Bye, Bye Mimi!!!

Yes, Mimi left on Thursday morning - we were all very sad! We made some wonderful memories though while she was here that we will cherish.

Starting with where I left off on the last post... Daniel had his last tumbling class last Thursday and we couldn't find another class to fit within his nap schedule so we are going to sit this session out.


Last Friday, we had a fun girl's day (+ Daniel)... my mom treated myself, Maggie, and Leigh Anne to Lunch at The Cheesecake Factory at the Biltmore. Daniel is AMAZING at restaurants... I am so blessed. He sat in his high chair for the whole time we were there like an angel. Then my mom has a favorite store at the Biltmore called Cornelia Park and she wanted to show Leigh Anne this store as it has some amazing pieces that super talented Auntie could make! I wish I could tell you about the toddler who terrorized my son and I so we had to leave but we don't have time!

Saturday evening we had Chad and Andrea over - they were visiting from the D.C. area and we always love grilling steaks on Saturday evenings with friends!


Monday... my mom wanted to do girls lunch again since our time with Maggie was coming to an end... so this time we hit the Tempe Marketplace which is a great spot if the wind is not blowing like crazy and raining!

Tuesday evening we took Maggie out for dinner... again, Daniel was incredible! What would I do if Daniel didn't like going out with us?!?!

See my red shrug - Mimi knit that for me!

On Wednesday, I had to take Daniel back to see Dr. Jones as he had not been feeling good since Sunday! RSV, Strep and Pneumonia are spreading like wildfire so I was hoping that Daniel didn't pick that up... thankfully, he just had a post-nasal drip! We decided to take him to lunch with us then drop him off at my mom's house so we could have a nice afternoon with Maggie!

She enjoys gardening so we thought she would enjoy the Desert Botanical Gardens and she LOVED it!

She also knit me a pink shrug!

So, Brendon thought the below shot would be pretty... except, he thought he would be funny by making me stay in this position forever... claiming he was focusing the camera. Meanwhile, a thousand people passed by me thinking I was quite weird!

The Botanical Gardens has a special display of an incredible artist who works with glass... at night, all of his work is illuminated and I have heard it is beautiful! The below picture shows some of his red glass.

After the Gardens, we went to the IMAX theater to see The Grand Canyon! Then we picked up Daniel and went to Leigh Anne and Aaron's house for dinner... then everyone came back to our house so we could put Daniel to bed. My parents brought desert over and everyone said they "Good-Byes."

Thursday morning, Mimi left and our house has felt different since she left! Daniel was still not feeling good on Thursday... so, unfortunately, he missed TWO, Super-Cute Valentine Day Parties - I am talking both of them would have made Martha Stuart proud and we missed them=(

On Friday, my mom hosted her annual Valentine's Day Tea... this year she chose Inspirations as her spot and they did a great job with it! I have never been to a tea house where they have antique cups everywhere and you get to pick out your tea cup that you are going to drink out of THEN you get to bring it home with you! In the evening, we had our LIFE group over and we LOVE it!

Saturday morning... I got spoiled by TWO men in my life now! I love it!

Daniel got a "boon" for V-Day and some art supplies as he is really getting into doing crafts with mommy! My parents got him this children's cookie making set so he has "real" utensils and it has cookie mix, icing for kids, sprinkles that we will make this week!

We also went to Ikea's Big Sale - A whole set of King Size sheets (400 thread count) for $9.99! Brendon and Daniel had made me a virtual card for Valentine's Day - it was sooooo cute! I wish I knew how to post it... basically Daniel and Brendon practiced a song... Daniel blew his flute for it=) LOL! Daniel spent the night with my parents and we went out to dinner and a movie with some friends.

My dad dressed Daniel for church this morning since Daniel spent the night with them... when Daniel saw me at church, he came running to give me a hug - then I sniffed him and realized my son smelled like Dolce & Gabana! Yes! My Dad sprayed Cologne on Daniel=) HAHA!

Sunday afternoons can be "interesting" because Daniel is not on his normal routine and schedule so I usually have to come up with something creative to keep him happy until bed time! Today is was painting!

My Picasso's Masterpieces!

My brother is staying with me all week as my parents are going to be out of town AND Brendon has a friend from Texas flying in tomorrow evening so it is time to change out all of our guest bedroom sheets.... if you are ever in the area, feel free to book a stay at Hotel Wilson! We have received some good reviews=)

Happy 18 Months Old, My Big Boy!

We realized that 1 week from today, Mimi leaves to go back to South Africa and we are getting VERY SAD! I really hope Daniel doesn't get too upset because they have developed a very special relationship.... everyday she gives Daniel some outside time and he LOVES it!

The above picture is Daniel YELLING for Max... his BFF!

The above picture is Daniel playing with all of his wonderful outdoor toys while MiMi was knitting a shrug for me... yeah!

Last Monday, we went with our friends to this wonderful Farm by our house... http://www.marleyfarms.com/. This is an actual farm that hardly anyone knows about and they have tons of animals that you can get extremely up close and personal with - we even fed them and it was just very refreshing! I am so glad Daniel gets to grow up with such a variety of environments!

Tuesday we all went shopping at AZ Mills Mall and Daniel was a trooper in his stroller for us! That night we had a fun dinner at my parents with family and friends... the funniest thing ever happened that day. My mom was talking in a very animated way and laughing - I happened to glance over at Daniel in his high chair and he was copying every one of her moves and her laughs... It gave me the biggest belly laugh ever then he started laughing like me and you know how they say laughter is contagious... well you know what happened the rest of the night!

Thursday we went to Daniel's Tumbling Class and he has being doing fantastic in this class - tomorrow is his last class=(

On Saturday, we woke up early, packed the car... grabbed Starbucks, met up with Aaron, Leigh Anne and Maggie and went for a day trip to Sedona and Jerome!


We visited this chapel in the mountains that is very famous in photographs - I think it is even a historic landmark now and it was beautiful up there!

On the hike up to the chapel, you see this amazing home that is being built... you know me and my outgoing personality, I wanted to know whose house it was. I found out it was Dr. Yon's house from Romania. He has invented several surgical procedures/ instruments and makes some "dough" off of his royalties= )

Then we went to this town called Jerome - it is an old mining town that is literally sliding off the mountain BUT it was way cool!

On Tuesday, Daniel had his 18 month check up....

Height: 34 1/4"

Weight: 25 pounds, 9.5 ounces

He is doing great! The doctor is extremely impressed with his development and milestones... I can't believe we don't go back until he is 2 years old!

Today, we went to Sara and Audrey's house for CLC Playgroup - we had a great time especially meeting Izzy for the first time (Audrey's 6 week old sister) and Daniel was actually intrigued with her - no jealousy when I was holding her! YEAH!

In addition to all this, I have been working like crazy! Our business has done really well this month and then I have two contract accounting jobs that are a great release for me as well... next week we are meeting with our accountant to go over 2008 taxes and let me just say that I will be very relieved when that meeting is over=)