My Sweet Baby

There's this sweet little girl who has stolen my heart.

She is a total Mommy's girl.

She has been so cuddly lately and I absolutely love it.

She can still be a stinker at times, but she has gotten so much better and is a lot calmer than she was just a month ago.

I can't believe this precious little baby of mine will be 2 in less than 2 months.

Oh, did I mention she's a goofball? Look at that face!

She is so obsessed with "boo boo's" lately. She got a sad little cut on her cheek a couple weeks ago and although it is long gone she still points to her cheek several times a day and says "boo boo." She also has to show everyone wherever we go. That includes all the moms in the play area at the mall. She cracks me up.

One thing that is not cracking me up is her sleep schedule the past couple of days. For some reason she has woken up crying at 6am the last 2 days. She eventually goes back to sleep (30 minutes later) and then wakes up at her "normal" time of 7:30 or so. Not only that but her naps have been right around 1 hour.

All complaining aside, I love this sweet little girl more than anything!

Bubbles!

Aside from the zoo, we usually just go the park and play. I decided to take bubbles to the park and the girls loved it.

Haylee chases them all around trying to pop them.

Natalee waits till they land on the ground and then tries to pop them.

We also played in the sand too. Well Natalee did. And I believe this picture was taken right before she stuck a handful of sand in her mouth. Yuck!

Haylee likes going down the slides, but Natalee hasn't been a fan lately. They both like swinging though!

I love my sweet girls. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world!

Az Museum of Youth

A few weeks ago we took the girls to the Az Museum for the Youth. It was the first time we've been there and the girls had fun. I had bought a 10 visit pass on Groupon for $25 so we decided to give it a try. What I loved best is they have a 4 and under area and it is gated off so Natalee can't escape while I'm playing with Haylee.

They have a living room area withe mini chairs and books to read, a kitchen with pretend appliances and food, and a garden/tree/farmers market type area. They also have an arts and crafts area with a featured activity, a stage area to put on a performance and tons of soft blocks to build with in the middle of the room. The other side for 4 and older (which isn't gated) features drawing, ipads, crafts etc. The girls made Valentine's and Haylee did finger print art.

That evening we went to a nearby neighborhood that has a huge pond with ducks. The girls had a blast feeding the ducks and the ducks loved us for feeding them :) Natalee LOVES ducks so she was in heaven.

Family Night.

A typical family night at our house consists of dinner, playing board games, "Just Dance" on the Wii and piling on top of Danielle.

Oh, and on occasion when Danielle brings the mechanical bull, the girls take turns riding on that. Of course they have to hold on tight because the bull is crazy and he flings around and jumps high too.

I made a recipe I found off Pinterest and it was oh so yummy. I used brownie mix and red velvet cake mix with cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Zoo Time

The weather has just been so perfect that I can't help wanting to be outside as much as possible. I know in just a few months it will be so hot and I'll hate being outside.

We took the girls to the zoo last weekend.

I love having a membership there and taking the girls as much as possible. When we renewed our membership this year we got free passes for the carousel, stingray bay and camel rides. Haylee rode the camel for the first time and wasn't scared at all. She looked so tiny compared to the huge camel, too cute.

Like Haylee and Hannah's friend?

We walked almost the whole zoo and then the girls rode the carousel. Natalee went on the giraffe which doesn't go up and down (she prefers that), Haylee rode the elephant and Hannah was on the jaguar.

Beautiful day + well behaved girls = wonderful time!

Water Play

This week has been so nice. Josh did the yard work last weekend so the girls and I have spent time outside everyday. At first I was pulling weeds as they played, but then I hurt by back and I can barely move. No fun.

The girls have had a blast just playing with the water table and toys, the dog fountain and the outside play stuff- the climber, playhouse etc. It's a nice change and makes the day go faster.

Natalee is usually soaked within 5 seconds of being outside but that doesn't bother her. She loves to play with the water!

Haylee likes to pick flowers and put them in cups of water and "decorate" the backyard. She also likes to play with the animals in the water and pretend they are sick or something like that. She has a wild imagination.

And they aren't the only ones having fun. Jackson loves being outside with us.

And this little girl is in heaven at the all you can eat grass buffet!

Vegas

A week ago today, Josh and I were on our way to Vegas for a much needed getaway. Josh was well aware we were going to Vegas for the weekend, but what he didn't know (until he came home from work Friday) was that we were going alone. I taped a heart on the garage door that said "The Lights, The Shows and The Slot Machines Too. We're Going To Vegas, Just ME & YOU!!!" Needless to say, he had a HUGE smile on his face when he walked in the door. He had no clue at all.

My Mom stayed at our house for the weekend and took good care of our sweet girls. She said the girls were very well behaved and it went so much better than she thought it would.

We left Friday evening and got to our hotel, the Plaza, around midnight. Being the party animals were are (not) we went right to sleep. Ha! It was a long drive and we just felt blah by then time we made it to our room. We loved the hotel though. They had just completed a $35 million renovation and you can sure tell. The rooms, casino, restaurants etc. were very nice and clean and our room was nice and big too. We will definitely stay there again.

Saturday we started off the day at the Tix 4 Tonight booth on Fremont St. where we got tickets to Cirque Du Soleil- Criss Angel's Believe and also Jabbawockeez. We ate breakfast at the Fitzgerald and then walked around Fremont St. a little bit. I love that they have an ABC Store there, perfect place to buy souvenirs. Then we drove to the south end of the strip where we went to M&M World (to get Natalee a souvenir) and the Coke Store where I sipped a Coke and Josh drank a Cherry Coke Float.

We laughed at all the people dressed up lining the streets and I got my picture with Hello Kitty for Haylee girl. She was rude though and made sure she showed me her purse that read "Tips" before she would take a picture with me and even after too.

(She had me do the lame heart thing. Not sure what that was all about.)

From there we went in the huge Ross and we found Haylee a Hello Kitty shirt. By that time, we had to head back to our hotel, change, then head to Josh's Dad's house for dinner. We ate a yummy dinner (and strawberry shortcake for dessert) and then we had to head to the Luxor for the show. We saw Criss Angel's Believe that night and sadly, we were disappointed.

We chose that show because it's suppose to be a Cirque Du Soleil show and we are big Cirque fans, but this show was basically nothing more than a Criss Angel magic show. We felt very mislead. There were no fancy costumes and crazy characters like the regular Cirque Du Soliel shows, no acrobatics and no music that they are known for. For the price we paid for the tickets it was an awful experience. Whatever. That night we hung out on Fremont St. and then played some slots at our hotel. My favorite slot is Double Diamond Deluxe and they had 1 machine in our casino. Needless to say, I spent quite a bit of time there. I broke even in the end which is good for as much as I played. I love that game!

Sunday we ate donuts for breakfast and went straight to the Monte Carlo to get our tickets for that night. After that, we went to see The Vow which was super good. I cried. I love Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. I kept hoping something would happen to make things snap back into place for her and she'd regain her memory, but no such luck. Oh well, I was so excited to see it and it did not disappoint! After the movie we went back to the room to pack some of our things and get ready before heading to see Jabbawockeez. That show was much better! It was a fun, upbeat show and we had a good time.

After the show we had dinner at the Hard Rock and then headed back to Fremont St. I love Fremont St. because everything is much closer together and walking isn't as tiring. We played at a few different casinos before heading back to our casino to play my favorite slot and grab our midnight snack at McDonalds.

Monday we breakfast with Jim and Kris (and Boston) and then hit the road. We had some anxious little girls to get back to.

We had a wonderful weekend. It was nice to not have a bedtime and to be able to sleep in too. We were able to see shows and have dinner without screaming kids. We could do whatever we wanted and it was so nice. We even left the camera at home (hence the crappy phone pics).

I am so thankful my Mom keeps the girls for us so we can do these weekend getaways once a year. I've already told her next year she'll have them for a week because Josh and I are going on a cruise for our 10 year anniversary :)

Busted!

The look on her face says it all!

Priceless.

V Day

It didn't seem like Valentine's Day yesterday since Josh and I had already celebrated all weekend in Vegas, but I had 2 little girls to spoil and it was sure fun.

Haylee did awesome filling out her Hello Kitty Valentine's. I gave her a list of all the boys and girls in her class and she wrote all of the names (and her name) all by herself. *Proud Mommy Moment* Seriously, she has learned so much in preschool and she is doing awesome!

I had signed up to bring the sweet treat for her Valentine party and I had every intention of making these yummy looking brownie/red velvet cupcakes, but the kids ended up with store bought treats. :( We got home later than expected and I was too tired to bake so I ran by Walmart which pretty much had nothing left so I had to make do with what was left. I'm sure there were no complaints from the kids, but I felt like a slacker. Haylee had fun at her party and loved looking at the Valentine's she got from her friends.

Josh and I got the girls each a book and some candy. They were both really excited. Haylee loved her Hello Kitty book and chocolate. Can you see the trend with Hello Kitty around here?

And Natalee loved her "choo choo" book and M & M's!

I love my sweet girls.

Since we had spent all weekend in Vegas (and a lot of money) Josh wasn't suppose to buy me anything. Of course, he didn't listen. In he came with 2 bouquets of flowers, chocolates and a card.

He handed me the flowers and said, "one is for you and one is for your Mom." If that doesn't show you the kind of guy he is I don't know what does. He's perfect and I'm so blessed to call him mine!

And of course, Jackson got a present from his Valentine, my Mom!