On Ava's 6th birthday we were planning to have a birthday party after school. Because of the snow storm, school had been out all week and we were so excited to send her on Friday, her birthday. But she woke up at 4am with a fever and throwing up. Kudos to Brent for getting up with her. I woke up at the normal time and didn't even know what had happened. We canceled her party and it became clear that this wasn't just a 24 hour bug. She was SO sick, maybe the sickest I've ever seen.
Ava took a couple naps and could hardly lift her head off the couch. It was so sad, and especially on her birthday, it broke my heart. Coen also was kind of sick on her birthday, but then on Saturday he got it pretty bad too. We tried to open presents with Ava in the evening but she only made it through a couple and she laid her head down, too tired to continue.
On Saturday morning Ava was feeling slightly better so we played a new card game in her new tent.
Brent went to school to study all day and I stayed home taking care of my sickies. You can tell from Coen's eyes they were so sick. They had fevers, runny noses, no appetite, and no energy.
I hurt my wrist like the month before carrying Ava to time-out, and it really got worse as I was carrying Coen around on the weekend when he was sick. He was so weak I had to help him sit up when he needed to adjust his position. It was a rough few days.
Ava got a karaoke machine from my parents for her birthday and the kids had fun singing songs.
On Sunday Ava opened up the rest of her presents and we had a little celebration when Max's family came to dinner. (Don't worry, they had already had the sickness before Ava).
On my birthday (Monday) I treated myself to some reading time outside.
Luckily everyone felt pretty ok on my birthday. I even sent Ava to school, which I feel bad about now, looking back I realize it was probably influenza and they needed a couple more days.
Brent came home and made me steak for my birthday. I told Brent all I wanted for my birthday was to feel loved, and I didn't want any stuff :) He made me a scavenger hunt of 32 reasons why he loves me, with movie titles being the clue of where to find my next paper. He had times written on them, when to open my next clue, so that I could feel loved ALL day :)
Maybe it's just because I'm pregnant, but a few made me cry. And then some made me laugh. It was the perfect present.
Family selfie on my birthday. Kids are yawning.
On Tuesday after school both of the kids relapsed and got fevers again and napped. Oh man!
I let them watch a LOT of TV in my room and they sipped gatorade. Ava still would not really eat anything besides maybe a cracker a day. She went about 6 days with eating hardly anything and only drinking gatorade. It was awful. I kept the kids home on Wednesday to get all better.
Yay, finally I got my Coen back!
I usually lay out the kids' clothes the night before but had forgotten this morning. Ava brought me this note in bed which made me laugh. "To mom Dars no klos" (there's no clothes).
We postponed Ava's birthday party by one week so by this Friday she was feeling good enough to have it. It was a letter P party.
The kids came in their pajamas and we painted nails, had a pink piñata, watched a few shorts that begin with the letter P, and played pin the crown on the princess.
The party was a success and Ava was happy.
On Saturday we went to Costco and Ava REALLY wanted a hot dog. She had not eaten much in a week and this was the first time she wanted to eat, so we got her one!
Playing charades with the kids- Coen was looking so cute.
We had some nice weather and went on bike rides!
The kids' cousin sent a Flat Stanley to visit Eugene, so the first place he went was to ballet with Ava.
Flat Stanley also visited Brent's campus. That evening Coen was talking about it and called it the "Fat Carrie."
Ava's last ballet class was one where the parents were allowed to watch. She is so funny. She will follow the teacher for a bit, but then when she gets bored she'll start embellishing with her own moves.
Coen REALLY wants to be in the class, so on this day he did some of the moves on the sidelines.
If it's nice weather, we try to read some books on the front porch in the sunshine after school. The front porch is where we get the warmth!
We went to Red Robin for a belated birthday celebration and Ava's friend's family came too.
Brent's laptop died so he bought a new Mac, which he has been wanting for so long. You can't tell so much from the picture, but the screen is HUGE!
Coen and I go shopping on Thursdays after I pick him up from preschool. I call it our Winco date, and this day he wanted to hold my hand while we shopped.
Coen had a special pajama day at school on Friday. He was SO excited. Every morning that week he would ask if it was pajama day. He also got to bring his Dumbo.
We went to the park by the river with friends. It was a beautiful day!
The kids loved sliding down this hill on cardboard.
Coen got wiped out and fell asleep on Ava like this after the park.
I took the kids to the park the next day for a picnic, and it was a little chillier than we were expecting.
Dinner with our friends- they roasted hot dogs and did s'mores, which is Ava's dream dinner.
Ava drew this picture after church. On the right side in the balloon she wrote "I am a child of God."
St. Patrick's Day- Brent dyed the mashed potatoes green! We had green salad and peas with our chicken. The kids thought it was so fun.
Coen had a leprechaun leave glitter at his school and he was SO excited about it. He kept talking about it at home.
Growing bump! About 19 weeks here.
When I was 19 weeks, we had an ultrasound set up to find out the gender. Brent and I made the appointment for after school so that Ava and Coen could come with us. We hadn't told anyone I was pregnant- we wanted the kids to be the first ones to know. In the morning Brent told the kids that we were going to take them on a special adventure after school.
I was dying with anticipation, waiting for the kids to get home from school! When the kids got home, we sat them on the couch and told them that our special adventure was to find out if they were going to have a baby sister or a baby brother. It took a bit for them to really get it and finally Ava looked at me and said so seriously, "really mom??"
Here we are in the waiting room, about to find out. I thought it was a boy because that is just how I pictured our family would look. But when comparing pregnancies, I was a lot sicker with this one, more similar to how I was with Ava.
The baby looked healthy, to my relief, since I get so worried about that. And it's a GIRL!? I nearly started crying when the ultrasound tech told us. Not sad tears, but it's just emotional to find out what this little thing is that has been growing inside of you.
Our little baby wouldn't get the doctors get a very good look at her profile. This was the best we got. (We had to go back a month later for another ultrasound to check on some things since she was wanting to mostly lie facing down and not let them see everything.)
We went out to celebrate after for hamburgers as a family. It was so fun! I kept saying over and over, "I can't believe it's a girl!"
We left the next day to drive to Utah for Spring break.
We decided to break the news to our families by Brent helping Coen say the prayer, and for him to say "bless the baby in mommy's tummy." At the dinner prayer with the Cowleys, Coen got a little confused and said "bless that we can all get in mommy's tummy." Haha!
We had a family night prayer with my parents and told them the same way. We had some surprised reactions and some giggles during the prayers.
We went to Chick Fil-A with my parents on Saturday.
Natalie and her girls came to play. Here they are playing a pictionary game with silly glasses.
My mom took the kids to the zoo while Cher and I got our hair cut.
Grandma made an obstacle course for the kids which they loved.
Playing with Coen one evening while everyone was gone- Brent stayed at BYU til late doing research every day.
Ava was excited to see Lucy in an Alice in Wonderland play.
Ava decided she would like to do an Easter party. She planned it and my mom took her to the store to buy supplies. Since no little kids could come to the Easter party, Grandma Tammy was the surprise guest :) The kids were happy.
Coen said a few times to me, I want to see the baby! He tried to lift up my shirt, and it took a few times for him to understand that the baby was way inside and he wouldn't be able to see her by lifting up my shirt.
The kids loved their cousin time!
I was about 20 weeks in Utah and popped this week, as always seems to happen.
My parents took Ava to her birthday lunch, which was at Sizzler. She is a big eater, so this was a good restaurant for her!
I had to work a lot on this trip since it was the week before my deadline for busy season, but luckily grandmas were there to help!
The kids really think it's fun to dance with umbrellas.
Boys time at Chili's
We went to see Dumbo with my parents and Cher's family
Natalie took a few pictures of our growing family.
A couple funny things the kids said... Ava told me randomly, "We need to vacuum the rug before you have the baby! In case there's anything on it she can choke on." I thought it was cute she's already concerned.
I was singing Coen a song before bed and he was farting so much. He said "my bum is singing too!"
We drove home on the 30/31 of March and the kids were pretty good in the car. It's a long drive, and they are troopers! I gave Coen dramamine when we were in the mountains of western Oregon because the poor guy still gets car sick. We got back on a Sunday evening, and then it was right back to our crazy schedule the next day!
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