Trying to Keep Up With My Jones'

Wow these past couple weeks have been crazy! So I figured the easiest way to recap would be would be snapshot style. 

Two weekends ago, little man got hand foot and mouth disease. That was MISERABLE. 

And let it be known that’s the first time he’s just randomly fallen asleep on the couch. #blesshisheart 

When we finally rejoined the world, we were LOVING some sunshine. 

Then my boys spoiled me all week long for Mother’s Day since we would be out of town for the actual day. 

We enjoyed some wagon riding. 

Then it was off to visit Nick’s extended family in Maryland/DC. 

Flying with a one year old is an ADVENTURE. To say the least. 😉

He said no thank you to sleeping on the plane but finally gave in while waiting to rent the car…

The next morning was Mother’s Day! On the agenda was brunch at the country club with the whole family. Caleb got to meet his great-grandparents, great-uncle & great-aunt, and second cousins (???). Second and third cousins always confuse me so yeah. 

Could he be any cuter all dressed up? 

He was on his best behavior considering it was technically nap time. Time change for the win! 

The food was pretty much phenomenal. #givemeallthecrabcakes

The view was also super pretty so it was definitely made for a fantastic Mother’s Day! And of course it helps that I pretty much love being this guy’s mama more than life itself. 

We spent the next day with Nick’s grandparents, Gram & Papa. They won over little man quickly with some cars and animal crackers.

Nick and I even went out for coffee during his nap time. A spontaneous coffee date? Yes please. 

It was such a special day to be able to spend time with Gram and Papa. Caleb LOVES saying Papa on repeat now. (He can’t quite get Gram down yet.)

Someone also loves tons of silliness from his two favorite people.  

Then it was back to Colorado! But this time we had an extra person traveling with us which made little man VERY excited. 

This week then flew by so YAY for the weekend!! And for more sunshine! 

Happy weekend everyone!! 

Growing up, I had the best mom in the world. This was always just a fact of life. She worked hard (both at home & in her job), loved us well, and provided a home that was a haven to us and all of our friends. She sacrificed her time, energy, and convenience. The woman was the epitome of selfless. I can think of the different times where she would be battling a raging migraine, but we wouldn’t even know it because she was so focused on taking care of us first. I have always, always respected her. Even as a young girl, I knew she was rocking this whole mom gig.

BUT I DIDN’T TRULY GET IT.. Until I became a mom. I didn’t know about all of the love, worry, stress, thoughts, time, energy, sleep-deprivation, and joy that went into it. Everything in me loves everything about my little person. I get overwhelmed with thankfulness when I even slightly dwell on the fact that God entrusted me to be his mom. My heart breaks when he doesn’t feel good. I celebrate big when he figures out something new. I am so tickled when something cracks him up or he just has a moment where he is truly loving life. AND THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. I can’t even imagine the emotions and excitement and heartbreak that is in store. And even more LOVE that I’m pretty confident may just explode my heart.

Moms that have gone before me, I salute you. You are our rock. You get it. You are our proof that you can live in the days of blow-outs, tantrums, clinginess, snotty noses, and piles of laundry.. And SURVIVE it. You are the ones telling us to forget the dishes and sit on the floor to play. You are our encouragement when we feel like we aren’t enough or failing at this whole mom thing. You coo over our littles while you tell us that these are the days. And you know what? I believe you. When thinking of Caleb graduating from high school and going off to do life on his own, it already makes me teary-eyed. So thank you for the reminder that I should embrace his clinginess and give some extra snuggles, because soon enough it will be me that’s the clingy one (which he will just LOVE, I’m sure).

Moms that are in this season with me, YOU ROCK. Believe that!!! I get it. I have my days where I choose to believe the lies that I could be doing more or I could be better at this or that or my son wouldn’t have gotten sick if I didn’t do blah blah blah. But that’s just what those are… LIES. If we are worrying about being a good mom, then chances are we are good moms. (That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.) So we have got to stop all the worrying and just enjoy that we even get to be these little people’s mothers. They think we are so awesome (and that’s even including the ones that are now too cool to admit it). God gave us this gift to be mothers to these kiddos so we need to trust Him in that.

Single moms, I BOW DOWN TO YOU. Seriously. You are doing double time and usually not even getting the credit for it. Let me just say that you are SO noticed. I pray for you ALL of the time. Doing this crazy mommy thing WITH help is hard enough so I cannot even imagine having to do it on your own. So know this today.. YOU ARE AMAZING. Like go buy yourself some ice cream and Starbucks. Because you stinkin’ deserve it.

Girls that aren’t moms yet and so desperately want to be, I cannot even describe how much I am praying with you for your heart’s greatest desire. But more than that, God sees you and loves you. He absolutely has not forgotten you, even when it feels like it. And I know that can be hard coming from someone that has a little person, but I just want you to know that you are never, ever forgotten in my prayers. I know that this has the potential to be a hard day for you as you so wish to already be at this next stage in your life. I am praying that you feel so loved and cherished, because you most definitely deserve to be celebrated too. You also deserve Starbucks or a delicious fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie. (Can you tell what my go-to coping mechanism is??)

Mothers hold such a special place in all of our hearts. Adopted mamas, step mamas, grandmas, foster mamas, mama in laws, ladies that have just stepped in to a person’s life and treated them as your own (even if there’s no legal document to bind you), and other women that just love your friend’s kiddos as if they were your own, YOU ARE A TREASURE. 

So as we go into Mother’s Day and joke about how this is our opportunity to take the ‘day off,’ I pray that we would all celebrate the joys of motherhood. We have been entrusted BY GOD to take care of/raise/teach/love HIS CHILDREN. There is no greater calling. 

Happy May Day!!!! Snowing on the first day of May is definitely a first for me. It’s hard to not think of all the times that I would be in a sun dress and sandals and that I had already been to the pool in Texas by now. But I battle all of this negativity by remembering how July and August in Texas are miserable especially compared to Colorado. Needless to say, those are the days I’m looking forward to. 😉

So I LOVE MAY. This is mine and Nick’s month. We met on the 3rd, went on our first date on the 13th, became ‘official’ on the 31st, got married on the 19th, and found out Caleb was going to be a boy on the 19th. Obviously this covers different Mays of different years. So just get ready for lots of blogs about all of these things this month. Because if you know me at all, I love celebrating pretty much everything in life so I definitely love celebrating the man of my life. He is my favorite after all. 🙂

First we will start with how ‘Nick & Raven’ began. Let me introduce you to our best friends, Jarryd and Jessica. 

This is such a poor quality picture, but apparently we are kinda awful at taking pics of all 4 of us together. So long story short, Jess and Jarryd are friends of mine from seminary. They served at a church outside of Fort Worth and after we graduated, their church got a new high school pastor. For about a year, Jess told me and  Katie (my roommate/bestie) that one of us needed to date this new guy and marry him. Well obviously there was a slight math issue to deal with since there was 2 of us and 1 of him. So we blew it off until May 3, 2011. And that is when they had a housewarming party and we actually met Nick Jones. 

I was pretty oblivious to the fact that he would be there. Nick however had apparently been Facebook stalking me and planned his best outfit for our introduction (his best hat and t-shirt of course). I was the one that answered the door when he arrived with his friends and that’s when we met. ‘Hi, I’m Nick.’ ‘Hi, I’m Raven.’ And that was IT. Our only other interaction was when Katie and I were serving the dessert which was one of our faves, cookie monsters. (It’s basically a muffin tin of freshly baked cookie with ice cream and hot fudge on top. Pure heaven.) So we were back and forth between the kitchen and living room serving them and I heard him say ‘These are like pazookies.’ (If you’ve been to BJ’s, you understand.) Nobody responded. So he repeated it. And again, no one replied. So I walked in the living room and said ‘YES, they are like pazookies!’ thinking this poor guy with his friends just ignoring him. AND THAT IS ALL WE SAID TO EACH OTHER ALL NIGHT LONG. Hence the sign that now lives in our kitchen…

So since Nick just had so much game, he decided to then tell Jarryd that he was interested. They discussed all of us going to a baseball game, but Nick decided that he just couldn’t wait so he took matters in his own hands. With Facebook. 

Oh Facebook. Thank you for my husband and child. Without you, I may still be waiting for Nick to get up the nerve to talk to me in person. 😉

That Friday night we hung out for the first time at Starbucks (which is where Nick would later propose to me). I showed up dressed oh-so-cute and Nick showed up straight from feeding donkeys for a house that he was house-sitting for in basketball shorts and a t-shirt. It’s a miracle I was able to figure out this guy was actually into me because he then did NOT pay for my coffee. So younger girls out there, that means it was NOT a date. (He also ordered a smoothie because he didn’t drink coffee.. Until I made it my life goal later on to convert him.) But we sat for hours and chatted about our lives and it all felt a whole lot like a date. I was straight smitten. Basketball shorts and smoothie and all. 

Smitten enough to then go on a group date. 

Can we all just have a moment of silence for group dates? I understand how they are helpful and I’m all for the reasoning behind them, but in the beginning of a relationship they can be just SO DANG AWKWARD. (Side note: This is also the night I found out I was two months older than Nick and graduated a year before him in high school. And yet I still chose to date him even though he refuses to ever let me forget any of this.) 

After surviving the group date, he called me (which was a huge deal because we are texters to the core) and asked if I would like to go to dinner with him that Friday night. We ate at a Mexican food restaurant and homeboy even called ahead so we didn’t have to sit in the long wait. HOW PRECIOUS IS HE. We then spent the evening chatting forever at Starbucks and after that it’s pretty much history. 

By June, he was already going with me to visit my family and we took our first ever picture. Isn’t that funny how that was such a big deal?! 

So young and in love. 🙂 Well he was. I waited an extra month to say it back. (Different story for a different time.) 

Here we are on my 26th birthday. And yes, that is two months before he turned 26. And he even did so good and ordered flowers from a florist and had them delivered. Say what?! 

And then he FINALLY turned 26. 

And we even celebrated with a real pazookie.. 

And since we were dating and I really liked this guy, I took my non-sporty self to the batting cages to celebrate his birthday. If that doesn’t say true love, then I just don’t know what does. 

In August, we went on a trip with friends to San Antonio to visit Sea World. 

I’m not sure what I did over that weekend, but he says that’s when he knew without a doubt that he was going to marry me. 🙂 So thanks for the help Shamu. 

It was months later in December when he got down on one knee and proposed (which I’ve shared that story before). So I think it’s safe to say we owe a huge thank you to Jess (& Jarryd)!!!

And that my friends is the super condensed version of how we came to be the Jones’. 

And then we lived happily ever after. 😉

I sure do love you Nick Jones!!! I count it my joy to be called your wife and partner in this crazy life. Happy May to us! 

I just want to take a few minutes to talk about all of the things that are my favorites this week. Because it’s SNOWING outside and we are only two days away from May so I am definitely NOT loving that.. so I would much rather focus on the things that I am loving.

So I’m linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for…

FIRST THINGS FIRST.. I need to talk about Parenthood.

 Have you watched this show???  If not, stop what you are doing right now and go watch it. I’m serious. You don’t have time to waste. It is seriously one of the BEST SHOWS EVER. I have shared before that
I’ve been watching it but it has taken me years because my emotional well-being just cannot take lots of it at once.  I cry in EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. Nick loves to make fun of this because he just does NOT understand the bond I have with the Bravermans apparently. Well I watched the final episode on Wednesday night after the longest day ever because I just could not go another day without knowing what happened to my favorite family. AND I SOBBED. Like big time ugly cried all over the place. So then I went to Facebook immediately afterwards to share my pain (because what else do you do?).. and thankfully there were lots of people that are in my boat sobbing with me. I appreciated all 13 comments of people that just plain understood the mourning that was occurring in my heart. 

I do have to hand it to the writers who did a phenomenal job of wrapping up the show and I will most definitely be watching that last five minutes of the finale over and over again to continue to have closure.  #bravermansforever

SECOND THING… I am obsessed with coconut oil.

So I shared the other week that I bought some to give it a shot because it seemed that people kept recommending it. Well I am here to say that I am a FAN. The main purpose I use it is for makeup remover and that alone convinced me.  It takes off WAY more than my makeup remover ever did. I also use it as a moisturizer and I love to put it on my feet before I put my fuzzy socks on. (The things you do when you live in dry Colorado.) The other day I also used it as a hair mask and my hair felt SO MUCH softer. So don’t mind me as I’m walking around smelling like a tropical island.

NEXT UP IS… My MOPS group leaders gave us this precious book.

It’s a Bible journal but it makes it so easy to write out the things that you are reading and learning that day.

Look how simple that is?? I have absolutely loved using it. I just started the Hosea plan on SheReadsTruth this week and this has been such a fun tool to use to journal my thoughts and prayers to go along with it. 

AND OF COURSE… I can’t share favorites without sharing one about the little man.  (Which is why most of you read this blog anyways.)

Lately he has been ALL about the cleaning. I’ve told y’all that he’s obsessed with the broom and making me sweep the kitchen. Well the other day he grabbed a paper towel and just started “dusting” his chair and the wall behind it. He loves to walk around with me and “help” me when I dust so I guess he decided he needed to do some dusting of his own. I AM ALL FOR THIS. I know that it won’t last forever especially when he gets to the age that it would actually be helpful, but a girl can dream, right??

So that is all it for this week’s favorites! Please feel free to share any of yours too, ESPECIALLY any books or tv shows (since I completed both my book and my show this week and now I don’t know what to do with myself besides eat animal crackers.) 

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Happy Monday all! These dang Monday’s always come too quickly. Especially this one because my mom, sister, & niece came to visit this past weekend and it just flew by TOO fast. I attempted to talk them into staying to live in our basement but for some reason that didn’t work. 

So brace yourselves for a flood of pictures. Because when 1 year old cousins are reunited, we feel the need to document every single second of it. 

On Friday, all 3 of us picked them up from the airport (thanks to the borrowing of our amazing friends’ mini van) and there were hugs all around! 

We stopped off on the way back from the airport in Nick’s hometown and let them run and play at an outside shopping area. They had the best time chasing each other and chatting in their little language. Caleb introduced Maddie to throwing snowballs and the fact that there can indeed be a pile of snow even when we all have shorts on. Because Colorado. 

And then the cutest thing happened. In an attempt to say Maddie Moo, Caleb began to say ‘MaMoo.’ And he said it over and over again ALL weekend. (And is still saying it today.) 

JoJo met us for dinner and there are no pictures of this event because the kids were straight CRAZY. Factor in excitement of so many fun people at once plus getting locked in to a high chair separated from your cousin ensues UNHAPPINESS EVERYWHERE. So dinner was quick and then it was back to letting them run and play. Then we headed to our house for more playing and bath time. 

It’s obvious that they were big fans of this. Caleb showed off all of his bath toys and Maddie attempted to bathe Caleb when he was distracted. I’m pretty sure she thought we had given her a real live doll to play with. Instead of calling him Caleb, she calls him ‘baby.’ She’s got a mama heart already. 🙂

Saturday morning we all pretty much got up at the same time. (The creaky floors are good for that.) We ate breakfast, got ready for the day, and were out of the door by 9 am. Off shopping we went! 

LOTS OF SHOPPING HAPPENED. Nick and the kiddos were absolute troopers. At one point, we did drop Nick & Caleb back off at home so the little guy could get a proper nap and the big guy could get a stinkin’ break from us. (And no Nick, that is NOT a fat joke.) 

After we were all shopped out, we decided to head on out to White Fence Farm. Everyone has kept telling us about what a fun family style restaurant it is, so it seemed like a perfect time to go. And it did NOT disappoint! We got there, put our name on the list, and walked around to say hello to all the animals. 

Can you tell which child LOVED the animals and which child was TERRIFIED?! Nick and I were just so proud of our kid that would not go anywhere remotely near the animals. Obviously we need to frequent the zoo (or at least take him for the first time ever). Maddie however is ready to own her own farm. She would still be chasing ducks if we would have let her. 

It was then time to eat! Think fried chicken and family style sides (including fried corn fritters that would make the state fair proud). For Texas friends, just imagine Babe’s but on an actual farm and with not as sweet of tea. The restaurant is large with different rooms and are absolutely genius in sitting all the kids in one room together. And of course great views of ducks from our window. 

After dinner, the kids were given a token to pick something out of the treasure chest and then we walked around the barn. There was live music so we tried to convince the kiddos to dance. 

We then headed outside so they could play at their playground and explore. 

He could hold Nanan’s hand forever. 

See that sweet yawn? They were pooped! And rightly so. That place wore them smooth out with all of their fun things. White Fence Farm for the win! 

Sunday morning was full of cuddles since we knew the day held our good-byes. 

Because of the timing of when we needed to go to the airport, we decided to let the kiddos take it easy that morning and play before we had to put Maddie on a plane. 

Nanan spoiled them with this awesome ball pit so lots of playing in the basement happened. 

 It was nice to be able to just sit and chat!

We walked down the street to our playground before we headed to the airport. Getting any energy out is definitely necessary before a flight for a one year old! 

We couldn’t let the weekend go without us getting a picture. I love these girls more than life itself. 

Goodbyes then had to happen. 😦

This happened pretty much immediately on the way to the airport. They were straight tuckered out from the busy weekend. 

It was so sad to tell them bye, especially when Caleb cried and then cycled through their names all the way home. I have heard ‘Mamoo’ no less than a million times since they left. 

Little man and I came back home and straight vegged on the couch and I don’t think he moved once. #worldrecord

We love our people so much and so blessed when they get to come visit! It makes my heart so happy to hear Caleb learn and say their names and of course to see him still love his cousin SO much. She is his Mamoo after all. 🙂

 

These are the days, right?? Older mamas always tell me to relish these days with my little because before you know it, he will be going to prom or graduating from college or living somewhere else with a wife and kids. (I don’t know why these mamas are trying to get me to cry because that’s just not nice.) So a fun series I wanted to link up with today is A Day in The Life with Momfessionals.  

Basically, I choose a day to document my life so that way in years to come (like when Caleb is 17 and has taken his girlfriend to the movies and Nick is sitting 2 rows behind them because I forced him to go keep an eye out), I can read this and remember the simpler times. 🙂 Our days look so different each week day since I work part time so it was hard to choose which one to document, but I ended up deciding Friday since I only work half the day so you can see both parts of my life. So here is a pretty regular Friday in the life of the Jones’…

  
Up and at em with my alarm clock at 5:45.  

 Good morning, best friend in the whole world.  

 The sun isn’t up, the fam isn’t up.. This is the time where I drink coffee, read, and just be with Jesus. It’s pretty glorious. (Along with my 12 year old sweatpants.)  

 Took a good morning look at my boy. Absolutely passed out. 
 I checked up on our impending winter storm warning that had then turned into a winter storm watch. It was supposed to start with rain that evening and turn into snow for the weekend. Happy spring, y’all. 

I then got dressed for the day before the boys got up. And just in time…

 Him and his posse were all accounted for. And the first thing he said was ‘DADA!’ I’m pretty sure it’s his favorite word right now. #notbitter

  He then requested a book because he likes to remind me that he is indeed just like me (sometimes).

  Dressed and ready for work. And my first mirror selfie for the books. (And an awful one at that.) I just kept telling myself it was all for the sake of the blog. #whoami
  Breakfast time. I’ve never been great at eating breakfast but this past week I had been attempting to eat healthier and avoid all the snacking that I usually love to do. So eggs it was.  
 Told this breakfast-stealing (he took most my eggs) cutie bye. I also told his even cuter daddy bye but he requested to not be pictured yet. 😉 Nick’s day off is Friday so they get to spend the morning together when I go to work. I’m pretty sure they both love their boy time.   

 Good morning mountains! The way my drive to work usually looks is kind of just dependent on my mood. It can be anything from talking to Jesus, listening to music, or talking on the phone. It usually coincides with the time my sister is dropping off my niece at daycare so we’ll usually chat for a few minutes. Now if you know me at all, you know I am NOT a phone talker. Text me all day long but if you call me, I completely freeze. The only people I consistently talk to on the phone is my sister and mom.. And I think it may be because I know with them that at any point I can nicely cut them off and say see ya later if I need to. It’s weird. I know. My friends make fun of me for it all the time. (And yes you read that right.. Even Nick and I just text each other.)

  Hello desk. (It is now 8 am, FYI.) The clipboard on the right is from when I did children’s ministry in Fort Worth with the girls that turned into some of my very best friends. When one of the girls left staff, she made these fun clipboards for all the rest of us and wrote us a sweet note on the back. I especially love that I get to use that clipboard again in children’s ministry in Colorado. #CMforever 

  Badge on. When you work around kids, safety first. And another bathroom selfie. #shameful

  Time for the second cup of coffee. (Past time if you ask me.) And then off to do all of the work things. 

 I got this notification which means the boys must be at Starbucks. So I of course text that I know exactly where they are. Thank you technology for allowing me to stalk my family. 

  This means my coffee mug is empty. WAHHH. 😦

I work until noon on Fridays. On this particular Friday, we didn’t really have much going on (which is SO rare) so I decided to run errands after work since Caleb naps until 2 anyways.  

 First stop.. Target. I just wanted to pick up a few randoms because I had a gift card and who doesn’t love a waltz thru Target childless anyway?  

 My sister sent me this the other day. Pretty sure my response was add in some peanut butter m&m’s and AMEN.  

 Next up was getting my eyebrows waxed. (Hence the red.) Now I mentioned the other day that although I’m a girly girl, I’m the worst at all of the girly girl skills which includes plucking my eyebrows. I have really awful allergies and plucking seems to trigger them to completely freak out. So instead of a 30 minute ordeal and allergy attack, I get them waxed when needed and continue to move on with life. A necessary luxury if you will. 

  Finally home! Here’s what was in the Target bags for those inquiring minds. 😉 I’ve decided to finally make the switch to using Coconut Oil as a make up remover after much convincing from my friend Katie and an extra push from reading Shay’s blog. (And the fact that I had a gift card.. Thanks Dad & Mary!) The rest were just weekend essentials after eating healthy for the week, am I right?! Peanut butter M&M’s for life. 

  
And now it was finally time for lunch around 1:15 pm (definitely later than I usually eat). Yes, that is oatmeal and pretzels. Yes, this has been a lunch choice for me for years and years. Yes, I know that it’s weird and I can feel you judging me. 

   And look who woke up early at 1:30 because of a loud machine outside. First thing he said? ‘DADA!’ (And this is him staring at Nick’s picture on his shelf. Pretty sure he wins Nick’s biggest fan award.) 

   
 He then quickly ran back and forth between the windows because someone was outside mowing… 

 DADA!!!! Can you hear it all the way over there too?! 

   
 We read some books while Nick did yard work. He had to beat the impending snow storm after all. 

  It was then time to go back out! It definitely had gotten colder which meant a wardrobe change was in order. A Kohl’s trip was on the agenda. 
  These two sillies were ready! 
  Me and my coffee were ready..
  This is their silly game they play every time Nick puts Caleb in the car. He sets him up there and then pretends to let him slide down and Nick catches him and then they both crack up. Two peas in a pod! 
  Finally a family pic! Kohl’s here we come. (Can’t you tell the boys are THRILLED about going shopping?!)
  Nick was in dire need of a new sports coat. So if you know Nick even a tiny bit, you know how pumped this makes him. I’m pretty sure he would have rather bought hats with that money. 😉
  Caleb couldn’t believe he ran into his BFF at Kohl’s.. And on pajamas no less. We said our hellos and moved on..
   
 This however could not be stopped. What could be better than a dance party in the mirror?! Might as well dance with yourself if you know you’re a rockin’ dancer! Nick had to finally intervene and get us to the check out line so we could go to dinner. I think he had tapped out on the shopping front. 

   
 We had received a gift card to Applebee’s for Christmas so we decided it was a good night for it. Neither one of us could remember the last time either of us had been to an Applebee’s so it made for a fun adventure! And Caleb surprised us when he pointed to the apple on his kids menu and said ‘AP-PLE!’ Ummm, what?! Add another word to the list of what he can say. #whoknew

After dinner, we headed home because the rain was starting to fall. Here came our storm! 

 He pretty much loves to play in rain or snow. He finds it all very hilarious! 
  He also discovered how to ring the doorbell. Oh boy. 
   
 We played in the hallway a little bit before bed. He loves to have us on each end and run back and forth between us.. And especially loves when we yell & scare him when he gets to us. LOTS OF LAUGHING. 

  Bath time!!! Nick does Caleb’s bath every night because he is a saint. And they have an absolute blast together playing and splashing and soaking the entire bathroom. 

   I then towel him off and get him ready for bed. I think we have pretty much kept these jobs from day one. 

 Then it’s bedtime for the little guy. We get him all jammied up and then he turns on his sound machine. 

 We read a story, say our prayers as a family, and then one of us rocks him for a minute and puts him down. He’s usually passed out by 7:15! Which means if neither Nick or I have anything going on that evening, then we get a whole evening together. Win win! 

And Friday night we didn’t so it was time for…

 
This is the new show we’ve been watching together. We love when we have a show we are binge watching that we both enjoy. Fun fact: We rarely watch movies together because we can never agree on one. But seasons of shows, we somehow can make work. 

We were both pretty exhausted so we headed to bed around 9:15 pm. We chatted a little more then I flittered around on my phone while Nick read until I finally called it a day!  

 One last glance at the little guy. 

  Then at 9:40, I was out! 

And that my friends is a pretty normal day in the life of the Jones’.. Hope you enjoyed a peek in. 🙂

  
A few months ago, I shared all of my mom confessions… AKA Momfessionals. If you want to feel like you aren’t alone in this crazy mom thing, feel free to read those and feel better about yourself immediately. 🙂

So today I thought I would just share random confessions because fessin’ up always makes us feel better, right?? And now I’m here to make you feel better about yourself as a human too. You’re welcome. 

1. I am not a morning person. Like at all. So my love of coffee is pretty much necessary. I can not even count the number of times I’ve had to text Nick and apologize for the way I acted pre-coffee. I even wake up hours before my family to combat this, but it still happens. Whoops. Catch me in the middle of the day though and I’m a peach. 

2. I genuinely feel sadness when I near the end of my cup of coffee. But everyone does, right?!?!

3. I love massages/pedicures/manicures/any form of spa or pampering treatment imaginable. I’ve never spent a whole day at a spa getting treatment after treatment after treatment but I imagine that’s what Heaven is like. 

4. I’m towards the end of the 5th season of Parenthood and STRAIGHT ticked at Julia. If you’ve watched, please no spoilers. I just need to share my frustration with SOMEONE so this felt like a safe place. Get it flippin’ together, Julia. And if you don’t watch, what is wrong with you???

5. The songs in Bubble Guppies kinda make me dance. And by kinda, I mean they do. That teacher fish can really jam out. Am I right?!

6. I watched the Real Housewives of Dallas this week. That just needs to be put out there because I even judge myself for this. I have never ever ever ever watched a real housewives show in my life, but I was super intrigued since it was in Dallas. I just don’t know if I can do it though. THE DRAMA. I don’t even envy these women’s lives because they all seem somewhat miserable. My sister assures me that all the shows aren’t like this, but I just don’t know if I can hang out on that crazy train. I’ve already got The Bachelor for that. 

7. I feel like I need to run (not walk) to the nearest drug store for self tanning lotion. Today actually felt spring like so I decided to wear a dress WITHOUT TIGHTS. And I feel like my legs are blinding all of the people with all of the lack of color. I’m sure the snow this weekend will really help with all of that. 

8. I don’t know how to paint my nails or toes. I’m so bad at being a girly girl. I have conned my sister or friends into doing all of the girly things for me for so long. This may be why God gave me a son. Because I dang sure don’t know how to braid here either. 

9. I won 1st place in UIL Oral Reading in 8th grade. Nick loves to remind me of this because while he has millions of trophies from athletic events, I have one from an academic event. And I refuse to throw it away. Because I love to read and apparently I can read super well orally. Award winning well. So there. #nerdalert

10. I can’t write this list without hearing Usher’s ‘Confessions’ playing in my mind. And that obviously throws me back to high school. Because.. 

 

Feeling better about life yet?! That’s what I’m here for. Now you can get back to your regularly scheduled Thursday. 🙂

Somehow I blinked and my ‘baby’ is now 18 months old. He is now at an age where he is a full fledged toddler and no longer considered a baby. (And toddler tantrums are near, I assure you.) We had his 18 month check up yesterday where they always have us fill out a questionnaire to gauge where he is at developmentally. Filling out that thing always fills me with disbelief that he is already to the age to be able to do some of the things that he does. Wasn’t it just yesterday that he just laid immobile on the floor and stared up at toys? Now toys are spread all over the living room floor as he runs about. We are no longer in baby land, Toto. So it just seemed fitting to give an update on all things Caleb. Since he insists on continuing to grow and change.  

 It is no secret that our child is big. From day one, he was on the bigger side (hence his introduction to the world). People constantly already assume he’s two, until of course they see that he does indeed act younger than two. So his 18 month stats don’t shock anyone. He is measuring 34 inches in height (because I refuse to translate it to feet because that makes him seem too big) and 28 lbs 12 oz in weight. Doctor assured us he is doing great measurement and proportionate wise and obviously he is up in the 90th percentile range for both. 🙂 I’ve said this before but he is now rockin all things 2T. He is in a size 5 diaper, both for day and night. His shoe size is about a size 6.. It kind of just depends on the brand. Poor kid definitely has reached needing the next size of socks though because for the past couple of days, his have left marks on his feet that he does not particularly love. Whoops.  

 The little man absolutely LOVES to help out. He gets the biggest kick out of the vacuum and he would sleep with the broom if we’d let him. On more than one occasion, he has asked for the broom closet to be opened to then hand me the broom and bring me to the kitchen to sweep. I can’t decide if I’m proud of him for wanting things to be clean like I do or a bit offended that he thinks I need to clean more. The jury is still out on that one.  

 Caleb is definitely starting to talk way more. His words of choice are still ball, car, dada, and mama. What can you say? The kid knows what he loves. The other day he fell asleep in the car on accident while sleeping, he exclaimed ‘BALL!’ with a big smile and then passed back out. So I’m pretty sure he dreams of these things too. He also says uh oh, church, Jesus, JoJo, Nanan (comes out Naw Naw), please, yeah, whoa, and no. Oh yes, no is now in our vocabulary. And now when he is told no, he will repeat it in a sad tone ‘no, no, no, no, no.’ It’s all pretty pathetic. 😉 

 He still loves Mac & Cheese, playing with balls and cars, building Legos (especially with his daddy), his Mickey Mouse clubhouse posse that he carts around and sleeps with, doing absolutely anything outside, high fives and fist bumps with anyone he sees, dancing to any beat ever (even if it’s just in his head), and is still the best cuddler hands down. He also enjoys banging on the bathroom door to remind anyone inside that he misses them terribly. Such a thoughtful guy. We have also started having our milk delivered (who knew that was still a thing in 2016) and homeboy LOVES him this straight from the dairy milk. He is all about requesting seconds which he never would do before. And he will also never turn down a sweet treat. Because he is my child after all.  

   

Let’s just say this guy is constantly on the move and loves to explore the world.  

    
    
   
So there it is everybody (but really grandparents).. The latest update about our cutest little one year old! And here’s to hitting the 18 month mark where people now feel like it’s appropriate to ask when number two is coming along. Not soon friends, I assure you! For now, we are enjoying being a family of three enjoying our new life in our new state. 🙂

 

So before Nick, there was Katie. We were roommates for years, survived grad school together, nursed each other back to health after near-death experiences (that’s another blog for another time), and even had our own mantra. It even made its way on our 30th birthday decor. #ravenandkatieforever

Obviously life looks a little different now including new cities, new jobs, and new humans in the mix, but she will always be my partner in crime. So needless to say, I was pumped when she randomly booked a flight to come see us! She actually drove with us to move here so although she got to see all of the random cities along the way, not much fun was had in our new city that we now call home. So we had lots of fun that needed to happen!  

One thing about Katie is you can always depend on her to book either the earliest flight or the latest flight in the world. I have seen the airport in the wee hours more than once to either pick her up or drop her off. So this time was no different  and she arrived early Friday morning. But YAY for maximizing her time here! Friday night we deemed girls night and went out to dinner just us girls. It was pretty much necessary. 

 
Saturday was such a beautiful day so we spent the morning at the park walking around the lake. The beauty of the mountains behind the lake was not lost on her. 🙂 Its called pulling out all the stops in effort to convince her to move here. We then let the little man run around on the playground to show off for her.  

    
 That afternoon we headed up to Idaho Springs to introduce Katie to Beau Jo’s to experience mountain pies. And she was NOT disappointed. We even came home with peach cobbler in a mountain pie. Umm DELISH. We also had fun walking around Idaho Springs looking in all the shops.  

   
Sunday was church! We were able to introduce her to some of our new favorite people and of course show her the place that we moved here for. (And she also got to see me in giant size on the announcement videos. Ha!) It was so fun to get to show her such a huge part of our lives. 

It was another beautiful day so we decided that it would be a great day to go to Red Rocks. Homegirl is a huge fan of that Extreme Makeover fitness show so she had seen it on tv plenty of times. But obviously it’s more gorgeous in person! Unfortunately they weren’t there filming which I’m pretty sure would have completely made her life. Instead we got to watch a million other people work out. And take a million pictures of ourselves. 

    
    
    
 
On Monday, we visited Golden! I still hadn’t been there and it’s a really close town that people always tell me to visit. So that’s what we did. We walked around their adorable downtown area and ate at a super yummy sandwich shop (thanks for the tip, Denise!). And of course took a million more pictures.  

    
    
    
 
That afternoon we walked around downtown Littleton but we had finally retired all of the picture taking. Then I took her to the airport so she could go back to Texas. WAH!!!! But like I said, Mission Move Katie to Colorado is in full force. So if you know of a place looking for a licensed counselor, YOU TELL ME. Or if you know a cute single fella looking to marry a super cute and fun girl, YOU TELL ME THAT TOO. Because like I said, Raven and Katie forever!