Detroit September '09

I am exhausted from all the walking and driving we've done in the past two days but I really wanted to get these pictures up... I figure they can do the "story telling" of our awesome one night vacay :)

"Road Trip" up to Detroit...



We had to make a few pit stops thanks to my preggo bladder :)



We found a "Red Robin" by the airport- call me crazy, but I've always wanted to eat there- so that's what I "chose" for my birthday dinner :) It was GREAT!!!





Checking in the hotel... even though we've taken Maeve there a bunch of times, she was finally old enough to really think it was cool ;) She loved the trees and the rock pond in the lobby- and she couldn't get enough of the glass elevators :)







SWIMMING!!! Notice the awesome view in the background- yes, that's the tarmac- not sure why Ryan and I think this is so cool- but we do :) And so does Maeve...


My COOKIE CAKE! we had a blast eating it- all 3 of us- with our hands... since we forgot utensils :)




Watching airplanes... Maeve's fave. thing to do :)

After I got my pedi- Maeve had to have her toe nails painted too...


Queen Maeve- we had her playpen set up but she ended up crashing in the middle of the bed. :)










Great Lakes Crossing Mall- an amazing place :) We spent all day Sat. here... playing, shopping, eating... they also have an indoor amusement park & a carousel- you can really spend all day there!

weekend plans & a SHOT

I just got an awesome "grandma" card in the mail (ya know the ones that contain gift cards and a check that make you feel like a kid again??) and realized- HOLY CRAP its my birthday this week! WAHOOOO! I mean I KNEW it was this week, but we hadn't made any plans and I really haven't been thinking about it. So after just a teensy little bit of convincing, I have talked Ryan into getting away this weekend- the three of us :) Yes, my mom volunteered to take Maeve- she desperately wants a sleepover with MaeMae!- but I truly, honestly LOVE to be with her- my birthday wouldn't be nearly as fun without my maebug.
SO the plan is that Ryan is going to get off of work early on Friday, and we're going to head up to DEEEE-troit. On the way we're planning on stopping at the Chelsea Treehouse- I take Maeve there a lot by myself, but since I am giant and preggo I probably shouldn't be climbing through those tubes and sliding down the slides- so it will be awesome to have Ryan there to take Maeve through all the stuff. After the treehouse, its dinner in Ann Arbor (still deciding on where to eat... so many options....) THEN its up to the Westin- yes our FAVORITE hotel! We booked a room overlooking the Northwest tarmac so Maeve can sit and watch the airplanes (she's gonna love it!) After a night of renting "still in theater" movies (YEA for "Time Travelers Wife!!!") and room service, we're going to go to "Great Lakes Crossing" for a little shopping. There are still a few baby items that need to be bought and Maeve needs some fall clothes, so that should be fun. :) I'm really excited :) Oh yeah- we're also looking forward to the pool and I'M looking forward to a spa treatment at the Westin :)

OKAY- so about the shot- I probably should make a separate post about this but I'll just mush it into one. At my last OB appt. I was told that I needed to get the seasonal flu shot (no biggie I guess- still freaks me out to get a flu shot while preggo) AND when the swine flu vaccine comes out apparently, I'll be first in line (well all preggo women will be). Like I said, I'm okay (semi-okay) with getting the flu shot while preggo- but I am NOT okay with the swine flu shot. I wasn't planning on giving it to Maeve nor was I planning on getting it myself. I was kind of shocked my OB wanted me to have it. I nodded and said okay, but after researching it a bit, I am thinking its a no on the swine flu vaccine. UGHHHH I just don't know though! It's so hard- I'm trying to weigh the risks/benefits... but I am so wishy washy with it. My question that I REALLY want to know is, WHAT IS YOUR FAMILY DOING ABOUT THE SWINE FLU? If you're preggo, are you getting it? Would you get it? Are you giving it to your kids? TELL ME!!! I want to know!!! I am scheduled to get my flu shot tomorrow afternoon and that's freaking me out enough- but at least that vaccine has been around for awhile.

Please give me your thoughts on this! I really want to know!

PneuMOOOOOOANia & the SICK trip...

The title is supposed to sound like "pneumonia"- with a big ol' MOAN right in the middle of it. Yes, our little miss magic has pneumonia AGAIN. I took her to the doctor on Friday afternoon, thinking it was going to be an ear infection or just a cold- remember, I had just taken her to the doc. on Monday and they told me it was an upper resp. infection (and if you're like me and don't know much about the medical field an upper resp. infection is a big long fancy name for a COLD!). So when Dr. Williams listened to her lungs and said she heard crackling and was going to diagnose and treat her with pneumonia I was shocked. I know its not life shattering news, but pneumonia can get bad if it goes undetected. And I guess I was just feeling like a loser of a mom for letting it go undetected all week. I kept feeling like I should take her back into the doc. but then I didn't want to be that overly paranoid mom who continuously takes her kid back and forth to the doctor for a simple cold. I'm really glad that I listened to my motherly instinct on Friday though, because honestly? I think we would've ended up in the hospital sometime over the weekend. Today (Sunday) Maeve has been on her meds for 3 days and is STILL sick. She has a horrible cough and goes through super crabby times- a little fall will send her into outer orbit and then she starts coughing so hard I'm sure she's going to puke! (so far no puking! But I swear its coming!!)

Friday Ryan and I had committed to seeing a friend who lives about 2 hours away- so I actually had to leave Maeve just hours after being told she has pneumonia. It was super hard :( But I'm glad we went- things at home were under control and I was most definitely needed more by my friend.

Saturday, we had been planning for about 6 weeks to go to the Westin in Detroit. We had gone back and forth over whether or not we should go- after all, we had just heard some ground shaking news and I was wondering if I should go back to see my friend or not... and of course Maeve was sick and Ryan and I were getting sicker by the hour. In the end, we decided to continue with the trip- for a few reasons: 1, it was already paid for- we'd lose our money, 2- Ryan thought it would be good for me to get away and 3- Maeve was on antibiotics and already starting to feel better. It definitely wasn't like our normal Westin trips- filled with yummy food, quality family time and heavenly sleep (in their "heavenly" Westin beds!)... instead it was a lot of crying (from Maeve) food that looked incredibly delicious but had no taste (Ryan and I are so stuffed up that jalapenos couldn't clear our sinuses) and fitful sleeps for all 3 of us. Actually, the day at the mall was a lot of fun- we took Maeve on the carousel- she loved that! And let her play on the giant indoor playground... and ate at the Rainforest cafe which she always enjoys. I got some awesome deals on some stuff for Maeve for NEXT year (yes I am well aware her closet is stuffed full, but she will grow and need things for next fall/winter) Childrens Place was having a crazy sale- I got her 3 pairs of 2T p.js (you can always use pjs!) for 1.99 each!!! And Carters was having their semi annual baby sale- so I got a couple of outfits for next winter. It's so strange to be buying 2T stuff!! I hold it up and it looks like its fit for a giant, not Maeve! But whether we like it or not, she's growing and is no longer a baby BUT in fact, a toddler...

So I guess where the day kinda took a turn was when we first checked into the Westin. We got there around 6:30 or so, and Maeve usually goes down around 7:30 or 8. So we thought we'd let her run around the halls- she loves that! and push the buttons on the elevators (they're glass elevators so she had a ball riding up and down in them!) The thing is, Maeve is just sick- not feeling herself, and therefore not acting like herself- so every time she'd trip running through the hallways it was a complete melt down... or when we wouldn't let her push a button because someone else was in the elevator she'd have a fit (embarrassing). Around 7:15 we thought we should head up to the room, give her a bath and put her down for the night. Oh- I just have to add in this little part-(it was probably my fave. memory of the whole trip!) So there is this full length (GIANT) mirror on the wall of the hotel room, and after Maeve got out of the bath we let her be "nakie" for a bit- she LOVES being naked- I have no clue why- but anyways it was adorable to watch her- she was running around the room like she had full clothing on- SO not embarrassed about her big budda belly or her rollie pollie thighs! Then she noticed that full length mirror- she spent probably 15 good minutes just POSING in front of it- I SWEAR! Ryan and I were just dying laughing as she'd do all these crazy poses and then she'd crack up herself! It was way too cute :)

After we let her be "free" for a little bit, it was time for bed- she was snug in her pjs but sooooo not into sleeping. Instead, she stood up in her playpen (which was right next to my side of the bed) and decided to scream. Let me just say, that it was a LONG, LONG, LONG night. Eventually yes, she decided to sleep- but that was AFTER we ordered room service (french fries- for Maeve, a pickle & a salad for me- they have the BEST pickles!!!), gave her ANOTHER bath, let her run around the room and made several attempts at getting her to sleep between us. it was around ten PM when she FINALLY, FINALLLLLLLLY went to sleep... yes, it was a night. Another thing that Ryan and I adore about the Westin is that they offer movies that are still in the theaters- and since Ryan and I haven't gone to the movies since Maeve was born (YES, REALLY!) its always a treat to scan through the movies and after much debate, watch one. Last night it was between "Marley & Me", "Slumdog Millionare" and "Bedtime Stories." We picked "Bedtime Stories" for obvious reasons- ADAM SANDLER! :) Ryan was snoring 10 minutes into it, but I stayed awake for the whole thing and just loved it :) Around midnight the movie ended and it was time for me to sleep- ummmm nope. As I tried to fall asleep I realized that I was burning up with a fever- every hair on my body hurt and my bones were aching. SHOOOT! I had packed tylenol- but no cold medicine. And so began the fitful sleep- really one of the worst nights I've had in a LONG time. It seemed like every time I'd fall asleep Ryan would wake me up with a giant sneeze or cough or Maeve would start to fuss. Around 3 or so, I was lying awake, burning up, and watching an infomercial because I was too achy to get up and look for the remote. Ryan sat up and said "I'm sick, I'm taking a bath." I was like "Okay.... are you alright?" He was so out of it- but somehow managed to take a bath- and then reentered the bed with the shivers. We were probably a miserable sight to be seen! He was shaking from those shivers and I was on fire from my fever. And then there was Maeve, hacking and coughing up a lung in her playpen. I kept thinking "I really hope they clean these rooms well because whatever poor slob has to sleep in here tonight will most definitely become infected with whatever our whole family has!"

I did fall asleep eventually, but it seemed like seconds after I fell asleep Ryan was shaking my foot (nice way to wake up huh?:) telling me that breakfast was here. To be honest, I don't even remember eating my pancakes this morning... I know I ordered pancakes because I had filled out the menu thing the night before and had hung it on the door, but I seriously do not remember even eating! But I did, and then passed back out... at 11, Ryan woke me up again (how had I been so out of it that I hadn't woken up while he gave Maeve a bath, fed her and dressed her??) and this time it was time to go :( I was sad because our should-have-been wonderful Westin night wasn't so wonderful.

Anyways, we're home now- Maeve is sleeping, Ryan is sleeping, I tried to sleep but between my stuffed up nose and pounding head, I just can't. But I am really trying not to be so pessimistic about things- so instead of complaining about our night, I will dub it our "Sick Trip" and hopefully when I'm feeling better, look back fondly at our night filled with sniffles, shivers, coughs and fevers. After all, if you gotta be sick, I guess its best to be sick when you can have room service, lots of movies and a huge comfy bed!

**Note- I brought my camera (of course- I take pictures of everything) but every time I tried to take a picture it said my card was unreadable! :( So no pics from this trip... maybe that's a good thing- we definitely weren't looking our best! ;)

The Westin...

Hmmmmmm, what can I say? It wasn't the most relaxing get away, given the fact that Maeve morphed into "The Thing." That sounds really mean to say!!! But ohhhhhhhh my gosh- she was a complete nightmare. From the minute we left the house to the minute we got home- I am not sure what is going on but she is so incredibly whiny- and just plain grouchy. When we booked the hotel room, as we do with most things, we had Maeve in the forefront of our mind- so we got a window suite overlooking the tarmac so she could watch the airplane take off and land (it is pretty cool). We also decided to get to the hotel a couple hours earlier than we usually do so we could take her swimming- it had been months since she had been in a pool, (Disney World) and she loves the water so we figured she'd have a blast swimming.

After what seemed like a 4 hour drive to Detroit (due to Maeve's screaming) we got to the Westin, checked in and realized she had a wet dipe- "OH!" we thought to ourselves, "THAT's why she was screaming in the car!" So we quickly changed her into her swimmer diaper and bathing suit. She totally dug running around in her skivvies. We even let her take a few laps around the 5th floor- just running and checking out the place. It was hilarious to say the least- here Ryan and I are covering ourselves up in our wayyyy too small bathing suits and our daughter, with her super chunko thighs and pot belly running around so freely... oh to be a kid again! Anyways, we made it down to the pool and it was pretty crowded- lots of kids splashing and lots of adults lounging, watching the action in the pool... Ryan got in first, and I peeled off my towel to reveal my giant boil (YES did I mention I have this nasty red/purple boil on my thigh????) and stretchy boobs (they were covered of course, but nevertheless they were saggy and gross) and I crouched my way over to Ryan, who was waiting in the pool for the hand-off. AS SOON as Maeve touched the water all hell broke loose- the water wasn't cold or anything- she just LOST it. I mean I haven't seen crying like this before!!! It was horrible! She was shaking and clinging to me- yes I was still hunched over the pool, now my boobs probably were being exposed because she was pulling at my suit. It was awful. Ryan and I were trying to act all cool, but there was no getting around it, Maeve, Ryan and pasty, fat, I captured the entire rooms attention- and not in a good way. We were out of that pool room as fast as we could throw on our towels- I had worn my Uggs down to the pool- thinking I would dry off and put them on, but I shoved my feet in them soaking wet- and off we ran to our room- with our SCREAMING, shrieking baby in tow. We got back to the room, set her down and looked at eachother, and then at her. In unison we said "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT ABOUT?" And there was our sweet girl looking back at us, red faced but semi-calmed down by this point.... sooooooooooooooooooooo strange. And even more disturbing than the whole pool incident is the thought of having a child afraid of water! NO!!!!! We are BEACH people!!!!
SO that was sort of the catalyst to the rest of our night... to sum it all up quickly- Maeve didn't go to bed until 9 or so, but we had given her a bottle and laid her down around 8- so for about an hour we had to listen to crying as we laid stiff as boards in the bed- pretending to be asleep. Usually at home, if she's having a hard time getting to bed, we'll turn on her turtle star thing or shut her door all the way so its totally dark- at the hotel, we were stuck- all 3 of us in there. So yeah... it was not so fun.
After Maeve did go to bed we ordered a movie- "Eagle Eye" which was pretty good... and then after all the craziness that had happened with Maeve, we looked at our HUGE bed and decided that MaeMae should sleep in the middle :) It lasted for about an hour, then she pooped a big one and we had to change her and back in her crib she went.
Anyways, it was a good break from the monotony of things, but not at all relaxing... oh well- you never know with kids how its gonna be!!!

New Years...

is quickly coming up. Does New Years intimidate anyone else or is it just me? It feels like you need to turn yourself into a better you- scary! I mean, I love New Years- simply because of the champagne and that "new" feeling- but the next day I have this nagging voice in my head saying "get to the gym," "liquid diet," "do the laundry more often," etc. you get the picture right? I have already made out my list of resolutions. I stick to them for awhile- I really do- partly because I am as stubborn as a horse (is that the saying??? :) and partly because they truly are important resolutions.

I won't share the bulk of my resolutions because some of them are embarrassing and who likes to share their flaws? But I can give you a quick summery of them- many include house stuff- like cooking healthier stuff, cleaning the bathrooms more often, etc. Then there are some stupid ones like not parking in the "For expectant mothers" parking spots- although I think that's a crock- excuse me, hands up moms who aren't expecting and who don't have kids under one- does it get ANY easier to load and unload your kids, stroller, diaper bag, etc??? NOPE. (and my hand is raised- so is Maeves) So I really think malls, grocery stores, etc. should have parking spots for anyone who has a kid under the age of 5. I think after all your kiddos are over the age of 5 and you don't need to lug in strollers and diaper bags and blankets, THEN you can park far away and walk your family in. Okay- sorry for the tangent- I feel very strongly about those dang parking spots. Of course I have the typical weight loss resolutions... who doesn't? I guess Nicole Richie... skinny stinker (this is a family blog- I won't use the word I wanted to :) And then I have the "personal" ones that have to do with my anxiety, OCD and "family planning." And thats as far as I'll go with that! :)

Our New Years plans are pretty simple- Ryan gets out of work early tomorrow and we'll go out for dinner with my family- then MY family will set off to see a movie (a new years tradition) and me, Ryan and our mover & shaker will head home. Maybe if we're lucky Ryan and I can RENT a movie and actually stay up for the whole thing :) But I will admit- I am super jealous... when is the last time I saw a movie in a theater you ask? When I was 8 months preggo with our missy- coincidentally it was "Knocked Up." Maybe I should put that on my list of resolutions- to see a movie in a theatre this year :) Back to New Years plans- New Years Day, hubby gets off- YES. I've heard rumors of some football game being shown at my uncles "home theatre." Ryan has hinted he is attending but I'm going to try hard to get him to spend at least SOME of the day with us. New Years night, my family always has a ham dinner- ham is just about the only meat I really like- I mean, I will eat chicken, but I don't enjoy it so much.

Ryan has to work on Friday :( But Saturday, we're heading up to Detroit for our big "New Years" celebration at the Westin. OH have times changed!!!! Two (or was it 3???) years ago I was celebrating New Years in Ann Arbor with friends- don't ask me details, I can barely remember where we went... But this year, since we're not going out for New Years, we're going to ring in the new year a few days later, but at the AWESOME Westin- we're gonna go swimming, eat some good food at the Prickly Pear (or MAYBE "Cheeseburger in Paradise") and celebrate with Maury's famous cupcakes. I'm excited :) Even though we're not getting all fancied up to go out with friends, I am looking forward to THIS New Years more than others.

WELL, as I type this, my mom is walking in my door to watch Maeve for an hour or so- I'm getting my out of control- neanderthal looking eyebrows waxed, and then going grocery shopping. I am trying out a "Deceptively Delicious" meal tonight. Ryan's not so thrilled, but the truth is, this WHOLE family, including M&M Maeve needs to jump on the healthy boat. I will post later tonight on how the meal turned out... :)

Peace out y'all! :)

My 24th Birthday Week...

Around here, birthdays are weeklong celebrations! So last weekend we started gearing up for the big day (Wed. Sept. 17th) We drove up to Detroit to Rainforest Cafe (AGAIN)... (its pretty apparent there isn't much to do around here huh?) but it was a great day- I got some new coaching clothes and Maeve absolutely LOVED dinner! And she pooped out on the ride home so it was a nice couple of hours to catch up with my husband on life...

Basically, Monday and Tuesday I just milked it- like saying stuff like "Ryan can you do the dishes? Its my birthday." Or "On your way home from work can you pick up Coca Cola cake? Its my birthday!" Hahaha...

Wednsday was a ton of fun but extremely tiring... you see, miss Maeve has an ear infection in her left ear- it has been a nightmare- she is up just about every 3 hours, not eating, diarreha, runny nose, etc. Anyhow, I managed to give her enough motrin to keep her happy for my mom who watched her while I got an awesome pedicure :) YEA!!! Then my mom and dad took Maeve and I out for lunch (which is rare- my dad is the busiest guy on the planet... so it was great to have an hour with him) Then I went to work- FUN. And we ended the day by going out for dinner (just Ryan, Maeve and I).

Friday, we wrapped up the week with a date- just me and Ryan :) It was great! We went to Daryls and had the best champagne ever :) Oh and I got a massage (probably the highlight of the week!) Ryan also gave me my present which is a gorgeous necklace with an engraved "M" on the front and 10-11-07 engraved on the back. That way I can always carry my Maybug close to my heart :) It just about made me cry when I saw it!

On a different note, I am happy to report after 3 days on medication Maeve is feeling TONS better. Although the medicine is giving her even WORSE diarreha. We've had to change her sheets twice in 2 days because of exploding diapers. YUCK!!!!

So many fun things are right on the horizon, I CAN'T WAIT! Maeve's 1st birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks- then a week after that its DISNEY WORLD!!! We are beyond excited! This will be our first vacation, just the 3 of us. But there is tons to do before then- I have 24 invitations to HAND MAKE- yikes... (actually I'm almost done with them, just have to address them) plan Maeves party, pack, shop for Florida... all fun stuff :)

Anyways, my house is a disaster and laundry is literally piled about 3 feet high in our closet. So off to the laundry room for me :(

Deeeeeeeee-troit!

At the Game...

Early morning in the hotel


My Family :)
Oh my goodness we had such a good time. Its as simple as that! Everything was perfecto and wonderful :) I have become an expert at traveling with a bottle fed baby so one night in Detroit was very easy to do. Although last time Ryan and I went to the Westin we had ONE bag- this time, we had a pack and play, Maeves diaper bag, Maeve & I's bag and Ryan's bag... oh and a stroller and the glorious baby bjorn (my fave. baby item). So it probably looked like we were traveling to some far off place as we made our way through the terminal to the hotel, but nope! Just one night at the airport hotel :)
We had planned on leaving the house around 3, getting to the Westin at 4:30-ish, check in, change and drive to Comerica Park. It *kind* of worked out like that :) We left around 3:30 and had to stop to change a blow out diaper in Ann Arbor- we also got a quick something to eat. We got to the Westin around 5:15- the game started at 7 so we needed to high tail it through the airport to our room to change and back through the terminal to the car. We also realized that MaeMae hadn't eaten dinner yet and we didn't want to do the baby food thing at the game so we fed her in the hotel room- interesting... we didn't have a high chair so we tried to sit her down on a couch... hahahaha. Needless to say, Maeve had to have a bath afterwards and we figured out a better way to feed her when there isn't a high chair. We changed into our Detroit stuff and actually made it to the game on time- well, we were walking in while the opening pitch was being thrown. Now on the way up to the game, I had made sure that Ryan knew very well that this wasn't going to be his typical game- that Maeve was in NO WAY going to sit through hours of baseball. He said he knew that :)
We got in and I got a snow cone- partly for me, partly for Maeve... she loved it and made a complete mess :) Anyways we sat down for maybe 45 minutes to an hour- she did really like the lights and the noises. She also like clapping when everyone else did. But right around the 4th inning or so she started to get fussy so we decided to go on a walk around the stadium. We took her on a baseball ferris wheel which she HATED. It was so embarrassing- we were in the cart with some people we didn't know and she was screaming and squirming the whole time... It wasn't very enjoyable... so shortly after the ride we went home. Plus we decided we didn't want to be walking around downtown Detroit in the dark.
We got back to the hotel around 9 and let Maeve go crazy- there is something about kids and hotel rooms- I did it when I was a kid, Ryan said he did it too- but when you let a kid loose in the room, they go nuts! It was so funny- she was crawling like a mad woman, back and forth, under the bed, in the bathroom, everywhere. There was this huge mirror that she was in love with too- she kept standing up in front of it and yelling at the "baby in the mirror"... It was funny. Around 10, the time came to put the wild thing to bed- we knew this was going to be an issue because for months now she has been falling asleep in her room BY HERSELF. We started the whole bedtime ritual- bathtime, bottle, and then laid her down in her pack & play- hahahahahaha. She stood up immediately and started talking away. We were like "crap... what to do?" SO we pretended like the bathroom was a separate room- we tucked Maeve in again, and then said goodnight and walked into the bathroom. It worked! :) She was out in like 5 minutes. And she slept till about 5- woke up for a bottle and then went back to sleep till 9ish. Wonderful :)
We ordered our "traditional" breakfast in bed and then hung out in the hotel room till about 11:30- check out was at 12. We let Maeve be crazy again and we just sat back and watched the madness. The poor hotel maids- Maeve unfolded every towel, shredded all the paper products and threw her cheerios EVERYWHERE. I tried to pick them up but those things were smashed into the floor... oops.
After checking out, we drove to Great Lakes Crossing- my fave. mall in the world :) We took Maeve to eat at Rainforest- she loved it even more than last time- we're hoping by Disney World (October) that she will love it EVEN MORE (we always go to the downtown Disney Rainforest Cafe...) Then I shopped for some fall stuff for Maeve- got some AWESOME deals at the Carters and Gap outlet!!! And then we found the GIANT play area for kids. Maeve was in love :) She probably would've played in there ALL day if we would've let her! For our sanity though, we only stayed there for about 30 minutes.
Then it was off again, this time to Rochester to visit Ryans grandparents. It was really nice- they're wonderful people and they crack me up. Both are hard of hearing so its a lot of shouting back and forth... its funny. Maeve enjoyed playing with the ancient toys (I was scared some of them were antiques) and she also liked their two Havaneese? dogs. Around 5 we decided it was time to go... Maeve instantly zonked out in her car seat, as did I...
We got home around 7 and both of us were SO tired that we didn't eat dinner... we just fed Maeve hers, hung around till about 9 and then put Maeve to sleep.

So all in all, it was an incredibly fun and enjoyable weekend. I love my little family soooooooo much. And I am anticipating all the fun we're going to have over the next (hopefully) many, many years together.

Our Big Getaway! :) Haaa....

No really, I am super excited about this... Ryan and I are celebrating our anniversary this weekend (2 years)- our "real" anniversary is July 1st but its on a Tuesday and thats not fun. So we enlisted the help of my mom and dad to watch Maeve and we've decided to go to Detroit- haha- for one night! We are big spenders! Somebody stop us!! :)

We're staying the night at the same hotel we stayed at on our wedding night (and last year on our 1 year anniversary) so thats pretty cool. My parents always make fun of us for wanting to go back to that hotel- they refer to it as the "airport hotel." In all honesty, it's an awesome hotel- and we always feel like big shots when we go there. There is something about the airport and all the bustling, comings and goings of people that makes you feel important. We always get a room that overlooks the HUGE McNamara terminal- they have these giant (I MEAN GIANT) windows that you can sit and watch the airplanes come in and take off. I suppose the thought of all those planes leaving to various places is also an appeal... its like you're SO close to being somewhere else! All that's stopping you is a paper ticket :/

Well....since I'm not preggo this year and unfortunately not leaving for Maui tomorrow morning(that was our honeymoon), we wanted to do something else besides just staying the night and ordering loads of room service (YUM). So we're going to the MGM Grand casino for the afternoon/evening. I'm pretty excited- we go to casinos about once every 2 years! :) As always, I'm anticipating that I will hit this giant jack pot... I can see myself pulling down a handle on one of those slot machines and having streams of money pour out into my bucket!! And of course me posing for lots of pictures as the winner of the 10 million dollar jackpot. I am scheming and dreaming of all the things we would do with our lucky money... we'd take a lot of vacations, buy a new car, a new laptop, one of those little teeny ipods b/c my ipod is like 4 years old or something and huge... oh the things I would spend money on!!!! :)

Wish me luck!!! I will update asap on our casino adventure... unless I really do hit it big- and in that case, since we're staying right there at the airport, I might just hop a plane to Maui and be back in a week- or two- or never. Of course I'd have my parents drive Maeve up... wouldn't that be awesome??; If Ryan, Maeve and I just up and left for an island? I try to live by this one song lyric of J. Johnsons "Don't let your dreams be dreams." But I think my island dream is one that will remain a dream for awhile.



Below is the website for the Detroit Westin- for all you haters out there who think its some dumb airport hotel :) Its really probably one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in... and I am pretty well traveled.

The Detroit Westin
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1415&EM=VTY_WI_detroit_1415_overview