Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Weekend with the Grand-Parentals

Our time with Steve and Cozy was wonderful. It's always so sad when they have to go back home to Missouri.

The last time they came, Annabeth was just five weeks old. They were originally going to wait to visit until she was a little older to give us time to settle in, but we didn't want them to miss out on her tiny-ness. Plus, we wanted to take them to the rodeo. I thought I would be totally normal by then, but now I cringe whenever I think of that visit because of how crazy I still was from the hormones, exhaustion, and the wardrobe crises I was having every time I got dressed. Plus, at that time Curtis and I were at our wits end with the potty training marathon. We were both about to lose our minds, but everything fell into place shortly after. I think we were in a better place for this visit.

I already talked about what we did on Friday. On Saturday, we drove out to Tomball to have the world's best chicken fried steaks at a place called Goodson's. (You can read all about it on this blog review I just found.) After that we went to It'z Pizza, not to eat again, but to play the games. Well, it turned out that you have to pay for the pizza buffet to get in for the games. Awesome. We were not going to get out of there without Jackson getting to play some games unless we wanted to make a long visit to Meltdown City. Rather than pay for every one of us, Cozy, Annabeth and I left the boys and went shopping for some fake plants at Garden Ridge. Have I mentioned that I'm hosting bunco next week and that's why I'm in a rush to finish up at least some of my decorating? The boys had lots of fun playing games and I found some greenery to go above my kitchen cabinets.

After that, Cozy and I went to visit an outlet mall. The Baby Gap outlet had super cute onesies for baby boys for $4 and $5. For the record, I think the boy colors at Baby Gap are the BEST and I miss buying those little onesies. I got Jackson and extra bathing suit and swim shirt (love those) for our upcoming Galveston trip.

That night we had dinner at a neighborhood Japanese steakhouse. Yum. The only unfortunate thing was that we were seated with a young married couple who were clearly on a date. I felt so bad that they had to sit with us. I strategically placed myself and the children as far from them as possible. But from where I was sitting, I had an optimal view of their scowling faces. I don't know if they were super annoyed by us or if they were in a fight. Curtis and I have been in that position before, but hopefully we did a better job at masking our disappointment at being seated with other people's kids while ours were with a babysitter.

On Sunday morning, Steve-Papa (as Jackson says) and Nana left before 7 am. So sad. We went to church and then had lunch with our friend Ralph from Charasia. Ralph is who Curtis and Jerrell went to visit in India last fall. His organization saves young daughters of prostitutes from having to follow in their mothers' footsteps. They care for them in special homes where they are educated, taught about the love of Christ, and equipped to live a vibrant adulthood instead of being enslaved in a brothel. It's an amazing organization, to say the least.

I'm about to bombard you with a ton of pictures.

Nana and Pappaw came bearing gifts. Annabeth got a Jumperoo. She LOVES it.







Jackson got some miniature Nascars and a Tom and Jerry DVD. He also got this awesome wooden horse that his Great-grandpa Dixon made him. It's so neat!

















Here's Nana reading the Dr. Seuss pop-up book with the kids.



Jackson was really amused by his sister.









After we got home from Jackson's swim lesson yesterday, Annabeth had little beads of sweat across her nose. Welcome to your first Texas summer, baby girl. It seriously feels like August right now. So does that mean it will feel like October when August does come? Lord have mercy. We might actually get some rain today. Bring it on.



Sometimes the best thing to do when you've been in the 104 degree car is to get nekked.




Here's our bed with the new quilt. It totally made the room come together. I love it. When I first saw the quilt in the store, I thought it was a little too homey for me. But I think it works with the furniture we have.



That end table had a jumbled stack of books on it until a few weeks ago. After a visit to Hobby Lobby, it's in much better shape. That's Curt's side of the bed, so I had to add a picture of Jacks in his Batman costume to man it up a bit.



Thanks for all the great advice on what to do with my frame. I'll let you know what I end up with!

46 comments:

Marc and Charity said...

That jumparoo and horse look pretty awesome!

I love your quilt, very nice!

Chelle' said...

Love all the pics Amanda. P.B. Quilt is adorable. Almost as cute as Annabeth. THe pics of Jackson and Annabeth are priceless.

Glad to see you're enjoying the summer!!!

jenmom said...

Love the quilt!! It looks great with your bed frame. Are Jumperoos not the best invention!

boomama said...

I have to quit looking at pictures of Annabeth because my ovaries can't take it anymore. :-)

And Jackson - my word, he's getting so big! He is a BOY - no more toddler left in that child.

I love your bed!

Jessie Weaver said...

The quilt and furniture look lovely! And oh, the baby in the bow! I love it! Mine just yanks everything off her head--and screams bloody murder if we dare put her in the jumperoo, which she used to love. Does this phase pass? She is 8 months.

Rachel said...

So fun! I love when grandparents visit!

Curtis looks so much like his dad - surely he hears that all. the. time. right?!

And your bed is very cool. I really love how you placed the quilt; it pulls the bed togethter very nicely! Wished I had some of that decorator gene...I struggle so hard to pull things together!

Missy said...

That jumparoo looks amazing.
Jackson is looking SO grown up.
I LOVE your quilt!
The end. :)

Marla Taviano said...

The quilt is perfect. LOVE it. I'm more of a shabby chic girl than a modern girl, so I extra-love it.

What a happy time with the jumperoo and horse and all that fun!!

Jennifer said...

I love the new quilt. It is beautiful! And could your little one get any cuter!!!

Fran said...

Such precious pictures!!! Glad all is well. Everything and everyone looks great!

Hugs~
Fran

k and c's mom said...

What precious pictures and memories! Your kids will love you for this one day, and I love them now. Thanks for sharing.

Jamie said...

Love the bed! The Jumparoo looks so different than it did 3 years ago, much cooler.

I am such a mom that I can think of the Jumparoo being cooler.

Tara G. said...

Amanda, it looks great! I love the picture of Jackson kissing Annabeth!

We've Got Scents said...

Wonderful memories and pictures. Thanks so much for sharing. The last picture of Miss Annabeth in her Jumperoo she looks so much like her brother:)
Love the quilt!
Blessings today and always,
Kaye
Matthew 21:22

Heather said...

Great pics, Amanda and I am so glad you had a good weekend visit! I have thought of you many times over the last few days....my baby girl is 6 weeks old (my son is 4) and I am right smack in the middle of the sleep deprivation/hormones/wardrobe crises you mentioned! And yesterday I had THE WORST day with Connor that we have ever had in our lives. I remember you wrote about that happening with Jackson, too. It encourages me to know it is normal and that it will pass. It just makes my heart hurt when I have a day like that where he is in trouble ALL DAY LONG.
BTW- the heat does NOT help the hormones, etc.! (Neither do the boobs of doom! ha!)

AnnG said...

3 generations of Jones men!! Awesome picture! Actually all the pictures are great....I just really love the generational pictures as they are so special to me since all my grandparents are gone!

Marc and Charity said...

Thanks for that- I'm glad to know you can relate. My attitude stinks at times, but I'm working on it. ;)

Kiki said...

Love the quilt!

Bobbie said...

Love the new quilt~We got the other PB 'blue' quilt last week for our guest room. I'm still searching for lamps, they're so hard to find.

Sounds like y'all had a fun time with your Grand-Parentals! (Love that!!) The pictures are adorable-love the one of Annabeth with Nana sorta close up, the look on her face is adorable!

Can't wait to see your frame...

Cherish said...

I cannot believe how big Annabeth is getting. Hope you are doing well!!!

Tara said...

What a fun visit! You can tell that they the grandparents love their grandkids, and that the grandkids love their grandparents. And those presents were the best! My twins loved the Jumperoo!!!

PS. Love your new quilt. It does tie the room together and looks great!

Moose Mama said...

Jumperoo-Wow!
Quilt-Lovely!
Nekked baby-Adorable!

But the best was Jackson kissing his sister--Just priceless!

And can I just ask you...How in the world do you stay so slender when you eat out at all those nummy sounding places?

Melana

Heather said...

Ok, I love the way your room looks! SO pretty, I really love your bed. You are going to have to give me the lowdown on Galveston, we have been wanting to go, but not real sure how to get to the public beaches, and I here there is a lot of fun stuff for kids to down there. I am hoping you are getting rain there, maybe my yard will be, Matt's flight just got delayed cause of thunderstorms at Bush. I love the pic of Jackson smiling at Annabeth!

Mary said...

Great pictures of your kids together!! I really like the quilt too-very classy and cute. I have the same bed in our guest room-we found it after we bought our bed for my bedroom and I was a little bummed because I couldn't switch them! Isn't that a pretty bed for a reasonable price? We thought so too

Kelli said...

I am having bunco at my house next month too. I keep trying to do a million things to get those final touches. I don't think it is going to happen in time, but OH WELL there is always next year right?

Love the new quilt! I hate that the quest to find bedding takes so long, but love the end result! Hopefully we will find something sooner than later...

bethany said...

Love the quilt...I've decided that I need to do something useful with my summer off so I'm going to paint my bedroom and change out the quilt. Don't know yet what I want. Currently have a red wedding ring quilt from Target on it but am tired of it :)
The kids are soooo cute!!!! Looks like you all had a great time with your inlaws.
I had a great weekend in Stockton with your mama, travis, and his team!

Annika said...

So, love the bedspread. (We actually have the same bedframe from Ikea!)

Also just have to second that I MUCH prefer shopping for boys than girls. Sometimes the pink just overwhelms me. But I DO love Annabeth's bows. Oh my goodness.

Jenn said...

Your kids are absolutely adorable! Such blessings!

Janelle and Ella said...

So glad Curtis' parents had a great visit!!! They are so sweet.

Jackson's new horse is adorable.

I LOVE your quilt!!

And Amen on the nekked! Not for me of course, but Ella has been naked for most of the summer so far. :-)

Missy said...

Mmmmmmm. Goodson's.

Oh, precious nekked babies. Little tiny heinies. Wish I could smell her. Her head, I mean. Not her heinie.

jennyhope said...

the kids are so precious!!
I love the bedding!!!

Deirdre said...

that photo of Jackson kissing Annabeth just slays me.

and I think the quilt is perfect. It balances all the modern black iron. Makes it look more vintage.

Lauren said...

Oh my, those pictures are precious and I LOVE the one with Jackson kissing Annabeth!!!!

karen said...

Love the pictures Amanda. I know you have probably mentioned where you get all of Annabeth's hairbows. But would you mind repeating it. I have a granddaughter due around the first of October and I can't wait to dress her up and take pictures. I adore the hairbows.

Rose said...

OMG!! I love it, but I absolutely love you side tables lamps (may I ask where they are from?). . .

connorcolesmom said...

What fun!
Love the pics
And the bed looks great - it is giving me some ideas about what to do with our bedroom - it needs an extreme makeover :)
Enjoy your week!

Maggie said...

Lucy has the same jumperoo and I think she would spend the whole day in it if I let her.

Unknown said...

Oh my word, the picture of Jackson kissing Annabeth on the head just melted my heart!

Sunni said...

The picture of Curtis, his dad and Jackson makes me smile! So precious!

Your bedroom looks great. I love the way it all goes together.

Stephanie Kay said...

Love the quilt!! I've fallen in love with quilts and am hoping to have some made for my boys' beds.

Kim said...

Love the quilt!

McClure Family said...

Annabeth in her jumperoo is almost too much! she looks so happy!! I love the pictures of Jackson loving on his sister...so so sweet!

katiegfromtennessee said...

Little Momma, I loved the post and the pics!! Annabeth looks so happy-one happy baby girl. Jackson looked completely happy with his horse too. You can tell he loves his little sis:) I've heard its good to have fam help every once and awhile with small children. My sis-in-law, when things get really claustrophobic with her little one, she'll call just wanting to talk to an adult:) Little Momma, I had another fertility aptmt today, and got to see my Little Bit again. Little Bit actually kicked both their arms and legs twice! It was like Little Bit was saying, "Here I am!":) My man was with me and got to see it. He was thrilled. This is still so surreal to me. It's been a long time for me wondering what it would be like to be pregnant and see that God-given life inside of me. Seeing that tiny heartbeat again makes me so happy! Ok, that's all, long enough post!!:)

Much Love in HIM, many ((HUGS!)),
lots of blessings to you today,

katiegfromtennessee

kari said...

girl, those pics of sis and her big bro are totally frameable. oh my goodness!!!

Alana said...

The picture of Annabeth in the jumper makes me laugh...we put books under Mac so that he can actually bounce!

Kristen said...

Hi Amanda, I just learned you're in my neck of the woods :D I'm subscribing so I can get to know you better!