Monday, June 30, 2008

Wichita Falls

There is nobody that feels like family (outside of family) more than the awesome friends we got to spend the weekend with. We had such a wonderful time just being together. We stayed in Kara and Clay's way nice apartment and the whole time wished that we could live in Wichita Falls instead of here in Altus. Oh well--we'll be in Washington soon enough. :)

The drive down there was surprisingly short--a little less than an hour and a half. We went first to Will and Sarah's apartment, where we all eventually met up. We went to dinner at On the Border--YUM--and then for dessert to the most amazing snow cone shack on the planet. OH man, was it good. We sat outside and talked for a couple hours, then headed back to Kara and Clay's to talk for another couple hours. We stayed up late and I loved it.

Saturday we had a pancake breakfast at Will and Sarah's and then the girls headed out shopping to heaven on earth, a.k.a. Target. I splurged a little and bought Eva an amazingly cute dress and shirt and myself a pair of earrings and a cute yellow purse. The boys kept Eva, which was so nice. Shopping just isn't the same with a one-year-old. In that it's impossible. They played Wii the whole time and Eva was an angel. We ate dinner that night at Texas Roadhouse, where Andrew and I shared a full rack of the most tender, fall-off-the-bones ribs. We again stayed up late talking that night, but it was so fun.

Sunday we went to church at their ward (they are in our stake--how weird is that!) and sat outside in the foyer most of the time with Eva. Of course. But at least we were there. 2 1/2 months until she's in nursery...I can't WAIT. We had a yummy lunch of waffles, bacon, and eggs at Kara and Clay's and Stacy and Chris and their cute baby Miles came too. We were pretty sad to leave and come back here to lonely town. I can't wait to see our friends again! And a huge thanks to Kara and Clay for letting us stay there. And I would like to give Clay credit where credit is due--he is mostly responsible for Eva's beauty and intelligence, according to him. He is the one (and Kara) who set up Andrew and me. Since Eva is the product of that decision, we will be ETERNALLY grateful to Clay. Thank you, Clay. We will forever sing your praises, and possibly name a child or two after you.

Friday, June 27, 2008


Fun with my family

Yesterday we got another awesome package in the mail--our Sit and Stand stroller! We took it to the commisary for its maiden voyage, and I loved it. I think Eva liked it too.
After anxiously waiting all day yesterday for my family to arrive, they finally got here at about 5pm. We met them in the Walgreens parking lot and I got to see my sister Kim for the first time in 19 months. It was so fun to see her! We headed back to our "house" where Eva warmed up quickly to all the new "strangers" and played with everyone for a while. Grandma was very glad to see her. :) And she sure was glad to have so many people to shower her with attention.
I made a yummy dinner of teriyaki chicken (I got the recipe for the sauce from The Daily Bite and it was delicious) and broccoli. After stuffing ourselves on that, we headed over to the pool to cool off. It was great having Grandma there, because I was able to go down the slide for the first time! I didn't know if they would let me since I was pregnant, but I had Kim ask the lifeguard for me and he said it was fine. YAY! It was so fun. I layed down to go faster and I'm pretty sure it almost put me into labor, though. I must have pulled a ligament somewhere in there because my stomach was sore as sin for the rest of the night. But it was worth it. :)

Eva also got to go down the slide with Daddy. She didn't show much emotion at all--she must be Andrew's daughter. But I, of course, took pictures to make a big deal of it anyway. The water was warmer than it's ever been so we got to stay for a couple hours without freezing to death.


After the pool we headed back home and put Eva to bed. We played "Buzz Word," our favorite family game, while waiting for my Pioneer Woman apple dumplings to cook. And man, were they good. I think I'm still on a sugar high from them--they are the sweetest thing I've ever made--but I love them. Mmmm. By that point we were all ready for bed. Mom and Sarah went to their hotel room, and Kim and Tim slept on our incredible uncomfortable pull-out couch bed. Luckily, they are both people who love to sleep on the floor, so I'm sure it had to be at least a little more padding than the floor. I dreamed a bad dream about Eva wandering off and I couldn't find her, and of course slept badly. That's the standard now, isn't it? Blah. We got up at about 7:30am.

Kim and Tim went to play soccer (I don't know how I am related to such athletic people...I just did NOT get that gene) and Mom and Sarah came over. We ate breakfast, Eva mooched more food form Grandma's giant Tupperware bin full of snacks and ate a healthy breakfast of Cheetos and dry Fruit Loops. Oh well. :)

I was so sad to see them go! Weird that next time I see them I will no longer be pregnant, and I'll have 2 kids. And weird that last time I saw Kim, I was barely pregnant with Eva. Things change so fast! But I'm so glad they got to stop in and see us on their way to Utah. Wish I could be going with them--it's the annual Andersen family reunion with my 400 relatives. But at least I will get to spend the weekend with some of favorite friends--Kara and Clay, Will and Sarah, and Chris and Stacy, in Wichita Falls. Texas, here we come. And I had better not go into labor while we're there.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I hate night.

11:50pm. Up late. Can't sleep. Crazy mind.
Sore back, chapped lips, active fetus. Snoring husband.
Close, eyes. Rest, brain. Blah.

Update on my coolness

Okay, right after I posted that, Andrew informed me that not only do I have a blog reader in Italy, but also one in Russia, one in Turkey, and one in Guatemala. No joke. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I have reached international fame. Please, foreigners, make yourselves known so I can thank you personally for your attention. Out of the billions of blogs out there, you chose mine. You rock.

A few things to say

~I have still been taking my digital scrapbooking class and, despite my Photoshop issues, I managed to complete 2 layouts. One was for the class, one was just for fun. Here they are, for your viewing pleasure.




~I am excited about 2 things. One is that my favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance, is on tonight. The other is that my family has decided to stop to visit me on their way to Utah tomorrow. They will stay here tomorrow night and then leave Friday afternoon. I get to see my sister Kim, whom I haven't seen in 19 months. And she'll get to meet Eva, finally. I CANNOT WAIT.


~We do a weekly pizza night, usually on Fridays. Homemade pizza. We decided to do it tonight since Friday we will be in Wichita Falls hanging out with our awesome friends (oh yeah, that's another thing I'm way excited about) and probably eating at On the Border. But tonight we are doing a new twist on our usual mozzarella tomato spinach pizza. Thanks to the brilliant suggestion of Pioneer Woman, we are adding pesto as the sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.


~2 weeks from today, I will give birth. It's coming right up, folks. Get ready.


~We have placed a plethora of online orders, which is not normal for me. We got the first of them yesterday--3 books from amazon.com. They are Positive Discipline: The First Three Years, The Diaper-Free Baby, and Baby Wise. I highly recommend all three of them. We followed Baby Wise with Eva and she slept through the night from 9 weeks old. I swear it's not just luck--I think that book is almost my second religion. And Positive Discipline is awesome too. I read one of them for a class in college and thought it was brilliant. Now that I am a parent, it's even more brilliant. Seriously, read these books. The second order came today--a carseat cover for Leighton from Target. On the way we have my Blurb book, a double stroller (a Sit'n'Stand; I have heard great things about these--I'll let you know what I think), and some movies for Eva. Getting packages is one of the best things in the world, don't you think?

~Last night on the History channel Andrew was watching this thing about Mt. Rainier erupting and causing this thing called a Lahare (no idea how to spell that) that will kill at least 21,000 or something. And yes, we are moving RIGHT there. We are going to die. The History channel said so. I'm definitely getting food storage when we get there. Not that it will save me from the worst natural disaster this world will ever see, but...maybe it will make me feel a little better.

~I installed a map on my blog that says where people live who look at it (I mean VERY generally where they live--like just the state--don't be freaked out) and yesterday I saw that someone in ITALY read my blog. Hello? Are we kidding? I don't know ANYONE there. I feel amazingly cool. So thanks to whoever in Italy reads about my life. You made me feel totally popular. It almost makes up for all the junior high trauma--that's how cool I feel. Let's hear it for Italians.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Catching up on pictures

Ever since I put my blog into a book (btw it just shipped and should be here soon, so I'll let you know how I like it), I have realized how inconvenient it is to put pictures in AFTER the fact. It's much easier just to take the time to post them on my blog so I don't have to deal with it later. And there are some pictures that I want in there for next time I do this blog-to-book thing at the end of 2008. So although the pictures are not very relevant to anything right now, here they are anyway.

Last week I found a recipe on a food blog for carrot cake. I have never made one before, so I mentioned to Andrew that I wanted to try it. He said, "I love carrot cake!" It is very rare that he shows emotion about food (except the famous canneloni from our honeymoon and halibut from his boys' motorcycle trip last summer, which he never ceases to talk about), so when he showed a preference for carrot cake, I made up my mind to make it, no matter what. He was, of course, a little annoyed that I had to buy ingredients for it, but I convinced him that I was NOT changing my mind. Even though I had to buy some round cake pans from the dollar store. It was the first 3-layer cake I've ever made. Frosting it was a bit of an adventure, and it didn't turn out looking like a page out of a cooking magazine or anything, but I was pretty proud of it. And it tasted amazing.



I just love it when Andrew and Eva play outside together. Maybe she thinks the chalk is makeup or something, but she was writing all over her face and body on this particular day. And I started pulling up her thin, floppy hair into miniscule ponytails, and I love how she looks with it. Now if I could just get her to keep it in all day...


Here is something we see on multiple occasions each day in our house. A tantrum face. Cute? Not so much. But maybe someday I'll think it was cute. Once my ears have stopped ringing.


On Friday we went out to dinner at our favorite local restaurant, "Pick-up Taco." Growing up, I had a nickname given me by my sisters: BP. It stands for Bottomless Pit. Friday night, I totally lived up to that name. I was able to work past the huge child that takes up my entire torso and fill my stomach all up anyway. It was delicious. I scraped my plate clean, ate my whole basket of chips and bowl of cheese sauce, then started in on Andrew's chips. Oh, and I picked off of Eva's little plate. And I still wasn't full. YUM. I love that place. After that Andrew agreed to let us stop at this adorable little snowcone shack on the way home. It's called the Snow Ball Factory. Their sign says, "We don't rent pigs." WHAT?? Is that an Oklahoma thing? If anyone can explain to me the connection between snowcones and rental pigs, I would be deeply in your debt. But despite the strange sign, it was a way cute and colorful little place. We shared a big Tiger's Blood, my favorite flavor, and then headed home to hit the pool. I love Fridays like that. You know, ones where we actually go out and do something. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen very much.


Oh, and I have to mention that on Saturday the Willises were so kind to sit at our house while Eva slept so that we could go out to dinner for the last time as parents of one child. We went to a Thai restaurant in town, which, honestly, was taking a big risk for a town like Altus. You never know. But we were pleasantly surprised. It was a little late, so we were the only ones in the place. Our server was very friendly and let us sample all sorts of other foods for while she cleaned out the buffet. I got Pad Thai (of course--that's what I always get) and Andrew got some Garlic Beef thing. Both very good. Melanie and Brian are the best for making that possible!

A "tender mercy" named Julie

Last night we went to the swimming pool with our good friends the Willises to cool off from the incredibly hot day. It was at the pool that I meant someone whom I feel certain the Lord intended for me to meet. I don't say that very often, but I feel sure that my conversation with this girl changed my life, and I will be forever grateful to her.

But first, a little background to the conversation. The closer Leighton's impending birth gets, the more excited I am to meet him and get to know him. But also, the closer it gets, the more terrified I feel. To put it lightly, I am scared spitless to have 2 children. I quite often feel like an inadequate mother of one--so what in the world am I thinking trying to double that feeling, as well as my workload? My mental stress has been high enough that Andrew commented on Sunday that I have been grumpy for the last several days, maybe even weeks. And he's right. This immense fear is working itself into the way I treat my already lovely family. I feel ashamed to admit this to the world, but there have been several times when I absolutely did not want to have another baby yet. Terrible, I know, but true. But thanks to an unplanned pregnancy, I have found myself barreling straight for my biggest fear with absolutely no control.

Enter Julie.

Last night I sat drying off on a pool chair and feeding Eva her beloved Craisins while Andrew swam happily in the pool. I see out of the corner of my eye a girl approaching me, and my anti-social self thinks, "Oh great. I have to be social." (I know, I'm a monster!) She walks up and says, "You must be Mormon, because I swear I've seen you before. You have to be in our ward." This may seem gutsy, but in truth it was family night at the pool and at least 75% of the people there were from the ward, so it's a safer bet than you might think. We introduced ourselves with the usual preliminaries and talked about a few things--Altus, where we're going after this, how old Eva is (15 months exactly, when this conversation took place).

And then, the inevitable topic of my being so pregnant with such a young child. (Another thing I'm sick of is THOSE comments--but that's for another post.) Julie asked, "Was that planned?" It didn't bother me that she asked--she was very friendly and I felt immediately comfortable talking to her. I told her it wasn't and prepared myself for the usual, "Wow! Well good luck with that! You're sure going to be busy!" or something equally discouraging. But she didn't. She said, "Mine are pretty close together too. Not quite that close, but my first 2 are 18 months apart. And I'll tell you--it will be hard for the first 3 months. But once the baby gets to 3 months, it's awesome. They can interact and entertain each other, and it's really fun. And they'll be great friends." She went on for a while unknowingly saying exactly what I needed to hear and comforting me more than she could ever know. She has 5 kids, and she said every child gets easier. She said, "There is no busier mother than a mother of one."

I wish I could have tape recorded our conversation to have it to play back to myself. But what I will never forget is how I walked away from it feeling like I can DO this. I can have 2 kids and be a good, happy mom. And I don't know why it had to be her. I'm sure others have said similar things to me and I just didn't listen. For some reason I was in the right mindset to hear her at that particular time.

Julie will probably never know what she did for me, but I know that she walked over to me because the Lord knew I needed her to. She saved my life. I feel so ready for this now, it's unreal. Leighton, bring it on.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Someone throw me a party...

because I am amazing. Actually, I didn't have much to do with this--consciously, at least. But here is the great news: I AM DILATED TO A 1!! Now, this doesn't matter in the long run since I'm having a C-section, but nonetheless, I am thrilled. This is the most I have ever dilated in my life without being pumped full of pitocin. And maybe--just maybe--Leighton will decide that July 6th is too long to wait, and he'll start doing his thing to put me into labor. Dare I hope? No. I'll just be happy with the fact that I'm delivering 6 days early, with an added bonus of being dilated. All by myself. I'm a big girl now!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

You look tired.

Today I decided that this sentence, "You look tired," is possibly the rudest insult that can be paid to someone in a casual conversation. Tactless people say it so often that it has become a common conversation starter--nay, a comment made in passing. I have had this said to me on so many occasions in the last few weeks that I am truly beginning to get offended. The weird thing is, it is never by someone I know--always from random, impolite strangers.

And this is the question I have for all those people who feel that asking someone this question--especially a very pregnant someone with an out-of-control one-year-old--is appropriate: Who do you think you are? Honestly. Do you feel like saying that is a demonstration of your geniune concern for the individual? Let me tell you--concern is not what comes across. Here's why. There is nobody in the world who feels tired that needs someone to tell them they look that way. You just might as well say, "You look ugly," or, "You look fat."

Obviously I'm tired. I'm lugging around alot of extra weight, not to mention my sore hips and back and crotch; and Eva doesn't sit still. Ever. I don't sleep well, I don't feel well, and I just want to have this baby. I realize that I am tired. I don't need anybody to tell me that I LOOK it.
It would be so much better when, upon seeing me, someone might think to themselves, "Wow. She is very pregnant and looks busy with such an active little girl. She looks tired, but I bet right now she doesn't need to hear that." Then they might approach me and say something elaborately dishonest and kind, like, "You look so wonderful! I can't believe you can look SO great when you probably feel so tired." That would be much better.

So friends, next time you are in a situation where you see a pregnant lady, just go up and tell her how great she looks. Lie your face off. I promise--it will make her day.

Friday, June 20, 2008

How I know Andrew will be a good Dad to a son

Today as we were getting ready to go to the pool, I heard Andrew telling Eva, as he always does, "Come get some pretties!" That's what he says when he puts sunblock on her--it makes her pretty. I think it's so cute, and she actually sits still for it.

I called out from the other room, "Honey, aren't you glad we had a girl first?"

And he asked, "Why is that?"

"Because you can say things like that to her--that sunblock will make her pretty. What will you say to Leighton? He won't want to get pretty."

His answer made me laugh and sealed the deal that he is ready for a son. "I'll say, 'Come get your muscle cream!'"

Under construction, phase 1

We got some pictures yesterday of our house. Construction is coming along beautifully and quickly, and seeing the pictures only made me more anxious to get there and move in! Here are some of the ones our sales manager took for us.

Here's the front of the house:


Here is the living room with the fireplace in the corner:


The front door from the inside looking out with the den on the right:


The stairs:


The master bath with our awesome, big soaking tub:


No offense to the Altus TLF, but...my house rocks.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

RAMming my head against a wall...

I am becoming a computer geek. Since I started my digital scrapbooking class, I have been learning all these new, cool things to do in Photoshop. I have also been learning that my computer is a piece of crap.

After trying to figure it out on my own and performing all these weird maintenance tasks last night, I finally emailed Jessica Sprague, the teacher of my class, this morning to tell her that I didn't know if I would be able to complete the class because everytime I work in Photoshop it just shuts down by itself. It is ultimately frustrating. She wrote me back and told me that it sounded like my computer is low on RAM. After researching this, I realized she is totally correct. I don't exactly know what RAM is or how to get more, but I need some. It's like this unattainable, intangible thing, like...happiness, or...perfection. Does it come in a box? Can I download it? I don't know.

But I decided that instead of wasting any money on this dinosaur of a machine, I would wait until we get a new computer. We have been planning on getting a new one when we get to Washington, just because we both have really old, outdated laptops and we frankly need something better. I have been trying to convince Andrew that we should buy one while we are here in Altus, but he flat-out refuses.

So for now, I am stuck with what I have. An incomprehensibly slow computer that drives me crazier every time I use it. But here's the mystery...I still can't stop using it.

Tag - Three...

3 joys:
Putting little ponytails in Eva's hair for the first time today
Sitting on the porch in the rocking chair in the nice, cooler weather
Knowing that in 20 days I will no longer be pregnant

3 fears:
Being murdered (totally irrational, but a very real lifelong fear)
Finding a brown recluse in our bed
Having my water break (with Leighton's position it will cause prelapsed cord and will cut off his oxygen supply and I have to get to the hospital ASAP, so it makes me nervous!)

3 goals:
Get all of Leighton's clothes washed and ready for him to wear
Be better and showing Andrew and Eva how much I love them
Learn to clog--another lifelong dream that I intend to start on when we get to Washington

3 current obsessions:
Pringles
Reading cooking blogs
Short hair--dreaming about how cute mine will be. My current favorite hair is Chelsea, the black girl on "So You Think You Can Dance." Cutest hair EVER.

3 surprising facts about me:
I swear sometimes when I get really mad. I think it's in my genes, though, so I'm not entirely to blame. :)
I absolutely will never have a pet (except maybe a giant tank full of awesome fish) because I don't like animals at all.
I am totally excited about having a C-section. Is that weird? I even made a cake to celebrate yesterday.

I tag everyone who reads this.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A Day in the Life of a very pregnant Altus AFB TLF resident who is also a wife, mother, and internet addict

Recorded Monday, June 16, 2008

Around 8am – be annoyed and halfway awaken from a fly buzzing around my head.
8:40-kiss Andrew goodbye and hear Eva say “Haaa!” like she does in the morning when she sees that we are awake. I think it means hi. Change Eva’s diaper, put her in her high chair with a banana. Pour myself a bowl of Cap’n Crunch and sit down to eat by Eva, putting some of my favorite cereal on her tray to share. She likes it. Take my prenatal vitamin with the leftover milk from my bowl.

8:57am – get Eva out, get on the computer. She plays happily by herself while I check my email. Get frustrated with how slow the connection is. Realize my new digital scrapbooking class starts today and get very excited. Decide to get ready for the day (so the maid can come) before starting the lesson. Get hit in the cheek with that stupid fly.

9:05am – Hold Eva on my lap for several minutes while she plays with my Flonase—she loves taking off lids and putting them back on again. Let her out to play when she knocks on the door and does the sign for play. Think to myself for already the 10th time today how smart and cute she is.

9:28am – Open the fridge so Eva can get out a carrot and gnaw unproductively on it for the next half hour or so. Get Eva dressed in her adorable hoochie dress and laugh with delight at how stinking cute she looks.

9:32am – Read Eva her favorite book of the week, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” Be amazed when she does the sign for milk before I even say the word in the book. Be annoyed that I am out of breath simply from reading out loud.

10am – Put on Signing Time for Eva while I shower, and feel grateful for a good movie that I don’t feel guilty putting on for her. And she LOVES watching it. (Side note: she also loves watching the Animal Planet channel with Andrew and stares at the animals and calls them all doggies. Her favorite commercial is one for Meerkat Manor because the “doggies” dance and she dances right along with them.)

10:15am – Start my new Jessica Sprague digital scrapbooking class, “Now We’re Rockin’ with Photoshop.”

11:10am – Get Eva the piece of bread she’s been asking for all morning. Open the fridge for her so she can get out another carrot. Notice that the first carrot is still sitting untouched, save a few bite marks, and discarded on the floor. Kill a fly. Wonder why on earth the cleaning lady hasn’t come yet.

11:40am – Scare Eva half to death when she almost touched a dead fly on the floor (this one died a natural death—I didn’t kill it and leave it there.) She looked at me with this terrified look when I yelled, “Don’t touch!” and ran screaming into my arms. After trying several comfort measures (helping Mommy go potty, playing ball, letting her pick something out of the fridge to hold), I decided she needed some alone time and put her in her crib with a bottle of milk. Settle at the computer for a while to work on editing a photo for my new layout. Be frustrated at how slow the computer is. Maybe it’s overworked…

12:05pm – Get Eva out of her crib, put her in her highchair for lunch. Heat up a hotdog for her (roll it up in a paper towel), have her help me blow on it since it’s hot while I cut it up for her. Decide it looks pretty good and have one myself, with ketchup.

12:50pm – Andrew comes home. Rejoice.

1:04pm – Marvel that such a slow machine as my computer could be considered advanced technology. Eat two graham cracker and chocolate frosting sandwiches. Andrew puts Eva down for a nap while I mentally swear at Photoshop.

1:10pm – Andrew exclaims, “We’re missing our show!” Puzzled, I ask, “What show?” He grabs the remote, plops on the couch, and says, “Animal Planet Most Extreme.” I forgot—it’s his new favorite.

2:05pm – Cleaning lady FINALLY arrives. The towel supply and dishwasher detergent are replenished.

2:35pm – Leave for doctors appointment. Put it in GPS even though I know how to get there, because I like the company of the Australian man’s voice while I drive. Burn my hands on the steering wheel, which was approximately 358 degrees.

2:45pm – Arrive at JCMH OB Group office, check in. Pee in cup and feel disgusted when I see another girl’s pee sitting in a cup in the door where mine is supposed to go. Pee test backups—YUCK. Get weirded out by Altus locals in the waiting room and feel grateful for my normal, happy life while flipping through the Rachael Ray magazine.

***PAUSE***This started out as a very average, humdrum day. At this point in the narrative, though, it turns into a very out-of-the ordinary day. How ironic.

3:40pm – The doctor comes in to find me sitting half-naked on the table, as instructed. She does the Group B strep test and then checks to see if I’m progressing at all. These were pretty much her words: “He’s still pretty far up there…you’re still pretty thick…not dilated at all…and…that’s not a head I’m feeling.” Oblivious me, I laugh a little and feel relieved when that most-physically-uncomfortable-of-all-medical-exams is over and ask, “So what does that mean?” Then she says, “He should be head-down by now. Chances are he’s not going to flip on his own, so we’ll probably go ahead and schedule you for a C-section.” I was like, “Wait, WHAT??” I mean, I didn’t say that, but in my mind, I was WAY surprised. Even though all along I have had this feeling I would have a C-section and whenever I talk to someone who has had one recently, I ask them tons of questions about it (thank you, Anne and Val!).
The doctor tells me that she’ll do an ultrasound to make sure—it could be that she’s feeling his hand on the top of his head or something. After a little confusion with the nurse and some more blood work at the hospital, I go back to the office for the ultrasound. And sure enough, his feet are ready to pop out. That totally explains the extremely painful kicks that feel like I have a foot in my crotch—I actually do. Two of them. So…I am now having my baby Leighton on July 9th. And I’m totally excited. A little nervous, but very excited. Okay, back to the rest of the day.

4:30pm – Get back home and realize that I am covered in ultrasound goo because the doctor didn’t quite clean me off well enough. Change into my swimsuit and a few minutes later we walk to the pool. Call Lindsay on the way to tell her the news. Wish I could talk to my mom about it—she’s still in Europe.

5:30pm – Leave the pool cooled off and refreshed. And starving. Andrew makes tacos for dinner.
6:40pm – Eat dinner and watch a storm roll in. Turn on the TV to watch a dumb show, “Master of Dance.” Wind picks up substantially outside, skies get dark and it rains.

7:00pm – Get the alert that we are under a tornado watch; decide not to get in the bathtub together and instead continue sitting on the couch with the TV on the local weather alert channel. Thankfully, the funnel cloud never touched down (at least nowhere near us).

8:00pm – Put Eva down for bed, eat Oreo pie from yesterday’s Fathers’ Day dinner. Watch Jon and Kate Plus 8.

9:23pm – While working on his puzzle, Andrew says, “Honey, I lost a piece. Can you see it?” I look over at him and he is mooning me. Oh, and the puzzle piece was stuck at the top of his crack. Just to give an idea of how strange he is sometimes…
9:36pm – Type up this blog and feel sadness that the internet is down and I can’t even post it tonight. I still can’t believe I’m having a C-section.

10:00 - Give into the urge to call my parents in Europe. Calculate the time difference wrong and wake them up. Feel foolish. Talk to my newly-released-from-being-a-missionary sister; feel like she never even left. Tell them the news of the C-section.

10:25pm - Crawl into bed; chat with Andrew for a while about the C-section.

11:36pm - Andrew sleeps soundly next to me; can't get my brain to stop thinking long enough to fall asleep. Finally feeling excited and ready to have a second child--miraculous feeling that has been a long time coming. Eventually fall asleep after midnight. The end.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

World's Greatest Dad

Happy Fathers' Day to the absolute best father in the world!


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Awkward vs. Awesome

Things that are awkward:

1. Getting in the pool. Andrew informed me yesterday that although I did not look like the fat lady who had just jumped off the diving board, I made a splash just like hers when I dove/fell in.

2. Bending over to pick up Eva.

3. When someone wants to come in your bedroom and you have to hurry and cover up the underwear that is laying on the bed.

4. Weird men at the swimming pool. One came up to me yesterday and I thought he was handicapped. Not a bad thing, I just got that impression from how he acted and spoke. No sooner did I think that than he said, "I was a pediatrician for 20 years." Excuse me???

5. When you don't know if someone is trying to shake your hand or is just sticking their hand out as a weird speech gesture, and then you realize they are trying to shake your hand, so you extend your hand just as they retract theirs...and then you just feel so foolish. I hate that.

6. Watching someone trip and almost fall on television. Even though you're not there, you just feel bad for them. I mean, come on--like 2 million people just saw that.

7. Seeing my pregnant self naked. It always surprises me how strange my stomach looks.

8. When little kids say things they shouldn't. For example, when I was younger I was at Home Depot with my mom and siblings. We were all standing on the same aisle as a very obese woman wearing short shorts with a large chunk of fat hanging off one leg. My brother Jeff, who was probably about 3 or 4 at the time, yells out, "Look, Mom! That lady has a muffin on her leg!" Even though I was young, I still felt totally awkward. But to Jeffrey's credit, that fat chunk really did look like a muffin.


Things that are awesome:

1. I googled myself, and my blog is the fifth thing on the list. On the FIRST page. I'm getting famouser. And yes, that is a word, because I just used it.

2. I only have 30 days left until my due date. I pray that Leighton's actual arrival will be sooner than that...but I really know better than to get my hopes up. If he comes earlier that 10 days late, I'll count my lucky stars.

3. Flonase. I no longer have allergies, and I have my great doctor here to thank for that.

4. $.99 shakes from Sonic. Although it costs just as much to drive to Sonic as it does to buy a shake, I still love them.

5. I finally finished my Blurb book and ordered it. I can't wait to have a hard copy of the record of my life for 2007. Blogging is the best.

6. My sister was released from her mission today, and this is the first Sunday in 19 months that I won't write her a letter. My parents are there in Romania picking her up, and I can't wait until she's back in this country so I can talk to her on the phone.

7. Short hair. I am cutting mine again, and I am NEVER going to try to grow it out again. Be prepared. And please, if I ever talk about wanting long hair again, just slap me. It is SO not my thing.

8. Arriving home from church and finding this chalk note on our porch from our cute neighbors the Willises:

It says, "Church is great fun when you have babies!" and then a face of a crying baby. That made our day. Chalk isn't just for kids, after all.

One small step for most, one giant leap for Webb-kind

Today we had a small victory. We made it through Sunday School and Relief Society with Eva. We stayed in there the whole time! Well, actually, that's not all the way true. The Sunday School teacher went 10 minutes overtime; but Eva made it to when we SHOULD have gotten out. And I wanted Andrew to be able to sit through Priesthood (for the first time in a LONG time) for Fathers' Day, so I took Eva to RS with me. I was nervous--especially since we were ill-prepared today and didn't pack the essential snacks that usually get us through the 3-hour block. But she did great. She bugged the pianist, who seemed annoyed that Eva wanted to watch her fingers from up close, and tore a hymn book (only one page, and it was the green one at the very front--not an actual music page), but other than that she was awesome.

After walking out of church, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction--yay, even pride--that we had done it. We went the whole 3 hours without spending the whole time in the hallway. Maybe being a parent on Sundays isn't as bad as I thought it was.

Another victory is a very small, personal one. I wore heels to church today. And I have been able to wear heels this entire pregnancy. At this point last time (2 days shy of 36 weeks), I had a hard time fitting into any clothing at all. Shoes...now those were just impossible. My feet were so swollen that I could barely squeeze on my flip flops for church, and when I got home and yanked them off I had marks all over my feet. Seriously, I was like an elephant. But not this time. I don't know if it's anything I have done differently, or being pregnant with a boy instead of a girl, or good luck, or pure tender mercy from heaven--but I haven't gotten swollen at all. I mean, a LITTLE, which I think comes from wearing heels...but that's negligible. I can still wear my ring, so I don't count it as swollen. And I know that there are precautions against wearing tall heels when you're this far along. Something to do with being clumsy and tripping because your weight is thrown off, or something lame like that. But frankly, I don't care. I am celebrating that I am ABLE to wear heels. And even though my body is like unto a whale, my ankles and feet were like unto a real hottie. And that makes me VERY happy.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

A lazy and relaxing week

My project for the week has been working on my Blurb blog book. After seeing Anne's in Utah last week, I felt more motivated than ever to get mine done. Hers was totally amazing. Unfortunately, I have probably the slowest internet connection in the galaxy, so it has taken a LONG time and a LOT of patience to do it. And this morning, I finally finished. I just did the year 2007, and I'm really pleased with how it looks--at least on the screen. I think it will take about 8 hours to upload it to the website so I can order it, so I'm going to have to do that overnight. Hopefully the computer doesn't freeze up like it does several times a day. Blah. At least we have internet--I shouldn't complain.

It has been a good week for Andrew's schedule as well. At the beginning of the week I was dreading it because he had to be gone from about 8-12 every night. But I actually loved it, because he was home all day (he went in to study for about an hour or two while Eva napped in the afternoon), we got to be lazy all day, go to the pool, eat dinner together, put Eva down, and then he would leave for his simulator. And I just worked on my blog book until he came home. It was perfect. We have been going to bed late and I think today we're both pretty tired, but it was good. Today he had to go in for an afternoon sim and will be home at 6:30. And then we'll go to the pool.

Eva is liking the pool more and more. She gets used to the water a lot faster and is actually pretty comfortable moving around and stuff. She likes to hold onto the side. She is so funny--she loves watching all the people jumping off the diving board and the kids playing and everything. When she wants to go touch something--like the dolphin slide--she'll say, "Asat? Asat? Asat?" (meaning "What's that?") about 50 times, and then she'll point and say "Touch." But the way she says touch cracks me up every single time. She doesn't ever say it--she only whispers it. And it's more like "Ta-ch." It is so stinking cute. And let's be honest--there is nothing in the world cuter than her in her little pink swimsuit and big green hat. She kind of looks like an old Chinese woman with the floppy brim hanging in her eyes, and I love it. And her eyes just look SO blue and her eyelashes SO long in the pool, it surprises me every time we go how pretty she is in the water. Maybe she'll be a water model or something.




Another thing we do for entertainment during the day is walk to the grocery store. I told Andrew we are like European people who go to the market everyday. Except we don't go to get fresh bread and vegetables and cheese. We just go out of boredom and lack of planning, and we usually get packaged stuff for one meal. We go shopping just about everyday. Since most everything in our fridge spoiled during that power outage, we had to start all over. Which was annoying, but at least we didn't have a TON of stuff. We are trying to keep food storage to a minimum since we're not here for too long. Less than 2 months left! YAY! The best find of the week was my all-time favorite cereal, Cap'n Crunch--on sale for $1.81 a box! We bought 4 boxes on Monday, and then yesterday I bought another box. I eat it for dessert at night, and I LOVE it. How ironic that I eat the same exact thing for breakfast and dessert. Oh well.


Eva has been doing this really strange thing recently. I caught her on camera a couple times, luckily. She likes to lay down on the ground outside. Sometimes she'll do it while coloring wiht her chalk on the porch or on the neighbor's porch, or sometimes she'll just lay there talking and half-singing to herself. What a crazy girl! She has been so good recently. She'll lay down on her own for a diaper change and doesn't fuss one little bit when her put her down for her 1pm nap or her 8pm bedtime. I think today she's getting some more teeth, but she's still so much fun. She has taken to throwing small tantrums where she plops herself on the ground and then lays down (again with the laying down on the ground) and then kind of breakdances or something. She just rotates around on her stomach all over the living room and kitchen, whining and moaning. But it's too funny for me to watch--I just can't take her seriously. I think this is my favorite age so far--she's just so funny.









Another thing--she's pretty much a sign language genius. She communicates SO well with us, I love it. She asks for bananas, bread, drinks, food, cookie, and can say please, hot, cold, car, bird, and all sorts of things. She says, "Up!" when she wants to be held, tells us when she's done eating, knocks on the door when she wants to go outside, and says, "Quack" when she sees her duck or anything she thinks looks like a duck. She does the sign for cracker, fish, and doggy, and she seems so proud of herself when she sees something she can identify. She also made up a sign by herself when she wants ice and says, "Ice!" She also has a new-found love for Otter Pops (my personal summer favorite) and runs to the freezer when she wants one. She loves to throw things in the trash (as well as get things out of the trash--we're working on that) and put shoes away in the shoe basket. She's so smart! I sure love my Eva girl.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Part 3: Coming home

We got up pretty early on Sunday morning to go to the airport. I was completely exhausted. We got there uneventfully and Eva was really good on the plane again, thankfully. On our layover in Phoenix she watched the planes out the window with Daddy and ran around saying hi to everyone in the airport. She sure loves strangers.



We got into OKC at about 3pm and then drove back to Altus. When we got here we found that the power was STILL out from the storm. It was weird--we saw all these power lines and signs and stuff that had been blown over. Our house smelled pretty gross and stale since everything in our fridge had gone bad and there had been no air circulating for a couple days. We stopped by the lodging office and learned that the power wouldn't be back on so they would pay for us to stay at a hotel that night. Since most of the hotels in town were booked, we got a reservation at Quartz Mountain Resort--the place where we were going to stay for our anniversary and didn't get the chance. And for free! So after meeting up with the Cronks (they came up there with us and stayed there too) and stopping for dinner at Subway, we made the 17 mile drive to the resort. We were surprised at how beautiful it was up there. There were mountains and everything! This is the view of the lake on the way up to the resort. We were pretty excited at all the things we saw to do and we definitely want to go back with our friends. They had mini-golf, paddle boats, camping, a little fair with rides, swimming in the lake, and tons of fun stuff. Too bad we got up there too late to do anything--plus it was Sunday anyway. It totally didn't feel like a Sunday. :)

Once in our room, we just relaxed and watched Jon and Kate Plus 8, one of our favorite shows. Eva hung out with us until bedtime.

Of course, she and Daddy engaged in their favorite pastime together--eating ice. They had a whole bucketful to entertain them. Ice is our family thing--we all love snacking on it. Especially Andrew. Doesn't he look happy? That's about as big of a smile as our camera ever gets out of him.
The next morning Andrew had to leave early to get back to base to report for a meeting. Eva and I stayed and slept in until about 9am, when we ate the breakfast Andrew had left for us. I let Eva make a mess all over the bed with the lemon poppyseed muffin, and she had a great time. We tried to go to the pool with the Hillarie and the girls, but of course it was closed. They had told us the night before that it would be open at 7am the next morning because they were just filling it up, but that morning they still hadn't cleaned it or put the chemicals in it. The hot tub was also turned off, but it was still fairly warm so we hung out in there. Eva loved it in there--especially playing with Livvie and Frannie. She loves those girls. She kept wriggling out of my arms, so I let her stand on the bench by herself and hold onto the edge. She slipped under the water once for a second or so and it scared her enough that she was better about holding still after that. It was pretty funny, though, seeing her come up out of the water all surprised and wet. It was really cute.

After drying off and checking out, we headed back to Altus in the Cronks' awesome humongous van. It's the kind with a built-in television and it's tall enough you can stand up in it. I totally want one--if it weren't for the terrible gas prices, I might consider it. :) It's a perfect roadtrip van. Andrew was home waiting for us and had the rest of the day off. We didn't do anything at all. I know, welcome back to Altus, the city of boredom. I'm getting a little sick of it here, I'll be honest. I'm so glad our friends are moving to Wichita Falls and we can drive down there and hang out whenever I want. If it weren't for Andrew's lame schedule (he has the midnight simulators for the rest of the week and on Saturday) then I would go down there right now!

But we did have a fun trip and I'm grateful for that. I can't say I'm thrilled to be back home, but at least we have fun memories of our time away from here.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Flickr Tag

Taking a break from the Utah trip updates for a bit to do this...I have browsed on Flickr once or twice, but when my sister Lindsay tagged me with this fun tag I got to have a lot of fun wasting time on that site. So here's the tag. :)
2. Type in your answer to the question in the "search" box
3. Use your favorite image of the subject.
4. Copy the html and paste for the answer.
BIRTHPLACE...Provo, UT
Photo by: sudweeks
One of my favorite memories of my birthplace town is the annual hot air balloon festival on the 4th of July. We went for YEARS as early as I can remember. We would get up way early when it was still dark and drive to the park and set up our blankets. We always ate breakfast at McDonald's and spent the morning watching the balloons inflate (or whatever hot air balloons do) and then take off and fill the sky. Then we always went to the Provo City parade. I love Provo on the 4th of July.
Photo by: sudweeks
FAVORITE VACATION DESTINATION...Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay Resort, Mazatlan, Mexico
Photo by: jtphoto27
This amazing, beautiful pool was where Andrew and I spent one week in our 2 month honeymoon. And I have to say, it was the highlight of the whole time. It was SO incredibly relaxing. All we did was get up early and head to lounge by the pool. ALL day. We just read books under the shade of umbrellas while laying on the lounge chairs. Ahh. That was the life. I have never been so calm and relaxed in my life. Next time I really need to unwind, that is seriously where I'm going. It was the best.

FAVORITE COLOR...chartreuse
Photo by: jek in the box
That's the color our living room walls were painted in our last house, and I think I'm going to do it again in our new house. I just love that color. It's like a green with lots of yellow in it. Bright and happy and cheery.

DREAM CAREER...Travel guidebook author
Photo by: Ian Hsu
After our trip to Costa Rica a couple years ago, I realized that guidebook authors seriously have the hook-up. So one day I want to be one. Get paid to travel around and try out all the restaurants and hotels and tourist attractions I see, and then write about it. I can't imagine a better job.

GUILTY PLEASURE...Swiss Cake Rolls
Photo from Little Debbie website
Whenever these go on sale at the commissary for $.85 a box, I just can't resist. And I usually hide them from Andrew because he hates when I eat pure junk like that. Hence the guilt. I have to eat them in secret. And I know they are SO bad for me. But they are just so good!

FAVORITE HOBBY...Scrapbooking. But since I can't do that here in Altus, my current favorite hobby would have to be, sadly, the internet.


FAVORITE RESTAURANT....Cheesecake Factory
Photo by: QThunder Boys
The portions are huge, the food is great, but let's be honest. What I really go there for is...
Photo by: pixeltopia
the delicious cheesecake! My favorite is the Snickers bar one. Please excuse me while I wipe my drool off the keyboard just thinking about eating some. YUM.

FAVORITE ACTRESS: Kate Hudson
My favorite of her is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but I also love 4 Feathers and Alex and Emma. And most everything else she's in that I've seen. She is just so stinking cute.

FAVORITE ACTOR...Tom Hanks
I can honestly say that I LOVE everything he's ever been in. I think the only ones I haven't seen are the one where he plays a guy with AIDS and the recent one, Charlie's War or something. He is just a great actor, and he's not good-looking in the least bit. True talent. My favorite is You've Got Mail, hands down. Oh, and Sleepless in Seattle.

FAVORITE VEHICLE...Toyota Highlander
We are thinking of buying one of these. I have loved them for years, and getting one would be a dream come true. But even if we end up getting a Sienna mini-van, I can still dream about Highlanders. Someday.

FAVORITE PLACE TO SHOP FOR MYSELF...Motherhood Maternity
At the moment, it's pretty much the only store with cute clothes that fit my large self. But in 5 short weeks, that will change. And then the world of shopping is open to me again. YAY!

FAVORITE FLOWER...Stephanotis
Photo by: Jim Yeo
I've actually never even seen one of these flowers in real life. I just love the name. I feel like it's my own personal flower. And it is pretty, isn't it?
I tag: Ali Flegal, Anne Lee, Krista Watts, and whoever else wants to do this.