Aunt April comes to Arizona

How's that for some alliteration?

My sister in law came to visit us last week. She flew in from DC Thursday night. We were going to pick her up at the airport and then take her out to Pita Jungle for some Mediterranean food since we figured she would be hungry after a three hour flight. We dressed up the little man in his cutest outfit, made ourselves look presentable, and headed out the door.

We arrived at the airport a little bit early and instead of parking and heading inside like we normally do, we opted to save the $5 - $10 bucks and wait in the Cell Phone Lot. It's this big parking lot where all the spaces face a screen that tells you what flights have arrived, which are en route still, and which are ready for pick up. Pretty clever, actually.

So we're sitting there, and I smell something NOT NICE. I gave my husband a dirty look, and he declared his innocence while looking back at the baby. He got out of the car and went to check it out - sure enough, someone needed a diaper change! He went to go lay the changing pad in the back of the SUV (very handy space back there, I tell ya) while I unbuckled the baby and pulled him out of his seat. As I hugged him close to me, on my hip, I felt something warm squish down my arm and then plop on my foot... did I mention that I was wearing sandals?

Yeah.

So I hand him off to my husband, and go to get the wipes out of my diaper bag. Um - problem. There was ONE wipe in the case. Little man had a blowout the night before at the Walmarts and we forgot to refill it. I found my emergency stash in the center console, but there were only three in there. I also found one individually packaged Wet Ones wipe in there. Believe it or not, between those things and the three disposable bibs, along with my bottle of hand sanitizer, we managed to contain the mess. All while a monsoon was blowing through, no less!

We also had no backup outfit. You'd think we were total amateurs at this baby thing, but I promise you this kid hasn't had a blowout in over five months. I thought we were past them! There were a couple of small bags of things in the back of the car that were to be taken to Goodwill, and in there we found one of my old tee shirts. Since the super cute Osh Kosh overalls were no longer in a state to be worn, (EVERYTHING had poo on it, even the mini-Chucks) we put the shirt on him and just tied the sleeves in the back so it would stay on.

My son got to meet his aunt for the very first time wearing a DRESS, y'all. We thought he looked homeless. She said he looked like Gandhi. Either way, it was pretty dang funny and I'm really disappointed in us that we didn't get a photo of that. Needless to say, we never made it to the restaurant and I just threw together something at home. What a way to start a visit!!!

The next day, she joined us at the library for Baby Storytime, and then we all hung out at home. We headed to El Zocalo for dinner, which is an awesome restaurant near here. Since it wasn't a particularly hot day due to the storm the night before, and also since the sun was setting, we opted to sit out on the patio. They have a great patio! April went to take a photo of Bubba in his high chair, and this is what she snapped:

They can't all be winners, folks.

Here he's waiting for his dinner, which he refused to eat once it arrived. He did manage to eat some of his dad's rice though, and a few crackers.

After dinner we drove into downtown Phoenix for First Fridays. We got there a couple of hours after it started, and ended up just staying at the Phoenix Art Museum and skipping the shuttle that took you to all the galleries.

Bubba picked up a new friend in the gift shop.

That's his new stroller. Babies R Us is doing a promotion right now where you can trade in certain brands and types of baby items for 20% off a new baby item. We traded in our heavy old stroller frame that you snap the baby bucket onto for this snazzy Maclaren Volo and got $25 off. Not bad since the frame one was only $60 and that's probably more than I would have gotten on Craigslist! Also, the new stroller only weighs 11 lbs and folds up only half as big as the old one. SO NICE.

Here we are out front. I forgot to suck it in! HA HA! At least we're a very (unintentionally, I assure you) color coordinated family, huh?

I think we were the last ones out. They don't tell you when they're closing, they just assume you have a watch on I guess. The security guard literally locked the door behind us. Oops.

The next morning I tried a new recipe for waffles that I found on someone's blog. They were SO GOOD, and healthy too! I hadn't made waffles in years. I'm so glad the waffle iron still worked. I couldn't find anything called Banilla flavored yogurt so I just mixed together banana and vanilla flavored yogurts. Problem solved. :)

Bubba joined us at the table.

What's that? You want a closer look at his forehead?

Yup. We're dorks.

After breakfast, we all got cleaned up and did our hair so we could go out.

He's cute no matter what, I swear! We did fix it before we left the house. I'm not that mean! We headed to the park where Angelina took our maternity portraits. Since the day was very overcast, and it had been raining off and on all morning, it was almost completely empty. Perfect conditions for taking photos!

My husband is fond of saying the baby gets his scowliness from me, but I think this photo is proof otherwise.

He was in a really silly mood.

I was running up and down the sidewalk, and dipping him backwards, which he LOVED. That's what's up with my hair.

After that, we did a little shopping, then headed home where I made fresh bread (another blog recipe), brownies (Alton Brown), and spaghetti (my own version). Never let it be said that I let my guests go hungry! We had a nice evening hanging out and April got to play with the baby. He warmed up to her that first night right away and they got along famously, I'd say. The next morning I made breakfast and then it was off to the airport.

Too short! But, we had fun. I'd say it was quality time spent with family. :)