Month of June

June was busy with lots of house work to prep the house for the market. Between all of that, we had some fun playing outside and swimming.

Tanner went to what we thought would be his last post-op appointment from his surgery last October. He will need another surgery this year. At the last post-op back in December, the doctor wasn't sure if the surgery would be needed or not. We were hopeful but also happy to have a good doctor that we trust. Surgery is scheduled for the week after we move as Joseph is taking some time off anyways. Now my hope is that Gemma doesn't need surgery! Or if she does, we can do it yet this year as our deductibles are met.

He's mastering the "selfie" aspect.

 

We listed our house this month. It seemed like an impossible task to keep the house clean all the time but it wasn't terrible. I've learned how much the kids are really capable of in terms of cleaning and picking up. With cleaning, I allow the kids to listen to Pandora Disney channel. Often, they stop cleaning and dance a little.

We found our house! We looked at several homes and then this one popped up on the market. We looked at it right away and loved it. We move in two weeks (CRAZY)! It has five bedrooms, an office for me to work from home in, and a good size backyard. It's part of a HOA that has a pool, playgrounds, basketball courts, etc. We are on a cul-de-sac with the path to the park at the end of our street. It met almost all of our criteria so I was happy. We're looking forward to moving and making the house become our home.

 
Ashton swam on her own for the first time! I was really surprised she did it as she tends to be fairly fearful of water. But she finally got the courage to do it. As the weeks go by, she's getting more brave with swimming. We have to keep reminding her to wait until a parent is near her to try swimming on her own.

Gemma at 3 months

Weight: Just over 14 pounds

Height: 25-26 inches

 
Clothing Size: 3-6 month clothes.

Daily Schedule: Gemma continues to sleep through the night for the most part. She goes to bed between 8 and 9 and sometimes wakes up around 6/6:30. She'll go back down after eating and then sleep until 8-9am. Normally, she takes 45 minute naps (just like the other two) after being awake for about an hour and a half. Every now and then, she'll go longer. She's a fairly predictable baby.

Total diapers we change daily: For cloth diapers, about 7-10.

Total outfits we go through daily: One. She spits up on them but I don't care enough to change her. Just wipe it off.

Special Outings: Spent the day at the beach and she's taken lots of trips to house hunt with us. Thankfully that's over since we found a house.

Firsts: Swimming! We took her swimming a few times this month and at first, she was a little upset. We went last weekend and she loved it.


Eating: Continuing to nurse wonderfully but she has started spitting up more. It peaks around 4 months so I'm hopeful we're almost to the worst and then it will get better.

Heart Update: We had our second appointment with the pediatric cardiologist two weeks ago. The news wasn't the best. Gemma's heart defect appears to have worsened over the past eight weeks. In April, the defect was barely moderate. Last week, it was definitely in the moderate level. I forgot to ask the percentage at the last appointment for comparison. The cardiologist is still hopeful Gemma will plateau now and the defect will stay the same. We go back in September and we'll find out more then. The issue with the Echos at a young age is Gemma is pretty fidget-y. That makes it hard to get an accurate measurement. The doctor is hopeful at six months that Gemma could be a little more cooperative in her stillness. I am skeptical of that but we'll try. It is reassuring to know that we're moving ten minutes away from this doctor. And if Gemma does need surgery, we know our insurance is great (after Tanner's surgery) and that it doesn't require open heart procedures.

Sibling love: The kids love to say, "Good morning, Gemma" in a high, squeaky voice every morning. They both love to hold her and Tanner gets mad if we "help" in holding her. Overall, they have quickly grown accustomed to her.

Overall, Gemma is a perfect baby. She rarely fusses or cries. She goes with the flow and is very calm. She goes to sleep quickly and eats well. She's a perfect little third child with two very opinionated siblings. 

Monthly Pictures:

Tanner had to get a picture too.

 

Month of May

We had a busy May due to several changes in our family.

Joseph applied and interviewed for a job right after having Gemma. It was a crazy time to think about the possibility of moving but we discussed that we had to take the chance if the right job came along. We found out towards the end of April that he got the job. We could finally announce it later in May and start packing. He starts the new position in early August and we'll move once we find the right house. Thankfully, we qualify for relocation benefits so many of the expenses are reimbursable and  paid by the company. We're very close to listing our house finally. It seems impossible to sell a house with three small children but I know others have done it and we will too.

One trip to look at houses included a stop at a jumping place.

Amidst all of this, I was offered a promotion at BYU-Idaho. I was asked to continue teaching as well as be a "middle-man" between the online instructors and the on-campus department. I will work to make changes and updates to the online course and make it more inline with the campus courses. This will start in the fall but I am doing a little work this semester to prepare for that. It wasn't the best timing with a newborn and moving but I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Our church callings also changed in May. Joseph was released as the Young Men's president in the Spanish Branch back when Gemma was born. Then, he was asked to serve as the second counselor in Young Men's in our ward. That same week, I was released as the Young Women's president. It's been quite the adjustment for me to not have a calling right now.

We watched our caterpillars become butterflies this month. It was a fun experience for Ashton and Tanner.

My parents came to visit and meet Gemma. We had a great time with them and spent a lot of time working on house projects. Ashton went to their hotel for a sleepover again and had a blast. We also visited the NASA Space Center and drove around the neighborhoods where we may move to.

Chutes and Ladders with Papa

For Memorial Day, we went to the beach. We had a blast and I completely forgot about sunscreen. Ashton burned so bad that she ended up with a quarter size blister on her shoulder. Poor girl was so red. I thought she couldn't burn but I guess she does. 

Every trip to the beach ends with vacuuming the van. Lots of sand everywhere.

School ended the week my parents came. The last day of school is a Red, White, and Blue Parade. The kids loved it!

Shucking the corn from our garden. We had to pull everything and harvest it before listing the house.

We make almost daily trips to our local splash pad. We will miss this a lot next summer. Thankfully, every neighborhood in Clear Lake has a pool.

Gemma at Two Months!

Weight: 12 lbs 12 oz. Right between Tanner and Ashton in weight.

Height: 23.5 inches. Same as Tanner was. An inch longer than Ashton.

Clothing Size: 0-3 months still.

Daily Schedule: Gemma wakes up around 7am to eat. She stays awake for about an hour to an hour and a half and then naps again. This is a predictable schedule for the most part. She has a hard time napping in the late afternoon/evening so sometimes its two cat naps. Otherwise, she takes 3-4 naps per day. She still sleeps through the night from about 9pm to 7am. I can't recall the last time she woke up in the middle of the night. I'm soaking it in as I'm sure it will change soon enough.

Total diapers we change daily: Cloth diapers started last month! Hooray! I always feel better when I'm not throwing away tons of diapers. This is the earliest I have used cloth on a baby and I always love the cuteness of them.

Total outfits we go through daily: Gemma is not a spitter! So most days she stays in the same outfit. Hooray for less laundry.

Special Outings: Everywhere... I guess her first time at the zoo.

Firsts:Smile! She makes us work hard for a smile but when she does, it's pretty cute. She also coos a lot. Pretty social so far.

The best I can get of her smiling. They're quick ones. She wrinkles up her nose sometimes too.

Eating: Gemma is a good eater. She eats about every three hours or so. Maybe a little closer together in the evening. She doesn't really nurse to sleep much either, which is nice for me.


Heart Update: No further updates on the heart as our next appointment is early June.

Sibling love: Tanner loves to play with her toes and count them. They both continue to like to hold her and give her kisses on the head. Ashton enjoys talking to her and trying to make her smile. Otherwise, the big kids just like to play with all the baby toys.


Monthly Pictures:

Another attempt at a smile

Springtime

Spring has been busy adjusting to three kids. So far, it's going pretty well. I feel guilty I can't give as much attention to each child but we'll adjust. Here's what we've been up to this spring:

The neighborhood park cut down a big tree and filled in the area with sand. The kids love playing there and bringing their sand toys.

 

Gemma, Ashton, and I headed to Houston one Saturday for the DockDogs event. We went to one in Wisconsin a few years back and I knew Ashton would love it. The dogs compete in distance jumping into a large pool. They also had the frisbee/trick dogs out doing shows and a bunch of other pet things at a large park. Ashton loved it all and Gemma slept through most of it.

Her one "purchase" at the event was getting her face painted.

This was Gemma for most of the afternoon. Perks of taking a one week old baby.

Ashton loved watching the frisbee dogs do their tricks.

She ended up taking a nap while waiting for the final round of the jumps.

Action shot of a dog landing. Ashton really wants to train River to do this. Maybe in a couple years.

Easter came and went. Ashton went with Joseph on the annual campout to Huntsville. Someone in our area organizes a large camping trip (about 200+ people) every Easter weekend. It's been going on for about 30 years. I took Ashton last year but with a new baby and cold temperatures, we knew we couldn't all go as a family. Plus Tanner is a runner and we would constantly have to keep an eye on him. Ashton had a blast and I'm already counting the days until I can take her next year again.

Trying to figure out how to jump rope.

 

On Easter, we listened to General Conference and had some friends over for dinner. I made Easter outfits for the kids that they wore the week before. Tanner was stubborn and refused to wear his. So a brown shirt and pants worked for him.

Gemma was blessed on April 8th. It was a lovely blessing and Tanner even let me sit and listen to it. He is very active during church and we don't always get the luxury of listening to sacrament meeting. And Gemma cooperated by not crying for it.

 Joseph took the kids to the park one day and some kid left behind some dinosaurs. Tanner loves dinosaurs! He was one happy boy that day.

 We took the kids swimming and by "we," I mean Joseph did. I sat out with Gemma.

Tanner has no fear of water and loves to swim. He doesn't mind going under water and loves the water slides.

 Every year, the local wildlife refuge hosts a Migration Celebration. We went last year and loved it so we made sure we could go again this year.

Spraying water at targets

Dressing up before visiting the butterflies.

She tried to get as many as she could in her hands. I think she got six at one point.

Another activity was archery. We really enjoy the wide variety of activities at the event.