Sweet Naomi: Viva Las Vegas!

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years (Genesis 1:14)

I'm finally gonna tell you all about what happened in Vegas! I know, I know... "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"... but there's nothing to hide when you're just a little babygirl having fun on her first week-long out-of-state vacation!

Go figure that Richie and I have never partied in Las Vegas for New Year's until now... with a daughter! The cool thing is that we were meeting up with so much family! My Mom and Dad and sister Angie stayed with us at Tahiti Village. Down the street at another timeshare, Craig, Cathy and the boyz arrived first. Then Richie's Mom and Dad came through. Cathy also brought her entire family, including her parents and her siblings families Bern and Norman and an additional 6 boys! So once again, Mimi was the only girl amongst 10 boy cousins! *We missed you, Bella Boo!*

I carried Mimi around in the carrier for most of our adventures. She was able to see all the sights and sounds... so many lights and so many noises! One of the newer attractions in LV is the newly developed City Center. Here are a few pics from Crystals, the mall at City Center.

We made sure to "hit the Strip" a couple of nights so that Naomi could see all the glowing lights. Even though it was freezing outside, we made sure to bundle her up so she could enjoy being a tourist with the rest of us. Here are some pics of the city that never sleeps:

From Viva Las Vegas

Even though there are so many things to do and see in Vegas, I think Naomi had the most fun just chillin' in the hotel room. I could tell that she really liked that Richie didn't have to go to work and that she was away from the same-old scene at home.

Oh, and Naomi made a new friend in Vegas... herself! At home, Mimi always smiles at herself in the mirror, but she's usually being carried in someone's arms. At the hotel, she sat in front of herself and enjoyed the pleasant conversation. Click on the video to watch her head-butt and high-five her friend!

On New Year's Eve, instead of partying on the strip, Richie and I decided to keep it low-key and watch the countdown on TV and see the fireworks from our room instead of in the cold. Our litttle girl must have known that it was a special night to celebrate! We didn't expect that Naomi would stay up late, but she was able to hang past midnight and enjoy the festivities with us... she proved to be quite a little party animal!

Our first family photo of the New Year =)

After the fireworks, I thought for sure Mimi was gonna be tired. She did shows signs by rubbing her eyes and yawning, but she got a second wind when I told her that her cousins were stopping by to wish us Happy New Year! The boyz watched the fireworks from the top of the Harrah's hotel, but it looks like their baby cousin might have stole the show!

Having our parents in Las Vegas was awesome. Richie's parents gave us a tour of Las Vegas and ended up giving us lots of food to eat so we didn't have to spend too much dining around town. My parents even let us borrow the car to sneak out at night while they babysat Mimi. She would wake up looking for us and my Dad would put her in the stroller and cruise around the room to help her go back to sleep. She's a little used to being with my parents at night, but she's especially social during the day =)