San Diego!!

We were lucky enough to take a quick family vacation to San Diego a few weeks ago. Adam had some work for two different clients in San Diego and Los Angeles, and our gas and hotel rooms were paid for by the clients!!

The 5 hour drive went by so fast, and Allie was such a trooper. The boys have always been great travelers, but we were happy that Allie is comfortable in her car seat and didn't have any issues. When we went to Vegas in June, Wes asked a lot of questions along the way. This trend continued to/from San Diego. It goes something like this:

Wes: Are we out of Arizona?
Me or Adam: Not yet buddy, we still have a ways to go.
Two minutes pass
Wes: Are we out of Arizona?
Me or Adam: No, we still have about 2 hours.
Two minutes pass
Wes: Are we out of Arizona?
Me or Adam: Okay, when the clock turns 5 p.m. we will be out of Arizona.
Two minutes pass
Wes: Has the clock turned 5 p.m.?

Now, keep in mind that this conversation happens while he is wearing headphones and listening to music or a movie. So he is yelling at us, and we are yelling the answers back at him, and he always has to ask "What?" before he can hear us. We try to tell him to take off his headphones, but he yells "What?" It makes Adam and I laugh pretty hard. Once Wes finds a clock or his watch that he can see, and we give him a time, he will stop asking, but he will remind us that we only have such and such time remaining. Generally speaking, Wes is more calm when he is wearing a watch. He takes after his mother -- always needing to know the time. My mom tells me that even when I'm wake up from surgery, I ask her for the time over and over again.

While we were in San Diego, we visited Sea Harbor Village a few times. Our hotel backed right up to it, so it was a nice place to walk around, ride the carousel, and look out at the water. Adam got some great photos of the kids during our time there.




On Day 3, we headed to Anaheim and took the kids to Disneyland. They had so much fun. It was crowded, but they didn't mind waiting in lines -- even Allie. Goldfish and sour gummy worms kept her happy. She loved the rides and her eyes would just be huge as she looked around at everything. The boys got to go on a big roller coaster and the Star Wars ride. They waited 70 minutes to ride Star Wars while Allie and I watched the parade, and then I comfortably read my book as she slept in the stroller. Earlier I took Allie to see Minnie Mouse. We waited in line for 45 minutes, and with about 3 minutes remaining she fell asleep in my arms. I was able to wake her up for the picture but she looks so sleepy and refused to smile. It was such a peaceful and fun day, and we were able to go on most of the rides as a family.

Late that night, we arrived at our Ramada hotel. We went from a super fancy Hyatt where we were treated as platinum members to a really ghetto Ramada. We were expecting it, but Adam had a shoot at NFL studios in LA the next morning so we wanted to be close. We had called ahead for a late check-in, but they had sold our room anyway by the time we arrived. We were given the penthouse suite. Did anyone know that ghetto Ramada has a penthouse? This Ramada looked like the crummiest Motel 6 you could find. The Penthouse was on the top floor (level 3), and it was about 2,000 square feet. Huge. It was dusty, and the decorations were odd. The lamp shades still had plastic on them. It was pretty bare. The curtains were like thin sheets and they were torn. The closet doors were broken and as I was trying to open one I was afraid of what I would find behind it. However, it was a place to lay our heads for the night. We were grateful for that -- until the morning when I saw stains on the sheets I had slept in. The weren't from me or my family. Yuck!!! It still makes me shiver to think about it.



On Day 4, we drove home in the afternoon. We loved our little trip, and the weather was gorgeous. When we swam in San Diego it was actually cold! People were laying out by the pool in sweatshirts. The weather was just perfect. The entire mini-vacation was perfect.

Allie, Allie, Allie

First off, this week's hairstyle is a faux hawk. Check it out:


Second, Allie is really repeating words back to us lately. (Night, night; dog; hi) She has learned several new words, and the one we are most happy about is "please". We've really been trying to teach her to say "please" whenever she wants to be held or a drink of our soda out of the straw. She finally started saying it, but she has trouble with the /p/ sound. So instead of saying anything like "please", she actually just blows a raspberry in our face. Kind of disrespectful if the boys did that to us, but really, really cute that our 1 year old does it. Of course, now that we laugh at her she does it every time we ask her to say "please".

Third - Alemitu is walking! Okay, maybe not full blown walking, but she did take a few steps, several different times tonight. The first time was with my dad in her bedroom. My dad must be the baby walking whisperer or something. In October 2006, I stood Calvin up to face dad (with no intention of him walking) and he just walked to dad like he did it all of the time. We were shocked to say the least. Same thing tonight. Allie was standing against one of her toys and she turned around and ran to dad. She did the run/walk a few more times and then took a few steps real slow. Most of the time she just pretended her legs weren't working and wouldn't even stand up for us, but we all saw it and I believe Adam got it on camera -- she walked!

As for the rest of the family, we are all doing great. My dad has been here for about 1 1/2 weeks and leaves this weekend. My mom came in earlier this week to join him. We've had a great time. Allie discovered real fast that mamaw and papaw are suckers, and she has become a papaw's girl. My dad is already talking about fitting her in his suitcase when he leaves.

Next up for our family - a trip to San Diego and Disneyland, and then school starts. :-( We've had a great, great, great summer. I hate for it to end. Adam's business is changing a lot right now, and I'll post more about that in the coming weeks when I get a moment. In the meantime, prayers would be appreciated. This is a good risk we are taking, but probably the biggest risk we have ever taken (according to Adam, who isn't as dramatic as myself). All is good.

Shampoo/Style Days

Thursdays are Alemitu's shampoo & style days. She has been home for 4 1/2 months and I still feel like I'm just getting used to her hair. She has more styling products and accessories than I have ever had. One thing I am told over and over again is that it is okay for her to cry when I'm doing her hair. You have to get those many, many tangles out each day and it hurts. However if you don't pull their hair now then it will be harder when they get older and are tender headed. So I pull, she screams. It isn't fun for either of us. BUT I am happy to say that the last few weeks there haven't been tears. Maybe a whine here or there out of boredom mostly, but no screaming fits!! It is getting easier.

Because it is getting easier, I thought I would try something a little more difficult tonight. I didn't really have much of a plan in mind, but I just kind of went with a random veil style with some twists. I'm not sure the twists will hold up all week (especially since she goes underwater a ton of times every time she is in the pool) so I thought I'd get a few pictures in tonight in case they don't. Stay tuned for more Thursday hairstyles.



I couldn't resist taking a photo of Alemi cuddling up to her new bear. For all those parents of small children -- these bears are only $29.99 at Costco right now. Seriously. We snatched one up when we saw that price.

Happy Birthday Wes & Calvin!

My boys are 6 today. It is amazing how fast time flies. When I woke them up, I asked if they felt any older. They both thought about it and then Calvin said that he did feel 6. I then told them to go get dressed for the movie, and Wes said, "I wonder if my clothes will be tight." Ha! Later on he told us that his clothes still fit even though he is 6, but he thinks they will be tight soon.

We took them to see Cars 2 at a super fancy theater in Scottsdale that has recliners and waiters/waitresses to serve you lunch. The boys started saying that this was the best day ever!

After that, we came home to open presents (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbuster toys -- old school from Ebay). When Wes opened a Joker (Batman) car that my mom had sent him, he started jumping up and down and yelling "I've been waiting for this my whole life!"

We then went out to dinner at Rustler's Rooste where they got to play on the big metal slide and were given cowboy hats and bandannas.

After dinner, we walked out to see the coolest looking dust storm heading our way.

About 2 minutes later, it was right on us and it went from being light outside to instantly dark where you couldn't see past the hood of your own car even with lights on. We had to wait it out for about 20 minutes. Visibility was low, but we knew if we could get to the freeway (1/2 mile away) at least we would all be heading in the same direction. It soon started raining which allowed us to see further, and we made it home without issue. Adam's parents saw a tree fall on a parked vehicle while they were waiting it out. I do love monsoon season in Arizona but this made me a little nervous.



All in all, we had a great day. In the beginning it was the best day ever and in the end Wes told us that it was "the most bored night" because we had to sit and wait out the storm and drive super slow home. He wanted to get home and play with his toys.

So, what is Calvin up to these days?

• Calvin is such a sweet, sweet boy. He is often quiet and independent. He loves to give me kisses on the arms and legs. He rarely whines and never throws a fit, but he does know how to push his brother's buttons without technically breaking any rules.
  
• Calvin is so funny. He will crack a joke every once in a while that is truly, really funny. He has a good sense of humor. Right now most of his jokes involve the word "brain" in them.
• Calvin loves to dress up. He easily can get into a world of make believe through toys or costumes. He dresses up in costumes several days each week. He feels really special when he walks around in his costume and is noticed by others.
• Calvin loves to explain everything in detail (I wonder where he gets that from). He uses a lot of hand gestures and is super serious about his explanation (i.e. telling you the rules of a game; plot of a movie; etc.)
• Calvin can easily play by himself, and he loves to build things like Legos, transformers, marble tubes, etc. He doesn't get frustrated and he really concentrates on whatever he is doing. Sometimes this leads to "hearing problems" because he is so focused on one thing that he has no idea what is going on around him.
• Calvin loves to dance. He likes to dress "cool" when he dances which normally includes tall soccer socks, baggy shorts, shirt, and a winter hat no matter what time of year it is. He has recently started picking out some of his own clothes and he normally goes with all green. Green winter hat, green shirt, green shorts, and green shoes. He says because everything is green (his favorite color) then he must match really well -- although everything is a different shade of green.
  

Wes -

• Wes is my cuddle bug. He loves to curl up with me in a chair, on the couch, or in bed.
  
• Wes can be very competitive. He is a good trash talker when he plays games and he accepts losing pretty well. Sometimes though we have to work at him wanting to be "first" at everything, but he has come a long way this year. My mom loves to play games with Wes so they can trash talk each other. It is hilarious to watch.
  
• Wes sees the world in black and white (just like me). This can be both a good and bad thing. The good thing is that he follows rules and understands them well. The bad thing is that when those rules change for special circumstances, he doesn't handle that well and is confused. He knows he is right and the other person is wrong, which is true in a black and white world, but not practical in day to day living. Adam and I are working together to find ways to work with him to help him understand that not everything is black and white, and sometimes rules can change in different circumstances. This is a difficult process, but Adam and I are working hard to try to parent him in a way that best fits his needs and personality rather than just tell him the rule changed this time because it just did.
• Wes loves to learn. He is already learning first grade and he thinks learning is so much fun.
• Wes still says some words incorrectly and we refuse to correct him because it is so cute. (Bachine for Machine; Each Uddy for each other; Berry for Very; Micken Donald's for McDonald's; Up-a-side for Upside) Calvin says a lot of these words the same way too.
  
• Wes loves to wrestle. He will beat-up on Adam, Calvin, or Uncle Zach. He is strong and he doesn't mind getting hurt in the process. Calvin will put up with it for a while but soon gets annoyed. We want to enroll both boys into a Jujitsu program so Wes can expend some of that energy.
• Wes loves to sing. Adam has some old songs (i.e. Michael Jackson, Beatles, B.O.B., Vanilla Ice, etc.) on Wes' iPod and he loves to sing all of the songs. He takes singing very seriously, and he always makes Adam play the music in the car. Wes learns intro songs to television shows after listening once or twice and you'll always hear him singing along with the show.
  

Both boys love their sister so much. They play with her every day . . . by choice. If she lets out one little fuss, they are constantly trying to cheer her up. Normally Calvin will yell out "chicken head" and that makes Allie laugh. Wes always calls her "Miss Allie" while Calvin prefers "Alemi or Alemitu". We did not realize how much Wes and Calvin would fall in love with their sister, but they love everything about her. They already watch out for her so I can only imagine what it will be like in 10 years.

Wes and Calvin love to play together and they are "best buds". The both call each other "buddy" rather than by name. Normally when they play together Wes will narrate what is going on and will often tell Calvin what he is to say next. It is really cute, but we are teaching Calvin that he doesn't always have to say what Wes tells him. A lot of times they will pretend they are Mario and Luigi or Ghostbuster characters and will address each other by the appropriate character name. I love that they are best friends, and I love that they have huge imaginations.

I am blessed to get to be the mommy to my sweet boys - Wes & Calvin - my 6 year olds.

Last Minute Road Trip

Adam took a last minute job in Las Vegas this weekend that required him to shoot an event from 6-10 in the MORNING. So we decided to tag along.

We left Phoenix at 6 p.m. on Friday and we were asleep in our Las Vegas hotel room by 11 p.m. Adam got up at 5 a.m. to go to his shoot while the kids and I slept until 9:45. We then went swimming; went to the kids' first buffet; went to see the World Series of Poker tournament (and then got kicked out because the kids were under 21); went to Sigfreid and Roy's Secret Garden Zoo; went to M&M World; and then got Noble Roman's breadsticks and drove home. We were home by midnight on Saturday. The kids loved it and told us that they want to go every day. (Side note: Allie is a great traveler in the car.)

While we were driving on the strip and seeing hundreds of people crossing in front of our truck, we got the feeling that something was wrong with the front of Adam's bumper. People were staring, gawking, pointing, showing their friends, etc. So we finally pulled over to take a look. You'll see what we found when you watch the video below. :-) The video is a quick 60 second summary of our trip.

Hilton Head Island

We went to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina again this year for vacation with my parents and my sister, Christina, and her family. We had a great time. There was lots of bike riding to the beach and restaurants; eating seafood everyday; and swimming, swimming, swimming. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Our kids plus their cousins, Sydney & Carter

Calvin showing off his face painting.

My parents got Calvin the "army guy" costume for his birthday. He wore it every day. After we got home, he told me that he saw a "real army guy" on the airplane. The army guy wore boots and not tennis shoes, so he asked if he could start wearing his army guy boots too (camo rain boots). Sure thing.

My mom and Allie with Jake from the Salty Dog Cafe.

Allie LOVED the water. Salt water in the eyes - no problem. Sand in the mouth - yummy. She crawled right into those waves.

Allie sleeping on the little propeller plane from Charlotte to Hilton Head Island. She hates being held when you are sitting down because she is a huge wiggle worm -- which makes flying very, very difficult. I don't think we will be flying anywhere the rest of the year. We need to wait until she can understand why she has to sit still. Not fun!

You can see Adam and Wes in the background heading out into the ocean. Wes LOVED going out as far as he could touch (and farther when Adam was holding him). They stayed far out for hours. Calvin chose the beach. He saw tons of jelly fish and huge sand crabs. No thank you.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Happy 1st Birthday Alemitu!

Our baby girl just turned one. Allie is doing so well. She is now in the 10th percentile for weight/height (18 pounds/27 inches) versus the 4th percentile when we brought her home. She is also cruising around the furniture and standing a little bit on her own. She says "ma ma" and "da da" and occasionally will say "Ciao Ciao" (bye bye) or "ut-oh". She loves to wave hello/goodbye, clap her hands, blow kisses, and blow raspberries. She flirts with everyone from afar, but if you get in her personal space she will cling to mommy or daddy.

She sleeps 12-13 uninterrupted hours each night, and she takes two 2 hour naps each day. Her stomach issues are getting better, but there are still some minor feeding concerns so she will be going to therapy at Phoenix Children's Hospital soon. She will probably have to take a probiotic daily for at least several years, if not the rest of her life.

Allie loves:

• Her brothers. Allie's grandpa was so happy that she would have brothers, and I know he would be so proud to watch that relationship grow. Her brothers are probably her favorite people and are constantly making her laugh. She looks for them every morning when I wake her up. The boys are just as smitten with her and have not uttered one complaint about her.
  
• Water. Allie is a sand eating fish. She is not terrified of water, including the ocean. She crawls right into those waves. Sand, shampoo, saltwater, etc -- gets in her eyes but it doesn't bother her. (You would understand why if you saw her nannies give her a bath in Ethiopia.) She loves to go completely underwater, swim, drink the water, etc.
• Animals. She thinks our dog and cat are funny. She likes to pet (pull out their hair) whenever they let her get close.
• Move. This girl can't sit still. She has found freedom and is constantly on the go.
• Give kisses. She loves to cuddle a few seconds at a time and give lots of wet kisses. Normally if you say "that's nice" or "be nice", you will automatically get a big wet kiss.
• Stealing food. If you put table food in front of her, she'll throw it on the ground. If she can steal the food from your plate, it will end up in her mouth.
• Her swing. My sister gave her a patio swing for her birthday. She sits in it most nights and will swing and swing and swing. I mowed the entire lawn last night while she sat there happily swinging.
• Dancing. Anytime she hears music, that body starts moving.
• Laughing. She laughs all of the time. She laughs at herself and her brothers the most. She has a great, deep belly laugh.
  

Allie doesn't like:

• Sitting still. Which is why I won't be flying with her again anytime soon. She doesn't like to sit in a car seat when the car isn't moving. She doesn't like to sit in a stroller if you aren't moving. She doesn't like to sit down while you hold her. She needs to move and cruise.
• Brushing her hair. She is getting better, but I have to wet down and brush out those curls everyday. She gets excited to put her head under the faucet. She hates it when I comb through the many tangles. Unfortunately, she has to develop a tough head at a young age.
  
• Normal baby toys. She likes her brothers' army guys, swords, etc. She likes cups, keys, phones. She doesn't really care to play with baby toys.
• Being told "no". It is hard not to laugh when we tell her no. She will look at us with this awful face with a mix of being shocked and sad at the same time. This lasts for about 30 seconds. Then she opens her mouth and belts out some screams.
• Doctors. Since we brought her home 3 1/2 months ago -- if a doctor touches her at all, she starts screaming.

Allie is a great baby. She rarely fusses, and she is just a happy girl most of the time. We feel so blessed to have her in our family. We love her dearly, and I can't wait to see what this next year holds for her and our family.