Parties

We had a couple parties in the month of January. Some friends threw a baby shower for me the week before Tanner came. It was a wonderful time with lots of friends! Here's some pictures that a friend took for me since I completely forgot. I received lots of wonderful gifts and really cute boy clothes. I can't wait for Tanner to get bigger so he can wear them all. My guilty pleasure for baby clothes is Sunday outfits. He will be one handsome man on Sundays as lots of people got us really cute Sunday/Church clothes. The best present was wrapped in the prank Crib Dribbler box. I was really confused about it and tried to act excited about such an odd present. And then the friend told me it was a joke.

This is also the last pregnant picture I have. So there you go. I was huge!

Lots of yummy food.

Later in the month, Ashton was invited to a friend's birthday party. It was held at Chuck E. Cheese. We've never taken Ashton there. She had a blast to say the least! She still talks about it all the time and can't wait for another birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I think I will make her reward for sitting on the potty be coins for Chuck E. Cheese. She spent most of her coins on this duck shooting game as seen below.

Here's some random pictures to share:

I often find Ashton hiding in here.

We went to a playgroup and she loved swinging.

Bug eyes!

Highlights

Here's some highlights from the last week:

Ashton continues to love Tanner. Daily, she says that she loves him and that Tanner is her friend. I was expecting her either completely ignore him or to be upset that he was here stealing attention. However, that is not the case. I hope this love relationship continues once Tanner is old enough to play with her toys...

We typically sing to Ashton before nap/bed. Lately, she's taken this part over and sings her songs. I was able to record her singing the other day and she did great. She often sings to Tanner as well when he's sleeping.

Joseph has been staying home in the morning, which allows Ashton to get out of the house and lets me get a little more rest. Tanner sleeps pretty well at night in three to four hour stretches but I still enjoy a quiet house to sleep or get some work done. I've been successful at getting both kids to nap together in the afternoon, which is great too

Overall, we are loving being a family of 4. I am shocked at how natural it feels to have Tanner here. It strengthens my testimony that God has a plan for our family. So far, adjusting to two kids seems much easier than it was adjusting to having Ashton. But Tanner is still pretty sleepy/laid back so we'll see how life is once he wakes up and becomes more needy/demanding.

We've had some good laughs with Ashton lately. She's definitely asserting her independence. Often she will say things like, "Hold on. Let me get something first." or "Just a minute. I'm busy." The other day, she was mistreating her toys and I told her we don't treat toys that way. Instantly, she looked at me and said, "Treat? Can I have a special treat?" Silly girl. She clearly has selective hearing.

Holding the balloon that my parents sent. The helium is about to run out and I'm pretty sure she will be devastated.

Aunt Anah sent a package with some things for Ashton. She was very excited and had to put everything on right away.

First bath

Built a Lego house. She was very proud and asked to take a picture.

Sorry kid... the pink blanket was the closest one available. Typically, he can also be found with princess stickers on him, courtesy of his big sister.

 Joseph came up with the idea to celebrate Tanner's birthday at the hospital. Ashton is very into birthdays and singing Happy Birthday. We brought cake and ice cream to the hospital when Ashton came to meet Tanner. My parents sent some presents too so we opened those. Every day before Tanner was born, Ashton would ask if it was time for ice cream. We were all very excited to finally eat some ice cream.

Our Little Boy

Tanner is here! Now our world can turn upside-down again...

After realizing he was not going to arrive as early as his sister, I joked with Joseph that it would be convenient for him to born on 1/16/16. Ashton was born on 9/13/13 so it's easy to remember birthdays. Well, I woke up at 3:30 Saturday morning with contractions about 5-6 minutes apart. I never went through that with Ashton since her water broke. It was weird to sit around having them and not knowing when I should go in. About 6am, they still weren't letting up so we went to the hospital. I was 2cm but didn't progress over two hours of observation. I was sent home, which I feared would happen throughout the pregnancy. I just thought I would be so embarrassed to be sent home and I was.

We went walking around Target and got a few last things as the nurse felt I was definitely going to have the baby during the weekend. We went home and I tried to get stuff done around the house and then went to an anniversary party for my visiting teacher. After I got home, the contractions were really bad. We went back to the hospital after Ashton woke up from a nap at 4:30pm. I had progressed to a 3 but the nurses could definitely tell I was in pain. The doctor said I could stay, which was nice of him. After getting fluids, I got the epidural at 6pm and life was great after that. I love epidurals and I love anesthesiologists. At 8, the doctor checked me and it was go time. We were shocked at how fast it went. I thought we wouldn't have a baby until the next morning.

Tanner came out screaming at 8:22pm. Weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz. How do I make such big kids?! He was two weeks early too! Just over 20 inches long. People say he looks like Ashton as a baby. I'll let you be the judge.

We're happy he's here. I'm happy to be home, out of maternity clothes, and not have a huge belly anymore. He went down to 7lbs 14 oz in the hospital and we'll see how much he weighs tomorrow at the doctor. He eats like a champ, so that's nice.

I couldn't believe he was bigger than Ashton. He seemed so tiny when I held him.

Here's Ashton in the hospital to compare Tanner to.

Not the best quality of picture from the hospital but I love his little outfit we picked out. Such a handsome boy.

She is in love with her brother. She wants to hold him and touch him all the time.

Breaking out of the hospital.

Christmas Break Crafting

BYU schools offer short Christmas breaks, which I thought were fine as a student. However, for teaching faculty, it is even less time. By the time I graded all the final exams/assignments and submitted final grades, I had about 12 hours of "Christmas break" before my class next semester opened. Even though classes don't start until tomorrow, I still need to get all the documents, lectures, etc ready to go by the first weekend of January. And with the pending arrival of our little boy, there's even more work that I need to get done.

Despite the craziness, I also needed to get some projects done over Christmas break. I was fairly successful. I think the only loser is my sleep. I haven't slept great as I'm staying up late and skipping naps to get everything done. Add in the fact that I'm pregnant, going to bathroom twice a night and our toddler deciding to wake up more lately. Oh well, I'll sleep again in 30 years.
 
Before Christmas break, I made a few Christmas presents this year. I hope they are enjoying them. For a few of my nephews/nieces, I made Fort Kits. The idea came from Pinterest. All I did was sew the bags holding all the supplies to build a fort but that still was a small challenge as I made the first set of bags too small.

Then, I made two car mats for my youngest nephews.

Here are the projects I finished around the house:

Reading nook for Ashton's big girl room. I used modge podge for the letters and bought Dr. Seuss books from Goodwill. I felt a little weird cutting up books. We wanted a bean bag and couldn't find one that matched her room for a reasonable price. So I made it instead. The beans haven't arrived yet but here is what it will look like, except purple and gray.

Bow holder. I recently bought a bunch of bows for Ashton for super cheap. But I needed a place to store them all. I had this old board thing from college so I resurfaced it.

Bathroom artwork. This wasn't so much a craft as it was just time I had to make. I wanted some artwork for the bathrooms for a while and got one set for Christmas. Then I ordered the other set and we hung them up. I like them a lot.

Kid's bathroom

Master bathroom

Baby boy ties/onesie. This is probably the most exciting part of dressing a boy. You can't do many fun accessories so I made some bow ties and onesies that have snaps to use the ties on. The normal ties are tied around elastic so I can interchange those as well when he gets a little older. I hope to make matching hair bows for Ashton so the two can match some Sundays.

Ready to support BYU this fall

I also filled our new deep freezer in our garage with freezer meals. We should be good to go for the first month after baby boy arrives. Hooray! Joseph also finished a few of his projects including adding shelves to our entry way closet and installing a watering system for our garden (almost done). Everything done just in time for my semester to start tomorrow!

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.