Dork

Ok, I realized right after I hit the "Publish Post" button that the Triple A thing in the previous post was nerdy of me, but I'm not going to edit it out. I'm a dork, so deal with it.

New Friend

Yesterday we got a package in the mail from Adam's Aunt Ann (Triple A!) One of the gifts was a little stuffed reindeer, who we named Comet. Jack has formed an attachment. He holds him and hugs him and eats him.

2 Good Excuses

I'm a failure. I missed two days of blogging. On Saturday night, Jack and I both went to sleep at 8:00. When Adam woke me up to get into my PJ's, it was too late. I had already missed blogging for the day. Then yesterday, I had a really gripping story to tell about our drive home from Utah, but our internet wasn't working.

So today, to make up for missing two days I have a good story to tell.

When we woke up Sunday morning in Utah it was snowing outside. We were planning on going to church at Mel's ward to hear her speak, but then we decided to just get on the road as soon as we could get all packed up. We left at noon and didn't get home until 6:30. It's normally a three and a half hour drive. It was pretty snowy on the roads from Salt Lake through about Layton area. Between Midvale and Layton we got splashed twice with gallons of water as people switched lanes. That was kind of freaking me out, because for a couple seconds we couldn't see anything. I was getting pretty nervous, so we slowed way down. But after Layton the roads seemed to clear up quite a bit. We were in Pocatello when we were passing two semis. We were in the left lane and the semis were splashing a bunch of water up at us. Before we knew it we were fishtailing off the highway and into the median.

I experienced what some might call the maternal instinct. I was in back with Jack and when we started going off the road I just held onto his car seat with a death grip. I'm not sure what I thought I was going to do to help the situation. But all I could think was that we were going to flip and that I needed to hang onto Jack.

Luckily, we didn't flip. Luckily, there wasn't a barrier in our way. Luckily, there was no damage to the car. Oh, who am I kidding? Luck had nothing to do with it. We were really blessed. We were also, however, very stuck. The snow was up to our doors.

So, we called our roadside assistance and two hours later we were finally out. While we waited we did some digging with our scraper and managed to move the car about three feet. Also while we waited we were visited with four cops. The first one accused us of speeding (we were going 50 mph in a 75 mph zone). He accused us of slamming the brakes (who doesn't instinctively hit the brakes when the car is out of control?). He also reprimanded us saying, "It's always snowy in Idaho, you have to learn how to drive." (It's our fourth winter in Idaho. We know that it snows here.) He was an all around jerk. The second cop stopped, waved from inside his car and then left. The third one asked what happened and what tow truck company was coming, then left without saying goodbye. Then, finally, the fourth stayed on site with us while the tow truck pulled us out and helped control traffic as they did so.

Our adventures made for a very long day, but I'm so so glad that it only cost us $100 to the tow truck company. It could have easily cost us a car, a huge hospital bill, or worse. We were definitely being looked after and I'm so grateful for that.

Black Friday

Adam and I braved Walmart last night with Mel and Chris. To make a long story short, we broke a few Black Friday rules, nearly got trampled, and busted some line cutters. We got home at 1:00 am, then got up at 4:45 to hit the morning time stores. I got some great deals. Adam's Christmas is FINISHED. It feels really good.

This afternoon, my dad was left alone with Jack while I took a nap, and a grandparenthood first happened for him....

He changed a poopy diaper! Jack is the seventh grandchild and the first to experience the great joy of having Grandpa Drake wipe his bottom.

Then tonight we went on our first post-Jack date, unless you count that one time we left him with Kelsey, Mom Mom, and Matt for five minutes. We went out with one of Adam's old roommates and his wife. We went out to eat and watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which Adam and I both highly recommend.

Great day. Happy Black Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm Thankful for Stuff

Everyone else has been writing thankful lists on their blogs. I'm thankful for stuff too.

I'm thankful for Adam.

I'm thankful for Jack

 I'm thankful for the temple.

I'm thankful for Sunny Anderson.

I'm thankful for mommies and daddies.

 I'm thankful for my dish washer.

I'm thankful for cheeseburgers.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Tomorrow I'll post a picture of the pretty pecan pie that is in the oven right now.

Scawwwy Snow Stowm

The news has been making a HUGE deal out of this snow storm that's coming in right now. They're running stories about emergency preparedness-stocking up on groceries and gasoline and teaching you how to survive in your car. Nearby colleges have been shut down. People got sent home early from work. It looks like we're in for a big one. In Idaho I-15 has been closed from Idaho Falls to Montana. We're hiding inside watching the snow come down.

How We Joneses Sit...

This is how Jack prefers to sit.

He refuses to use any type of head rest. He's always trying to lean forward.

And this is how Adam and I prefer to sit. 

Our first ever "Keeping Up With The Us" blog give-away will go to whoever can figure out which pair of legs go to which Jones.

He's a Jones...

Adam and Jack watched the Giants-Eagles game today. It's safe to say that Jack is a Jones boy.

Jack's New Style

Adam and I went shopping with Chris and Richard. We left Jack with Mel and my dad. Bad combination of babysitters. Lesson learned. They had a little fun at Jack's expense. We came home to find Jack looking like this...

*Note that he has a sleeper on, then pants and a vest over top. It's OK though. He's a trend setter. I've seen three other babies dressed this way since Jack initiated the new fad. Kids these days...

Giggles

Jack's had some really giggly giggles lately. This one isn't as giggly, but it's the best I can get. When he sees the camera come out he stops whatever he was doing and stares at the camera.

Confessions

-I watch Police Women of Dallas.

-I put my nose to Jack's butt to see if he needs a diaper change.

-I can't wait to push and shove at Target on Black Friday at 4 a.m.

-On Black Friday I just grab three of what everyone else is grabbing even if I don't want it.

-This morning was the first time I've taken a morning time shower since I started my morning class. Don't worry. I shower at night.

-But I still don't shower every night.

-We've had people coming to sell baked goods door to door lately. I bought the Tres Leches from the kid today cause he was cuter than the others who have come by.

-Sometimes I laugh at Jack when he cries.

-I get bummed when I'm running late in the morning and miss "Breakfast with the Beatles" on 98.1.

-I want to laugh out loud every time my American Government teacher says, "Vice President, Joe Byington." I mean honestly, if you teach American Government shouldn't you say the vice president's name right?

-I'm obsessed with fruit leather. I try to limit myself to two a day, but sometimes I eat three.

-Today I'm going to eat three.

-I'm a blog stalker. It's a severe case. I regularly check the blogs of people I don't even know.

-Sometimes I contemplate going public with the blog again, just cause I know how much I hate when I want to read someone's blog, but it's private and I haven't talked to them since high school so I can't ask for an invite.

-After posting a blog, I check back religiously to see if I have comments.

Things I Like

-I like coming home to things like this after my morning class.

-I like being offered free massages while standing in line at Craigo's

-I like getting two Craigo's pizza buffets for $10 instead of $15

-I like having an "Oh" contest with Jack to see who can say "Oh" the most.

-I like when Adam comes home from class with treats like Jamba Juice or Symphony bars.

-I like when I don't have to scrape the car in the morning.

-I like registering for my final semester of college.

-I like knowing two long breaks from school are coming up.

He Even Makes Grocery Shopping Fun

When I was at Walmart yesterday Jack was being super cute. I probably looked stupid because I kept baby talking to him as I walked the aisles. Whenever I looked down at him he'd just be grinning at me waiting for me to look at him. As I stood in line, there were some older ladies behind me who were loving him. He was smiling at them a bunch. I think it made their day.

How Many Days Til Santa Comes?

 See the light from the tree in his eyes?

 Mesmerized

It's That Time of Year (Almost)

Yeah, some might argue we're way too early, but there is a method to our madness. We want to be able to enjoy our tree before going out of town. This morning Adam jokingly asked, "So do you wanna put the tree up now?" He should know better than to joke with me when tree decorating is involved. I immediately started moving the furniture and he regretted his words. We're quite different when it comes to tree assembly. I can't bother with spreading out the branches and placing the lights just so. I'm too excited for ornaments, ribbon, and sprigs. Adam, on the other hand, is very particular about the branch placement. Jack just loves to stare at it. Today if he started to fuss, we just walked him over to the tree. It mesmerizes him.

Why Wait?

This week my Family Relations class was about father involvement. I read about the decline in father involvement in America. Lots of people think fathers are unnecessary. However, that is false. As part of my class I have to write a personal journal entry each week. As I was writing my journal entry I thought, "Too bad it's not Father's Day. I could copy and paste this to use it as my blog for the day." But later, I was like, "Why wait?"

My Son's Dad

"I think that I have given my son one of the best life long gifts he'll ever receive. He's only two months old, but I gave him that gift two and a half years ago when I married Adam. My husband is such an awesome dad. He loves to play with Jack. He loves to cuddle with him. He can't wait for him to grow up and to teach him how to play guitar.

"My father-in-law is one of my husband's best friends. They laugh together all the time. When something funny happens, he pulls out his phone to text his dad. They have a really special relationship. When I saw the way they interacted, I knew even back when Adam and I were dating that my kids would have an excellent father because Adam tries to emulate his own great dad.

"But even before I met Adam, I knew my kids would have a great dad. I knew that because I had grown up with a dad who cared, who was involved, and who I could talk to. I knew I wouldn't settle for anything less than what I had. In fact, without my dad giving me the go ahead to find a sandy brown haired, shy boy with glasses I might not have considered going for my dark-haired, outgoing husband who wears contacts.

"How do we protect the role of father? Great dads are the way fatherhood will be protected. When a child grows up with a wonderful, caring, loving father, they can't help but want that for their own children."

Two Can Play.

This is Adam.

Today was Natalie's turn to fall asleep on the bed with Jack and get a picture on the blog. I got home from getting a haircut and was pleased to be met with this adorable sight:

That's my pretty wife and our handsome baby. Zonked out.

Now a short list of why Natalie is amazing:

1. She knows all of the words to songs like Jet Airliner by Steve Miller, Runnin' On Empty by Jackson Browne and countless Tom Petty songs and will enthusiastically sing along with me and the radio while in the car. I'm pretty sure she had never even heard of two-thirds of those artists before we were married.

2. She made our Star Wars Halloween costumes look amazing and authentic. We were very accurate, I'll have you know.

3. She fits right in with the rest of us Joneses. My family just loves her and she has been more excited than I have been for our trip to Texas in December, which is really saying something.

4. She loves to find new, fun dinner ideas and has been going gourmet a lot lately.

5. She is thoughtful to the extreme. I first realized this a short time before we started dating and she was shuffling a deck of Uno cards face up. I asked her why and she said that, since everyone else shuffled them the other way, she shuffled cards face up so that they wouldn't get worn out by only being shuffled one way. Lately, she's been talking about Christmas gifts for our extended family and has some great ideas in mind. Kelsey, I know something you don't know.

I could go on, but I have class at 2:00.

Ups and Downs of Life as a Baby

Jack and I have both been emotional roller coasters today. He started out the day particularly chipper. This morning he figured out how to play with the links that have been dangling from his bassinet for weeks. So I added some more links to play with and a Snoopy.

 He had just given Snoopy a good whack. 

Then I went to class and Jack got to play with his daddy. 

I came home and got Jack laughing really hard. I've done it to him twice and he's loved it both times. I'm determined to get it on video, but thus far he stops as soon as we hit the red button. But he loves it when I touch his toes to his cheeks and say, "A toesy. A toesy. A toesy." 

We wore him out with all the playing, so he took a quick snooze before the torture began. The calm before the storm, if you will.

Here comes the downer part of Jack's day. I've spared you all the trauma of seeing pictures. Plus they may have called DCFS if I had taken pictures of my child screaming. If you haven't guessed, Jack had a doctor's appointment today. He got shots... We both cried a lot. In fact, we both started crying even before the nurses came in. Jack cried because he hated laying on the paper. I cried because I knew that the paper was the least of his worries. Then I made the mistake of watching the shock on his face when the first needle went in. He was already crying from the paper, but then they poked him. He stopped crying for a split second, and then started wailing with renewed energy. It was pure torture for both of us.

He calmed down pretty quickly. He even fell asleep while we were in Walmart getting him some baby Tylenol. And now he's back to his old happy self, though he looks a bit drugged up.  

P.S. Whilst I've been typing away Jack started to fuss in his bassinet, so Adam pulled him out to snuggle with him. Then they both fell asleep. I had to take a picture. I have cute boys.

Bananas, Jack, Bananas

Along with Grandmama and Papa's visit last weekend came lots of new clothes. I think about 75% of Jack's clothes were provided by grandparents. Grandmas love to buy baby clothes. I had the energy to stand up today and decided to use that energy to dress Jack in one of my favorite of his new outfits. The pictures are good, but I just wish you all could have heard Adam trying to get him to smile. He kept imitating a monkey going, "Ooo ooo. Ahh ahh. Banana's. Jack, Bananas." It actually worked, though.

 This was taken just before a big sneeze.

His smiles in these pictures are a far cry from what his mood was earlier though. There's no way the monkey impersonation would have worked a few hours ago. Adam and I both had tests to take in the testing center today. So we tag teamed it. Adam took his test. Then he stayed out in the car while I took my test. Needless to say, by the end of the testing marathon Jack had lost all patience. So he let us know how frustrated he was by screaming the whole way home. 

As a side note, I'm feeling much much better today. Yesterday was awful, particularly while Adam was at work and Jack was fussy and I just wanted to sleep/puke. Usually I go years without throwing up. But the last time I threw up was when Jack was born. That's a little too frequent for me. Hopefully I won't throw up again for a good long while. It's just the worst, especially when your toilet is dirty. Gross.

Oh and I'd also think twice about using that recipe I posted. Adam got sick too. And that may have been the culprit. Even if it wasn't, I'm still blaming the puking on that darn prosciutto. Every time I scroll through the blog I mentally throw up a little when I pass that picture. And to think I used to trust you, Sunny Anderson. 

Bleh

I'm sick. Yuck. That's my post for the day.

Winter Blues

When my alarm went off this morning at 7:00, I knew it would be a better idea to stay in bed all day. Boy was I right. Instead of following my instinct, I got out of bed. I walked outside to what some call a winter wonderland, but I know better. The snow just kept coming down all day. Rexburg's wet, messy snow differs greatly from Utah's powdery, "Best Snow on Earth" snow. Rexburg's snow turns straight into slush.

Well, Jack and I braved the weather while Adam was in class. I went grocery shopping and came home soaked from trudging through the parking lots. Wet shoes. Wet socks. Wet pants. Hate it.

Eventually the day took a turn for the better, though. I realized that we didn't take any pictures yesterday of just Jack. So I got him back in his outfit and took some cute pictures of the blessing boy.

 LOVED the shoes.

Then the day took a turn for the MUCH better. Food has a tendency to do that for me... We had a delicious, decadent meal tonight. I'm full, but thinking about it makes me want to go warm up the left overs. Get this: We had prosciutto wrapped sirloin cubes with an awesome mustard pan sauce on top and parmesan herbed orzo on the side.

This meal did wonders for my mood. So if you're feeling the winter blues wrap yourself up some beef sirloin. Here's the recipe if your mouth is watering the way mine is right now. Oh, and Janelle, this is a completely stove-top made meal.