Las Vegas - Part II

Here are some pictures from my camera. I think that my mom has most of the good ones on it - I will have to talk her or dad through loading them to my Picassa site to share them!





Justin at the Silverton Casino - it also has a Bass Pro Shops in it with a huge aquarium. This night was March Madness giveaway; hence the basketball he's sitting on!














Uncle Mikey and Justin at The Elephant Bar












Photos by Justin......

Okay - I got the camera back now :)

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!!

Justin yelling "CHEEEEESSSSSSEEEEEE" at me!

When you lose your money - you go to the arcade. Although I think it was just about as expensive as blackjack!

Heated game of air hockey with Aunt Manda

Look at that form :)

Just before Mom started crying - the last night with Mikey.

Uncle Mikey and Justin making a smooshed penny with the M&M logo on it.

Daddy and Justin

Aunt Manda and I with our shots of Tylenol Cold :) Cheers!

The Hills 3-30-09

Hi there!

Sorry - no pictures today. I need to find the right cable to get them off of our MicroSD card. Plus I am STILL sick. Yes; that is since Monday of our Las Vegas trip. I was planning on calling the doctor today, but then I got a call from PALS that Justin was sick. He was clingy and fell asleep at like 10am at school - totally not like him. Then about an hour later he threw up. I went and got him and he was sleeping again when I got there. Poor little thing looked so miserable. Then when I put him in his car seat he woke up and was Mr. Peppy! He said "I not take a nap - I sleep at school". He was a chatter box the whole way home. Then when we got here he had ups and downs, but did not get sick again, so that was a plus! Rob came home around 2pm because I had more appointments to go to. I had to cancel 2 of them today - figures....a full day and that is when he got sick. It's hard not having any family in town when things like this happen! Oh well :)

This weekend we didn't do too much. Hockey on Friday and Saturday nights. They won both games so that was fun! Friday night Jimmy Wayne did a post game concert, so we drove separate and I stayed for the show. He put on a great performance! Saturday we went to Beila's 1st birthday party before the game. Justin loves going there and having a whole new set of toys to play with!

Work is crazy busy again this week - but I will try to get pictures up soon! We have hockey this Wednesday and Friday too. The Rivermen have been doing well and are right in the middle of the playoff pack, so hopefully they can win their last 6 games!

I know that people want belly pics, but I'm not so sure. I was looking pregnant for a while, now it's sort of changed and it's spreading sideways and I just look fat and ugh. I thought I was supposed to glow, but that is not the case! Maybe I'll have Rob take a pic soon....

Bye for now!

Las Vegas - Part I

Okay - so not Part I as in organized by date. These are just the pics that Uncle Mikey had posted on facebook. My pictures are still on my camera and I want to get some from my mom too...but here is a teaser and a recap of the trip!

Friday - Flew to Las Vegas. Justin slept the whole way - yeah! Very peaceful flight :) We got in late afternoon and just hung out, ordered pizza and waited for Uncle Ry and Aunt Manda to get there.

Saturday - Woke up and bummed around the house. Then we (me, Rob, Ry and Manda) went to the M casino - a new casino that just opened right by my parents house. It was really nice! After the M we went home and got the rest of the crew (Gramma, Papa and Justin) and went to the Silverton for their buffet. They had all you can eat crab legs...yummy!

Sunday - I worked quite a bit :( Other than that I don't really remember what we did? I think we took off to "walk the strip". We made it in and out of 2 casinos and then the 3rd one we were at for like 6 hours. Oops. Everyone was having fun though and not losing a lot of money (other than Manda and her $100 in 45 seconds!). Then my mom picked us up and we went home for Nachos for dinner and off to the M for a night cap. This was also the day that Justin woke up sick. Bad cough, runny nose, etc. No fun but he was a trooper and still had fun!

Monday - Uncle Mikey got here in the morning and we hung out with him. He wanted to sleep so bad, but Justin made sure that did not happen "No seeping Uncle Mikey"! We went out to celebrate Mom & Dad's 30th anniversary at a place called "The Elephant Bar" - super yummy food, eating out on the patio - fun times :) After that, Papa had to work, Gramma and Justin went home to hang out and me, Rob, Mikey, Ry and Manda went to Green Valley Ranch for the evening. We all played blackjack at the same table for a while - very fun! Then I tried 3 card poker for the first time. On my 4th or 5th hand I got a straight flush that paid out 40 to 1! I only had $5 out there, but it was $200! Then on the very next hand I got another one. I didn't know how rare that was since I've never played before, but now that I have never seen anyone get another one after that all week, I realized that I probably used all of my luck at that game :) Good thing because I had to cover Rob's losses... J/K honey - love you!

Tuesday - Got up early to go watch Mikey, Ry and Manda skydive. We dropped them off for their class and we went to McD's for breakfast. When we were there, a little girls came up to Justin in the play area. She said "my name is Sara, I'm 6 and my brother John over there is 8". Justin looked right at her without missing a beat and said "my sister is 4". We laughed so hard - I don't know where he came up with that one! Everyone who jumped out of a plane walked away unscathed, but the same could not be said for Justin :( He was standing on a bench part of the picnic table and he fell through and hit his chin on the table part on the way down and put his bottom teeth into his lip. I think I was crying harder than he was, but it looked horrible. I thought his teeth were loose at first, but everything was okay. Right after he did it we got the 3 minute warning before they jumped so we had to get him cleaned up quickly to watch them jump! I am such a worry wart....I was not relaxed at all until I saw all of the chutes open.

After skydiving, we went home and napped and then Gramma took Justin to watch Uncle Mikey bowl and the rest of us went to Fremont Street and then met Mom and Justin at the Sunset Station for corned beef and cabbage on the buffet - only they ran out of corned beef and cabbage :( Oh well.

Wednesday - We took Ry and Manda to the airport....Mom cried - a lot. Then we set off to find a pool. None were open yet since the weather was unseasonably warm, so we went to Target and bought a baby pool and some toys. We hung out in the sun all day and had a nice, relaxing time!

Thursday - Uncle Mikey was staying at Harrah's and they opened the pool since it was so nice out. We hung out there for a while and then met Papa at Margarittaville for lunch and walked the strip with him. We went to M&M World and saw the Bellagio fountain show. Then we met up with Gramma after she got out of work and walked around a little more. Then we had to say good bye to Mikey. My mom cried - a lot. So did all of us, but that's par for the course! We went home and had home made corned beef and cabbage dinner and then just packed our suitcases to get ready for the trip hom.

Friday - Our flight left at 7:50am, so we were out of the house by 6am. We all cried - a lot again. This time probably more than the other times since we were the last to leave. I hate being so far away and I hate that Justin understands he won't see them again for a while. On the other hand, I am so happy to have a family that we are close to and love so much that it makes it so hard to be apart. We love you guys and we had so much fun! We have to do it again soon....mabye in Peoria around the end of August??? :)




Justin in his new pool with his shark that shoots 30 feet of water!














Uncle Mikey, Justin and some strippers














Getting ready to take off!













The landing...















Gramma and Justin















Justin at the Mirage













Our family by the Eiffel Tower. I think this is the only family picture we took there - bummer :(




















Justin with the big M&M. I did not think he'd get this close to him!













The fountain show that was beautiful, but Justin was afraid of it....

We're home!

We made it home.... Justin and Melissa are still not healthy :(

I know that I owe a post with vacation pics/stories and I'll try to get to it soon. In the mean time I have a doctors appt this morning, a big job due tomorrow, 3 sets of submittals to get out and a $hitload of work that piled up while I was gone (even though I was working quite a bit!). Fun times.

I'll be in touch :)

The Hills 3-12-09

This will be pretty short - TONS of work to do and so little time to do it!

Just a few odds and ends before we head off to Vegas....

1. See pics below. This is the Illinois River. I am so glad we live up on a high hill.




Dad - these are the benches near the restaurant we went to on Sunday before your flight....











This is the restaurant building. The parking deck is flooded, but they put up scaffolding to try to get people in there because the Illinois State Boys HS Basketball finals are in town this weekend. Good luck with that one!

2. Did you hear about the shooting rampage in Alabama? One of the places he went was Reliable Metal Products - that is one of our manufacturing facilities. Luckily he only shot himself there and did not hurt or kill any employees. I still can't imagine seeing that - I would be traumatized. They all knew him too because used to work there.

3. Speaking of crazy people... I got a call from my boss this afternoon telling me that Mark Marzinzik has filed suit against Thermosystems. He is so stupid. He's trying to sue for wrongful discharge or something - basically insinuating he had an employment contract. We all have to sign the magic book when we start that basically says we are "at will" employees and all management decisions are final. He is also stating that me moving to Peoria was not a part of his employment agreement and that it violated him by reducing his salary...blah, blah, blah. They said that it should not get too far because they have back up in his file with so many reasons he could be fired. He's just a dumbass. Now rather than pay him what commissions he had coming they will probably spend it in legal fees and he'll get nothing. I hate that guy and do not miss him one bit!!!!

4. Did I mention we're going to Vegas? We leave at 1:45pm. I better get my work finished....I have not even started packing. At all. Oops.

Letter from Justin...

Dear Gramma Airplane & Papa,

You might want to set your Tivo today to start recording some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins and Handy Manny. Don't forget - I usually get up around 7am which will be 5am at your house. Having something for me to watch might let you catch a few more zzzzz's in the morning :) My mom and dad are planning on sleeping in as much as possible; even if that means 8am!

See you in 2 days!!!!!

Love,
Justin

Sitting in the sun with a cold drink.....

.....even if it is H₂O :)

I have been trying not to look at the weather, becuase it's been predicting cooler temps while we're in Vegas. I decided to look today though and I like what I see! Hopefully this does not change!!!!!



FriMar 13
Sunny
High: 69° Low: 45°
Chance of rain: 0%

SatMar 14
Mostly Sunny
High: 73° Low: 47°
Chance of rain: 0%

SunMar 15
Sunny
High: 74° Low: 49°
Chance of rain: 0%

MonMar 16
Sunny
High: 75° Low: 51°
Chance of rain: 0%

TueMar 17
Mostly Sunny
High: 79° Low: 50°
Chance of rain: 0%

WedMar 18
Mostly Cloudy
High: 80° Low: 51°
Chance of rain: 0%

ThuMar 19
Mostly Cloudy
High: 80° Low: 51°
Chance of rain: 0%

30 years....

HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY PAPA & GRAMMA AIRPLANE!!!!!

The boys and I are so lucky to have parents who have loved each other through thick and thin, in good times and in bad, for richer for poorer and everything in between! You have set such a good example for us of what a true marriage is and a lot of kids don't have that example growing up. We have so many great memories and can't wait to make many more!!!!!

We love you so much and can't wait to see you on Friday!!!!!!!!! 3 more days :)

Last night we told Justin to make silly faces to put on the blog for Gramma & Papa's special day - here is what he came up with ~ enjoy :)

15 weeks today!

Here is the 15 week size comparison. For my special friend (read: Katie) - the apple represents the baby and the quarter is simply for comparison purposes :) J/K...you know I love you!

Nothing really new to report. Katie & Josh came over for dinner tonight; we grilled ghetto kabobs (grilled veggies and chicken and steak less the skewers) over rice....yummy! It was 60 degrees and beautiful out! I hope it stays this way for a while!

Have a good weekend!

The Hills 3-4-09

Hello! Nothing much new to report here - just thought I'd check in!

I was in Chicago Monday & Tuesday for work. I had to go over some stuff with accounting in regards to old Mark jobs and our regional sales manager for one of our big manufacturers was in town. We went out to eat on Monday night with him and I had really yummy whitefish! I would never spend $28.95 on whitefish, but since they were drinking wine that was $14/glass I didn't feel bad :) I am getting used to the drive up there and back. It's long, but I actually can get a lot of phone calls caught up and talk to customers!

I was reading one of the magazines they gave me with my "bag" from the first pre-natal appointment. One of the things in there was how pregnant women are not supposed to eat cold deli meat. I never knew this! I knew that sushi, some cheese, etc were out, but deli meat? I hope the pound or two of hard salami I ate and craved was okay during the first trimester! I never stayed away from cold deli meat when I had Justin. In fact, I had Subway at least 4 times a week for a couple of months! Has anyone heard of this? Now that I know I'm not supposed to have it, I'm craving hard salami again :)

I am soooo excited for Las Vegas! I wish I could leave my cell phone at home, but oh well. It's easier to take calls when sitting out on the patio in the sunshine! I hope it's warm out!!!

We got Justin rollerblades last weekend. He loves ice skating, but we don't get to go nearly as much as he'd like to. The rollerblades work out perfectly because he can "roll" around our main floor since it's all hardwood. It's the same idea as ice skates, so it should help his balance. He likes to skate by the fireplace so he can look at himself in the refelction with his skates/helmet/gloves/stick. He makes faces and motions like the real hockey players do :) So cute - I'll get pics/video up soon!

I can not wait to find out if we're having a boy or a girl!!!! I wish we could go now and find out. Some baby books say that if the baby is in the right position they can tell at 15 weeks, but my doc does not do it until the 20 week ultrasound in which they also do a full ultrasound and measurements. So looks like mid april sometime we can find out. I have an appointment the Monday after we get back from Vegas, but this one is just more bloodwork. It's the test where they check for Downs, Spina Bifida, etc. Rob and I talked about it and were not sure if we were going to do it or not. At this point, even if the test came back and said that there was a 30% chance or whatever that the baby could have one of the diseases, we still would not terminate the pregnancy. It's too far along and even a 50/50 would mean that you have a 50% chance at a perfectly healthy baby. I'm still torn on even doing the test, but I think we will and just hope that it comes back good! I don't have any of the warning signs - family history of mental retardation (some might dispute that!), over 35, and a bunch of other things that they list. We'll just hope for the best!!!

Okay - I have to get some work done. Tonight is another Rivermen game. This time it's a group even with our local ASHRAE chapter. I am still keeping our seats though...not sure I want to hang out with them the whole game :) We do get a dinner in the club room before the game - should be better than the concession stand food!

Have a great day!