A Reason to Love Arizona...

Ok... so during the summer, it's just so friggin' hot here that I often wonder why we ever moved to this gosh-forsaken desert. However, Arizona does have it's perks. Check out the clouds in this breathtaking sunset!!!

And now... ahh... now it starts. My most favorite time of the year, mid-October, is coming! Somehow, the 2nd week of October, every year, the temperature drops from an annoying 103 degrees, to a refreshing 70-80... and then gradually gets down to the lower 70s and 60s from there. I am stoked. "Hello outside! Here we come!" :)

"Sorry Mom... I can't wait for your frenzied photoshoot with the sunset to be over with... I'm off to Sleepy-Bye... see you in the morning."

My World Traveler

Wow! It just seems like I barely got my hubby back from Germany, and now he's gone again to Malaysia. Nevermind that it's pretty much as far away from me as he could ever possibly get (unless he traveled to the moon)... nah, I don't think about that at all. We just bought web cams though, and we usually talk to each other twice a day. Dom is so cute... he laughs at Rich's face on the computer screen and tries to grab his nose (which he does to him in person all the time). It's a little tricky to time our calls because he's 15 hours ahead of us... usually one of us is staying up really late to talk, or getting up super early, but it's well worth it to be able to talk to him face to face.

Anyway... below is a slideshow of Rich's trip to Germany/Czech Republic. He went to Germany for work and was able to check out Berlin and Prague on the weekend. He even ran across the bridge to Poland in the mornings! Well... enjoy the pictures!

"Son of a Gun, We Gonna Have Good Fun on the Bayou!"

Hey Y'all! Well, Dominic and I had such a great time in Louisiana. It was so wonderful to see my sis, Robyn, and her hubby, Cori, and my super-cutie-pie nieces, Ella and Alice. We did so much! I had the best time ever. We did so many fun things, so I made a little slideshow for your viewing pleasure!

Our Whirlwind of a Week!

So Dominic and I made it out of New Orleans just in time! :) Flood waters came within a few streets of my sister's house and there are downed trees and power lines all over her little town, but her house is safe. ;) Robyn and her family evacuated and are currently staying at "The Camp" in Mississippi... a beautiful lot of land that Cori's (Robyn's hubby) parents own. But his brother and wife stayed in town and were able to check on their house for them.

Dominic and I had such a fun time down there! It is one of the most BEAUTIFUL places I've seen. The trees are amazing. We went on two plantation tours, a couple museums, a nature preserve, a swamp, (I saw three alligators!!!) downtown New Orleans, the French Quarter, the French Market, the mall, we spent some time out at The Camp, and I was even there for Ella's first days of school! I sent my digital camera with Rich to Germany... but as soon as Robyn is allowed to get back into their parish and house, she'll be able to send me our pictures that she took on her camera so I can post them!

The last couple of days there, Dom got sick for the first time since he was a newborn. He had a fever of 102 for a couple of days. The plane ride home was terrible. He had such trouble with his poor little ears. His eyes were as big as saucers and his mouth was open as wide as it would go and he had this frantic look on his poor little face... just screaming for all he was worth. It was so hard to hold him because he's so strong and he just arched into a backward swan dive constantly. Poor thing. It was pretty traumatic... for both of us. I was soooo happy to get off that plane!!!

When we got home, I put him to bed and waited for a few hours for Rich's taxi to bring him home. (He got home from Germany that night too.) Then the next day, we went to watch the BYU game on the West side of Phoenix with some friends. We had to leave the game a little early though, because we decided to take Dom to Good Night Pediatrics because he was extremely out of sorts and being hysterical. The doctor said he thought he had an ear infection so he gave him amoxicillin. We gave him one dose that night and another in the morning and look what happened!!!

Poor baby. So next, a trip to urgent care because it was Sunday. The doctor took one look at him and said "drug allergy". So no more amoxicillin for Dom. The kicker is... she checked his ears and guess what??? He doesn't even have an ear infection! Grrrr! Ah...well, at least we know he's allergic to amoxicillin now.

But today he's doing MUCH better and the rash is almost completely gone. Yay! We went to the pediatrician for his 6 month check-up and immunizations today. He's still in the 25th percentile for weight... but now he's in the 90th for height! Wow! No wonder all of his pants are floods. Anyway... they are putting him on Prevacid for his reflux because on a good night, he wakes about 6 times. On a bad night... (like Friday night) he wakes up about 13 times. We're all exhausted here... whether from jet lag or crying babies, so we really hope this helps.

So there you have my rant! My next post will be much more pleasant, with fun pictures of New Orleans and beautiful pictures of Germany!!! Sorry about the gripe-fest. ;) But I must say... I do feel better now.