Like Father like Son

Hunter's mom gave me a picture of Hunter in his going home outfit and the outfit, so we put William in it for a few pictures. He was pretty cooperative at first...

But then...

A few of my favorite things...

Bath Time

Reading with Daddy

Vibrating bouncy chair, blankie, paci...what's not to love?

4 Weeks Old

Rocking the blond mohawk

Trying to catch a smile

Hating the snow suit

On Sunday, Elizabeth Wiggs took some pictures of William for us. Check some of them out on her blog.

Our little buddy

A few more...

Prayer for this Child

I think I am finally fairly up to date with the pictures. Sweet William is changing everyday. Here are some pictures when I was trying to get him to look at the camera (in other words, I was trying to move the camera to wherever he was looking). This turned out to be more difficult than I had imagined, but I got some cute shots anyway.

Here is part of a Sara Groves song I have been listening to...Prayer for This Child. In the past 2 weeks, my first taste of motherhood, I have learned that everyday with a baby is a new lesson in faith.

I only have two eyes - be all seeing

I only have two hands - be everywhere

I do not know enough - to be all knowing

I give this baby up into your care

I do not know how, how to pray for this child

I want to guard him from everything wicked and wild

but in the trial, in the trial, I learned to hold on

And in the trial, in the trial, I learned to hold on to the heart of God

Meeting the Family

Last Saturday, William met his great grandparents and some more of his aunts and uncles. He slept through most of it, but we can show him the pictures later. The picture at the top right is of all the William Woodrow Jones'- Senior, Junior, III, and IV. The bottom middle and right pictures are of William with his three aunts and three uncles...don't you like the symmetry?

I am still trying to catch up on my picture posting. Here are a few more from the hospital, coming home, and the first bath. More to follow soon, I hope...

Sweet little guy

William in his coming home outfit...he is obviously thrilled

Mommy, Daddy, and William about to leave the hospital

The first bath was not a happy experience.

Here are a few pictures from the big day...



The "still pregnant" picture is when we are leaving for the hospital at around 6:30 am on Tuesday morning. I started having contraction at 2 am, and we decided we would definitely be going to the hospital by about 5. We got to the hospital at 7am (notice the snow on the ground) and had William at 7:01pm. The pictures at the bottom of the collage are William meeting his grandparents, Aunt Meg, and Uncle Dan. We are still wondering where William got his blond hair.

Welcome to the World, William!

William Woodrow Jones, IV was born on January 20, 2009 at 7:01 pm.

7 pounds, 15 oz. 20 1/4 inches.

I know the blog has been neglected for some months now, but I wanted to start it up again so our family and friends who are out of town can watch our little guy grow. Here is one of William's first pictures. I'll post more of the story later, but we just wanted to say thank you for all of your prayers. William is such a sweet blessing, and we are so grateful to have him as the newest addition to our family.

Hello again...

Well, I am reentering the blogging world once again, hopefully this time to stay. But, as you might have figured out, my schedule can get quite hectic. I wrote this song last year for HJ, and I was inspired to share it by these two. They are coming to our city for a concert next week, and I can't wait. They continue to write relevant and good music. So, about this song. I wrote it for HJ because I still look forward to him coming home everyday. I know its only been almost three years, but I am thankful to have a husband who listens to me and loves me and is forever being patient with me. I know it is not a masterpiece, but here it is...



Six years ago we met in the fall

Football and kisses and shooting stars

Couldn't seem to get you off my mind

We were so young so how did we know



CH: Hurry home, Honey

I'm waiting for you

To talk about nothing and everything

How was your day and what should we eat

How about the city and theology

The rich and the poor and you and me



Three years later and many more words

Late nights and letters and oceans traversed

Sugarless madness and swedish disease

Days just waiting for the phone to ring



A sixty-four mustang and a thunderstorm

Down on your knee on a porch with a ring

Diamonds and sunsets and dreams come true

Hurry up, honey, cause the times movin' slow



CH



One more year and lots of tears

A job in an office and medical school

New city, new home, new husband, new wife

We were so young so how did we know



CH



Two years later on a Friday night

Football and kisses and shooting stars

still can't seem to get you off my mind

Why don't you sit and stay awhile

Strangers

Here is a quote about Christians from the second century (I actually saw it on another blog). I only hope that I can look like this to the people around me, but I fear that too often I am different from the world in the wrong ways. I speak different and shy away from the poor and sinners, instead of trusting that God will provide and looking different because I love the poor and the sinners.

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred."
- Mathetes, Epistle to Diognetus

All we own...

is in a huge box in front of our house. We are refinishing/installing hardwood floors in our house this week. By we, I mean other people whom we are paying to do the work. Apparently, HJ and I are the harriest people ever. Or, we have the worst vacuum cleaner ever. Either way, our floors manage to get completely matted with hair every week despite the thourough vacuuming we impart on them. I have gotten to the point that I walk around a pull the hair off the carpets by hand before attempting a vacuum. Pitiful as it might sound, I think our hair has been the major impetus for the new floors. As a I sit a look at the once-white-now-brownish carpets, I relish the thought that is less than 7 days, if all goes as planned (and it never does), we may actually have a hair-free, easily cleanable surface on our floors. Hurray! Even HJ is excited to see the hair-infested floors go. Also, we found that half our house had old (1920ish) heartwood pine beneath our carpet, so we didn't want to waste such a find. Part of the wood has another layer of faux wood floors on top. Why would you put fake wood on top of real wood? I don't understand. Anyway, sorry to re-enter the blogging world with such a random post, but I wanted to at least say that I am still alive. I have just started a new rotation and have slightly more time on my hands this month. I hope to post again soon. Here are some pictures of the project:

Sorry it is sideways. Here is our empty den:

One our our many hairballs...hope you don't have a hypersensitive gag reflex.
Fake wood over 1949 newspaper over hardwood
The future of our floors (minus all the paint)

The Many Sausages of Eastern Europe

Apparently, the main fare in Eastern Europe is meat, usually in some form of sausage. I have never had so much packaged meet in my life. Every menu consisted of a list of different sausages and different potatoes to compliment these protein-rich meals. I didn't realize until I looked back over my pictures how many pictures we had taken of our meaty treats, but here they are:

You can eat them anywhere...On a train

In a bun...

In the sun...

In your shades...

At night in Prague...

For lunch in Vienna...

And, yes, we did eat "Vienna Sausages" in Vienna. For all you innocent readers out there, let me explain. For the past four or five years, there has been an ongoing (never-to-be-dropped) debate on the correct pronunciation of Vienna Sausage. In the south, this potted delicacy is not pronounced as the city Vienna is pronounced. (The "i" is long, the "e" is also long.) The boys, featured in this last picture with Vienna Sausage on fork, are still in disagreement. Oh well, we may never know the truth.

Home, Sweet Clean Home

Ah, after 17 hours of travel, we arrived at our wonderful little home last night around 10 pm. I was so thankful to myself (is that strange?) because I left everything so clean. We came home to a bed that was made, clean dishes and clothes, even a clean kitchen and bathroom. I will not say that all is still clean, but it was so refreshing to come home to a clean house. I felt like our little cottage had missed us and was just waiting patiently for our return. Today, we are watching MSU football, with our matching Dell laptops (no Macs for this family) in hand. We are so happy for our home...I know I keep repeating this, but I have been hit again by God's goodness that we could return to a place all our own. I am grateful for my cozy bed and my TV with bunny ears and aluminum foil. Its nice to hear once again the hum (OK, its really a roar) of our washing machine and the sounds of HJ's lawn mower. I was especially glad for our dependable hot water and water pressure. Tomorrow, we head to San Francisco to further our jet lag. I am planning on posting pictures and more Europe stories later.

Happy Saturday!

Prague to Vienna

We have been in Prague, Czech Republic for 2 days, and we are now exploring our first Austrian city. We made it to Vienna today after a morning of misadventure. We arrived at the train station one hour before our departure time, just to be safe, only to find that we were at the wrong station. We took the Metro to the other station and got on the train. Then, we found that we were supposed to get reservation to ride the train. Fortunately, they did not kick us out, but we did have to pay some extra money. I have been pushed for time, so my blogging has slowed down, but our tour is going well. In Prague, we visited several old churches, a castle, an old foot bridge, a classical concert, the church of John Hus (an early reformer), and several delicious restaurants. We were fairly certain (well, I was anyway) that we were sitting next to Simon and Garfunkel last night during dinner. There were two men sitting across from a lady. On the right, one guy had curly/frizzy hair with garfunkelish glasses. The other guy, on the left, was fairly nondescript, but they had a guitar with them and were having some heavy music discussions. We took their picture, but were convinced it wasn't them when the lady paid for dinner.



Prague was picturesque, like page after page out of a fairy tale, and the weather was perfect. We are continually surprised by how old everything is. The cathedral we visited was started in the 1300's. I will give more details late, but now I need to get to bed. Just a bit on Vienna...the part that we have seen is great, much more modern that Prague. We ate in a restaurant tonight whose building has existed since the 1100's. It was two stories below ground. Well, that's all for now. Hopefully, I can write more later, but the internet connections are few and far between.

Krakow (Cra-cough)

My blog time is limited today because I am using the internet in my hotel and I only paid for 30 minutes, 19 of which have already been used. So, here is 11 minutes worth of the last 24 hours...

Last night, I went by my lonesome to the Krakow Orchestra concert. I sat behind this man, an older English gentleman I think, who was also on our tour to the Salt Mines. He was wearing the same suit from the day before, small black and white checks, except at the salt mines he had a rain suit over it at first. He just looked like any other tourist with wind suit on. Then, much to our amusement, he took off his jacket and had a full suit beneath. I think he must be Mr. Bean's dad...his hair sticks up in the back like he has slept on it for days and only fixes the front in the morning.

Back to the concert...The orchestra turned out to be a chamber group (2 violins, a viola, cello, bass, and harpsichord. The first violinist had the most graceful and light sound. The concert was a perfect mix of old and new. Held in an old baroque style church, the group played concertos by bach, mozart, and corelli. But, the musicians were all around my age, some of the guys had spiky mohawkish hair and the girls were typical stylish europeans. I loved it.

In other news, HJ finishes work today. He is meeting with his European counterpart today (whatever that means) and then we are going to Aushwitz. The weather is still very rainy and my nose is still very runny. Tomorrow we leave for Prague to rendevous with our friends.

Until next time...

Krakow Day 3

I am sitting in HJ's cube in the office in Krakow. He is about 10 ft away in a glassed in room training a group of people to use some software. He must really know a lot about computers. Wouldn't it be nice if I could ask him a question about mine right now. I can see him, there he is answering someone's question about THEIR computer. Maybe I could send him a note under the door? Oh, I know, I'll write it on a piece of paper and hold it up to the window...HOW DO YOU GET PICTURES OFF THE CAMERA AND ONTO THE COMPUTER??? OK, maybe not. So, I am in a predicament. I do have lots of great photos, but I can't figure out how to put them on the blog. I think I need a CD with the Canon program. I'll try to work on that later...and since HJ has to train for 4 hours at a time, later may be really later. So, I'll give you all the verbal update and maybe pictures will follow soon.



We have been in Krakow three nights now. HJ has to work for 8 hours everyday, so that gives me plenty of time to explore. Yesterday (after my nap) I sat in a coffee shop for an hour or so sipping a latte, watching people, and reading Jane Austen. I felt so...well, so european I guess. I am still most enthralled by the people here. I want to look European...I have started wearing my scarf everyday because I think it looks highly stylish, but everyone still speaks to me in English so I must be giving away my American-ness somehow. How do they know? Maybe it's my Northface jacket? The New Balance tennis shoes? I'm not sure. By the way, a latte here is not like at home. It is actually lots of milk with a tiny bit of coffee...yum.



HJ and I also visited the salt mines yesterday. Krakow used to mine salt because it was highly profitable (like gold). The miners were very superstitious and would carve statues out of salt for good luck. There is even a huge chapel made completely out of salt. It was interesting, but a bit too touristy. Before the tour, we "got in trouble" with the tour guide...we were 5 minutes late because the ATM was broken and we had to go round up some Zloty (polish money). The bus almost left without us and everyone was very frantic due to our tardiness. Lesson learned--when in Poland be on time.



Tonight, I am entertaining myself by going to a Chopin/Mozart concert at the Twelve Apostles Church. I was also thinking about getting some highlights put in my hair, but I am worried I will come out with bangs. Everyone has such beautiful reddish highlights, and I think it is cheaper here to get your hair dyed. Tomorrow, we are going to the concentration camp, Auschwitz, outside of Krakow. Then, we will leave on Saturday for Prague.

The weather here is strange. It has rained everyday since our arrival, but the air is still so dry. I have been waking up with these sinusy headaches and a sore nose...I think I am addicted to humidity. I am not sure if you can have humidity withdrawal, but I am having it if it is possible. I also seem to be developing some sort of cold. I guess I am not immune to the Polish rhinovirus or whichever virus it is that causes the cold. Or, I could be allergic to Poland. I want to take an antihistamine, but I am already sleepy and my nose is already dry. Dry, but also running...very weird.

Things we visited today: The Wawel (vavel) Castle
Things I have eaten (including yesterday): Smoked Salmon with breakfast, Smoarna (meat and veggies) with french fries (the only food you can get Everywhere), More icecream (I have to try all the different flavors, right?), coffee, coffee, coffee
Reading: same
Random Impressions: I thought I would use some of HJ's random thoughts...
1. All the women here are either tall or short, there is no in between.
2. There is more acceptable variety in men's hairstyles here...mullets, mohawks, all ok for work.
3. No one has curly hair here.
4. You (meaning me) are a fairly tall woman (thanks, HJ, I'm glad you noticed).

Well, I hope all is well for you back home. Please keep us in your prayers. More updates (and pictures, hopefully) to come...

Krakow, Poland

Czesc! (Hello!) Well, here I am in Krakow, Poland after a full day of plane rides and and airports and taxis. HJ and I left yesterday for our European Tour (sounds official, huh?). We will be here for 5 days while he trains some people at the Poland branch of his company, then we are meeting up with 4 of our friends to go to Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich. We are thrilled to have this time to spend together, and also to be able to travel. I have broken the long (very long) blogging silence to keep a log of our trip. I should be able to post pictures starting tomorrow (I forgot my USB cord tonight). So, here are some of the high points of the trip thus far...

1. All of our flight were on time. Actually we got one flight 3 hours early at no additional charge. This is astounding to me because my family has a travel/restaurant curse, so this would have never happened to me before I got married. Thanks, HJ!

2. We flew from Memphis to Amsterdam. ( I wanted to title this post "Amsterdam am I jet lagged", but thought it might be slightly inappropriate, but I guess you all know now anyway). The Amsterdam airport had these great chairs, "comfort chairs", were you could sit an catch up on your sleep. This would never happen in the US, but I am realizing that Europeans in general take their rest and relaxation seriously.

3. We had to fly in a teeny tiny plane from Warsaw to Krakow. I was terrified at first, because I don't like planes where the propeller has to get going before you can take off. The whole flight was wobbly, but we made it with no damage.

4. Our hotel is nice, with free breakfast.

5. Krakow is beautiful. Today we got up and explored a bit. I love to watch all the interesting people- men in suits going to work (at 11 am), women with scarves and so many different shoes, kids on a field trip all wearing ties but nothing else that resembles a uniform. My favorite part of travelling outside of the States is realizing that there are other people out there. People who are so different- strange language that sounds like so many consonants strung together, strange clothes in layers with boots and hats, strange habits and customs-and yet they are still so much like us. They still work and talk and laugh and love each other. They still envy and lust and hurt each other. It is humbling to remember that I did nothing on my own to be born into a wonderful family in the US. God has so richly blessed me, but it is only to His credit, and for His glory that he does any of it. He can save me or an old man in Poland or a child in Africa, and it is all just because he loves us.

OK, that was a long one. I'm sorry for the tangential writing. I did want to keep a few things consistent in my travel blogging, just for record sake. So, here goes:

Things we visited today in Krakow: Cloth Market, Old Town, Bell Tower, Gallery (a huge mall)
Things I ate: peiregowa (dumplings with meet and cheese), goulash, Italian ice cream, truffles, lots of coffee
Currently reading: More Love to Thee, Sense and Sensibility
Random Impression: People here like to wear tight pants and clothes that don't match (I fit right in with the not matching). Also, bangs are big (I hope this trend doesn't find its way to us.)

That's all for now. Good night!