Gemma at 5 Months Old

Weight: 17 lbs
 
Height: 26-27 inches
 
Clothing Size: 6-9 month clothes for the most part. If she's in disposables diapers, she can still fit 6 month onesies but cloth really adds extra bulk.

Daily Schedule: Gemma wakes up anytime between 7 and 8:30 in the morning. Then takes 3 naps each day. Her naps are finally condensing. She takes a morning, afternoon and mid-evening nap. Her first two naps are 1.5 or more hours and then a short cat nap in the evening. She is still an easy, on-the-go baby. Doesn't take long to fall asleep wherever we are (van, in my arms, carseat, crib, etc). She definitely doesn't fight sleep very often, which is a blessing. She goes to bed between 8 and 9 at night and wakes up once around 5 to eat quickly.

Gemma continues to be a very happy baby. She is constantly looking for someone to smile at and enjoys being around people.

Special Outings: Went to San Antonio for vacation. That was a lot of special outings for her.

Firsts: Rolls over both ways and is pretty close to sitting up independently. She also figured out how to drink out of a straw cup so that's exciting. No foods yet but next month, we'll start. She also has been wonderful at going to the child care at the YMCA in town. As long as I don't work out longer than 45 minutes, she's a happy girl.

Eating: Back into eating normally from last month. She does great at eating and is close to getting 4 teeth (two bottom and two top side teeth).

Heart Update: Her initial appointment wasn't scheduled until next month but I got worried about taking her on vacation with how much she was sweating. Gemma sweats like crazy when she sleeps and eats. Like dripping sweat and she sleeps in just a diaper. I changed her sheets/blanket almost every day because it smells a lot. It's gotten progressively worse over the past two months and the pediatrician said this could be a sign that her heart condition is worsening. So to be safe, I had her checked out before we spent a week in sunshine. The check went well but Gemma's valve has worsened.

The valve stenosis is measured on a scale of 0 to 100 or so. Less than 30 means a mild defect. 30-50 is moderate and above 50 is severe. Her initial appointment back in April, Gemma's defect measured in the low 30s. Then in June, she was in the low 40s. This appointment in August, her defect measured in upper 40s/low 50s. The recommendation is that if she reaches 60, we will do the surgery. However, the best results for surgery is after Gemma turns one. So we have 7 months to go but the doctor is telling us to prepare for the surgery in case we had to save money or anything.

Monthly Pictures:

Her reaction for every time the kids want to take a picture with her.

Her first Gund bear from my sister.

Gemma definitely prefers my ring sling over my lillebaby carrier. She took most of her naps in this during our vacation.

She enjoys swinging with the big kids.

July Shenanigans

 Between the 4th of July and moving, July was also filled with lots of fun activities.

Our old house sold! We got a great offer towards the end of the month and closed with the relocation company already. The best part is we don't have to pay a double mortgage!

Our last picture at the house before we moved out.

Our dear neighbor, Miss Renee. The kids love her and we are so sad to not live next door anymore.

We explored the new area and found this cool rocket park. I took the kids back there a few days later and Tanner kept running towards the road so we'll take a break from this park for a while.

 Tanner had his second (and hopefully last) surgery. Joseph took him to the hospital because they wouldn't allow me to take Gemma back into pre- and post-op areas. He did pretty well considering his surgery wasn't until 11:30 and he couldn't eat from midnight. Joe kept him pretty busy.

The anesthesia was heavier this time as it took a long time for him to wake up. He refused to drink anything so the nurse finally offered a popsicle and that did the trick.

He took much longer to recover from this surgery compared to the last one. Last time, he came home and could walk by that night. This time, he couldn't walk at all and then was in a ton more pain. He got unlimited snacks, drinks, and TV for a few days until he was back to normal.

For Pioneer Day, we made my Great-Grandma Banning's roll recipe. The kids loved helping and we also sang the song, "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked."

New House

Here is a rundown of each person's favorite aspects about the new house:

Joseph:

He enjoys playing hide and seek with the kids. They have a ton more hiding places around the house and love playing most nights. Joseph also likes the fact that the home sits much higher than our last house. During Harvey, the water got about 1/4 of the way up the front yard so that's great compared to our old house.

Casie:
The space. I really like two living spaces so the toys can be upstairs (for the most part until Tanner brings them down) and a nicer sitting area downstairs. It is great to send the kids upstairs to play after dinner for a little bit and not have them running around the kitchen as I clean. It's also nice to not be stepping around/over baby stuff. I like that we can do crafts at one table in the formal dining area and not have to worry about cleaning it all up before a mealtime. I really feel I've been more willing to do projects and play activities since moving.

I also love the location. We're on a cul-de-sac and at the end of the street is the path/trail system of the subdivision. At the end of the street is a small park to run around and play at and then if you take the trails about ten minutes, you end up at a bigger playground and the community pool/tennis/basketball courts. The HOA fees aren't bad at all considering you get to go swimming whenever you want. Definitely cheaper and safer than having a pool in your backyard. The street is really quiet and I don't have to worry too much when we're riding bikes and playing around. The elementary school is a few blocks from us and we just found out they started a dual language immersion program last year. We'll definitely be trying to get Ashton enrolled in that next year.

Our new formal living room furniture that finally arrived.

Ashton:
She likes the kid's craft room. We made the formal dining room into the craft room with an extra table and all the supplies so she is often hanging out in there creating her newest masterpiece.

Tanner:
The stairs. He loves them and plays on them all the time. He also loves the fish bathroom. I initially planned to paint that room quickly but the kids love it a lot. The previous owners kindly left the fish wind chime for us. Tanner also likes the local library because they have tablets. Ugh... I should just embrace it and be thankful we don't own a tablet and won't for many years to come.

Gemma:

I think Gemma appreciates the quieter house as in the kids play mostly upstairs and she sleeps downstairs. She suddenly started taking longer naps once we moved so I'm hopeful that's here to stay.

River:
River appears to be much happier here. We have a few tall trees in the backyard and she spends most of her day chasing birds and squirrels. At the old house, she'd want to come inside a bunch. Now, she's outside the majority of the day and doesn't want to come in. There's some more shade too, which helps.

Tanner at 2.5 years old!

Tanner has changed so much in the last six months and I am grateful for that. He was a fun two year old but I couldn't wait for his language skills to speed up. Now, he can tell us what he's thinking and it's fun to see what he cares about and likes.

Here are some fun things about Tanner at 2.5 years old:

- He LOVES his dinosaur rainboots and wears them almost every day. Some Sundays are a fight as we say no to rainboots at church. He really loves anything dinosaurs but the rainboots are his favorite.

- Enjoys coloring with Ashton. This is one reason I'm happy Ashton is the oldest as a girl. He picks up on a lot of arts and crafts stuff. He has not quite mastered the rule of not coloring on the floors/walls/doors/etc. But we're working on it. He really likes drawing circles.

Drawing circles for his cousin.

- He can count 1-10 and plays hide and seek. He says a handful of letters and can identify a few like O, S, I, and R, I think. He knows the colors almost all the time. And he knows the typical shapes. His favorite shape is a star. His favorite color is green.

- Loves to sleep! This kid can sleep 12 hours a night and still take a 2-3 hour nap. Except with the move, he now wakes up around 6:30/7am but takes a little longer nap. We'll see if he changes back to his normal or if this becomes his new normal. I anticipate him to reset his clock after his surgery later this week.

- Definitely has developed his gross motor skills like climbing, jumping with both feet, kicking a ball, etc. He continues to climb out of his crib but does it gracefully. Once we recover from surgery this week, I think we will transition him to a regular bed.

- Loves to sing "Follow the Prophet" and "When I am Baptized"

- He enjoys watching Daniel Tiger and has learned to count to 4 when he's upset (it's from an episode of Daniel Tiger). He is better at identifying how he feels and working to calm down. He does well when I ask him to go to his room to calm down.

- His most common question is "What's that noise?" He'll ask that a lot if he hears any small noise.

Here is his typical schedule. I found myself looking back at Ashton's schedule for Tanner so I'm sure I'll do the same for Gemma.

7:30-8:30am Wake up. He takes a little while to wake up. Ashton is often up and going by then but Tanner prefers a slower wake up process.
8-9 Eat breakfast and watch one show. He loves peanut butter and honey sandwiches for breakfast.
9-12 Morning activities
12-1 Lunch and watch one show. His favorite lunch is hot dogs. This kid can eat a lot! He also loves yogurt and apples.
1-4 Naptime! He typically naps 2-3 hours. He goes down quietly and quickly falls asleep. He is still in his crib so that helps.
4-6 Wake up, snack, wait for Daddy to come home
Evening: Family outings/activities. He enjoys heading to the park and playing in the splash pad.
7:45 Bath-time, scriptures, and songs. He LOVES the story of Nephi building a boat. That is his request every night. He's starting to say prayers for us as well, which is cute.
8-8:30 In bed. He falls asleep fairly quickly and is happy to lay down.

Tanner teaches me a different way to look at life. He is all about living life to the fullest. He does everything with such energy and love. He reminds me daily to slow down and smile at the little things. I often find myself feeling less stressed as I play with him and enjoy being around his innocence and outlook on life. While he is high-energy and a two-year-old, I am grateful for his example in our family. He brings smiles to everyone and enjoys doing so.

Gemma at 4 months

Weight: 16 lbs. She's the first kid to not double her birth weight by 4 months! Ashton and Tanner were both well over double their birth weight by this age. She is following a little slower growth pattern than the other two.
 
Height: 25.5 inches
 
Clothing Size: 3-6 month clothes.

Daily Schedule: Gemma's schedule continues much the same from last month. She wakes up anytime between 7 and 9 in the morning. Then takes 3-4 naps each day. She is still an easy, on-the-go baby. Doesn't take long to fall asleep wherever we are (van, in my arms, carseat, crib, etc). She definitely doesn't fight sleep very often, which is a blessing. She goes to bed between 8 and 9 at night and wakes up once around 6 to eat quickly.

Special Outings: Lots of places with family that visited this month. She also went to fireworks with Ashton. She was not scared at all by the noise. I blame that on having a very loud brother at home.

Firsts: Meeting some cousins! She also rolls over from stomach to back and can sit for about 15-30 seconds on her own before toppling over.

Eating: A little spitty still but eating well. This is a reassuring sign because if she starts to not eat well, we can almost guarantee that her heart condition has worsened. The last few days, she fights eating occasionally. I'm hopeful this is maybe a sign of teething and not eating difficulties.

Heart Update: No more updates until six months old now! At first, I was happy to wait a little longer between appointments but now I wish we could see the cardiologist more often. Just for a peace of mind. She's starting to possibly show a few more symptoms of her heart condition, which has me nervous but it could end up being nothing. We'll find out more in September or it will worsen to the point where she becomes sick and I'll have to take her in early.

Sibling love: Tanner calls her "Gemmy" all the time and loves it when she wakes up and he can hear her on the baby monitor. Ashton enjoys showing her off to people and keeps asking when we'll have another baby in our family. We keep reminding her that Gemma is the baby for a long time.

Overall, Gemma continues to be a chill kid. She blends in with our family well and we can't imagine life without her now.

Monthly Pictures:

Fourth of July Week

Joe's brother, Terry and his family came to visit July 1st-3rd. We had lots of fun with cousins. Their oldest boy is ten and he was a great help in playing and entertaining Ashton and Tanner. They loved playing with him and kept him busy. We went to the beach together one day and then headed to Brazos Bend State Park the other day. At the park, there are probably hundreds of crocodiles. So we got to see a bunch in the water. If you go during cooler months, they often are laying near the paths in the grass. It was a hot day to hike around the park but the kids had a blast. I liked it more than the zoo as it is always fun to see animals in the wild. We saw lots of birds, a few turtles, and a deer as well (and thankfully no snakes!). I'm bummed we waited this long to go visit the park. It's about 45 minutes away and will be about the same drive from our new house so we'll be going back soon.

They entertained River by feeding her dog food treats.

Went out for ice cream since the ice cream truck didn't come the beach this year.

 

On the Fourth of July, we went to our church's annual pancake breakfast. It was fun to go to our last ward event down in Lake Jackson. After that, we headed to a friend's home to swim and have lunch. It was raining off and on but that didn't stop the kids from having a blast in the pool. I made a yummy flag-like cake.

It was made to look like a flag on the inside as well. The red was more pinky but that's alright.

We rushed home for naps and then headed out again to another friend's home for dinner and swimming. Tanner made the day very memorable by attempting to swim and failing at it. We had finished swimming and were eating dinner outside by the pool. Tanner was playing near the pool with a water gun toy. An older kid borrowed it from him but Tanner was adamant that he have it. As the kid swam away from the side of the pool, Tanner decided to get in the water. Thankfully, I was outside and on the other side of the pool. I kept yelling at him trying to scare him to stay out but he went right in with no fear. A few seconds after he went under the water I was able to get to him and get him out. He didn't seem too scared of the water but was crying because he wanted the toy. I still have that image of him being underwater and helpless. Definitely one of the scarier moments of parenting. Aside from that incident, the evening was fun and a wonderful night to spend with friends who we are going to miss.

After that party, we headed home to get Tanner to bed. Ashton, Gemma, and I went to fireworks. This was Ashton's first time with fireworks. We met up with some friends and she had a great time watching them. The deal was that if she wanted to see fireworks, she had to take a nap on the 4th and again on the 5th to catch up on sleep. It worked wonderfully well and I got two days of all three kids napping at the same time.

Ashton and her friend being silly before fireworks.

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.