Summer

Despite the heat and humidity we have had a great summer! Honestly, I am not much of a summer person as it is (give me Autumn!) and being 8 and 9 months pregnant in the midst of a Kentucky summer is VERY warm, to say the least. But we really enjoyed ourselves still and loved having Trevor around a bit more even though he still had some classes in the summer. 

In May we planted our first garden! We planted zucchini, cucumber, three varieties of tomato, watermelon, peas, and green beans. The zucchini, cucumber, and tomatoes did GREAT! The rest, not so much. Louisville has had SO much rain this summer that nobody has had much success with gardens this year. A guy in our ward lost his whole farm to a flash flood we had one day. We had a good month of big zucchinis, cucumber, and tomatoes though, so at least we got to enjoy it for a while. Next summer we will try again!

Averie, Brooke, Nora, and Blakely loving the sun!

We spent a LOT of our summer at the Calypso Cove- the pool at the YMCA. We love going there and with the hot, humid weather it's one of the only tolerable outdoor activities to do here in the summer. Paxon was terrified of the water at the beginning of the summer, and Averie was pretty scared of it herself, but now they are little fish and love to be in the water and go down the kid slides. Averie is now in swim lessons to help her learn to actually swim and feel confident in the water. Pax will do swim lessons next year. 

Averie during her first swim lesson. 

On July 21st, my amazing friends Sheerstie, Linsey, and Kapri threw me a "baby sprinkle." What's that you say? A baby sprinkle is a toned-down version of a baby shower. If you already have one of each (a boy and a girl)  you probably have most of what you need, so a "sprinkle" is more for the necessities like diapers, wipes, etc. However, my friends put so much work into this "sprinkle" and made me feel so loved, that I pretty much consider it a baby shower. I love my friends here in Kentucky! Seriously, I know Heavenly Father had my best interest in mind when He led us here because I don't know what I would do without this awesome group of girls. We love each other and have all become such good friends. 

Our friends Colten and Linsey have a little boy named Levi, who is only about a week difference then Pax in age, and a daughter Brooke, who is 9 months. Pax and Levi are BEST buddies (even when they beat each other up..haha). Averie though, has taken to little Brookie and LOVES to help take care of her and play with her. It doesn't matter if there are other kids around, if Brooke is there, Averie wants to be with her. Averie is an extremely nurturing little girl and I adore the way she is around babies. I can't wait to see her with her new baby brother in the next week or so!

Averie LOVES to draw and craft. She drew this picture of Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony (her current favorite tv show) on her own and I still can't get over how awesome she did. She is such a little artist! (And I am one proud mommy!) The top corner says, "Averie- 6 yers eld" (Averie-6 years old) 

Pax is way into super heroes and sports of any kind. So when I went to check on him while he was sleeping one night and found this, it melted my heart. Can you get any cuter!?

Like father, like son. These two like to snuggle up on the recliner to "watch a movie" and this is usually the end result. A chair FULL of cuteness. 

The last week of July, Pax and Averie had to go to the dentist for cleaning and check ups. They both did great, and Pax especially thought he was pretty cool with the glasses they put on him. They are both cavity-free, though Averie has a couple spots that could turn into cavities that we need to monitor. No sticky snacks for you, little girl!

I bought Pax a tall stool so that he could wash his own hands after going potty. He discovered that soap makes bubbles though, and Pax LOVES bubbles. So when I found the sink and counter full of bubbles soon after buying the stool I wondered if that was a mistake. Haha. He now has learned to use only a SMALL amount of soap. 

Like his dad, Pax can fall asleep anywhere....

Including on top of a vacuum hose, holding a golf club. He never fails to make us laugh!

Me at 36 weeks pregnant with little Jett. Can't WAIT to meet this boy! (As I blog this, I am 38 weeks pregnant and I feel like even in two weeks my belly has grown so much!)

Before Averie headed to kindergarten I wanted to take her on one last mommy/daughter date for the summer. She had been asking for Subway for over a month so we went there,  and you would have thought I took her to a gourmet restaurant. Easy to please! Love this girl SO much!

Slumber parties with Dad are the BEST!

Oh my heart! I have been DREADING the start of kindergarten for a long time. As in losing sleep over it all summer. Not that I don't know Averie is more than ready, but just the thought of my baby being away from me for seven hours a day, Monday thru Friday, about broke my heart.  (Yes, SEVEN! Here in Kentucky, kindergartners go a full school day! So sad). Averie was so excited and in the days leading up to her starting she was the one consoling me and saying how excited she was. The first day, (August 12th) she woke up, got herself dressed in the outfit I had laid out, helped me make her lunch, and actually let me do her hair without a fit. She was SO ready to go! I had her make a "First Day of Kindergarten" sign in her own handwriting so I can always remember how cute her handwriting is at this stage. 

In the car on the way to school, she was so excited she could hardly contain it! (Don't worry, I was parked at a stop light while taking this picture! :) 

In front of her school, Tully Elementary. 

When we got there we were sent to the gym to find the teachers name on the wall and wait for the teacher to come walk us to their classroom. Her teacher's name is Debbie Trahan (Miss Debbie) and Averie already had met her and her assistant, Miss Vicki, at Orientation and loved them! 

While waiting Averie sat down against the wall and looked around at all the kids,  and I think this is the first I saw her act nervous. Didn't last long though! 

Within a couple minutes she and a boy from her class had already introduced themselves and were excitedly showing each other their cool backpacks. 

After the teacher came and took us to class, she had the kids get some paper and start coloring just to warm them up. Averie settled right into a desk and was completely fine. Other kids were crying saying goodbye to mom and dad, and one kid was so upset and nervous that he threw up...on my foot. That was pretty nasty, but I felt bad for the poor boy-he was NOT liking his first day. I was so hesitant to leave and super sad, but Averie just gave me a kiss and a hug and was ready to start the day! I may have cried as I left the classroom. May have. :)

The awesome PTA put together a breakfast for all the kindergarten parents called, "Tears and Tea." It was so cute and fun to go talk to other parents who were just as sad about leaving their kids as I was. Such a fun idea. 

Averie has LOVED kindergarten and is doing so well. Her teacher said Averie is ahead in her reading so they are going to try to challenge her more. At home she can read an entire (simple) book on her own with just a little help from us.  I am glad her teacher will try to challenge her a bit more because she needs it. She's one smart little girl! 

Well,  there's a little recap of our summer and the start of school and a whole new routine. Baby Jett is due to arrive any day, (I'm 38 1/2 weeks now) and once again our life will change for the better! We are so excited! 

Trevor also started his Fall semester of his second year which is one of the busiest in dental school so he won't be around much. I have tried to mentally prepare myself for the fact that I will have a newborn, a daughter in school, a husband gone all the time, swim lessons to attend, soccer practices and games to attend, and trying to keep a household relatively managed in the meantime. I've SO got this! Looking forward to this new adventure in life!