It's pretty awesome seeing Vegas through the eyes of an Ethiopian

On our trip to Vegas Dereje experienced a lot of "firsts" they might not be the kind of firsts that you would think of when it comes to Vegas...but, his firsts made him just as excited as a teen age boy! Now, Dereje isn't really into sweet things , but every now and then he manages to choke down something really sweet that I insist he has to try.
His first Krispy Kreme was a sight to see...I actually didn't really think he would be into it, but he really seemed to like it - he even got one hot off the rack, so it was a true experience!Another first for him was a big outdoor roller coaster. Dereje went on a roller coaster with me at universal studios back in December, and he kind of hated it, but it was in the dark...so I begged him to give it another try. My convincing fell flat on his ears, but, my Dad was a bit more convincing than I could be! He didn't even ask he just bought two tickets and turned to Dereje and said, "come on, we're going." I figured that if he hated it this time that would be the end of roller coasters in his future, but it turned out that he absolutely loved it! My Dad reported that he had his eyes squeezed shut the entire time, but at least he did it!
And alas, the last "first" that I have to report is the viewing of the Hoover Dam. The Dam is far from exciting to me, but it's great that Dereje has another national landmark to cross off of his list (and I don't have to stop at any more boring dams - I can only get mildly excited about massive amounts of concrete)!

Vegas Baby, Vegas!

We spent our weekend in Vegas...and it was just fantastic! Not only did Dereje get to see Paris, New York, Egypt, and Venice all in one glance...but he also got to see me go absolutely go nuts at the M&M factory - one of my favorite stops on the strip (it's hard to resist candy with character)!Obviously, eating was a big thing on our agenda...but we also did a whole lot of walking which made me feel better about eating my weight (and my baby's weight) in crab legs! The great thing about the Vegas strip is that everything looks so close, but once you start walking you realize how far the hotels are from one another - so even the workout is just a big facade!
Of course, a huge part of our weekend was enjoying the buffets! Namely, the crab buffets! Dereje did really well at taking the "family advice" when it came to attacking the buffet. The "family advice" consists of only eating seafood and protein at the buffet in order to maximize cost benefit...this means that we leave the macaroni and cheese for suckers and dine exclusively on prime rib and crab legs...it's an art that has been perfected for many years.
Dereje caught on immediately, and truly perfected the art of buffet eating.
Of course, the biggest change to my previous visits to Las Vegas was that this time I had to remain stone cold sober. This wasn't exactly hard, just kind of annoying when everybody got to go to sleep at night in a nice little margarita coma while I got to count snores...I mean sheep. At least Treasure Island knows how to do a virgin daiquiri...so I didn't feel totally left out!
Dereje got to drink his Margarita out of this really cool skull mug (the blue in the margarita was just for effect) - it was pretty impressive!

Happy Eightieth Mama Lena

This weekend we went to my Grandmother's house to celebrate her eightieth birthday. We started by celebrating, as all birthday's should, with a huge carrot cake from AJ's ....And quickly moved to a very intense game of dominoes. Anyone who has played Mexican Train dominoes has very likely only played with a "12" domino set, unless, like us, they wanted to play with six or more people. In that case, they probably played with a "15" domino set...which is kind of like playing on crack...it takes a while to get used to, but once you've tried it, you're hooked. (You might notice my train which is at the very front of the picture...notice how it is so long it almost falls off of the table)!
So, the Grandparents kept us up until the late 'ol hour of midnight playing said domino game...which is about 2 hours later than I've been up in a long time.
Of course, the best way to cure a domino hangover is to do a little bit of yard work and some cleaning. I'm sure that not many people can say that they have pictures of the first time they cut a lawn with a lawnmower, but Dereje can say that he does!
He even offered to cut the back of my Grandparent's lawn...which consists of riding around on a ride-on mower in order to get all of those darned weeds.
He was in heaven...and so was my Grandfather, who took this opportunity to stay inside and watch basketball instead of mowing the lawn! Happy Birthday G'ma!

Getting ready for just about anything

Dereje and I have been pretty busy starting to collect some "baby supplies". To be honest, Dereje has been a really good sport about shopping around with me and picking things out that he has absolutely no idea what the use is. Luckily, I am more than willing to show him how everything works...even if he doesn't ask! (Thank you Ana for the use of your "creepy" doll to demonstrate).
We also got a beautiful new stroller from my Mom! It's a Phil & Ted Sport Stroller that becomes a double stroller (if we should happen to need that feature - which we will for when Emery comes to visit and needs to sit with his cuz).
This stroller is really exciting because it's a jogging stroller that you can use for everyday use. That means that Dereje can take the baby running and then I can take the baby shopping without having to buy another stroller! We're excited - and we're not at all entertaining the notion that after the baby comes he will be too tired to go jogging and I will be too tired to go shopping!

Saying goodbye to Lub-Town

It was hard to say goodbye to the adorable smiles, the tugs on the hand, and the really wet kisses...but, alas, I had to leave Lubbock to come home to the reality that I like to call Phoenix. All in all it was a very successful trip as I got away with a 50 lb bag filled entirely with baby clothes and lots of kiddie time (and antibodies) to help hold me over until I get to see my Niece and Nephew again...unless of course they figure out how to send me wet sloppy kisses over e-mail.
Ana is entirely too independent for my taste...but I guess that's what happens when you're two and you know how to do pretty much everything on the playground "by self"!
I can no longer grab her and smoosh her to my hearts desire...she is clearly much too busy playing with EVERYTHING she can get her grubby little hands on.
Now Emery, on the other hand, is completely still smooshable and huggable. He is ready with smiles and laughs for anyone that crosses his path - and he's a total ladies man. So, Lubbock was a ton of fun - and I'll just have to face the fact that the next time I see these kids (in about a month) they'll be three times their size...cause that's how they roll when they're growing up!

In this life we just don't get to choose who our Aunts are

Soooo...It was no coincidence that I chose to come to visit Megan after finding out the sex of our baby...I planned from the very beginning to raid all of her little girl clothes and to take them all back to Phoenix with me. The problem with baby clothes is that once you start looking you get this little itch that makes you just want to put them on a baby. Thank goodness I had a little model at my disposal!
Emery was the perfect pretty pretty princess. Too bad his Dad is a total prude...as soon as Eric got home from work he made me take Emery's pretty little dress off. I thought he looked just perfect for an outing at the park - prude.
Seriously...he looks like popeye in drag

Water, bossiness and museums (these things have nothing in common except for yielding cute pictures)

It's been really awesome visiting my Neice and my Nephew in Lubbock. One of the best things is watching how Ana has really become a huge help to Emery. No, she's not a help when she tries to pick him up all of the time and tries to play in all of his toys...but every now and then she shows what a great big sister she is by helpin' a brutha out...
Sometimes she's a little too much help (especially when she decides that Emery needs help doing EVERYTHING...like holding up his head or opening his mouth). Heck, let's call a spade a spade...she's down right bossy sometimes.
But all in all it's really cute to see how Emery really adores her and laughs at her every move.
One place that both Ana and Emery love is the Science Museum. Not only does Ana get to climb all over every single thing possible...but she even tolerates Aunt Manda having a little bit of fun. In fact, she looked on with awe as I spun around on a gravitron machine with Emery strapped to my back clinging on for dear life (a.k.a. sleeping soundly).
I swear, the things I do to impress these kids is making my little baby in the womb dizzy! At least she hears what she has to look forward to.

Around here Aunt Manda is known for bathtime

Okay, I'll be honest...I'm really good for ONE bath time per trip....as long as that bath time is filled with lots of pictures...that's my quota. The rest of the time I'm visiting you'll find me parked in front of the TV watching my stories during bath time - you get what you pay for. So, the other day Ana, Emery and I jumped in the bath and hammed it up for some photos. You'll notice in the photos that I am explicitly absent from the bathtub...you can thank me for that later. Ana learned the beauty of a soap hat and loved it (loved everything except a little soap in her eye, but I explained to her that sometimes that's the price you pay for a beautiful hat)!
Ana was also a huge help when it came to washing Emery. Emery, on the other hand, was only interested in eating the bath toys. I told him that it's a good thing he has his big sister around...she makes sure that he gets dunked a couple of times and then sends him out of the tub to get back to her more serious bubble playing.