In July we moved our stuff over to the Cowley's house to stay. The kids had to do a pool party of course!
Emmaline (and her parents) came into town and it was fun to see Emma all grown up!
Andrew's family came into town too, and we all had dinner together.
My amazing growing belly, 34 weeks here.
Brent and I went on a date to see the Other Side of Heaven #2. This was our last date for a couple months since we were going to be away from each other for most of July and then have a baby in August.
The 4th of July! I like this candid shot from when they put up the flag.
We went to the candy parade with my parents and Laura. We got so much candy this year!
We tried to fit a lot in this day and went to Nana's for a bit.
We went to brunch at the Cowleys and sat around on the back porch chatting:
That evening we went to dinner with Brent's parents. We were trying to go to Mexican food but they were closed so we went to Chinese food, which was yummy! Coen was cold so I gave him my jacket. We were laughing because he looked like he belonged in Star Wars.
We watched the fireworks from the golf course with Laura and Jordan and decided it was a perfect spot to watch them all over the valley!
Brent left the next day for a conference in Madrid. I was only a little nervous about having the baby early, in a state without my doctor and without my husband. But I didn't have contractions, only Braxton Hicks, so it was OK. Here is Emma sitting on my belly. Hopefully these two girls will be good friends!
Coen liked not being the youngest kid for once and bossing Emma around a bit.
We went to my nephew's baptism and to their house afterward to have lunch and play. Coen cracked us up by jumping into his cousin's pictures. Here he is photobombing the picture with my grandparents. I like how my grandpa is laughing about it!
The four siblings! It's so rare that all four of us are together. We each live in a different time zone.
Ava and Boston making cookies with Natalie:
We had dinner with Laura, Jordan, and his siblings:
Ava and Boston put on a show for us in the backyard while we played music from our cell phones. It was so funny.
My family went to St. George and we carpooled down there and the kids were all good in the car. We went straight to Chick Fil-A for our free sandwich on cow day!
Playing in the sand in the morning before it got too hot:
Brent was still gone to Madrid. I stayed with Cher in a condo and we had fun. Thanks Cher for helping your husband-less 8 month pregnant sister :)
Cute Emma!
All of the boys eating their ice cream:
My mom had gone to the dollar store and gotten prizes for the kids as part of a game. We also had a dance party!
We all went to the Dinosaur/ train park together.
We all took a train ride together:
We spent a lot of time at the pool!
Ava can almost swim, but not quite. She wouldn't wear her floaties which was stressful for me since Brent wasn't there!
We went to Tuachan on Friday night -Little Mermaid. Ava was super excited!
My aunt and uncle were driving up from Phoenix, so it worked out for them to stop at the Las Vegas airport and pick up Brent. I was so excited for him to come home!
The kids were excited too, since he makes everything so much more fun! We went to the playground and he helped them make a mermaid in the sand:
Our family (read Laura, Jordan and Andrew) performed at the Tabernacle in downtown St. George and there was a pretty good crowd there!
The Braithwaite original 6
We drove home to SLC with my grandparents and Ava went the day before with Cher and my mom. I think Coen liked the attention he got!
We went on our walk down Santa Clara Main Street with my grandparents
Back in SLC, Natalie brought her Bratz dolls which provided a lot of entertainment!
We went to the Dahn swim party the night before I flew home to Eugene.
On the way home from the party Ava threw up. I was so sad and stressed leaving the kids, especially when she was sick! Ava seemed to be doing much better the next morning though and the kids weren't too sad for me to leave because they got to still have fun in Utah. Ava had told me earlier, "if I miss you, I'll just pretend like you're working."
My friend Diana picked me up in Eugene and I went to their house for dinner. Thank goodness for good friends!
I was home in Eugene for 2.5 weeks by myself. The first few days and weekend were the hardest, where time seemed to be going so slowly and I was not used to the quiet! In my spare time I worked extra, slept in longer, read the Ensign, went on walks, took baths, watched the Office, and went to the park at lunch time to talk to other moms and get out of the house. I had been so worried about these weeks, but I have to admit, it was really nice to rest and be able to do whatever I wanted to! I know people were praying for me because I felt happy and good. I had never been away from my kids or Brent for this long and I was worried I was going to miss them so much and be crying from loneliness!
Brent and the kids had lots of fun in Utah. They went to a concert at Deer Valley
Coen threw up in the car on the way there (and home) and Brent handled it like a champ. He doesn't get worked up about this sort of thing. He just cleaned it up and bought Coen a new shirt, no big deal.
Brent went to the Pioneer Day concert downtown and his parents watched the kids at home. Here they are having a movie night:
Both of our moms helped Brent by watching the kids so that he could go do research at BYU (and keep teaching at SLCC). Here's Ava cooking with my mom:
Back at home I packed my hospital bag. Seeing these tiny clothes made me so excited to meet my baby!
Coen was obsessed with having my mom print out pictures for him to color.
A couple friends threw me a baby shower, which was so nice! I really love the good group of women in my ward.
We got lots of diapers, so we won't have to buy them for a few months!
Ava and Coen painted piggy banks at the library:
Here I am, 37.5 weeks. I grew so much the last couple weeks when I was home alone! I loved feeling the baby moving all the time.
Coen with a Star Wars exhibit at the library:
I made strawberry jam for Brent after work over a few nights. It actually wore me out, so I told Brent it was a labor of love:
Feeding ducks at the park with Gramma:
Brent took the kids to the farm with our museum pass. I really liked getting pictures of the kids when I was away, and this one made me laugh!
Brent's family went on a drive on the 24th, and stopped at Macy's for ice cream.
I had contractions here and there since the week in St. George, but one day (about 5 days before Brent was supposed to come home) they were coming every 7 minutes for a couple hours. I tried not to freak out since they weren't hurting too bad yet. I stopped working and went to lay down in my bed for a while until they went away. One of the many benefits of working from home!
I'm so glad I did not have the baby before Brent got here! I tried to be really careful and not do too much. People in my ward were stressed out for me though! I only got scared a couple times when I got contractions but we figured Brent could drive all the way from Utah and make it before I had the baby... not the best plan haha!
Brent met Brother Rojas for lunch one day down at BYU
He got to tour the LDS motion picture studio, which he loved of course! The man who took them on a tour has been editing for the church for decades, and has edited temple videos and a lot of other things you've probably seen.
Brent took the kids to the Leonardo museum and Coen really liked doing this puzzle with the blocks:
And that concludes July! Stay tuned for a special guest post from Brent about his trip to Madrid!
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