Vegas Baby!

We went to Vegas....with a baby...and had a blast!  So much so that 2 days in we decided to extend our trip!  We booked it last minute after getting a good deal on a hotel and besides who are we kidding, we love Vegas and couldn't wait to go since it is only 4.5 hours from our new house! 

We were going to leave bright and early Saturday morning but sleepy-head Trevor had other plans.  The stinker slept until 9am so we hit the road later than anticipated but that was okay.  Trevor was an excellent passenger, playing with the iphone and sleeping the whole way to the Hoover Dam.  He was pretty excited about the dam and kept saying dam, dam, dam which of course we cracked up to!  We packed a picnic lunch to eat there but it was so hot we ate in the air-conditioned car rather than a picnic spot.

We made it to Vegas mid-afternoon and Trevor enjoyed taking in all of the sites.  On our drive in he kept finding things (like the MGM lion) and saying "I want to go there now!"



After getting settled in our room at Planet Hollywood (chosen specifically for it's location mid-way on the strip for walking purposes), we showed Trevor our favorite spot - the Bellagio fountains. 

Such a happy boy we have!

Trevor loved the fountains as much as us.  Although, he wasn't so sure when the tallest fountains went on.  Probably a little loud for his little ears :)

On our walk to dinner we came across some of Trevor's friends and boy was he excited about meeting Barney!  Daddy looks a little weirded out by the purple guy, but Trevor looks happy happy!

High five for Buzz Lightyear!  We also saw Woody and Elmo!

After a yummy dinner at Strip Burger (thank you Pooley's for introducing us) we started the trek back to the hotel but stopped along the way to check out the pirate show at Treasure Island, which Trevor was a big fan of - especially when the one ship started moving! 

We played a few kids games in TI - Trevor sure liked the racing game even if he was crashing into the side every second.

We found a prime viewing spot for Mirage's volcano but Trevor did NOT like that one bit.  Probably the heat and the loud noises were too much.  That's okay, maybe another time he'll think it's cool!

We tried to show Trevor the dolphins, lions and tigers at Mirage but it was closing when we got there so we walked down the strip and showed Trevor more stuff along the way, watched a few more fountains then went back to our hotel.  One thing we made sure of was to always have Trevor back at the hotel by bedtime as well as naptime.  We were not going to be one of those parents who ignores naptime and keeps their kids up well past bedtime in Vegas!

On Sunday we enjoyed chocolate pastries from our favorite bakery in Paris before heading out to explore the other end of the strip.  First stop, M&M world.  Trevor found a few things he had to have there like personalized stickers and Dad found something that reminded him of his old days in AAD at 3M....a Nascar car!

Trevor was all about M&M world - had to check out every display and every item for sale.  We were there forever :)

And alas we found the M&M station where Trevor could pick out what he wanted!  We think it was his version of heaven for a few minutes!

He's super proud of his selection!

We found the fun arcade for kids at Excalibur and Trevor was a big fan of all of the games, prizes and tickets!  He even won a blue rabbit/squirrel/not sure what it is after rolling a ball and seeing his horsey move across the stage.

Trevor reminded Sara a bit of Uncle Jim when it came to playing games as a kid.  He loved them all!  Especially those that you put a quarter in and watch what happens.  It was an extra bonus when tickets were involved!

Mommy and Trevor liked playing 'whack-a-mole' together.  Notice who is even winning :)

But Trevor's all time favorite game by far was 'Deal or No Deal' - he picked the suit cases and when the banker would call Trevor would proudly yell out 'No Deal' and hit the appropriate button with his fist!  Too cute for words!

The next day we took the monorail down to Mandalay Bay to check out the aquarium.  Trevor enjoyed riding that 'choo choo' a lot!

However, we learned it really was only an aquarium, it didn't have a lion or tiger like Trevor had been wanting to see ever since we missed it at the Mirage and learning that MGM got rid of the tiger exhibit.  So we hiked all the way back to Mirage to see the Siegfried and Roy exhibit.  It was amazing how close you could get to the dolphins.  Trevor was trying to be a dolphin trainer and would swirl his finger around hoping to get a dolphin to spin:

Yes Trevor you are a great catch :) 

He especially liked watching the dolphins under water: 

Before leaving Mirage, we checked out there fish display at the registration area.  We even found Nemo's (Trevor's current favorite movie)!

On Monday we checked out the pool at the Flamingo because we heard there were slides for little kids.  Our little Nemo loved cooling off in the pool and showing off his swimming skills to the other kids.

As you can see by his smiles he loved going down the slides all by himself.

Smiles from ear to ear!!

Monday night we enjoyed dinner at one of our favorite Mexican places in Vegas at New York New York.  After that we headed back to Excalibur for Trevor to play some more games at the fun arcade.  He won enough tickets for a plastic sword which got a lot of good use outside of New York New York while Mommy and Trevor waited for Daddy to play some blackjack!

We took in some more nighttime fountains.  Trevor just looks amazed here :) 

Nothing like being spoiled on vacation and getting to eat chips in bed on the last night! 

Before heading out of town Tuesday we took Trevor to Circus Circus where more games were played and tickets were won! 

And we also got to see a little circus act with a clown and juggler.  This kid isn't afraid of anything...even gave the clown a big high five at the end! 

So all in all, we had a great time in Vegas even with our 2 year old!!  Can't wait to go back again!!

B Birthday

For Daddy's 37th birthday Trevor wanted to paint something for him so we went to Michael's and Trevor picked out a picture frame, paints and brushes.  Once we got home he was focused on creating his masterpiece:

He concentrated so hard and Mommy was so proud of all of the colors he was using! 

Until he found his new favorite color - purple - and pretty much covered the whole frame purple.  Oh well, Dada can reminisce about the Vikings as he looks at Trevor's creation in his office! 

On Daddy's actual birthday the three of us went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Sandbar - yummy Mexican food complete with a sand floor.  It's like we were on vacation - oh wait, we live in AZ, it feels like that every day with this heat :)

On Friday night Grandma and Papa Hillins came over and we had a nice steak dinner.  They brought over an ice cream cake for Dada and Trevor enjoyed putting the many candles on it! 

He wasn't satisfied until the entire box of candles was on the cake!  Well, Dada is old... he he! 

And they topped off the birthday celebration with a night swim!  Happy birthday Dada! 

1st Day of AZ School

Trevor is going to the Bright Horizons daycare center at the PetSmart headquarters two days a week starting today.  He said he missed his teachers and friends so we knew this was best for him to get that social interaction and guaranteed learning through play!  Mommy is lonely without him around but she is getting lots done on the homefront those days he is in school which is nice for everyone - less errands on the evenings and weekends :) 

We're such 'bad' parents...didn't even take a picture of his 1st day but boy was he excited!  He was a little sad at drop-off but got into the swing of things as the day progressed.  He really likes going to work with Daddy and Daddy likes having the special time with Trevor!

Official Arizonans

We took the plunge and are now official Arizonans.  We went to the licensing department one morning and got our cars titled and registered as well as obtained Arizona licenses.  We feel so official now!

And to make sure we felt really welcome Sara found a scorpion in the house shortly thereafter.  YUCK!!  But she mustered the courage to take a flip flop to it and smashed it dead.  The joys....

We really shouldn't find anymore because the previous owners had the house sealed and had pest control spray every month but we learned they skipped April and May (after the house had been purchased probably) and with all of the boxes and doors open, we were bound to get one.  Now let's just pray we don't see another!  We've got the pest control guy coming religiously to help the cause!



Gender Reveal!!

So the long anticipated question of 'do you know what you are having?' can finally be answered!  Although it should be noted that Sara and Brian have kept it to themselves since s/he was 12 weeks and 5 days when they went in for a level 2 ultrasound and the tech said it was very clear what s/he was.  We told a few friends when we were back in MN that weekend preparing for the move but said it was still very early and we weren't sharing with others until it was a bit later and there were other ultrasounds to confirm. 

Well wait we did and 2 more ultrasounds confirmed that the first tech was right so we wanted to find a fun way to share with our families!  Sara organized having gender reveal cupcakes made for our family in MN and she made cupcakes for family here.

On Friday night Jeff and Dawn and the girls picked up their cupcakes (from our favorite cake place in MN):

And John and Pauline came over to our house before going out for dinner.  We said we were going to have dessert before going out so that we could share the sex of the baby.  They were a little confused by the sprinkles and whatnot....they didn't know the frosting inside would give away the real reveal!

So with Jeff, Dawn and the girls on the phone we waited in anticipation for the girls to bite in and tell us what color they saw. 

However, Pauline was so shocked that she saw pink she said 'It's pink' before the girls could.  :)

Trevor was right all along!  He's going to have a little sister! 

On Saturday when the Roslansky clan was all together they bit into their Queen of Cakes cupcakes and were ecstatic to learn another girl would be joining the family!  Annie is having a girl in early October!

Pauline was sure Sara was having a boy and we would have guessed that too based on how she's carrying (another little basketball like Trevor), but we couldn't be more happy to have a little girl in the house!  Let the shopping begin!  Eek!  This could be dangerous!  Too much cute stuff!!!

Updates

Trevor is a hoot these days!  We keep saying 'this is our favorite age' yet, we've been saying that every month since he's been born!  What has T been up to these days?  Lots!

- It was the beginning of May that he started asking 'why' - for everything.  He's a learner like his Mommy :)  The best though is when he answers himself.  Like when he was in the bath and Daddy told him not to scoot back...T asked why...Daddy said 'cuz you'll get an owie on the faucet...T thought about it and then said 'why?  'cuz it is sharp?'  You got it buddy!

- Trevor could live in his jammies.  It's a struggle to get them off each morning so sometimes he wins and he has jammy days and he thinks he just one the lottery....see below!

- Trevor really enjoys going to our nearby PetSmart store to see all the animals.  He especially loves the bunnies (um more like rats) and the fishies.  Luckily he hasn't asked to bring one home yet!

- The kid still eats and eats.  We can hardly believe he is 'only' 31 pounds with everything this kid eats.  And boy does he let you know when he's hungry.  He has this exaggerated thing he does where he pokes his tummy and bends over and announces "my tummy is very hungry" - it's hilarious!  He also knows what exactly he wants to eat and isn't afraid to put whatever it is in the shopping cart or go and get it from our pantry.  Once in a while he says 'he's looking for something' but usually he knows exactly what he wants!  Like the humongous box of goldfish at Target: 

- Speaking of knowing what he wants, Trevor is a bit bossy!  Tells you where to stand, where to sit, what to play with, what book to read, what show to watch, who will push the cart at Target (and throw a fit if it isn't who he wanted).  It's unreal....although he does usually say please and thank you :)

- He likes when we go to the mall and he gets to ride the choo choo train that goes around the mall...which is a special treat at $3 person including kids.  He picks to sit in the caboose...

....and proudly waves at all the mall shoppers!

- We don't think we ever officially shared the end of Trevor's fire truck bed :(  We set it up for him for his first nap at our new house and he took his first nap in it.  However, upon waking he stated very clearly "I don't like this bed.  I want a big boy bed!"  So Daddy and the Papas took down the firetruck bed and put up a queen bed for our prince.  Guess he got used to sleeping in the big boy twin bed at the Hillins and didn't want a little boy bed anymore.  See, he knows what he wants! 

- Fortunately there was someone on Craigslist looking for this exact bed so we sold it that night for $5 more than we paid for it!  We hope he likes it as much as Trevor did when we were in MN!

- Trevor decided one day he didn't want to take a nap.  Kept saying it over and over 'I don't want to take a nap' and the stubborn boy didn't....until after 4pm when he fell asleep on the couch by Mommy while watching a show on the ipad.  Most days it takes about an hour to get him down because he'll lay there then say "Mommy, guess what?  I want to play"  Mommy usually has to leave the room, shut the door then he cries and Mommy goes back in and then he goes to bed.  Ugh, wish it wasn't so complicated.  Must look up sleep training for naps because we can't have this when baby #2 arrives!

- Trevor loves to swim!  Most nights after dinner we take a dip in the pool and this kid has no fear.  He jumps off the beach area, the side on to a float or just in the water.  He's so fun to watch!!

So how is baby #2 doing?  All is well.  Sara continues to feel great although she's been having some headaches.  Doctor said it was the time in the pregnancy where your hormones are shifting so headaches are to be expected and will subside within a few weeks.  Otherwise she just continues to be tired...which makes it difficult to get things done during Trevor's naps or at night after Trevor goes to bed.  So the house is somewhat not put together and the blog is not up-to-date but she does what she can!  Weight gain is right on track although she has yet to wear maternity clothes.  She's still in regular clothes - thank goodness for all of her empire-waisted summer dresses! 

Night Out

Brian was invited to a Diamondback's game with some work colleagues and they must have liked him outside of the office (he he) because before you know it we were invited out again!  This time to the Van Halen concert on Saturday.  The Hillins were out of town so our first prerogative was finding a babysitter for Trevor.  Well, Mike and Nicci insisted on taking Trevor for the night so that the boys could play again.  That was SO nice of them and we can't wait to watch their boys overnight sometime!!

The night started at our friend Dan and Donna's house for a preparty that included a 'can't drive 55' signature drink in honor of the concert we were all going to.  They have an awesome bar in their home that rivals that of real bar/restaurants!  There were probably 20 of us total, some even came in costume!  We did not...nor did Bob (PetSmart CEO).

They arranged a party bus to take us to the concert, which was just a hoot...complete with not just one but two stripper poles as well as an overabundance of cold beverages.  Water for the pregnant lady.  Here's a pic of one of the girls dressed up in 80s gear!

After a 30 minute or so ride we arrived at the venue and promptly went to our suite and caught the last song of Kool and the Gang which was 'Celebrate'!  We chowed on a fully stocked suite of food and drinks before Van Halen came on and the place erupted! 

Everyone in the suite was dancing, picture taking, just having a GREAT time!  At one point we even had a congo line going in the suite which was a little interesting because Bob was behind Sara but no worries, Sara doesn't get intimidated by that and we all were having a great time!  Which reminds us, Bob has a memory of steel!  After the concert a few of us were in the hallway waiting for the others when Bob said, "Sara, improv" so Sara started salsaing and Bob joined in.  Turns out he grew up in Argentina and has some good moves!

After the concert we headed back to the party bus for more drinks and fun...and lots of singing.  A popular song for the evening was "Small Town Girl" and boy can the party goers belt it out!!  This picture shows everyone dancing to the tunes and maybe using one of the poles!

The bus dropped us off at Blu Martini at Desert Ridge for more drinks and dancing.  Holy sweatiness but tons of fun!!!  People commented that Sara was a trooper for hanging in with all the drunks but honestly, she was having so much fun dancing she didn't even notice she wasn't drinking!  However at 1:30am it was time for Sara and baby to go home!

How did Trevor do at his slumber party?  Fabulous!  The boys went swimming, enjoyed a pizza dinner, lots of playtime and a movie complete with popcorn!  Nicci thinks he's amazing because when it was time to go to bed, Trevor hopped right in, listened to a story then rolled over to close his eyes.  Nicci asked him a few times if he was okay and he said yes and that was it!  No crying, no getting out of bed, nothing!!  He slept until 7:30am and probably would have slept later but he heard Adam and Cole were up and didn't want to miss out on play time!!  Thank you Mike and Nicci for watching Trevor so we could have our fun night!  It's so nice to have family in town and can't wait to see you again soon!!

Roslansky Visits

We couldn't be any more blessed with great parents - and fabulous grandparents to Trevor!  He sure enjoyed having all 4 of his grandparents with him this week!  He's taken to calling Grandma Pauline just Pauline which is pretty funny, especially because he's doing it on purpose now that he knows we don't like it!

They worked endlessly to get us unpacked and settled in our new home.  The men even put up shelves in the garage and other manly projects outside in the heat.  Wow, such fabulous workers we had.  Very blessed in so many ways!  Thank you Grandparents!!

One of the reasons we worked so tirelessly on Monday evening, Tuesday and Wednesday was because we had visitors starting on Thursday!  Jim, Annie and Sam had already had a trip planned to see her sister and family but it was an added bonus to get to see us too! 

We met up with Jim, Annie and Sam and Nicci, Adam and Cole at a nearby splash pad, enjoyed many lunches (including In and Out thanks to Jim and Annie) and dinners including pizza and a wonderful steak and brat dinner courtesy of Mike!  The boys - Adam, Cole, Sam and Trevor sure have a hoot together!  It was fun seeing them all play so nicely!

One other outing we fit in was a trip to Jambo, an indoor amusement park which was right up the boys' alley.  Trevor was a little hesitant at first but after watching Sam on a few rides, Trevor was all game!

Cheese!

Sam rode this cool zebra...this was the one thing Trevor wanted no part of!

Two thumbs up Mommy!! 

All 4 boys even went on the swings!

Before leaving on Monday, Jim, Annie and Sam came over to hangout.  The boys enjoyed having Uncle Jim read Thomas the Train books to them:

Although not sure if it was the book or the cuddles they enjoyed more:

And then the funniest thing happened.  The boys started chest bumping complete with shirts up.  They would run from room to room, lift their shirts, chest bump and just crack up laughing.  Sara can still hear their giggles :)

And then one last genuine hug.  Melted our hearts.  We'll see you guys in July!  The countdown has begun!!