This edition of life made EZ is brought to you by the letter S...

Smile...  Maddy had her school pictures taken.  Our little girl is so grown up and too darn cute.  Preschool is awesome and Maddy comes home after every class with a new song to sing.  They also had a pretty sweet halloween party.  Maddy got a pumpkin bucket, toys, candy, and played fun games... she was a fan.

Splash...  My kiddos are seriously water lovers.  Their favorite part of the day may be night time baths, or morning showers, or washing hands, or even the toilet.

Sunny...  We had some beautiful weather in October so we ventured out to Bloomsbury Farm twice!  This place is seriously awesome, except the cost, that is definitely not awesome.  Giant jumping pillow, pumpkin cannon, slides, animals, corn bin, hay ride...  Elliott was not a fan of the train ride, he held on to me for dear life!  Maddy still asks to go to the farm.

Shopping...  So my mother in law, Karen, is amazing!!!!  She took my sister in law, Abbey and I, to the Mall of America for 3 days of all things girlie.  Shopping, restaurants, Footloose... it was great.  Abbey convinced me to buy some skinny jeans/jeggings (on sale $15, woohooo) and I'm converted.  I've bought 2 more pairs!  Over the last year I've lost about 25 lbs and felt bummed because I didn't feel like it showed...  Duh, I didn't buy new flattering clothes!  So now I'm looking more stylish  and feeling better about how I look... Thank you Abbey.  Maybe now that I look presentable Ethan can take me on a date!!!

Skills... So my cake decorating skills continue to improve.  I make a baby cake for a baby shower for a girl in my ward.  It was a hit and made everyone giggle.  There was enough cake to bring the head home to her family.  Morbidly delicious!  Abbey came over a couple weeks later and we make a golf themed cake for Taylor.  I was a little worried because the cake seemed crumbly, but it turned out great and apparently super delicious!

Spooky...  Halloween was great!  We went down to Nauvoo with Ethan's family.  Ethan and I finally got to enjoy the temple and then hit the town for their pumpkin walk.  Maddy searched the streets for the smallest pumpkin, she's been obsessed with small pumpkins due to her fav book, the littlest pumpkin.  Of course we had to stop and listen to the bands, Maddy likes to rock!  It was a lot of fun.

Spooky continued...  Our ward had a Halloween party.  Maddy got her face painted and played games.  Elliott endured wearing the costume another day.  For the adults, we had a chili cook off, which I WON!!!!  Oh and I had to throw in this pic of Maddy when she wore the giraffe costume!

Sweet...  When Halloween night finally came, Maddy didn't even want to put her costume on.  Then the trick or treaters started showing up.  When Maddy saw what trick or treating was, she was begging to get going!  Luckily is wasn't too cold outside and we all dolled up and started knocking doors.  While out in the neighborhood we caught up with our cute little witch neighbor friend Charlie and trick or treated together.  They had so much fun, it was great.  When we finished, we checked out her haul and she was pleased!  She loved it so much she will still wish me a happy Halloween and ask to go trick or treating.

Steps...  So Elliott is really wanting to walk.  He's just building up confidence.  Slowly but surely he has gone from walking holding hands, walking from person to person, and now he walking to furniture and toys.




Sleep... So we've been a little sleep deprived here, thus my lack of posting.  The last month Elliott has had really troubles sleeping and with diarrhea.  We assumed it was teething, but after 3 weeks of diarrhea and no teeth I finally deduced that it was the milk we started feeding him.  Apparently his guts are not a fan of whole milk.  So we switched to Almond milk (which Maddy loves) and the diarrhea is gone and he slept through the night last night, therefore so did I!  Hooray.

Three cheers for the letter S!

Happy Birthday Elliott!

Our big, (24 lbs) little man turned one today.  I can't believe it's already been a year!  We had family and close family friends over to celebrate.  Elliott felt a little overwhelmed and was not too into being sung to.

But as soon as he started munching on his own little train, he perked up.  And BTW, yes I made that cake.  It wasn't too difficult... just time consuming.  I've discovered that I really enjoy decorating cakes!  Taylor's birthday is coming up, so Abbey and I might just tag team a cake for him.

Back to the main event...  Maddy refused cake... but ate all the fondant dots off of the cake.  When the dots were gone, she started working on the boarder.

After cake, we enjoyed some play time... 

Then we got to business.  Elliott wasn't too into opening gifts, so Maddy decided to help.  He got some really great toys that he will warm up to, if Maddy let's him play with any of them.  He really loved a musical card my sister Dianna sent him.  He would just keep opening and closing it laughing.  Now I just need to figure out where to put all the new goodies!

Elliott is our sweet little boy.  He is usually smiling, laughing, and playing.  He loves playing outside, in the bathtub, with anything that has wheels, throwing balls and crawling after them, hanging upside down, and much to my chagrin playing in Lola's water bowl and the toilet bowl.  He is very cautious when first trying something, but once he's figured it out that it's fun (stairs, opening cupboards, slides, swings, etc.) you can't stop him from playing.  We expect him to be walking any day now... he took one step on his own today, but in his cautious manner bailed after the one step!  I love his giggles, hugs, and all things that make him our Elliott! 

I love fall!! The trees are changing color, and we are enjoying the cool, crisp, sunny weather. Maddy continues to love preschool. We discovered the tears before preschool were due to the anticipation of the puppets Maddy's teacher uses in class. Apparently, Maddy is terrified of puppets. So her teacher got rid of the puppets and we talked with Maddy how the puppets are all gone. Now she jumps out of the car and practically sprints into school.

We had our first school field trip. It was to Allen's Apple Orchard. Maddy got to pick a fresh apple and eat it. She found the machines that wash and shine the apples pretty cool. The bees... not so much. It was interesting to see her listen, answer questions, and follow directions. If only she'd do that at home... ha!


We took our annual October trip to Bart's farm for pony rides and some pumpkin picking. Maddy, for the third year in a row, rode her favorite pony, Princess. She rode like a champ and even got compliments from the workers on how well she rode. She started talking about wanting a pony. We might be in trouble!

It was fun and difficult for Maddy and I to try to pick the perfect pumpkins. They were beautiful. Ethan enjoyed mocking me as I'd trade one pumpkin for another in and out of our wagon, commenting that they all looked the same. They did not look the same!!!! Maddy eventually found the smallest pumpkin on the farm in the gourd section. She hugs, kisses, and sleeps with her tiny pumpkin.

Poor Elliott is sick and didn't get a pony ride or enjoy the farm too much. I couldn't even get a pic of him smiling. So sad.



If you hadn't noticed, Elliott got his first hair cut. It's so adorable! And yes I put "product" in it and try to spike it up. Ethan says I need practice because apparently there is a wrong way to spike hair and I don't spike it right!



As I mentioned poor little Elliott is sick. Hopefully he can perk up for his 1st birthday on Saturday. Yeah, it's already been a year, I can't believe it! I had to include this pic of him in his sick, vegetative state, playing on my phone!



Expect some adorable birthday pictures of a hopefully healthy, smiling birthday boy soon!!!

Yikes, where have I been!? Unfortunately, no where... I don't know what happened but I've neglected the blog. Sorry here's a brief catch up on our summer fun and fall beginnings ...

Maddy has finally warmed up to splash pads and Elliott is a big fan. I couldn't keep him away. BTW at the end of the video he was reaching up for me to come "save" him, he was getting sprayed really bad.




Parks and sandboxes are awesome! Elliott was a little nervous at first, now he swings, bounces, slides, climbs the stairs and anything he can get his hands on.


I went to the Ames Straw Poll and could only laugh at the craziness that the candidates shelled out cash for... Concerts, air conditioned tents, BBQ, inflatables, what a waste of money, ugh. I was glad Romney didn't waste money by putting on a big show there... he also didn't receive very many votes, I wonder why.

My children LOVE water, including the bathtub.



Maddy has started preschool and while drop offs are a little rough still, she's a fan. She even volunteered to be the first class leader! I am also a fan of having 2 days a week of 2 and 1/2 hours of free time!

Elliott has been a busy boy. He is lightning quick and gets into things in a blink of an eye. Toilets, dishwashers, trampolines, and don't leave a door open or he'll try to escape!






We went to a Hawkeye game with Taylor and Abbey, thanks to Karen's friend Nancy. They were amazing seats... unfortunately it was during a huge down pour. We literally had a 20 minute break during half time, enough to get our hopes up. When the rain started again and the game was delayed, we were out of there! So we waddled home soaked to our undies.

I turned 30. It wasn't too traumatizing... I really enjoyed my cake!

Ethan turned 31 and enjoyed some birthday cupcakes, Maddy however didn't enjoy us singing Happy Birthday.


So now you're caught up!