Two Best Friends

Yesterday morning, I was getting Ally packed up for school in the kitchen like I always do in the morning. I was getting my stuff together and realized I forgot my rings so I ran upstairs and came down to find this: Ally and Ella sitting on the floor reading books together. It was the cutest thing! I asked her what she was doing and she stated the obvious- I'm reading the bear book to Ella. I was able to get my camera and my phone to snap a few pictures of the cuteness and Ally even smiled for me. She usually hates getting her picture taken but she was loving it. She kept on reading to her with her hand on her back petting and hugging her until I got everything ready and it was time to put her jacket on. What a funny kid!

Viva Las Vegas

Saturday after Thanksgiving we packed up for a quick trip to visit Uncle Co Co in Las Vegas. He took a job as a development assistant with UNLV athletics in August and this was our first opportunity to get there. We made plans fairly quickly and didn't really tell Ally (aka Childthatneverforgetsanything) too far in advance so she was so excited to finally be on the way. We had an easy flight from O'Hare to Vegas and used our Hilton points for a 1 bedroom room at the Grand Vacation property just off the strip. When we got there, we immediately went to the football stadium to watch UNLV vs. San Diego State and to see Corey. He got us up into our own suite with buffet service. Football wasn't great but Ally was wired after traveling all day so even though it was 10pm on her watch she was running all over the place.

We took Ally out on the strip to see the aquarium at the Mandalay Bay then to see the lions at the MGM. We also made a quick stop at M&M Wold so Ally could see all the different kinds of "potty candies" and pick out her own flavors. We went through the Old Downtown and checked out the Freemont Street Experience so watch all of the lights. Corey took us to some good restaurants and we got to drive through Red Rock Canyon which is very close to his house. Ally did not enjoy the water show at the Bellagio but she was very excited about all of the Elmo's and other characters she saw begging for money on the streets.

When we visited Corey at his office, they were setting up for the Professional Bull Riding championships so we saw a lot of real live cowboys coming in. The arena was full of dirt in the rodeo ring but we dint see any of the animals. We walked around the campus a little bit and the weather was great. Most of the students were bundled up but we just had jeans and sweatshirts on. Ally did great on a strange schedule and was very good about going to sleep in the hotel. Not a great eater but that's not unusual. She napped at Corey's house in the afternoons so it was nice to just hang out there for a little while and meet his two roommates.

Our flight home was a total disaster! We were scheduled to leave at 9:20 am but weather delays and then ultimately mechanical issues cancelled our flight. We should have been home by 3:30 local time but didn't end up even boarding a plane until 6:45 in Vegas. We ate all 3 meals in the airport and Ally napped and ran all over the place. She loved the people movers and we rode every one of them multiple times. She didn't sleep a wink on the flight home but she was content playing and watching movies. She finally fell asleep once we were on the shuttle at O'Hare back to the car around 1:30am. Karl and I both had to be at work for afternoon meetings so we pulled into the driveway at 5am and slept until about 9 before getting up and ready for work. We let Ally sleep in and thought it would be best to get her to school for lunch and nap at the regular time to help her adjust. Again, she did great but we were SO exhausted. Quick trip but well worth it!

Vegas Trip Photos

Thanksgiving Day in Pictures

We hosted our first Thanksgiving at our house in IL with Grandma Sharon, Grandpa Henry, Aunt Susie and the 3 dogs: Ella, Bob and Samantha.

Future Rockette

Now that Ally actually pays attention, I decided to introduce her to the Macy's parade again this year. Its one of my favorite events so I was hoping she would get excited too. As soon as she saw the Rockettes start their routine she got really into it. It was so funny and Karl quickly got his phone and start recording it. She may not be tall enough but maybe they will change their requirements 16 years from now.

Undies

Ally has been wearing "undies" every day for almost a month now. She has a collection of Disney Princesses but she prefers to wear Tiana. She has been doing great both at school and at home during the days. Last week she had a couple accidents at school but other than that, she has been exclusively going on the potty all day and into the evenings. We still are wearing pullups when we are out and about but for the most part those are usually dry. She is getting the hang of the overnight thing so it probably wont be long before we are more trusting and go all in. She loves to get stickers or candies when she does a good job and has gotten a few new books each time she goes a week with no accidents. Her big vocabulary has really helped with the potty training because she is able to tell us exactly what she needs to do and when. Its usually just a matter of how far away from the potty we are at that time. We are really proud of her and altough she certainly doesn't think its a big deal, we cant wait to be done buying pullups!