Viva Las Vegas! (Day 1 & 2)

Where to start? A year ago we decided to save our money and go on a vacation somewhere, alone, just the two of us to celebrate being together for 15 years. We wanted it to be somewhere fun, neither of us had been to, that had plenty to do in one spot so we didn't have to spend a lot of time traveling while on vacation. We went through a few options, and finally decided on Las Vegas! A few weeks later, I asked Nathan if he would marry me again with Elvis while we were there :) He agreed! If we are going to Vegas, we have to do it up right and that means an Elvis wedding! So, we saved and saved and planned and planned and finally made all our arrangements! We do not travel much at all, in fact we have not went on a real vacation since our honeymoon over 7 years ago. We haven't even went to Branson in 2 years! We just have been busy or the funds haven't been there or it just wasn't the right timing. So, we really wanted to do this vacation right!

We dropped the kids off at the sitters on Monday - and that went tear free! We had really been prepping Noah so he would understand best he could. He hugged us and said "I love you, now go" - it was funny and sad at the same time. We then went to Fayetteville for lunch before heading to the airport. Getting through airport security was a little tricky. While we were waiting in line to go through security, Nathan pulled his license out. It had a big crack in it and it was all scratched up. He said that is how it always looks towards it's expiration (which is next month) because it is in his wallet while he works on equipment all the time. Well, the last number of the expiration date was rubbed off so it was not considered a valid ID - so it had to be approved by the TSA. They said they needed to do an extensive search on him and his bags. Well, he had my bags and I had his - so we had to switch, which I am sure didn't look suspicious at all and they searched him and his bag. Thankfully, that was it and we were off to our gate.

About an hour before we were supposed to take-off, they made an announcement that the plane we were supposed to take had not even left Vegas yet due to electrical errors in the Vegas airport - meaning it would be at least 3 hours from then before we could leave. I was disappointed, but I knew Nathan would freak. He HATES to sit and wait anywhere for anything and doesn't have the best patience. Luckily, there was a restaurant that helped pass our time, along with everyone else on our flight. Between that, Facebook, and people watching it really wasn't that bad. Thankfully, we didn't have any plans in Vegas for night one other than eating dinner.

It was so strange. I was fine leaving the kids - didn't cry, I was sad, but fine. But, when we took off I all of a sudden felt like crying - it was like it didn't hit me all the way that I was going to be all the way across the country from them for 4 days until then. I managed not to cry, and my awesome husband caught on that I was getting upset and of course said all the right things. Then it got exciting! We started looking through the in-flight magazines for ideas of things to do and adding to our lists. The flight was fine and went pretty fast, a little under 3 hours and we were there! Got our bags and took a shuttle to our hotel.

Our last picture in Arkansas for the week!

We stayed at the MGM Grand - it is one of the first ones on the strip and it was amazing! We haven't ever been, so I don't know how it compares to anything else - but the lobby was amazing (huge with a big golden lion and fountain with flowers all around it), it had about 10 restaurants and bars, a shopping center, casino, 2 theaters, and so much more! We would think we had the quickest way from our room to the strip figured out and then we would find a whole other wing of the hotel we didn't even know existed! We were on the 14th floor with a great view of the strip. The room we had reserved was not available so we were upgraded to the Grand Tower. Our room was nice, nothing extra fancy, but we did not plan on spending much time in it so it didn't matter. It was clean and had everything we needed and more. Night one we just found a deli in the sports betting lounge area and had a quick dinner and played some slot machines and went to bed! We were still on Arkansas time - so we were two hours ahead and tired!

Our first view of Vegas as we landed!

Our home for the week!

My first Vegas slot machine :)

On Tuesday we just took off walking with plans to walk the strip and see how far we could get. We kept hearing that things are farther than they looked and that you can't walk the strip in a day, so we thought we would do one side one day, and the other the next day, depending on how far we got. We stopped at Hard Rock cafe for an awesome breakfast and took off. The first block we had our first timeshare experience. They were offering us all kinds of deals to look at their properties. The lady was very nice, and I told her we just had such limited time out there that I didn't want to waste it looking at timeshares. She said she understood and told us that people will be asking us that all day, everywhere we go, so to just say no. Boy, was she ever right. At least 2 times per block, or more, we would hear "hey, where you guys from" or "seeing any shows while you are in town" or "free show tickets" or "honeymooners?" - it was SO annoying. We figured out if we told them we were leaving today they would just walk away - it was a lie worth telling, trust me.

We made it to the Venetian this day and saw Obama on vacation since the government was shut down ;) and also rode the Gondola with a nice couple from England (they said they were skiing - aka: Spending Kids Inheritance - ha!). We were in shock from the number of international travelers. I really figured all countries had a Vegas of some sort, and I couldn't imagine traveling all that way for Vegas. We met more international people than Americans. We went on and were looking for somewhere to eat lunch - Nathan made the comment that everyone keeps talking about the shows so maybe that it the thing to do there (which is what I had been telling him everyone told me before we went - they are just expensive, like $125 per ticket expensive). The England couple was telling us all the shows they had seen there and they sounded awesome. So, the next timeshare person that offered the discount show tickets, Nathan listened to their speech. And, much to my dislike, he signed us up for a timeshare presentation that afternoon. I wanted the free tickets - but I knew the promise of the presentation only taking 30 minutes being bogus. I have always heard how long and boring these things are. But, we had already signed up and paid for our package - 2 different show tickets and $200 in slot machine credits for $70, so we did it. As soon as we got there, the times promised got longer and longer. Well, long story short, 5 hours after we met the timeshare guy, we were finally done! Yeah, we were not very happy, but we had our free tickets to the shows for that night so we wanted to hurry and eat and go. (We did not buy the timeshare by the way - even after they threw in the free Caribbean Cruise and trip to Hawaii - we just don't travel enough to make it worth our while - but boy did they try every trick in the book to get us to buy it, including saying our kids childhood will be better if we do - so annoying).

Gondola ride at the Venetian

Me and Obama ;)

This is INSIDE the Venetian - we both swore the clouds were moving :)

We went back to our hotel and had dinner real quick at Avenue 24 Bar & Grill. I had chicken macaroni and cheese and it was no good. Nathan had steak and it was good, so I shared that with him and had a lot of our appetizer - loaded nachos - they were delicious! We hurried up to the room and changed clothes and headed out to our first show - Zumanity! It was in New York, New York right across the road from us. Our hotel even had a walkway over the strip to get there, it was nice. This was a Cirque Du Soleil show, but it was definitely for adults. All of the women were topless and lots of lingerie was worn. I will admit - I didn't want to see this one. It just looked like too much for me. But, it was very good. It was hilarious and the stunts were awesome. It made the whole timeshare fiasco suck a little less :) Then we had to hurry down to Planet Hollywood for our other show - Marc Savard, a comedian hypnotist! We had heard several times since being in Vegas how good this show was. Well, it was just ok for us. It was funny - but it just didn't seem real. The people seemed to be faking it, but it was still entertaining. We then went back to our hotel, played some slots, stopped off at the bakery in our hotel for some cupcakes and up to our room for the night.

Headed to Zumanity and Marc Savard!

View of the strip from our hotel

Next up, our Wedding Day! Stay tuned...   :)

The pit...

I have a pit in my stomach and I am having trouble sleeping. Why you ask? Because I am going on vacation!! Why would this cause me to have a pit in my stomach and trouble sleeping you ask - because two thirds of my heart is not coming with me. I have never left Ryan overnight and I have left Noah less than 5 times. I have no doubt in my mind that they are going to be perfectly fine with our moms watching them. I know they are going to miss us - Noah will show it more than Ryan, but they will make it through. I have been prepping Noah for a month now and he was fine until the last few times we have talked about it and he now says "I don't want you to yeave Momma, I want you with me". I keep making it a happy time instead of sad and tell him how much fun he is going to have with his grandmas. Ryan is sensing it too, she kept hugging me and playing with my hair yesterday - which is out of character for her. 

Back in January I had the idea that Nathan and I needed to go on vacation somewhere together - we haven't been anywhere alone since our honeymoon over 7 years ago.  We are trying to have fun as a couple and not just as parents. This year we celebrate our 15th dating anniversary so I decided to plan it for October since I would be done nursing Ryan by then and I do not like leaving my children overnight until they are 1. So, it was set - we were going to Vegas and renewing our vows with Elvis! That was 9 months ago - now we leave in 2 days! 

I don't feel that nervous yet - just have that nagging pit in my stomach reminding me that I am not at tough as I think I am. Nathan seems to be more worried and taking it harder than me! I know every day about 5:30 I am going to feel like I need to be carrying something on my hip and having someone asking me "why momma" over and over again - but I am not just a mom, so I need to have a break. It will make us better parents for it. 

So, the Wills are made, 5 typed pages of instructions for the kids (don't judge!), suitcases are almost all packed, and house is almost all clean (I cannot go on vacation with a dirty house and our moms are house and pet sitting at our house along with babysitting so we have to make it good and clean for them). 

I have to go finish packing and cleaning and loving on my babies now - but if you think of it - extra prayers for me, Nathan, Noah, Ryan and our moms this week - we will all need them :) I will be posting pictures and hopefully a blog while we are gone - have a great week everyone!

Ryan Turned One in a Flash!

What more appropriate theme for Ryan that One in a Flash - since I take pictures of her almost daily we had plenty of pictures to decorate with. I LOVED how the decorations turned out. Nathan, Laikken, and I went down the night before after the kids went to sleep and decorated for a few hours so we wouldn't have as much to do on party day. We filled up all the balloons with helium (by "we" I mean Nathan) and when I went back 10 hours later they were all on the ground - lesson learned on that one! I went with pink and gray as the color scheme. I made banners with scrapbook paper and put her picture on them, made a banner that said One in a Flash, one with RMS (Ryan Maelynn Stillwell) on them, and we had several other pictures in frames all over the room. We did a gray chevron cake with a pink top layer to take off for Ryan to smash and pink "1" cupcakes and cupcakes with cameras on top.

I made a cheeseball in the shape of a 1, cheese dip, vegetable cups, and we also had tortilla spinwheels, chips and pretzels and drinks. There was more people there than I had planned on (which is an awesome surprise to have) so there wasn't as much food as I would have liked there to have been - but it happens. Ryan got lots of good girl gifts :) She has been happily playing with Noah's leftovers for a while now, but I was glad to get her some girl toys to play with. Of course, Noah plays with them just as much as she does.

Here are some photo highlights from the photographer that we hired for the party - Tootsie Toes Photography:

Our sad balloons - the kids didn't mind though :)

Singing Happy Birthday :)

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Ryan! You truly did turn One in a Flash!

Momma Club

The Momma Club has a lot of criteria you must meet before you are officially "in". Such as: being puked on, being pooped on, staying up all night with a kid, having your kids snot on your shoulder all day and not realizing it, finding random kids toys/food in your purse, etc. Well, I knew it was only a matter of time before this one happened. I met another criteria for the Momma Club this weekend. Noah had his first "Come to Jesus" meeting (aka: spanking) in the public bathroom. He has been testing his boundaries a lot lately and it is just killing me (just ask Nathan - he thinks I am losing my mind because it bothers me having to discipline him so much). The poor kid has gotten at least one spanking or time out every day for the last week from me. I by far hate the disciplining part of parenting more than anything. I have memories of being disciplined as a child and I remember thinking how innocent I was and that my parents were just wrong! I don't want Noah having any bad memories like that - but I also cannot let him become "that kid" - the brat that no one wants to be around. You know that kid - their evil little face popped in your head as soon as you read that.

We went to my niece Eliza's 7th birthday party at the jump place Saturday. Noah doesn't nap on Saturdays, he just goes to bed earlier. Well, that works ok, unless he is running around a lot and getting extra tired (like jumping) or if it is late afternoon. I forgot to go over the birthday warning with him before we left - he is still confused about this, he always wants to blow out the candles too. So, before we go to parties I will tell him "this is Elizas party and her candles, you can't blow them out, do you understand?" and it usually works. Well, since I forgot and he was in a bad mood because he wanted to jump and hadn't had a nap - he melted down when Eliza blew out her candles. In front of everyone, he lost it. I was holding Ryan, and Nathan was talking/ignoring Noah because he was being a brat. He was only getting worse and louder and ruining Elizas party so I had to hand Ryan over to Nathan and take him to the bathroom. He looked shocked at the spanking and just stood there looking at me with wide eyes and his lip out (making it SO hard for me to get onto him). I gave him the "I am not raising a brat and you are not going to act that way" speech and he kept saying "yes ma'am" (thank you daycare) and he was good as gold after that! He will tell you all about it too - "I was screaming and crying and momma spanked me and then I stopped crying and sat in her lap like a good boy" :)

Love this picture of these two fighting - as usual :)

Eliza did have an awesome birthday party and I still cannot believe she is 7! We love you Eliza and were so glad we got to celebrate your special day with you! (Sorry Noah tried to steal the show!)

This week...

Well, here it is Friday and I realized I haven't blogged all week! Well, this week has been...well...uh...challenging.  Sunday was Ryan's birthday party (that will get it's own blog post once I get the pictures back from the photographer) and I was going non-stop all day. I noticed at the party that Noah was coughing - but he was running around a lot, so I thought maybe he was just hot. A few kids at his daycare had bronchitis last week and I was really hoping we had avoided it. I finally sat down for the first time that night about 9:30 p.m. and heard a lot of coughing coming from Noah's room - not a good sign.

Monday afternoon we got a call that the building I work in (which is for sale) was going to be shown the next day!  Well, let's just say it wasn't exactly "show ready" - so, we had to drop what we were doing and start prepping it - and I was the only employee without a prior commitment that afternoon so it left me there to try to do what I could by myself and I had appointments to prepare for the next day.

Then Tuesday morning Ryan woke up with a slight fever and coughing. I headed to work to finish cleaning and we all came together and got the office looking amazing just in time for the showing. This is where the craziness began - it was almost as if it could go wrong it did. Then the babysitter text me that Noah was running a fever and coughing pretty bad. I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled on Wednesday for Ryan's 1 year check up, but I could quickly tell this was going to turn into a sick appointment instead of a check-up. Noah forgot to lift the lid before using the bathroom at home - that was lovely. Ryan pooped the bathtub (which honestly happens a few times a week right now). Needless to say, I was tired of cleaning poop at that point. Noah knocked Ryan's glass food jar off the table and it shattered everywhere and splattered spaghetti all over me and the floor. Then, 40 minutes after I fall asleep, Nathan comes busting in the bedroom thinking he is going to die because he was stung by a scorpion. He then left the light on while he finished getting ready for bed. 30 minutes later, Noah coughed until he puked in his bed. So, I had to get up and change his sheets and clean up a few things that were in the line of fire. Thankfully, he didn't get it on himself, so he sat in the floor with his eyes closed - then when I put him back in bed he said "tanks momma, I love you" :) Then 2 hours later Noah is screaming again because his night light went off - which he knows how to turn back on - I guess he was just too tired/sick to remember that.

I got up and was SO tired after my up and down night, but I had to get the kids to the doctor by 8:30 and I really wanted to hurry up and get them medicine. So, we went in for Ryan's 1 year check-up, but they said she was too sick for her well check-up and Noah got checked out too - they both got diagnosed with bronchitis - so shocked! So, we were off to pick up our 4 prescriptions and head home. When we got home, Noah decided he wanted some milk. So, he goes to get it out of the refrigerator and shelf falls out and the half gallon jog of whiskey fall out and busts all over the ground. Thankfully, it missed Noah's foot - but there was glass and whiskey everywhere! Ryan was ready for lunch and a nap - but I couldn't leave the mess. So, I had to put her in her highchair and try to keep her happy while cleaning the mess up. This clean-up required soaking it up and picking up all the glass. Vacuuming all the kitchen and hallway and then mopping it all. Finally got Ryan in bed and went to sort through my clothes and my rolling closet in my bedroom had fell over and took all the clothes down with it. Noah then decided to pee in my kitchen floor - another mopping for the kitchen floor! (my kitchen floors are either really clean or really dirty - you be the judge) Ryan finally woke up from her 5 hour nap and then coughed until she threw up her milk - I am not sure how milk spoils so fast and stinks like that, but she stunk. Then the cat decided to pee in my laundry basket instead of the litter box. Of course I couldn't catch the cat while chasing it around the house to beat it.

As I am taking this picture Noah is standing behind me and says "it looks like a river to me" :/

Thankfully Thursday was much better. We all took a little work break for some retail therapy - love those work shopping trips! But, I realized after I got home that I was overcharged for 2 things, so back to the store I will be going. But, other than that minor detail - it was a much less eventful day.

For all the craziness I had this week - I remained amazingly calm (I have been praying for patience and to remain calm with the kids - thank you God!). I will admit, I missed the whiskey a few times, but I survived.  Hopefully, this weekend and next week will be uneventful leaving me more time to blog and not be cleaning up broken glass or poop. Have a great weekend!

Ryan Maelynn is 1!

And just like that, Ryan is 1! It is hard to remember life without her already - she just came in a fits in perfectly! Here are this months highlights:

* She weighs around 27 pounds and is 32 inches long (these are my measurements - the best I can get with a squirmy squishy kid, but I will get some more official ones at her 1 year check up next week)

*Ryan hasn't had the best luck with her milk. It is not that she is allergic, I don't think anyway. She just seems to spit it up occasionally, and she wasn't spitting up at all before. I think her belly is just trying to adjust to it still. Also, she has had a cold with lots of drainage so that doesn't mix well with dairy anyway so some days she doesn't get milk at all. Hopefully this will all get better once she is all well again. She is drinking completely out of a sippy now, no more bottles and we just give her milk or water (with a tiny bit of apple juice) as needed - no more set amounts of drinking for her.  She still loves to eat yogurt bites, puffs, cheerios, and kix cereal with a little water/juice at snack time. She has added applesauce and oatmeal to her breakfast favorites too.

* Ryan has upped her sleeping from going to sleep at 8:30 to more like 7:45. She then sleeps until about 7:30 (give or take an hour). She goes to sleep all on her own without crying like a big girl and wakes up and will lay there and babble for at least 30 minutes. She is sleeping partially swaddles (from the belly down) and not in her nap nanny anymore.

* She is still in size 3 diapers, and size 5 night diapers. She sleeps too long for a normal diaper to hold up.

* She is in 18-24 month clothes and most of her size 2 shoes still fit, but is into size 3s for the most part.

* Ryan still enjoys playing in the floor, but her new thing is to be on the couch or my chair and ottoman. She just scoots all over them, spins circles, and will throw herself back and then sit back up. Her favorite things to play with right now are her alphabet dinosaur, stacking bowls, and her new kitchen from Papa Bobby.

* She is still a scooter and doesn't seem to have any desire to change that! She pulls up on one knee and one foot all the time. She still can't "cruise" around the furniture and tables yet. She has stopped rolling over, just out of laziness I think since she is never on her belly. I am going to ask the doctor all about it next week though - I fully expect "Lazy Diva" as the diagnosis :)

* She still only has 8 teeth - but still seems to be teething occasionally but nothing new yet.

* Her  new "tricks" this month are sticking her tongue out when you stick it out at her, if you say "hello" she will put whatever she is holding up to her ear, getting in screaming contests with her brother, blowing kisses, and Mooing like a cow :)

Hello?

We will celebrate Ryan's birthday tomorrow with a "One in a Flash" themed party - decorated with pictures of Ryan from the last year - obviously, I had a few to chose from :) It is hard to believe my baby girl is one - but being pregnant with her also seems like it was so long ago. I can't wait to watch her grow and learn!

A year ago...

A year ago today, I got up and packed my hospital bags in the car for the 4th day in a row, just in case I needed to leave work for the hospital. Felt a little funny all day, but figured it was in my head. I got home and took Noah outside to ride his bike around the yard. Then Nathan got home and we decided to go for a jeep ride to see if the baby may want to make an appearance after that. We took a long bumpy ride and I didn't feel any different, just still a little weird. (little did I know until tomorrow, how dangerous this was for me) We all went to bed early. We had a feeling something might be going on with the baby that night.

A year ago tomorrow at 5:23 a.m. I woke up to my water breaking! We loaded the car up real quick, dragged poor Noah out of bed and dropped him off at the sitters at 6:15 a.m. and headed for the hospital!

A year ago tomorrow I heard the words "prolapsed cord", "emergency c-section" and "stillborn".

A year ago tomorrow with tears in my eyes I looked into my husbands eyes and he told me "It's a girl"!

A year ago tomorrow I heard a doctor say "wow, look how good this baby looks to be a prolapsed baby".

A year ago tomorrow I heard my doctor talking to a nurse during my c-section and said "look at this, velamentous cord insertion, that is crazy". (I later learned this was a very serious condition that I should have been on bed rest from week 25 on for - definitely not riding in a jeep the night before)

A year ago tomorrow I heard the pediatrician say she had never seen a baby look so healthy after having a prolapsed cord!

A year ago tomorrow God saved Ryan.

Thank you God! I can't wait to see what the many more todays, tomorrows, and years hold for us!