The last 2 1/2 months.....

So it's been a while..... I seem to say that every time I post. Things are beginning to settle down, so I should be able to post more often. It's past midnight so I'm sure there will be misspellings.... be prepared.

To preface this post, we have decided on the name JAXON for our sweet little boy. This name is special to use because it's the ONLY name I've thought of since I found out I was pregnant. Seriously, I haven't been able to consider other names because I just always knew this was his name, months before I even found out he was a boy. No middle name for sure yet, although we're fairly certain. We're just keeping it to ourselves in case we want to change our minds before he's born.

I'm starting from the date of our last ultrasound. By doing this, I'm skipping several SUPER FUN trips we took (Washington, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, etc.) but I can't handle all that right now. :)

On July 17 Tyler's family threw us a goodbye Luau. It was a BLAST!! We had yummy food, "MaiTy trivia," played Guitar Hero, then watched a movie in the yard. SO fun!!!

MaiTy trivia winners

Then I came to Hawaii for a 10 day visit. I went to my 10 year high school reunion, which was going to be at the school, all catered and everything. The NIGHT BEFORE, they changed the location to a BAR (without food) and listed the dress as "SHEEK." First of all.....it's "chic," and second of all they should have mentioned that before everyone packed and flew to Hawaii. I don't just pack "chic" clothing for fun..... SO I was really not looking forward to going, but I went anyway and it was fun. No regrets. Here's a picture of a bunch of my friends. We met up the night after the reunion for dinner. It was great seeing everyone again!!


The rest of the time that I was here, I worked on my prospectus for my dissertation and spent time with family. I was able to be there just before Tara's due dated rolled around. She went 3 days overdue, so there were 2 big pregnant ladies hanging around the house for a few days. Check out the below picture. WHY do I look as big as my sister who is 9 months pregnant, when I'm only 6 months pregnant?!? ANYWAY..... (Also, that's the shirt I bought for her when she first found out she was pregnant with Corbin. I bought it in green ... because I wasn't thinking.... then she returned it and got it in blue. I LOVE green, she LOVES blue.)


Tara went in to be induced on Monday morning, we go tthe call Monday evening that Logan had finally arrived. We went right to the hospital and took Corbin (we'd had him all day) to meet his new little brother. We got to see and hold Logan when he was only about an hour old. They hadn't even weighed or measured him yet. When Corbin met Logan he LOVED him immedietly. The first picture is the first family photo (I think) and you can see Corbin poking Logan in the eyes.... just to make sure he was real :)

Corbin would not let ANYONE else pull Mama's bag to the recovery room.

While I was in Hawaii, I also made a couple of blankets for Jaxon. I wanted to create specific designs, which made them difficult to make. I should NOT have tried to make them so unique. They took a lot of work. BUT, now that I'm done with them, I'm glad I made them how I did. I love them, and I hope Jaxon cuddles with them a lot! I thought the edging on that second blanket would kill me....... never again..... I also ordered a baby book online and had it shipped to my parents house. They told me it would take two weeks or more to ship. It was there in 2 days. Haha, silly people who think Hawaii is a foreign country and everything is shipped by boat....




After I got back from Hawaii I spent most of my time doing research and jumping through all the other hoops I had to jump through for my dissertation. I was VERY VERY stressed out and Tyler helped me so much. My parents stopped by for a couple of days and we took a drive up to Squaw Peak, overlooking all of Provo.

On August 19 my Aunts Rebecca and Denita threw me a baby shower. I was SO excited!!!! The house was decorated in blue, green, and brown. I LOVE those colors!!!! Also, Rebecca had someone make homemade cotton candy. I seriously crave cotton candy. I ate mine long before anyone showed up. It was DELICIOUS!!!

I got to take the super cute lettering home to put on the wall in Jaxon's (part of the) room. Look at those ADORABLE cupcakes!! They were so yummy! All the food was. We had the best hummus I've ever had (I usually don't like hummus), and we had asparagus and cream cheese wrapped in ham. I would never have thought to put those three together, but they were so stinking good!!! Also, we had some very refreshing cucumber water.

The babyfood tasting game. There were some YUCKY ones!!

TWO people actually guessed the size of my belly exactly right!!!

Opening presents! Check out that pimp-daddy church outfit from my grandma!

The next day we drove up to Idaho to have a reunion with some of Tyler's old college roommates. It was very fun to see everyone again. Some of them I've only met once, others we've hung out with quite a few times. All of them were so much fun! The first picture is Tyler's hand after a sting/bite from an unknown something while he was picking huckleberries with his parents. This is after the swelling had gone down quite a bit. OUCH!

The boys

:)

Tyler and his friend Kent hiked up Mount Nebo. This is supposedly the tallest peak in Utah. They hiked up the harder side because it was supposed to be shorter, but it turned out that they couldn't even make it all the way up to the top. They get within 100 yards or so before it just got too steep and scary. His wife Cassie and I are VERY glad we didn't go. This was definitely a boys hike. In these pictures it looks like Tyler is on a very steep mountain walking across the ridge because he IS!





We packed our containers, cleaned our apartment, and moved out with the help of A LOT of family and friends. I was pretty much out of commission because I was so pregnant, and because I was taking MASSIVE tests and giving presentations for my dissertation. I don't think I've ever felt so stressed out and overwhelmed in my life. I am so greatful for such an amazing husband who supports me in everything I do! On our last day in town, my family had a little get-together with a potluck to say one last goodbye.




After the party, we started our drive to Washington. We only made it to Eagle Mountain to stay the night with Tyler's brother Bryant and his family. Here we are the next morning before driving away.

That day we only made it up to Logan to spend more time with Tyler's family before we move across an ocean. We spent the night with Tyler's sister, then they had another potluck for us before we continued on our long drive.

Tyler's brother Ryan and his family

Tyler's sister Karlette and her family

That day we drove up to Idaho and stayed with one of Tyler's old college friends, then finally made our way to Washington to see Tyler's parents. While in White Salmon, we visited an old high school friend of mine. As you can see, she was pretty pregnant too. She has since given birth to her adorable little boy Logan!

While we were in Washington, we went to Tahklahk Lake with Tyler's parents, his sister Alaina, our niece Cosy, and Alaina'a husband Josh. Somehow I didn't get ANY pictures of Alaina and her family on our camera, so these will have to do. The lake was gorgeous and crystal clear, and you could see the perfect reflection of Mount Adams in the water.

We also went for a walk around the neighborhood. Check out my growing shaddow!!

We took a trip to the Temple with Tyler's parents and were able to do TONS of family file sealings for mine and Tyler's family. It was AWESOME!!!!


On the way home we stopped by the "Stepping Stone Cafe" which was featured on the show "Man vs Food." It was in downtown Portland, but it was just off the main roads so the parking was free, and the food was AMAZING!

The Man vs Food guy came for the "man-cakes" which Tyler is about to devour in this picture. We actually shared a large stack and each had our own meals too. The food was so stinking good!!

On our way out of White Salmon.... one last picture

And we're OFF!

On the day we drove up to Seattle, we stopped by Multnomah Falls for the last time in a while. The guy who took this picture was there with his wife and baby. He had a big old beard and looked like a scary biker. When he took this picture, he said, "smile like you don't feel pregnant!" I thought it was pretty cute.

We drove to Monroe, Washington to visit the farm house where my mom grew up. Surprisingly, not much has changed. It was a new coat of paint, and a few of the larger trees are gone from the front of the house. But other than that, most of place was the same!

That top window in the middle was my moms old room (I think)

That stump in the middle of the picture (the huge thing covered in small plants) was something I used to climb up on and play on when I was little. It's a HUGE stump that's most likely a "first growth" tree from a VERY VERY long time ago. The 20 acre farm my mom grew up on was covered in trees like that.

This is my mom's dad's grave (my grandpa). He died when I was in second grade. I can't believe how long ago that was. I remember he used to call my "sissy" (as in- short for sister) and he would tell me I had blonde hair, even though I would insist is was yellow.

After Monroe, we drove to Marysville to meet up with a bunch of my family that I haven't seen in a LONG time. Left to right: Shannon (holding her newborn Leah), Susan, Tyler, Me (haha, duh), Diana (my moms sister), and Sara. We ate dinner with them and talked for hours. It was really great to see them all. I hadn't met any of their kids (there are 4 in total) and only 1 of their husbands. I'm SO glad we got to see them all!

The next day we drove to Seattle through Everett, Washington. These pictures were taken on the "beach" in Everett.

We flew to Hawaii and our container was there the very next day. We needed LOTS of help unloading, once again, because I'm out of commission.

Here's a picture of Corbin that I plan to show to his fiance or at his wedding one day. :)

And here's me at 34 weeks.

Do I look like a blimp or WHAT?! I'm 35 weeks as of yesterday. My doctor is on vacation so I won't see him for another 3 weeks. Awesome, right? I'm supposed to be on weekly visits...... This baby better stay in there!!