Being the "super mom" that I am, I'm ignoring the dishes and disaster around me and I'm updating my blog. And not just because I talked with my mom today and semi guilted me into posting more pics of her grand babies.

As for me, life goes on. I'm in a constant state of trying to clean, cook, and keep my kids happy. None of which I feel successful at. What can you do but keep trying every day, right?! I was successful at fixing my flower garden. After being completely ignored last year, due to pregnancy, it was a wreck. So I dug up all 17 plants, rearranged, and replanted them. After some TLC they are now starting to bloom. Hooray!

Zmoos Chiropractic is keeping Eth very busy. Besides having a fancy laser, which is totally awesome, and attending seminars, the newest most exciting thing is they are now using iPads. He does all his "paper work" on it while conducting his exam. It is saving him tons of time and of course nothing beats just holding an iPad!!!

So we had a huge wind storm a couple days ago. I heard the wind picking up and me being a crazy person ran out side to try to save Maddy's 99 cent ball. That's when our kiddie pool flew off the deck and I saw our swing set being lifted off the ground. I called for Ethan (scaring the crap out of him) to come help. We literally caught the swing set in the the nick of time as we saw our neighbors shed explode. The next day we saw more carnage... destroyed trampolines, broken signs, and smashed trees. Maddy tried to climb into one of the broken trees and quickly turned around freaked out.

Elliott is growing too fast, and soon will be 8 months. His favorite things to do are splashing in the tub and jumping in his jumper. He actually scared me one day because he was jumping so crazy it made a loud noise and I though something broke. I'll post a video next blog entry. He'sgotten a lot better at chewing and swallowing and we are expanding what he's eating. Our little champ is now standing on his own and is starting to take steps while holding hands. I bet he's going to pull a Maddy and not crawl and go straight to walking.

Maddy continues to be our little drama queen, literally. She acts out scenes from her favorite movies. My personal fav is from Bugs Life. Where the little ants are putting on a play and they pretend to die. Maddy will say in a dramatic tone, "Die, Die" and then collapse on the ground. Videos to come... Since Maddy is such a big girl, she has now upgraded to a twin bed. She picked out the bedding and loves her bed. She's been sleeping better and I'll occasionally find her just sitting and cuddling in there. BTW that's our friends dog, Maddy is in love. Maddy has now stopped taking naps. I'm trying to adjust and I'm getting even less done around the house now. One perk is she is going to bed around 7:30 now!!! Sweet!

BTW... In attempts to be more tech savvy and current with my blog, I'm going to start mobile updating. So get ready for more (and shorter) updates!!!

Testing mobile posting

So to catch up...

It seems spring and summer have been a little confused. Some days are beautiful and some are already hot and sticky! We are trying to enjoy the good weather as much as possible.

I just really like letting maddy go crazy outside and hope she exhausts herself, so that bed time is less of a battle. She loves her bathing suit. She begs to wear it and then looks at her reflection and talks about how much she loves it. Not a good sign for the upcoming teenage years. Since turning three Maddy as seriously kicked the crazy up a notch. Gotta love it when your kid is screaming in the middle of target... I'm trying not to go crazy, we'll see how long I hold up! Probably the hardest thing is now she refuses to go to nursery, which is weird because she used to love it! I bring her into primary and try to deal with it... Last sunday I had to do sharingtime, Maddy snuck up to the podium and started saying a prayer into the mic. The kids died laughing. It was cute, but my lesson was shot! There's still a sweet little girl in there who loves to paint, act out scenes from Tangled, draw letters, and wear dresses.

Elliott is as sweet as ever. Please never change! He sleeps great, rarely cries, and is full of smiles and laughter. All you want to do is squeeze and kiss him.

For Memorial Day weekend we went to Des Moines with Ethan's parents. After cleaning up Maddy puke in the rain (car sickness), things started getting better! It was great and went by too fast. We enjoyed the mall (Ethan enjoyed the apple store!), the science center, and the pool. While at the science center we got to see body worlds, so amazing. The human body really is a work of art!!! Maddy begged every day to go to the pool. She LOVES it. Unfortunately, she thinks she can swim (aka flailing) and has no fear. She'd just jump in even if you weren't there to catch her. Yikes!!! You'd think she'd learn after repeatedly choking on water, but no. All in all, the kiddos did really well. We packed as much in as we could, a few times Maddy and Elliott just literally passed out!

Our last stop was the Blank Park Zoo. It is the perfect zoo for kids. We fed animals, fish, went on a camel ride, train ride, and saw lots of animals. I think Maddys favorite was watching the otters swim. The animatronic dinosaurs, however, scared the crap out of her! It was a great morning filled with lots of fun, and only a couple Maddy meltdowns. It was a hot sticky day... so enjoy pictures of us red and sweaty!!!

After all that fun, we finally got home and enjoyed a memorial day burger, courtesy of Mc Donalds. What's more american than that?!

It was a great week!

Thursday we took a trip to Pella for the Tulip Festival. We watched the parade, did kid crafts, and tried our best to keep Maddy from picking every tulip she saw. The day was beautiful and we got sprinkled on only once! Maddy and Elliott did really well and were exhausted by the time we were finished.

(sorry sideways)

Saturday was Maddy's birthday. I can't believe she is 3! The party was great. We painted, crafted, read a book, and ate cookies and cake. The party was ladybug themed which Maddy loved. I was completely crazy and made hats, decorations, pin the dot on the lady bug, banners, and a ladybug cake all for a one hour party! Ha! It was quite an emotional rollercoaster for Maddy. Happy to have candles, sad to blow them out... Happy to get a bike, sad when she couldn't pedal... etc. She got lots of great gifts. We gave her a ballerina tutu and as soon as she saw it she had to put it on. Thus the tutu on the trampoline and bike! We loved all 60 minutes and it was over too quick. It was really sad to take down all the decorations, thinking that Maddy was 3 and growing older by the minute. We love you Maddy!



And today is Mothers day! Happy Mothers Day!

It's been busy here... Family reunion, sharing times, various family illnesses, a TB scare (no worries, false alarm), Easter dinner, 5 birthdays, Mothers day, and more. So this is a cop-out blog update. Here's a bunch of videos of our latest activities, reading, singing, rolling over, dancing and more.

So Ethan came home from the office a few days ago and shared the following...

A new patient came in and while during his patient history talked about all the other chiropractors he had seen. He explained that while he had seen several doctors, there was only one from a long time ago that he liked and helped him the most. All he could remember about him was that he was a little guy with big hands and that he worked downtown on 2nd ave out of his house. Ethan inquired, if he meant a house on 4th ave near brown apartments. The patient then corrected himself and agreed with Ethan. Ethan then explained that that was his grandpa! They both laughed and got a kick out of it. Zmoos Chiropractic has come a long way.



Here's their new sign. Pretty nice upgrade, especially since Ethan's name is on it now. Hooray for job security, right!!!

On the home front Maddy's finally getting over being sick. I spent 3 nights sleeping on a mattress on the floor in her room. She was coughing so bad she'd wake up crying and in a panic. She need to drink a ton and therefore also need multiple diaper changes. She's finally slept through the night the last 2 nights and boy am I grateful! During Maddy's illness I also got sick and am currently on the mend as well. Ethan, who thought he escaped our plague just started coughing yesterday. For now Elliott (with practically no immune system, ha) is still healthy, knock on wood!


Other going ons...

Maddy is in a music class, which she LOVES. I, not being 2, felt it was kinda lame. The songs seemed weird and boring. Of course the class came with a book and cd which Maddy MUST listen to and read at all time (to my torture). I do have to admit, while I do not like the music, she is adorable when she sings it. She memorized the book and it's accompanying songs in the first week.



Maddy continues to be a smarty pants and picked up a few more things. She's actually known her address for a while. One day I made a crown for her and put her name on it. I pointed to each letter, said each one, and said M A D D Y, that spells Maddy. Right there she practiced, and in minutes learned to spell her name. She recognizes and spells it all the time now.



Such a quick learner... except for the potty. Sigh, don't get me started.

Elliott remains hungrier and happier than ever. In one day he'll eat 4 tubs of baby food (the larger size) and 6 or 7, 6oz bottles (up to 42oz a day!). Does that seem like a lot to anyone!? Seriously!