Merry Xmas from the Jones'

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I was not very good this year with sending out Christmas cards, darn it. I said that I would make up for last year this year because my Xmas cards last year were Wedding "Thank You" notes--Lame!!! I had an amazing baby shower a couple of weeks ago and had about 30 or so thank you notes to write, so unfortunately that took precedent. Sorry everyone! You will be sure to get a baby announcement in a month or so to make up for my Christmas Card Cheer.

Eric and I do want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas. I will be missing my family and friends that are not close this holiday season. Hugs and Kisses to you all. We hope Santa brings all of your favorite things and most of all, we pray that the Light of Christ is upon us all and we rejoice in his birth! We hope that 2010 is a wonderful year for you and your family. Love you all and so grateful for your love, support, and friendships.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year xoxo, The Jones'

To my baby girl in waiting....

Maci
I can't believe that this time is almost up. Our Heavenly Father is about ready to let you go to come down and finally be with your dad and I. It is surreal to think that I am about to be a mom. I have really taken these last 9 months to "try" to figure out what that means. I definitely know that I will not be perfect and for those first few days or I am sure, a lot longer, there will be a lot of "wingin' it", BUT I can tell you one thing, I will LOVE you to the stars and back and then some and hopefully that will make up for the lack of knowledge. My mom, your soon to be grandma, did a an amazing job setting a good example of what a mom is supposed to be like. If I can be half the person she was and still is, I think me and you are going to be just fine.
I have to let you in a little secret and I have talked to you already before during your stay in my belly about this--Your dad---oh boy, watch out. His heart is going to absolutely melt when he takes his first glance at you. From the time your cheek meets his cheek, I KNOW you will have taken first place in his heart. I am ok with that too! Here is the secret about him---His heart and emotions are bigger than his body. He has so much love to give and he will give that to you in ways that I will never know how to. When your dad married me that night, I was able to have a dance with my dad and even though I am not a little girl anymore, that love that I have my dad and him for me was still SO strong. My dad held me tight during that dance and kissed me on the check and I know that it was just like yesterday for him when he did that when I was born. Maci, You are SO lucky to have Eric as your daddy. When I met him, I knew that he would always love me, but more importantly, without a shadow of a doubt, I knew he was the ONE to be the father of our babies. Oh, I am so excited see all the adventures you both will go on. Be prepared--He already has as fishing pole for you and snowboarding lessons ready after that 4th Bday of yours.
Thank you my dear Maci for choosing us as your parents. We hope to enrich and bless your life as much as we will ours. Can't wait to meet you!!! xoxo Your mom to be

33 weeks

Maci is well on her way of growing! I feel like over this past week, I can literally see my belly grow. It has become very sereal for Eric and I now that we are getting closer to my due date. Maci is a kicking machine and I am finally feeling the "uncomfortable" "get her out of my belly" stage. Goodness--I have sooooo much more appreciation for pregnant mothers now. I cannot believe the toll that pregancy has on your body, BUT I do need to be extremely grateful that I am very healthy and maintained a great body weight...so far:)

Here's to 1 year!

1 year ago today was when the Man of my Dreams became mine forever!

I LOVE YOU ERIC!

My inquiring mind would like to know.......

I often have questions that I would love to hear other people's views or ideas on. I am not for sure who my followers are or if I have any :), but I thought I would throw some questions out that I have been thinking about lately. Let me know what you think..

1. Our 1st year anniversary is coming up. What are some really fun ways to celebrate this occasion that are not elaborate or expensive? What is a good "guy" gift to give? I am clueless!

2. Does nesting consist of a lot of baking? I have been baking EVERY weekend for the past month. I have never done that or had the urge to do so. If it does, what were your favorite things to bake or cook?

3. What is a special thing to do with the birth of your first child? I had a thought of Eric and I writing her letters and having her read them when she is 16 or 18 about our thoughts and hopes and feelings of when she was born. Is that cheesy?

4. Does anyone feel overwhelmed with pictures and getting them up in your house, but presenting them in a decorative way? I am SO stressed out about that for some reason. I have so many great pictures to put up and a huge wall to do it with, but I have no idea how to make it look good.

5. Do you fix the same things for dinner every week? We do. With a child coming into our home, how do you find time to mix it up and still eat healthy? Casseroles, I know, are convenient, but usually packed with fat. Any ideas?

Ok, I think I am done for now. Maybe I will make this a weekly ritual. Just maybe someone out there has these same questions and I am not the only one :) Have a great rest of the week everyone! xoxo

October Festivities

I can't believe how fast October went by! Fall has come and is leaving us swiftly, fall/winter clothes are replacing all of my short sleeve and SKINNY clothes, and pumpkin patches, Halloween festivities have come and gone! Whew! I am exhausted and the two main holidays plus our one year anniversary haven't any started :)

We are fortunate to live in the city where the Roloff's live that are featured in Little People, Big World. We went with some friends this year to their pumpkin patch. It was so fun! My friend and I were so celebrity shocked--I never took my camera off my neck, in case I saw one of them. We were actually fortunate to park right in front of their house AND see all of the boys. The oldest son/twin was so nice when I asked for a picture. He was actually working--changing the garbage cans. Overall, we were SO impressed with how down to earth they were and so trusting--we parked literally RIGHT in front of their house. I took pictures to prove it :)

The Roloff House

Chantell, Evan and I with Jeremey (the oldest Roloff)

The Wilsey Family and me in front of the Roloff House

The youngest Roloff kid

Eric and I waited until Halloween this year to carve our pumpkins. I was just in the mood this year to carve pumpkins for some reason, but thanks to my ever persistent and great attitude husband, we finished at 5:30 pm Halloween night. We always carve two for our cats too. Next year though that tradition gets thrown out the window. We will have a child that will take their place :) I think we did pretty good under the circumstances of time. Since last year and the discovery of green pumpkins, he is hooked on only getting a green pumpkin for himself. The "Boo" one is mine. I thought it was pretty cool, not at all Martha Stewart-ish, but it was going to have to work this year :) Hope all of you had a great Halloween.

Baby Jones' update

The Jones' household has been extremely busy over the last couple of months. Eric is finishing up his busy summer paving schedule and I am just getting more prego by the day. Reality is really setting in that a sweet baby will be coming to us in just a couple of months. Our house is slowly being "babyfied" with baby furniture, gear, and tons of PINK clothes. Eric can't believe how much stuff is out there that is pink. Because of all of the pink clothes we have, Eric was pretty adament that we didn't turn the baby's room into a pink pepto room also :) I will post a picture soon of the finished room, but all I can say is that I am glad I suported his idea. We LOVE what we picked out and know she will be living like a queen!

Here is a picture of Miss Jones in all of her glory so far

28 weeks and 4 days

SCORE: Girls 2 Boys 1

Come January 16th, Eric will officially be outnumbered by the girls! Yes, that is right, the Jones' are having a girl. We had our ultra sound a couple of weeks ago and the announcement of a girl was just the topper. Eric and I were both counting the toes, fingers, arms and legs before we rejoiced of the sex. Check on all the above! All we truly cared about was her health. She is growing right on schedule and looks beautiful. As soon as I figure out how to post the ultrasound picture, I will, but the verdict is she has my nose and from the looks of it, her lips are comin' from her momma! Eric is thrilled to be a daddy to a baby girl and what a wonderful father he will be!

This experience, though it is only half way through, has been a very reflective, interesting one for me. Eric has been working more than sleeping and eating put together, so I have been by myself a lot thinking, talking to her, and thinking about being a mom. During these thought moments, there isn't a time that I don't reflect back on my mother and watching her mother us. It is amazing how fast the roles switch when you become pregnant--all of a sudden, YOU are the grown up now and when I mean grown up--I mean PARENT. As children, we think we have all the answers and our parents have no idea how we feel, think, or look at the world. I go over in my head so many incidences growing up and take the view looking in as a parent would and I see my mother as truly amazing. Having this little one inside of me, parent means something totally different than it did when I was a child or still to this day as my mother's child. My mom was a graceful mother--She made everything look easy and natural. Will that happen for me? I worry about that. I worry that I will not be strong for her. Will I be able to protect her in any situation. How will I know what is best for her. My mom made it looks so very easy. I pray that Eric and I will know or at least be guided and listen to our heart.

So as far as name go, Eric and I are complete odds. We had a definite name for a boy and we knew if it was going to be a girl, we would have some issues because I have two names I love and he loves the other one. We would love to hear your thoughts about what name you like best:

Henley
Emerson
Brooklyn

PS--picture disclaimer: HORRIBLE smile. I had the camera on self timer and I felt so silly smiling to a camera without someone behind it. So, this isn't the best picture, but rather proof of a growing belly.

Happy Birthday to my dear husband

How could you not love this face? I know I can't resist. If you know my husband, I think that all would agree with me when I say, Eric is...

gentle, kind hearted, strong, honest, nEVER says a mean or negative thing about anyone, happy, talented at EVERYTHING he does, handy man, enemy-less, never complains, super-hero/hard worker, has a smile that will make anyone melt, hANDSOME, loving husband

Eric, I am so blessed to have you in my life and you make me want to be a better person just being you! Thank you for loving me! Happy Birthday Bebe!

It's been 2 months? Really?

I don't think that blogging is my forte. My posts seem to come in months not days, but I will get everyone caught up fairly quickly.

MAY
First comes LOVE, then comes MARRIAGE, then comes BABY in the baby carriage!!! What a wonderful Mother's Day I had! We found out that I was pregnant the day before Mother's day, so it made Mother's day very special for us and our Mothers (soon to be Grandmothers :) The first couple of weeks was pure bliss. I felt great and quite boastful that I may not get sick. Well, I was surely humbled around week 6. Memorial Day weekend is when it all started---Nassau 24/7, ALWAYS tired, eating constantly, and check everything else on the list that happens to pregnant women the first trimester. Eric is having a lot of fun watching me go through this awkward phase. He has become very protective of me and wants to get me EVERYTHING I am craving. He is bound and determined not to gain weight with me and I have to say he is doing a great job. He has lost 25 pounds since the beginning of the year and he has gone to the gym way more than me.

JUNE
I HATE being pregnant. I never thought I would say that, but the month of June was miserable. ALWAYS nauseated, nothing and everything sounded good, slept over 11 hours a night, not being able to go to the gym, my chest all of a sudden looks "fuller" and so does my middle section--no belly yet, just softer :) Eric had a great Father's Day. I got him some Baby/Father books that I am not for sure if he enjoyed, but I am not his father, so the real gifts come next year. We were able to see the baby and heartbeat for the first time on June 9th. I cried of course! It was truly amazing.

Our garden is growing like crazy and we are already reaping the rewards. Below is a progression of our garden:

Some of the fruits of our labor

JULY
I am feeling so much better and nearing the end of the my first trimester. I was finally able to have my doctor's appointment. It was so strange to me when I found out I was pregnant I was told that the doctor doesn't need to see me until around week 12. Because I am such a control freak,that did not sit well with me. I just had to know if I had a little one inside of me and if everything was ok. After talking with the nurse, we were able to have the ultra sound back in June for my peace of mind. Let me tell you--that made such a difference! So anyways, it was great to see the doctor. She was awesome and did another ultrasound. Everything looks great, LJ (little Jones) seems to be doing fine. LJ was sucking his finger in one of the shots--it was SOOOOO cute!

We had a great 4th of July up at Eric's Mom's house.

Eric painted his mom's deck

Cooled off by jumping into the Ocean

We did lots of crabbing...yum!!

Eric and his Dad made homemade Fireworks...I wasn't a fan!

And relaxed with a whole lot of these.

Play Ball

If any of you know my husband, you will know that Eric counts down the days until Opening Season from the time the winning team takes away the Title of World Series Champs!  You would never know we had other channels on cable from about April-Oct because baseball is ALWAYS on.  Since I have met Eric, I have learned to love the sport.  Quite frankly, if you ask him, he will tell you that I blow his socks off with the baseball knowledge that I have.  Already this year, Eric had to google to make sure I was right because he didn't know the answer!  HA!  I LOVED it!!  So, those of you again who know Eric will know that he played minor league baseball and would go back in a minute if he got "the call".  So, when his baseball league starts our weekends are not as we know them anymore---They are lived at the baseball field.  I have to admit--I love the game and I LOVE the game with my cute husband catching in it.....

Me and my baseball wife buddy! 

"29 and mighty fine"

Congrats Scott...BYU is going to miss you!

I can't believe my little brother is graduating from BYU today! Scott is an amazing person, brother, son, and now husband. I was fortunate, not just to be the older sister and boss him around :), but I was also VERY lucky to be be there to watch him grow up into this fine young man.

CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT!
Congrats to you too Jana for standing beside him and supporting him through this journey. He is lucky to have you!!

Easter Weekend

Easter was a very quick trip up North to see Eric's mom.  We love it where she lives so any chance we get to go to see her, we are there!!  We are very fortunate that she lives on the Saratoga Passage which is right before the San Juan Islands AND right next to the Skagit Valley where they are known for the growing the beautiful tulip and daffodil fields.  It is absolutely breath-taking.  This trip we were in between peak seasons of the daffodils and the tulips, but it was still incredible to see the seas of yellow from the daffodil fields.

Driving through Seattle at Sunset

Eric's Mom at a Tulip/Daffodil Garden

Eric and his mom

Eric being silly in front of the tulips

B & E

Have you EVER seen a bigger daffodil?

A daffodil field---I just love the Red Barn in the background.  You should see what it looks like with fields of color from the tulips---INCREDIBLE

Sunset off of E's mom's deck

I made E smile!

Eric fixing his mom's tacky Easter lights.  She has tacky lights for every holiday.  It is pretty funny to see what she has up every holiday!

I LOVE my mother-in-law and fell so lucky and blessed to have her in my life.  She is so good to me and is always so accommodating when we visit.  We wish we could just see her more.  

Spring is in the Air

Spring is probably my favorite time of year.  The air has lost its chill, buds begin to show on the trees and come up from the ground, and everything becomes green again.  Speaking of green, the Jones' have a bit of a green thumb this year.  We have made some changes to our back yard and have a better planned garden.  Eric has spent some much time leveling the ground, gathering rocks from the nearby stream and creating what I know will be an awesome crop in a couple of months

We planted our vegetables and flowers, now it is time to water them and watch them grow!!  The dirt off to the left will hopefully be green grass in a couple of months.

Hurley and Cooper watched us while we did all of the work!

Look at this flower box Eric made me for my birthday.....ANOTHER surprise.  He totally outdid himself.  I couldn't believe that he made it!

Cannon Beach

Eric and I joke all of the time that he doesn't surprise me very often and that I am ALWAYS hinting about how I would LOVE to be surprised about anything or with anything--I am not picky!  Well, we have been wanting to take a weekend trip to the coast for quite sometime and so for my birthday Eric SURPRISED me with a trip to the beach.  We stayed in a beautiful Lodge hotel right on the beach.  

This was the view outside of our room.  The rock is called "Haystack Rock".  It is huge!!

Us looking down at Cannon Beach

Eric spent a lot of time on the beach flying is trick kite

Of course, it wouldn't be right if I didn't take a picture of myself :)

We had a wonderful time taking hikes, enjoying the breathtaking views, eating wonderful food, and spending time with each other.  Eric is off the hook for awhile and doesn't have to surprise me for a little while!

I'm Back...what we have been up to

Boy, has it really been a month and a half since I last blogged?  I think it has!  I can't believe how fast 2009 is flying by.  Since I last blogged, this is what we have been up....

Eric dry-walled our unfinished garage

We had a great visit from Eric's sister!

I got a new camera!

And I had an AWESOME 32nd Bday with my husband and incredible friends!  Thank you everyone for making my birthday so special.