Iowa

Dear Sophia,

Last night, we got home from our weekend trip to Iowa to see family. Overall, I'd say it was good. We left Saturday morning after Aunt Kym got off work. I don't think I've ever packed so much for just a weekend trip. In addition to the cooler with our water and bag of dry goodies, and the clothes for sleeping in and Sunday (which, for both Daddy and I, fit into a small duffel bag), we brought a bunch of our favorite card games and the game of LIFE to play with your aunt and uncles. While we were engaged, I remember watching Aunt Brittany and Uncle Brandon play many rounds of "It Came to Pass" while they were listening to their science lessons. We also had to bring the hospital bag and urn. I guess that doesn't actually sound like a whole lot, but it felt like a lot when we were packing it all and stuffing it into the car!

Being pregnant on a road trip is awesome (read: NOT awesome.) We stopped two or three times just so I could use the restroom. The first place we stopped was a Walmart in Lamoni, where we saw this awesome horse and buggy!

Horse and buggy parked at Walmart!
(Please excuse the dirty window.)

I do not envy the man who was driving this. The weather was decent, but still hot like it has been for a while. Maybe he's used to it, but maybe since he has no other option he just deals with it! Hard to say. Still, no envy there.

I was happy when we got into town. I didn't get car sick but I was so exhausted and SO ready for a nap. We talked for a few minutes then Daddy and I went upstairs to take our much-needed nap. I'm just gonna throw this out there - Daddy is a great cuddler. We always cuddle before we go to sleep, even if we're just taking a nap, and I love that. I also love that he insists on it if I'm being a stinker - it's not just that I want to cuddle. He really is my cuddle bug. :)

Church on Sunday was good. My body was not fond of the 40-minute drive, especially because I had way too little cool air on me. At one point, I felt like I was on the edge of an anxiety attack. No bueno. I told Daddy and he did everything he could to make me calm, but it was difficult. Once we got there, we sat down for Sacrament, which is an hour... right after sitting in a hot car for 40 minutes. I'll just say that most of Sunday school was spent walking around to give my back a rest.

I felt like such a bad guest, because guess what followed church? Nap time. Seriously. I was pooped. I swear I was enjoying spending time with them! If you could ask Daddy, he would say I told him multiple times how excited I was to go.

Speaking of naps, one thing we SHOULD have brought with us was pillows. In our own bed, I sleep with three pillows and I think I've gotten Daddy to start sleeping with two. At one point in the trip, we went with Grandma Lacey and Uncle Bryan to get a filter for an imminent oil change on one of the cars. The car stuff was at the back of the store, and on the way back up to check out, we spotted some pillows. But they weren't just ordinary pillows! Oh no. They were BODY pillows. I've never had a body pillow before, but I wanted one, especially because we hadn't brought any of our own pillows. I looked at Daddy and said "Can I get one?" - accompanied, of course, by big puppy dog eyes.

He said yes! So we picked up a body pillow for me and a regular pillow for him. Of course, now we needed a pillow case for the body pillow, so that was our next stop. We found a soft, fuzzy, brown pillow case with no tags. It was the only one there, but it was the one Daddy and I liked the best so we took it up to the front with us.

Once we got there, I immediately told the cashier our situation and she took it over to a manager to decide what to do with it. At one point, the manager looked at me and said "How does five dollars sound?" I said "Sounds great!" and, although it had been in a group with a bunch of seven-dollar covers (which we had told them) and we had been willing to pay that, we got it for five. Woo! I was so excited I put the cover on in the front seat of the car! I love my body pillow, but my cuddle bug is still my most favorite cuddle instrument. ;)

I really enjoyed our trip. It was nice to get to see people we hadn't seen in a few months. On our way out of Iowa, we stopped at the spot where we first met, and kissed. It was wonderful and really interesting thinking of how far we'd come since that first day. I even took a picture of the place:

Say hello to the Iowa State bus stop. :)

At the end of the day, I was still glad to be home in our own bed, cuddling with Daddy and my body pillow. I had also missed my kitties! It was great to get to pet them again.

Unfortunately, we did have to stop at the hospital once we got back into town. Even after laying down for half an hour, I was still feeling really off. It took the nurse there about two hours to determine nothing was happening and it would be safe to go home. She also had to stick me in both arms (and dig around in one of them) for blood. I was not happy, but at least she could say we were alright. My doctor asked to see me today for an ultrasound, just in case. We'll see how that goes.

I'm just glad everything's okay and we're home safe and sound. I liked Iowa, but home is definitely where the heart is.

Sincerely,
Mommy.