Vegas - Day 1

I finally flew the coop this weekend & am headed to Vegas. No child, no husband. Just me.....and my Mama Tribe. Seriously - I have been looking SO forward to this weekend getaway ever since we started talking about it back in October. No kids, no alarm clock, no whining, no one "needing" me, going to the bathroom in peace - you know, the type of weekend dreams are made of.

We had a little issue with our flight out to Vegas being delayed so we headed to a restaurant in the airport, ordered brunch, a cocktail & made the best of our 2 hour flight delay.

We finally were able to board our flight & by then these Mama's were READY!!!

VEGAS here we come :)

 

The flight attendants are always so fun on Southwest flights to Vegas. One of the ladies asked us what we wanted to drink & of course we ordered a cocktail. Then she asked us if we were celebrating a special occasion & we said "YES - a much deserved weekend away without our children" LOL :) I guess she was super impressed we were having a Mommy Getaway because she didn't charge us for our drinks & we had even ordered 3 rounds!





Right as we were getting off the plane we thanked her for the cocktails & she told us how awesome it was that we were taking some time for ourselves & to enjoy it! So nice!!

 

We made it to Vegas without any issues & had called for a Lyft to our hotel (which is much cheaper than an Uber by the way). We stayed at The Mirage & little did the girls know that I had a little surprise for them once we got checked in.

 

I had our key cards & we headed towards the elevators. I started heading to the suite elevators & Sara informed me I was going to the wrong ones. That is when I told them we were headed the right way & that I had booked us a suite for the weekend. It was well worth the extra money just seeing the looks on their faces!

 

We got up to our room & it was amazing. It had the remote control blackout shades, a living room with a huge flat screen TV, big dining room, huge master suite & master bathroom with the other bedroom on the other side. It was beautiful & we were all so giddy as we checked it all out. The girls let me have the master suite since I was the one that had gotten it for us & they stayed on the other side. I can't tell you enough how amazing it sounded to sleep in a king size bed by myself without a foot to my stomach or an arm to my face or a husband laying next to me snoring. Pure bliss :)

 

We had tickets to see the Britney Spears concert that evening so we all got cleaned up & dressed up before we made our way out to the hotel for dinner.

 

 (A little peek of our suite - us standing in the dining room & master suite on the right)

 

We ended up going downstairs & eating at a little taco place & had a cocktail & then made our way over to Planet Hollywood for the Britney Spears concert.

We got there a little early so we just hung out in our seats talking & enjoying the music & people watching. Eventually Britney came out on stage & despite lip-syncing the entire show it ended up being really good.

Her & her dancers were awesome, the light show & effects were cool & we loved hearing all her old songs.

She sang for over 2 1/2 hours & by the time the show ended we were ready to head back to our hotel. I know - lame. But hey - we had been up early, traveling, drinking all day & it was a 2 hour time difference so even though it said 1130pm our bodies were feeling 130am. We quickly figured out that we weren't 21 years old anymore - LOL

 

After we got back to the hotel we all crashed. Unfortunately I was awoken by my cell phone ringing shortly after I had fallen asleep. Shane was calling me & knowing it was 3am back home I didn't have a good feeling about answering the phone.

Turns out Mason had a high fever, was throwing up every 30 minutes & wouldn't keep any medicine or water down & Shane was worried. I tried to reiterate that he was doing everything I would be doing & to just lay with him with a bowl & a cool cloth on his head/neck. He let me go & then of course I laid there worrying about the both of them the whole night feeling horrible mommy guilt for being in Vegas while my baby was sick & probably just wanting his Mama :( Ugh I hardly slept a wink all night.

Of course we were all awake by 6am "Vegas-time" because of the time difference so we all got up, got showered & went to have breakfast. I filled the girls in on what was going on at home & they knew I was worried. Shane let me know that Mase was finally sleeping & hadn't thrown up in a few hours so I was able to relax a little bit after hearing that. I ended up FaceTiming with him later in the morning & felt SO much better after seeing him & talking with him knowing he was ok. 

Ok - I can now relax & enjoy day 2 of our Vegas getaway!!!  Bring it on.....

Rock Chalk

It's that time of year again....

....time to spend all our hard-earned money & buy ridiculously priced tickets for KU Jayhawks basketball game outings :)

We are getting this new year started by doing something we absolutely love - watching KU basketball.

Today was the 1st of these basketball outings & we were super excited to be at the game playing one of our rivalries - Kansas State.

The energy in this place was crazy & it was SO loud with everyone cheering & yelling. It was a nail-biter the entire game as the score was constantly between 2-3 points the whole time.

With 5.6 seconds left to go it was tied 88-88. YIKES!! Shane & I could barely watch what happened next....

The ball was thrown out, the clock started counting down. Svi Mykhailiuk had possession of the ball & ran down the length of the court, went up for a layup right as the buzzer sounded & the ball went in. Just like that we won the game by 2 points.

Of course there was a lot of controversy as to if Svi had traveled on the way to his layup but the ref's didn't see it or call it which was surprising because they were making BS calls all night long that were definitely NOT in our favor so we will take the "blind eye" & the W.

Such a fun game to be at & can't wait for more of these fun outings in the next couple of months!

New Year's Eve

It's the end of 2016 & as I look back & reflect on the year that is closing I can honestly say it has been a fantastic year!

My Mama Tribe & I ended up hiring a babysitter for the evening & all gathered with our husbands at Dana's house for a New Years Eve bash. Everyone brought an appetizer to snack on & there were LOTS of cocktails being made at the kitchen island. I may or may not be a Moscow Mule-maker extraordinaire :)

These girls right there = my Mama Tribe. 

I have spent 2016 with these ladies sending 1000's of text messages, pool time all summer with our littles, too many play-dates & movie-dates to count, talks during the littles swim lessons, impromptu gatherings at Sonic for ice cream & fun at the park, Mama's Night Out every couple of months, so many laughs, tears, hugs & love shared between us three. I honestly don't know what I would do without these two in my life & am SO looking forward to sharing another year with them. They "get" me. They "get" my crazy life & we all "get" each other.

Another one who "gets" me & my crazy is this guy.

 

He knows just how important those girls are in my life & never once says anything or hesitates when I tell him I am meeting up with the Mama's. We have had a pretty awesome year together & I love living life day to day & doing this parenting-gig with this guy. My rock. Mason's superhero. Best husband & dad ever & excited to see what 2017 brings us.

 

The night went on & there was lots of good food, fun dance music, lots of cocktails & so much fun had by all. After a couple of hours went by the pictures & selfies had begun....

 

 

And while all the adults were "adulting" & having so much fun ringing in the new year our babysitter sent us this picture of our little's having their own NYE party :)





We stayed through midnight & left shortly after as it was getting late & we still needed to pay the babysitter & drive home. It was a super fun evening spent with amazing friends & am looking so forward to another adventurous year with our friends, family & especially this guy.....

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

Cell Phone Dump

Last cell phone pics of the year....

 

My sons favorite past-time....Snapchat

 

 

Sweet Winston - zzzzzzzz

 

Coloring contest between my son (on the left) & his best friend (on the right). The boys are exactly one week apart in age. Clearly coloring in the lines isn't his specialty.

 

Jingle our elf making an appearance in new PJ's & a coloring book for Mason. Looks like someone has been good this week :)

My absolute favorite holiday baked goods - Peanut Butter Balls

 

Winston doing yoga poses :) The upward dog perhaps??

 

A little something from my husband! Looks like someone was a good girl for Christmas :)

A Spider-Man snuggie for Christmas from our dear friend Maggie & her daughter Katie

 

Walked out of work & thought they were filming a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock movie Birds! Was terrified by the site of all these birds flying around by my car!

 Afternoon snuggles with Winnie

They secretly love each other

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you & your family!

Well it looks like Santa made it to our house last night :)

We all ended up sleeping in this morning which I am very thankful for as we had a rough start to our night. I had put Mason to bed around 9pm & all day he had been complaining that his tummy didn't feel good. Since he was eating & drinking fine throughout the day I didn't think anything of it.

I had laid down with him for 5 minutes as I always do & that's when he sat straight up, looked at me, put his hand over his mouth & said the words every parent hates to hear...."I fink I am going to frow up".

And just as fast as he said it the projectile vomit came flying out of his mouth. I knew what was coming before the words even left his mouth so I had snatched him up to get him to the bathroom but it was too late. He proceeded to throw up in my face, down my chest, all over his face & chest.

I ran into Shane around the corner & he just stood there in awe looking at the both of us dripping in vomit not quite sure what to say or do. Disgusting. My sweet son had just thrown up everywhere & you know what he said? "Mama I'm sorry I frowed up all over you." Ugh that kid has a heart of gold. Then he was upset he throwed up all over his Christmas jammies. I assured him it was ok & that we would get new ones on & it would be ok so we both got undressed, jumped into the shower, got new PJ's on & crawled back into bed. He didn't have a fever or anything so I guess he truly did just have an upset tummy.

Once I got him to sleep this Mama poured a glass of wine & was up way too late wrapping all the presents, getting them situated under the tree & enjoying the peace & quiet.

Mason had woken up around 8am feeling just fine & was SO excited to see what Santa had left him under the tree!

We spent the next hour opening up all the gifts & he was SUPER pleased with all that he had gotten form both Santa & Mom & Dad.

Mason opened this present from Santa first & was SO excited to see what was in the box! Our whole reason for visiting Santa earlier this week was so that he could ask him to bring him this specific dinosaur toy:



 Santa also brought him the most sought-after toy of the season: a Hatchimal



The bullies enjoyed "helping" open the gifts too & even had a couple of gifts from Santa under the tree just for them:



 

It is tradition at my parents house that after all the gifts are opened we then all grab our stockings & see what is left in them. So that is what we do at our house also. Just when you think all the gifts are done being opened there is one last little suprise left...

Even though we weren't able to spend Christmas with my family in South Dakota, I would have to say we had a pretty amazing weekend making memories together.

Hoping you all had a wonderful holiday spent with those you love as well!

Merry Christmas!



 

 

Christmas Weekend

The Christmas weekend was supposed to be spent in South Dakota with my family but sadly we made a last minute decision not to go. Shane was supposed to be home Thursday night from his work trip & we were to leave Friday morning but they ended up sending him to LA so he wasn't going to get back until late Friday evening. I didn't want for him to spend the Christmas holiday without us so we opted to stay home & spend the weekend together with our little family of three.

Shane ended up getting home late Friday evening & he urged us to go to SD without him but I was not going to have my husband spend Christmas alone...especially without his son. So we made plans for a fun weekend & enjoyed the time together.

Saturday was Christmas Eve so we got up, had a lazy morning & then got ready to head downtown. First stop was Q39 for lunch - YUM:

Then we made our way down to Crown Center. All the years I have lived here I have never been down to Crown Center or Union Station over the holidays so I was looking really forward to checking it all out & seeing it decorated for Christmas.

We had SO much fun walking around looking at everything & got so many great pics! There was a huge train display at Union Station that Mason loved:

 

He also got to ride on a cute little train that took him around Santa's Workshop:

We had SO much fun checking it all out & taking it all in making memories. I'm so glad we chose to spend the day here & will definitely be doing a day like this again next Christmas!

On our way home this little guy fell asleep, took a good nap & once we got home it was time to make cookies for Santa.

 

We ended up making sugar cookies for Santa which is Mason's all-time favorite cookie to make. He loves helping roll out the dough, cut the cookies out & his favorite thing....ice & decorate the cookies with sprinkles. I just love baking with this little guy!

After our cookies were baked & decorated it was time to take a bath & get ready for bed so Santa could make his stop at our house. Mase put on his Christmas jammies & set out his cookies & milk for Santa...

Once this little cutie went to bed, Shane helped me get all his gifts up from the basement & set them around the tree. Shortly after, Shane had gone to bed & the house was super quiet. I poured a glass of wine, turned on the Christmas music & just sat staring at our tree. I couldn't wait for the next morning when Mason saw all his presents that Santa brought & open them up!

 

Christmas Party @ the Taylor's

I have an amazing group of Mama friends who I refer to as my Mama Tribe. We each have kiddos who are similar in age who have been the best of friends for over 2 years now. I have been wanting to throw a Christmas Party for the Mama's & the littles for a couple years now & this year I finally made it happen.

Everyone came over to our house where they enjoyed lots of appetizers, desserts & cocktails for the Mama's. While the Mama's hung out visiting, I kept all the kiddos busy by making some popcorn & having them watch the Elf on the Shelf & a couple of other classic Christmas cartoons.

Then after movie-time was over they moved over to the kitchen table where I had set up stuff to decorate sugar cookies & gingerbread boys/girls with icing & sprinkles.

They had SO much fun decorating their cookies! After they were done we set the cookies aside so the icing could dry & then at the end of the evening I packaged them up in baggies for each little to take home & eat!

Mason had way more fun dumping & mixing the sprinkles than actually decorating the cookies:

After all the  mess was cleaned up from decorating cookies, we all moved to the living room where the littles & the Mama's exchanged presents. The kids had SO much fun opening up their gifts to each other!

 

After the kids opened their gifts & headed back downstairs to play it was time for the Mama's to open our gifts to each other. I was having a hard time trying to figure out what to get these two very special friends & racked my brain for weeks. I wanted to give them something meaningful & two ideas actually had come to mind.

My friend Sara had sent me this picture a couple of months ago wanting to know if we could get together for a craft night & make this:

(photo credit) 

We had good intentions on getting together for craft night but for whatever reason, we could never coordinate a time during the month of Dec. So I decided I would surprise them both & make them each one for their Christmas presents as well as make one for myself. I think it turned out pretty darn good :)

I also ordered all three of us matching arrow necklaces. The arrow has been kind of our motto since we all met several years ago & have actually talked about getting matching tattoos of an arrow with our kids name incorporated into it. I just love what it represents -

Being a Mama we are all on this journey of motherhood together that can some days drag you way down. You may feel like you aren't ever going to get out of the rut but by some miracle you do (usually by the help of your Mama friends) & you continue on the journey....always moving forward.

So I thought matching arrow necklaces would be perfect for all of us:

(photo credit)

The girls absolutely loved their gifts & I loved what they gave me as well.
We all enjoyed exchanging gifts with the littles AND with the Mama's & will definitely make this an annual tradition for many years to come!