Ode to Winter

Spring is nearly here and although I am excited to plant flowers and a garden, take the kids to the park and play paddle tennis in the backyard, I have to admit; I am a little sad to see winter go.
Here is my list of things I love about winter and will miss:
1. Hot chocolate with cool whip
2. Hot bath every night (and lots of mornings)
3. Cute boots
4. Snow is a great reason to stay home all day in your jammies with the fire on.
5. Hiding your not-so-flat belly behind bulky sweaters and big coats
6. Nice soft feet because they are in socks all day and protected from the elements
7. Bath time for the children is optional since they have been playing inside all day
8. Shaving once a month

Cross country skiing the Alpine Loop

Ice skating in our backyard

Seeing the lights at Temple Square

See, there are so many good things about winter! But HOORAY for Spring. We are so lucky to have seasons. What a testimony that God lives. And what a beautiful gift from Him.

WELCOME SPRING!!!

Happy Birthday GIGI

Today is my sweet Adeline's 3rd birthday. She was born March 27, 2005 at 8pm. We forced her into the world 5 weeks early because I had preclampsia. She was 5 lb. 11 oz. and 19 in. Since I was only in labor for 45 minutes, I didn't have time to get an epidural. OUCH! But she was so healthy and such an angel baby. I have love and adored her more and more each day of her life. Austin nick named her GIGI, which has just stuck, but her full name is Adeline April. I know it's different, but I think it's so pretty.
She is my mini-me (not only because she has bright blond hair that is slow coming). The only problem with that is her 3 year old personality is similar to my 14 year old personality! She is a ball of fire with her own mind. She loves to be a girl and loves to have her way. Life is never quiet or boring when she is around. She has brought us joy beyond measure.
Here are some pictures of her life and on her special day.

She woke up with pink eye, so I only took her to the last 15 minutes of school to share cupcakes with her friends. You can see the puffiness in her eyes. Tim and Shelbie got her a fake make-up set, complete with working blow dryer. She loves it and has not put it down all night. Here she is painting her toe nails with plastic polish
Mom and Dad got her a bike and a pink helmet. I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed with how well she can pedal already.
Gma JuJu and Papa took her to Build A Bear. She picked out a pink sparkly bear and a pick dress. Did I mention she is all girl?
When she was born, she was smaller than a baby doll! So sweet!
Crooked teeth, bald head and bright blue eyes. I love this girl!
She was ready to get in the bath and not willing to wait until mom had a second to get her undressed.
She is just so darling
I love this picture of her. She is beautiful. Those blue eyes melt my heart.

Serious Swim Lessons

I have all three kids in these very intense swim lessons. They are even teaching Bailey to "swim". It's more like teaching her how to keep her head above water by floating on her back. I am hoping this will alleviate some water anxiety while we're in Costa Rica.
This is how they are doing...
Keep in mind, this is only their third lesson

Easter Saturday

Lunch and Easter egg hunt at our house with family and friends. What fun! Here are some pics...

Cute Jonas Kids

Mom and Bailey Boo
Austin on the hunt

Adeline showing off the goods

Todd helping Addie get a well hidden egg

Austina and his friend Bryce

Adeline and her friend Jenna- So proud of their spoils!

Hudson (my brother Tim's baby) on the swing and not screaming. A break through!

To Have Joy and Rejoicing

Just a couple thoughts...
Around Utah I have hear people say "4 is the new 8" referring to the number of children Mormon women are having today.
My mom was telling me the other day that her good friend (Hi Janet) was noting that our generation is so great at savoring our children at their young ages.
My sister Cami recently did a very cute post about her 3 boys and the joy they bring to her.
I think that our generation is really taking seriously the commandment to "have joy and rejoicing in your posterity." This does make it so we don't take "multiply and replenish" as seriously, but it really gives us an advantage to love, nurture, and teach our children the very very best.
I adore my children more than I can even express. I cherish each moment and each stage. I am learning to celebrate their uniqueness and embrace them wholly. I love looking at your blogs and seeing the joy you have found in motherhood as well. It inspires me and gives me hope. Keep on having JOY AND REJOICING! Seriously, have you seen more precious children ever? They, unquestionably, are to die for!

(PS I must say...I don't notice a difference in the generations. I was fully cherished beyond measure by my parents. Their love for me, is truly, what has gotten me here. I knew I was of worth because I knew I was loved. That is all the world to me. By the way, my parents will still do ANYTHING on earth for me, even though I'm supposedly an adult)

My New Love

I have recently discovered this new bra by Victoria's Secret. It's the Ipex Wireless and I think it's about $39. I have been on a search for the perfect bra for most of my adult life. The last bra I had, I spent $80 on at Nordstrom. While, it did it's job well (holding up the girls), it wasn't the most comfortable and I found myself taking it off every chance I got. I would wear it out, but as soon as I got home, I change into a less supportive, but much more comfortable one. I found myself changing 2, 3 or 4 times a day! When I stopped nursing, and "things" changed, I went on the hunt again. I bought this wireless (yet very supportive) bra in hopes that it would be the answer to my problems. I LOVE IT! I never change anymore. In fact, even if I'm just around the house for the day (when I would normally just put of a super comfy bra) I will wear that. The only time I change is to exercise. It's not the cheapest, but it's pretty affordable and it's totally worth it!(This is not an actual picture of the bra. Victoria's Secret didn't have an appropriate one and I wanted to be tactful about this. I hope I was and didn't offend anyone. I am just so thrilled to find something both supportive and comfortable. I had to share!)

Is it warm yet?

Have I mentioned that my children are so ready for Spring? I'm doing ok in this weather. I love all kinds of weather and never seem to be too anxious to get from one season to the next. I think Heavenly Father made each season the perfect length! My children, however, would love it to be 90 degrees outside. Here's what they did today.Adeline wants wear a bathing suit just like the boys (the extra child is Austin's friend Nathan). It's not as bad as my little brother, Tim, wearing one of my bathing suits! I'll have to find that picture and post it.

Max and Cheese Review

I went to the new kid's restaurant "Max and Cheese" on 1600 north in Orem over the weekend. I was a little disappointed. The food was great, but it was really expensive. It cost me $20 to feed Austin, Adeline and Myself. I had an asain wrap that was really yummy, but $8 and only came with chips (no drink). I got mac and cheese for Austin that was $3.99 and $1.99 to add a hot dog to it! And that's all it can with! No chips, fries, applesauce, fruit, drink, NOTHING else. For Adeline I got paid $4 for a grilled cheese ("girl cheese" as she calls it). The cheese was not melted a bit! Yuck!
Besides the food, they have a play area in the center. There is a 5 foot wall all the way around it with only small windows at the top. No food is allowed in the play area, so I couldn't eat with my friends and let the kids play, because I couldn't see them. When we finally finished eating and went to play, I realized it was just a large nursery. The "play area" was just a closed off area with puzzles, legos, and other various nursery type toys. We have toys of this nature at home, so it wasn't terribly exciting for the kids and not relaxing for me.
I think I will stick with $8 at McDonalds, where I can watch the kids run wild and chat with friends.

Winter Slide

I guess we are having major spring fever because this is what we have resorted to. The kids actually got really creative and started putting bags down like they were going on "security at the airport." Then they would ride down on their knees and on a little rocking horse! Wow- the things we do when we are hungry for sunshine.

Embarassing Moment #...

...well there's too many to count.

I am so humiliated by this, but it's just too funny to not blog about.
This morning, in an effort to get a good workout, I got off the treadmill with only 15 minutes to get showered and ready to get my kids from school. I asked John (who was on a call) to hold Bailey for me, so I could take a fast shower. After my 2 minute shower, I didn't take the time to dry myself off. I figured I would multi-task and dry while I dressed Bailey. I ran up stairs to grab her and let John get back to work. He turned, looked at me with wide eyes and said "You better get out of here fast." At the same time, the guy he was on the phone with started laughing. I realized, he must be on a VIDEO phone call. I am completely NAKED! So I grab Bailey and book it out of there. In my blind dash, I run right into the door, which knocks me off my feet. There was no way I was getting up and walking out of there, so I just put my bum in the air and crawled to safety. To make matters
worse, John was on the phone with the guy who we will be spending a month with in Costa Rica this summer!
I thought I may have gotten away from him seeing the whole scene, but here's his view...






















I think he will be having nightmares tonight!

New and Improved...Sort of

I recently redid the kids play area. The small toys look cute and organized in the Ikea toy organizer, but I just
can't come up with a nice looking option for the big toys. This is the best I could do...a green shelf (you may all
gasp at my creativity). It looks okay, but I feel like there is no escaping looking at these toys. Does anyone have
a better idea to hide these big toys or am I stuck?

Some Things Never Change

Ever since Austin was old enough to sit up, I would put him in the bath in the sink. It seems so retro, but it's so helpful when you are trying to get dinner made or the kitchen floor cleaned or one of the million kitchen chores done. It's just an easy way to bathe your child and get something done at the same time. I was so sick of just sitting in the bathroom!
(I think he looks so much like Bailey in this picture.)















Naturally, when Austin saw me do this for Addie, he thought it was cool and wanted a sink bath too...















And here we are giving Bailey a sink bath and Addie wanting to join.















I fully expect this cycle to continue, since I have no plans to end sink bathing!

Ladies Night

Pedicures, Chili's and Women...What more can I say?

I did take my camera tonight, but left the memory stick at home. Darn! I still wanted to blog about it.
The night started with my friend Elyssa and I going to get (much needed) pedicures. Then we headed to Chili's to meet up with other friends. It was so much fun! This was my first girls night with out a nursing baby. It was so nice to not bring Bailey or have to run home to nurse her. Every woman needs a little girl time to remind her that she is a cute, fun, silly friend that can laugh til she cries and cry with the best of 'em. Now I'm good to go for a few more weeks!

Shabby...Chic?!?!

We bought the house with this hideous nook over the fireplace. It has always been an eye sore to me and I have dreamed of the day that it was covered.
After lots of research, I never found exactly what I wanted. So we decided to do it all ourselves (and by "we" I mean "John"). My contribution was the design and painting.
The mantel went up first and I wanted to cry because I thought it looked awful, but now that the doors are up, I'm really loving it.
I had to dig up a before picture because I forgot to take one. I know, it's bad and I think my sorry attempt to decorate made it worse!


The mantel is just a basic one you can get at home depot for like $150. I painted it and John hung it. I "designed" the doors, John built them, and I painted them. Not too shabby, maybe even shabby chic!