Happy Halloween!

Since I am so far behind on updates, I've just decided to start anew, rather than attempt to play catch up.  Needless to say, our summer was a busy one and it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Sheesh!

Halloween was a treat at our house this year.  To get Miss Evelyn in the mood, she and I flexed our crafty muscles.  Thanks to Bama and her delicious pickles, we have (literally) hundreds of empty jars at our house.  With clothes stripped and drop cloth in place, Evelyn and I painted our very own "punkins."  Each night, Evelyn got the biggest thrill out of going outside and turning on her punkins.  Here she is, so proud of her work. :)

We were so lucky to have Bama and Papa here for  Evelyn's first real Beggars' Night.  And we were also lucky to have such a crafty Bama to make Evelyn's Minnie Mouse costume!  While Ethan was doing his part at the Waukee Haunted House, Bama, Papa, Evelyn and I went to Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo.  Basically, organized chaos with a piece of candy every 100 feet or so.  I think if more of the animals had been out, Evelyn would have enjoyed it more.  Either way, it was fun to put on her costume and practice "Trick or Treat" before the real deal.

When the big night came, Evelyn was gung-ho!  She wanted nothing to do with her wagon, except to pull it herself.  If any of us even attempted to help, she would turn around, put her hand up and shout "Watch out [insert name here]!"  After the first house, we had an old pro on our hands.  She was couldn't wait to go up to each door, do a "ding dong" (ring the doorbell), and say "Trick or Treat!"  She was so excited, in fact, that she wanted to go in each house we went to.  It was hard to say good-bye to the nice people handing out candy, but after a while, she got the hang of it, and said "Thank you!  See you later!"

Our attempt at some family photos... by the end of the night, she wasn't too keen on her Minnie ears - it's amazing what you can get a kid to do with a sucker bribe. :)

(Almost) 18 Month Stats

Evelyn went to the doctor a little early this time around, but still, I can't believe she'll be 18 months old in just 10 days! Once again, little girl did not disappoint. Seriously, the number 99 should be "her" number.

Height: 34 1/4 in. (99th percentile)

Weight: 30.8 lbs. (99th percentile)

Mama's Own Dam Post

Last fall, as several friends were training for Des Moines' half-marathon, I set a personal goal for myself - to run the half-marathon in October 2011. Little did I know, that I would attain that goal earlier than planned! One of my best friends, Amy, has become quite the runner in the last few years. Somehow, I let her convince me to run Des Moines' Dam to Dam 20k (that's 12.4 miles!) this spring (http://www.damtodam.com/). Now, I have never been a runner, despite several attempts. I've run 2 or 3 5k's (3.1 miles) in my life and that's been the extent of it. So, approximately 13 weeks ago, I started a 12-week half-marathon training program. The first couple weeks were great - nothing further than 3 miles. Then I hit week 3 and had to run 4 miles. I thought I was going to die. No, really. I'd never run further than 3.1 miles, so 4 seemed like something Forrest Gump would do. Then it was 5 miles, then 6... then I got sick. Up until about week 10 of my training, I'd never run further than 7 miles - how in the heck was I going to run 12.4?!?! The panic had set in. Finally, the weekend before the big race, I really pushed myself and ran 9 miles. I figured that if I could run 9 easily, I could "gut out" the last 3. So, I ran those 9 miles, and afterwards, felt great! Like I could run another mile or so. I was finally feeling much better about 12.4.

June 4, race day. I got a great night's sleep the night before and was up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 4:00 am. I got dressed, had breakfast and it was time to head to the bus. Then it hit. Holy cow, I'm on my way to go run 12.4 miles. We arrived at the starting point at about 5:45 am and the race didn't start until 7. I don't think I sat still the entire time! I was still asking Amy "What do I do? Where do I go? What happens if...? When do I...?" Then POP! The starting gun. I was so happy to have my friend Lexi running with me the first half of the race. We were able to keep a nice pace together, and having someone to chat with really helped pass the time (and keep my mind off running 12.4. miles!) Next thing you know, I looked at my watch, and I'd been running for over an hour. Then, somewhere between miles 7 and 8, at the top of the "big hill," Taio's "Dynamite" came on the iPod and I got a huge burst of energy! I took off and didn't look back. With about 400 yards to go, I kicked it in to high gear and made a sprint to the end, the entire time scanning the crowd for Ethan, and maybe Amy and Sara. No luck. But I didn't care. I had a huge smile on my face and tears in my eyes. I made it. I ran 12.4 miles! I still can't believe it.

Pre-race carb load... (L to R): Sara, Amy, Lexi, me and Suzy.

Post-race... (L to R): Amy, me, Lexi, Suzy, Sara and Jennifer. We did it!

Oh My, Omaha!

Never in a million years did I think that I would "vacation" in Nebraska. I mean really, Nebraska. There's nothing in Nebraska but corn, right? Wrong. Did you know that Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is one of the best in the nation (www.omahazoo.com) and that they have a fantastic children's museum (www.ocm.org)? Well, now you do!

Last weekend, we made the hour-and-a-half drive to the Cornhusker state to meet Ethan's cousins and their son for 2 wonderful days! Friday, after naps at Uncle Matt's house, we took Evelyn and Eyler (who is 2) to the Omaha Children's Museum. We all (well, the adults) would have been much better prepared if we'd been wearing our running shoes! The kids had a blast and every where they went, they were running.

Evelyn and Eyler make music on the Light Piano.

If we'd have let her, Evelyn would have spent all afternoon in the Super Gravitron - all sorts of fans, wheels, levers, you name it, moving balls around the room. Her favorite part? Every few minutes a siren sounded and all of the balls were dropped from a basket near the ceiling in the middle of the room. She loved chasing after the balls and finding all of the holes, baskets, and tubes she could put the balls in.


There was also a carousel! This was Evelyn's first ride on a Merry-Go-Round and she loved it!

And the grand finale, a dance party in the Theater! I don't know if we had more fun watching Evelyn bust a move or the young man (an employee) with mouse ears and a tail (which we think he was hiding chapstick in the end of). Either way, everyone had a great time.

Saturday morning, the three of us were up bright and early (as usual) and headed to meet our old neighbors for breakfast. We had the most wonderful neighbors, however they moved to Omaha last January. It was so great to see them and catch up, but it only made me miss them even more.

Following breakfast, we met back up with the family and headed to the zoo! Since moving to the Midwest, I'd heard nothing but good things about the Omaha zoo. Once we got there, it was easy to see that every thing I'd heard was true! So many animals and so many different exhibits!

Here, Evelyn and Daddy look at some of the bears. It was a beautiful day and the Sun Bear was living up to his name. He was lying at the base of a tree, on his back, eyes closed, catching a few rays.

They also had a small petting zoo (why is it that all petting zoos have goats?!?!) Evelyn loved showing off - she'd pull on the goat's ear and say "Ear!" I don't think the goats were as impressed with her as she was.

Evelyn eye-balling Eyler's juice. I'm starting to see just how difficult it is to get a picture of 2 small children. These 2 did great - no fights and no melt-downs!

Evelyn's favorite exhibit, by far, was the aquarium - she could get right up next to the glass to see all the diffierent fish, and here she smiles as she watches the penguins!

All good things must come to an end... Eyler gives Evelyn a big hug good-bye. We had such a wonderful time. So much fun that we're already talking about doing it again next year! This wasn't Evelyn's first trip to the zoo, but it was definitely the best.

Heat Wave!!

Yesterday, we had a little heat wave of sorts... 95 degrees!! According to the weather man, the only place in the US that was hotter was Laredo, TX. Seriously. Texas. It's in the south. It's supposed to be hot there. Not Iowa.

Anywho... we took advantage of the warm weather and introduced Evelyn to the sprinkler!! She wasn't super thrilled, she never ran through it, but she was perfectly happy to stand just in the line of fire and let it splash her tummy and legs. I can tell you what we'll be doing all summer to cool off!

We may have even convinced Daddy that Evelyn needs a "fun" sprinkler - you know, one for kids, not a garden sprinkler. I know. I'm crazy. (At least that's what Ethan tells me.)

Happy Easter!!

Although Evelyn made it to the big Easter Egg Hunt last year, all she did was sit in her stroller while her cousin AJ and I did the hunting. This year, despite the cold, we bundled up and walked down the road to Waukee's annual hunt. What a zoo! Right off the bat, Evelyn started throwing a fit - she did not want to be held back around all the other kiddos waiting for the big start! Somehow, we were able to pause long enough for Daddy to snap a photo.

Evelyn actually caught on pretty quickly, but we didn't end up with too much candy given the number of other, more "experienced" kids around. As long as we were moving putting candy in her basket, Evelyn was happy. That is, until we went to see the Easter Bunny! The funniest part of it all, though, was that as soon as we were done, Evelyn wanted to stand right next to him and watch him. She wanted nothing to do with the candy that the mayor was trying to hand her, and wanted nothing to do with walking to find Daddy (who was volunteering) - she just wanted to watch the bunny! Funny girl.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got to celebrate with those you love. Happy Easter!

Girls' Weekend Getaway

Last weekend, to celebrate Great Gramma Betty's 84th birthday, Evelyn and I made a quick trip to the Northwest. Evelyn and I took our first plane ride since she's been mobile, and I'd been stressing about it for weeks (just ask Ethan!) Much to my delight, Evelyn was just the best little traveller I could have asked for.

Here's Evelyn, all buckled in and ready to go! I think she was probably looking for the flight attendant so she could get more snacks! We spent lots and lots of time walking up and down the aisle of the plane. I am so thankful for understanding travellers - Evelyn must have stopped at every row to say hi and everyone was so patient and happy to see her (at least they acted that way!) every time we passed by. This girl is not shy!

Friday night, Evelyn got to go out on the town with Mommy & some of her best girlfriends (L to R: Evelyn (duh), me, Melissa, Carrie, Katie and Ali). Believe it or not, this was the first time the girls got to meet Evelyn! Again, the little one did not disappoint! She was out WAY past her bed time and was such a good girl the whole time! More than once I heard "There is no way ______ would sit still this long!," or "There is no way I could take ______ out to a restaurant!" I was so proud of my girl and am SO glad my other girls got to meet her, FINALLY!

Saturday was spent visiting Evelyn's Great Nanny and my aunt, uncle, cousins and their kids. Holy cow! What a zoo - one teenager and 6 under the age of 5! But everyone had a great time spending time together and catching up. It's always so hard for me to say good-bye when we all get togehter.

At Nanny's, Evelyn thought it would be fun to lie down in Chuy's bed - you can see what Chuy thought of her grand idea as he tried to get his blanket back from her.

We spent Sunday with Great Gramma Betty, celebrating her birthday. Evelyn doesn't know how good she's got it. Birthday dinner included some of Mommy's absolute favorite foods - Dungeness Crab Macaroni and Cheese and steamer clams. There were also some oysters - not my favorite, but there aren't too many opportunities to eat fresh oysters in Iowa, so I took advantage. :) Oh, and there were french fries with Daddy's favorite food - ketchup.

Here's Evelyn with her Bama and Papa. Always so happy to see them!

We had a wonderful visit. As always, much too short. We are very much looking forward to another trip out this summer!