Vegas Baby!

The strip taken from the front of our hotel (Harrahs)

So our trip to Vegas has come and gone and I am sitting here wishing that it hadn't. It sucks that you spend months (sometime longer) planning and waiting and fantasizing about a vacation and then in a blink of an eye it's over. Why can't it be the other way around? It's like making a turkey dinner... You spend ALL day in the kitchen, basting and peeling and washing and cooking, and after you put your masterpiece meal on the table, everyone dives in and within 15 minutes, all thats left of an entire days work is more work. UGH. (sorry for the run-on sentence!)

Anyways, Oh my goodness what a great time in Vegas! If you've never been to sin city, you need to go!

My big brother Jody and his beautiful fiance Casey finally tied the knot, and a Vegas wedding was the way to do it! 4 entire days of sheer weddingy bliss (and my first vacation since our honey moon 8 years ago)!

Day 1 - We left our house at 5:30am in order to pick up our travel comrads (Jody, Casey, Adam, Lubi) and get to the Bellingham airport for our 9:30am flight. Once at the airport we were greeted by 4  more travel buddies which meant the party was officially starting! All 10 of us boarded the plane full of excitment, anticipation, and of course, a litte booze. Okay okay, alot of booze. (for those of you that don't know, Dan has a small fear of flying so we had him pretty much blitzed before the plane even took off the ground)...

Our plane finally touched down in hot sunny Las Vegas at 11:35am (where we joined the rest of our 32 travel comrads) and we were in a cab and off to the hotel by noon.  We all did a quick wardrobe change ( in otherwords, stripped off our hoodies and sweats and slipped on something a little less comfortable and a little more revealing ;) ) and then we're off to enjoy the days festivities (being 2 nights before the wedding it only made sense that the first night in vegas be the stag/stagette).  So, the men all went one way and the ladies went another.  The events that followed are unfortunately top secret and will only be revealed via torture method. I will however say, if you happen to see any pictures of me floating around facebook from this night, the ones of me dancing around and or on a stripper pole are photoshopped.

Day 2 - Waking up the morning after the stag/stagette was a bit of a challenge. In fact, most parties involved did not see the light of day till the mid afternoon ...I on the otherhand was wide awake at the crack of dawn. Even though my head didn't grace my pillow until nearly 4am, my internal alarm had me opening curtains and throwin' on a swimsuit by 9am. While everyone else slept the day away I went down to the pool and lounged in the 36 degree sun - much to my surprise, the groom (my brother) joined me for a while too. Anyways, after developing a rather severe headache from too much "fun", followed by not enough sleep, followed by

too much sun, I returned to my room to wake the sleeping dead.

Dan and I sitting outside of Ceasars Palace

Day 2 was pretty much a "free day" for everyone so Dan, Adam, Lubi, and I decided to take advantage of the free time and cruise the strip a little. I really am in awe of how amazing the Las Vegas architecture is. Every hotel I went in to had something different and something amazing. Each hotel was unique and so beautiful. You could literally spend an entire week just walking down the strip, taking everything in. So much to see. My favorite hotel was the Luxor - I would LOVE to go back to Vegas and stay there.. so cool! We also made a quick stop at New York New York to ride the rollercoaster which was awesome ( of course). My shoulders ended up bruising a little which I was not a fan of but the thrill of the ride made the after pain worth it! ( I am a huge rollercoaster junkie!).

Adam & Lubi strollin' down the street

After a long day of walking, shopping, and sight-seeing, the 4 of us joined back up with the rest of the group and went for dinner at margaritaville. As it turns out, I Love margaritaville... actually, I just love margaritas. Have you ever walked down a crowded street in 36 degree weather while drinking a margarita? It's lovely. Anyways, after dinner everyone went out and hit up a club so again Dan, Adam, Lubi and I decided to take a strole back down the strip to see some more of the sights. We managed to take in the Treasure Island show ( which was totally lame because we were too far away to really see anything) and then we saw the Bellagio Fountains which were so incredible. Probably one of my favorite moments in Vegas. We turned in about 2am that night to try and get rested up for the wedding the next day.

The Wedding Garden Chapel

Day 3 - The moment everyone had been waiting for..... The Wedding! I wasn't sure what to expect from a Las Vegas wedding - the only reference I had to a Las Vegas wedding was from that movie with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz... I can't remember the name of it. Anyways, turns out that Las Vegas actually knows how to do weddings!!
I spent most of the morning/afternoon with Casey in her room while she got prepared for her big day. She has a couple ladies come in and do her hair and makeup while I force fed her a bagel and some fruit. Her hands were shaking so bad and she kept saying " it's really weird, I feel so nervous but yet i'm not nervous" She was funny. And SOOOOO nervous! I would have been nervous too had I been commiting to spend the rest of my life with my brother. I guess it's a little different for her though seeing as Jody isn't her brother... whatever, maybe that's a moo point. ( Did I use that right? Ever see the episode on friends where Joey says 'moo point' .. i've always wanted to try that saying out... i'm not sure how I feel about it now though, kind of feels weird and too random. Wow, if anything is random, it's this rabbit trail I am going down right now... okay, back to the story). Finally around 2:15pm Casey was ready and looking stunning! Jody and his BFF took a limo to the chapel ( just the two of them in one huge limo) and a few of us took another Limo to the chapel with Casey ( and by a few I mean 8 of us... it was so squishy... who got the bum end of that deal? Selfish men.) Anyways... we arrived at the chapel in one piece and that's all that matters ;)
The ceremony was short but really beautiful. At one point though it got a little uncomfortable when Jody tried to put Casey's ring on her finger and it wouldnt fit because her fingers were too swollen from all the salt in the margaritas the day before... umm, AWKWARD haha. Anyways, I somehow managed to hold it together and not make a crying fool of myself ( Probably due to the fact that Jody and Casey cannot be serious for longer than 3 minutes at a time and had everyone rollin' in laughter for the whole service...)

Jody & Casey walkin' after ceremony

After the I do's , we all walked from the chapel down to Fremont Street - another really amazing thing to see while in Vegas. Unfortunatley we were there in the afternoon so the light show wasn't happening but it was still a really cool street to visit! And the best part of fremont street... there is a margarita stand every 50 feet! Guess where our first stop was? :) A few of the people in our group found these gigantic football cups which held probably close to 50 ounces of fluid - they were half vodka half redbull... lets just say, those few people didn't last as long as the rest of us that day! Only in Vegas!

The after wedding dinner was held at the Gratto restaurant in the Golden Nugget Casino - the food was a'ight but the company was fantastic. There is nothing better than sitting down in a restaurant with a massive group of people who are happy and high on life ( or something else haha). Dan and I met alot of really cool people on this trip (friends and family of the bride and groom) and it was so much fun to be able to share this experience with all of them!

At Gratto after ceremony

That night the group split up and people scattered in all directions... Some went to see shows, others went to a concert, some just hung out at the casinos, but Dan and I got to hang with the bride and groom which I was super happy about. When you're traveling with a large group of people, all of whom are fighting for the attention of the same people, it can get interesting. I felt special that My brother chose to spend his evening with Dan and I when all his friends were there wanting to spend time with him too! Anyways... we just went back to margaritaville, had some drinks, late night food, and danced a bit - it was very enjoyable :)

umm... wow

me at midnight ..I haven't been up this late in years!

Jody, Casey, Me, Donna (Jodys sister), Donna (Caseys aunt) at Margaritaville

Day 4 - Sadly, our last day in Vegas. Not much to write home about from this day .... I woke up this day a little sad and a little happy. Sad because my first vacation in 8 years was coming to an end, but happy because I was finally on my way home to see my babies. Everyone from our party that was staying in our hotel met up in the lobby at 11am to checkout, then headed out for breakfast. We started off at Denny's but decided that waiting for 25 minutes on our last day in Vegas was just not an option... so we chose the next best thing... subway!! Mmmm mmmm good! Subway breakfast sandwhiches are one of my new favorite things! Anyways.. After breakfast, Dan, Jody, Casey, and I jumped into a cab and headed down to the Sahara hotel and Casino to go for a quick ( and I do mean quick) ride on the rollercoaster there.
If you ever go to Vegas and want a thrill... go for a ride on the SPEED at the Sahara. Oh My Lanta! I have never gotten off of a rollercoaster and been unable to feel my limbs before! This ride made me shake from head to toe! the rollercoaster goes from 0 to 70 (MPH) in like 2 seconds.. the entire ride only lasted for 28 seconds. It was absolutely insane. I didn't even realize what was happening until we were stopped again. Really, no matter how much I try to describe the ride, you won't understand. Just try it if you ever get the chance! So much fun!

After the rollercoaster, we all split up again and spent the last 2 hrs in Vegas on our own. Pretty much everyone just enjoyed a nice stroll down the strip with a margarita and took it the last few moments of sunshine... But not Dan and I. Nope! I decided that I wanted to use our last 2 hours to see miracle mile. So stupid. We literally had to jog to the shopping center because it was so far away and by the time we got there we only had about 15 minutes to look around before we had to turn and jog back. This mall is huge! 15 minutes doesnt even come close to scratching the surface. However, In those 15 minutes, I did manage to find a really great bag for my girlfriend Christina ( who took my baby for the 4 days we were gone, bless her poor exhausted heart! haha) so that kinda made the rushed trip all worth it. And then once we got back to the hotel, we picked up our luggage and jumped in a cab and headed off to the airport. The end.

Just kidding... You really think I would end my blog like that? Actually... I guess I kinda can end it there.. I've been writing this stupid blog for the better part of three days and I am kinda running out of steam! All in all, our trip was fantastic! If I ever get the chance to go to Las Vegas again, I will do it in a heart beat! So much to see, so much to do, and it really is just a fun city (maybe due to the margaritas?).

So.... when we goin' again?

Elephants Never Forget..... neither do kids!!

This is just a little story that I happen to find quite hilarious so I thought I would share it with you.

Brief Introductory
About a year ago (maybe even a bit longer than a year actually), My brother Adam took Evan swimming (at the time Evan was probably 2 1/2 - 3 yrs old) to a pool just down the street from my house. At this particular pool there is a small section which is just for kids. The kiddie pool is about 3 ft deep and has one of those outdoor little tike slides that drops the kids into the water from the ledge. Anyways, Adam took Evan to this pool often and they always had a fantastic time... until the incident.

The Incident
I am not exactly sure what happened on this disastrous trip to the swimming pool however, based on the stories that I have heard from both Evan and Adam it went down something like this....

Adam and Evan were playing in the kiddie pool - chasing each other around, splashing, laughing, all in all having a total blast! During their play time, Evan decided he wanted to try out the little "water slide" so Adam lifted him up onto the ledge and let him try it out. Evan loved the slide and went up and down, up and down, up and down. Finally, on what turned out to be his last time down , Adam made the biggest mistake of his life.... He decided to NOT catch Evan at the bottom. Well, Evan's feet didn't exactly plant on the ground when he landed - Instead, they slipped right out from underneath him and his head went right under the water. Adam was standing right there and lifted Evan out immediately so it wasn't a big deal ( at all) but Evan misunderstood. Evan thought (and still thinks) that Uncle Adam tried to drown him. Evan began to cry ( or shall I say scream at the top of his lungs) to the point where poor Adam could not calm him down and had to leave the pool and bring Evan straight home. So.. the fun trip to the swimming pool is now known in our house as "the day Uncle Adam threw Evan into the deep water".

The Aftermath
I mentioned earlier that this trip to the pool was over a year ago, and I also mentioned that the pool was right down the street from my house. What I didn't mention is that I have to drive past the pool anytime I want to go into town ( which is almost every day) and that Evan talks about this incident EVERY SINGLE TIME we drive past this swimming pool. It's been a fairly regular conversation in our vehicle so I can't recall every one we've had however,  I do remember some of them  because they make me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants ( granted I've had three kids so pretty much everything makes me pee my pants) Anyways.. here are the three funniest conversations we have had in regards to the incident.

#1.)
Evan: Look mommy, there's the pool where Uncle Adam threw me into the deep water
Me: Did it scare you when your head went under the water?
Evan: Yes, it scared me alot
Me: Well, What do you think we should do about it?
Evan: I think we should put Uncle Adam up in a tree
Me: Why? So that He can think about what he did?
Evan: No, so that he has to jump out, and he'll hurt his knee.

#2.)
Logan: Evan, there's where Uncle Adam threw you into the deep water ( Logan has of course jumped on board and says this to Evan every time we drive past... just to remind him!)
Evan:  Yeah! I`m gonna throw that guy into a whirl pool and then watch him get sucked in by a black   hole!

#3.)
Logan: Evan, there`s where Uncle Adam threw you into the deep water
Evan: Next time I see that guy I`m gonna kick him in the gonads!
Logan: Yeah! Let`s kick him in the gonads!

The Lesson
Don`t ever piss off Evan. He doesn`t forget and apparently he lives by the saying revenge is best served cold ... hence the threats still coming a year later!

SORRY ADAM!!

PROOF

In my last post I bragged up my baby a little bit saying that he is the worlds happiest baby. Well, I figured I had better back that statement up with some proof or I am just gonna look like one of these over-crazed mothers that thinks her kids are the best. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am most definitely an over-crazed mother who thinks her kids are the best but.... That particular statement was based on fact not on craziness ;)

Anyways...

On March 15Th, Aidan had a bit of a temperature and was breathing a little funny so I took him in to emergency here at Abbotsford hospital. LONG story short, it turned out that Aidan had a respiratory infection called RSV (which all kids get by the time they are two) but because Aidan has suffered with issues in the past (such as croup) his little body was not able to fight off the infection and he ended up with Pneumonia as well. On top of Pneumonia he also ended up contracting the flu. So... my little baby had a respiratory infection, pneumonia, AND the flu all at the same time. He was immediately hospitalized upon first visit to the ER for 5 days. In that 5 days he received an IV (which took the nurses 8 tries before they actually got the stupid needle in a vein), countless trips to the xray room where he was strapped to a table for chest xrays, tonnes of blood work, and a Ventolin mask every 4 hours for 5 days. After the 5 days was through the doctor decided to let Aidan come home. Well, we were home for 1 night and then Aidan ended up spiking a temperature of 106 - I obviously freaked out and called 911 (I know, I know) and my sweet little baby was rushed back to the hospital in an ambulance (I will just add that while he was in the ambulance with a fever of 106, he was laughing with the paramedic who was playing little games while trying to fill him full of Tylenol!) Anyways, doctors took another chest xray and some more blood work and then sent him home again and said everything was fine. Yeah right! Aidan got to bed at 4:30am that day and by 9am (when he finally woke up) he couldn't even hold his own head up. He just layed on my living room floor completely still, moving nothing but his eyes (literally). So, after a quick freak out call to one of my girlfriends, I called Dan home from work and rushed Aidan back to the ER. I wasn't in the waiting room 5 minutes before a doctor came over and said "yeah, that baby's not going anywhere, we need to get him hooked back up to an IV right now!". So, yet again, Aidan was being poked with a massive needle.. only this time, his poor arms and feet were so bruised ( from the first IV debacle)that they were not actually able to find a vein. So on to plan B....... Aidan was rushed back up to pediatrics where they set him up with a feeding tube (how enjoyable)which dropped 2ml of pedialite every hour into his tummy. He was admitted for another 4 days for severe dehydration. In this 4 days he endured 2 more chest xrays, 2 more sets of blood work, and a Ventolin mask every 4 hours for the entire stay. Finally on day 9 of being in the hospital, Aidan was released with a pretty much clean bill of health and was able to come home to his family.

MY POINT in all of this is: Even though Aidan suffered 2 weeks of torture ( and I do mean torture) he did nothing but smile, laugh, and woo every person that walked into his room. Literally 30 seconds after he was put in a straight jacket and had a giant needle shoved into his foot, he was laughing. I kid you not, I had nurses (who were not Aidans) stopping by daily saying "we heard there is a really sweet baby in this room" .... and he is, a really really sweet baby.

I've included some pictures of Aidan near the end of his stay, right after he got his feeding tube out :)
~Tanisha

A Little Bit About Us

Okay so I know that everyone reading this blog already knows us but, there is always stuff that you can learn so, I thought I would give you a quick (or not so quick) little run-down about who we are and what we do! I'll start with the head and work to the feet :)

Dan is the head of our house. He celebrated his 33rd birthday in September and I gotta say, so far, he is handling his 30's quite gracefully. For those of you that have known Dan for a long time, you know that he is always bouncing with energy and full of Spirit. Dan is probably the loudest person that I have ever met (and I know some pretty loud people!). Dan is also the hardest working person I have ever met! I couldn't have asked for a better person to take care of me and our three children. He is always faithful to provide for us, no matter what that may mean. Currently Dan is working as a Heavy Duty Mechanic and loves it!

I am the jack of all trades in our house. I have several jobs which include raising our children, housekeeper, cook, maid, and then I also work 2 jobs outside of the house as well. I work for my Step-dads company which is called First American Scientific Corp - I am the executive Assistant (basically a glorified secretary) and then I also have my own business which is called Silpada Designs - With this company I sell Sterling silver jewellery through catalogue shopping and home parties. Although I am too busy to breathe most days, I love everything that I do and for the most part, I wouldn't change much about my life! I recently celebrated my 26Th birthday and am looking forward to remaining in my 20's for another 4 years! (sorry, I just had to throw that in there! ha ha)

Evan is our oldest son, he is 4 years old. Although his birth certificate reads Evan, he is usually referred to as Evian (like the water), Hotdogs, sunshine man, and poopntooter. He hates ALL of his nicknames. Evan is a very tender hearted little boy, he often has his feelings hurt and it's hard to win him back after you upset him. He is very stubborn and hard headed. He is pretty much exactly like his mommy. He hates to be cuddled and doesn't show affection too often... but when he does, you know he really means it! He still sleeps in my bed and although I know this is not good, I can't force myself to kick him out. I enjoy sleeping with him because I know one day he won't want to anymore and that will probably break my heart. There is something very special about your first born ( not to say that my other kids are not special too!).

Logan is our middle baby, he is almost 3 years old. Like Evan, His birth certificate reads Logan but he is mostly referred to as Logi, Logo, logo muffin, loga fuffin, logo pogo chicken pot pie, and his favorite, Dogie. Logan is the worlds most compassionate and loving kid. He is such a sweet little boy. Every day, several times a day, he comes up to me and says "mommy, I sure love you" and then kisses me. He melts my heart at least once an hour. Although MOST of Logan is tender, he also has a very, shall we say, annoying side :) Logan has the LOUDEST cry you have ever heard.. and he uses it Often! He is still in the "terrible two" stage and he takes advantage of that quite frequently. It's not very often that you will hear Logan speak in a normal voice, he chooses to whine instead. Constantly. He also has a pretty good temper on him. When you don't answer him immediately he lets you know, vocally, that he is not impressed. I never knew that a 2 yr old could possess such 'personality'. We call Logan our little bull in a china shop. He is 39 inches tall and weighs 43 pounds. Very solid kid.. I think he'll be a football player or a wrestler, or something.. he's gonna be huge. He destroys and breaks things just by walking. Dan and Logan don't get along very well.. they butt heads alot and Dan is always frustrated with him. The older Logan gets, the more we are realizing that the reason he and Daddy don't get along is because they are exactly alike. Dan too is a bull in a china shop and possesses alot of 'personality'. It's kind of fun to watch now that we are understanding where He (Logan) gets it from!

Evan and Logan are what we call "the destructors" - the two of them can turn your house inside out within a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds. Being only 15 months apart, they are inseparable and do pretty much everything together. This is great except when they are putting their heads together to do something bad... it amazes me some of the stuff they think to do.. but that's for another time. Don't worry.. you'll be hearing LOTS of destruction stories, I can pretty much guarantee that one!

Now for Aidan. My sweet sweet baby. Aidan is our youngest and he just turned 1 year old last month and it broke my heart. Just like his big brothers, his birth certificate reads Aidan but he is always referred to as din din, nu nu's, doot doo's, deet dee's, buncha bunch, or mop mop meep meep. I am not really sure how any of these nicknames came about but, they did, and they stuck. It's actually hard to get Evan and Logan to call Aidan by his real name. If you ask Evan what his baby's name is he says "Aidan Samuel nu nu's buncha bunch" almost every time. It's weird. the craziest part though is that Dan and I hear the other boys call Aidan by these nicknames so frequently that we now usually only refer to Aidan as Din Din. I know he'll be mad when he's older but, what do ya do? Anyways... Aidan is my pumpkin. He is the happiest baby on the planet. Always has been. He never cries, ever (well unless he is in pain or something but even then..) He smiles and laughs and then smiles some more. He is lovely. Although Evan and Logan both walked and talked a bit by their first birthdays, Aidan is much different. He has no desire to do anything for himself. He likes to be held, pushed in his stroller, carried in his baby bjorn, and anything else that involves someone doing something for him. I am quite happy about this as, we don`t plan on having any more babies and I am pretty thankful that Aidan's `babyness` is being preserved a little. It will be very interesting to see what kind of personality he develops over the next year. I am sure he is going to be just as active and psycho as his brothers but for now... he`s just my sweet little baby.

As a whole, I think we make a pretty great little family. We are happy, healthy, and we love each other! Dan and I are doing our best to teach our children everything they need to know in order to survive on their own and I think we are doing an OK job so far! It is super hard sometimes to get through the days but at the end of every single one of them, We are so thankful to be blessed with our life. God gave Dan and I each other and now he has given us 3 amazing kids and we couldn't ask for anything else.

Well, I think that about sums it up for now. If you managed to get through this novel, I hope you were able to learn something about us that you didn`t already know and I hope you`ll keep us and our blog on your list of regularly visited web pages ... there will be lot`s more to come :)

Ciao for now,

Tanisha

P.S - I am aware that the photo attached to this post is really outdated! This was the last family photo we had taken and it was a total disaster. None of the kids would cooperate and we ended up not being able to get a family photo with ALL of us... we`ll try again this summer :)

Will I actually do this?

So, here is my very first blog post! It will be uninteresting and probably put you to sleep, but at least there is one here to read! I am not much of a writer. I am the girl who has about 25 diaries in her chest of memories, all containing no more than 10 entries. I always loved buying a new diary, they were always pretty, were accompanied by a new pen, and gave me something to look forward to. However, at the end of the day, I would always realize that I didn't have much to write about... all my entries sounded the same. So, it's been about 10 years since I last attempted anything like this. I am kinda hoping that now that I have a husband, kids, a job, a life, I might have something more to share with my population of friends/family. I Might not though.... just warning you now! I have friends that blog, and it seems like a good way to let things out. I chat about my kids endlessly to my poor mother and my husband but I think they might get sick of hearing me say "oh, and then He did this ___ and it was soooo cute!" so... now I am just going to tell you people and that way you get to chose if you want to listen or not. Only seems fair. Okay, that's it for now. I strongly encourage you to check back in often - you will find one of the following things : A) I have found a new love for writing and post something new and exciting everyday or B) nothing other than this little post ( which you can come back and read every day if you so desire!).

toodleoo (hmmm, I have never tried to write that word before... how do you spell it?)

Tanisha