SNOW DAY!!!

Yep--Colorado had another snow day this year. Last Tuesday we had a huge storm--so the kids didn't have school on Wednesday. We keep having to add more days to school to make up for all these crazy snow days. Thank goodness this one only added to the last day of Spring Break--which is the following Monday anyway. The snow came so fast, it started in the afternoon and it was covered that evening--you couldn't even see outside it was blowing like crazy. Mike didn't even get home from work until about 9:00 that night. It's hard to believe that it was 75 degrees a couple days before. And as you can see with all the squints, the sun was shining the very next day. Gotta love it here! The kids had a blast playing in all the snow and got to go sledding for hours. We didn't even think to put sunscreen on, so they got a little rosy in their cheeks. I have to say though--I am ready for real spring weather--enough of the teasing!

It really was quite pretty though!

I'm sure this won't be the last of the snow this year!

Photography 101

So the other day Drake got a hold of my camera and started taking pictures of everything---even pictures on the wall--funny kid! Here's a few of his future portfolio...

little birdie footprints in the snow...

OOOHHH--back in the day--don't we look so young?

We were like little kids--ha! It's crazy to believe it will be 10 years next month!!

The BEST 10 years of my life--love you BABE!

Charly trying to hold Brigg--not liking it so much!

Life after 2 weeks..

This is usually what my PRINCESS looks likes these days...good thing she's still beautiful even if her hair looks like a mop:)

Charly got a hold of the camera and snapped this darling picture of Wesley..

..and this one.

People keep asking me how it is with 4 and I have to tell them that it's been pretty easy. And only because of this(see below pic). This is usually what Brigg looks like 75 % of the day. I just tell them to ask me in few weeks when he's actually human and demands more of my attention. I'm sure things are going to get a lot harder as the days go by, so I have just tried to enjoy these newborn days and soak up every minute. Mike's family has been amazing these last few weeks. They have been so nice and have taken my other kids and had them for hours. It has been the first time I've felt like I can really enjoy the newborn stage. I have been able to take naps just snuggling up with Brigg and his soft breathing right against my cheek--there is nothing better than the sound of a baby's breathing right next to your face. Oh how precious is he!! I am just loving him!! He's still trying to figure out his days and nights, but for the most part just sleeps through them both, so hopefully soon he'll be able to go more than a 3 hour stretch during the night, but for now, I can't complain!

Now if it wasn't for this cute face, things might be a little trickier around the house. She has been amazing and I am more in love with this girl each day. She has been so sweet these days and I am just loving every minute of her and her cute smile. And what a great big sister she is with Brigg. She's constantly asking to have her picture with her little brother. Oh such a sweetheart!

Trying to crack a smile

Drake is loving having a baby around. He's especially feeling really big being the oldest and all. He feels really proud of himself when he can get Brigg our of his bouncy seat and carry him over to the couch. He has been so great with Brigg. We sure love our Drake!

I think Wesley took this one..

Happy 33rd!

Mike's reached the big 33 on March 13th.

Oh how birthdays just get more and more exciting each year. Mike had a football game that morning and when he came home he was greeted with biscuits and gravy--his favorite breakfast! He just kept making fun of himself having a birthday--birthday's aren't really a big deal for Mike, especially when it's his own and he's turning 33.

He loved his birthday so much that he let the kids blow the candle out.

Now if this face doesn't tell it all....sooo making fun of his present.

Yep--a new vacuum for his birthday--so exciting!

He only likes when I buy him practical things for his birthday--so what better gift than a new vacuum that I--I mean-WE desperately needed---funny how that works :)

Happy Birthday Babe--I love you!!

Family

Brigham with both his grandparents

I realized in my last post that I didn't show any pictures of Brigg and Grandpa Paul. Grandpa Paul was awesome while he was here and really helped out a lot--that is around the house. He's not so much help with those newborns, it's been a while. But he's really good at fixing things--so boy did I put him to work. Let's see--he installed about 60 knobs on all of my cabinets, screwed in my powder sink which was about to fall over, installed our garage vacuum that we've had in the box since Christmas, and put extra screws in each of my kitchen chairs so they weren't so wobbly. I'm sure he could have done more, he was always waiting for the next project to do and probably made at least 7 different trips to Home Depot. Who knows when those projects would have gotten done if he didn't show up, we sure appreciated his skills. Thanks for helping us out Dad. Don't get me wrong--you were great company too, we weren't just glad you came just to fix our house. We sure love you Grandpa Paul! I even put my Mom to work too. She just loves newborns, so she was definitely a big help with Brigg. She also cooked dinner almost every night she was here. They stayed for almost a week. I had her bring her sewing machine too so she could sew a few items that were falling apart, she even sewed a bunch of buttons back on random things (yeah--I don't really know how to sew on buttons--or at least good enough where they wouldn't just fall off again). I could go on and on with all the wonderful things my parents did. It was so good to have them both here for such a special time. They are always their to support their kids and grandkids in any event in their life. They are already planning to come back in April for Brigg's blessing and then back in June for Drake's Baptism. How neat to be able to just get up and go whenever they want. They love to travel and especially love seeing all their kids and their families. We sure appreciate their dedication to all of us. We love you Grandma and Grandpa! See you soon!

Aunt Sarah came to visit as well. She got to just hang out--I'm sure it was really exciting for her-just staying put at the house-but at least we didn't put her to work. She was great too. She really helped to keep my other kids happy and kept me company as well. She came just for a quick trip and got here late friday night(-yep my Dad even drove to the airport and picked her up) and left early Sunday morning. She headed to Delaware that day for a job proposal--we're hoping that it went really bad so she won't have to move there. We will miss her if it all pans out. I think she is pretty excited for the change--if it does end up happening.

Good Luck Sarah!

3 generations

Brigg is HOME!!

On our way home... just a couple pics at the hospital....

My sweet little boy! Gotta love that precious face!

doesn't quite know what to think about the carseat--not too fond of it.

I think I've found my one child who takes a binky!

Wahoo!!

We made it home to find my 2 best helpers eagerly waiting the arrival of their little bro. Wesley has afternoon kindergarten, so he and Charly are my 2 sidekick's in the morning. They are the greatest to Brigg and really take on the Big Brother/Sister roll well! Charly even missed her dance class to be home when "Briggy" got home.

With Brigg having jaundice, he needs to eat as much as he can so I have been supplementing some formula to help him get rid of it faster. So lucky for Charly she proudly fed him his bottle. It's like a dream come true, she get's to feed a real baby.

Does't love the sponge bath so much, but who would--freezing!! Hopefully that cord will be falling off shortly and he'll get to have the real experience of a nice warm bath. Oh how I love that new baby smell after the bath....it's been way too long..

LOVE HIM!!

That's better..

Soaking the rays.. Jaundice go away--we don't like you!!

Loving his Grandma---precious moment!

One of my faves!!!

IT'S A BOY!

Trying to find a smile in between contractions.

ON OUR WAY....

Brigham(Brigg) Glen Jones has arrived! He even came a day earlier than expected! I was scheduled to go in on Mon, but that just wasn't happening. We were pretty excited that he decided to come early! I have to say that this was probably the best surprise I've ever had!! I will definitely do it this way again! I think most everybody was convinced it was a girl and Mike and I too were pretty sure, so that made it even more of a surprise when little Brigg was born. Everything went pretty well. I woke up around 5:00 having some pretty painful contractions coming every 10 minutes. I called in to be sure this was for real and was told to come on in. They were getting harder and harder so I knew I needed to hurry if there was any chance to get an epidural. I was already dilated to a 4 that friday so I knew it wouldn't be long. We called Rich over to be with the kids and then we were on our way. I got to the hospital and was dilated to a 7, but luckily they called the anaesthesiologist in right away. It took a couple tries to get it in right, but once it worked, boy did it work. I was finally in heaven, feeling no more pain!! Gotta love those guys!! I got to a 10 pretty quick after but my contractions started to weaken and weren't quite strong enough to do anything, so they ended up giving me a little pitosin to get them stronger. Long story short--it took longer than expected to get him here and his head was face up which makes it even harder, but after 45 minutes of pushing--he finally arrived!! He was born Mar. 7th at 11:17 am. He weighed 8 lbs. 11 oz. and is 21 in. long. I was exhausted!! We are glad to finally have our happy healthy boy! We feel really blessed to have such a healthy baby--Welcome to our family Brigg--We love you!!!

Brigg and some of his visitors...

Grandpa Jones

Grandma Jones

Grandma Shirlene

Aunt Stacey

Rich

Our first family pic--oh what a beauty. Let's just say we won't be framing this one! We're all lookin so alive!!

Definitely a crazy day!

Charly

Wesley

Drake

The kids did great!! They were all super excited to finally meet their little brother. It's been a while since we've had a baby around, so I think we're all ready!! Gotta love the 3 1/2 year gap. Charly has already been such a great help and not a lot of adjusting has to be done--she is just ready to be a big sister. And the boys are so sweet with him and want to hold him all the time. They are always worried about Brigg since he's had a little jaundice, they keep asking if he's ok. Babies are so good for kids, they just bring such a special spirit in our home. Well here we go--our family of 6--whew---that sounds like a pretty big family--hard to believe it's mine!! More pics to come....