Spring Swing

It's raining now, goshdarnit, but the other day it felt like Spring was here to stay. It felt so good that we decided to strap the Jones up and take him for his first day at the park!

The video is a little choppy, we just bought this camera and I'm trying to get used to it. Hopefully it won't make you motion-sick like a lot of home videos seem to do!

On a Roll

I've been blogging at least once a week for a while now, so I can't really ruin that streak, right? Even though I've been consumed with getting our living room put together (so close!) and taking care of my baby and the constant cleaning and laundry and taking walks in this glorious sunshine--I don't really have a whole lot of extra time for other things. But I will tell you this:

1) We finally went and bought ourselves a new TV, and I only have one thing to say about it... what took us so long??


2) If Jonah is crying the only sure-fire way to get him to stop is to go outside. Yesterday I spent almost the whole afternoon mulling around in our parking lot because the minute I went back inside he would start crying.

3) I'm working on a project that has taken much longer than I thought... I only get to work on it while Jones naps, but because of that it has turned out a lot better than expected as well. So, whatever that's worth. Enforced patience and what have you...

4) Jonah is learning to grab things! It's almost stupidly exciting to watch him take the toy from my hand, shake it around a bit, and accidentally fling it across the room.

5) He has also learned how to best execute a dramatic tantrum. When he gets really upset, he'll kick his legs a lot faster. If that doesn't help, he'll take in a huge breath and cry much louder, and if that doesn't do anything, he'll throw in a few fake coughs. He probably thinks it'll make us take him seriously, but it's just too adorable.

6) And lastly, he loves to be in only a diaper. He loves it even better to be in nothing, but that's just not practical. Who wants to be cleaning up pee all day?

Look how cute and chunky he's getting!

Pinteresting?

I was complaining about Pinterest to my mom today,

"Now if people ever come up with great ideas of their own, everyone is just going to assume they got it off Pinterest!"

But this is not a post to announce that I came up with several adorable DIY ideas for home decor all by myself... in fact, almost all of them I saw on Pinterest. It really is a wonderful place. I am flabbergasted that it took me so long to come around to it. Do you not know how much more often I make real dinners? Kade is probably the biggest Pinterest fan around just because of the meals. 

But anyway, Pinterest DIY home decor projects are also plentiful. And this is what I'm talking about.

(However, there is one that I thought up all on my own, but that'll probably be a very long time coming. The rest I should have up in about a week!)

 Pretty excited that our place is finally coming together! We're also pretty excited to have people come over, so when we get everything finished, you're invited!

In conclusion, I'm obliged to share with you this picture:

I'll Figure it Out Eventually

Last night I was so tired that I wadded up the blankets around me and started rocking them as Jonah cried through the monitor. Then I half-woke up in a panic searching through my blankets trying to find him. 

A few minutes later I almost-all-the-way woke up and went into the other room to get him. The time was 4:30 am, just two hours after he'd woken up last. He was bright-eyed and bushy tailed, so I laid him on the ground on his blankets so he could kick his legs and wave his arms while I slept on the ground next to him. Finally, he fell back asleep around 5:15, and we both slept like babies till 10:30. Phew!

I don't really understand his sleep habits--lately he's been sleeping from 8:30 to 8:00 only waking up once to eat (the night before last he actually slept the entire night!). But I do know one thing:

While schedules work incredibly well for some babies and their moms, they don't for us.

Yesterday I spent the entire day trying to make Jones stick to his "schedule." Which meant he was happy all morning until it was "time for a nap" then I fought with him for hours trying to get him to sleep. Which meant he was probably punishing me by waking up every two hours last night.
Ugh, was that ever not worth it.
So today, I tried something different. I let him call the shots. And instead of getting super ornery around noon until he falls asleep for the night like he usually does, he was happy all day! He even went down easily to bed! Sure, its a lot more convenient for him to be on a set schedule, but carrying him around while I do my daily chores is much more worth it when I don't have a fussy baby for hours upon hours a day.

Yes, I should have listened to my mother... or rather noticed her raised eyebrows the minute the word "schedule" crossed my lips. Consider my lesson learned the hard way!

Anyway, here are a few updates on our little man:

He notices and plays with his toys!

This has been great, because when once he would cry immediately upon being laid down, I now get a few extra minutes of getting ready in the morning, switching laundry over, throwing dinner in the crock pot, even revamping an old lamp. And its so fun to watch him swing his little hands and get excited when the toys make noise.

He's still got awesome hair.

You can kind of see where its thinner from turning his head side to side, but other than that, he's got some long luscious locks. His original hair hasn't grown too much longer, but he's got more hair growing in underneath it that makes it look much thicker. And when he sweats, it gets adorably wavy.

Does this onesie effectively hide my thunder?*

Nope! And it's so cute! Aren't his chubby little legs the cutest chubby baby legs ever? Since he was a newborn I've been keeping track of whether I can touch my finger to my thumb when I wrap my hand around his thigh--well, there is now a half inch gap between my finger and thumb, and I've got big hands!

And lastly, this...I can't believe he's almost three months old!

Can you believe how much he's changed?

It's funny how a baby can scream and scream and scream at you and you will promise yourself this is the last baby you will ever have, until one little smile turns your whole mood around and everything is forgiven and suddenly you're thinking "I'll take at least three more please!" ...all in an instant.

Though being a mom definitely has its ups and downs, and despite all the times I swear I will drop him off at my mother's house or give him up for adoption, I'm really happy with this little kid. 

I just love his chubby little guts!

*Bonus points if you know this reference!

In a Rich Man's World

Today we got our tax return!

You know, while I was laying there in the midst of my contractions and greasy hair and nervous husband, I never realized just how worth it having a baby would be.
Just kidding. Jones is worth way more than a few bucks extra from the government. But its a nice bonus :)

In case you need me, I will be (frugally) scouring the pages of KSL's classifieds in search of additional seating for our living room. No more need to drag in the kitchen chairs to accommodate guests! Then, its off to the market to purchase ingredients needed for all my Pinterest recipes. It's going to be fantastic.

And last but not least, a pic of Jones post bubble bath:

The Chemistry Between Us

Yesterday was, indeed, Valentines Day. And as I woke up yesterday morning, I thought nothing of it, figuring the two times we went out to eat over the past weekend probably counted as our celebration. However, when I finally bumbled downstairs to breakfast I discovered a trail of cute little love notes Kade had left for me from the bottom of the stairs, through the hall, around the corner and into the fridge. What a hunk.
He didn't want me to post pictures because he was embarrassed that it was so cheesy... ha. If only guys truly understood the meaning of cheese to a gal!
Anyway, that is when I realized that our Valentines celebrations had not ended with the weekend, and I spent the rest of the day planning out special valentine gift options for Kade.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), none of my ideas panned out.

Instead, we spent the evening swimming in gooey cheese and chocolate fondues. Which were deeeee-lish. Then we spent a romantic evening wherein which we gave Jones a bath that he pooped in (again), fished him out of the bath so he could then poop on me (a first), Kade got called in to work for a few minutes while I re-bathed the poopmonster, and we wrapped it all up trying to convince a very disagreeable Jonah that it was time to go to bed.

A while later Jones gave in and it was our turn to go to bed, so we quickly jumped under the covers. I promptly pressed my ear to the baby monitor to check again for breathing, and Kade and Sandra got all cozy and cuddly.

Oh, you haven't met Sandra?

Sandra is Kade's body pillow.

After weeks of me poking fun at how much he loved it, the other day Kade suggested I finally just give it a name. Ironically, Sandra was the first name I thought of. Ironic because yesterday, when I bid them goodnight, Kade began to tell me a story about his Chemistry lab partner. Her name just so happens to be Sandra.
The conversation when something like:

"You have a lab partner named Sandra? And your body pillow is named Sandra?"
"You chose the name!"
"What a coincidence..."
"The other day during lab Sandra told me, 'Kade, I'm really glad we're lab partners.' She's kind of weird, but I said 'Yeah, I'm glad too.'"
Then he rolled over, as if that was the end of the story.
"Why did she say that?"
"I don't know."
"You didn't ask? Weren't you curious?"
"Well no, I knew why. It was 'cause of Jessica Anderson."
"Yeah, that Jessica Anderson is a real Bih, huh?"
"She sure is."

I punched Kade in the arm, because I was just joking--he wasn't supposed to agree with me.

"Ow! What the heck? She really is a bih!"

Of course, I am somewhat shocked and amazed at this sudden revelation--and on such a day as this! But Kade looks over at me and upon realizing my dismay says,

"I swear I told you there was a Jessica Anderson in my class!"

"HA! Mere coincidence? That there would be BOTH a Sandra AND a Jessica Anderson as your CHEMISTRY lab partners, and also both a Sandra and a Jessica Anderson IN YOUR BED?"

*  *  *

So as it turns out yes, his lab partner is named Sandra. And there is a girl in his class named Jessica Anderson whose lab partner wasn't there that day, so she got partnered up with them. And yes, from what he told me about her, she is a real bih. We had a good laugh about it.
Kade also made sure to tell me repeatedly that Sandra is not at all his type. Too many missing teeth.

But still, he better not get confused, lest this:

*For the record, Kade, I really almost got out the fabric markers and drew this on your pillow... but I figured it would be awkward if I ever wanted to use it.

The moral of this valentines story is something like this:

I'm really glad I get to stay up late every night talking about anything and everything with my best friend, and I love that even though he has to wake up early and I can sleep in, he doesn't get mad or jealous. And I love that he's cheesy sometimes, and I love that he gets embarrassed about it. That just proves he only did it because he knew I would like it. But most of all I just love Kade.

Also Jonah. He's too cute not to mention :)

Happy Valentines!

Mr. Jones' Improved Living Magazine Presents:

Be sure to impress friends and family with these quick and easy styling tricks!