Rolling Over Machine!

Kaylen rolled over for the first time on Sep 20 and I missed it! I put her down on her play mat, seriously went 7 steps to get a banana, came back and she had rolled over! I attached a picture of what I saw! I could've died! I tried to get her to do it again, but she wouldn't... not then, but the next time we saw her do it was at her 4 month Dr. appt in front of Gregg, myself and the Dr! She was definitely trying to impress the Dr! It was adorable! We all just sat there and watched her roll right into the wall! It was SO CUTE! She only likes to roll to her left and once there, it doesn't take long for her to get mad. She doesn't quite get the cause and effect thing... she likes to roll over, but doesn't realize it's her fault she's on her tummy! She's flipping adorable! Now, she's a rolling over machine! She loves to roll from her back to her tummy. Now we have to work on tummy to back!

So, I have to start somewhere! It's been FOREVER since I posted! Work has been crazy, life has been crazy, and not much time to get on the computer! I thought I would start here for once. For once I tried to put her down for a little nap before bed and thought I would try the pack-and-play. So far so good! Normally, I just want to cuddle her, but I thought I would try it this time so I could get a few things done!

I've been back to work for over a month now. When I got back to work, I was given two new jobs because another person got a promotion. Would be a good thing if I got paid more for doing those two new jobs on top of mine, but nope! So, now I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off every day. I keep hoping there will be a slow day, but nope, not yet! It's definitely been a transition. It got easier bringing Kaylen to daycare, but it's still hard. I wish I didn't have to, but it is what it is. They are very good to her and take very good care of her. It's nice to not have to worry about the care she's getting.

Gregg's been working his new job. He works Sundays now, which stinks to give up half our weekends, but he's home more nights during the week. He really enjoys it. He has a lot more patient involvement and has been doing such a great job! He's been really busy just getting ready for when he'll apply to med schools. He's shadowing doctors and has to do a ton of hours for an internship that will start this week. He's a busy guy and we hate every minute that he's not home, but we are VERY proud of him. He works so hard and is doing SUCH a great job!

Kaylen has been LOVING bath time... as long as I don't wait until too late at night to do it! She loves to splash around in her little tub. She didn't like the little hammock it came with because she loves being submerged in the water, but as soon as she was big enough, we took it out and the tub was a hit! Every new thing is fun with her! She is a rather serious little monkey, but she's been smiling more and more lately! She had her first GREAT giggle Oct 3, the day before her 4 month birthday!

Back to Work! :-(

I can't believe my maternity leave is already over! It's truly amazing how 3 months really can fly by! I was SO incredibly lucky for my friends at the court that donated leave to me so that I could have all this time to be with Kaylen. I am so incredibly grateful!

But tomorrow it's back to work. I've had yesterday and today to try to get used to the idea, but I'm not where used to the idea! I dropped her off at daycare for a couple hours both days, but nothing will be as hard as dropping her off for 9.5 hours to go to work! I can't even imagine having to do that tomorrow! I want to be the one to love on her all day! I can't believe how much I already miss her!

It's amazing how your child can become an addiction so quickly. My little heart is breaking to have to do it! So, wish me luck! Everyone says it will get better with time, so let's just hope it gets better sooner than later!

Adventure to Minnesota!

Kaylen and I went on an adventure... home to Minnesota! Quite the adventure it was! Gregg didn't come with us because he had taken a lot of leave with the first couple weeks after Kaylen was born and trip to Montana. I still had a couple weeks left on my maternity leave, so I thought I should head to MN to show off our perfect little sweet pea to family and friends! I booked a DIRECT flight, even though a connection would've been cheaper. The hastle that it saved me was WELL worth it! I went through security with my bottles of breast milk and my freezer pack and ALL our gear and luggage and it all went well! Not exactly easy, but well!

The weather was only nice the day I arrived, Tuesday the 18th. It pretty much poured all of Wednesday and Thursday, but cleared up for Friday. It was chilly, but decent enough to enjoy. Of course, the weather got gorgeous on Saturday, just in time for me to come home! But we definitely got lots of great stuff in! I introduced her to TONS of friends and family! She's only going to be our tiny munchkin for so long, she's getting big so fast! So, it was nice to get home while we could!

Kaylen went on her first boat ride. I, of course, got on the boat with her in the Baby Bjorn only to realize that she needed to be wearing a life jacket the whole time! I wish I could've put up more pictures! You should've seen the look on her face when my mom and dad were trying to get the sucker on her! Ha ha!! Priceless! But she looked darn cute sporting that life jacket (many thanks to my mom for finding one for her to wear!!) Speaking of my wonderful Mom... and very proud Grandma! She went out and got all kinds of gear for her just for the 4 days we'd be home. It was all used and she got GREAT deals! It was all safe, so it was so wonderful not too have to haul lots of stuff with us. She bought a car seat, base, bouncer, swing, bassinet and we borrowed a stroller and playmat! Kaylen was one spoiled little girl! Grandma definitely allowed us to have a home away from home! Kaylen used every single thing and loved them! Above is a picture of proud Grandma Ruby holding our cutie on a boat ride.

She even assisted Grandpa Marv drive the boat! Kaylen slept for much of her two boat rides, but I think she definitely got used to the life jacket and is already loving being on the water like her Mommy!

Kaylen got to eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Acapulco! Grandma and Grandpa treated us to a yummy lunch!

Heaven forbid the peanut love the travel swing we have for her! She hated it every time we put her in it. But my Mom finds this old school swing and the girl loves it! She would just hang out for a while and then fall asleep without fail! So, Gregg and I had to go out and buy a swing last weekend, which she likes! My parents had their swing all set to ship out to us, but we might not mess with that and keep the one we bought even if we did pay a little more than we'd like. Hopefully, she'll still like my parents swing at 6 months when we try to make it home for Christmas!

Uncle Jeff LOVED getting his cuddle on with Kaylen! He got the chance to feed her a bottle of breast milk, learned the art of burping her, played with her and loved having her sleep on his chest. He is wonderful with her! He's not sure what to think of her not-so-dainty farts though! :-) She more than surprised him with the amount of oomph she can put behind one of those! :-)

I'm really glad we got the chance to make it home for a visit. We all only wished Gregg would've come with us. It also would've been nice to have a little more time so that we could've had the chance to see even more people, but overall it was a great trip! Thanks to my wonderful parents and all our friends and family, we had a great time and Kaylen got to meet lots of the people that love her!

Turner, Montana trip

I'm really not good at this blogging thing as of late! Between getting our pictures up on Facebook, uploading them to Walmart so that family can purchase them should they want them (although I'm still waiting for my Mom to figure that part out!), I never manage to get to the blogging! So, here goes! (I have no idea why this is underlined, but it wouldn't let me change it!)

We headed to Turner, Montana (where Warren grew up) to visit the family still up there. Most importantly, Gregg's grandpa who we wanted to introduce to his very first great grandchild! It's hard to explain just how small Turner really is! When we first drove up into town, there is a sign on the side of the road that says, "Turner- Next 7 Exits"... Gregg about peed his pants when he saw that and if you've never been to Turner, you couldn't truly understand. There are only 7 roads to turn on in Turner which is why it's funny... there are no "exits". It's quite the town. It is also the only place I'll ever be where the bartender asks in the only bar/ restaurant, "Do you want to take a beer for the road?"

We had a great visit and Papa loved getting to hold Kaylen. He even told Gregg to back off when Gregg was standing there in case Kaylen got fussy. Papa had it all under
control! He was very sweet with her and we loved getting to introduce them for the first time! And we know Kaylen must have loved him as well because it didn't take her long to fall asleep in his arms! It was a memorable time for all of us!

Gregg's two uncles, Wellen and Terry, still run the family farm in Turner and we showed up just in time for harvest. They harvest wheat and it's QUITE the production! For Warren, it was like riding a bike, he got in that combine and was as ready as ever to help out. It meant a lot for Gregg to be there, too, as he really wanted to help the family out. Andrew had flown home to help out with harvest and Colin was there to help as well. Warren, Andrew and Colin drove the combines for the most part and Papa showed up to work one day, took over his combine from Colin and put in 7 hours of work! Typically he puts in 3-4, but he just wouldn't quit! It was a wonderful thing to watch, Papa, Warren and Andrew out running the combines, 3 generations of Joneses. Gregg learned to drive the truck that hauled the wheat back to the silos. It was quite the beefy truck and there was a lot more involved in the unloading process. They were long days, so it was not much of a "vacation" for them, but I know they were much happier helping out the family than sitting around. Wellen and Terry actually said because of all the extra help, they got 5 days of work done in about 2.5. I know that made Gregg happy. The end of the week was spoiled by rain, but they got quite a bit done while they had the chance!

Gregg and I had to reinact our favorite picture from the last time we were up at the farm, but this time with the new addition to our family! We had such a great time up there visiting and spending time with the family. It's about a 13 hour drive both ways that we broke up into 2 days each way... thank goodness! Kaylen was WONDERFUL! She slept a lot and we were able to get far between feedings. Not so great for her schedule, but she was very easy to take along!

We, of course, had to take the 4 generation picture of the boys. It was a picture we'll be so glad we took. We couldn't be happier that we made the trip. It's a hard trip to make often, but well worth it!

This is how our sweet pea made the trip. She is one beautiful little girl!

We are so thankful for the family putting us up for the week and taking such good care of us! It was a great experience to get to see what harvesting is all about!

Kaylen's Baptism- July 26, 2009

CLEARLY, I have to figure out how to get on to update this more often! It's been so long! Kaylen has grown so much already! I had to save a newborn size diaper! I want to hold on to all her 'tiny-ness' while welcoming the fun new changes! We can tell that she's thinking about starting to smile, but hasn't really gotten there yet. She's having quite the time on her new play mat and LOVES to be outside! She loves the trees, walks and any time you can give her in the great outdoors!

We had Kaylen Baptized on Sunday, July 26th at our church. My parents flew in from Minnesota (my brother wasn't able to make it due to his work not giving him the day off and my sister was working), Gregg's family all came from Wyoming and his cousin, Andrew flew for just a few hours as that's all he had off of his Air Force training! We were VERY blessed to have all the family and friends at our baby's big event! Below is a picture of Pastor John and Kaylen as she is being Baptized.
We chose Gregg's cousin, Andrew, to be Kaylen's godfather and Leslie, Gregg's sister, to be Kaylen's godmother. We have all the faith and confidence in them to be positive influences over Kaylen's life and to do what's in her best interest should something happen to us. We are grateful to have them accept such a responsibility.

Kaylen got spoiled with all the family around, especially by her grandparents! They were so helpful this weekend, it was wonderful to have them here!

Kaylen wore the same Baptism dress that I wore for my Baptism! It fit her wonderfully and it was so nice to have something sentimental as part of the ceremony. It was such a gift that my mom held onto the dress all these years, it made of a wonderful memory!

We had a yummy bbq in the park after the service! Thanks to ALL our family and friends for helping out, bringing food and just being part of our wonderful day! We are grateful Kaylen was so loved on her big day!

Kaylen Lorraine Jones- June 4th, 2009

So, I'm a little late! Our beautiful baby girl was born over a week ago on June 4th, 2009! She was born at 10:23 PM via c-section! It was a long little adventure! May parents flew in and Leslie came from Wyoming the evening before. They were there in the hospital with us the whole time. It was nice to have extra support and they were very helpful while they were here. We went in to the hospital June 4th at 1 AM (expecting to go in the evening before around 7!), I was given cervix drugs at 3AM and the Pitocin at 9 AM. I labored for 12 hours. Around 9 PM was when the Dr said it was time to push. I went through 4 or 5 rounds of pushing when the Dr said her heartbeat was dropping each time and it was reason to be concerned. The Dr. recommended a c-section at that time. We knew all along that we wanted our baby to get here safely no matter how that had to take place, but I was still pretty disappointed. It all happened pretty fast at that point. They brought me into the OR. I had already had some "labor shakes", but what went from labor shakes earlier on turned into what seemed like a full blown seizure for the rest of the procedure. That was pretty miserable. Gregg sat up by me the whole time until Kaylen was born. After they got her all cleaned up and did all their checks, he was able to bring her over by me. I had now idea how I would react going into this, but the minute I saw her the first time, I bawled! Seeing our baby for the first time was very emotional. After Gregg was able to bring her over to me, it was hard because I was so uncomfortable and in pain, I could hardly turn my head. He tried to show me pictures and let me see her as much as he could. I recovered in the L& D room for 2 hours, but because of how bad I was shaking, I wasn't able to hold her until we got up to the recovery room. It was a very long day, but we couldn't have been more ready and excited to meet her! She is absolutely PERFECT!

Here is the proud Daddy!! He struggled a bit in trying to be with me and the baby all at once, but he could not have been more amazing the entire day! He did everything he could to support me while I was in labor and in the OR and he was the happiest Daddy in the world the minute he saw her.

Here is me, the also very proud new Mommy. We were amazing at the little miracle we brought into the world. It's hard to see it all become a reality, but we enjoyed every minute of it! Being that we had a c-section, the nurses at the hospital gave her formula right off the bat. We're still not sure that had to be the situation, but at the time, they told me she was starving to death, so we didn't feel like we had much choice. I tried to do what I could to feed her in the hospital, but we're still struggling with breast feeding, but doing the best we can at this point. But we're happy to say she's only getting breast milk one way or another, she is not eating formula.

Our family picture the day we took her home. Gregg picked out his favorite sleeper for her to wear home. It was VERY big on here! It's amazing that we were so nervous she would be a huge baby and now she hardly fits into most of her newborn clothes! Gregg had to go buy a few more newborn onesies so she had things to wear! :-)

We had a few pictures taken at Sears on June 12th at 9 days old. It was quite the day! We tried to feed her right before we left the apartment, but by the time we got there, she was fussy and cried for the first 10 pictures. She I ended up feeding her in this small closet in the photo shoot room for 30 minutes! Right after we were done feeding, she threw up all over her clothes and the backdrop at Sears! Ha ha... what other way could things have gone down, right! We got some great pictures out of the day though and this is one of our favorites. She is so beautiful! We are truly very blessed parents and hope that God continues to give us the knowledge we need to get through all the days ahead! We had both our families visit in the days that followed her birth. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to get up a few of those!

It's Official! June 4th

So, not exactly what we had in mind, but I will be getting induced on Thursday! We had a feeling it was coming at our doctor's appointment last Friday. My blood pressure was high that day and our Dr. told us that having tested positive for the blood clot stuff, she didn't want me to go past my due date. Basically, she said if my blood pressure was still high today, she wanted us to go on the 4th. If it wasn't high, she said it would be a judgment call.

Well, needless to say... my blood pressure was high and she says I'd gained weight since Friday, SO! She even talked for a minute of being induced before the 4th! The look on Gregg's face when she said that was priceless! He has been very excited, but it hit him that there aren't many days between today and Thursday! Ha ha... he is adorable!

She eventually decided the 4th would work okay and that it would be soon enough. I am 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced, but that's not quite where I need to be. So, I will have to go in Wednesday night to get some kind of cervix drug to get things going better. I'll have to spend the night on Wednesday night and the show will kick off Thursday morning! We really just pray that all goes well from start to finish. We want our baby girl to come into this world as safely and easily as possible! I also hope that the labor will go as well as it can with no complications! It should be a very crazy week! I'm very glad she will not be showing up on Gregg's birthday, June 6th, but this will be one heck of a birthday present for him!