Kids Say the Darndest Things

While nursing Brodee, my 3 year old niece walks up to me, and points to the breast pad resting on my knee.
"Auntie, what's that?" she asks.
I reply, "It's a breast pad. Or a yarmulke."



She then cocked her head to the side & responded. "I can say Hooya America! I say it to the flag!"

"Good Girl, Malia! Good Girl!"

Brodee Ean Jones

9 months is a long time to be pregnant. It could be worse, elephants are pregnant for 24 months, and deliver 500 pound babies. This pregnancy felt like I was experiencing both, an unending gestation, and an expectant 500 pound baby.

Baby #4 for us was a BOY! I love my 3 beautiful girls, but the thought of changing things up and having a boy was very exciting to me. However, for me, those changes became evident even through pregnancy. For starters, this boy gave me reflux. Not heartburn, like my girls had given me, full on reflux, unaltered by diet or Tums. my waist line also grew faster than with any of my 3 girls, as did my weight gain.
I have a great Obstetrician, Kathleen Langer (best Dr EVER!!!). At our 2nd appointment, she asked if we would like to think of an induction date, because of our drama with Aubree (for the full story on Aubree, click here http://jonesnwiththefam.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html ). We settled on September 9th. As the months progressed and our obstetric visits increased, it was obvious this baby boy was doing his best to be bigger than his sisters. At 34 weeks, I measured 36. At 35 weeks, I measured 38. At 36 weeks, I was measuring 39. Dr. Langer was guesstimating an 8+ pound baby. A far cry from 500, but to me, 8 pounds sounded pretty intimidating!

We made it to the 9th, and arrived at Labor & Delivery at our appointed time, 7:00 AM. After completing paperwork (I'm not sure what the purpose of "pre-registering" is, when you have to complete so much paperwork once you are checking in), we were shown to our Labor & Delivery room. As we were passing the nursing station, we overheard a nurse calling Dr. Langer, concerned about her scheduled induction for Marcie Jones. The nurse was concerned there wasn't a valid medical reason for induction. I had to tell myself, "Think happy thoughts! Dr. Langer won't let us be sent home!" I was right. Dr. Langer appeared in our room about 15 minutes later, to make sure we had the anesthesiologist on the way, and she'd be back to break my water, and then the nurses would have no choice, but to keep us! Again, Hooray for Dr. Langer!

5 hours of "labor" later (most of which I napped through, thanks to a good anesthesiologists!), and a frantic 10 minutes of pushing, our beautiful baby boy was born. Weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and 19.5" long.

He's a beautiful, healthy baby boy, who has 3 adoring older sisters. Each who love him in their own distinct ways. Daddy is proud as can be. As for Mom, its true there's a special place in a mother's heart for her son.

Party Time!

My beautiful Brooke turned 5 on June 30th. Because I never have my poop in a group, we always celebrate on the closest weekend, which put is right in the middle of the 4th of July festivities. Instead of dragging everyone together twice in one weekend, we opted for a birthday/Independence Day celebration at my parents house. The original plan was to have a "swimming party", complete with Grandpa's inflatable double water slide. Unfortunately mother nature wasn't so cooperative & the day was cooler than expected, cloudy & rainy. Being the adorable little brother that he is, I was able to talk Zachary into getting a couple of his horses & giving "pony rides" in my parents back yard instead. The kids loved it, and Brooke still thought she had a pretty cool birthday, despite the change in plans. Check out all the fun pictures on in the album on Facebook.

There is sunshine in my soul today!

Finally a day with sunshine & warm temperatures! This spring has felt like we've been transplanted to Seattle, instead of living in the arid deserts of Utah.
Here are some fun weather facts, compliments of KSL News Meteorology Desk:

This is the wettest May ever with 5.16" of rain. It is the second wettest month ever - the wettest being September of 1982. This is the wettest spring (March, April, May) ever. We count water during the "water year" that goes from October to September. A normal water year is 16.18" of water, we are already over 21" of water...and there's 5 months left.

I believe these stats are for the SL Airport. Pretty Amazing!

So today we're enjoying the sun & keeping our fingers crossed that is stays around a little while. Aubree was just outside dancing on the deck singing "I'n outside! I'n Outside!" I know the kids are looking forward to sunny days, so is mamma!

Baby, Oh, Baby!

So with baby #4, I should be a pro at this whole parenting thing, right? So why is it I'm already starting to panic a bit? My sister says the transition from 2 to 3 is the hardest. But right now, 4 is feeling a little overwhelming to me.

Maybe it is because, in essence we are starting over. I don't have a supply of boy things, although I do have a supply of girl things, and I just might be crafty enough to figure out ways to alter and adapt them to a little boy. My pack 'n play for example is a beautiful brown & PINK pattern. I'm thinking I can re-do the top edging, with something brown & blue, or brown & green easily enough, and a sheet cover will work for the padding. But then there are blankets and clothes to consider too. Now, I'm not freakish about having my kids identified in gender by EVERYTHING they wear. Using a pink or purple blanket at home doesn't bother me, but I don't want to deal with it out in public.

So..... I guess the money I was planning on spending on my yard this year just got reallocated to pay for supplies (nicety and necessity) for baby boy. I'm sure it will all be worth it, and lets face it, I really am looking forward to the shopping!

Easy As Apple Pie?

I love being in my kitchen. Well not actually being IN my kitchen, since it usually looks the spaghetti tornado from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has been through, but I LOVE cooking, and baking. Oddly enough, I rarely seem to have time to do what I love, as there is always something else that seems to be screaming louder for my attention.

Let me share with you a recent adventure in baking...

This weekend, thanks to Bountiful Baskets, I had a counter overflowing with apples. Time to make a pie. I had promised my little brother I'd keep his kids for the weekend, so he and his sweetheart could have a child free get away. This means I was home from work about 3 hours early Friday afternoon, YAY ME!!! Excess apples, "extra time", perfect time to make a pie, right?? In addition to 2 extra children for the night, we were having a family gathering on Saturday for a belated Easter Egg Hunt, which happened to fall on my other brother's birthday. My brother who LOVES my Dutch Apple Pie. Even more reason to get baking....

So at 4:00 I had my dinner menu in mind, White Chili Chicken Soup, and homemade corn bread, with apple pie for desert. Just for fun, I sent a note to some friends, to invite them over for desert - what can be better than sharing delicious food with friends? I text ed Donovan to bring home some vanilla ice cream to go with the pie. So far, so good....

I started the preparations for dinner, cornbread first, so it could begin baking while I mixed up the soup, and while it simmered, I'd start peeling apples. Yes, I am an awesome planner. Then the fun began. I discovered after mixing all the wet ingredients for my cornbread, I had no corn meal. WHAT? I was sure I had some in my pantry somewhere! This lead to an impromptu cleaning and re-organization mission of the pantry. An hour an a half later, my pantry was torn apart, Donovan was now ready to head home from work and I really had NO corn meal. A quick text to Donovan to grab some cornmeal in addition to the ice cream. "Cornbread mix?" he responds - NO! Just the corn meal! I have everything already mixed, except the corn meal.

By the time Donovan got home with my ice cream and corn meal, I had the pantry, mostly put back together, and dinner no where near started. Change gears quick! Get the food going, the natives are getting restless!

Finally the cornbread is in the oven, the soup is starting to simmer, and the apples are being peeled. Now the timer is going off & the cornbread is done, almost. As I'm trying to slice apples, I'm being interrupted about every 2 minutes by a different child, asking for a snack, or letting me know they are hungry. I think some days I need to be an octopus, 2 arms are not enough.

Dinner on the table, apples sliced & seasoned, kids eating... Solace for a minute or two.

At 7:15 my friend responded to the desert text - "sorry just saw your text". Which I didn't see for another hour. No worries - come on over - the pie will be done about 9:30. I even have ice cream. :)

Time to get 5 little monkeys into bed. Who gets to sleep where? What pillow do I get to use? But I want to sleep by ....... Now it's 9:00 and I'm just making pie crust. (In case you're interested, Paula Dean has an AWESOME pie crust recipe, which has become my favorite). I now realize that along the way I peeled enough apples for 2 pies. CRAP! Roll out another pie crust. Pie #1 goes in the oven, at 9:15. Now do the math with me - bake with edges covered in tin foil for 25 - 30 minutes, remove foil & bake another 20 - 25 minutes. Somehow I don't think the pie is going to be ready by 9:30.

9:35ish - friends show up - pie still not done. Kids still not asleep, kitchen still looking like a spaghetti twister has come through town.

The delay in the pie baking allowed for some great visiting time, with some great friends. The kids DID eventually fall asleep, including Aubree who was being rocked. And the pie was DEEE-LICIOUS!!!

And this my friends is why I don't bake more...

Its Music to Me!

I love music. Anyone who knows me knows I love music. I love to sing and listen to others sing. I listen to a wide variety of music, depending on my mood you'll catch me listening to anything from Nirvana to Indigo Girls, John Denver to AC/DC, Johnny Cash to Beethoven, Bach and Mozart. You could say my tastes are a little eclectic. My love of music is one I do my best to share with my children. I love to hear them sing with the radio, with me at bedtime and anytime they hear music. Unfortunately for them, they have all been blessed (or cursed) with my stellar dance skills. Which I have to say, brings me great entertainment. We'll focus on vocal music development instead of dancing. :)

In our home right now, our favorite DVD to watch is Fantasia & Fantasia 2000. The girls love the music & the artistic interpretations of the music. I love that they are watching something that exposes them to some of our greatest music composers, and some creative artistic minds.

This may be the start of their eclectic music journey...

Happy Easter

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Beyond the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups I love the heralding in of Spring. The new life, the return of birds, flowers, and some green grass.
Most importantly, I love the religious celebration of Spring. A time to recognize the ultimate sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A time to recognize the Atonement, and the Resurrection. A time to remember the Plan of Salvation. A time to remember, and be grateful for an eternal family, spanning generation, upon generation.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for ME he was crucified,
That for ME a sinner, he suffered, he, bled and died.

Oh, it is WONDERFUL that he should care for me, enough to die for me!
Oh, it is WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL to me!



I know that my Redeemer lives.
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead.
He lives, my ever living Head.

He lives to silence all my fears.
He lives to wipe away my tears.
He lives to calm my troubled heart.
He lives all blessings to impart.

I know you are, but what am I?

Just for fun, some random facts about me:

1. I love reading, but become unhealthily involved in my books (I've been know to dream about things I'm reading & attempt to re-write stories).
2. I rarely read, because my "free time" is spent chasing my 3 beautiful daughters.
3. I love playing sports, even the ones I'm not very good at.
4. Basketball is my favorite sport to play and watch.
5. As a child, I was very shy & quiet.
6. I'm known to be bossy.
7. I'm very opinionated. If you don't want to really know my opinion, don't ask it.
8. Even if you don't ask, you may still be subjected to my opinion.
9. Though you may not always be able to tell, I am very spiritually minded.
10. I love singing.
11. I knew my husband for just 2 months before we were engaged.
12. I think people who get married quickly are crazy.
13. I never wanted to be a "business woman".
14. I've been in business management for 14 years, and love it!
15. My college transcript is somewhat like Pauly Shore's. I've dabbled in everything from heavy duty auto mechanics, to veterinary classes to interior design. I guess I'm still trying to decide who I want to be when I grow up.
16. My favorite subjects in school were English & History.
17. I love dark chocolate!
18. My husband is my best friend & love of my life.
19. I still don't think I'm old enough to be a mom.
20. I loved traveling, until I had kids. Now I'd rather be home with them.
21. I've traveled to 3 countries, Mexico (Cabo San Lucas & Puerta Vallerta), Spain (all over!) and Gibralter (which I guess isn't really a country, but is under British rule).
22. I would love to go back to Spain with Donovan.
23. I would love to see the rest of Europe.
24. One of my favorite jobs has been cleaning horse stalls.
25. If I was independently wealthy, I would run a occupationally therapy program with horses for children with injuries or disabilities
26. I have secret aspirations of some day singing in the MoTab Choir.
27. I HATE scrap booking!
28. I enjoy cooking, and dream of being a master chef.
29. I question my abilities as a mother daily.
30. I'm a mother hen & like to take care of others.

Just in case you ever had a burning desire to know any of these things about me.... Well, now you do!

What's in a blog???

So I started this blog after moving from Wyoming, as a way to update family & friends on our adventures. However, blogging, along with most other forms of communication is not one of my strengths. It's been over a year since my last post, so long in fact, that the template I downloaded from the internet is apparently no longer available! Yes, I'm just that on top of things. Mostly I think, "Is there any one really that interested in my so called life?"

Well.... Interested or not, here's it goes... I'm getting back in the game of blogging.