8 Year Anniversary!

This year Kyle and I tried a new Italian restaurant in Downtown Davidson.  We had a blast talking for 2 hours at dinner with no kid interruptions!  Thankful our babysitter, Shannon, was available and handled both kiddos at our house no problem!

Afterwards, we picked up some Chick-Fil-A Peppermint Milkshakes (OUR FAVE) and walked around Kohls to finish up some Christmas shopping.  A fun date night out for sure!

Happy 8 years sweetie!!

James Taylor Date Night!

Kyle has always wanted us to go to a James Taylor concert together, so when I heard he was coming to Charlotte I got busy planning a fun night out!  Thankfully our wonderful babysitter here, Shannon, was available so we were able to do it!  We headed to Cabo Fish Taco, a well known restaurant in NODA that everyone RAVES about.... and now we know why! It was SO delicious and we'll definitely be going back there in the future.  Carne Asada & Grilled Lime Shrimp tacos, guacamole, cheese dip and margaritas-- yes please!

We then headed to the concert and got there right when it was starting.  Thank you again Ashley for making this happen for us!

Such a relaxing night sitting listening to his music!

Fun date night with my love!

Hospital Sibling Tour & Date Night!

After church on Sunday, May 4th we headed to the sibling tour at our hospital as we wanted to make sure Emery was comfortable in the hospital and wouldn't be scared coming to visit us.  It was SUCH a cheesy class and the teacher was horrible with kids, but Emery had a blast.  

Look at this "Proface":

When we got home, we met my Uncle David and Shannon at our house as they graciously babysat Emery for us so Kyle and I could have one last date night before baby boy arrived.  We had been craving Cantina, our favorite Mexican restaurant here, and had such a great time having a night out.  Little did we know my contractions were going to start the next day, so it really was perfect timing!  (FYI we had Mexican the night before my contractions started with Emery... spicy food does the trick!)

Date Night: Front row seats to John Legend!

Kyle surprised me with a date night the other weekend and we had the best time!  I got in the car and he said, "Let's listen to some John Legend"... I immediately looked at him and said, "WE ARE GOING TO THE SOLD OUT JOHN LEGEND SHOW?!".  To which he replied with a smile: "Who do we know that can get tickets to anything?" in which of course I yelled "CLINT".  So once again Clint worked his magic and found Kyle a great deal on once in a lifetime tickets... FRONT ROW to John Legend.  So so pumped!!

His concert was amazing.  Everyone sat the whole time, he had a string quartet, a guitarist and the piano.  His voice is so smooth and pure-- was such a treat to get away from the "SHOW" aspect of concerts that happen now with crazy lights, dancing and theatrics.

Such a treat from my hubby!

I'm telling you what I don't think I've ever been this close to an artist before!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Clint for making this night possible for us-- such a sweet friend.

And here is a video of my favorite song that he sang.  A perfect night for sure, thank you Ky for taking the time to plan such a great outing for you and I!

Vegas Vacation!

After visiting the Hoover Dam, Kyle and I drove into Vegas and timed driving down the strip at sunset, perfectly.  Let me just say I LOVE VEGAS and it wasn't nearly as dirty and provocative as I had imagined. (I do realize the sign below says "sensual" hahaha)  

Everything is SO over the top, and so fancy... it truly feels like a Disney World for adults.  It's so apparent how much money the city has from all the casinos... sky is the limit!

We stayed at The Four Seasons, which consists of the top 4 floors of the Mandalay Bay (floors 35-39).  Kyle's conference for work was held in the Mandalay Bay, so we really lucked out getting to stay at the Four Seasons!  Our room was beautiful and so so nice.

Once we unpacked, we headed back out to walk the strip and find somewhere to eat dinner.  I couldn't get over the decorations in all the hotels, I mean seriously over the top!!

Here is a view from outside the Venetian showing the outdoor gondolas they have in front of the hotel:

And inside the ceilings are covered in beautiful murals!

We walked up to the second floor in the hotel and voila you are all of a sudden in an "outdoor" shopping area surrounding the streets of Venice.  I mean look at that sky, doesn't it look real?  Oh and they have rivers with gondolas all throughout too... ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF A HOTEL.  INSANE!  We found a delicious Italian restaurant, split a couple appetizers and headed out.

We then walked down the street to the Belagio fountains!  Over the weekends they show every 15 minutes so we stayed and watched 2 shows, so incredible and all different depending on the music they play.

Once back in our hotel I stopped at the bathroom quickly and walked out to Kyle's guilty face gambling haha:

And took a couple silly pics along the way too that night!

The next morning, Kyle had to head into work so I spent the day being a tourist and relaxing by the pool.  I wished he could have joined me for some of it, but I still had a blast exploring the city, shopping, taking naps and finally reading a book!  Our hotel had a free tram attached to it that brings you more into the strip so I took that out and explored a little more. 

Here is another crazy hotel -- New York, New York which actually has a roller coaster that runs through the casino and then all outside of it.  Kyle rode it one night after I left with his work team... crazy!

Around lunchtime I came back to relax at the pool.  The Four Seasons had it's own pool with people who set up your chairs, provide pitchers of water and free sunscreen... I tell you what FANCY!  I chose to hang out there the rest of the afternoon!

I walked over to Mandalay Bay's pool as well just to check it out.  They have a huge wave pool and lazy river going around it.  Em would have loved it!

Kyle was done with work around 5:00, so we headed out soon after to go eat a quick appetizer before heading to the Cirque de Soile Michael Jackson ONE show!  The theatre was actually in the Mandalay Bay so once again we didn't have to walk far which worked out perfectly!

So pumped to be heading into the show!  It was AMAZING and our favorite show that we've seen yet.  There was so much dancing and cool tricks, the music was so great, and the special effects were unbelievable. 

 

There were parts where you really thought you were watching Michael Jackson dance on stage-- makes you sad to think he's not around anymore as he really was a great performer.  

After the show we headed to the casino to try our luck at gambling.  We only played Roulette, and only lasted a couple rounds.  HA needless to say I take way too long to pick out numbers!

Oh well still really fun!

The next morning, we ate breakfast with my cousin, Ben, as he was in town for the conference as well with his company.

Then Kyle and I relaxed by the pool for a couple hours before I had to pack up and head to the airport.  

But we stopped at the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign for a couple pics!  We always have a jump shot at signs like this but this time I just held the belly since jumping isn't the most comfortable option these days!

And we picked up lunch from In-N-Out before the airport.  It was delicious, and a necessity since we don't have these on the east coast!

A really quick but fun trip to Vegas with my sweetie.  Thanks again Kyle for letting me tag along, and for Mom and Gigi for taking such great care of Emery while I was gone.  Perfect get away before we add another kiddo to our fam and the chaos begins!

Date night: John Mayer concert!

On September 4th, John Mayer came to Charlotte in concert with Phil Phillips opening for him.  We had a great time as always and enjoyed sitting and watching all the band members jam for a couple hours.

Our favorite part was when the other band members left the stage and John took requests from the audience.  He sang "Back to You" which will always be one of our songs and it was funny seeing him try to remember lyrics and chords.  Great concert thank you again Ashley for making this possible!

Friday Randoms!

I have had a cold all week (hence the lack in posts), but I'll finish up this week with some random pictures I took from my phone. 

- Our little girl LOVES the sand... like seriously would play in it all day everyday if we let her.   We need to get her to a beach soon!

- Sweet reading moments with Daddy.

- When Kyle travels, I seriously turn into the biggest slob.  This is how our sink looks most of the time when he's gone, as after I put Emery down for bed the last thing I want to do is dishes.

- Also, when Kyle travels I don't feel like cooking big dinners just for myself.  So I'll make a crock pot meal (normally chili or chicken tortilla soup) and eat it every night for dinner.

 - Alright this post is turning into how I'm lazy, but I promise this is my last one.  I do not do laundry everyday, as I think it's a waste of time.  I probably average once a week (ok ok sometimes we go longer), and I set up my laptop, watch Netflix and fold/put away during nap time. 

- I finished another sign a couple weeks ago as a wedding gift.  I love how it came out.

- No one told me to not empty out the ENTIRE package of seeds into my garden.  We now officially have 100 heads of lettuce growing in a 2 foot section.. haha.  I'm going to have to do a lot of work this weekend to space them out & throw some away!

- We finally made it to one of Kyle's kickball games that he's a part of through work.  He pitches for his team, and Emery was cracking everyone up saying GOOOOO DADDY GOOOO!

- Kyle and I went on our first date night since LAST JULY, last night.... that's 10 months people! We had the best time eating at 131 Main and going for ice cream afterwards.  Shannon was recommended to us from a friend of a friend and we are so grateful for how she met all of our specifications in what we were looking for in a babysitter.  Emery even told her that she loved her, TWICE--- our shy little girl was not shy to her at all!  Think it's a match made it heaven :)  Loved time alone with Kyle last night... at the end of this month we'll celebrate 11 years of being together!

Happy Friday y'all!