The Flood

Well, our flood didn't quite last 150 days like it did for Noah. More like four days. But it was still a very exciting time in our lives.

The weekend prior to our area flooding, several neighborhoods in Lake Jackson had evacuated. Those neighborhoods were much closer to the bayou and river than us so I wasn't worried at all. Tuesday morning, I left for storytime and drove back home after lunch. In those three hours, the streets had a considerable amount of water. What confused me was the fact that it hadn't rained. Water was coming UP through the street drains. Around 1:45, I was nervous about getting my car out if the water kept rising the way it was. After calling the city a lot and waiting for their press release at 3:30pm, we were issued a voluntary evacuation. I hemmed and hawed about leaving. I couldn't reach Joseph at work so I needed to make a decision quickly. When the firefighters came around issuing the evacuation notice, the guy told me if the evacuation changed to mandatory and we couldn't get out of our house, we would be charged with child endangerment. That is what convinced me to leave. So we packed up quickly and someone with a very high truck came and got us. My car was stuck in the garage but Joseph was able to park a few blocks away where it hadn't flooded yet.

We were grateful for many ward members who opened their homes to us. We stayed with Ashton's best friend, Collin and their family. Ashton slept on a mattress on the floor, which was the first time out of a crib for her. She did alright. Our home never flooded but the streets were impassable until Friday and Saturday. We came back home Wednesday night to sleep by trekking through the water and then went back to Collin's for Thursday. That way, we weren't stuck at home all day long. Joseph had the rest of the week off so anytime we went somewhere, we walked a few blocks to our car and could get out.

I'm grateful we had 72 hour kits (even though we forgot them amidst the rush and craziness of the afternoon...) and food storage in our home. Also for the fact that we paid our flood insurance. Joseph couldn't remember if we had renewed it earlier in the spring so the first free moment he got was to check that we had insurance. We are also grateful our home didn't flood. We have some ward and stake members who are now facing major home repairs from flooding. It has allowed us to help serve and Ashton loves service opportunities. On Monday, we made lunch for the volunteers at one member's home. Ashton loved making sandwiches and giving lunch to all the missionaries and people there.

Taken around 1:30pm. When I left at 10:30, the streets were completely dry.

I walked around the street to take pictures and send to Joseph at work. I wanted him to see I wasn't just being silly and scared.

As we're leaving.

Playing at Collin's house. Ashton loves their firefighter hats.

Trekking our way back home Wednesday. For me, it was about knee deep at the deepest part. Some friends of ours live a few blocks further down and it was waist deep in some parts for them! Crazy!

The drainage ditches behind our houses. Most water I've ever seen in them.

Derrick and Tanner playing nicely.

Haircut

The night I found out I was taking the kids to Wisconsin, I mentioned to Joseph that I should cut his hair before I left. Ashton was nearby and overhead me. The next night, I found this:

It's hard to tell but she cut off several chunks of hair from her ponytail. It is really noticeable if I do several small ponytails, which I typically do on Sundays. I cried. Between the stress of packing, traveling, and Ashton cutting her baby hair off, I was a bit stressed. I know it will grow back but to see her beautiful hair on the floor was the tipping point that day. On the positive side, she didn't cut her skin or give herself bangs...

Impromptu Trip to Wisconsin

We made a quick, last minute trip to Wisconsin. My paternal grandfather passed away and I decided to go to the funeral. In addition, my brother would be there and I haven't seen him in a long time. We found really cheap tickets to Minneapolis so I brought Ashton with me. Tanner is attached to me so he came too.

We set out bright and early on Wednesday for an 8am flight. Flight went wonderful as Tanner slept for half of it and then was nice the other half. The flight didn't scare me; the three hour drive is what intimidated me. Also, lugging around two carseats, a stroller, and a few bags was tricky. We got the rental car and hit the road. The kids did pretty well on the drive and we made it to my parent's home.

Ashton loves and adores Nana and Papa. She couldn't wait to arrive. We spent lots of time with family, which was great. We drove over for the funeral on Saturday and spent most of the day with my brother. My sister and her husband drove with me so I didn't have to drive 3 hours alone again.

While we were in town, my step-sister and her family stayed at my parent's home too. It was a full house filled with laughter and kids playing nicely. I love seeing Ashton interact with her cousins. My cousin, Amy, came over one night and Ashton ran her ragged playing some sort of monster-tag game. Another night, we went to visit my cousin, Lisa, who has a 10 year old daughter. Ashton walked right into their house and played very well with Megan.

All in all, it was a great trip. I am exhausted as both kids woke up at least twice every night. Tanner ended up in my bed most nights and Ashton joined me a few nights too.

Here's the trip in pictures.

My siblings and I.

Visited Great-Grandma. I got a picture of her holding Tanner but it was really blurry. Good thing we'll be back in 6 weeks.

Visited the new children's museum in Wausau. They had this car track thing that Ashton loved.

Ashton was introduced to a tablet.

Playing monster with Amy

My sister and brother-in-law with my kids and Rindy's.

My parent's ponds have tons of tadpoles so Ashton begged my mom to catch some every day.

Took the boat out for a ride. The kids loved it too.

Playing at the children's place at the Minneapolis airport. Ashton mooched off everyone else to ride the rides. I didn't have any coins... poor kid.

Our return flight didn't leave until 8pm. She was exhausted too. Tanner slept the entire flight and Ashton fell asleep the last hour.

The children's museum had this for tummy time. Tanner was willing to stay on his tummy for a long time.

Megan and Ashton selfie.

We can't wait to go back in six weeks for our planned trip!

4 Months Old

Four months already! It's going so quickly! A third of the way to a year!

Weight: 18 lbs 14 oz

Height: 26 inches
99th percentile for both weight and height. Another big kid in our family!


Clothing Size: 6-9 month clothing! Cloth diapers add some extra bulk but he is also just a big boy.

Daily Schedule: Tanner wakes up between 8 and 8:30 in the morning. Then he takes 3-4 naps throughout the day. He's following his sister's footsteps and taking 45 minute naps again! Ugh... sometimes I can get him to sleep longer if I hold him during Ashton's nap. He goes down to sleep very easily, which is the opposite of Ashton. He goes to bed about 7 or 8 at night. Most nights he wakes up around 2 and 5 for a quick snack.

Special Outings: The beach and zoo

Firsts: Rolling both ways now, first time with a babysitter- our awesome babysitter watched both kids for us! It was wonderful!

Sibling love: They like to play peek-a-boo together. Ashton also tries to calm him down if he's fussy and I can't get to him right away. She'll repeat what I say such as, "It's okay Tanner. She'll be right back buddy." She cares about him a lot!

Perfect onesie! Daddy's little linebacker.

Enjoying the swings together.

LOVES bath time.

All dressed up for church one morning.

I love pictures of him sleeping so soundly. Ashton never did this!

Peek-A-Boo

One of the rare moments that my kids are "playing" together!

Mother's Day

We had a pretty low-key Mother's Day. The best part was this video made by Joseph and Ashton. I love my kids!

Turnaround and Grandparent Visit

Roughly once a year, Joseph has something at work called a turnaround. This means one chemical plant shuts everything down, makes some changes/adjustments, and then starts everything back up again. This process takes several weeks. During this time, everyone, including engineers, is on shift work and covering weekends. Ugh... Joseph leaves around 5:15am and gets home about 6:30pm most days. This next week, he has the night shift so will be gone 5:15pm to 6:30am. We're hopeful it will be done by then. Thankfully, Ashton and Tanner have slept in during this time so I can get some sleep and make the long days go by faster. I've tried to do fun things with the kids like go to the zoo and visit some fun parks. I braved Houston yesterday and went to the zoo with some friends and did our shopping at Sam's Club. I was exhausted. The kids were well-behaved though so that was nice. We also ordered our playground so Ashton helps me at night to put that together. I think we have five steps done and about 100 to go...

During all of this, Joseph's parents came to visit for two days. Joseph was able to change shifts with a co-worker so he could be home for some of their visit. Ashton loved seeing Grandpa and Grandma again. She begged for Grandpa to read stories and sing songs before bed with her. They went to the crocodile encounter place again too.

This girl has no fear!

Loves the carousel. Tanner did too as it put him to sleep!