End of the summer

Continuation of our summer:

Here's a quick photo recap of the last part of summer:

 

Tanner purchased a bug city to hold all his bugs. This kid will find bugs in the house and take them to the city. I love it! He's gotten quite a few in there. 

Gemma's potty training chart! After two accidents and a whole lot of Frozen stickers, I'd consider this girl pretty well potty trained. She did have issues with constipation but we worked that out. She can wear underwear and do just fine. I've taken her to a few parks to test her and she's done great. I really thought this was going to fail miserably so I am quite surprised.

Ashton started first grade on Monday. To ease the kids back in, the school is only until 12noon-ish. Well, then the hurricane started coming so Ashton had two mornings of school and probably won't have it until next week again. Poor kid! She cried when I told her school was cancelled and piano lessons were cancelled.

Lydia is now big enough to reach the knife block during baths. Guess I should think about moving those.

Target had a slime kit on clearance for two dollars a few months ago. I grabbed it thinking it'd make a fun activity. The kids enjoyed it, except Gemma. She didn't like the texture of it and instead played with playdough.

Another item on our summer bucket list was tie-dye shirts. I found tie dye at the Dollar Store and we had some older white shirts to use so it was a cheap activity. It actually went better than I thought it would. The kids loved doing it and wearing them!

Ashton and Gemma really love helping in the kitchen. Anytime I get a bowl out, I have two instant helpers. I love these pictures and hope they remember the good moments in the kitchen.

We organized a fun water day in the backyard. A few neighbors came over as well. We found these two water things on sale for $20 and said, "it's worth it!" This was back before COVID and it has been a lifesaver this summer. Except for the grass that died under the slip-n-slide.

Also on our summer bucket list was butterflies. The kids enjoyed watching them this time around. When we did it previously, the butterflies stuck around on our fingers when we released them but these ones flew right away. Honestly, so would I if I was released around three loud kids.

 Tanner is fascinated with any type of disaster/destruction. Titanic has been a recent one so we made one out of cardboard boxes. With the hurricane approaching, he's been wishing it will come to see the destruction. He also loves to watch tornado destruction videos.

Lydia is 7 Months Old

 

 Weight: probably around 22 lbs.

Height: I'd guess 27-ish inches.

Clothing Size: Jumped up to 18 month clothing now. So sad!

Daily Schedule: Her days are becoming much more routine. She sleeps until 8 or 9. Then naps in the morning, afternoon, and early/mid evening. She goes to bed around 9 or 10. Once that third nap is dropped, I look forward to an earlier bedtime. It will come eventually. She eats 4 bottles a day, between each sleep cycle and then a few ounces overnight.

Special Outings: She went in the bike trailer on a short bike ride.

Firsts: She is on her hands and knees now, almost crawling. She also had her first bike ride in the bike trailer and loved it.

Eating: Much better this month! No weird reactions to foods. She loves celery and eating "whole" foods but also loves the purees. 

Monthly Pictures:

"And my father dwelt in a tent."

 I began reading the Book of Mormon again recently. This time, I grabbed a cheap/flimsy copy that the elders left once and am marking that up. Also, I am trying to read it from a parenting perspective of how parents in the scriptures interact with their children.

For the first time, this verse stood out to me and has caused me to ponder it for several days.

1 Nephi 2:15 "And my father dwelt in a tent." Nephi says this regarding his father, Lehi. This verse comes immediately after Lehi chastises Laman and Lemuel for their lack of faith. Directly after this verse, Nephi continues on about his desire to know the mysteries of God.

I wonder why this verse was included. As we read the footnotes, we learn of other verses that point out individuals living or dwelling in tents. So we know it was common and the fact that Lehi does it isn't a shock to anyone. At least I think so. My first idea was this points to the importance of parents taking "time outs." We need to care for ourselves since Lehi did too. But that didn't seem right either.

When I examine the word "dwell," there are two main definitions. One is to live/reside/stay at. The other is definitely more interesting for me to contemplate:

"think, speak, or write at length about"

 So was Lehi dwelling in the tent as simply to live/reside/rest. Or was he dwelling there to think and speak at length about his family and the things the Lord had commanded him. At first, I questioned why this verse was included as wondering why we needed to know that Lehi went to his tent.

But if I look at it through the alternate definition, it makes more sense. Here, Lehi is conversing with his children. He has instructed them of their poor choices. As a mom, it is NEVER fun to point out the poor choices of a child. It hurts me to have to do that. While necessary to instruct and teach and discipline, it is still difficult as a parent. Immediately after Lehi does this to Laman and Lemuel, he "thinks, speaks, or writes at length about" it. How often do I pause to think about and write about my trials and challenges with my children? How often do I pause to plead for help from my Heavenly Father as I raise His children? Would I be a better parent if I reflected on my parenting choices after the fact? Would I learn and remember what worked and what didn't if I recorded my feelings after disciplining a child? Would I remember what works for each child individually rather than doing what worked for my oldest and assuming it will work for the rest?

I tried to see if this verse is connected to any conference talks. According to scriptures.byu.edu, it's not. Maybe one day someone important will speak on it more. I am comforted to hear Nephi's testimony immediately after this. Most likely, Lehi and Sariah raised their children in roughly the same manner and environment. And yet, two children went astray and two (at the time) stayed true to the commandments of God. Nephi writes that he believed all the words Lehi spoke. What comfort this brings that as I try to raise my children in the best way I can, I will have done all I can do. Some will stay and some may astray. And some that go astray may come back. I can pray and I can dwell in my spiritual tent as I strive to raise His children.

Tanner Tee Ball

Tanner has loved his season of tee-ball. He has a double-header tonight and maybe one more game next week. But he has loved every minute. His favorite part is sliding into home base and getting his pants all dirty. It's fun to sit outside the dugout and see him form friendships without sisters involved. So many of his "friends" are because we are friends with the parents. He never complained about the heat but did complain every time he didn't win the game ball. His coach ended up changing and being a female coach. He really wanted a boy coach and is bummed that his preschool teacher won't be a boy either. Hopefully, he'll adapt. We will take fall season off due to the uncertainty of Houston right now. But I bet he would love to play again. He has another year of tee-ball if he wants before he moves to coach pitch.

I despise potty training

Gemma is officially potty training. Many moms I spoke to over the past few months said they were potty training since they were home all the time. I thought, nope. Not doing it. And then I realized we will be home for a lot longer. Church is only once a month starting this month for probably the next several months, potentially until a vaccine is widely available. Houston is still trending the wrong way so we won't be going out very often. Joseph is working from home until at least October. So I went for it. We are on day six of Gemma potty training. We've had two pee accidents and a few stinkies outside or in a swimsuit. She is naked 95% of the day. Any underwear on and she thinks it is a diaper. I put dresses on her to cover her up if we have neighbors in the backyard or something. At this point, I'm good with that. If we take her out, I'll just put a diaper on her. I am approaching this with minimal stress involved for everyone.

Her prize is a Frozen sticker on a piece of paper. Super low key and no treats involved. She loves it and so do I. So far, she caught on pretty quickly and holds it until she can get to the potty. Overall, I am impressed with her progress. We'll see how it sticks once life goes back to "normal" in several months/a year.

Lydia is 6 months old!

Oh man... 6 months already! I am about .001 percent sad and 99.999 percent happy to have the last "first 6 months" done with. Lydia becomes more fun every day as she can do more and interact more. I definitely am not the person who will offer to hold a baby at church for someone. I really prefer the older kids. And to think that Lydia is slowly getting to that age makes me happy, not sad.

Weight:21 pounds

Height:26.5 inches I think. She was a little wiggly during measurement at the doctor's office. She is our shortest baby so far. But weight is pretty close to Tanner at this age.

Clothing Size: Lydia is in all 12 month clothes now.

Daily Schedule: Lydia continues taking 3 naps a day. Her night sleeping could definitely improve but I'm not willing to sleep train her. So she gets up a few times a night but goes right back to sleep. Just to surprise me, she will sometimes just wake up once a night. Other times, she'll wake up at 11pm and midnight (and 1am) but then sleep from 1-9am straight. So I figured she'll get there eventually.

Special Outings: The only time she went in her carseat this month was a sick appointment at the doctor. She got a terrible yeast infection so we ventured out for that. Thankfully, Lydia still tolerates the carseat really well despite not going in it very often. Plus, this way we don't need to get another convertible car seat for her.

Firsts: She rolls over very well both ways now. She is very close to sitting independently. She can do it for a few moments until she loses her balance.

Eating: Well, we went one step forward and two steps back in this area. We started Lydia on solids to help her reflux. But then she seemed to have an adverse reaction to something we fed her, which led to the terrible diaper and yeast infection. The diaper rash got infected so it took a while to clear up. So we had to take her off everything until that cleared. Now I am slowly introducing foods back. She likes solids and really shows interest in them. It was rough for her to not be able to munch at our food.

Sibling love: Lydia loves her big siblings. She laughs at just about everything they do. Tanner loves to tickle her and Gemma enjoys dancing with her.

Monthly Pictures: 

Our Summer So Far: Picture Style

Ashton found her old unicorn costume from last Halloween and the kids enjoyed playing unicorn.

Gemma LOVES playing heart doctor. It's ironic because she screams at the doctor's office. But her heart doctor, Dr. Gospin, is her best friend.

Another squirrel walk with Gemma. She demanded on wearing the winter hat in 100 degree weather. The sweat just dripped off her.

Lydia's ride for a squirrel walk.

I found some cheap, used Star Wars toys online and got them for Tanner. He was thrilled. Tanner hasn't stopped playing with them since.

Dentist day for the three big kids. And no cavities!

Lydia got a terrible yeast infection and diaper rash. So bad that her skin was peeling and bleeding. So we had to take her off solids because the doctor is suspicious that some food is causing it. But she was still all smiles sitting in her high chair.

I was surprised she wanted to hold a sparkler. She did great!

 That wraps up our summer so far. Ashton is anxiously awaiting for school to resume. I haven't informed her that it probably won't for a while still. Texas just announced that schools can start later and be virtual for the first 4-8 weeks. I anticipate our district doing something along those lines. Tanner is beyond excited for preschool but I haven't informed him yet either. Poor kids. All they want to do is play with friends. One day...