Keeping Up with the Joneses

A glimpse into the busy and very blessed life of the Jones Family!







Saturday, November 27, 2010

This stuff is catchy!

Well, the stomach bug of 2010 is currently making rounds on the 4th person this week in our family. Yuck! We are more than ready to wish it goodbye and don't wish it to visit ever agian. I ended up coming down with it the day after Thanksgiving and was down and out all day. Today was much better, but unfortunately Chris has caught it.

Enough about that! A major project that I have been working on is 95% complete. I wanted to paint Emily's monogram over her crib. I had it printed at the monogram store that I love and then set out to find an overhead projector. I couldn't nail one down, so one day I decided to just freehand it. I am proud of how well it turned out. It's not perfect and I have some touching up to do, but I think it really looks pretty. I still need to get the rug, a light fixture and a crib sheet made for her room to be 100%.

A shot of Blaker-boo at his 2nd birthday celebration at Two Bros BBQ. He wasn't completely sure what all the fuss was about.

Emily is loving her exersaucer more and more. This age is so much fun because there is so much new stuff they can do and since they aren't mobile yet, they love the independence of these toys.

Hunter finished soccer last weekend and had a great season. He scored lots of goals this season as opposed to one last year and really enjoyed it. It seemed to click this year and he had so much fun. His team was a great group of boys and girls and that really made it so much fun to be around the parents each week. I loved this picture of Chris and Hunter high-fiving after the walkthrough at the last game.

Hunter had his Thanksgiving program last week. His group were Indians and his name that he made for himself was "Fast Running Snake." He was so shy in the program and spent much of it with his head turned to the side so he wouldn't be making eye-contact with us. Ha!

Emily happy to be along for the ride.


The Turkey Tango- when will I ever learn to have the right lens in hand when I need it?? Aghh!!

Last but not least, on Blake's birthday, my mom had her Grandmother Group with Blake and his friends at Kiddie Park. I went along for the fun and took Hunter and Emily. This is the whole group of "Grannies and Grandkids" plus me! What a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

When life throws you lemons....

....make Thanksgiving dinner!

Early Wednesday morning, it became apparent that our plans for Thanksgiving were going to change- no travel for us. Hunter woke up in the middle of the night sick to his stomach and we knew we couldn't risk passing it on. So, on Wednesday morning, I decided to make the best of our situation. Even with my family in town and an invitation to join them for lunch, I knew we needed to stay home just in case. So I set out for HEB after lunch on Wednesday and shopped for a full Thanksgiving meal- my first to ever make!

That afternoon, I busied myself in the kitchen and had so much fun preparing a special meal for my family. Today was wonderful in it's own special way. It's always so fun to be with extended family, but the sweetness of today was being with my own little crew. We sat at the table after a morning of preparation, play and just being together and said what we were thankful for. Chris said a precious and heartfelt blessing that summed up my feelings exactly and we enjoyed full plates and full tummies. This year has been like so many- full of tremendous blessings and I do not want to ever take them for granted. Today was another lesson of plans changed- sometimes our best laid plans are not to be. Thankfully, we are one step ahead in decorating for Christmas, we have delicious leftovers in the fridge and a memory that will not fade of one of my most special Thanksgivings.

Our family of 5 (pardon Chris' stache- he is still growing it for charity this month)

My first turkey

My nearly 5 month old turkey (she weighed as much as the turkey I bought- 13 lbs!)

Waiting for the big meal

All dressed up with nowhere to go (literally)

Had to add this... yesterday, Emily had her first taste of rice cereal and loved it!


Speaking for our family I can say that we are so thankful for all of the people who make our lives so incredibly special and wonderful. Today was a special and precious day for our family and we loved being together just the five of us. I can't think of anything I would have loved more.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Fightin' Crime

Well, it's been a really interesting week around here. I started off the week with a crazy to-do list as always. First task to complete was to call around to local vets offices to see if anyone had reported a missing cat. We've had this beautiful and friendly cat loiteriing around our yard the past several days and I knew it must belong to someone. I'm not really a cat person, but I couldn't just ignore it. So, Monday morning, I called around to some local vets and thought I had a good contact.

Around 10:20 that morning, I was loading Emily and Blake in the car to go to Open Gym. It's a fun hour of play at the gymnastics gym nearby and we usually try and go on Mondays and meet friends there. As I was walking out to my car, I noticed a man across the street at my neighbors' house. He was knocking on their front door and ringing their doorbell.

As I loaded the kids, I realized that he was STILL knocking, ringing the doorbell and just waiting around. Hmmmm. I began to stall, waiting to see what he would do next. He peered through their front door, looking inside and then began motioning through the window as if he was able to see someone inside and wanted them to come to the door. Well, that was the deal-breaker for me. I knew with total certainty that they were not home, so I called 911 on the spot. I stayed in the driveway, car running, acting as nonchalant as possible talking to the dispatcher. I gave a very detailed description of his clothing and every other detail I could notice. The longer that I sat in the driveway, the more he must have realized he could not do anything until I left. So, he began to walk off towards the corner and walk south. I noted that to the dispatcher, was assured they were sending an officer and I was on my way.

I took off the opposite way down the street, cut over a couple of blocks and drove north on the street he had headed south on. I was trying to see which street he had gone down. As I passed each street on the way back to my street, I did not see him. As we crossed our street, I turned to look down the street and saw him walking RIGHT BETWEEN THE HOUSE WHERE THE SIDE GATE WAS!!! I was floored- he had come back when I had left!

So, I called 911 AGAIN and insisted that they send someone ASAP. I was a nervous wreck. I mean, he was walking with purpose, pulling down his beanie hat and heading to their backyard. Oh my!

As I pulled back onto our street, I motioned to the police car which house to go to and then quickly unloaded the kids. As soon as they were safe inside, I spoke to the officer to reassure him that the dog in the backyard couldn't possibly be harmful as our neighbors have young kids.

Long story short, he walked around back to find a back window had been opened. The suspect had busted out a side window to escape and had cut himself, but unfortunately had gotten away.

I called my neighbor, who immediately came home. She was a nervous wreck and walked through the house with the officer reporting what was missing. As luck would have it, everything she mentioned was in a bag he had left behind. We were so thankful he didn't get anything.

After about an hour, I heard a knock at the door. It was the police officer say that they had caught the guy. He asked if I could come with him to identify him on the scene. WHAT?? I ran and grabbed a hat and the biggest pair of sunglasses I own to disguise myself as good as I could. I rode in the back of the patrol car with my neighbor's husband and went a couple of blocks away to a parking lot where they had found him waiting for the bus. Sure enough, when they pulled him out of the patrol car, I was able to immediately confirm that "That's the guy." Don't worry, I was far enough away that he couldn't see me and I was in the back of the patrol car still. Still, it was nerve wracking.

Later that day, I got a call from the detective saying that the suspect had admitted to EVERYTHING including other burglaries in the area. He was apparently a drug addict that was pleading to get help- so I am really including him in my prayers that he will get help. He was so desperate for money that he was making wreckless decisions and had apparently broken into several homes in our neighborhood as of late. Needless to say, we are ALL breathing a sigh of relief that he has been caught. I was so worried I would have a hit out for me for being a nosey nellie, but he's going to be there awhile. And, I don't think he knew I was calling the police because why would he have come back?? Right??

So, my plans for Monday were thwarted by far more interesting events. As for the cat, he's now being fed on our front porch, so as a friend said, "Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a cat!" Oh yippee!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

4 Months Old


Dear Emily Blair,
You are 4 months old today! I simply cannot believe that it's been 4 months since I first met you. In some ways, I feel like I've known you forever and then in other ways, it all seems so new.

What a special day July 2nd, 2010 was. Daddy and I had been in the hospital overnight, eagerly anticipating our last baby. Not knowing boy or girl, we were so excited and so anxious to meet you. When you arrived, it was simply the most incredible feeling to know that you were the completion to our little family (Jones Party of Five). To hear the doctor say, "Well, you have a little girl," and at that moment, my cup overflowed. All of a sudden, we couldn't imagine it being any other way. It was simply perfect that God sent us you- our Emily.


At the doctor's office today, you weighed in at a slight 12 lbs 5.5 oz. That's the 25% in weight. At 2 months you were 10 lbs 3 oz, so you grew a little over 2 pounds. You are 24 1/2 inches long, so you are in the 50% for height. You braved getting 4 shots in your little thighs. Poor baby. It did not seem to disrupt your normal pattern during the day- you seemed just like normal.

Dr. Fitch seems to think you have loose joints. I remember him telling me that Hunter had that too. It can mean that you do gross motor skills (like crawling and walking) later. Hmmm. For some reason, I feel like you have the "Small but Mighty" mantra on your forehead and you will be on the move sooner rather than later. Maybe it's incentive with the boys on the move to get you up and going. I guess we shall see.

You have a clean bill of health and for that we are so thankful. You are still rolling over like crazy so that if we lay you on your back, you flip over in no time. You support yourself great during tummy time, you are enjoying your time in the exersaucer and we are starting the doorway jumper too.
(Ok, Mimi, if you are reading this... Emily looks so much like you in the this picture. Don't you think??)

You watch your brothers intently and are very observant. You want to stand in our laps and want to be carried upright and facing out. Slow down sweet baby girl! Stay my baby for a little longer!



Emily, your smile lights up the room. You squeal with delight and are getting to be so much fun to play with. You love when mommy talks to you funny. You pull your little feet up and grab on with your hands. You think that is pretty great.


You have started to reach for toys and hold onto them for dear life. You are also starting to pull things towards your mouth.

Emily, we feel so blessed to have such a precious, healthy and sweet baby. It's an honor to be your mommy and daddy. We love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Friday, October 29, 2010

We interrupt this programming...

...to bring you some Halloween pictures. I promise I will eventually get around to finishing the 8 years posts- they are ALOT of work! I have to dig through my folders of pictures from way back when and it just ends up being a lot of time. I don't have much of that these days but I am determined to finish it for myself.

Anyway, we have had a fun filled week full of Halloween and it's still going. We went to the club last night for a fun Halloween party. The kids loved dressing up. Hunter is a velociraptor dinosaur. He is very into "Jurassic Park" and wanted that specific costume. Wouldn't you know a simple Google search landed us the perfect costume?


Blake is in Hunter's old Elmo costume. It is fitting because Blake really does like Elmo and will pat his chest and say "Melmo." Then he will sing "La la la la." He's just too cute for words in the costume.


Emily is a flower- so fitting for our dainty little one. I tried to weigh her at the pediatrician's office yesterday with clothes and a diaper on and she's still in the 12 lb range and she will be 4 months Tuesday. Little bitty Emily.


We finally did our annual Pumpkin Patch visit. It was cool and windy so the kids were more into running around like crazy people. Kristin met me and we got a couple of decent ones.



We might walk down to the school carnival this afternoon. We also have a party tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon. I think we will be Halloween'ed out!

We spent last weekend in Waco for Baylor Homecoming. It was so much fun! We took the boys to campus for the Friday night bonfire. I didn't have my camera that night but the bonfire was pretty big and it was windy, so it was a little on the scary side. We took Blake and Emily to the parade and to tailgate before the game. We didn't do the game and were glad we didn't- a 2 hour rain delay with kids would have been miserable. But, BAYLOR WON!!! Yea!
Here are our 3 in Waco just hanging on the floor- a little tummy time for all!

Ready for the weekend- all decked in green and gold. I'm an embarrassing mom- can't you tell??

In no particular order....
Emily at the patch. I've never had an infant at the pumpkin patch and it's not too comfortable to prop yourself on a pumpkin I imagine. She's not too thrilled.

Blakey... needs no words.

Sneaky, sneaky! I have found this little one sneaking the little icecream sandwiches. Thanks to the freezer drawer he can easily get one. He was really being sneaky this time-wedged between the drawer and the wall to hide himself.

Emily in her flower costume. (Thank you sweet Kate Spielhagen for lending us this cute costume! We are loving it!!)

Monday, October 25, 2010

PART 3

Let's see.... where were we? Hunter Scott Jones arrived with a bang on Thursday, December 15, 2005. We stayed in the hospital for 2 days and came home to a FULL house. Remember how I mentioned our house was only 1400 square feet? Well, imagine it full of baby gear, Christmas decorations and presents delivered from out of town family (since we wouldn't be traveling that year) and people. We were overwhelmed coming home, but so happy to settle into a routine with our precious little boy.



Hunter was a great baby. I was on maternity leave from teaching and would be able to stay home half of December, all of January, February and March. I returned to finish out the year in April. By that time, we had a great schedule and Hunter was a textbook baby. It was such a blessing with me having to go back to work to have my mom and mother-in-law to step in and stay at home with Hunter. I could run across the street to feed him, hold him or just come play. It was as great as going back could be for me.


I was so fortunate to be able to stay home once summer came and still count that one of my biggest blessings to have been able to be here with my kids.
Chris and I loved watching Hunter grow and learn and change over the course of that first year. Everything he did, we were in the front row, cheering him on. Being parents was so much fun. We were crazy about that little guy... and still are!


Hunter's FIRST birthday

The day after he turned one, we went skiing in Park Cities. He had a blast and loved the snow.

Shortly after Hunter turned one, we decided to take on a BIG project. Time to add on! We decided that we would be the contractors for the addition. I spent a lot of time on the phone- and Hunter would walk around and mimic me talking. Ha! Our plan was to stay in the house while the work was being done. Let me say... not easy! We had no stove or washer and dryer for nearly 3 months. Not the easiest things to go without with a toddler in the house.

We added on a family room, laundry room, master bedroom and bath and front porch. We also ripped apart the kitchen and exposed the wood floor and replaced countertops and appliances. From February 2007 to July 2007, we were knee deep in home renovation. Hunter was AWESOME! He could nap each day despite the noise and chaos. Chris and I stayed really busy with each step- the planning, the hiring, the demo, the framing.... It was fun and definitely worthwhile.


We moved into the new part of the house on July 13, 2007. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but we love our home.



We spent lots of time that fall traveling to College Station to watch Uncle Blake play baseball. Hunter was talking up a storm and more and more fun every day.

Chris and I celebrated our 5th anniversary with a trip to Mexico for a week. We had a great time but missed Hunter.

Then, early January 2008 we went to Key West with my family for a week. It was so much fun but un-seasonably cold. So, we wore fleeces and enjoyed the scenery, but not the beach so much. :)

In March of 2008, we went back to Park Cities- this time with the Jones fam. We had a great time skiing and being with the cousins. Hunter was again too young to ski, but loved being there in the snow.

We found out exciting news in March 2008.... Hunter was going to be a big brother! I had been diagnosed early February with PCO (Polycystic Ovaries) and put on clomid as a first resort fertility treatment. On ONE cycle, we got pregnant. We were stunned but so thrilled.
Daddy and the new big brother celebrating!

Chris walked into our room- I had the bed covered in pink, blue and white balloons and diaper with the words- "Ready for Number 2?" written on it. It took him a minute, but he got it.


TO BE CONTINUED