thanksgiving

man, this last week ran away from me.  we had a great thanksgiving and were so happy to have trae home  with us for a whole week. the best thing about both trae and i being from the same place is that we get to hit up both families parties for the holidays if we want.  the worst part about having both of us from the same town is when we decide to hit up two large thanksgiving feasts on the same day and indulge at both of them. our bellies still haven't forgiven us for that one.  friday, jane and i went black friday shopping and got a few good finds.  mostly i like to go and be with my sisters, mom, aunts and grandma.  we have so much fun and forget all about the fact that we woke up at 3 am.... until about noon and we hit the wall.

quick story: we came home from getting family pics taken thursday morning and ave was mad at me for some reason so she went into my room and shut the door.  she told matt not to tell me that she was in my room, so i figured i'd let her cool off for a minute and i'd get some things done before we went to lunch. about  45 minutes later i went in to get her and the reason she didn't want me to know she was in there was because she had eaten an entire sleeve or two of oreos ... just the frosting in the middle though.  sneaky little lady.  she obviously wasn't hungry when it came time for real food.

thanksgiving dinner #1 was with the Coltrins. only picture i got

 thanksgiving dinner #2 with the Garrards

browsing the ads for black friday shopping

 Jane getting some love from her aunts

Friday started bright and early for us.  

(poor quality phone pictures)

meag came and stayed with my sisters while my parents were in jamaica a few weeks ago. we had so much fun together everyday.

we had a great thanksgiving week with family and now we are excited for christmas to get here. but not too fast because i have soooo much shopping left to do. 

handsome and gretel

judging by this blog lately, you would think we have forgotten about miss avery. wrong.  she has been keeping us so super busy i'm lucky to squeeze in an hour of cuddle time with little jane.  avery is in ballet and had her big performance this week, hansel and gretel, (however, she thinks its called handsome and gretel and i'm not about to make her think otherwise.)  it was a crazy, hectic week with so many hours of dress rehearsals, plus 3 real performances.  a bit much for a two year old i think.  i'm still debating if it was all worth it, but we signed up for it.  avery was the cutest little lollipop, albeit a rather difficult one.  she has been so sick all week, refused to wear costume makeup, screamed every time i took her backstage to get dressed and ready to perform, and did not want to go on stage to dance. but once she got out there she was adorable and did so well. she is the youngest in her class and looked so tiny up on that big stage.   i love my little lollipop.

other than ballet, avery has been loving her new little sister.  she almost always calls her Janers and thinks being a big sis is a pretty big deal.  she rarely gets jealous and tries to be a big helper most of the time, sometimes too much.  i love watching her interact with jane when she thinks i'm not around.  she makes up songs for her and sings 'i am a child of God' whenever she cries and pulls out books and reads her stories all the time.  i'm amazed at how naturally those motherly instincts come out of little girls.

she said she wanted to make sure jane had lots of friends so she wouldn't be sad.

we have to keep an eye on her though, she is known to pull jane right off the top of our bed.

she is good at making sure jane has plenty of blankets

mostly she just loves to sit on my rocking chair and hold jane.

11-11-11

 yep. we love this little girl.  

and here is what was going on at our house on 11-11-11 @ 11:11am. up close and personal with Winnie the Pooh.  What were you doing?

perfect.

trae is at school, my parents just took avery with them to a basketball game, jane is sleeping, my house is clean and it's only six thirty.  i thought about taking a lovely evening nap but then i'd be mad at myself later when i couldn't fall asleep around midnight. so instead of blog stalking/pinteresting, two things i am very good at, i decided i could do a little updating around here.

jane is a month old today. i'm a little bit mad about it, it all goes way too fast.  i've said it before but there is nothing on this earth quite like a newborn baby.  all i have to do is look at her and my heart tightens up and tears start to swell.  i've been thinking lately how i am such an imperfect person, yet Heavenly Father created this little perfect being, from me, for me to teach and raise and love and learn from.  what an amazing miracle that is. every time i hold her, i am holding this little perfect piece of me and part of God. maybe he wants to remind us that one day we can be perfect just like Him and just like little children.  we have that potential in us,  it is just buried deep beneath imperfections.

(picture taken by my sis, Mckell)

there are so many things that i love about new babies.  i love Jane's funny little squeaks and grunts.  i love her perfect nose and her head of dark brown hair.  i love her long skinny toes and fingers, and how her fingers curl right around mine every time she eats.  i love her little newborn stretches, especially right out of her car seat.  i love her little sleepy grins and her real live smiles i get every now and then.  i love her funny facial expressions when she is trying to wake up or during a good dream.  even her sad little cry is adorable. i love that as her mom, i am responsible for feeding and teaching and caring for her.  and i can do that for her better than anyone else can.  there are so many things that i don't want to forget about this stage but somehow seem to over time.

i need to find a good picture of avery at this stage.  i keep telling myself that they don't look that much alike but every time i take a picture of Jane i am proven wrong.  she is filling out so nicely and i love it.  last night she only woke up once and a chorus of angels sang from heaven, and i actually accomplished something during the day because i woke feeling well rested and rejuvenated, rather than exhausted and lazy. she really is so sweet. but now she is ready to eat, and letting me know it, so i better go.

thankful for....

lets be honest, there really was no chance i would update my blog daily so here is my thankful list for the past week.

november 2

my husband! i remember thinking while we were dating and when he was on his mission how lucky i would be if i could marry trae jones, not really thinking it would happen, but hoping it would.  then it did, and it's true, i am lucky.  we certainly have our disagreements and differences, just like most couples, but i love what that brings to our marriage and how close we have grown together because we've had to work for a successful, happy marriage.  most days he is my better half.  i am so thankful that we were sealed for eternity 5 short years ago, thankful that he has given me 2 beautiful daughters, and thankful that he is mine!

november 3

my rocking chair!  i am a little embarrassed about how many hours i have spent in this chair over the last month.  miss jane and i have become very acquainted with it lately and i love it.  my parents gave it to us a few years ago and it is bar-none my favorite piece of furniture i own.  i am thankful for it when i am up in the middle of the night feeding jane or rocking avery and reading her countless books each day.  it is comfy and perfect.  before you have kids, get yourself one, you will be so thankful you did.

november 4

the holy ghost!  i rely on this companionship daily as a mother and wife.  it provides me with the guidance and comfort that i need on this earthly journey, especially on days that i don't feel worthy of it.  how awesome is it that we can receive personal revelation and promptings from the holy ghost to help us achieve what we came to earth to do, and all we have to do is listen and then act.  pretty cool. and i am so thankful for it.

november 5

good books! i never was much of a reader growing up and i regret it.  there are so many good books out there and so much we can learn from them.   i rarely read a book i don't love, mostly because i only read books that come with strong recommendations.  i love so many books, but i am most thankful for this book.  it's my favorite, but thats probably another thankful post in itself.

november 6

seasons! it is so cold today, not something i am particularly thankful for, but after living in another country  where there is no variation during the year i am so grateful for changing seasons.  each season brings something so beautiful and new and needed.  my most favorite season is fall.  

november 7

sports/exercise!  i start playing city league volleyball tonight.  i am so far from being in shape but i'm thankful for the opportunities i have been given to play and be active. sports have always been such a big and important part of my life.  i have so many good memories of playing sports, and a few not so pleasant ones.  i feel that through sports my dad taught me how to work hard, and that has blessed me in so many other areas of my life.  i am not a faithful exerciser but enjoy the chances that i have to be active and stay healthy and somewhat in-shape.

fall festivities

trae's mom has been in town visiting for the past few weeks. she left today to head back to brazil.  it was kinda strange having her come back to her own house and be the visitor there but we loved having her here.  she was so much help with the cooking, cleaning, playing with avery, and snuggling jane.  we are glad we gave her the excuse to make a trip to the US.  her trip went fast and she crammed it full of so many things, but they'll be back in a few months for the next visit.  while she was here we took a little trip to the pumpkin patch.

i stole a few of these from macey's blog.. thanks mace!

missing trae and jane, it was a cold day so they stayed in the car.

later in the week we carved our chosen pumpkins.  

 what a goof.

this sweet thing was happy to watch from the sidelines.  look how those cheeks are chunking up.  there are so many things i am remembering and loving all over again with newborn babies. goodness, i am so in love.

 and now it's November, which could quite possibly be my favorite month of the year. i am going to try and focus on things that i am grateful for everyday this month, instead of waiting until thanksgiving day to ramble off my list of blessings. so for day one of the 'month of thanksgiving'  i am grateful for two healthy and happy girls.  they bring me so much happiness and our lives would not be complete or half as enjoyable without them.  they make everyday worth waking up for and full of adventures.  they make being a mom the greatest and most fulfilling job.   What are you thankful for?