Las Vegas Girls Trip

This past weekend I got to get away for a short girls trip to Vegas with Jen!  Our husbands are going to Costa Rica later this year on a fishing trip so about 6 months ago Jen and I started talking about taking a girls trip since they guys were taking a guys trip.  We decided on Vegas!  We stayed at the Mirage Hotel which was a first for both of us and it was wonderful!  We enjoyed pool time with adult drinks, walks up and down the strip, shopping, seeing Amy Schumer (comedian) at the Riveria and Cirque Du Soleil show "O" which was amazing, the animal habitat at the Mirage and a nice romantic dinner with a view at Eiffel Tower..oh wait!  LOL

Breakfast at BB King's BBQ joint in our hotel

Lunch at Carnegie Deli (this was half of the sandwich that Jen and I split!)

Miami Vices by the pool

Amy Schumer at Riveria

So Jen and I LOVE to play Wheel of Fortune in Vegas.  The last time we went together we won $1100 on the big Wheel of Fortune machine!  We were a little sad to find out that all the hotels had taken out the big wheels and replaced them with the smaller electronic versions.  Jen and I found our 'lucky' machine and one of the winning spins came up with 'Arkansas' as the word we won on so I of course had to take a picture!  We didn't win like we did several years ago but we had a great time!

(3000 = $30.00 on this machine)

Being silly with hats

White Sangria (don't worry...we were sweating so much that this pitcher did nothing to us)

Dinner at Eiffel Tower (our table was right behind us at the window so we had an awesome view)

Our view at dinner of the Bellagio water fountain show

Our view at "O"

front row of the balcony

Jen won $129 at one point on the Wheel of Fortune machine

Sunday we walked to Serendipity 3 and had a world famous Frozen Hot Chocolate!  It was yummy! 

It was a great time away with some much needed relaxation for both of us while the dad's spent some time with the kiddos!

Here is a video of the Dolphins talking

Here is a video of the Dolphins jumping

Taylor is 12 Weeks Old!

My baby girl is 12 weeks today!

She started daycare Monday and took 2 hour naps Monday and Tuesday when she got home so she is tired from the adjustment but she will get it.  Day 2 went better than day 1 as she ate more Tuesday and was nice and happy Tuesday night and all day Wednesday!

I don't want to jinks myself, but the last few days she has been so happy that maybe we have turned the corner with her tummy issues (seems colicky at times but nothing like her brother was)!  Either that or she is telling me that she likes daycare better than being at home!  LOL

New Milestone:

Taylor has recently found her hands so now I hear the sucking sound out of the blue and look over and she has her hand in her mouth.

It's so cute to go through all the milestones with a baby again!

I Love These Kids!

I just wanted to say I LOVE THESE KIDS!

Taylor's First Day Of Daycare - Back To Work For Me

Yesterday marked the day I went back to work from maternity leave and Taylor's first day of daycare.  Up to that point I thought "I can do this, I've done it twice before and it will be ok"...then it hit me.

She is still MY baby and no one will snuggle her or hold her like I do.

No one can comfort her like I can.

Is she going to cry all day long?...etc.

All the normal thoughts that go through a mothers head when she is about to leave her baby for the first time with total strangers!  Well guess what...I cried like a baby when I dropped her off (in her room! At least I made it to the car with Colton and Lauren) and some last night just thinking about it.  I know she is in good hands as we have been very impressed with Bright Haven and I knew if there were any major issues they would call me. 

This is Taylor Sunday while she and I were out shopping.

Here are our 'first day of school' pics

Lauren is 5 years and 3 months

Colton is 2 years and 11 months

Taylor is 11 weeks and 4 days

The good news is we all made it through the typical Monday and I'm only working 3 days this week so I get to snuggle Taylor all day Wednesday and then Friday I get a day with my girls as Lauren doesn't have school for teacher in service.  God has blessed me that's for sure!

Arkansas vs. Rutgers 2012

Thanks to my mom watching all three kids, I got to enjoy the Wells Fargo Sponsored tailgate with Kraig, Matt and Victoria yesterday.  Here we are pre-game.  Needless to say the Razorbacks are not great this year with all the scandals going on with the 2012 season so we stayed until half time and left.  I'm starting to think tailgating is the best part of the games with the way the season is going!

 

And here is my little man at my mom's house when I went to pick them up.

He is wearing my dad's hat backwards.  :-)  Little squirrel!

Thanks mom, dad and Katlyn (she got to 'babysit' Lauren and Colton) for watching our little munchkins!

Arkansas vs. Alabama - Taylor's First Razorback Tailgate

Yesterday was a busy day for all in our family (a wedding, school and people traveling) so Taylor got to go tailgating with me!  Since Lauren started Kindergarten and no longer sees Miss Janete from BH, we asked Miss Janete to watch Lauren and Colton while I went tailgating.  Lauren was SO excited!  I didn't take a headband with me for Taylor as I was just trying to get out of the house looking half decent :-) so I found this little headband in her diaper bag.  It makes her head look HUGE!  It was a pretty good day as I got to spend time with my friends and family, the kids got to have fun with Miss Janete and since I just stayed for the tailgate, I got home, put L&C to bed for naps while I watched the Razorback game from the comfort of my couch (while it was raining on and off at the game).

Great day!

My girls!

You can see Lauren had been crying because she was sad Miss Janete was gone and she thought she would NEVER see her again.  :-(  I quickly told her that we will see Miss Janete every week when we drop off/pick up Taylor and Colton and we will ask her to babysit again.  :-)

Chef's In The Garden Event - Botanical Gardens

Our friends Scott and Tracey Farmer invited us to the Chef's in the Garden Event Thursday night at the Botanical Gardens in Fayetteville.  Scott works for Filippo Berio Olive Oil and they helped sponsor the event so we got in for free!  Since Taylor is still nursing and Tracey and Jen were bringing their kids, I brought Taylor along. 

I wish I had a picture of our table...it was much different than it was years ago!  So picture the Judkins, the Rogers, the Farmers, The Williams, Carrie, Victoria and Victoria's mother-in-law.  Addy and Riley were basically twins all night and are at the age where they are on the go constantly so Jen and Tracey were following them around all night (while they ate their McDonalds Chicken Nuggets (smart move to bring that Tracey!)) while Austin stayed in the stroller and Taylor was being held by Kraig or myself.  At one point I'm sure people were looking at us like "I can't believe they brought their kids" but hey...when you are a group of 30 somethings with kids just trying to fit in, you do what you have to do...and it's such a nice outdoor event that it was perfect!  The event was from 6-8:30 and we were there from around 6:30-8 and then went home to put the kids to bed.

Lauren had a soccer game from 5:30-6:30 with soccer pictures at 5:15 so I took her to the pictures and game and then we left at 6 where my mom met us and picked up Lauren and Colton.  They got to go to dinner with granny and papa so they loved that!  I'm sure my parents worked in a few too many bites of ice cream but hey, that's just what grandparents do so I'm good with it!  :-)

Great night had by all!

Me, Lori and Carrie having fun and enjoying the food, wine and conversation while Taylor slept in my arms!

Love these girls!

Taylor's 2 Month Check Up (10 weeks old)

We took Taylor to the Dr today for her 2 month check up with Dr. Furlow at NW Pediatric Clinic in Fayetteville.  She is our little chunkster!  Here are her stats and photos from the appointment

Stats:

Weight - 13 lbs 15 oz (97th%)

Height - 23.35 inches (75th %)

Head - 16.02 in (75th % or 90th %) Dr said 90th but wrote 75th

She received the following shots/immunizations:
Rotateq 2.0 mL PO
Prevnar 0.5 mL IM
Pentacel 0.5 mL IM
hep B o.5 mL IM

Taylor I can't imagine our lives without you!  I'm so glad  your daddy changed his mind on having a 3rd child.  Your sister and brother love you a little too much but we are so thankful for that!

• still eating every 2-3 hours
• we are moving into the size 2 diapers now
• size 0-3 month clothes but they are getting tight
• sleeping schedule of going to bed around 8:30 and waking up around 2 am, going back to sleep and waking up again around 5:30.  You are following the same sleep schedule your brother was on at this point.
• still very fond of mommy especially at night and only wants me to comfort/nurse her when she wants to go to bed (from 7-9).
• still hates her car seat
• acid reflux maybe?  I asked the Dr about this and she offered to put Taylor on Zantac but I said I didn't want to put her on meds if it was not needed.  She asked what her reaction was when we thought she had acid reflux going on and we told her that just before she spits up she will cry and scream for 1 or 2 minutes and then once she spits up she is fine.  She said that normal true acid reflux babies will cry/scream for 30 minutes or so before they spit up so we decided to not put her on meds.  she did say that around 2 or 3 months is when AR gets worse so if we notice it gets worse we can just call her and she will call us in some Zantac.  So we will see.
• will take a bottle now but still prefers mommy
• I asked the Dr about adding in some Probiotics to her milk once she starts daycare and she didn't seem to think we needed to add any in since breastmilk naturally includes it from me...but I may ask again when we go for her 4 month check up because I was mainly referring to adding it to see if it helps with Colicky babies but once she starts daycare I'm curious if it would help her not get sick as often as daycare babies do.

Our little sumo child just like her brother in the pic to the right however, that was Colton at 4 months and this is Taylor at 2 months!  On a side note Taylor and Colton were 1 oz apart at 10 weeks and 11 weeks as Colton weighed 13 lbs 14 oz at 11 weeks old.  Up to this point, I have said I think Taylor looks like Colton but her hair is starting to lighten up and I'm seeing more of Lauren in her facial features than Colton but she is a chunk like Colton was.  :-)  Maybe she will turn into a Blondie like me!!!!

We love you baby girl!!!!!!

Taylor - 2 Months

I cant believe it, but Taylor is officially 2 months old!

9-5-12 

13 lbs 6 oz

Smiling and Cooing all the time

Rhett's Birthday Party

This is the year of the Boingo Bounce!  I think everyone we know has had their kids birthday party there this year, including us!  We were happy to attend Rhett Skarsten's 3rd birthday party yesterday and thanks to Lindsey here are some pics!

Birthday Boy

Lauren having a blast!

Colton after he ran and fell.  :-)