Fall Raking - A Rite of Childhood

I am pretty sure it is a requirement in your childhood that you spend at least one day every fall raking leaves in your yard.  That day for Ella Kate was this past weekend.

This is a perfect picture of how I feel about this day every year.  Though lets be honest, I just photographed the activity - never to pick up a rake during the event.

We also decided to throw in an improptu modeling session before we really got down to business!

Keith has a small shrub rake and Ella Kate thought it was perfectly made her for and did a great job raking up the leaves.  Though at first her idea of raking was to rake the leaves away from the piles Keith made.

My two favorite people hard at work! 

She even helped fill the bags with leaves.  We could regret this a little later in the week though when EK's allergies are killing her from spending all that time rolling around in the leaves - but hey at least we don't have to worry about her tonsils swelling up to the size of golf balls anymore. 

Surgery and Recovery

On November 1st Ella Kate had a tonsilectomy and adnoidectomy.  After our stay in the hospital in September both our pediatrician and ENT thought this would be the best way to avoid any problems in the future.  Keith and I quickly agreed (both he and his brother had this surgery when they were little) and surgery was set so at 5 am on 11/1/12 we reported to the hospital for the big day!

Ella Kate was great as we waited and waited to get called back for pre-op and as we waited some more to get taken back to surgery.  By the time they finally took her back at 7:20 she was so tired and delirious I think she would have done anything for those sleepy drugs!

We had Ella Kate's surgery done at Trinity Mother Frances and every nurse and physician that we came into contact with was just great and so caring!  When they took her back to surgery they let her take blankie and Minnie with her so that she would feel more comfortable when she woke up.  The staff on the pediatric floor even had the infamous pink car in her room when we got up there just to make her feel more at home.

It took EK quite a bit of time to recover from the anesthetic thanks to some sleepy time meds they had given her to relax before they wheeled her back but once those wore off she was ready to tear up a few popsicles!  As Ella was so young (only 2 years 2 months) our ENT felt more comfortable having her stay overnight in the hospital to keep her hydrated and help to get meds in her a little easier.  I think this really helped though I wish they would have given those meds through the IV she had in her.  Might have helped a little with the medicine drama we had upon returning home! 

This is how we recover at casa de Underwood.  It requires Minnie ears and heels (see I told you she loved those things) and walking around with that stroller - well at least for the first 3 days (days 4-8 were brutal)!

Granny and Papi came for the weekend after her surgery and they were such a huge help.  With my mom being a kindergarten teacher she was full of activities and fun things for Ella Kate to do to keep her mind off of the pain.   

Ella had a blast making pasta pumpkins, sorting alphabet blocks, and playing I Spy with a huge I Spy mat my mom found.  Unfortunately after Granny and Papi left on Monday things deteriorated a little bit and as I mentioned above days 4-8 were pretty rough on the little patient but we have survived and are thankful the recovery is behind us!

Now we hope that we can stay out of the doctor's office through the winter... 

Halloween 2012

It definitely wasn't hard to decide what Ella Kate was going to be for Halloween this year!  My child is beyond obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so Minnie Mouse was an easy decision - plus I already had the ears thanks to an impromptu gift from Granny during one of her visits.

I ordered the costume from Disney.com and since I had to wait until the last minute to order to make sure we wouldn't be homebound from tonsil surgery I got a great deal on it and even decided to splurge for the fancy yellow high heels!  EK loved her costume and we have worn those high heels on at least 20 occassions since and if we aren't wearing them they are usually close by just in case.

I have to say that this was probably the first time that I have gotten EK to stand and pose!  It was great to actually get pictures of her where she was looking!

We had a short go at trick or treating and had a visit from our favorite people The Clemmons (though Brandon's costume scared the pants off of EK and she refused to go outside after she saw him).  Ella Kate was having surgery the next day so we kept it low key in order to get her in bed at a decent time thanks to our 4 am wake up call!

I decided this year that we finally needed to get a little festive outside of our house and put something on our porch so I did a little search on pinterest and found these beauties

Source: redesigningwomen.wordpress.com via Tracy on Pinterest

I have to say that I was impressed by my rendition of them (seen above).  Maybe I am not completely incompetent when it comes to DIY projects... hmm what can I do next??

Pumpkin Carving

I know I am almost two weeks late on our Halloween posts but we have spent the last 10 days recuperating from Ella Kate's tonsilectomy and adnoidectomy.  I think we have finally recovered as EK finally seems to be herself again.  Well at least we can hope we are all back to normal... I couldn't take anymore of EK's recovery!

The Sunday before Halloween we went over to our friend's house to carve up the pumpkins we got at Moore Farms and roast pumpkin seeds!

We tried to get the girls involved in the pumpkin carving but that only lasted until we got the top off the pumpkin and away they went after that to play.

 

This was the best picture I could get of the kids.  I give myself credit as they are all at least looking at the camera.  It was pitch black outside by the time we finished so all they could see was the flash of cameras!

Our finished products... we went the classic route while everyone else got all fancy on us!  I defnitely think we will be making this an annual tradition.  Though next year their might have to be some chili and The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown involved!

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Last weekend we decided to head to the Pumpkin Patch since it is fall and you just have to!  Unfortunately it was like 85 degrees and overcast but we still made the most of it!  We had heard great things about Moore Farms so that is where we headed.

One neat thing about Moore Farms is that if you get there early enough you can buy an ear of corn, grind it yourself, and feed it to the animals.  Ella thought that was just great!
 

 

 

A couple of great things on the farm were the old tractor and water pump!  I don't know how many times we heard EK yell either tractor or water!

 

This might far be my favorite picture ever!  Daddy and Daughter (in matching purple polos for Game day) just waiting for the hay ride!

 

Ella Kate chose to sit right up in the front next to the tractor for our drive out to the actual pumpkin patch.  She thought she was just such a big girl!

Surprisingly I remembered to get a family picture while we were on the hay ride... Unfortunately someone was way to destracted to actually look at the camera!  Oh well at least we tried!

Ella was very dedicated to find the perfect pumpkin and I am pretty sure she checked out each and every one before her and her daddy settled on this one.

 

Of course we had to take the obligatory picture with our pumpkins we picked... again someone didn't want to pose perfectly but what can I say she's two and we made some great memories during our time at the pumpkin patch!

 

5 Year Anniversary Trip!

As I said in my last post Keith and I took a little vacation for our 5 year anniversary to Las Vegas at the end of September.  We decided back in May that since we had not taken a real vacation just the 2 of us since our honeymoon that it was about time to get away.  We stayed at the Venetian and thanks to Keith's Holiday Inn points for all those hotel stays for work we were able to get 2 nights free which helped to make our trip a little more reasonably priced.

 

We started our first night off by going to Otto by Mario Batali in the Shops at the Palazzo which was absolutely delicious!  I have always loved watching Mario Batali cook on the Food Network so it was a real treat for me to get to eat at one of his restaurants!

 

We then moved on the Fremont Street to check out Old Vegas.  Now I have to warn you that if you are going to visit Old Vegas, check out what they have going on there before you go.  We didn't realize that it was a Biker Rally weekend and let's just say we saw some interesting things.  Though you usually see quite a bit of interesting things on Fremont Street!

 

I loved that they have a sort of canopy up between the hotels on Fremont Street!  It allows you to walk all along the street and not worry about the weather.  Plus they canopy is like a TV screen so I am sure they could do all kinds of neat things with it.

 

 

 

Of course I had to take pictures of all of the iconic hotels all lit up!  We went into each one while we were there and it just amazed me how these hotels are still open after all of these years!

After our time on Fremont Street we headed back to the strip to check out a few other hotels.  I could literally just walk in and out of the hotels all day looking at the amazing decorations and interior of all of these buildings!  It just amazes me.

We stopped by the Wynn and the Encore before we headed back to our room for the night and this waterfall all lit up was just so neat.  They had a cute little balcony/bar that you could go to that looked right over this and made for the best atmosphere.

Saturday morning we had a quick breakfast from the food court in the Venetian before we headed off to walk through The Forum Shops and meet up with a friend of mine that is currently living in Vegas.  I was just amazed by the amount of shopping in Vegas.  I never really saw many people frequenting the shops but man you could sure do some damage to your bank account both at the tables and the shops! 

As I mentioned above Saturday morning we met up with one of my friends that I have known since the 4th grade.  Jessica and her family moved to Vegas about a year and a half ago when her husband matched for his Family Medicine residency at the Air Force base there.  I hadn't seen Jessica since she was pregnant with her 2nd little one Jude who is already over a year old!  It was great to catch up with her and see both of the kids and I even got a sweet surprise when her sister came along who moved to Vegas to live with her last December.

We met up at Seredipity 3 and sat around and talked for quite awhile before the kids got restless and we moved on to the Bellagio to look around and to pick up our tickets for "O" which we were going to that night.

The Bellagio had some of my favorite decorations indoors. 

The conservatory of the Bellagio was all done up for Fall and the flowers and plants were just so pretty! 

 

They even had this great talking tree that scared poor Harper to death!  I don't think that little girl will ever be the same when she goes into the Bellagio!

After we finished at the Bellagio we headed over to the Paris to look around and let the kids burn off a little more steam.  The Paris was by far my favorite hotel of all.  I think it was since I have actually been to Paris and the hotel reminded me so much of it.  Plus the croissant I had there was just delicious!

We decided before we left that since Saturday was our actual anniversary that that would be the night that we had a fancy dinner and went and saw a show.  We picked "O" by Cirque du Soleil in the Bellagio as our show and it was just wonderful!  Before we went to see the show, we did a little more sight seeing and of course had to check out the fountains in front of the Bellagio

 

We didn't stay for the whole show since we had dinner reservations but it was neat to see such a landmark of Vegas.   For dinner we chose to eat at Michael Mina in the Bellagio and let me tell you it did not disappoint!  We both did a tasting menu and it was just amazing!  After watching so much Top Chef and Food Network its always great to eat at a restaurant like that and know just what goes into all of those meals.

Sunday during the day we did quite a bit more sight seeing and actually walked from one end of the strip to the other.  We checked out the Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, Aria, MGM, NY NY, Excaliber, and Luxor (basically every hotel on the Strip).  Again it was just so neat to see how each hotel was themed and decorated.

 

 

Sunday night we met up with Jessica and her husband Kirk again for dinner at China Grill in Mandalay Bay.  Again another fabulous restaurant and after that meal I am pretty sure I could just spend days and days eating in Vegas.  After dinner we headed up to Mix at Mandalay Bay for a great view of the skyline of Vegas all lit up (and if you ever make it up to Mix you have to go to the bathroom while you are there - just trust me on that!)

 

 

 

It was the perfect way to end out trip!  Good food, good friends and a great view!

I would definitely recommend to everyone to get to Vegas at least once in their lifetime though I am sure we will be back multiple times in our remaining years.  I would have loved to see a few more shows and of course continue to eat my way through Vegas!