The Venetian

Okay, so better late than never, but we had the GREATEST time at the Venetian Hotel, here in Vegas. I have never stayed in a five-star hotel, and I have to say, A-MAZ-ING. The rooms (their "basic" rooms) were bigger than our apartment in Hawaii. They had a separate living room area, three flat screen TV's (one in the bathroom) and gold trim on everything. And one of my favorite things- Curtains that open and close with a remote!



Living room:


The bed was heavenly-soft...
The marble bathroom with a TV. Loved the bubble baths. And the robes and slippers. I liked how they separated the living area from the sleeping area with the 2 stairs.

The view was Kalia's favorite. And the actual swimming too.

Belly... Big.
And the customer service was incredible, I couldn't believe how accomodating they were. They brought extra pillows, blankets, a humidifier, cleaned the room whenever I wanted it done, and needless to say, it was the best hotel experience of my life. Hope to go back soon.

11 Months

11 months old today! The last month has been so fun. Here's a few new things that Kalia's into:

Bananas (causing some constipation problems) and Mac and Cheese-- she loves them both so much, she literally shovels them into her mouth. I'm giving her high fiber yogurt to counteract the banana problem.

She puts everything over her head or around her neck- leis, necklaces, strings (makes me nervous!) and clothes. She found one of the tops to my G's and managed to wear it like a toga for 15 minutes, I had to laugh.
Signing: I was so surprised when out of the blue she started signing-- I did signs here and there, but didn't think she was paying attention. Now she is signing eat, drink, more, doggy, all done (sometimes) and help (a barely-there version of help, but whatever). It's so nice to know what she wants. She has also started pointing at things to show us what she wants, or where she wants to go (um, outside. Always.) Also helpful.

Dogs: I have no idea where this new fascination with dogs has come with, but HOLY COW, she's obsessed. She says doggy ("doddy") about 100 times a day, pats her little leg, and starts laughing and breathing hard whenever she hears one or sees one. I bought her some books with puppies, because I'm not about to buy her a dog. (yet)

She's started crying every time Samuel leaves the house. She already squeals and runs to him when he comes home, but now she's noticing him leaving. He loves it.

She's increasingly restless at church. Case in point: Last Sunday I caught 20 minutes of Sacrament and 15 minutes of Sunday school. None of relief society. She won't stay on my lap, and she loves to escape into the aisles (or halls) and then she boldly walks onto the stand or into Bishop's offices. Oh well, at least we're there right? (I try to tell myself). Only 8 more months til nursery.

She's in love with the computer, especially the little red light underneath the mouse. She climbs up on the chair in front of the computer and starts banging away on the keyboard, playing with the mouse, or crawling up on the desk, or under it. I pull her off about 10 times a day.

She is getting the "let me do it" attititude and wants to feed herself with a spoon. I caught a funny moment on camera, at about the 30 second mark:

And...she's getting really bored staying indoors all day (but seriously, it is SO hot outside.) If you have any ideas on how to entertain an 11-month old, let me know.

Vaccines and Autism

Disclaimer: NOW--I am not writing this to start an argument. I believe that every person is 100% entitled to their own opinion and to do whatEVER they feel is best for their child.I do NOT like confrontation or arguments at all. I am not trying to open a can of worms (which I sort of did with my post on universal health care)--SO, I just want to say that for awhile I was very stubborn and refused to really look into this whole "is there a connection between vaccines and Autism" thing.

I have a cousin who is autistic, and a roommate from college who has an autistic son, and so it's something I think about a lot, especially lately with Kalia being at that age to get "shots."

I try not to be extreme about anything, but my husband, a real conspiracy theorist, does ask me questions that make me think. Finally, as we mildly battled out our opinions on the subject, I told him that there was just no PROOF that vaccines caused Autism. In fact, to back myself up, I told him I would find a study where UN-VACCINATED children still had Autism.

Well guess what. I couldn't find any study of the kind. I searched all over the web. I kept finding other people asking the same questions I had: WHERE ARE THE STUDIES ON UN-VACCINATED CHILDREN WHO HAVE AUTISM? I couldn't find them!! (If you can find them, LET ME KNOW!) I'm not sure if they are out there, and the government is covering them up (I wouldn't put it past them) or is it really just that there are not very many un-vaccinated kids with autism to study? I did learn of a study of some Amish people, who aren't very big on vaccines, and interestingly enough, their Autism rates are low to non-existent. This is when I started to see a "correlation" that I couldn't deny.

So, currently, I am very leery of vaccines, and while I certainly want my children to be vaccinated, I want to go about it in a different way. When I say that, I mean I would prefer the vaccines to be given one at a time, and not so many at once, and I don't think every single one of those 30 something vaccines is necessary. The following interview makes it pretty clear why.

I just wanted to share this awesome interview from Jenny McCarthy, it's one of the best I've heard from her, and if you don't know, her son was diagnosed as Autistic at age 2 1/2. If any of you are interested in this topic, or this particular opinion about vaccines/autism, I highly encourage that you watch it.

Lake Powell

We had a great time at Lake Powell! We went with about 15 members of my mom's family and stayed on a houseboat. The weather was wonderful, the water perfect, and the food pretty good too. Kalia liked climbing the spiral staircase quite a bit, and also the pancakes. Samuel was in heaven wakeboarding, and we were happy that Kalia loved boating so much. She would wave at other boats as we passed.She and I even had a chance to get out on the taco tube... And as the boat was stopping, the water flooded in on top of us and we toppled in.

My mom was able to make it. She's the one on the left, and that's her only sister on the right. My mom has had 6 (of 8) chemo treatments and she's hanging in there...these last few have really been hard on her, and at this point she's just trying to endure the rest. We were so glad she could join us and have a good time.
Samuel caught some good air on the wakeboard...
And on the tube...(with my little sis Kimberlee)

And on the way down from this cliff. (Not to be outdone, all the younger cousins followed suit, including Kimberlee, who's 14. So my dad jumped off too, because he couldn't let his youngest daughter outdo him either.) I'm just glad they all survived. And here's a little clip of Kalia loving the wind on her face.

Most the family is still out there, and I wish we were too, but I guess we'll just have to wait until next year. Then I won't be pregnant, and I can join in on the ACTION!

It's a......

So sorry to keep you all in suspense! We didn't have a computer at the hotel.

We are super excited to tell you now, though, that we're having a.... Can you tell??

ANOTHER GIRL!!! I was secretly hoping for it, but trying not to want it too much. Sisters! Close in age. We are thrilled. (Okay, Samuel might be a tad disappointed, but trying not to show it. Maybe next time!!)

Tag You're It

It's been a crazy two weeks. Happy 4th of July everyone. Ashely tagged me, and here I go:

20 Years ago...I was 8 years old, recently baptized, and pretty bratty. Growing up in St. George was awesome though.

10 Years ago...I had just finished my junior year of high school, my life revolved around volleyball, basketball, and track, and I was pumped to be a big Senior!

5 Years ago...Serving my mission and sweating in the humidity of Alabama. Loving those Mexicans and their hot spicy food. Trying to lose missionary weight.

3 Years ago...I was doing a summer internship in Honolulu, and falling madly in love with Samuel. We got engaged on August 18th.

1 Year ago...I was 8 months pregnant, hot, uncomfortable, and just quitting my job. Living in Hawaii and loving it, but missing my family.

So far this year I...made my first major move, loving having my family, but missing Hawaii like crazy. The grass is always greener, eh?

Yesterday I.... Witnessed my first live birth, Tara's beautiful baby girl was born (she did a VBAC! She did so awesome!) 13lbs and 8 oz. It was the coolest thing ever.
**CORRECTION** THAT'S 8LBS 13 OZ, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.**

Today I... just got back from church, now we're going to the Venetian for 2 nights to celebrate our anniversary (6 months late). We got a killer rate! $100 a night! I love hotels sooo much.

Tomorrow I... am finding out if we're having a boy or girl!!!

In the next year I...will have two children and hope it's as fun as it sounds (haha)

I tag: Crystal M., Brandi S., Amy J. and Angie S.