Winter at the Jones Home

Last week it got cool in North Texas. I think we had lows in the 50's. Thursday afternoon I had the gleeful privilege of firing up the heater for the first time in many months. I tried to ignore the fact that I didn't hear it immediately switch on. Absent was the smell of burning paper that always accompanies the heater's first run of the season. Before you blame it on our old house, it's a brand new heater that only began its service last December after we took out the space heaters and window units. (Have I ever mentioned that our house has a phantom fireplace? We have a chimney coming out of the roof but no sign of a fireplace.)

The heater's unfaithfulness didn't start to become a problem until early Friday morning. I woke up at 6 a.m. shivering under two thick blankets and a sheet. The temperature in our house was in the low 60's. Curt had the day off and had agreed to take care of Jackson in the morning while I slept as late as possible. But I couldn't go back to sleep because it was so amazingly cold in our house. What a shame! My poor baby was snuggled up to the crib bumper. Once he woke up I brought him to our bed and tried to warm him up. Basically, fall arrived in our hometown and winter arrived in our house.

The next two nights Jackson wore flannel pajamas to bed. Then it was a track suit. Today he wore the bear bundling outfit over his pajamas all day. (We didn't go anywhere, in case you were wondering.) The heater was finally fixed this evening by a very generous church member and friend. He said we had a "squirrel" in the attic that chewed through a hose. Hmmm. How did a squirrel get in our attic? Was it really something else, something much more disgusting, and he didn't want to freak us out?

I had decided that a good mom would not bathe her baby in such a cold house. Even if the bath water was warm, there would still be the few painful minutes (that he hates on a warm day) between being plucked from the nice warm tub and getting fully dressed. Today was Day 3 and let me tell you, he was pretty funky!

Tonight our house is toasty and warm at 74 degrees. Curt's sweating, but I froze in the house all day and I will be warm! Jackson got a much needed bath and smelled so good. He's sleeping soundly in his crib. Which we had to work on this weekend, by the way. My mom kept telling me that any night now Jackson could and would develop the ability to sit up, pull up, and propel his body over the crib rail all in one night. I would wake up to find my baby smiling at me (let's hope) on the floor. I'm sure Beckham would be smiling at me right next to him. No, Jackson would be riding Beckham around the house. So Curt lowered the mattress. Jackson loves the new view. The bumper lasted one more night before I took it out. You know, because he might climb it.

I can see my room!


It's a whole new world in my crib!


It's the greatest thing since sliced bread!