Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went out to the Pumpkin Patch! The kids really had a blast! They climbed all over everything, ran through the maze, played in all the jump houses and checked out all the pumpkins! Got their faces painted and got wagon rides.


Anna is just fearless! She loved the inflatable obstacle course and slide. She climbed right in and had a blast! Eileen after seeing Anna do them was quick to do them also. Aaron was not so enthusiastic. He went into one of the bounce houses and didn't like it and would NOT go back in! LOL He wouldn't let Grandma put him down for awhile after that! He did love climbing on the more stationary things though. He loved the tractors and trains.

Eileen and Anna got their faces painted - Eileen got Nemo and Anna got a snake. Then we played around the pumpkins for a bit before heading out. We went to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa on the way home, then collapsed exhausted at the house.

Evelyn just slept the whole time... But we're sure she had a blast too... :)

This morning we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate my mom's birthday. Kids loved helping to open the presents. We decided to only give the kids bubble wrap and tissue paper for Christmas this year since that was their favorite part anyway... :)

One Month Old!!!

I can hardly believe my little girl is one month old! What a month!! She has grown so much. She is now up to 8 lb 9 oz. She is sleeping pretty well, nursing is going much better and all in all life is good! The kids are helpful and are only going a little stir crazy! :) We actually attempted a couple outings this week. We went to a friend's house to play and even attempted the library.

He's at 'That Age'

I had turned around for no more than 5 minutes.......


That's all I gotta say!

My kids are sooooo sweet!!!

Two quick stories....

We decided to attempt the grocery store this morning. As we walked over to the produce area, I told the kids they could each pick some fruit to take home. Eileen promptly walked over to the huge apple display. Anna shyly told me that she wanted Corn on the Cob! A minute later I told them I wanted to grab some broccoli too, and Anna goes "BROKEEE BROKEEE BROKEE!!!!!" Haha - my kids love veggies! :)

I was sitting and trying to nurse Evie and I hear the water going on in the kitchen. When I check on Eileen a few minutes later - I find her doing all the lunch dishes in the sink! What a sweet little helper!

Two Weeks already!!

We took Evie in for her 2 week check up this week. She is growing well!! She is up to 7 lb 5 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. That puts her in the 25th percentile for both. Strangely enough she is only in the 5th percentile for head size. She officially has the smallest head out of all our kids - maybe that's why she came out so fast....

I went in to see a lactation consultant this week to see if we could figure out this whole nursing thing. We were able to make it work there and then of course I had a hard time getting it to work again once I got home.... But we are making it work.
This weekend was General Conference weekend. Today was really nice. The kids were fairly well behaved and let Dan and I listen to the addresses and even paid some attention. Saturday was another story.... Dan had a competition this weekend and was gone from 4 am to 10 pm.... I told him he's not allowed to leave me again until Evie learns to nurse. Too bad he still has to go to work.... When he got home and asked how my day went i just told him "You don't want to know" It seems like kids have a knack for knowing when they can cause trouble and you are unable to do anything about it but get upset! At least my kids do!!

Nursing Woes

Well - little Evie has passed the one week old mark and already she has some very noticeable likes and dislikes.

Likes: Bother and Sisters playing with her
Sleeping - especially with Daddy and Mommy
Snuggling
Dislikes: Diaper Changes
Eating mommy's milk

She is such a sweetheart! But mommy is sad - she doesn't like me when it comes to eating. She absolutely refuses to breast feed. She doesn't even seem to like my milk at all - but since she can't push the bottle out of her mouth she has to eat it anyway. I feel a bit like a failure - plus when you add up all the pumping, and feeding and cleaning bottles- that means I'm spending like 10 hours a day just getting food into her stomach!!! So I'm hoping a solution will magically present itself to us, because I'd really rather not go to formula this soon, and that this will somehow magically start to work because otherwise I'm not sure how long this will last...
The older kids had an eventful week. They got to go out and play with friends every day this week. Courtesy of a WONDERFUL ward, the kids have had a blast hanging out with friends and mommy has gotten some much needed rest. Also, we have had a week full of yummy meals brought to us! The kindness of these amazing sisters has just floored me!!! What wonderful friends we have!! I just hope that someday I'm able to pay it forward. These wonderful people have truly been angels at this crazy time in our lives.

The Beauty Salon??

Eileen was playing with her make up kit during quiet time yesterday. She came in after a couple of minutes and wanted to put some on me. Then a few minutes later she comes back and tells me that baby Evelyn should have some make up too. When I went out to look at her, this is what I found.... :)
LOL - I explained that she was probably too young for make up, but it was hard to keep a straight face when she looked so cute! :)

Life is Beautiful!

Especially my family! Not much has happened since my last post, but we are adjusting and getting used to life with 4 kids. Evie actually slept well last night, so we are feeling pretty good today.

We took her in to the hospital today to check her bili reuban levels and talk to a lactation consultant. Evie's levels are a little high, but now that my milk is in and we are getting more food down her, they should go up, so we have another check up tomorrow, and hopefully we will not have to put her under the lights.

The kids are adjusting pretty well, they love their baby sister and want to hold her all the time. The girls have started putting their baby dolls in all the baby stuff (swing, car seat, bouncer...) and Aaron is constantly bringing me baby stuff for her. He is so sweet!

Say Cheese beautiful girl!!

Welcome Home!!

Evie and I are officially home from the hospital! We are both doing well and now we are adjusting to the noisy life at home!! She was born Wednesday morning at 11:59 am. All went well with the labor and delivery. She weighed in at 7 lb 2 oz and is 19 inches long. She has just a bit of dark fuzzy hair and has hardly opened her eyes since she was born! (opens her mouth plenty, just not her eyes!) She is sweet and snuggly and totally adored by her older siblings.

Dan brought the kids in to visit a few times and they loved holding and helping with her. Now the hard part is going to make sure they don't smother her with their help! Aaron really did so much better than I thought. Either his sisters enthusiasm was infectious, or he somehow already gets that she belongs with our family. He has been SO sweet with her!!
Anna is constantly asking to hold her and is very sweet helping take care of her and making sure she has what she needs. She is constantly talking about her "newborn baby"Eileen is, of course, totally enamored with her. She is already becoming a little mommy. She wants to know exactly what I'm doing with Evie and why!

My parents and sister were in and out a bunch to help and visit.
So there you have it - we are now a family of 6. And here is a closeer view of my beautiful little baby all snuggled up in the set mommy made for her.

Less than 4 days to go!!!

hmmm - one might think i was counting down to something.... So with less than 4 days to go before we have a new addition to our family, what kinds of things are going on in the Jones Family? Honestly...not much! Each day that goes by I think "this is the last Saturday(or whichever day) before the baby is born! This week we had my usual doctor's appointment and then after we went to my parents house and the kids went down for naps with my dad while my mom and I hit Babies R Us. :) After I went for a long overdue haircut. (how do I know it's over due?? I'm using too much shampoo and conditioner!)

Thursday I took the kids to the library. This was a two fold mission - one was to entertain the kids for an hour or so with little effort on my part and the other was to pick up some books for me while I'm in the hospital. I'm excited about the books I found, but I'm guessing that most people could care less about them! Oh well. So I'm a bit odd!

Saturday was a day for errands. in the morning we took the kids to the bank to set up savings accounts. The bank gave the kids these fun masks and fun stickers and other fun stuff for opening an account with them. I got Anna and Aaron to post pretty for me - but Eileen liked the stickers more than the mask. After Dan took Eileen out on a trip to Costco and birthday shopping for yours truly!! :) Then we went to Walmart in the evening to get the groceries for next week and let the kids look at toys.

Sunday the kids helped Daddy make mommy's birthday cake. They made a spice cake for me! MMMMMM - now the whole house smells good! Of course the kids had to lick the bowl!

This last picture is a nightly tradition - the kids love to be carried to their rooms before bed so Daddy grabs them all and hauls them off. Sometimes Aaron runs to me instead - but watching all three of them squished together in daddy's arms and LOVING it is just so fun!!!

Funny moment of the week...
Dan was giving the kids baths when Eileen mentioned that Aaron has a "peanut" Anna promptly told her that when she grew up she would have a peanut too. Eileen then informed Anna that only boys have "peanuts" Anna then made the connections and told Eileen that Aaron was a little boy so he has a little "peanut" and daddy is a big boy so he has a big "peanut" So there you go - sex ed to a 3 and 4 year old.


Anyway - wish us luck - assuming we survive my 30th birthday and the new baby - look for more info next week!!!! :)

Umm - Lazy mommy....

I have officially hit the "no energy" wall... I am now just grateful to be able finish the things that NEED to be done - let alone doing fun things with the kids.... So what did we do this week? Not much.... :) We had our usual playdate where my sweet friend Lori fed us a YUMMY lunch and we sat and chatted while the kids ran amok.

I had a doctors appointment (as usual) where I was told (as usual) that every thing is fine and normal and to hang in there! The kids love it because they get stickers, and then we go see Grandma after.

Basically I'm just glad that the house is not a TOTAL disaster and the laundry got done....

Friday night Dan planned a fun date for us (figuring those would be few and far between for a bit after the baby is born) with another teacher at his school and her husband. We were going to go see a Rough Riders game (minor league baseball) The other couple had a minor family emergency though and had to cancel. So Dan and I decided to go to the dollar theater and see a movie. We got there and the movie was sold out. (At this point my sweet wonderful hubby is feeling a bit like a loser for taking me on a lame date - which was entirely out of his control!) So we went to a near by mall and walked around for a bit. It actually felt kinda good to get moving some and the best part was deciding to stop at Brookstone and spend a minute or two (or 30) in the massage chairs. I walked away from that massage chair feeling better than I have felt in over a month! And I still do! I have been in less pain for the last couple of days that the whole month before this! I told Dan that I might have to sneak back down there again before the baby is born! It's just too bad that the chair is ridiculously expensive (even on sale) and wouldn't fit anywhere in our house and even if we did get it - it would probably get broken by the kids - or I would spend so much time in it that nothing would ever get done!

So that's about it for the week - now we are looking forward to a nice day with daddy tomorrow and counting down the days....

We did WHAT????

...or maybe "it's about time!!!" But yep - for the first time in our married lives, Dan and I bought a vehicle. Friday we decided to go out to look at a used vehicle from a private seller and then decided after that we would run up to the dealership to look at some used vehicles that we had seen online. We did NOT have any intention of actually buying a vehicle! The dealer, however made us an offer we couldn't refuse on a used '09. So after 10 years with my little Altima I said a (and NO I didn't ACTUALLY cry!!! and even if I got a bit chocked up - hey I'm pregnant!!! Give me a break!!!!) sad good bye to my first car. The car that we drove off into the sunset after our wedding reception. The car that brought all three of my babies home from the hospital. We traded it in to the dealership (and they were very generous about what they gave us for the trade in) for a newer and bigger vehicle. We have found however that we must be a Nissan family - we traded out tired little Altima for a roomy Quest - yes that's right we are also now a mini-van family. I dreaded this for MANY years, but have spent the last couple years resigning myself to the necessity. Considering that I've never driven anything bigger than the Altima - it's probably best... :) Anyway - out with the old and in with the new! We love it! and best of all???? I don't have to fall down to get in!!! :) *sigh*




Saturday the wonderful ladies in my ward had a baby shower for me! It was so nice to get together with friends. Some of my good friends in the ward got together and set up a WONDERFUL party with YUMMY food - beautiful decorations and lots of LOVE!! Thanks Ladies!! So what did I get for this shower?? What we needed most!! Diapers and Wipes!! :) With two big sisters, this little girl is fairly well (and stylishly) covered - but you can never have enough of these!! :) Especially since her's isn't the only one still needing a diaper to cover it! :)

The rest of the week has been mostly normal for us. Dan's back in school, so the kids and I are getting back into our routines (haha only to have them thrown off again in a couple of weeks) but we've enjoyed our usual trips to the library, play dates with friends and the weekly doctors appointments.

It's kinda funny - but before this weekend, it really still felt like the baby's birth was still a long way off. Now we are getting baby clothes out, and baby swings and bouncers, and setting up the baby's room (which is still occupied by Aaron...) and having baby showers, and I'm wondering WHERE DID AUGUST GO!!!!!!!!!!! and how is it possible that there are less than 20 days until this baby is coming???

Oh and about pictures of the new mini-van... well Dan has it at a Priesthood meeting and so those will have to wait... :)

I WANT MY HUSBAND BACK!!!!

This last week was just a bit crazy.... The girls and I didn't do much - mostly because I had no energy!! Dan had all the teacher orientation stuff going on this week - which meant that he was back to work. The kids and I really liked having him off and home for a while. He's such a sweet thoughtful husband and such a fun caring father that we would ALWAYS choose to have him around more!! In addition to that, once in awhile he teaches a class through CCCC (Collin County Community College) for teachers trying to get certified in Texas. He has been doing that the last couple of weeks, and that is a Tues/Thurs class from 6-9 pm. Wednesday nights is Mutual at 7 pm. Friday night he left almost as soon as he got home for a scout camp out and didn't come back until Saturday around noon. So Dan's week was crazy!!

The kids and I started with the usual laundry and shopping trips on Monday, had friends over to play and eat on Tuesday, I had a doctors appointment on Wednesday - followed by lunch with my mom and sister, and a library trip on Friday.... Ok i'm officially exhausted just typing about it all..... The kids were great, but my energy only lasts so long, and my patience seems to run out soon after.

The pictures are of the girls ready and dressed for church. Eileen chose her clothes and accessories and put on her own make up! Yes she still LOVES that toy make up kit she got for herself. She also did Anna's make up. And wonder of wonders, I'm not totally sick of it and irritated that she got it.... mostly because she has been VERY good at only putting on make up for church and 'special occasions' and keeping it away from Aaron.

So we are now counting down the days and weeks. September is going to be a big month for us and at least for now, I'm eagerly anticipating it!

Down Time

Well this was our last week before Dan starts back to school. Teacher in-services start Monday morning. Not that we got to relax much - but at least we got to see him more often than not! The kids just love having him around. I enjoy having him around for his company and for the fact that he is a wonderful cook who has mostly taken over meals since standing for too long in one place exhausts me!! (or at least makes my feet feel like fat sausages!) He is such a wonderful husband and father and has been so helpful while i'm waddling around like a beached whale!! :) Wednesday we got to go out on the boat with Grandpa. Daddy put the boat into slow and let the girls drive some (in his lap) since the lake was empty. They LOVED it! Eileen drove very straight and was very cautious. Anna was a wild girl and was turning the wheel all over the place going "woooooooah" and laughing like crazy! Instead of putting in just the pictures - here is a scrapbooking page I did with pics from the boat trip. The page was done with a kit called "Blue Dream" by digiscrap coco

Saturday, we went down to my parents house to celebrate my dad's birthday. We ate good food, and played in the pool and just relaxed a bit. The kids just love spending time with Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Sandi and Uncle Jon. My mom too Eileen with her to pick up my dad's birthday present and while they were there, Eileen told Grandma that they should get a card too. Grandma thought that was a good idea. Of course Eileen quickly decided which card they should get... it was the "Your 3" card with 'Go Diego Go' on it.... we explained that that card was for boys turning 3 and Grandpa was older than that, so she found another Diego card. Grandma let her get that one for Grandpa.

Back from Vacation

We made it! We got to Colorado and back and not only did we survive, we even enjoyed ourselves! :) For those of you who don't want to read a LONG travel log, skip this post.... for the rest of you - enjoy lots of pictures and lots of info! :)

We started out on Friday, right after Dan got back from work around 1pm. I grabbed a Jane Austen Audio Book and was content to drive until the book was over - then Dan took the wheel and finished the trip. The kids did surprisingly well. Between iPods for the girls and crackers we made it through the trip only hearing "when will we get there" a few times and the worst whining coming from Eileen who didn't like having to hear my audio book! :) (LOL - I'm sure she will like Jane Austen someday - but hey she's 4 - I guess i can understand it she doesn't get it yet!) We got in around 5am the next morning having driven straight through (except potty breaks and meal breaks)

We got what rest we could before then next day then spent the next day going on walks, finding treasure and playing with Grandpa Francone. The kids were comfortable with him right away and loved traipsing around while mommy and daddy tried to recover from the all night drive!! We also managed to hit the area just in time for Burro Days. This is one of those awesome local events that they do every year. So that night we went down to Fairplay to check out the activities - including a BBQ and a barn dance. Unfortunatly Eileen wasn't feeling so hot by this time - so we left shortly after eating dinner.

The next day we found a church building and attended the Frisco Ward. We went from Frisco, Texas to Frisco, Colorado. The funniest part was that there were a couple other people visiting there from our home stake! There we actually more visitors in Sunday School than ward members. The second week, Anna and Aaron took the nursery numbers from 1 kid to 3 kids. After church, my Uncle Stuart came up with his 4 kids to play with us for the afternoon. The kids had a blast playing Twister and having fun with their cousins. Eileen was so funny to watch play Twister! She kept getting her right and left mixed up! :)

The next day we got all geared up to go fishing. Eileen and Anna got to take poles that my sister and I fished with when we were kids. We walked to a near by pond and Dan and Grandpa cast and then the girls would wind the reel. Technique may have been lacking, but it was fun and while their attentions spans lasted they really got a kick out of it! So after about an hour we walked back for lunch and nap times.

On Tuesday, we climbed into the back of Grandpa's pick up truck (well Dan and the kids did - I sat shot gun) and went up Mosquito Pass. Mosquito Pass requires 4-wheel drive, and for good reason too!! The scenery was stunning, the ride was bumpy and Eileen's favorite part was getting high enough to find snow. We made it as high as the North London Mine and got out and played and looked around before heading back down the mountain. Eileen loved the snow!! Anna loved it once she got over slipping and falling on it. Aaron even got into the snow-throwing action by grabbing Aaron sized handfulls and tossing them a foot or so away. Then we all snuggled back up in the truck for a bumpy ride back.

Wednesday we went down to Breckenridge where we soon outfitted ourselves in tourist-y sweaters (having forgotten to pack any) We walked around enjoying the ambiance. I found a fun quilting shop and the kids found an awesome toy shop. We then headed for a park/playground area for a picnic lunch and some play time. The kids had a blast!

Thursday evening more people starting arriving. Dan's brother Paul and his wonderful family came up to play with us and my Aunt Tina and cousin Frankie came up. We managed to get a fire going and roasted marshmellows for s'mores. After getting all good and gooey, we went inside and put the younger kids down to bed and we started teaching Aunt Tina how to play Settlers of Catan. Tina was soon hooked on the game, but Paul's oldest daughter Bianca CREAMED us all!! She beat us old fogeys soundly!

Friday we went down to South Park City which is a restored mining town. We got to walk around the buildings, climb on trains and old mining carts. We checked out the old equipment and drug stores and lots of other neat exhibits. Eileen kept comparing the mining displays to "what the dwarfs do in Snow White" It was cute to see her make that connection. Also my Uncle Frank and their old foreign exchange student Bernard came up. We played settlers again and to Tina's major excitement - she won! :)

Saturday the Jones' headed down to Breckenridge again for more playing. Saturdays are much busier!! They had a cool gold panning exhibit going on, so the kids got to try their hands at panning for gold. Then once again we went to the play ground to eat and play. That evening we roasted hot dogs outside and Paul made his famous Dutch oven Peach Cobbler. Once agian we got all sooty, sticky and deliciously full!! Aaron didn't want his hot dogs cooked, he just wanted to chew on them! That night Paul and Candace started for home. :( The kids had such a good time playing with their cousins and getting to know them.

The next day we went to church again and then in the afternoon we walked to a neighbor to see her horses. They were beautiful and the girls loved looking at them and feeding them snacks. Then we started getting ready to take off.

Monday morning bright and early we headed for home and after a LONG stormy trip (LOL - we actually got hailed on in AUGUST!!) we arrived safely at home.

In addition to all this (there's MORE!!! - yep) no day was complete with out going on walks and collecting wild flower and lots of coloring and swinging on the tire swing. I think we exhausted my Grandpa!! But Eileen told us on the way home that she was going to miss him and asked when he could come visit us. So at least wonderful memories have been made!

This trip has reminded me of a few things:

1. Colorado is GORGEOUS!!!! The landscape there is just stunning!!!
2. I LOVE my family - immediate and extended. I love spending time with them!!
3. I don't like dry - i seriously missed the Texas humidity. :)
4. I LOVE my bed. I'm so glad Dan and I got that bed when we got married and I have NEVER regretted it. I missed it this trip!
5. Traveling with kids may be possible after all....
6. I'm so glad we made this trip before purchasing a new vehicle - between spilled crackers, hail storms, and the like - I'm glad it went to a car that is on it's way out anyway!! :)

Ok if you made it to the end of this travel log - you must really love us - so WE LOVE YOU TOOO!!!!!!!!!!! :)