Picture Time!

A few notes before I let you see the pics..

-I forgot to mention Gavin is crawling! He's been scooting for a couple of months but he finally figured out the leg part of the crawling motion. He still forgets he can do it though, so we have a little time before he's completely all over the place. He's also pulling himself up so we need to lower his crib mattress.

-He has a tooth! On Christmas Eve his first tooth popped up! It's his lower left front tooth. No wonder he had such a snotty nose all last week!

-Paige is back to normal and feeling better. We get her tonight so we're excited for her to see all her gifts again and get to play with them!

-One more thing...I saw a quote this morning that cracked me up, and Mom, you'll love this: "DIAPER is REPAID spelled backwards. Think about it."  :)

On to the photos!

Little Santa crawling around...Grandma's wood floors are slippery!

Akaela, Breanna and Noelle painting their nails

Dadda and Gavin

Gavin's first taste of ham for Christmas Dinner!

Right before church

About to start the gingerbread making showdown! Team Paige and Noelle

Team Breanna, Liam and Alex

Team Shane and Derek

Helping my nephews set up their Santa's sleigh gingerbread set

Still scooting around!

Have you ever seen so many presents? They took over the whole room

Cousins!

Me and Gavin and my brother Billy with his two-week old, Trystan

Baby's First Christmas! Gavin, Trystan, and a friend of the family, Lily.

Is he real?

My nephew Alex and I. He's very special to me

Still working on the gingerbread houses!

Present time! One gift on Christmas Eve

All the kids sitting nicely before opening their gift (and Steve)

Gavin's more interested in the wrapping paper!

Paige's new doll

Gavin and my little brother Nick

Christmas morning! Stocking time

Before she started feeling bad...

She was really excited about this Santa present

Gavin's Bears Pillow Pet

Poor sick baby!

Here's the leftovers from Santa's visit, including a note that Breanna and Paige left for Santa

Back home, Gavin's toy box full of new toys...he was a happy boy!

A Christmas Story

It just wouldn't be our family if there wasn't a story to go along with our weekend!
Friday we headed back to Kearney with both kids in tow and a van-full of presents. Once we got there, Steve took Paige and my little sister Noelle to Alvin and the Chipmunks so that my mom and I could wrap presents. I had bought a ton of them when we were there for Thanksgiving so I had my work cut out for me.

I got it all done and put under the tree (and the Santa gifts hidden), and then Steve and I headed out to meet some of my friends, April, Michelle and Kristi.

On Christmas Eve we woke up and did all the usual stuff: cooking, watching White Christmas, Steve did a little last-minute shopping, eating, etc. My brother Kenny's family as well as my brother Billy's family were over. We went to church at 5 and then came home to do gingerbread houses and then open our one present.

I received "Elf" on Blue-Ray from Steve, Steve received a bear from Paige, Paige received a doll from us, and Gavin got a Leap Frog book from my sister Jenneah.

We all hit the sack after we played Santa...with cookies, milk, and of course, gifts put out. (By the way, I have never seen so many gifts in one place. It's evident our family is growing, because the amount of gifts was ridiculous!)

Gavin woke up at 6 a.m., and at 6:30 the alarm went off and we got everyone else up.

When we went in to get Paige she had a bloody nose. Unusual, but we cleaned her up and headed to the living room and started in on our stockings and presents.

About halfway thru opening presents, Paige started crying and said she didn't feel good. Steve got her a banana and some water, she had a couple bites, and sat down to keep opening. Then she started crying again. Steve picked her up and she started dry-heaving. He rushed her to the bathroom and she threw up. After presents, she said she wanted to go back to bed.

Then I started feeling dizzy. Then I threw up. I went in and laid down with her. Steve was stuck loading up the car with our gifts and suitcases.

I threw up a couple more times and she did too. I started to feel better about an hour into our drive home, but poor Paige threw up the entire way.

We had to get her back by 2 p.m. to her mom's, and we dropped her off in her pj's, and she was still sick. Her mom said she threw up all day until 9 p.m. and never even opened her stocking or any gifts at her house. The poor girl. It was so sad.

Despite the sickness, we all made out really well on gifts. I laid all of Paige's gifts out on her bed so when we get her on Friday it will be like Christmas all over again. She doesn't remember what she got!

Once we got home, I put together all of Gavin's toys and let play. He loves them all.

Some memorable gifts:

Steve got a TON of Hawks and Bears gear from everyone in my family. He also got a calendar that I made for him (I started that tradition last year), a mug that says we love Daddy with a picture of both kids on it, some new work shoes and clothes, pj's, and some other random stuff.

I got some diamond and blue topaz (my birthstone) earrings from my mom, some blue topaz earrings from my little brother, a coat, movies, perfume, Bath and Body Works gift set in my favorite scent, slippers, pj's, a box full of greeting cards for all occassions, a scarf and hat that my mom made, a Samsonite suitcase from Kenny and Kristi, some underwear, socks, work clothes, and a bunch of other stuff!

Paige got a Dippin' Dots maker, a scooter, a Hello Kitty outfit, some Barbies and accessories, an MP3 player, books, DVDs, CDs, board games, Rock Bands bracelet maker, Headbands maker, pjs, a build-a-bear kit, a game for her Leapster, and a bunch more!

Gavin got a piano, a Simba rocking horse, some leap frog toys, a Bears pillow pet, clothes, pjs, books, blocks, etc.

We did well. For now, it's back to work! I'll upload pics soon.

For Steve's birthday on New Year's Day, we are going to the Nuggets/Lakers game. Go Lakers!

Update

The new job is going great! Thanks to everyone who has been texting me this week asking about it. I'm loving it. Especially because today we had about 10 inches of snow when I woke up and I was able to work from home! A big change from my commute to my old job which would have easily taken me 2 and a half hours on a day like today. 

But besides that, it seems like a job I'm going to enjoy. This week I've done some training and mostly just setting everything up. I'm anxious to get started in the new year. 

I found out I will be traveling to Texas for training in mid-January for four days. I'm going to miss Gavin!! I'm trying to convince Steve to bring him and join me, but for some reason I just don't think that's going to happen. :) 

We head to Nebraska tomorrow for the holiday. I hope you are all able to spend some time with your families and that Santa is good to you! I'll be sure to take LOTS of pics of Gavin's first Christmas!

A Tribute to Bo

Well, it's official. Our Bobo is now with a new family. While Paige and I were very sad and cried together when we told her, I know it's the best thing for him. He'll have more room and more attention at his new home. And the best part is that we will still get to see him. His new dad is a friend of mine who lives downtown and goes skiing a lot during the winter. So I told him anytime he needs a petsitter we will take him.

Here are some reasons why Bo is such a great dog, and such a big part of our lives.

-Steve and I got Bo when he was 8 weeks old. He was a big fluff ball. We saw a commercial with a St. Bernard one night. I had just gotten Charlie a couple months before, and we looked at each other and decided to look for St. Bernards. The next day, we were looking online for St. Bernard puppies in the area and went and looked at him. He was the only puppy left, because he was the pick of the litter and the family who chose him ended up not being able to afford him. He was so gorgeous. As we left the house to go talk and make our decision, we turned around to look at him again and he was sitting in the doorway just staring at us walking away. He reeled us in then. They had named him Monarch, because one of the spots on him looked like a butterfly. But we decided on Bo, which soon turned to Bobo.

-We brought him home and introduced him to Charlie. They were the same size and they were instant buddies!

-Paige was only 3 then. I hadn't even met her yet, but Bo got to go live with Steve and her. We have a video of the day he brought her home and Bo was in the kitchen. She fell in love, too. He was smaller than her then.

-The below picture was my favorite. It's still framed in our bedroom, and Steve has it framed at work. This was when he was a few months old and getting bigger, but still not bigger than Paige.

-When Bo was getting bigger we ordered a barrel for him online. This was one of the few times we actually put it on him.

-Once Gavin came, Bo became the big brother. He was the watchdog. This was taken while I was sitting in the chair holding Gavin. He was protecting us. Anytime Gavin would cry, Bo would come and see what was the matter. He is such a gentle giant.

Bo supervising a diaper change when Gavin had only been home for one day.

The best buds. Bo would always get as close as he could to Gavin until one of us would tell him to back off. Gavin didn't mind him at all.

-Bo was a great part of our family. He was there for birthdays, visitors, and Gavin's homecoming. Every visitor learned to love him.

We will miss you, Bobo. Already do.

Things I Know for Sure: Vegas Edition

-The desert isn't too much warmer than Denver this time of year. 

-The Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil Immortal World Tour is amazing! All emotions....sad, happy, fun, exciting...all of it. I definitely recommend it!

-Night clubs just aren't for me anymore. Nothing like having an awesome view of the strip from a rooftop club, having a drink with your man and celebrating your 29th birthday and all you're thinking of is how much you miss your little boy. 

-In-N-Out burger is still my favorite fast food joint ever. Being born in California, having family there my whole life, and then living there again for a year, In-N-Out has always been a family favorite and must-have for any trip out west. After two drinks at the club, we opted for In-N-Out and headed back to the hotel 

-Naps are necessary when you are kid-free....even in Vegas. The following morning after our wild and crazy night out, we got up, went to breakfast, and came back and took a nap. 

-It's ok to look like a tourist in Vegas. I strapped the big camera bag over my shoulder and we walked miles and miles...taking pictures, buying souvenirs and doing all the things you must do in Vegas. 

-Baby lions are adorable. The MGM Grand may be outdated, but we had to stop to see the baby lions. They were about Gavin's age...which made them even more cute to me!

-The people dressed up as robots, famous figures and dead celebrities are not just there to look at and take pictures of. They expect a tip. I learned that after taking a picture of a robot. He held up a dollar and told me, "We will take pictures for tips!!" I said sorry! And kept walking. 

-Don't take your kids to Vegas. (Duh). With all the "Girls Girls Girls" ads that are being handed out, your kids will be sure to see some nudity, whether you want them to or not. 

-The Minus 5 Degree Ice Bar is cool...in small doses. We stopped into the ice bar to see what it was all about. $75 dollars later, we had a warm coat to put on, some gloves, and two tiny drinks each out of an ice cup. It was basically a big freezer with ice sculptures for tables and chairs, a big ice sculpture Michael Jackson, and a few others. After 15 minutes we were ready to step out and warm up. No cameras were allowed, because they will take pictures of you and sell them for $20 each! We opted not to buy any. I said, while we were freezing inside, "Didn't we pretty much do this last year in Green Bay?" I'm pretty sure the ice bar was a little warmer than Green Bay...and no wind!

-The Red Square Vodka bar/restaurant is overrated. We looked at the menu, saw that it was really pricey and that they had upscale food and all liquors and went in for our nice, romantic dinner. The food was mediocre at best. 

-Bleu cheese olives are worth the search. I was looking all over Vegas, asking every bartender if they had bleu cheese olives. I had seen them on the Real Housewives of Orange County, and wanted to try them in a martini. The Red Square had them. We each ordered an extra dirty martini with the olives. Halfway thru we ordered more olives. Three quarters of the way thru we ordered more olive juice. Maybe we should have just left the vodka out and we would have been happy. :)

Overall, it was a great time and nice to get away with just the two of us. The hotel was very nice, I would recommend it. I was definitely ready to get home and see Gavin though. 

Back to the real world tomorrow. I start my new job! Here are some pics of our trip.

In infamous self-taken pic on the plane

The living room of our suite...somehow we didn't get pics of the bedroom or awesome bathroom!

Gotta love the timer feature. 

The view from our room

We could see In-N-Out too!

Steve in the Luxor (this is where I stayed with my friends a few years back to celebrate April going into remission

Me on the strip

The baby lion

You can tell he's walking towards me and holding up a dollar...too funny

Me and Mrs. Green

Steve sneaked one of Batman

I was trying to pretend I was taking a pic of Steve, and wanted a pic of Elvis. But Elvis is too smart for us, he turned around. So I took one of Steve showing me his new bracelet

Harley Davidson bar