Adventures in Life

Well, I should be watching Dexter right now, but both Gabe and Alex are sleeping. So, I have the Food Network on mute instead. This week was busy.

On Tuesday I went to the book club meeting. We discussed The 19th Wife. As I said in a previous entry, the topic was plural marriage. It made for some interesting conversation. Next month the book is Dixiland Sushi by Cara Lockwood. After I left the book club meeting, I headed over to DD's house and we went out to lunch. It was a Mexican restaurant that I had not been to before and they had yummy cheese enchiladas.

Wednesday I headed over to K's house to scrapbook. Actually, she scrapbooked and I worked on some other crafty things.

Friday night, Gabe, Alex, & I went to a baseball game. We watched the Tucson Toros play the St. George Roadrunners. The Toros won. We ended up leaving before the game was over. Alex was getting sleepy and it was still pretty hot out even at 9:30 p.m. We missed the fireworks, but Alex would have most likely screamed through them anyway.

The field.

Yesterday we went to the Tucson Children's Museum. Alex is still a bit too young to fully enjoy the museum but he still had a good time. Saturday evening we went to GT's house for a party. It was a lot of fun. We left around 8:30 p.m. and Alex was pretty much asleep once his head hit the car seat.

Alex manning the submarine

Cruising on the police chopper.

I made a pillow for one of my Grandma's for Grandparent's Day. It has a picture of Alex on it. I hope she likes it.

Alex in his new car seat. He is too long for his infant carrier.

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Here are a couple of pictures from Alex's last portrait session. This session also included pictures of my parents with Alex.

The football does not have some funky design. It just shows up that way on my blog due to the extent that I degrade the photos when I post them.

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My blogging friend, Rosanne, gave me a Lovely Blog Award. Thanks Roseanne!

I would like to pass this award on to Barby, Carrie, Jeannie, Julie, Kailani, Nicole, & Nicolle. I read all of these blogs regularly, even if they all don't show up on my blog roll...I really should update that sometime soon.

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I am waiting on Walgreens to upload some photos from by parents' visit. I took them, along with Alex, to have their pictures made for Grandparent's Day (just a little early). I bought the CD and now I am attempting to upload the pictures so I can print them and send them to Illinois. I will post some on my blog in a couple of days.

I am also waiting for my blueberry muffins to finish cooking. I am making them for breakfast this week. I should be finishing my book for tomorrow, but I have less than 100 pages, so I am in pretty good shape.

Alex and I went to the grocery store this morning around 8:00 a.m. That is definitely the time to go. We practically had the store to ourselves and all of the workers were very friendly. I realized that I forgot something that I needed to make my treats for the book club meeting tomorrow and I went back around 10:30 a.m. or so. The store had a lot more people. I must say I prefer shopping at 8:00 a.m. Since Alex gets up somewhere around 6:00 a.m., shopping at 8:00 a.m. isn't that crazy of an idea. Gabe and I usually shop together, but I don't think he would complain if I grocery shopped while he was at work.

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Gabe's car

The weekend is almost over I have have not accomplished everything that I had hoped I would get done. Gabe and I finished Moonlight. It is about a vampire that is a private investigator. He goes around solving mysteries and murders. Since there was only one season, we also finished the series.

I am currently reading The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. It is the selection for the book club this month. The topic of the book is plural marriage. It reminds me a little of Big Love. The meeting is on Tuesday and I have only read 300 pages of the 500. I will get it done in time. It is really starting to get more interesting.

Friday, Alex and I met DD at the pool. Alex had a great time splashing in the water. We didn't stay for a picnic lunch since Alex decided to get up at 5:00 a.m. By the time we left around 11:00 a.m. he fell asleep in the car.

We started watching the third season of Dexter. We saw a preview for the fourth season after the episode was over. I am not sure how I feel about where they are going with the series. Dexter as husband and a dad...hmm.

I watched Melissa d'Arabian's show on the Food Network last week. It is pretty good. Overall, I am glad that she won the Next Food Network Star.

We have stainless steel appliances in our kitchen. You can't use a magnet to hold up a picture. This isn't all that bad since I really do prefer a clean and uncluttered refrigerator with nothing on the front. However, when Walgreens was running their free item everyday last week I bought the clings. Now I have a few pictures of Alex up the refrigerator. They are perfect for displaying a picture on a stainless steel appliance. I am going to keep them up for a little while.

Alex cling on the refrigerator.

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Happy Birthday Adam!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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Happy Birthday Shane!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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Happy Birthday Emily!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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These are a couple of my favorite pictures from Alex's 9 month portraits.

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Clara now has health insurance. Yes, our dog has health insurance. It was cheaper to take out an insurance policy rather than pay the vet bill. The good news is that she is feeling better. She still has to finish out her antibiotics, but she is no longer moping around and peeing indoors. I think we finally have the smell out of Alex's room. If not, then I am just going to rip out the carpet and install hardwood flooring. Hardwood floors were my first choice for the bedrooms, but our builder didn't offer them as an option.

My parents left on Saturday. While they were here they played with Alex a lot. My mom ordered Kobe Beef Steaks. My dad grilled them while they were here. The steaks were pretty good. My mom and I made some candy. My $5.00 Wal-Mart mixer finally died after about 7 or 8 years of use. The candy was too thick and the motor started burning up. My mom decided to buy me a mixer and we headed to Wal-Mart. They didn't have a lot of choices and my mom wasn't happy with any of them. We went to Macy's the next day and I am now the proud owner of a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, Hand Mixer, and Food Processor (Architect Series).

Friday, while Gabe was at work, we all went to have pictures made. It will be my parent's gift for grandparent's day. They should be in around the end of the month. I also made five more Christmas presents and wrapped presents. Yes, you read that right, I wrapped Christmas presents. My Dad had some extra space in his suitcase, so he offered to take some presents back with him. This will save us money since we won't have to ship them. There are still some presents that we will be taking with us in December, but anything I can send back with someone helps. I told my Dad that if his checked bag was randomly selected for a search, the people would think he was crazy for having wrapped Christmas presents in his luggage.

My Jeep arrived on Saturday morning (we had it shipped from Illinois) along with the check for the new car. After everything was together, we went to the car dealer to buy Gabe's car. He ended up purchasing a Ford Escape. I will try to take a picture later and post it.

Alex driving the Jeep.

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Alex and I picked up his pictures on Friday. I will try to post them sometime this week. These are much better than the 6 month pictures. Friday night Gabe decided to start looking at new cars. He is considering trading in my Jeep. We told my dad that he could have it, but apparently no one really uses it. He is happy that we might be able to use it to get a new car. So, that is how our Friday night was spent, at the car dealer.

Saturday afternoon was also spent at the car dealer. The only catch to the plan is that my Jeep is in Illinois and the car dealer is in Arizona. Every attempt that we have made to get the car out here has fallen through. At this point, it may or may not happen. We did manage to make it to Babies R Us to get Alex some more baby food and another sleep sack. He is outgrowing all of his current ones.

Sunday we did not go to the car dealer, but Gabe did work on the logistics of getting the car to Arizona. We went to Wal-Mart to look for a birthday present. Our great-nephew will be 4 this month and he likes the comic book heroes. Well, Wal-Mart didn't have an age appropriate toy or shirt, so I just ordered something online. Hopefully it will get here this week so my parents can take it back with them. They should be arriving tonight.

Yesterday was allergy shot day. The entire process takes 2.5 to 3 hours. While I was at the doctor's, Gabe ran an errand. We stopped at IHOP on the way home as well as AutoZone. I wanted to hit the grocery store, but Alex was getting sleepy and it was near his bedtime, so we just went back home.

I have a ton of stuff to do today. My parents are coming tonight and I don't know how much I will be able to get done once they arrive, I also have to take Clara to the vet. She has peed in the house twice since we returned from South Carolina. At first we thought it was Elsa. She did not get her bladder medicine while we were gone. This morning Gabe caught Clara peeing on the carpet and there was blood in it. I am assuming she has either a bladder or kidney infection and needs antibiotics.

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While we were at the beach on Tuesday, I managed to get sand in my camera and it was no longer functional. So, Nicole snapped this picture of Alex on the beach for me.

Tuesday night we played Scattergories. Andrew won, I came in second, and Ryan was third. We all had a blast playing the game together.

Gabe, Tony, & Maren

Barby, Ryan, & Andrew

On Wednesday, Gabe, Alex, & I went to Brookgreen Gardens. They have over 1,200 sculptures along with a zoo.

Cool Lion Statue

This spider was HUGE. Gabe managed to take this awesome picture.

Birds in the cypress swamp.

Cypress Swamp

Alex & Gabe

We decided to get some boiled peanuts and an icee. We had to go to 5 gas stations to find the icee and three to find the boiled peanuts. Tony was the biggest fan of the peanuts.

Last night Ryan grilled again and we relaxed. Before dinner we had to make a run to the store. Alex was out of formula. So, for the trip home we decided to try something instead of powder and we purchased the ready-made formula. So far it is working great for travel. No mixing the powder with water, just pour the formula from the can and it is ready to eat. In fact, I am making one now.

This morning we had breakfast, Ryan snapped a few photos, and we started heading toward the airport.

Ryan, Stephanie, Tony, & Andrew

Esther, Alex, Caden, & Maddie. Yes, it is the world's ugliest couch.

Group Shot

On the way to Raleigh, we toured the Battleship USS North Carolina. It was pretty cool, but I wouldn't want to actually live on it. It was basically like a small compact little city. There were 2,000 people on the ship and they were all fed in an hour! That is really fast food. There was a dentist, cobbler, bakery, projector room, and all kinds of neat little areas. Wilmington North Carolina is a neat little town. We walked around the downtown area and had lunch at Slice. The pizza was really yummy. Then we went to a fudge and ice cream shop.

Alex steering the Battleship.

I will say that the individuals that work at the Raleigh-Durham airport were all very nice. National drove us to the gate when we dropped our rental car off instead of making us take the shuttle because we had a baby. The check-in people were nice. The TSA employees were especially helpful. I actually spoke with the supervisor and filled out a comment card I was so impressed with their willingness to help. I really like North Carolina.

We are currently flying on the plane to Dallas. The guy next to us on the plane is really nice and is especially understanding of Alex. He is pretty interesting to talk to too.

Gabe is going to work tomorrow, but at least the weekend isn't too far away. I am really excited to pick up Alex's 9 month portrait CD tomorrow. I guess it will be time to update our pictures again.

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Yesterday Gabe and I drove around Myrtle Beach. We found a Krispy Kreme with freshly made warm doughnuts until 2:00 a.m. So Gabe and I each had a warm Krispy Kreme doughnut. Writing about it now makes me want another one. We came back to the house and grilled. After dinner we went for a walk.

Alex modeling the Krispy Kreme hat.

Today we drove around Myrtle Beach and we went to the beach at Myrtle Beach. We also went to a scrapbooking store and I bought a couple of things. We came back to the house for lunch and then we walked out on the pier and went to the beach. Alex still likes splashing in the shallow areas of water that form when the tide comes in. However, he does not like going out in the ocean. He screams the entire time. He played in the sand a lot.

Myrtle Beach

Surfside Beach

We are relaxing right now.

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We did go to the seafood buffet last night. The deserts were very yummy. After dinner we ran to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. We came back to the house and had a Wii Party. We played Mario Party 8 and I won by 7 coins.

Esther & Tony

Alex & Maddie

This morning we went to Broadway at the Beach. There is a Kiss Coffeehouse that Andrew was really looking forward to seeing. We walked around the 1.5 mile loop of restaurants and shops. I found Alex a book to commemorate our vacation. We had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and I had Twisted Mac and Cheese. This was the neatest Hard Rock I have been to. It was shaped like a pyramid and the inside was Egyptian in theme. After lunch we walked around a little more. We are currently watching Beowulf and we are heading out to the beach soon.

KISS Coffeehouse

Alex & Caden

Stephanie with Twisted Mac 'n Cheese

Inside Hard Rock

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Happy Birthday Michael!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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Yesterday was crazy. We were delayed three hours on our flight from DFW. Once we arrived, we sat on the plane for a while waiting on a gate. So, instead of arriving at Myrtle Beach around 10:00 p.m. we showed up at 2:00 a.m. Everyone was in bed. We quickly jumped in the shower and went to bed after 3:00 p.m. Alex didn't want to go back to sleep.

We were up this morning at 7:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. Arizona time). Alex decided the sun was up and it was time to rise and shine. After breakfast, we headed to the beach. We had a blast. Alex didn't like being in the ocean, but he loved splashing around in the water had had collected in a shallow area.

Nicole and I rode the waves like professionals. Okay, really we let the waves crash into us, but it was a lot of fun. Ryan and I built a sandcastle.

We came back for lunch and now we are all relaxing. The little guys (and some of the big) are taking a nap. I think we are going to a seafood buffet for dinner.

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We were up bright and early this morning to catch our flight. Our first flight was delayed due to weather in Dallas. So, we were late arriving, but our connecting flight to Raleigh was delayed as well. Alex is a pretty good little flier. The other passengers are always impressed with how well he flies the friendly skies (boy do I hope that I didn't just jinx us). I seriously considered bringing ear plugs for the surrounding passengers, but we have been pretty lucky so far. Our flight to Raleigh left two hours late. So instead of arriving at Myrtle Beach around 10:00 p.m., I think we might end up arriving around midnight. I hope that someone is still up to let us in the house. Nicole, Andrew, Ryan, Barby, Tony, Maren, Gabe, and I rented a house for the week. We are all returning home at different times. Our trip is going to be cut a little short and we heading back to Arizona on Thursday. The tickets were $700 dollars cheaper this way. One couple will leaving on Friday and the other two will be leaving on Saturday. I am actually writing this while flying to Raleigh. I had hoped to publish it while in the air (American Airlines now has WiFi), but I don't want to pay $10 to use the internet for the remaining hour we have left on the flight.

I am ready to fly! Actually, on this flight, we were lucky enough to have a seat for him, so he rode in a carseat.

Having fun at the DFW airport.

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Happy Birthday Dan!

Graphic courtesy of Pat's Web Graphics.

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