Insane.

Pregnancy makes me crazy. Not just emotionally insane (although, that too), but also sort of just stupid. I kind of lose my grip on reality. I forget to consider the consequences of my actions. Like wearing high-heels, for instance.

This pregnancy, most of the results of my insanity have been good. I've moved, I've started a preschool, and on Sunday I returned from an 1800 mile trip that we spread out over an exhaustingly short 3 days. And yes, I am due in two weeks. (Don't worry. Brad's EMT-Basic trained. He totally could have handled delivering a baby in the car.)

It was my brother's wedding. Good cause, no? Still, you should have seen the looks I got from well-meaning wedding attendees insisting I was completely nuts.

That's just what every pregnant woman loves to hear.

But it was fun. I might even say it was worth it if my car wasn't suffering the after-effects of the tantrums of two young children in the car for 28 hours in one weekend.

I do not want to clean that thing.

No photos, Mom. We're miserable.

I should probably also remember for next time that the car is uncomfortable.

Okay, no. Car trip and all, the trip was fantastic. Fast. Fun.

The ceremony was beautiful.

The reception was at La Caille. No need to say more.

But I will anyway. Of course.

I should warn you that this will be long. And probably boring. You read at your own risk.

The place is amazing.

The food is incredible.

 The plant life... invasive.

Yes. That is a golfing strip for poor bored gentleman. Brad took full advantage.

And my children even behaved. Through a formal sit-down lunch.

Grace enjoyed every minute. She and Claire were genuinely spoiled by my family and she was thrilled by the attention.

...until Aunt Karlee won the bouquet toss instead of her.

And then she was sort of devastated.

But that wasn't why we went. This is why we went:

Is it just me blushing right now? Whew!

I, for one, am really excited for Lilian to be in my family. I love her.

And... bonus. We even got to sneak a trip to Ogden to see the Neville family for a couple of hours.

The whole thing was crazy. We are crazy. But it was a blast. Even if we didn't get rewarded with any beautiful photographic souvenirs of our trip. I mean, look at that charming, photogenic family there.

*Sigh.*

Conspiracy Theory

We are all aware that photogenicness is not among our family's talents. There is, unfortunately, a great deal of documentation on the subject.

It's getting to the point where I suspect a conspiracy. Some sort of telepathic communication is going on to screw up every perfect moment I attempt to capture.

Like this one. They were being so cute together at a local small town parade. So I grabbed the camera. Fast. In a [futile] effort to catch it.

Grace: Oh, she pulled out the camera. It was inevitable, I guess. What should we do this time?

Claire: I don't know, but look. She thinks she might actually get some good stuff out of us this time. Silly mommy.

Grace: Oh, hey! I could pretend to have no arms.

Claire: Brilliant! We haven't done that one before.

Grace: Don't forget to do the eye roll/half open eyelids thing.

Claire: Oh yeah. Our old standby. Nailed it.

Grace: Oh, that's a good one. What are you doing?

Claire: Signing.

Grace: Signing what?

Claire: Oh, I don't know. Cat. Coat. Cold. Doesn't really matter as long as I'm not smiling, right?

Grace: I don't know. Mom is sort of sabotaging herself this time. I mean, look at the photo composition. Not her finest work on the background there.

Claire: Good point. Think we should give her one behaved smile for pity's sake?

Grace: Do we have to? I'm having fun here!

Grace: Oh, okay. Here it is.

Claire: Poor mom. She tries so hard.

Grace: Nah, she loves it.

Culture

Somebody was playing with random DVD features and Claire is now watching Care Bears in Spanish. She has not. even. noticed.

Settling in

Fun Fact: I have moved at least once during each of my pregnancies. With Claire and this new little unnamed munchkin, I have moved twice.

The nesting instinct has served me well.

When I was pregnant with Claire, nesting helped me rip out walls and carpet and baseboard in 90 degree heat without air conditioning.

This time, it helped me move in. Fast. And all I had to do was place furniture and hang pictures [much of it with help from my mom]. And that, friends, is much more fun than ripping out walls [which mom also helped with. but I'm pretty sure didn't like doing that.].

We don't have any fancy furniture so there's nothing special about our house except that it's neat and it's tidy and it's ours.

Do you know how much easier it is to clean a bathroom or mop the floors in your own house? I think I can count on one hand the number of times I mopped the floors of the apartment we just moved from. I know. Disgraceful. I shouldn't admit that. But it didn't look any better clean than dirty. So why bother?

I wanted to thank all of you for posting your suggestions for the layout of my bizarre living room. Someday when I have the right furniture, I will implement them. Until then, here are some photos of what we've got [and be patient with the house--we still need new doors and closet doors and blinds and such]:

{Living Room}

{Dining Room from Living}

{Master Bedroom}

{Girls' Bedroom}

{Girls' Bedroom--Framed hangings courtesy Lorraine}

{Study nook from entry--our next project!}

{think built-in desk and shelves and cabinets a la younghouselove.com}

This house has come a long way.

The Saddest Day

Okay. Well. It may not look like the saddest day to you. But you're looking out the wrong side of the camera. I was traumatized. Tearful. Trying to be brave.

Grace was happy, anxious, elated, unable to contain herself.

So excited she forgot her backpack.

*Sigh.*

Something is very wrong about all-day kindergarten. And maybe school in general. What genius decided to make 8 hours away from the family an acceptable social norm? And why is it that if I decide to pull my reading/writing/math-doing child out of school for more than 5 days I get sent to court? And maybe jail? I mean, who do they think taught her that stuff? Is she really better off with them than me?

Wrong, people. School and I are not friends.

But she is. She and school are besties. And I guess I can deal with that. Temporarily.

Walled In

Our house has been rebelling a little. We've had water issues with leaking sinks and pipe and a broken water heater. Brad has spent a lot of time in the belly and veins of our old home.

Last time we spent so much time doing this, we found an ancient Wendy's wrapper serving as the structure holding up a wall patch.

Yesterday, in the guts of the place, he found this:




I can't even find evidence online that Mission soda produced a lemon flavor.

Anyway. Apparently the walls are an excellent place for finding vintage garbage.

Go rip up your walls.

Even More Road Tripping.

We are finally moved into our home in Carlsbad. [That's New Mexico. We are not Californians.] And I am so relieved that I don't plan on going anywhere till Christmas. But we did take several more short road trips before finally settling in. And I have pictures.

{forgive my self-indulgence here. I like pretty barns.}

{and stacks of hay.}

{This is Main Street--yes. Main. Street.--of one of the towns we passed through. See if you can find the "Lazy SOB Ranch" sign. 10 points.}

{When I go on road trips with the girls, we do not stop at restrooms. There are many reasons for this. Let me share them with you. 1. There are simply not enough towns with bathrooms to allow for my childrens' small bladders. 2. Bathrooms in the middle of nowhere do not get cleaned. 3. We like waving at the cows and insects we see when we pull over on the side of the road instead. This is one such creature. He attempted to jump into our car. He may look harmless...}

{...but he. was. HUGE.}

{Let me just interject here that I am so relieved to learn that this charming motel [check it out in the background--that's. it.] is now under new "menagement." And, well, let's be frank. Those "lo low rates" are pretty good news too.}

Posted at our local Holiday Inn Pool:
Let's discuss the issues I have with this sign.

1. What is a "problem disease," exactly? Tell me: are there diseases out there that are not problems? What are the happy diseases?
2. How many problem-diseased people are in the pool with me right now that make this sign necessary?
3. Shouldn't the sign read, "Warning: possibly contagious problem-diseased people using this pool. Use at your own risk." ?
4. Why not, "If you are contagiously diseased. or sick. Do not use the pool. Thank you."