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.

holiday overload

its come and gone and we've enjoyed every second of this holiday season.  i was glad that our christmas wasn't crammed with too many festivities so that we could really relax and enjoy everything without feeling overwhelmed and busy.  Trae's family was all here visiting so we had a houseful. it was great to be altogether and to have his parents and sisters home from brazil for a while.

christmas eve was spent at my grandpa and grandmas.  it had been many years since the grandkids dressed up as the nativity scene so the young grandkids and a few great fancied up for an updated nativity picture.  we get spoiled with shon hings and shrimp cocktail (yuck), on top of the regular christmas feast.

we went caroling before christmas.  caroling with this jones family isn't like regular caroling.  they do 3 part harmony songs, have official practices, and blow the socks off of those lucky enough to be visited.  i don't quite belong with the bunch in this regard, therefore i always sing melody or hum softly in the background.  after christmas the jones crew went up to my families house in ogden valley to relax and go skiing.  it was a lovely little escape.

 christmas day was quite dreamy with an almost 3 year old.  i think i was more excited for christmas morning that anyone else.  being a parent and seeing your kids faces light up is priceless.  i love having christmas day on sunday.  sometimes it hard to focus on the true meaning of christmas with all the hype of gifts and parties but with christmas sunday we get one solid hour of feeling the spirit and remembering Christ.

 we headed out to my parents after church and talking to Davis in Romania to spend time with the Garrards.  Jane is so sweet and smily and i'd say she greatly enjoyed her first christmas.

now it's all over and we are slowly unwinding and preparing for whats next.  Jane gets blessed in church on sunday plus it's miss Avery's 3rd birthday.  three.years.old. 

goodness time flies.