Keeping up with the....

Time For A Vac-ation!

2009-06-23T21:46:00.008-04:00

Well, its been almost 2 months since I've posted anything... but I'm back!!

This past week we spent the week with Tom's family in his hometown for our June vacation. Before we made it into PA we stopped for a quick visit with our friends...the Grant's. Its been ages since we've seen them and the girls were so cute getting to know each other again. Of course Winnie was a little shy at first but warmed up when she was able to run free... I miss them so it was a fun reunion!!
We had a jam-packed week and lots of visiting with family, including some members that we haven't seen in quite some time which was so nice. We started off the week with a trip to a childhood favorite amusement park, Kennywood. As we drove to the park I saw sights that brought back so many fun memories of going as a child...and our fun car-ride names (Eben & I were Yohan and Yohana..haha!). The kids (and adults) had a blast at the park riding rides and eating some yummy food.

What sweet cousins....these boys take such good care of Winnie and of course she LOVES all their attention!!

Winnie on her first amusement park ride...the swings...she LOVED it!!
Oh, she LOVED this one too as you can see by her smile!!

The next day we were off to the Pittsburgh Zoo...

On Tuesday we were off to Salisbury to visit my Aunt MaryAnn & cousins... Winnie warmed up to Treyson really quick and absolutely loves him. We had a nice afternoon lunch, then playing at the park and checking out the garden. On the walk Winnie wanted Trey to carry her, only Trey....

We got a little desparate for Winnie to eat meat...haha...she liked the meat stick (and so did the boys)!

Wednesday we shopped till we literally dropped....and found some great deals at Ollie's, Hallmark, and Gabriel Brothers!! Thursday we had a photo scavenger hunt..which was SO much fun. Tom & I were on the same team and in the end tied Jennifer & Virginia...man oh man! This photo is our "movie scene"... "Throw Mama From the Train" which won us a lot of votes....

Thursday was my sweet hubby's birthday (big 3-5!) so we celebrated his special day along with his Uncle Chuckie's coming up soon. Birthday parties cookouts are lots of fun with the Jones/Rohm family....esp when there is more than 1 cake ;-)

The kids had fun playing with bubbles and some even took a dip in the cold swimming pool. Luckily the other kids were done with the bubbles by the time Winnie got her hands on them...ha ha our little bubble horder...

On Friday we were off to our Pittsburgh day....and got a late start, haha. We all had a great plan to meet at Panera at 8:45am but for us with children we didn't quite make it, as the kids slept in (not like we were complaining!). The adult crew went onto their museum and we went to the Children's Museum. This area was the best....a Bob the Builder play area. Winnie totally looks like she could live in this "caravan", hilarious!

After the museum we took a trip on the incline, soooo cool!! The view from the top was awesome too! Winnie was taking a nap in the stroller so Tom stayed at the bottom with her.

And....Saturday we got in some good family time and then headed on our way. FINALLY we were able to get a picture of Mom Jones with all 3 of her grandchildren....

Dance, Dance, Dance....

2009-05-01T10:59:00.003-04:00

Our sweet girl is going to be taking dance classes at an early age...she absolutely LOVES to jam when we turn music on! Here she is dancing to the beginning of Jack's Big Music Show on tv...and half way through she does some of her animal sounds....

Bring On The Warm Weather...

2009-04-06T23:23:00.011-04:00

Our weekend was filled with fun as the sun beat down on Raleigh. We started the weekend with a dinner date with the Vallecorse's. Every time we get together with our good friends we truly enjoy watching the kiddos play and experience new things together, while we catch up. Both kiddos are walking well now and into everything. After dinner we went for a short walk and spent some time with our neighbors...the kids even had a chance to swing and slide (thank you Stephanie/Matt!!).
(Winnie is teething bad & healing from an ear infection...hence the paci...boy do I hate that thing when she is out and about!!)

Saturday morning we headed to our favorite place...Ollie's Bargain Outlet....YES we finally have one in our backyard!! There are soooo many good deals at Ollie's, from books to toothpaste to sheets to candy....name brand stuff for cheap (1000 times better than Big Lots!!)! When we visit family in PA we make a special trip to splurge so now we can space out our trips and spend less on great items!!

After the trip to Ollie's and putting Winnie to bed, I made my first visit to Logan's...a gardener's dream in downtown Raleigh. After sitting through a step-gardening "class" I purchased all our soil for our veggie garden at 20% off (woohoo!!). Tom worked on staining the deck all day and as soon as he finishes we can get the garden boxes built. It will bring me such joy this summer to go out and pick our veggies from the garden and teach Winnie all about gardening (hopefully she will like playing in dirt, haha).

My high school girls, Megan & Beth, and Winnie and I went to Red Lobster to pig out on Lobsterfest. Megan had never eaten lobster so we waited in anticipation for her first bite...and I think she liked it! Boy was I full after all that food...and the biscuits still taste amazing!! The girls and I had a little sleepover and some heart-to-hearts which I LOVE! What amazing girls!!

Our weekend ended on such a spring-time note.... We met Sunday night for a fellowship/cookout with our small group. Definitely feels like summertime with burgers on the grill!! After we ate the kids went out into the yard for an Easter egg hunt...so sweet. Winnie was a pro from the beginning (thanks for the training Amy!) and loved putting things in and out of her basket.

Last Trip to HT for Triples...

2009-03-29T20:57:00.004-04:00

I woke up this morning with excitement....not because Winnie was awake at 7:30am and teething badly....but because I was getting new coupons and going back to HT!! Sad isn't it?!? I finally hit my goal, saved more than I spent!!

Would've spent $68.27 but saved $36.64 in coupons...total damage $31.63!!!!!! Woohoo!! Our small group is set on snacks, we don't need toothpaste for awhile and even have some Panko to give my mom ;-)

So, after 3 trips we've spent $131.69 and saved $116.24...wooohooo!!

Please keep little Winnie in your prayers, her teeth are really hurting her and she won't eat anything. Luckily she is still drinking and does like the V8 Fusion which has lots of veggies and fruits! Tonight I took her temp and its up to 101.9 so we'll be going to the doctors in the morning ;-( Poor thing, hope she sleeps well tonight!!

Triples at Harris Teeter....

2009-03-27T20:59:00.005-04:00

I'm getting in the game of Triples at Harris Teeter... I've taken two trips and saved us quite a bit of $$, woohoo!!

First trip...

Would've been $102.43 but I saved $9.83 in VIC savings and $42.57 in coupons...$50.03 damage...not bad, not bad

(everything pictured)

Second trip...
This trip I bought more produce that of course didn't have coupons....would've been $94.53 but I saved $3.48 in VIC savings and $23.72 in coupons...$67.33 damage..

(only coupon saved items pictured...too lazy to put all out)

Now we have some extra lunch snacks, non-stick foil (which ROCKS!!) and treats for Winnie ;-) Yeah, even some baby food for her too, the poor girl is teething and will really only eat her baby food veggies and soft food...guess its something. Two of the coupons I used were left with the product, as if someone decided not to use it and share with others, THANKS!!

Total savings: $79.60!!! Not bad for a first timer...but will take suggestions, haha! Going back Sunday after I clip new coupons....

So Much For Skiing...

2009-03-19T20:53:00.004-04:00

Well, MarPatSki didn't happen this year BUT we still got to see the Frederick / Marchetti clan. My Aunt MaryAnn checked out the ski slopes in her area and unfortunately there wasn't snow covering the slopes, so sad!! For the past few years (except last) we've gone skiing at Snowshoe Mtn and this year decided to go somewhere less expensive since we are working to pay off our debt... oh well maybe next year!!

We had a blast in MD though visiting my family. Its been a few months since we've seen Eben & Julia so we were excited to spend some quality time with them on Saturday. We started off the day at Port Discovery (a Children's Museum near Inner Harbour, Baltimore) and have to admit it was pretty funny watching 5 adults watch a 16-month old play. Of course her favorite exhibit was the Royal Farms convenience store...if it has a store-like apperance and lots of bottles/boxes she is in heaven! Seriously, we've started saving boxes and taping them up as toys for her, she will play with those and bowls anyday over toys (but still loves her books). The exhibit even had a gas pump and VW beetle that you could fill the air in the tires or pretend to put gas in.

Saturday evening we celebrated Tony's 50th birthday (its Mar 24th) with family & friends Emily and Gregg. When we go to Baltimore to visit there is one thing that we request...crabs! Emily & Gregg were able to get us 1/2 a bushel of crabs and mussels which totally made our night! We all sat around picking crabs and laughing about old times....there are some classic stories like when we sold our farmhouse and my mom's friend helped her clean out the house, including the bear grease jar that was in the basement ...she keeps everything!! Of course we torchered Tony with old man jokes and had him drinking his beer out of a sippy cup!

Crazy Life...

2009-03-13T00:47:00.006-04:00

We've been living the crazy life the last few weeks, between Winnie catching a stomach bug and family visiting. In those 2 weeks though we did get in some great family time though!! I feel horrible that I didn't take many pictures while we had family visiting, argh! Tom did take a few while the kiddos were watching Noggin' together...and I took a few when we took Winnie to Marbles Museum. She had a blast playing in the pretend grocery store (imagine that!) and playing in the "peas". Her all-time favorite though was the red HOT sportscar, we are doomed when she turns 16!!! Will be fun to watch these girls drive together when they are 16!! Winnie will have to let Eden drive first though ;-)

Winnie loved all the quality time she got to spend with her Grandma Jones, and we loved having her travel all the way down to see us!! I promise to be better at taking pics of them together next visit!!

Just For Fun...

2009-02-20T14:14:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Winnie cracked me up... She was playing in the living room and decided to put on her bow headband that she got from our Blog Swap friend, Toni. Well she couldn't quite get it on her head so decided it would work for a necklace instead. She wore it all over the house till we left! I'm starting to think that she will LOVE dress-up and definitely want to pick out her own outfits in the near future...

This little shirt says it all "Little Miss Chatterbox"....now if only we could understand what she is saying ;-)

Visiting Family & Winnie Walking...

2009-02-16T11:40:00.010-05:00

This past weekend we visited Tom's sister Jennifer & her boys in South Carolina and had a blast!! We had a rocky start, or should I say rocking night as Winnie didn't want to sleep on Friday night. We were up off/on most of the evening as she would stand up in the pack 'n play looking at us crying....so after shhhh'ing her for awhile we would lay her in bed with us...and awhile later she would be up again....argh!!

Morning came too quick and not sure where we found the energy but we were off to "EdVenture" in Columbia, a kids museum. This museum ROCKS and now that Winnie is walking it was super fun to watch her interact with all the things to do and see. Oh, yes she is officially walking (mastering it last weekend) and is loving her new freedom (videos at bottom). Her favorite thing was the mini-Piggly Wiggly supermarket where she could push her cart and pick whatever she wanted to buy. Unfortunately though, we didn't let her go in right away as we thought it was mostly older kids playing, and when we finally realized she should play too she only had a few minutes (oops!). Definitely going to get out her boxed good and set-up a mini-store in our bonus room now!! She also loved the Curious George room and all the big vehicles around the museum...fire truck, VW bug, tractor, etc and got to ride on them all. She didn't know what to think of the big Ed that sat in the front of the museum...he was HUGE and you could see inside of him (around the back)...great for older kids though! Saturday evening Jennifer made an awesome Valentine's dinner and then we gave the kiddos a bath. It was Winnie's first time taking a bath with her older cousins, and we could tell from her smiles and laughter that she enjoyed every minute! These will be great pics when these kids get older!! While we were visiting Tom did some handyman work around the house for his sister (she had a list of things) and he loved being able to serve them...of course until he had water spraying all over himself. He was trying to fix the leak in her bathroom sink, and while tightening a piece it came off and water went everywhere. Luckily he was able to hold his finger over the pipe until his sister ran around the house trying to find the main water line, it was pretty comical to hear Tom give her ideas of where it could be!

Pics from our weekend...

Winnie on the move... Can't get over how fast she has picked up walking and standing up!!

The Bachelor....

2009-02-11T11:26:00.003-05:00

If you've watched The Bachelor at all this season you know that Jason has a very hard decision to make in the next few shows. He is a great man and father that will have to pick which woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. The last 3 women seem to really care for him and are genuine about their feelings. Next weeks show is the romantic get-away to New Zealand and should be interesting as they all have more time with him.

Also, the previews (at the beg of the season) showed Deanna coming back this season to win Jason back, since she obviously made a bad decision the first time... The big question is WHEN does she come back??

Make your vote to the right on which girl you think he will choose!

Jillian

Melissa

Molly

Where's The Beef?!?...

2009-02-07T21:28:00.003-05:00

In our freezer!! Hahahaha!!

Today Tom, Winnie & I drove to VA to meet my mom & Tony and get our meat. Every year we buy a 1/4 of a cow (or should I call it a steer?) from a farmer in PA and enjoy it all year long. Its usually delicious and very economical. This year our angus cow weighed in at 1,000lbs of meat (big one!) so we got ~250lbs!! Now that seems like a LOT of meat but between Tom, I & company (yes we feed our company well) we devour it all by the next year. Of course we always bring the meat to cookouts and give some to our adopt-a-family at Christmas time.

This year our freezer started with 10lbs of hamburger, a chuck roast & some rolled rump roasts left over from this past year....and we filled it quick!

We had a nice quick visit with mom & Tony in VA too. They loved seeing Winnie and she was all smiles eating lunch with them (now if only I could've remembered my camera!). Thanks mom, Tony, Emily & Gregg for delivering/storing our meat!!!

Love From My Valentine Swapper

2009-02-02T22:17:00.006-05:00

YAH YAH YAH!! My Valentine blog swap gift from Toni has arrived!!

It took me awhile to break it open, it was packaged so well :-)
Once I broke through I was so excited to see all the fun things she sent us. All three of us will be blessed with these gifts...Valentine's cupcake mix w/ Vday paper cups, heart shaped measuring cups, Andes candies, a sweet headband for Winnie and cozy slippers for me! Winnie will look so cute in that headband (thank you Toni for thinking of her!!), her hair has been a little crazy lately. I was hoping to get a pic of her wearing it for the blog but kids will be kids, and she was in bed early tonight.

Thank you again Toni!! As I write this I think there is only 1 Andes candy left...and I don't ever want to take the slippers off. Seriously everyone I know is getting a pair of these slippers for Birthdays/Christmas, they rock!!

Our Relaxing Vacation...

2009-01-29T07:46:00.008-05:00

Goodness, where do I begin....*Caution: This is a LONG posting*

Last Tues evening we started our trek to FL to start our vacation. It had snowed Tues so were extra cautious and PTL the roads were dry!! When we got to Tampa (at 7am) we still had snow on our truck bed cover and people were asking where did we find such a thing...it was only 29 degrees in Tampa!! This wasn't FL weather we were used to!! We spent Wed and Thurs morning at Cherie's house (one of my mom's best friends) with my mom, who flew to FL on Tues evening, and prep'ed them for watching Winnie over the next few days. On Thursday morning we left for our cruise ship that awaited...

We couldn't believe that the day was finally here that we've been waiting for since this past May....we were going on the Klove Friends & Family Cruise, the one (if you listen to Klove) they talk about for months!! In May we decided this cruise would be our 5th Anniversary gift after the birthdays and holidays were finished for the year.

This cruise was unlike most, as we entered the terminal we were handed devotionals and a newspaper with all the events for the week. Some of our favorite bands were playing during the week too....Third Day, Matthew West, Sanctus Real, Mandisa, Nicole C. Mullen, Rush of Fools, Building 429, etc etc....and we saw a lot of them while we boarded the ship (and throughout our whole trip). This was our first cruise so we weren't sure what to expect with our room/balcony but made it like home in no time, well as soon as we received our luggage. The trip started with everyone standing up on the Lido deck (top of ship, open to the sky) looking over Miami, and our ship doing a 180 turn before we headed out to sea (seriously on a dime!).

Everyday there were 2 concerts in the afternoon while we sunned ourselves on the Lido Deck. Then in the evening the late dinner (LD) folks went to the 5:45pm show which was usually the big names (Mandisa/Third Day/etc) and then off to dinner at 8pm. It was always a rush to get from the last afternoon show to shower then off to the pre-dinner show, especially if you wanted a good seat. The only night we stood in line for the 5:45 show was the night Phil Wickham and Third Day played...we sat in the 3rd row...that night was special too as I caught Mark Lee's (TD guitarist) guitar pic!! Every other night we sat to the left of the stage, very close. After dinner there were concert"s"/shows at 10pm and 11pm, each hour had about 3 choices, and it was usually very difficult for us to pick which one we wanted to see. On Friday night 3 bands got together (without their leads) and decided to do a "jam session" at midnight. We were blown away at how them all came together without ever practicing and playing so well together. They played a lot of worship music and gave each other turns in the spotlight. Everyone enjoyed it so much that they decided to play again on Saturday night...so needless to say we were up really late both nights and LOVED it!

Other than watching the concerts/shows we did eat quite a bit (about time to go back on that diet!!). Of course food was everywhere and we hit up our favs everyday. On Sunday while I waited for chinese we stood in line with Nicole C. Mullen...what a down to earth gal! Funny story about Nicole....while we were watching a concert on the deck a group of kids kind of stood in front of our seats, my first instinct was to ask them to move and let them know what they had done (youth leader coming out) but for some reason the Lord held my tongue...well thank heavens he did, as the "kids" were Nicole C. Mullen's daughter and other dancers (pic below)!!!When we first boarded the ship and went to get lunch we talked with Lisa Williams (Klove personality) and her family...she and her husband were awesome, laughing and truly enjoying life. They had the sweetest boys who were toted all over the cruise ship in their double stroller, and I don't think they ever made a peep (amazing!). The one night Lisa laughed that she had brought too many diapers and was going to have a craft night of "Diaper Origami" if anyone wanted to join in, haha! Our dinner each night was the highlight of our meals though.... on the first evening we met 2 other families (Bill/Audrey from Chicago and Karen/Lauren from Kansas City) and kicked it off right away. By the second night we had another family join us (Lesha/Michael from New Orleans) and we could've moved tables but we were all sticking together!! Gosh we really came to love these families and think of them as lifetime friends....sad to think we may not see them again on this side of Heaven...but a trip to any of their cities does sound appetizing! Our server Wincy from the Philipines was awesome too and made us laugh....he loved to stop us right before we ate our main course to say "Excuse me everyone....(break)...Enjoy your dinner". During some dinners the servers would sing/dance and Wincy was always serving us desert so he could be the last one to make his grand appearance with all the other servers. The last evening we surprised Lauren with a birthday treat, including a bow on top of her head (made of a napkin), haha.

The last highlight of our trip was our time in Grand Turk, Bahamas. We started off the visit in GT with a catamaran ride out to sea, then spent some time snorkling next to the boat. The reef we snorkled by was where it drops from 25ft to 6000ft....its crazy as you can see things very closely and then all of a sudden nothing... Tom & I tried to stay close together and more on the reef, just being overy "nothing" was scary, who knows what was down there!! After snorkling we went swimming in the amazing turquoise waters and relaxed. Our crew and videographer were so fun and took great care of us....can't wait to get our video in the mail (in a few weeks!). We headed back to the dock then, and after lunch we shopped and laid out a bit before heading back out to sea on the cruise ship.

Our favorite thing about the entire cruise that we were surrounded by people who loved our Lord Jesus Christ!! You could feel the Lord surrounding us each day and showing us His glory through the worship music, discussions with others and daily time with Him.

*Phew* that was a LOT to remember...and of course not everything but I'll end with some photo highlights of our trip.... and some videos...

Phil & Evan Wickham...

Mandisa....

On Monday we headed back to Naples to see our sweet girl and spend some time with my mom and Cherie. On our way we got to have lunch with my cousin Kelly in Miami.Holding sweet Winnie was the best on Monday afternoon, I got her up from her nap and she just melted in my arms with her head on my shoulder. That evening we all went out to see the sunset in Naples....it was breathtaking....

These 3 had a blast together (and Pop Pop too!)

Tuesday morning we started our long 14hr drive home....and were excited for a lunch break to see my friend Jaime Dixon in Tampa. Weird thing is that we stopped at her work exit on our way down, when everyone noticed snow on our car..and I thought then that we were close to her (and had no idea we actually were)!

Its all about food with the Jones' as we stopped at my fav childhood stopping place.... The Georgia Pig in Brunswick, Georgia!! I have pictures of this place from the 80s, and its been in business for 40 years!!! What sweet memories I have of eating here with my family on our treks to FL.

We finally arrived home at 12:30am !!

Playing In The Snow....

2009-01-20T12:07:00.002-05:00

Two posts in one day...wow! Since we are leaving tonight for our trek to FL I had to get these pics up for everyone to see. Winnie played in the snow for about 15min...haha. She liked to eat it, stand in it, kick her feet in it and wasn't too happy about laying in it. Needless to say she made her first snow angel and then we headed back inside.

After all the fun outside, she spilled some hot chocolate on herself....mommy and daddy weren't too smart about putting it within her reach. Poor thing has a little red mark on her arm and we feel horrible!!

Our Steelers Fan and Unexpected Snow...

2009-01-20T08:57:00.003-05:00

Sunday night as we were playing I remembered that Winnie had a Steeler jersey shirt to wear for the big game (a hand-me-down from her cousins)....so we decked her out as "Sporty Winnie" with her shirt and first ponytail. Lately when we put a bow in her hair she pulls out and hands it to us...but this girl couldn't get the ponytail holder out this time! She got to see the beginning of the big game and may have given those Steelers some good luck (sorry family who was rooting for the Ravens!!).

This morning we woke up to SNOW!! We are excited to see the white stuff and hoping to get out to play in it soon....BUT we are sad too as we are driving to FL tonight! YES, driving to FL tonight...gosh I hope the roads are clearer by the time we leave. I have butterflies in my tummy as I look forward to getting on the road...and our cruise on Thursday gets even closer.

And this is the vehicle thats going to get us there...

Celebrating 80s style with Paula...

2009-01-13T10:54:00.003-05:00

Saturday night about 12 of us went all out 80s style to celebrate Paula's 30th birthday! We all met up at California Pizza Kitchen (at the mall) hoping that everyone else had dressed up... On our walk in and while we stood waiting for a big table we got stares, snickers and even a laugh from a child walking past. It was fun to see how everyone dressed and how daring they were. The birthday girl, Paula, totally looked like Cyndi Lauper with her hot pink sequence/ruffle dress and black lace glove. Jennifer was able to help her play the part with the hot pink microphone! We also had a singing waiter who used the microphone to sing some Michael Jackson and other hot 80s hits. The night's highlight was Todd surprising Paula with a surprise visit from her daughter Amelia, who was even dressed 80s with a jean jacket and red hot pants. Paula was so excited to see her daughter that she teared up with emotion. After dinner we headed over to Paula's for dessert...and watch Amelia rock! She loved all the attention as she spun around, sang and showed off her legwarmers. The funny thing is that Meredith had just worn those....so they were truly "one size fits all"...haha.

What a fun night to celebrate with Paula! As you can see in the pics I dressed pretty tame... most of my outfit was bought at Target (like most others), crazy how things are coming back... never thought I would say that about legwarmers!!

Christmas Time....

2008-12-27T09:29:00.009-05:00

On Christmas Eve we went to our church for their service... Winnie usually goes in the nursery but we braved taking her into the main sanctuary for the entire hour, and she did great! We sat in the backrow with all the other parents with strollers, so she was all eyes watching people come in/out of service and the lights on stage. Winnie loves music and boy was it good, I truly enjoyed belting out the traditional Christmas hymns like my mom and I did years ago when we were in a Christmas show at our home church (boy was that fun!). Chuck gave an amazing message on why Christ came to earth and became man... 1. to relate 2. to rescue, he knows how to reach us so deeply... What a special night to honor our Lord Jesus Christ!

Winnie also had a blast showing off her new Christmas dress that Aunt Margie bought for her, if she could've twirled she would have!

We also had a chance to see good friends from our small group and their gorgeous children... here is Kristi with her girls, Emma and Hannah (I was sad I couldn't get one of them both looking at the camera with their mommy).

This is how our Christmas tree looked on Christmas Eve after Winnie went to bed...there were finally presents under the tree in preparation for the next morning.

Before heading to bed I got the cinnamon rolls all made for Christmas morning...

On Christmas morning I brought Winnie down and she was excited to see all the new toys and gifts under the tree. We captured her excitement on the video camera, so excited to watch it! One of her favorite gifts (even as I blog) is her new shopping cart...it goes everwhere downstairs, back and forth from the living room to kitchen.

Here is Tom trying on his new crocs and croc hat...Winnie didn't know what to think

The purse and little people farm were two of her other favorite gifts, she carries around the lipstick from the purse...its even helping her stand on her own (puts all her effort into holding it near her mouth!).

Our sweet neighbors, the McKinney's, surprised us on our doorstop early (with all the family in tow) so we returned the favor by stopping by after naptime.... Little Noah just slept away, while Eden and Winnie played on their buggies.

Even Eden's Uncle Brad wanted a ride in the big kid wagon.
After playing it was time to finish up dinner and eat, and eat we did! Everything was super good and we got in some more quality time with our friends, the Murphy's.

Now that Christmas was over it was time to prepare for the day after Christmas sales... Mom and I were up early and headed out to Crate and Barrel for their HUGE sale! We were about 100-120 people deep in the line and still ended up getting in on the first round, woohoo! I totally had my camera and forgot to snap some pictures of the craziness ;-( We girls did good though... lots of linens for the table and pillows, and of course gifts for next year (even picked up a few things for friends). We headed onto Ulta, Target, Kohl's and TJMaxx... by the time we got home my feet were throbbing and ready to relax. Tom headed out to the movies with a friend so mom and I pampered ourselves girl style to some Mamma Mia....a little pedi and manicure to end the day!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas in celebrating our Lord's arrival and looking forward to starting the New Year out on the right foot....

Christmas Is Around The Corner...

2008-12-23T10:17:00.009-05:00

Our home has been decorated for a few weeks now and every day my stomach jumps with excitement that Christmas is only a few days away!! Yes, on Christmas morning I do get excited like a little kid and wake everyone up to come open presents....sometimes too early for my family's liking. This year we've held off putting gifts under our tree, as I'm dying to see Winnie's reaction when its filled Christmas morning...we will see. She will probably come down like any other morning and not even notice the tree or presents...haha! Regardless its a moment that I cannot wait to share with her and also watch her play with the gift wrap, as its clearly more exciting than the toys.

Last night we headed to the mall to have Winnie tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas.... well this year was VERY different than last. She fell asleep in his arms last year and cuddled right up to him...this year she cried.... it was so sad that she was scared of him (should've known better!). We have Santas all over the house, did I mention that I collect them last post? So, I thought she had seen a lot of him and would be ready for the visit....well I guessed wrong. Guess we will wait a few more years for her to sit on his lap, oh well.

Here is my collection (not shrine, as Tom likes to call it) of Santas....my family and friends love to surprise me with them every year, and I love it!
Here are a few pics from our last few weeks....dinners with friends, visits from family....

Dinner with the Vallecorse's....Winnie and Samuel had so much fun playing together....

Dinner with the Christner's....its so cute hearing Ben talk, what a cutie!

Dinner out with Amy & Amanda...at our fav place, Cheesecake Factory!

Dinner with the Mumford's...BFFs Winnie & Caroline are growing up so fast!!

Quick visit from Jennifer & the boys....we opened our gifts for each other the next morning and it turned into a "Snowball fight" of giftwrap, the boys had so much fun!! Thanks again Jennifer for taking all our gifts up north to the family!!

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas with your family!!

Top 10 Things We've Done Lately....

2008-12-11T23:42:00.008-05:00

Ok Ok so I am finally getting some grief for not being an active blogger... so I need to play some catch-up...hence the "Top 10 Things We've Done Lately"....

1. PSU game - We headed to Happy Valley the weekend before Thanksgiving for the PSU vs MSU football game. It was a fun weekend with our friends Ben & Pam (who are MSU fans) and drove in from Michigan after being in Cancun for a week (what die hard fans!).

Pam & I before the game (notice the layers!!)

The strangest thing was renting rooms in a home, in my hometown...so strange... Our host was super nice and even let us tailgate with he and his friends before the game. Oh another first, it snowed the beginning of the game...I've never watched a game in Beaver Stadium in the snow, how cool...or I mean COLD (haha)!

2. Outlet shopping - Oh yes, I LOVE shopping but especially LOVE outlet shopping. We didn't find a ton, well except for the jackpot at the Pfaltzgraff store that is closing.

3. Spending time with family - We traveled from MD the Thurs before Thanksgiving to drop Winnie off at my mom's for the weekend. It was the first time we've left our daughter with anyone longer than a few hours, and she did great (so did Nain!)! I loved the calls from my mom as she struggled to open our stroller while taking Winnie out and about. We headed onto West Newton next to visit with Mom Jones, Margie & David..and the rest of the family as they all came in for turkey. While Tom & I worked remote Winnie was entertained by her Grandma, she loved all the attention!! Between conference calls Tom took some time to re-carpet his mom's stairs as a belated birthday gift, they turned out awesome!

4. Thanksgiving @ Aunt Mary Ann's - Thanksgiving at my Aunt's is a long-standing tradition and an event I always look forward to. There are only a few times a year that we see all this family, and this year there were 16 of us. Every year I am amazed at how fast all the kids are growing up (including my brother & I) and how our time together doesn't change....the guys all talk about football and hunting, while the women congegrate in the kitchen fixin' their contribution to the meal (wow I just said "fixin" on my own...have I turned southern??). This was Winnie's first year and she LOVED all the food, and of course the attention (is there a theme here...haha), especially playing with her cousin Treyson.

5. Birthday parties -- On Wed night we had a joint birthday party for Winnie & our nephew Landon which was a blast, half the room was decorated Princess and the other half Transformers....too fun! Mom Jones & Margie went all out on the decorations and food, everything was perfect!Winnie was even more daring with eating her smash cake, at one point she even smashed her whole face into the cake...hilarious!!

This past weekend we celebrated Ben & Preston's 2nd birthdays too... like I said before its that time of year around here! Both boys had a blast playing and were all eyes opening their gifts.

6. Giving Christmas to a family - Every year our couple's small group from church adopts a family for Christmas, buying each member clothes, toys and household items. This year we adopted a family of 4 (mom & 3 kids). Once we all have our gifts we have a small Christmas party to fellowship and wrap all the gifts together. Its been a great way for our group to come together as a family and so much fun!! Can't wait to deliver the gifts to the family next Sunday...

7. Black Friday shopping - Oh yes, I'm one of those people! My mom and I were up at 5:30am to get ready to shop till we dropped (literally!). We were at Wal-Mart by 6:15am and able to get a few of the deals we were looking for (the other I found the next day), and then off to our favorite stores in PA, Gabriel Brothers and Ollie's. Both of these stores are bargain places... they have namebrand items for cheap, I got a Gap long sleeve shirt for $3 this time and it made my day! I wish I would've taken my camera with me....bummer.

8. Cookie exchange - Last night we had our Annual WBS (Women's Bible Study) cookie exchange...where we bring a batch of cookies to share with everyone. This year was no different, we had a ton of cookies and were able to fellowship, hear a message from Debbie and pack our tins with cookies to bring home (to our families). I'm all about traditions and this is one that I LOVE, not just for the cookies but the great girlfriends that I thank God for!!

9. Decorating for Christmas - Oh do I love getting our home ready for Christmas. This past weekend we were up early on Sat morning (mostly b/c I messed up when I had my haircut) so we headed out to do some Christmas shopping and then over to Lowe's to get our tree. By Saturday evening we had our tree up and decorated, and decided that for next year we are investing in the tree stand that is easier to straighten your tree...it took us forever to get our darn tree straight!! So now the lights are out front and the Santa's all out.... I collect Santa's and kind of geting annoyed of my hubby calling my buffet table the "Santa Shrine"! I love putting them all out and remember who gave them to me.

10. Seeing Heba & Ed - While we were at the Crabtree mall last weekend we ran into some celebs (if you could call them that)...maybe reality tv celebs... Heba & Ed from this season of Biggest Loser. All I have to say is they look AMAZING! Next Tues night is the season finale and I think America will be surprised at how much weight they have both lost. They are both in the finale but unfortunately America has to vote on which stays in the competition for the final 3... of course Ed is a gentleman and asked everyone to vote for his wife (what a sweetheart!). All day though I did kick myself that I didn't tell them how good they looked... Heba definitely knew I had spotted her as I was hitting Tom with excitment.

Alright, thats a wrap....promise to be better about my bloggin'!!

Look what showed up on my doorstep...

2008-12-07T14:28:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I met the mailman at the mailbox as I had a good instinct that he was going to deliver my blog swap gift..and sure enough he had it!!! It was like Christmas morning as I tore open the box to see what Suzanne had sent me. She was very thoughtful with this gift... She sent me a $5 Starbucks card (cannot wait to use!!), a mug, Glade apple scented candle, fun penguin handsoap dispenser with apple soap, apple lotion, a snowman ornament with Winnie's name (LOVE it!) and an Elmo Christmas book to read to Winnie. Everything was very festive for the Christmas season and now that I took a picture I can start to use everything.

Thanks again Suzanne!! What a fun blog swap...thanks Donna for pulling it all together!

We are thankful....

2008-11-26T09:57:00.003-05:00

Thought this was a great idea from Nancy (a blogging friend)...what a way to get in the season!

Psalm 100 (New International Version)

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

We are thankful for....

our Lord Jesus Christ for so many things

our health

our sweet little girl Bronwyn (Winnie)

each other

a place to call home

our family near and far

good friends

our couple's small group

the high school kids we minister to

our church (Crossroads Fellowship)

the country we live in

and IBM...may be a challenging place to work but it pays the bills and we did meet there!

Hope everyone has a nice Thankgiving with their family and friends. We are in PA visiting Tom's family and headed to my Aunt's home tomorrow for the rest of the week. Hopefully I have enough energy to post a long blog about our 10day trip up north...

...and Winnie turns 1 !!!

2008-11-17T22:11:00.008-05:00

Friday was our little Bronwyn (Winnie) Ruth 1st birthday!! We took the day off to spend time as a family around the house (in the rain) and get prepared for the big birthday party on Saturday morning. Thursday evening Tom & I went through the events that led up to Winnie entering the world.... from my water breaking at 3am, trying to fit in a McDonald's breakfast on the way to the hospital and finding out it was closed.... to pushing for 2 hours straight! I'm not a mushy person but thinking about our little girl's life for the past year brings tears to my eyes... She is such a blessing to us and it is hard to remember our life without her.

After she opened up the gifts from us and "Uncle" Ben & "Aunt" Pam we headed out to our favorite pizza place. We ordered a special pizza just for Winnie that had just a little sauce and lots of cheese....who knew a small would be soooo big! She loves carbs so her eyes were like saucers to see her very own pizza!!

Saturday was her BIG day to celebrate her birthday with good friends and a few family members (next week is another family birthday party)... With it raining we had to move the party to our good friends home, we were very thankful they opened it up to us (our home is just too small/awkward for 40 people!!). Over the past few weeks I've stressed about the decorations but all and all they turned out very cute.... teddy grahams and gummi bears in "hunny" pots (flower pots with hunny written on them), Winnie the Pooh decorations and a blow-up Winnie the Pooh (like the cheesy ones people put in their yards...no joke!). We really wanted someone to dress up like Winnie the Pooh and greet kids at the party...but seriously there were no outfits without the face showing (argh)!!

Proud Nain with her sweetie...

Winnie absolutely loved playing with her friends and of course dug right into her cake. She didn't waste too much time on eating the icing... Did I mention our friend Elizabeth made her awesome cake (same family who hosted)!! My cupcakes on the other hand tasted good but I will spare everyone on their appearance...haaha!

After Winnie's party we headed home to relax a bit and then get ready for our couple's small group Annual Thanksgiving dinner. Every year we look forward to this event....as usual the food was amazing and we so nice to catch up with everyone (current and extended members)....even with this group we were missing at least 4-5 families!!

Sunday after our family got on the road we went to another sweet girl's birthday...Presley. She was so cute in her little blue dress, enjoying being surrounded by family and friends.

Our 5yr Anniversary and Samuel turns 1....

2008-11-11T13:18:00.008-05:00

You know, time really flies when you are having fun...and thats all Tom and I've been doing the last 5 years! On November 8, 2003 I married the man of my dreams and best friend. He is an amazing man that has many talents and such a sweet personality. Over these 5 years we've grown incredibly close and know the ins and outs of each other so well....and thank heavens know how to laugh!! I feel very blessed that the Lord guided us through the storms so we could be together forever!!! I love you honey!! I'm SO looking forward to being away with you for a few days in January, as we set sail on the klove cruise!!!

On top of celebrating our Anniversary the Nov birthday bashs got started with Samuel turning 1 on Saturday. Again, where does the time go!! Amy pulled out all the strings to make her boys day extra special with his family, friends and lots of doggie decorations. He was such a cute birthday boy in his dog overalls and matching shoes, grinning ear to ear every time he heard the "Happy Birthday...." song. We had a blast celebrating his big day with him....and thanks again for the kitty ears, Winnie wants to wear them all the time (silly girl!!)!
The doggie and his 3 kittens... Winnie sporting the kitty ears....too cute!

Happy Halloween...

2008-10-31T23:18:00.005-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a busy day and very special evening... All month we've passed the pumpkinpatch down the street from our home and as today got closer I got more worried we wouldn't make it there for a few shots of Winnie with some pumpkins. We rushed there after work to ensure we could capture the moment...Winnie had fun playing with the pumpkins and loved the gourds!

She loves pointing at things...

When we got home she was excited to have a package and some cards from loved ones. The bear in pumpkin suit was adorable Grandma Jones, she wanted to play with it as soon as she saw it, oh and it had to eat dinner with her (thanks!!). After she ate dinner and I finished making a buffalo chicken dip we walked across the street to our annual neighborhood Halloween bash. Jennifer & Andrew's home was decorated with an inflatable scray character (not sure what else to call "it"), fire pit and canopy covering the food (which does say UNC not PSU!!). We all lined up our trick or treat candy against the fence and spent the rest of the evening catching up with neighbors. All the munchkins looked adorable in their costumes and I forgot how many little ones we had in the Village.

Winnie couldn't get over Princess Eden... Stephanie & I traded places this year, I had the (almost) one year old and she was pregnant!The get-up....all the trick or treaters wanted to come party with us! (Donna - this is the house I was going to send you but they put it up too late!)Little Brooks didn't know what to think of it...what a cute cowboy!!
Hope your evening was filled with lots of goodies and keepsake moments!!

Enjoying the Fall...

2008-10-26T22:26:00.006-04:00

Our weekend officially started on Thursday with an annual trip to the NC State Fair with good friends. This year we rushed to the fair after work and spent the evening eating yummy fair food (that corn on the cob was awesome!), introducing Winnie to lots of farm animals and making memories with friends. One night at the fair is usually enough but there was a lot to fit in with such little time before we had to get Miss Winnie home for bed. (Amanda- sorry we didn't get a pic visiting you at the lot!!)

Us girls...me, Kristi and Elizabeth loving our corn!

Ben enjoying his ice cream!

Mom - this is for you....a contest you could enter...cooking contest and there were LOTS of angel food cakes on display!
On Friday night we had visitors come to town...my brother Eben and his girlfriend Julia. We were excited to finally meet Julia and show them around Raleigh. We started Saturday off with pancakes...Winnie's first taste and boy did she LOVE them! The rest of the afternoon we toured around downtown and they went off to see Chapel Hill for themselves. The highlight of the day was watching PSU beat OSU....it was sort of a boring game but one turnover set the pace for an awesome win! Thanks again Stephanie, Matt & Eden for watching Winnie so we could go out to cheer on the Nittany Lions!!

Winnie wore her PSU cheerleading outfit to church today to rub it in that we had beat our Youth Pastor's fav team OSU!! This made for some great photo opps when we got home!

Eben & Julia with Miss Winnie

Our weekend ended with a Fall Festival at Hope church with our good friends the Vallecorse's. We had a blast dressing our munchkins in their Halloween costumes...and they were such good sports! We may not be able to trick-or-treat with the V's but this was much more fun!!

While Amy and I were getting some cotton candy, Brian spotted a little white thing in Winnie's smile... a TOOTH!!! YAH!! We've been waiting months for this day!!!

She was a pro riding the horse...

What sweet babes these two are...who knew a cow and bumblebee could be so darn cute!!!

Luv Ya Lions!

2008-10-20T23:46:00.005-04:00

This past weekend we headed to Happy Valley for the big Homecoming game against our rival Michigan! All week I could picture us heading into State College, showing Winnie all over my hometown and favorite spots. We drove up to MD on Thursday night to stay with my mom & Tony to ensure we could get into State College in time for the Homecoming parade. We got to the parade just in time to bundle up and find our spot on the road to see the festivities. The parade was its usual...crazy floats by the fraternity/sorority duos, random college clubs, bands, random cars and oh of course many dance teams. They did limit out the fire trucks from every surrounding town, local business owners sitting on a convertible and kiddios twirling their battons....darn!! It felt good to hear the Blue Band and get us all ready for the game Saturday!
We were a little late setting up our tailgate Saturday...life is a little different with a little one. Again it was freezing out but we had to get pics of the Penn State fans with all our gear on. Winnie was amazed at all the people and couldn't believe how cold it was!As soon as the pics were taken Winnie was getting layers upon layers put on...can't believe she was even able to move after putting jeans over her knit tights, poor thing. While the adults busted into the buffalo chicken dip she had all her toys out on the blanket, making it just like home. After while Georgia, Treyson & Carol found us....and hung-out for awhile till we got ready to head into the game. Georgia & Trey were so sweet to watch Winnie for us! Throughout the whole game they were sending me texts of how she was doing.....she just loves her cousin Trey and giggles everytime he looks at her (can't wait for them to play more at Thanksgiving!).

The Nittany Lions didn't disappoint...the first half was a little rocky but they pulled off an awesome win over Michigan!! After the game Tom and I couldn't resist Damon's...so snuck in a quick date.

Before we headed out of town we stopped by the Pringle's home in Bellefonte. Heather and I were good friends in a high school...it was so fun to get our girls together for a playdate! Oh have times have changed since high school!A little slideshow of the weekend..

Little IBM beatbox...

2008-10-09T14:04:00.001-04:00

Too funny...this beatbox is on the products I forecast WW...

Par-Tays...

2008-10-06T23:13:00.006-04:00

The birthday season has arrived... These next few weeks there will be LOTS of birthday parties to blog about.

Two weekends ago we had Connor's 2nd birthday party at a park in the area. He loved having an Elmo birthday party with all his friends...The kiddos loved being outdoors, going down the slides and swinging. Its fun watching the kids interact with each other as they around each other more often...

Winnie tried out the swing and was hanging on for dear-life...

Caroline on for a ride too...what a cutie!
Stephanie, Liz, I and Winnie...

Winnie sort of "tried" the slide...she sat on the bottom of it, does that count?

Matt on the other hand went down the slide...cracked rib and all!!

This past weekend was a busy one... Eden's 2nd birthday party was on Saturday morning at another park in the area and then we had a special baby shower for Stephanie and Noah (No No, as Eden calls him). The McKinney's (Stephanie, Matt & Eden) are such sweet friends, neighbors and family...we loved being able to celebrate with them all weekend!

Eden's Grandma Gigi made this Nemo cake for the birthday girl...

Eden "blowing" out her candle...

Stephanie's dad, OG shared his hat with Winnie-Boo...what a fun cowgirl!

After a few hours we sent the kiddos home for naps and stayed at the park for Stephanie's baby shower... Liz made these yummy cookie pies spelling out little Noah's name!

and these adorable table decorations...fun little Noah's Ark theme...

There is the proud momma showing how big Noah is in her belly...

Amy brought Samuel to the shower...he was so proud of himself for climbing the stairs...what a fun little boy.

A BIG Thank You

2008-10-03T08:35:00.004-04:00

This BIG Thank You goes to Winnie's Grandma Jones.... THANK YOU so much for the car seat!! We ended up ordering the cow print one online and were surprised that it was already on our door step last evening! Winnie wanted to try it out last night and LOVED it! She was sitting in it in the living room, looked like it was her recliner as she read her book. Looking forward to putting it in the car today. This mom is excited as it will be SO much easier to get her in/out and won't worry that she wasn't protected any more in the other one as she outgrew it. THANK YOU again!!!!!

Winnie is into pointing at everything now! She loves to point at the pictures in her books and people, too cute!

Gratitude Campaign...

2008-09-25T11:06:00.002-04:00

What a great way to say "Thank You" to our troops...

Summer is over....

2008-09-23T14:04:00.005-04:00

Wow, its been FOREVER since I've posted something..... sorry blog fans (if I have any left, hehe)!!

The summer is officially over, we just got back from our last beach trip of the summer...so sad. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE autumn, BUT there is nothing like relaxing by the pool or on the beach with your feet in the sand!! Time for vests though, YAH!!!

We had a blast at the beach this past week with my mom & Tony. We rented a home in North Topsail Island, NC...which had great perks and was CHEAP! Everyday we would wake up around 7ish (with Winnie as our alarm clock) and be down to the beach by 9am. Winnie couldn't get enough of playing in her blow-up pool at the beach, with her bath toys surrounding her in the salt water. Still everytime we would put her feet into the ocean she would cry and pick her legs up like she was a sitting.

(can you see the fish in this pic...look at the top of the wave!)Oh well, maybe next year she will like it! After her afternoon nap we would take her into the pool to swim a bit.

There were only 2 days that were overcast/chilly/rainy but we filled them up with shopping! I actually got a few Christmas gifts purchased, thank heavens. Every night we ate well... of course we set-up a schedule before we went and enjoyed relaxing when it was the others turn. Tues we went down to the local seafood market, next to Surf City Crab, and got clams and shrimp...it was my turn to make dinner, Clam Linguini! It was absolutely delish!
On Wednesday we went back down to the seafood market and came home with a dozen and 1/2 crabs....they were only $18/dozen!! We couldn't believe they were soooo cheap and large! Tony had gone crabbing earlier in the day and came home with 3 of his own to add to the pile. (Did I mention the neighborhood had its own fishing dock...Tony had a blast fishing all week!) My mom was hilarious as she wouldn't cook them (since they were alive and all), so Tony & I took care of dinner that night!!They were some of the best crabs that I've had...and that says a LOT! Friday night we were suppose to have burgers/dogs....but were all craving the crabs again.... Mom and I were sad when we stopped in at the market and someone had just bought 6 dozen, leaving only a few little guys, darn! So, we bought flounder and shrimp instead! It was the first beach trip that we ate almost everything in the fridge, with no leftovers to spare.After all that fun we brought Winnie home sick.... When we got home and took her out of the carseat she seemed a little warm but just thought she was filling the seat more and getting too warm. She was still warm after a little bit so I took her temp... 103.1!!!! YIKES she really was sick! So, we took Liz's advice...gave her a cool bath and some ibuprofen. Her temp went up and down all weekend, which meant she/I were going nowhere....I got a lot of cleaning around the house done!! Monday morning we took her to the docs and he said her throat/tonsils were all swollen and she even had blisters in there!! Poor little thing... Now today her temp has gone down some more but she is sleeping an awful lot, hope she is 100% by this weekend....we have family coming to visit!

Which reminds me..... the bonus room is almost complete!! Tom worked late last night caulking the baseboards and we are going to start organizing our stuff in there tonight!! I'm SOOOOO excited!!!

Priceless...

2008-09-04T11:33:00.003-04:00

This moment was priceless last night...had to share... Piper Palin fixing her brother's hair.

Busy Weekend...

2008-09-02T22:05:00.005-04:00

Our Labor Day weekend was a busy one.... Friday I had a chance to enjoy the outdoors with Winnie, we sat under our birch tree and played on a blanket. This is always something I looked forward to, so I enjoyed every minute of it. Now that she is sitting up so well she was excited to play with balls... time to get her a soccer ball!!

In the early evening Tom's sister, Mandy, came to visit and help us get the bonus room done. Once we put her to bed Tom, Mandy & I cleaned the bonus room, ridding it of all the dust from the drywall insulation..fun fun.

I awoke Saturday morning with a horrible sore throat (darn dust!) and Winnie/I were off to get her 9month pics taken. She did pretty good and they were able to capture a few good shots... I'm sure it will get harder and harder as she learns to walk. While we were out and about Tom & Mandy worked very hard in the bonus room....priming and painting the walls and trim. By Sunday afternoon they had the first coat of blue paint on the walls...so exciting!! On Monday they finished up the painting and installing the trim throughout the room. There is NO way the room would've gotten that far without Mandy's help this weekend...she is such a hard worker and we were so greatful that she came to help!!! Here is a look at their progress...

The carpet guy came tonight, hopefully we can get it installed in the next week or two....

On the go...

2008-08-27T12:53:00.004-04:00

Where has the time gone.... Winnie turned 9 months on the 14th and is now on the go. On Monday she had her 9mos check-up and weighed 18lbs 6oz, and was 27in long....both in the lower %s (maybe she will take after her mommy and Nain). This past Saturday she started crawling forward and hasn't looked back since...loving to explore and get in trouble. Time to baby-proof the house!!

Here she is on the move... (poor girl, I should've put her in some comfy pants!)

Playing Catch-up...

2008-08-24T23:18:00.010-04:00

WOW, there is SO much to catch-up on...its been awhile since I've been on here, but here goes nothing... WARNING: this is a LONG post...

Two weekends ago we went to PA to visit Tom's family and celebrate our nephew, Ben's birthday at Idewild Park and a party. We had a blast at Idewild, enjoying rides and the usual fair food... I think Landon had ice cream twice that day! The boys went from ride to ride in kiddie land, their favorite was the bumper cars and planes. Winnie liked Storybook Forest where each childhood nursery rhyme/story was depicted....so cute to walk through and read the story as you go. I can remember going through it as a child too!

On Saturday we celebrated Ben's 3rd birthday a few weeks early.... He was so excited when he opened up his big present and it was a vacuum cleaner....yes, no joke a vacuum... It was a Hoover and actually does pick up stuff!! Now he can truly clean at home for his mom, what a big helper!! Winnie loved meeting her Aunt Shelby and Aunt Cheryl, they were tickled with her too!

We got home from PA Sunday night and I turned around and went to NY on Tuesday evening for work. I had a great opportunity to join some other early career IBMers for 2 days, meeting with IBM Executives and trip into the city. Wed night we walked through the UN then had a nice dinner near Time Square. Hard to walk away not fired up!! I couldn't get a flight home early, so on Thursday I drove up to CT to see my good friends (the McGowan's), the area and eat some lobster. If you are ever in Westbrook, CT (just 20min up 95 from New Haven) you have to eat at Lenny & Joe's Fishtale restaurant...they have amazing pulled lobster in butter sauce. I devored mine while sitting alone, which was hard as I kept wanting to talk to everyone around me...I don't know how people do it....guess I could've brought a book like the older man in the booth next to me. Before I headed to see the McGowan's I went up to see my old friend, Jim's mom. I was a little worried that I would remember her home but luckily I passed her walking the dog...small world! We had a good time catching up, she is such a sweet woman. After our time together I finally headed over to the McGowans, practically running up to the front door to see Alicia and her brother J.P. Its been 8-9 years since I've seen J.P. and can't believe how much he has grown up!! That evening we sat on the back deck catching up and then off to dinner...of course I had lobster again (in a salad). Oh, Ilona works for a start-up company that makes all-natural products, check them out... http://www.seasidenaturals.com/ .

Friday I headed home and on Saturday we had a full day....fixing/replacing/washing the vinyl white picket fences in our neighborhood. What a task! The best part of the day was watching the boys help out, especially this one, Izak... he hung out with Tom all day...

Eden was a big help too!!

One last update...the bonus room is coming together quite nicely. While I was gone the sheet rock (walls) were installed and now it resembles a room. Hopefully this weekend we can start the trim and paint...cannot wait till its all done! Here are some before and after shots...

And, for those who read the whole blog some final exciting news.....On Saturday Winnie sat up on her own (to my amasement and worry in the crib!....the lady who watches her during the day said she started doing it there a week or so ago) and took her first forward crawls!! Check back soon for some videos of her in action...

Push-ups?...

2008-08-13T12:30:00.003-04:00

Winnie has a new trick that she unveiled last night...sort of looks like she is getting ready to do a push-up. (Sorry the pic is a little blurry, it was hard to capture this moment as my camera battery was dying.) She really does want to move so maybe her push-ups are only making her arms and legs stronger...Thanks mom for the cute "Winnie" hat, she is so cute wearing it! Glad she can grow into it a little bit and she can wear it at the beach in Sept!! (oops- the string is up in it, argh...)

We Passed!

2008-08-12T13:50:00.001-04:00

Good news, we passed the insulation inspection...wooohooo. They are coming next week to hang the drywall!! PTL that I will be out of town during all that craziness, would stress me OUT!

She's Gotta New Do & Insulation In...

2008-08-11T11:00:00.009-04:00

I couldn't take it any longer....Winnie couldn't wait 3 more months for a haircut! The poor girl had three different shades of hair, all very distinctly different, and was mostly all up top. So, this weekend my mom and I took her to get her first do!

Here is a look back at her hair since birth...the change is outstanding!

Her hair at birth....she practically looked oriental with her dark dark hair...

She had curls galore when her hair was wet...

Here she is on Friday....don't let her fool you, she is "trying" to crawl but hasn't moved from the crawl position....she has other ways to get around and does...(check out that hair!)

Getting her new do...she was such a sweet girl sitting in the chair...her hair before snip snip...

Check her out....hehe...we couldn't believe how light her hair really is...what a difference!!
While us girls were out and about, Tom & Tony worked really hard in the bonus room putting in the last of the insulation.

The boys were so happy to their wings, nachos, ribs, etc on Sat night!! Thanks Tony for all your help!! Mom, thanks for all your help with the draperies!!

The drywall is going up in the bonus room next week!!

A few facts about me...

2008-07-30T10:04:00.002-04:00

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and posting a few facts about me... Tom and I have laughed all morning about what to add, so some of these may be embarrassing!

1. I'm very visual....can sense directions by their surroundings, notice when candy is missing (oh yes Tom- I catch you all the time!), and everything has their "place" at our home

2. Hate cleaning the house because I have to do it ALL (the whole house) at one time, can't stand to have the bathroom clean and not the bedroom, etc.

3. Really didn't think I would breastfeed Winnie this long and still shocked that I even do it at work!! Trust me though, I won't do it a day after she turns 1 (memories of the lady at the kids exchange sale b.feeding her 3yr old daughter still bring me nightmares!!)!

4. I am very scared of the unknown and death...and can remember the first time I thought about actually dying (at my Grandma Saylor's home in her living room) and have to kick Satan out of my head everytime the thought comes up.

5. On a better note... I LOVE checking the mail!! I race out after the mailman pulls away!

6. As a child I really wanted glasses and braces, and would definitely try and make my own retainer out of paperclips. Unfortunately, now I wear glasses/contacts and on my second round of braces (thank heavens for invisalign!).

7. I am following my mom's footsteps in loving to cook...and hating to bake. I really do try to bake but 2/5 tries fail.

8. Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies and get so excited to see how my hydrangeas are growing!

9. I grew up on a farm and really took it all for granted. Wish I had horses now....but would probably still try to get out of scooping manur, like I did as a kid (sorry Eben and mom!).

10. When I was a kid we had a goose Jake and he would chase us around the farm. He didn't last very long....can't recall but I think we ate him...haha.

11. Walked 1/2 mile up-hill everyday after the bus dropped us off. Would run home most days b/c Eben would chase me with something or on an embarrasing note, I had to poop (haha- one day I didn't make it and did the deed on the front stoop while opening the front door).

12. I LOVE the beach BUT hate the sand, it gets everywhere!!

13. I'm an open book (#11 case in point) and will talk about (almost) everything.

14. Shopping makes me happy, especially a good sale...and when I get home I can't wait to wear the new piece of clothing and will before it gets washed.

15. Oh, I hate confrontation and still regret my confrontation with Michelle Drenning in high school... maybe I should apologize after all these years, we are friends on facebook...hmm.

16. I love calendars and schedules, my palm desktop is always open and can't wait to plan a date/trip in advance.

17. In the morning I walk around the house barely clothed and sometimes have to duck behind things if Tom has already opened the blinds (entry by Tom, it drives him crazy!).

18. Love taking pictures and always looking for the "perfect" shot. Really need to sign-up for some photo classes asap!

19. Really hate to be by myself (always have).

20. In high school I was the girl on the track team who would match her entire outfit...oh yes, shirt, tights, windbreaker, and shoes! I still do love me some "matchy matchy"!!

21. I must wash/dry/curl my hair everyday....my hair is like corn silks if not.

22. I'm always singing in the car (which Tom loves) and sometimes will get caught making up the words.

23. At 9 I found out that I have a half-sister, Kristen, who I met then once.....and she still doesn't want to know my family (or my dad's). Weird thing is that we look a LOT alike.

24. I have a passion for Jr High girls walk with Christ and am terrified of moving up with my girls to High school this year!!

25. You'll never see me jump in a pool, for some reason I torture myself wading in and usually only go up to my chest.

Alright, that wasn't too hard....hoping someone actually reads that...haha.

A Visit, A Wedding and Lots of Miles...

2008-07-29T10:50:00.004-04:00

This past Thursday the Jones' embarked on a long trip to the north... We put Winnie to bed in her carseat and headed out to start our journey. A speeding ticket, lots of coffee and 11 hours later we arrived at Josh & Emily's home in Fort Wayne, Indiana tuckered out. Oh yes, I got a speeding ticket in Virginia...grrr...supposively I was going 76 in a 65 but I KNOW I wasn't, the truck in FRONT of us WAS (can you tell this is still a sensitive topic!!)! It was the early morning when we arrived so Tom headed to bed and I got Winnie ready for the day. She was excited to meet Josh, Emily and their cats....squeeling everytime they gave her attention. We spent the rest of the day touring around Fort Wayne and meeting Emily's parents (and dog, who I could've guessed..slobbered on me...to funny). One interesting fact about Fort Wayne is Vera Bradley's products are made very close, close enough that they have Vera Bradley only stores and hold an annual sale at the convention center (Emily- let me know if you go!). For dinner we headed to the much-talked about Flat Top restaurant...what a treat...we (like everyone else) thought it was yummy!

their home

Josh, Emily & Winnie

Early Saturday morning we piled into the truck and headed up to Grand Rapids, Michigan for Ben & Pam's wedding. After changing our clothes in the car and parking lot we jumped on the trolley to the wedding site. The wedding was very special...they both glowed with joy and emotions. Their love for each other was so apparent...

Ben did get all choked-up preparing to see his bride...

It's official!!

Saturday evening we headed downtown Grand Rapids to celebrate some more with Ben & Pam. Everyone enjoyed snacks and games...oh yes, Ben is a Guitar Hero fan so he entertained his friends with playing some music. What I loved most about the evening was watching the newleyweds truly enjoy each others company...even boxing on the Wii. While we stayed at Ben & Pam's house we got to know their crazy cats....I have NEVER seen a cat scale a wall as far as theirs!! Now I know what Ben talks about during our daily team meetings...

After grabbing some breakfast at a dive in Lowell we started our trek home. On our way we drove through East Lansing to check out the MSU campus and Ann Arbor to see Michigan. At the last minute we got in touch with some old friends, the Swenson's. Their daughter, Alissa, was in my WYLD Life group when I lived in State College and we were always very close. It was a treat to see Betty, Chuck & Kyle on our quick trip through...they are such loving people!

So, after hours of driving we arrived back in Raleigh at 4:30am Monday morning....and my Tommy was exhausted....

Bargains...Bargains...STEALS

2008-07-24T16:10:00.005-04:00

Wow, am I exhausted....what a morning! I could hardly sleep last night (only got 3-4 hours in) as my mind raced with thoughts of finding good deals today! Well, the Kids Exchange consignment sale did not disappoint!! When I got there at 8:30am the line was already about 200-300 people deep and these women were prepared! I couldn't resist taking these two pics of the get-ups they had to carry their goods... Good ideas for the next sale in January!

This was the scene....insane! There was stuff from wall to wall, and up to the ceiling! So overwhelming and SO fun!

Here is Stephanie with all of our clothes...in the shopping cart! These are HARD to come by so we were so excited when Jennifer snatched one on our first check-out. Oh yes, we checked out twice...first was all the toys and second was clothes. Ok, time to go pack to drive to Indiana tonight...

Baby Noah (in Stephanie's belly) was a good sport the whole trip...there is NO WAY I will take my children to that sale. We stood in front of a kranky one during the LONG 1 1/2 hr checkout line!!!

Ok, time to go pack to drive to Indiana tonight...

A "Who" and the Outer Banks

2008-07-22T21:22:00.005-04:00

We have a little "Who" in the house.... Last week while we were giving her a bath I tried to put her hair in mohawk, but it with the little curls at the ends she looks more like a "Who" (from the Grinch). She LOVES laying on her tummy so we can wash her backside, "kick kick kick" is one her favorites too!

This weekend we made a quick trip out to the Outer Banks to visit my Aunt Mary Ann and her family during their vacation. She had 4 of her 5 children there, along with their spouses and 6 grandchildren..... 16 in all!! With all the bedrooms taken, Tom and I pumped up our handy air mattress and set-up Winnie's pack 'n play in the laundry room (she slept so good all weekend!). Winnie finally got to meet some of her cousins and loves them so much.

On Sunday we enjoyed the pool and hot tub as the tropical storm fluttered in and out of the area (thankfully the storm didn't gain momentum). Winnie had so much fun kicking and splashing in the pool with Treyson. In the afternoon we set-out for a beach favorite...crabbing.... We came home with our nets empty but hopes that someday we will catch some! Sunday night we had a treat.... Tara and Boo made us all some Thai cuisine for dinner...absolutely amazing! Luckily the weather Monday was clear so we headed down to the beach with the family. Winnie had her first enounter and taste of sand.....she wasn't too sure what was on her hands at first, so decided to taste it...good thing we had some water near by! My cousin, Georgia, had an idea this year to have people do presentations to the group throughout the week. First up was my cousin, Stuart, who gave us a presentation of our ancestory. Tracing our family has always been on my "to do" list, so I was SO happy that he did it while we were visiting, he gave us hand-outs and all! Now I need to trace my dad's side....and talk to Uncle Chuckie about Tom's...

For only being at the beach for 2 days we sure did fit a LOT in and had some good QT with family. Winnie loves them all and it meant a lot to me that she finally got to meet her cousins. Some how she knew that Treyson was a kid and watched his every move... He wanted to hold her all the time and she would just curl up in his arms, even resting her head in the nook between his head and shoulder, adorable!!

Check out that hair....its getting so long! If only it would grow more on the sides, haha!

Fun Day At The Park...and 8 Months Old...

2008-07-14T22:37:00.007-04:00

Last night our couple's small group headed to Pullen Park.....it was a hot one but we all still enjoyed ourselves. We had 6 couples come out with their munchkins to fellowship. Once we finally found some good shade on the patio we let the kids play and had a chance to catch up. Of course the cookout was yummy....can't go wrong with burgers, dogs, salads/casseroles and dessert! After dinner we headed out to ride some rides. I had never been to this park and was pleasantly surprised that you could ride a train/carousel/boats for $1/person or play on their playground for free. Winnie and Caroline rode their first "real" ride...the train was first. On our way over to the carousel Winnie fell fast asleep in Tom's arms...of course I couldn't waste our tickets so we still got on the carousel. Still not sure how she slept through going round/round and up/down...she sure was tired.... (more pics to come)

Emma playing with her daddy...

The Mumford's....

The Wright's on the carousel...

Winnie asleep on her first carousel ride...how sweet is that!

How could I forget...Winnie turned 8 months old today!! She is growing so fast, its hard to keep up with (ah reminds me, I need to write in her baby book!!). Here are some pics of her this morning in her big girl pjs (tshirt and shorts). She was wild today, only slept 30mins for her afternoon nap at daycare, so didn't get any pics tonight...maybe tomorrow...

Just A Little Camping...

2008-07-07T21:54:00.005-04:00

On Friday we headed over to Falls Lake to camp....we were all so excited to get everything set-up and spend the weekend together. It took a few tries to get the tents (esp Mom & Tony, they were hilarious) up where we wanted and everything unpacked (literally truck-loads...haha...both Titans were packed). After being overheated from unpacking everything we headed down to the lake to take a dip. The kiddos loved playing in the water, and the boys tried to swim on their own a bit. After dinner the day changed drastically...the rain started. What a night of thunder, lightning and rain...lots of rain... Luckily we heard it coming and had a chance to throw everything in our tents and shelter. We had a rough night in the Jones tent as water started coming in the seams of our tent...oh yes....we moved everything into the middle of our tent hoping nothing would get wet. After moving so much around we woke Winnie up so she ended up in bed with us for the rest of the night. It was a special time having her sleep with us (first time too), she was so cute cuddling up to us and always having to touch one of us.The next morning we awoke to realize that not only was another bad storm coming but a lot of our stuff had gotten wet througout the night (and sadly ruined some of the board books I bought for Winnie at the sale last weekend). So we scrambled the next morning to make s'mores and take the boys on a boat ride before our camping trip came to an end. They LOVED their first s'mores!!Our camping didn't really end as we moved everything back to our home and "camped" out there together. The Lord worked through it all though....Tom ended up having to work on Sat and Sunday so was able to spend more time with us all being at home. He did have a break or two, this time he was grilling up our chicken kabobs for dinner, yum (hilarious- it was still raining Sat night!)...

Winnie is making some funny faces lately....here are a few....

On another note....

Argh, did Deanna (the Bachelorette)really chose Jessie!?! Man alive I hope it lasts!!

Hot Hot Cars...

2008-07-03T10:38:00.003-04:00

The Today show did a piece on this today and thought it was a great reminder to us all...scary stuff!! I remember hearing of the lady they speak of first when I was pregnant and it broke my heart. Its such an easy thing to do as we all get caught up in rushing around. When either Tom or I drop Winnie off at daycare on our own we check with the other to ensure we remembered to drop her off. I like their idea to put a teddy bear in the seat when she is not in there and put it in the front seat when she is there....may try it with one of her blankies or something.

Quality time...

2008-06-30T10:55:00.006-04:00

This past weekend was all about having quality time....

On Friday night we had a nice dinner out with our good friends, the Vallecorse's. Samuel and Winnie tried out their highchair covers and seemed to really love sitting up at the table. We always have a blast with the V's and cherish our time with them. After dinner we tried to put the kiddos in the grass to snap a few photos....it started raining and both weren't too sure about the grass!

On Saturday I spent a fun (busy) morning with a new friend, Kristi...she and her husband have joined our couple's small group and excited to get to know her better. She and I went to our church sidewalk sale and bonded over good deals! Seriously, they had toys/books/clothes $2 or less!!!! We both made out big time! Afterwards we headed back to her home so the girls could play together. Winnie loves watching Hannah and Emma walk and play!

All this for $19....including a Patsy Aiken dress!!Winnie loves her new toys, especially this book...and it was only a quarter!!

Sunday was an awesome day too.... One of the girls I used to lead was in town from Atlanta!! Christine moved there a few years ago when her dad got relocated. I absolutely LOVED seeing her and having some special time after church to catch-up and see where the Lord is leading her. She is an amazing woman of God and was so happy to hear she (still) has a heart to go to Africa someday. Her passion is to become a nurse and then go to Africa to serve the people who are hurting. This girl has got to get there!! Our time together was too short...and I miss her already!

Tom was busy in the bonus room all weekend...its coming together. Hoping we can the electrical and framing inspections this week...and PASS!!

Baby Babble...

2008-06-27T09:20:00.009-04:00

Everyday is a new day with Winnie, she is growing so fast and doing something new each day. Lately she is on her belly a whole lot more and trying to scooch around, mostly backwards. She continues to try and put her little legs under her butt so she can crawl but hasn't been able to yet. At daycare (Mary's home) she loves the walker and can move backwards about 3-4 feet.

This week she said "Mamamamama"!! My week was made!! She has always been a talker but only at home...even these videos were hard to get as she stops talking as soon as she sees the camera ;-(

The first video she shows us the skill of throwing your toys off the high chair tray...wonderful... time to teach her to keep them on the tray!! Look at those eyes...and even her hands say "I just did something I wasn't suppose to..."

Oh, haha, don't mind the conference calls in the background....our house is crazy in the mornings with us both having WW jobs.

Reminiscing & A Pool Party

2008-06-23T07:34:00.039-04:00

The Jones' weekend was a jam-packed filled one (surprise surprise). By Sunday we were ready to relax... Sunday morning we dressed Winnie in the dress that we bought when we found out that she was going to be a girl. It was a special time for Tom and I to reminisce about that day and realized that it was almost a year ago (we found out on June 25th last year)....too cool! She was absolutely adorable going to church wearing her little dress and one of the flower headbands that Mary made her. Those headbands are a hit..everyone commented on how cute and girly she looked! Our little girl is everything we dreamed of...from her relaxed, carefree personality to her hair swoop....we are taking in every moment with her!

In the afternoon we headed over to our friend's pool for a small group pool party and cookout. The Kern's ROCK and we loved fellowshipping in their backyard!! The kiddios were so fun, splashing in the pool together and playing on towels together. Emma and Connor loved being thrown in the air by their parents, they were all smiles. Emma (we have two) and Hannah the twins LOVE the pool and were having so much fun swimming around with their parents. I'm so excited that the Lord prompted me to bring an extra bathing suit for Winnie, as Kailey was able to borrow and jump in with her dad. Caroline and Winnie had a treat too, it was both of their first times in a pool (a real pool)! Both did awesome and practiced their "kick kick kick." Tom cooked up some yummy burgers/dogs and had them ready by the time the kiddos were done splashing. Luckily the Lord held off the rain, it started coming down as we were leaving!!

Birthday Boy....

2008-06-18T21:30:00.005-04:00

Today is Tom's 34th birthday (oops was that a secret, hehe)!!

Unfortunately he had to work on his birthday but we did get to (once again) celebrate with food...its becoming a trend. For lunch we had our buffalo chicken wraps (BCD -- we always have acronyms at IBM)....earlier I asked Tom what he wanted for lunch and he said "BCD of course, what else is there for lunch!" Now mind you this wrap is from our cafeteria at work but we eat it every Wednesday and its good! Again, for dinner I asked Tom what he wanted..and he said "Tony's Pizza"! Wow, is my husband low-maintenance or WHAT!?! Tony's Pizza is our fav pizza joint..their pizza is NY-style and so yummy! Before we headed to dinner we played with Winnie on our bed, practicing her sitting up and fake cough (seriously!). We tried to get the cough on video but she chicken'ed out when she saw the camera. Tom is so fun with Winnie, she loves him so much and can hardly take her eyes off him...he draws us girls in.... We love him SO much and hope this birthday was special and fun, being the first one to celebrate with his little girl, even if she fell asleep during his birthday dinner....

Oh, almost forgot...Winnie found Morpheus' tail tonight...oh yes, she put it in her mouth!! Don't think she will try that again for awhile...enough said.

Our Week At The Beach...

2008-06-16T21:20:00.013-04:00

Where do I start...there is so much to tell. We just got home from a very relaxing and fun week at Kure Beach with Tom's family. This was the first family beach trip (and Winnie's first time at the beach!) and we are already talking about going again next year, it was a blast. The whole family wasn't there but the house was perfect for the 13 of us who could make it. Kure Beach has a lot to offer....family atmosphere, lots of ice cream within walking distance, fishing pier (that you don't have to pay to walk on), amazing beach (that wasn't crowded at all), and nice rental homes.

Every day we would head down to the beach in the morning with the kiddos and let them splash in the ocean and kiddie pool. Winnie wasn't too sure about the ocean water, she cried every day until the last day. The pool though was a hit, she splish-splashed in there all morning with her bath toys and watched her cousins run back and forth to the ocean. Landon in the ocean with Uncle Dave...

We were pleasantly surprised that she would take short naps at the beach, the first day it was on a towel, the second day it was wrapped in a towel on my lap and everyday after that it was in her jogging stroller on our way down to the beach...crazy.

Each evening someone would take their turn at making dinner for the family, and boy were they yummy! It was so nice only having to cook one evening too! By Thursday we realized it wasn't going to rain so we skipped the sun in the morning to visit the aquarium (just 2miles down the road). There was plenty to see...the kids loved the alligators, horse-shoe crabs, jellyfish and all the fish.The boys and I practicing our "fish" faces...

Winnie loved cheesing it in her shades (thanks Josh & Emily!!)...

The whole week we all had such nice quality time with each other. Winnie loved being bounced from person to person, and the boys were great in delivering her toys wherever she was relaxing.

Before we left we had to celebrated Tom and Chuck's birthdays. Tom's family doesn't let a birthday pass without celebrating it together...

The week ended on a sweet note...we celebrated Tom being a father at home. It was very special for us to spend Father's Day together as a family.... we ate well and went to Tom's favorite place, Lowe's. I made his favorite dinner, Seafood Lasagna.....now I have only made this meal 3x since we've been married (its VERY time-consuming). He loved every bite, even if it was 10pm when he finally got to eat it (sorry honey!). I am so very thankful that my daughter is blessed with Tom as her da-da, he is absolutely wonderful with her....always playing with her, making sure she feels loved (calling her Princess is a norm) and teaching her new skills. My heart sings when I see Tom and Winnie spending time together.

Laundry basket & Senora Stinson's Retirement Party..

2008-06-02T22:40:00.005-04:00

So I took Amy's advice and put Winnie in a laundry basket to play....well, like I thought...she sat up for awhile then slipped to the bottom like a fish on its back. In the coming weeks she will probably LOVE it and will be great to put her in while I'm cooking dinner.

check out those rolls...

On Saturday night we went to Senora Stinson's (good friend, Amanda's mom) retirement party and had a blast. Sandra teaches Spanish so we celebrated surrounded by Mexican decorations and everyone dressed in spanish garb. She was completely surprised as she thought she was stopping in to see some 1983 alumni that were having their reunion....well they weren't there...hehe...all 200ish of us were there instead to celebrate with her. They brought Sandra in wearing handcuffs, that she had committed the crime of retiring...and she was put on "trial". They played a sweet video of her teaching and her loving husband, Billy, played her two songs that he wrote. The one song was so touching as it spoke of her being called to teaching and how the Lord now was telling her it was her time to rest....so touching and sentimental. The highlight of the night though was Amanda salsa dancing...she was amazing and made me miss our nights out together. Her partner twirled her, threw her between his legs, carried her and complimented her every move. What a fun night....

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures....

2008-05-31T14:35:00.005-04:00

Winnie had a blast this morning getting her 6month pictures taken. We were so pleased at how much she smiled and put up with us changing her clothes over and over again. Yesterday we played dress-up trying to figure out what she was going to wear for the pictures and at one point she looked at me thinking "mom, are we done yet?". Of course I was trying to find the "perfect" outfits to bring out her eyes, look good with the backgrounds and be sentimental...goodness! One of the outfits is the dress she wore for her baby dedication in March, and very sentimental (my Grandfather Saylor and mom both wore for their christenings). The little blue dress was mine as a child and she is actually wearing it backwards, it looked better (haha). She is also styling one of the headbands that Mary made her, too cute!! LOVE the beachy dress, my friend Jaime gave it to us at our baby shower.

Thankfully, they turned out awesome and the people there were super nice....

This is one of the funny ones, she was on her way off the chair...

Celebrating Memorial Day in PA...

2008-05-28T21:17:00.007-04:00

Winnie traveled to PA for the first time this past weekend and was such a trooper. We drove up on Friday and she slept about 90% of the ride (PTL!). We were so excited to introduce her to a lot of our family and she loved everyone (but did cry when my male cousins, Albert & Stuart, first held her...poor thing). My Aunt's house is like home and I had some of the best memories of my childhood at her home (I even called her Grandma as a kid, since all my cousins did).

Winnie with Cousin Albert's wife, Ellen

Cousin Albert holding Winnie for the first time...think she is a little upset...and Albert finds it funny!!

One of Cousin Stuart's doggies (either Blackjack or Gamble)...she is too cute!

On Saturday I woke with an amazing craving for pancakes and sausage... My Aunt Mary Ann makes the best pancakes and an all-time favorite when you visit her. Oh was I excited to have those for breakfast! After lunch we headed to some of our favorite places to shop....Gabriel Brothers and Ollie's!! Now if you have never been to these places I HIGHLY encourage you to visit some day and be prepared to find some deals. Gabriels sells clothes, shoes, housewares, etc and its hit or miss.... this time was a HIT....my mom & I found Ann Taylor Loft clothes for $5 a piece...no joke...$5 each!! I've gotten PB housewares there before too, very cool. Ollie's on the other hand sells housewares, food and books...very cheap. They have a HUGE section of Christian books, cookbooks and kids books.

My mom had her 45th high school reunion on Sat night so we grilled out with some family at my Aunt's house. Winnie was too cute starring at her cousin, Amy, during dinner...she was eyeing up her cheeseburger!
On Sunday after we put flowers at my Grandparents (and other family members) gravestones we had a visit from some of Tom's family. His mom, sister Mandy, Aunt Margie & Uncle David spent the afternoon with us, enjoying Aunt Mary Ann's back porch. Was so nice to visit with them unexpectedly...

Aunt Mary Ann's porch...so relaxing to sit out there...

On Monday we celebrated Memorial Day starting with a parade down their main street. Winnie was bounced around as everyone was excited to see her reactions to the band and people. She didn't even flinch when they shot the guns and the sweet girl even fell asleep on her way back to the house. We had an All-American lunch of grilled chicken, baked beans and macaroni salad!

Here she is with her Great-Aunt Mary Ann...

She loves her cousins, Ashley and Amy...they were so fun with her all weekend...
On our way home Monday we stopped in Woodbridge, VA for a little shopping at IKEA and a quick visit with our friends Stephanie, Tom & Ava. We've been dying for them to meet little Winnie! Ava was excited to see the baby and has gotten so big! We haven't seen them since our beach trip last Sept...way too long!

Wow that was a mouth-full....what a weekend!

A bear...A WHAT!!

2008-05-27T10:38:00.004-04:00

Our neighborhood was all over the news on Sunday when a bear, a real BEAR, was seen walking down our street...really OUR street!! They think it was a mother Black Bear and her cub that had gotten a bit lost. Luckily we were out of town, since we would've encountered this BEAR while we were leaving for church. Now our neighborhood is total suburbia with lawn care service and white picket fences...not the forest! After our neighborhood they were seen behind the Wal-Mart at Brier Creek, still not sure if they have found/caught them yet.

This blows my mind.... In the last picture he totally is headed to our house.

Our neighbors Mary & David captured the moment from their front porch... CRAZY!!!

YUM...

2008-05-18T23:12:00.005-04:00

Winnie had her first bites of real food this morning....

She wasn't too sure what mommy was mixing up but looked excited to find out...

This was after the first mouth-full, wasn't too sure what to think about it all.... After a few more tastes she was asking for more....
She was seriously fighting me for the spoon half way through....
See what a fight she put up....
I think "Winnie likes it!!!"

On Saturday we walked at the Relay for Life, but I forgot my camera battery... My neighbor, Stephanie, and I went to "man" the tent from 4-6:30am so can understand why the battery was forgotten when we left the house at 3:30am. Stephanie and I walked for a good hour and 15min later in the morning before our husbands came with our munchkins. Luckily they came with Bo's bfast biscuits...we were hungry girls! The event was awesome and as we walked around the track we kept looking for the luminary that I put in my dad's name...but sadly couldn't find it. He was definitely honored though, and I was so glad to hear that the relay raised over $175K towards cancer research!! Next year Winnie and Eden will be walking with us and supporting such an important cause!!

Oh, SHOUT OUT--- If anyone is interested in buying the flower headband (like the picture below) let me know. The girl, Mary, who makes them is starting to sell them at boutiques and they are going to be BIG, very BIG soon!! The med ones are $6 (like below) and large ones are $12, you can pick out the colors.

6 months old!!

2008-05-16T16:19:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday Winnie turned 6 months old!! We cannot believe time is flying so fast.. .soon she will be crawling and then walking. Everyday we thank God for her and can't imagine life without our precious little girl.

At her doc appt she weighed 15lbs 10oz (43%) and was 25 1/2 in long (42%), her head was a little big... 17in (72%). We are starting her on rice cereal this weekend and are excited to see her reaction. We've held off because she isn't the biggest eater. As you can see too she loves to pet Morpheus the cat, she giggled the first time she touched him and couldn't take her eyes off he or Neo.

Enjoy this little slideshow of her so far since birth...

A Baby Shower & bonus room update

2008-05-14T11:05:00.004-04:00

Last night we had a baby shower for our good friend, Heather, who is expecting her second boy in just a few weeks. All the ladies had a blast catching up, eating yummy food (including an amazing cake by Jenna!!), and celebrating with Heather. All of these girls have been part of our Women's bible study that meets 1x month, which was a stem off of our CRF Couple's bible study. We are all so blessed to be surrounded by such sweet Christian sisters, especially through all our joys and trials of the Lord.

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On another note, our bonus room is progressing right along... Two weekends ago Tom got the framing for the closets done and prior to that finished the can lights. Its so exciting to start to see our dream to have this room done finished... Hopefully it will be done by the end of July!!

Today Winnie turns 6 months old!! Check back tomorrow for some pics...

First Mother's Day recap...

2008-05-12T21:05:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend we travelled to South Carolina to visit Jenn & the boys. It was a perfect time for Tom to finish up some handywork on the enclosed porch and spend Mother's Day with family. Sue came down to visit too, which made it extra special for us all.

Tom spent all day Saturday in the backyard working on the porch. Jenn and her boys love the porch and spend a lot of time outside now. This year she even started a garden in the backyard, there were lots of veggies coming up -- corn, tomatoes, peppers and even pumpkins! I LOVE to garden so this got me itchin' to have my own garden in the backyard some day...when we have a backyard (haha)! When we first brought Winnie out on Saturday morning she started laughing and giggling outloud at the boys... of course they started doing crazy things to make her laugh and she continued. Too cute to watch them bond!!
As I said the boys love playing in the backyard... Their grandpa gave this John Deere ride to Landon for his 2nd birthday (I think) and its so fun to see them enjoying it so much now. Of course Landon the big kid always drives while Ben holds on for dear-life (he makes the best faces!!).
This picture is so dear...they are great brothers and enjoy each other so much!!
Sue has her hands full here with the Grandkids on Mother's Day...
Winnie smiley before going to church on Mother's Day (Jennifer, thank you for letting us borrow such a cute dress!!)...
Mommy & Winnie on Mother's Day... We got home late last night and realized we hadn't taken a picture of she and I yet so snapped a few real quick before putting her to bed. On Saturday we had some professional pictures taken with the mom's/grandma and the kids, I cannot wait to get those back- they turned out awesome!
So all and all it was a perfect first Mother's Day weekend....was able to spend lots of time with my sweet little one, and family!

Fun new things...

2008-05-09T15:00:00.003-04:00

A few days ago (haha last Friday, I'm a little late) we played in the front yard. The "patch" of grass out front is small but I've always pictured putting a blanket out and letting Winnie just play. She loves being outdoors and smiles when the wind blows in her face. Now that the weather is nice we can go outside more often and enjoy our front yard.

Over last weekend Winnie tried drinking out of her first sippy cup. At church on Sunday she was starring me down as I drank from my water bottle....I could keep it from her any longer, so I gave her a few sips from it. Her little face lit up when she got her first swallow and had so much fun "playing" with it too.

Kit Kats and a Little Dress-up...

2008-05-01T19:25:00.004-04:00

In the past few days Winnie has started to watch the "Kit Kats" Morpheus and Neo. She stops whatever she is doing and wants to see what they are up to. They have been great with her, most of the time they watch her and lay on her toys when she gets up. Unfortunately this has caused us to already replace the water filled part of her surfboard toy. In the coming months pretty sure they will be hiding under the bed...

This afternoon Winnie and Eden played dress-up....both had on their fairy skirts and crowns. They are starting to interact more too which is so fun to watch. Of course Winnie stops what she is doing and watches Eden too! Little Eden is saying "Winnie" and trying my name too, what a big girl!

The start of a new decade...

2008-04-28T22:39:00.005-04:00

Today is my 30th birthday...yikes...30th birthday... As a child 30 sounded soooo old and today its still a shock that its here!

For the past few years, my mom & I have celebrated our birthdays together with the boys over my birthday weekend....so she and Tony drove down on Friday night. We always look forward to the Spring Daze (a cute craft fair that covers a park in Cary), getting a pedicure, shopping & eating out over the weekend. This year was no different, on Sat am (little later than usual) we headed to the craft fair and suprisingly only came home with some stylish belts. The weather was amazing and we actually had to put sunscreen on for the first time this year! Winnie (pics to come) was adorable wearing her beach hat lounging in her jogging stroller. In the afternoon we headed out to get our pedi's, what a relaxing time!! Sat night we were off to Maggiano's for our birthday dinner with the boys, and the Christner's. Wow, can I say YUM!! Of course we did family-style (you order 2 apps/2 salads/2 pastas/2 entrees/2 desserts for the table) and got seconds on almost everything!! We came home with 3 bags of food...gotta love those leftovers!!

Our serving plates empty...

Then they came back with seconds!

Ben showing off his broccoli!

So, back to today.... Its rained here ALL day!! Tom and I took the day off to spend a day together with Miss Winnie...well, we couldn't go for a walk or enjoy the outdoors but still got to enjoy each other. We practiced using our new camera (our joint birthday gift to each other)...and LOVE it! Finally we can capture some of Winnie's smiles before she is onto something else.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!!

Take Your Child To Work Day...

2008-04-24T12:55:00.005-04:00

Yeah, it really wasn't planned that we brought Winnie into work today on "Take Your Child To Work Day"...but it worked out quite nicely. She finally got to meet all the fun and crazy people that we work with! It was cute to see our co-workers coo and make faces at her to get a smile. She was such a trooper all morning and even fell asleep in my arms by the time we got to Tom's area. The bib cracks me up, Tom put it on her this morning, says IBM! Here she is playing on the floor while I attended a conference call...

My Tommy Boy...

2008-04-22T20:46:00.004-04:00

My sweets Tommy Boy is such an amazing man that I need to take a moment and thank him publicly. When I got pregnant last year I tried so hard to keep up with our flowers but as I grew it got harder and harder. Also, expecting craziness with an infant we knew we had to think ahead for our garden this year. So in the fall we bought tulip and hyacinth bulbs...and still not sure Tom knew what he was getting into... BUT all his hard work has really paid off! About a month ago our hyacinth came up and now our tulips are in full bloom. We also planted some annuals last year which all came back (PTL!). We laugh that we have an instant garden this year and loving that we didn't have to do a thing!!

Tommy Boy, Thank you so much for planting all those bulbs and putting a smile on my face everyday!!

I had to throw this in....haha... Tom doesn't love spinach but eats it every time I make it. Tonight he had me in tears as he gobbled it down (probably swallowing it whole). Now Tommy, eat your spinach!!

Weekend fun...

2008-04-20T15:24:00.007-04:00

Its crazy how an un-planned weekend can turn into a non-stop, jam-packed weekend as it goes along... Guess we do it to ourselves, as Tom works on finishing the bonus room and I come up with to do's! I hope in the coming weeks to show off some of Tom's handy work, so here is a taste....

The can lights went in and he will start putting up the closet walls tonight. Poor guy is trying to fit in hammering when Winnie isn't sleeping, stinks that the room is right next to hers (and our bedroom is right below it).

While he was working in the bonus room I made marinara sauce. I love cooking (especially on Sundays) and this recipe is the bomb. Kills me in the beginning though because it has 3 ONIONS that need chopped!! My good friend Stephanie (from VA) gave me a solution to the onion crying though...burn a candle next to where you are cutting, it helps to take away the smell. Of course I remembered to do this AFTER tears were rolling down my face!! It still helped the aftermath ;-)

Today I used some of the marinara sauce to make some baked ziti casseroles to freeze. Its so much easier to make 2 casseroles at the same time, so I've gotten in the habit of doing that and freezing at least one of them. Always nice to have a meal in the freezer in case someone else needs dinner too!

Winnie was a busy girl yesterday too, she ROLLED OVER!!! She keeps getting her body over and then has a hard time bringing her head with her. She is much better at spending time on her stomach (PTL!!) and is in love with her toes. Last night she was leaning forward in her bumbo trying to eat her toes, too freakin cute! Here are some pics from yesterday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

A little behind...

2008-04-14T10:34:00.006-04:00

Hmm did I fall asleep this past week?!? I had every intention of posting pictures from 2 weekends ago but totally forgot. So, lets play catch-up....

Here are some pictures from having the Christner's and McKinney's over to watch the Final Four games (2 weekends ago) and eat some yummy food! As you can see Ben is wearing his Kansas outfit and all ready for the big game that night (they beat UNC!).

This was my first time making hot wings on my own and they were a hit!

Now fast forward to this past weekend... Our good friend, Amanda, came to spend the night on Friday night and we got even more time in with her on Saturday. She got some good QT in with Amy & I, and spend some precious time with the kiddos. We haven't seen Amanda all that much in the last few months as she travels for work and lives in Greenville, NC now, so sad. She is loved so much here and we continue to pray that she moves back to Raleigh some day soon!! The kiddos absolutely LOVE her laugh (as we all do!) and were so happy to see her!!

Below are some action shots of Winnie...

She is almost rolling over ...love those rolls...

from another view...she loves making this face and its one of our favorites!

here she is playing with her surfboard (thx mom!), its really helping her enjoy tummy time as she plays with the fish and toys...

Today Winnie turns 5-months old...stay tuned for more pictures this week...

What a Saturday....

2008-03-30T15:06:00.007-04:00

Miss Winnie had a full day yesterday...filled with fellowship, fun and yummy food. Early in the day we got to play with Samuel, Presley & Sam (and their mommies Amy, Jenna & Courtney)...this is the first time we got all 4 kiddos together since they were in our tummies. All 4 of them are at similar stages and all curious as to what comes next, was so fun to see them interact with each other. Even funnier is the height difference between Presley and Winnie... now Winnie is only in the 15% and Presley (born two days later) is off the charts. Each little one has their own little personality and all so sweet...going to be fun to watch them grow-up together!!
After her nap we headed over to our good friend's, Amy & Brian, home for a well-overdue double date. Its only taken us a few months to get out of the fog and so nice that we could enjoy a nice evening together. Brian made his AMAZING chicken parm that just melts in your mouth, can you tell we were craving this for weeks! We ate way too much, laughed a ton and then endulged in some tasty chocolate cake. Our sweet babes were excited to see each other for a second time in the day...they had a chance to get to know each other better....staring at each other...holding hands and Winnie was even ready to put her arm around him. We were starting to wonder if she was putting the moves on him!

"Lets hold hands...they probably won't let us again till we are 18!"

"Mom, I love this little guy..."

"See he likes me back..."

Easter...

2008-03-28T15:16:00.005-04:00

Alright, alright, I know I'm a little late to be posting Easter pictures...its been a crazy week in the Jones' home. Please pray that little Winnie would get over her cold/cough, she is pretty good during the day but has been waking up in the night a lot (and mommy & daddy are tired!).

Her Easter dress was one of mine when I was little...
We had a very nice time visiting my family in MD for Easter. On Saturday we got in some good outlet shopping (gotta fit my after baby body..haha) and got to visit with our friends, Emily & Gregg (forgot to take a picture!!). Winnie was all smiles Easter morning when she saw the little blue bunny toy we put in her basket. She plays with this little bunny over at Liz's house so was excited to see him show up in MD! The Easter service at my family's church was very simple and to the point.... stones are very prevalent in Jesus' day (they were used to throw at people, block the entrance to where Jesus was put to rest, etc) and we were asked what would happen if we removed the stones in our lives. How profound and simple is that.... Forgot to mention at the beginning of the service the Pastor invites the kids to the front and they are each given a balloon. When the Pastor says "He has RISEN" the kids are to let them go and watch them rise to the ceiling! Winnie was awake so I took her up to share in the fun with all the other kids. After church we hung-out and then ate some amazing lamb for dinner. Monday was Tony's birthday so it was fun to stay an extra day to celebrate with him by taking him out for his birthday lunch! Got to see Eben's place (finally!)...very convenient to lots of stuff and pretty sweet inside.

Before we headed back to NC we stopped in to say hi to my mom's co-workers. They were happy to finally meet Winnie and put her to work right away (in my mom's absence, as she was off on Monday).

What a trooper...

2008-03-19T15:56:00.007-04:00

Yesterday Winnie had her 4 month appt at the doctors and boy was she a trooper! She was giggling when we got her undressed (pictured above) and playing before the doctor came in. It was so sad to hold her down while the nurse put her shots in the top of her thighs. As soon as it was done I scooped her up in a heartbeat and kept telling her everything was ok. All of her measurements were good.... weighed 13lbs 14oz (55%) and was 23 1/4 inches (15%) in. long....you should see her rolls! She is a petite little thing. Developmentally she is right on track.

Her little pouty face in this shot made me so sad...

Last night she slept 12 hours and she hasn't done that while being sick the last week and 1/2. PTL!! Her little legs are a little sore today, hopefully that will go away in a day or two.

Fun at Stephanie's....

2008-03-18T09:46:00.003-04:00

Our dear friend and neighbor, Stephanie, watched little Winnie yesterday and looks like they had a blast! When I came home from work the kids had even built a fort in the front yard, out of cardboard. Miss Winnie was sound asleep while all that "building" was taking place.

Winnie with her buddies, Ben and Eden...

Kisses from Ben (even looks like they are holding hands)...

Hugs from Eden (she was a big helper yesterday too!)...

These past few weeks our good friends, Stephanie & Elizabeth, have taken a day out of their busy schedules to watch Winnie each week and we are so thankful. Starting daycare next week will be very hard on me, as its been so easy to drop Winnie off at these ladies homes and know she was in their hands. Again, thank you ladies...you have blessed our lives!!

Happy St Patty's Day

2008-03-17T11:36:00.006-04:00

Hope you all have a fun St Patty's Day today! This is probably the only holiday that I will wear the color of the holiday...have on my green sweater as we speak and Winnie wore this outfit to our friend Stephanie's.

Over the weekend Tom & I volunteered at FUEL, a discipleship weekend for our Jr High and Sr High school students. We are now recovered enough to talk about it (well, I'm not as I lost my voice even before the weekend began). It was a full weekend, Tom stayed at a family's home with 9th grade boys and I had 8 8th grade girls staying at ours. Now I knew what I was getting myself into when I opened up our home...and will admit it was hard at times but so fun. The Lord was good to us all over the weekend and really could see the students connecting with Him. Here are the girls while we walked around picking up trash outside (part of their missions project on Sat)...

This whole weekend got me thinking.... What a privilege it is to speak directly with our Heavenly Father and for Him to have total control over our lives. On my way to the church Sat night I had a good chat with the Lord and was so overwhelmed with thanksgiving.... The question that kept popping up in my head was... "Why me?". So often we go through our daily routines and never stop to think, why did Abba Father call my name and bless me all these years. There are so many other roads I could've traveled down, but NO the Lord knew a plan for me and guided me through the good and bad. Amazing!

Back to Miss Winnie.... She turned 4 months on Friday. Unfortunately she still hates laying on her tummy but we practice every day. Her cold is getting better but is still coughing (some days more than others). It was very warm here on Fri and Sat so she enjoyed getting out to get some fresh air.

Here she is practicing "tummy time"...

On the homefront...

2008-03-13T10:34:00.004-04:00

What a crazy week its been... Our little Winnie has been sick all week and so have I. We both had a headcold and only I had a fever (short-lived). So pitiful to hear her cough, especially through the night. Our friend Liz suggested we put vicks on the bottom of her feet when she sleeps and really think its helping. Of course you can't put vicks on little one's chests but her mom has been putting it on babies feet for years. Luckily I am feeling better and able to care for our pumpkin (PTL!). Tom has been absolutely amazing, he's done a lot this week for his girls!

This week we also decided on a daycare for Winnie...such a hard decision. On March 25th she will start going to Mary's home. We just met Mary a few days ago, but my mgr takes her daughter there (for 3 years) and she has been watching children for 37 years. Her home is on our way to work, the kids there seem very happy and well-mannered. There is even a little boy who reminds us so much of Treyson when he was a little boy, so smiley, active & sweet. It all sounds so good but there are a few downfalls, nothing major. She will be loved and cared for much better than the other daycare option we had previously registered for.

Working on Saturday??....

2008-03-08T21:43:00.003-05:00

Yes, the Jones' were working on Saturday... We've decided to finish our bonus room (need some room for all of Winnie's toys..hehe) in the next few months, so really need to get it cleaned up.

We found some fun stuff during our time rooting through some childhood things....
And had fun trying on things that we've inherited from late family members (oh yes mom, thats Grandma's welsh knitted accessories!)...

I found some great jewelry in my Grandmother's jewelry boxes, she was always known for having some flashy stuff! I absolutely love a few of the necklaces I found, still in style today!

While we were up there we saw Winnie's jumperoo and figured we might as well break it out for her. She absolutely LOVED it and giggled as soon as we put her in the seat. Not sure she knew what to play with first... Unfortunately, she cannot touch the ground yet (she has some short little legs) but enjoys mommy bouncing her.

Tomorrow we have to finish up the bonus room so Tom can get started on the electrical pronto!

Bath time...

2008-03-05T11:55:00.003-05:00

On Sunday morning we gave Winnie a bath and captured this adorable moment... She loves her bath and is starting to like the time after she gets out (lotion, dressed, etc). In the past she was crying while I hurried to put the lotion on and get her dressed.

This towel is the only thing she has monogrammed so far...thank you Linda! I have a few more items to get her monogrammed, time to get to it!

Dedication weekend...

2008-03-04T11:09:00.006-05:00

We had a ton of family in this past weekend to celebrate Winnie's dedication at church. The fun started Saturday when everyone rolled in.... It was the first time that Mandy, Margie & David got to meet Miss Winnie so they were tickled to finally get to hold her. Most of Saturday we all visited with one another and grilled out for dinner (yum!). After dinner we surprised Margie with a little early birthday celebration since her real birthday is this coming Saturday.

Winnie cuddling in Aunt Margie's arms...

Margie's birthday surprise...

Nain getting some lovin' in (love that new haircut!!)...

Sunday was Winnie's big day..and she was so excited that she woke up early anticipating all the fun to come. She was an absolute doll at church in her gown...now this gown was no usual gown, it was from the early 1900's and my Grandfather had worn it when he was a little one (along with my mom & I). I was a little worried that Winnie was going to be kranky but she did amazingly well. Usually we sit at the "cross cafe" (in the hallway) to watch the service so I wasn't sure how she would do in the middle of the sanctuary, and of course on stage. I fed her before service so she fell asleep in my arms during worship (her favorite!) and didn't wake till Chuck called us on stage. We had planned on Tom holding her on stage, but she ended up in my arms since it was hard to move her asleep.

Chuck praying for her...

Her on the "big" screen... the audience sighed when it went up (I felt very loved)...

The Jones/Rohm family that came for her big day...
We were so thankful that Winnie was part of Chuck's sermon, as the real baby dedication is next Sunday. Chuck started a new series and Winnie's dedication was to show how important it is to have Christ in our children's lives. Its such an honor that we (as her parents) could commit to sharing Christ with our little girl and be surrounded by amazing believers that will have a part in her life. I've learned through working with the youth at church that it takes not only the parents but other Christians to make an impact in our children's life. I'm so excited to watch her grow up and learn how much Christ loves us and will continue to pray that she would seek Him with all her heart.

The day wrapped up with a little celebration for Winnie... She loved having her cousins to play with (they are so cute with her) and being held by all her family.

Uncle Dave enjoying his time with Winnie...

Aunt Mandy playing with Winnie...

Winnie with her cousins, Landon & Benjamin

Tomboy...or not...

2008-02-29T11:50:00.005-05:00

In time we will really see if Winnie is a tomboy or a girly-girl. Of course I have my vote (a little of both) and I'm sure Tom will say that too if we have a boy next. These pictures shows how "interested" she is in boy things (so far)...

A few days ago Tom got his tonneau cover for the Titan and he is SO excited! Now we can travel with the truck and have all our baggage in the back, wooohoo!

Little game...

2008-02-27T16:24:00.004-05:00

While we were gone Winnie and I found a little game we like to play... Catch our shadow. With our backs to the sun we made a great shadow and then chased it around the parking lot. I love games like these that don't involve stuff.

Just like rear-view mirrors..."objects on the ground look bigger than what they are" hahaha!

Oh, for all you blog readers....leave me some comments, its easy!

Lots of Firsts....

2008-02-25T23:27:00.012-05:00

This past weekend was full of firsts for Miss Winnie...lets start with the first plane ride. She did amazing on every plane but I was a bit worried in the beginning. Our flight out of Raleigh was off to a bad start when we sat on the tarmack for awhile as the pilots tried to fix a "computer" problem. Winnie started to fuss and my first thoughts were "take me back to the terminal, I can stay at home this weekend!" As the plane headed back to the terminal to "fix" the problem, the computers started working all of a sudden and the pilot informed us that we were going to be taking off soon. Now, of the advice of mom's I knew I had to either feed Winnie or have her suck on a pacifier during take-off and landing, so I quieted her down quickly with some grub! I must admit, she ate a LOT during our trip there (direct flight) as I didn't want to wake the passengers around us.

About 5 hours later, Winnie had her second "first" as we landed in Phoenix, Arizona. Still strange to Tom & I that her second state to visit was Arizona!! Its a state that we both have wanted to visit for years, how fun that we could all experience it together!

Have I mentioned why we were in Arizona? Tom's childhood friend, Dave, was getting married and Tom was a groomsmen in the wedding. On Friday we went to the rehearsal at a "Dude Ranch" where the wedding would be...the neat thing is that John Wayne had stayed there when he filmed movies in the area a long time ago. After the rehearsal lunch we headed downtown to Arizona University. We have always enjoyed visiting college campuses, and have to admit we were surprised it wasn't more serene (like its brochures). That evening we had an authentic "Mexico City" style mexican dinner, so yummy!

Arizona University entrance...

On Saturday we booked it to the Desert Museum as we only had a few hours till the afternoon wedding. This museum was Winnie's first one and she slept through the entire thing! Tom & I laughed so hard on Friday & Saturday when we saw our first field of cactus (saguaro)...it really is a sight to see! We couldn't believe that the grow on a mountain like trees and are some interesting shapes.

An odd one at Arizona Univ in front of Old Main...

Our drive up to the desert museum...
Some interesting facts on saguaro (cactus) that we learned...

1. they can live to be 200 years old (the little ones are about 10 years old)

2. they are made up of 90% water

3. during the rainy season their creases are spread apart and during the summer they are squeezed together like a sponge

4. woodpeckers make holes in them for a nest and the saguaro creates a "boot" which protects it from the hole

5. after the woodpecker leaves another bird will move into the "boot"

6. when it dies it leaves behinds the ribs (looks like wood)

7. the state regulates the buy/sell of them

8. before land is cleared for a home/building/road its advertised so people can come take the plants for their own homes

Does this look fuzzy to you?... Its not...

After all that sight-seeing, we high-tailed it back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a wedding. David & Sara looked so happy!! This was Winnie's first wedding and she loved dancing the night away (just like her mom).

On Sunday we started our trek back home...Winnie couldn't wait to sleep in her own bed again. During the trip she really started to like her pacifier and cuddling with her lovie. Here she is relaxing in the Atlanta airport waiting for our last flight home.

Traveling...

2008-02-20T21:36:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow we are heading out to Arizona, and its Winnie's first real trip. Please pray that we make it to Phoenix safetly and Winnie doesn't cry the whole way. She is usually a sweet girl but does like to be moving. We will probably be walking the aisle a whole lot (watch out beverage cart!).

Oh, we are headed to Arizona for our friends Dave & Sarah's wedding. Dave and Tom were very close friends growing up and have stayed friends through the years.

I don't have a new pic to post, will take a LOT this weekend... Here is a cute one though..

Special Message from Winnie...

2008-02-12T21:13:00.001-05:00

This was her 3month picture, how fitting since Valentine's Day she turns 3months old. We couldn't believe the red coming out in her hair.

Hope you all have a chance to tell those around you how much you love them!!

Busy weekend...

2008-02-11T12:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend was jam-packed and we all had a lot of fun. On Saturday we took Winnie to get her 3mos pictures taken (will post once I have a chance to scan)...she was super good as we put her in multiple "poses". Yesterday we introduced Winnie to some of her rattles, and by the end of the day she was holding it on her own (and slobbering all over it, of course). Last night Tom & I even got in a quick date night after we put her down to bed. My mom watched her as we snuck out to see "Fools Gold", was very nice to get out.

She has started to move more in her crib... On Sunday morning she turned 180 degrees twice within 30minutes, and then today she was like this when I went in to get her at 8am.
Luckily she is still small enough to fit across in her crib. The biggest pain in all of this is that her movement sensor goes off when she slides down, since she is far away from it, its a nice alarm in the middle of the morning...

Slight resemblance...

2008-02-08T13:37:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week Tom & I were admiring Winnie's beautiful eyes, her "baby blues" and realized how much the blue is a lot like mine. We are really hoping her eyes stay blue, as they really can change within the first year or so.

So excited that today is Friday!! We don't have much planned this weekend, just enjoying family and getting Winnie's 3mon pictures taken. Since she is almost 3months its time for me to decide if I am going to keep b.feeding her...as I always said I would take 3months at a time (no need to feel overwhelmed). I've really enjoyed b.feeding her, and she really doesn't love the bottle....SO....I'm going to stick with it for 3 more months. It will get interesting once she gets some teeth.... I can see now how it can be hard for some women, and it really needs to be a decision that each mother should make. Especially going back to work, it takes dedication and commitment (and can be painful).

12 weeks..

2008-02-07T08:42:00.001-05:00

Yesterday Winnie was 12 weeks old, and will be 3months on Feb 14th. She is growing so fast and we are enjoying every minute of it. Bathtime is still one of her favorite things, along with sitting in the bumbo seat. Lately all she wants to do is sit and look around, must be taking everything in. This weekend her Nain and Taid are coming to visit...she is so excited to see them!!

Just relaxin' in the tub after a fun night at church with all the girls...

Her hair is wild...we like to have fun with it ;-)

Superbowl Sunday

2008-02-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

Winnie is all ready to watch her first Superbowl tonight...she is rooting for the Steelers, haha, I haven't told her that they aren't playing yet. Its the only NFL shirt she has (thanks Margie!), so it will have to do! Today she took a stroll in her new jogging (walking) stroller and absolutely LOVED it! She can kick her legs, feel the breeze and look all around. Of course she fell asleep after walking around the block twice, what a sweet girl. It was an amazing day out today...almost feels like spring is around the corner!

We decided to stay in tonight and relax as a family. Tom is going to grill up some of our last steaks, as we are getting our new meat this weekend (woohoo!).

I just want to eat up those "baby blues" (what I call her eyes)...

Coo'ing...

2008-01-30T23:07:00.000-05:00

Winnie has her first cold, poor thing. She still wanted to talk a lot this afternoon.

Here is a video of her coo'ing, enjoy!

Reality check...

2008-01-26T11:07:00.001-05:00

Wow has a week really gone by since I last blogged?? Goodness sorry...

This week Winnie had a blast playing with her daddy, she had lots of practice moving her head and enjoyed snuggling on daddy's legs. She is still in love with her swing (praise the Lord!!) and loves to sleep. She has her first case of the *sniffles* this week, kind of funny to hear her snort. Tom goes back to work on Monday after having 2 precious weeks with his princess, it will be hard to start getting back to the reality that we soon face. I am off this next week and can't wait for lunch dates, play dates and double dates with friends!

Please pray that we would figure out what the Lord has in store for our sweet girl after we go back to work. She is registered at a daycare and is set to start that in April, but the thought of her going there is still unsettled in our hearts. I keep thinking that the Lord has something bigger planned for her...and keep praying that He would reveal that to us. I never thought I (miss work-a-holic) would be so attached to her and so very protective... what an amazing blessing she is to us!!

Winnie's first snowfall...

2008-01-19T17:33:00.000-05:00

We are so excited...Winnie got to see her first snowfall!! She loved being out in the cold and feel the snow hit her cheeks. She is definitely a snow bunny!!

We only have to wait a few more years to take her skiing..hehe...

Too cute...

2008-01-18T11:56:00.000-05:00

This week Winnie has been working on her coo'ing and strengthening her neck. Her coos are absolutely precious!! Tom had fun playing "Mister Mom" this week as I went back to work and even had to go in for a few days. Grandma Jones is visiting us this week too, helping keep Miss Winnie on her eat/play/sleep schedule, those extra hands have been great too!! Little Winnie is still a sleepy bug and blesses us every few days with sleeping a bit extra through the night. Her biggest issue this week was eating from a bottle, she doesn't seem to like the nipple on the Playtex Ventaire so we are going to try a few different kinds this weekend.

Here she is strengthening that neck...

Good morning to the Jones & Rohm family

2008-01-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

Winnie learned how to play with some of her toys in the baby gym, and we are so glad we caught it on tape! Everyday is a new adventure for her...

This is her usual spot at night, during some of her cranky hours.... She loves hanging out with daddy!! How precious it is to hear him call her "beautiful" and lately he is calling her "pumpkin"...awww!!

Hi Nain... and all your fun co-workers

2008-01-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

So alert...

2008-01-08T13:28:00.001-05:00

Winnie was playing in her baby gym...she was so alert to everything around her. Had to capture such a cute moment...She gets her 2month shots in a few hours...(will be sad)

Her wild hair is hard to contain...hehe...the little bow holds some back (thanks Amy!!)...

What comes next...

2008-01-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

Its been awhile since I blogged...we've been pretty busy with little Winnie. She is growing like a weed. This past week our fun has been celebrating New Years with friends, cleaning up diapers that explode up the back (oh what fun!), lunch with friends, eating out & how could I forget the spitting up (all over mommy). So, as you can tell our hands have been full. We are very proud of her too, as she is now sleeping 9 hours through the night, giving Tom & I time together and hours to sleep. This week should prove to be another interesting one as I start back to work. I am blessed to be able to work from home for most of January, and Tom will be off for 2 of the weeks.

She loves fans now...so much more alert to everything around her...

Snug as a bug....

That hair is pretty scary...haha

Winnie's 1st Christmas...

2007-12-27T12:02:00.000-05:00

The night before Christmas all Winnie wanted to do was play...

And she fought Tom to go to bed...

Her 1st Christmas was pretty good for her, she loved being held by Nain and playing in her swing.

Decked out for church...

2007-12-24T11:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday Winnie got all decked out for church...she wore the cutest little Christmas dress (& red shoes) that Margie & David sent down for her (THANK YOU!!). Our church isn't having a Christmas Eve service this year, since the staff really needed the time off to be with their families (its been a hard year for them, lots of spiritual attacks). Unfortunately we arrived to church a little late and didn't have a chance to sing Christmas carols...I was sad as I really enjoy them. Guess we will have to play them all day tomorrow...oh Tom will be so happy (haha).

The little white hat and sweater was mine when I was little, too cute. Oh, and her hair is staying down better now, I'm sure the mohawk will be back though...

This morning she was so alert...looking all over and moving around on her changing table. She is starting to smile a lot and gets excited around people. She is sleeping in her swing now and keeps opening her eyes a little to make sure she isn't missing anything. Already she can't miss a party!

All bundled up...

2007-12-20T20:28:00.000-05:00

Today Winnie and I had a chance to meet little Presley and Sam...and they are absolutely adorable. Jenna (Presley's mom) was due 2 days after me and had her 2 days after us...and they were the same weight and height...crazy! Sam (Courtney's little one) came a few weeks early and you can tell he is the oldest as the little outfit fit him the best. We had a blast oohhing and ahhing over our little ones... Thanks Caroline for the cute outfits!! Amy- We missed little Samuel!!
Presley / Sam / Winnie in first one
Winnie / Sam / Presley in second one

First (real) Bath... (last Friday)

2007-12-19T15:19:00.000-05:00

"What in the world is this!!" Her little hands do this when she is stunned by something, and so adorable!
"I can't decide if I like it or not" Gotta love that pouty face...
"WOW, that wasn't so bad...I think I actually like it! Now time for a nap!"
"Mommy loves to cuddle with me...and I enjoy peeing on her..hehe." Yes, she peed on me after the bath, while wrapped in the towel.

One Month old already...

2007-12-12T21:47:00.000-05:00

Where is the time going... Winnie is a month old already!! She had a fun day today to celebrate... a bath, fun walk with mommy, trip to the mall with her friends (8th grade girls from church) and she got to meet Santa. She is starting to open her eyes more, and they are precious.

Family visit...

2007-12-11T16:46:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Jennifer & the boys (Landon & Ben) came to visit... Landon was so cute saying "Winnie" and "Bronwyn"....and correcting Ben that her name was Bronwyn, not Winnie. They touched her toes and just stared in awe at her. You could tell that they both love her a lot already!! She thought they were pretty special too ;-)

80 degrees ?!?

2007-12-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

Nothing like 80 degrees in the middle of Dec!!! Winnie was excited to wear a short-sleeved shirt out today, and is looking forward to a walk this afternoon.

First playdate...

2007-12-11T13:57:00.000-05:00

This past Friday Winnie had her first playdate with Ben, Eden, Christopher, Samuel, Will, Kayla & Preston. All the kids had a blast playing with all the toys and the moms of course enjoyed chatting. This is the life...hehe...

Winnie wore her first dress to the occasion and looked all ready for Christmas!

Naughty or Nice...

2007-12-07T22:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Winnie's first full kranky day... maybe it was the lack of sleep or the Santa hat that we made her wear for pictures. She was a good sleeper through the night though, Praise the Lord!! Today she was super sleepy and helped mommy get some shopping done. Tom & I were even able to enjoy a nice dinner out with her. Jennifer & the boys are coming to visit tomorrow, we are super excited to see them!