Viva Las Vegas

Last weekend Carl and I were able to head on down to Las Vegas, with Hayden of course, and spend some quality time with Carl's family.
I have always really enjoyed visiting the sparkling lights of sin city and when I was 16 I decided that Vegas was the place to spend my honeymoon. It turns out I grew up a little bit and realized that there are much better places to spend my time as newly married woman. However, it has still always been a fun place to visit. In the past few years we have traveled down with friends a couple of times and had a lot of fun, but I am slowly realizing that Vegas really isn't a family place, not for families with little kids at least.
But we did have fun this weekend with our family in their huge time share watching Lilo and Stitch,
Hayden taking fun baths in the fancy jet tub,




visiting the sharks at Mandalay Bay





and watching the beautiful lions at the MGM Grand.








It was the perfect amount of time to spend amongst all the smoke and glitz. I LOVE getting together with my baby's cousins and aunts and uncles and, of course, grandma and grandpa. It was a fun getaway for us. THANK YOU!


On a different note, Hayden is a very big helper around the kitchen.
Yesterday she helped me organize the drawers and bake banana bread. She is so domestic.



She is also starting to really dance when she hears music. This is the best video I could get of her, but it's still cute. Enjoy!

A week later..

It's been a week since Carl's surgery, and things are getting better. He can move around on his own again and he is back at work. He still has pains every now and then, but that is to be expected.
The surgery itself went very well! We got to the clinic at 5 a.m. where they took Carl to get prepped and prodded with needles, but he had very good nurses taking care of him and he ended up having a rather pleasant experience with the needles in comparison to what he has had in the past (a little Xanax helped.) At 6 a.m. they whooshed him away to complete the task at hand, I went into the waiting room and dozed a bit, and at 6:50 a.m. the surgeon woke me up and told me they were finished. So it was a very quick procedure. I was aloud to go back and wait for him to wake up, but man, seeing him all doped up like that with an oxygen mask on his face broke my heart. We spent a few hours in recovery waiting for him to be alert enough to be able to leave, and when we got the all clear, home we went!
My brother, Jeff, had stayed home with Hayden so we didn't have to worry about her, which was really nice.
So for the past week, this is how we have spent our time:
Hayden and her gang taking care of Carl.
Carl and his girls.
Here are the 4 incisions. Ouch!
Get better soon, Daddy!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Carl and I are so appreciative and love you ALL!

Poor Carlito

Carl has his surgery tomorrow to remove his gal bladder. He is not excited. I am not excited. But it will hopefully help him to feel better, so for that I AM excited.

My poor hubby.

I just want him happy.

I'll keep you posted on the happenings. Say a little prayer for him!:)

Pure Silliness

Seriously, could she be any cuter?
Here is Hayden in her big girl car seat. Yes, it is big. But she looks so comfortable and it's so fun to have her facing us now.





This is what happens when you let dad feed the baby:










And this is what happens when you teach about love:

Thanks for the cute monkey Uncle Brian and Auntie Flora!

Now for pure silliness, check out this video. It is so cute and funny!

It's Fun to Be One!

Yep, my baby girl turned 1 today, and yes, I had a little melt down after she went to sleep tonight. How can she be 1 already? But now that the emotional wreck has pulled herself together, I can document this weekend with a clear head. Ahhhhhh...

It was so fun to have our friends and family over on Saturday for a par-tay! We have the greatest friends to be so wonderful to us and our little sweetie pie. We attempted to get a picture of all the kids that came, but you know how kids are... Needless to say, we had a lot of fun with them and are so grateful for everyone who came to wish Hayden a happy birthday. We love you all!

Grandma and Grandpa Owens were also able to come down to join in the festivities. We loved having them here and wish we could see them and hang out all the time!(watching the super bowl)


Here is Hayden with her birthday cupcakeShe wanted to share

It's hard to believe that a year ago today she was born. It has been such an amazing year and such a learning experience for me as a new mom. I have been blessed to have this sweet miracle in my life. She is so much fun and I can't wait to spend more time with her and watch her grow. I can put pig tails in her hair and I LOVE it!!

I love you Hayden Lily and I hope you have many more wonderful birthdays to come. Now I can go finish crying....I can sure be pretty sappy.