Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wicked Weekend

Jim got us tickets for our anniversary for Wicked!!! So we headed there on Friday night (Sep. 25th) and my Mom came in town to babysit for us. The show was so so so amazing! I wasn't sure how it would be because I had read the book and let's just say it was weird at best, however the show was AWESOME!!! I am so glad we had a date night and that Charlotte was so well taken care of. Here are some pictures my Mom took while watching Char Char.

My Mom thought it was too funny that she had all the toys, threw them all down, and played with the strap on her chair. (Ariana your blanket is a staple in our house, it has been since the day you gave it to me. Jim and I argue over who gets to use it and now Charlotte is getting to use it too! Thanks for an amazing gift, I have always loved it!)

My Mom stayed for the weekend and we all got to hang out. Saturday I had a photo shoot for a little girl's 1st brithday and it went great. You can see the pics on my website (http://www.mandymariephotography.com/).

Before I headed out we had some breakfast and Charlotte was very interested in Jim's chocolate milk. She didn't have any of course, but she certainly tried.

When I got home from my shoot I made home made pizza for all of us. I get the crusts from the deli section at a local grocery store so they are perfect. The same real crusts they sell their pizzas on. I made bbq chicken, all meat (for Jim), and pepperoni. I love the bbq chicken one and it is SO easy! That night we went to church and then went shopping a bit and got home late. Sunday we pretty much hung around most of the morning. My Mom and I went and had a nice lunch together and ran an errand before we headed back so she could get ready to go and I had another photo shoot to do. I took pictures of a friend of mine who is expecting and her husband down at Raccoon River Beach. I am slowly but surely getting those gone through and they should be on the website soon. All in all it was a great weekend.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

22 Week Family

Taken on Sunday, September 20th. Charlotte turned 5 months old the day before! Hard to believe. We are sporting our Vegas shirts and bibs. Dorky? You betcha!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Viva Las Vegas!

Finally I am getting around to posting this. I started it quite awhile ago but life is busy as we all know. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to head to Vegas with a few friends I studied in China with. We rarely all get to get together at the same time so we were pretty pumped to all see each other again.

Lenore had some airline vouchers she needed to use so our round trip tickets were dirt cheap ($59 for Lenore and I, $5 for Melissa!!). Lenore and I headed out on Wednesday afternoon...I had to get one last picture with my girl before leaving her for a few days!We stayed at the Trump Hotel. It is pretty new and we pricelined a room for $130 a night. We were there for 3 nights, there were 3 of us so that meant we had one dirt cheap vacation! The trump was very nice, it doesn't have a casino or anything so if you are going and looking for something to have a good time but also a little peace and quiet this is the place.Thursday was just Lenore and I. Melissa didn't get in until that night. We both were away from our little ones for the first time so we spent the morning relaxing. That afternoon we went shopping-where we pretty much only bought stuff for our little ones. And that evening we headed out to downtown Las Vegas to enjoy Fremont Street. Fremont Street was an absolute blast. By far my favorite part of Vegas. We gambled a bit and I just couldn't resist this Wizard of Oz slot machine! We spent the entire evening having a ball down there. This is maybe my favorite picture of the trip...I mean seriously...we even match!Thursday night Melissa got in pretty late so we all stayed up talking and catching up. We planned to go to the pool the next morning because the pool deck was awesome and I LOVE to swim! We had a fantastic time enjoying the hot sun and the cool pool.After breakfast down by the pool we got ready for our day. We planned on heading to the strip and making our way down. Here we are just getting started on our journey. We are by Treasure Island.Inside Caesar's Palace posing with some costumed folk. I definitely got the hot one...haha! You could completely get lost inside the places...they are so huge! It was a hotel, mall, casino, convention complex, gardens, grounds and more. We felt like we had walked MILES and came out 1/2 a block down the street! Here Melissa and I are outside Caesar's Palace and across from Paris. Probably my favorite thing of the day was heading down to the famous Las Vegas sign. We bought a bus pass and hopped on because we definitely needed a break from walking. We knew if we rode it to the end we would find the sign and sure enough we did! What a blast! I forgot to put the picture of all 3 of us by the sign but it will have to wait until another day because I have got to get this posted already!We took the bus back and encountered a fight between the bus driver and a lady who wanted her and her son to ride with out paying. The driver told her she had to get off if she wasn't going to pay or wait in line like everyone else...she responds by saying "you don't tell me what to do." in a spanish accent. She told him "If I find money, then I pay you, if not...oh well!". It just kept escalating and we all had a good laugh. Her poor son must have been so embarrassed. When we got off we spent some time visiting the M&M shop.The shop had a background for picture so here we all are.Before we knew it it was dark and the city has a whole different look at night. It was very fun.We went up in the Eiffel Tower. The view was pretty nice and we got to watch the Bellagio fountains from in the air.When we left Paris we decided to head across the street to see the fountains up close. Melissa was so jealous of our pics with Elvis from the night before she had to get our picture taken with this Elvis. He was creepy and made her pay him (which I get...it's his job, but he is one crappy Elvis!). We did get to watch the fountains and they were awesome. If I think of it later I will post a video.We BARELY made it back to the hotel our feet hurt so stinking bad but all in all it was a great trip. I hated to leave my friends but I was MORE THAN READY to get back to my girl and my husband too!!! Saying good-bye to Vegas....

I have to say, my husband was totally awesome while I was gone. He texted me all kinds of pictures of Charlotte and kept me all up to date on what she was doing. He made sure to call and let me know all about her days and even in the middle of the night he would text me to let me know she was breathing (a small obsession of mine). He was amazing. He then also greeted me at the airport with Charlotte, a welcome home balloon, and flowers. Yep...he's pretty cool.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Two years has come and gone with many more to come! It's hard to believe it has been that long....it has gone so fast!! Life is great ~ Happy Anniversary Babe!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Our 21 Week Family

Taken September 13th at Charlotte's baptism.


Charlotte's Baptism

This weekend Jim and I got Charlotte baptized. It was a wonderful weekend. Many of our family members were able to come in town and enjoy the day with us. My Dad, Deb, Jayke, Jesse, Cheryl and Uncle Harry were all here on Saturday and we got to spend some time together. Mostly the guys watched Jim's new big TV and me and Cheryl and Deb went shopping! Jayke did a little bit of both but he certainly loved playing with his cousin Charlotte.
The baptism was held on Sunday after the 11:00am service. My Mom got a great picture of us when they were actually baptizing her but somehow we missed it when we were copying her pictures. Here is one after as we lit the candles.
We got some great pictures of us and our newly baptized daughter. Jim and I selected Jesse and Barb as her sponsors/godparents. Here we all are with her sponsors.
After the services and all the pictures our little girl was quite tuckered out.We headed to the Cheesecake Factory after all was said and done to enjoy some lunch together. Adding to the bunch that was here early, we also had my Mom, Frank, Barb, Joy, Harold, Linda, Dave, my Aunt Linda and Nicole. We changed her at the restaurant after she woke up...she is a VERY happy naked baby!
She loves her Uncle Jesse so much. This picture is ADORABLE!!!We all came back to our house for some cake and punch and what not. Charlotte got some wonderful gifts from her family and we were very thankful!This was my favorite picture of the day. What a blessed little family we have!

Baptism Invitation

Here are the invites I made for Charlotte's baptism.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Week 20 Family

This was taken Sunday, September 6th at my grandparents house for a bbq.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend we made an impromptu trip to Omaha. We had planned on heading there for a bbq with my cousin who was going to be back for the first time on leave from the national guard but then it looked like he wasn't going to be able to make it. At the last minute we decided it would be nice to get away anyhow and when we got there we found out he had been approved at the last minute to come so it was fortunate we were there.

On Saturdaywe started by heading up to Jesse and Cheryl's house. It is looking fantastic! They have done such an awesome job remodeling and now it is just finishing touches and decorating. Later we headed to California Tacos because Jim and I saw it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (a show we just LOVE) and so we definately wanted to go. It was pretty good, but not as good as Netties! My Mom went with us so here we are hanging out at the restaurant having fun.We headed back to my Mom's house after running some errands and my Mom dug up my old bib that we then used for all her daycare kids, and gave it to Charlotte! I love this bib. It's the Berenstein Bears.Here is Charlotte hanging out in her car seat on Satuday as well.
On Sunday, Charlotte rolled over for the first time. Of course she rolled over from belly to back but rolled over none-the-less. We were very proud of her. But she has been teasing us for almost 2 months with back to belly rolling over. She gets millimeters from being there, and then rolls all the way back to her back! I don't know why the bottom one turned when I uploaded it, but even she looks surprised she rolled over!
We headed to the bbq at my grandparents later that day. All the new Skudler babies were there. Chelsea was there with Leighton, we had Charlotte, and Shaun and Sara had Sofia. They were all born within 2 months of eachother. It was great to get to see the whole family and Nicholas is looking great. He was having a great time in his short visit home. On the way home in the car, Charlotte grabbed my cell phone and I thought that was cute so we'll end with it!