Happy Valentine's Day

Layla with Grandma and Great-Grandma

Layla with Grandpa and Grandma G.

So girly!

She loves going in Auntie Em's jumperoo!!

Vegas Baby!

We got back on Wednesday from Vegas and had a great time! We missed Layla of course, but it actually wasn't as hard to leave her than I thought it would be. Thankyou to Joe's family for taking such good care of her! Vacations always come and go so quickly. I think half the fun is looking forward to the trip. Now I'm just excited for our next trip:-).

There is so much to do and see in Vegas. We just stuck around the strip. We therefore did a lot of walking. I chose fashion over comfort and did not take very comfortable shoes. I learned my lesson the hard way and got very sore blistered feet. They were so sore that I had to get new shoes, however, by that time it was too late and while the new shoes felt better, it still was painful to walk. I will now always bring tennis shoes along on vacation even though they don't look as cute:-).

It's amazing how much changes in Vegas. Part of our hotel was under construction and there is a huge new hotel/condos/casinos that is being built right now.


This was empty land between the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio when we were there 2 1/2 years ago. This picture was taken in our room at the Monte Carlo looking out at the Bellagio.

This is now how far the construction is now and this picture doesn't even show nearly all of what is being built. We are standing across from the Monte Carlo taking this pic looking toward the Bellagio. Maybe by the next time we're in Vegas it'll be complete!

I think it was about as cold in Vegas as it was here! The mornings we were there were sunny and the last day was nice and sunny, but still quite chilly.


We stayed at Caesars Palace...


We just had a standard room, so nothing too exciting.

The first night we were there we ate at Hawaiian Tropic Zone.


We then went to a piano bar at New York New York.

A couple that we met at the piano bar had two tickets to see Ray Ramano and Brad Garrett that night. It was their last night there and their company had paid for the tickets so they decided they didn't want to use them and gave them to us! We're always up for free stuff:-).

The next night we saw Mystere (Cirque Du Soleil) at Treasure Island. That was a good show!

Then the next night we were eating at a restaurant we went to last time that is close to the V Theatre and a couple there had two extra tickets to V The Ultimate Variety Show. Their hotel had comped them 4 tickets and they only needed 2. We had seen this show last time we were in Vegas, but like I said, we like free things:-). The show had only a couple of the same acts as last time, so it was a good show too!

We had to fit in one buffet while in Vegas, so we ate at Paris'...

We saw flamingos at the Flamingo...

We spent quite a bit of time at Planet Hollywood and the mall there...

Of course there was a Joe's. I think about every city has a Joe's. And on vacations I always have Joe get his picture taken by it:-). Unfortunately we ran out of time to eat here.

The Venetian...

In the gardens at the Wynn...

Shopping at the Showcase Mall...

We had to fit in time to eat at the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Forum Shops.

We even saw Elvis! :-)

Fountain show at the Bellagio...

Garden in the Ballagio...

The last night there we ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville...

Ok, enough boring details about our trip:-)

I'll Have What He's Having

My daddy's meal looks better than mine!


She still sticks her tongue out at times...

Her puffs don't always make it quite in her mouth:-)

8 Months Old!

Layla was 8 months old on Wednesday. It's hard to believe that in 4 more months she'll be a year already! Where does the time go?!? She had her Synegis (RSV) shot today and hated it as always. She's starting to hate the doctor's office more and more. She just hates being fussed with. This is how it went. I put her on the scale to get weighed, she cries. I pick her up, she's fine. I put her on the table to get measured, she cries. I pick her up, she's fine. The nurse takes her temp in her armpit and she has tears streaming down her cheeks. The nurse takes the thermometer out and she's fine. She then gets her shots (2 b/c it's in 2 syringes) and of course screams like crazy. Then she had her ears checked because she's had a cold and has been waking up during the night. She really did not enjoy that! It turns out that she does have an ear infection in both ears so I'm glad that we had them checked!

Last month I had put on here that she was 14 1/2 lbs. So when she got weighed yesterday I was confused when she was only 13 lbs 11 oz. Apparently last month I was confused. At 7 months she was 12 lbs 15 oz--not 14 1/2. She was 25.25 inches yesterday. It was funny that she was 13 lbs 11 oz b/c her birth weight was 3 lbs 11.8 oz--so 8 months later she has gained exactly 10 lbs! I used to hear my sister often tell people when we were out that Gavin was two months early and I always thought it was funny how much it came up. But now I find myself doing the same thing with Layla. As anyone with a baby knows, people always ask about babies and how old they are and such. I don't mind people asking at all, but I often do feel like I have to explain why she's small. I can tell when some people have no idea what a typical 8 month old looks like so then I don't feel the need to explain that she was a preemie, but a lot of people do seem surprised when I tell them how old she is. It happened three times at Meijers yesterday. I guess it's good small talk with strangers:-).

She's getting much better at sitting alone, yet is still tippy.

I think this new hat of hers is so cute!

My mommy is funny!!

8 Month pic with doll

Sickie

Layla came down with a little cold last week and has been quite miserable today and yesterday:-(. Poor little girl. At least we can be thankful this is the first time she's gotten sick!

These pics were from Friday before our shopping trip when she was feeling better.


I don't WANT to look at the camera!