August (not including the big events)

As witnessed by my calendar, August was an extremely busy month!  I remember writing all of these things (just some of the events and appointments...) and feeling like if I made it through the month in one piece it would be a miracle.  On top of all of these calendaring appointments, I had preschool preparations for the upcoming school year, maternity leave preparations, had to get all of Sydney's uniforms and school supplies, plan the primary program, volunteer 20+ hours a week for APA (200+ hours for the summer) and teach two weeks of school... plus pretty much ALL of my preparing for the baby!  It was pretty crazy!  We managed to fit quite a lot in... including HAVING A BABY on the last day of the month... a post in and of itself, obviously.

Cowabunga Bay with friends is one of our favorites!

My parents and Brett brought the kids these Yankee Monkeys from New York!  They really wanted to take a picture because they were so excited... not that you can tell by their fake smiles... haha!

Sydney is constantly writing on any paper she can find... and I just love it!

We take our swimming pretty seriously in the summer, and try to swim as much as possible... Sydney LOVES the slides!

The kids loved coming to all of my doctor appointments with me.  Dr. Terry was so fun with them.  He'd let them help measure me and help push all the right buttons to hear the baby's heart beat.  Sydney loved to bring her own babies along...

We set an induction date, at 36 weeks, for September 4th!  (Only three weeks left!)

After setting an induction date, I thought it was high time I actually bought something for the baby... a diaper bag (on sale) that I splurged on, since I didn't really have to buy very many baby items.

Kelsey's wedding reception was just beautiful!  We had a fun time hanging out with family, in the indoor, which seemed outdoor reception.  It was totally the best of both worlds.  The beautiful, real trees and smells were so nice, with the controlled weather environment of indoor!

More notes from Sydney... love that she's thinking of baby sister more and more...

2 weeks until induction date... and FINALLY starting to go through my baby bins... nothing like procrastinating (or just being plain old too busy to do it)! It was so fun to see all of Sydney's cute baby clothes again!

in love with these tiny baby diapers... you really forget how tiny they are!

Still fitting in some Cowabunga Bay... for all of our sanity!

We needed a break from inside, after hours of sorting through baby stuff, and spent a nice rainy day at the park!  Luckily we had other friends who were desperate enough for some outside time to sit with umbrellas and watch our kids play in the rain... The kids all came up with this cute idea...

I drove Alex's car, and had flashbacks to my previous pregnancies when my stomach touched the steering wheel... So glad my van has pedals that move toward me for my short legs!

Sydney got her ears pierced just before school started.  She was SO excited, and didn't even flinch!

I couldn't resist taking pictures of this moment before church one Sunday...

One of our summer favorites... "Firecamps" with s'mores!

After losing my mucus plug, something that did not happen with my previous pregnancies, I kind of freaked out.  It made me realize that the baby really could come any minute and I wasn't even close to ready!  I posted this after a hysterical crying fit to Matt.  Good thing Matt, my friends, and family made me feel a lot better! (August 28th)

Sydney started school, which in turn had me getting up at 6:30, to have her up at 6:45, to be out the door by 7:20.  Since the kids share a room, Cooper doesn't stay asleep during this whole process.  By 9:00 he told me he was going to go take a nap and did!  If you know Cooper, this is crazy because he just doesn't nap/sleep!  He always has energy! We aren't really morning people, and the early school thing has been quite an adjustment... just hoping we get used to it at some point!

We all had to adjust to having Sydney in school.  I kept giggling to myself listening to him sing, "you're gonna miss me when I'm gone" because he was missing Sydney!

After a lot of work, one room in my house was clean and ready for baby sister! (with a few finishing touches left) Although I still had to tackle the rest of the house.  My need for organization and cleanliness can be a little stressful.... but I was at least feeling a little more prepared, and happy to have a clean space to put my clean little bundle from Heaven.  Good thing too, since she came just a couple days later.  (just in the nick of time!)

Bear Lake

We always look forward to our ward camp out in Bear Lake.  We weren't ever positive that we'd be able to make it this year, with me being almost 9 months pregnant, and kept saying we'd just have to see how I was feeling.  Luckily I was feeling good, and confident that it was safe, and we tackled the adventure!  It turned out to be quite monumental, full of memories.  

After driving the 2+ hour drive, we found a great, shady spot and got our tent all set up.  I got all the sleeping stuff and bags organized just how I'd like, just in time for a big rain storm to roll in.  We felt so lucky to be able to wait out the storm in our tent.  This rainstorm, however, also carried 60 mile per hour wind gusts... and those wind gusts were not nice to our tent.  First stakes started coming out of the ground, and the tent was blowing in on us.  Matt and some other men were outside trying to stake our tent to the ground, tie ropes to trees, you name it... while the kids and I were inside laying on our stomachs with the top of the tent literally on top of our backs. (I was kneeling over the kids so they didn't get bumped in the head, trying to protect them, and my tummy...)  At some point during the chaos, the kids and I made it out the door of the tent, and booked it for the car.  We sat in the car watching the men try to hold our tent to the ground, when a huge gust of wind came, blew the tent up, and tore it to shreds, splintering many of the poles into an million pieces.  At this point the men gave up on the tent, and turned their efforts into saving our belongings and rushing them into our car.  Matt threw the tent in a dumpster, and we waited out the rest of the storm in the car.   We just sat there in awe of what had just happened, and finally talked about what we were going to do next.  We debated just turning around and driving back home, and finally decided that we could probably sleep in the back of the van, so we set it all up once the storm passed.

I wasn't looking forward to trying to fit all four of us, with my huge belly, in that tiny space... and luckily the Taylor family came up with a solution... combined two of their families into one bigger tent and let us use one of their smaller tents.  So we ended up being able to use a tent!  It was so crazy!  

The rest of the trip was pretty typical.  We had a blast hanging out with friends, having breakfast at the Barlow's trailer,  having tinfoil dinners, and the ward BBQ, having campfires with s'mores and roasted starbursts, getting raspberry shakes, and hanging out on the beach.  We split some time on wave runners with some friends, and Matt and Sydney had a great time taking turns riding those, and we got to go out on the Taylor's boat for a while.  We also brought Matt's hammock this year, and the kids had fun sitting in it.  Everyone kept telling me I was crazy for being there, and kept telling me stories (why do people do that?) of someone they knew who went into labor while away from home.  One person even told me that her daughter had her baby the day they got home from that same ward camp out many years before.  So I was a little nervous... but I'm so glad we went.  We had a blast as usual!

First Day of Preschool!

Cooper was so excited for preschool to start.  It was just me and him this year, and he felt so big.  He kept saying, "this is my school, not Sydney's!"  And I survived the day, without going into labor, so we were happy all around!

Love his genuine smile... something we don't see a lot of in pictures these days!

He wanted to give me a kiss....

First Day of Kindergarten!

Sydney was so excited to start Kindergarten.  She couldn't stop smiling!  And I couldn't stop crying.  It was a busy morning, because I had to teach preschool, but I figured out a way for me to take her to school and find her classroom.  I'm so glad I was able to spend that special moment with her.  It was hard for me, being the first time I've ever left her for school, since I've always been her preschool teacher.  I just kept thinking about what she was doing, or how she was feeling... knowing she was happy, excited, and ready to learn, because that's just Sydney.  She sure looked cute in her little uniform!

Her hook

She found her desk, sat down, and went right to work... never looking back!

July

July is always my favorite month of the year!  This year didn't disappoint!  We enjoyed:  going to the Riverton Town Days and parade~ going to Bee's games ~ having "snow shacks" as big as our heads ~ hitting 30 weeks in my pregnancy! ~ working on "planking" a wall in our house ~ going to the dentist, where Cooper hopped up in the dentist chair and immediately opened his mouth, before they were even ready for him (they said he was the best 3 year old they've ever had) ~ walking in the 24th of July Children's Parade with friends from our ward ~ seeing real live princesses after the parade ~ running through the sprinklers! (a rare, special occasion since we live in a town home and don't control our own sprinklers) ~ going to Lagoon for Stake Lagoon Day with the Armstrongs ~ getting pregnancy updates that meant we were nearing the end ~ pool days ~ and celebrating Brett's last birthday before his mission!

So excited for the parade... #jumping

Riverton Town Days

Bee's game on the 4th!

BFF's, Matt and Brad, hitting up the Lady Bug ride first thing...

Fell asleep as soon as we started driving home... #Lagoon

Time to pack for the hospital?  And have Matt do it for me?  Hahaha... Maybe I should start going through my baby bins and make a checklist of what I need first... oh and buy some diapers

No better pillow exists

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Birthday Boy