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.

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.

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'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.

Before the mess of the night began, I did get this cute picture of Tanner sleeping. Kids are always cuter when they're sleeping.

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.

My favorite picture of the weekend.

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.

Ashton's Six Year Birthday Interview

Here's Ashton's responses to our birthday interview with her this year.

How old are you? Six

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your favorite animal? Horses

What is your favorite book? Cinderella book (same as last year)

 What is your favorite show? Cinderella

 What do you like to eat? Ham and cheese roll ups that I make for her school lunches

What is your favorite game? Fairy Game

What is your favorite thing to do? Play the Wii with Daddy

Who is your best friend? Emery and Oliver (some neighbor kids down the street)

What do you like to do with Daddy? Play the Wii

What do you like to do with Mommy? Go on Mommy/Daughter dates

What is your favorite restaurant? Chick-Fil-A

Where do you want to go for vacation? To the Smoky Mountains again

What do you want to be when you grow up? Two things: a vet and a mom

What is your favorite song? Baptism (I Like to Look for Rainbows)

What is the best time of day? Juice box day (she gets a juice box for school one day a week)

What makes you happy? My family

Ashton's school year so far

Ashton has adjusted well to kindergarten so far. We get updates from her teacher and I enjoy seeing how she is doing.

Her teacher uses a program to communicate with the parents. I sent her a message about how the special classes rotate as Ashton was a little confused about it. Her teacher decided to make Ashton the "daily helper" who announces what day in the rotation it is. This is the perfect job for Ashton and I'm grateful her teacher found an individual way to help Ashton.

Ashton says this states, I like to play on playgrounds. I love her labeling of the sun and bees and other parts.

More writing in Spanish.

Aside from mixing up a B with the R, it says I like giraffes in Spanish.

 

 

This is telling us what she likes to eat. Milk and cheese and something else.

This week, the school had a character assembly that focused on a few character traits that the school is working on. I think they loosely follow Seven Habits for Effective People or whatever that is called by Stephen Covey. Ashton was surprised and got a "Caught Doing Good" award for being proactive in the classroom. She said she was the only one in her class to receive an award but who knows how attentive she was to who else came up in front of the school. I was proud of her. She seems to be doing well in class. But then seems to make up for it at home. We've noticed a slight increase in attitude and acting rudely towards her brother once at home. Thankfully, she's good at school so I can't complain too much.

Fall Events

 Our fall was HOT! I think we tied or came close to the latest cold front coming to Houston so it was very warm this fall. Thankfully, we've grown accustomed to the heat and still get outside. Ashton celebrated her birthday and we had contemplated getting her a bigger bike. We decided to wait until Christmas. Well, a week after her birthday, the tire blew on her old bike. It would cost 30-40 to repair it or 80 for a new, bigger bike. So we decided to get the next size up and then we'll fix the old bike when Gemma is ready for it in 4+ years. It's a little tall but still good for her. She loves being able to go faster and that it has a kickstand and a handbrake.

Tanner wanted his picture taken too. Everyone that sees him riding a two-wheeler is always shocked that he can do it.

 Chick-Fil-A hosted a Pirate and Princess night. We went for FHE and got some ice cream for the kids. It was well worth it as they handed out free kids meal coupons for each kid. They planned really fun activities for the kids and they loved dressing up. Tanner missed the memo that it was pirates and just thought it was dress up so he was a Firefighter Pirate instead.

A tropical storm made landfall not far from us and caused a lot of rain in Houston. While not as severe as Hurricane Harvey, it did some serious damage to the east side of Houston and eastern Texas. School was cancelled one day and released early another day. It rained a ton for a few days but the kids could care less. Gemma spent as much time outside splashing in puddles and playing in the rain. One mom on our street had the great idea of just having her kids wear their swimsuits in the rain, which was exactly what I needed to do. Then I didn't have tons of sopping clothes to wash all day.

Before the storm hit, the ice cream truck came to visit. We typically buy ice cream from the truck about once a year so the kids were thrilled with it. $7 is pretty pricey for ice cream so Gemma just got a popsicle from the freezer while the big kids picked out a fancy treat.

Ashton had Columbus Day off from school and we enjoyed a fun day with the three kiddos. It's odd; before Ashton went to kindergarten, I often had some anxiety about the three kids home all day with me (like days she didn't have preschool). But now, I welcome the nice break from the school schedule. I can see me liking summer break for about a week or two and then wanting the routine back. It was nice to have a day home with her. We celebrated by heading to the Y so Ashton could play there too and then went to Chick-Fil-A. Because the kids had free kid's meals, I spent a dollar for the entire lunch meal. Gotta love a cheap meal with three kids.

After naps that day, we ventured out to a new church for a pumpkin "patch." The kids picked their pumpkins for painting and had fun.

We spent one Sunday afternoon exploring the lake in our big subdivision. It is a little further than our pool/park area so the big kids rode their bikes down to it. We saw an alligator and a bunch of turtles and jumping fish. It was the perfect weather for a nice bike ride and then we spent lots of time at the park. For once, there were several other families there to interact with so the kids enjoyed it.