Book It!

Remember back in day when they had the Book It program at school? After you read so many books, you got a free personal pizza from Pizza Hut....or something like that! I love reading and wish I had time to do it more. I love sitting on the deck in the summer and just reading! I really hope Presley will like books and reading too!
Here is Presley and Daddy reading Goodnight Moon before bed tonight.
Her favorite book by far, is Five Little Pumpkins (a Halloween present from Grandma Becky)! We read it every night and she smiles and gets so excited to read it! I guess pumpkins will be in our house year-round!

and this is just a good picture of us!

Steve is giving me a hard time b/c I want to join a gym....only b/c we have a treadmill in the basement. I used it a lot the first 2 years we had it, but we've become strangers over the last year and a half. Here's my problem.....I can't use the treadmill when she is sleeping! It's right below her room and the noise from that and the TV is too loud. I don't want to work out during the 2 hours I see her at night, soooo......those are my excuses. I think they are legitimate!

whatchamacallit.

- I'm watching Hoarders, as disgusting as it is I think I would like to help these people get organized and cleaned up. I can't keep my own house clean, but I would like to help them? What is wrong with me?

-Just filed our taxes! That child tax deduction is nice! Now we'll finally get our honeymoon paid off....over 2 years later!....oh yeah and that trip to Vegas haha!

-I'm doing terrible with my New Years resolutions...and January isn't even over yet! I've already missed our nephew Sam's birthday, my water drinking faded when I changed jobs....but I'm working on that again. I wanted to walk in the skywalk over lunch, well my new job doesn't have skywalks so I'm looking at prices for the nearest fitness center. I figure I can workout for 20 or 30 minutes over my lunch hour, which is better than nothing!

Not productive.

This weekend was NOT productive. I'm not sure where the time went, but with one weekend left before Presley's first birthday party and me leaving, we MUST have a productive 2 weeks ahead of us! But now Steve isn't feeling good, Presley is teething and not wanting to take her afternoon naps and learning how to walk....I just begin to feel that the house is caving in around us. The cupboards are full of crap, I have about 8 months of pictures that need to be printed and put in albums, the house is just messy and dirty, Goodwill stuff needs to be organized and dropped off. I guess what I'm saying, is that spring cleaning needs to start......yesterday!

Last night we had Dinner Club at Lisa and Jared's. Presley isn't around many other kids so we were interested to see how she would do. She can be aggresive at daycare, pushing Amelia around so it's good for her to be around other kids! She did pretty good, she played and mostly ignored them and watched them. Once she started to get comfortable then she started pulling and pushing for the toy she wanted. But Kamden and Preston (who are 18 months and 16 months) didn't let her bother them! :) It's kinda of fun to see her around some little boys....seems like everyone we know has had baby girls this past year!

Winter and cheese?

- Ice has coated everything! The trees look sad, they are completely white and heavy. They all look pathetic! The wind is picking up and I can hear the ice hitting the roof! It sounds like someone is walking around up there ! Kinda creepy! At least I hope it's just the ice and not the branches breaking off. When Steve walked to the house from the garage he said he felt like he was dodging bullets with the amount of ice falling!
- I know everyone always talks about the weather, but with the amount of snow, ice, extreme cold, rain in Vegas, massive earthquakes, huge waves off the west coast.....what is Mother Nature doing to us? I think she is trying to tell us that she is still in charge!
- My new job is going good! It is very challenging! The environment is much better than my previous position. They are actually training us! They introduced all the new people, gave out awards and due to the crappy weather on Wednesday we got to wear jeans and they ordered us pizza for lunch! So far, so good!
- Presley is an animal! She has done a complete 180 in the last 6 months! She is so happy and plays so good, and has been sleeping good! She is extremely active and is always moving around!...I'm telling ya, hyperactive! She cracks us up just by smiling, or cheesing!
How can you not love that face?? I just want to squeeze her all the time!

More Vegas and MLK

Told you I had to post the pics of the fountains!

and the inside of Paris' shopping mall.

and here is a guy dressed in green doing the robot to Michael Jackson.

and a guy with a cat on his shoulder! Because who doesn't walk around town with their cat (on a lease, if you look closely!) We sat at Cabo Wabo and did some people watching!

Anyways....enough of Vegas and back to the real world. I had Monday off for MLK Jr day! Presley and I enjoyed our day together, waiting for the DirectTV guy to come! He showed up late and then told us there was no where to put the dish on the house or garage due to the amount of massive trees around us, there would be no way to get a good signal. So we are stuck with Mediacom...which is fine, it's just more expensive!

So Presley and I headed to Target and then I laid her down for a nap about 3 pm (another late nap since she slept in) That girl stayed in her crib from 3-4:30 talking, whining, throwing her socks, blanket, and pacifer out of the crib....everything but sleeping! So we got her up, went to the grocery store and she was happy the whole time! She is so good these days! Playing, laughing, getting into everything!

We have a busy month ahead of us...for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to start a new job, go to Vegas, plan my baby's 1st birthday party (not to mention my mom's birthday and mine too!) and leave the state for 2 weeks of training, all within 6 weeks of each other!

Vegas baby!

So Thursday morning we left for Vegas! Being responsible we got there 2 hours early, we knew we didn't have to but we were ready to go and didn't want to sit at home any more! We got to the airport about 11:00 am and got thru security by 11:10. Lovely! So we went to the bar to being our vacation! We met a group of 6 shriners and their wives, they had been drinking since 9 am and were going to Vegas too. They were a riot! It was a good, fun start to our trip!
Thursday night we walked to the Rio (walking was a bad idea, but it didn't look as far as it was. So half an hour later, we finally got there!), we ate dinner on the 50th floor. It was awesome to see all the lights. It was a very expensive dinner, but we had a 2 for 1 coupon! :) Yes, we are cheap!
Then we met an older couple who showed us the secret FREE shuttle to Harrah's! Steve was lucky and won $140 on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine there! YES! (of course, we lost all that over the next 2 days!)
Here is the Paris hotel! I thought it was so pretty!
We walked down to the new City Center. This place is a city within a city! It is 5 huge hotels and shops. It just opened last month. Just one of the hotels has 23 restaurants in it! All the architecture in this city is unbelievable!

Steve with The King!

Elvis was NOT on our side this weekend. Elvis Enterprises had a show in Ames this weekend that we missed b/c we were in Vegas. There was a Viva Elvis Cirque Du Soliel show in Vegas and they were on vacation this weekend! (what kind of crap is that?) and our favorite cheap bar Bill's Gamblin Hall and Saloon (have you heard of it? Didn't think so!) had an Elvis thing that we missed both Thursday and Friday! We found Bill's Thursday night, they had a sign for live music so we were automatically draw in! Then we found out they had $6 pitchers of beer, most places you get a bottle of beer for $6, we felt like we hit the jackpot with this place! Comfy chairs, live music, cheap beer!

Friday we did some more site-seeing, this is us in front of Caesars Place. This pic was taken by another Iowan! It seems like there were people from Iowa all over!

Friday night we took the bus to downtown for the Fremont Street experience! This was awesome! It was one of our favorite things! The light show on the ceiling is amazing! Everything was cheaper and the talent on the streets was entertaining!

We hit up Mickie Finz for a fishbowl and some time by the fire pit.

Here are some more pictures of Paris!

Saturday Steve entered into a poker tournament, he got 5th place out of 32 which is great but they only paid the first 3 places. Oh well, I'm glad he entered and had fun plus he drank for free while he played (I told you we're cheap!) We did some more walking around and shopping and then we went back to Bills to watch the football playoffs!

That night we met up with our friend Andrea, who was down there for work! We went to New York, New York and watched football at the ESPN Zone and then did some more walking around the south end of the strip!

The picture above is New York New York and the one below is in Caesars Place. I took so many pictures! (and I just realized that I left out the inside of Paris and the fountains at Bellagio! damn, they were fantastic!)

Overall, it was a great trip! It was nice to get away with no worries! Our plane left at 7:10 on Sunday morning....and of course we were there 2 hours early at 5 am. We went to bed a midnight and were up at 4 am. Then Alligient had computer problems so our flight didn't leave until almost 8:30! It was too long to sit in an airport when we were exhausted! Our legs hurt soooo bad from walking so much! We missed Presley like crazy! I missed her more than I thought I would! (and I have training in Tempe for 2 weeks! How in the world am I going to leave her for 2 week?) Steve and I appreciate my parents watching her for us! I know she can be a handful, but Grandma Becky's house is really Presley's second home! She is so happy there and that makes us feel good! I was so happy that she was good for them....and she slept super good for them too! (lucky dogs!)

Anyway....we got home-home about 2:00, which was perfect b/c Presley needed to go down for a nap about 3 (she slept in late, so she was getting a late nap!) so we figured we'd sleep while she did. Finally about 4:15 she stopped talking and crying and fell asleep for a whole 15 minutes! Needless to say, after she went to bed at 7:30, Steve and I were asleep by 8:45.....and we all slept till about 7:30 am! ahhhhh.....

Wow, this post is really long and I still have more to say! Maybe tomorrow!

Is this appropriate?

Now I ask you, what does this puzzle piece look like?
You have a dirty mind! NO, it's a squid! Duh!!! We are just slightly disturbed by this.

on a completely different topic, her is Presley's cheesy face. It's back and better than ever!

We say 'CHEESE!' and this is what we get from her! LOVE IT!!!

Technology = Lazy?

I love technology, don't get me wrong but I do think it is making people lazier and more impatient. Recently cell phones companies are trying to sell us on the fact that with their phone you can now search the internet while being on the phone! WOW.....is this such a great feature?! Because it is such an inconvenience for me to take 5 minutes and look something up on my actual computer or call you back in 5 minutes to find out this crucial time-sensitive information, like what time the movie starts or if we can get reservations at a restaurant!

I don't want to talk about college like it was a long time ago, but hey it was back in 2001! I had a AAA cell phone that was about the size of a remote control. I paid $25 for 25 minutes and it was only to be used for emergencies. That was perfect, there was no other need for it! I worked at Target my junior year in college and I remember leaving with all my other coworkers one night and someone asked if anyone had a cell phone. I was the only one.....the only one!
Now cell phones are no longer just phones....they are cameras, computers, ipods, keyboards....our whole life depends on these little things. I work with a lot of kids right out of college, it is amazing to me that they can't get thru a day without text messaging someone. Is it really that important? Doubt it.

A girl I work with mentioned getting a new laptop because her one from college was getting old. Really? It is crazy to me that times change so quickly! When I was in college (a short 8 years ago!) NO ONE had laptops! The kids who had computers in their rooms were few and far between. If you had to use a computer, you went to the computer lab! It was inconvienient and sometimes you actually had to wait in line! Now I can sit on my couch, watch TV and write on my blog all at the same time! Computers are no longer used for homework and email. They store pictures, we can watch TV and movies on them, we join these social networking sites to be 'friends' with these people that we never really talk to. Why do I care about about what some of these people are doing? Why do I plant crops on make-believe farms? Read blogs of people I don't even know? Because I'm lazy. I should be working out, cleaning, reading a good book, having a conversation with my husband (he isn't here right now, but that's not the point).

Here are my 2 other technology complaints:
I love digital cameras! LOVE them! It usually takes about 10 pictures to get a good one, this way I don't waste money having film developed of crappy pictures. However, now we download them and never print them! I love having photo albums! I need to get in the habit of printing pictures and filling albums.
I understand the point of having DVD/TV's in cars......for long road trips. I don't understand why I see so many people with TV's on in their cars on their way home from work? I'm assuming you have just picked up your child from daycare or school, is it really that hard to carry on a 10 minute conversation with your child? Maybe when Presley gets older I will understand more? But right now I think it is sad.

Anyway that is my piece on technology, and I do believe the pros completely outweigh the cons! I just hope in the long run we can all slow down and enjoy life.

Our weird child.

So a couple weeks ago I noticed these chipped marked on her crib. What could it be from?
They are only on the inside! That's right, Presley two bottom teeth!! The girl chews on the side of her crib after she has thrown her pacifer to the floor and is standing up waiting for us to come in and give it back to her. Lovely.

I mentioned in a previous post that Presley has different faces, she is still glaring at everyone but this weekend she has started this face..... Not sure why, but it's funny!

It might be a bad sign that Presley will hold the remote control and point it towards the TV...obviously copying what we do. Here she is doing 'so-big', but of course she won't put down the remote to do it!

11 months....tear

Only one month and our baby will be 1 year old! It's really too shocking to think about so I'll just get to her 11 month update and not think about it.
Our baby:

• loves food. She is basically not interested in baby food at all anymore. We can still get her to eat the fruit, but if you try to give her anything else she waves her hands in front of her face so you can't get the spoon in her mouth. She would rather stuff as much food in her mouth as she can, it's almost like the girl is starving when you watch her take both hands and stuff piece after piece of food in her mouth. She can sign for 'more' but it comes across as clapping, which is close enough for us at this point.
• cruises along furniture, walls, toys... anything. She has taken 4 steps by herself, but is no where near walking full time. That is fine with me. The more walking, the more responsible we have to be with watching her.
• is finally growing hair! But still only has 2 teeth.
• still doesn't talk, no ba, ga, da, or ma. Though today she started to get close to saying ma, so maybe we are on to something now? Even though she doesn't say anything, she knows what things are. (mommy, daddy, doggy, shoe, sock, ball, book....you get the jist)
• hates her carseat again. She hated it for the first 3 months of her life and now she is back to hating it again. We are supposed to keep her in the rear-facing car seat for another month, but I don't think that is going to happen. I think she'll be much happier facing front and being able to see us. Call us bad parents, whatever, you don't have to drive around with a crying, screaming baby! :)

Welcome 2010

2009 was a great year, as I said before it was a roller coaster of emotions but Presley has brought a new joy into our home. Her smile lights up the room and her laugh, just makes you laugh along with her. So as we say goodbye to a great year, we are looking forward to an even better and busier 2010.

This last week has been good and busy! Wednesday my friend Cindy got word that she might be having her baby early! She was only 37 weeks, but her blood pressure was going to prevent her from getting to 40 weeks! So we were all excited that she might have a new years baby!
Thursday we got ready for Brock and Jackie's New Years party! Lots of drinking, eating and laughs. We took Presley for a while but like always she was overwhelmed by all the people and was cranky for the first hour or so. Once she got used to it, she was a little happier and willing to look at people without glaring at them! My parents came to the party for a bit and then took Presley back to our house, put her to bed and my mom stayed with her until we got home! Nice huh? We are so lucky to have them around, aren't we? ;)
Here is Steve playing a little drums on Rock Band. He thinks he's pretty good (on the easy level), he's thinking about going pro.
And we also had some karaoke competitions on Sing Star, it was a lot of fun with a lot of great songs! Most of which Samantha had never heard of (poor young thing), it's amazing what a difference 5 years is between us. I feel sorry that she had to miss out on all the great 80's, early 90's music because let's face it.....it rocked!
Here are Jackie, Chris, Lyndsi and Lisa singing We Didn't Start the Fire! (love that song!)

Here is April and her bottle of champange! They look good together, don't they?

Here is adorable Ava, Brock and Jackie's little girl! She is 4 1/2 months old, but weighs as much as Presley did at 6 months. I love those cheeks!!!!

And it turns out Cindy and Micheal had a new years baby girl!!! Welcome Breanna Jane, weighing in at 7 lbs, 1 oz and 18 1/2 inches long (can you imagine how big she would've been if she would've gone to 40 weeks)! I warned Cindy that she could have the baby early, but she didn't listen to me. They were not prepared for this little bundle of joy (the car seat is still in the box as I type this!) They will be great parents and I wish they all the joy in the world. :)