Saturday, December 22, 2012

Christmas is in 3 days!

Once again I am behind on our blog.

I got in a car accident on 12/5.  A lady hit me in the parking lot after I ate lunch at Casa Sanchez.  Her insurance is going to pay for it and we took it to get an estimate, but now we are waiting for the parts to come in so we can get it fixed.

I took Nathan to Reid Park Zoo on 12/6.

Tracy Simpson came to visit us on 12/15, Nathan's birthday.  We all went out to lunch at Macayo's and then we had a small Thomas the Train birthday party at our house that night.  Mommy and daddy got him a lot of Thomas gifts, but the hit of the party was the fire truck monster truck from grandma and grandpa. 

We went to church on 12/16 and then that evening Tracy and I went to the Celtic Woman concert.  Paul did not want to go with me, but he missed out on a great concert. 

12/17 we went to Sabino Canyon.  It was very pretty with the water flowing and the trees turning yellow.  We also saw TWO roadrunners.  I still did not get a very good picture of one, but I at least attempted!  That night we took the mule ride through Winterhaven.  I always wish I could get better pictures when we go there, but I still need to learn how to take better pictures at night and of the Christmas lights.

12/18 Nathan had a dentist appointment and an eye appointment.  He was a model patient again at the dentist.  No cavaties and all of his baby teeth are in now.  The eye appointment was more challenging.  He did not want to cooperate for one of the tests.  However, the dr determined that his eyes are just fine.

The next day, 12/19, we went to the Desert Museum. 

Tracy was supposed to go back to Chicago on 12/20, but her flight got canceled due to an expected snow storm.  We took her out to Mosaic Cafe for dinner that night because she heard it was a good place to eat.

Tracy was able to get another flight back home on 12/21.

Today, 12/22, we took Nathan to get his birthday pictures taken at JC Penney.  We got a few good pics.  I think this photographer was a little better than the one we had for our Christmas pictures, but I don't think we got any outstanding pictures this time around either. 

Tomorrow we have church and then we are going to Alvirs for dinner.

Christmas Eve the Southen Arizona Golden Retriever Group will be coming to do a home evaluation.  Hopefully, we will be getting another dog soon!

Can't believe Christmas we will be in just 3 days.  I still feel unprepared.  I need to wrap Nathan's gifts.  Looking forward to seeing him open his gifts, though!  It is strange not having family around to celebrate Christmas with, but it is not so bad to celebrate just the 3 of us.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

It is almost Christmas!

I can not believe how quickly time is flying.  It has been a month already since I updated our blog.  We have been pretty busy. 

On 11/10, we went to take our family Christmas pictures at JC Penney.  They were quite disorganized that day and we were not happy with the new photographer.  Now I am hesistant about going there again in the future, but we do have Nathan's birthday coming up and I like to get birthday pictures taken.  We also ended up getting Nathan's picture with Santa taken that day.  Paul was walking around the mall and saw Santa there.  Kill 2 birds with 1 stone!  Nathan told Santa that he wanted trucks and cars for Christmas.  After taking pictures we decided to go to to zoo.

The next day, 11/11, we went to the NASCAR race in Phoenix.  We sat up on the hill.  We got there late to take pictures before the race, though.  We bought Nathan the #29 car when we got there and #29 ended up winning the race!

11/15, I took Nathan to Reid Park Zoo.

11/17, We went to Patagonia Lake.  It was beautiful there.  Pretty Fall colors.  We wanted to take a boat ride, but they were booked up for the day.  We took a hike and ended up walking on an open range.  We had cows walking around us.  It was a little scary at first until someone told us that they are used to the people walking around them.  Then we even saw a bull...that one we kept our distance from!

11/22-11/26 we drove over to California for Thanksgiving break.  We went to Carsland on Thanksgiving at Disneyland Adventure Park.  Nathan loved it.  The next day, 11/23, we went to Legoland and Sealife Aquarium.  I particularly liked the aquarium.  11/24 we went to San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  We were disappointed in it.  We saw beautiful Fall colors there and it is set up nice for the animals, but it is not a great experience for the guests.  It is a lot of walking and yet it is hard to close enough to the animals to see them.  I liked feeding the lorikeets.  We also saw some baby elephants and a baby gorilla.  My pictures did not turn out that great, though.  The next day we went to the San Diego Zoo.  It was a Sunday and maybe due to the Thanksgiving weekend it was not very crowded which was nice.  Nathan and Paul went their way and I went my way because I really wanted to get some good pictures.  We met up for lunch and then went our separate ways again.  I missed having them with me!  I think I got some good pictures, but I am still going through them.  The last day in town we went to Balboa Park.  I think Nathan would have enjoyed the model train museum and the air and space museum, but there was not enough time to do those.  We went mainly so I could look at some of the gardens.  I was excited to see the Japanese Garden and I was majorly disappointed.  They are working to expand it so maybe in the future it will be better, but it was not worth the few bucks I paid to go in there.  I think my expectations were high because I loved the Japanese Gardens in San Francisco.  Balboa Park's paled in comparison.  I also went in the Botanical Building and it was just alright.  I saw the rose garden across the street and it seemed even smaller than our rose garden at Reid Park in Tucson. 

On 11/29 I took Nathan to Reid Park Zoo. 

Today, 12/4, was Nathan's last speech therapy session.  He has come along way in the last year or so.  He started when he was 18 months and now he is getting ready to turn 3 in a couple of weeks.  I like his speech therapist, but I think a lot of his speech development happend naturally.  It just developed slower and later than with most kids his age.  Now we just hope that he will not need more speech therapy down the road, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.  We chose not to transfer over to the public school system's therapy at this time since Nathan is going to Casas Christian School and we would rather that he not have to go through the public school system.  It is too bad that Casas no longer offers speech therapy.

So we have Nathan's birthday coming up on the 15th and Tracy is coming into town that day.  Then shortly after that is Chrsitmas already!  I love Christmas, but there is so much to do between now and then.  I don't even know where to start.  I am so frustrated with our house, too.  I hate looking at the clutter and it seems to get worse rather than better because I just get more and more behind.  Maybe I will get a handle on it after the holidays, but it seems like my house is never going to look nice.  I like having friends and family visit us, but I wish our house looked better for them.  There is so much potential.  If we could get some new furniture and decor and if I could get the clutter to a minimum I would feel so much better. 

I also am very displeased with the way I look now.  I have gained so much weight and I am mad at myself for letting it happen.  If my mom makes me fudge and gets me Garret's popcorn then there is no way I will lose weight before the New Year.  I guess it will just have to be a New Year's resolution...again.  My hair is driving me nuts, too.  My bangs are driving me crazy and I just don't know what to do with my hair anymore.  Oh well!  

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Where do I start?

We have been really busy lately.

Let's start with today.  Looks like Obama got re-elected.  I can't believe that our country would re-elect him.  It scares me for the future of America.

Now let's go back to 10/18.  I took Nathan to Reid Park Zoo.  It is still an adjustment now that I am letting him walk around with me instead of sitting in the stroller.  Keeping tabs on him makes it more difficult to take pictures, too (which is why I often go there by myself when he is in school!). 

10/20 we went to Boo at the Zoo at the Phoenix Zoo.  We did it last year, too, so we knew it would be a fun day.  Boy my feet hurt after walking around that zoo, though.  It is so much bigger than Reid Park Zoo.  That night we stayed in Scottsdale.  The next morning we drove to Clarkdale and took a train ride at Verde Canyon Railway.  It was Nathan's first train ride.  It was pretty, particularly with the red rock, but we were a little disappointed.  We did not see a lot of Fall colors nor much wildlife.  They told us we might see eagles, but we didn't :(

10/26 & 10/27 I did a Photowalk at the Desert Museum.  This was my first time doing one so I was excited.  It was good, but I was disappointed.  The behind the scenes stuff was not really geared toward photographers so I think they could of come up with some better photo opportunites for us.  I got to see the raptor free flight show and I learned how to shoot in continuous mode which helped.  I also learned how to force the flash on my camera and the flash helped me in the hummingbird aviary.  However, the instructor advised us to always use the flash at zoos due to diffused lighting, but I have found that it does not work well for me.  For now I will stick to the auto setting!

After the Photowalk we drove to Williams, AZ.  We stayed there overnight and got up the next day to go to Bearizona.  Love that place!  It started our cold, but quickly became a beautiful Fall day.  They fed some of the animals pumpkins and we got to take the open air bus ride.  I used my flash most of the day and after the fact I realized that many of my pictures did not turn out well because of it.  However, I took like 500 pictures so I did get some good ones.

After Bearizona we headed home via Sedona.  We were hoping to see some more Fall colors.  We saw a little, but it was not as pretty as it was last year when we went.  We stopped in Sedona to have lunch before driving the rest of the way home.

On Halloween, I went to Reid Park Zoo where they were feeding most of the animals pumpkins.  I particularly liked the elephants and the lions.  The elephants stomped the pumpkins with their feet.  The lions were playing with the pumpkins, even in the water.  I made another photography mistake that day because I forgot to turn the flash off when I was shooting pictures of the lions  through the fence.  I am learning the hard way what not to do! 

That night we got Nathan dressed up in his doctor costume to take him trick or treating.  We headed out, but he did not want to go up to any of the houses to ask for candy.  So daddy walked him around the block while I started handing out candy.  When they got back they helped hand out candy.  I think Nathan got a kick out of all the kids dressed up and giving them candy.  We ran out within an hour and a half and I thought I bought more this year than last year.  We get tons of trick or treaters!  It is still hard to get used to since we did not get any when we lived in our townhome in IL. 

On 11/3 Nathan and Paul had a father/son day.  They went to Empire Ranch and Parker Canyon Lake.  I stayed home to clean and go through pictures.  I feel like I did not make much progress with either! 

Monday, October 15, 2012

I miss Nina!

On 9/28, I went to Reid Park Zoo.

On 10/1, I went to the season opener of the butterfly exhibit at the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

We went to Apple Annie's Pumpkin Farm on 10/6.  We always enjoy our time there picking apples, going on the tractor ride to get our pumpkins, enjoying pumpkin ice cream, getting fresh tomatoes and other veggies to take home, etc...

On 10/8, I went back to Reid Park Zoo.  It was somwhat uneventful for me that day so I stopped at the Tucson Botanical Gardens on the way home and took pictures of the butterflies again.

10/10/12 - One of the hardest days of my life.  I took Nina to a scheduled vet appointment to get her bordatella shot.  However, she had been having trouble breathing for a couple of days so they did some x-rays.  She had a lot of rocks stuck between her stomach and intestines and she had severe heart disease.  I made the difficult decision to put her down that same day.  I cried my eyes out.  Nina was "my" first dog.  We adopted her on 5/17/03 shortly after we got married.  We drove to Michigan to get her.  She was 3-4 years old at the time.  Thus, she lived to be about 13 years old.  She had numerous health problems that were developing over the last couple of years.  It is still hard to believe she is gone.  I have had a dog all of my life.  I want another dog and I want my son to grow up with dogs.  Paul does not want another dog, though.  He says he likes dogs as long as they are not his own, meaning he does not want the expense, the dog hair all over the house, etc...  My first choice would be a golden retriever mix, but they tend to be larger dogs and I would prefer a medium sized dog.  There are some golden retriever rescue groups in the area, but they seem to have mostly older dogs.  I want a younger (but not a puppy) female dog who will be with our family for many years.

I attended another photo safari at Reid Park Zoo on 10/13.  The problem was that I showed up on the wrong day!  I was signed up to go on 11/3, but I had both days written down in my organizer.  I had scheduled it a long time ago so I did not remember to take off the October date on my calendar.  They let me stay, though.  I did not get many good pictures this time around. 

After I got home from my photo safari and after Paul got his flat tire replaced, we took a drive to Sierra Vista and went to Ramsey Canyon Preserve.  I did not realize what I was getting myself into.  I had no idea it would be an uphill hike and I did not wear the right shoes for it.  But, I made it all of the way to the top.  On our drive out we even saw a momma and baby deer.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Nathan misses his grandparents!

On 9/12, I went to Reid Park Zoo. 

On 9/16, I fainted getting ready for church.  It took me all day to recover from it. 

On 9/17, I went to Reid Park Zoo again.

9/18-9/25 my parents were in town.  We took them to Mt Lemmon on Paul's birthday, 9/20.  We ate at the Cookie Cabin and then we went up to the top for a ski lift ride.  They claimed they had never been to the top.  For dinner, we went to Trail Dust Town.  On 9/23, we went to Tombstone after church.  The purpose was to see the new Harley Davidson store.  Paul and I got to go on a date night on 9/24.  We used a Groupon and went to dinner at Lodge on the Desert.  We thought it would be a little fancier and the location is not the greatest, but the food was great.  I loved the cream of garlic soup and I got the pan-speared chicken breast with tamari butter sauce and roasted potatoes.  Topped off with a prickly pear lemonade!  Paul got the tamales.  Grandma and grandpa left on 9/25.  I think Nathan really misses them.  He seemed to love having them here.  It is almost as if no time or distance has separated them when he is with his family from Chicago. 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

A new week

On 9/5, I went to the Desert Museum when Nathan was at school.  I got to see the bear in the water for the first time, the ocelot was actually moving around, there were hundreds of caterpillars on the museum grounds which I guess come out every 3-4 years and I saw a fox roaming around the grounds.  I also had one of their yummy salads and the prickly pear punch.

Yesterday we went to the U of A football game against Oklahoma St.  First we went to eat dinner at our favorite pizza place, Grimaldi's.  We stayed for half the game and left because it was past little man's bedtime.  He did good up until then, though.  They won 59-38.  This was their second game of the year and they won the first one in overtime.  The weather was perfect for the game and I also got to try their prickly pear lemonade which was very good. 

Since it was a late night for us last night we decided not to go to church today.  We did, however, go to out to breakfast.  I wanted chocolate chip pancakes and Paul did not feel like cooking...so we went out!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

It is September already!

The year is flying by, but I am glad Fall is coming.  I am so tired of his heat!

On 8/23, I took Nathan to the zoo.

Nina had her 6 month vet appointment on 8/25.  I discussed with them everything that is going on with her.  Her main problem is that she can't not control her bowels very well.  She has the cyst on her eyelid, arthritis,  cataracts, a heart murmur and she is probably close to 13 years old.  The blood tests did not show anything too alarming, but they found another lump on her leg and she has lost a lot of weight even though I did not start feeding her less until a week before her appointment.  They agreed that senility could be setting in and that something undetected like cancer could be starting.  Coupled with all of her other problems, they said they would support our decision to put her down if that is what we decided to do.  This has been a tough decision for me which Paul and I have been talking about for awhile.  He wanted to put her down a long time ago.  I did not want the decision to be a selfish one so I wanted to hear the vet's opinion.  Hearing that they would support our decision to put her down just made me break down in tears.  I called Paul and he said to schedule it in a couple of weeks so we could spend a little more time with her.  The ironic thing is that she has not been quite as bad since her appointment.  I had finally agreed to put her down, but now I am unsure again.  Feeding her less makes her have less accidents, but I also do not want her to lose more weight.  She has been slightly peppier and really enjoys when we are downstairs with her...even Nathan sometimes!  He used to bother her a lot when she just wanted to be left alone, but he has been a lot better recently.  We may wait until my parents come out later this month to put her down, if we are still going to do so.  Maybe I will see what they think when they see her.

On 8/29, I went to the zoo and to the Tucson Botanical Gardens when Nathan was in school.  I got some great shots of the new baby flamingo and of our female tiger in the water.  The zoo decided to share one of my tiger pictures on their facebook page.  I also found out that day that my prairie dog picture that I entered into a contest got chosen to be featured in their Autumn issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine. 

Paul decided to take off on Friday, 8/31.  We were going to enjoy a kid-free day while Nathan was in school.  We took both cars to get washed.  They had problems starting Paul's car again so they suspected it needed a new battery.  We had just replaced the battery on the Grand Prix a week ago!  On the way to Pep Boys to get the battery looked at, one of the windows broke!  We got the battery replaced and scheduled the window to be fixed the next day.  We at least got to enjoy a lunch together at Pappoules.  Later that night we drove to Oracle to eat dinner at Nonna Maria's.  They were closed for the holiday weekend!  I got some nice sunset pictures over there, though, and we ended up eating at Carlota's in Catalina.  I never saw Nathan eat so much.  He loves his chips and salsa and cheese quesadilla. 

On Saturday, 9/1, we got the window fixed fixed on the Grand Am and then went over to Breakers Water Park.  Nathan had a blast.  He is getting more used to the water and even liked putting his head under.  We are thinking he is ready for swimming lessons again.

Nathan had the BIGGEST temper tantrum after church on Sunday all because he could not take home some cars he played with in Sunday School!

Yesterday we took Nathan to the zoo for Labor Day.  It was crowded and hot!  I wanted to see the new baby zebra, but it was not out.  We also found out that Snow, the polar bear, died that morning.   

Monday, August 20, 2012

Scary future?

Well today we found out that Coventry got bought by Aetna.  I sure hope that Paul does not lose his job.

On 8/4/12, I went to a Saturday Summer Night at the Desert Museum.  I got there around 5 to walk around and take pictures.  I ate dinner there and then attended their photo class Hot Techniques for Cool Photos. 

8/6/12 was Nathan's first day of his 2 year old Parent's Day Out class.  He was well behaved and did great with potty training.  He has done great ever since, too.  We have no pushing complaints this year so that is good. 

I took Nathan to Reid Park Zoo in 8/9/12.  I also found out that day that my rhino picture I took at the zoo and entered in the Jones Photo "Big" Summer  competition won an honorable mention.

I drove up to the Phoenix Zoo on 8/18/12.  I had not been to that zoo for awhile and it was supposed to be a little cooler that day, but it was still hot!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Long week

8/1, I took Nathan to the zoo.

Yesterday, we met Nathan's new teacher and Nathan got to see his new classroom.  He had fun with some of the other kids and he was drawn to the train table in the room.  His teacher seems nice.  I really liked Ms. Sally, though, so I hope the new teacher is as good. 

I took Nathan to the Childrens Museum today.  I resisted the urge to take pictures which actually allowed me to control him better.  He had a lot of fun...until I told him we had to go.  It was lunch time and I knew he was getting tired, too.  He even fell asleep in the car just as we got to the musuem.  He fell asleep again on the way home.  I got him to eat lunch and then we took a nap.  The rest of the day was rather difficult.  I have been seriously potty training him the last couple of days with real big boy underwear.  He did well enough going pee pee and poopy on the potty most of the time with some accidents here and there.  This afternoon, though, he had 4 pee pee accidents in a row so I decided to put him back in a pullup again and give up for the day.  I don't know how the weekend will go and Monday he starts back up at school.  I guess I will put him in a pullup that day and see how he does with the new teacher and new class.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Tomorrow is August already!

On 7/23, I went to the Desert Museum.

Nathan had his one year speech evaluation on 7/24.  Basically, we determined if we met the goals we set a year ago and then we had to come up with new goals.  One previous goal was to get Nathan to play independently more...which he does.  Another one was for Nathan to say hi and bye to daddy when he leaves and gets home from work...which he does.  Getting him to sleep through the night was another goal...that one is questionable.  He sleeps through the night for the most part, but daddy sleeps with him or at least sleeps in his room until he falls asleep...and mommy has to sleep in there during nap time.  New goals are to get him potty trained before he turns three, to get him to sleep alone and to get him to put more than two or three words together.  All in all, they said he is doing pretty good and they even suggested switching speech therapy from 2x/month to once every three weeks.  I decided to stick with 2x/month because I want to get as much therapy as I can in now before he turns three and they no longer provide it.  I know the next few months will go by fast and Nathan is still not really where he should be with his speech...but he has made a lot of progress in the last couple of months.  The challenge comes when he turns three.  We have decided not to start the process of switching over to the public school system when he turns three.  We are hoping he won't need speech therapy after that time.  While it would be free through the public school system, it would be 4 days/week for 3 hours/day.  That is a lot!  Especially considering we have already enrolled him at Casas three days a week.  The public school could pick him up at Casas for the speech therapy each day, but there is no guarantee as to what time of day.  Thus, we could essentially be paying for 3 hours of school at Casas while he is at a public school getting speech therapy. 

On 7/26, I went to Reid Park Zoo.

7/27 was Nathan's last day of summer school and his last day with Ms. Sally (Love).  She was such a great teacher.  I hope Ms. Carrie is just as good.  This week the school is taking a break before Nathan starts next Monday in the 2 year old PDO program.  While Nathan was at school, I went shopping and had lunch with Ann Alvir.



On 7/28, I went to Reid Park Zoo again.  They had a birthday party for the lion cubs who turned one. 

Today Paul took the day off to help me with Nathan since he will be home all week with me.  First, he had a doctor appointment.  His hemoglobin level was high.  Basically, he needs to make big changes in his diet and exercise.  So, he took Nathan grocery shopping and spent a ton of money right after I just went yesterday and spent a ton of money! Paul and Nathan also got haircuts today.  Nathan was a very good boy!

Nathan has been teething again this week.  Once again his appetite is light and he has been in quite a bit of pain.  I can't wait until he gets all of his teeth!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Today is a good day

Last Wednesday, 7/11, Nathan's school sent him home with a 103 degree temp.  Not sure what was going on, but we noticed he was running hot the day before, too.  I gave him medicine all day Thursday and kept him home from school on Friday just to be on the safe side. 

Saturday we went to Reid Park Zoo.  Nathan did not last long so we left and went to Maynards Market.  They had a farmer's market that day so I bought some tomatoes and salsa.  Nathan liked playing at the train table in the museum.  Of course he threw a tantrum when it was time to leave.  Nathan and daddy went home, but I decided to go back to the zoo.  It was very hot and humid that day.












































Sunday we decided to stay home from church because it was supposed to be another hot and humid day.

Today Nathan went back to school.  He seems to be much better and even has his appetite back that was gone for a week or two.  I found out that one of the pictures I took at the zoo on Saturday was the most popular picture ever on the zoo's facebook page!  Hearing that was the highlight of my day.  I decided to sign up for the zoo's photo safari on 11/3 and for the desert museum's photowalk on 10/26 & 10/27.  I am particularly excited about the photowalk because I have never done that before.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Hard to keep up...

I wish I could keep up with this blog more regularly. 

Friday night, I went to Reid Park Zoo for their summer safari night.  It was the last one of the season and the first one that I have ever been to.  It was a good time.  The lions were very playful, the giraffes got a popsicle treat and Snow the polar bear was entertaining.

Saturday, we went to Sabino Canyon hoping to see some water flowing since it rained so much on the 4th.  As I suspected, it was bone dry.  So then we took Nathan to Breakers Water Park.






Today Nathan had speech therapy.  He was not very talkative.  However, she was impressed that he is putting more words together and that he is using possessions and plurals.  Like she heard him say daddy's car today.  She said many kids still say daddy car and those are the ones who go on to need intensive speech therapy after they turn 3.  She said he is showing a lot of  progress with his speech and she is not that concerned about long term problems.  He has trouble pronouncing some words correctly, but she said that is typical so we should not worry about that right now.  He also said his name very clearly today and she liked that.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July!

Last Friday, 6/29, I came down with a really bad cold or something.  Runny nose, sore throat, bodyaches...  I pulled myself together to go to Phoenix the next day to surprise our niece Ashley for her 10th birthday.  We went to Peter Piper Pizza and then swimming back at her grandparents.  Sunday I was so miserable so we did not go to church. 

Yesterday I took Nathan to Reid Park Zoo.  We got to see another peacock baby.  With all of those peacocks running around the zoo you would think there would be a lot more babies.


Last night we went to the "patriotic" service at church.  They had a little hot dog dinner beforehand.  We went, but I think it was a mistake.  It was very crowded and we ended up sitting in a small room with some kids and one other adult (eating our dinner on little desks).  We have gone to this church for like 3 years, but we still hardly know anybody there.  I guess it is our fault because we are not outgoing and we only go to Sunday morning service since it takes us 45 minutes to get to church.  Anyway, I felt very uncomfortable that night.  The church service itself was nice, though.  Nathan was not very cooperative during the dinner and during the service he started pushing again in the toddler room.  He was doing so good at church the last few times, but then he started pushing again. 

Today we brought Paul's car in for an oil change and some other maintenance.  Then we attempted to go to the Desert Museum.  It started downpouring so we turned around and decided to go to the zoo instead.  We left just in time for the rain to start again.  We picked up the car and went home.  Later tonight we hope to watch fireworks from our back balcony.  Nathan is taking a nap so maybe he will be up to see them this year.  I just hope they do not get rained out.






Sunday, June 24, 2012

Good bye weekend

Saturday night I got to experience something unique.  It was bloom night at Tohono Chul Park.  One night only during the year, the Queen of the Night blooms.  We only had a few hours notice that 6/23 would be the night.  It was wonderful to see in person.  I got there around 6 pm when they started the activities.  The parking lot was only 1/4 full.  I took some before pictures of the flowers still closed.  As the night went on they all started to open up.  The more they opened the more fragrant they became.  I left around 9:30 pm and by then people were parking in undesignated parking spaces.  The event ended at midnight.  Then they also allowed visitors to return at 6:30 the next morning to see the flowers once more before they wilted in the daylight.

   

Friday, June 22, 2012

Back to the routine...

Lisa and Connor left yesterday.  Today I spent most of the day cleaning since Fridays are my cleaning day.  Tomorrow I am getting a massage!

Nathan is still talking more and more and he is saying more two word phrases.  Particualry, he says things like blue car, white car, etc... and tonight he said dada home.  He knows how to say a lot of colors and he identifies them correctly - orange, white, green, blue, pink.  He said keys today for the first time, too.  In addition, he is now saying train instead of choo choo...actually he pronounced choo choo as poo poo, but now he knows the correct term, train.

On Friday, 6/15, Paul took half a day off work so we went up to Mt. Lemmon.  We ate at the cookie cabin. 

6/16 we went to Tempe and Scottsdale.  We did not see much shopping in Tempe so we just ate lunch at Gordon Biersch.  Yummy garlic fries!  We then went shopping in Scottsdale.  On the way home we got caught in a dust storm.  Of course I was the one driving so it was not fun!






6/17 was Father's Day.  We went to church and we were shocked when Paul won a pie for "newest dad" considering Nathan is 2 1/2.  We know there are babies and toddlers in the church who are younger than Nathan, but their dads must not have been in the church service that day.

On 6/18, I took Lisa and Connor to Reid Park Zoo.

6/19, we went shopping at Foothills Mall.  Then that evening Lisa watched Nathan while Paul and I went out for "date night".  We ate at Pappoules Greek Cafe and then we went to see That's my Boy at the theatre.  Horrible movie.  It ruined date night for us.  We had not been to the movies in years and I will be lucky if I ever get Paul back in the theatre again after seeing that movie.

6/20 we went to Sabino Canyon.  There was not much to see since there was no water flowing.  They also did not have many shuttles running so they only picked up at the stops every hour.  We did not want to wait an hour at a stop so we just went all the way up the canyon on the shuttle and then took it all the way back down again without any stops.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

In-laws are in town

I went to the doctor on 6/8.  Horible experience!  She advised me not to drive until we found out the cause of my fainting and I think that is way too drastic and unrealistic.  Furthermore, the cause may never be found because it is very hard to find such a cause.  Then at one point during the appointment, she said, "please stop interrupting me, I am trying to talk!".  She was very rude about it, too.  It took me by such surprise that I was afraid to say anything after that point.  I told her I was uncomfortable talking to her now so we wrapped things up.   They did an EKG and a blood test which both came back fine.  My blood pressure was also nomal.  However, she has referred me to a cardiologist.  I am supposed to see the cardiologist next week.  I have no desire to keep this doctor as my doctor anymore, though, so I am in the process of finding a new one.

On 6/11, my sister-in-law Lisa and my nephew Connor arrived in town.  They are staying with us until 6/21.  I took them to the Desert Museum yesterday.  They liked it, but it was really hot and the animals (and hummingbirds) were not very active.  It was also much prettier in the spring when all of the cacti were blooming.

Nathan had another speech therapy session on 6/12 and it went really well.  In the last two weeks he has started saying pizza, juice, bathroom, sun, done, woof, and light on, just to name a few.  He is also finally saying Nina correctly.  Today we met with his pediatrician for his 2 1/2 year appointment to update her about his speech progress.  She was very happy to hear how good he is doing.  He weighed 30.5 lbs and meausred 35.5 inches. 

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Yay for Poopy!

Nathan pooped in the potty yesterday!  I hope it is a sign that we are getting closer to being fully potty trained.  We have been at this since he was 18 months old.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Back from Chicago

We went back to Reid Park Zoo on 5/17.  I was happy to see our polar bear, Snow, out and about and swimming in her pool.

I got my hair cut and highlighted on 5/18.




We were in Chicago from 5/22-5/29.  They actually had record highs when we were there, go figure!
On 5/23, we went over to Grandma Pat's house.



On 5/24, we went to Brookfield Zoo, went to Ganzers for lunch and met my friend Debbie Mrazek at Stir Crazy for dinner.


Nathan and Wrigley:



Looking at ants:

Here is a picture of Nathan and GG taken on 5/25:


Here is a picture of Nathan feeding GG's turtle and of Nathan flirting with the girls at the park on 5/26:


On 5/27, we had GG's 94th birthday party at Tuscany.  After the party, we dropped Nathan off at Aunt Lisa's where he had his first overnight sleepover away from mommy and daddy.  We stayed the night downtown and went to Navy Pier.




On 5/28, we went to Willis Tower, Lincoln Park Zoo and then we picked Nathan up at Aunt Lisa's.






On 5/29, we went by Grandma and Grandpa Hoehn's house to see Grandpa Fred's motorcycle and to allow Nathan to meet their dog, Sam.  Later that day we flew back to Tucson.

On 6/3, I fainted in church again.  This time seemed worse than last time, but I was at least sitting down at the time.  I think my blood sugar was low because I had a lot of sugar the day before.  However, I am not sure if it was a diabetic episode because my glucose blood test from the gynecologist came back normal.  I have scheduled a doctor appointment for this Friday, 6/8.

On 6/4, Nathan started summer school.  He will be going Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I need to lose weight...

On 5/8, I went to the Desert Museum.

Here is a picture of Nina with her new flamingo toy:



On 5/9, Nathan had another speech therapy session.  We decided that since he has been making so much progress lately we are going to switch from once a week to twice a month.  He is doing much better.  Yesterday he said hot dog clear as day. 

Here is another picture of Nina taken 5/10.  It is funny that she has that big bed and yet half of her body is hanging off of it!



On 5/11, I went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens and Tohono Chul Park.  It was National Gardens Day or something like that so I got in free (I am actually a member at the Tucson Botanical Gardens).  I went to take pictures to enter another photo contest.  I previously entered another contest with the theme Macro Photography, but I did not win :(  Some day soon I am going to buy some macro accessories for my camera. 

We celebrated Mother's Day on 5/12.  Paul made me breakfast, went out and got me lunch at Pappoules Greek Cafe, bought me chocolate covered strawberries from Edible Arrangements and then took me out to dinner at Caruso's. 






Today, I had my annual gynecologist appointment.  They weighed me and it depresses me how much weight I have gained since I had Nathan.  I vow to start losing it.  They also did a fasting glucose test and I fear the test results.  I pray my diabetes has not come back.  I am very serious about eating better and exercising more. 

Monday, May 7, 2012

Great Progress

Nathan is making such great progress with his speech.  He was pretty talkative today.  He will repeat pretty much anything you ask him to.  Today he started saying tractor and he said his name!

We had a good day today.  I did my bike and read two chapters of my digital macro photography dummy book.  Then I took a shower, took Nathan for a wagon ride and to the park.  He can actually climb to the top now and go down the big slide.  I keep a close eye on him, but he did well...I even went down the slide a few times which he loved.  Then we went to the post office and came home and had lunch.  He had a good appetite today!  He played with his toys and colored before WE took a nap.  We did not watch any TV today (other than DOOL)!  I was also able to read him a book today and kept his attention for the whole thing!  That is saying a lot.  I am noticing that he is not being so wild outdoors anymore either.  I may be able to trust him to walk beside me now at places instead of always holding my hand or riding in the stroller (like at the zoo).  Before he would just run all over the place.

It is actually cooling down this week, too, which is nice.  I think it is going to rain later in the week, but I for one am enjoying the cooler weather.  100 degree weather will be here soon enough!   

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Bummer!

I started updating this blog today only to find out I maxed out on my picture space.  I did not even know there was a limit.  That is a real bummer because I was using this blog to showcase some of my better pictures.  I guess I will have to find a new way to do so, like flickr.  So, I have gone back through my posts and deleted a lot of the pictures.  I guess the good thing is that I can update the blog more often now that I do not have to sort through a lot of pictures first.

On 4/26, I took Nathan to the Zoo.

On 4/27, I went to the Desert Museum.

Later that day Nathan decided to give his giraffe a kiss!


On 4/28 we went to the Pima County Fair.













When Nathan went to bed that night he decided to wear his "hat"


Nathan proceeded to wear a "hat" for several nights thereafter.  Here are pics from 4/30 & 5/1.



On 5/3, Nathan and I went to the zoo.  Also that day, Nathan had a great milestone.  He said his first two word phrase - Mickey cheese!  He was referring to his Mickey Mouse shaped cheese.

Yesterday, 5/5, Paul and Nathan had a father and son day.  They went to a mine in Sahuarita and looked at the big trucks.  Then on the way home they stopped at the Maynard's Market train depot downtown.











Last night there was a Super Moon.  I tried to take some pics.  I really need to learn more about my camera and how to shoot in manual mode. 



Today we took Nathan to a train museum here in town.  He LOVES trains!