"I'm in a boat"

William is into boats for some reason right now. He gets in this little boat in his tub and uses his shovel as an oar. This just makes me laugh so much...

And, I didn't want Hazel to feel left out, so here are a few pictures of our gal...she is on the move these days!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Mother's Day

Today is my 3rd Mother's Day as a mom, and I was again reminded of God's grace and provision in giving me these precious kiddo's. And, HJ and I were reminded of how grateful we are for our mothers...thank you, Gigi and Gran, for loving us and our kids. You are the best moms and grandmoms ever! We love you!

Here are some pics especially for the grandmoms:

Learning to sit up

Finally got a bow to stay in her fuzz


Planting

In his boat fishing...he set this up himself

P.S. Here are Hazel's stats from her 6 months appt, so I won't forget to add them later: weight 14.7 lbs (23%), length 26.5 (79%). William was the same length and 2 lbs heavier at this age...remember these cheeks?

Happy 1/2 of a Year!

This little gal is 6 months old today, and what a joy she is. We are so thankful for our sweet "Crazy Hazey"...she loves to be upright, and she is watching William all the time now. She even started scooting a little today. She does NOT like the pacie or being strapped into her carseat or the stroller. She is still working the mullet in the back, but has some decidedly blond hair coming in, too. William said she need a "birthday" (a cake), but we decided to hold off on that for now!

TGIT

Thursday again! I've fallen behind on the blogging of late. Here are a few photos of Easter weekend. We had a beautiful weekend celebrating Christ's death and resurrection and being reminded of the great hope we have in Him!

Guess where I've been?

Vegas, baby!

And even though I saw this...

and this (the water show at the Bellagio)

and even this (yep, that's a Kardashian)

What I was most excited about was coming home to this... and this!

hello.

We've been lying low this weekend. I finished my practice boards on Thursday, and I am enjoying not studying! William had an allergic reaction to something (pollen, antibiotics?) on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and woke up Thursday morning with his left eye swollen shut. So, before my test we made a trip to the pediatrician. The bottom left picture is him before we left for the doctor- he decided to wear his hood up which added to his already pitiful look. He charmed the ladies at the pharmacy by saying "This is the phaaaaarmacy" (lots of southern twang there). Then they asked him what his name was and he said, "Wilma Badrow Jones, the foeth (William Woodrow Jones, the fourth). He still calls himself Wilma...HJ tried to teach him to say William, but I'm glad he hasn't figured it out quite yet. Hazel is growing, growing...William fed her some of her cereal when I stepped out of the room a few days ago (top right pic)- that ended in quite a mess. In other very unexciting news for you readers, but fun for me, we got some new red chairs from IKEA. As William would say, I lub it.

Happy Sunday, Ya'll

I don't have much to report today. The house is messier than when the weekend started, there is more laundry to do than when the weekend started, and the dishes need to be washed. But, all that aside, we had a beautiful, warm weekend. Here are a few pics:

My boys watching some b-ball...

This could be major blackmail one day...William was "feeding" one of Hazel's dolls.

My favorite part is that he even got the boppy:)

And the award for biggest blow out goes to...Hazel!


What? I would never do that...

One last pic...the mo-mullet is back!

Four Months

Hazel turned four months old on Friday.

She is 13lbs 4oz and 25 1/2 inches long...long and skinny.

Baby Steps

I am learning to appreciate small accomplishments, especially those that are small steps to a larger goal. Here are a few from this week:
1. William is able to entertain himself for at least a few minutes now (and I don't have to close us all in his room and let him pull out all his toys to feed Hazel when I'm home with them by myself).

2. William likes to read to himself now...he flips through a book and says what he thinks each page should say. In his 3 little pigs book, he says "puff and puff, blooooooow the house down" on each page. When he was flipping through his Bible this weekend, he said "Jesus" on every page. I'm glad he knows the main point of the Bible is Jesus.

3. I really don't even count this as a small accomplishment...Hazel is finally sleeping through the night. Way to go, Hazel!

William got into a little scuffle at school...

Hazel in the carrier...so glad to be outside again!

That's all for tonight. Have a great week!

Don't know where he got this idea...

The Weekend in Pictures

(Click to enlarge)

Late Night

I love Thursday nights. I have conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, so I am usually studying after we put William and Hazel down on the other nights of the week. It's not technically a weekend night, but it almost is. In college, Thursday nights were for "Late Night" at the fraternity houses and maybe even a trip to Waffle House in the early morning because you knew you could catch up on your sleep over the weekend. Now, we get excited about eating pizza and watching The Office and 30 Rock. Lame? I certainly wouldn't trade it for anything...although a cheese and steak breakfast sandwich from WH does sound appealing. Hazel certainly likes a snack in the "wee smalls"...despite my best efforts, she still is not sleeping through the night.

Here are a few things I meant to document and didn't:

William's first shiner...so interested in taking pics that he's yawning

Trying to get a cousin pic with Santa...hilarious

L to R William, Hazel, Shepherd

Cooking Confessions

First of all, I'm just posting this pic first because (a) all three people are looking at the camera and that is a major accomplishment around here and (b) I love these cute freshly bathed kids.

So, here goes my first goal/domestic/confessions post. Until about 2 months ago, our nightly dinner strategy had turned into a disaster. Basically, I bought a bunch of random stuff at the grocery store (every few weeks) and then I got home about with William (before Hazel was born) and tried to decide what to make. If you have ever tried to plan a meal and then actually cook a meal with a tired and starving almost 2 year old, you know this was a disaster waiting to happen. Usually, it ended in crying (mostly on William's part but I won't say I did understand how he felt). So, when Hazel was born, I decided we needed a plan.

I started planning all the meals for the week on Sunday and then actually buying the food that I needed to make those meals...I know, genius. And, I started using my crockpot regularly on the days that I work later. I really did not think this would make that big of a difference, but it has. I am less stressed because I know what's for dinner, I am cooking at home more, we are actually using the groceries we buy and therefore saving money. I put all the meals on our google calendar, so HJ can see what we're having, too. We have also instituted Pizza Night on Thursdays because a certain little someone LOVES his pizza, and he especially loves taking a walk to the pizza place in our neighborhood.

I know everyone elso probably already did this, but if you don't, I would recommend trying it for a while. Here are a few new recipes that we have tried and liked:

Baked Penne with Chicken and Sundried Tomatoes

Spinach and Brie Chicken

Curry in the Crockpot

Autumn Sausage Casserole

If you have any favorite (and relatively easy) recipes...please share!

catching up...

I've gotten a little behind on the blogging, and, though this is not my top priority, I do want to keep it going for several reasons. One, I love being able to look back and see what William was doing at each age and want to be able to do the same with Hazel. Two, I know the fam likes to get some updates on the kiddos. I would like to think that I could also add some other things to the blog in the near future (crafts, upcoming house renovations, more serious thoughts on life, etc, goals -thanks Meg for the inspiration). But, in the spirit of not being overly ambitious, I will start with some Hazel and William updates and move on from there.

William:
William turned 2 on January 20th. He requested an airplane party, which is why he has on a size 12mo airplane t-shirt in his birthday pictures. It was the only airplane shirt he had, so he wore it. He also ate part of his birthday candle, and then said, "I want mo candle!" He has recently started talking none-stop, and we are loving the hilarious things he says. Here are a few conversations we have had lately:

W (pointing you-know-where): That's my tee-tee.
Me: uh-huh
W: Its a BIG tee-tee! (This sentiment must come on the Y chromosome!)

Me: What's Daddy's name?
W: Hunna
Me: What's Mommy's name?
W: Supah Why (Super Why is a show on PBS)
Me: No, it's Emily.
W: No, Supah Why.

W: There's Hazel's nose (pushing Hazel's nose rather forcefully)
Me: You have to touch Hazel softly.
W: No, touch Hazel loud!


Hazel:
The Haze is 3 months old today. I seriously can't believe it. She is such a happy, dimply little gal now, and we are loving her little personality. She loves to coo back when we talk to her and have little conversations with us. She rolled over for the first time this morning! At her two month check up, she weighed 11 lbs 4 oz.

Those are the updates. Enjoy the pics and have a great weekend!

William Wooodrow Jones, Sr.

Hunter's granddad went to be with Jesus early Thursday morning. He was 95 years old and was still mowing his own yard in the Mississippi heat until just a few years ago. I am so thankful that William was able to know his great-granddad (or "gate-gandaddy" as he would say) and his namesake (William is William Woodrow Jones, IV). Mr. Jones was a wonderful man who taught his children and grandchildren to follow Christ. What better testamony to leave on earth?

Hunter read this at the funeral:

"O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.

Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again."

Psalm 71: 18-21

already?

Happy 4 weeks, little hazelnut. We love your little grins, your baby bird hair, your cuddles, and even your constant spit up.

thankful for today

10 Days Old

Happy 10 days old to Hazel. Here are a few pics from last week. I have actually been really bad about taking pictures, but we are really enjoying our sweet, sweet girl. If you want to see some pics that are about a million times better than mine, check out elizabethwiggsphotography.com/blog. Elizabeth did such an amazing job once again!

Here is our attempt at a picture with all the cousins...complete disaster

Yummy cheeks!

Sweet kiddos!


Daddy time

Home Again

We actually made it back home on Friday night, and we are adjusting pretty smoothly to everything thus far. William has been very sweet to Hazel, and has only thrown one toy at her head (in an effort to share). Hazel has been a dream for the first few days, so we only pray that the pattern will continue.

Here we are with our blond children. Don't they look just like us?

William with his Mr. Potato Head glasses and a tie sticker on his shirt...quite the prepster if you ask me. This is what he did when HJ asked him to smile for the camera.

Hazel is Here!

Hazel Anne Jones

November 4, 2010

12:26 pm

9 pounds, 4 ounces

blonde hair just like her big brother

Thank you for your prayers! We are so happy to welcome this newest blessing to our family!