Our final Tigers game (maybe?) and interesting grocery shopping experience:-)

Jason and I attended the Tigers vs. Rays baseball game today at Comerica Park. It was a bit chilly, the high was only 64 degrees. Luckily the sun was out, so it wasn't too cold or uncomfortable - but I still can't get used to such cold temperatures in AUGUST! Which reminds me, snow will be here before we know it .... ugh, that's a whole different topic.

Anyway, the game was quite slow-moving until the 7th inning - then the Tigers came back with a 3-run home run & won the game 4-3. This was the last pair of the season tickets that Jason and I had purchased, so it's technically our last game of the season. UNLESS - the Tigers make it into the playoffs, which is very possible. Then we might have to shop around for more tickets :-) We just love baseball, can't you tell?

A funny (but unrelated to baseball) story ... I honestly think Easton took over the grocery shopping last week ... I usually stick to my list and only buy what is needed, and have been very picky about buying healthy foods. I've even switched to organic milk and eggs since finding out I was pregnant. BUT, when I got home from the grocery store last week I had all of these "kiddie foods" in the bags. I had two boxes of those Flavor-Ice Popsicles that come in the plastic tube, KoolAid Koolers (kind of like CapriSuns & only enough drink for maybe 3 sips!), Soft Batch chocolate chip cookies, several packs of small fruit/gelatin cups (like you'd put in a child's lunchbox) and mini-powdered donuts! All items I haven't eaten since I was in elementary school! And to make matters worse, I didn't have anything you could consider a meal, just a bunch of random canned goods, cheese & the fore mentioned bread & eggs. My only explanation is Easton overtook my mind while I was grocery shopping and got all the items that HE really wanted. Too funny!

Awaiting Baby Jones Scrapbook

I began working on a scrapbook almost immediately after finding out I was pregnant. I wanted to document the events and happenings while awaiting the arrival of "Baby Jones". It is still a work in progress, but I wanted to share what I have completed thus far - it has been A LOT of hard work (and quite expensive, who knew scrapbooking supplies cost so much!?!?) but I am very happy with the progress I've made. Here is the scrapbook so far, beginning with the cover:

The Story Behind The Name

Several people have complimented us on our name selection (thanks!) and asked if it was a family name or how we arrived at our choice. I thought I would post "The Story Behind The Name" ... I think it's a great story, hope you enjoy!

We wanted a name that was unique, but not too hard to spell or pronounce. Easton is a name that I have loved forever - growing up with 2 brothers I saw them at baseball practices/games constantly, and I recall seeing the brand "Easton" on one of their baseball bats. It was a black and silver bat, and the name "EASTON" was written across the end quite clearly - that image is still vivid to me, and looks a lot like this:

When I was a young girl, I decided that I liked the name and would one day name my son Easton. Thankfully, Jason loved the name when I mentioned it to him, so we decided months ago that we would use it if we had a boy. We are hoping that we have a future Major Leaguer growing in my belly, but even if he doesn't like baseball he's still got a strong, unique name. However; anyone that knows my family or Jason should know that baseball is something we all love, so odds are the baseball passion continues to the next generation. I foresee a lot of baseball practices and dirty uniforms in our future :-)

We chose Archer after one of our Tunstall High School teachers. Jason and I met in Mr. Archer's class when I was in the 10th grade and he was in the 11th. We were just friends at the time. Mr. Archer was one of our favorite teachers and he taught drafting and architectural drawing classes. I must admit, Architectural Drawing was not my strong suit, but Jason was actually pretty good at it.

Funny story: for our final exam we were asked to draw a RANCH style house and I proceeded to draw an elaborate two story house with a twisting staircase, I just loved those winding stairways and had to include it in my final. For those that didn't catch the issue, a ranch home is supposed to be one story, not two stories :-) Mr. Archer knew that I tried so hard, but just didn't quite have the talent (and obviously had problems following directions!). I believe I ended up with a B in the course, which I definitely didn't deserve, but he rewarded my determination and creativity. Mr. Archer's support and faith in his students has followed us to this day, and we will never forget him. We can't wait to tell him that we are using his namesake for our son's middle name - he will be thrilled!

We will call our son by his first name, Easton, and we hope he likes his name as much as we do. We are looking forward to one day telling him the story of how we chose his name!

Guess what we're having???? :-)

I just got home from our doctor appointment. The doctor confirmed that the baby is healthy & growing properly. The baby's head, heart, spine, kidneys and stomach were all measured and are developing nicely. They also said that some of the measurements indicate that I might be a bit further along that 18 weeks, but for now they are leaving my due date at January 25th. We were so happy to learn that our little one is doing great - thanks again for all of the prayers and support!

And other exciting news .... we are having a BOY! Both Jason and I felt it was a boy, but it's nice to have the news confirmed so we can start planning nursery decorations and buying little boy clothes :-) We had already selected a boy name - we can't wait to meet Easton Archer Jones!

It's a BOY!!!! (can you tell?) :-)

Hello, world ... I'm Easton Archer Jones! :-)

18 weeks

It's time for my weekly picture ... here I am at 18 weeks. Tomorrow is our big ultrasound - please pray that we get a great report and that Baby Jones is healthy and happy. We also hope to find out if the baby is a BOY or a GIRL - that's assuming that Baby Jones decides to cooperate :-) I'll post an update soon!

Posin' with the BUMP sign....

If there is one constant in Michigan during the summer, it's there will undoubtedly be road construction everywhere! You often hear Michiganders say that there are 2 seasons in Michigan.... winter & construction! It is so very true.

Jason & I pass this bump sign each day when we leave our house, so I decided it was time to pose for a picture with the sign. I got a bit of grumbling from Jason, my trusty photographer, since we had to block the flow of traffic. But it's worth it - after all, I thought this would make a great pic for the blog & scrapbook! Here is my "bump" with the BUMP sign :-)

Posin' with the BUMP sign, 17 wks & 4 days

17 weeks pregnant & making room for Baby Jones!

Here's my 17 week picture - you may notice something a bit different about me. My hair was growing SO FAST and it was becoming impossible to keep up with highlight maintenance. So today I decided to go back to my natural color.... looks different, right? :-)

Jason and I (OK, mostly Jason) did a lot of work this past weekend to make room for Baby Jones. We moved our office to the basement, moved the guest room to the former office & began setting up the nursery in the old guest room. The office transition went smoothly - the only mishap occurred when I attempted to help Jason carry a VERY LIGHTWEIGHT desk down the steps, and more or less dropped it on the 3rd stair. Having learned the lesson that I have no business picking up anything heavier than a toothpick, Jason called in some help for the rest of the moving. Our landlord's son, Brent & Jason's co-worker, Rob helped with the rest (thanks, guys!!)

When we moved the guest room into the old office, we quickly realized that the room was a bit smaller. So apologies in advance, guests - your quarters will not be very roomy, but baby comes first! :-) With the former guest room empty, we, I mean Jason, was able to start putting the baby furniture together. He started with the glider/ottoman, which only took a few minutes. The crib was a different story..... 2 hours later, and a bit of grumbling & throwing things around, we had a beautiful cherry crib. And the final piece was the changing table, which compared to the crib was a breeze.

What was I doing all of this time? After organizing the new office area, I decided to document the nursery building process with pictures. Now Baby Jones can one day see just how much work his/her Daddy went through for his/her nursery. I took a lot of pictures, but below are the highlights. Enjoy! :-)

Jason said the crib instructions read like "Chinese Algebra" :-)

Putting the finishing touches on the crib

Posin' with the final product :-)

Now time to work on the changing table....

And again with the finished product ... not smiling though

Someone was EXHAUSTED!!!

Jason worked hard for MANY hours & made sure that all of the pieces and parts were secure and safe. We now have the furniture in place, so once we find out if Baby Jones is a boy or girl we can begin the fun part....... decorating! Thanks for your hard work, sweetie, but I'll take it from here :-)

We have a boy name, but what if Baby Jones is a girl???

Jason and I have selected a boy name, but we need some help in case Baby Jones is a girl. Please visit our poll and vote for your favorites (you can also choose a "thumbs down" for any name you dislike). Thanks in advance for helping us out - I'll be sure to post the "winners" soon!

You can find the poll at: http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9713351

16 weeks pregnant...

Here's a pic of me at 16 weeks:

August Monthly Prenatal Check-up

Jason & I visited my doctor this morning for our monthly prenatal check-up. I am 16 weeks pregnant today & still have not gained any weight... I've actually lost 1/2 pound! I guess I should be enjoying this because the pounds will surely start to pack on later in the pregnancy. My doctor said she was not concerned at all by the lack of weight gain and still attributes it to my eating better/less.

We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was strong and the doctor said it was beating at 140-150 beats/minute. I also did some blood work to test for down's syndrome, spina bifida and cystic fibrosis. We won't get the results of those tests for at least a week - please say a prayer that everything comes back fine.

In more exciting news, we scheduled our ultrasound to determine whether the baby is a BOY or a GIRL!!! We are going back to the doctor on Friday August 28th at 8:00am .... as long as "Baby Jones" cooperates we should have some big news to report in a little over 2 weeks!

Do you think Baby Jones is a BOY or a GIRL???

I am DYING to know the sex of our baby, so I thought I'd put together a little game to pass the time until we find out (which should be in a few more weeks - CAN'T WAIT!!!)

Post a comment below, and let me know if you think Baby Jones is a boy or a girl..... for those that believe in the Old Wive tales, I've answered a few questions below that may (or may not) help you make a choice.

I am carrying all of my weight out front
I had morning sickness during my 1st trimester
When I have a craving, it's usually for something sweet, like fruit or ice cream
My pillow faces south
I don't like the heel of the bread, but I am loving some orange juice
The month of our conception was even (April)
My feet are no colder than before (if anything, they are hotter)
My hair is growing A LOT faster (my roots needed retouching at 3 weeks, aaahhh!)

Let the guessing begin!!!

15 week update

Other than my ever-expanding belly, there's not much else to report on the pregnancy scene. My appetite has improved dramatically & I seem to be getting some of my energy back. I've had some back pain, especially after standing on my feet teaching. But I've always had some back issues (thanks to 7 1/2 years of hauling trays at Red Lobster!) so I'm not too concerned. I am also still peeing constantly, which can be frustrating when I am teaching math class or trying to sleep. All in all, the second trimester seems to be running smoothly. Let's hope it continues this way!

We have our next doctor's appointment on Monday, August 10th at 9am and are excited to get an update on how Baby Jones is doing. We should also be able to schedule the "sex determination" ultrasound at our next appointment....within the next few weeks we should know if Baby Jones is a BOY or GIRL!! We can't wait to find out, and are anxious to share the news with all of our family & friends.




Here's a shot of me at 15 weeks: