Across the pond we go

November was such an awesome month!!  We finally got to take our trip across the pond so I can meet the rest of my family over there that I have not been able to meet.  Although it was absolutely FREEZING (I am not one who likes the cold and snow) it was an absolute blast.  My husbands family are the sweetest most kind people I have ever met.  Although I have spoken with on the phone a few times, and skyped a time or two they accepted me into the family like they have always known me.  I was a little nervous at first that maybe they wouldnt like me, or they would think I was snobby and bratty, but I think I blend right in.  I can not wait for them to one day make their way out to visit Vegas and see what America (well the west coast) is all about.  I will say I was in culture shock.... everything is so much SMALLER there, the toliets (they do not call them bathrooms or restrooms there... if you ask them where on is they look at you funny) do not have eletrical plus in them.  HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET READY IN THE MORNING??  The service there is not the best as they do not work for tips like they do in most of America, nor do expect tips... and we had one of the most awful experiences ever with customer service in a 4 star hotel in London.  But all in all it was great, and I cant wait to go back next year (expect when it is a little warmer), and hopefully my mommy and daddy will be able to fly over with us spend a few days in England then fly off to Italy.

We are also excited to annouce, after 2 years and 4 trys Baby W., will be joining us tentatively (lol) on June 14th, 2011!!!  We are about 15 weeks pregnant and going strong.  The Dr. says that there is a 70% chance that we are having a baby girl, but we will confirm next week in a 3D ultrasound. We are so excited and cant wait for her arrival.  Pink and princess everything, I really do not think that Matt knows what he is getting himself into.  She will have him wrapped around her finger to get whatever she wants. 

Profile of Baby Wratten at 13 weeks

Baby Wratten waving to mommy and daddy

Below are a few pictures from the 2000+ pictures we took while in England.

The church in the town center in the town Matt grew up in

A school from 1624 from a village we visited

I couldnt believe people still live in these old village homes with THATCH roofs

                            

Dinner with Barry, Matt's uncle in Kettering

                        

On the train to London!!

                                        

In front of Tower of London, while there we went and saw the Crown Jewels... and the Queen's crown that has a 314 diamond on it!!

Standing in front of a guard who guarded the Crown Jewels

                                     

Tower Bridge

                                                             

I was so excited to take a picture with a phone box... I opened it up and someone had peed in it... it was GROSS!!

                                                              


Buckingham Palace

                                                              

The beautiful Buckingham Palace

I loved all fountains and statues they had

Some detail from a gate outside of Buckingham Palace

There were HUGE leaves on the ground so I made Matt take pictures of throwing the leaves up in the air since we dont have leaves like that near us in Vegas

My turn!!

There was a FAT squirrel in St James Park, that was the friendliest thing we have ever seen... it almost climbed up my leg and freaked me out... Matt took like 100 pictues of it, lol

Walking through St. James Park

Standing next to another random guard

The night we were in London the students had a protest that got out of hand and closed down Trifalgos Square (which I wanted to go to :( ).  During the protest they graffetied (sp??) some of the Parliment buildings

Big Ben!!

Matt with Big Ben

We had to visit Wesminster Abbey, as William and Kate will be getting married there in April, lol

Had to stop by Harrods as well

Lucy and I in front of the famous Cement Cows in Milton Keynes

Me, Dad, and Matt

Matt with Granddad and Nan

The Family!

The snow storm we went through on our way up to Newcastle

Matt picking up the tickets to the Newcastle game against Cheslea

Matt getting ready for the game in his Newcastle gear!!

The Princess Diana memorial walk in St. James Park

Matt was lucky enought to meet Steve Harper, Newcastle's goalie (he is just coming back from injury)

Matt with the field in the background!

Right after Andy Carroll scored against Chelsea... it was SOOO much fun to finally be at a live game to our club and a club Matt has supported for 14 years!!

Matt showing his artistic side taking pictures from the window on the plane returning to USA

I think we were over Greenland at the time

We were lucky enough to see my nephews for a few minutes when we got home, before they left to go back to TX.  Louis and his best friend Lucas!!

KyKy and Louis... KyKy was enjoying some deliccious British chocolate

Matt, KyKy, Me, and Lucas

LuLu and I being pirates together (after all I am aunt pirate)

Blonde... Keegan... 1 year

Today Matthew and I are celebrating our 1 year anniversary! It is soo cray to think we have already been married 1 year!! We have had our many ups and downs, but all marriages have those!! He is the best husband anyone could ever ask for and always makes sure our little family is provided for. I can not wait for the next 50 years of our life!!

A few months ago, Matthew and I went to go see Valentines Day. On the way out, we were walking past a Aveda hair salon. I know how great Aveda products are so I told Matt I wanted to go speak to someone regarding dying my hair BLONDE!!! Thats right I am becoming a blonde bombshell, haha. I absolutely love it and can not wait for the process to be completed... I am having to go slowly since I have always colored my hair with dark dark browns, so if I try to lift it all at once my hair would fall off. I am almost there, maybe a few more sessions and it will be exactly how I want it!! I think I am going to go for a Carrie Underwood blonde, with some lighter pieces. So far almost everyone says I look better blonde... and I hope they are being truthful cause I think I look better too!!

Also we had a scare with my little princess Keegan last week. We are not quite sure what she got into (human food, or something in the garden), but it caused her liver and colon to freak out. We came home on Monday and we was completely un-responsive. A typical day when I get home all she does is what me to hold her so she can say hi and give me my afternoon cuddles and kisses. I went to go pick her up and she was freezing cold... she felt like she had ice in her mouth and her ears felt like they were frozen. We debated bringing her to the vet, as it was almost 6 PM and out vet was closing and told us they can not take her and we needed to bring her to the emergencywhich meant $$$$$$$. I called around to a few vets in our area and found one that was open until 8 and rushed her there. The Dr came in the room and immediately rushed her out, as they said she was in critical condition. Her temp was 94, when 99 is normal for a dog. They immediately put her in a little incubator to start warming her up. They did a real quick parvo test to rule out it wasnt parvo, and took some x-rays to see if she had a solid object in her stomach blocking anything (which would mean surgery, thank goodness there was nothing). They told us they needed to keep her over night and they would call us in the morning with any news. We went home and Matthew and I was devastated... I could not sleep at all. In the morning we called the vet, there was no news but they were able to get her temp stable but she was still in bad shape. They called Matthew later in the day and told us that her liver enzymes were over 1000, when they should be ax max 60. They wanted to keep her another day to watch her. So on Wednesday night we were able to bring her home!! She still isnt her normal self, and is on 3 different meds and special food (lucky me, 3 dogs on 3 different types of food... that makes a pain to feed them)!! We are very glad that all is ok and hopefully there will not be any long term effects!!

Here are some pictures I took to show off my hott new look (haha, yes I know I am nerdy)!!!

Bella Ruse

I am so sad, our little Bella Ruse is getting soo big. She was teeny tiny when we first got her, maybe 1 pound. Now she is much bigger and 5 pounds. I wish I would have got more pictures of her when she was little (I keep telling Matt I want a new REAL camera, not a dinky little digital camera that I loose, or loose the battery charger (I have purchased 3 chargers at $40 a piece and I refuse to buy another one) cause I miss seeing her little. I am going to be lame and give updates on my babies (the dogs) since we dont have an real ones yet. They are soo funny and bring so much joy to Matthew and my life!! It is crazy though, she looks like she can be the baby of Louie and Keegan... she has a reddish tinge to her hair, and her stomach is now almost all black (from freckles) with a few white patches.





Louie (aka Marty)
- He is my old man, in a puppies body.
- He loves his new little baby Bellza, and loves to wrestle her down.
- He still does not know how to jump up on anything, but has the stairs down like they are nothing.
- He lets mommy cut his nails with no biting, fighting, or crying.
- Loves squeaking his squeaky toys, especially his porkipine (sp?).











Keegan Marie
- She is still mommy's little princess
- She loves her new baby Bellza, but gets jealous if mommy is paying attention to her.
- She finds it funny to jump on mommy and daddys bed and pee (she has done it 3 times, and if she does it again she will hate mommy for the rest of her life)!!
- She has to have whatever the other two are playing with, no matter what it is.
- She has calmed down so much since the baby has joined the family.
- She loves to chase her Bella around the house and backyeard.








Bella Ruse
- She is absolutely nutty... by far beats out our little Keegan.
- She has such a different personality than the other two, and has been so different to train. I am proud to say, she is almost potty trained, she only has accidents every once and a while, the other two they just go where ever when ever (anyone who has potty training tips for 2 2 year old dogs, I am in need of them)!!
- She loves to play outside, and drag big rocks around, and chew up little twigs.
- She has already learned to climb the stairs, jump on the couch, jump on mommy and daddys bed (every morning after her morning potty she runs up the stairs as fast as she can to jump on mommys bed to go give daddy his morning kiss and nibble (bite), which is huge considering Louie still can not do anything (besides climbing the stairs) and has to be carried everywhere.
- Last week she lost all of her baby teeth on the bottom, it was too cute
- She LOVES to chew... on anything and everything, including mommys steve madden wedges, daddys diesel trainers, power cords (we never had this issue with Louie and Keegs)
- She does not like to go on walks... and I will never take all three on a walk by myself ever again... Louie and Keegan managed to get out of their harnesses TWO times, Bella kept tangling the leashes together... Then decided 3 minutes into it she did not like it anymore and I had to drag her. If another dog walks by forget it, she stops, cowards down, and starts to cry, haha

**side note, she was so little when we first got her she fit in Matthew's pocket (as seen in picture)

As for Matthew and I, we are good. Staying very busy with work, and looking forward to our next vacation in July to ENGLAND!! I can not wait to go and meet the rest of my new family. My new nan and grandad, and aunt and uncle, and cousins. I have only spoken with them on Skype, but absolutely love each one of them!! I thought I would upload a few pictures from our little valentines getaway to Hawaii enjoy!


In front of the penguins that reminded us of our little boy Louie at our hotel.
















Some bay we stopped at while touring the island.

Our traditional picture of writing our names in the sand.














Our last night there, they had fireworks at our hotel.












Had to take a trip to Dog the Bounty Hunter!!

Everyone must go to the Dole Pineapple Plantation and get a DoleWhip, pineapple ice cream and chunk of pineapple... I could eat one everyday for the rest of my life!

We stopped by Pearl Harbor and rode a boat shuttle over to the Arizona Memorial, you can still see oil rising from the boat

At the Arizona Memorial

One of the biggest battleships turned into a museum. Matt absolutely loved Pearl Harbor, walking around the battleship, and the submarine we went down into!