Keeping Up With the Joneses

The time has come. I always swore I wouldn't drive a minivan, but I just couldn't resist the convienence, space, and gas mileage when it came down to it. Last week the air conditioning on Marshall's car went out and we found out it would cost $1100 to fix. Not to mention there were about 5 other things wrong with it that would be expensive to fix as well. So because we have number 3 on the way we decided it was about time to buy a bigger car. We shopped around, test drove Honda Odysseys and Toyota Siennas and finally decided on a 2006 Honday Odyssey Touring with all the bells and whistles. I was prepared to resent driving a minivan but I have to admit I LOVE IT! It feels so luxurious inside (heated leather seats, navigation system, entertainment system, power everything) that I don't even mind that I'm now a minivan mom!

Our regular babysitter Tennille had a baby last week, and so things have been a little different around here lately as we've been relying on grandma and aunts to fill in. Yesterday their Grandma Delta came down while I did my 3 hour gestational diabetes test in the morning (I failed the first one, I'll find out these results today) and bought a car and worked in the afternoon. Deb is intent on potty training Myles right now, and bought him 12 pairs of Elmo underwear and a pair of Elmo jammies to bribe him. She insists that he goes potty really good for her but I still haven't seen him go on the potty. He sits and tries, but nothing yet. I just thinks he cares more about what his grandma wants him to do than what I want him to do. But we are trying. At lunch Aunt Candi told Myles he has to go in the potty so he doesn't get the Elmo on his underwear wet. Myles got this stubborn look on his face and said "no, Elmo likes to be wet!" At lunch at Red Lobster Mason a...

At my grandparents' anniversary party earlier this month, we had a photographer take some group and individual shots. Here are some of our family.

I know most people aren't interested in this, but this is the only place I write this stuff down. So. . . On Tuesday Myles went to the doctor's for his two year old well-child check-up. He is 24 pounds and 32 inches, which puts him in the 11th percentile for weight and 50th for height. The doctor wasn't too concerned because by now he knows how my boys are, but he gave me samples of Boost for kids and instructed me to try feeding them as much high-fat and calorie food as possible. His ear tubes were still in and there was still some drainage from his ear infection last week. His eyes were also a little red and puffy, so the doctor thought that he probably has seasonal allergies and wants us to give him allergy medicine every day (Mason too). Then Myles got a shot. He was pretty good and only cried for a few seconds. Mason on the other hand, was furious. As soon as it was over he yelled at the nurse "you hurt my brother! You are bad! I hate you!". He told everyone ...

A few nights ago Marshall's two brothers came over to play video games. I thought the three of them playing Mario Cart on the couch looked so funny I had to take a picture. .

Last Friday was Myles' Birthday and he had a great time. On Thursday night Jessica and Daniel came over and we had a "practice birthday party" with brownies cut out in the shape of 2s. Myles loved blowing out the candles and Mason loved blowing out the matches. On Friday we had a little birthday party for Myles with his cousins. We had planned to have it at a park in Provo, and when we left our house it was lovely, warm weather. However, when we got there, it was cold and windy (hence the snot dripping from Myles' nose in these pictures). But we had fun anyway and Myles got every Elmo item he could dream of.

I have so much to blog about (Myles' birthday, open house, hopefully new car) but really quickly I want to document a conversation I had with Mason. He is obsessed with wanting a "real dog" and this is a recent conversation: Mason: Mom, I really, really, really want a real dog. Me: I know honey, but they are a lot of work Mason: I'll take care of it. I'm a hard worker. Me: I know you are, but we are going to have a new baby and that is a lot of work too. Mason: But Mommy, I'll just put it down for lots of naps. Me: The dog? Mason: No, the baby Me: But Mason, we would need a fence but we don't have one. And they are expensive. Mason: But I have a really really big wallet with lots of money in it, so I'll buy a fence. Me: But the dog will poop outside and we will step in it. Mason: I'll teach it to go potty in the potty. Me: Dogs go potty outside. Mason: Then I'll build a little fence where it can go potty and we won't step there. Me: Mason, ...

The day we moved into our house, one of Mason's cousins told him that he had to water this little mound of dirt under the playground so that a flower would grow. Mason took this to heart and every day for 3 weeks he has been faithfully watering the little pile of dirt, with complete faith that the flower will grow. Well Grandma Delta gave him a little flower in a pot and told him he could plant it. So for FHE yesterday we planted the flower and convinced him to plant it in a little better of spot than right underneath the swing. I told him that from now on he could just water that flower instead of the dirt. Good plan, right? Nope! At 6:30 AM this morning Mason bounced out of bed and ran to get his shoes on so he could water his flower AND his dirt. Last night Mason was pretending to spot pirates in his playhouse. I asked it they were coming and if we should hide, and he responded that we didn't need to hide, they could come play with him. And the boys loving the rock wall. My...

It has been a busy week for the Jones family. Early Tuesday morning Marshall left for Denver for the week. After my doctor's appointment that day, the kids and I headed down to Delta for some "grandma time" which the kids loved. I came back Wednesday afternoon to see private practice clients and go to a work retreat on Thursday. The kids stayed in Delta. Thursday night I headed up to Logan for a 3 day workshop on ACT Therapy (partly to make up for all the work I've missed this semester due to stupid hospital stays and sicknesses). Marshall got back from Denver Friday night and headed straight down to Delta. Boy were the kids excited to see him! They all came back for church on Sunday and I left the conference a few hours early so I could see the kids before they went to bed. When I got home around 4:30, Mason was in pretty bad shape. He was squirming around on the couch whining that his ear hurt and had a rough cough. We decided to take him to the doctors, which ende...

Since we've moved we've had so many great friends and family members ask when they can come by and visit and see the house (nevermind that it is not even close to decorated, no pictures on the wall, etc). We decided the best way to do this and to keep in touch with people from our old ward is to have one big open house. So Sunday, April 26th from 5 PM-8 PM or so all our local friends and family are invited to stop by, grab something to eat (and share your favorite dessert if you like), and catch up. Remember--no great expectations--the house is still in recently moved-in form :) Email me for directions ( imapsyc@gmail.com ).

We've had a lot of Easter festivities this last week, starting with an Easter Egg hunt at Jessica's house last week with Scott, Annie, and Elaine. These rings were in their baskets and they loved them. Mason was in a bad mood but Myles loved finding the eggs and would gasp everytime he saw one. Yesterday we had Marshall's family over for an Easter dinner, to decorate eggs, and an Easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast. Last night when I reminded Mason that the Easter Bunny was coming that night, he was so excited he could hardly sleep. He kept getting out of bed to look out the window, look downstairs, and tell me all his theories on how the Easter Bunny would get in our house. This morning when he saw jelly beans all over the floor, he said "I bet the Easter Bunny was hopping and he slipped and dropped all his eggs on our floor!"

Mason had his doctor and dentist's appointment today and did really well. He has one cavity which we will have filled in August. At the doctor's he was great. He is in the 11th percentile for height and the 5th percentile for weight (30 lbs exactly). One more Mason story--Sunday we went to Jessica's house for an Easter egg hunt. When I told Mason what we were doing, he said "no, I want to hunt Easter BUNNIES instead."

Mason recently gets really mad when I tell people cute stories about him because he says it is embarrasing. He doesn't get that we are laughing because he is so cute, not because we are laughing at him. But I want to make sure to document them so I remember them, so I'm posting them here :) * The other day Mason was eating a cheese stick and out of the blue he said "my friends say cheese sticks are expensive." I don't know which friends he is talking about but I thought it was so funny. * As my parents noted, my kids are VERY good negotiators. The other day my parents took Myles to the store and I stayed home with Mason because he had a stomachache and wanted to cuddle. After they left Mason said "why don't you let me stay home by myself while you run errands? I'm four so I'm old enough to stay by myself. I'll be really brave, and if you let Myles stay with me, I'll tell him to be brave too." I asked what he would do if he got hungry ...

It has been a busy week since we moved into the new house. On Wednesday my parents came from Canada and stayed until this morning. They were here for my grandparents' 60th anniversary and grandma's 80th birthday party at the Grand America last night. It was a great affair. Mason learned a poem to recite and has been practicing a few weeks. He was so excited to finally perform it into the microphone and did a great job. Then Myles ran up to me as I was toasting my grandparents and I lifted him up thinking he just wanted his mom. Nope! He promptly recited the first verse of the poem into the microphone. He just picked it up from listening to Mason. Smart boy. My dad took a video of the whole thing so hopefully I'll be able to post it. I've made a lot of progress on the house this week, mostly thanks to my parents who helped unpack a lot of boxes. My problem now is what to do next. For the last two years we have been saving every penny, not making any big purchases li...