insta-life

i'm currently really into instagram.  i don't know that i would generally take pictures of my girls napping in the car, avery playing follow the leader with her toys, an afternoon visit to the old folks home, or avery trying to fix the sink with her dad, but somehow instagram has made me spark an interest in taking pictures of the everyday, mundane things that happen all the time and document them.  its as simple as taking a picture on my phone, which i almost always have with me, adding a sweet edit to it, and posting it.  perhaps thats why i have been so terrible at blogging, because i've been instagramming.  its not that i'm not recording life, its just in picture form rather that words. 

and my current favorite picture is this bottom left corner one of my two girls. ave is as cheesy as ever and jane looks so big and happy.

ball-gamers

if been a slacker blogger lately, but then i look at my blog roll and notice that i'm not the only one thats been taking a blogging break, and i don't feel too bad.  

we've spent the last month or so going to lots of ball games.  syd and rach both had a great year and it was fun getting to watch them play.  the girls team went to state last weekend and so i packed up my girls and we headed up to boise to watch.  they did so good and ended up getting third.  syd is pretty much a rock star and finished off her senior year with a bang.  ave had fun staying at the hotel and swim and eat donuts for breakfast and jane soaked up all the attention she could get.  i am so lucky to have girls that, so far, really enjoy ball games.  ave is happy with her back-pack full of toys and jane loves the loud noises.  i made jane an orange ball game outfit a while ago and tried to make ave one as well but there was no way she was letting me ruin a shirt of hers and make leggings. she's way into skirts lately so i made her and jane and claire ball game skirts.  she was much happier about that and has worn hers 4 of the last 5 days.

we aren't quite sure what to do with all of our spare time now that b-ball season is over.

its been a quiet few weeks at our home lately.  we had lots of family visiting over the holidays and loved it. they're gone now so we are recuuperating and re-adjusting jane and avery to 'mom & dad attention' vs. 'cute little aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas attention.'  there is a big difference, sometimes. and our little girls were spoiled with all the attention they wanted and possibly needed.  That's the way it should be too. They loved it and so did we.  now i just have to get avery to understand that i cant pretend i'm a dog all day long or go outside and jump on the tramp with her in cold winter weather like her aunts and uncles would (although maybe i should relax and do it a litte more.)  

We've been hit with the cold bug and see a lot of this laying around our house lately.  Jane hates it and so do i.  pretty miserable for a new(ish) baby if you ask me.  Ave handles it nicely and is usually so sweet when she isn't feeling her finest.  she asked me to get the big bulb syringe out today to suck out her nose cause she watches me do it to jane all day long. she wasn't such a fan.

we did make time yesterday for a little art while jane was taking a snooze.  i love how her little creative mind works.  when she first started she had a blue top and green bottom and noticed it looked like clouds and grass.  so she added a sun.  she went a little crazy after that but that's what i love about it.  she's quite proud of it.  i want to get a huge canvas and do a similar family art project like this cute one that i found while blog surfing for our play room.

and whats a post with out a picture of this smily girl.

sweet baby

meag had her doctors appointment yesterday and the doc said baby girl looked pretty comfortable in there.  as of last night meag was pretty sure she would be pregnant forever, or at least baby girl wouldn't be coming for another week+. little claire had other plans.  i was sure suprised when i got a text in the middle of the night saying meags water had broke.  i keep laughing at how seriously similar our birth stories are.  jane and claire must have made a deal with eachother that they were going to come to this earth quickly without giving us alot of time to prepare and worry.  i'd say i like it much better that way anyways.

claire is perfectly plump and adorable.  she has the cutest little cheeks already that i just want to kiss on all day.  seems like i was just in meags shoes yesterday.  she'll post stories and details later, but i just wanted to share a few photos from our afternoon visiting meag and baby claire.

claire kathleen jones

look at those cheeks.  

if only babies could stay this fresh from heaven a little longer.  they grow too fast.

she is..

we love everything about this chunky 3 month old except for the fact that she is already 3 months old. she  has hit the stage where she can tell if i am sitting down or standing up with her and clearly prefers the latter. she helps me get my walking in during the day and makes so i don't sit and cuddle her for hours on end.  i love every stage of little babies but the older and more interactive they get makes it so much fun.  she is pretty dreamy and we love her.  

a blessing

 jane pre-church and pre-blessing dress.  what a happy girl

sunday was a big day for our family.  avery's birthday and Jane's blessing.  i woke up that morning with a very full heart.  i feel so blessed and loved.  I am so grateful for two happy and healthy girls and a husband who holds the priesthood and has been willing and able to bless our girls.  Trae blessed Jane with so many wonderful things.  I loved that he was also able to bless me with the confidence and patience i need and that as a mother Jane and I will have a special bond.  it was a great day and Jane looked beautiful.  my mom joked with me that by the time we finally blessed jane she would be able to walk up by herself but we wanted to wait until our brasil family was all here. unfortunately, Dee had to go back a few days before her blessing, but we had so many other wonderful people there to support us, and we missed everyone who couldn't make it.  Bonnie bought me Jane's blessing dress in Brasil, before i even knew i was having a girl and it is lovely.

Jane has slept through every single hour of chuch for the last 3 months until last sunday.  She would hardly close her eyes and squaked during her entire blessing.  She didn't want to miss a minute of her big day.  i didn't get a picture of everyone who stood in her blessing circle but we did manage to take a few 4 generation pictures. one on my dads side and the other on trae's mom side.  we have wonderful families that we are so thankful to be a part of.

poor meag and preston were sick the whole day with bad colds and runny eyes.  preston adores jane and was trying to do anything he could to get close to her.  durning sacrament meeting he climbed over everyones laps to get right by her and kept trying to give her kisses.  he got so close one time but just as he was about to pucker up he sneezed so bad and left his evidence all over miss janes face.  poor little guy.  he had our entire family plus the row behind us histerically laughing.  and this was the closest meag got to holding jane all day.  she is just 2 1/2- 3 weeks shy of having her own little girl.  oh goodness, we can't wait to meet her.  you wouldn't know she's that close to having a little babe though.  she looks more like she is going to give birth to a baby bird than a baby girl.  

it was a major battle trying to get avery in a quick family picture that day, one we obviously weren't desperate to win.  just one with our jane will do.  she can hold her head up so well.  she either has a super strong neck or some killer cheeks resting on her chest helping to hold her head up. anyways, it was a good day!

a good day indeed.

a birthday

miss avery turned 3 yesterday.  three years old looks cute on her, she just never slows down enough for us to capture that.  after christmas she was dying for a few more princess barbies to finish off her collection. thanks to grandmas and aunts she almost has the complete set.  and she is pretty happy and entertained.  as a mom and dad we could just sit back and go light on birthdays because she ends up getting so spoiled, but it ends up being so much fun for us too.  She is my princess girl.  completely obsessed with all things princess.  i tried to avoid it as much as possible, but i guess its time for me to embrace the fact that she loves it so much and those silly things make her so happy.  she'd been asking for a barbie cake for so long.  she freaked out a little when she realized we were actually gonna stick a barbie in her cake.  she did not want her beloved barbie to get dirty. but, i stuck a big bowl of sugary frosting in front of her and she forgot all about it.  here she is in all her birthday glory.  jane was blessed sunday and we had family and friends over for lunch afterwards, pretty sure she thought all those people were there especially for her and that made her pretty happy. 

last night as i layed her in bed she asked for 3 hugs and 3 kisses. then she said goodnight, goodnight, goodnight and i love you, i love you, i love you and did the i love you sign 3 times.  it must have clicked that she was 3 years old because she said she needed to do everything 3 times because she was now 3 years old. smart girl.

i asked her a few questions that i found here about her favorite things as a 3 year old.  it will be fun to see how those things change over the years.  

she stole a big piece of my heart three years ago.  i love the she made me a mother and has taught me so much about love and patience. the two of us have spent some good quality time together.  those one on one times don't happen quite as often anymore but i love it when they do.  today i cuddled up with her and told her little stories about when she was my only baby.  funny things she did and said.  she would giggle and then ask for more stories.  i loved thinking back over the past 3 years and sharing some of those memories with her.  then we both fell asleep and took a nap together. i love that little stinker.