Welcome to the world Elliott Ethan Zmoos!

Born October 8, 2010 at 3:56pm 7lbs 5.6oz 21in

I guess his birth story starts about 2 weeks before he was born... During those two weeks I had 4 nights of regular contractions. One night we even went to the hospital. We discovered that I was 3 1/2 cm dilated and 60% effaced and they stripped my membranes. Nothing changed, so they sent me home. After two days and absolutely no contractions, I went to my regular doctors appointment and I was 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Since I wasn't feeling contractions and was already at 5 cm, the doctor suggested we induce.

So the next morning we headed to the hospital. At 8:30 I was still 5 cm and 80% so they ruptured my membranes after 3 hours of little contractions still no change... so we started the dreaded pitocin! I handled it well for about an hour then at 6cm and 80%, called for the epidural. The contractions were pretty painful so I prayed that I could have a rest from the contractions so that I could stay still for the epidural. Thankfully I only had one during the whole procedure. Luckily I got the epidural just in time, right before it kicked in I had a contraction that made me unable to catch my breath, cry, and shake. Boy was I grateful for epidurals! 2 hours later I started feeling pressure, it was time... 10cm and fully effaced. Two contractions later Elliott was born. The experience was completely different from Maddy. With Maddy by the end I was exhausted in pain and could barely hold her. With Elliott I could actually feel him being born and was so happy to hold him and even breastfeed him in the first hour. It was amazing. All I could do was cry and say thank you.

I had to include this pic of Maddy with her baby brother! They are practically twins!

The next day Karen, Mike, and Maddy came for a visit. Boy oh boy does Maddy love baby brother Elliott.

Things have been great at home. My mom had flown out and is helping. Elliott is a wonderful, patient little guy. And thank goodness, a good nurser. I'm healing up pretty quick and feeling good. We even enjoyed the beautiful weather and went on a family walk.

Maddy absolutely loves Elliott. She wakes up asking for him, helps change his diaper, and likes to snuggle and pet him! We are so grateful for a our little family.

Normally my blog is basically about Maddy, which is all most people care about. I know she's cute and funny. But I thought that I'd catch everyone up Eth and I as well. Not as interesting or adorable, but we do exist!

Me... So I'm still pregnant and have become a little paranoid/nutty. When Maddy was born my water broke and I was induced, so I never experienced a "normal" labor. So after a paranoid trip to the hospital, a day of contractions, and aching etc. I'm trying to figure out what's going on. I've calmed down, mostly. But I seriously think I might be driving Eth nuts. I've also started doing daycare for my friends, neighbor. His name is Ethan, which is weird. Especially when I talk about how Ethan drools or I changed Ethan's diaper. He is now officially called Little Ethan. Also, I've turned 29...not 30! I received a few you're old and 30 cards. I said I'd save them and read them next year. Ethan, thinking he was clever, put 2 packages of candles (48) on my cake. The flame was so bright the flash didn't go off, thus the burry-ness. I got all the candles but 3. I blame it on my pregnancy induced diminished lung capacity. Today I actually had my baby shower. It was very nice (Thank you Vicky). We had a delicious lunch, tasty cupcakes, games, and presents. It was so nice to have some girl time! Too bad we all forgot cameras and didn't take a single picture. HA HA! In other randomness, I also saw a pretty sunset, so I got my fancy camera and took some pics.

Random picture insert... Maddy and Ethan at the park discovering acorns.

Ethan... is absolutely amazing! Since I've been prego and tired he has picked up the slack. Thank you, sooooo much. After working hard all day he'll come home and take over Maddy duties so I can put up my swollen feet. I had a dream one night that he was Spiderman... so he's officially my super hero. Eth had his birthday too. Now he actually 30 and old! JK! Sadly, due to a totally lame wife, there was no big birthday celebration. Just birthday pie... but it was delicious! He's enjoyed his birthday gift... Halo. Which I give him no grief for playing since he helps me so much, he deserves some quality time blowing stuff up!

Random picture insert... Maddy at the library after story time and at the mall riding the carousel.

And lastly Maddy, she's doing great. Well, besides the fact that she's gotten some separation anxiety and will not go to bed unless one of us is in the room. We're working on it! It doesn't help that she's discovered how to open round door knobs now!! Anyway, since there's always tons to say about Maddy, I thought I condense it up for you. So Maddy's top ten new funny things...

10. When Maddy's mad/frustrated she says, "Da Da Da Da Da" then screams, so now I have a warning before she goes toddler crazy.

9. She likes to "read" her shirts. (Eth has taught her what her shirts say)

8. She impersonates Little Ethan and mimic what he says, the exact way he says it.

7. She'll pinch her nose and talk to you, then crack up.

6. Every morning she'll say, "Good Morning, Buenos Dias." (she has also learned the colors en espanol).

5. She is obsessed with babies. She tries to pet strangers babies and say, "Pretty Baby." And has baby dolls she must be able to find at all times. (sorry I couldn't fix the rotation on the pic)

4. She is in an "I like..." phase. She got new shoes and would say over and over she liked them. At a ward party she got cotton candy for the first time. The whole drive home she said, "I like cotton candy."

3. Every morning she talks loudly in her sleep before she wakes up. We can hear/understand it clearly from our room. This morning she was talking about her shoes.

2. On a lullaby cd there is an instrumental song that she every time she hears in she sings her own word saying "Jesus... Jeeeesus... Jesus..." over and over.

1. After baths and showers she will run to a mirror, while naked, and check out her butt. She'll dance and run infront of the mirror and look at her butt and laugh.

Oh Maddy, we love you! And we love you too friends and family. Hope all is well.

This last week about 18 Zmoos' converged onto Honey Creek Resort at Lake Rathbun. It's a brand new State Park with cabins, boats, bike trails, and tons to do. So we made the 3 hour drive and joined the crew for some celebrating. Maddy did great in the car... although she didn't nap!

Probably the best thing at the Resort was the indoor water park. We spent LOTS of time there, thus the plethora of pictures. Maddy loved it! Even the older "kids" enjoyed it!!! We chilled in the lazy river, went to down water slides, played basketball... We've always know Maddy loved jumping/being thrown in the air, but we've discovered her inner cheerleader. When thrown in the air she kicks her legs straight out. Even the strangers at the pool were laughing at her moves!





We lucked out and on a "cooler" day we went to the Iowa State Fair. Once again I said I'd try something deep fried on a stick, but being tired, hot, and pregnant I opted out of eating hot food and stuck to cold lemonades and ice cream. Maddy got to play in the butterfly tent, see baby animals, and run over and over through the tunnel in the kids garden. By the end (AKA maybe 3 hours), Maddy and I were exhausted and we headed back to the cabin.

The guys went golfing a few times and one day they let me tag along. I enjoyed some peace and quiet... oh and I really enjoyed driving the golf cart and watching the guys searching through weeds for their balls and taking ample mulligans! With the way they play, I think I might join in next time! I did have to include the pic of Mike pulling crab grass off the course, a lawn must be weed free no matter where or when!

We also ventured out and went on bike rides. I, 8 months prego, went on 2 rides. Granted, I did have to walk the tops of 2 of the hills, but that's not bad right!?

One beautiful morning the boys went fishing and then we caught up with them to do some boating and tubing. It was great! Maddy was very nervous at first and freaked out when Eth went out on the tube... but after a while she loosened up and would say, "I like boating!" Dad rented a pontoon so we weren't exactly the fastest boat in the water, but just fast enough!

Maddy has really figured out this sharing thing. One night we were eating ice cream cones and Maddy came over and said, "Momma share." We'd take alternating licks... but when my cone was almost gone, she sat with Eth and said, "Daddy share." This kid might be a little too smart!

On our last night we had dinner at the resort. There was live music outside the restaurant and Maddy couldn't resist going out there and shaking it! Everyone would walk by a just smile and laugh at her. Several times she even got on the floor and kicked her legs in the air. Ha Ha. While Eth was rocking out with Maddy, I was put in charge of picking a dessert for us. Bad idea... I just had to get the cheesecake and the chocolate cake!

Other than bikes, boats, water parks, etc. We spent the rest of our time just goofing around.

I have a ton more pictures, so fam if you want more, just ask! Oh, and if you think, what's wrong with Liz's camera, she looks red in every picture... oh, it's not the camera I was just hot and pregnant! I was a little worried about being able to enjoy the reunion and all the outdoor activities, but it was great and I made it! Hooray for the Zmoos Family Reunion!