Christmas letter

For those of you who didn't receive it, here is our Christmas letter from this year. If you'd like to be placed on our mailing list for next year, leave me your address!

Another year has passed us by
and once again we stop to try
To tell our friends just what is new
and all the things our kids can do

Our biggest news and greatest joy
is that we had our second boy
Yes, Levi Jones has been his name
and spitting up has been his game

Now Levi likes to crawl a lot
but still a tooth he hasn't got
He likes to play with brother Jake
it seems good friends these boys do make

And Jacob Jones is still unique
oh man, oh man, he likes to speak
His favorite game is wrestle Dad
when Brad gets home he is so glad

Our Jake has been a good big brother
he's working on obeying mother
Last summer ditched his daily naps
he much prefers to run in laps

This year the boys have done so much
each day our lives and hearts they touch
We also have some news from Brad
this year again he was a grad!

At last completely done with school
he has more time, this is so cool!!
Now weekly Frisbee gets to play
and wrestle boys at end of day

The job Brad has his really great
so all that school was worth the wait
Rebecca likes the hours too
more family time was overdue

Rebecca's job has changed a bit
there are some days she'd like to quit
With two boys now who go and go
she mutitasks, she is a pro

She likes to budget and she cooks,
but more than that, she likes good books!
Massage she gets for all her work
with Brad's new job, this is her perk

In Springfield it's so nice to be
with lots of family we now see
It seems that we are home at last
our future's here as is our past

We want to wish you all the best
and hope your lives the Lord does bless

Love,
The Jones Family (2009)

December

It's turned cold and we haven't been getting out and doing things as much this month. We have been enjoying (haha) time inside with our two little boys. Brad and I have both done A LOT of wrestling. We're getting ready for the WWF smackdown! Kidding, but we do wrestle a lot. It's a sport Jacob loves and can be done indoors.

At the beginning of the month, we got things set up and ready for Christmas:

Jacob has his own Christmas tree in his room (courtesy of Great Grandma/pa Salmon) which he jut loves. We have put this in his room since his first real Christmas and he thinks it's so neat!
The family tree. Sorry it's a little blurry, I wanted to capture the glowing lights, but didn't get the tripod out :(
Then Levi turned 8 months old. He's getting so big! A longer update will be coming at the beginning of January when he'll be 9 months and I'll have height/weight stats. He's been up to so much, but you'll just have to wait to find out what (I know, you're on the edge of your seat, right?)!
My boys together. When I take Levi's monthly picture, Jacob always thinks he needs one of him and Levi too.
Levi wants to be just like Jacob! So cute!
The tongue...Levi's discovered his tongue recently and I thought this would be a great way to end my post!

Moving!!

Fooled ya! We're not actually moving from our house, but this is a post about someone moving.

This is actually what Levi has been up to the last week or so. He's getting pretty good at moving around. This was taken on Saturday, 11/21. He is officially crawling at 7 1/2 months. Jacob better watch out 'cause Levi's coming to get him!

Letters

We've been trying to teach Jacob his letters lately. One day he was eating his sandwich at lunchtime and this is the conversation we had:

Jacob: Mom, what's this?
Me: Uh, jelly on your sandwich.
Jacob: No, Mom, what's this?
Me: Uh, I don't know, your sandwich.
Jacob: No, it's an "L"!

Looking at it closer, he's right, it was in the shape of an L!

Fall from my backyard

These were taken just a couple of weeks ago. The colors this year were so vibrant. I'm thankful we were able to see such wonderful colors. Fall is such a pretty time of year. Unfortunately, now everything is bare and the leaves have all fallen to the ground. Until next year, fall!

Halloween

The boys had a good Halloween this year. We decided to dress Jacob as Bob the Builder since he loves the show and LOVES tools:

Levi, got to be a cute little pumpkin:
Here they are together before the Trunk-or-Treat we went to:
The Trunk-or-Treat started kind of late, so Levi didn't get to participate as he goes to bed kind of early. However, during the chili dinner portion, Levi decided he'd have his first taste of Halloween candy:

Fortunately for me, he didn't take the wrapper off first, but he sure enjoyed slobbering all over this tootsie pop!

Jacob and Dad at the Trunk-or-Treat. Jacob actually didn't stay very long to Trunk-or-Treat either. He wasn't very in to it. Halloween night was a different story and he enjoyed very much going from house to house getting candy just for dressing cute and saying "trick or treat!".

And one more of Levi just because I love those baby blues:

3 Years

Yesterday we celebrated Jacob's 3rd birthday! When he got up in the morning, I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He told me he wanted pancakes. So here he is, the birthday boy and his birthday pancakes!The weather was great for Jacob's third birthday and he and Levi decided to have a game of soccer before his party. (We are now in the phase of 'great' smiles from a 3 year old!)

In the evening, we had grandparents over for a little party with ice cream cake. Jacob had a great time opening his presents and playing with all of his new things. Unfortunately, he opened his favorite present first, so we had to do a lot of coaxing to get him to open other things.

Levi got Jacob some giant blocks to build things with.

G&G Jones gave Jacob a scooter. It's nice that we have room for him to practice riding it inside the house so maybe next year when it's nice outside he'll be a pro at riding it.

G&G Smith wanted something that was a little more inter-active so they got him a little ball throwing/catching game. Jacob loves to throw balls so this was a hit too.

Brad wanted to get Jacob a fire engine. It came complete with a firefighter and Jacob has been in love! He even took the whole truck to bed with him last night. I'm not sure how comfortable it is to sleep with a fire engine, but Jacob wasn't complaining!

Jacob, showing his version of "3"!

The cake. I thought about decorating a cake like so many awesome mothers do. I even borrowed a Lightning McQueen cake pan. Then when I read the directions and saw how much work it was going to be, Brad and I opted for easy and store bought! Props to all you moms out there who take the time to make and decorate awesome cakes for your kids.

A little about Jacob:
Jacob is such a funny kid to have around. He loves to dance and sing. His favorite music is rock/pop music. He loves 'Say Hey (I Love You)' by Michael Franti, 'Clumsy' by Fergie, and 'I Got A Feeling' by Black-Eyed Peas to name a few. He doesn't like John Denver or Norah Jones at all. He definitely knows what kind of music is HIS music.

He has a thing with carrying around his keys and his wallet. The thing is, they are fake. But he carries one in each hand everywhere he goes. Before he gets into his car seat, he has to put them in the cup holder. Before he eats dinner, he has to put them on the table. When we're going to a store he will often ask me to hold his keys and his wallet and will then 'hand' them to me. Also, when we're getting ready to leave, if he's forgotten his keys and his wallet, he will go back inside for them. One day we were at the park and he fell down. When I saw him on the ground, both of his little fists were still balled up instead of with them open to catch his fall. I just had to assume he still had ahold of his precious keys and wallet!

He loves having Levi as a little brother and loves making him laugh. Jacob has always enjoyed an audience and it's nice to have a built-in one with his little brother.

Jacob, we love you and are so glad you're ours. You make us smile and laugh at many of your antics. Whenever I am unhappy, Jacob will come over to me and smile really big and say, "You happy Mommy?" He thinks he smile is all I would need to make me happy. Luckily, most of the time this works. Love you little Bud!

6 Months!

On the 7th Levi turned 6 months old! I can't believe how quickly these past six months have gone. Levi is now fully sitting up on his own and enjoys playing with Jacob. He learned to roll from his back to his tummy at about 5 1/2 months old.The first time he did it, of course, was in his bed. Why do kids do that? They don't really want to be on their tummies, but they turn onto them in their beds when they can't be helped. Oh well, he's getting pretty good at rolling both ways so he can usually get himself back onto his back if he wants to.

I took Levi for his six month check up on the 12th. He weighed 15 lb. 6 oz, which is the 15th % and was 26 inches long, the 40th %. He's lost a little bit in his percentiles, but we're still very happy with his growth.

He started fruits and vegetables just a few days before he turned 6 months. He actually enjoys them for the most part. The worst part about them is that Levi is still spitting up. He doesn't do it quite as much as he used to, but it seems I'm always trying to get an orange stain out of my carpet (why are all baby foods orange in color?). We figure when Levi's finally done spitting up, we'll have to get the carpets cleaned :)

Levi is still doing great at sleeping at night. Most nights he sleeps between 9-12 hours without waking. He goes to be at 8:00 every night. He loves to have a routine for bedtime and when it's 8:00, he just conks out. It's kind of nice to have one kid who likes to sleep :)

Levi loves to play in the bathtub with Jacob and just giggles at all of Jacob's silly noises. He is really good about playing with Jacob, since Jacob often ends up beating on him somehow. Thankfully we have avoided any major beat up issues and there haven't been any black eyes or bloody noses as a result of the two of them playing together. One of their favorite games is to play horsey with Jacob being the horse. Brad holds Levi on top of Jacob while they ride around the house. Jacob laughs and Levi just giggles the whole time!


Levi, we're so thankful you came to our family and that you're growing so well and are a healthy, happy boy!

Vacuum Help

So I'm trying to keep my house clean, right? I'm mid stride in vacuuming my bedroom and the vacuum stops. I think maybe I've pulled the cord out of the plug. Nope, still plugged in. Maybe the power in the house went off. Nope radio and lights still working. Maybe my cord hit the on/off switch at the bottom of the vacuum. I try turning it back on. Nope, nothing! My vacuum is dead.

So, now I have the great honor of purchasing a new one! I'm kind of excited to get a nice vacuum. Here are the two I've heard are great:


The Dyson Or the 8 lb. Oreck

Do any of you have one of these and what would your pick be (and why)? I'd like any help I can get as I want a new (and nice) vacuum soon!

Home Sweet Home

We moved into our house about two months ago. Since, we've been busy unpacking, Craigslist shopping, traveling, and getting things in order. I've had several requests for pictures of the house, so here you go!The front, it had recently rained

Entrance and formal living room

Formal dining room (table purchased from Craigslist!)

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Jacob's bedroom with Cars theme and big boy bed!

Levi's bedroom with new crib and matching dresser

Downstairs living room with a view of the office

Pool table downstairs (came with the house! and we love it...pool anyone?)

So far we're really enjoying our house and are so glad that Brad is done with residency and we can enjoy some time with him too. Any of our friends from far away places, we've got the room now, come and visit!

5 Months

On Monday Levi turned the big 5 MONTHS! Just before this big milestone in his life, he started trying some cereal. Here is his first reaction:
The first spoonful...hmmmm

The first bite....uh, what is this stuff?

Mom, I don't really like this stuff.

Well, so far he isn't a huge fan of the rice cereal, or the oatmeal for that matter. But we keep on trying. Eventually he'll get it.

A few things Levi is doing now:
He sits up all on his own pretty well. He only goes for about 2-3 minutes at a time before falling over, but I think that's pretty good.

Levi has been banished to the basement to learn to sleep through the night. The first night he woke up twice and cried himself back to sleep. The next three nights it's only been once. This morning I mainly heard him grunting around 6:00 am, but then he fell back asleep until about 8:45 am. He's really doing pretty well and will eventually get to go back to sleeping upstairs.

One thing Levi really likes to do is lay upside down. Whenever he is fussy or just 'in the mood' he will lay himself back like this and it always puts a smile on his face. He ended up sleeping through Sacrament meeting in a similar pose on Sunday. It kind of looks like his head is going to fall off, but he seems to really like it.
With all that upside down time, Levi has also discovered his toes. He tries to get them to his mouth to chew on and has been successful a number of times. Unfortunately, any time I try to get a picture of it, he just gives me a big old grin instead.

Levi loves to laugh and to smile. So far he's been a pretty easy going baby and we're so thankful to have him in our family.

Sitting around

These two little guys really like hanging out together. Jacob gets a kick out of trying to make Levi laugh, and of course, Levi gets a kick out of Jacob's antics.

Lately, Levi has decided he can sit up on his own. I took these pictures about one week ago. Levi has gotten even better since, but here's a sample of him sitting up. Don't mind the drool on Levi's shirt, it's almost always present these days!

The boys, hanging out. Most of the time, Jacob just ignores Levi, but every now and then he wants to play with him and asks to get his picture taken with him.

Levi, all alone! He's actually pretty good at sitting by himself. He can sit even straighter this week and for longer periods of time. Once, he was even sitting and crying...now that's balance!