Once Upon a Jones

Eight Months in Eight Seconds

2011-07-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

Kai was a little leery of Santa, but at least there were no tears from the boys...this year.

Kai loves his Grandpa!

We love Christmas time! The lights at Temple Square are always amazing!

Cael finally woke up, and the flash from the camera didn't exactly help.

Christmas morning!

Happy Birthday, Cael! One year old! Wow!!

On your mark...

Get set...

GO!!!

We have a winner!

We're pretty sure Cael loves the sink more than smashing his cake - he LOVES running water!

Our little family around Easter time.

Good luck getting one of these boys to smile when you want him to...

Kai's and Cael's Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny - take a guess at what Kai went for first.

The boys love pinwheels, too - we've got a small collection of them now.

A little blurry, but too cute to pass up!

Kai's pirate booty - except more Easter and eggs and less pirates and booty.

The boys got hair cuts a couple of days later.

Haircut, Halloween, and Happy Birthday!

2010-11-22T00:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a little of what we've done in the last few months...

Negligence due to the new baby, but I like beach bum look. :)

Missionary in training.

Jedi Knight for Halloween.

He didn't want to be a Jedi, really...he just wanted the light saber. He STILL loves them.

Did you ever wonder what Yoda looked like before he was 900 years old?

We thought Jaren's costume was obvious, but someone thought he was a tooth. Guess we'll try again next year.

My little pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

I'll never throw another party this big again. I didn't sleep for a week preparing for this.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!

After being stood up by the vegan bakery (Kai is allergic to milk), I had to take matters into my own hands (and Jaren's). This cake took us 8 hours and a gazillion trips to Wal-mart and Michael's to finish. But it was the highlight of the day for Kai, so it was worth it.

Another shot of the thorn in my side.

Before...

After...

Of all the unique Mickey-related games I tried to play, blowing bubbles in chocolate milk was the hit of the night. They LOVED it!

My little 3-year-old opening his presents. He loves Mickey.

The obsession lives on. He sleeps with three light sabers at night now.

I'm sooooo glad this is over! I need to sleep for a week to recover from this. But he deserves it!

Wrapped Around His Little Finger

2010-08-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Jaren (to Grandma): Thanks for watching Kai. We'll be back in 20 minutes.

[Jaren and Amber leave with the baby]

Kai (calling from his bed): Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?

Grandpa: What are we going to do?

Grandma: Just give him a few minutes. He'll go to sleep.

Kai: Daddy? Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?

Grandpa: I'm going to just go see him.

Lightsabers and Babies

2010-08-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

I was folding laundry, and Kai was playing with one of our new flashlights (http://www.survival-spot.com/survival-blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/product_glowsticks.jpg). The following conversation ensued:

Kai: "Mommy, mommy! Cael has lightsaber!"
Me: (Not looking, still concentrating on laundry) "Uh huh."

Kai: "Mommy, look! Baby Cael has lightsaber!"

Me: "What in the world!"

Kai was looking for a worthy opponent, so he grabbed another "lightsaber" and timed the swing just right, placing the flashlight almost squarely in his little brother's hand. Notice who is the "good guy" and who is the "bad guy". If it's not obvious by this post, Kai is pretty obsessed with lightsabers right now.

Also, here are some more pics of 3-piece and 5-piece.

Enlarged to Show Detail

2010-07-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, these items actually exist in the house, so we had to take a picture. The only photoshopping done was color correction and shadows.

As a side-note, we always called Kai "Nugget", but now that Cael is here, we occasionally call Cael 3-piece and Kai is now 5-piece... cute little nuggets!

To Make It Official...

2010-05-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

Nine Months ... and Counting!

2010-05-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been over 9 months since our last post, so we figured it was about time to post our near year-in-review in pictures! Who likes to read lengthy posts anyway? It feels like homework! And since there are so many pictures, Jaren decided he's not going to take the time to touch up any of them (with a few exceptions), so sorry for the bad lighting, etc. Here's a summary of what has gone on since our last entry:

Having fun at This Is The Place Park:

Berry picking:

Yup, there were more. BUT! We figured out how to get rid of them! http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/demand-cs-p-46.html
The stuff is non-toxic to animals and humans. It's amazing!! It's the only thing we found that kills hobo spiders:

Third time's the charm! It took two years of practice before we finally got our garden to grow how we wanted it to:

Camping in the back yard with our new gear. And no, we are not trying to advertise for Cabela's. (Although, did you know they've got some great stuff?! Come on down and let one of our sales representatives know what you're looking for! You're sure to find the best deal on camping gear, shoes, fishing waders and more!!):

Fall time approaches:

AAAAAAAAS YOOOOOOOOU WIIIIIIIIIIIISH!!! So we had to do some major improvising here. Jaren's mask was IMPOSSIBLE to find. So we bought a cat mask, cut the ears off, tried to patch the eyes as best as possible and spent hours removing the sequins. Jaren was less than satisfied. Our little Fred Savage on the other hand was probably happy we couldn't find a wig to make his costume complete. We also had fun with pumpkin carvings this year:

Our little man turned 2!! Can you believe it?! Sprinkle pancakes and presents to follow:

Christmas time at This Is The Place Park. Real reindeer and even a real beard on St. Nick! We were shocked he wasn't screaming his head off (the boy, not the man). Also, a great nativity scene and a run-in with a Roman soldier:

And of course, what is Christmas without a visit to temple square to see the lights?

Christmas day in the Jones household:

A trip to the aquarium. Kai has a blast every time we go (that is, until things don't go his way - note his very first meltdown on the floor):

What is this?! Could it be...?

We made some popcorn-on-a-wire crafts for the birds to eat. Unfortunately, they were never touched:

More fun with Levi and Grandma:

...and of course, Grandpa:

Oh! You were wondering about that bump? Well, turns out there was a new baby in there! His name is Cael Isaac Jones, he was born a week ago, and he's extremely sweet! We were worried that Kai would be really jealous when he finally arrived. Looks like all the prepping helped, because he REALLY loves his little brother!

Anyway, there is our nearly a year-in-review! We'll try to do a little better next time - although, we're pretty proud of the end result. :)

Ode to Kindermusik

2009-06-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

We just finished our second semester of Kindermusik and we LOVE it! Auntie Kim is a Kindermusik teacher and we go to her classes once a week.

It's such a great experience to learn about and explore music and various instruments. We learn about music and rhythm - high and low, fast and slow. It's a great social experience for Kai, as well. He gets kissed every time by the same girl. :)

We're on summer break until the fall and we'll be missing it every week until then!

A Huntin' We Will Go...

2009-05-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

We were sick for this holiday. We didn't go to church. It was weird. Buuuuut, we had an Easter Basket hunt. It took Kai a few minutes to realize it was sitting on his high chair. Jaren thinks I went overboard (note from Jaren: Just look at all those eggs! For one kid! You be the judge). And then we had an Easter egg hunt! Parenthood really is all about reliving your childhood. :)

Kai wasn't really interested in the bright, colored eggs that lay hidden in the grass in the back yard. He preferred the swing....as always. As for the candy, he would suck on each piece and spit it out. We think that he didn't like how hard it was, but liked that it was sweet...and hey! Maybe that next piece will be different than the previous 15 pieces.

We also tried to gear Easter more toward what we're celebrating. Less bunny, more Christ. :) Hope everyone had a good Easter!

Fun with Levi

2009-05-31T20:18:00.001-07:00

Cousin Levi came to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Jones when his new baby sister Dana was born (Levi had a cold)...and Kai was in hoooooog heaven! It was a love-hate relationship, really. Neither has quite mastered the concept of sharing, but they both still had so much fun together! They chased each other around the house, fed each other, and shared sippy-cups.

Kai, Levi, and the Jacobson clan all went to This is the Place Heritage Park. They loved the little play village, but LOVED the wild geese running around even more. There was also a billy-goat that scared them a bit, but aunt Kim had chocolate chip cookies to make it all better. It also helped that the local town sheriff fired his gun a few times. He liked his picture being taken. :)

...and what would a Huckleberry Finn/Tom Sawyer adventure be without coloring Easter eggs?! They had so much fun together. Kai misses him and lights up when he sees pictures of him. Can't wait to see you in the fall, Levi!

Kai and his Nana

2009-05-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

Kai's Nana came out to visit in March and he loved it! We all had fun visiting and cooking for each other. She was here for our 'Third Annual St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza'; it was very green and very fun! We love you, Nana!

Update... We have been sick...again. We were hit with 3 different nasty bugs right in a row and then Kai had a 3-week diaper rash that turned out to be a rare form of eczema. He's finally getting better now that he's got his special cream - he's wearing diapers again (cloth of course - he's still allergic to disposables)! We don't get much done when we're sick. :)

Here are some of Kai's many faces for your enjoyment...or as they say, "Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil, and whatza' matta' wit choo?!" :) And no, we didn't plan it this way.

WOO HOO!!!

2009-02-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

We just found out tonight that In-N-Out is coming to Draper!!! It's all because of the temple, I'm sure. :) Why wasn't this in the evening news? I don't know. There is much celebrating and jumping around. Presents given and received. I can live here now...almost. I'm still waiting for Trader Joe's.

http://www.sltrib.com/athome/ci_11683841

P.S. Kai IS allergic to peanuts...and milk. :( At least he can have a great In-N-Out burger!

¡Feliz Navidad!

2009-01-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Nothing gives you greater joy than bringing somebody else happiness. Especially when it's your own child. Kai was still more interested in the wrapping paper than in the presents. Shocker.

We started with our tradition of eggs benedict on Christmas morning. ¡Qué delicioso! I'm getting better at making it for larger groups of people - although, the yolks still cooked semi-solid. :( How do the restaurants do it?! It was accompanied by my favorite home-made hot chocolate.

After breakfast, we opened presents. Kai's favorite present from Santa was a stack of wooden peg puzzles. It kept him occupied for about three minutes. :) Later that day, the Jones family Christmas extravaganza ensued. Grandpa and Grandma Jones really know how to one-up Santa. Presents EVERYWHERE! It's fun to watch the grandkids go wild opening up their gifts. Everything from books to flying, screaming monkey slingshots. You never know what may lurk inside that box. Kai's favorite gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Jones were his stuffed dog and his Skippy Jon Jones board books. Should be fun again next year. :)

New Year's eve was quiet, simple, and deranged. We stayed up watching the Twilight Zone marathon....again. :) Our favorite one was "To Serve Man": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29. We missed the countdown and everything. Next year we'll try to pop a bottle of Martinelli's and kiss at midnight, but we'll probably end up watching the Twilight Zone again. It wasn't on purpose either time, but we've done it two years in a row now. It just goes to show how well-matched Jaren and I are. We love spending time together. :) As a new year's resolution, we're hoping to be more consistent with our family home evenings.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a prosperous and blessed new year!

What's up with the Joneses?

2009-01-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

We've been slow on blogging, so we thought we'd just give an update on what we're doing.

Jaren's had more unpaid vacation, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Love having him around - I just can't afford to give him a paycheck for staying home. :) We're grateful that he still has a job, though.

We had a bad flu for weeks, but we're better now. That's probably the main reason we haven't blogged very much.

The family dog died, which is sad for some of us, but definitely not all of us. :) Kai stopped saying "doggy" after his passing, though, which is sad. His mechanical dog that he got for Christmas isn't thrilling him like Sammy did, either.

The Utes won! What else is there to say except this well spoken quote from a random blogger:

Ole Miss stands to say Florida aint #1.
Oregon St stands to say USC aint #1.
Texas stands to say OU aint #1.
Texas Tech stands to say Texas aint #1.
Aint no one standing to say Utah aint #1.

There has been much celebrating in the Jones home. :)

Kai can walk and crawl, but he hasn't mastered either of them yet. He had an allergic reaction to something - we don't know what yet. But we have a sneaky suspicion that it's peanuts. :( We knew we'd make a sensitive child with the problems we both have, but we didn't think we'd be dealing with it this soon. Kai can also say a few words: Mama, Da-da, Daddy, Doggy, Ball, and upon request, Bubble. He loves bubbles - and his stuffed, non-mechanical puppy from Grandpa and Grandma Jones that he got for Christmas.

Kai has also had two haircuts since his first birthday - he looks so boy instead of baby now - it's crazy! Daddy is Kai's barber - though he complains that he's the toughest client he's had - he moves all over the place. But although he doesn't like his hair cuts, he is very brave.

I have started a recipe blog, but I haven't gone public with it yet. I have created the blog, but I haven't posted anything. :) It's still in the works. I am hoping to combine yummy recipes with my budding photography skills. It's harder than I thought it would be to take pretty pictures - a hobby that's going to take some time, I guess.

That's a quick summary of what we've been up to recently. Sorry we've been slacking. :)

P.S. Kai only cuddles when he's afraid. We captured this historic moment.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

2009-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

We started Kai's birthday celebration first thing in the morning, since that's when he was born. He couldn't figure out what all the excitement was about. He was actually kind of grumpy about the whole thing. Although Mom was exhilarated the entire day. :)

We started off with home-made pancakes for breakfast, which he promptly threw on the floor - but it's the thought that counts, right? :)

We had a low-profile pizza party at home with Grandma and Grandpa Jones. Kai LOVED the six-cheese pizza from Papa John's - as did we all! The cake, on the other hand, is a whole other story.

It's the ugliest cake I've ever seen. It's supposed to be a pumpkin. I tried to make it the day before with a decadent recipe, using a custom cake pan that I asked for for my birthday. After the cake had cooked for an hour, and cooled, I proceeded to remove it from the pan, which, by the way, I checked several times with a skewer to make sure it was cooked. As I removed the pan, an avalanche of hot molten batter spewed from the center of the partially-cooked cake. Oh well. Grandpa saved the batter and ate it throughout the rest of the week, inviting everyone who came over to taste it. It was good. To fix the problem, I just bought a boxed cake mix, which didn't rise enough to fill out the pumpkin-shaped pan. So, the result was a roundish, ball-shaped cake to which I tried to give some resemblance of a pumpkin. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Now, the cake frightened Kai, I think. He didn't even want to touch the cake. It took a good 10 to 15 minutes for him to finally touch the gooey frosting with his finger. Although he was stripped down to just a diaper for the event, clean-up was very minimal. Not exactly what you would expect for a boy's first birthday.

Still in a grumpy mood, presents were not a hit with him either. Having to open several presents became an annoyance to him. He was just fine with shredding the wrapping paper.

Overall, it was a fun day, and hopefully next year he'll be more excited about it. :)

Trick...or Treat?

2008-11-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures we promised we would post. They're late, of course, but that's just how my life is right now.

We really enjoyed our Labyrinth® costumes, but later that day, I decided to dress Kai as a honey bear. And a sweet honey bear he was, too!!

We had planned on carving pumpkins, but they were just too beautiful to cut up! I'm going to try to get some pictures of them later. :)

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

Fun-Filled October

2008-11-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

Fall really is the best time of the year! The "kickoff" of the holiday season. We did so much this month - pumpkin patch, trunk-or-treat, Halloween parties, baking, and early voting of course!

I love our ward's tradition of chili, apple cider, and glazed donuts after the trunk-or-treat. We think Jaren's costume gave ward members a different opinion of us - but some said that we deserved the best-dressed award of the night. :)

We decided to unload our month of pictures (for Nana's sake) in this post. So without further ado...

You Remind Me of the Babe

2008-10-27T21:19:00.001-07:00

That's right, ladies...dreams do come true. He's mine! :) Halloween is one of our favorite holidays. We went to a Halloween party this last weekend and threw together these costumes in a matter of hours. Thank heavens for the D.I.! :)

This is what Jareth's and Sarah's son would have looked like, I'm sure, because he looks nothing like Toby.

We get to dress up two more times before it's all said and done, so we're hoping to improve our costumes before the finale; so look for more pics later - this is just the beginning! :)

Nobama '08

2008-09-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Swingin' into Fall

2008-09-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight, the air was cool and crisp. You can feel that fall is just around the corner. We went outside and took some pictures. Jaren taught me some techniques and I am trying to develop a talent. I am very inspired by a photographer, who shall remain nameless. :) I only hope I can capture beauty the way she does!

P.S. I bet you're wondering how I took the one of myself with the babe! :)

Bright Eyes

2008-08-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

I am hopeful for a Clark Kent look-alike. Everyone thinks Kai's eyes are dark brown, and I'll admit they look dark brown from a distance. But they're not! There's a little brownish-red around the pupil, but the outside is green - just like Daddy's! I am hoping they stay this way!

Obviously, the picture has been brightened to show lighter shades of the real colors in his eyes. This is just PROOF that they're not dark brown!

...but if they turn out dark brown in the end, I'll love him just as much, anyway!

Developing Talent

2008-08-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Look, ma! No hands! This is the result of having four new teeth. He has six total now. He's growing up so fast! The teething was miserable! I'm glad it's over. It looks like he's going to have daddy's gap (Daddy's comment: poor baby - let's see if you can fit a penny between those pearly whites like Daddy could when he was a kid). So, so sweet!

After every spoonful of food, he goes, "MMMM!!" It's hilarious! He really enjoys eating, which is a huge blessing. We've had no problems with him liking anything - just problems with him being allergic to some of it. :)

Here are some more pictures of our happy eater:

Garden Harvest!

2008-08-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is our first humble harvest of the season. I'M SO HAPPY!! I didn't blog about our garden last year because it was a complete failure! Well, not complete, but some critters invaded our garden the night before I was going to harvest and literally stripped every leaf, twig, everything! They even ate our jalapeños! I was devastated and crushed! I spent all summer nursing, weeding, tending...for nothing! I am an amateur gardener and I'm still learning. But at least I had something to pick this year!

What you see in the picture: yellow crookneck squash, walla walla onions (small ones), tamatillos, yellow pear tomatoes, sweet cherry tomatoes, orange tomatoes, regular tomatoes, and a mild jalapeño.

Side note: Grandma made some banana bread; it looked good so I took a picture. :)

Leggo my Hobo!

2008-07-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

We didn't know our neighbors were hobos. We told them to gogo and they said nono. Little did we realize after killing dozens of these in our room since our blessed wedding, that they bore the name "hobo spider" - the third most venomous North American spider after the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow. Luckily, we were never bitten by one, which is a miracle considering how often we have found them.

We set off a bug bomb while we were in Virginia a week ago because we have had lots of bug problems. We came home to lots of dead spiders all over the place. We found this one under the baby swing shrivelled up today. He must have died sometime this afternoon, as his legs were still malleable. So, as the good wife, I stretched him out on a tissue paper while Jaren shuddered and readied the camera. We decided to get online to see what kind it was, supposing it was a funnel spider or a wolf spider and were a little surprised when we found that our spider matched the male hobo to a T.

And to think that he has been with us since our very first post where we talked about living with spiders. So...who's up for a sleep over? :)

P.S. Ask us about our 3-week 1,000 housefly infestation.

The Bug Goes to the White House

2008-07-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Moderator: "Thank you for coming. The bug will now field your questions."
CNN: "Yes, baby Kai, is it true that you were able to tour the West Wing of the White House?"
Kai: "ppppbbbbbbbbbbpt..."
CNN: "I'll take that as a yes."
ABC: "Are those really your parents? They look so young and attractive!"
Kai: "mmmmmm....amamamamamaaaaa..."
NBC: "Mrs. Jones, I have a question for you since your son seems uninterested in the freedom of the press. How were you able to tour the White House and even see the Oval Office and stand by the Rose Garden?"
Amber: "An intimate friend of my sister's happens to work in the white house and was able to sign us up for a tour. We are still unsure how we were able to get security clearance. *smile*"
*Shock and awe in the press conference room*
CBS: "And you, Mr. Jones? What were your impressions?"
Jaren: "I'm sorry, I try to avoid CBS at all costs. I prefer my statements untwisted. Yes, Fox News?"
Fox: "Were you able to tour the residential area of the White House?"
Jaren: "Yes, it was very cool. Seeing the portrait of George Washington was especially interesting. As well as seeing all the Masonic influence in the architecture. We passed through the Blue room and Red room, saw the presidential china collection from Abraham Lincoln and other presidents and we even saw George Washington's sword hanging on the wall in one of the rooms. It's too bad we were not allowed to take pictures inside."
Amber: "If there are no further questions, we will adjourn for now. The bug is teething and we need to attend to him."

It was an amazing experience. We missed our reservation to see the President leave the Oval Office and take off in a military helicopter, though. The rest of my family went, but we decided to hang back for the bug's sake after hearing how strong the wind blasts from the helicopter were. Turns out, it was a good thing. My 11-year-old niece was having trouble keeping her footing.

We also went to old town Alexandria to celebrate my sister's 30th birthday with my other sister Amanda and my mom. It was a nice, quaint colonial-looking town with cute little shops and restaurants lining the streets. I could have spent several days just exploring *sigh*. While we were there, we went down to a small dock area where there were a few street performers. It's amazing what those guys will do for a buck.

Shane gave Andrea a great birthday present: a personal letter from President and Mrs. Bush wishing her a happy birthday. I was so impressed that he was able to get a letter from the President, that when we walked into Ben & Jerry's on her birthday and saw a "Happy 30th Birthday" banner, I thought he had arranged for that too. Turns out, it's also the company's 30th birthday. It was funny, though.

It was good to be with family again and I can't wait to visit the east coast again!

P.S. Changing poopie diapers on the airplane gave me three more gray hairs!
P.P.S. My dining experience at Ebbitt's in DC was exquisite!

Virginia is for Lovers

2008-07-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

We went on our first family vacation to Virginia last week to visit my sister, Andrea. It was the first annual July Birthday Jubilee! We left on my birthday, celebrated Andrea's birthday while we were there, and came back on Jaren's birthday. Unfortunately, my mom's birthday was two days AFTER we left, so we were unable to celebrate hers while there as well.

It was the bug's and my first time to the east coast. Jaren has been there once before. We were there for a week and LOVED all the lush green trees everywhere!

While most of our time was spent in the DC area, we made good use of our out-of-state store shopping (i.e. Trader Joe's, Marshall's, etc.) while we had the chance. In the end, it ended up being a bad thing as it cost us an extra $100 at the airport on the way home for overweight luggage. Oops!

Andrea made our stay more luxurious than a four-star hotel. We arrived later in the evening to find a massive goodie-basket filled with white, fluffy towels, an assortment of chocolates, and sweet and salty snacks! And of course, all of the latest celebrity trash magazines! Mah sistah knows me!

We also caught a nasty cold while we were there that we still have not been able to shake to-date. It's the bug's first real cold and it's so sad! It most likely came from our plane ride, which the bug had no problems with, even though we anticipated the worst. He didn't even blink or look around during take-off or landing.

"Virginia is for Lovers!" Apparently, they are trying to make this their slogan out there. Sort of like the "I heart NY" t-shirts in New York. (Jaren: They should make their slogan "Virginia is for people who feel their best after sweating 6 pints just going out to get the mail. SO HUMID! It was nice, though. :)")

We had fun in Virginia because there was always something interesting to see (hence, the main picture for this entry). Here are some more pictures from our vacation (this was a "what in the world?!" moment):

Bachelor days at their best!

2008-07-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

So we were cleaning house a couple of weeks ago when we stumbled onto this little number. Jaren created this Halloween costume before we ever met. He's extremely creative. He didn't want to part with it either, but gave up in the end. No pictures were available of him in his also-home-made Oompa Loompa, Crackle (i.e. Snap, Crackle, Pop), Bob Ross, or Colonel Sanders costumes before they were all thrown out. Classic! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

I love being this boy's mommy! I feel a lot of gratitude for the opportunity of being a mother. It's the best job I've ever had...it's the hardest job I've ever had.

I'm grateful for my mother and all of her hard work. I see it more now than ever. I am especially grateful for a new holiday to receive gifts! :) I got the most amazing sugar cookies from Paradise Bakery - I have been craving them for months - and a blanket for my bebe - and at Church I got loaded with chocolate! What more can a woman ask for?! Back tickle, honey? :)

Beautiful Bug

2008-05-04T13:01:00.001-07:00

I'm too tired to do a full entry this time. Waiting for the weather to become stable and warm. We get out once in a while. On a brighter note, I think my body is finally healed from having this little guy. It's nice to feel normal again. :)

P.S. Look at how sweet he is!

Easter Bug

2008-03-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Not a lot has happened because we haven't been able to go anywhere, but those days will soon be done! We recently celebrated the bug's first Easter - it was amazing! He thought all the candy was great...you should see him gumming up a jaw-breaker! This kid's got talent! Nah, this is all via mommy's milk. :) We actually had two parties in one week last week. First was our second annual St. Patrick's Day party. Basically we have an authentic Irish dinner and invite anyone who is up for the experience, which happened to be Gabe and Mi'Chelle Larsen, a fun young couple in our ward. We didn't take any pictures unfortunately. A little corned beef slowly cooked with potatoes and cabbage. IBC root beer in glass bottles adds to the atmosphere along with some mint chip ice cream. Yes we know root beer and ice cream are not authentic Irish traditions but its as close as we can get. I can't find any dessert recipes without alcohol in it and of course a Guinness brew is not on the menu.

The next party was the day before Easter. We had an Easter party at Grandpa and Grandma Jones's! Everyone was there. All of Jaren's siblings are back in Utah which made his parents very happy. Dinner was delicious and candy was every where. It was so wonderful to have everyone together again!

Kai is still using cloth diapers wrapped inside of regular ones, thanks to his diaper allergy. The hypo-allergenic ones were not very hypo-allergenic themselves. He seems to be doing a little better these days. We feel it's still one step forward, two steps back. He seems to do alright and then will just explode back into his old ways. But overall, much better and much happier. He had his first REAL laugh at his four-month checkup appointment! The doctor seemed very pleased that she was in on that one. Now that his performance was a success at the doctor's office, he must feel no need for an encore. He has played hard-to-get as far as making him laugh since that time.

We're looking forward to Amber's mom and sister coming to visit us in April and seeing Kai for the first time!

P.S. Amber has secret desires (which are not so secret) to open a restaurant of her own with all of her favorite foods some day - she's got quite the menu already. :)

Cloth diapers...'nuff said.

2008-01-19T12:01:00.001-08:00

Colic:

1 : an attack of acute abdominal pain localized in a hollow organ and often caused by spasm, obstruction, or twisting

2 : a condition marked by recurrent episodes of prolonged and uncontrollable crying and irritability in an otherwise healthy infant that is of unknown cause and usually subsides after three to four months of age

Even the pediatrician is at her wit's end on how to soothe our little son. After attempts with prescriptions, we are now trying the herbal remedies. Our little guy has a hard time sleeping at night, and it's obvious he's in pain. And the cherry on top? He has a chronic diaper rash that has been diagnosed as diaper allergy - great! He's been in a cloth diaper for almost a month now. However! We found a diaper online that is hypoallergenic - we haven't tried it yet, but we are hopeful! For one so young, he's seen a lot: jaundice, diaper allergies, and extreme colic. We hope it ends soon! He's still growning healthy and strong through it all - the doctor says he's gaining weight really well. And not to mention the fact that he's getting cuter everyday! Here's some advice that we got from the pediatrician that we're giving to you for free: watch sports on TV (especially basketball) with your baby - it's supposed to be soothing! We'll let you know how it works! :)

In other news, Jaren's work laid off 1,000 employees this week - luckily, he wasn't one of them! I had to survive this week without him as he went back to work after 3 and 1/2 weeks off for Christmas! I need him! We are currently looking for a job that pays better and one that he will enjoy more.

We also got our money back from the insurance company! Long story short: they took money from me for 2 and 1/2 years claiming I was insured after I moved to Utah - that turned out to be false, and after they attacked us with collections notices in addition to this, we sent a family friend (who happens to be a lawyer) after them and he had everything resolved within a month, which we couldn't do ourselves within 10 months! It's good to know somebody with prestige!

We can't resist - here are a few more pictures of our boy entitled "Perfection in a Basket":

Baby's First Christmas

2008-01-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

It's been hard to post because the baby never sleeps, and he requires assistance nearly every moment of the day...and night! Christmas was like the Twilight Zone! It's just kind of a blur because of lack of sleep. But, we got some cute pictures. Jaren snapped a picture of me while I was sleeping next to my little guy. People have told me that I scowl while I sleep - and apparently Kai inherited the same scowl from me! So are you ever too young to get presents from Santa? Not in our house! Kai made out like a bandit and he didn't even know it! Daddy opened all of his presents as Kai seemed more interested in eating. Grandma and Grandpa Jones spoiled him rotten! We have decided for Kai (since he doesn't care right now) that his favorite presents were his Tonka truck and toy cell phone. Plans were made for him to be Baby Jesus in a family pageant with all the grandkids, but things changed as there were sick kids around. We stayed in the basement the rest of the day. :) Unfortunately, he got sick anyway soon after, but luckily it was just a mild cold. Hope everyone's holidays were fun!

Happy Thanksgiving...and a little more...

2007-12-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours started early that morning at 3:16 am when my water broke. Adrenaline was running through our veins as Jaren thought we needed to run to the car right away without even brushing our teeth first. But I told him to take a deep breath and let me brush my teeth. He conceeded and we left for the hospital about 30 minutes later. We were informed by the people at the check-in that the hospital had lost our registration forms. So, like a good wife, I was prepared with backup copies of everything that we needed. There were three Amber Jones's in their system and I wasn't among them. I think I'll change my name to John Smith to avoid any future confusion. They pointed us towards the maternity ward, which was like a ghost town. There was a note on the desk that instructed us to call a specific number for assistance, which we got: two nurses from the skeleton crew and no doctors. That's the last time we have a baby on Thanksgiving morning. Long story short, four hours later, our little boy was born - and I felt most of it; our nurse anesthetist seemed to have old fashioned beliefs that women have been doing this for thousands of years without any help and he seemed to take about that long to give me the goods.

At 8:38AM, Kai Joshua entered the world at 6 lbs 2 oz and 19.5 inches long!

Baby Shower Time

2007-11-04T19:46:00.001-08:00

First of all, I'd like to thank my photographer, Olivia Rubalcava. If it hadn't been for Liv, I wouldn't have had any pictures of my baby shower.

It was good to see old friends and family come celebrate my son. My sister-in-law, Kim, and my mother-in-law, Carol, worked hard to throw me a great baby shower. There was a yummy variety of fruit dips, delicious sweet rolls and decadent strawberry crepes to snack on. Of course I loved all the gifts! The dreaded question of my weight gain came up... this doesn't qualify as "girl talk" to me but I was a good sport. I had just dropped two pounds... so I shared my new eighteen pounds of glory with the girls. Some of Jaren's gal pals from college dropped by the house a couple of weeks before the shower to drop off a gift. To Jaren's delight they gave us a gift dressed in a RED bag. As I pulled it out a smile came across Jaren's face as he realized what they gave us. An authentic University of Utah football Jersey onesie(real jersey mesh) fully equipped with matching bib and booties. He loved it and has claimed it as his favorite gift! Everything was great and I really enjoyed seeing everyone! Thanks for all the love and support!

Bump Watch

2007-09-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

This one's for you, Mom! My boy at 29 weeks...

Truth Be Told

2007-09-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

You ever feel like you work with people like this?

Our special surprise!

2007-09-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

March was a special month for Jaren and me. I began having unexplained cramping in my lower abdomen. After this lasted over a week I was certain I had a tumor or cancer growing painfully in my belly. My sister advised me to take a pregnancy test before I diagnosed myself with cancer. I laughed at this notion of course, but alas, she was right. I couldn't wait the long hours till morning to take the test, so I woke up around three AM and just did it. It was positive in about fifteen seconds flat. So much for the cancer theory... The funny thing is I've never heard of anyone having cramping as a sign of pregnancy before, but my OB assured me I wasn't special or unique. I still haven't heard of anyone else with this symptom. Jaren and I felt the same at first: kind of scared but excited at the same time. We were ahead of schedule, we were not going to start trying till July but we have learned that the Lord has his own schedule. We both felt like we were expecting a girl, but we were the only ones who felt this apparently. Due to the absence of morning sickness, everyone assured us we were having a boy. Whatever - silly wives tales. A visit to the doctors told us we were having a BOY! I was shocked, but the doctor said its a BOY!!! Two hundred percent its a BOY! Ok, so maybe those "old wives tales" are based on something, but come on, they had a fifty percent chance of being right. At first we called him the Bug, but since his sex has been revealed, he is now the He-bug. Because I have to see a specialist for my pregnancy (monitoring for pre-term labor), we have an extended portfolio of ultra sound pictures from the time he was just a peanut, then Skeletor, and now a profile that is strikingly like his Daddy's. I'm posting them all because I just don't have the heart to leave any of them out. He is due December 14th - just in time to make a great Christmas present. We can hardly wait!

Our new ride

2007-09-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

So back in February my Mercedes finally got paid off, only to have it break down AGAIN the same week. A problem only the dealership could fix, but we just couldn't fork over another three thousand dollars to have this happen again in the next three months. So we got the idea to just go "looking" at new cars and of course you know how that goes... I've never been more proud of Jaren's competitive edge and brains. That boy can do math so fast in his head the poor guy trying to get his sale (with commission of course) couldn't keep up for anything. He got the tough supervisor to handle my honey love but even he couldn't stand up to the beating Jaren was dishing out. We bought the car, a Toyota Camry hybrid fully loaded for the same price as a base model. Not to shabby if I do say so my self. The sales guy looked awful, I think he almost cried. We apologized for his non profit sale, and he said " just give me a good review when they ask" as he choked back the tears. Long story short the Mercedes is gone and we are making payments on the Camry. Our days of being payment free were short lived, but it sure is nice to have a car that works.

The Beginning

2007-08-29T19:14:00.001-07:00

August 12th, 2006. The Jones dynasty began. We were married in the Bountiful, UT LDS temple and had a nice reception later that evening. After all the guests had left and eaten all of our food, we started our honeymoon in Park City. We then flew to and had an awesome honeymoon in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Bellagio hotel and lived off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Luckily, we found a Walgreens a few blocks away and were able to restock on other necessities like Pringles. We paid an arm and a leg for nigh-front-row tickets for two shows: The Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian and "O", the Cirque du Soleil performance at the Bellagio. Phantom was great, but "O" blew it out of the water (pun intended). From our hotel room, we could see the In 'n Out burger place, so we decided to walk there. We ended up crossing the freeway twice and were afraid for our lives when we passed through a deserted park, where not even the sound of chirping birds was heard. It took us almost 2 hours to get to In 'n Out, which was a mere 1/8th of a mile away. But we found it...and enjoyed it...after waiting another 20 minutes for a place to sit down. We found our way back in less than 30 minutes. It was Jaren's first In 'n Out experience, and everytime he sees one, he gets excited (which doesn't happen very often since they're too cheap to franchise their fantastic establishment out to people outside of California and Vegas - not bitter, just truthful....and bitter....and still truthful). We decided to order breakfast one morning, just to see how good the Bellagio's food was. We got one serving of eggs benedict and one small glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. We later figured out that the eggs benedict cost $28 and the glass of orange juice was $10. We shared the meager portion (which was divine, by the way) and took small sips of orange juice so as not to waste it. Then, as Amber reached across the table for another sip, the glass tipped and the lush, white, pressed table cloth quickly devoured our $10 fresh-squeezed goodness, leaving us the pulp to tide us over. Given that Jaren has four stomachs, he went back to the can of Pringles and Soft Batch cookies to fill him up the rest of the way. All in all, it was a lot of fun, and we returned home to a drafty basement filled with memories from Jaren's childhood....and spiders.