Vegas, Class Reunion, Addie's Out of Her Shoes . . . Too Long Between Blogs!

So I had to actually make myself a list of what to include in this blog -- that is way too long between blogs. So here's my list of what's to come: Vegas, high school reunion, Brandy's baby shower, Addie's new sleep routine, Addie growing out of her shoes, me finishing my class, and Beerfest.

Vegas
Day 1, Thursday, July 23rd: I finished packing everything in the morning before heading to work for a Qualtrics training session. Returned around noon to attend to Addie while Loren took the dogs to his dad's and picked up his dad who was nice enough to drop us off at the airport.

Here's Addie peeking out at the airplanes taking off and watching the guys load our luggage.

We did all that boring airport stuff with no incidents, and boarded the plane around 2:40pm with my mom and Dominic no where in site. But after we got settled, they found us and we took off. There was a bit of turbulence on take-off which kind of freaked Addie out, but she was distracted by SkyMall and soon fell asleep. Once in Vegas we found the shuttle and headed to our hotel. We were surprised at how not unbearably hot it was -- a cool 93 degrees. Our shuttle drive was a bit too talkative, so we weren't too sad to leave him upon arrival. We checked in to our hotel, Paris, and settled in with our things.

Addie was modeling the bed for me (as well as the goldfish in her mouth).

Because we had a non-smoking room with queen beds (in case someone else needed to stay with us) and my mom and Dominic had a smoking room with a king bed, we were 14 floors apart -- although the elevators were pretty quick so it wasn't too bad. We decided to mosy around for some food and headed over to Caesar's Palace, stopping at the food court before we hit FAO Schwartz.

Addie first clung to these Clifford dogs, but since they were $48 we got her to move along.

She eventually picked out a $7 cow, and I was okay with that. :) We couldn't leave empty handed!

On our way back to the hotel, Loren just HAD to get the giant beer.

Day 2, Friday, July 24th: This was my first day in training. Headed out at 7:30am while Loren and Addie still slept, but actually caught my mom and Dominic on the way out. They walked with me over to Planet Hollywood, helping me find the convention center before going on their way. Training went from 8am until 5:30pm -- a jam packed day! This first day we focused on ICD-10-CM, which is similar to ICD-9-CM, so I wasn't too overwhelmed at this point. Overall I felt good, other than the 50 pounds of books I found waiting for me that I knew I'd have to get home (okay, not 50 pounds, but it was a big stack!).

Here are Grandma Judy and Addie with Manute Bol and Mugsy Bogues at Planet Hollywood.

That evening we checked out the pool (and happy hour) and then mom, Loren, Addie and I mosied through the mall at Planet Hollywood and grabbed a bite to eat.

Betcha didn't know we had twins! :) Addie was having a good time checking herself out in the Gap mirror.

She also made friends with the cows at Ben & Jerry's (mom and I made friends with a hot fudge brownie sundae).

Day 3, Saturday, July 25th: More training for me. Again 8am-5:30pm. This time it was ICD-10-PCS which is totally different, which made it fun to learn (yes, I'm aware that I'm a total nerd -- Loren was sure to tell me when I came back from training excited). That evening we went out for sushi and watched the Bellagio fountain. Loren and I also enjoyed some alone time while Grandma and Grandpa watched the wee one.

Day 4, Sunday, July 26th: Last day of training. And we were getting tired! Finished up ICD-10-PCS and started coding from operative reports -- more challenging than I thought! But exciting nonetheless.

I made sure to get my photo op with Mugsy too.

That evening we met up with Linda the pool and then had a meal of pizza and good conversation, back in our room.

Day 5, Monday, July 27th: First day of convention. I was a bit burnt out from the training so I took a break from meetings for a bit. We snagged a taxi (SO worth it with the heat!) and went to a local diner for breakfast (delicious and cheap, I might add) and then wandered through the Tropicana and Excalibur, over to the Luxor for the Bodies Exhibit. It was AWESOME!! Totally loved it. Although it would have been nice if Addie was more cooperative -- she was having some pooping issues so she wasn't a happy camper. That, and apparently human cadavers are just boring to her. :) But my mom and I loved it -- so AMAZING!! That evening we took the free shuttle over to the Rio and had a DELICIOUS buffet! I want to go back just for dessert! :) I think this was also the night my mom, Addie, and I went over to the Bellagio and walked around, checking out the blown glass and awesome garden. I say "I think" because quite frankly, all the nights are kind of blurring together for me now that I'm trying to think back. BTW, convention centers in Vegas are great -- nice and quiet with lots of room for babies to run around, and plenty of bathrooms. We took frequent breaks there.

Day 6, Tuesday, July 28th: More convention. My mom, Addie, and I also taxied it down to The Mirage to check out the dolphins (an exhibit I've wanted to see since the first time I ever went to Vegas when I was 8, I think) and Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden, with pretty tigers, leopards, and lions.

I <3>

I did take some pictures of the actual lions and tigers, but couldn't get a good shot through the fence. They were gorgeous though!

That night we intended to head over to the Rio again for some BBQ, but ended up missing the shuttle. We were all hot, exhausted, and cranky by then, so we ended up having dinner back in the room. And finally, because I couldn't leave Vegas without doing a little bit of gambling, Loren and I spent the rest of the night (which didn't take long) blowing $40 on slots.

Day 7, Wednesday, July 29th: Last day of convention! This was definitely the best day yet -- good presentations. I ended around noon and then met up with the gang for lunch. I had spent the morning packing everything up and checked our luggage so Loren could have an easy checkout. I has also booked a shuttle, but Dominic informed me we were riding out in style -- he had booked us a limo! We caught our fancy schmancy limo at 2pm and headed to the airport. Addie even rode on Grandpa's lap since he had all the fun buttons to push! We did the boring airport thing again and settled at our gate, only to find out our plane was delayed. Addie hadn't had a nap and was overdue. Had our plane been on time, I think we would have been okay, but she lost all patience about 15 minutes before boarding. We got on as fast as we could so I could nurse her, and she immediately crashed -- slept the entire way! Made it to Boise a little late and then had to wait forever for luggage. Rick picked us up and dropped Addie and I off while Loren took him back home. Ah, it was good to be home!

Everything Else
Had my 10-year high school reunion last weekend. Pretty uneventful. Saw people I normally see anyways. No big exciting event like the class geek showing up as a multimillionaire or one of the snootie popular chicks showing up all fat.

After the reunion we headed up to the farm for my cousin Brandy's baby shower. It was nice to see family, but it was HOT!

Addie decided to dig into some cake.

We have finally decided to make the transition of putting Addie in her crib to sleep at night. We're just slowly trying it, putting her in it after she falls asleep and just leaving her until she wakes up. Next steps are to try to get her to fall asleep in there on her own, and also to get her to stay in longer.

Addie has grown out of all of her cute shoes she got for her birthday! She is now a size 4. Shucks, does that mean I have to go shoe shopping? :)

I finished my U of I class tonight! Yay for me! 2 weeks off and then I start another. Anyone want to babysit a couple hours a week so I can do schoolwork?

And finally, Boise's first annual Beerfest is tomorrow and Loren couldn't be more excited. We are making it a family affair -- Addie and I are going so she can watch her beligerently drunk father, uncle, and grandpa. Good times! ;)