Snow Day!

Yesterday, after we got home from the Valentine's party, the snow started to fall while Katie Anne and I were eating lunch.  We opened all the blinds so we could see it, and we were very excited about it - it was so beautiful!  We were really crossing our fingers that it would stick and we'd be able to go out and play in it.  

Well - our wish came true! After Katie Anne's nap, we'd already gotten an inch or two of accumulation, and it would wind up being over 3 inches by the next morning!  So, we headed out into the snow before Daddy got home to play.  

Katie Anne absolutely LOVED it.  She had a blast running around, making snowballs and busting me with them, and building a snowman.  We played outside for more than an hour!

Getting dressed in her snow bibs.  :)  She was beyond excited at this point. 

Even her snow gear is UGA-themed!  

(Really, that was just coincidence.  They're hand-me-downs from our friend Sarah.)

While she was getting her boots on, she told me exactly how we'd build our snowman.

Tasting the snow!

Doing a happy dance

 

I love how our house looks in the snow

Abby is crazy about the snow - she ran around like a puppy outside

Snow dogs!

Working on our snowman

 

  

  

  

Waving at Ginger, who'd gone back inside to warm up

Making a snowball...

Sneaking over to Mommy...

 

And grinning after she'd busted me with it!  What a stinker!

What happened when I tried to strike back?  She ran away!

 

That's a lot of snow!

Showing off her "snow baby" - she rocked it, fed it snow, and put it to bed in a "snow crib" that she made on the front steps.

We had so much fun outside!

We came back in, changed into warmer clothes, and had a snack.  There's nothing like Valentine's cookies from Agan's Bakery and a big, frosty glass of milk to finish off a fun snowy afternoon!

Valentine's Party at School

Today, Katie Anne's class celebrated Valentine's Day with a little party.  Katie Anne actually didn't have to go to school - I have a break from school for President's Day - but she was very worried about missing the party.  So, we headed to school around lunchtime so she could take her Valentines to her friends and eat her special snack.

This morning, we put her Valentine's bags together.  She gave each friend a tiny container of Play-doh and a Tootsie Pop.  She loved picking out each one very carefully for each person...

 

  

And trying a lollipop for herself!

 

 Her finished Valentines for friends and her teachers

 

Then, we got ready and headed to the school for her party.  Her school parties at her new school are a little weak - basically, the kids just eat a special snack right before nap time.  But, she was really worried about missing it regardless, so I told her we'd go just for the party.  So, we bundled up and headed over for the party just before the snow came in.  We stayed about half an hour, and she had a good time eating and chatting with her friends.

  

  

  

Ben's Firetruck Birthday Party

Last Sunday, we went to Ben Caswell's third birthday party.  He had a firetruck-themed party, and everything was planned to perfection!  It was all so cute - there were so many little touches to carry out the firetruck idea.  Katie Anne had a great time riding on the little firetruck, playing on the playground, and eating ice cream and firetruck cake!

 

Playing on the playground

Just a'swingin...

 

Riding the firetruck

 

Daddy the fireman!

Singing Happy Birthday to Ben

All the kids with Rescue Elmo and the firetruck

12 Weeks!

It is time for the pregnancy belly pictures to begin! 
I didn't do a good job of making pictures of my belly when I was pregnant with Katie Anne - I made them very sporadically and in very loose shirts because I thought I looked "fat".  So, you really can't see my belly at all in the pictures of my first pregnancy until I'm almost ready to pop!  I'm going to try to do better this time.  I'm going to try to take one every 4 weeks from here on out, and wear form-fitting shirts so the bump can be seen (at least, until the baby-got-back-fat gets out of control there toward the end... then we shall see how form-fitting we go).  

Here's my first official pregnant belly photo!

12 Weeks

We've Got The Blues!

Last night, David and Jill Caswell invited Saunders and I to go out to dinner and to a show at The Fox.  We had such a great time with them!  We went to Houston's for a delicious dinner of steak and potatoes, and then we headed to the theater for a blues show.  

Our seats were amazing - we were sitting down in the pit, just five rows from the stage.  We saw Buddy Guy and BB King perform, and we really enjoyed it.  I didn't know a lot about Buddy Guy - and I knew who BB King was, of course, but I don't listen to the blues on a regular basis.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear several songs I recognized, and even the music I didn't know was really, really good.  We really liked Buddy Guy's music a lot.  He is a fabulous guitar player.

BB King's horn section was fabulous!  Poor old BB himself is getting on up in years - he's 84 - so he did a lot of sitting and sharing stories and not too much playing.  It was still great to see a legend in concert, though.

We had such a fun time hanging out with Jill and David and having a big adult night out!

An Apology...

... for my complete and utter lack of blogging!  

I have been so tired for the last two or three weeks that I haven't even opened my laptop most evenings after work.  Usually, I do all my internet surfing or projects or hobby stuff after Katie Anne is in bed, but for the vast majority of the last few weeks, I've been getting in bed as soon as - or even a few times before - Katie Anne does.  Don't feel like you, internet friends, are the only thing that's been neglected ... my house looks a little like a junk pile, we've eaten a whole lot of to-go food, I've got fabric that I bought over a week ago still sitting in the Hobby Lobby bag, my poor husband spends his post-8:00 evenings completely alone, KA and I haven't started our Valentine's projects, and the list goes on.  It has just been all I can do to get up in the morning, work all day, and take care of Katie Anne until bedtime.  By 7:30, I'm completely wasted.

This pregnancy has been very, very different than last time.  I've been much more tired - although I think a big part of that is just that I can't nap after work as I could last time.  Also, kindergarten is a much more energy-zapping day job than fourth grade was ... I am just on my feet much more with five-year-olds than I had to be when I taught nine and ten-year-olds.  Plus, having a busy almost-three-year-old to take care of at night significantly reduces my relaxing abilities!  :)   

I've also had some serious "morning" sickness, which I never had with Katie Anne.  Morning ... haha - what a joke!  It is a twenty-four-hour feeling that I could just get sick at any time, and it gets worse when my stomach gets empty.  That constant feeling of nauseousness makes me very worn out, and I do actually get sick - a lot of times in the middle of the night - about three or four days a week, so that's no fun.  Plus, I've had a horrendous cold for the last week, and I have just felt miserable, miserable, miserable.

But, I'm hoping that I see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow, and I am really hoping that- when this first trimester ends- they'll be some kind of bell that rings or light that shines from Heaven or something, and I'll feel so much better.  I am already feeling a little better - some of those beginning symptoms are going away, and I'm recovering from my cold.  So, hopefully a much better second trimester is on the way!

Katie Anne's Big Announcement ...

 

 

That's right!

Katie Anne's going to be a big sister!

The newest Jones is due on August 23.

We're all really excited!

Katie Anne loved breaking the big news to Gigi and Granddad...

 

Greg and Jillian...

and Doc and VJ last weekend!

 

We called Carlton and Trisha in Moultrie to share the big news with them!  This week, we told our friends and coworkers.  We told all my extended family tonight at a family dinner, and now we can share the news with the rest of the world!

Hooray for a new little Jones!

Jillian's 22nd Birthday

Last night, we celebrated Jillian's birthday with a princess party!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Katie Anne picked the idea, and she went over to my parents' house early to help set up some special princess activities.  Our little family even dressed in pink to match the party theme! 
When we got there, not only did we all have princess crowns to wear, but the party started off with a royal craft!  We started with building princess castles out of sugar cubes, icing, and candies.  Everyone loved decorating their houses, and we had a fun time with our first family craft activity. 
After our houses were built, we ate a big Mexican feast. Jillian requested banana pudding for her birthday treat, but she did have a tiny cake for blowing out candles ... and Katie Anne was more than happy to eat the tiny cake for her! 
After dinner and desert, Jillian opened her presents - we gave her 3 shirts for student teaching, and my parents gave her two gift cards to buy more teaching clothes.  Then, we went into the living room to play the Wii, visit, and let all that delicious food settle.  Katie Anne got to watch her movie on my dad's tiny DVD player, and she was absolutely in heaven! 
It was such a fun princess party!