1.07.2020
NASA Rocket Club
While Tanner's interests are starting to expand to other areas, he still loves rockets. He is slowly getting involved in sports (trying tee-ball this spring) and action figures but space and rockets still take the #1 spot. We joined the NASA Rocket Club last summer. It is a group of people from the area who shoot off rockets twice a month at the Johnson Space Center. We've gone once to watch them launch rockets and we finally made it back to have Tanner shoot one of his own. Santa brought him all the pieces to build his own. He was beyond proud to be there among the "big kids" (many schools in Texas have rocketry classes and clubs. They use these launches to qualify for larger competitions).
We stayed after his launch and watched a few more of the larger rockets launch. His next goal is to make one with a parachute. His rocket only had a streamer. We were able to find it in the field and bring it home so we can launch it again sometime. I wish there was a book to learn all about building model rockets as I feel completely inept in this area. But we'll learn as we go.
1.04.2020
2020 Strive To Be
With our Church's new program for children and youth, our family knew immediately that we would all participate as best we could. As we strive to be the best individuals and the best family we can be, we hope these goals will help us. I thought I'd give a little more insight into each goal that the family has right now.
Ashton:
Social: Make a new friend. I don't anticipate this being a challenge for our social girl. She knows no stranger. I am curious to see who she identifies as a new friend and how she explains making a new friend.
Intellectual: Learn to read. Ashton began learning to read in preschool with us. Then I backed off as I felt she would naturally learn it. She is learning so I am not sure how much we will push her on this versus letting her figure it out on her own. School teaches her to read in Spanish first so Joseph has taken over helping her at home. I think she will naturally achieve this goal by the end of the calendar year simply through school.
Spiritual: Memorize the Articles of Faith. She has a few memorized but hasn't done them all.
Physical: We tried to push Ashton to pick something with piano or singing but she really wants to learn a new art skill. Specifically, she says drawing. I'm not quite sure how we will go about this skill as I am a terrible artist. I may look for an art class over the summer or something that fits this.
Casie:
Social: Be in the moment. This mainly involves spending more time with the kids. I am often in the rush to get another chore done or clean up some mess. Instead, I want to put those aside for a little bit longer and play with them. Sit on the carpet and interact. Having a baby definitely slows down our daily routine so I'm hoping that helps some.
Intellectual: Translate a family history book from Norwegian to English. I was given a family history book that is written in Norwegian. Someone did a Google translation on it years ago and we have that. However, I have learned it is not the best translation (for obvious reasons). I was gifted a Norwegian to English dictionary that I'd love to use and translate the material. Some of the individuals in the book include a little paragraph about them and other fun details. I'd love to add this all to Family Search.
Spiritual: Family History. In connection with the Norwegian book, I want to focus more on our own family history. Meaning our current family. So I want to blog more about events and daily life in our home. Our blog is printed each year and placed in a binder in our office. It is our family's journal as best as we can right now. I hope to use some time to blog more. I am cutting back on teaching this year to one class per semester, which should give me a little more time to blog.
Physical: Right now, this is the easiest one for me. Have a baby! Baby girl will arrive in the next couple weeks. Then my physical goal will have to change. Probably to just surviving with four kids!
Joseph:
Social: Limit phone usage. As his wife, I must say I have noticed a huge difference the last few days with this goal. It's been wonderful! It also helps that he decided to quit Fantasy Football for next year. Already, he's noticed he isn't as tempted to check out football stuff.
Intellectual: He said he has a few work projects that he has in mind for this.
Spiritual: Lead our family in Come Follow Me curriculum. He plans to write out the daily plan for family scripture study. He did that for this past week and it was wonderful! Probably our best scripture study in a long time. Even Tanner was engaged, which is often the battle we face at night.
Physical: Eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal.
Tanner:
I didn't expect Tanner to want to participate. But once he saw the board, he wanted to join.
Social: One thing he said that fits this area is plan a family road trip. He still fondly remembers our trip to Tennessee and Utah. While we aren't taking a road trip this year, we are visiting Wisconsin. We figured we'd have him either plan a day in Wisconsin or a day trip for the family in the Houston area.
Intellectual: Launch rockets at NASA. He launched one today (Jan. 4) but has goals to launch one with a parachute next.
Spiritual: Become a Sunbeam!
Physical: Play baseball. Tanner is signed up for tee-ball this spring and he can't wait.
Social: Make a new friend. I don't anticipate this being a challenge for our social girl. She knows no stranger. I am curious to see who she identifies as a new friend and how she explains making a new friend.
Intellectual: Learn to read. Ashton began learning to read in preschool with us. Then I backed off as I felt she would naturally learn it. She is learning so I am not sure how much we will push her on this versus letting her figure it out on her own. School teaches her to read in Spanish first so Joseph has taken over helping her at home. I think she will naturally achieve this goal by the end of the calendar year simply through school.
Spiritual: Memorize the Articles of Faith. She has a few memorized but hasn't done them all.
Physical: We tried to push Ashton to pick something with piano or singing but she really wants to learn a new art skill. Specifically, she says drawing. I'm not quite sure how we will go about this skill as I am a terrible artist. I may look for an art class over the summer or something that fits this.
Casie:
Social: Be in the moment. This mainly involves spending more time with the kids. I am often in the rush to get another chore done or clean up some mess. Instead, I want to put those aside for a little bit longer and play with them. Sit on the carpet and interact. Having a baby definitely slows down our daily routine so I'm hoping that helps some.
Intellectual: Translate a family history book from Norwegian to English. I was given a family history book that is written in Norwegian. Someone did a Google translation on it years ago and we have that. However, I have learned it is not the best translation (for obvious reasons). I was gifted a Norwegian to English dictionary that I'd love to use and translate the material. Some of the individuals in the book include a little paragraph about them and other fun details. I'd love to add this all to Family Search.
Spiritual: Family History. In connection with the Norwegian book, I want to focus more on our own family history. Meaning our current family. So I want to blog more about events and daily life in our home. Our blog is printed each year and placed in a binder in our office. It is our family's journal as best as we can right now. I hope to use some time to blog more. I am cutting back on teaching this year to one class per semester, which should give me a little more time to blog.
Physical: Right now, this is the easiest one for me. Have a baby! Baby girl will arrive in the next couple weeks. Then my physical goal will have to change. Probably to just surviving with four kids!
Joseph:
Social: Limit phone usage. As his wife, I must say I have noticed a huge difference the last few days with this goal. It's been wonderful! It also helps that he decided to quit Fantasy Football for next year. Already, he's noticed he isn't as tempted to check out football stuff.
Intellectual: He said he has a few work projects that he has in mind for this.
Spiritual: Lead our family in Come Follow Me curriculum. He plans to write out the daily plan for family scripture study. He did that for this past week and it was wonderful! Probably our best scripture study in a long time. Even Tanner was engaged, which is often the battle we face at night.
Physical: Eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal.
Tanner:
I didn't expect Tanner to want to participate. But once he saw the board, he wanted to join.
Social: One thing he said that fits this area is plan a family road trip. He still fondly remembers our trip to Tennessee and Utah. While we aren't taking a road trip this year, we are visiting Wisconsin. We figured we'd have him either plan a day in Wisconsin or a day trip for the family in the Houston area.
Intellectual: Launch rockets at NASA. He launched one today (Jan. 4) but has goals to launch one with a parachute next.
Spiritual: Become a Sunbeam!
Physical: Play baseball. Tanner is signed up for tee-ball this spring and he can't wait.
Christmas Festivities
We tried to do a bunch of Christmas activities with the kids this year. We had a sweet spot this holiday of Gemma being old enough to do fun things and no baby again.
Last year, we attended the Bethlehem night at a local church and loved it. Except it was freezing cold last year, which was bad for the kids but good for crowd control. We went this year and had to wait an hour for the line to let us in the "gates" of Bethlehem. Thankfully, the church serves cookies and has choirs performing in a tent so the kids waited there while I waited in line. We now know to come a different night and a different time next year. The kids had a blast again and we were impressed by the church's ability to organize such a large project/event.
We made gingerbread houses a few times. This often ended in chasing Gemma away from the big kids so they could keep working on it. I think next year, we may switch to building our own with graham crackers instead of the pre-bought box ones. That way, the three kids can just build their own instead of working together on one.
Our ward hosted a Christmas party. It was just dinner and then a few thoughts from bishopric members. I always prefer when the parties have kid-focused activities or else my kids just run wild and I am having to constantly remind them to calm down despite the other kids running wild. Ashton was sick so I just took Tanner and Gemma. I feel I should offer to help plan next year's event in hopes of making it more appropriate for the kids.
Ashton had her Christmas piano recital and played Away in a Manger. Then the following week, she was asked to sing a solo in sacarment meeting with the primary children. She got to sing the second verse herself and did wonderfully well. She enjoys singing and after getting over the initial fear/nerves, she does very well in public. We are practicing another song to sing this month with her and me (as long as baby girl's arrival doesn't interrupt that plan).
On Christmas Eve, we met up with some friends from Lake Jackson and spent the day at Brazos Bend State Park. It was a nice way to distract the kids from all the Christmas present excitement.
We came home from the park and did our usual Christmas Eve activities. The kids get a box on Christmas Eve with new pajamas and typically supplies for a movie night. But this year, I decided to switch it up and do a new game for them. Plus, I've had Candyland sitting in the gift box for two years now and was ready to gift it. Instead of a movie, we watched part of the BYU bowl game. We also had our Jerusalem meal with challah bread, olives, grape juice, and fish.
Christmas Day was magical for the kids. We let Tanner and Ashton have a sleepover in Ashton's room and they didn't come downstairs until after 7am. Gemma stayed asleep until closer to 8am. I took the easy way out and bought cinnamon rolls in the can. I think that will become my tradition from now on. It was so much less stress that morning. The kids had a blast opening gifts. Gemma was happy to open one and then play with it for a while. She still had gifts to open on New Year's.
Last year, we attended the Bethlehem night at a local church and loved it. Except it was freezing cold last year, which was bad for the kids but good for crowd control. We went this year and had to wait an hour for the line to let us in the "gates" of Bethlehem. Thankfully, the church serves cookies and has choirs performing in a tent so the kids waited there while I waited in line. We now know to come a different night and a different time next year. The kids had a blast again and we were impressed by the church's ability to organize such a large project/event.
 |
| He thought the guard was Iron Man. |
Our ward hosted a Christmas party. It was just dinner and then a few thoughts from bishopric members. I always prefer when the parties have kid-focused activities or else my kids just run wild and I am having to constantly remind them to calm down despite the other kids running wild. Ashton was sick so I just took Tanner and Gemma. I feel I should offer to help plan next year's event in hopes of making it more appropriate for the kids.
Ashton had her Christmas piano recital and played Away in a Manger. Then the following week, she was asked to sing a solo in sacarment meeting with the primary children. She got to sing the second verse herself and did wonderfully well. She enjoys singing and after getting over the initial fear/nerves, she does very well in public. We are practicing another song to sing this month with her and me (as long as baby girl's arrival doesn't interrupt that plan).
On Christmas Eve, we met up with some friends from Lake Jackson and spent the day at Brazos Bend State Park. It was a nice way to distract the kids from all the Christmas present excitement.
We came home from the park and did our usual Christmas Eve activities. The kids get a box on Christmas Eve with new pajamas and typically supplies for a movie night. But this year, I decided to switch it up and do a new game for them. Plus, I've had Candyland sitting in the gift box for two years now and was ready to gift it. Instead of a movie, we watched part of the BYU bowl game. We also had our Jerusalem meal with challah bread, olives, grape juice, and fish.
 |
| Someone found the black marker right before this. |
12.03.2019
Utah 2019
We finally made it back to Utah. We haven't been for about 2.5 years and I was pregnant with Gemma at that point. It's always a hard trip with lots of travel between different cities to visit all the family. With young kids, I definitely prefer the trips where we arrive and stay in one spot for the duration of the trip. After this trip, it will probably be another 2-3 years before we make it back so we tried to make the most of it.
Saturday, Nov 23 was travel day. Due to some cancelled flights, we ended up driving to Austin and flying out of there. It actually worked out really well. My cousins met us for lunch and dropped us off at the airport. We flew out of a terminal that is separate from the main airport. This meant quick check in and minimal wait in security. It had a nice outdoor area to wait and watch planes land. It was a great set up for young kids. We flew to SLC and stayed at a rental house.
Sunday consisted of church and visiting with Joseph's sister, Samantha and her family. The big kids and the family went to the park while Gemma and I napped. We enjoyed dinner with them and the big cousins helped our kids with some Christmas crafts. The kids played with their dogs and had a great time with their older cousins.
Monday, we drove up to temple square to see the Coon's. They moved from Lake Jackson earlier this year and live all the way in California now. We were thrilled that both families were coming to Utah at the same time. It was a very snowy and windy day, which led to some crying and screaming from our poorly-dressed children. We visited the sights at Temple Square and had lunch at Lion House Pantry. After we said our goodbyes, we drove down to Lehi to see Joseph's other siblings. We attended a birthday party for one of the cousins and the kids enjoyed decorating cookies there.
Tuesday was filled with Thanksgiving Point. We spent the morning at the butterfly biosphere. The kids got to release butterflies and play around there. In the afternoon, Gemma napped while the big kids went back to Thanksgiving Point for the children's museum. After dinner, a few of Joseph's siblings and us headed to the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving Point. Tanner and Gemma screamed for most of the walk through the lights. I think they were cold and tired. Ashton loved them and hung out her her aunt and cousins the whole time. I was grateful they came so Ashton could enjoy the lights and not be rushed through because of her whiny younger siblings.
Wednesday morning, we played at another cousin's home in Lehi and had lunch at Cafe Rio (my favorite Utah restaurant). After that, we drove down to Nephi to stay with Joseph's parents for a few days.
Thursday was Thanksgiving and most of Joseph's family made it to Nephi for the holiday. It snowed a lot on Wednesday and Thursday so the kids played in snow and went sledding. We had a yummy Thanksgiving meal.
On Friday, I headed up north to the Payson temple to complete some temple ordinances for my grandmother. Joseph hung out with the kids and went sledding again. It was a chill day to relax and regroup from the holiday.
Saturday was fun as we left Nephi and visited BYU. We got to see the new engineering building and Joseph enjoyed showing the kids around there. Ashton really enjoyed seeing some of the buildings on campus and learning what classes we took or which buildings we worked in. She kept saying that she can't wait to go to school at BYU. We headed to the BYU Store and spent a ton of money on lots of BYU apparel and things. It worked out that lots of things were on sale from Black Friday so the kids lucked out. Tanner really wanted a BYU helmet and we were doubtful we'd get one due to the price on them. But, they were on a good sale so he was happy. After that, we went to the BYU basketball game with the Ainge's. They used to live in Lake Jackson with us as well and moved to Utah a few years ago. We headed to their house afterwards so the kids could play and we had a pizza dinner. After all this, we drove north to Salt Lake City for our last stop at a rental house.
Sunday was church again. We stayed at a rental house right in downtown SLC by the capitol and Temple Square. Our assigned ward was in the Salt Lake stake, which was created in 1847 when teh pioneers came to Utah. It was neat to be in such a historic building and ward. After naps, we took a quick walk up to the capitol. It was open to the public and we got to see the beautiful architecture and paintings. After dinner, we did a quick visit to the temple square lights. The kids were pretty cold so we made it brief. Then, we headed to Joseph's mission president's home in north Salt Lake. His mission president is Bishop Waddell of the presiding bishopric. The kids thought it was very cool that he knew President Nelson. The Waddell's were kind to our kids and brought out toys and suckers for them. Joseph and I anticipated meltdowns from all our kids and were happily surprised that it didn't happen. We were thrilled to stay longer than we planned so Joseph could catch up with President and Sister Waddell.
On Monday, we traveled back home. The trip home went really well and had minimal issues. We didn't even hit much traffic in Austin and had a smooth 3 hour ride home.
Saturday, Nov 23 was travel day. Due to some cancelled flights, we ended up driving to Austin and flying out of there. It actually worked out really well. My cousins met us for lunch and dropped us off at the airport. We flew out of a terminal that is separate from the main airport. This meant quick check in and minimal wait in security. It had a nice outdoor area to wait and watch planes land. It was a great set up for young kids. We flew to SLC and stayed at a rental house.
Sunday consisted of church and visiting with Joseph's sister, Samantha and her family. The big kids and the family went to the park while Gemma and I napped. We enjoyed dinner with them and the big cousins helped our kids with some Christmas crafts. The kids played with their dogs and had a great time with their older cousins.
Monday, we drove up to temple square to see the Coon's. They moved from Lake Jackson earlier this year and live all the way in California now. We were thrilled that both families were coming to Utah at the same time. It was a very snowy and windy day, which led to some crying and screaming from our poorly-dressed children. We visited the sights at Temple Square and had lunch at Lion House Pantry. After we said our goodbyes, we drove down to Lehi to see Joseph's other siblings. We attended a birthday party for one of the cousins and the kids enjoyed decorating cookies there.
Tuesday was filled with Thanksgiving Point. We spent the morning at the butterfly biosphere. The kids got to release butterflies and play around there. In the afternoon, Gemma napped while the big kids went back to Thanksgiving Point for the children's museum. After dinner, a few of Joseph's siblings and us headed to the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving Point. Tanner and Gemma screamed for most of the walk through the lights. I think they were cold and tired. Ashton loved them and hung out her her aunt and cousins the whole time. I was grateful they came so Ashton could enjoy the lights and not be rushed through because of her whiny younger siblings.
Wednesday morning, we played at another cousin's home in Lehi and had lunch at Cafe Rio (my favorite Utah restaurant). After that, we drove down to Nephi to stay with Joseph's parents for a few days.
Thursday was Thanksgiving and most of Joseph's family made it to Nephi for the holiday. It snowed a lot on Wednesday and Thursday so the kids played in snow and went sledding. We had a yummy Thanksgiving meal.
On Friday, I headed up north to the Payson temple to complete some temple ordinances for my grandmother. Joseph hung out with the kids and went sledding again. It was a chill day to relax and regroup from the holiday.
Saturday was fun as we left Nephi and visited BYU. We got to see the new engineering building and Joseph enjoyed showing the kids around there. Ashton really enjoyed seeing some of the buildings on campus and learning what classes we took or which buildings we worked in. She kept saying that she can't wait to go to school at BYU. We headed to the BYU Store and spent a ton of money on lots of BYU apparel and things. It worked out that lots of things were on sale from Black Friday so the kids lucked out. Tanner really wanted a BYU helmet and we were doubtful we'd get one due to the price on them. But, they were on a good sale so he was happy. After that, we went to the BYU basketball game with the Ainge's. They used to live in Lake Jackson with us as well and moved to Utah a few years ago. We headed to their house afterwards so the kids could play and we had a pizza dinner. After all this, we drove north to Salt Lake City for our last stop at a rental house.
Sunday was church again. We stayed at a rental house right in downtown SLC by the capitol and Temple Square. Our assigned ward was in the Salt Lake stake, which was created in 1847 when teh pioneers came to Utah. It was neat to be in such a historic building and ward. After naps, we took a quick walk up to the capitol. It was open to the public and we got to see the beautiful architecture and paintings. After dinner, we did a quick visit to the temple square lights. The kids were pretty cold so we made it brief. Then, we headed to Joseph's mission president's home in north Salt Lake. His mission president is Bishop Waddell of the presiding bishopric. The kids thought it was very cool that he knew President Nelson. The Waddell's were kind to our kids and brought out toys and suckers for them. Joseph and I anticipated meltdowns from all our kids and were happily surprised that it didn't happen. We were thrilled to stay longer than we planned so Joseph could catch up with President and Sister Waddell.
On Monday, we traveled back home. The trip home went really well and had minimal issues. We didn't even hit much traffic in Austin and had a smooth 3 hour ride home.
11.28.2019
Baby #4
This is a post of the entire pregnancy so far. Since we decided to wait to tell Joseph's family until we came to visit Utah, it was a little bit of a "different" pregnancy. We kept it from our kids a little longer than the other pregnancies as well as from friends.
We found out we were expecting in mid May and were thrilled. A little back history but with Gemma, we experienced a few health concerns while trying to conceive so I was very nervous about trying again.
The first trimester was ROUGH! I was very sick. Mostly extreme exhaustion and nausea all day and all night with the occasional vomiting to go along with it. What stunk even more was Joseph was stuck working the shifts for his strike thing at work. So he was gone from 2:30am to about 3:30pm Tuesday to Sunday and then exhausted every night as was I.
Around the end of July/early August, the nausea went away and food sounded good again. Everything looked good with the doctor and pregnancy was back to normal for me.
Our ultrasound was at the beginning of September. Due to how sick I was, I really thought it was a boy. I recalled being pretty sick with Tanner and thought I felt better with the girls. Well, the ultrasound tech showed us and it was clearly a girl. I couldn't believe it. I was so sure it was a boy at that point. It took me a long time (and still sort of am) to process that it's a girl. I had a boy's name all picked out as I was sure it was a boy. And now to know that I won't use that name is sad. Oh well!
A week after the anatomy scan, I had a fetal echo done to check on the baby's heart. When you have one child born with a heart defect, you are at an increased risk of another child having one. So I went to our awesome pediatric cardiologist who sees Gemma. She did the fetal echo and all looked great. At this point, we have no concerns for heart problems. Obviously, if a pediatrician hears anything after birth, we'll head back. But we should be good to go with just taking Gemma to see the cardiologist every few months for the next foreseeable future.
We told the kids about the baby after we found out the gender. It was a little hard keeping it from them until 19 weeks but I don't get big fast so they couldn't tell. They knew I had stomach issues over the summer but that was all.
Second trimester went smoothly. I traveled to Wisconsin during it and felt fine. I did get hit by a nasty stomach bug and then influenza back to back for two weeks. This wiped me out energy-wise and I could barely function with the kids. It was a rough week or two but the doctor said all was okay.
So far, third trimester has been manageable. I'm tired a lot but it's hard to determine what is from pregnancy versus what is from having three young kids and trying to stay active and up on housework. I also am teaching two sections of my course this semester, which always leads to a little more stress. For the first time during a pregnancy, I am having difficulty breathing. The doctor feels it is the baby's position on my diaphragm that is causing it. I don't recall experiencing this with the others, even when I got to the last few weeks. As long as it doesn't get worse, I guess it's okay.
Verdict is out on if baby girl will come early like Ashton and Tanner or make me wait until closer to the due date like Gemma. I have family coming to visit a week before she's due so I wouldn't mind if she made her arrival in time to meet them. We will have another growth scan next week to check on her size and all. That will be a first for me. My old doctor didn't do any additional ultrasounds but my new doctor seems to like them more. I'm okay with that since insurance pays for them.
We found out we were expecting in mid May and were thrilled. A little back history but with Gemma, we experienced a few health concerns while trying to conceive so I was very nervous about trying again.
The first trimester was ROUGH! I was very sick. Mostly extreme exhaustion and nausea all day and all night with the occasional vomiting to go along with it. What stunk even more was Joseph was stuck working the shifts for his strike thing at work. So he was gone from 2:30am to about 3:30pm Tuesday to Sunday and then exhausted every night as was I.
Around the end of July/early August, the nausea went away and food sounded good again. Everything looked good with the doctor and pregnancy was back to normal for me.
Our ultrasound was at the beginning of September. Due to how sick I was, I really thought it was a boy. I recalled being pretty sick with Tanner and thought I felt better with the girls. Well, the ultrasound tech showed us and it was clearly a girl. I couldn't believe it. I was so sure it was a boy at that point. It took me a long time (and still sort of am) to process that it's a girl. I had a boy's name all picked out as I was sure it was a boy. And now to know that I won't use that name is sad. Oh well!
A week after the anatomy scan, I had a fetal echo done to check on the baby's heart. When you have one child born with a heart defect, you are at an increased risk of another child having one. So I went to our awesome pediatric cardiologist who sees Gemma. She did the fetal echo and all looked great. At this point, we have no concerns for heart problems. Obviously, if a pediatrician hears anything after birth, we'll head back. But we should be good to go with just taking Gemma to see the cardiologist every few months for the next foreseeable future.
We told the kids about the baby after we found out the gender. It was a little hard keeping it from them until 19 weeks but I don't get big fast so they couldn't tell. They knew I had stomach issues over the summer but that was all.
Second trimester went smoothly. I traveled to Wisconsin during it and felt fine. I did get hit by a nasty stomach bug and then influenza back to back for two weeks. This wiped me out energy-wise and I could barely function with the kids. It was a rough week or two but the doctor said all was okay.
So far, third trimester has been manageable. I'm tired a lot but it's hard to determine what is from pregnancy versus what is from having three young kids and trying to stay active and up on housework. I also am teaching two sections of my course this semester, which always leads to a little more stress. For the first time during a pregnancy, I am having difficulty breathing. The doctor feels it is the baby's position on my diaphragm that is causing it. I don't recall experiencing this with the others, even when I got to the last few weeks. As long as it doesn't get worse, I guess it's okay.
Verdict is out on if baby girl will come early like Ashton and Tanner or make me wait until closer to the due date like Gemma. I have family coming to visit a week before she's due so I wouldn't mind if she made her arrival in time to meet them. We will have another growth scan next week to check on her size and all. That will be a first for me. My old doctor didn't do any additional ultrasounds but my new doctor seems to like them more. I'm okay with that since insurance pays for them.
11.02.2019
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Baton Rouge
Back in July, the Church announced dates for the Baton Rouge temple open house. Baton Rouge is about 4-4.5 hours away. I got excited because this is probably the closest temple for a long time to be renovated/dedicated anytime soon. Houston was just rededicated but they didn't hold an open house. They announced the McAllen Texas temple at General Conference but that could be years from now. So I was determined to take the big kids and go. Driving 9 hours round trip with Gemma didn't sound fun so Joseph said he'd stay home with her.
There were three main objectives for the trip:
1) Tour the temple
2) Be super cool/fun mom and let the kids plan the weekend
3) Have the weekend be memorable (hopefully accomplished by the first two objectives)
Well, we accomplished all three but it didn't quite go according to plan.
The plan was to pick up Ashton early from school on Friday and hit up Bucee's. That is a famous gas station in Texas that the kids love to stop at. Once again, being super cool mom, they could pick out a treat and drink at the gas station. Then we drove to McDonalds for dinner about three hours away. This met the "super cool mom" status as Tanner and Ashton picked it for dinner. We NEVER go there and they think it is a really cool place to have dinner. Plus, I splurged and got them their own ice cream instead of making them share like we normally do.
We stopped for dinner and then headed out for the rest of the drive to Baton Rouge (about 1.5 hours). I found a hotel close to the temple that had an indoor pool so we could go swimming. Even though we were getting there late (around 8pm), I was once again "super cool mom" and agreed to take them swimming. Well, surprise, surprise, the indoor pool was NOT heated! And we've had a few cold days lately in the South so the pool was FREEZING! The kids barely touched it. To keep with the objective to be fun, I let them "swim" in the hotel room's bathtub with all their pool toys.
At this point in the night, Ashton has complained about her stomach hurting periodically. I figured it was from not eating a ton of dinner and eating ice cream. I didn't have anything to give her so we got ready for bed. I said we'd see how it was in the morning. About an hour later, the kids are fast asleep and Ashton just starts throwing up in the bed. It is everywhere- the bed, pillows, hair, pajamas, the floor, etc. I rush her to the bathroom and get her in the tub. Thankfully, Tanner sleeps throughout this whole process.
I call down to the front desk to get more sheets and they say the sheets are locked up until the morning when housekeeping arrives. So I make the best use of the nice white towels in the hotel room. Ashton got cleaned up and crawled in my bed. Tanner was fast asleep in the other bed so I just covered the throw up and let him stay asleep on his side of the bed. Not the best parenting moment but I wasn't about to have both kids in my bed with Ashton throwing up all over everyone.
Ashton went back to sleep and I laid there waiting for the next throw up. I finally fell asleep and was in and out for the remainder of the night. The smoke alarms in the hotel went off at 6am and woke up everyone. The hotel quickly turned them off and the kids fell back asleep. Ashton woke up around 7am and threw up. This time, she got it in the bucket next to her bedside.
We all get up and assess the damages. I decide to take them to Walmart to pick up stomach bug essentials as well as what we'd need for the 4.5 hour drive home. At this point, I am now sick and throwing up in the room. Tanner is complaining of an upset stomach but hasn't actually thrown up yet. We watch TV and I try to decide if we can make it to the temple or if we should start the drive home. About an hour later, everyone is doing okay and we haven't thrown up again. We drive to the temple and decide that we won't touch or shake anyone's hands.
We accomplish goal #1 and tour the Baton Rouge Temple. The kids thoroughly enjoy it and I can tell they feel the Spirit inside. It's a very small temple, which was neat to see compared to the other temples I've been to.
We then head back to Houston. I had planned to stop at a cool park and have a picnic lunch but at this point, all of us barely kept Gatorade down. I wasn't risking it. Everyone had a bucket with them for the car ride but no one threw up on the way home. The kids watched movies and took naps so the drive was quiet for me.
All objectives were met but I think the trip will be memorable because of illness not because of the super cool things we did. I'm grateful we made it to the temple and that everyone stayed healthy enough while we were there. Hopefully, the next temple open house trip goes much smoother than this and I can be a super fun mom again.
There were three main objectives for the trip:
1) Tour the temple
2) Be super cool/fun mom and let the kids plan the weekend
3) Have the weekend be memorable (hopefully accomplished by the first two objectives)
Well, we accomplished all three but it didn't quite go according to plan.
The plan was to pick up Ashton early from school on Friday and hit up Bucee's. That is a famous gas station in Texas that the kids love to stop at. Once again, being super cool mom, they could pick out a treat and drink at the gas station. Then we drove to McDonalds for dinner about three hours away. This met the "super cool mom" status as Tanner and Ashton picked it for dinner. We NEVER go there and they think it is a really cool place to have dinner. Plus, I splurged and got them their own ice cream instead of making them share like we normally do.
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| We've never seen the Bucee's mascot before so the kids thought this was cool. |
We stopped for dinner and then headed out for the rest of the drive to Baton Rouge (about 1.5 hours). I found a hotel close to the temple that had an indoor pool so we could go swimming. Even though we were getting there late (around 8pm), I was once again "super cool mom" and agreed to take them swimming. Well, surprise, surprise, the indoor pool was NOT heated! And we've had a few cold days lately in the South so the pool was FREEZING! The kids barely touched it. To keep with the objective to be fun, I let them "swim" in the hotel room's bathtub with all their pool toys.
At this point in the night, Ashton has complained about her stomach hurting periodically. I figured it was from not eating a ton of dinner and eating ice cream. I didn't have anything to give her so we got ready for bed. I said we'd see how it was in the morning. About an hour later, the kids are fast asleep and Ashton just starts throwing up in the bed. It is everywhere- the bed, pillows, hair, pajamas, the floor, etc. I rush her to the bathroom and get her in the tub. Thankfully, Tanner sleeps throughout this whole process.
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| Before the mess of the night began, I did get this cute picture of Tanner sleeping. Kids are always cuter when they're sleeping. |
Ashton went back to sleep and I laid there waiting for the next throw up. I finally fell asleep and was in and out for the remainder of the night. The smoke alarms in the hotel went off at 6am and woke up everyone. The hotel quickly turned them off and the kids fell back asleep. Ashton woke up around 7am and threw up. This time, she got it in the bucket next to her bedside.
We all get up and assess the damages. I decide to take them to Walmart to pick up stomach bug essentials as well as what we'd need for the 4.5 hour drive home. At this point, I am now sick and throwing up in the room. Tanner is complaining of an upset stomach but hasn't actually thrown up yet. We watch TV and I try to decide if we can make it to the temple or if we should start the drive home. About an hour later, everyone is doing okay and we haven't thrown up again. We drive to the temple and decide that we won't touch or shake anyone's hands.
We accomplish goal #1 and tour the Baton Rouge Temple. The kids thoroughly enjoy it and I can tell they feel the Spirit inside. It's a very small temple, which was neat to see compared to the other temples I've been to.
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| My favorite picture of the weekend. |
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| Ashton was done at this point and Tanner just wanted to climb on the statue. It was a quick picture and then rush to leave. |
We then head back to Houston. I had planned to stop at a cool park and have a picnic lunch but at this point, all of us barely kept Gatorade down. I wasn't risking it. Everyone had a bucket with them for the car ride but no one threw up on the way home. The kids watched movies and took naps so the drive was quiet for me.
All objectives were met but I think the trip will be memorable because of illness not because of the super cool things we did. I'm grateful we made it to the temple and that everyone stayed healthy enough while we were there. Hopefully, the next temple open house trip goes much smoother than this and I can be a super fun mom again.
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