Merry Christmas!!!

Cat Eats Baby

Baby Wilson Franklin Jones

Hey!! I have a baby!! And I think he's pretty durn cute. He was born December 7th and weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces.

Maybe one day I'll get around to blogging about the horrific birth... but for now I'm sleepy.

I'm a Winner

Ryan and I have been "blessed" to be Scout leaders for the last year and a half. Which means every Tuesday we meet at the church and have some sort of activity for the boys. Ryan has been nice enough to take over the last 6 months and plan all the activities, while I've been going to the Sunday meetings. It works out pretty well. Today Ryan planned a fun game where the boys wrote down three truths about themselves and one lie and the other boys had to decide which was the lie. The boys loved it, and decided that Ryan and I should also come up with three truths and one lie and they had to guess which one I we'd lied about. I panicked. I don't like being put on the spot... I don't care if they are just 9 years old. We said we would play a different game first and give me time to think about what I was going to say... but I forgot. So Ryan went first to give me more time to think... I wrote down four things in a panic... what did I write down?

1. I grew up in Arizona

2. I'm due on December 27th

3. I talked to imaginary people all the time when I was a kid

4. I played college basketball

So which one is the lie.

None of them. I'm an idiot and can't follow directions. Especially in a panicked state. I told all truths because I don't know how to play games. Way to ruin it Sister Jones.

Something Clever

Things I've learned in the last three years, Ryan has a hard time letting things go... We needed to to clear out the baby room because it was becoming kind of a junk area. We had two HUGE leather chairs that were gifted to us from Ryan's parents that we really had no purpose for anymore. It took some convincing, but I finally got Ryan to agree to give them to a friend that was just getting married and didn't have anything for her new apartment. So this was Ryan saying goodbye. There were some tears (not really) but he wanted me to document the love he had for them. Goodbye chairs.

As I mentioned, my friend got married this week up at the Logan Temple. I had never been up there before, so I decided to get their early and take some pictures.

Good story for before the temple... While taking pictures I was not paying attention to where I was walking and I happened to step half off a curb and twist my ankle causing me to fall on the ground and get a wicked bad concrete burn. I didn't have time to clean it off before the wedding so I had to just go to the ceremony with a bloody knee. I didn't want people to notice so I just tried to cover it with my dress, which meant the dress was sticking to the skin burn making it STING the entire ceremony. I wanted to die. Then all the little old lady temple workers saw me walking in the hall with a bloody knee and ran up to me asking if I was okay, then if the baby was okay... I hate attention... so it was awkward.

After the pictures were done I had a chance to visit my friend, Martha, and her two month old twins. Man they were cute!! Martha is awesome and inspired me (along with Diana Harmon) that I CAN do cloth diapers. I think we're really going to do it, but I'm still a little nervous. Martha also showed me how to make my own baby wipes, and they are SUPER easy.

Moving on: Ryan and I had a "date night" tonight. Earlier in the day Ryan was surfing the internet he found a product named the "Batter Blaster" and became obsessed with it. He decided that he HAD to try it even with my protesting. So we cooked dinner together making hash brows, bacon and the pancakes.

So just to let you know... the Batter Blaster sucks. I had to use half the can before I finally got some decent looking pancakes. they came out as thin as a sheet of paper, and they had absolutely no taste. So once again, I was right.

P.S. I need a better lens.... and photoshop

The Halloween Post

Ryan and I had a pretty dull Halloween this year, pretty much just like last year. Ryan hates the 'holiday" for some reason which in turn makes it pretty lame for me. During the day though we went shopping, which was fabulous. We finally bought a crib, but it had to be ordered and could still take 2-6 weeks to get in. I ordered crib bedding last night we'll have that soon too. I'm starting to freak out a bit about getting things together. I really want our house organized, but I don't even know where to start. That's another story though. We went to Old Navy too and bought some adorable stuff, but again that's another post.

So we decided we'd buy two bags of candy for tonight's trick-or-treaters because we live in a neighborhood where there are TONS of kids. Guess how many we had.... Three... we had three kids come to our house for candy. And they were all over the age of 10. Best story though? The first trick-or-treaters that came by were two girls... in lame costumes that I couldn't really even tell what they were. So I give them a piece of candy each and the girl says...

"You should give us a handful..."

Really little girl... I should?? I was caught off guard , and I didn't want a ton of extra candy laying around my house for me to eat. So I did. Now I regret it... the little ungrateful brat.

The third kid? Was wearing a black sweatshirt and had two straws sticking out his nose... Really. At least he said thank you....

And now I'm watching "Witches" on TV.

Halloween?? I hope it gets better once we have our kid.

Baby Class

I actually convinced Ryan to go to a Third-Trimester class with me to learn more about labor and delivery. I had originally signed up for the Lamaze class, but they had to cancel it because I was apparently the only one interested. I like to pretend that I'm not going to get an epidural when I go into labor... not because I believe in all that "natural birth" crap, but because I hear the recovery time is easier if you don't get one. The truth is, I have absolutely no tolerance for pain. So really there is no chance that I will pass up the medication... Anyway, because no one signed up, they moved us to the regular birth class, and the first one was last night.

I've been really excited about it though, and even though I knew Ryan would complain I put a guilt trip on him that actually worked. So last night was the first class and I learned three important things....

1. You want the kid to come out facing down and then your uterus actually twists him out during the contractions for the shoulders and hips.

2. Practicing Kegel exercises can actually prevent you from tearing

3. Ryan and I have no ability to relax as I learned from the techniques the instructor was giving us. (this kid is doomed)

I really can't wait for the next weeks class, when we get to watch a video of a woman giving birth. Awesome.

Most Miserable Day of My Life -

When I woke up this morning I had no idea that my eye would have a freak out today. It started out fine, but after the first session of conference my eye started hurting real bad. At first I thought it was just something under my contacts, but even when I took it out it wouldn't stop hurting. And I thought large pupils made an eye sensitive to light, but as you can see... the red eye's pupil is ridiculously small but it waters up every time I look into the light. And now it even feels bruised at the top of the eyelid. WHAT IS HAPPENING??

So.... That's been my day.... And I want to die....

Drum Roll Please-

So after almost two years in this house.... I finally hung something on the wall! Yay! Now I'm just terrified that it will fall off the wall and shatter on the tile. Yeah, I have trust issues.

Conversations With Aquaintances:

I walk up to say Hi to someone I somewhat know...

While looking at my pregnant belly she asks, "When are you due?"

"Not for another three and half months," I respond.

"Woah, are you carrying twins??" She says in astonishment.

"Nope, I'm just big," I say casually.

"Well I'm glad I'm not you," she says....

-The End

Babymoon/Rycation....

Okay, first off: I was tired of looking like a pregnant hussy so I decided that I needed to buy a cheap 'wedding' ring that I could wear now that my hands are swollen and my real ring doesn't fit. So I bought this one... it's 100% real cubic zirconia. I'm totally inept when it comes to jewelry so I have no idea how fake it looks. So if it looks REALLY fake, it is... and I know it is. So don't feel sorry for me.

Now for the good stuff. Ryan and I just got back from St. George today for our little Babymoon. Well, really it was originally called Ryan's mecation because he was desperate for a break from work. But I renamed it for my own purposes. All we did was lounge around, and it was fantastic. We bought season 5 of House and watched three discs, we ate a lot, we shopped, and we played Arkham Asylum on xbox. But really Ryan played Arkham Asylum while I watched. Oh!!! And we golfed!!! I've been to the driving range a couple of times in my life, and honestly I'm not to shabby... and I've used the golf simulator quite a bit... and I am really bad... So I was really nervous to go on a real course because I thought my golf ball would just go everywhere.

But THIS was my first actual swing!!! ON the fairway!!! I couldn't believe it. We played a little 9 hole down in St. George and I honestly LOVED it. I predict Ryan and I will be doing this MUCH more often. My sister Brooke thought I was crazy doing this 5 months pregnant, but I survived. With no pulled muscles... And I actually made TWO pars!! The other 7 holes weren't pretty, but I only lost 2 balls... which was way less than I predicted.

The drive home was depressing, I wish we could have stayed. And now that we've actually golfed down there we have talked about another trip at the end of October. Lets hope it pans out.

Wanted:

This chair. Seriously, it's fantastic. I want to re-upholster it of course, but the style is fantastic. I just wish I had a place to put it.

Seriously??

I'm pretty frustrated with this house that we bought a year and a half ago. The house isn't that old (it was built in 2006), but we've had all sorts of problems with it all ready. The biggest problem we've had has been with the garage door. When we bought the house the previous owners told us that they had tried to install the door themselves and had no clue what they were doing. Which caused them to dent the door at the top and put a big crease in it... The had said they had no problems with it since... oh of course they hadn't...

Well almost a year after owning the dang house, the garage door crease got bigger and bigger and finally creased so much that it wouldn't close anymore. Awesome.

So we bought a new one. Just a door, not a new motor. Well, four days ago, Ryan and I started having problems with it closing again. It would go down half way and then pop right back up. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. Irritating. Well, my dad came to visit and while I was at work, he had the pleasure of it FALLING OFF THE TRACKS when he tried to open it.... are you kidding me?

Apparently it wasn't installed that great back in November, so the guy had to come back and reinstall the track so it wouldn't flex as much. Great, right? Its fixed.... NO.

Well, when leaving this morning we noticed a really loud POP when we tried to open the garage. Then when trying to leave and shut the dang thing, it would go down half way again and go back up. Kill me. We left and did our thing, came home, and still noticed the loud popping but it would go up and down so I wasn't going worry about it until Monday when I could call again. Well then this happened....

If you're having trouble seeing what happened, I'll tell you... The freaking top track bar IS BENDING IN HALF!!! That those two things hanging?? Oh, well one is the CHAIN and the other is a STEEL TENSION WIRE. So because that whole rod is falling apart, and the chain broke, we can't open or close the door.

So now I'm fuming... we can't have it fixed until Monday, and we can't get my car out of there OR Ryan's car in. Luckly one car is on the outside so we're not stranded at our house. They just better get here first thing Monday morning or some heads are going to roll.

Oh, and don't use Overhead Doors in Bountiful, because apparently they are morons.

Love Love Love

.......click here.......

and I will paint for the baby. These are the beginnings of the babies room inspiration.

My rendition:

So I drew a giraffe and a lion, because I like those animals better than the other options... Do they fit, or is the lion too much? Tell me what you think.... honestly!!

*and I know I'm pretty much an amazing artist, so you don't have to compliment my drawring skills.

Too Fast??

So on July 30th we had our first ultrasound for the baby. That put me at 18 weeks and a couple of days. The tech wasn't sure if she could tell us the gender so early, but she finally got a good look and let us know that we're having a boy!!

I was a little excited, and wanted to start spending money immediately... so I dragged Ryan around town on Saturday to start spending money. So exciting.

We bought a stroller, some adorable onesies and the stuffed lion you see in the picture. Ryan's mom also bought us the green receiving blanket that is draped over the top of the stroller. I struggled a lot with which stroller I wanted to get. I was thinking the Phil & Teds or the Quinny, but when Ryan and I went to the store to check out the Phil&Teds we saw the UPPA baby and "fell in love" (sick). It just seemed like a better fit, and just a good idea.

Ryan really wanted to be a part of the buying fun, so I let him pick out the lion. Actually he guilted me into it because I've picked out everything else, but it's pretty cute so I went with it. He super excited because it turns into a pillow AND a blanket.... awesome.

So now the whole baby thing is feeling a bit more real, especially because we can call him by name. Henry if you were wondering, get used to it.... And I would show you the ultrasound, but I fear getting railed on by my friend's husband (read #6)... Just kidding Keegan, I really did agree with a good portion of that list.

Now I just have to get started on that quilt that I promised I would make this kid... Jerk.

Hey!! Did you know....

That I'm married?? Oh, you did? Well I just wanted an excuse to post pictures of my wedding from three years ago. My photographer was amazing, and you should use her for any future event you have. The link is on my page somewhere down there (Kate Benson). 

This is Ryan's Family

This is me with my three sisters

This is just a darling picture of me and Ryan. (darling??)

And this is seriously us. Seriously.

Reason #257 I don't like my dogs...

My house now smells like horse poop, because my dogs like to roll around in animal feces.

Ryan is giving them a thorough washing at the moment, and this smell better leave soon before I start heaving.

How dare you...

A couple of family members mentioned to me they thought it was funny that I pretend I don't like my dogs, but my blog is all about them...

Well, posting a picture of Karl or Joan that I thought was artistic and cool does NOT mean that I like my dogs. Therefore, I was forced to change the blog heading picture. 

I will post a different one, once I find one suitable for viewing. Until then, enjoy a thermalized version of me.

Thank you.

Life Lessons I've Learned

MTV is basically documenting the demise of american morals. Between Real World and 16 and Pregnant... it basically shows why children have no hope in our future. 

I hate teenagers. I hope that my kids aren't as dumb as the ones I see around me.

Corporations are evil. Except for Target... they are amazing.

I enjoy stories about people that have made unbelievably stupid decisions in their lives and now have to deal with the consequences. 

I'm a bit evil.

A Reeses Peanut Butter Cup commercial taught me that "Sharing is nice. Stupid, But nice"

Hard Earned Meal

So on my lunch break today I decided I wanted a sandwich... more specifically a sub sandwich. I drove to Subway and waited in the drive-thru for literally 10 minutes behind 3 cars that weren't moving. And if you know me at all you understand that I have ZERO patience, and I couldn't take it anymore so I left. 

Because I wanted a sub sandwich so badly I decided I would try Blimpie. Ryan said it was good, and I can't remember ever having it before. Well when I got to the window to order, I decided I wanted a kids meal because that's all the food I needed. So I order.... Then the guy looks at me and then I see him trying to look in the back of my car... 

"For a kid?" he asks.

"yup." I answered unnerved. 

So then he's looking in the back of my car again really searching around for kid in a car seat. Then he says, "you know the kids meals are for kids 12 and under right?"

I say, "yup. I can't have a kid a home?" 

He still is looking at me really suspiciously, but then finishes the order and gives me my food. I even tried to order really kid like foods like a ham a cheese with nothing on it, and a root beer instead of some highly caffeinated drink.  Anyway, I get my food and leave, then notice that he didn't give me my little treat... I guess he didn't believe me after all. Jerk.

So I think that 12 and under rule is REALLY stupid. I don't want a lot of food dang it, why should I have to pay for it?? It's irritating that they have that age restriction on it. So I usually order a kids meal anyway and nobody has ever said anything about it before. I was surprised he even asked... 

So I'm kind of a bad person... In case you didn't know.

Sister Kim

Kim came up a couple of weeks ago with her family, and while her oldest was enjoying a week of EFY I got to hang out Kim and her other kids.... That she loves more.... (sorry Romney, but that's what she told me)

The first day we hung out in Provo waiting for Kim to figure things out and for her to get the courage to finally leave Romney on her own. When she finally got the strength, we ate at Brick Oven, then had my first experience at The Creamery on 9th. Which let me tell you, has the LEAST efficient workers I've ever seen in my life. Kim and I decided that the place could have been run better by monkeys.  Then we headed up to Thanksgiving Point to go to the Dinosaur Museum. Oh, before that I had the pleasure of introducing my niece, Tatum and her cousin Audrey to The Beatles and Pink Floyd... which they did NOT appreciate. Such a sad state these days are... With the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, the music industry has gone to hell.

Anyway, at the museum we saw some stuff, and the kids played in the sand river for a good hour giving me plenty of time to sit. Which is awesome because I was really tired and lazy and didn't really feel like learning anything. 

Then on another day we went to the ZOOOOOOO!! I don't know why I capitalized that, I guess I was excited because I had never been to the Utah ZOOOOOOO! Sorry again. 

  

And this last picture is one that Tatum took while the younger ones were playing at the park. She had my camera quite a bit that day just taking pictures of everything. She thought I would just delete all of them, but little did she know I posted the Nerds one that she took. It's a good one Tates!!

This is why I shouldn't be a housewife.

I could probably watch infomercials all day. It's a little guilty pleasure of mine. I woke up earlier than Ryan one Saturday and probably spent a good hour and a half watching informercials on P90X, and Slim in 6. But the one that REALLY convinced me that my life is not complete until I have one is the Haan Steam Cleaner. I mean, this thing sounds like it would change my life by owning it. It kills 99% of germs and bugs, AND I can use it on carpets, sofas and EVEN mattresses!!!! I can't even believe how much I need this... Ryan can't either, and won't let me buy it. But one day, I will get the steam cleaner of my dreams and succeed in finally enjoying sanitizing the house. We can all dream, right?

Three Whole Years

It's Ryan and my anniversary today. I actually forgot until this morning resulting in dinner at Macaroni Grill and that's it... It's good enough for me though, because I'm exhausted.

Ryan, I love you and you're amazing.

The end.

Boston, Oh Boston!

These are the oldest seats in baseball and they are part of Fenway Park. Now I'm not a fan of baseball AT All, but taking this tour around the stadium was probably my favorite thing we did this trip to Boston. 

Other things I got to do on this trip: 

1. The Freedom Trail  - we did the WHOLE thing in one day this time. It took all day and was quite murderous, but making it to Bunker Hill and walking up the 295 death steps was so worth it. I feel like we got jipped on the USS Constitution because it was being remodeled and didn't have sails or masts up.

2. Lexington-Concord AND Walden Pond = Amazing

3. GHOST TOUR - Pure awesomeness, mostly because of our ridiculous tour guide that took us through grave yards and informed us about the Boston Strangler (who was never caught).

I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to go back out there for 6 days. I can't believe that Dr. Feller decided to take the whole office out there for a concert, but I'm sure happy he did. I got to play the tour guide for our group because I was the only one who had been there before, but having my SUPER FANTASTIC iPhone this time sure helped with navigating. 

Focus

Just a good day

One more reason I can't wait to have a kid....

General Conference Activity Packets!!! I can't believe how helpful that thing was today. I've never got so much from watching one before. I've found it so hard to concentrate before and take anything from the speakers, let alone remember them past 10 minutes. But not today! I can tell you who each speaker was AND what they talked about. 

I think my favorite talk was President Monson's from the first Sunday morning session. (I'm about to get deep so look away if you can't stand it) He spoke about having faith that will get you through tough times. Although is story about the German woman that lost her entire family was super depressing, I loved his end statement. "The future is as bright as your faith." During these tough economic times I think this is important for people to remember.  This won't last forever, everything has an end.  Stay faithful and righteous and you'll make it, God will help you make it. He'll never leave you alone if you continue to do what is right. Something that I heard in church a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years goes along with this theme. "God will never giver you any trial that you can't handle."  I've have periods in my life where I thought I would never be able to dig myself out of the hole that I had dug for myself. I'm thankful for the atonement and the ability to repent for stupid decisions. 

And as long as I'm on this super ser

ious note, I thought I'd let everyone know that I really do like Ryan despite my previous post about the cinnamon twist and grocery shopping. 

Oh!! AND because of the fabulous Activity Packet I noticed that President Monson was wearing a different tie the second Sunday session... and the second would have been MUCH easier to draw... 

* the picture is from the walk that Ryan and I took the dogs on today - continuing with the REALLY good day theme.

Wow.

This is possibly one of the funniest pictures I've ever seen. My iPhone had this free app where you can swap faces on two people... Fantastic. Or absolutely disgusting, you choose.

Ryan says he'll never take my advice again...

... and I want to cry.  We bought our house just over a year ago and I remember thinking., "Wow, this is a really good price and housing prices won't get much cheaper." I would like to kick myself in the face at this point. We toyed around with the idea of getting into a new built house, and we thought long and hard about how much we could afford. Ryan really wanted the Auburn floor plan, but we just couldn't do it at the time, plus it was way more house than we needed. I was so dang eager to get into a house and out of our lame apartment.

Well, in 13 months... the Auburn we were looking at came down $80,000!!!! Seriously, I want to cry right now. We could be living it up in our ideal house with way more space if we JUST would have waited a year. Crap.

Lesson learned.  And I'm not allowed to look at the real estate pages anymore.

UPDATE: Ryan said later that he thought he might have bought to early... in marriage. ouch.

I did something REAL bad

I finally decided what I wanted to do as my graduation gift... (in case you didn't remember... I GRADUATED COLLEGE)  I had to get rid of it because the longer it sat in my bank account the more I was tempted to go out to eat with it and buy clothes or other random little things. This was the biggest purchase I've ever made so it was a little terrifying. 

I got the white MacBook so I can have something all to myself and I get to take it with me on trips. Plus, it left some room for me to get a decent photoshop program AND a plane ticket to Arizona. So Kim and Brooke, be expecting me this summer.

And don't worry, I'll bring my own computer to play on.

Sunday Baking

Me and a friend decided to test our hand at cake decorating this afternoon. I tried to make fondant for the first time with some powdered sugar and marshmellows and it turned out surprisingly well! Mine is the yellow and white cake and hers is the one that has MS. (those are her initials, she's not being disrespectful.)

I'll do weddings... Starting rate is $500...

New Lightbulbs

This is my bedroom at 10:00 pm with all the other lights off in our house. It looks like daylight doesn't it. We bought some new energy efficient light bulbs and Ryan insisted on getting the brightest ones he could. They are hideous.  They make our room feel like a space shuttle, and now I don't like turning on the lights at all. Good work babe.

Can you even tell? Or is it just me?

The cinnamon twist that ended our marriage.

I went grocery shopping with Ryan tonight, which is possibly the most irritating experience ever. Going to Dicks Market tonight was like having my own child. He was begging me for Pop Tarts and Granola bars, and sugary cereal. I had to finally say he could have one or the other... He chose Fruity Pebbles. 

THEN, it happened. We got to the bakery and Ryan decided he wanted a doughnut. I told him he if wanted it he had to put the cereal back, but he didn't listen. He started walking towards the counter and I tried to threaten him with our marriage. I told him that if he got a doughnut that was the end. 

So I'm moving out. Who wants to take me?

Haight- Ashbury

I recently went to San Francisco with two of my friends for a quick weekend. Driving in Wendi and I had a minor panic attack thinking we were going to die that night, but we persevered and ended up actually leaving the hotel. These shots represent my favorite things we did: Chinatown, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Awesome.

He's 26 - and I'm a cradle robber

When Ryan woke up the morning of his birthday the first thing he said was that he wanted a great dane named Barney for his birthday. This was the best I could do, but I thought it was fabulous.

This is how we do...

Ryan and I are at the Training Table tonight for our date. The best part is that we are both just playing on our phones and not talking to each other. I love technology.

I'm domestic and this is proof!

Here is the apron I made for myself out if the same fabrics I made my sister Kims Christmas present with. Hers is a little different but I think I like hers better. Oh well!