Leavin' On A Jet Plane

Yup, that would be me! Only I do know when I'll be back, and that will be Tuesday evening. Until then, Brian and Andy will be on their own, with some help from Brian's dad, who is visiting for a few days.

Wish them luck, and I'll share more when I return from my super secret mission!

Falling in Love

It's been no real secret that I don't exactly love Arizona. Our move here was a rough adjustment from all that we had known in Southern California, and our first couple of years were filled with challenges the likes of which I hope to never know again. That being said, little by little I think I'm coming around to Arizona.

The changes began to happen slowly. First and foremost, Brian has been my rock through all of this. But then, I began to make friends and not feel so alone. Then, I adjusted to teaching in Arizona, but that's a whole other blog post. I learned to keep from dying of the heat in the Arizona summer, and to enjoy the monsoon storms.

My latest challenge has been learning to enjoy what Arizona does have, instead of what it doesn't have. Today was a rare treat. Brian also had the day off and it was a beautiful day, sunny, clear, and cool. We decided to take Andy on a little family adventure, and we went somewhere we had never been before, and we never got further than an hour east from our house.

We drove out to Saguaro Lake though some beautiful scenery, and absolutely no traffic. Along the way we eyed the snow in the mountains and the beginnings of spring blooms. Once we arrived at the marina we looked around briefly, then enjoyed lunch on the patio of the restaurant while enjoying the views. Even better, we had a $10 off coupon for lunch. The little quote on the coupon didn't lie . . . this place is certainly one of Phoenix's best kept secrets.





I think it's safe to say that little by little I seem to be falling in love with Arizona. Who knew?

This last picture is simply a gratuitous picture of Andy from the recent past. Yup, we are still on the potty bandwagon.

Finding Fall

We found it! We found it! We found a little bit of fall!

We spent Wednesday traveling and Andy was quite the trooper. He did really well waiting around the airport for our flight and was even better during the flight. It really helped that he slept for about an hour on the plane. Once we arrived and got settled in our hotel we met up with my mom (who was also visiting) and my grandma. We all went out to dinner to celebrate Brian's birthday. There's nothing that Brian enjoys more than a great steak, and we went to our favorite Omaha steakhouse It did not disappoint and we had a wonderful meal.
Here we are back at my grandma's place after dinner. Me, my mom, Andy and Grandma. Can you believe that she will be 101 in February?!??!
We couldn't have asked for better weather. The daytime temperatures were in the low 70's, with the evenings in the 50's. That's my kind of weather, and quite a relief from the 90's that we have here in Arizona! This is my favorite picture of Andy and my Grandma.
We spent some time outside letting Andy burn off some energy. There's nothing this boy likes better than a good ball. We stopped at SuperTarget to pick up this one, and I even managed to fit it into our luggage so that we could bring it home with us.
My boy ran and ran and ran, and kicked and kicked and kick, and threw and threw and threw to his heart's content. I'm not sure who was more tired afterward, Andy from playing or Brian from keeping up with him.
Andy had lots of hugs and kisses for GG, and was even willing to share his Elmo stickers with her.
On Friday we went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch, which was completely amazing! I so wish we could have spent more time there. This was unlike any other Pumpkin Patch I've ever seen. There was so much to see and do, and it was just so perfect for little kids.


Andy had been looking forward to the pony ride, but by the time it was his turn to saddle up he screamed, "no pony! no pony!", so that was the end of that. We left really quickly, with hopes of going back later.

After stopping for lunch and letting Andy nap in the car we went back to visit with my Grandma. Andy has a way of finding fun with every item that he picks up.
He even got my Grandma in on the fun! Andy arranged the wheelchair and walker and insisted that my Grandma sit by him.
On Saturday our fall fun came to an end and it was time to return to the Valley of the Sun. As you can see, Andy was a big help in lugging our stuff through the airport.
Fall break isn't over yet. There is still another week to go. Yippee! Our next adventure? Potty training starting on Tuesday . . . . so stay tuned, I'm sure I'll have plenty of comments and questions for you!

Travelin' Toddler Style

We travel quite a bit. We don't always take a VACATION, but we do take many trips. For the past 2 years any time we have gone somewhere, so has Andy. My sweet boy has proven time and again that he is a champion traveler. I'm often asked how we manage, so I'll share a bit here.

First of all, I can only take about 10% of the credit. The rest belongs to Andy. Seriously. He is just that much of a champ.

I'll start with airline travel. I've flown with Andy to Omaha twice and Baltimore once. I've learned that I never want to drag a carseat on an airplane again. Oh, I didn't mind the little infant carrier type of carseat, but a full on regular carseat? Never again! We use the CARES harness to keep Andy in his seat safely and then check our carseat with our bags. We also take along his big stroller to keep him contained when necessary while we wait in the airport. It's super easy to check at the gate and it's really nice to have to pile all of our junk in.

Road trips are a different story since I don't make any effort to pack lightly. The big trick is to bring an assortment of stuff for the little guy. I put a bag in the backseat with all sorts of little toys like his cellphone, cars, books, etc.
I also bring along bunches of his favorite snacks, like goldfish crackers, dry cereal, apples, bananas and stuff like that. As evidenced by this next picture, giving him just 1 blue m&m was not a good idea. Funny, but not one that I will likely repeat.
My boy is a champion napper in the car, and we can count on him snoozing anywhere from 1 to 3 hours.
Sleeping while away from home is always difficult. Andy is such a go-getter that he literally goes until he drops. When we stay with Brian's parents we have learned to leave the house at bedtime. That's right. We go out for date night and leave Brian's mom to be the bad guy. We don't go back to the house until we know he is asleep!
We have another trip next week to Omaha, so we'll see how things go. Right now Andy is a huge fan of airplanes and we are getting him all hyped up to go on one for a ride. I hope I didn't jinx ourselves by telling all of you what a great traveler he is!

California Adventure

Well, we have survived yet another trip to Southern California and a wonderful time was had by all.

We drove out on Thursday afternoon and luckily escaped the heat here in the Valley of the Sun. On Friday Brian went on a fishing trip for the day while I had breakfast with a dear friend. Later, Andy and I met my brother and his family at Red Robin in a local entertainment district so that we could help to celebrate Ryan's third birthday. The kids were so excited to be together! Afterward Andy refused to ride the merry-go-round with Ashley and Ryan because there wasn't a "Mick Mick" for him to ride. (That would be Mickey Mouse). We shopped for a bit, then returned to Brian's parent's house. When Brian's fishing boat returned we left Andy with Nonnie and Papa while we went to the Angel game. What a beautiful night for a ballgame it was!

On Saturday we went to Ryan's birthday party at the nasty rat pizza place. You know what I'm talking about. It's so weird how kids just go completely nuts there. After having a great time with his cousins we dragged Andy out of there. We all went to visit a wonderful friend of mine who had just returned home from the hospital. And, if we hadn't had enough visiting for the day, we had dinner with Brian's parents and grandma.
On Sunday we went to California Adventure, it was Andy's first time at that park. We rode a couple of rides, visited with some characters, and saw a little traveling Toy Story green army men show. Let me tell you, Andy put on quite a show when it was his turn to visit with Mick Mick, even kissing him square on the nose. When Andy met Chip and Dale he hugged them each so tight and wouldn't let go, he literally needed to be dragged off. We've decided that when we return next month we are going to take Andy to one of the hotels for the character breakfast to celebrate his birthday.

Sunday evening Brian and I had another date night. We went to Disneyland and walked around and rode a few rides before walking out to Downtown Disney to have dinner and do a little shopping.

Yesterday we were charged with driving home. While we had lots of fun and enjoyed visiting with so many people, it was time to return home. The hardest part of this trip was getting Andy to sleep at night. And forget about napping! If he wasn't in the car, he wasn't napping. It was impossible to get Andy to go to sleep anywhere near his regular time. He was up until anywhere from 9:00 to 11:00 each night, and up each morning by 7. Ugh. I can only hope that this too will get better with the more practice he, and we, have.

And now we are home. Brian is at work today and Andy and I are stuck home waiting for a furniture delivery. I'm really excited about getting the furniture, but bummed to have to wait at home today. Such is life . . .

Our California Adventure

We started our day with a quick trip to Disneyland and made our way to Toon Town in search of the great mouse. It wasn't very crowded today, so Andy was able to walk through Mickey's house without getting trampled. Back in March when Andy finally met "Mick Mick" he cried, squirmed, and beat Mickey about the head. This time? It was all love!
Last time, Andy was terrified of the other characters. This time? He ran to Pluto with plenty of love and ham.
We left the park and lunched at Rainforest Cafe. Andy wasn't too thrilled with the first "storm", but did enjoy the elephants and monkeys and then tolerated the later "storms".

Once back at the house, and after a failed attempt at napping, I loaded Andy into the car and we went to visit a friend at her office. From there we went to the beach for Andy's first trip to the ocean. This kid is truly an Arizona boy. He was all about the sand and none to thrilled with the water that moved.


We will have to work on developing his love of the beach much as we've worked on his love of "Mick Mick" and other characters.

More adventures tomorrow as we hang with his cousins Ashley and Ryan and visit the pool. Summer vacation is awesome! But, as much fun as we are having, we do miss Brian and are looking forward to returning home in a few days.

Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Well, this has been an unexpected little break from blogging. Nothing bad, just general life.

Once we all recovered from the stomach flu it was time for me to jump back into the last two days of school. What a whirlwind! The kids were only there for half days, but there was more than enough paperwork and clean up to run through the rest of the days. To further complicate things, I was completely hell-bent on finishing the projects for my last gifted endorsement class by the time school ended as well. And I did it. I'm thrilled to say that I completed 15 credit hours this school year to complete the course requirements for a gifted endorsement to tack onto my credential.

So last Thursday, the first day of summer vacation, I carted Andy off to the babysitter's house and Brian took the day off work. We ran some errands, spent a ton of money, had lunch out, and just enjoyed our time together. On Friday morning I again carted Andy off to the babysitter's house and spent a quiet morning, ALONE, at home before getting busy with the business of laundry and housework and errands.

Thrilling, huh?

On Saturday morning Brian had to go in to work, so I got Andy and me packed up, loaded up the car, and we hit the road for California. We are staying with Brian's parents and will head home on Wednesday. Yesterday Andy had some quality time with his grandparents, and I got to have some quality time with my girlfriends. Ah, that does a heart good!

Since we've been here Andy has figured out how to climb out of the pack-n-play, which isn't exactly a good thing, since that is where he sleeps at night. Thus, last night was a pretty long night for us.

The other thing is that he likes to say that he has to go pee pee and then sit on the potty. Likes it, as in wants to do it about 100 times a day. Which wouldn't be so bad if he was actually productive. Usually he is too late, or just plain mistaken. So, once we get home it'll be time to outfit the joint with character covered potty seats.

In the meantime, for today, we have a visit planned to Disneyland so that Andy can see Mick Mick. He LOVES Mick Mick. We'll be heading out as soon as Andy finishes his coffee. Yup, Brian's dad gave him his own cup of coffee this morning. In the interest of full disclosure, it's about 1 tablespoon of coffee and 2 tablespoons of half and half.

Spring Breakin'

Oh the glories of Spring Break! Even though our anniversary was last month, we finally were able to celebrate last weekend. We spent our wedding night at The Grand Californian Hotel and Resort, but due to the lateness of our evening festivities and the earliness of our travel schedule we were only able to spend about 5 hours at the hotel. So, it seemed like a mighty fine place to celebrate our 5th anniversary. In addition, we had also saved some of our Christmas money to put towards annual passes at Disneyland. With how often we visit Brian's parents, and the fact that it's still free for Andy, we thought it would be fun for the next year.

We didn't want to overwhelm Andy, since he is still a little guy and all. Late Saturday morning we all went to Disneyland. Main Street was quite the experience for Andy! He's never seen so many people in one place.
Plus, there were giant furry creatures running about! Andy was so cute, clapping and yelling when he saw Chip from a distance, however, up close was another story. He cried and didn't want to be anywhere near the creature.
We made a beeline to Toon Town and Andy had a much better time playing in Goofy's yard and house.
I think Andy's highlight of the day was playing Goofy's piano. This kid loves to play!
Andy was so eager to get into Goofy's chair. He kept running into other people's pictures!
Andy had such a good time driving the car in front of Goofy's house that he just couldn't bother to look at the camera.
After taking a very, very slow tour (read: waiting in a really long line) through Mickey's house we finally made it into the studio to meet Mickey. Let's just say that it wasn't exactly love at first sight.
(Andy has since come to love Mickey. He has a little stuffed Mickey and a Mickey T-shirt. He taps the Mickey picture on his belly when you ask him where Mickey is.)

After visiting Mickey we decided it was time to leave. We dropped Andy at Brian's parent's house and gathered our things and went and checked in at the hotel. We went back to the park and went on a few rides. Later we had a nice dinner out and even got to sleep the whole night through, and sleep in, without worrying about Andy waking us up. It was our first night away from him, and went really well.

Ultimately, it was a wonderful anniversary celebration and well worth the delay. And now we are looking forward to our next trip to Disneyland with our sweet boy.

Journey to the Frozen Tundra

Andrew and I have returned from the Frozen Tundra, otherwise known as Nebraska, and have finally thawed out! I knew you'd be relieved.

Our flight out couldn't have been better. I really lucked out and Andy and I had an entire row to ourselves at the back of the plane. I had one of these handy, dandy items so that Andy could safely sit in his own seat without me having to lug the carseat on board. (This little item happened to be a wonderful tip from Brian's cousin, Danicka. Even better, we can continue to use it until Andy reaches 44 pounds.) Anyhow, even while restrained in such a manner Andy managed to doze off during takeoff and he slept until just before we landed.

My mom was already in Omaha so she met us at the airport and took us back to our hotel. After settling in we went to pay a visit to my Grandma who was just giddy with excitement over seeing Andy again. Eric, Kari and the kids arrived in town shortly after we did and met us at Grandma's. We left early so as not to tire her out, stopped for dinner, then retreated back to the hotel for a quiet evening. My mom's room and mine adjoined, with Eric and Kari and kids across the hall. The kids had lots of fun going back and forth.

On Sunday morning we woke up to snow falling. And just an FYI, there was already plenty of snow. The kids were really eager to get outside and couldn't stop looking out the window.
After breakfast we bundled up the kids and headed outside for a romp in the snow.
Ashley and Ryan had a wonderful time, but my little sunshine boy didn't think too highly of the white, cold stuff. However, he was darn cute!
After our playtime in the snow we had to get presentable and head back to Grandma's for her party and some last minute setting up. My mom ordered 6 sheet cakes, and not a single bit of cake went to waste.
Here are some of the guests waiting to greet my Grandma in a reception line sort of way. She had a steady stream for well over an hour into the party and was quite overwhelmed by all of the people who came to celebrate with her and wish her well.
Here she is by the time the crowds dwindled down so I could get close to her with a camera. Doesn't she look great for 100? I'd say not a day over 80!
Ryan made himself right at home, and seemed to think that pants are optional in Nebraska when it is barely 30 degrees.
After the party we were able to get Andy to pose with Grandma. Poor boy didn't feel too well and you can see it on his face. But, he was quite a delightful little trooper and I received nothing but compliments on how pleasant he is.
We went back for another visit on Monday morning before leaving the Frozen Tundra. By the time we got to Grandma's it was a whopping 12 degrees! Brrrr! We are definitely not used to that here in the Valley of the Sun!

And here we have the kids (and Kari) all together with their Great-Grandma. What a special picture this is.
Getting checked in at the airport and through security took only about 1o minutes, so Andy had some time to color while we waited.
Andy was really good for the return flight too. Again, we had an entire row to ourselves at the back of the plane. He fell asleep before takeoff, and slept until about 30 minutes before we landed. And again, he charmed everyone within range. However, he just wasn't himself and his face and eyes looked a mess with all the snot and goop.

By the time we landed I decided a visit to Andy's doctor was in order, so we both stayed home on Tuesday. The verdict? My poor boy has a double ear infection complete with bulging eardrums and icky pus. Even the doctor thought he should have been much more irritable than he was.

After a couple of days of regular napping he is as good as new, and I'm back to school, busy as ever. And now I'm sick too.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

Now that I've got the idioms out of my system, let's get down to business. Life is good. Really good. Just really busy too. So much so that it's kind of making me nuts. I feel like I don't have any time to just slow down and enjoy and appreciate these really good times. Somehow the "to do" list just never gets any shorter, but rather, grows at an alarming pace.

Unfortunately, my brain can think up things that need to get done much faster than I can actually do this. One of my character flaws is that I always want to do everything perfectly and have everything just so. Throw in teaching and family responsibilities, and it can just be really tough to deal with. Also, I'm totally and completely unrealistic with my time estimates for everything. However, I do know that I'm not the only person in the world with these issues, but I do wonder how others manage without going stark raving mad.

I do have a little help now managing my stress and anxiety issues, but I'll go into that another time. Suffice it to say, that I was definitely feeling the effects of all of this stress and busy-ness this weekend. Brian finally took things into his own hands and booked me for a massage last night, and today!

I feel like a new person now. A new person with lots to do! However, at least now I'm relaxed enough to realize that I don't have to get it all done today. Namely, I'm trying to get Andrew and I ready for our trip to Omaha next weekend. I'm trying to round up cold, really cold, weather clothes for us and it's just impossible. There is no winter clothing to be found in Arizona. We'll just have to hope for the best and layer, layer, layer.

I a bit concerned (read: really, really worried and stressed) about how I will manage us and our stuff on the flight. I mean, I'm checking our suitcase, but I'll still have the stroller, car seat (assuming there is room for Andrew to have his own seat on the plane), diaper bag, purse, sippy cup, snacks, binkies, etc., etc., etc. Oh, and let's not forget, I'll also have Andrew. So, if you have any tips for me about traveling alone with a toddler, please share!