Tucson

For November Rex's externship was in Tucson and we were lucky enough to be able to spend the month with his niece, Jenessa and her husband, James. We had a great time together and were so grateful to them for letting us stay with them. Rickie and Lucy are their cats and Adam was in love with them instantly. Lucy pretty much steered clear of him once he got his hands on her, but Rickie was a champ and let Adam "hug" him and "pet" him all day long. I couldn't help but think of Elvira from Looney Tunes. Remember her?

It must be a red head thing! Ha Ha.

Keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

"Mom, why can't I carry Rickie around?"

He was so proud of himself for climbing up on the couch all by himself.

We were able to spend Adam's actual birthday with James and Jenessa in Tucson and then we had his party a few days later in Phoenix.

Birthday Boy!

I can't believe my baby is ONE already!

"That isn't where my ticklish spot is."

"Um, Mom, I don't think I feel comfortable with you taking a picture of me without my clothes on. What is going on?"

Daddy reassuring him that everything will be okay.


"Okay, now I get it. Yum!"

Birthdays Rock!

Happy Birthday Adam!

More to come soon...

Halloween

We were so happy to see Rex at the airport after being apart for two and a half weeks. It was so fun to see Adam's face light up with a huge smile when he saw his daddy. After we made it back to Rex's parents house we got Adam in his monkey suit for the Halloween party going on near the church.

Much needed Daddy time

Adam loves being flipped, spun, and thrown around. Of course, a monkey also loves hanging upside down!

Adam wasn't too into the treats, especially once he saw Aunt Cari's dog and its new friend.

Next he wandered over and noticed that there were some horses at the party. So Rex waited in line with him so he could ride the little pony.

Later on he did decide to wander around and check out what all of the other kids were doing. He grabbed a couple of candy bars, but his favorite "treats" were a orange balloon and a little glow stick bracelet. I didn't grab my camera in time to capture a shot of him with balloon before it popped. He was kicking it all around like a soccer ball.

On Sunday after church a bunch of the cousins came over for dinner and we all ate outside and enjoyed the PERFECT weather. I loved it! The cousins all put on their costumes for us to see. Obviously I didn't get a good picture so I'll have to try to find another one from one of my sisters-in-law.

That night we drove down to Tucson so Rex could start his next externship at the VA hospital there on Monday morning. So that's where we are now staying with Rex's niece, Jenessa, and her husband James. They are SO awesome for letting us come stay with them and it has been really fun so far. Thanks guys!

Grammy and Papa's House

I won't go in to details, but I will say that all of my car trips with Adam were much better than our plane flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas. We were sure glad to see Grammy and Papa when we got there. Adam spent the next two weeks having a blast at Grandma's house!

There were some huge thunderstorms the first few days were there. Steve filled up a whole 50 gallon barrel with some buckets he set out and it rained even more! In the desert it usually rain for about 5 minutes and stops. I was able to go on a couple of runs after the rain stopped. I LOVE the smell of desert rain. I also took Adam out to the backyard and put him in the hammock.

He didn't know what to think about it at first.

Adam tried lots of new foods at Grammy's and he loved it. He ate Papa's delicious homemade lasagna, Grammy's clam chowder, and even some steak! Here is his gobbling up some pork.

Adam kept getting in the way while Grammy was trying to do laundry, so she put him the hamper and he thought it was great fun.

He sure hammed it up for the camera!

One of his favorite things to do was run down the long hall and laugh.

Gammy and Papa's house it the best!

We stayed there for two weeks and also got to spend time with cousins, Grandma Jappe and Grandma Snow. My mom also took some time off work to spend with us. Adam got attached to Papa would follow Steve around everywhere once he got home from work. Grammy decided that he was missing Rex so much that he really needed his male bonding time! Thanks for EVERYTHING. We love you!

Chapel Hill, NC

Adam and I said goodbye to Daddy and Aunt Becky and left Wednesday morning and headed south. Our next stop was Chapel Hill, NC. My friend Teresa lives there where her husband is doing an orthodontic residency. They have twin girls a week older than Adam and we hadn't met them yet, so we were SOOO excited to see them.

I attempted to get some pictures of ALL THREE of these babies playing together and these were the only ones I got. Sorry about the bad lighting.



We decided the best way to get all three of them in a picture was to strap them into their strollers and then go for a walk! It is so pretty and green in North Carolina. I totally enjoyed it!

It rained quite a bit the day I was there but we did get all of the babies buckled up in the car and went to lunch at Panera. I'm so glad Laura and Teresa introduced me to such delicious comfort food!

Here are a few more pictures I stole from Teresa's blog post:




And here is Teresa's caption for this one..."Playing like Little Puppies. Sometimes 3 babies can appear like little playful puppies. I was trying to catch a few pics of the babies, and the above candids occurred before I could put the camera down. Erica taking a Peek, and then Adam saying "How dare she?!"

Teresa is such an amazing mom to her twins. It was so fun to spend time with them and see how happy and well they are all doing after everything they have been through. Happy Birthday Annalise and Erica! Thanks for letting us come stay and play.

Alexandria, VA and DC

On our way we stopped for the night somewhere in Ohio and the first motel we went to had no vacancy. I think there was some sort of college football game going on that day. So our only other option nearby was probably the worst motel I've ever stayed in. We probably should have kept driving down the road a bit further but we were super tired. Anyway, we survived and headed off early the next morning.

That evening we arrived at my aunt's house in Alexandria, VA. She lives in Old Towne Alexandria which is the historic district. I should have taken a picture of her house. I love it! Adam loved all of the stairs so I had to keep my eye on him every minute. Luckily once Ryan and Liz were home from school they were more than happy to entertain him!

Despite the look on his face in these pictures, Adam had a blast with them!

Nine years ago I lived here with my aunt and uncle to help take care of Ryan and Lizzie. Their adoptions ended up happening pretty close together so there were two little babies to take care of. I have some great memories from my time there with them and it was fun to come back and see how much they have grown.

Ryan is now 10 years old and in 5th grade.

Lizzie is now 9 years old and in 4th grade. They grow up so fast!

I didn't get any pictures, but Adam also had a great time playing with Aunt Becky. She let him talk on the phone, gave him a few of her famous tummy tickles, and carried him around so he could see all of the construction guys outside.

Rex spent the month at the Howard University Hospital and they sure put him to work. He would leave around 6 a.m. to take the metro into DC and he often wouldn't get home until 8 p.m. He was pretty exhausted so when Saturday came around we didn't end up doing as much sightseeing as we originally planned. Instead we took it easy in the morning and let Adam get a good nap in and then we spent the afternoon at the National Zoo.

It is a free zoo and we went on a Saturday so it was pretty crowded, but it was a really nice zoo. All of the animals had really beautiful habitats.


On our way home from the zoo we decided to stop in Chinatown since it was a stop on the metro line we were on. We got some good Chinese food and then some Italian ice for dessert. Yum.

He sure tried, but Adam didn't quite make it all of the way home awake.

A couple of days before Adam and I hit the road again, Aunt Becky and the kids threw a little early birthday party for Adam.

We waited until Rex came home and all of the kids were tired and ready for bed, but we still had fun! I think Adam favorite part was all of the balloons.

Adam got these cool pirate shoes, some clothes, and an adorable blanket that Lizzie made. Thanks again for everything guys, we had a great time!

Kansas City

Starting in October, Rex began his first of four months of his podiatry externships. Basically, it is a chance for him to visit different residency programs around the country. So the last week of September, Adam, Grandma Snow, and I packed up the car and headed East. Rex had to finish up in Utah and visit a few other programs, and I decided I wanted to get a head start in the car so we didn't have to drive across the entire country in only three days. My grandma is an angel and volunteered to come with me so Adam would have a buddy in the backseat to care for his every need. We stayed the first night in Wyoming and then drove all the way to Kansas City, Missouri. We made it there a day earlier than planned, which gave me extra time to hang out with Laura!

The first day there we went with Grandma to the Harry Truman Museum and Library. It was fun to learn more about him and it actually made me miss my old history classes. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures there, and not even one of Grandma.

The next day I took Grandma to the airport early in the morning and then later that afternoon Laura took Adam and I to go see some of church history sites in the area.








Laura was such an awesome hostess. She was due to have her baby girl in two weeks and she did so much to help us have a good visit. She baby sat Adam every morning we were there so I could go running, she took me to lunch at Panera, she was a wonderful tour guide and cooked us yummy food. The last night I was there I went and picked Rex up at the airport and we got to hang out with Laura and Steve. Rex wished he had more time to spend there. Thanks for a great time guys. We are so excited for you to be new parents!

The next morning we hit the road again on our way to Virginia.