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...

Happy Easter!

This Easter I have reached a landmark in my life. I now know how to boil an egg. Yep, before this Easter season I have enjoyed hard-boiled eggs made by other people; I have used eggs for baking; I am a master at making the "right" kind of scrambled eggs for my kids; I've even poached an egg before (before I knew I didn't like them like that). But a week ago Bekah wanted to decorate eggs, and the gauntlet was raised. So I had my sister in law DeAnn over to show me how to do it. Then I realized that I was stuck with 10 hard-boiled eggs, so now I have also discovered how to make egg salad sandwiches. I think I'm feeling exhausted from all of these milestones...
Now for some pictures. I'll put the captions above each picture.
This is Bekah in her "Angelina Ballerina" Easter dress. She was so proud of it and could twirl the heck out of it. Doesn't she look so big? Here's Jacob in his handsome bollo tie (is that how you spell that?) He didn't want to wear it until Rus was wearing one too, so there they were at church, two shortly-sheared, handsome rednecks with their bollo ties.
We, momma and poppa easter bunnies, got Jacob and Bekah umbrellas for Easter. They were a big hit. Jacob kept saying "Pider. Man. Pider. Man." I'm glad that we don't fear the superstition that an open umbrella indoors brings bad luck. I'm also glad that my children don't see the connection between umbrellas and rain.
This is how Jacob looked all day Sunday. Cheeks full of candy with just a little bit drooling out all of the time. Don't be deceived by the picture. He really enjoyed the candy, it just takes a lot of concentration to keep it all from falling out.This is why Jacob (and the rest of the kids) had candy in their mouths all day. Grandpa Payne wiped out all the Walmarts between his house and ours (at least 10 of them, I'm sure) and took all of their Easter candy and brought it to my house and distributed it freely to everyone.Peeps were also freely distributed, and Rus's brother Jacob took it upon himself to follow through with the time-honored tradition of microwaving one lucky Peep. After ballooning to twice its size, it turned into a puddle of radioactive goo. This peep could pass for a fried egg any day of the week.
Grandma Windham was able to enjoy Easter with us, and the great-grandkids got to enjoy the legendary "Windham handshake". Younger kids like Jacob still haven't fully grasped the concept of it, but Bekah knows that if she shakes Grandma's hand she'll get a dollar, so she's all over it.I had an elaborate plan of doing a treasure hunt with the kids, all of it ending with pots and flowers to plant for each of them. For some unknown reason my husband and his brother took it upon themselves to sabotage my plan, first by not helping, and then by turning on the sprinklers when I was standing right next to them. Grrr. No good deed goes unpunished. So I decided to just plant the flowers with the kids, and then they decided to let me plant them for them. Now I have five potted flowers sitting on my counter because they didn't make it to their rightful homes. It makes me wonder why I thought it'd be cool in the first place.
Well, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. It's important that I mention how grateful I am for my Savior and his sacrifice for me. I am thankful for his life and example, for the person that he was and is. I hope to be like him one day. I know that he lived for us, died willingly for us, and that he lives now, arms outstretched, inviting you and me to come to him. I know that through the miracle of Jesus' atonement and resurrection, I can be like him and return to him and live with him and Heavenly Father forever.

How Should I Know What Day it is?

This is my calendar in my kitchen. I think it's looked this way for at least two weeks, ever since Jacob climbed up on the counter and decided to rearrange all the dates. Just one more reason why I never really know what the date is...

Six Months Along...and Our New Piano

So here I am, six months along...the other day I walked up to Rus and bumped him accidentally with my belly and shocked him. I said, "Whoops, sorry, my belly shocked you." And he said, "Yeah, sometimes it does that." I then called him a jerk and punched him in the arm. Sometimes being clever like that gets you in trouble, especially with a pregnant woman.
Poor husbands, they have to deal with all of the irrational, overblown feelings that their pregnant wives go through. Men don't seem to understand that simply getting dressed when you're pregnant can be a very emotional thing.
Example of finding an outfit: The first pair of pants have the elastic everywhere and give me a bubble butt and hips. The second pair don't help my figure any either, plus sneakily slide down if I try to walk anywhere. The third pair are highwaters and the fourth pair are green and don't match anything. Sweat pants are looking pretty dang good at this point...Then there's the issue with shirts. The first shirt is too short and shows off the non-show-offable panel built into the pants. The second shirt might as well be a tent...I could probably hide an additional child in there...heck, my belly does look big enough for twins when I wear this contraption! The third shirt is just too tight, proving that once again my belly has grown. (Hmm, is that what happened to that whole package of thin mints?) I think that's why when I do find myself standing in front of the mirror looking cute, I feel like I have to make a day of it and go lots of places. It's not that I expect every other pregnant woman to look adorable when I'm out and about. I think I just notice the ones who are dressed nice more, and I wonder, "How in the earth did she find such cute pants to wear, and where did she get that shirt?" It's mystifying.
***Side note...I was just interrupted by Jacob, who should be in bed, but walked in my room saying, "Crying! Big Poop, Mom! Big Poop!" hehehe...***
Anyways, whenever I whine that my belly has once again grown and left me standing in front of my dresser, frustrated and not-dressed-yet, Rus just tells me that it's okay, I'm just building a luxury apartment for our baby. Depending on the day I can either find this thought comforting, or my hormones can interpret it as, "It's okay if you're as big as a house..."




Okay, and here's our new (to us) piano! Yay for craigslist! This thirty-year old beauty was hefted into our home last Saturday by Rus and some of his true friends. (Well, that's not completely true, the guys could have just been in it for the burgers, but I still applaud them for sacrificing their back muscles to bring the sound of music into our home.) It sounded awful but looks pretty good, and after a lengthy tuning yesterday it even sounds like it should. I am so excited to have it...now I just have to find a time to play it when the kids aren't sitting next to me helping me find the "right" keys.