November Update

Here is how last month went!

Adam and Ashley: We had a bit of a scare last month when Adam started getting pain in his leg that was very similar to when he had his blood clots last year. Luckily, he got an appointment as soon as possible and they scheduled an ultrasound. It turns out he did have a blood clot but it was a lot more superficial than the other ones he had that were deep vein thrombosis. So he is back on blood thinners for a month but that should be all. He is going to see if he can get an adjustable desk that he can stand while working too to see if that will help. But at least he wasn't laid up in pain as long as we was last time. I have been juggling the kids as always and dealing with something new with Eli which has kept me very busy and stressed out and you will read about it below.

Eli: The biggest thing this month is that we began potty training! This is one step of parenting that I had been DREADING! We probably put it off too long but we finally started. We had been reading a book (Oh Crap Potty Training) on potty training that we had for while to give us some kind of framework to work through. So we started with barricading the kitchen for a couple days and doing naked time. That worked for a bit until the novelty wore off for Eli. He got pretty good at pee but hadn't pooped at all. We decided to move onto the next step the book recommended which was commando time. Meanwhile, we put him in diapers for nap and bedtime. The book was so adamant about what you should and shouldn't do that it was starting to stress me out. Also, Eli would throw a fit every time we took the diaper off, plus he didn't like going commando. So we decided to look into other methods. A friend sent me information about a 3 Day potty training method, so we kinda switched gears. Instead what we did was put him in underwear, got rid of all diapers, bought some m&ms for rewards (the first book said no rewards), and hoped for the best. I definitely had to prepare myself mentally that there was going to be a ton of accidents and just have the carpet cleaner at the ready and keep trying. This seemed to click for him and he loved the underwear. He got pretty good at self-prompting whenever he had to go pee and accidents became fewer and fewer. The first book recommended waking him up to pee in the middle of the night and I am SO glad we didn't. Instead we just put him in underwear and expected to wake up to an accident. Instead, he kept dry the whole night but only had an accident when he first woke up and we didn't get him fast enough. We keep him in his room using a door knob cover because otherwise he'd never stay in his room and he calls for us through the vent because our room is below his. So I knew the accident was after he woke up because of where it was on the carpet. But every day he got better and better and now rarely has an pee accident. Poop however is 0% still. I don't know what to do to get him to poop on the potty and I'm so sick of rinsing his underwear but we are just trying to keep going with it. If anyone has suggestions, let me know! Sorry if this was all TMI but I'm also recording this for my memory and use for future kids. We are so proud of Eli and how he has transitioned to peeing in the potty though. On another note, he is also SUPER excited for Christmas and finally understands traditions and Santa which has been fun :)

Wesley: is 5 1/2 months old! He frequently rolls from back to tummy and desperately wants to crawl. He can scoot a little bit but mostly backwards and he pivots or rolls around a bit. It is just not enough for him to not get frustrated. We're thinking he will start crawling by Christmas. He has also begun the glorious and seemingly never ending stage of teething. He is constantly biting on everything, drooling a ton, and getting more fussy. Towards the end of the month we saw a little white corner of a tooth that has not broken through yet. Poor guy is so miserable sometimes :( But when he is happy, his smiles and laughs are magical. He LOVES Eli and constantly watches him while laughing and smiling. And Eli does great with it about 90% of the time haha. It is so hard to believe that we're coming up to half of a year that he's been outside of me! I definitely can't imagine our family without him.

Cat sitting: The first week of the month we took care of a friend's cat while they were out of town. I have never lived with a cat or dog so it was definitely a learning experience haha. Eli was OBSESSED and still talks about him. Luckily the cat was used to little kids so he was a good sport. He was a very social cat as well and loved following us around the house. The first night, we let him sleep with us and he decided to shove in between Adam and I or sit on my head and paw at my hair haha. Needless to say, we closed our door the other nights haha. But it was fun to have a cute kitty around for a bit!

Thanksgiving: We spent this year with my aunts and grandpa that live in Blackfoot! It was so nice to be around my family and the food was delicious. We played games, tried to keep track of Eli's potty training, and had fun watching my little cousin who is about 9 months older than Wesley walk around and wonder what this strange little baby was haha.

November Update

Here is how the last month has gone!

Adam: has continued to enjoy his job. He has also taken part in planning their department Christmas party. We’ve been especially grateful for the sick leave as well because all three of us got a super nasty stomach bug.

Ashley: My biggest news is that I’m pregnant!! It's been a longer journey than trying for Eli but we got there in the end. We found out at the beginning of October and since then I’ve been super nauseous every day. Luckily I haven’t thrown up, which I didn’t with Eli either, but I definitely feel like I’m more nauseous than I was with him and the things that helped with him aren’t helping now. Adam has been SO helpful and most days will come straight home from work and directly start making dinner since that’s usually my worst sick time which is very inconvenient. Gosh I miss cooking! Eli has also been pretty good and is very familiar with the phrases “mommy sick” or “mommy sleepy” haha. We’ve been watching a lot of Netflix and DVDs. I had to switch to maternity jeans a lot earlier than with Eli, partially because I’m already a bit overweight, so I am showing but there is a layer of fat and skin before the hard tummy part (thank you Eli for that haha). I’ve had a couple appointments with my OB as well. I was really worried that I wouldn’t find someone who would support my desire for an intervention-free hypnobirth but I did! She has been fantastic and super excited for me to use hypnobirthing again. So I am currently at 12 weeks and hopefully that means that the nausea will be gone soon.

Eli: is growing up so much!! He talks a ton and about 75% of it is understandable to people other than us haha. He is a very active little boy and has recently found a love of jumping and dancing. His memory is very good so I feel like he constantly surprises me with things that he knows. He seems to be excited about the baby as far as he can understand. He loves looking at the ultrasound pictures of baby. Although ever since putting out our little nativity, I am slightly worried he is confused. We told him which piece was "baby Jesus" but we've also talked a lot about the baby in mommy's tummy and recently he said baby Jesus was in "tummy" soooo...he might think I'm pregnant with Jesus hahaha. He is such a sweet boy and loves the gospel. He loves looking at pictures of Christ and he talks about how he loves Jesus. He also really likes pointing out temples either in pictures or in person when we've visited the visitor center at the Idaho Falls temple. Some of his favorite things to do is to video chat with people, play with daddy, and play with our little electronic keyboard (he usually will command us to dance to whatever he plays on it haha).

top left: Eli loving on Daddy whenever he's home, top right: Adam's oldest sister and some of her family came for a quick visit, bottom left: enjoying a ride on Daddy, bottom right: just being a cutey :)

Girls Weekend: Right before Thanksgiving, I got to take a quick trip down to Las Vegas to party mommy style with my best friend Kayla! And it was baby-free! We walked until our feet wanted to explode but it was so much fun. We got to see a lot of the strip and then in the evening we went to a show. You might have seen IMomSoHard on Facebook or YouTube but if you haven't, it's basically two moms that do hilarious videos about being moms. When we heard they were doing live shows, we knew we wanted to go together if one happened to be near one of us. So, we got tickets to their Vegas show! It was SOOO funny (if a bit less censored than their videos). It was a mixture of improv and standup and it was perfect. The next day we basically laid in bed all day watching netflix because we both (but mostly me) could barely walk haha. Then Monday was some quick shopping and then my flight home. I'm so glad we could get together and I am so grateful for Adam happily willing to hold the fort at home.

Thanksgiving: This year was a bit crazier than usual as my parents and Stephanie's family came to stay with us! But it was so wonderful having them here. Sadly my other sister wasn't able to make it but maybe another year. Eli was over the moon to have Grandma and Grandpa Tanner as well as his cousin Anders here. He still asks for them almost daily haha. My parents did a night drive and got here around midday so when Eli woke up from his nap, he got a surprise seeing my dad walk upstairs from the basement. I really should have videoed his reaction because it was priceless haha. For the holiday itself, my dad did his usual bbq turkey and we made all the fixings. Other than a mishap with the turkey timer malfunctioning, all went relatively smoothly! The kids didn't mind the wait a bit as they were quite content playing with each other and the grandparents. The next day we just quietly spent at home putting up Christmas decorations and then Stephanie and her family went back to Provo. My parents stayed until Sunday morning which Eli would have chosen them to stay forever. I am so grateful that we have the living space and means to host people for such a fun holiday and hope to do it again.

November update

Here is how our November went :)

Adam: He has spent the month working and going to school as well as applying to jobs. We've had no luck so we prayed for guidance of where we should look or what we should do. In this, I kept getting the feeling that we were pushing moving too much and that we needed to stay in Utah a bit longer. The only problem was that Adam's jobs at BYU had already hired new people. So we waited, kept applying to jobs elsewhere, and tried thinking of backup plans. Then last week Adan was talking to the program coordinator for the class he teaches and found out that the person they wanted to hire had to be approved by the First Presidency (all full-time faculty at BYU have to go through this process). However they will not be meeting until January. So they asked him to teach again next semester! And there's a chance BYU online may need his help as well because there are a few other TAs that won't be able to work full hours. So we are staying until April!

Ashley: I'm still at home with Eli and just helping him grow. This month I taught a couple cloth diapering classes for my ward which was fun. It is so much easier than people think and I love sharing that :) My days are usually filled with doing things with Eli and keeping up the house. We like to go for walks, chase each other around the house, and all the babywearing haha. My free time usually consists of reading, watching Netflix, and doing my nails. Life is good :)

Eli: is 15 months old! He has eight teeth now and is a very active, independent little boy. He had his check up with the pediatrician and he is nearly 21 pounds. Still a very skinny boy. He loves running around, giggling, and he recently disovered twirling. Now he knows when we sing ring around the rosie that he spins, but still doesn't understand the falling down part. Instead, he waits for us to push him down which he then laughs really hard. He learned how to tickle people and he is learning to use silverware. Now he prefers to try to feed himself which makes dinner time quite entertaining. He is actually getting more affectionate by cuddling more and sitting on our laps. He is having a bit of a sleep regression which isn't fun but for the most part he sleeps well :) he is getting so big and is definitely more toddler than baby :)

walking around the Provo City Center temple; playing with his little friend Elliot; 15 month check up; amazed by our little Christmas tree :)

Thanksgiving

We stayed here again and did thanksgiving with my sister. We split up the dishes and gathered at her house. The meal was delicious and even Eli ate a bit of everything! We ended the evening with watching Finding Dory and pie :)

Playing with his cousin Anders while watching the movie :)

Our November

Here are our quick updates for the last month!

Adam: He is continuing his semester and is now almost done! I reduced my work hours so that was very helpful in relieving some of the stress he's been dealing with. We also found out that he will not be teaching DigHT 215 next semester. This is the class he's been teaching for the last three semesters. Adam has enjoyed teaching but is kind of relieved to have a little more time to work on his master's project. Luckily, he will be able to work a full 20 hours at BYU Online next semester which has a little bit of a higher pay :) He is excited for the end of this tough semester and to have a break at Christmas!

Ashley: I continued to work part-time until this week. It has been great working for Wasatch Mental Health and I absolutely love the people I work with. But being a stay-at-mom will be exactly where I need to be :) I hopefully will find hobbies and happiness even without going to a job.

Eli: He is one happy baby! Adam and I always remind each other on how lucky we are to have him. He is healthy, developing properly, and relatively easy to take care of. We are so blessed! He has discovered his voice and so he babbles constantly which is adorable :) He loves to roll from side to side, smiling, and giggling. I hope no one minds how often I post pictures of him!

Thanksgiving: This month's special event! We stayed in Provo again and did dinner with my sister Stephanie and her family. We divided up the dishes and everything turned out delicious! It was interesting to have to make many different dishes while tending a semi-unhappy baby haha. But we did it! We ate our yummy food and enjoyed watching Inside Out together. I must say that from a former psychology student, that movie is AMAZING!!! :)

We are excited for a fun December and Christmas to come!

<3 Ashley

Fall semester

Merry (nearly) Christmas!

We have had a good fall and seem to finally be getting into the groove of Adam being in grad school now that this semester is ending. Here are some updates:

School and Work
Adam's last day of finals is tomorrow and I'm sure he is counting down the hours until freedom. He has enjoyed his classes immensely and has got a better idea of what he can do in this field and what he wants to do after graduation. Today was his last day of his class that he teaches as well! He has loved teaching and is very excited for next semester now that he has a foundation to work off of and an idea of what works and what doesn't. He is also finishing up the BYU Online class he TAs for. He had an exciting moment last week when he got to give a presentation about the BYU Online class to the whole Humanities department at BYU. He has been with the course for 4 out of the 5 semesters so he was able to give a lot of insight about the benefits of BYU Online and what they are looking to improve on. He hopes that this will lead to a Master's project for him. The Humanities department has 7 GE courses that they offer so he is offering himself as an Instructional Designer to get more online classes available. They were all extremely interested in his ideas which is great because this would be the ultimate job experience!

I am very ready for Adam to have a break from school and luckily next semester should be a little bit lighter. I still work at Wasatch Mental Health and I love it! I especially love my coworkers and any time we get to do a clinic party. They definitely have turned into a second family for me :) I have been trying to keep busy since Adam is unavailable so often so I have been doing lots of reading and made a blanket!

I had a fun time doing it and will probably do more. I will have lots of other projects in the future that I'm excited about and will give updates later.

Holidays
We had a low key but fun Halloween this year. We went to a corn maze with my sister and her family which was lots of fun! My nephew Anders led all of us through the maze while running wild. He quite enjoyed it :)

We also actually dressed up for our Halloween ward party! We were Charlie Brown and Snoopy :)

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year even though we didn't travel. I of course forgot to take any pictures though xP. My sister Stephanie and I did the meal together and just divided up the dishes. She got to make the turkey and I did most of the side dishes which included making stuffing for the first time! We accidentally made a TON but Adam didn't mind because he loved it so much :) We also got to Facetime with my family which was great. Then on Friday, we decorated for Christmas and Adam's brother Seth and his new wife Sabrina came to stay with us for the weekend! It was so much fun having them here since this was the first time us being with them since they got married. We got to play lots of games, go to the temple together, and on Sunday we got to go up to  the house of Adam's other brother and sister-in-law up in Lehi to have sundaes. We were so grateful to spend that time with them.

We are very excited for Christmas as my sister Jessica will be flying in from Washington! This will be the first Christmas I've spent with both of my sisters since we got married. We are looking forward to it :)

We love you all and hope you are having a great Christmas season!

<3 Ashley

Fall semester and Thanksgiving break

Hey everyone!

Sorry its been soooo long since we did a blog but this semester has been incredibly busy. Adam has enjoyed his job working as a TA for independent study which he will be doing next semester as well. I've continued working as a secretary and a lab assistant in the testing lab, which I will also be doing next semester. We just got past finals week and it is glorious!! Its so nice to be done and have a 3 week break (although we'll have about a week that we'll be here and just working). 

I've thoroughly enjoyed my classes this semester and I actually did better than I've ever done at BYU! It was tough but I got through it. I did really well in my Writing within Psychology class and I might submit my literature review to the undergrad psychology journal. I volunteered in the Children's Unit at the state mental hospital and it was been so great to get that experience. I will be needing to volunteer for one of my classes next semester so I am thinking of continuing at USH (Utah State Hospital). The kids are great and I got to be involved in their Christmas program :) I got to teach a group of kids to sing Last Christmas which they did great at :) the kids did songs and dances and at the end all of the psych techs did an awesome dance. After this experience, I am thinking of trying to get an internship or a job at USH. This will give me good experience for applying to grad school. I am now considering the possibility of me waiting a year after undergrad to get experience for a Master's in Social Work program. We'll see :)

Adam's also done very well in his classes (as always) :) He applied for an ORCA grant and is now waiting to hear back, which will happen probably in February. He officially has only two semesters left of college, although he is thinking of doing spring term to finish off his Spanish classes. It has been a hard semester but he has held up great. Not to mention his professors love him :)

We've also LOVED working at the temple this semester :) We've got to know so many great people and its been a great experience :) Its wonderful to have a space of time each week to be in such a spiritual place :) we are so glad we decided to become temple workers.

Also, we got to spend Thanksgiving with my family which was great! We decided to fly there which was so nice because we got more time with my family and I hate long car rides. We had fun spending time with my parents, and with my aunt and uncle who we stayed with part of the time. Then my sister Stephanie, her husband, and baby came on Thanksgiving day which was AWESOME :) My nephew is getting so big! Almost 6 months old now :)

He's such a smiley chubby cute baby :) my sister and her husband are planning on moving down to Utah next year so I'm SUPER excited :) Anyways, we had a great Thanksgiving and Adam enjoyed seeing my family's traditions for the first time including my dad barbecuing the turkey and my mom's gravy and stuffing :) My sister's and I even got time together to see the new Twilight movie and get some photobooth pictures done :)

So fun :) Also when Adam and I got home we got to put up our first tree as a married couple :)

Merry Christmas to you all!!
           <3 Ashley