More of the same

Like I said in my last post, Phil and I were gearing up for the Las Vegas U2 concert. In a nutshell, it was more of the same, but wonderful too...full story below.

Thursday started with an early wake up call, packing of the car, driving to my parents house, more packing and loading of cars and driving, more driving, and then a little more driving...

My mom and I decided to drive to St. George separately from the boys so that we could take a side trip to Richfield, a small town somewhat on the way to St. George. We loaded Natalie in the car and went on our way. It normally takes about 4 hours to drive to St. George, for us, it took about 9 hours! We made a few stops along the way - to give Natalie a break, to play on the swings, to slide down a few slides, to hit an antique store, to grab some Wendy's, to visit my grandparents gravestones. It was a very special day for three lucky girls! We finished off the drive by a stop at the Walmart in St. George - Natalie loves people watching and man oh man are there some interesting people to watch at that store.

Friday morning, Natalie, my mom and I hit the hotel pool. Afterwards Natalie took a nap and I packed up the hotel room, when the boys returned from golf, we went to lunch and started the drive to Vegas. We stayed very close to the concert venue on Friday night - which was great because we were able to walk to and from the concert. We caught the last song of the Black Eyed Peas and while waiting in the crowd decided to try and sneak into the 'inner circle' - which is where we were for the concert in Phoenix (basically this means you are closer to the stage). Well, using my wonderful skills, I convinced the guard at the "door" to the allow us in. After some prodding he allowed us back (YIPPEE)! It was packed (clearly because the guy at the door wasn't just letting us in, he was letting everyone who asked in). We were close to the same spot we were for Phoenix and enjoyed a big chunk of the show from there. We then decided to move to the back of the GA area and take in the view. It was a blast of fun! We walked the long walk back to the hotel on a U2 high.

The next day we drove Phil and my dad to the Boulder golf course and then packed up the hotel room and prepared to move to the Excalibur hotel for the last night in Vegas. This was the cheapest room we could find on short notice (I failed to reserve a room early); but I don't recommend it. What I recommend is staying at the Mandalay Bay (which is where my brother stayed). The rooms are wonderful and while walking the mile back to my room made me wish that I had paid the extra $250 to stay there (almost).

Saturday night we took turns walking to the Mandalay Bay to watch my brother and his band play. Natalie fell asleep in her bath and didn't wake up until I was at my brothers show, which meant I got a call from Phil with Natalie screaming in background, so I ran (with my mom and dad) the mile back to our hotel room, only to find Natalie and Phil peacefully sleeping...

We woke up early Sunday morning and made the drive home. It was a fantastic trip, made all the better by the time we spent with family (it is nice to have a husband who likes to be around your family!). Natalie was a dream baby the entire time; never fussed when we kept her in the car or didn't let her have a designated nap, stayed up late and most of the time woke up late too! Glad we are home, now we can start getting ready for the cruise.

YOU TWO

Tuesday morning started with champagne and the bar swearing in...then a quick drive to the airport, followed by a short flight to Phoenix. The flight was delayed and the traffic was horrible, but we made it to the hotel in time to change clothes and then run to the U2 concert. Phil, Laura, Philip and I made it into the "Inner Circle" of the show, which meant that we got to be up close and personal with Bono, The Edge, Adam and LMJ.

Phil and I are gearing up for the Vegas show tonight and my mom and dad are babysitting Natalie. I'll update with more photos soon.

Update Time

Lots has been going on around my house over the past week. This will be a long post, so get comfy before you start reading...

First is the big news that Natalie has taken her first, second, third (well you get the picture) steps! She took the steps on October 1st and has taken a few more almost every day following. Won't be long until she is running!

Next up was a trip to the zoo & an addition to the family. The addition is Boggie Bear and he is great fun to cuddle with! Grandma brought him to the zoo and Natalie talked to him the whole way home!

Boggie Bear

Zoo fun! It was a little chilly, but sunny

On October 2nd we traveled to a friends house for drinks and snacks. About 10 minutes before we left Natalie had a run in with a cookie sheet and landed her self a black eye! Poor baby cried and cried, a little part of my heart broke! Our story now is that we took her to the play ground and "You should see the other baby". It makes people very wary of leaving their children with us!

Chilly walk home

Poor little mouse

We held Phil's birthday dinner on the 6th. It was fun to have family over, everyone loved the lasagna and Phil said it was the best Key Lime pie I've ever made!

he had already blown out the candle - so this was a reenactment

Natalie and I needed to return a shirt we purchased for Phil (aka Dada), so we went to Macy's. Well, you can't go to Macy's without traveling to the kid's section...so travel we did - and look at what we found:

A new pink & white track suit, brown and pink lounge pants & a jeans, shirt & sweater outfit. All of these outfits only cost a total of $19, and that was without a coupon! I know how to shop.

Sunday, we celebrated my 30th birthday! Phil, my mom and Ashley threw me a surprise party. It was a great time and I was happy to have so many of my friends in one place! (pictures are forthcoming).

My brother & Laura gave me a way cool gift, I'm now the proud owner of a Snuggie blanket, you know, the blanket with sleeves? Oh, it is cool... In addition to the Snuggie, they got me another great-big card with music! It has turned into Natalie's new favorite toy. She dances when the "Party Time" music starts to play! It is too cute for words!

This is her taping her foot to the music

Yesterday, Natalie took a trip to the Aquarium with Erica. She had a blast and was ultra cute in her new outfit!

All ready to go

Last night, after a quick trip to Jo Ann's, I came home to the delivery of this:

It is an "upright grand" piano and it was built around 1894 and it was my Great Great Grandmothers, on my fathers side. Isn't that so cool? It is in surprisingly good condition and is still in tune. I can't wait for Natalie to be old enough for piano lessons.

And now, just because I can...here are some extra photos of Natalie

Seahorse Friend

Chillin' in the high chair

Playing with Grandpa

So comfortable in her car seat

My captions for these photos are

1. "Come on - just give me the food"

2. "Yippee! I see the food coming"

Thirty....plus a few years

The love of my life turns the big 3-5 today...No shame in announcing his age. He doesn't look a day over 25; well, maybe a day or two. Plus, age is just a number, right?

Phil started celebrating on Sunday with beer and football. For the first birthday present, I arranged for his team to win. It was a big feat - the calls and money alone were staggering. Sunday night we had a pre-birthday dinner at my parents house. We feasted on ham, au gratin potatoes and yummy bread for dinner and a peach cobbler for dessert. Tonight (actual birthday) we are hosting a birthday diner at our house. Lasagna, garlic bread and salad for dinner; key lime pie for dessert. It is a big night, this is the first dinner party we have hosted since Natalie came into the world.

I'll update with photos later.

Happy birthday to one of the best husband/father I know!

Bottle...my love

Remember this post? Well, Natalie never did take a baby bottle. Clearly she is a girl who knows what she likes and won't accept an imitation; which bodes well for us in the future. (Can you hear the sarcasm?)

Well, enter our new nanny, Erica. She is wonderful, by the way, and we wish we would have found her months and months ago...so anyway, back to the bottle issue. At a recent trip to the zoo, Erica had a bottle of water, the Arrowhead grip and flip bottle to be exact. Well, my mom, who was at the zoo with Natalie and Erica, without thinking too the bottle and gave Natalie a drink. To the shock of everyone - Natalie sucked out water. Did you hear me? She sucked on the bottle like it was a bottle.

You don't know how happy this makes me. Finally, at 10 months old, Natalie has decided to get her fluids from something other than a boob. Rejoice! She drinks water from these bottles and MILK! I've decided that I'll naturally wean Natalie; which I assume will "naturally" happen by the beginning of the new year. With this water bottle on board, I can see the end in sight and I have mixed feelings about it...