfully, but we have to start somewhere. After some positive reinforcement (bribery???) I'm getting her to drink from a cup several times a day. It's a mess, and she doesn't like it, but at least it's a start.

We have also been working hard at recognizing her colors. I felt like she was starting to get a grasp on this before we left, but with some help she is definitely starting to master this. Through some very messy color-specific art projects, she is having fun learning about her colors! This was our "blue day", and by golly, she now knows blue 100% of the time. It is a amazing what a little work can do! It is hard teaching these skills to a nonverbal child, but it can be done. I think this is definitely a sign of her intelligence, which has been highly underrated by some in the past.

We went to another Gymboree class today, and I love to see how she thrives in this "typical" environment. With all of her delays, her social skills have always been very high, and it is so much fun watching her play and interact with all of the children. Who knew Gymboree would be such a significant part of our Michigan experience? We just didn't have the time for all of this "fun" stuff between all of her therapy appointments back at home, and the craziness of our everyday life. I can't wait to get back to that crazy life, but I am definitely relishing every moment of our time here. I am also gaining some valuable perspective on what our priorities need to be when we do return home.

Sorry for the strong detail, but for our own sake, I want to get this all in writing before it leaves my very forgetful mind!

Maddie and her friends sitting at the edge of the "plinth" (she's in the back of the picture).

Maddie sitting nicely playing w/ her favorite ducks. (Her back should be against the chair, though!)

Derek & Savannah helping Maddie at therapy. (Sorry about the top of your head, shot, Derek!)

The kids putting ducks in water. Look at all of the great high-kneeling!

Big sister showing off the sign in front of Maddie's school. Future Vanna White???

Look at Maddie's "gait trainer"! We stripped it down, and now it is officially a just a "walker".

Having so much fun picking Grandma and Grandpa up at the airport!

Tuesday, July 24th

We finally had a couple of really good days of therapy again. There was definitely still some major fussing, but it seems to be going better. Maddie is getting better and better in her walker as each day passes. The only thing she needs help with is controlling it. She can push it and take a few steps, but if someone is not stablizing it for her, she tends to push it too far forward and loses control. We even have the wheels set on a very slow setting, but I think with time she will get it.

Yesterday, we were done with therapy, and she walked all the way out the door in her walker (with a little help), and then I was going to pick her up and take her to the car. When I bent down to get her, she started fussing. I asked her if she wanted to be "all done" or continue walking (with signs). She pointed straight ahead! She wanted to keep going on her own, and I was amazed. She has a new look of determination on her face that I have never seen before. It is the most precious and beautiful thing in the world! It took at least a half hour to get to the car, (it was about 15 feet away!), but we weren't in any rush to get anywhere...

We have made some amazing friends here in Michigan. We have had several "playdates" with the families from Maddie's program, and it is so nice for the kids to be together and not have to "work". One family had us over and took us to an amazing park right by their house, and another family had us over for swimming and hotdogs. We so appreciate everyone's hospitality here, and it will be very hard to say goodbye when it is time to go...

Grandma and Grandpa arrived today, and it was so exciting! Maddie was so thrilled to see them, and it was fun showing them around our new place. They are staying in the same apartment complex as we are. Fortunately, their apartment is very, very nice and, yes, we are a bit jealous. ;-) Their apartment is on the third floor and it is very bright and airy. We'll say they live in the castle and we live in the dungeon! They are in the building right next to ours, so it is a perfect set up for all of us. Grandma will be joining us for therapy tomorrow, and I think Madison will love having her there.

Derek and Savannah left on Sunday, and that was a tough goodbye. However, they are safe and sound in Texas now, having a great time with Derek's sister's family.

Saturday, August 4th

I can't believe our journey is about to end! This has been such an incredible experience, but we can't WAIT to get back home... We had our last day of therapy yesterday, and we leave bright and early on tomorrow morning (that would be at 5am!)

This last week went quite well, and I am very pleased with all of Madison's accomplishments. All of these accomplishments are hard to put into words. Some things would be very slight and unnoticable to someone who doesn't know Madison very well. But, as her mom and to the people who see her on a regular basis, those accomplishments are huge. For instance... she can go down stairs on her belly feet first, she can slide off of a bed and put her feet on the floor, then bend at her knees and get down. These things might seem inconsequential to some, but in Maddie's life, they are huge accomplishments. There are other things to, things that are hard to describe. All in all, Madison just seems a bit older and a bit more stable. She seems like a different little girl than the one I brought here.

Because she has not been wearing her braces, she actually seems a lot less steady in her walker now than she did a week ago. However, as the teachers explained to me, she is learning a whole new way of walking and it will take a while to get used to this. Though she was more sturdy in her braces, she was walking incorrectly. She would lock out her knees and swing her legs around to walk, landing on her heels. Now she is bending her knees and landing on her feet correctly. So though she does not look very steady while walking now, she is walking correctly, and this is (obviously) hugely important.

Her language skills have improved greatly. She is verbalizing so much more now. She is mimicking some sounds, which she didn't really do before. We had a very exciting moment on Wednesday morning! Maddie was sitting on the carpet making the "bu" sound. I was busy in the kitchen I was just kind of talking back to her with the bu sound. However, she wouldn't stop and then I noticed she was firmly pointing to the carpet. I looked and sure enough, there was a teeny tiny bug on the carpet! I almost started to cry! We might have to say her first "official" word is bug. That's an interesting one... She is also saying bye, bye, and pointing out lots of other things that start with a b. She has also started to say Momma, however I've only seen her do it out of distress! When her teacher at school was working with her, she would point to me and dramatically make a "ma" sound. Though she was crying, it was music to my ears! Today I was having her help me pack up the animal magnets that were on the fridge. There were at least 20. I named each one and had her hand them to me. She knew every last animal, with 100% accuracy! Everything from billly goat to panda bear... She also has several new signs, including the very useful one of pinching her nose when she poops! (Thank you to her new friend, Drew who taught her that one!)

It will be interesting to see if her new verbal skills remain with her once we are CA and not in such an intense situation. She's been known to have a few "first" words before, only to suddenly stop saying them. (She used to say "bubble" and "dada" about a year ago...) I have confidence all of this new stuff is going to stick...

So I have hugely mixed emotions about leaving. I'm not quite sure how I feel - happy, sad, relieved, overwhelmed, excited, nervous - so I kind of just don't feel anything at the moment. I can't seem to organize this entire trip in my head. From the decision to come, from the whirlwind of all of the fundraisers, to actually getting here, to all of the therapy, and now, it's over. Just like that. This whole thing, from beginning to end has been one of, if not the hugest, most amazing experiences of my life...

All of the mixed emotions aside, I do know one thing. I'm very, very excited to get home!!! It has been extremely hard being away from Derek and Savannah for so long. We have a lot of unexpecteds when we get home, though, so I guess I'm a little nervous about everything that awaits us - Savannah starting Kindergarten (on Tuesday!), Maddie starting her new school, my sister having her baby who knows when (she's been dilated 2cm for 2 weeks!!!), a busy week of VBS and lots of fun family functions, Derek painted the entire family room (keep your fingers crossed that I like it!), etc. etc. So we are not going back to life as we knew it, and that gives me a bit of an unsettled, but very excited feeling.

Thank you to all who kept up with our trip. We felt so supported and loved the entire time we were here. Thank you for all of your prayers, good wishes, and to the many who wrote, called, and e-mailed. (Thank you for all of the beautiful cards, Barbara and Myrna - they've been a great decoration for our little apartment!) I certainly don't feel too out of touch with our world, and I'm very grateful for that. When I get home, I hope to post the last of our pictures here, if you'd like to take one last look. Then, I'll probably take a bit of a website break and do an update in a couple of months...

Wish us a safe, uneventful trip back home... I'm packing up the computer now - see you in California!

Daddy and Savannah taking us to the airport.

Maddie in front of our little apartment. Beautiful surroundings, cute place, just a little dingy on the inside...

You can also see Maddie's new wheels in this picture! Her "stroller" arrived the day before we left. She absolutely loves it. I feel that it suits her a lot better than her little baby stroller. Plus now, her feet don't drag on the floor!

The first thing we see when we walk out our door are tons of ducks and geese! Maddie loves, loves, loves this. Whenever I say it is time to go, she immediately does the sign for "duck" and squeals with delight. We discovered very quickly that these geese are quite aggessive and we need to be very careful! This is a cute picture, but that goose is actually hissing at Madison. About 20 geese then chased us back to our door...

Monday, June 9th

Well, the trip out here was definitely worth it! Maddie had her first day of therapy today, and it was amazing. The teachers are wonderful, and the environment is very caring and loving. I am so glad we made the decision to do this. Our day is very organized and structured, but the teachers are somehow able to make it very fun for the children. In Maddie's particular class, there are four children - each with their own degree of challenges. There are many children in the school, but her class was set up to be so small since the children are so young. Maddie is about in the middle of the children in terms of ability, and that is a nice place for her to be. The most striking and impressive thing I noticed is that the teachers are quick to point out the things the children can do. They do not let the parents carry the children anywhere, or do anything for them without having the children assist as much as they are able.

One of the most exciting things that happened today is that Madison peed on the potty! It was her first time sitting on a potty and after about ten minutes, the magic happened. Being a little hesitant to tackle the task of potty-training a non-verbal, non-walking three year old on my own, I was happy to get a little help in getting her started. I have been told by many that Maddie is no where near potty-training, but the therapists here disagree with that and want to at least give her a chance.

The environment is very inspiring and motivating. The teachers are not trying to dole out false hope, they just strongly believe these kids are a lot more capable then people give them a chance to be. Most of the people who run the program are from Budapest, Hungary, which is where Conductive Education originated from. Maddie's teacher's name is Gyorgyi (pronounced your-gee) and has been a "Conductor" for over 20 years. I believe she is the most experienced teacher here, and she is amazing. She actually lives in Hungary and comes to the U.S. several times a year to work here in Grand Rapids.

We have met some amazing people from all over. I met parents from New York, Massachusetts, Boston, Georgia and other places. It's nice to know I'm not the only crazy one traveling across the country to receive this very unique and hard-to-find therapy.

Look, one hand, mom!!!

This is Maddie with her teacher, Gyorgyi. Maddie's being a little sassy!

Maddie & her class. They climbed on top of this apparatus to say goodbye to each other on Friday.

Maddie and her new friend, Drew. They LOVE the bunny who lives right outside their therapy room.

Maddie and her new friend, Maeve.

Maddie looking at the geese out our front door. She is doing the sign for bird!

Friday, July 20th

One more week of therapy under our belts! Quite frankly, it was a tough week. Madison is still making great progress, but she just had a really hard time at therapy for the majority of the week. Half the time, she continued to act like a wet noodle as I described before... Many times, I felt like I was doing more work than she was!

To brighten our week, Derek and Savannah flew in on Wednesday afternoon! It was sooooo much fun going to the airport to pick them up. Seeing Savannah run down the exit towards us was an awesome sight. Her and Maddie hugged, kissed, and squealed a lot... And Madison was so happy to see her daddy. She immediately started giggling once they arrived, and that is something I haven't heard much since we have been here. We expected this, but after about ten minutes, Madison did her over-stimulated thing, and got a bit "twitchy". She lost it for a few moments. She tends to do this when she gets over-excited. It's like she doesn't know what to do with all of her happy energy, and she can get overwhelmed very quickly.

When we got back to our "little house", it was so much fun watching the girls play together. They were rolling around doing crazy things just like they always do. I guess I was worried the distance and time could break there bond. It definitely did not.

We have a had tons of fun exploring Michigan as a family. We went to the Frederick Meijer Gardens again yesterday, and today we explored downtown Grand Rapids. We took the girls to the Children's Museum and they had a great time. It was so much fun sitting back and watching them play together.

Derek was a very brave daddy today and took Madison to therapy all by himself! Coincidentally, there were three other dads there today, so he definitely didn't feel out of place. I think the whole experience was a little overwhelming for him, but Madison worked very well for him (Savannah and I spied for a little bit) and I think he feels more connected to what Maddie is doing in therapy.

One of the most significant new things that Madison has been doing is "cruising" along furniture. She did not do this before we left. On Tuesday, I set up a little "course" in our apartment, using the coffee table and kitchen chairs. She cruised a solid ten steps! Then today at the Children's Museum, Maddie was playing at a pretend kitchen at a pretend restaurant. She took about ten steps to the end holding on, and then Derek and I started putting chairs at the end so she could continue and she ended up doing at least 15 steps!!! This is absolutely incredible. The school district back home created a goal for her to accomplish by the end of NEXT school year (next June). That goal was to cruise fifteen steps... Looks like we'll have to work on setting some better, more enabling goals for this little girl!

This, along with some other things, is really making me evaluate the expectations that are placed on Madison. I think we do not expect enough out of her sometimes, and this can have a huge effect on her and her accomplishments. It also makes me think about what other people expect out of her. If we hadn't come here this summer, and people were basing her therapy and education on the goal of cruising fifteen steps in the next ten months, where would she be? We need to expect more out of her and we need to expect others to expect more out of her. This is hugely eye-opening, and I am so very grateful for this perspective.

People have been asking for some more specifics about her therapy... If you are interested, here is what her day is like...

8:15-8:30: Maddie walks from the front door of the school, to her classroom (and says hi to the bunny along the way)

8:30-8:45: Maddie and her classmates take their own shoes and socks off (this can take quite some time!) and sing (or listen to...) a hello song, which involves a lot of high waving up in the air

8:45-9:00: "Sitting Program" - Maddie and her classmates walk from the circle to the "plinth" using a variety of methods (walkers, pusing chairs, etc.) Once they are there, they sit on the end of a chair at the end of the plinth. (I'll explain plinth later.) There is a wooden box under their feet so that their feet can be resting on the floor. There are always surprises waiting for them there. Gyorgyi, their Conductor (teacher), entertains them with books and animals while the parents are making sure the kids are sitting properly ("bottoms back and feet flat!")

9:00-9:15: "Kneeling Program" - The kids push themselves away from the plinth, stand back up from the chair and then slide themselves on top of the plinth all the way to the end. At the end, there is a ladder back chair with more surprises at the top. At this time, the kids are supposed to be in "high kneeling" the whole time (this is INCREDIBLY hard for Madison, and this is when I usually break a sweat...) There are rings for them to reach for and Gyorgyi is always doing activities to get them to reach up and over to alternating sides. There is also usually an amazing assistant in the class, named Sue, who is really, really good at keeping the kids entertained and motivated through all of this.

9:15-9:45: "Laying Program" - The kids lay on their stomachs and again do activities getting them to look up in both directions. Then they lay on their backs, and we do a lot of "bicycling" type exercises. We are always reminded of where the kid's hips and legs should be (not spread out like a frog, like Madison's!) We do things like put puppets on their feet and have them reach for them... The kids then slide on their bellies back down the plinth into standing.

9:45-10:00: Potty time! While the kids are standing at the end of the plinth, we have them help us strip them down (Maddie's getting better at this) and they sit back down right on a little potty. Gyorgyi does some special exercises with some of the kids while on the potty, but I usually just read Maddie lots of books at this time. It's one of her favorite times of the day!

10:00-10:15: More sitting and standing time. The kids go from the potty back to circle (with their clothes back on!) This time of the day is a little more variable. Usually they sit in a circle on little stools (sitting on stools is quite difficult for most of them and is a lot of work) and do things like throw balls at each other, and reach for different things. They hold on to sticks and poles and put them up high, down low, etc. We put the sticks on the floor and have them roll their feet back and forth on top of the sticks... Then they usually stand on the back of a ladder-back chair and do different standing exercises. (Reaching up/down, trying to kick balls through the rungs. etc.)

10:15-10:45: Snack time (yay!) The kids all walk to their seats (usually Maddie is pushing a chair to get to snack - with a lot of help). During this time, I do try to work with Maddie on using a fork/spoon/cup, etc., but if she is having a rough day and just needs a break I sometimes just let her do her own thing.

10:45-11:00: Arts and Crafts. Gyorgyi always has something very fun and clever to do related to the day's theme (the theme of the month is farm and animals, so usually every few days, we are talking about a different animal). Maddie has painted spots on a cow, put mud (chocolate pudding) all over laminated pigs, etc. Through snack and this time, Gyorgyi usually does a lot of speech and oral motor-type things with the kids. And during all of this time, we are always making sure the kids are sitting correctly, and there is always something for their feet to be resting on while in sitting.

11:00-11:30: "Individual Program" There is usually a pretty cool obstacle course set up after snack (the teachers work hard while the kids are snacking!) which usually involves some crawling (up/down ramps, on narrow benches, etc.) walking on the parallel bars, and side-stepping. There's lot to this time of the day, but I'm getting kind of sick of typing right now! The kids then always end up somewhere in the room altogether, and say a lovely goodye song to each other. We then have Maddie walk out of the classroom in her walker. She says goodbye to the bunny and then gets very excited to press the button on the door that makes it open!

That's it! By this time we are both totally drained, but feel very accomplished! More later... I'll take a picture of the "plinth" next week so you can see what that looks like.

Lastly... Maddie's teachers feel that Madison's braces are a bit too supported and restrictive. Maddie's physical therapist, Amy, agrees with this, and we had already began talking about ordering her next pair of a little-less-supportive braces before we left. In the meantime, though, the conductors here in Michigan would like us to try an alternative to braces. It's a special orthepedic shoe that offers a lot of support, but also allows Madison's feet to move a bit more naturally. This is a bit controversial and "alternative", but we would like to give this option a try. I feel like I have to do a bit more research on these shoes and get Amy's opinion on them once we get back home. I do want to listen to the people here, though, at least while we are here and give all of their suggestions a chance. I went ahead and ordered them and they should be arriving any day now.

Click here to see the new shoes we ordered for Madison...






Go, Maddie, Go!