So things have been a little busy around here... and boy are we glad for a little break. We had a crazy busy week, Ethan's little brother Zach married his high school sweetheart Kylea. There was a bridal shower, endowment, sealing, family dinner, reception... and so on. It was fun and exhausting. I mostly survived... aka no puking at the temple or in public.

We also got to meet Taylor's fiance, Abby. In June we are heading out to Utah for their wedding. Hopefully I'll be feeling better by then.

This past week Taylor (and Abby) graduated from BYU. Hooray!! Sadly we missed it, but I think it would have been too much for me to handle. I'm still puking and losing weight, bah!!! Today at church my friend said, ohh it looks like you've lost weight... YIKES!!! Maddy has even picked up the charming habit of making puking noises. The semi good news is, I am about 4 months now so hopefully I should be getting better soon... cross your fingers.

Ethan has been doing well, besides a bout of stomach flu. He gained a little more sympathy for me!!! He even man-ed the office by himself this week. It was really busy, and ended up working late, but it went well.

Maddy is quickly approaching her 2nd birthday. She is quickly becoming more and more quirky, maybe a better way to put it is OCD. Examples...

1. When given a snack she always counts the snack and lines up each, say cracker, in a straight line.

2. When putting her magnets back on the fridge, she lines them up in a straight line.

3. She must shut all doors in the house.

4. When playing with blocks each row of her towers are organized by color.

5. She has a stuffed animal in the corner of her crib, one night I moved it to a different corner and she freaked until I moved it back to the correct corner.

6. When leaving anywhere, she says good bye to the people and things there, over and over.

Is this normal? I'd like to think so...

So you might be wondering... Where has Liz gone!? Few phone calls, rarely on facebook, finally updating the blog after TWO months... Well there are 2 reasons.

First my Grandmother died after fighting cancer for over a year. I am grateful I could go to Idaho and attend her funeral and spend important time with family. Thank you dad for getting all of us there. She was a wonderful, jovial woman who will stand as a great example to me through out my life. Love you Grandma.

Second, as a few of you know we're...



Yup, Zmoos #2 is on it's way and is due October 12th. I'm almost 13 weeks and while today is a good day I've had quite a few rough days. Thus me falling off the face of the Earth!!! We are very excited!!!

Maddy of course has no clue what is going on, other than Momma puking and laying down a lot. She's been a source of sweetness... hugging me and patting me on the back after puking. And a source of comedy... saying in a confused manner after I puke things like, "Momma potty" and "Ah-choo, bless you." We told her that she is going to be a big sister and asked her if she wants a baby in the house, to which she smiles and responds "ok."

Thanks to Ethan, Mike, and Karen for picking up the slack... honestly I've been a disaster on many days!!!

We're glad to share this exciting news with you all. Now, if you have time, keep reading... I've done a lot of updating.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Hello friends and loved ones, I hope you all enjoyed this wonderful Easter Sunday. I know we did! Maddy has been enjoying the build up to Easter as well. She saw several Easter Bunnies, which she LOVED. As soon as she sees the bunny she starts saying "oh bunny" and immediately tries to hug, cuddle, and climb on the bunny. Sorry to all Cedar Rapids Easter Bunnies!!!! Her reaction is so hillarious, I had to post several pictures!!!

If you look carefully at this pic, the bunny is kinda pushing Maddy off of her!



We had heard that there was going to be a Bunny trail/Easter egg hunt. So I started prepping Maddy for it. I'd hid hid eggs in our living room and help her find them and put them in her basket. Sadly, the Bunny Trail just had baskets full of just eggs. Totally lame. We'll have to do a really egg hunt next year.


Easter morning was a little anti-climatic. Her basket had a new slinky, ring pops, a Wall-e bubble blower, and more!!! As soon as she saw the chocolate she was gone.

Things you've missed, because I've been a lazy blogger... and since I'm extra lazy and loaded the pics out of order, enjoy this backward journey through March then February!

Last Sunday Maddy wore he fabulous Chinese dress Taylor got her on his mission. It was a hit, so we had to include a picture!

March came and brought fabulous weather! I couldn't believe it, in a snap of your fingers winter was over and spring was here. So we've been spending as much time outside as we can. It's crazy how big Maddy has gotten. She can do many of the things at the park on her own. She even does the big corkscrew slide and goes on the big kid swings!!! Brave girl.


In February we also took a trip to the Iowa Children's Museum. I'd totally go more, if it wasn't 30 min away. Maddy loved her first carousel ride. She didn't quite like being a mailman, but she enjoyed "driving" the ambulance, being a dentist, and playing in the "physics" room launching balls off ramps.

In February we got in one more sledding trip. We got to go with Maddy's BFF Lexi Carney. Maddy loved sledding, Lexi... no so much!

Video Update...

So how can I quickly update everyone on some of our most recent activities!? Here's your Maddy Video Update!

Maddy LOVES music. She'll listen and dance to music all day if she could. She can sing completely on her own several songs, sometimes we have to prod her along. But she'll just randomly break into songs through out the day.









Maddy also likes to pretend she's going to sleep. She'll grab blankets, cuddle in Lola's dog bed, or even climb in the tub...


She is also a very daring child. She jumps, climbs, and crawls over anything she can. Here she is inventing a new way to use the exercise ball!