ultrasound update...

My doctor posted the ultrasound results this afternoon, everything came back normal for pumpkin seed (aside from the heart which they couldn't confirm yet from the pictures they had to work with). That resulted in a huge sigh of relief from us!  The radiologist recommends another short ultrasound since the pictures of the heart didn't turn out due to fetal positioning. So hopefully my doctor requests another ultrasound...will need to call her tomorrow to make sure she does that...but looks like we'll have another chance to see whether pumpkin seed is a boy or girl...he/she better cooperate this time :)

20w0d

We had the big ultrasound this week...we had been looking forward to this ALL week. I had my regular OB appointment in the morning and I'm measuring right on track and the heartbeat sounded good.

Later that morning, we went to the ultrasound clinic and spent the next 40 minutes looking at our sweet little pumpkin seed. Unfortunately he/she was sleeping and wasn't in the mood to cooperate for mom and dad. We did get a few arm waves though...so he/she knew we were watching :)  The u/s tech was able to get some good shots but had trouble getting clear shots of the heart and outflow from the heart (which she said is more easily captured when the baby is facing up or towards my belly button). She told us that depending on what the radiologist thinks, there is a chance we will be called back in a few weeks to try again. The tech tried numerous times of poking at the little peanut to get them to flip but no such luck. For most of the appointment we either got the butt facing us or the butt in the air. She did get pumpkin seed to flip facing upwards to get a few profile shots but then it was quickly back to one of their two favorite positions. She didn't focus on any particular spot for too long and said everything looked good (even though they aren't technically supposed to say anything but Joe kept asking, "is that normal?" after every measurement...so I think she bended the rules a bit to give us some reassurance). So who knows. We should get the doctors comments early this week.

Next came the gender part. The tech was going to print out a picture and write the gender on it, then seal it in an envelope for us to open later.  So my monitor went off and Joe backed up so he couldn't watch the tech's screen anymore. The tech said even though she didn't seek it out yet, she did have an idea of what she would find, based on what she had already seen...but when it was time to get a good shot of that area, pumpkin seed played shy and wouldn't cooperate. There was a tech student job shadowing that day and the tech typed into the computer what she thought...the student agreed but was still hesitant to say because she wasn't 100% confident without being able to get a clear shot. So we opted to not know her educated "guess" and will hopefully get called back in for another chance...or we'll have to be team green until October, boo!

Otherwise, pumpkin seed is measuring right on target (within one day)....and weighing 12 ounces already which is right in the middle of where a baby should be at right now. The little heartbeat was a strong 135. We saw two arms, legs, feet and hands...he/she also looks like they have mom's profile.

I know I'm biased but here is the cutest little baby I've ever seen:

And two little feet and the cutest little butt that I can't wait to pinch in a few months:

And now for the regular weekly stats...

How far along?  20w0d or 50% YAY!!

Total weight gain/loss: +8 pounds (quite the jump from last week so I was a little worried but my doctor isn't concerned with it yet).

Size: Large Banana or Cantaloupe. Pumpkin seed should be around 10.5 ounces and 10 inches head to feet.

Baby Development: Baby is swallowing several ounces of amniotic fluid each day, which is good practice for their digestive system. Their taste buds are working now too (which means I need to start eating more veggies since studies show babies respond better to foods they've already tasted in the womb).

Best moment this week: Seeing our baby, it was our first u/s and so freaking cool.

Movement: Yes, I think so.  It is infrequent yet but sometimes when I'm laying on the couch or just about to fall asleep, I feel a whooshing in my belly.

Symptoms: No major symptoms, just noticing I'm slowing down a bit and get warn out a little faster. And my fingers are starting to swell a bit, the wedding ring is definitely getting tighter. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to wear it. Most nights I have run my hands under water to get it off.

Food cravings: Nothing new

Food aversions: None

What I miss: Alcohol...the holiday weekend and all the grilling out made me really thirsty for a drink.

Milestones: The ultrasound, of course :)  And passing the half way mark, I can't believe we're halfway there already.  SO much left to do...

baby poll...

Only a few more days to get your final guesses in...will we be team pink or team blue...or will baby be stubborn like his/her mom and not let us see?!?!?

Make your prediction now :)

we survived...

...the tornado storm of May 22, 2011. We were very fortunate to not have any damage and enough warning to take cover...the folks of North Minneapolis were not as fortunate. Our day started out as normal, I started laundry and we made a trip to Target for groceries. We even went to lunch for our nephew's birthday at Applebee's. We had not watched the news that day so we had no clue severe weather was a possibility. We just had spurts of downpours, no big deal, right? While at Applebee's, Mark was checking his phone and said more rain was coming so we better get to our trucks while it was clear. We headed home from there around 1:30pm. Joe had planned to go golfing with a buddy at noon but with the rain, they had to push it out until it cleared. When we got home, he was kinda crabby that he couldn't go golfing yet...so he headed downstairs to play xbox.  I got comfy and planned to catch up on some DVR shows. As I was picking up the kitchen, Shiloh needed to go out...I thought I better get her out before the rain hits again. This was probably around 2:15pm. As she was outside, the sirens started...I thought it was kinda strange but figured it was just a thunderstorm warning and they were just being cautious...then the emergency alert system came on and started beeping and said there was a tornado warning for Anoka county...I was like what?!?!? Finally the news came on with a doppler radar, there was a tornado on the ground, near 100/394 and it's path was headed right towards us...I yelled for Joe to come upstairs. We then started to get blankets and pillows collected downstairs...and then we just waited and watched the sky. Joe started to see things that were NOT rain or hail falling and said we all need to go down now. That scared me because Joe never goes downstairs, he always stays upstairs watching while I head down with the dog. It didn't get bad enough that we needed to crawl into our designated tornado spot (under the stairs where our well is located, there are no windows and probably the safest spot in the house)...but we were definitely in the basement and ready to go in if need be.

After it had passed, I watched the news and actually saw the tornado touch down in Forest Lake, live from a traffic cam. Later they had live footage from North Minneapolis...so devastating to watch. I can't even imagine. I guess the Twin Cities hasn't seen this much damage since a storm in 1981. The rest of the afternoon was pretty clear and by dinner time, it was sunny and clear skies. We took Shiloh for a walk after dinner and we found red shingles on our street...no one near us has red shingles...so we knew it was likely that tornado storm had come very close to us...and thankfully it didn't touch down or resurface near us. During the storm, there were possible sightings near Blaine and Ham Lake, which had our family and friends worried...but we haven't seen or heard much about it, so it must not have developed into anything major. I've only seen pictures of debris on the news from our area, so we lucked out again!

I know we are not in the clear yet...they predicted an above average tornado season this year. And with the spring warm up occurring so late, we've only just begun :o/

19w0d

How far along?  19w0d or 47.5%

Total weight gain/loss: +5.8 pounds (down slightly from last week)

Size: Mango or Heirloom Tomato...weighing about 8.5 ounces and 6 inches from head to bottom.

Baby Development: Pumpkin seed may have hair on her scalp sprouting (although if she takes after me, she will be bald until the age of 2). This is a crucial time for sensory development with her brain designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch.      

Best moment this week: I finally got around to getting our pro pics from the wedding printed (yes, I know it's REALLY over due). I bought a Groupon for mixbook.com a few months ago and used that to make a book with almost 400 of the pictures we liked. It arrived this week and looks pretty darn snazzy, if you ask me :) I'm glad this is out of the way, my next non-baby project is to organize the non pro pics (at least 800+ of them, oy!) we have into photo albums...must be done before baby arrives or it will never get done!

Movement: I think I've felt something a few times but I'm not really sure...might be too early yet or just wishful thinking :)

Symptoms: None.

Food cravings: Nothing new really.

Food aversions: Nothing major, I'm really lucky so far! I'm also finally able to eat the lunch I pack most days now and not venturing to the cafeteria to see if anything looks better there...I'm getting used to not having my standard lunch: ham sandwich, chips, banana and diet coke (which I've eaten every day for YEARS now). I miss them so much.

What I miss: see above.

Milestones: Ummm...I'm kinda embarrassed to be admitting this but we test drove a mini van this week. Yes, I swore up and down, over my dead body, I would NEVER drive a mini van. But heading to WI last week (and with some out of town trips coming up the next few weekends), we've realized we can barely fit the two of us and Shiloh in my car (she has to ride in her kennel or she never settles down). We can all fit in the truck but it's a serious gas guzzler...and at $3.79+ per gallon (and who knows what it will rise to in the future), when you only get 11-12 miles to the gallon (and maybe 14 on the highway)...the math just doesn't work for us anymore. But honestly, the newer mini vans are pretty sweet and we'll easily be able to fit 2 kids (when it gets to that point) and Shiloh no problem. Feel worst for Joe, he has to trade in his beloved truck since my car is free and clear, doesn't make sense to have 2 car payments again when my car is running just fine (knocky-knock on wood!)

We are heading north this weekend, we are leaving tonight and staying at my FIL's house to visit since it's been forever since we've been up there.  Then tomorrow morning, we will leave Shiloh with Vern and head up to Winger to celebrate Joe's Grandma's 85th birthday! We'll spend the afternoon with her and family, eat dinner at the potluck celebration and then head back to Vern's for the night. We'll head back home on Sunday. The trek to Winger is about 5 hours one way and thankfully Vern's is almost half way, so it will really break up the drive for us.

Now changing the subject drastically, the big hype this week (in case you've been living under a rock) is that the world is ending tomorrow. While I know it's crazy (I believe we won't have a clue when the world does end someday), I thought I would share this CRUCIAL information. The CDC actually has posted this on their website, too funny...but you just never know when the world might be taken over by zombies...it's never foolish to be prepared for anything, LOL!  Enjoy, happy Friday everyone!

http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp


 

18w0d

How far along?  18w0d or 45%

Total weight gain/loss: +6 pounds

Size: Sweet Potato!  He is 5.5 inches and 7 ounces.

Baby Development: Pumpkin seed is becoming much more mobile this week, passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing.          

Best moment this week: No big exciting moments for this week, just patiently waiting to feel some movement!!

Movement: Nothing yet.

Symptoms: None.

Food cravings: Nothing new really.

Food aversions: Nothing that I remember.

What I miss: Jimmy John's

Milestones: We visited and toured our first day care facility!  We still want to look at a few more but we liked what we saw (aside from the price, yikes!!)

It was a pretty uneventful week for us, looking forward to the weekend though!  So glad it's here :)

a great weekend...

I had one of the best weekends in such a long time…it was very busy but jammed packed with fun! We kicked it off by picking up my sister from the airport. That afternoon, my parents arrived and we had a quick dinner before heading to the University of Minnesota for Jim’s graduation! Yes, my baby brother is now a college graduate…where does the time go?!? It was a long ceremony but it was for the 1,200 students in the College of Science & Engineering, so it was expected. We also got the surprise last minute speech from Amy Klobuchar, our US State Senator. She gave a really great and inspirational speech and what a cool person to have at your graduation. I have never attended a graduation with anyone quite that "big" before!

Saturday, Jim and Lisa came up to our house so we could take them out for a graduation lunch. We tried a new place near our house, Bricks, and unfortunately had horrible service. Joe heard such great things about it, so we were quite disappointed. It took almost an hour for our food to arrive. Jim and Lisa had to get back to campus right after lunch, Jim needed to be at Coffman Hall for his concert by 4. So we had to postpone the graduation presents and cake until Sunday. We headed back to the house and some of us took a nap. After everyone was awake, we then decided to hit up the Blaine area garage sales around 3pm…I didn’t expect to find much leftover (since it started on Friday) but we scored some deals for pumpkin seed! I got a fleece Gap sweatshirt, Gap jean overalls, bath robe (with puppy paws), puffy vest and the perfect newborn Halloween outfit (includes onesie, pants, hat, bib, and socks) for pumpkin seed’s first Halloween. Everything looks barely worn…and all for the price of $7! Can you say SCORE?!?!? After seeing what deals you can find at garage sales, it's going to be hard to spend full price in the stores!

That evening, we headed back to the U of M for Jim’s final 7 Days concert. They sold out…they actually had to turn people away this year, that is crazy! And I’m going to be the proud big sister and brag about my little brother now. He sang this solo “This Side” by Nickel Creek. While he sang this song, I had flashbacks to a little blonde haired boy in a white t-shirt and glasses, singing his first solo ever, “Colors of the Wind” at his elementary Spring Fling (concert where the exceptional singers in each grade were selected to sing). It’s amazing to have witnessed how much he’s grown and accomplished since then.

And of course I cried at his concert (I'm such a sap lately, I blame the hormones)…his graduation ceremony didn’t seem so final but watching 7 Days sing their final songs (and the 8 graduating seniors who are some of Jim’s best friends)…just brought back my emotions of graduating from college. Just remembering how much your life changes in the first year after college and how much I missed those days at EC…made me sad for him. If you could erase the studying and homework from the picture, those were some of the best years of my life. I never laughed so hard as I did during those years…when your best friends were just a short walk away in the bedroom next to yours…and they were the best distractions when you just wanted to procrastinate even more...when you're biggest worry was the next paper or final. How simple life was back then!

On Sunday, we took my mom out for brunch at Majestic Oaks. It was delicious as always…Joe headed to his Mom’s afterwords, while we went back to the house to open gifts and eat some delicious cupcakes from my all time favorite bakery, Wuollet Bakery. That afternoon, everyone left and my parents dropped Debbie off at the airport. Joe and I then headed to our niece’s dance recital. Joe’s dad had driven down for it as well, so we all went together. Brandy did a fabulous job and is turning into such a pretty young lady. I can't believe she is old enough to be driving soon too! After her recital, we grabbed dinner with Mark, Melinda, Brandy and Vern at Wild Bill’s, which was very good. I will definitely be going back there again.

Brandy is the one on the far left.

It was such a great weekend, I was so sad to see it go. I had looked forward to it for so long...but my sister will be home again in July for the 4th and a family friend's wedding. I'm sure it will be here before I know it!

 

17w0d

I'm sorry this is a few days late...we had a very busy but awesome weekend...will do a separate post about that later this week! 

As of Friday, May 6th...

How far along?  17w0d or 42.5%

Total weight gain/loss: not sure, I was running late for work and completely forgot to check

Size: Onion!  She is 5 inches and 5 ounces.

Baby Development: Pumpkin seed's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, fat is finally starting to accumulate and her umbilical cord (her lifeline to the placenta) is growing stronger and thicker. She can move her joints and her fingers & toes now feature her own one-of-a-kind prints!

Best moment this week: Our first round cloth diapers arrived this week, it started to feel VERY real when our first big purchase arrived.

Movement: Nothing yet, they say 18-22 weeks is when most first time mom's feel movement, so hopefully soon!

Symptoms: None. Just feeling fat at the moment, is all.

Food cravings: I would probably do just about anything to get my hands on a ham sandwich. Also, I've been craving cheese lately...just plain Colby Jack, YUM!  It's been my snack of choice lately.

Food aversions: Nothing that I remember.

What I miss: Jimmy John's...I've been craving lunch meat this week!

Milestones: The ultrasound is scheduled! I hope that on Friday, May 27th we will know if we're team pink or team blue! Also, found my first stretch mark, ugh. Granted it's very small and would be hidden when I get back to bikini shape (I say when because I'm determined to get back to that after baby) since it's on my lower left hip area...still, it was hard to see. My mom got a few during her pregnancies and since it's genetic, it really was only a matter of time. I will try some of the lotions that claim to prevent them but nothing has been proven to really work. I read they do generally fade 6-12 months after the baby is born though, so hopefully that is the case for me too. Oh well, not much I can do about it...it's just one of the many sacrifices we make for our children, right?!?


I broke tradition this week, neither Joe or Shiloh made the pictures...this was about 5:45 in the morning and both were fast asleep in the room next door. 

vacation...

I finally found the cord so I could download pictures from our vacation to my computer...just a heads up, we took over 650 pictures (Joe is snappy happy, a step above camera happy) but I will try to condense it down for you...this post ended up taking me 3 days to complete, so here it goes!

Wednesday, April 20th
At the airport, getting ready to board the plane...we're headed to Vegas baby!

After we arrived in Vegas around 5:45 pm local time, we took the shuttle to the rental car location and picked up our car (after haggling with the counter guy for 15 minutes, he kept trying to upgrade us for "only" a few hundred bucks or get us to prepay the gas)...we finally walked out with what we originally paid for and our next stop was the Golden Nugget in Laughlin, NV!

It was about a 2 hour trip, which brought us into town around 9pm. We checked in and grabbed a late dinner...and I was exhausted since it was really 11pm our time. I took a shower and went to bed, while Joe hit the casino floor. It was pretty quiet there, so he couldn't play craps...and lost all the money he took down for the night on slots.

Thursday, April 21st

We woke up early, since we were still on MN time and this was our view...right along the Colorado River, it was so pretty!

We got ready and checked out of our hotel. We then planned to go down the street to the Riverside Casino, in hopes to take the morning boat cruise along the river. But as we approached our rental car in the ramp, Joe noticed the front tires of our rental were COMPLETELY bald (it was a 2010 Toyota Camry with 47k miles)!! The mileage should have tipped us off but who thinks to check the tires...we didn't notice it when we picked up since it was super dark in the rental garage and we're both pretty tired from the flight.

So Joe called the 800 number to see if we could exchange the car...they didn't have a location in Laughlin but they did in Phoenix. They said to just bring it in there and we could do an exchange at no extra cost, which was a relief...but we still had another 3.5 hours to Phoenix to go! That drive was a little nerve-wracking but we made it with no incidents.

After dealing with the car, we drove down to the Riverside Casino to get tickets for the boat cruise on the Colorado River...when we arrived at the ticket office, she couldn't get the computer to work. She told us to come back 15 minutes before the cruise, she guaranteed we would get tickets...so off we went to kill an hour or two in the casino...

After walking around the casino for a while, we headed back to the ticket office. Unfortunately, the 10:30 cruise had been canceled, due to an emergency down the river. They had to lower the water levels for some reason and it was too shallow for the cruise. So instead of wasting another 2 hours for a "maybe" 12:30 cruise, we just decided to head to Phoenix. Here is what we mostly saw along the way...lots of brown!

Once we got into town, we headed straight the airport and exchanged our car for a much newer and nicer ride, a 2011 Nissan Ultima with only 5,000 miles! We drove to my sister's condo and then went out to dinner with her and Trevor for burgers at Island's, YUM! It is my favorite place to eat when I visit her!

Friday, April 22nd

We headed north with Debbie and went to visit Sedona, which is just beautiful! We had lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant (which is also where I realized that rice makes me gag!) and hit the shops of Sedona for some souvenirs. We also stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a chapel up in the red rocks of Sedona.

This is someone's house...worth like $15M!!

One of Joe's many random snaps...

Saturday, April 23rd


Joe got up bright and early to hit a local golf course...walk-ins had to arrive by 5:30! It was too early for me to tag along, I slept in that morning. I wish I had gone though, he ended up getting a hole in one, it was the 11th hole, par 3 (149 yards). Here is a pic of the ball and club he used to get it...he also is getting his name in the local paper and gets a box from Callaway to store his hole-in-one golf ball...

After Joe got home, we had a lazy morning and early afternoon and spent some time by the pool at Debbie's condo...

Later that afternoon, Debbie headed to a family get together with Trevor's family, while we checked out Pinnacle Peak for a hike! We made it up the peak about a 1/2 mile...which doesn't sound like much but when it's an uphill dirt path the entire way, 90 degrees outside and you're pregnant, it's quite the accomplishment :)

What we're about to climb...

A very large rock...

 Our view from the top!

 The 1/2 mile marker we stopped at...24...awww

 On the way back down, we passed a man that told us to watch out 

for the rattlesnake between markers 19 and 20...ummm, what?!?!?!  

THANKFULLY we never saw it...but we sure didn't putz around that area either!

 We did see this little friend on the way down though :)

Sunday, April 24th


It was our anniversary!  We celebrated our last day in AZ by going to Easter brunch with Debbie at Rustlers Rooste, it was delicious!

We were greeted by Horney the Bull

 To get to your table, you can either take the stairs or the slide...

Debbie and I chose the stairs, Joe took the slide!

 Joe got me chocolate covered strawberries for our anniversary from the chocolate fountain!

After we said our goodbyes, we headed north on the 5 hour trip back to Las Vegas. Along the way, we checked out Hoover Dam...talk about AMAZING! I knew it was going to be huge...but not THAT huge, WOW!!!

 Look how low the water was...the white area is how high it's been in the past.  This river supplies water to 7 states in the southwest and there continues to be a serious water problem there (the river continues to drop).

And we finally made it to Vegas, we can see the strip as we arrive!

We dropped off our rental, took the shuttle back to the airport and then hopped on the hotel shuttle from there. We finally arrived at our final destination...The Flamingo!  We got a great deal on an upgrade to the "Go Deluxe" room...and it completely surpassed our expectations (especially for what we paid for it, which was next to nothing)...we also got a room on the 24th floor (sensing a theme here??)...check this room OUT!

 Yes, that is a TV in the mirror of our bathroom...

along with a Bose surround sound system in the ceiling so you can listen
while in the tub or standup shower (we had both options!).

 One of the shops in our hotel...of course Joe needed a picture in front of it LOL

 After we checked in and unpacked, we walked down to Treasure Island to catch the free Siren of TI pirate show outside of the casino...

 We didn't get too many pics that turned out, we got there just as it started and didn't get a good spot...but you can see one of the pirate ships from the show.

 The Siren of TI Chopper!

 Yikes!

Monday, April 25th

We woke up and decided to walk around the strip and take advantage of some free sites/shows along the way.  The first stop was at the Ceaser's Forum Shops, where they have an hourly show about Atlantis and his two children wanting to take over his thrown. While it was educational, it was kinda cheesy. When I read there were moving statues and light show, I assumed it was humans pretending to be "statues"...but no such luck. Either way, I think it was worth the stop.

After that, we headed to the Mirage to visit the Seigfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. This wasn't free but definitely worth the entrance fee.The facility is a research one, so there are no set shows...the trainers would just hop between the 3 pools and work with the dolphins on tricks. We were able to get fairly close to the dolphins, it was pretty cool. Then we headed into the Secret Garden to see the lions, panthers, leopards and white tigers.

There was a self serve frozen yogurt shop just outside the Secret Garden that we stopped at on our way out, it was yummy!  They had like 15 flavors of yogurt and just about any topping you could imagine, it was awesome.

After walking around for most of the morning and afternoon, we headed back to our room for some rest...here is one tired momma!

Unfortunately, we apparently have bad luck with our feet in Las Vegas (remember I broke my pinky toe last year??).We were almost to our hotel and were crossing the street...we stepped off the curb and Joe rolled his right ankle. It wasn't super horrible but it got swollen and it hurt him pretty bad for most of the trip. But he pushed through the pain, so we could still enjoy the rest of our trip.

We grabbed dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville that night...I was super bummed I couldn't drink a real one...but they had N/A mango daiquiris, so that is what I drank and bought the souvenir glass that came with it!

Then it was time to hit up Fremont Street and the light show. It was fun to walk around and gamble down there. We picked up a few souvenirs and Joe bought a cigar from a place in Binion's...and the guy working was a spitting image of Horatio Sanz. Joe told him that and turns out, he actually is pretty good friends with him, he says he hears that all time. And of course there are some interesting folks down there (the creepy people that try to come up to you and ask for money) so I was glad to be headed back to the main strip and our hotel...at least the non-English speaking immigrants in neon shirts that slap the hooker cards can't talk to you, they just slap the cards at you. I can handle that, they are much easier to ignore.

Tuesday, April 26th

We started the day by taking a shuttle to the Bass Pro Shop and Silverton Casino, which was about 3 miles off the strip.  We walked around the store, checked out their huge aquarium, and got a free lunch buffet at the casino, then headed back to the strip.

We then headed down the the NYNY to get a replacement mug I had bought on our honeymoon that Shiloh managed to destroy. Then we went to our usual stops at the M&M and Coke Stores.

This may look like a statue...nope, it's a REAL person.  I totally thought it was a statue and wondered why all that money was still sitting on the ledge...until I saw his eyes moving around, totally freaked me out!

That evening, we walked down to the Mirage to see their outside volcano erupt.

Next we headed to the watch Bellagio Fountains...

We ended our last night in Vegas by going up to the 46th floor of the Paris Eiffel Tower to see the city at night. The first few minutes were a little tough...it was super high. But after that, I was fine. It was just very windy and cold. This was one of my favorite things I've ever done in Vegas, highly recommend it!

Wednesday, April 27th


Our last day there was pretty low key...we are really worn out from everything we had done over the past week. We just relaxed in our hotel room until it was time to check out. Then we walked around the wildlife exhibit in our hotel, which had ducks, flamingos and fish.

 John Edward had a show in our hotel...I soooooo wanted to go but Joe wasn't the least bit interested!

 Goodbye Las Vegas, thanks for another great visit!

 Very happy to be headed home!

When we landed at 11pm, we arrived to low 30's and light snow...coming from a week of sunshine and temps ranging from 85-90...it was quite the shock!  We got home after midnight and both slept like a rock that night...there really is no place like home (or like your own bed!!).


Thursday, April 28th
Joe woke up early and picked up Shiloh from his mom's...after a week of playing with puppies and stressing from being away from home, we had one TIRED dog...she barely moved from this position ALL day!

We really had such a great time, hope you enjoyed this very lengthy update :)  It will be the last vacation for us for a while, so we took full advantage of it! I was proud of us though...we were pretty budget conscious but also didn't hold ourselves back either. It ended up being an expensive week (despite what people think, Vegas is NOT cheap)...but it will be the last one we ever take with just us and was worth every penny...you only live once, right?!?