Mom and Dad

Two beautiful ladies!

This is my incredibly amazing mother. She came and stayed with us recently and it was a real treat. She came up the day before Mataya was born and was able to be with us for a whole week. It was so comforting to know that Grandma was taking care of the boys while I was in the hospital. She cooked, cleaned, and took care of us, it was sooooo nice. Cory remarked how clean the kitchen was when she was here. He then said, "This is nice we might need to hire a maid." I said, "I'm okay with that."

So today is my parents 37th wedding anniversary.....pretty awesome! My parents are the most amazing people that I know. They have taught me so much about living the gospel and putting family first. Having my mom stay with us reminded me how much she LOVES being a mom (and grandma). She is so kind and compassionate and has taught me what it means to be a great mom.

Mom, I love you so much! Thanks for everything you have taught me in my life and thanks for always being there when I need your help and advice.

And Dad, you are pretty great too:-) I've always thought you were the coolest and most fun dad. Thanks for your example of hard work it has helped me throughout my life.

Happy Anniversary....you're the best!

Parker's observation

When Cory got home from work last night he turned on the news to many stories and images of Michael Jackson. Parker walked in the room and the conversation went something like this:

Parker - "Who's that Mom?"

Me - "It's Michael Jackson, he's a famous person and he died today."

Parker - "Oh.....she looks like a vampire is she a vampire?"

Me - "Uh...wow...I did not see that coming. No, bud, it's a he and he's not a vampire as far as I know."

Fun in the Sun

Recently, my sister and her family moved from Salt Lake to South Ogden....yeah! We love having our cousins so close. We went and visited them at their house and then we went to this park and splash pad that was only a few blocks away. Parker had no problem running out there like a maniac getting wet and having fun. Spencer, on the other hand, was a little more cautious and had to watch all the kids for a bit before he decided to join in. Waiting for the water to dump on his head........
Lexi was joining in on the water fun (with the help of her mom).
Thankfully G.G. came and held Mataya most of the time and hung out in the shade. That made it possible for me to be with the boys, thanks Grandma! She slept the whole time, which is nice for now. We just pack her up with us and she doesn't seem to mind a bit. She woke up once for a diaper change and to eat.
Spencer was my little shadow the whole time we were there. He got a little wet....not my his choice a little girl totally sprayed him and that ended his efforts in the water area.
It's days like this that remind me how great it is to be a mom. I love being a stay-at-home mom as well because I always get to be with my kids and do fun stuff. It's a lot of work to go places (and even more so with 3 kids:-), but it's always worth the effort of seeing them have fun.

All dressed up and no place to go

I was so excited for Sunday because we were all going to go to church together....finally! We went to Mataya's 2 week doctor appointment and he told us to stay away from church, family reunions, and try to limit taking her to the store. He told us he sees 2 patients a day with the Swine Flu! Great! What ever happened to, "Oh I had a baby in the summer, no worries about illness and germs."? He told us to treat the summer like you would the winter with hand washing and limiting exposure where possible. So IF we had gone to church today this is what she would have worn.

Parker playing T-ball

Parker started t-ball and he is really excited about it. This was taken after he got home from his first practice. He was most excited about his hat. They practice in the tennis courts. I don't think they will play an actual game until the end, but so far they are just working on the fundamentals. So parents have to be with their child to help at each station where they practice batting, catching, and running the bases. Me, Mataya, and Spencer made it to a practice to watch. Parker is really good....he likes this a lot better than soccer!

Goodbye Old Friend

It was 2 weeks ago today that I last drank a diet coke. I decided once I had Mataya that I should try to stop drinking soda and so far so good. It's been a little tough with the headaches and crankiness, but I think I'm past all of that now. It did become a bit of an addiction when I was pregnant.....so I decided I better slow the pace for the baby's sake. I think it would be great to never drink it again. Whenever I give the boys a bath Spencer likes to fill a cup with water and tell me it's his diet coke. That's not good! So for now I'm on the wagon.....hope it stays that way.

Try it...you'll like it!

Chocolate Chex Caramel Crunch

8 cups Chocolate Chex cereal

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

6 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup white vanilla baking chips

1 - Into large microwavable bowl, measure cereal: set aside. Line cookie sheet with waxed paper.

2 - In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute until melted and smooth. Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Pour over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on High 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Spread on cookie sheet. Cool 10 minutes. Break into bite-sized pieces.

3 - In small microwavable bowl, microwave vanilla chips uncovered on High about 1 minute 30 seconds or until chips can be stirred smooth. Drizzle over snack. Refrigerate until set. Store in tightly container.

This is so fast and very delicious. I use more than a 1/4 cup of the white chocolate, but that's just me....Enjoy!

We aren't enjoying this girl......nope not at all!

Lil' Eater

Mataya had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. When we left the hospital on Saturday she weighed 6lb 11 oz and 4 days later at her appointment she weighed in at 7lb 11 oz....whoa! The doctor was really surprised. They just really hope to see babies back to their birthweight at 2 weeks.

We've got a champoin eater on our hands. She never turns down the chance to eat and she is so good. She will sleep for 4 hour stretches at night.

I think we will keep her around plus she is pretty cute too!

Our Growing Family

My boys look enormous next to Mataya. Notice how she is on the dinosaur blanket of Spencer's. He likes to bring it out to her and make sure she is warm.

Parker loves his little sister. He always wants to hold her and we discovered he really only likes to hold her she she is asleep and not awake and wiggling around:)

Looking up at Dad with those beautiful blue eyes.

We had some special visitors on Sunday. This is our cousin Allison. This is the oldest and youngest of my parents grandkids. They have 14 now....my dad is hoping he can double that number.....ohh boy! Rebecca and Mataya.....we are excited to have our cousins live closer to us:)

Mataya Mae

Our little princess

This was her laying on my chest the second night we were there. She was just so cute and sweet laying on me that I didn't want to send her to the nursery even though I was so tired.

Grandma Blackwell brought Parker and Spencer for another visit to the hospital. Isn't my Mom the cutest? Big brother Parker holding Mataya for the first time. He held her for a very long time and when it was time for them to leave he said Grandma and Spencer could leave and he would stay there with us. Then he would say, "Can I just hold her for 2 more minutes?" I explained to him we were coming home the next day and that cheered him up. I think he thought we were going to be there for several more days. Spencer didn't want to hold the baby just yet, but he was very excited when Daddy took the boys down to the cafeteria for some lunch. Spencer got a quesadilla which is one of the few things that he will eat. Hospital cafeteria food is awesome when you are a kid:)
Parker wanted to walk in with 2 red roses to give me and it took Grandma a few stores and stops to grant that request. Spencer gave me the 2 pink roses. Thanks Grandma!
Those nurses are pro at the burrito wrap
Time to get dressed and head home.
I think she is smiling. She is ready to go home.
Ready to go in the outfit Grandma Jones gave me.
Let's blow this joint! I love the huge hospital pacifiers.
We made it home, there's no place we would rather be.

It was really cute when we got home the boys were looking out the window and came running out to greet us. They were both wearing shirts they got at a sibling class we had gone to that said "I'm the Big Brother". They were so glad that little sister was home!

Mataya's First Day

Thanks to our laptop and hospital Wifi I am able to post this while still in the hospital. Gotta love technology. Here are some pictures of Mataya's big day yesterday.

We checked into the hospital around 7 a.m. The nurse got the pitocin going around 8 and I was still happy before all the pain started:) She is just perfect!

I'd like to give a shout out to the nurse who delivered our little princess. It all happened so fast, which was awesome because I got to eat lunch and I was just hoping to be done by dinnertime. The doctor was walking into the hospital as she was born so he missed some of the action. But he made it in to finish things up. When it was "time" Cory put his hat on backwards and was ready for the action! When she was born it was love at first sight. She looks so tiny when he holds her.
I am in love!

I had a hard time the last 2 weeks of this pregnancy and I knew it would be worth it. We feel so blessed that she made it here safe and is healthy. My heart is so full and I want to thank all our friends and family who called and were concerned for me and for everyone who was praying for us we appreciate that so much. My Grammy and Papa were in the temple when she was born and I talked to them when they got out and told them the good news and they were so happy and said they put my name on the prayer roll. I'm so grateful for the power of prayer and my family who is so supportive and wonderful. She got to have her first bath and she was not very happy about it.
We had some special visitors. This is my grandma that lives in Kaysville. I'm glad she lives so close she is an angel.
Grandpa Ray, Lexi, Melissa, and Mataya. Lexi is checking out her new cousin. Parker and Spencer came right after she was born, but I didn't get any pictures of it, but I took some today of them that I will post later hopefully. When the boys came in to meet their little sister Spencer was smiling so big and looking at her really close. Parker told me, "Mom, I feel like this is a dream, but it's real!"

That's exactly how I feel! I feel like my life is a dream because it's so sweet! Welcome to our family, Mataya Mae, we know our lives will never be the same:)

Here She is Mataya Mae Jones born just before noon. She weighs 7 lbs 6 oz. and is 21 inches in length. She is in good health and was up for about two hours before taking her first nap.

She was so anxious to arrive that the Doctor didn't have time to make it to the delivery room, leaving the nurse to deliver Mataya. In all she was born less than 45 minutes after Lindsay had an epidural.

Spencer was all smiles after he and Parker arrived to meet their new sister. Mother is doing well and says she is ready to start training for her next tri at the end of summer.

I swear this is the last one...

I was scheduled to be induced this morning (Wednesday), but this was a really bad day for Cory so I called my doctor's office on Monday and tried to move it to yesterday. Tuesday is the doctor's surgery day so he wouldn't induce me that day. So I shed many tears when I had to change it to Thursday.

I overheard Spencer say to Parker, "Parker, mom is really sad today." That made me feel bad I was trying so hard not to be sad and depressed, but at the time the thought of being pregnant for 3 more days seemed like the worst thing ever. By Monday night I was feeling okay and had come to terms with it and all was well.

Now, you may be asking yourself this question: Wednesday was a bad day for Cory? Who gives a crap what is a "good" day for him?

Because I am an awesome, understanding wife and cared enough about Cory needing to be at work on Wednesday I decided being pregnant another 24 more hours was not the end of the world. Although....he owes me....BIG TIME!

So I will be checking into the hospital tomorrow at 6:45 a.m. Hopefully she decides to come fast. And my amazing Mom is on her way to our house today and will be here with the boys which is so nice we can just wake up in the morning and go.

Preschool Graduation

Our little Parker is a preschool graduate. The cap and gown was his favorite part. I loved, loved, loved the preschool we put him in and so glad he had such a great year with awesome teachers and lots of fun learning. He told me he is really sad to be done with preschool, but very excited for Kindergarten next year. Walking up on the stage. Parker told me he was nervous to be up there and say his part. It was really cute. "My favorite part of preschool was snacks and centers"
They sang a few songs during the program. This one was Parker during "5 little monkeys swinging in a tree". That one is always a crowd favorite. Spencer sang along, he loved it!
"Parker Jones. When Parker grows up he wants to be in the Army."

This is Parker getting his diploma and his teacher is on the right Miss Erica.

Parker and Oakley

Oakley used to live right next door, but moved recently. They went to the same school, but on different days. We miss her a lot, but glad we got to see her again! I think Parker is eyeing the cookie table in the back:) Okay, I was too.