Christmas Festivities

We enjoyed having Joseph home for a few days during Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we visited the duck pond in town and played at the park there. We skyped with some family that night as well. After dinner, I gave everyone their Christmas Eve boxes with new pajamas and a fun movie to watch. Several months ago, Ashton played at a friend's house and saw the movie, Cars. Anytime we talk about her friend, Will, she immediately wants to watch Cars again. Being the cool mom I am, I borrowed it from a friend (I'm not cool enough to buy it). We laid out blankets and Ashton actually sat still for the first 30-45 minutes of the movie. After that, she could care less. Oh well. It's the thought that counts, right?

Christmas morning was fun. We got up, had breakfast, and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Ashton blew out two candles in behalf of the special day. We opened presents and Ashton loved all of them. She immediately wanted to play with each one. Joseph and I got her a balance bike since she is outgrowing the tricycle she has. Well, we mentioned that she had to be more careful with the new bike as she could fall. Now, she's scared to ride it. Fail! Maybe one day she'll change her mind.

She got fancy boots from my brother and his wife. They had to be worn the moment she opened them.

And a tutu...

Excited about a Messi jersey.

This is what she looked like most of the morning.

The adorable outfit my brother got for her.

Joe's sister got him a light-up Astros hat. Ashton likes wearing it too.

We spent the rest of Christmas morning/afternoon hanging out around the house. We had a family over for dinner that night and Ashton played with her friend. They always have a good time together.

As always, we missed being with our families during the holiday season. But unless airfare drops a ton, we will be spending holidays in Texas. It is nice to continue our own traditions though so we don't mind. Crazy to think next year we'll have two kids to celebrate Christmas with!

Why We Need a Dog

This Christmas, we have the privilege of dog sitting for our neighbor. Ashton loves this dog so it was easy to say yes. Ashton loves dogs in general but having one in our house has made her very happy. She wakes up in the morning and from naps and immediately requests to wake up Sprinkles. Here's some evidence of the fun times they are having together.

Filling her food tray with plastic food. At least Ashton isn't trying to eat the dog food.

Ashton will be pretty bummed when Sprinkles leave. So will I. It is great entertainment as I can sit on the couch and let them play. Maybe a dog will be under the Christmas tree next year...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I'm really enjoying Ashton's age this Christmas season. She is young enough where presents, wish lists, and consumerism are way over her head. However, she cares about decorating, Christmas lights, and other Christmas festivities. Our town has quite a few Christmas-y events so we've done some the last week or so.

Our traditional gingerbread decorating kit. She loved decorating the train.

We went to one activity at night that we probably won't visit again. They had "trolley" rides and since Ashton loves Daniel Tiger with trolley, I told her about it. Of course she wanted to go. So we went. It took over an hour of waiting in line for us to ride the trolley (which was just a trailer attached to a pick-up truck). She did great waiting and enjoyed playing with her glow stick that the event planners handed out.

I took her to the library for their holiday open house and they had Santa come. Ashton doesn't really understand Santa and doesn't talk about him. But she loved seeing him and sitting on his lap. This girl has no fear of strangers, which is both good and bad. She also made some cool ornaments there.

No fear. Went running towards him and loved sitting with him.

We went to a church that hosts a live nativity each year. They had hay rides and a petting zoo as well. Ashton enjoyed all of it. While there, we walked over to the local park's Christmas festivity where we met Santa again and roasted a marshmallow

On the hay ride

She's obsessed with the blow up lawn decorations on our street and loved that she could stand right next to some at the park.

No fear again.

Roasting some marshmallows. She thought it was cool to roast it for 3 seconds, take a bite, and then roast it some more. Her fingers were super sticky.

In other news, I'm ready for Christmas to be here because it means 2-5 weeks until we meet our baby boy. I'm measuring a few weeks behind all of a sudden, which is what I did with Ashton so doctor isn't worried. I am guessing baby boy will be bigger than she was simply because I think he will come later than her. I'm just hoping he's not over 9 lbs! Anemia is worse this time around but we finally got that under control. He is extremely active. Any time I sit to rest for a minute, he's kicking away. And these are some powerful kicks too. I don't recall having that with Ashton so I'm hoping he's getting out his energy out now and will be chill when he comes (wishful thinking at least).

Joseph received a new calling at church today. Since we moved to Lake Jackson, he has served in Young Men's. When the wards combined over a year ago, he continued to serve with the young men organization. Well, now he gets to serve with the young men in the Spanish branch. He was called as the Young Men's president in their branch. Thankfully, the times work out that he can still attend sacrament meeting with me and then go to his meetings/church. It will make for crazy Sundays but we'll adjust with time. We definitely did not see that coming and were shocked when he was extended the call.

Thanksgiving Break

Even though none of us are in school, I still consider it "Thanksgiving break." Joseph had a few days off for the holiday, which was much appreciated. We tried to do a lot of fun things despite the rainy weather we're having. At least it's not snow.

The week before Thanksgiving, our town hosts a Festival of Lights with a parade as well as snow activities. I wanted to take Ashton so she could play in fake snow, but it was rainy that day and we were watching another kid so we stayed home. That night, we bundled up and made it to the parade though. Ashton hated the sirens on the fire trucks but aside from that, she enjoyed it.

One of the few chances for her to wear a hat.

We finished her swim lessons a few days before Thanksgiving. Overall, it was okay. I'm glad she learned a few new skills and she is really good about floating on her back now and walking instead of running around the pool.

For Thanksgiving, we signed up for the Turkey Trot. Ashton ran the fun run and she was very excited! She loves to run races. She got dead last in her age group but I was proud of her for running the whole time instead of being carried. I'm not sure we have a naturally talented runner in our family yet.

There's my big belly too. Ugh... I'm ready to be done with that part of the pregnancy. Only 8 more weeks left at the most!

Later that day, we went to our neighbor's house for the Thanksgiving meal. I cooked the turkey again this year, which I enjoy. Ashton loved playing with friends.

Saturday, we ventured up to Houston and went to the zoo. It was a cold and rainy morning but we made the most of it. We got there right when they opened, which was great as they feed the animals then. All the animals were out and about and very active.

Her favorite part is the carousel. Her second favorite part was seeing a dog.

That afternoon, we finished out the BYU football season at a friend's house and were proud of the Cougars beating the Aggies. Ashton loves to sing, "rah-rah cougars."

Then we spent a night decorating our Christmas trees. Ashton enjoyed putting random ornaments on her's.

The final product of the Christmas tree skirt I made. I painted the silver snowflakes on. I couldn't find one that I liked that wasn't $150 or more. So I made it.

Piano and Dentist

Exciting news to share... we now have a piano. We've been looking for one for a while now. After very little luck, one of Joseph's friends mentioned he was getting rid of his. So we got a piano this week! Ashton loves playing the piano at church so we knew she would love one in the home.
 

Ashton also went to the dentist. On our insurance, you need a referral to see a pediatric dentist. I preferred a pediatric one as I felt they would do better with young children. The downside is the closest pediatric dentist is 45 minutes away. It wouldn't be fun to take her twice a year to that. But first we had to see how she would do at our dentist. She is great at brushing her teeth at home with her electric toothbrush so is not scared of that noise. And she lets me floss pretty well. But loud noises scare her so I figured she would cry the whole time. Nope! She proved me wrong. She sat on my lap and let them count her teeth, floss, and use the electric toothbrush with no resistance. They even used the water sprayer and sucker/straw thing without any hesitation. She acted like she'd done this every day of her life. I was beyond proud! We did find out that she definitely has two teeth fused together as opposed to one tooth that split. But the dentist is fairly optimistic that her adult teeth will come in fine. I was so busy being in shock of her sitting still that I didn't get a single picture. So just imagine a two year old smiling and that was her. First dentist experience is a success!

Solo Parenting

I have always held single parents in a high regard. Watching my mom raise three kids mostly on her own has encouraged me to respect those that, for whatever reason, are walking the journey of parenthood alone. These past two weeks have made me even more appreciative of what they do.

The whole reason we went to Spain was because Joseph's work had a two-week conference there. He was chosen to go and we couldn't pass up the fact that we could go to Barcelona and not have to pay for his travel at least. We talked about me going while he was at the conference so we could avoid a hotel cost. But his conference was from 8am to 8pm or even later every day. Not very much fun for me in a city where I don't speak the language. So we went a week before his conference, which meant I would be back to stay with Ashton for two weeks alone. We survived... barely. Here's what our weeks looked like.

Potty training... we started. We're still in the midst of it (and will be for the next five years!) but we see lots of improvement. I figured I would be the one doing most of the work anyways even if Joseph was home in the evenings. The first couple days made me question if she was ready completely as accidents were happening a lot. I switched back to diapers for an afternoon and she promptly took them off to tell me she had to go "pee-pee." That showed me that she really was ready and I had to go all in. We persevered and she is mostly daytime/at the house potty trained. I don't trust her enough when we go out so she wears a pull up/diaper over her underwear then. If she's with me, she will use the potty wherever we are but if she's at the rec center play area or at someone's house without me there, she doesn't. It's nice to have a break from washing cloth diapers. Until next spring when I start using them again with baby boy. All in all, I would say our first experience with potty training hasn't made me dread it for future children. It's annoying but still better than changing diapers.

Her mischievous smile when you ask her if she has to go to the bathroom.

Swim lessons. We are in the middle of a parent-child swim lesson. We meet two nights a week at the rec center. It is alright. Ashton struggles with doing the activity that the teacher asks her to do and just begs to go down the slide. But it's good for her to listen to someone other than me. I told her it was swim school since she wants to go to school so much. That helped. And she loves her teacher, probably more than me.

Baby shower. We hosted a baby shower for a friend of our's. I purposefully did it while Joseph was gone so it would give me something to do and look forward to. I made everything from scratch except the caramel apple dip. One of Ashton's favorite things is to help mix and bake so it gave us something to do during the week.

I made chili, bread bowls, mini pumpkin pies, and homemade apple cider.

The bread bowls turned out pretty well. It takes a lot of dough to make just a few as they are much larger than rolls.

Outlet shopping. I wanted to go to the outlets this winter yet and I typically go by myself. Since we don't have any open Fridays left for the year, I decided to be adventurous and bring Ashton with me. She did very well. So much that I wouldn't mind taking her again some time. Of course, I planned to find boy clothes but left with mostly girl clothes for Ashton. I just don't love the boy clothes yet...

Less tantrums and meltdowns than I anticipated. Overall, the two weeks taught me to be more confident in my parenting. Before this, I grimaced when I thought about Joseph going away for a boy scout campout. Even one night and I was terrified. Now, that seems like nothing compared to what we did. I can survive waking up with her every morning and putting her to bed every night. We didn't always enjoy it, but we made it through. And I only got ice cream once and out to eat once, so that's a pretty good sign that my stress levels stayed within normal limits for the majority of the time. Just a few more hours and we'll be back to normal again with Daddy home.

Last day in Spain

Thursday morning, we went back to Barceloneta and stopped at the maritime museum. After that, we went on a tour of the Sagrada Familia. It is a big building that Gaudi started to build and then he died. So they are finishing it the way he designed it to be. It will eventually be a Catholic church/basilica and the Pope visited it a few years ago. Their plan is to finish the building in 2026, which is 100 years after Gaudi died. Joseph and I laughed when we thought about what they would do if construction was delayed and they didn't hit their deadline. We climbed up the towers too, which they only allow a certain number of people to do so each day. There were two options for coming back down- elevator or stairs. I thought the employee said 100 steps, so I told Joseph we would take the stairs. I was wrong and there were actually 400 stairs. He knew that but didn't tell me. After lunch that day, we went to La Perdrera and Casa Mila, which is another Gaudi house/architecture. After all this, we moved to a hotel close to the airport so I could get there bright and early the next day.

I traveled home Friday and the flights went alright. I stopped in Frankfurt, Germany and then had an 11 hour flight to Houston. I started having contractions on the second flight but thankfully drinking lots of water made them stop. I flew with a German-based airline and they served alcohol for free on the flights. I laughed every time the flight attendant asked me if I wanted any alcohol.

Maritime Museum

Sagrada Familia

In the tower at the top

The 400 stairs that I thought was only 100

Part of the stairwell going down, you can bring a permanent marker and write something. We read this in a guide book so we were prepared.

The top of La Perdera/Casa Mila

Wednesday in Spain

Wednesday started with a tour of Camp Nou, where the Barcelona soccer team plays. There was a game while we were there but it was on Sunday. The tour was pretty cool though. We had lunch at a place called Vivanda and it was delicious. It was a far walk but well worth it. We went to the Picasso Museum as well as the chocolate museum. The man at the Picasso museum was shocked at how quickly we went through the museum (we spent 45 minutes inside and it is not that big). Sorry, we're just not that into art but we felt like we needed to at least stop and see it. You can probably guess which museum I liked more since I think we spent more time at the chocolate museum even though it was much smaller. That night, we went to a cool guitar concert at an old theater/palace thing. I wasn't really looking forward to it but it was actually really good.

The ticket for the chocolate museum. Yummy chocolate inside.

Castle made out of chocolate.

Tried a macaroon at this famous dessert place. It tasted like jelly beans. Not my favorite.

Found churros and hot chocolate that he'd been waiting for. The hot chocolate was very thick. More like chocolate from a fondue fountain. But tasty!

Where the guitar concert was held.

Tuesday in Spain

Tuesday was another exciting day for me. The one thing I requested when we found out we were going to Spain was to take a cooking class. It was awesome! We got to help make really cool foods and I even want to make some of them back home now. After the class, we visited the Barcelona cathedral. Then we went to another art museum. I broke down that night because I hadn't eaten anything familiar all trip and was starving. Combined with being pregnant, it was not a good moment in my life. So I ordered pizza for dinner instead of embracing the culture. After dinner, we went to a flamenco dance concert.

The cathedral

Fancy water in place of wine at the cooking class. What's crazy in Europe is that you pay for water at restaurants. There is no such thing as fountain drinks/dispensers. A glass of water like this could cost anywhere from $2.50 to $5 depending on the restaurant. It was ridiculous! Europe is pricey just based on the water alone. Fortunately, it was included in our cooking class.

They also offered us sparkling water since we didn't drink. I was excited as I don't recall having plain sparkling water ever. Rory in Gilmore Girls orders this when she goes to her grandparents' home every time so that is why I was excited. It wasn't good though so I don't know why she would choose that.

Making paella for ten people

He plated that appetizer. He was extremely proud of himself.

Flamenco dancers

I think the cathedral again

He really wanted to use the blowtorch to finish the desserts. Everyone else at the cooking class called him the BBQ master since he was from Texas. I don't think there were any other Americans in our class.

Our paella, complete with shrimp with eyes.