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.

World's Greatest Dad

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

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.

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.

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.

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. :)

1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/

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.

Trip to Utah, Part 2

Saturday

We enjoyed another yummy breakfast at the hotel buffet. This time they had raspberries, hashbrowns, AND biscuits and gravy. Breakfast doesn't get better than that. :) After eating we drove down to Pleasant Grove for...a Nauvoo reunion!! I was so excited to see these friends whom I love so much. It has been about 4 years since I've seen them. I've kept in touch with Anne and Ali, thanks to blogging, but that's about the only people I had heard from. So I was very much looking forward to our little donuts and juice picnic in the park. We got there late (Andrew's dad loves to talk to him about AF things and sometimes it runs overtime a little...) but still earlier than some. Seeing Ali Flegal and Anne Lee was the highlight of my life, I think. I just love those girls! The other attendees (as pictured below) were Scott Clarke, Paula, Cami, Ali holding her beautiful baby Henry, Jennifer, Anne Lee, me with my belly and Eva, and Sam with her darling little girl Brooklyn.

We all just sat around chatting for a long time. Cheryl Lauritzen, whom I also love to death, came a little later. Eventually everyone left, except...

possibly 3 of my favorite people in the world. Cheryl looked totally hot, by the way. She was going to a wedding and I got to meet her boyfriend Kyle. They were probably the hottest couple in the world in that moment.

The husbands watched the kids for the most part. Eva played in the bark and had a great time.

I just LOVED being able to hang out and talk with just the girls. Just like the old days. Seriously, I think in heaven everyday will be like that. We'll get stuff done, of course, but it will be with our favorite people from earth. And Ali and Anne will be with me. Thanks to them for planning this so I could see them. It was awesome.

After that had to end (I wish we could have talked all day), Andrew and I (and Eva, of course) headed to Orem to pick up Talon and Annie and then go to another place that I'm positive they'll have in heaven...Target. You see, I don't have a Target anywhere near me, and so when I get to go to one it's like a BIG deal to me. We bought Andrew a couple of shirts (as he had only packed one to fly in thinking he wouldn't be able to stay) and me some Vaseline, as he left mine in the chapel on Friday. Pappy also spoiled Eva by buying her one of those ugly Little Pet Shop stuffed animals that look like something off of a Japanimation. You know, like with the big stars in their larger-than life eyes. Eww. But Eva was VERY excited, and the look on her face as she ran across the store to show me was probably worth every penny he spent. :)

It was so great to see Talon and Annie, especially. It has been almost a year since we saw them and we loved being able to hang out with them. We also stopped at the Distribution Center, again for Andrew, and then went to lunch at Noodles and Co. I love that place--especially the Wisconsin Mac and Cheese and the Pad Thai. Yum. The rest of the afternoon was spent just hanging out with Andrew's parents and Talon and Annie. We went and looked at a townhome that Talon and Annie are thinking about, and then went for a late dinner at La Vigna. I had heard from Anne that it was awesome, so I really wanted to try it. I thought it was very good. Annie and Talon were not so impressed. They got a salad that was drowning in dressing, and then they found a hair in their soup. My soup was hair-free so I kept eating, but they (along with Andrew's parents) were pretty disappointed. But the dessert, they liked. :)

Eva was REALLY struggling by that time. She had slept for about 20 minutes in the car on the way down from Salt Lake that morning and that was IT for naps. I felt like a horrible mother depriving her of sleep like that. Amazingly, she did very well--MUCH better than she normally would. After her 2-week bout of terrible behavior, she seems to be back to her normal easy, awesome self. I love her. :)

She fell asleep in the car on the way back to Salt Lake and, for the first time, she stayed asleep when she was removed from her carseat. She has NEVER in her life stayed asleep, and I was absoulutely amazed. She slept on Pappy's shoulder all the way back to the room and stayed that way when she was laid on the bed.

Unfortunately we had to wake her up to change her diaper and into her pajamas, but she was so totally exhausted that she slept like a log once in her crib. I was pretty exhausted myself, and we slept well that night. I'm pretty sure my sleep number is 35.

Trip to Utah, Part 1

We are home from our trip! We got back yesterday but our internet was SLOOOOW and I didn't want to attempt posting pictures with a bad connection. So here I am, a little late. Here's the first 2 days of the trip. I'll post this in parts so it won't get too terribly long.

We left Altus and arrived in OKC about 2 hours later. Eva was great in the car, and we got to the airport in plenty of time. The first flight was great--Eva did wonderfully. We had a layover in Phoenix, where I randomly saw my cousin Charlotte Andersen Allsop. Small world! But I guess when I have over 100 cousins, I'm bound to see a relative in the Mormon community. :) Our second flight was alright. It was getting late--we didn't land until about midnight our time, so Eva was absolutely exhausted. She fell asleep for a little on the flight, but Andrew had to shift his position to save his arm and she woke up screaming. And continuted to scream for about the last 30 minutes of the flight. It was also unbearably HOT in the plane. The vents were blowing air that was no less than 85 degrees, and I thought I was going to pass out myself. So I'm sure Eva was so miserable. But we survived with nobody yelling at us, so I was fine.


Andrew's mom picked us up and we went to the Radisson in downtown SLC, where we stayed for the rest of the weekend. Let me tell you, that hotel puts the hotel where we are currently living to SHAME. Especially the beds. They had the sleep number beds that you could adjust and I enjoyed playing with that every night.


The next morning we went down to the hotel restaurant for a yummy buffet breakfast, and then it was to Bountiful for John's funeral. We had to stop and get Andrew a belt and me a slip, but we made it there in plenty of time. When we walked in the door, they had a display set up with all sorts of John things. The first thing I saw was his flight suit draped across a chair, and that's when I realized I was going to lose it. It just hit me a little too close to home since Andrew wears that same exact flight suit every single day. Rather than waiting in line, I ran to the bathroom to gain composure. I cried several times, obviously, and it was a very emotional funeral for everyone. But at the same time, it was just a beautiful service. The spirit was so strong and the tributes to John were perfectly balanced with feeling comfort and peace through talking about the gospel. After the funeral there was an F-16 flyover, which was so neat. I also loved being able to see so many friends from the Academy and Colorado. It was, of course, a sad occasion, but it made it also a happy one to reunite with so many people we love.


The graveside service was also emotional and beuatiful. John received full military honors with the 21-gun salute and presentation of the flag folded over the casket. I couldn't help but wonder if I would be standing there someday receiving the Andrew's flag. It was certainly a solemn time for all of us involved in the military to reflect on what we may be called upon to sacrifice. Emily was amazing, though. She was absolutely a pillar of strength. I have to admit that I was nervous to talk to her because I felt that anything I might say would be trite and inadequate to express how I feel about the situation. But she was incredibly gracious and made everyone feel so comfortable in reminiscing about John with her.


There was a luncheon at a church where we once again got to talk with our friends. Chris Culver spoke at the funeral and mentioned how all of the cadets and their wives were like family. When John met Chris' wife for the first time at their wedding, he said, "Welcome to the family." And that's really how it is. Just like family, it's not like everyone has always gotten along perfectly, but we all feel so much love for each other, and it was just wonderful to be with them all. Clay and Kara, Will and Sarah, Beau and Bekah, Chris (his wife Stacy couldn't come), Kelly and his new wife, Chase...I just love every one of them.


After the luncheon, we had some unexpected good news through a phone call from Melanie Willis. A huge, bad storm hit Altus AFB on Thursday and all the power was out. Power lines were down and nothing was functioning--there wasn't even power in our TLFs. So Andrew called the student administration and was told that nobody was reporting for duty again until Monday. So...we changed his flight and he got to stay with me for the rest of the weekend. I can't even tell you the happiness and relief I felt. I know that it was important for him to spend more time with our friends to work through his feelings about John, and I also wanted him to be there with me on the plane ride home. As well as the rest of the weekend, of course. So the storm ended up being an answer to a prayer I had never even said. :) Oh, and at this point I should insert that Andrew looked HOT on Friday. Seriously, I don't think he has looked that good since our wedding day. He wore his new silver shirt and tie that he bought for the funeral, and...yum. Anyway. Oh, and I should also say here that one of the most common phrases said to me that day was, "I read your blog!" I can't say how good that made me feel! I was really surprised, to be honest. You know when you write something like this, you have in your mind a general audience that will read it. But some people that told me that were people I never would have thought would have interest in anything I would write. I was flattered. And Andrew thought it was pretty funny. I told him he has me to thank that people can keep up with our lives, but he still makes fun of the blog world. I know he secretly loves it.


So we changed his plane ticket (thanks to his Dad--he was so generous in helping us with tickets!) and then headed over the the Finks' hotel room at Grand America for another little reunion with our friends to talk about John. Emily ended up coming, as well as John's sister Julie, who is close with the cadets. We unfortunately arrived late and missed the part where everyone went around and told stories about John, but we still got there in time to talk with everyone. The Finks are some of our favorite people and we were so grateful to them for having the great idea to get everyone together like that. (By the way, if anyone reading this has pictures from that day, please email them to me! I only took one picture the whole day--I'm stupid!) After a couple hours of talking, we headed to dinner at Rodizio's at Trolley Square. YUM.

Thankfully, Beau and Will were still in their uniforms, so some generous person that saw them gave them some coupons that ended up saving our group $110 on dinner. Yay for military uniforms, and yay for people who love them and give them things like that. :) It was so yummy--especially the watermelon. It was pretty late after we finished eating, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. Luckily we will see most of them again soon as they are moving to Wichita Falls (only an hour from us) to start pilot training.


As Andrew and I drove home to the Radisson, I thought to myself how good it felt to be on a "date" like that. I honestly felt renewed. I felt like we were engaged again--hanging out with all those people that we lived near at that time in our life. So many things have changed since then, but we're all still the same people. We really need to get out on dates without Eva more often. A million thanks to Cindi, Andrew's mom, for keeping Eva while we went all day. She said Eva was a perfect angel--another answer to prayer. It was truly a wonderful day.

Utah, here we come

We are out the door to head to Utah! We'll be back Sunday night. I am praying my head off that Eva acts like a human being on the plane. Wish me luck.

False Advertising

I have been watching a lot of television recently. Along with my favorite shows (Jon and Kate Plus 8, What Not to Wear, the Food Network stuff, etc.) come the inevitable commercials. And most of them are retarded. I have never really believed in the power of advertising. Until the other day. I saw a commercial for a new Cover Girl mascara with Drew Barrymore. I really like her, and her eyelashes looked AMAZING. I was absolutely positive she was wearing fake eyelashes, but I was still impressed. Then the next day I saw a commercial for Maybelline mascara that was sort of the same thing. HUGE, long eyelashes. I thought to myself, "My mascara is running out, and I need more, so...I might as well try it." So on our most recent Walmart outing, I picked up the Maybelline kind, only because it was $2 cheaper. The next morning (yesterday) I tested it out. Here is me before,

and here is me after.

NOT! That was the commercial girl. Here is the real me.

I know, I need to pluck my eyebrows, but let's be honest. I look NOTHING like that model. I wasn't too disappointed. After all it was my own fault for expecting commercial results from an at-home experiment. But, hey, it's better than nothing. Maybe my next experiment will be fake eyelashes...

Happy 2 years

Two years ago, I woke up with the sun shining through the window with a smile on my face as I thought to myself, "I'm getting married today."
This morning, I woke up to the sound of Eva shrieking like a devil-child and thought to myself, "Happy anniversary, my rear."
Two years ago, I took meticulous care putting on my make-up and doing my hair to look just perfect for the pictures. My heart pounded with excitement and I didn't even make time to eat breakfast. My sister handed me a piece of bread as I ran out to the car with Andrew to head to the temple.
This morning, I didn't shower or bother to get ready at all. I ate a bowl of cereal and took my prenatal vitamin and thought, "I really wish it wasn't our anniversary today. Today is not a special day at all."
Two years ago, I walked out of the temple, sealed to the love of my life, with hapiness overflowing from me. We ate lunch at the Provo Country Club for our wedding luncheon and then headed to the Armstrong Mansion for our wedding night.
Today, I walked with Andrew to the pool, all lathered up with sunscreen and anxiously awaiting the feel of the cool water on my hot, sweaty skin, only to get there and find that the pool was closed for the day. I didn't eat lunch, and my mood only soured at this turn of events.
Two years ago, I spent a romantic afternoon with Andrew and then went to dinner at "The Roof" at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We were so thrilled to be together and to finally be married. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was perfect.
Today, I spent the afternoon on the computer while Andrew watched Jeopardy on television waiting for Eva to wake up from her nap so we could go do something. I finally showered, but I didn't do my hair or put on makeup. When she finally woke up, it was too late to drive to Lawton for dinner as we had planned. So we headed to Applebee's. I put on my new shirt and some mascara, and off we went. The food was pretty good, the service was terrible, the atmosphere was crowded and very Oklahoma-ish.
Two years ago, back in our romantic hotel room, we drank sparkling cider from wine glasses took a bubble bath.
Tonight, we finished off the evening with a trip to Walmart, where Eva was inevitably difficult, and a stop at Sonic to get dessert. Now, back home again, Andrew is putting Eva to bed as I record the events of this day that we have dubbed "An Anniversary to Forget."

There is a reason that my wedding day was the happiest day of my life. It's so that on anniversaries that are less than romantic, I still have the memories of that day to rely on. And I still have a wonderful marriage to the love of my life. Even if everyday isn't perfect. Happy anniversary, Andrew. I love you a million.