Mani/Pedi by Dad

Laney is really into having her nails painted, both fingers and toes.  Lately she has carried her nail polish to Dad and he can't refuse.  I just adore these moments!

 She usually asks right after a shower.  This night she didn't bother getting dressed for her pedi :).

The fingers are a bit of a nightmare since she can't keep her hands still but Dad found the perfect solution :).

Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool

Hard to believe this was our 3rd Thanksgiving feast at preschool!  See last year here and the year before that here.  My babies are getting too big too fast :(!

This feast was extra special because Grandma, Aunt Alli and Henley were here for it!  It was another great event put on with lots of time and effort on the teachers' part and we so, so appreciate it.

 Oh, that cheesy smile.  Cooper was very excited to have his special guests at school.  He was telling people that his mom's mom and his mom's sister were visiting.

 He made sure to tell me that he picked out the red and blue feathers since those are KU's colors :).

 Not sure about Running River, he had no explanation for me.  We are thankful that Dad was able to fly back from a work trip to make it!

 Henley was there, right under my arm, snoozing away.

I was pretty sure she wouldn't want to go back to class with all of us there but she walked right in and laid down on her nap mat!

Black Friday starts NOW!

Ok-I definitely don't agree with all these stores opening up Thursday night for Black Friday!  But…who can resist a little online shopping now?? :)

Woot-Woot!  See it all here, www.stelladot.com/ashleyjones.  Happy Browsing!

PB & J

The girl only eats her PB&J sandwiches one way…messy.

Funny thing is, looking back at Cooper's baby books, he ate his the exact same way at this age!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Adam turned 32 today!  We spent the day with Coop's first soccer game, lunch, naps and lots of football watching.  It was ridiculously cold here today…winter storm warning so we tried to stay indoors for the most part.  When I put Cooper to bed tonight, he asked me, "Mom, since we didn't get to go anywhere fun for Dad's birthday today, can we go somewhere tomorrow?"  Love the way 4 year olds think :).  I see a trip to the golf store for those 2 boys tomorrow :).

 He had lots of help unwrapping presents.

 We had Dad's fave for dessert, chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream.  Apparently Laney didn't like Coop and I's birthday singing.

Happy Birthday Ad!  It's pretty clear these kids adore you and I kind of do too :).  Thanks for all you do, can't wait to see what year 32 brings!

We love Baby Henley!

We loved having sweet Baby Henley around, made us that more anxious for our baby to arrive!

 I took her out for a little photo shoot…so much more cooperative than a certain 4 and 2 year old I know.

 Both kids wanted to know where she was at all times.  They loved to talk to her and Cooper was anxious to help feed and burp her.

 He wanted to know if he could walk around with her…hmmm, NO!!!!!

 Henley was fussy so Laney grabbed that paci and

gave it to her.  I promise she wasn't injured in this process :).

 Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see Doodles fill her big sister role!

 We made a new dessert practically every night!  The kids were very happy to help Grandma out.

Henley got lots of quality time with her new cousin :).

Country Crooner

Cooper has always loved music and memorizes words quite easily.  We have been thru Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Luke Bryan and now it seems to be Jason Aldean.  Really, he loves to karaoke to most country male singers.

Mesmerized by the Country Music Awards.

 On this night, he requested guitar and handed Dad the microphone.  Here's a little known fact, Adam can rock out some karaoke!

As I was snapping pics, this crazy girl popped in front of my lens ;).  

To see him rocking it live as Jason Aldean, you must watch this video that Maggie took last week, http://youtu.be/HEm8v9aW3gE .  Freakin' hilarious!!!
a few notes on video…
*Maggie created it, so fun!
*Laney is quite the backup dancer turned stage crasher
*A couple times we tell him to sing and he says, "I'm not Luke Bryan, I'm not Eric Church."  He was singing a Jason Aldean song with those guys featured…cracked us up that he knew the difference between the voice.

Grandma, Aunt Alli and Henley are here!

Adam was out of town for the week on his last work trip before baby (woo-hoo!).  My mom and sis were kind enough to come down and hang (help me a lot!) with me and the kids.  We have loved having them here and they are loving the warm weather and being outside a lot.

Saturday morning we walked to the elementary school to play some tee ball and on the playground.

 That boy had Grandma, Aunt Alli and I all over the place playing tee ball!

 Laney likes to get reeaaaalllllyyy up close to her cousin Henley :).

 Running our imaginary bases, he finds any excuse to wear his cleats.

 Laney and I ditched them at the tee ball game and headed for the playground.  She went up and down this slide over and over again.

Our non-adventurous kid has made some big strides at the playground and I think it has as much to do with watching his more adventurous little sister as it does with his age and development.  

**and yes, he does dress himself most days - which is why he is rarely matching ;). **

A quick visit from Aunt Maggie!

Maggie was headed to Austin for a bachelorette party last weekend in Austin and included us on her trip, lucky us!  She drove in late Thursday night and hung with the kids and I on Friday to play and do some shopping before she headed south to Austin.  She was back to be with us Sunday for lunch and the rest of the day to hang out.

We took Mags to one of our favorite places, Potbelly.  Yum!  Laney's hair looked really cute prior to her stroller ride at the mall and it wasn't as bad as it appears in this picture!

The kids were so excited to have her here and they took advantage of all the attention they got from her with none of the other cousins around :).

 After dinner Sunday night we stopped at Walgreens to pick up ice cream so Adam could make us milkshakes (he makes the best!).  Aunt Maggie scored with the kids when she brought Doodles out a new Minnie Mouse and Cooper a Spiderman coloring book with markers!  

All cuddled up after milkshakes (see laney's face ;)) watching videos.  Thanks again Mags for stopping in to see us, we just loved having you here!!!!!

Smile Fridays - week 51

Well, it's technically already Saturday but let's go with it.

Since it's 12:30 I am tired so this is going to be short and sweet.

We did family pics a couple weeks ago.  It was a bit exhausting, mostly just coordinating everyone's outfits.  Click below to see the slideshow, consider it your Christmas card sneak peek ;).

Jones 2013

Oh my gosh, so many things I want to share in regards to Stella & Dot…especially with all of you holding long list of holiday gift lists.  Let's start here, this sale is good thru Sunday at noon.  See that red wrap bracelet?  Perfect for teen or mom, and a Jayhawk/Chiefs/Cardinals fan!  Those soar earrings?  Perfect teacher gift with sweet note from your child thanking them for helping him/her soar!  And that statement piece?  Perfect to spice up that everyday wardrobe!  See them in more detail and shop here, http://www.stelladot.com/shop/en_us/sale/limited-time-offers 

Family Workouts

Well, make that family workouts minus Mom.  We all know that Adam is very dedicated to working out basically everyday and on days that he doesn't make it to the gym, our dining room is transformed into a work-out room…another reason I don't need to get a dining room table!  He is always very patient, happily lets the kids take part and Cooper takes his part very seriously.  He is all about it, the shoes, the music, the moves, the enthusiasm-it's hilarious.  Laney usually just joins in to dance and entertain the boys :).

 Can't you see the intensity on his face?

 This was one of our first 'big girl panty' days…hence the lack of pants but boots that she demanded on.

 Dad led group exercises and the kids just loved!

 Jumping Jacks!

Think he looks up to him???

Potty Training = HUGE success for Laney Faith!

I posted about our potty training progress with Doodles here.  We officially jumped into big girl panties this weekend with Laney Faith!  After she woke up Saturday morning, I had all her panties washed and ready to go.  She went potty and was all about her new underwear!

She went on to have zero accidents all day!  We asked her about every 30 minutes and made sure she sat on potty every hour.  We rewarded her with a Smartie each time she went and she couldn't have been happier about that!  No rewards for dry underwear and by the end of the day, I don't think we were even giving Smarties anymore. We went to Saturday evening mass so we put her in a pull-up.  An hour and half later when we got home, she was dry!  

Obviously she is still in diapers at nap time and night, but she is usually dry after naps.  We continued with panties on Sunday and she continued to do awesome!  We are sticking with pull-ups for right now when out and about but she has stayed dry and will go on any public potty we take her to.  With that being said, I will say that boys are much easier when it comes to public restrooms.  I could and still can get Cooper in and out of a restroom without touching anything in the restroom.  Ugh, not Laney, she demands to hold herself up on potty…ugh, blah, ugh!  Thankfully she is very into washing her hands :).  

All in all, I would say she is about 90% potty trained, just need to bite the bullet and put her in big girl panties in public.  Honestly, I still can't believe how easy it has been and can't believe that we are basically out of diapers a month before Baby #3 arrives!  

Cooper was a bit disappointed that we didn't have a plan for the day and I was letting him stay in his pjs.  He asked to paint and do school work…done!

 Laney colored with us and loved every minute.

 One of her rewards for going on the potty was coloring with markers!

She looks so grown up now!

Tonight after shower we put her in a diaper to get ready for bed.  I was blow drying my hair and she was playing with Dad and Coop.  She came in the bathroom and said, "Mommy, gotta pee."  Then she proceeded to take off her pajama pants, diaper and go on the potty.  Woot-Woot, we are so proud of you Laney Faith!  You have totally blown us away with your big girl potty success!!!!