Thanksgiving...country-style

I love Thanksgiving - it's my favorite holiday. I love the food and time with family. Yes, I am the type that gets all sappy thinking about how thankful I am of everything that I am fortunate enough to have. I am truly blessed.

We went to my parents' farm in VA Wednesday night. Landon had a blast playing with all of his cousins and riding the "orange bug". Cowboy boots are a must-have in the Jones household - Landon, Elizabeth and Gracie were all sporting theirs. I think Nannie and Papa have their eye on a pair for Carter! Landon and Adam had their first sleep-over - they were so cute snuggling together on their pallet on the floor.







Uncle Ricky showed Landon his 2 turkeys that he shot that morning while hunting. Hey - the turkeys' tail feathers look a lot like Aunt Angela's hair (Ha! Ha!)!



After stuffing ourselves full at lunch on Thanksgiving day, we headed a little further north to Christopher's parents for supper. A Thanksgiving meal is not complete without bear, homemade blackberry wine and moonshine! Grayson helped track a bear that his friend shot and cooked some up in the crock pot like a roast. It was yummy! Landon loved the bear - he asked for seconds!!! And yes, real moonshine! That's how we roll in the country!

Announcing...

my new baby nephew, Jeter Lynwood (named after grandfathers on both sides). Jeter joined the Jones family the day before Thanksgiving (Wednesday, November 25). He weighed in at 9 lbs and 1 oz! His big brother, Adam, is so proud and loves his baby brother...even though he thinks that Jeter is "eating his mama" (while nursing)!



Carter enjoyed talking to his new cousin!



And check out that big toe!



Now the Jones family has 4 boys ages 3 and under! It's a crazy (but fun) house when we all get together!!!

Personal Space Issues

My sweet little Landon has turned into a bully this past week at school! And it looks like it stems from his sense of personal space. He's been pushing his friends at school due to their lack of understanding of where his bubble is! He's pushed kids away from him in the bathroom and in line telling them that they are too close to him, and has pushed kids out of play areas telling them there is no room for them!

We've talked to him about alternative ways to handle the situation, we've talked about how it makes other people feel, we've talked about how it makes God feel and what God wants us to do, we've made wishes in the "wish bottle" that he doesn't push his friends, we've put him in time-out, we've taken away privileges (like TV and candy - his 2 favorites), we've taken his reward chart train down to nothing, and we've whipped him. We remind him at night, when we gets home and in the mornings. And he acts like it sinks in. Then I go to school to pick him up to find out that he's done it again!

So what do we do? Is he in a phase? Is it just his age? When is a phase not a phase? When do you have to start worrying that you kid actually is a bully?

By the way, anyone that has used the quote "terrible twos" obviously doesn't have a 3 year old!

More photo session pix

More pictures from our photo shoot that I wanted to share...

All Aboard!

In order to promote good behavior, I made a train reward chart for Landon. I like to refer to it as the "Don't Get Your Hiney Whipped Train"! It's pretty basic: there are 10 train cars - with good behavior, he gets to put something in a train car and with bad behavior, he has to take one out. When he fills all 10 cars up, he gets to cash in his reward. As a family we decided on the rewards (which is displayed as the sun on his chart): watch a movie, go to the library, go to the park, go to Marbles Kids Museum, go to the science museum, etc. The things he can fill up his train cars are things like Mickey Mouse, tools, letter/numbers, balls, giraffe, Taylor Swift (his favorite that he likes to save for last, and a lion (however, he doesn't like to use his lion because "the lion makes him nervous").



This past week, he filled up his train so we took him to Marbles Museum on Saturday morning. This place was awesome! I may have potentially enjoyed it as much as he did! They have a mini city where the kids can drive buses, cars, boats, fire trucks, ambulances, work in a post office, and go grocery shopping (my personal favorite - I always wanted a cash register when I was growing up but Santa never brought me one). Complete with dress up clothes and accessories. Landon loved giving Mommy a shot on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance!









They also had a 3-tier pirate ship that Landon loved. Arrrgh Matey!



Landon enjoyed building a car with Daddy and racing it down a ramp. There were tons of things upstairs to do as well like a workbench using a real saw to cut wood (still not sure why they think that's a good idea), huge Legos, and a Mr Potato Head building center.



Carter had fun too looking at the cute baby in the mirror and playing with trains!

Carter's 4 Month Check-Up

Carter went to the doctor for his 4-month check-up yesterday.

His stats:
Weight: 14 lb 11 oz (50th percentile)
Height: 24.5 in (30th percentile)
Head Circumference: 40.5 cm (10th percentile)

He's little in all aspects but the doctor doesn't have any concerns. I think he's playing catch-up from his bottle strike a month ago. His doctor wants me to wait one more month before giving him rice cereal and baby food (once they start eating food, they tend to drink less - and that's where all of the calories are). Also, I'm going to add an ounce to his daycare bottles.

Developmentally, he's right where he's supposed to be: pushes up when on his tummy, smiles, giggles, babbles, holds eye contact, & holds his head up. And not to mention, cute as a button!

More pictures from Nicole Faby

Nicole posted more pictures from our family photo session. Enjoy!

Photo Session Teasers

We had a family photo session with Nicole Faby on Saturday morning. Her name should be Nicole Fabulous! Here are 2 teaser pictures. More to come later in the week...

Gracie's 7th Birthday

Yesterday was my niece Gracie's 7th birthday so we headed up to the big VA for the shin-dig.

We made a pit stop by Nannie & Papa's house. Apparently, my Daddy thinks his grand kids need a golf cart to ride around the farm on so he bought them one. Here's Landon and Nannie on the "orange bug".



Then off to the bounce house for the party (ps - South Hill didn't have this when I was growing up!). Landon was hanging right in there with all the little 1st grade girls. He was attached to Gracie's hip. Everywhere Gracie went, Landon was right behind.




He also had fun with his other cousins, Elizabeth and Adam.




The triple threat (me with my brother & sister)...



Carter enjoyed getting spoiled by all. Here he's with my "baby" niece...EJ will always be my baby. It's very strange for me seeing her holding my baby looking all grown up. I must be getting old...



Landon and Adam had fun racing through this obstacle course. By this time, Adam was exhausted - he had crawled up a 15 foot slide about 100 times (no exaggeration).



I think they all slept well that night after 2 hours of running and bouncing.

Don't Blink!

You've always heard how time flies and how children grow up so fast. I guess it really hits you when it's your own child. If you blink, you'll miss something.

Here's a video of Landon's new trick, pedaling his John Deere tricycle by himself. My baby is a big boy!

Happy Halloween!!!

I dressed the boys up in matching penguin costumes this year for Halloween. Yes, I am one of those moms but just wait til you see how cute they are!

They had a parade and party at their school on Friday. The highlight for me was the little girl dressed as a banana that scared herself so bad they had to take off her costume and take her to the office to calm her down. I know I shouldn't laugh...but really, a banana?!?! :)





On Halloween day we went to visit Uncle Craig & NaNa (otherwise known as "the white Bob Marley" & "the girl from The Grudge" - freaky!!!). Landon was ecstatic to start filling up his pumpkin with candy.




Then we headed back to our neighborhood to trick-or-treat. The whole Bagley family went along for the fun because in the country you trick-or-treat by car, not by walking! The boys enjoyed the company of Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mike & Beth.

At the first house, Landon grabbed the whole bowl when the lady told him he could have some. He looked at me like "really?" & then went for it. And later he learned that if he told our neighbors that he needed candy for his little brother too then he'd get a little bit more! He definitely inherited his Daddy's sweet tooth!

Also, please note the trapezoid eyes and nose of the jack o' lantern - by Landon's request of course!









Landon enjoyed teaching his baby brother what Halloween was all about.