Gotta Love This Girl!

So, our sweet baby is growing and growing. She is now over 14 pounds and over 24 inches tall. She grows out of her clothes lengthwise before width wise--how funny. We can definitely tell she's her mommy's lil' girl--I vividly remember those jr. high days when all of my pants were capris (capris were definitely not in style back then) and my dad innovatively suggesting I sew lace on the bottoms to make them longer. Craig and I actually saw a very tall lady at Wal-Mart with some lace sewn onto her pants a couple of months ago--no joke!

Like Mommy Like Daughter!

Craig and I recently got a zoo pass. We've already gone several times. I especially like to take Maddie when I go walking with friends. We've had a few days when it's possible not to freeze outside--thank goodness. I wasn't sure if I could take anymore of this fabulous Omaha winter. We've discovered that Maddie loves the jungle and the sharks at the Omaha zoo. She could have stared at the waterfalls in the jungle for hours. The Omaha zoo also has a tunnel that goes through an aquarium, so it feels like you're walking on an ocean floor while sharks, sting rays, and puffer fish swim all around you. Maddie loves watching the sharks!

Yesterday was Easter, so all of the little girls at church had their sweet little Easter dresses on, including Maddie! I let Craig know that it's tradition to buy dresses for girls every Easter. He then told me that when she's older her prom dresses will count as her Easter dresses--uh, I don't think so. (Boys!!!) We took our dinner over to our good friends' house, and we had a potluck of sorts for Easter this year. We also had a Branch Brunch on Saturday. It's always an exciting time when we have parties "North O style". At one point, we had to check the name on the outside of the church to make sure we came to the right building. There were hallelujahs being thrown and upbeat scripture readings. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but it was still an interesting party.

We officially have 6 weeks until we move to Utah for the summer. My lil' sister is graciously letting us stay in her basement. They're actually finishing their basement so we'll have a place to stay! She's the sweetest--thanks, Rach! We're leaving at the end of April. We're going to take the "long" way so we can drop in on some friends in Denver. We can't wait to see you, Simmons!

Here's a sweet smile. Aunt Rach gave Maddie this adorable onesie for Valentine's Day! Look--she fits in it, Rach!

We got Maddie her own Creighton hat so that she'll fit in here in Omaha. She seemed to like the hat



We've almost gotten Maddie to sit on her own--just a few more weeks, I think. Other than the excitement of a sweet almost-4-month-old, Craig is working hard to join a trial team at school, and I'm exploring various ways to hoe myself out by peddling my crafts.

Some fun nakees and learning to stand/sit/fall/be just so darn cute!

Here's some blessing day cheater photos. The dress fits so well, and we finally have some smiles! ...and she's just so flippin' adorable--and I don't use flippin' lightly!

Gigglin', Visitin', Chattin', and a Little Catchin' Up

...so, let's see where were we? Oh, yes. Maddie and I took a trip out to Utah to visit the g-rents and the g-rents-great--oh what fun we had! First of all--Maddie had her 2 month appointment the day we left. She is officially tall, big headed, but perfectly proportional--our sweet lil' one. She's growing like a cute lil weed. The shots, I think, were worse for me than they were for Madd. Maddie was chatting and smiling with the "sweet" nurses, then they stuck her...she went silent for about 3 seconds. Then, all of sudden, she let out the loudest wail I've heard her produce. It was the saddest thing since she started producing tears. I produced a few tears myself...how embarassing!

Here's Maddie the day of her 2 month appt.

So, we went to Utah. We did a lot of visiting with the aunts--who are always spoiling Maddie with adorable outfits.

Here's Maddie chatting with her Aunt Natalie

...and a picture of Natalie and Joe's cat's (Biaggi) foot under the door. Funny story--so Biaggi loves to go explore outside, so Nat will let him out. When he's ready to come back in, he simply sticks his paw underneath the door and wiggles it around. This is the same cat that hit me in the head when I was laying on my sister Alycia's floor in Finland. Biaggi then ran away--that cat used to hate me, and now he butts heads with me--literally--not kidding.

We met grandpa and grandma great--for whom Maddie was named (the "Joyce" part). She absolutely loved them. My gpa had just gotten home from a long hospital stay, and Maddie sat on his lap and smiled and talked to him--I believe he was going to melt right there in his lazyboy. She definitley has her dad's schmoozing effect on people. My sisters and I also took Maddie on her official first walk in the sun in the wonderful St. George February weather. She giggled and smiled as the fresh warm air blew in her face.

We thought is was warm enough in St. George for a onsie and shoes! Maddie enjoyed her swing in Provo. We had a lot of fun doing the Cafe Rijo and hanging out with Craig's fam.

Maddie also starting giggling while we were in Utah. I was changing Maddie into her pajamas at Craig's parents house, and I was tickling her belly, and she just giggled--it was amazing! She's been giggling more and more every day since then. Craig is really good at getting her to giggle.

We're finally back in Omaha, and we're officially back into the groove of things. Sundays are especially exciting. With Craig being the Young Men's President and me in the Primary presidency and at the organ during sacrament meeting, we have quite the Maddie juggling act. We're slowly figuring things out.

Maddie and I doing a lil' dress up an adorable "Earth Child" outfit from Aunt Alycia and Uncle Matt in SoAf.

Craig's on spring break right now, but he's been studying for a national exam he has soon. We decided to take a mini-vacation by visiting exciting Lincoln, Nebraska today. We went to the state capitol--it actually was really neat. We took a very fascinating tour from a mulleted ex-superintendent intent on moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming. We also got to watch the senate argue about the "No Child Left Behind" stuff. Craig enjoyed that (Vote Chambers 2016).

This is in the upper rotunda at the capitol building.

This is Father Flanagan from the movie "Boys Town", which is actually based on a true story. Boys Town is now a research center located in Omaha.

Maddie is successfully learning how to hold her bottle by herself, but we caught her practicing some inappropriate naughty gestures--that's the last time I let her watch Sesame Street!

...and finally...Omaha is finally doing the Spring melt dance--20s and snow one day--50s and sun the next--gotta love the mid-west weather! We are definitely excited to let Maddie experience a few new concepts--outside...sky...wind...grass...fresh air...flowers...people.

Here's one of those 60s days with a view from our front porch.