The Jones Family

Lately

2012-02-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

Not too much has gone on around here since my last post. I've been busy planning Peyton's first birthday party and I have loved every second of it! We went to Hobby Lobby this past weekend for a few things. I have lots of ideas and I can't wait to get started! :) I can't believe my baby is almost 1! Time really does fly!

Mackenzie is still really enjoying ballet and tumbling. Every day she asks "How many more days until ballet?" I'm thinking we're going to have to make some kind of countdown system! I'm so happy that she loves it so much and SO proud of how well she has done! Please excuse the little girl picking her nose in the picture...I'm just glad it wasn't mine. ;)

We've spent a lot of time just hanging out at home. The weather has been cold and rainy lately and we've taken advantage of that and spent a lot of time in our pj's which is totally fine by me. :) We've had lots of fun days watching movies, crafting, and just playing at home.

Mackenzie has recently had an interest in taking pictures. She asks a million times a day if she can use the camera on my phone. After looking at about 357 pictures of her dolls and drawings and toys on my phone, I decided to teach her to use my old Canon Rebel since I don't use it anymore. She LOVES it and uses it all the time. I'll have to upload the pictures she's taken and do a post just on them. Some of them are pretty good and I've really been surprised at some of the things she's wanted to take pictures of. The other day she asked if she could go outside and take a picture of the sky. When I saw it, I knew exactly why she wanted to. It was her favorite color and it was beautiful!

We did take Peyton outside one day during a break in the rain to try to take her 11 month picture. Luckily she cooperated and we were able to get a good picture before it started raining again.

That sweet little almost one year old girl has some serious love for her Daddy lately. And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. :)

Mackenzie always HATED (still does) being turned upside down. Peyton on the other hand doesn't mind at all and gets tickled every time. And check out all those teeth!! :)

In other news, Josh and I celebrated our 8th anniversary back in January. We celebrated as a family of four at Chick-fil-A. :) It was perfect.

And our girls donned their red (crimson) for the National Championship game as we cheered for Alabama for the first time ever!

We tried a new to us restaurant a few weeks ago. The US Pizza Company. It was delicious. Mackenzie loved it most of all. That girl could eat her weight in spaghetti.

Mackenzie has also taught Peyton how much fun it is to watch out the windows and doors at home and P LOVES it.

The other day I took them to lunch at the BX. Clearly they loved it. You can't go wrong with Charley's.

That same night Josh didn't get to come home to eat dinner so we picked up his favorite from Quizno's and took it to him at work.

Last week before ballet, we went to eat at a place called the Smoking Canon. This was P's reaction when she saw my french fries...

Sweet, right? I thought so. But she can have QUITE the attitude too...

She cracks me up with her expressions. I sent that picture to my friend Samantha and she said "omg, she is giving you a LOOK!" She is such a sweet girl, though. Just like her big sister. And her big sister is SO protective of her. It has to be the sweetest thing ever. :) Anyway, that's been our life lately. I didn't realize how long this post would end up being! Sorry! Maybe I need to blog more often, but with two busy little girls it's hard to find the time! I love it though, and wouldn't change anything about it! :)

My Little Ballerina

2012-01-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

We've been looking for something for Mackenzie to get involved in for a while. So last night, she started ballet and tumbling at a local gym and she LOVED it. She had so much fun and she's already excited about her next class. She was super excited when she got there and saw her sweet friends Ryleigh and Anniston. She quickly found a spot right next to Ryleigh. :)

After about 30 minutes of ballet, we went downstairs to the preschool tumbling room...

She really had the best time and has been "practicing" on and off all day today. She has also asked if we can make a countdown so we can see how many days left until she goes back to ballet class. When we asked her which she liked better; ballet or tumbling, she quickly replied "ballet!" Next week I won't take my camera. I'm sure I was a horrible distraction for her...but there was no way she was going to her first ballet class without me taking it! It was so much fun watching her and seeing how much fun she was having! I have a feeling that Thursday is quickly going to be come Mac's favorite day of the week. :)

Trying Again...

2012-01-04T07:39:00.001-08:00

I have struggled SO much with whether or not to make this blog private and leave it that way so that I know exactly who is reading, or if I should print what I've got into a book and delete it altogether, or if I should keep it and just go with it. I enjoy blogging, but there are some security issues that I've dealt with that are scary. So, be careful friends...you never know what can happen in/on the world wide web. For now, I'm going to continue blogging even if it's only every now and then and it may or may not last. We'll see how it goes...

It's been a LONG time since my last post and a lot has happened! Peyton turned 10 months old on December 18. I can not believe she is already that old! It seems like she was JUST born! She is a little monkey! She is a FAST crawling machine and she's pulling up and cruising along the furniture! My friend Brandy said "You would think she is too little to do that!" I couldn't agree more. She's only 15 pounds, but she's so determined! She ADORES her big sister and follows her everywhere. Or she tries to. She thinks Mackenzie hung the moon. She is also eating anything that we will give her. She enjoyed eating just about everything we did on her first Thanksgiving. And ever since then we give her almost everything we eat. The only thing we have given her that she hasn't liked is jello. I'm assuming the texture was what turned her off. I'd list what she loves to eat, but she will seriously eat anything. Except jello. ;)

Mackenzie is such a big girl these days. She is such a good helper and the best big sister in the world. She is so protective of Peyton and she loves her so much. I love watching them together. Mackenzie is really into reading books right now. She will sit for hours while someone reads to her. She has found a show on PBS called Word World that she loves and she still LOVES anything Minnie Mouse. :) She told her Daddy the other day that she wants another Minnie birthday party so we'll have to go back to Disney World for that. :) Smart girl. She's also really into writing and is doing such a good job. She can recognize all of her letters, upper and lower case and can write most of them. There are a few she still has a hard time with, but she'll get them eventually. I can't believe that in about 8 months my sweet girl will be in Kindergarten. It just doesn't seem like that much time has passed. I told Josh just the other night that I'm really having a hard time with accepting that she won't be with me all day every day anymore. What am I going to do without her?? I have really enjoyed being at home with her (and Peyton too), but I sure am going to miss my big girl all day. She, however is very excited at the thought of going to school and making some new friends. I haven't told her yet that she's going to have to get up early every morning. Both of my girls sleep until around 9:30 every morning. They also go to bed between 8:30-9:00 every night. I love that they love their sleep. :)

We went with our neighbors in October to the Arkansas State Fair. Mackenzie had the best time. She rode rides, ate a belly full of junk food, and just took everything in. Her least favorite part was probably all of the animals. She is not a fan of things that smell. Ha! She even rode one ride all by herself. She was ready to get off before it was over so she started yelling "STOP! STOP!" When he didn't stop the ride, she proceeded to start yelling at him to stop in Spanish. I haven't laughed like that in a long time. When she came back over to us, Josh asked her why she yelled out in Spanish. Her response was "well, he didn't stop when I said it in English." So duh. He MUST speak Spanish. She is a HOOT!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year too! Mackenzie asked to be Hermione from Harry Potter. We took her trick or treating on base and she had a ball! We finished up the night with dinner at Zaxby's. One of my favorites! :)

On a completely different subject...when Peyton was about 8 weeks old, I started running. I've lost close to 60 pounds and on November 12, Josh and I ran the Shakerag Half Marathon in Tupelo, MS. My time was 2:26:07. Not too shabby for my first half marathon. My pace was 11:14 and that made me so happy because I normally run a 12:00 mile. My original goal was to "just finish" then the closer it got to race day and the more I was training I changed my goal to finishing in no more than 3 hours. I was and still am proud of myself! :) The race started at 9:00 and it was SO cold. It didn't take long to start sweating though, thank goodness and then the second half of the race we were running into the wind. That was HARD! It felt like we were going uphill the whole time because of the wind. Josh was amazing. He could have finished it in an hour and a half, but he never left my side. He has been so supportive and encouraging of my dieting and weight loss even though I know that I haven't been the easiest person to be around during a lot of it. I'm so thankful for him. My friend Renee also ran it and it was so good to get to see her and spend some time with her family!

For Thanksgiving, Josh's parents and sister came. Mackenzie was SO busy playing and having fun that I only got ONE decent picture of her all weekend! She got to help Nana make her famous chocolate chip cookies that we all love so much! We had a great time with them and that Friday they SO kindly kept the girls overnight while Josh and I went to St. Louis to celebrate one of Josh's friends' birthday. We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory and then went to see the Blues play. I had to ask what the Blues were because I had no idea. I was excited to find out it was an NHL team. I'm not a hockey fan, but I love most any sport that I can watch live and the Blues did not disappoint. We had great seats and there were a couple of good fights. I asked Josh why the referees didn't just let them fight instead of getting in between them. I mean, they're grown men, let them settle it. ;) We had so much fun and I'm so glad that we went! While it was really nice to get out as a couple and just enjoy each other, we were ready to see our girls and were so excited to get back home to them. :)

Since I stay home with the girls and we love to just be at home I was able to get our Christmas decorations up really early. Like mid-November. We were able to enjoy having our stuff out for a long time and we loved it. That also meant that Henry (our elf) came early. The first night that we had the Christmas tree decorated Henry showed up. If I'm being honest I don't know if Henry should ever come that early again. I was searching for ideas for him by the time Christmas got here! Thank goodness for Pinterest! ;) Mackenzie LOVED having Henry here and would get so excited to look for him when she got up every morning. He had lots of fun at our house this year...

And truth be told, I think Josh and I enjoyed it more than Mackenzie did. :) We tried to see Santa several times at our mall, but had several failed attempts. We finally got to see him and Mackenzie was SO excited. Peyton on the other hand was less than thrilled. She wasn't a fan of the big man in the red suit, but we managed to get a couple of pictures of both of them with him even though you can tell that Peyton isn't feeling it. I'm glad we captured how she felt about him on her first Christmas. :)

We went to Josh's work Christmas party this year on December 3. Luckily it was a kid-friendly party and the girls got to go with us. They had a big play area set up for kids ages 3 and up that Mackenzie had a BLAST playing in and Peyton stayed with us and was the star of the party! Everyone loved her and couldn't get over how happy and good she is. She flirted a LOT with one of Josh's co-workers. It was too funny. Rotten girl. We didn't stay for the whole party because the little flirt had to get in bed, but the time we spent there was a lot of fun!

We enjoyed doing some fun Christmas crafts this year, but the hardest thing for me was keeping Peyton away from the tree! That little stinker loved the tree and her favorite thing to do was either pulling balls off the tree or pulling bows off of presents.

We celebrated our Christmas with the girls on December 22 since we were leaving the next day to go to MS to spend Christmas with our families. All Mackenzie asked Santa for this year was a Madeline doll. She LOVES Madeline. So she was VERY excited to find that Santa made an early delivery via Henry and she got her doll that night. She hasn't let Madeline out of her sight since she got her. :) As far as what P thought about Christmas...she could have cared less about the presents...she was as happy as a clam with bows and wrapping paper. :) Sweet girl. And my goodness was this Christmas fun. Just watching the girls...especially Mackenzie. To see and get to live Christmas through the eyes of my sweet big girl. There's so much magic and joy. I love it.

We drove to MS the next day and stayed with my parents. We ordered take out from our favorite hamburger place for supper and it was just as good as it always was. Yum. We stayed up late and watched Christmas movies and played and talked and just enjoyed being together. Peyton had slept most of the ride down and we thought it would be a long night for her. We were right. Sweet girl did not want to go to bed. She just doesn't sleep very well away from home. She was in a great mood, though so I can't complain. :) On Christmas Eve morning I heard Mackenzie squealing with excitement. Then she came running from the foyer in my parents house and I'm saying "Mackenzie, please stop squealing." Then I looked up and there stands Renee, Will, and Garrison. I think I started squealing then too! ;) They surprised me and brought me my favorite coffee from Beans and Cream before they closed for good on December 30. I was SO happy to get to see them and spend time with them. My Aunt Deb and her husband Roger also came by to see us and they brought sweet little gifts for the girls. Later that day, Josh biked to Lake Lowndes (10 miles from my parents house), ran 3 miles once he got there, then biked back. I wish I had his motivation. I missed the gym for 4 days straight. Oops. While he was gone, my mom baked all kinds of goodies and Mackenzie got to make cookies for Santa. Y'all. I must have the WORST luck ever when it comes to baking. Especially lately. The cookies we made for Santa were SO salty and gross. I tried to make snowman cupcakes with Mackenzie earlier that week and they were a disaster also. Oh well. Thank goodness for the Blue Cake Company. :) Anyway, back to Christmas Eve...for dinner we had rib tips, BBQ, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, and bread. We also had all the snacky type foods too...rotel dip, ranch chicken crescents (my favorite!), fudge, peanut brittle, TONS of other candies and sweets, sausage balls, and my mama's fabulous sweet tea. Nobody makes tea better than my mama! After dinner it was time to just wait on it to get dark. Growing up, we always opened all of our presents on Christmas Eve when it got dark. Then Santa would come and leave more gifts (unwrapped) for me to find on Christmas morning. So that's what we did. I can't tell you how many times Mackenzie went to the windows looking to see if it was dark yet. :) She was SO excited. Finally it was dark and we had the BEST time watching that sweet girl tear into present after present after present! She also had a ball helping her baby sister open hers. They both got LOTS of fun stuff and so many new clothes and pajamas. Josh and I got some awesome stuff too that we are both very excited about! :) Once again it was a late night, but luckily Peyton slept a LOT better that night. Mackenzie woke up in the middle of the night and moved into bed with me and Josh, but she kicks like a mule and ended up kicking Josh out of bed. Then she woke up again and said she needed to go potty, but before she even sat up in bed she was getting sick. It was awful. She couldn't stop. It was everywhere. Even all over her new Madeline doll. Then she got upset and just cried and cried. We ended up having to give her a bath at 2:30am and wash Madeline and change the sheets on the bed, the whole nine yards, but once she was all cleaned up and got in a freshly changed bed, she fell asleep and slept so good until around 9 the next morning. Poor baby. I felt so bad for her. It's miserable to be sick, but I think it's even harder to see your kids sick. I just wanted to be able to take it away from her. She was excited to get up and see that Santa had come, though! And you would never have known that she had been sick. Thank goodness! Peyton got up a little bit before Mac did and got into the Santa stash. :) She had so much fun exploring everything. And that little booger can find the teeny tiniest little things in the floor and straight to her mouth they go! We have to have eyes on her constantly! I love it.

After we got to see everything that Santa brought and play for a little while, we got ready and went over to Josh's parents' house for more Christmas fun. Once again the girls got spoiled and Mac LOVES getting to play with Nana. She always gets down in the floor and plays whatever Mackenzie wants to play and it just makes her feel so special. Nana was doing a lot of cooking though so she had to take a long break from playing, but luckily Uncle John stepped in and played with the dollhouse and dolls with M. Josh's younger brother, Jared was also there with his wife Britt and their two kids Lydia and Emerson. Lydia did NOT want anyone to have a bow in their hair and pulled Mackenzie and Peyton's bows out at least a dozen times. Every time I would put them in, she'd pull them back out. She doesn't like to wear a bow in her hair so she doesn't want anyone else too either I guess. Ha! Emerson is now 5 months old and he is twice the size of Peyton. He is solid as a rock! I held him for a couple minutes but P had a meltdown so I had to give him back to his mommy and get my girl. :) She loves her mama and doesn't like for me to hold anyone else...including her big sister. That's one that she just has to deal with, though. :) We had a good time with Josh's family. His grandparents even came by and got to meet Peyton for the first time. We went back to my parents' house and started getting everything packed up and ready to go back home the next morning. Josh got in bed early and I stayed up late with the girls and my mom. Peyton and I ended up sleeping in my daddy's recliner because girlfriend could not get settled down enough to go to sleep good. So we were up and down all night.

We left early the next morning and hit the road back to AR. We stopped in Tupelo and grabbed Chick Fil A for breakfast. That has to be my favorite thing about being on the road (not on a Sunday). It rained on us the WHOLE way home. We stopped at Walmart on the way out of town and bought a tarp to go over the bed of the truck so all of the girls' stuff in case it rained and I'm SO glad that we did. There would have been a lot of ruined toys and goodies and a very disappointed 4 year old little girl.

We had a wonderful Christmas and really enjoyed getting to spend time with our families, but I would be lying if I said we weren't happy to be back in our own home. There truly is no place like home. And y'all. Peyton slept from 7:45 that night until 10:00 the next morning. Not even kidding. That baby girl loves HER bed at HER house. :)

And finally, our Christmas card from this year. I came very close to not doing them again this year, but then I thought I would probably regret it if I didn't since it was P's first Christmas. I love how they turned out and I'm so glad I did them!

Sweet & Sassy

2011-08-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided to try Peyton's tutu on her that my friend Amy got her before she was born. It finally doesn't just fall off of her when I pick her up so I tried to get some pictures of her wearing it. I really wanted to get some of her on top of Josh's piano wearing it, but baby girl was NOT having it. She wanted NO part of that piano, so we moved over to the black leather loveseat that is in Josh's "music room." She liked that much better. I love this picture of my sweet, sassy girl. :)

Peyton's Five Month Pictures!

2011-08-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

Such a happy baby girl, she is! On her five month birthday, we went to her four month check up. Yes, it was a month late. We are required to use the doctors here on base and they stay SO busy. They really are worth the wait, though. We've had such good experiences with them so far! Dr. Klegg was very impressed by our sweet P. She weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds and 4 ounces (13th percentile), measured 24.5 inches (45th percentile), and her head was 41.4cm (48th percentile). She is such a sweet, tiny girl. :) And from what I remember and have looked back to see, she is right on track with her big sister's stats from this age...except for her head. Peyton has a MUCH smaller head than Mac did. Mac's measured off the charts. Seriously. She got her Daddy's big head. Hopefully she will be as smart as him, too. :) Dr. Klegg said that she was pleased with Peyton's progress and that she is right on track with where she was at her 2 month appointment. She likes the way that she is growing and developing. She was also very impressed with the little miss being able to put all of her weight on her feet and stand like a big girl for what seemed like a long time! We are such proud parents. Of two sweet, beautiful, healthy girls. :)

I got the girls ready to go to the splash pad Sunday...

2011-08-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

...only to find out that it was STILL broken. It worked out though because it started lightning and not long after that it RAINED!! We needed it so bad! So instead of the splash pad, we stayed home and baked cupcakes in our swimsuits. :)

Sweet Baby Loves Her Baby

2011-08-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Before Peyton was born, my sweet friend Shannon and her girls Macy & Lucy gave her the sweetest little doll. They also gave Mac one. (the big girl version) They are precious. Well, we recently introduced Peyton to hers and she loves her. And every time I see my girls with these dolls I think about my sweet, sweet friend and those two precious girls. We miss y'all!! :)

Racquetball

2011-08-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

One of Josh's favorite things to do is play racquetball. He is really good at it and he has a lot of fun. One of Mackenzie's favorite things to do is play racquetball with Josh. When we had finished up at the gym the other night, Josh took Mac to the racquetball court. She had SO much fun! Thank goodness that cell phones have cameras these days! The quality is pretty bad, but it's better than nothing! :)

Lots of Updates!

2011-07-29T12:05:00.001-07:00

Be sure to go back through a couple of pages to see all the new posts. You won't be disappointed. Promise. :) I'm so glad to be blogging again!

Weight Loss

2011-07-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

Ever since Peyton was born I have been "dieting." But not really. I know that makes absolutely no sense. I still eat...a lot. Just different. I've never been into physical fitness. Those of you who know me KNOW this. I don't sweat. It's gross, right? Well, friends I am so different now. Ha! I LOVE a good workout and if the sweat isn't running down my face, I feel like a failure. Haha! I love to feel the burn. I've also started running and it is by far my favorite form of exercise. The most I've run so far without stopping is 5 miles, but my goal is a marathon. Did I just admit that?? During my pregnancy with P, I lost 18 pounds. Yes, LOST. With the help of my extremely loving, supportive, and encouraging husband I have now lost almost 50. And I feel great. Better than I've ever felt. It's never too late to change your lifestyle!

Headed to the Splash Pad!

2011-07-29T10:20:00.001-07:00

Jumperoo

2011-07-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

This is Peyton's favorite thing in the world! She loves it and she's so good at it. It was Mac's when she was a baby and when my parents came to visit last weekend they brought it for P. I really thought that as tiny as she is she would be too small for it, but nope. She is a perfect fit and she has so much fun jumping! :)

And yes, that is Mackenzie asking for the iPad at the end of one of the videos. I swear she knows how to use it better than I do! Rotten girl! :)

Popcorn Party!

2011-07-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Mackenzie's favorite thing in the world is watching movies. She loves it so much. She asked me one morning if she and Peyton could watch a movie in the "red room" and have a popcorn party. I couldn't say no. Of course P didn't get any popcorn and she didn't last very long during her first attempt at watching Beauty & the Beast, either. Haha! She did enjoy it for a few minutes, though. I love these pictures...especially the ones that P is looking at Mac. I'd love to know what she's thinking. Or maybe not. Ha! This was such a fun stay at home in our pajamas day! :)

Thankful

2011-07-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

We go to the Big Dam Bridge a lot to run. On the way back to the truck on this day I couldn't stop looking at the flag. I had to stop and take a picture of it (with my phone of course). It made me feel so thankful. I love that my husband serves our country. I love that we live on an Air Force Base. I love that every afternoon at 4:30 the national anthem is played over the speaker system on base and everything else stops. I even love that at 8:00 every night TAPS plays. It's such a gripping reminder that there are people out there putting their lives on the line so that we can have our freedom. I am so proud to be an American. And not just on patriotic holidays. I'm proud everyday.

Sleepy Little Sister

2011-07-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

My Sweet Big Girl

2011-07-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Mac. I can't believe how grown up she is. She is SUCH a sweet little girl and so smart! Yes, I'm a little biased. :) It blows my mind that this time next year we will be shopping for school supplies and lunchboxes and backpacks because she will be going to Kindergarten!! I told Josh that I'm pretty sure I'll need to make an appointment with a therapist that day. What am I going to do without my big girl!?! I looked up the Arkansas Kindergarten benchmarks the other day and I couldn't believe that Mackenzie can already met them all. She will go to school on base and it's less than a mile from our house. I really hope she doesn't get bored at school and end up getting in trouble! We are already beginning to look into Montessori options for her just in case. Amanda, I may need you to move to LR!!

What Was I Thinking?!

2011-07-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

We got a new puppy. Mackenzie has been asking for a dog for what seems like forever and we thought we missed having a dog, too so we caved and got one. He's a black lab and his name is Drake. Mackenzie named him. It's short for Draco Malfoy. Yes, I'm serious. Only my child. ;) He's really really cute, but MY. GOODNESS. I forgot how much WORK puppies are! I find myself getting SO frustrated between taking care of Mackenzie, Peyton, AND the dog. I told Josh the other day that I really don't know what we were thinking. I know that he will end up being a great dog, but I am OVER the puppy stage and the potty training and the training him that the baby is off limits otherwise he thinks that she's a chew toy. I miss our very well trained German Shepherd. Anybody want a cute black lab puppy??? ;)

A HOT Day at the Zoo!

2011-07-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

Some friends of ours that live in Arizona were in town a couple weeks ago and they spent the night with us while they were here. We decided (stupidly) to go to take the girls to the zoo. They have a 2 year old daughter. We figured the girls would love spending the day outside at the zoo and they did have fun, but it. was. HOT. Heat index was 113 on this particular day! Way too hot to be outside like that and NOT be in the pool or splash pad! I can't tell y'all how many bottles of water we bought at the zoo that day. We also had Dippin' Dots. :) I'll use any excuse to have some of those. Haha! I didn't bring my big camera, but I whipped out the ol' trusty iPhone for a couple pictures of the girls. Can you tell how sweaty they are!?? Mackenzie kept saying "oh mommy I am SOOOOOO sweaty!" Haha! :)

Music Lover

2011-07-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Peyton loves to listen to Josh play the piano. She will sit in her Bumbo seat just as happy as can be for as long as he will play. So sweet. Until he stops. Haha! :)

Story Time With Daddy

2011-07-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

Every night at bedtime we read to Mac. On this particular night she asked if Peyton could listen to the story with her. Like we would say no. Ha! I love how they're both looking at him with such adoration in the second picture. Sweet girls love their Daddy!

Splash Pad

2011-07-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

We have a splash pad on base and Mackenzie LOVES it. The best part? It's free. I am all about some free fun! Peyton wasn't able to get in on the action this day, but Mackenzie had a ball! We tried to go again earlier this week, but it was broken. Hopefully it'll be fixed this week!

Sweet Sisters

2011-07-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Excuse the quality of this picture...I took it with my phone. I love this picture, though. I hope they will always love each other. :)

The Zoo

2011-07-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago Josh's parents and little sister (little meaning 18 years old) came to visit. It was such a fun visit. They like zoos as much as Mackenzie so we spent one day there. It was fun. One thing that I love about the Little Rock Zoo is how active the animals are. You never have to stand and search for them like a Where's Waldo book. They're always up and in plain sight. Another thing I love about it is how cheap it is and they give a military discount. Always a good thing! :) I'm pretty sure we will become members of the zoo. We should have already as many times as we've been!

Since our last visit to the zoo, both elephants have passed away. One from inoperable tumors and one from a stroke. So sad. We loved watching Mary and Ellen! Especially when they would pick dirt up with their trunk and throw it on themselves to cool off. We'll definitely miss seeing them!

After the zoo, we went by Fresh Market and picked up stuff to cook dinner. Then we went by the mall and had Dippin' Dots. LOVE! :) Such a fun weekend!!

Peyton's First Baby Food

2011-07-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

At Peyton's 2 month doctor's appointment she weighed 9 pounds. The doctor told us that she was in the normal range, but she was in the low end of normal and he suggested that we start baby food at 4 months old to give her some extra calories. On her 4 month birthday we tried bananas. They were NOT a hit. She didn't like them at all and she wasn't too sure about the spoon either. Haha! We decided then that we would wait until she was a little older before we tried again. Sweet baby.

Peyton's Four Month Pictures!

2011-07-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

Peyton's Three Month Pictures!

2011-07-28T16:31:00.001-07:00

A Bump In the Road

2011-07-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to be in Montgomery until mid-July, but because of an injury during combatives, Josh had to leave training and come back to Little Rock to have surgery. So we came back at the end of the first week in June and he had surgery the following week. The good thing about him having this surgery was that he was off work for 3 weeks. The girls and I really enjoyed having him with us 24/7. It spoiled us. BIG time. So it was another big adjustment when he had to go back to work on July 7, but we are so so thankful for the time we got to spend with him while he was off work! :)

Destin

2011-07-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

The weekend of Memorial Day, we loaded up and went to the beach! Luckily Montgomery is only about 3 hours away from Destin! I hadn't been to the beach since the summer after we graduated from High School...10 years ago so I was really excited about going! We drove down on Friday night and checked into our condo, and went to bed semi-early so we could get up early and hit the beach before it got too hot.

On Saturday morning, we drove a couple miles down the road and went to Henderson Beach State Park. It. Was. Perfect. The public beaches are so crowded and we knew it would be worse since it was a holiday weekend, so we gladly paid the $6 to go to the private beach and it was SO worth it. We had about a football field of beach all to ourselves. It was so nice to get to lay on the beach and watch Mackenzie play and not have to worry about her getting lost in the crowd. She had a BALL!

I was afraid to keep little sister in the sun for long periods of time even with the sunscreen that we reapplied to both of the girls about every half hour, so she hung out in the shade and in her car seat a good bit. We did venture down to the water with her and sat where she could feel the water come over her feet and she loved it! Sweet baby girl.

Mackenzie was SO excited about getting to build a sand castle. When we first told her that we were going to the beach she started talking about building one. So Friday before we left, I took her to the BX and we bought TONS of sand toys to help her and Daddy build one. They had so much fun and she was SO proud of her castle!!

When we first got there Saturday there was a group of 3 little boys who had dug a HUGE hole and had the sand all around it that they had dug out. Mackenzie was dying to play in it. She wanted to fill it in SO bad. As son as those little boys left, she made a bee line for that big hole. Josh took the opportunity to bury her in the sand. She loved it until she realized that she couldn't move! Clearly this picture was taken before she realized that! Haha! :)

That evening we went to eat at Fudpuckers. Y'all. Their fried dill pickles are the.best! I love them SO much and I was so excited about getting to eat there JUST so we could eat those! SO yummy!

Tiny girl slept most of the time that we were at Fudpuckers. I could just eat her sweet little self up!

After we ate, we went to the old outlet mall to look around and we couldn't leave without a treat from the Rocky Mountain Candy Company. This is a caramel apple with white chocolate and cinnamon sugar. After about 3 bites, I couldn't eat anymore. It was so good, though!

The next morning (Sunday) I told Josh that I wanted to attempt to get a few pictures of the girls at the beach. It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped and these are the best I got. Clearly Peyton isn't a fan of the sand!

After our little photo shoot, Josh took sweet P out into the water. She loved it!

That night, we went to Joe's Crab Shack to eat. Mackenzie LOVED the atmosphere and had so much fun! She keeps us laughing!

She even got up in her chair and danced during one of the songs! Hilarious.

We left Monday after we had breakfast at Camille's and went back to Montgomery. It was the best trip and I'm so glad that we went. Everyone had so much fun and no one got sun burned! :) I love little trips with my family.

Maxwell AFB

2011-07-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 20 we drove to Montgomery for Josh's last training. It should have taken us 6 hours. It ended up taking almost 12. An fuel rig had turned over and was leaking everywhere in Birmingham and we had to sit in traffic for hours. No fun. Especially with a baby that loves to be moving if she's in the car. She was not a happy camper. Anyway, I was so happy that we all got to go with Josh to this training! It was close quarters so it's a good thing we're close and love each other as much as we do! Ha! The first weekend that we were there, we drove to Atlanta and spent the day. We took the girls to the Georgia Aquarium. They have dolphins now so we were excited to get to see the dolphin show. Mackenzie LOVES dolphins and she loved the show. I don't think she moved the entire time! They didn't allow photography in this room, but I managed to sneak a picture with my phone! :) After the aquarium, we went to the Apple store to have Josh's phone checked out. They ended up giving him a new one because they couldn't fix his. That is one thing that I LOVE about Apple. Well, I love all things about Apple really! I could spend way too much money in that store. We decided to eat at the mall and then hit the road back to Montgomery. We spent Sunday getting our room all organized and put together and of course we made a grocery store run. There was also a playground right outside of our door so we played a lot too! It was a fun weekend!

Mount Magazine

2011-07-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Mount Magazine in Paris, AR is Arkansas Highest Point. We were so excited about getting to hike there! We stayed at the Lodge at Mount Magazine and it was gorgeous. While we were there, though it was COLD and windy! We had to make a run to Wal-Mart to try to find Mackenzie and Peyton something a little warmer since we planned to be outside. Luckily all of their Fall/Winter clothes were on clearance. So we headed back to the lodge to change and start our hike. On the way to our room we grabbed a trail map...We never SAW any bears, but we heard one. And it was loud. Y'all. I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life! Scared doesn't even begin to describe how I felt! Ha! I can laugh about it now, but then it was NOT funny! Once we had gotten a little ways down the trail, we stopped to take a picture. :)We finally made it to the top and of course we had to take some iPhone pictures for documentation!We also went to one of the lookouts to check out the view. It was beautiful.And this was the view from our room that night. So pretty and so peaceful.

Playmat Fun!

2011-07-27T14:31:00.001-07:00

This sweet baby girl LOVES her playmat. So much so that she usually plays herself right to sleep. :)

Happy Baby

2011-07-27T14:30:00.001-07:00

Sunset Picnic

2011-07-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

We are a family that loves to be outside. We love running, hiking, swimming, biking, really anything outside. We had spent some time at the Big Dam Bridge on this day and we decided that instead of going out to eat or picking up something to take home, we would go to Fresh Market (MY FAVORITE!!) and pick up some things and bring them back to the Big Dam Bridge and have a little sunset picnic...we even found petit fours!!!! It was SO much fun and this was before it got so stinkin' hot outside and before the bugs got bad, so it was perfect! :)

2 Month Shots

2011-07-27T13:59:00.001-07:00

Peyton's 2 month appointment was a little later because of how busy the base clinic stays. The doctors really are worth the wait, though. At her 2 month check up, Peyton weighed in at 9 pounds! She had gained 3 pounds since she was born. The doctor said that she was in the lower end of normal range, but she is perfectly healthy and he wasn't concerned about anything. My sweet tiny girl. :) She also had to get her shots that day. I was NOT looking forward to that. She was such a trooper though. Yes, she cried and yes, I did too. But she was finished before I was. ;) Seriously, she cried for less than 3 minutes and was fine. They stuck her THREE times!! When we came home, she slept most of the day. I guess having to go to the doctor and get shots wore her out! She even got wadded up in her little gown while she was sleeping...then she got mad. I couldn't resist taking a picture of her before I fixed her! :)

Peyton's Two Month Pictures!

2011-07-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

Eureka Springs & Branson

2011-07-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

We decided one weekend to go to Eureka Springs, AR. We had heard lots of good things about it so we were really excited to go! It. Was. Awful. The hotel was a nightmare. The "historic" and "beautiful" neighborhood was smack dab in the middle of the ghetto and the parking lot was F.O.R.E.V.E.R. away. So Josh sent me and the girls to our room and he went back and forth to the truck to get all of our things. When he finished that he said he saw a little hot dog place and he was going to go get us something to eat from there and bring it to the room. I said we would all go, but he looked at me like I was crazy and then said that it probably wouldn't be the best idea for us to take the girls to this place. Nice. At this point, I didn't even want HIM to leave! Thank goodness he wasn't gone very long and the hot dogs were AWESOME. Ha! :) He did say that he saw some quite interesting things on the way back. Like our neighbors in the hallway...doing something they should have been doing in their room. Alone. And not on the stairs. Not even kidding. Thank goodness we all didn't go get those hotdogs! We checked out bright and early the next morning.

Josh had said that he wanted to tour a cave so we decided that we would try to do that and we'd find another hotel later that day. It was so rainy and nasty and everything in Eureka Springs was closed so we decided that we would drive the hour to Branson and go shopping and take Mackenzie (and Peyton) to the Dixie Stampede. On the way to Branson, we found Cosmic Cavern. Of course we had to stop and check it out! We ended up going on an hour and a half tour of the cave. And remember, it was raining so we all got drenched. Except for sweet P who was bundled up all nice and warm and cozy. :)We had a LOT of fun, but we were SO tired after we were done!After our cave tour, we drove the rest of the way to Branson, did a little shopping, and found a hotel in a NICE part of town. We got all cleaned up and ready to go and called and made reservations for the Dixie Stampede. I was really excited about going to this! We tried to go to the one in Gatlinburg on our honeymoon but it was closed for the off season. I just knew Mac was going to LOVE it. And I'm sure she would have if when we were waiting to turn out of the parking lot of the hotel, a car hadn't turned right into the front of Josh's truck! Y'all. I just cried. I told Josh I just wanted to go home. I didn't know how much more I could take in one weekend. Luckily everyone was okay Josh has a big truck so the damage to it wasn't bad at all, but this guy's car looked awful. Gotta love accidents in the rain and people who don't pay attention to what they're doing. We missed the Dixie Stampede (again) and ended up just going to eat dinner at Andy Williams Moon River Grill. One day I WILL go to the Dixie Stampede. :) It was delicious and we ended up having a really good night. My family was together and safe and happy and that's all anyone can ask for, right? And the fact that this place had the best mac and cheese I have ever eaten didn't hurt a bit. ;)

Our Little Soccer Star!

2011-07-27T12:58:00.001-07:00

Mackenzie has SO much fun playing soccer in our back yard and she is getting better with it every day and is showing some serious promise! I'm pretty sure she inherited the athleticism from her Daddy! :)

Sweet Peyton just hangs out with Mommy on the porch while Daddy and Big Sister play! :)

Mackenzie Turns 4!

2011-07-27T10:52:00.001-07:00

On April 10, we celebrated Mackenzie's FOURTH birthday! I still can't believe our girl is 4!! She got the best birthday present ever...her daddy graduated from his training in Wichita Falls and came home!! We asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she requested to go to the zoo, so we spent the day before her birthday at the Little Rock Zoo. Mackenzie LOVES it. She would literally go every day if we'd let her. Her favorite exhibit is BY FAR the giraffes. She LOVES them. She also really likes the penguins (they will chase you back and forth through the glass & it's hilarious to watch!). It was such a fun day at the zoo. I have pictures from the zoo, but they're on my iPad and I haven't moved them to the computer yet. Bad, I know. Later that night, we told her we would take her out to eat for her birthday dinner. We assumed she would pick McDonald's or Burger King, but no. She said she wanted a steak and french fries, ha! So we drove to Cabot and ate at Colton's Steak House. It was delish! :) My big girl has good taste.

When we asked Mackenzie what she wanted for her birthday this year, she said "a chocolate cake with sprinkles and a soccer ball." We didn't do a big party this year because we had just moved back and we didn't know anyone at the time (we really still don't), and we did a little party for her in Mississippi the week before with family. So she had already done the "birthday party" thing. We went to Wal-Mart to get stuff to make her a cake and I was going to go all out and make her a really cute polka dot birthday cake, but she had other ideas. This is what she asked for and this is what she got. She was TICKLED to death with her birthday cake. I love that she wanted something so simple. Sweet girl. She LOVED when we sang Happy Birthday to her. :)After we had cake, we went outside so she could play with her brand new soccer ball. Thank you, Dora for introducing us to soccer. ;) I don't think we have the next Mia Hamm on our hands, but I could be wrong. Ha! She LOVES playing and we love watching her. She has such a good time and laughs the entire time. A funny side note...we found the CUTEST pink and white soccer ball with glitter and we asked her if she wanted it since her favorite color is pink. She said "no thank you. A REAL soccer ball is black and white, so that's the kind I want." Yes ma'am. :)

Peyton's One Month Pictures!

2011-07-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Random Pictures of my Girls

2011-07-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

All smiles. :)

Sweet Big Sister

Sisterly love. :)

Monkey Butt.

Doesn't get any better.

3 weeks old. :)

Sweet dreams.

Warm & snuggly little baby girl.

I went in to check on Mac one morning and she wasn't in her bed anymore. Haha! Sweet girl.

Peyton LOVES her lovey. We have named her Zoe Zebra. :)

Smiley baby.

The Jones Zoo

Her first trip to Hobby Lobby. :)


Her hat was way too big. We never had that problem with Mac. ;)

It's Been A While...

2011-07-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

and I have a LOT of catching up to do! Be prepared for lots of little catch-up posts! :)

Another Change...

2011-03-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, March 5 we moved back to Little Rock. We decided to move back even though Josh isn't done with his class in TX yet simply because he can come to Little Rock on the weekends. Every weekend. And we all LOVED the idea of being able to see each other once a week rather than once a month. If we hadn't moved back, we wouldn't have seen Josh at all in the month of March. Unacceptable. The girls did SO good on the trip. I was a little worried about how Peyton would do, but she did GREAT. I was so proud of them both! =) Josh got to the house just a couple hours after we did and it was wonderful to be able to spend some time with him and for the girls to get to love on their Daddy.

Two Weeks Old

2011-03-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

I love these pictures. In the second one, Peyton reminds me SO much of Mackenzie when she sleeps and in the third one, she reminds me a lot of Josh. My chances of having a child that looks like me are gone. =) With every passing day I see more and more of Mackenzie in Peyton and Mackenzie looks JUST like her Daddy. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Outside Fun

2011-03-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

We had some really pretty weather the week after Peyton was born and it was SO nice to be able to get outside for a little while. Of course my big girl l.o.v.e.d. getting to run around and play outside. Excuse her hot mess hair. ;) Sweet girl. Always so happy. I am so lucky. Both of my girls are such sweet, happy girls. =)

Clearly Peyton isn't a fan of her feet being in the grass/weeds.

Children...

2011-03-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

They hold your hand for a moment...

They hold your heart forever.

Peyton's First Doctor's Appointment

2011-03-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

We went to see Dr. Sykes on March 1, 2011. When we were discharged from the hospital, Peyton weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce. At her first doctor's appointment she weighed in at 6 pounds 14 ounces! Sweet, growing girl. Dr. Sykes was very happy with Peyton and said she was "just perfect." =) Sweet, sweet baby girl. I just can't get enough of my two sweet girls. So. In. Love.

Sweet Girls

2011-03-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

*Pictures taken on February 27, 2011*

Smitten

2011-03-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

One Week Old!

2011-03-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

On February 25 Peyton turned one week old! Those first seven days FLEW by and were wonderful to say the very least. The only thing that could have made it any better is if Josh had been able to be with us.

One of my favorite pictures of my girls. Mackenzie didn't know I was taking this one and I just love how sweet it is. Precious girls. I am SO thankful for them. For my whole sweet family of four. =)

Can't Get Enough

2011-03-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

The title of this post says it all. Seriously. Mackenzie cannot get enough of her baby sister. She wants to hold her, kiss her, hug her, look at her, check on her, and just be near her all.the.time. It has to be the most precious thing ever. I hope they will always love each other and be the very best of friends. I know that they're going to fight and have days where they can't stand each other, but I hope at the end of the day, they will always remember how much they love each other and that they'll always go to bat for each other. Luckily, I'll always have these pictures to pull out as a reminder to myself and to them of these sweet times.

*Peyton was 6 days old in these pictures.*

Maternity & Newborn Photos

2011-03-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

The day before Peyton was born, my best friend and extremely creative and talented photographer, Renee Reedy took some maternity pictures of me. Of course we had to include my big girl, too! We had so much fun taking them and laughing at Mackenzie running with the balloons. I love how the pictures turned out and I'm so glad that we did them! I know that I'll be so glad that I have them when Peyton is 15 and driving me crazy! ;) Later that day we went to Jackson to pick Josh up from the airport! It was SUCH a good day!! =)

When Peyton was 6 days old, Renee came and picked us up and took us to her house to take P's newborn pictures. I love how well Renee knows me. She knew that I'd be going stir crazy after 6 days at home. I also love that we decided to do them when she was still so tiny. We didn't do Mackenzie's newborn pictures until she was 4 weeks old. I am IN. LOVE. with these pictures. Renee outdid herself. She really showed out with these. They are amazing. Renee told me that she wanted to do them while Peyton was still sleeping all the time and curled up. Wouldn't you know the little booger stayed awake for almost the whole time!? Rotten. I can't wait to get some of these printed to display in the house. I am just going to have a really hard time deciding which ones. There are TONS more to choose from, but these were some of my favorites. =) Renee, thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate you and your talents. We love you and your family so much and are so thankful for all three of y'all!

Precious

2011-03-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

It just doesn't get any sweeter than this. Love.

My Girls

2011-03-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

Just so I will remember, I'm going to point out that these pictures were taken on February 23, 2011. Peyton was 5 days old. =)

Have you ever seen a child look more like their daddy? I honestly think, Mackenzie looks more like Josh every single day and I am perfectly okay with that. =) Peyton on the other hand looks like MY daddy in these pictures. I think it's the short forehead she's got going on. Especially when she crinkles it. She looks a lot like my dad when she does that.

She is SUCH a sweet baby. She's so laid back and easy going...hence the picture of her three year old sister holding her. And Mackenzie? Well, she is still just in awe of "her baby." She can't love on her enough. She asks me at least a hundred times a day, "Mommy, can I kiss Peyton?" Yes, baby. Yes you can. As often as you'd like. Because it won't be long and you two will be fighting like cats and dogs over anything and everything. So please love on her as much as you want to now. =) These days will pass too quickly and I am trying to soak up as much of it as I can with my two precious girls. Mackenzie has done amazingly well with her new role as a Big Sister and has adjusted to a baby being in the house like Peyton has always been here. It's been so much easier than I expected. It helps that Peyton is a great baby. Just like Mackenzie was. She sleeps for probably 20 hours a day. She eats about every 4 hours, give or take a half our here or there and has only been getting up once a night. At five days old, I am not going to complain one little bit. I feel beyond blessed that these two girls are mine and I am so thankful for them both.

Sweet Sisters

2011-03-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

"To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confident -- it is to have a soulmate for life." -Victoria Secunda

First Sponge Bath

2011-03-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

Peyton was not a fan of bath time. She is not a fan of having her diaper changed or her clothes changed, or anything to do with not being completely covered up and warm. She pretty much cried through the whole thing. Luckily it only lasted a couple of minutes. I felt so sorry for her. Sweet baby.

Random Peyton Pictures

2011-03-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

I took this one of Josh and the girls the night before he had to leave to go back to Texas. I am so thankful that he was able to be there for Peyton's birthday! It was so hard knowing that he was going to have to leave after just a couple of days, but I am so unbelievably thankful that he was able to be there. Can you tell how in love they are with Peyton? Both of them are head over heels for her. Precious.

Mackenzie L.O.V.E.S her baby sister. Seriously. She can't kiss her enough, or hold her enough, or check on her enough, or hug her enough. It melts my heart. I love how much Mackenzie loves her and how she shows that love to her sister.

Pink much? =)

Sweet feet. I can't get enough of her long feet. I think they're about the most precious feet in the world. =)

See?? Can't you just tell how crazy Mackenzie is about Peyton? That's love, folks. =)

Random Hospital Pictures

2011-03-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

We only had to stay in the hospital for two nights! I was so happy! I was determined that I was going to be doing well enough to go home on Sunday and Dr. Otey let me! I told y'all he is the best! I was so excited that Josh was going to be the one to get to take us home before he had to leave to go back to TX. These pictures are just a few of the ones that we took while we were in the hospital. I love the one of Josh sitting up holding Peyton. She is so tiny, but looks even smaller in his arms. So sweet.

This picture cracks. me. up. They had to take her to the nursery for something and when she left our room we had her in the cutest little monogrammed gown. When they brought her back, she was in this. Paper clothes. Why? You guessed it. She spit up. And yes, she has long feet. Josh calls her pterodactyl feet. Sweet baby.

Look at that hair!! Sweet girls. Two sweet girls. =)

My favorite!

My sweet little monkey.

This is when we were leaving the hospital. Is she a monkey or what!? I love her so much. She keeps me laughing all the time and is way too smart for her own good. I'm going to be in some serious trouble when she's 10 and smarter than me! ;)

I can't say enough good things about our hospital experience. The nurses were fantastic and took such good care of me and my sweet P and my doctor was out of this world amazing. I say it all the time, but I am so thankful for my two sweet, healthy, beautiful girls. I am one lucky girl. =)

Happy Birthday, Peyton!

2011-03-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

On Friday, February 18, 2011 at 8:02am in Amory, Mississippi we welcomed Peyton Avery Jones into our family. She tipped the scale at 6 pounds, 5.2 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long. Josh watched the entire surgery from start to finish and the first thing he said when Peyton was born was "look at all that hair!" She was born with a head full of dark hair. Mackenzie didn't have any hair until she was two so I was excited that Peyton was born with some! =) She came into the world with very healthy lungs, too! She screamed for the better part of 10 minutes while they got her all cleaned up, weighed, measured, and wrapped up. Everyone in the OR was laughing because she would not stop screaming. My doctor said "she wants you to know she's here." =) Sweet girl. This is our first picture of her.

Don't Josh and I look sexy? I especially love our caps. ;)

My mom sent me this picture that she took of Mackenzie before they left to come to the hospital. She was so excited to be the Big Sister!!

Peyton's delivery was SO much different than Mackenzie's. We decided to deliver in a different hospital with Peyton so I know that had a lot to do with it, AND I changed doctors because my old one moved so that played a huge part too, but this experience was so.much.better. With Mackenzie I labored for 22 hoursbefore they took her, then it was about 2 hours before they brought her to us. With Peyton, it was scheduled so we showed up, got prepped and had a baby, and she went with us to our room immediately. The pediatrician did everything he needed to do right there in the OR and when I was taken to our room, Peyton was too. It was so nice. I also have to add that MY doctor was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for better care during my pregnancy. From him AND his nurse. I will drive back to Mississippi every year just to see him. He's THAT good. As a matter of fact, I'm driving back on Monday for my last check up with him since Peyton's birth.

Once we were taken to our room, Josh went and got Mackenzie from the waiting room and brought her in to meet her baby sister and so that the four of us could have some time together as a new family of four. Mackenzie was smitten with "her baby." She still is. And I loved just seeing my sweet big girl holding and loving on my sweet little girl. My heart could just burst it is so full!

The rest of the day was spent introducing our family and closest friends to Peyton, trying to get her to eat, cleaning up spit-up, and changing her clothes and diapers. Every time I put something on her that I really wanted to take cute pictures of her in, she would spit up all over it. She's been rotten since her arrival! ;)

When I went back to look at the pictures from the day she was born I was so disappointed in myself. I didn't take that many and the ones I did take aren't great. It was just such a special day and I was trying to soak up every second that I could with Josh and my girls that I guess I just wasn't thinking about taking pictures, especially since Josh was only there for a couple of days. Looking back now, I wish I'd taken more, but that's okay. =) I have the memories of the time we spent together. Oh, and remember the post about going to Hobby Lobby with the Willcutt girls? The first picture of the wreath at the top of this post is what we made with all that ribbon and fabric. I love how it turned out SO much! It hung on our hospital door while we were there and we had SO many compliments on it. It is now hanging on the door to Peyton's nursery. =) I am so very thankful for my two gorgeous, sweet, and healthy girls!

Weekend Getaway

2011-03-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in January, Mackenzie and I drove from MS and Josh drove from TX to meet in Little Rock! It was a much needed trip. Three weeks doesn't sound like a long time, but it feels like forever! We were both SO excited to get to spend the weekend with him! He got there that Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was a quick trip, but it was time well-spent and it made it so much easier knowing it would only be another three weeks until we saw him again...for Peyton's birthday!! We spent the day Saturday in the big city of Little Rock. It was such a fun day! Josh and Mackenzie went ice skating! First time for each of them. Josh did great. He went out first to see what it was going to be like and then came back for Mac. She had a ball! I didn't get any good pictures of them on the ice because I only had my phone, so I'm working with what I've got. ;)

It was such a good weekend! Mackenzie is already talking about going ice skating again. When I told her that I would take her, she said "no, Mommy. My Daddy will take me." There is nothing her Daddy can't do. Isn't that how every little (and big) girl should feel about their Daddy? I'm so thankful for Mackenzie's relationship with her Daddy.

A Fun Day With Sweet Friends!

2011-03-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend Shannon emailed me the most adorable picture of something special one day and I knew I had to have one for Peyton. Shannon agreed to help me make it (that translates into "Shannon agreed to make it for me." =) ) so we decided that we'd load up Mackenzie and Lucy and drive over to Tuscaloosa to the nearest Hobby Lobby to get all the stuff we needed. It was such a fun day! We started at Target (who can pass up going in Target!?) where the girls (including Macy who missed out on the trip because of school) got new high heels. Mackenzie STILL thinks she's something in those things. A mess is what she is. A HOT mess. ;) Then it was on to Hobby Lobby! Shannon had fun trying to break a big vase. Hahahaha! Shannon, I still laugh every time I think about that! The girls had fun playing in the Mardi Gras stuff and I had fun in the ribbon and fabric. TOO much fun! Yes, I got all of that ribbon and I got 1/4 yard of each one of those fabrics plus a few more. =) That night, Mackenzie and I grabbed pizza and went over to Shannon's house to eat and make Peyton's special happy. It was such a fun night that didn't end until we left their house at 2:30AM. And yes, all three girls stayed awake until then. I don't think we were out of their driveway good when Mackenzie fell asleep. She (and I) had SO much fun with the Willcutt girls. We are so thankful to call them our friends!

Sprinkle for Sweet P

2011-03-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

I have the sweetest friends. Seriously. I do. They know me well. They know that I don't like surprises (as in surprise parties), they know that I really don't like being the center of attention (being stared and gawked at), and they know that I LOVE Mexican food. They took all of that into consideration when they planned this little party to celebrate our sweet Peyton. It was a small group of my closest friends and my mom and grandmother at my favorite Mexican restaurant, in the back room where no one else was. Just us. Mackenzie got to play with her favorite friends, Macy & Lucy while us big girls chatted and had all kinds of fun. Peyton got some really REALLY cute things of her very own (she has lots of big sister's hand-me-downs). It was such a good night with sweet friends. I'm so thankful for them and how well they know me! =)

Sweet Macy & Lucy

The Willcutts gave Mackenzie this precious doll. They gave Peyton one too. It's the tiny version of this one and it rattles. SO cute!

Shannon made these ADORABLE and DELICIOUS cookies for the "sprinkle." If y'all have never had Cookie Mama cookies, you are missing out. THE. BEST. COOKIES. EVER.

Three generations

My best girl!

Thank you, Renee for taking all the pictures that night. Especially since I didn't even THINK to bring a camera. Oops. And will you PLEASE send me the picture of me and you?? Thankyouverymuch.

Wichita Falls

2011-03-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

On New Year's Day we drove to Wichita Falls, Texas. Josh has a couple of TDY's that are for training for his new job and the first one was at Sheppard AFB in WF. It was a long drive and we took both of our vehicles, so it wasn't fun not getting to travel in the same one. Luckily I had Mackenzie to entertain me...until she fell asleep. =) The day after we got there, Josh wanted to go for a run, so we went to Lucy Park and Mackenzie and I found a playground to play at while Josh ran. When he was finished, he joined us for some fun on the slide. It was a gorgeous day, but it was COLD so we didn't get to stay too long. The time we were there though, Mackenzie had SO much fun!

After we left the park, we went back to the base to get cleaned up and then it was on to find something good to eat! We usually search for the hole-in-the-wall restaurants. They don't usually disappoint. We found one and it was SO GOOD. Seriously. They had THE. BEST. deep fried dill pickle spears and their ranch dressing was out of this world. These pickles were the best I've ever had and I've tried lots of fried pickles. These would even put Fudpucker's in Destin to shame and those were my favorite! I just wish I could remember the name of the place! Sad. Mackenzie and I shared a steak and it was really good, too!

The next couple of days in WF were spent trying to get settled in. It was REALLY hard since we were given a one bedroom, one bath, TLF (temporary lodging facility). Especially considering we had all of my stuff, Josh's stuff, Mackenzie's stuff, and we brought all the stuff for the baby too since she'd be born there and would be there until she was around 8 weeks old. So quarters were a little cramped to say the least. Mackenzie slept on the couch and Josh and I had the bedroom. We had NO idea where we were going to put the baby when she arrived. Yes, it was THAT small. You can stand in the kitchenette and see the entire place. Not kidding. So while it was cozy, it just really wasn't realistic for us to live there like that for 3 months and then bring another little person into it. So we went out in search of a furnished apartment in WF. We looked for two days and the best thing we found was only partially furnished (one bedroom out of two was furnished and the kitchen had a microwave), it was 45 miles from the base (not exactly convenient for Josh with a 9 month pregnant wife, and a three year old, and a soon to be newborn baby), and rent alone was $1750.00 per month. Yes, you read that right. So it was sad and frustrating because we knew that the best thing to do was going to be for Mackenzie and I to go back to Mississippi where both of our families are until after the baby was born. Selfish me didn't want to leave and spend yet another 3 months away from Josh, but I sucked it up and drove us and our stuff back to my parents' house in MS. I was already looking forward to seeing Josh again and just praying that it would work out for him to come to MS when the baby was born. You just never know in those types of situations. Anyway, that's how we spent the first few days of 2011. It was a crazy, hectic, busy adventure, but we had a lot of fun even though it didn't work out the way we wanted and hoped. I'm looking forward to lots more crazy, hectic, busy adventures with my family! =)

Christmas 2010

2011-03-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

I'm fully aware that Christmas was almost 3 months ago. However, we have been a very busy little family, so I'm just now getting around to posting about our Christmas! We went to Mississippi for Christmas this year. We drove down on ChristmasEve and then drove back to Little Rock on Christmas Day. Thankfully, it's not a bad drive and Mackenzie does exceptionally well in the car. She always has. Knock on wood. :) We spent the night of Christmas Eve with my family. Mackenzie had so much fun opening all of her presents! She got some Disney princess bath paints/soaps that she LOVED!! In fact, we are currently looking for some more because she has used all of that up already! She loved it and it smelled SO good!

After we left my parents house, we went over to the Reedy's and spent the rest of our Christmas Eve with them. It was so much fun! Mackenzie had fun getting to play with Garrison and of course Josh and I had a great time just getting to hang out andtalk to our best friends! We love them so much and I am trying SO hard to convince them to move to Little Rock! Oh and I have to add that Garrison had on THE CUTEST new pajamas for Christmas! They were red and had his name monogrammed on the booty! Adorable. Sweet boy.

Christmas morning we did our little Christmas with Mackenzie just the three of us and we had so much fun together. Mackenzie was so happy that she got the pink guitar she asked for and had her first guitar lesson with Daddy right after they got it out of the box and Josh got it tuned. :)

Later that morning, we went over to Josh's parents house to do Christmas with them. Once again, Mackenzie got lots of fun presents and had a ball being the center of attention. She got a Mrs. Potts tea set that she fell in love with. She still plays with it every single day.

Once we finished up at the Jones', we went back to my parents house to see what Santa left Mackenzie there. This is where the post will get kind of boring. I didn't take my camera in. I know, I know. I'm a terrible mother. For the month or so leading up to Christmas, all Mackenzie talked about wanting was a "My Walking Pup." She was so excited about Santa bringing her a "My Walking Pup" and Santa did not let her down! Right under the Christmas tree when Mac walked in was the toy she'd asked for! Along with TONS of other things, but she was SO excited to have that "My Walking Pup." Sweet girl. The look on her face was priceless and at that moment I realized that I didn't bring my camera. I honestly don't think that I will ever forget the look on her face though, so it's okay. At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself. ;) We played for a while and ate and then said our goodbye's and hit the road back to Arkansas. We got back late that night, but it was a good trip. I love long car rides with Josh. They're always interesting and fun. It was such a good Christmas. Probably my favorite one ever. Okay, hands down my favorite one ever.

Long Time, No Blog...

2011-01-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy few months!! A lot has happened in life and blogging just hasn't been a priority. Sorry. Just to catch you up on what's been going on with us:

Josh graduated from OTS on October 26 as a 2Lt.

I am now 36 weeks pregnant with our sweet Peyton who we got to see in 4D a couple of weeks ago. Sweet girl has some chuuuuubby cheeks! Josh said she gets them honestly. :) It's really hard to believe we will meet her face to face in less than 4 short weeks! It has FLOWN by!

We were going to be living in Texas for a little over 3 months while Josh completes some training and it's where Peyton was going to be born, but the living situation didn't work out at all so Mackenzie and I are back in Mississippi for a while. Again. Thankfully Josh's instructors are very flexible and understanding and him getting some time off for Peyton's birth won't be a problem. It also helps that it will be a scheduled c-section so he'll have time to prepare for it.
We had an elf named Henry that showed up the day after Thanksgiving and was nothing but trouble! He was forever getting into something. Mackenzie LOVED him and wouldn't let anyone touch him because she didn't want him to lose his magic. (I love how well she pays attention to books/stories and really takes it all in. I have a feeling she's going to be a good student when she starts school...unlike her Mommy and JUST like her Daddy.) Here are just a FEW of the things Henry got into during his stay...

Look closely at the car picture...Henry stole Mac's Minnie Mousehouse shoes and ran over them, then he almost wrecked our car...and he's just sitting at the steering wheel smiling about the whole thing. Such a troublemaker, that elf. :) Truth be told, I enjoyed Henry more than Mackenzie did. I loved her reactions every day to what he had done.
Mac gets more excited everyday about being a BIG SISTER and I really think she's going to be a great one. She talks about her sister all of the time. It's so sweet. My best friend has an ADORABLE baby boy who is 11 months old and anytime Mackenzie hears him cry she says "I'm right here. It's going to be okay." and loves on him. Sweet girl.
I turned 28 in October. I can't believe I'm only 2 years away from 30. I'm okay with that. I really am. :)
Josh got a new truck and we LOVE it. It's a big boy truck. A black 4 door Ford F150. It's SO pretty and it makes big noise and sits up high. Mackenzie especially likes it because she can look out the windows and see everything. It's a huge difference from riding in my Honda! I'm just a teeeeny bit jealous of all the room he has in there!! His golf clubs fit UNDER the back seat. Seriously.
We went to the zoo in Birmingham and we were very disappointed. They were doing a lot of construction work and it was hard to navigate and other than a couple of gorillas, a tiger, and a few sea lions, the rest of what we saw was birds. Mackenzie was not impressed. We were there for less than 2 hours and her favorite thing was getting cotton candy and a coke.
Mac went to her first hometown Christmas parade.I don't know which she liked more...the tractors or the fact that Santa was wearing Mississippi State gloves. Those were the highlights of the parade. Oh wait, there were some horses too. And they had Christmas lights and bows on their tails. Ah, the joys of small town livin'. ;)
My bulldogs won 8 (EIGHT) games this year including the Egg Bowl against Ole Missand they even got selected to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL where they put a whoopin' on Michigan! 52-14! Go Dawgs!!

So that catches y'all up until Christmas which I'll do a separate post about soon. :) I hope y'all are all doing great!

A Good Weekend

2010-10-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

We have had a good weekend. We haven't done a whole lot, but that's the way I like it. Relaxed. My mama, Mackenzie, and I got up yesterday and went to Tupelo in search of something for me to wear to Josh's graduation (that's in TEN days) but we didn't find anything. I was sure they had a Motherhood Maternity store, but they didn't. So we had lunch at Red Lobster and then came back through Amory on the way home and I found the perfect dress at LaLa and Company! Hooray! We also found what Mackenzie is going to wear, but we left it there to be monogrammed. I can't wait to go get it. I know it's going to be adorable! Now we just have to find shoes. So overall the trip was a success. We got back home just in time to watch our Dawgs play. What. A. Game. The last time we beat Florida in the swamp was 1965! I think this picture pretty much describes the game...

Haha, okay not really. We didn't put a big whoopin' on them, but it was a GOOD game and came down to the very last second and we won 10-7. I am so proud of my Bulldogs! They even made it into the top 25 in the polls today! GO DAWGS!! It's been a while, and it feels good. :)

This morning we went to church online. :) We went to Highpoint Church in Memphis online. Will lead worship there this morning and we were so excited to watch! It was amazing and Will did a GREAT job. We are so proud of him. During the music, Peyton moved SO much. I even saw my belly "hop" a couple of times. It was the first time I'd seen that with her. :) Apparently she likes to hear Will sing as much as the rest of the Jones family does. Smart girl.

21 Week Check-Up

2010-10-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my grandmother rode to Amory with Mackenzie and me to check on our sweet Peyton. It was supposed to be a routine check-up with Dr. Otey, but it turned into quite an eventful appointment. Apparently Peyton was in the mood to play hide and seek so when Dr. Otey was using his little hand held monitor to find her heartbeat he wasn't able to find it. I was scared. to. death. And my sweet, sweet doctor and his precious nurse were WONDERFUL. Neither of them ever showed the slightest bit of concern and stayed so cool and calm. Dr. Otey kept reassuring me that he was sure everything was fine and she was just hiding from him. I am so appreciative of their composure. They sent us to ultrasound so we could check on our girl and make sure everything was okay and as soon as Beth started the ultrasound, there it was. Loud and clear at 149 beats per minute. Praise the Lord. The rest of the appointment was good. And calm. Thank goodness. :) Peyton is growing and Mackenzie was happy to get to "see" her sister. After we left the doctor's office I remembered telling Josh the other night that I wouldn't have an ultrasound at this appointment and I was sad because this would be the first time I didn't get to have one and "see" her. Miss Priss fixed that, didn't she? Mercy. I'm just so thankful that she is okay. Healthy and growing. Something else I'm thankful for? Josh's graduation is in 12 days. Mackenzie and I can't wait to bust him out of "big school." :)

Country Pumpkins 2010

2010-10-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

This morning me, my Mama, and Mackenzie met Renee and Garrison at the pumpkin patch. This was G's first pumpkin patch and I can't wait to see the pictures that Renee got of him. I'd say I'm excited to see the ones she snapped of Mac too, but we were having kind of a rough morning so most of our pictures look like this...

or this...

Sweet G looks as happy as a clam! Let me explain a little bit about my daughter. First, she loves her sleep. This is a child who goes to bed between 10-11 every night and will sleep until 10:30 the next morning. She has always been a good sleeper (knock on wood) and this morning I woke her up at 8:30 to get ready to go. My mistake. Second, she is a little hot box. She gets hot very easily and when she gets hot, she gets cranky. She gets that honestly. :) Here in Mississippi it is still getting into the low 90's every day and you see how I dressed her. Sweater, jeans, and boots. Ummm, yeah. My mistake. Again. I'm glad I brought those shorts and that t-shirt and tennis shoes for her to change into after we took a few pictures. Poor baby girl. The odds were just stacked against her this morning. But how cute does she look in those skinny jeans? I hope Will is proud. ;) I did manage to get a couple of cute pictures

and hopefully Renee got at least one good one of her. This fake smile she is giving for pictures lately is k.i.l.l.i.n.g. me! Anyone have any ideas on how to break this habit?! HELP!! Garrison on the other hand is TOO cute for words and has the sweetest little smile.

I could eat. him. up. I love that I get to spend time with this sweet little boy and his Mama and Daddy. Love me some Reedy's! I think I'm going to try to take Mackenzie back to the pumpkin patch one afternoon after lunch and when it's a little cooler. :) Even though she wasn't in the best of moods, we still had a good time. She's a blast even when she's a little cranky. :) I love my little Josh Jones look-alike. :)

A Fun Night With Sweet Friends

2010-10-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

Monday night my sweet friend Shannon invited me and Mackenzie over for supper and to play and make fall crafts. Mackenzie was SO excited about getting to go play with Macy and Lucy! She even took a nap Monday! :) We had SO.MUCH.FUN. with the Willcutt girls! Shannon made THE BEST chicken noodle soup and pigs in a blanket

and the girls had way too much fun playing with their biscuit masks that Shannon made. Yes, Mac pulled the ears off of hers. Silly girl. :)

They do these masks every year and we felt so special getting to be apart of it this year! After we got our tummies full of soup, and pigs in a blanket, Shannon brought out the cookies that she made especially for that night (and for my birthday!!) Not only were they WAY cute, they were also delicious!!

Once we were done with the cookies, the girls played and Shannon and I got to sit and talk. And laugh. It was so much fun. I forget sometimes how much I enjoy and need adult interaction! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE spending my time with my sweet girl, but I also love getting to hang out with my friends and have conversations that don't include Minnie Mouse and going potty. ;) Shannon had also planned a couple of CUTE crafts for the girls to do! Here they are getting ready to make their owls and pumpkins. Mac was ALL about sitting in Macy's lap.

And the finished products! How cute are these!?

And Shannon just whipped them out like it was nothing. I'm so envious of her creativity!! We tried to get a few more pictures of the girls together, but Mackenzie wasn't studying pictures. She wanted to PLAY! I still love these pictures though! :) Jason even made it home before we left (he was out of town -- that's how late we stayed) and I'm glad he did. He is just as hilarious as Shannon is! I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time we were there!

I think we could have stayed all night and we never would have run out of things to talk and laugh about and it never would have bothered our sweet friends. We did stay LATE (sorry, Shannon & Jason!) and Mackenzie still wasn't ready to leave. See...

I honestly think I could have left her there and it would have been fine with her. She had a ball with her little friends! I love this family so much and I'm so thankful for our friendship with them!

Trying to Fly a Kite

2010-10-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Amanda gave Mackenzie a Mickey Mouse kite. We hung it up on the door of our closet and I told Mackenzie that when there was a windy day, we would try to fly it. She has asked no less than a hundred times if we could fly it. Well this past Sunday was pretty breezy, so we had Paw get the kite all ready and out we went. It wasn't really windy enough to fly it, but Mackenzie had SO much fun trying. See...

I can't wait until it really is windy enough for it to fly. Thank you so much Amanda for the kite. It was so sweet of you to think of Mackenzie. Oh, she's also really enjoying her Minnie pajamas! :)

Baby Girl #2's Name Revealed!

2010-10-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

I am so excited that our sweet girl finally has a name. It feels like it has taken forever to name her. Partly because Josh is away at OTS and we don't talk much and when we do, it's not usually about baby names. Partly because we couldn't agree on a name when we did have the chance to talk about it. Anyway, one morning Josh and I were texting names that we both liked and it just clicked and our sweet Peyton Avery has a name and I LOVE it. SO much. I think it goes perfectly with Mackenzie's name too. I'm so excited about it and can't wait to start monograming! :) A big, HUGE thank you to Amanda at Buttercup Blog Design for her amazing work and patience with me! It's like you read my mind. It is EXACTLY what I wanted! Thank you!! Anyone looking to have their blog designed, please contact her. She's amazing! :)

Our Day

2010-10-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a GOOD day. I needed it. Ha! We got to spend the day with Josh! We met him in Tuscaloosa and had the best day. It is so refreshing to get to spend time with him these days. Oh, and only 24 days until his graduation. :) Mackenzie was SO excited to see her Daddy

and had so much fun with him. When we are with him, she is Josh's shadow. It is so cute. Next week is a REALLY busy week for Josh at OTS and we won't get to talk to him until either Thursday or Friday night. We are so thankful that he made the time to see us while getting ready for such a busy week. While we were with him today, we walked around the mall and then went and ate at Hokkaido (one of our favorites). It was SO good. It was hard to say goodbye to him (as usual), but it is so good to know that we only have a little over 3 weeks left until he graduates! Yay! I can't wait for our little (growing) family to be together again. :) It was so good to have such a wonderful day today after such a horrible one yesterday. Our bulldogs even won! It was pretty sloppy, but a win's a win and we'll take it! :) Go Dawgs!! And yes, Mackenzie wore her MSU cheerleader dress to Tuscaloosa. :)

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2010-10-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today was hard. This morning, my Mama and Daddy had to make an impossible decision. Our sweet dog Macy's health had been declining over the past 6 months or so. She had diabetes which caused her to lose her sight, she hadn't been eating like she used to (her favorite thing to do), she didn't swim a lot this summer (her favorite Summer activity), she also had arthritis, and over the last few days we could just tell that she didn't feel good. Mama took her to her sweet vet, Dr. Laros, (she comes HIGHLY recommended) who was SO good to our sweet Macy over the last few months. Dr. Laros called my Mama and told her that Macy's kidneys were failing and that they also felt a mass in her stomach. They put her on an iv and a catheter. After being like that for the day, Dr. Laros called and told Mama that there was no change and that the best thing they could do for Macy was to either send her to MSU or to keep her comfortable, but there was nothing more they could do for Macy. So this morning, my Mama went to be with Macy and our Macy went to be with Jesus. We know that the right decision was made, but it doesn't make it any easier. We all miss her like crazy. We brought her home when she was 6 weeks old and was the best dog for 11 and a half years. We know that Macy can see again and she is in the swimming pool in the clouds chasing her tennis balls. One of my favorite memories of Macy is hilarious. My dad goes outside to smoke and when Macy felt good, she would go out with him every time he went out. When he was done, he would throw the cigarette butt down while it was still smoking and Macy would bark at it, then roll around on it until it was put out. Then Daddy would pick it up and throw it away. We affectionately called Macy "fire dog." :) We sure are going to miss our sweet girl.

Our Macy Moose: February 13, 1999 - October 1, 2010

So as if that wasn't enough for one day, Mackenzie and I were at my grandmother's house visiting this afternoon and as we were getting ready to go, there was a knock on the door. I went to the door and the lady looked at me, then pointed to my car. She never said a word.

Yes, you are seeing that right. My bumper is laying in the road. Her husband had backed into my car. HARD. I called the police so we could get an accident report done and while we waited, I went over to him and asked him if he was okay and if he had insurance. He never even looked at me, much less answered me. He never uttered a word until the police officer got there and asked for his license and insurance information. He handed him his license and said "I ain't got no insurance."

Grrrrrreeeeaaaaatttt. Meanwhile, Mackenzie is crying because her car is "broken." She proceeds to point at this man, and yell "He broke my car!" Oh the horrors. So the officer took all of my information and the other driver's license information, then gave him a citation for no insurance and told me everything I needed to do. The officer was wonderful. So my dad popped the bumper completely off and put it in the back of his truck. And yes, my car looks like I could take it to Columbus Speedway and run in the Street Stock division. ;) The man finally came over to my Daddy and shook his hand, apologized and said "I ain't got no insurance, but if you'll get an estimate, I'll try to pay for it." Ugh. I'll just let my insurance company handle everything, thankyouverymuch. Since that's the reason we HAVE insurance. I'm not bitter. ;) So we are all back at my parents house now. Safe and sound. Bumperless, but safe and sound. :) I am SO thankful that Mackenzie and I were not in the car when that happened and that no one was hurt. It could have been much worse. I am glad that this day is almost over. We will be going to bed soon because we have a BIG day tomorrow. We get to see Josh!! Hooray! I. Can't. Wait. :) Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Sweet, Sweet Friends

2010-09-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful that Mackenzie and I have such awesome friends to take care of us and keep us busy while Josh is gone. There is never a day that goes by where I don't hear from several of my friends to check on us and that means SO much to me. So, thank you! This little cutie is one of Mackenzie's favorite friends in the WHOLE world.

Her name is Lucy and Mackenzie ADORES her. Seriously. She gets so excited every time she sees her. We usually see Lucy at least every Thursday at Mother Goose's story hour at the library and when Mackenzie sees Lucy coming up the stairs, she makes a beeline for her! She sits right beside on the rug during the story and holds her hand to and from the big room where they do music.

It is the sweetest thing ever. I couldn't resist pictures today. Excuse the quality. I used my phone. They're still such sweet pictures of two precious little girls. I hope Mackenzie will always have such sweet friends. Thank you, sweet Lucy for being such a good friend to Mackenzie. You are such a precious little girl and we are so thankful for you and your sweet family. Love us some Willcutts. :)

19 Weeks

2010-09-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

I am 19 weeks pregnant today! This is our halfway mark! I know that 20 weeks is typically considered halfway, but since I will have c-section, they will schedule it the week before week 40. I am getting more excited every day about adding another sweet little girl to our family. Mackenzie talks about her baby sister all the time and she is so excited about her. She talks to her, kisses my stomach and says she's giving her baby sister kisses, and puts her hands on my stomach and says she is holding her. Precious little girl. I really think she is going to be a fabulous big sister and I can't wait to see her with "her baby." I am already excited about Renee doing their pictures together! This week, the email that I get says that the baby is about 8.5 ounces and is about 6 inches long. She's still a tiny little squirt, but I have already felt her move several times and I get so excited every time. In other news, Josh's graduation is 30 days from today. As a matter of fact, at this time in 30 days, he will be back home with me and Mackenzie. We. Can't. Wait. Oh and we are officially counting down the days to my birthday. Well, I am anyway, and because I love my birthday SO much and because Mackenzie is my daughter (even though she doesn't share my love of dirt track racing) she is counting down with me, and because we are living with my parents until our move, they are also counting down. I really don't give them a choice. ;) We celebrate my birthday for the entire month of October. ;) When I was little and someone asked me when my birthday was, I always replied with "October at night" (my birthday is October the ninth...sounds similar) :) Now when someone asks me when my birthday is I just respond with "October" since it's a month long celebration. :) Hope everyone has a happy week!

Mackenzie Does Not Share...

2010-09-24T21:55:00.001-07:00

my love for dirt track racing. This weekend is the "big race" at our local speedway. The events begin on Thursday night with open practice. Since admission is free to watch practice, I decided to take Mackenzie to test the waters before paying for us to go and then realize that she's not a fan.

Let me back up a bit. I grew up at Columbus Speedway. My parents met there and were married 6 months later. A year after that, I was born. At about 6 months old, I started "going racing" and have been going ever since. It's in my blood. :) Call me a redneck if you want to, but I love it. I wanted SO badly for Mackenzie to love it too. When Josh and I first started dating, he had never been to "the bullring." I took him out there one night and he told me that he had fun but he wasn't crazy about it. It just wasn't "his thing." Bless his heart, he kept on going with me though. And still to this day, he would go with me because he knows how much I enjoy it. He loves me. :) Okay, back to Thursday night. After watching 3 groups of Super Late Models practice,

I decided we could leave. We had been out there for a little over an hour and it was getting late. When we got back to the car I asked Mackenzie if she had fun. Her resoponse? "Yes, but I didn't like it." Good lord. Could she be anymore like her father?! She said she liked the "bully car." Shane Clanton is from Georgia and his car is painted/stickered to match the UGA "G" and has a picture of their bulldog on the top of the car. She LOVED it. Poor child didn't know that OUR bulldogs are playing THOSE bulldogs this weekend. Sheesh. ;) Anyway, I wanted to share this video because it shows exactly how Mac felt about being at the bullring.

Hahaha! Doesn't she look thrilled? I especially love the parts where she yawns and then when she lays her head down on the bleachers. Goodness gracious. I'm beginning to think she has no relation to me. ;) This picture was especially funny to me. It looks like she is thinking "Ok, mommy I am OVER this race car business, but I'm trying."

Playing at the Park With Aunt Brandy!

2010-09-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday afternoon we met Brandy at her house and went to their park in Caldeonia. We had the playground to ourselves for the most part. :) It was nice! Mackenzie had the best time playing in the sand!

I can't wait to take her to the beach! She doesn't normally like to slide, but she and her Aunt Brandy had lots of fun going down the big slide together!

We had a lot of fun playing and visiting!

Mackenzie's First Pedicure

2010-09-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

Mackenzie has been with me several times when I've had pedicure appointments and 9 times out of 10 they will paint her toenails too since she's so dang sweet. ;) I decided one day last week to call and make Mackenzie her very own pedicure appointment so she could have an afternoon at the spa that was all about her. And she enjoyed every second of it, especially picking the perfect shade of pink for her sweet little toes. :)

My Very Own Little Bulldog! :)

2010-09-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken the afternoon that we played Auburn. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of my sweet little cheerleader. :) No matter how many games they lose, we will ALWAYS be Bulldogs! :)

It's a...

2010-09-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last Monday (the 13th) was a BIG day. I closed on our house that morning, then I went to Amory for my "big ultrasound." I was so excited and nervous at the same time. Renee & Garrison went with me to Amory so I wouldn't have to go alone and Renee videoed the ultrasound for Josh since he couldn't be there. I seriously have the best friends in the world. And can I mention that Garrison is SO stinking sweet! He is SO laid back and happy. I love to see him smile...especially when he sticks his tongue out. So cute! Such a sweet baby boy. I love him. Anyway, the ultrasound lasted a little longer than normal because she had to measure the baby and look closely at all of the organs...heart, kidneys, etc... After she finished with all of her measurements, she began to look between baby's LONG legs. She quickly announced "It's a Girl!" I couldn't be happier and neither could Josh. But I think Mackenzie is happier than any of us! She is tickled about having a little sister. I think it's because Brandy keeps telling her she can boss her little sister around and beat her up with a hair brush. ;) We saved all of Mackenzie's clothes so we are pretty much set for another sweet baby girl. Of course she will have new things of her very own too, but I am a believer in hand-me-downs. :) We have a name in mind, but it's not concrete yet, so I'm waiting until we're 100% settled on it before announcing it. :) We are now 18 weeks (baby girl is about the size of a bell pepper) and everything is going great. I feel great and have even lost 6 pounds! On a completely different note, Josh's graduation from OTS is 5 weeks from today! Only 35 more days until my little family is back together! At least for a few weeks and I. Can't. Wait!!! :)

Story Time with Mother Goose

2010-09-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to take Mackenzie to our public library since she has been old enough to sit and listen to a story. Since I haven't been working, we've been going to the library on Thursday mornings to listen to Mother Goose. Mackenzie LOVES it. As soon as we get there, she runs over to Mother Goose for a big hug. If you know Mac, you know how unusual this is. Ha! She's really sweet and really snuggly, but only with people that she knows well. So it was a big surprise to me (and to everyone who knows Mac) that she took so quickly to Mother Goose. It also cracks me up that she loves her so much because Mother Goose drives Josh nuts! Haha! We have really enjoyed going to story time. And Mackenzie does SO good listening quietly while Mother Goose is talking and reading the story. She's also done really well at following directions. I'm one proud Mama! ;) Mackenzie especially enjoys getting to play the instruments in "the big room."We look forward to Thursdays at 10:00am every week. :)

An Afternoon at the Park

2010-09-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago Mackenzie, Mammaw, and I went out to Dewayne Hayes for a fun afternoon of playing, drinking coke :) and eating pizza and cupcakes. My cousin Lindsey had rented a pavillion out there for her son Aaden's birthday party in August, but it was SO hot that she decided to move the party to an indoor location. Thank you, Lindsey! ;) So instead of losing her money, they let her pick another afternoon to use the pavillion. It was a fun afternoon. Mackenzie had fun playing with Aadenand with Aunt Deb and Uncle Roger.Thanks for inviting us, Lindsey! We had such a good time! We will have to get them together to play again before we move!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

2010-09-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

PINK ICE CREAM! :) Mackenzie and I (and Max too) had so much fun making ice cream. Of course it had to be pink so my girl would eat some of it, so we made vanilla ice cream and just tinted it with some red food coloring. Yes, she's rotten. And I wouldn't have it any other way. :) Max got to lick the spoon! :)Making sure it's working...YUM! :) Such a fun thing to do together. Love this sweet little girl SO much.

A Much Needed Weekend

2010-08-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was wonderful and SO needed!! Mackenzie and I went to Maxwell AFB to see Josh! It had been a little over a month since we'd seen him so we were SO excited! We got there at about 11:00 Saturday morning and at a little after 12, I saw him running, yes running from around the side of the OTS complex. I got Mackenzie out of the car and pointed her Daddy out and then she took off running too. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen...my two most favorite people in the whole world running to each other, arms wide open. Precious. After lots of hugs and kisses and even a little talking ;) we took Josh to get his hair cut. We all really miss his hair and he's starting to let it grow back out! Yay! :) Then we did a little shopping at the BX and grabbed lunch before we went back to the room. Mackenzie wouldn't let her Daddy out of her sight and wanted her hands on him at all times. It was so sweet. Later for supper, we tried to go to the golf course's restaurant, but it was closed already so we went to Burger King where they have big pictures of Tony Stewart all over the place. Josh got so tickled when Mackenzie pointed at one of the pictures and yelled "There's Tony!!" That's my girl! ;) After supper, we went to the bowling alley. Mackenzie and Josh bowled and Mackenzie had SO much fun. I thought her little bowling shoes were too stinking cute!Her ball was as big as she is!Having a blast!We are already looking forward to our next visit which I'm hoping is this weekend since Josh's birthday is Friday! Everyone keep your fingers crossed! I am so thankful for Josh and that we have such a strong relationship. Being away from each other is not easy and I am so ready for it to be over, but I am SO proud of Josh and everything that he is doing and sacrificing for our family. He is such an amazing person and I am SO thankful that he's mine.

12 Weeks and Life Lately

2010-08-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday marked week 12 for baby Jones 2.0. In an email I got, I read that the baby is now the size of a lime.

It is so hard to believe that something so tiny can already flex it's little arms and legs and curl its sweet little toes. What's even more hard to believe is just how much we already love this baby. We are so thankful for this sweet blessing and couldn't be more excited. I've had a few cravings so far: claussen dill pickles, pizza with ranch dressing, and the main one...TACO CASA in Tuscaloosa. Oh. My. Lord. It's really all I've wanted. In fact, last weekend my parents took me to Tuscaloosa just so I could eat there and then 3 days later I went back for more. I just can't help myself. It actually sounds delicious right now! Road trip anyone? ;) Anyway, Mackenzie talks about "her baby" all of the time. It's so sweet. She is just certain that she is having a baby brother and in about 6 weeks we will find out if she's right or not. :) I just hate that Josh won't be here to go with me when I find out. I have decided against taking Mackenzie to that appointment since Josh can't be here too because I know her well enough to know that she won't be able to keep that secret and I want Josh to be the first one to know besides me. I'm hoping to schedule the ultrasound on a Friday and keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get to visit Josh that weekend following. What BIG news to take on that visit!! :)

In other news, we now have 3 whole weeks behind us with the whole OTS thing. Mackenzie and I are missing Josh like crazy and we can't wait to see him again! Josh is doing well at OTS. He's had one big obstacle to overcome, but anyone who knows Josh knows how determined he is to be the best at what he does and lets just say that he has taken care of that obstacle. :) He is enjoying himself for the most part although he is homesick. We do get to talk every night so that helps. :) They did a confidence course last Friday and he said he killed it. I had no doubt that he would. He also scored his highest score ever on the fitness test! I am so proud of him! I have no doubt that the rest of his flight is looking to him for guidance. He's a natural leader. :) Mackenzie is doing pretty well with this new normal, but she definitely has her moments of wanting her Daddy. When she gets in trouble, or if she falls down or hurts herself somehow, or especially at bedtime, she really wants her Daddy. I can't wait to see her face when she sees him again. My fingers are crossed for a week from Saturday, but we won't know until much closer to that day. So y'all keep your fingers crossed too, please. :) We're dying to see him!!

So that's the latest with us! I have some cute pictures of Mackenzie from this past weekend that I'll get uploaded soon! She is the sweetest little girl. I'm so glad she's mine! :)

Sweet Cousins

2010-07-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

We have a niece! Jared and Britt (Josh's younger brother and his wife) recently welcomed sweet baby Lydia and Mackenzie is so excited about her cousin! She makes sure everyone knows that Lydia is HER cousin. :) I was so glad that I had my camera when Britt and Jared let Mackenzie hold her 15 day old, 7 pound cousin last night. Right after I snapped this oneLydia started crying and Mackenzie said "Oh no! She doesn't want me anymore!" Sweet, sweet girl. I love these pictures. And these girls.

Pawpaw's Cows

2010-07-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

Josh's pawpaw is so proud of his cows. When we were at Josh's parents' house last night we got to see the newest addition to the O'Bryant family. A four day old calf...This makes 15 cows, one bull, and there are 3 more calves on the way. Those cows are crazy about Pawpaw too. Before he came outside they would not come anywhere near us, but as soon as they spotted him, they started making their way to the fence. They know who takes care of them! It is so much fun to talk to Pawpaw about his cows. He lights up when he talks about them! I love it!

Sunflowers

2010-07-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

My boss' parents live right beside where I work and right behind their house was a gorgeous sunflower field.I knew that I wanted to get some pictures of Mackenzie in that sunflower field! However, when I finally remembered to bring my camera to work the sunflowers were HUGE and I didn't think to bring anything for her to stand on, so we made do. I didn't get any great shots, but this one turned out okay.It was SO hot and we were both sweating like crazy and if you know me, then you know this was not sitting well with me. I was ready to get back to some a/c! And just to show you how hot it was at 8:45am in Mississippi...Yeah, not so much fun. Ha! When I asked my boss' dad's permission to take pictures in the sunflowers he laughed and said "Rob (my boss) said I'd have a hard time keeping you out of those flowers." :)

Lots of Changes!

2010-07-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

There's a LOT going on at our house right now. All good, but some are hard. Josh is leaving next week and will be gone for 12 weeks. I wrote a while back that he was accepted into officer training so that's where he'll be. We won't get to see him but we should get to talk to him some while he's gone and luckily we will be surrounded by very supportive friends and family while he's gone. Becoming an officer is an awesome career move for him and I couldn't be prouder although I will miss him like crazy! It's going to be a huge adjustment learning how to live life without him here! I'm already looking forward to the day that we are all back together again!

I also wrote a while back about needing a home for our beagle, Roxie and possibly our other girl dog, Lucky. Well last week, Roxie got a new home. My sweet Aunt was so helpful in finding Roxie a home. Her husband's uncle Rex used to raise beagles and he had been wanting one for a while, but not a puppy. He said at one time he had 18 beagles and that their howling was music to his ears. Bless him. I met him last Friday with her. She is now an Alabama beagle (don't worry she's still a Mississippi State fan). ;) I have checked on her a couple of times and he said that she is right at home and acts like she has always been there. She is getting spoiled too by getting to sleep on the back of the couch and eating polish sausage. I'm glad to know that she's happy there. :) I was beginning to think that we were never going to be able to find a good home for Lucky until Josh's mom called this weekend and said that they wanted her. :) Hooray! So we are taking her over there tonight. I know she will be happy there. She will get lots of love and attention. So after tonight we will have a one dog household and I'm not too sure how Max is going to feel about that. We'll see.

We also have our house on the market and that alone is stressful. We've had several people look at it and a couple of people interested but it ended up being out of their price range and well, I'm not just going to give it away. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that it'll sell before November when we are all supposed to move to Little Rock and if you know of anyone looking, send them our way! Thank you!! :)

The biggest news we have right now is....

That's right! Baby Jones 2.0 is on the way! We had our first doctor's appointment yesterday and baby's heartbeat was strong at 184 beats per minute and he or she measured at 9 weeks & 3 days. Each Sunday will count as the beginning of a new week. Our due date was set at February 20, 2011, but Dr. Otey will schedule the c-section for the week before. So we may just have a Valentine's baby. :) When Mackenzie saw the picture of the ultrasound she thought because there were 2 pictures that there were 2 babies. She said "Oh that one is my baby brother and that one is my baby sister." It didn't take long to explain to her that there were 2 pictures, but only one baby. :) I can't wait to see what she will be like as a BIG SISTER! She is such a sweet, smart, and special little girl! This new baby is lucky to have such an awesome big sister. So Amanda, get ready! We will be needing a new blog design soon!! Get those creative juices flowing! :)

Story Time

2010-06-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Over the past week or so, Mackenzie has been on a Dr. Seuss kick. She has always loved for us to read to her, but lately all she wants us to read are Dr. Seuss books. I couldn't resist taking pictures of Josh reading the ABC book to her last night.

She also has a huge love for letters right now. She can recognize almost all of them and tell you most of their sounds. Her favorite letters? M and W. She loves that if you turn the M or W upside down it makes the other one. Plus, she loves Will and knows that W is his letter.

She Gets It From Her Mama

2010-06-20T08:21:00.001-07:00

After some fun in the sun yesterday afternoon, Mackenzie was just a tiny bit thirsty. Don't worry, there was only a very little bit left in the bottom of that 2 liter, but she took care of it. :) She loves Coke just like her Mama. And yes, she dressed herself in case you were wondering. She wears a 3T in most things...the shirt she's wearing in the pictures...18 months. :)

Sprinkler Fun

2010-06-19T14:30:00.001-07:00

At Wal-Mart today, Mackenzie and I got a fun new sprinkler. We couldn't get wait to get home to play! She had the BEST time. I really didn't think she would like it because she is not a fan of getting water in her face, buuuuut she proved me wrong and loved every second of it

...except for the part when she fell and got grass on her hand.

Oh my.

Mackenzie's Friends

2010-06-17T09:35:00.001-07:00

Minnie and Mickey. Yes, she still LOVES them. She loves them so much that she calls them her friends and she takes them everywhere. I hope she will always have such sweet friends. ;)

Britt, Jared, & Lydia

2010-06-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon I went over to Britt and Jared's apartment to take maternity pictures of them. Jared is Josh's younger brother. I was so nervous to take their pictures, but I am pretty pleased with how they turned out. It was a fun afternoon! I can't believe Lydia will be here in about 3 weeks!Jared reads to baby Lydia all of the time. I asked him if he'd read to her for pictures thinking that he'd read a children's book. Wrong. He went and got one of his philosophy books. He said that's all he ever reads to her!