Wrong Answer

September 29 - 39 Weeks

So I went to the doctor today and told him that if I hadn't changed anymore to at least lie and say that I had - but he wouldn't. I am pretty much the same as I was last week. That doesn't give me a whole lot of hope to have her on Thursday like we have planned, but we will see. I didn't gain any weight but lost two pounds since last week - so that was fun news. The nurse said that is pretty common and means I am getting close. My doctor told me I have a 60-70% chance of having her before next Monday - then went on to say that also means I have a 30-40% chance I won't. So we will see.

Jones Reunion Slide Show

We had a great time - I don't remember what I already wrote and since I spent so much time blogging last night, I don't have time to write much other than I love my family!!!!

Boating

Mike has been able to go boating with our friend Bob 3 times in the past 8 days. They have had a lot of fun. He has been able to get up on the wake board and loves it. I went out the first time, but Bob said he doesn't deliver in the middle of the river - so we figured I was safer to stay on the shore. Bob is a great guy and even though it has taken Mike away - he has had a lot of fun and I can't think of very many better people that he could be spending time with. He doesn't get to play very often - it makes me happy to see him go out and do something fun.

1 Week Left and Tummy Pictures

We have one more week until we are due, but have decided that she should be born on Thursday. We would like to have her in October, so Thursday works for that. It is after month-end for Mike which is always crazy for him, the girls don't have school on Thursday or Friday and my parents are coming down for conference weekend so it would really work out well. We will see how she cooperates. I have an appointment tomorrow and I hope to see some progression. I won't be very happy if I haven't dilated. I have been a 2 at my last three appts. I keep telling Mike that she is going to be born on month-end and he will have to learn that someone else can do his job. He thinks he can get away with sending a replacement for him to the hospital - but I have veto-ed that plan.

I guess it just takes some nudging from Lynette to get me to post - I have taken a few tummy pics that I haven't posted and she has been hassling me. So here you go. Last week at church I was feeling huge because several people told me that I looked liked I was "about to pop" or that it seemed that "I had grown alot all of a sudden." Note to any readers - not pleasant things to hear when you are 2 weeks away from your due date and feeling big without those comments. People were much nicer this week. Mike kept telling everyone that asked about our due date that it was in February - not so funny. But I am hoping that I won't go to church again without a baby, since next week is conference and I should have had her by the following week. (I really hope!)

September 8 - 36 weeks

September 22 - 38 weeks

Utah Trip

We got to go with Mike to convention in SLC the week before school started. (August 18-23) It was a lot of fun! He worked pretty long hours and we played. What can be better than that? I felt bad that he had to work so much, but we had a great time visiting with friends we haven't seen for awhile. We got to start the week as a family on Temple Square. It was fun just wandering around and being together to start off the crazy week.

I wasn't always good about taking pictures of everything, so we missed pictures of some of our friends. We went swimming with Marci, Zack and Evan, and forgot to take the camera out so I included a picture of their family from earlier in the month. We sure miss them!

While down in UT county, we visited several people and had a great time! We have so many good friends down there - sorry if I didn't get a picture of you in here! We met Jenna and her kids at Thanksgiving Point and LOVED the museum. We spent 3 hours there and could have stayed longer, but it was closing.

We also got forgot to take pictures of dinner with Jess and Jake. We met Jake at their wedding, but this gave us a chance to get to know him a little better. He had the girls laughing and adoring him within minutes of sitting down and it continued the whole time we ate and talked. Hopefully they didn't drive him crazy! You did good, Jess!

Thursday, we met Emily at the Church History Museum in the I am a Child of God Exhibit. The girls loved it and it gave Em and I a chance to visit. It is a completely hands-on exhibit. We spent quite a bit of time there. So many neat things to see and do. We also went to the Visitors' Center and watched The Legacy. The girls hadn't ever seen it. When it was over, Whitney turned to me and said, "There were a lot of people that weren't very nice to the pioneers and they didn't even do anything." What a great legacy we have been given. I am grateful for the sacrifices that the pioneers made. They had such courage and faith!

Friday we went to the Hogle Zoo with our neighbors who were also down for convention. It was very fun. We loved the bird show and seeing all of the animals. It is nice that the kids are old enough to be able to walk and not complain. I included a picture from when we were there 4 yrs ago - I had remembered taking that picture of Kenna so we had to get a current one. She has sure changed! But still just as cute! I didn't get one of Whitney that day (4yrs ago) because she wouldn't stand by the ape. It is sure fun to compare pictures! They grow so fast!

So Mike didn't sleep much that week and worked a lot. As you can see - we played a lot! We are greatful for him and all the hard work he does to provide for our family. He is amazing! I don't know how he does all that he does. He is such a great husband and father! We love him so much!!!!

Canning

We have been canning crazies since Labor Day weekend and I am happy to say - I am FINALLY DONE!!!!!! We started with 530-ish ounces of strawberry freezer jam. (40lbs of strawberries) It was a lot of work, but Mike, Kevin and the girls all helped. And what is canning without a little Power Tunes! This is the only picture I took with my camera.

I should really go count how many quarts we ended up canning, but I am on a roll with all these posts so I can't stop or I might not make it back. We canned around 50 quarts of peaches, 29 of pears, 50+ of pear syrup and 4 batches of fruit leather. I wanted to do a lot of syrup - but wasn't planning on quite that much. It has been a crazy week and when I finally got to my fruit, syrup was our choice because the fruit was too ripe. But we really like it and it isn't near as much work. And the best part - we are DONE! YAY! My girls have been great helpers. They love to run the strainer and can do it without any help so I can keep ahead of them washing and cutting fruit. We always made fun of my mom that she would always say how much faster it was with our help - and now I say that to my girls too. Mostly in honor of her. But it IS lots faster with their help! I didn't get pictures of them helping this year with the canning - but Melinda did so I will have to get them from her and attach to this post.

Whitney's Birthday!

I can't believe my Whitney turned 7! That is so crazy! She got to have two birthdays - one on her actual day that Grandma and Grandpa Jones got to be here for and one with some friends the weekend after. It was a lot of fun. For the family birthday, I told her we were going to do cupcakes and so she thought it would be fun to do a tic-tac-toe board. (In case you can't tell.) The cake for her friend party - she wanted a butterfly, instead of a character so I decided to try it a "simpler" way. I think I probably spent about as much time on it as I have for their other cakes. (Even though the website said it would only take 20 minutes to put together - HA HA!) Maybe I will do a blog post of some character cakes I have done in the past - just for fun. Anyway - I enjoy doing the cakes and the girls love them and can tell you most of the cakes they have had - so I guess it is ok that it takes so many hours.

Whitney is such a blessing in our family! She is a great helper and is very thoughtful of others. She fills the "big sister" role very well and can't wait for the new baby. We have had a few babies around a lot recently and she is especially good with them. She will be such a good helper. School comes pretty easy for her - she is a really good student and especially likes reading and math.

Tic-Tac-Toe cupcakes

She doesn't like the smoke smell

Friends and Cousins

First Day on the Bus

This was kind of a scary day - sending the girls on the bus - they usually choose to have me take them instead which I am ok with until the baby is born. It actually makes me feel good that they would rather have me take them. So grown up! I forgot to mention that right before school we all cut our hair - Whitney's was the most drastic. Kenna loves her long hair and only wanted a trim, but Whitney had been asking to cut it to her chin since spring. Things just take me awhile (like adding new posts) so it didn't happen until right before school started. They are both beautiful girls!

First Day of School

The girls both started school the last week of August. We got home from Utah on Saturday and then started school on Monday. Both of the girls were up before 7 which hasn't happened for a long time before. (or since for that matter) They usually are big breakfast eaters - typically eating more than I do. I made them french toast - a favorite and neither ate very much. As I walked them up to the school, they were both excited. Each had at least one friend in their class and that was good. I kissed them both and left them lined up with their classes. I didn't have any tears until I watched them both walk into the school and I turned around and bawled. I am excited for them to go and it is fun to watch them learn and grow, but it was hard. We have had a fun summer. I had several friends there dropping off kids who I would have stayed to talk to, but I just wanted to go home. I thought all my tears were out, until I walked into my empty house and they started all over again. It has been an adjustment having Whitney gone all day - for all of us. It is hard for her not to have much play time by the time she gets home and does homework and everything. It is hard for me and Kenna not to get to play with her. I am glad we only have half day kindergarten. I don't think I would have handled that very well.

The girls were very cute picking out their outfits for the first day of school. They chose to be "twinners" without any prompting from me. I would imagine they will stop doing that before too long - but I thought it was sweet.


The big first grader!

Watch out Kindergarten!
Here I come!

Kenna and Bailee P

(There are three in her class - and two Jacksons)

Jones Family Reunion

Lynette told me that I had to stop changing the dates because she only checks the first post to see if it is new or not so I guess I will. That way no one will miss anything. The second weekend in Aug we had a great Jones Reunion at my parent's house. It was a wonderful time. Brittney and her boys rode up with us and we suprised her by flying Kevin in. (He was still in New Jersey for a few more weeks.) It was so good to have everyone there. I will attach pictures and write more when I have all the pictures. Look for a slide show coming.