Weekend Recap

How was your Mother's Day? Mine was fantastic. 

I got breakfast in bed, a happy, well-behaved baby, a leather kindle cover, and chicken saltimbocca (see below) with roasted asparagus and potatoes for dinner. Then Tyler watched a non-action movie with me (Mona Lisa Smile) while we snuggled. It was perfect.

I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am to be a mother, participating in the most essential work to be done on earth. I feel so incredibly blessed, and want to cry all over the keyboard when I think about it. Thank you to my own beautiful mother who taught me firsthand that "no other success can compensate for failure in the home" (David O. McKay).

Update on the Jones Family

Wow, it's been a while! Our holiday was long and restful (for the most part). We drove to Southern California for the break and it was fabulous. When we first got there we really didn't see what all the fuss was about because the place looks beautiful! Everything was a bright spring green, so why was everyone complaining about all the rain? Then a week later we got caught in a horrendous rain storm driving through L.A., and we realized while everything around us was beautiful, maybe it wasn't so worth it after all. We hit some pretty bad weather on our trip, but luckily we kept safe.

Here is a picture of our new little family on Christmas day:

See all the ornaments on my mom's tree? Now do you see what I'm talking about when I say she has a million of them? See how loaded that garland is? She's got about three more of those throughout the rest of the house.

We also stopped by Bakersfield and visited Tyler's family for a couple of days. His brother Trevor spoils baby Jack and bought him this cute little shirt:

He crossed out the words "Dad" and wrote "Uncle" to read "My Uncle Rocks".  CUTE! :)

 We also snapped a shot with Tyler's very old friend Molly. She is really sweet but getting very old. She's been in the family almost fifteen years!

My mom fell asleep with Jack on the couch. Oh, how Jack loves to cuddle. He'll cuddle with pretty much anyone.

 Jack was so cute in his swing today! I didn't capture it, but he made sure to give a big grin to the little bears on the mobile hanging above him.

Jack was surprisingly good on the car trips. He never cried until the last 20-30 minutes, and that was only because he was hungry and we were trying to hold him off til we reached our destination. I just feel bad putting him in his car seat now because he's practically lived in it for the past two weeks!

He didn't sleep so well on the trip though. Right before we left he was averaging 7-8 hours a night, but during the trip he was all over the place! One night he made it to ten-and-a-half hours (lucky Tyler - it was his turn to feed him that night!) but most of the time it was 4-6. But the past two nights he's been averaging about 8, so it's getting much, much better already. He really got spoiled the entire trip, and it's been a little difficult breaking him out of that, but he's doing fine I think. He already lets me lay him down in his crib to go to sleep without crying, which was a difficult task in California. I think he was just scared and didn't recognize anything around him, so it made bedtime (and naptimes) particularly hard.

We're a little sad to see our break over so soon, but excited that this is Tyler's last semester of school! Last semester was technically my last semester, but I'm not sure if I'm going to "walk" or not yet. We'll see, but it is nice to finally be done with school!

Lone Star Taquiera

don't you just want to snuggle up with him?

I really wish Salt Lake City was a tad bit closer. Maybe a 20 minute drive instead of 40? Nonetheless, Jack was pretty good for the ride. 

We started off by going to IKEA, which is always fun and eventful. I can't wait to decorate our home with more IKEA furniture in the future, starting off with a new kitchen table. Tyler picked one out for us, but luckily I get dibs on picking out the chairs. :) We're waiting til we move to San Diego next year to purchase a new table so we don't have to move it.

We then went to a fantastic Mexican restaurant about 5 miles east of Salt Lake City downtown. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network, and since we're big Guy Fieri fans, we just had to check it out. Best idea EVER. The place was FABULOUS. Whoever decides to come visit us next, we're definitely going there. Seriously, it is worth the drive. 

It's called Lone Star Taquiera and it's at 2265 Fort Union Boulevard in Salt Lake City. Fantastic service and absolutely delicious, legit Mexican food (the "legit" part comes from Tyler, who actually lived in Mexico for two years so I highly value his opinion when it comes to this.) Go check it out. I had the carne asada burrito (super moist and tender carne asada), but Guy Fieri also raved about the sea food they have. I think it changes daily. We also got glass bottled coke imported from Mexico, which is a must-have if you've never tried it. They use real sugar instead of corn syrup and the taste difference is huge. I first had it in Mexico on our honeymoon, and I've been sold on it ever since. We each got our own, but the bottles are so big you could easily split one between two people.

And last but not least, here are some pictures of our little family in Temple Square. I just love it there, especially during Christmas time. But we didn't realize it was family night (us Mormons have what we call "family home evening" each Monday night) so it was really crowded. Plus it was the last Monday before Christmas, which also didn't help. But I think Jack had a good time. (He pretty much slept the entire time, which to me equates to a fantastic night out!)

Christmas Stockings

This year we decided to get Christmas stockings. My parents are collecting all five kids' stockings to hang in their home since we have all begun to branch out and start our own family lines of stockings. That leaves me and baby Jack stocking-less. Still haven't purchased any quite yet, but there are several runners up. Here are my two favorite styles:

from Crate&Barrel

from Target


I'm really not one for showy Christmas stockings. If I have to hang them in my house every year for the rest of my life, I better like them! I am very simplistic with most everything, and like plain, simple patterns. Or solid colors with no pattern at all. (Remember Jack's nursery? I bet some people think it is plain and boring, but I don't like that every.sing.bit of baby anything is decked out in television characters. I won't give in! I don't care for licensed characters (anything Spongebob, Disney, Dora the Explorer, etc.) so our kids will probably never own light-up Bob the Builder sneakers or a Hello Kitty tshirt. I just think it's kind of tacky I guess. So why should it be any different with stockings?)
(Funny story: as we were talking about how many to get, I decided on five. Three kids sounds nice, no? Tyler then pitched a little fit and said, "Seven! Remember, we agreed on three to five kids, not just three! Actually, we should get eight stockings, just in case the last two kids are twins." Oh boy. Looks like we have a little bit to discuss, eh?)

Oh, Chrismas Tree

Because we move so much (third time in two years!) Tyler and I haven't invested in a Christmas tree yet. We do love our little ones though, so it might be a few years before we upgrade to the real deal. We have a 9' garland that I hang our ornaments on, and I'll admit I actually love it more than I would a tree.

Jack's Great Grandma Gleim (say that three times fast!) got him this ornament!

This is my favorite ornament. Band was such a huge part of my life in high school - it really influenced who I am as a person.

There's a tradition in the Jones family (and I think a lot of other families too) to hide a pickle in the tree!

My mom has participated in 'ornament parties' (for as long as I can remember) where everyone makes and exchanges ornaments, and thus she has hundreds (if not a thousand, perhaps?) of ornaments. A few years back she literally ran out of room on our tree and started hanging ornaments on garland throughout the house. Best idea ever! So that is exactly what I did this year. I sorted through our boxes of ornaments, chose my favorites, and hung them up. "Look how festive I am!" is my catchphrase of the season. Even Jack loves looking at the pretty lights every night.

I also will participate in an ornament exchange this year with my sister. I made poinsettia flowers out of paper:

DIY Printed Shirts

Let's just start off by saying I am listening to Christmas music. And I love love love it.

I think the only Christmas music I tolerate is the hymns (Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing). I tend to get annoyed with the Santa ones (Up on the Rooftop, Santa Claus is Coming to Town). 

Needless to say, at our church Christmas party last night they handed out Christmas cds, and I love this one! It's called Christmas Hymns: Carols of the Christ Child, by Mark Geslison & Geoff Groberg. The hymns are beautifully orchestrated (I'm listening to one with a harp, and it's lovely) and I love that not all of them have words. I love listening to instrumental Christmas music more than anything. I grew up with Mannheim Steamroller playing throughout the house every Sunday morning before church. I guess listening to instrumental, soothing Christmas music brings me right back to my childhood. I want our children to grow up knowing not only the carols they sing in school about Santa, but the ones about our Savior too. The mood instrumental Christmas music brings is so unique and special.

But back to my DIY printed shirts.

Lately I've been wanting to make tshirt designs. But once I saw how expensive inkjet printer transfer pages are now (and how their quality hasn't improved much at all) I knew there had to be another way to do it. I saw a post on How About Orange and slapped myself, wondering why didn't I think of that? In high school I learned this same technique, but using canvas instead of fabric.

First I made a design in Illustrator:

I was going to write all of the directions out, but why don't you check out How About Orange? Her directions are far superior than mine would be. I'll just make a few suggestions:

• I used gloss medium (that's all I had on hand) and it turned out just fine. I was worried about it being shiny but it isn't. But I recommend using gel medium (matte). It's much thicker and you will get better results. You can pick up a tiny jar at a craft/art store. In the long run, this is a much cheaper option than buying inkjet transfer paper.

• My first attempt (see my Christmas trees below) didn't turn out so well. I skimped on the gloss medium, and the image didn't fully stick. Then I tried to scrub it off, which didn't work. Moral of the story: don't paint on too thin of a layer.

• I also used a paint brush. I didn't want a huge area in the background to be stiff, so I just painted on the actual image with a little bit of border around it. I hate how inkjet transfers have the ghosting in the background. For my JACK transfer I just painted a teensy bit outside the circles as well. This also made washing it off easier.

• Don't scrub too hard. See the A on my JACK transfer? (I also might have not had enough gloss medium on it)

• You must use a laser print, or this will not work. Also, don't forget to flip (mirror) your image when you print it, or it will transfer backwards.
 

UPDATE: I tried washing them, and some of the design came off. So either you can't wash it, or I should have turned it inside out and run it on delicate/hand wash. Sad! But if this method of transfer doesn't work for clothing, it would look awesome for a canvas tote! You could make tons of reusable grocery bags, or a beach bag...the possibilities are endless.

Questions? Comment or email me and I'll help you out. Good luck!

Moccasins

(our little dude, all decked out in red and green for the church Christmas party)

My friend Jess got me (well, Jack) moccasins for my baby shower. At first I wasn't sure what to put them with and was so sad because they are so adorable! But recently I have found many outfits that they go with. They pretty much match anything, actually! He wears them all the time and I get so many compliments on them. I used to think shoes for newborns was tacky, but with the freezing cold (well, actually it was a mild 45 degrees today!) weather here in Utah it's almost necessary to have something on their feet to keep them warm! These moccasin slippers are the perfect thing. My sister (who just had her baby today on the toilet at the hospital!!) bought a pair for her little munchkin too! Pick up a pair for yourself (well, the baby) at Target.

And now I know you are all dying to know about my sister having a baby on the potty at the hospital. Funny story, actually...our family delivers babies pretty fast (all within 9 hours from start to finish on the first, and with the subsequent babies usually within 2 to 3 hours). Courtney woke up at 3:00am, woke up her husband at 3:30am, and left for the hospital at 3:45am. They made it to the hospital at 4:15am. She barely made it through the parking lot (and thank goodness to the labor & delivery floor) where she had to pee. She sat on the toilet in her room, and luckily the nurses happened to be there (without gloves or anything - completely unprepared) and in three pushes he was out! Yikes! What a cool birth story though. I told her it was a good thing he wasn't born in the car because they would have had to pull over and bury the placenta in someone's front yard, haha! Both Momma and baby are doing great. :)

Our latest family snapshot, taken tonight. I picked up this festive sweater at D.I. (the local thrift store). Too bad you can't really see Tyler's ugly Christmas tie we picked up at D.I. We found out when we got home that it even plays music! What a bonus!

Anyway, I love the holiday season. It's so much fun to decorate and eat cookies and make crafty things. (See my latest project on the next post, coming soon.) I tell Tyler all the time, "Look how festive I am!" (That's pretty much my catchphrase of any holiday where I decorate.) He just laughs at me. But really, I feel like such a good wifey when I put up Christmas lights, a tree, and hang ornaments on a green, bushy garland. My favorite thing is drinking hot chocolate every night. Which reminds me - have I mentioned how delectable and yummy Stephen's Chocolate Mint Truffle hot cocoa is? With milk, it is just about the creamiest concoction ever. Oh, I just love, love Christmas.

Christmas Ornaments

This year for Christmas I am contemplating making ornaments for the family gifts.  I feel like it will be more personal and I can utilize the creativity side of my brain. And every once in a while, I love to work with my hands. :) I was also invited to an ornament exchange (my first!!) so I need a good idea for 10+ ornaments.

I whipped this design up the other day and was thinking about doing an image transfer as part of my ornament. But so far I have no ideas really of what to do. Maybe I'll just print this onto a onesie and Jack can have a festive tee to wear for the holidays.

(and p.s. it's going to snow here tonight. tyler and i are not too thrilled about this.)

An Attitude of Gratitude

My neighbor&friend Jessi made a list on her blog of ten things she was grateful for, ten days before Thanksgiving. Now it's my turn.

 I am so glad I took the opportunity to write down things I am grateful for, and I encourage you all to do the same. I'm already in a happier mood because of it. :)

1. Tyler and baby Jack. I'm so grateful to have these two wonderful boys in my life.

2. Our lovely apartment which we call 'home'. It was a huge blessing to even find another apartment in our ward, let alone right in our price range and with a washer & dryer.

3. Good health. I feel blessed to have had a healthy pregnancy, a perfect labor and delivery, and a fast recovery. Plus a strong, healthy baby boy to show for it.

4. Tyler's smile. This man has the best, most genuine smile in the world. Even on my worst days I can't help but smile right along with him. After all, it was his smile that caught my eye from day one.

5. Plans for post-graduation, and the opportunity we will have to live in San Diego. Tyler works so hard for our family, and has a full-time job when he graduates. I am grateful we have a (somewhat planned) future ahead of us.

6. My parents. Without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I look up to them and admire both of them so much. I am grateful for their strong marriage, and that they have always put their children first. They still make so many sacrifices for us today. Thanks Mom and Dad.

7. The gospel of Jesus Christ. The atoning sacrifice of our Savior. A living prophet of God on the earth today. Knowing that Tyler and I can receive personal revelation for our family to guide our choices in life. Being sealed to Tyler for time and all eternity, and knowing that we will be together as a family in heaven.

8. My friends, and the overwhelming love and support I have received in the past few weeks. I had no idea so many people cared about me. Thank you.

9. Modern technology. Cars. The internet. Electricity. Clean drinking water. A hot shower. We take so much of this for granted!

10. That our little family always has enough to provide for our needs. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices and go without, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.

Our "Jack"-o-Lantern

Because our own baby Jack hasn't arrived yet, I carved us a pseudo for the meantime. Hopefully baby Jack won't come out looking as scary as our pumpkin!