Time

It really is amazing  how quickly time passes. The older I get the faster the days, hours, even minutes, seem to slip through my tenuous grip. I find myself wishing I had more moments of peace and contentment and less of chaos and worry. I wish I could spend an eternity staring at my children's little faces soaking in their beauty and innocence. I would quietly let it wash over my dull and cynical soul. Maybe then I'd remember what it was like to be young again. To recall the joy and magic in the world. To be able to run and jump without the weight of years pulling me heavily to the earth. 

Already I've lost a month of my little boys life. I looked at him this morning and quietly pleaded for him to slow down! He's already growing, stretching, and reaching towards the day he will be too big for cuddles, kisses, and his mom's fretting. Why do they have to change so quickly? Why do I not know how to cherish the short time I have with them? In all my frantic rushing to and fro I manage to take care of dinners, house cleaning, yard work, and hobbies but somehow miss out on the precious gift of a guileless spirit. Shame on me!

I need to stop frittering away these moments. My Father in Heaven has blessed me with three of his children to call my own for the briefest of time. I need to figure out how to be grateful and responsible for that time. Somehow. 

Super Mom Powers

I spend a lot of time trying to stay one step ahead of my kids. As you can probably guess it's a lot harder than it sounds. For some reason I feel schooled on a daily basis by my 2 and 5 year old girls. But I have a secret weapon. I like to call it "Mommy ESP." Here's an example of how it works:

Today I decided to have another try at getting a nap. I put a DVD in for the girls and told them to quietly enjoy mindless entertainment while Curtis and I get some rest. (I actually managed to catch about an hour--cue the hallelujahs--it was awesome!) When the newbie decided he'd slept long enough we came downstairs. Both girls were hanging out behind the recliner by their little toy box. After a couple seconds they came over to see their little brother. This is when the Mommy ESP kicked in. In a calm voice I instructed Lindy to go back behind the recliner and bring me the potato chip bag then put herself in time out for sneaking food out of the pantry without asking. With a look of utter astonishment she cries, "But how did you know?!!!" to which I responded, "Mommy's always know."

How did I know? Well, because I like my kids to think I do always know what's going on I did not mention that I was tipped off by the obvious orange Dorito residue smeared from ear to ear on both child or the fact that they both oozed nacho breath all over the place. 

I'm tricky. I know.

Mom vs. Mom

We expected tantrums. We thought we'd see belligerence, disrespect, and attitude. So imagine our surprise when Lindy decided that she'd rather be a mom to her baby brother than pick on him. She rarely lets him out of her sight and will sit with him for hours commenting on "his cute little face" or "his skinny little chicken legs". Our only problem now...I think she'd prefer being the one in charge of our new family member...and has no problem trying to put me in my place.

The other day Curtis was fussing a little bit so I picked him up to hold him. Lindy leaned over to me and said, "Mom, you need to bounce him like this." And she proceeded to instruct me on the appropriate calming-down technique for fussy babies. Man, it's a good thing I have her around, isn't it? :)

If It Weren't Screwed On

I used to be a smart person. I used to be capable and observant with a mind like a steel trap. Then I had kids. Well, at least that's my excuse.

Over the last few months I've lost my debit card a total of 3 times. Mind you, this doesn't include the many many times I've left it in a pants pocket, left it on my dresser, or had it get buried in the bottom of my diaper bag and found it later. No...recently I've developed a habit of losing it at random and unknown locations throughout the county. The first time it simply vanished into thin air. Ian and I both had to get new cards reissued (because we had the same number) which was an annoyingly long and inconvenient process. The second time wasn't as dramatic...I called around to the stores I'd been at and was able to pick it up. Then earlier this week I got a call from my credit union only to discover that someone had found my card at a bookstore and brought it in. I didn't even know I'd lost it! 

I'm now the poster child for the saying, "If your head weren't screwed on you'd probably lose it!" Sheesh.

No Rest For The Weary

Ellie has had a pretty bad cold the last couple of days. It was determined fairly early on that she wouldn't be well enough to go to church today. I started formulating a plan. It was brilliant in it's simplicity. I would send Ian and Lindy off to church, regretful that I wasn't going with them, and once they were out the door I would put Ellie down for an afternoon nap, shut myself in my room with a peacefully sleeping baby, and take a well-deserved nap myself.

It started out wonderfully. Curtis was asleep in his bouncy seat so I sat him next to my bed. By the time I got everything situated Ellie had been in her bed for about a half hour and since I hadn't heard a peep during that time I figured I'd hit the jackpot! I laid down and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was OUT.

I awoke to a horrible shrieking. It was Ellie. Screaming to beat all. I had erroneously assumed that no noise meant she was sleeping soundly in her bedroom. When I reached the hallway I discovered that no noise can also mean that she is in the bathroom applying layer after layer of SoftSoap to every single spot of exposed skin. Including her eyes.

My much needed nap time turned into Ellie's bath time. She had a blast pretending to be a mermaid. As soon as she got out, Curtis woke up with his own banshee-like wail...demanding food. I guess we'll try it another day.

Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa and grandma Heninger came to visit this last weekend. The girls were particularly excited for two specific reasons. First, they have been begging us to take them to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point...and we've put them off this long by telling them that we'll go when their grandparents got here. Second, Lindy wanted to go to Cabella's with her grandpa. Go figure.

After a couple days grandpa went back to Canada while grandma stayed for a week to help me out with the three kids while Ian spent the week back at work. It was extremely nice to have another adult around while feeling completely outnumbered by little ones. I was hoping to be able to accomplish a little more project-wise while my mom was here but we seemed to just spend a lot of time changing diaper after diaper after diaper. Oh, did I mention there were a lot of diapers to change?

Thanks mom/grandma for hanging out with us and taking some of the burden off. We had a blast. And...we miss you and grandpa already.

One Week

Curtis is one week old today. Already I'm amazed at how quickly time flies! It's been a fun week getting to know this new little one. Our first night home was a little nerve-wracking. He screamed and screamed and we were afraid that he might take after his oldest sister and keep us awake for months on end. Luckily he's been getting better each night. We're finally at a manageable schedule of waking up every 3 or so hours to eat. That I can do. Ellie seems to be a little more accepting of the new guy and Lindy is completely enthralled with his every move. 

Here are some highlights of our first week:

Holy cow! We have 3 kids!

He's a serious kind of guy.

Sibling bonding

Lindy likes to talk to her brother.

So far he's not a fan of bath time.

Thank You Anonymous Stranger

There are two things the Jones family discovered this last week. First, we found out that it is never a good idea to have two active little girls cooped up in a tiny hospital room for any length of time. Second, that there are still random acts of kindness being performed by generous and compassionate individuals.

Last week, after enduring a seeming eternity with Lindy and Ellie running amuck around my hospital room, Ian decided to give us a break and take Ellie with him to get some dinner at Bajio. After waiting in the ridiculously long line with a hyper-active two-year old, he finally ordered his food. However, when he got to the cashier he realized, to his horror, that he had left his wallet in the hospital room. At that moment of utter frustration a hero stepped in. I'm not sure if the unknown good samaritan had observed Ian's struggle with his daughter, or if he noticed the weariness in Ian's face from the long day. Whatever it was, he must have known that my very tired, very overwhelmed husband needed help. He paid for Ian's food without hesitation and asked nothing in return. 

So, to whoever you are: thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It may seem like a small matter, but our family is extremely grateful for your thoughtfulness and for the reminder that we can all do something to take care of our brothers and sisters in this crazy world!

Do You Think They're Related?

Curtis - April 2008

Ellie - September 2005

Lindy - January 2003

Drumroll Please

The fact that it has taken us 9+ months to come up with a name seems to have built up some sort of grand expectation. In the end we chose a short and simple name for our little boy. Curtis Ian Jones. It's going to take us a little time to get used to calling him something other than "baby brother", but Ian and I are very glad that this 9-month name search is finally over. And I am very glad that he's here. Look at that adorable face! Now if we could only get him to stop screaming at us... 

More Pictures

Mom and Junior...3 hours old.

Lindy LOVES her new baby brother.

Baby brother and the girls.

We cracked up at his sad little look.

Even though Ellie doesn't really want anything to do with the "usurper" her big sister seems to treasure him enough for the two of them already. 

My Sister Rocks

Just a little shout-out to my baby sister. She took the day off work yesterday to come and stay with my two crazy kids. What a trooper. From what I've been able to gather from the kids, she was able to astound them with some Go Fish action, some Weinerschnitzel lunching, and other various aunt-proven tricks. Apparently Lindy told her that we're still going to have another baby and Jody is going to be expected to perform the same miracle again. (Don't worry yet, Jody, my current response is still "fat chance".) THANK YOU to Aunt Jody. Our family appreciates you and LOVES you!

Introducing...What's His Name

It finally happened! Our new little baby boy has arrived. The first question everyone has been dying to ask is "What's his name?" and I'm sorry to tell you that we still haven't picked one out. It's beginning to turn into a quest of sorts, even for the nurses and staff here in the hospital. We've been given plenty of suggestions...most of them actually good, solid names...but nothing has jumped out at us yet. 

I have to be honest and admit that the labor and delivery was CAKE! And, to top it off, I'm currently feeling better than I have in a long time. (Natelli, you were totally right!) I'm just a little tired and could use a nap. Or two. Or three. :)

"Junior" came into the world weighing 7 lb.s 15 oz. (our biggest so far) and was 20.5 inches long. He has a soccer-player's kick and seems to prefer being held. He's healthy and, according to one of the nurses, quite "chill". (Apparently he's the only baby today that didn't cry when she took all of his vitals. Good job, Junior.) He definitely has the "Jones" look to him, just like his big sisters...even down to a cute little dimple on his cheek. We think he's simply adorable. And, in spite of my nervousness about having a boy this time, I'm finding out that I completely love this little guy already.

Well, enough for now. Thank you for all the well-wishes. We'll see you soon!

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

I need to acknowledge my wonderful husband's amazing computer-skills and let everyone know that he needs to get credit for the super cool video of Lindy's bike riding we posted earlier. Thanks Ian...you're awesome!

I'm An Expert Bike Rider

Ian recently taught Lindy how to ride her bike without training wheels. She was pretty nervous at first...but as you can see, she soon got over her fear and simply enjoyed herself. 

When we asked her about it the whole experience she told us, "I am an expert bike rider now."

And she is.