Getting into Trouble

Here are some of the escapades my children get into and I think I'm more prone to grab a camera instead of yell. I know this is simply part of children growing up and checking out their environment. This is the biggest problem we had on July 8 when they found the strong coloring my mom uses in decorating in one of the cupboards. They had the color all over them and the floor as they were painting. Luckily everything came out with some help from my mom.

We got out the pool again but I'm afraid somewhere it developed a leak over the winter so we didn't use as much as hoped. I was never sure how Aaron felt about the water. We did spend a little time on July 12. Once Aaron fell down he didn't want to be in any more. They liked putting other things in as well.

While we were in Idaho for the Grover reunion we celebrated my brother, Ryan's birthday. We always take pictures of the cake beforehand which is why the cake was on the floor. Somehow I don't think Miriam saw it or was just checking it out but she managed to step right in the cake. Then when my mom discovered it she let out a loud surprised noise which scared her hence the face she is pulling.

After we watched the Pioneer parade with my cousin and kids we went over to her in-laws house which was gorgeous. They had an upper loft area that was reached by a spiral staircase. Miriam loved the staircase though I tried to keep her off of it repeatedly. When in Blanding we stay at the gray house that is a little 2 bedroom older home. I think we were trying to get ready to leave and I was washing dishes. Of course the kids wanted to get in on the action but didn't realize that Miriam really wanted in the action. They had a great time in the water and Miriam felt Aaron needed his feet washed.
Every so often the kids find themselves downstairs playing.This time they found long foam cylinders and started play sword fighting. They were so funny but of course didn't do it as much soon as I could get the camera rolling.

Thank goodness they are so cute not to mind as much the things they get into!

Our little Jewell

On Friday February 25 we finally had our ultrasound at 22 almost 23 weeks at the hospital and it was an absolutely amazing experience. First, off it seemed their equipment had a much better definition than what we had experienced previously. It was much easier to pick out body parts instead of just being able to tell where the bones were. Secondly, the technician was amazing she told us everything she was doing and pointing everything out, basically keeping a running dialog. Some of that may have been because she also had a student watching, but she was genuinely caring. Thirdly, it was so fun to see Miriam and Aaron get that there really was a baby.

Well apparently I have no intuition about the gender of my babies, though Miriam knew. When I first got pregnant I thought I'm so sick its got to be a girl like with Miriam, but as time went on I realized I have forgotten to some extent how I really felt with each of them. With Miriam I threw up a lot and was very sensitive to foods; with this one I felt nauseous all the time, but only really threw up apx 8 times. Then I had a vivid dream that it was a boy whose name was to be Caleb and since then I was leaning more that way- guess I was wrong. I'm so so excited to get out all the cute girl clothes, I wasn't looking forward to going through boy clothes again. Now Miriam talks about her sister all the time.

The other neat thing is they had a 3d imager though she was very wiggly and wouldn't put her arms down over her face so we could get a clear shot its still pretty cool. I think the 3d pictures look a little like a mummy. Aaron didn't pay attention the whole time but he would point up to the screen and then down at my tummy grunting repeatedly as if to say, "that baby is in there!" We were trying to explain to Miriam about the different parts and then we asked where her head was and she pulled up her shirt to point at her tummy. She is also about a week further developed putting the due date from June 27th to June 19th (there goes my hopes of a July baby!) I'm betting on about the 23rd. We are all excited to welcome our little Jewell to the family. The girl name I'm leaning toward that Eric isn't convinced about is Melody Jewell and as I was leaving I felt strongly that she is our precious jewel so I'm pretty sure whatever happens with first name that will be her middle (in honor of Eric's maternal grandmothers maiden name).

Miriam's July Happenings

Most of the pictures of Miriam seem to be about helping in July. She is getting big (27 mon old) and be a really big helper. I'm trying to make cleaning fun and not overwhelming so she'll keep it up.

Vacuuming has always been a love/uneasy thing for her. She definitely likes it better on this side of the vacuum. Even today she backs away when the vacuum comes any where near her. (July 7).

Whenever we are doing anything in the kitchen the kids come running wanting to help. Miriam is especially fascinated with our popcorn pot and will get it out of the cupboard to play with. Here (July 9) I'm not sure if were actually cooking popcorn or if she was just pretending- both scenarios are equally likely.


Miriam is really good about mopping up spilled water, I love how energetic she is.

On July 23 my cousin got married in Monticello Utah and we went down for the celebration. This little cousin Jessi's mom was taking pictures of the bridal party so to keep her and her brother occupied my mom did a photo shoot of them. While in Blanding we had fun watching the Pioneer parade in Monticello.

Miriam has always loved all things with wheels and rides whatever she can. Here on July 25 she found one of the supports for the co sleeper and decided it looked just like a scooter. She 'rode' it all over the house looking very pleased with herself! Below shows off how good she rides her big wheel she got for her birthday (June 28).
She loves her Daddy and in this series of pictures taken July 27 shes copying how Daddy is standing. Somehow she looks more adorable trying to be all cool. The final video is her rendition of the traditional flying.

Aaron's first time at nursery

We asked if Aaron could go into nursery at the beginning of the year because he was getting to be a major distraction in our primary class (though we forgot about 11:00 church when he gets cranky for naps). On January 9 he went for the first time. Our nursery lost many kids to Sunbeams and Aaron was the first scheduled to come in any way so they said sure. Not to mention for several weeks when Miriam got dropped off he wanted to stay with her and would run away when Eric tried to leave. He loved it, Eric stayed with him the first hour just to see how he would do. He did great in fact the only fussing was when Eric took him out to change his diaper! Eric said it was like he had always been there. Miriam loved having her brother with her also. It was nice to teach without him. He is getting and looking so grown up lately, though he has been in an extra affectionate mood lately. For several days he would come up to Eric and I repeatedly to hug us including our legs if we were standing. I was talking to my dad on the phone Sun and he came up 3 times for hugs during the apx hour conversation. He didn't stick around long, but just needed to give a hug I guess. He thoroughly charmed my mom when she was here, as he would run to her with open arms for a hug often.

Announcing Baby #3!

I was going to wait to announce here until we had the ultrasound but now that the news went out in Christmas letters I might as well put it all the way out there. I found out we were expecting on Halloween and promptly started filling nauseous constantly. Luckily I haven't thrown up a ton just feels like I want to. The best way of controlling is by eating every 2 hours and a new diet seems to have me feeling much better at 4 months along. Miriam sometimes seems to get it, even telling me not to squish the tiny baby in her tummy (I'm always telling her to be careful) and sometimes not at all. I'm a little apprehensive about how to take care of 3 small children though thank goodness this one and Aaron will be 23 months apart. Are new arrival is due to arrive the end of June.

I'm talkin about...

Miriam! She is getting clearer than ever and says the funniest things these days. She still loves to wear pretty dresses to church. When we ask what day it is or mention that Sunday is the next day she'll say 'I wear pretty dress?' She still would wear her blue 'princess' dress every week if I would let her. It was quite a battle to get her to wear all her pretty Christmas dresses instead. It is most disconcerting the things that come out of her mouth that I know came from me. Such as are you listening?, I'm not talking about..., and yep that's right. There are numerous things she repeats to Aaron that I say to him often. She can be a stronger enforcer of him not having his pacifier except at night. Miriam also recently started exclaiming how much she loves such and such thing- it could be simple like marble works (toy) or proclaim her love for mommy. It is fun to watch how much enjoyment she gets out of life as she will say, "this is fun". She is pretty independent and I'm taking new boundary stands of staying out of closed doors. This is because there isn't much she can't get into and it seems they mostly delight in taking everything out of a particular place. When we went to the Dr for a prenatal check up we got to hear the tiny baby's heartbeat, but now Miriam thinks that her heart is in her stomach. The next time we went we asked if she could listen to her heart beat and they let her listen on the stethoscope. She was nervous about the midwife otherwise she had a funny look on her face and who knows what she actually heard. Occasionally she tells me that she has a baby in her tummy and not to squish it (which I say a lot).
The extended Jones family goes sledding (really tubing) at Soldier Hollow every winter this year we got together on Jan 15. First, we have a family meal, then spend a few hours sledding with the whole hill to ourselves. So I (Eric) took Miriam up there, and she did really well until we got to the top of the hill; then she got a little scared but she went down without needing too much encouragement. We went pretty fast and she got scared on the way down. She went back up the hill without a problem though. We got to the top, and she said "I want to walk down". I explained to her that we couldn't walk down-- that is against the rules. But Rusty & Nicole were ready to go down with their kids, so we did a big train going down. Some parts of the train went faster than other parts, so we started just flowing around each other-- I saw Miriam was starting to slide into the ropes connecting some tubes (which were at the same level as her neck). So I let go of my rope to her and she slid away from the ropes but away from the group. She was scared before that (because of the speed and the snow flying in the face), and it didn't get better with being separated. We took a break to see Mommy and give Aaron a try (he didn't like any part though). We went up one more time. She got really scared at the top this time. So I sat with her and we talked about being scared and being brave. Being brave isn't about not being scared, it is about doing something even though you are scared. I encouraged her telling her that she was brave and Daddy would be there to keep her safe-- I'd be right next to her. So she decided she was ready. She still got scared on that run but when we got to the bottom she said she was brave! and safe because Daddy was there.

Eating is Fun to do

When I looked at what kind of pictures I had for Aaron in July they were all about eating. He is 11 months old in all the pictures and had been on solids since end of Jan making it apx 5 mon.

Here he is with the first meal he officially ate what we were eating- sweet bean burritos minus the tortilla. He loved it! Aaron has liked pretty much all foods of some days something might not appeal to hims but he never outright refused on every occasion any food. Though these days he's a little more picky. Overseeing dinner and trying things out one Sun evening that my mom was here. He didn't quite know what to make of the broccoli. Standing on the dishwasher to see what is going on is one of the favorite places for both of the kids even today. I love his little tie, its adorable!

This kid loves, loves fruit in particular strawberries and watermelon, also recently discovered blueberries in the list also. He will eat so much watermelon that he gets acid poop. Cleaning him up is always so much fun!
Eating his oatmeal with a spoon himself. I think he is more dexterous with a spoon sooner than Miriam was. He has always loved utensils and drags them everywhere.