Illinois! Spring 2012

I wanted to get up to visit my family in Illinois before the baby is born and needed to do it before I got too big to travel. Dave had to go out of town for work for several days to D.C. and it just happened to be right around the time I was thinking of heading north. I don't like to be here alone, so we decided to drive up as a family, then Dave could fly in and out of St. Louis.

Our trip up was phenomenal. Ryan was OVERLY cooperative! She woke up around 5:30, which is unusually early for her, but we decided to go ahead and get up and moving. We had breakfast, finished packing, got ourselves ready, loaded the car, and it was 7:30 by the time we were out the door.

We only made one real stop the whole trip! I packed us a picnic lunch and we stopped at a truck stop to eat it and let Ryan and I walk around for a bit, then we were off again.

Somewhere in Kentucky Ryan dozed off for her afternoon nap and we pulled over to switch drivers so Dave could catch a nap too. When we stopped, I ran in a gas station to use the restroom, and that is the only stops we ever made...with a toddler and a water loving pregnant lady!! Seems unfathomable!!

We stayed with my grandparents in my hometown. Lots of family came over on Saturday to visit with us and my grandma made a big dinner for everyone.

Sunday morning, we went to church where I grew up before Ryan and I had to drive Dave to St. Louis to fly to D.C. Our friend, Damian, and his wife, Mary, live in D.C., so they picked him up from the airport and they all went out to dinner together.

Ryan and I had a great time with my grandparents while Dave was away. We didn't really do much of anything, but it's those small things that make for special days. We went on walks and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We watched countless choo-choo trains beyond the backyard. Grandma Judy taught Ryan all about birds and how they eat worms. Papa sat on the porch with Ryan and read books to her. He even taught her a new high-five....the "fist bump"! My great-uncle, Jim, is totally smitten with Ryan, and always comes to see us when we are up. He gave Ryan a couple of sweet toys, but her eyes lit up when he handed her a single dollar bill (she loves when she gets to put money in her piggy bank). My Aunt Sheila brought her some wonderful toys and read her lots of books too!

Hi Papa!!

Ryan smelled the daffodils in the front yard daily, and she picked a flower for her mommy for the very first time...my heart melted!! We pointed out endless cows, horses, chickens, dogs, birds, trucks, trains, trees and planes. We played on the school playground that I grew up on. We ran and played in the streets! (not many cars go by, so it's safe!) Ryan came home with bruised up and skinned up knees and I adore it. I don't say that to be mean, but that's it's a symbol of a kid having fun in the country...when is the last time you had a skinned up knee from having too much fun?

SMELL!

Bird!

Grandma Judy pushing me on the swings

It was wonderful having the extra sets if eyes and hands to help me with Ryan in Dave's absence, but the best part of the whole trip was watching my daughter interact with my grandparents, her great-grandparents, much in the same ways as I did as a child. She put Papa's cowboy boots on and it was like I was watching MYSELF as a child....because we ALL did that. I got pictures of her in Papa's boat...which I have a few pictures of myself sitting in his boat at that age. Ryan was completely enamored by her great-grandparents, as well as my aunt, uncle, and cousins. And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual!

My "CUTE" face and wearing Papa's boots :)

In Papa's boat...this looks just like mommy as a baby!

My grandparents offered to keep Ryan Wednesday night as I went to go pick up Dave at the St. Louis airport. Luckily, it was late enough that all they really had to worry about was playing with her for about 30 minutes, then getting her to off to bed. They said she was no problem at all and went right to sleep...I always worry that she will be difficult for others and I just hate the thought of that!

the Easter Bunny came to visit Ryan in Illinois!

When I picked up Dave, we decided that we needed to cut our trip short a day and leave the very next morning so that Dave could get some work done Friday from home.

The trip home was not so good. Having to leave always makes me emotional, and leaving an entire day early magnifies it by 1000...oh, and did I mention that I am pregnant? We didn't pack anything the night before since Ryan was asleep in our room when we got back from the airport. So we didn't end up getting packed and on the road until about 10:30. Ryan fell asleep before we were even out of the state and had a pitiful 45 minute nap...the ONLY sleep she would get on the trip. Then it was time to stop for lunch, which takes about 2 hours. We got back on the road and ran into a completely miserable hail storm on top of a mountain...there was instantly about 3 inches of hail on the road out of nowhere! It was the loudest thing ever and I could just imagine the holes it was putting in the car....luckily, it wasn't our car! Hahaha! (the dealership we bought our new car from gave us a loaner to take on the trip until our new car was delivered). Ryan was not a fun passenger for most of the trip south...she was fussy, demanding, and nothing would suit her. I flopped my pregnant belly back and forth between front and back seats trying to appease her. We finally made it to the Georgia line and we stopped at the welcome center to feed Ryan a pathetic dinner of cold pizza, cheese crackers, and blueberries....all that I had left in the cooler. She was SO tired of the car, so we walked around with her for about an hour. She was in a terrible mood, and only daddy would do, so I took over driving so he could sit in the back with her. About 20 minutes down the road, the sky turned black and started to pour. I hate driving in the rain, plus I was in the middle of nowhere in a new car...we needed gas anyway, so I pulled over to make Dave drive again. We get maybe 3 exits down the interstate and Ryan reeks of poop. So we pull over AGAIN to change her at a truck stop. The changing table in the women's room was in use by a particularly fussy babe, so daddy took her to the mens room. He comes out looking quite flustered....there was no poop. False alarm. So back in the car, next exit down the road...I can't find my phone anywhere. I was sure I had not taken it into the truck stop with me, but I am so absent minded that Dave pulls over AGAIN to double check. I finally found it and we were off again. We were about 45 minutes from home and when Ryan REALLY pooped. We had to stop in the ghetto to change her, and no one had a changing table. So to improvise, we pulled out her stroller, layed down the seat, and changed her in the parking lot...I'm fairly certain Dave had his hand on his gun during this little episode. We made it home around 10:30....feeling like we had just been beaten to death. Dave and I were so over it, we never even ate dinner. We went straight to bed, too exhausted to unpack anything at all, be thankful that we made it home, or even laugh together at all of the CRAP we had just endured...