a much needed visit!

we had a great weekend! A weekend I needed very badly!! Our best friends from California were in town this weekend and we spent the entire weekend with them. These girls mean the world to us! Our moms are best friends and we were neighbors when we lived in Southern California. We grew up running around the cul-de- sac probably putting on lots of shows, swimming and not coming in until it was dark. We have all stayed very close and they gave us so much by staying here this weekend. October 2011 was the last time we saw them when we were there for Megan's wedding- Hannah was the flower girl! Her husband had a bachelor party this weekend so Megan and Kelly stayed with us all weekend. Friday we grabbed dinner and came home and hung out and just enjoyed being with people we could just laugh with for hours!

 they spoiled the kids!

Saturday we just hung out, went to a few Home Goods, ate, got them hooked on The Following, grabbed a nice dinner, got some Yogurtland, and painted nails. It was great for Hannah too- sometimes she needs a change of scenery from us!
Sunday Megan met up with the wedding party for a brunch so Kelly and I took the kids to the splash park and bless Kelly, there she was running through the water with Hannah even though she was in all her clothes. They are great girls and we starting missing them the second they walked out the door. It was hard to see them go. We are all meeting at the beach this summer which we cannot wait for!!

 

 This girl finished off almost all of Kelly's clam chowder of all things. She wouldnt even eat the pizza in front of her!

 

 she really warmed up to it and wasnt ready to leave- she also wouldnt wear her bathing suit!

I hate the dmv

i know its not a nice title but GAH- seriously. Does anyone ever have a good experience there? Do any of the employees actually like their jobs? We are working hard to get all our stuff changed over- Monday it was new auto insurance which is DOUBLE the price here in LV for less coverage. Awesomeness. And we went to the DMV today to get our new licenses and what do you know, I bring EVERY single form of identification known to man- both of my social security cards, my passport, birth cert, marriage license, etc, etc etc. And it still wasnt enough. I didnt have the original marriage license. Now I realize this is serious business but for REAL??? It was a certified copy. Pretty sure I didnt make that crap up in a word document. (Not that my marriage license is crap, ha ha) but geez I was so frustrated. I just started crying. I broke down. I HATE doing all these dumb things, I hate not ever knowing where the heck I am going, I am sick of google maps always telling me to take a darn u-turn, and blah blah blah. Sorry to vent. But I have a few choice words about the illegal people they are letting into this country and I bring 18 pieces of ID and I cant get a new license. Oh well, Ill just take my sweet time cause Im not going back there any time soon. Oh and I miss the old DMV right behind McDonalds that has like 8 chairs to wait. This place seriously had about 30 windows/tellers (whatever you call them) and like 150 chairs in the middle. So when I get around to finding my original marriage cert Ill head back over there. But in the mean time Ill just wander around this city listening to some lady tell me to take 8 u-turns. Which are legal here, but still.

Sorry for that.

On a different note- we are taking Hannah to see Disney on Ice tonight. I might be more excited than her :) We told her last night we were taking her to see ice skating with Disney characters and that we expected her to be a good listener, and there was no crying, etc. (You always have to prepare Hannah. We find that after talking her through things you get better results). Then she says, "I cant do that". I laughed to myself cause I figured she meant she couldnt listen or not cry. I said, you cant do what? She said, I cant do ice skating. Ha ha ha! Sweet girl, you wont be the one ice skating :)

I really hope she has fun- we are all going so lets hope Owen sits still too!

weekend recap- it was busy!

Our weekend was pretty busy- I'd say we spend 75% of our time looking for things to do that we can all enjoy. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes it ends in crying...by almost all of us. As we all know life with toddlers isnt always pretty. Alot of times it ends with a toddler tantrum of some sort and Jeremy and I looking at eachother wondering why the heck we thought it was a good idea to leave the house. But we are in a new city and sitting around the house just doesnt feel right. The weather right now is just gorgeous and I just cant sit around the house. We need to be exploring our new city! It can be costly but I figure we are just figuring out which things we will do again and the things we wont!
Being at home with the kids has really been great. I love how much more relaxed I am, my stress level is down which feels good. But since we are home all week, on the weekends I want to get out and spend time with Jeremy and enjoy his help :) Im so thankful for him because as much as I am sure he just wants to sit and relax he always does what we (I) want to do and never complains.
We are always searching websites to find kid friendly activities and this weekend we found some things we will do again and some we definitely wont!
Friday night we grabbed some mexican food for dinner. If you know me at all, then you know my OBSESSION with mexican food. Like I could eat it every. single. day. So Im used to all those great, cheap, mexican restaurants that start with "el". They just dont have any around here! Im starting to wonder if this move was right, ha ha! They have plenty of Qdoba type places but no El Toro's or El Nopals. So we tried El Burrito but it wasnt the same. They wanted to charge for the second basket of chips. I know, first world problems right. I realize its not that big of a deal but when we get back to Louisville, Ill be making up for it! Anyways, we grabbed dinner which was definitely one of those things where we looked at eachother and wondered what the heck we were thinking. Owen was in SERIOUS teething pain. Wont eat anything and would basically cry if you looked at him. Hannah wanted to switch seats back and forth and wouldnt sit down. Just a normal dinner I guess.
Then we went to the Las Vegas 51's baseball game which was pretty fun. It was a cool night and we just enjoyed a change of scenery. Hannah enjoyed the game- which was most important. So we will do that again!

They look so happy dont they?! I swear it was fun :)

Saturday we decided we would take our first trip to Red Rock Canyon. Its absolutely an amazing sight. The most gorgeous mountains and hiking trails. Might not be the best thing for an almost one year old but if you dont want to get out of your car you can just drive the 13 mile trail and enjoy the sites. Once you start the trail you have to drive all 13 miles and cannot turn around. Might not have been the best idea with a teething baby who had since developed a weird rash and a fever. Maybe it wasnt just teeth? We attempted to take the kids on the Childrens hiking trail but Owen screamed as soon as we put him in the stroller, so he and I sat in the back of my car while Jeremy and Hannah looked for bugs. Apparently bugs dont live in Las Vegas, maybe they cant survive the heat. She was bummed! So after listening to screaming for the last few miles we thought we would take him to a Take Care Clinic and after driving all over the city for an hour to find one we then learned they dont take kids under 18 months. These are the things we are learning the hard way! His tooth finally popped through and now we are just dealing with the next three which are right behind.

Sunday we decided to try a Bird Sanctuary which is close to our house and drove and up and basically drove away. Not quite sure what it was... So then we decided we would go to the zoo. Let me just say, its a crime they can even call it a zoo. We pulled up and gave eachother the same look we did at the bird sanctuary but poor Hannah needed to see the animals we promised. So after paying $25 for the THREE ACRE zoo we realized we wont ever go back. Hannah didnt notice the difference so we would take her back but we just refuse to pay that much for such a small "zoo" which had alot of the exhibits empty! She did ask where the giraffes were though- ha ha.

Monday I thought we would go to the local library for story time..which ended in Owen spitting up on the rug in front of those awesome parents who look at you disgusted instead of looking at you with sympathy since you know it has happened to them, and then Hannah having her own little tantrum and not wanting to participate. I think it she's having some jealousy issues with Owen but thats for another day! It was just one of those days where I had the best of intentions and after taking 2 hours to get out of the house, we should have just stayed in. Unpredictable I guess!
So slowly but surely, one 3 acre zoo at a time we are learning about the city and the things we will be doing again and wont be doing!

 Here is a picture of the first tooth that has FINALLY made its appearance!! It took forever but there are three more coming right behind!!!

Hannah,

you have really impressed me these last two weeks. I see such a change in you. Im sure its because even though we are missing so many people back home, you are happy to have your family back in a normal setting. You love having your daddy home. You have really grown close to Owen. You guys are two peas in a pod. You ALWAYS want to hold him, feed him, play with him, or drag him across the room by his legs. But you are really a great big sister. We read to him, we do puzzles with him and make him alot of food in your kitchen.
You and I have grown closer too. We spend alot of time together these days and we both have more patience and are so much more relaxed since we dont have crazy schedules like before. If we stay in our pj's all day and paint, then its a good day! We have no where to be and no one to see (sadly) than eachother so we are best buds these days. You are a great kid, Hannah. You have your moments, but dont we all. You are loving, strong willed, wild, and all you want to do is play- you have an incredible playful heart. We have lots of dance parties at night, we bake, we drive your car, we eat lots of snacks and we're enjoying this time together. Im proud of you. I thought this would be harder on you but really are stronger than you think. You are brave and resilient. Thank you for showing me that we can do this. I hope we grow closer and will be best buds forever.

Im proud of you Hannah- thank you for being you.

a little link up...

I see "Link Ups" on blogs alot and I never do them but I thought this would be fun...just something different! Holly and Jake are hilarious and part of my new blog followings. They ask questions and we answer...I might go back and do parts 1 & 2 also- just something fun!

1. I laughed so hard I cried when... my mom and I were out shopping and she ran into TJ Max to return something so I just waited for her in the car. When I saw her coming out I pulled up to pick her up. Well there was a similar white SUV in front of hers and she didnt look very hard but she thought that car was me and she opened this guys car door about to get in. I laughed so hard I could barely see straight. Could you imagine his face? LOL!

2. My high school... years were so much fun. Seriously- I have the best memories from high school. I have so many funny things I could write but no one else would think they were funny except for the girls I ran around with. Somehow we graduated with really good grades but I dont really know how ha ha! 
I was in AP physics (dont even ask me why or how!) But we used to take homework out of old physics books and erase the name and write ours on there. Didnt even matter what the homework was about. And we still made A's in that class. Im glad we wrote with pencils back then.
I slept in Humanities class every. single. day. I mean to my credit- it was one of my last classes, and he talked so slow and monotone. He asked me if my parents kept me up at night cause I could never stay awake.
I always had the most random jobs. One of my jobs was at Edy's ice cream in the mall and we would prank the other stores in the mall...like asking American Eagle if they had any more Eagle's for sale. 
Yep- see, not funny to you guys but I swear I would go back to high school in a minute!
 
3. It really pisses me off... when people dont use their turn signals. Gah, makes me so mad. Or when someone uses just enough toilet paper to leave 3 squares so that it leaves enough that they dont have to change the roll. Im not talking to my husband at all!

4. In ten years... I'll be FORTY. Say what? And Hannah will be 13, ok stop.
 
5. If I could erase one thing... it MIGHT be majoring in Sociology in college. Really, who majors in that? Maybe someone who had no idea what they wanted to do and it was easy.


6. In 1999...  I was 17 and probably worried about Y2K. Ok, I definitely wasnt.

7. Honestly...  I could eat out for every meal. Cooking and cleaning up afterwards is so overated. If I just had enough money and my kids could behave in public. And honestly I hate unloading the dishwasher and changing the trash bag. Weird, I know.
 
8. To me, Sushi... is gross and weird. Ok so I've never tried it but thats why, its gross and weird oh and I dont eat seafood. At all.
 
9. Someone really needs to invent... a receipt tracking system. Like a little key tag thing that keeps record of all your purchases from every store. Ive had to keep too many things just because I cant find the darn receipt. I mean we can deposit checks on our phones without going to a bank but Target cannot take back my $3.84 shirt that was on sale cause I cant find my receipt?!?
 
10. The one question I would ask God is...   why cancer exists.
 
11. Lindsay Lohan...is a total trainwreck. wow. 


Its almost Friday! We are ready for the weekend!

oh, owen

our lives have been so dramatically different these last 4 months, I feel like I have failed you in the record keeping department. Im doing my best to keep your monthly calendar up to date but one day we will explain to you that the first year of your life was far from normal for us. But with that being said, you are 11 months old (LAST Monday- but I did start this post last week!)
I must say you are developing quite the personality!! You are really coming into your own. There are so many things about you that I just cant get enough of. I love your soft, silky little bald head. Your toothless smile (please let some teeth come in SOON!), I love your precious chubby hands and those amazingly delicious thighs :) I love your voice, your squeaks, and even your shrieks!!
I am not sure of your weight- Im sure you're over 23 pounds by now but for some reason you still feel so much smaller than Hannah was. You are 30.5 in long.  I feel like you have definitely had the second child treatment and even worse because the last 4 months have been so out of the ordinary for us.
You are talking so much more, saying da da, bye bye, waving, clapping and pointing to everything. We tell Hannah its not nice to point unless you are telling some one where something is so she is always asking why you are pointing :)
The love between you and Hannah is just heartwarming. Even more now that its just us these days, you two play together, laugh together, and spend lots of mornings cuddling together. Hannah wakes us up really early every morning just to lay next to you in bed. Its so sweet, but I know you would LOVE to sleep a little longer.
I am terrible when it comes to getting you on a routine. You still sleep in our bed, you have no set naptime, you nurse in the middle of the night still and well, you just do whatever you want when you want :) By the time I do get you in some sort of a routine we will be back in KY to visit and that will throw it all off. So whats the point? :)

Some things about you at 11 months old:
You will eat ANYTHING. Seriously, you will try anything and rarely dislike what we give you. You dont really love baby food to much any more so we just go ahead and give you table food at every meal. You dont disagree!

You are wearing mostly 18 month clothes. Some 12 months but 18 months is a better fit. A little big but you're getting there!

You are 31.5 inches long and we are thinking about 23-24 pounds. We will find out soon!

You are still in size 4 diapers- you could probably move up to 5's but you are still good in 4's. Speaking of diapers, you HATE having your diaper changed. Its a full on wrestling match- and you are strong!

You still take a paci and are doing pretty good with sippy cups. For the most part you really enjoy water in a sippy cup but you could chug water from a water bottle- its pretty funny!

You arent walking yet, but walk around all furniture and walk behind your push toys. Im actually ready for you to walk because when we are at the parks or playing outside there isnt much for you to do when you cant crawl on the concrete. I might change my tune once you are walking :)

You typically take about 2 naps a day and go to bed around 8:30. We have had operation cry it out. Let me tell you- it did not go well. Hannah used to cry for 4 minutes and would be asleep. You scream, gag, and sound like your choking. Its so sad. And its working- you still sleep with us every night. When will you ever like your bed?? Hannah is always really concerned about you when she hears you crying. She is a great big sister! She tells us you need your paci....if only it were that easy!

You still have ZERO teeth. And its been a painful process for everyone. You can see 4 huge bumps but they have yet to make their appearance. We sure would appreciate them to pop through!

Overall you are a sweet, sweet little boy. You love crawling, baths, music, dancing, peek a boo and sleeping with your mom and dad. I dont mean to complain, it does feel good to have your warm little body snuggled up next to me at night but I bet your crib is pretty comfy too, you should try it! :)

We love you sweet boy. I cant believe you are almost one. This year has been one we wont forget and we are so thankful you are our son.

 these two are two peas in a pod! and have become alot closer since the move- it has been really sweet :)

 Got him a new ride for being outside. We are in that weird stage where he cant walk but wants to move everywhere and the concrete & desert rocks dont really work well with crawling. He loves this so far!

 loves climbing on these chairs!

my little shopping buddy while Hannah was at preschool- not sure he loved it as much as me :)

I guess his head needed to be cleaned!

and she wanted to make sure he was warm!

this was his face after trying a pickle- loved it! Kid will eat anything.

 

Happy boy!

my first three days at home...

I've had my first three REAL days at home- just me and the kids. Ive learned a few things and also realized they might eat us out of house and home :)

I have LOVED not waking at 5:30 am and rushing out of the house. It feels so good to just wake up, turn some Mickey on, and drink {lots} of coffee

These kids might seriously eat us out of house and home. Owen is a HUGE eater. The kid eats anything I put in front of him. Which works out nicely because Hannah is so picky and usually wastes half her plate. Not anymore- Owen, the bottomless pit, will eat the rest!

Somehow we go through an insane amount of trash. I dont even know where it comes from.

The same cup of milk will get spilled more than once.

I will never get to finish my own bottle of water :)

Apparently- Hannah thinks naps are for the birds....Im working hard to make her stay on a nap schedule...selfishly, its an hour or so to myself.

Scratch that...Owen doesnt nap at the same time. I will get him on a schedule. I will get him on a schedule....well, maybe.

These two already have little fights. Owen seriously has a temper when Hannah takes something away from him. He wants everything she has. Its funny to watch both of them interact all day everyday. Hannah did meet a little 3 year old next door, so thats great too!

We LOVE when daddy gets home :)

I have been eating the healthiest I have in a while. There is no eating out with friends- so I am limited to eating things Hannah doesnt like so she doesnt eat my entire lunch :) The last two days were salads- and they were actually good.

I realize there might be days I wont get a shower until Jeremy gets home. And thats ok!

 Im also so lucky to have a husband who doesnt expect the house to be clean, dinner to be ready and on the table and everything else to be in order when he gets home. After all, he's lived with Hannah for the last three years....there isnt much you can get done :)

 I THINK I can do this!  Somedays wont be perfect. Somedays we wont learn a thing. Some days will be pj's all day. But at the end of the day, its what remember and how they feel thats important. And so far, so good.

PJ day!

she is so happy to have her daddy back

kid could paint her hands and feet all day.

checking her avacado seeds!

 

 new bike!

guest post: my mom

Here is a little guest post from my mom today. I had no idea how I would put into words the pain I felt when we pulled out of the airport yesterday. I realize we are all healthy and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that is before us, but it doesnt take away how hard it is to say goodbye to your best friend and the "granmommy" of your kids. Ive only felt pain like that two other times in my life- when my Bumpah passed away right before I graduated from college and when my dad was diagnosed with throat cancer. So to the average person I realize that saying goodbye isnt nearly as hard as losing someone you love or dealing with the awfulness that is cancer, but it was hard for ME. I felt so empty. It was like we were driving into this big city all by ourselves. Wait...thats exactly what it is. I shouldnt feel empty- I have the 3 absolute LOVES of my life to spend every day with but it was a weird feeling. My mom wrote a little post during her flight, which Im sure was one of the longest flights of her life. We miss everyone terribly- and I cant imagine how they feel on the other end. This morning Hannah asked me if I was sad because I was crying so much last night. Its hard to explain why. Even when we cant be together, we'll always have love and memories in our hearts.

Dear Hannah Elizabeth and Owen Craig,

            It really is true that the smallest things take up the biggest part of your heart. The day each of you was born my heart grew fuller than I ever thought possible.

That same heart is feeling a little wounded today as I leave you in your new home 1800 miles away. All of our hearts will until we are together again. And thank goodness it is 2013, because you are only a text message with photo, an emailed video, and a Skype away. Gramps would call that “Snipe.” Hannah, isn’t he silly?

            What joy it was in these last ten days to settle you into your new house. Owen, you crawled longer and faster, but not enough to wear even you out! The new playroom brought delight to each of you. Hannah, your babies missed you so much! You fed them, took them to the store, rocked them and read to them. Owen, you slept in your crib for most of a night! Hannah’s big girl bed is so comfy and roomy enough for a Granmommy. I have a feeling Daddy will be in there with you tonight!

            Your Mommy and Daddy have taken a big leap forward for you all as a family. Forward can sometimes take a zigzag route, like west 1800 miles! But your Daddy is well respected in his job and moving on up. Mommy has this time to spend home with you- be patient, sometimes she may feel a little crazy! But I know you have many mornings of Mickey, pjs till Daddy comes home, walks in the wagon, eggs and fruit for first breakfast, every snack in the pantry for second breakfast, jumping off the couch and on the bed. Keep talking to your avocado seeds. Check the water level every day. Which will you see first- root or stem?

            All of your family and friends in Kentucky feel a little empty without your bright eyes and smile, Owen. A few of us are wondering if you’ll ever get that first tooth! The next time we see you, you will be walking circles around Hannah. We can’t wait to meet you in the airport as you run around in a pair of new tennies!

            The Busy Bees friends aren’t the only ones missing you Hannie Beth. We wonder how Victoria is doing without you. You girls were truly BFFs, unless James or Liam was in the picture! Your Owensboro family wrapped you in love the last month. Wawa set up your new house with your Daddy- even telling the Easter Bunny where he could leave your baskets the day you arrived!

            There is a lot ahead of you in Las Bagus as you say Hannah. Story time at the library, days and days of sunshine (it really is a dry heat!), afternoons with Mommy and Daddy, and your first trip to Disneyland just 5 hours away. Your first visitors will be from your California family, the Knapps. As soon as Megan sees you Owen, she’s going to want one of her own!

Please pass this on to your Mommy and Daddy:

With all my love (and from everybody that knows and adores you, too)

Granmommy

 

finally....a vegas update

We are here- we are enjoying this BEAUTIFUL weather and getting settled in. We thank everyone for all the calls, texts, emails to check in on us. They mean more than you know. I keep telling everyone it feels like a weird vacation. I know once we take my mom to the airport on Monday, reality will set in.
We said some of our hardest goodbyes and left for Vegas on Easter Sunday. Overall the plane ride was smooth- Owen was asleep within the first 15 minutes. He fell right asleep in Lindsays arms. He is an awesome flyer! Hannah did great at the beginning- she
was SO excited at take off. Giggling and laughing hysterically at take off- she will be my child who loves roller coasters! She fell asleep and then when she woke up she had to potty and that started a meltdown. Picture crying in those small airplane bathrooms and her holding on to my leg screaming down the aisles of the airplane. Yep, that happened. It was awesome. About 40 minutes later we got her calmed down. A 4 hour flight is my max. Its LONG but doable as long as I have help :)
We stopped for dinner and got settled in our new home. I will say, we love the house. The layout is perfect and surprisingly our 3600 sq ft of stuff fits very well in 2100 sq ft. There is alot of stuff I wont put on the walls or unpack because its not our forever home but thats ok. It works perfectly for us. There are some nice shopping centers near us a few miles away and parks and schools in walking distance. We think we will like it here.
Jeremy and his mom did an amazing job of getting all the furniture put together and put in the right rooms and getting so many other things unpacked. Now its just about unpacking clothes, and getting things where they need to be.
All we have really done is unpack, play with the kids (which I am LOVING not rushing out of the house for work. Which is why it feels like vacation right now!), a little shopping, eating at our favorite places and really enjoying being back with Jeremy. We all missed him so much.
We are going to enjoy these next several days with my mom and then real life sets in. I know there will be times that staying home will be hard. Im afraid of being lonely and not being a great stay at home mom but I am grateful for the opportunity since I come from working 3 years with kids and dealing with the rushing out of the house, being tired every night and still trying to fit in laundry, cleaning, dinner and quality time with the kids and my husband. There will be lots of Vegas updates along the way! Stay tuned!!

Sleeping babes on the plane!

Enjoying the first ride in her car!

A little bit of Louisville in Vegas :)

Loved the wagon!

They loved finding all their toys again!

keeping this sweet boy busy while we unpack!

Lunch with Jeremy at his course- its fun to get to take the kids to see him at work

 an absolutely gorgeous day in LV!! You cant beat the weather...right now. Im nervous about the heat but you know, its a dry heat ;)

Helping us pack!

So hard saying goodbye to your 89 & 95 year old grandparents

she was ready to fly- in her Louisville tshirt!