Really?

Oh my goodness! Can I tell you how sad I am about this..Allen and I got married in September 2007. Once we got home from our honeymoon and things settled into a routine, I sent my passport in for my free name change. My new passport was issued in January of 2008. Fastfoward four months... We got Murray May 2008...Do you see where this is going?? Murray being the precious little puppy that he was

It hurts me too see him this little! I wish he could have stayed like this

I love this picture! :)

seriously...cutest puppy ever!! I'm not biased or anything though...

of course found my new passport and chewed it. He had a ton of toys but he chewed my passport! And not only did he chew it, he chewed it right through the corner where all the numbers start, SO I have to get a new one.

We are tossing around the idea of going on a vacation later this year and so I need to get my information submitted for a new one, I just looked it up online and it is going to cost $110!! Oh my!
This first of many expensive replacements I am going to have to face in my life... Oh the Joys!

Toys

So I know there are "Age ranges" on toys, and I get why, but for stuffed animals, that have absolutely no hard parts on them (including thier eyes, noses, etc) I dont get the "age range" and to be honest I dont really care to. I mean how I see it is if it is a toy and it makes my 6 month old son happy, even if just for a moment, and I know he can't hurt himself. I am going to let him play with it. I mean there are toys that are in the "birth and up" range and they are HARD plastic. With Noah, anything in his hand translates into a "hammer" of sorts because he immediatly starts slamming it down. Slamming the object down, I have no problem with, it is when he comes back up sometimes he has so much momentum going that he ends up hitting himself in the head with it. Now he is a strong kid, and rarley cries when he falls over or gets hit in the head by something but it just sounds like it hurts. So again I say, a stuffed animal with no plastic parts seems WAY less harmless to me than a hard plastic ring that he can slam into his little head.
Well for whatever reason, my little precious man is a little grouchy today. He doesn't want to be put down. Not even to change his diaper which I have said it before but let me reiterate that he LOVES to be naked so changing diapers are his favorite times of the day. I wish I felt the same way he does about his diaper changes but then again we are on different sides of the changing pad... So to be able to get a bottle ready and such I placed him in his swing, well in his swing he found his beloved stuffed frog. He grabbed it and started playing with it, but then he finds his favorite part of this toy...the tag... This I realize is not safe for him, but man does he love to chew (aka gum, since he has no teeth) on it. Am I just a horrible mother for allowing this?
I want to feel like I am not, but when the kid has 10 different teethers not to mention a TON of very "chewable" toys and he opts for the TAG on his frog... One has to wonder... I do check the tag and trust me that thing is sewed on and is not coming off, but I do feel bad that he likes to chew on tags on things. Just last night he was playing with a set of soft stacking blocks and the larger one has a tag and he immediately found it and put it in his mouth. You would think the tags have like flashing lights on them because he finds them with in seconds of handing him something with a tag on it.
And the saddest part is, is absolute favorite thing to put in his mouth is his paci clip! not the hard clip part obviously but the ribbon that holds it on,  it is always soaking wet from it being in his mouth.
Maybe I am telling all of this so when you see us out and about in town, you won't think "Good Lord, get that child a teether! He is eating the tag/paci clip"
So do not judge me when you see us, I have tried I really have. It makes him happy and if he is happy then the world is a happy place!

Plus you try telling this sweet little face "No"...

The longest 45 minutes of our lives

I was thinking last night about when I was pregnant with Noah and the scariest moment we had during the whole 9 months. I know a lot of people have heard this story but maybe if I write about it it will help take it off my mind more...
We found out at 5 1/2 weeks that we were expecting, we went to the doctor for the first time at 6 1/2. This appointment while informative was kind of a let down. I wanted them to check me, listen for the heartbeat, do an ultrasound SOMETHING to make me know for SURE that I was in fact pregnant. They did none of this, obviously it was too early to do many of those things but I just wanted the nurse (or doctor) to say, Yes you are pregnant, It would have been re assuring to hear it from a medical professional versus reading it off a pregnancy test I bought at Wal-Mart, but I got nothing. I went in peed in a cup and talked to the nurse for about 20 minutes about the do's and don't's (didn't even see the doctor) and she sent me on my way.

We went back to the doctor at 10 weeks, by this time morning sickness had set in so while no one had verbally confirmed my pregnancy, by body had. And this time we saw the doctor and we got to have our first ultrasound!! This was soo exciting! To lay there on the table and see the picture of this little life growing inside you is an indescribable feeling!

 He looked like a teddy bear and I was instantly in love!
We were going to the doctor every 4 weeks so at 14 weeks we had our appointment at about 10 Monday morning. Friday came the biggest Snow storm TN had seen in a LONG time, my work even let out at 2 in the afternoon. Monday came and the roads were much better but traffic was HORRID! I left work at about 9 to meet Allen and it took us 30 to get about 15 miles on the interstate, there was no way we were going to make it in time, We re-scheduled our appointment for 1 that afternoon.
We get to the doctor and are so excited because we get to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time today!! I lay on the table, the doctor puts the jelly on and puts the Doppler on my belly and....nothing. We hear nothing... She moves the wand around telling me it is hard to find it sometimes because the babies are so little...still nothing. We finally hear a faint heartbeat and I get excited but then she tells me it is mine...a good three minutes go by and still no heartbeat.
Up to this point I wasn't nervous that she wasn't finding it, like she said the baby was the size of a lemon at this point which meant the heart was TINY, but then she told us that she was sending us to have an ultrasound. She said she wasn't worried at all, but just to put us at ease. She walks out of the room to and I tear up. I am so scared! Allen and I had made a HUGE snowman that weekend, did I do something to our baby?!?!
We go downstairs to wait for our names to be called back for the ultrasound...we wait...and wait...and wait...45 minutes go by before we are called back.  It felt like an eternity. Allen and I hardly spoke to each other the entire time, I couldn't talk. I knew if I did, I would break down right there in the waiting room.
We go back and the tech performs the ultrasound, and there is our little baby kicking around like crazy. I could have cried I was so happy. Allen even asked her if she could tell what the baby was at that point and she looked and said she was pretty sure it was a boy but not 100%. She did admit to us that when she saw why we were there and she saw me that she was really nervous, she said most of the time when they can't find the heartbeat the mom's are "bigger girls".
It turns out that my placenta was in front of the baby instead of behind him, so it acts like a cushion when that happens. Our baby was perfect, I was fine, but physically I was spent!
I told Allen on the way home, I was so excited we got to see our baby again and possibly just found out what we were having, but I would have given ALL of that back just to hear his little heartbeat when we were supposed to!

Clean House

I had my first Open house this past Thursday for Scentsy. I think I have the ability to plan things for the absolute worst dates ever! I planned this thing like two and half maybe even three weeks ago and sent out invitations, the whole nine, and what happened, it snowed like 2 inches... I had about 6 people come which I appreciated SO much! (you guys are Awesome!) and it was really more than I thought would come considering the weather people were calling for 2 to 3 inches to start falling at 6 PM, which just so happened to be the same time as my party :)Seriously, I have the worst planning EVER. But like I said it turned out to be a pretty good party considering the weather and I had a good time with the people that could make it.
But all last week I cleaned my heart out, and Thursday literally I cleaned all day. Every time Noah went down for a nap I was head at it, so the major plus to my having the party was that the whole house is clean! Woop-Woop!
Now that it is so clean, I think I am becoming a little obsessed with it... I just want it to stay clean always! I will admit, I am not one of those people that stresses over the house being clean, normally I let things pile up here and there and when the weekend comes, I will try to pick it up and then when Allen comes home on Friday or Saturday and tells me all of our friends are coming over at 6 I frantically run around the house trying to make it look like our house is always that clean. Now I want to turn over a new leaf. I want to stay on top of this mess and really have it clean all the time. Which I know our friends that have come over in the past in the middle of the week (in between cleans) are thinking "Good Lord it is about time!" But hey, better late than never! I am trying out my new "plan" by tackling one room a day, getting it C-L-E-A-N! And then being done for the day, I figure this way I won't get stressed out/burned out by trying to tackle it all in one day and also in the course of a week every room will be cleaned once.
In theory, in my head, this is an awesome idea... Let's see how it pans out! :)

(One of our few family pics since Noah came)  Thanks Jenny! :)

Murray Driving

Oh my it has been so long! Not much going on in the ole' Jones Household these days! We are over the stomach bug and now I have a cold and it appears so does Noah. But nothing to write home about (or blog about extensively)
I do have to share the craziness between Allen and I, since we met we have been very sarcastic with one another and always teasing/pestering the other. That is just who we are. I love that I can act like a little kid around him and he does the same with me.
So pretty much everytime we come home from being out as we pull into the driveway one of us will ask the other "I wonder if Murray is home?" This of course is our dog, and really where is he going to go, but it is just a silly question we ask each other. So today as we pulled into the house I asked the question and Allen said matter of factly "Well, my truck is here, so he would have to be here" and I said "What?" Allen said "If he ever goes anywhere he takes my truck, and my truck is here so Murray has to be here" I am laughing because Allen is not smiling, he is talking as if we were talking about his brother or something. So I asked "Well why wouldnt he ever take my car?" Allen:  "Because he only goes places when we aren't here because he knows he is not allowed so he would have to take my truck"   me: "Where does he get the keys from?" Allen: "We have the spare set in the drawer..."
I swear to you, it was like he had had this conversation a million times before, he was so quick. It was really funny! Maybe not to those who do not know how we treat our dog but seriously!  Allen referred to Murray earlier today as "OB" and when I asked him what that meant he said "Original Baby" Poor guy, He is a little neglected since Noah came along, but he still gets tons of attention...

2 bugs and a baby

So Tuesday night I slept HORRIBLE! I don't know why but I could not stay asleep! Noah woke up at 2:30 (which is not normal for him as he sleeps all night normally) and I stayed up with him for 2 hours, which oddly I was completely Ok with since I was not sleepy. I went back to sleep and woke up at about 8:30 Wednesday Morning and felt a little "off" by two o'clock I knew why. I had the stomach bug!! Allen was able to come home early and take care of the little man and I stayed holed up in our bed room. Around 7:30 Allen came in our room to tell me that he was pretty sure he was coming down with the same thing and called his dad to come and get Noah for the night. We knew we did not have it in us to watch him while being that sick and we did NOT want him to be that exposed to this nasty virus. Wednesday was a VERY long night in the Jones' household. uggghhh... On the bright side, in my baby weight battle, I am 4 pounds down...but can I just say SO NOT WORTH IT!!  uuuggghh again!
We were both "over" it by Thursday but so tired, we both slept most of the day. Allen's dad brought us some soup for dinner, which was the first thing I had eaten in 30 hours. (A VERY long time in this girl's life! I normally go like 3 or 4 hours and am already wondering what we are eating for the next meal, hence the battle of the baby weight) My in-law's kept Noah a second night and we recovered. This morning Allen woke up and went to pick up our sweet baby boy while I stayed at home and disinfected our house. It smelled much like a hospital but hey, at least it is clean.
A day and 1/2 away from that baby was TOO long! Oh my goodness, I would call to check on him and hear him squeal in the background and it would break my heart. I was so thankful that they were able to watch him, he was safe, and happy, but oh my his Mommy and Daddy missed him!! So all is well in our household, now.  I am glad that we both got that stuff at the same time and fingers-crossed, many prayers so far answered, Noah has not gotten it, but that stuff is not nice!
But now it is Friday, the start to my birthday weekend!! What is on the agenda....so far nothing :) LOL we haven't been much in the planning mood so we will see what pans out but at least I know it will be spent with my boys!

 Not really sure why I was looking at this album, but this is Allen and I on our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico...over 3 years ago! Wow how time has flown!!

Christmas Randomness

A new year...wow. It is hard to believe that it is already 2011. Allen's 10 Year reunion is this year! WOW! That makes me feel old and I am two years younger than he is! ha ha!

I am very excited about this year, we have so much to look forward to with all of the "firsts" for Noah! And we are getting more and more involved with our new church and our small group there so I am excited about all of the new friendships we are making/making stronger! We also have a few friends who are expecting babies this year which is exciting all in itself. And as dorky as it sounds I am really excited about my Scentsy business! It is such a new endeavor for me and I truly like the product, so I am excited to share it with everyone! Allen is actually going with me to Memphis in February for a Scentsy Convention and I am super excited about it! (again REALLY dorky.. I get it) This will be the first time we are leaving our little man overnight and just the thought makes me miss him so much it hurts, but I know it will be good for us and good for him too.



Noah, by the way, had an awesome Christmas! He got a lot of new toys and lots of new clothes. He did so good with all of the traveling too (and lack of his much needed naps). My sweet little man is 5 months old today and I will admit it, I had a little break down yesterday about how fast he is growing up. I want him to grow and be happy but I want him to stay my little cuddle bunny forever! Allen was sympathetic but he said "I am excited he is getting older, he is coming over to my side now!" Meaning, since Noah is getting older he will be able to play with Daddy, which is what Allen has been waiting for since he was born. My response to him was (in tears mind you) "Yeah, but he is leaving mine!!" I know, it is silly but what can I say, I love that baby and I want him to just stay little always :) Allen told me he would  go and shrink him for me but when he went to do it, Noah was asleep so he said he would do it later...It has yet to be done...

 Murray checking out what Santa left in his stocking for him :)