Sunday, January 17, 2010

AZ... or half of it anyways...

Ok, like I said, we *tried* to head to AZ on the 26th.  I've written, deleted, written, deleted a few times and I can't quite get the wording right.  So here's the very short version of what happened:

We left three hours late, sat on the runway for another three hours and then they said, "We won't be leaving."  We deplaned, slept for a little bit, got up and did it all over again, but this time we left.  YAY!

Madeline was a champ through this whole experience.  I thought she would be screaming, restless, hungry, etc. but she was SO GOOD, along with the many other babies on this flight.  Grandma K helped walk her around and she took a nice nap (both ways).

Because of the whole coming a day later, we missed the AZ Cardinals game my uncle DC got us tickets for.  Boo.  We headed to the C house after landing and organizing vehicles.  We enjoyed delicious chili and cornbread.  MVJ ate a TON of cornbread!  She even got to open some early presents; great auntie SC was just too excited to wait!  : )  MVJ was spoiled a ton and LOVED spending time with Gma and Gpa K, Uncle W, his girlfriend S, and cousins T and C.  It was the first time she met T and C and she just loved them!  I was so happy because MVJ has been known to be quite clingy.

Monday the boys went golfing, some people went to tour Blood Systems, Inc (my Mom and aunt S both used to work for them and DC is the current pres.), and I got to go SHOPPING!  Woohoo!  Great auntie S bought a baby walker toy for her grandson CDS but MVJ took her turns in it too and loved it!  It was so funny to watch C in it because he would shake his shoulders and dance in it to get moving!  Then we had professional pics by a beautiful lake with lots of ducks.  After that we celebrated Christmas with a white elephant gift exchange.  Probably the most "memorable" gift was a bright pink bra signed and kissed by one of the Tempe Twelve that came along with a calendar of the Tempe Twelve, which my uncle DC opened and tried his darnedest to market for someone else to steal!

Tuesday we spent some more time shopping and hanging out.  We ate at this very fun place called Pinnacle Peak.  It has a cowboy-grill type theme and stuffy suits are NOT allowed.  Knowing this, D and S brought a bunch of ties for the boys to put on.  Our waiter came around and cut them all off!  Auntie S also ordered her steak "well done".  They brought out an old pair of cowboy boots for her.  : )  After eating, J went home with MVJ, C went home with C-baby and S went home with my grandparents while the rest of us hit up a AZ Coyotes game (vs. the Vancouver Canucks).  It was a great game to go to because it ended with a shootout where the Coyotes won with the last shooter!  So fun!  We also had fabulous seats - a few rows up at center ice!

Wednesday brought my brother and S's return to the Bizzo.  We were so thankful for the time we could all be together.  My fam (JJ, MVJ and my parents) and DC headed to Sedona.  We were glad we left early because after taking in some breathtaking views, a fog settled in and soon after lunch it began snowing!  We told D he went out of his way to make us feel at home!  It was a miniblizzard and there were tons of people in the ditch.  Again MVJ did such a good job - sleeping almost the whole way there and back!

The whole trip MVJ took great naps - most of them in the C's bedroom - and often winding up in odd positions.  I think she likes the boundaries of her crib or pack 'n play.  We will often find her scrunched along one of the sides or in a corner.  In her attempt to find boundaries, we'd peak in and find her by the dresser or even under the bed!  (I did wake her up to rescue her from that particular position!)  She also was a great eater.  She tried just about anything and everything enjoying fresh fruit (tangerines I think) picked off the neighbor's trees, Great Gma's lefse, cornbread, scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc.  She was not such a fan of her baby food.  Stinkerpants -- but again -- I'm so excited that she's moving from one phase to another.  There are definite plusses and minuses to her moving from baby food to big girl food!

Phew!  Only half the week and already I feel like you (and I) need a break... more to come!

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