Jacob Knows.

Yep, Jacob knows best how to torture Bekah. Remember that road trip I told you about, and the long, long hours we spent together in our van? Jacob took that time to hone his "Irritate Bekah" skills. They'd just be sitting there, looking out the windows, and then the conversation would go like this:
Jacob: What Bekah?
Bekah: I didn't say anything.
Jacob: What Bekah?
Bekah: I didn't say anything.
Jacob: What Bekah?!
Bekah: I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!

Or, Jacob would pick on Bekah when she'd start singing. Bekah loves to sing. She makes up songs all the time. Usually I have no idea what she's even saying, and the song will go on for as long as she wants it to, at least five minutes. So then the conversation will go like this:
Bekah: (Singing)
Jacob: No Be-ah! (That's how he says Bekah. He leaves out the "k")
Bekah: (Keeps singing)
Jacob: No inging Be-ah!
Bekah: I want to sing!
Jacob: No Be-ah!
Bekah: JACOB WON'T LET ME SING!

Oh yeah. He knows how to get her. And he loves to do it!

Dilemma.

Bekah has started distinguishing between things that are real and pretend by saying it's either "regular" or "pretend". This morning she told me that she wanted to be a fairy so she could fly to Flagstaff by herself and pick up her cousin Sarah. She showed me her fairy wings that go with one of her dress up outfits and said that she needed some like that, but "Regular ones." I tried to explain that fairies aren't real, they're pretend. To which she replied that she wanted to be a "Regular fairy," and that I needed to make her regular wings. I told her that I don't know how to make wings like that, it's really hard, actually impossible, and that I couldn't do it. That didn't make her very happy, and finally the only thing I could say was that I'd think about it. So then she went upstairs and packed two backpacks full of stuff to take to Sarah's house, and lined it up by the front door alongside her coat. When I was putting her down for a nap she said, "Will you work on my regular wings while I'm sleeping?"
So here I am. Big dilemma. How do I tell my little girl that I can't make her into a fairy?

Greening up our Backyard, and a Prego Pic

Rus went out of town about four weeks ago and my friends, Tara and Taffy decided that we needed to plant grass while he was gone. Because then it could grow while we went on vacation, and that would mean that I wouldn't have to worry about keeping the kids off of it. So, my awesome friends came over and did all the work while I held Tara's baby. Now they see the grass growing and feel a burst of pride because they were the ones who planted it. And I'm sure they'll never let us forget that. :) But it is looking pretty good for brand new grass from seed! We just reseeded again last Saturday, so hopefully it will continue to fill in the brown spots. On Saturday we also planted two trees, a peach one and an apple one, two raspberry bushes, strawberrys, and honeysuckle on my arbor. Horray for the green!

Yup, and there's me, I guess now at 32 weeks. Can you see the sign on my belly, "OPEN FOR ALL PUBLIC DISCUSSION"? For example, the lady in front of me, checking out in Walmart..."You're having a boy, aren't you? Yes, I could tell because you're carrying him low and in the front. When are you due? July 4th? Oh, you'll never make it that long. It looks like he's already dropped." And then she continued on to my favorite topic, Random-People-I-Don't-Even-Know-Labor-Stories. I couldn't even meet the eyes of the man checking me out after that, what with the lady vividly explaining how she popped her 9lb baby's head out. The same baby that is now at least nine years old and standing next to her, somehow oblivious to the conversation.

The ladies in my water aerobics class also agreed that I would deliver this baby much sooner than July 4th. I think that's supposed to be a "reassuring" way of telling someone that they look huge. And I guess I should believe them, because they see me twice a week in a bathing suit.

Personally I think I'm getting used to my current size of belly because I don't feel huge. Just big. And like I'm wielding a weapon in front of me, a weapon that likes to either bump into things or get bumped into by things or people. I have no idea when this baby is going to come, although I'm pretty sure he won't come as soon as everyone else thinks, and I hope that he won't come later than that date stamped in my mind, July 4th.

Who knows...Oh yeah, the lady in Walmart does!

3,014 Miles Later

Our family has survived our latest adventure. And we enjoyed it. And we still like each other. Rus and I had been wanting to rise above the forces of family reunions and get-togethers and take our fate in our own hands and plan our own family vacation. He said that since he wanted to go drive the Rubicon (hugely popular 4-wheel drive trail in California) next summer, that I got to pick where we went this year. So we planned for a trip that included visiting my brother James in Peoria, IL, and seeing the sites in Nauvoo, IL. Then we figured out that we could visit his sister Katie in Laramie, WY, and it would only add a couple more hours. So, in an eight day period we went from New Mexico (very snowy, actually) through Colorado (say no to toll roads), spent a night in Laramie, Wyoming (Katie got me loving western quilt fabrics), drove all the way across Nebraska (the longest drive ever, but we broke it up by stopping at two of the three Cabelas in the state), then across Iowa (only better than Nebraska because it didn't take as long), into Illinois (James didn't believe we'd make it there...he wouldn't even make us dinner until we were actually at his house), down to St. Louis, Missouri (we stopped at the coolest museum I have ever been to), then a night in Springfield, Missouri (so we could bask fully in the glow of the 300,000 square foot Bass Pro Shop), continuing right on through Oklahoma (went from lush and green and beautiful to...not so much of any of that) to Amarillo, Texas (flat, brown, and windy) and then back to the wonderful brown-ness of New Mexico (but hey, at least we have mountains!) Phew! Okay, so here were my favorite/most humorous parts of our trip:

(In order of occurance)

1. Rus brought his girlfriend on the trip. What?! Who?! Oh, I mean his mountain bike. He had a great time going riding with his brother-in-law Brooks in Laramie, and with my brother's father-in-law in Peoria.

2. Right before we left Katie's house we gave each of her daughters their own can of silly string and said, "Enjoy!" Hehehe...

3. Jacob said "moo" to every cow he saw the entire trip (and we saw a million of them), and Rus counted every deer he saw in Iowa (or was it Nebraska?) That would have been okay if he only saw a couple, but much to his wonderment and awe (and my annoyance), we saw dozens (Rus knows the exact amount) and he pointed out every single one of them. "There's another one! And another one! And four more!"

4. Visiting my brother James was awesome! He and his wife Carrie have this awesome arts and crafts style house that they have worked a ton on, and they have a really nice backyard with a deck and a jacuzzi and a little fountain that Bekah and Jacob loved. They are both amazingly talented and they own their own business doing custom renovations. James is really talented at designing and making anything out of wood, from custom furniture pieces to whole libraries or kitchens, and Carrie is an artist who does paintings and also custom paints people's homes. As I'm writing this I feel like I'm not describing them good enough or giving them enough credit...they're both just amazing, and it was so fun to spend a couple of days with them. Bekah and Jacob loved/feared their dogs, Belvedere and Lulu and their turtle Buster, and they loved playing in the backyard in the fountain and getting James and Carrie to give them treats.

5. James recommended to us the City Museum in St. Louis, MO. It was so incredibly awesome. The website, http://www.citymuseum.org/ describes it like this: "Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children's playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike. Cassilly and his longtime crew of 20 artisans have constructed the museum from the very stuff of the city; and, as a result, it has urban roots deeper than any other institutions'. Reaching no farther than municipal borders for its reclaimed building materials, CITY MUSEUM boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes!" It was basically a giant playground where kids could touch anything and climb anywhere. Bekah had a blast...she was absolutely fearless. Rus followed her in and out and up and down tunnels and slides over the whole museum. Jacob had fun, too, he just wasn't as adventurous. He would have been happy to spend the whole time sitting in an old fire truck they had suspended on the side of the building. My favorite part of it was the slide they had from the third floor down to the first floor. Very accomodating for a pregnant woman.

So here are some pictures, with the caption for each above the picture:

Here are two happy kids, ready to hit the road on day one of our trip. They were so, so good for as much as we drove. We put 3000 miles on the van and at least 30 hours on our dvd player.

Jacob and Bekah both enjoyed the hot tub. Although strangely they weren't big fans of the jets and the bubbles. I guess it made them nervous. Bekah learned fast what each of the buttons did and loved being in control of it all.
Not only did Bekah and Jacob enjoy the fountain, but Tiger and Ken loved it too. Well, at least Ken did for a few minutes...
This is James pushing Bekah on the swing. Bekah is a swing-aholic and thought James pushed the best out of anyone.
Belvedere loved to hang around the kids because he learned so fast that kids aren't so great at holding on to their food. Here Jacob had a baggie full of lunch meat and Belvedere made sure he got his fair share.
Bekah asked me if she could splash in the puddles in Nauvoo. I said she'd get her pants wet. So she hiked them up as far as they'd go and walked very carefully through every puddle with her cool yellow boots.

Here we are in front of the Nauvoo temple.

Jacob walking on a bridge at the City Museum. We were up at least two stories. So cool!Rus and Jacob in one of the airplanes at the museum. Rus and Keri. See, we were still happy, and this was towards the end of the trip. I'll agree with you though, if you think we look tired. Bekah climbing up from the second floor to the third floor at the City Museum.

Jacob in his fire truck. I'd try to get him to come out so we could meet up with Rus, and he'd get a little ways away and then say "Fire!" and run back to the truck.Where are Rus and Bekah? This crazy view is from the building, looking out at all the different passageways that were built up in front of the building. Bekah and Rus are climbing down the long diagonal bridge.

Okay, so that concludes the world's longest blog...Hope you enjoyed!

The Moral of the Story is...

Don't get your thumbs stuck in a wiffle ball!

Cute, Cute Baby Boy!

I know I am biased. Every mother thinks her child is the most beautiful thing ever. And I'll be the first to admit that ultrasound pics are not always the most pleasant thing to look at. But
just check out this ultrasound pic I got today. They got the clearest 3D picture of our baby's face and I just can't help but think that he is so dang cute! (It's so wrong that you can see this good...it totally ruins some of the surprise) I think that he's going to look a lot like his brother...
And there's no disputing that he's got his daddy's big goofy noggin...

That was...unexpected

The day before yesterday was full of unexpected, unanticipated things. Well, just two main things, really. I'm totally up for spontenaity, but turning on my faucet and having my water "spontaneously" trickle away to nothing doesn't really count. I instantly knew that the water company had deemed that March 25th be "Add Another Fun Thing to Keri's To-Do List" Day. I called up the water company and chewed them out for turning off my water, because while they said that I hadn't paid, my online account's bill-pay said that I had indeed paid. After being not-the-nicest person on the phone, I printed out a copy of the check that my bank had sent to them with my payment in full typed out nicely on the appropriate lines. And that was when I realized that *whoops!* somehow the address on my checks being sent out from my account was actually my old address, and *double whoops!* I had never changed the account number for my water bill from my old house to my new house. This confuses even me, so pay attention...somehow for the last seven months I have been paying my water bill with checks showing all the wrong information, and the water company has taken those checks and applied them to a somehow-still-open-old-account, but then (here's the clincher) somehow the water bill has gotten paid for this address where I am actually using water. I've decided to split the blame evenly between myself, the water company, and the bank (because I did change my address, just their system didn't make the change on my bill pay).
So that was a little stressful. And then there was unexpected thing #2: I had to get a haircut. Anyone that knows my experience with haircuts knows that this is an ominous thing, indeed. I have a knack for getting bad haircuts. But to make it worse I went to a training salon! Uggg! I'm glutton for punishment. The poor girl took two hours to cut my hair. Part of the reason for this is she kept going to her trainer to ask her how to do it right. I think I got a small glimpse of what an anxiety attack is right there. Stress, stress, unwanted, unexpected stress.
And now I just have to mention a few goofy things that Bekah's been saying that have cracked me up...
First, we were driving in Rus' jeep the other day with the windows rolled down, both of us waving our hands out in the breeze when Bekah said, "I had a booger on my finger and the wind blew it away and now it's probably stuck on someone's car and they'll have to wash it cause that's gross!"
Second, Bekah asked me if our new baby would love her, and I said of course, and then she said "Can I hold him when he's born? And when he gets stinky I'll give him back." (Smart kid.)
Third, Bekah is really good at letting me do her hair, but everytime we have a conversation like this:
Me: "Bekah, don't wiggle!"
Bekah: "But can I wiggle my toes?"
Me: "Sure"
Bekah: "What about my fingers? Can I wiggle those?"
Me: "Grrr..."
Bekah: "Can I wiggle my eyes?"
And on and on...Fun, fun.

Well, I hope your day is wonderful and full of pleasant expected and unexpected things...