Sunny AZ!

Hello blogging world. First of all, we moved and are in a cute little 2 bed/2 bath condo. It is marvelous! As some of you know, Gideon and I just *happened* to be out of town during aforementioned move. That was also marvelous, I'm not gonna lie. :)

One of my best friends Rachel just up and moved across the country a few months after I had Gideon. Thanks a lot, right??? sheesh. but she was moving for a good cause-- getting married and whatnot, so I GUESS it's okay. She moved to Tucson, where I just so happen to have a lovely Aunt, Uncle and cousin, with other family in Phoenix. I started looking at tickets, and found a screaming deal, so I bought it. I spent a week in AZ, dividing my time between Phoenix and Tucson, and it was an absolutely WONDERFUL trip!!!!

The planeride was rooooouuuuuugh. I flew alone with G when he was 3 months old, and just happened to have the entire row to myself, so I erroneously believed that I could travel alone with him just fine. Yeah.... he spent the entire flight trying to grab everyone's everything, kick everyone within reach, and arching his back. It was pretty exhausting, but although busy, he wasn't fussy, so it was mostly okay for the other passengers. By the way, he's too big to nurse without kicking those around him, so that was a little awkward. Luckily the people around me were extremely tolerant.

I spent the first couple of days with Jeanni and Megan. I've been really close to them growing up, and it was so nice to get to spend some time with them. We went to the Zoo, swimming, and ate delicious food.

Favorite cousin!

We got to pet stingrays and feed them (I was too scared until I saw Meg's 4 year old do it)

G loves Aunt Jeanni!

Then Meg and Jeanni graciously drove me up to Tucson, where I was reunited with Rachel. It was SOOO GOOD to see her and spend time with her darling kids.

We didn't see much of her husband John, as he's finishing up his medical residency. Rachel and I had a blast together-- just catching up and of course, eating Rachel's delicious cookies that cannot be duplicated as she doesn't measure anything.

Gideon loved watching Jonas play

Vera loved baby Gideon. She liked to pretend his name was Jesus. "But not Jesus Christ" she told me.

We went on walks, went to the park, and even had a girls night out, as my Aunt Jayne very thoughtfully offered to watch G. I stayed with my Aunt Jayne and Uncle David, which was incredible because a) they have a gorgeous house, b) they had enough room for G and me to sleep in different rooms (YES!) so that was really nice, and c) they lived about 4 minutes from Rachel. Oh and d) Jayne let me take her car over there so I could come and go as I pleased-- so nice!!! Also I got to see my cousin Alison and her family-- she has a darling one year old so that was so much fun! Jayne and David hosted a dinner for everyone (again, SO NICE!) so we all hung out over there eating delicious food and visiting.

My awesome Uncle David and Aunt Jayne

My cute cousin Alison and her darling baby

Gideon was an absolute angel the entire trip-- I couldn't even believe it. He went immediately down every single nap/night. I couldn't even believe it! (He made up for it later, but I'm glad he was such an angel baby on vacation!!!) GREAT VACATION! Oh, and if you're wondering if Neal is the best, he is. He even sent me gorgeous tulips to Aunt Jayne's while we were gone! :)