The first two weeks...

....have been great with Emily Blair at home with us. We are so blessed and thankful for our healthy and happy little one. She is really easy-going (so far) and fits right into the daily swing around here. It's loud and crazy most of the time and she doesn't even flinch. So far, she is eating every 2-3 hours during the day, sleeps a lot and is having periods of wakefulness more and more every day.

At night, she wakes up to eat every 3-4 hours usually by squirming in her bassinet. She rarely cries and makes the sweetest little sounds when she needs something. At this point, Emily spends a lot of time in Mommy's arms, being held by her big brother, Hunter, in the bouncy seat and swaddled up in the bassinet. Life is good!

I have had way too much fun with each outfit change and take as many pictures as I can in each thing. It's been such fun seeing her in pink and ruffles!

Emily had her 2 week visit early at 10 days old. She had regained her birth weight and was 7 lbs 4 oz, so that is great progress from the 6 lb 10 oz that she came home from the hospital at. She is 25% in weight, 50% in height at 20 inches now and 50% in head measurement. Emily is doing great with head control and even pulled up from laying flat on her Mimi's lap. We were stunned that she could pull up so much!

Emily in her going home outfit at one week old

Emily looks like a baby doll in this picture

I laid her in Blake's crib last Friday (July 9) while we were playing in his room. I ran into the kitchen to check the time and it was exactly 11:39 am (her exact time of arrival one week before) and snapped this one week old picture right then.

Pretty girl in her sun bubble.

Accessorizing at a young age- this is VERY intimidating to me!

Sweet Daddy got us the stork again- this time it was pink. Many neighbors who saw this were very excited for her arrival!

The boys love holding Emily and Hunter asks to have her every chance he gets.

Blake reaches his hands out eagerly for baby sister (he calls her Bobby- which is ironic because that is the boy name we would have named the baby had it been a boy).

So cute all curled up


Overall, the first two weeks have flown by. We have ventured out a couple of times and Emily has done great each time. The boys are doing well with a new little one in the house. They love her and the only issue we have is between the two of them- lots of squabbles over toys, who had what, etc. I think we can manage though!

It's a....

GIRL! We are so excited to announce the arrival of Emily Blair Jones.
Emily arrived Friday, July 2nd at 11:39 am.
She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.
Emily has blonde hair, long fingers and toes, skinny little legs and arms and is perfect from head to toe.

After my last OB visit on June 30 (Wednesday) it was decided that I would have to come in on Thursday night to get the induction process started. For those of you who know me, my labors have been completely backwards by typical standards. Hunter, our first, came quick- within 2 hours of arriving at the hospital he was here. Blake was induced for that very reason so that I would be in a hospital setting for his arrival. He arrived within 4 hours of being induced. Now this third baby had a mind of it's own and since I was not progressing as I had with the first two, we needed to check in on Thursday night.

We were so excited! On Thursday, I took my last pregnant picture. Ever. :-(
Here are my last belly shots...



Chris' mom came in town with my sister-in-law, Summer, and her three boys. We visited and the boys played over at our house that afternoon, we took them to the toy store for a little treat and ate at Order Up. It was so humid that night, so the picture is a little blurry. It's our last shot as a family of 4.


After dinner, we brought the boys home with my sister, Kristin. Chris packed his bag, I finished up with my things and we got the boys situated. Around 7:40 we pulled out of the driveway, only to return 3 days later as a family of 5!

Around 8, we pulled up to the hospital and checked in downstairs. They sent us up to Labor and Delivery and assigned us to room 8. We had about 30 minutes to settle in and organize our things before my nurse, Yari, came in to get things started. Here is our room.



Yari got the IV in and monitors hooked up. Around 9:30 Dr. Vanover came in and got me started on the cytotek, which is like cervadil. She said that they would watch the monitors and if I needed more they would come in in about 3-4 hours to up the dosage. Chris and I tried to entertain ourselves by watching TV. Of course being hooked up to the saline drip made it for some frequent bathroom trips. That was a nightmare seeing as I was hooked to the IV pole on one side and hooked to the monitors on the other side. It was a long night of watching the monitors, getting up and having to unhook things and hook things back up, listening to Chris snore, and just being anxious for things that were about to happen. Apparently I had already been having contractions already when they first hooked me up to the monitors and I hadn't even noticed.

Around 5:15, they started pitocin and at 6:15 they broke my bag of water. About 7:30 my parents arrived and shortly after, Chris' parents arrived. Kristin came with the boys and my brother, Blake, got there to join in the fun too. Here is mama and her boys.

Blakey was especially loving on his mama that morning. I'm not sure he knew what to think.


My labor was very non-eventful. I was definitely feeling the contractions when the boys arrived, but was able to mask the pain. They came in around 8:45 for the epidural, so that made it easier for sure. After the epidural, I was at 5.

Around 11:15, I started to feel some pain in my lower abdomen and so my nurse, Ashley, checked and found that I was 8-9. Not much longer now~ The pain intensified with each contraction and before we knew it, it was time. Dr. V rolled in at the perfect moment and we got things rolling. Only about 5 pushes and Emily was here. Dr. Vanover said, "You have a little girl!" and we both just burst into tears. It was such an incredible moment to see Emily and to have her placed into my arms. Chris and I were both in disbelief. We have a little girl!

Apologies for these blurry pictures. Chris had a lot on his mind trying to get still pictures, video of her first moments and take her in. Here we go!

The ugly cry. We were just blown away that we had a girl!

Here she is!

Thank you God for this blessing!


I don't know why this didn't rotate, but this is how Chris announced to the family and friends in the waiting room what we had. Pink balloons or blue balloons given to the boys to tell them they had a brother or sister. As you can see, they have a sister!

Miss Emily Blair

Our family of 5

Daddy, Mommy and our little angel girl

Showing her off

More to come..... gotta run!

18 month check up

Today was Blake's 18 month checkup. He did great and has a clean bill of health. We started the visit out with a finger prick, but Blakers did awesome. Didn't flinch an inch and sat there like a great sport. All of the blood work came back perfect. Praise God!

Then, it was off to get weighed and measured. Blake still has quite the noggin. It measures in the 75th percentile. He weights 24 lbs 5 oz which is in the 25th percentile. He is 31 1/2 inches tall which is also in the 25th percentile. Looking at Blake in person it is hard to believe he's in the 25%. He looks and feels much bigger than that.

Let's see, Blake's current vocabulary is small but gets the point across. He has the point and grunt method down. Also, the "fuss until you get what you want" mode is highly popular around here! He can say:
dah- dog
da da- Daddy
wah wah- water
ba- ball
ba- baa for sheep
uh oh
pa pa- pop pop (our word for pacifier)
shakes head no
cah- car
uck- duck
ah- hot (and holds hand out to show you)

*He is climbing lots
*sounds like he's singing and loves to dance to any music anywhere
*still LOVES to swim and will completely submerge himself underwater and is not scared at all
*loves bathtime and splashes enough to drench the bathtub area and the bather (me)
*is a great helper at clean-up time and knows where to put things
*wants pop pop and night night at all times if I let him
*knows where I keep freshly baked cookies and stands and points up to them
*goes down about 7:00 usually and is up a bit before 7am
*loves playing with Hunter and doing what he does
*new favorite toy is shape sorter that he hammers the shapes through their holes- we do this OVER and OVER
*plays cars like Hunter used to- lays on carpet and watches the wheels moving
*still a great eater- especially at dinner time
*loves to play outside in the sandbox, at the water table or on the playground
*loves his Sha Sha and Babs when they come over
*cried when Aunt Kristin left the other day- they have a special bond for sure!
*loves MiMi and Bapa too!
*is OVER THE MOON for Da Da

Beach or Bust!

We had the best time in South Padre with the Spielhagens! What a fun getaway!

The drive was not bad at all. We left SA at about 10 am due to a last minute pediatrician stop. Of course Blake had mysteriously been running fever on and off the couple of days leading up to the trip, so we had to investigate. It was the run-of-the-mill fever virus, so we kept the Motrin and Tylenol going and he was fine.

After a stop in Robstown for BBQ at Coppers we were back on the road by 1:00 and pulling into South Padre at a little after 3. We unloaded and then took the kids down to the beach to walk around and check it out. After showering off, our "topless" children posed for some pics for us.

The wild foursome- Luke (18 mo), Kate (almost 3), Hunter (almost 4 1/2) and Blake (18 mo)

Hunter and Kate- the best of buddies!

A family shot of the four of us before getting nit and gritty down at the beach.

Luke and Blake in their matching ensembles! Boy were they cute!

Hunter and Kate were so excited to try out their "surf boards."

The dads and the big kids were the bravest when it came to facing the chilly water and the "red flag" waves. We had very strange but good weather. It was very overcast, sometimes a little foggy seeming, but it worked great with kids since it didn't feel unbearably hot and you weren't fried under the sun all day. The water was a little chilly, but you could definitely get used to it.

Blakey and mommy playing in the sand.

One night we dressed the kids in their beach finest and went out to dinner. Boy they clean up nice!

Playing out back while we were waiting for the sun to go down. Time to crab hunt!

Hunter had his full crab hunting gear! The kids were amazed at the crab that Cari caught.

Overall, it was an awesome trip- one we are SURE to repeat over the years. As a matter of fact, we need to get it on the calendar for next year! Can't wait!

My how time flies!

I love comparing old and new pictures to see how much my boys have grown. Here is Hunter the first day of school 2009. He was ready for his first day of preschool. Little did we know what an incredible year he had in store. His teachers were wonderful and nurturing and so much fun. Hunter just loved school!

Here he is in May 2010- so grown up and ready for summer. I cannot believe in a few short weeks he will be 4 1/2. How does the time fly by so quickly??


Now, it would not be fair to not include Blake. Here he is in September 2009 at 9 1/2months.

And again May 2010 at 18 months.


Love these boys!

The boys each at nearly 18 months...

Can you tell who is who??


(Blake is the top and Hunter is the bottom pic)

It's Been A Long Time...

Palm Sunday our church had their annual Egg Hunt. The boys were very excited to get their first egg hunt underway and had no interest in pictures for mommy.

A family pic on the lawn. I had the best Sunday teaching Hunter's class that morning. Being Palm Sunday, we of course covered Jesus' triumphal entry, but the most precious part was taking the class into the sanctuary waving their palm leaves. We got to sit at the front of the sanctuary and hear the story. The kids were so precious.

Easter weekend we split between Waco and San Antonio. On Saturday, we were in Waco and got to go to Ridgewood CC's Easter celebration. This year, they had a camel to ride. Guess who rode that camel? Me and the boys! Her name was Coco Chanel and like me, she was expecting. Poor Coco- that's a rough job for a mama-to-be!!

Blake and the "Easter Bunny." Hunter refused to take his picture with the bunny, and I cannot say I blame him. It's a little creepy.

Blake totally got the concept of picking up eggs and putting them into his basket. He even figured out how to shake them to see what was inside. Smart boy!

Making our way around. The boys were mesmerized by this animal. No one said a word the entire time we were riding.

As usual, Hunter had a blast with David and Ryan.

Back in SA, we went to church and then came and had Easter lunch at my parents' house. It was a wonderful day and the boys had a great time. Hunter made the neatest thing at school- a Resurrection Box. Inside, it had 10 little items that symbolized something important about the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. Hunter was able to take each one out and explain that part of the story to me. It was so incredible to hear him and know that he understood the story.

The boys were eager to get out the door the morning we went to the Dinosaur Exhibit at the Witte Museum. I grabbed my camera just in time to see this act of brotherly love- or probably more like, "Hurry up and get in the car so we can go see the dinosaurs!" We had a great time and both boys loved it!

Blake LOVES to be read to. His favorite books are.... Goodnight Moon, Big Book of Trucks, Big Book of Animals, Pat the Bunny, Moo Baa La, La, La.... I found him in the rocker the other day just reading away. So cute!

We spent a weekend at the lake "working" to get things ready for the summer. The boys worked hard out in the yard and mom and I cleaned like crazy. We got lots checked off the list chore-wise. Of course, we did manage to fit in some fun while we were there. No weekend at the lake is complete without being smashed into a stiff life jacket and taken on a boat ride.


Then, as luck would have it, the bluebonnets were beautiful all around the lake house. So before we left, I insisted on snapping a couple of the boys in the flowers. They were not in the outfits I would have wanted had I had the choice, but they turned out pretty good for being a last minute thing.


Fiesta was a busy week around here. Chris and I had several nights in a row of events. One that we really enjoyed was Town Club. The theme this year was Roaring 20's, so I was a pregnant flapper. We had a great time!

More later....