Baby's 1st Vacation....

We just returned from a wonderful, relaxing trip; destination: Scottsdale Arizona. It was wonderful to getaway and have some fun in the sun! This was Danielle's first vacation and first time on an airplane. She did absolutely perfect, she was strapped to mommy in the Baby Bjorn for the flight and never made a peep. She is such a good baby and loves to be snuggled. It was very nice to meet Grammy for the week and have daddy's support to be away from home, with the kids for a week! We really missed daddy, but we look forward to our family vacation in a couple of months. Thank you for supporting us daddy!

We did lots of fun activities and got some much needed relaxation in as well. On Sunday we went to the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium. We had already taken Dylan to the Phoenix Zoo for our last trip so we decided to check out a new one and it was great. There was a log ride that went thru the Aquarium and the Zoo had a fun playground, train that went thru the exhibits and an Australian Boat ride that went around the Australian Animals. There was a lift that went over the whole park and we even stopped at the Giraffe Feeding station to feed the Giraffe's. Danielle was perfect and was just along for the stroller ride and lunch at the Cafe. It was a beautiful day with a light breeze, perfect for the kids.

The rest of the week we went shopping and relaxed by the pool! I tried to keep the kids on their routines somewhat, in the mornings we would take a nice long walk then back to our suite for nap time, then lunch and off to the pool for the afternoon before out for dinner. It was SO nice to be able to spend a lot of one on one time with the kids, I have not been able to do that since Danielle came home from the hospital. It was very nice to spend time with my mom and have the kids have some fun Grammy time also! I could not have asked for a better baby, Danielle is just the sweetest little snuggle bug, she had no problem adjusting to new surroundings and slept great in the crib there also, it was great!

Mommy had fun dressing Danielle in her fun new summer clothes and swimsuit and swim cover-up! Girls are so fun to dress and Grammy and I even put her hair in her first 'pony pretty' it was adorable and it even stayed in. Danielle's hair is growing like crazy so 'pony pretties' will become frequent I imagine! Brad couldn't believe it when we sent him the pic on his cell phone, his little girl is getting SO big!

We also went to this super NEAT upscale toy store. I can't believe we have never seen it before since it is in the area we always go to, but it was awesome. It had EVERYTHING you could think of for kids of all ages. The neatest part is that it had a whole 'Eco' Section of Toys, all of the toys are made of Recyclable materials. Each of the kids got an 'Eco' Toy, made in the USA, and those can be very hard to find these days. Next trip to Arizona, this toy store is a must, on the list of things to do! They have a website so mommy will be shopping online I think before our next trip!

That is about the just of our past few weeks, fun in the sun and quality time together! Danielle had a Neurosurgery follow-up apt just before vacation and things went good. She had an MRI and will have another in about 2 months. We saw the world renown Neurosurgeon who is Danielle's doctor now and he is the BEST. We LOVED him, he even took the time to give us names of docs in the Scottsdale area for us to see if anything went wrong with Danielle's shunt while we were gone. That was such a piece of mind and he did it without us even asking, he said ' here are names of docs I want to see Danielle if anything comes up.' He is amazing and we are SO lucky to have him see our baby girl!

Daddy just finished the play yard/swing set for the kids and we are very excited to get them outside to play. The dry heat in Arizona was perfect for their little lungs, they are so sensitive to the humidity here in Iowa, so we will be careful. Danielle is eating like a little piggy and loving her cereal and fruit, now its on to veggies, mommy will be making home made veggies like I did with Dylan, that is the best for their little tummy's and what isn't as easy to make will be Organic baby food. Our little girl is now 10 months, wow, has time flown by! In just a few months she will be a year old. We cherish every single day with our little ones, we are SO fortunate God has blessed us with our beautiful children. Spending lots of snuggle time with them is so important and I am very lucky I got to do it for a week straight, it was fabulous. We love you baby Danielle, keep growing healthy and strong little one.~