Fall 2018

Here are some highlights from the fall months in Texas now that it's almost Christmas time.

One of Joseph's brother and his family came to visit over Labor Day weekend. We had fun playing with cousins. It was a very rainy September so most of our fun ideas got tossed out for rainy day weather. We managed one day to visit a park and play at a splashpad. We also visited a trampoline park since it was rainy.

Ashton was brave and got to the top of the climbing totem poles. She turned out to really enjoy rock climbing.

 We played outside as much as we could. Tanner found the muddy spot on our street. Good thing we have hoses and bathtubs.

 We met up with some friends at Froberg's Farm Festival. We've never gone before but I decided to be brave and take the kids. Joseph had to work that Saturday for his turnaround so being a solo parent, it wasn't too bad.

Loved the duck races.

 Halloween came and went. I'm just happy the candy is finally gone. Ashton was a unicorn. Gemma was supposed to be a BYU cheerleader with a hand-me-down costume but she ended up super sick that day and the costume was forgotton. Tanner was a rocket ship but gave that costume up and went as a super hero for trick or treating. Our neighborhood was wonderful to go around a few streets and see our neighbors.

Tanner helped make the pumpkin graveyard dessert.

Kids found a butterfly in our backyard one Sunday. I think it was halfway to dead and that's why it was okay being held the whole day. It "flew away" during the night though.

Took the kids to a jumping place in town for their toddler morning. The kids loved it! Here's Tanner finally mastering one of the bounce house obstacles.

 We ventured out the zoo in November. It's fun to visit but I think we're getting Zoo-ed out. The kids really just want to ride the carousel, play on the playgrounds, and see the petting zoo. They like the animals but aren't super into it.

Gemma liked the carousel.

Tanner would rather watch the construction going on instead of looking at animals.

 We hosted Thanksgiving with a family from church. I always find joy in making the turkey and this year was no different.

We also did a thankful tree during the month of November.

I am teaching (almost done) two classes this semester, which has been a challenge. I am also serving in a leadership role for course development so that has added a little extra to my plate. I enjoy teaching and love finding ways to improve my teaching skills. I also love that it is very applicable to my church calling right now (in the primary presidency).

I'll do anything to keep Gemma occupied while I quick grade an assignment or respond to emails.

Wisconsin Trip 2018

We traveled to Wisconsin again this fall. Joseph had an extremely time-intensive turnaround from the end of September through mid-November. His hours were 5am to 6pm for 13 days straight and then one day off. This day off was on every other Sunday, which was nice but we still missed him around. To break up the long six weeks, I decided to head to Wisconsin with the three kids. I flew again as I can't fathom driving alone with all three yet. One year...  Although, I like to think I have the flying thing figured out so switching it up would be odd. We'll try a road trip next summer.

The kids did great on the flights and traveling. Ashton is a pro and Tanner is almost a pro. The only things he needs to work on is a quiet voice on the plane and not kicking the seat in front of us. And Gemma seems to follow suit with being a great baby while traveling. We only went for six days so if the trip was terrible, it was at least short. We had a great visit and enjoyed spending time with my family. Here are some highlights:

We fly to and from Minneapolis now, which is a great airport for kids. The Chick Fil A is right next to a large kid's play area, which is also right next to the tram. I know they did that on purpose.

My sister is at my parents' home for a few months while they transition to new jobs. It was a blast to spend time with her too.

We ventured out to a new park by the Wausau airport. Best park ever! Plus we got to see lots of small planes land and take off, which was a dream come true for Tanner.

Typical Gemma- always happy

I took the kids to the Stevens Point Children's Museum one day and met up with my sister at her new job at UWSP. It was a fun museum but children's museums are difficult with multiple kids at different ages. It's hard to keep track of everyone at the same time as they spread out. Thankfully, this one was smaller so it was a little easier.

One of my favorite pictures. The kids loved running outside and riding the lawnmower with my dad.

Gemma at 8 months old

Weight: Right around 19 lbs. Still our smallest baby.
 
Height: Around 28 inches
 
Clothing Size: 6-9 month clothes

Daily Schedule: I was really excited for daylight savings with Gemma because I thought it would bump up her bedtime. Nope. She adjusted just fine and didn't seem to notice a difference. She still wakes up between 7 and 8am. She really prefers three naps a day and squeezes in her third nap around 6pm. No matter what time her third nap happens, she is almost always ready to go down for the night around 9/9:30pm. I wish it would bump up a little so I could get more work done but it is nice to put the big kids to bed first and then Gemma.

She has also slept through the night again quite often over the past few weeks. I'm hopeful it keeps progressing. I can't really sleep train her with her heart condition so I just keep hoping she "gets" it eventually.

Special Outings: Wisconsin! She did AWESOME with traveling by plane and car and sleeping someplace else. Gemma is the easiest baby traveler so far. She was very clingy while visiting but still smiled at everyone.

Firsts: More foods that she doesn't like. She likes to gnaw on food and then spits it out rather than swallowing it. I keep hoping one day she'll suddenly wake up and love food.

Heart Update: We had a heart check up finally! Waiting three months was rough. Here's the update as best as I can explain it. Gemma's main number that signifies if intervention is necessary rose a little bit. In August, she was upper 40s/low 50s. This time, she was at about 55. This number is slightly flexible as Gemma moves around during the ECHO and such. Typically, doctors use 60 as the line for surgery or not. Some doctors use 50. It varies a little bit from doctor to doctor or practice to practice. We're grateful the increase was at least a slower increase than the past three visits. However, living right on that fine line is worrisome. The other issue that presented itself at this appointment is her artery coming off of that valve is showing distress. Sometimes, the artery can thicken or dilate due to the blood flow hitting it harder in one spot rather than flowing freely. This is the first time we've seen issues with that artery. This signifies that her blood flow is not flowing properly and could lead to bigger problems later on.

When our cardiologist is telling me this, I kept thinking that we'd just go get a second opinion. We'd discussed doing this as a safety precaution to ensure measurements and opinions matched between doctors. I trust our doctor but would still want to have another opinion before pursuing further treatment. However, our doctor said she wanted to take our case to a cardiology panel in Houston that meets every 6 weeks. There, many local cardiologists meet to discuss certain cases and decide together what would be best recommended. I loved this idea but was not looking forward to waiting a few more weeks.

Well, fast forward a few more days and our cardiologist calls me. She was able to talk to the panel early and discuss Gemma more. They all agreed that the surgery has better outcomes if we wait for Gemma to get bigger. The biggest the baby, the bigger the heart. This allows the doctors to do different interventions, which have better results/outcomes. So, unless Gemma starts showing symptoms associated with this defect, we are having another check up in February. At this point, we are fairly certain she will have surgery. What kind and how invasive will depend on how her heart looks in February.

Monthly Pictures:

Gemma is 7 months old

Weight: I'd guess around 19 lbs.
 
Height: Around 27-28 inches
 
Clothing Size: 6-9 month clothes for the most part.

Daily Schedule: Wakes up between 7 and 8:30am. She's working on transitioning between two and three naps a day, so that changes the schedule each day. Aside from that, she's pretty predictable. Awake for 2.5-3.5 hours between naps. Goes to bed between 8 and 9 depending on how many naps she took that day. She's then up about once a night.

She has successfully dropped her swaddle and is doing better with naps and nighttime sleeping.

Special Outings: I can't recall anything specific. But I'm sure she did something cool.

Firsts: Tried lots of foods this past month but still isn't very interested. She sucks on food but then spits it out once she's done mushing it around in her mouth. She does like straw cups with water.

Heart Update: Check up is next month. Can't wait to find out more.

Monthly Pictures:

She's a good sport when the big kids want to help.

Her favorite play activity is to dump the toys out of the clear bin and then play with the bin.

Gnawing on tortillas at the grocery store.

Enjoys sitting in the grass watching the big kids ride bikes.

She gets to her hands and knees and then just hangs out there.

Examining the broccoli

Ashton's Birthday

We celebrated Ashton's birthday over the course of a weekend. Her birthday was on a Thursday but we tricked her and told her it was really on Friday. I wanted her to be surprised on her birthday. This was the last year that she won't know how to follow the calendar and know what day is what. So we did it and I loved it! I surprised her with balloons and everything that morning. She got to plan the entire day from start to finish.

Her breakfast request was to go to IHOP but with three kids (one being Tanner) that's a no-go. So we made sprinkle pancakes at home. Much easier for everyone. Tanner and Ashton loved them. I have a feeling that will become a new birthday tradition.

For the morning, we went to an open gym at a gymnastics place in town. I wanted to do this in Lake Jackson but the gymnastics places didn't offer it. I'd rather pay $10 every few months for Ashton to practice gymnastics than $75/month for classes. The kids loved it and I know we'll be back every few months. They ran around a lot and they had two instructors helping teach basic skills. Ashton worked with one for a while on cartwheels. That's her newest goal in life.

Lunch was at Sam's Club (her pick) because it's cheap and I let them get ice cream and walk around for samples. We spent nap time working on crafts and then had beef stroganoff for dinner. We opened gifts and had butterfly cake that evening once Joseph got home.

They got the little square scooter things like I had in gym class growing up. I love them. I imagine we'll have some pinched fingers along the way but I like active toys like this.

This describes their relationship so well. Always telling him what's what.

Stamping supplies from my parents. That's been keeping her busy most days now.

And this describes Tanner so well. Always jealous of what sister gets. Her birthday was rough for him as he has a better understanding of birthdays now. I look forward to his birthday and what he wants to do next year.

Then, on Saturday, we drove back to Lake Jackson for a birthday party. We weren't sure if we would do this but Ashton hasn't made a ton of friends in Clear Lake yet. The few that she has made go to school now so she can't have playdates with them. So we invited some close friends and had a party at the church building (the bugs/rain made it impossible to have it at the splash pad as planned). The party's theme was all of Ashton's favorite things. So she picked the cake on Pinterest, picked a Little Mermaid pinata, picked the games, food, etc. I enjoyed letting her plan the details so she would love it. All our friends were able to make it and I enjoyed seeing them too.

Best friends together again.

The Spanish branch was hosting an activity later that day so kindly let us use the gym. Plus they're the best at pinatas so helped us set it up and play music for us.

Ashton cried the night of her birthday because she was sad it was over. When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, she said, "spending so much time with my family." I'm grateful we don't do formal gifts for our kids for birthdays and rather just spend extra time with them on their favorite activities.

August Events

August was busy with our vacation in the middle of it plus Joseph starting his new position at Dow. School also started for Ashton.

Our new furniture arrived and I really love it. I spent a lot of time (probably too much time) planning this room. I finished painting it and now I'm working on the open shelves.

Since moving so close to NASA, the kids have really taken a liking to rockets and space. We read books after books on rockets and we visited part of NASA that is free. It has an old space shuttle/replica thing in a warehouse building plus some smaller ones outside to walk around. We now follow NASA on social media to keep track of ISS space walks and launches so we can watch them live on NASA TV.

 Ashton started preschool at a new school. It was a rough start for her but she's doing much better. It's three half days a week (that's the only option at the few schools I looked at) so that's more than we both anticipated. Tanner loves the one-on-one time since Gemma naps during this time. Ashton's school has Spanish class every week, which is fun to see what she learns. Most of the kids in her class have been together since 2 or 3 years old so she has felt like the new kid. But that's faded now.

Tanner wanted a first day of school picture too. He is really sad he can't go this year.

We hosted a neighborhood BBQ for our street to meet our new neighbors. Partly so they would like us rather than hate us (I always worry about people getting annoyed with three little (and sometimes loud) kids on a new street). We're definitely the youngest family on the street as the next oldest kids are 8 or older. That's different than our old house with younger families all around us. But it's nice because the older ones watch out for my kids. I'm happy to have older families around so I can ask questions about our school and teachers, etc. We had about 30 people come, which was a surprise to me. Gemma won everyone over and the kids behaved for the most part. One neighbor gave the kids silly string as a housewarming gift, which was perfect. They had a blast spraying each other.