Music Man

An Exciting Tuesday

A new food at lunch and a visit to the park! Remy also tried the baby swing for the first time but I was too busy making sure he didn't climb out to take a picture!

House Hunting

This is a gorgeous time of the year. We don't have the earthy, Spring smells of back home, but we do have 75 degree highs, sunshine, and beautifully swaying palms. My balcony plants are thriving again and we can leave the windows open during the day and let breezes blow through the apartment.

The beautiful weather inspired us to finally go out and start our house hunt this weekend. At this stage we are doing research and scoping out the neighborhoods on our own, so that we will have a better idea of what we want when we get started in earnest. And it gives us time to talk out our differences so that we don't have to have those awkward conversations in front of the poor real estate agent!

I think we are off to a good start! We checked out four neighborhoods on Saturday - Desert Shores, South Hills and The Trails in Summerlin, and Day Dawn Vistas up here in Centennial Hills. Day Dawn Vistas had the most house for the money, and gorgeous views. However they had no pool, no park, no community amenities to speak of. In Summerlin, The Trails was our favorite. It had gorgeous tree lined avenues, pretty parks, and lots of restaurants and shopping. Desert Shores was closest to Ross's work, but the architecture (at least where we looked) was not really our style.

Since one of our favorite things about Centennial Hills is the elevation, we decided to check out one of Summerlin's communities that is West of 215 and higher in the valley than most of Summerlin. It's called The Vistas and that is a suitable name! Great views of Red Rock to the West and the strip to the East. Not to mention that it is just across 215 from our beloved Red Rock Casino and Kid's Quest!

The area we checked out had really cute, one story homes with good sized, walled-in backyards and was within walking distance of the elementary school. Ross stopped one of the residents to ask him questions (he does this everywhere we go, I am simultaneously grateful and mortified) and the man said he moved there because the elementary school is one of only two public schools in the state of Nevada with a 10 out of 10 rating! I knew from my research that the high school is also one of the top rated in the state.If we go with The Vistas we will probably have to sacrifice a bedroom, but I think we may decide it is worth it. We will see!

Next weekend we plan to check out some of the homes closer to church, many of which have the big balconies on the second story and backyards big enough for a pool. I'll report back what we find!

Remy's First Steps

We had an awesome day yesterday. We found an authentic, Chicago-style hot dog place, did some house hunting, and Remy took his first steps! Here they are, don't blink or you may miss them!

Watching *Super Why* in his Jammies

Eating Breakfast Like a Big Boy!

Sunset

I can't actually see the sun setting from my apartment, but I can see the beautiful shadows it casts on the mountain.

What's Up

• We celebrated Ross's birthday at Red Rock on Saturday with Fatburger, free cocktails and slots. We even won $50! It was a very nice day.
• Remy is so tall, he has started pulling things off the sofa table all by himself. It's getting harder and harder to find a place for the Xbox controller!
• Steph got me to join this 365 Photo Project on Facebook and I am loving it. I don't have time for painting these days, but it only takes a second to shoot a picture (well, theoretically...)
  
• This weekend the weather has been cruddy, but March overall has been gorgeous. Remy and I keep the door to the balcony open most of the day to let in the lovely Spring air.

Here are some recent pictures of Remy:

Windy Day at the Park

10 Months Old!

Remy turned 10 months on Saturday. My little baby just keeps on growing! Here are some of the exciting things about Remy at 10 months:

• Remy has learned how to clap and the coolest thing about it is that he doesn't even have to see us clap, if we just say,
  "Remy, clap!" he will do it!
• Remy doesn't know any words. (He's faked us out with Baba and Papa in the past.) But he is certainly not letting that stop him. He growls, shrieks, hums, squeals and screams all the day long. Oh, and he loves to bop the back of his hand against his lips to make the ah-ah-ah-ah-ah sound.
  
• Remy has lots of soft, brown hair that sticks up around his ears, kinks up when he sleeps on it and doesn't look much like his mom or dad's hair at all.
  
• Remy loves using his teeth to munch on crunchy food. Even little pieces of cereal he will sometimes hold carefully to his mouth so that he can bite off a piece with his front teeth, rather than just sticking the whole thing in his mouth.
• He still wheezes when he laughs and frowns at me when I lay him down.
  

Visuals

What's Up

Spring is here! It's going to get up to 78 degrees today! My neighbor Anita and I are going to go for a walk. She says she thinks there is a park within walking distance that I've never seen. I hope we can find it because I remember what it was like when it was too hot to walk and I want to walk as much as I can before that happens!

Three of the potted plants my in-laws gave me last spring and which I thought were goners are coming back to life! It's been amazing to watch happen. I have some pictures I'll post later. Also, a rose plant I bought at Walmart that was totally overrun with mold is recovering. I lost two thirds of it but I think it is going to be okay now.

Things are going well for Ross. A milestone is coming up with the game and so he did have to go in last weekend but he hasn't had to work late much this time around and that certainly makes me happy. Today he is going to see Battle: Los Angelos with a friend after work and in June he will be going to E3 with the same friend. He tried to register for Comic Con but it sold out too quickly.

It's our 3 year anniversary next week so we will probably do something special this weekend...probably dinner at that nice looking sushi place in Red Rock and maybe a movie if Remy has gotten over his latest teething spell and is not so fussy.

The biggest news is that the Stangers are coming out for a visit in less than a month! We had originally planned for a visit over Mal's spring break at the end of March but the ticket prices shot up and it looked like it wasn't going to happen but then yesterday Steph got wind of a price cut at Spirit and this time there was no hesitation! So it looks like Mal will have a slightly extended spring break this year - and he's earned it! :P

On His Own Two Feet

I am keeping the camera charged and ready because Remy is spending a lot of time on his feet these days and I don't want to miss those first steps! He can stand up without pulling himself up on anything now, and he's good at putting one foot in front of the other when he's cruising along the furniture...so we'll see!

Cutie-patootie

This Month...

• We celebrate three years of marriage on the 15th! How is this possible? I don't know, but it makes me ridiculously happy. Congratulations, honey!
  
• Thyroid nonsense continues. It is beginning to feel like no matter how many doctor's visits or lab tests I go through I am no closer to the end. My new endocrinologist has changed my diagnosis from Toxic Multinodular Goiter to Hashimoto's. So what, I just want it out.
  
• It was a year ago in March that we moved to Las Vegas! I remember how much it sucked standing in the security line in the airport with my huge pregnant belly, taking cold showers in a cold apartment while we waited for the gas man to come turn on the gas, and crying because the taco restaurant by our apt. wasn't as good as Chipotle (turns out there was a Chipotle a block a way, but we didn't know that yet.) Fortunately for Ross I cheered up when I realized how friggin' awesome Vegas is.
  
• The incomparable Ross turns 31 on the 19th. Not nearly as traumatic as turning 30. Or turning 33 (gulp).
• Spring arrives and with it come the plant sales!
• Remy turns 10 months old. That's double digits, folks. Maybe I should shave his head and pretend like he's 4 months old again?
  

My big boy turns 10!

Is it only Tuesday? Hmm. Anyway, here are some things I like:

• "How do you open the eyes to see how to take the daily, domestic, workday vortex and invert it into the dome of an everyday cathedral?" -Ann Voskamp
• "Praying with eyes wide open is the only way to pray without ceasing". -Ann Voskamp
• First Listen: REM's Collapse Into Now

• 

It's called a zamioculcas zamiifolia and I would like to own one. But I would settle for daffodils.