So it's been quite a month! Here's what's been happening...

Our friends the Carney's moved. It was so fun to have them here and sad to see them go. Maddy loved her little friend Lexi.

Recently, the local grocery store had a kid safety day. They brought in the Life Flight helicopter, police cruiser and dog, fire truck, ambulance, etc. Maddy mostly enjoyed seeing all the vehicles, however she did cry in the helicopter. The longest most grueling line though was for the balloon animals, of course! I waited in line while Ethan entertained Maddy. I do have to admit, that guy made the most amazing balloon animals I've ever seen. If you look close in the last pic, you can see Maddy's ladybug, it even had a little balloon bracelet that attached to her wrist... yes amazing!

Maddy also turned 2. She's such a big girl, literally... 30lbs and 36 inches. Still in the 95th percentile. Go Maddy! She's growing leaps and bounds. Her 2 cutest new developments are ...playing pretend with her barbies and stuffed animals... and trying to sing. The singing is hillarious. I'm still trying to get it on camera. She's also getting more and more into coloring. She'll "draw" a picture and identify different scribbles... clouds, fish, rain, and various shapes are her most "drawn." I've included a labeled drawing.

Sadly, we missed Maddy's official birthday and Mother's Day. Yes, many of you know that I ended up in the hospital. It was absolutely crazy. Here's the ordeal...

So I've been sick, really sick this pregnancy but I was trying to keep a stiff upper lip and keep pushing through the fatigue, vomiting, backache, swollen lymph nodes, etc. Well, we are still not quite sure what ultimately happened, but I got to a point (on Maddy's birthday) where I wasn't keeping down food, water, or even stomach acid. Ethan called the obgyn (because I was a mess) and they told us to go to the hospital for an IV. So Karen and Mike took Maddy and we headed off to what we thought would be a few hours in the hospital getting an IV then leaving. When we got to the ER they took one look at me and they were immediately worried, I must have looked like a wreck! We cut everyone in the ER and they took us right in. They started running a billion tests, it was literally like a House episode, except everyone there was really nice. I definately was severely dehydrated, that they knew and I got at least 6 IV bags (I lost count). Over what turned out to be a 4 day stay at the hospital they ran a ton of test... Maybe it's a UTI, no... unknown infection, no... mono, no... strep, no... mumps...no. At one point the lymph nodes on my neck got so huge Eth said it looked like I had a goiter and you could tell from across the room that they were inflamed. It was pretty painful. I almost went home a day earlier... but when I was taking a walk in the hall with Eth I started to black out. It was the weirdest feeling... things going black, hearing was fuzzy, eye sight went blurry, went limp... etc. I never lost conscienceness, but everyone freaked. But as soon as they laid me down in bed my blood pressure went back up and I was totally fine. The good news is after my hospital stay there's been no more fainting, no puking, and I'm gaining weight again. I feel better and occasionally have nausea and fatigue, but I'm dealing with it. Unfortunately, they still don't know what happened. I did test positive for an auto immune reaction and my thyroid function is a little low. My doctors aren't too worried, they are just still running tests and watching me. They did a sonogram and the baby is looking good and is a boy! He also kicks like a little ninja in there! Hooray. So all is well... no worries family and friends things are looking up!

So, after all the hospital drama we still needed to have Maddy's birthday party. We had 50+ hot dogs in our fridge and Eth's mom made like a million cupcakes... we were having that party no matter what!!!! It was great. We had it at a park that had a little gazebo, a field, and a playground. The weather was great... it was a perfect party. Lots of Maddy's friends and our family came. Maddy had so much fun and was so exhausted she cried going home, went to bed over an hour early, and even slept in the next morning. I was super tired, so I didn't take many pictures and Ethan stepped up and took a few. Sorry Maddy... we'll do better next birthday!

As an additional "gift" Maddy has now gotten a new big girl room. She's actually been sleeping in it for a while, but I just officially finished decorating and moving over all her clothes. She transitioned right into a big girl bed no problem. The dresser and night stand are hand me downs that I painted and put new knobs on. I think it turned out really cute! Its a small room so getting pictures was a little difficult. She likes to climb in her bed and play with her toys.

Maddy's OCD has continued... her newest thing is "fix it." She'll start whinning that her toy, balloon, lollipop, etc. is broken and needs to be fixed. So she'll give it to me, I'll hold it for a second, then hand it to her. That cycle will continue until she loses interest in the item or I take it away. This is NOT a fun phase.

We love all of you and are grateful for your thoughts and prayers during this crazy month.