Thanksgiving

Yes, I'm going to start off with the mushy "what I'm thankful for". I'm thankful for our house, our jobs, our health, our friends and family, our cats, our baby-in-the-making and most of all... for my wonderful husband. Ok, enough mush.

Thanksgiving was a hit! It was overwhelming to make the entire meal but I had plenty of help from my Mom. On the menu: Hershey Kisses, Peppermint Patties, chocolate chip cookies, and cheese and crackers for snackers. My family loves chocolate. And for dinner: citrus turkey (stuffed with grapefruit, orange and lemon!) and smothered in lemon chive butter, cranberry almond stuffing, mashed potatoes with homemade gravy (thanks to Mom), garlic string beans, mac-n-cheese, baked corn (thanks to Gram), cranberry sauce, and cornbread muffins. And for dessert: pumpkin pie and homemade frozen chocolate mousse pie. What a great day for food!

I loved having my parents and my Gram at our place for the day. It was very laid back (once the cooking marathon was finished). We watched the parade. Dad assembled a bookshelf for us for the nursery. We took a walk after dinner. Mom and I played Grey's Anatomy trivia (and I kicked her butt). And my parents even spent the night.

Friday we grabbed breakfast then ran to Linens-N-Things. Yay going out of business sale! I got a salad spinner, flannel sheets and a fuzzy pink bathrobe. After a successful shopping trip, we went to see Australia. Really a fantastic movie. I'm a big fan of Nicole, Hugh and Baz so it was an easy choice. Definitely a departure from Baz's usual work. Not so much a chick flick like Romeo & Juliet or Moulin Rouge but an epic, to be sure. We had Bangkok Wok for dinner (I know, shame on us for not eating leftovers). Then my parents sadly had to go home. I promptly fell asleep.

The highlight of my day yesterday, well, there were two: the moment I woke up from my nap and my horrible headache was finally gone and my successful attempt at a new recipe for dinner. Peter and I went to Panera for breakfast and that was amazing too. Decaf coffee... yum. So, the new recipe, turkey and stuffing casserole! It was fantastic. We took some to Chris and Michelle since they are just 2 days away from their due date and I figured they weren't doing much cooking. I can't wait to have more leftovers tonight.

So that's the lowdown on the weekend. Right now Peter is on a "man date" with Josh seeing Transporter 3. I wasn't willing to spend money on a movie I had no interest in seeing so Josh is bringing Melinda over after the movie for pie. More my speed. Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and enjoy your holiday season. Not long till Christmas!

New Baby Pics

We had our 2nd u/s last night. Baby measured about 9.5 weeks and is growing right on schedule. We saw the heartbeat again. What a miracle! We shouldn't have another u/s now till early February. I think it'll be a long wait.

I have a cold this week but I'm pushing through. I took the afternoon off yesterday to get some rest and I think that helped. Grape juice hasn't hurt either. And I think the weekend is really the best cure of all.

Ooooh! One more thing because I'm super proud of it. On Wednesday, Oprah mentioned on her show that for the next two days viewers could get a free 8x11 20 page photo book from Snapfish. I immediately ran to the computer because I've been wanting to make a photo book of our Europe pictures since May. In less than 90 minutes, I had ordered a lovely photo book worth $30 and only paid $7.41 shipping for it. I was so pleased. Can't wait to get it! If you're interested, check out the link on Oprah's website from Wednesday's show. You can still get in on this deal today I think.

I could use another day off too

I'm trying not to complain but Peter has today and tomorrow off... and I do not. Not fair. Ok, that's out of my system.

We had a lovely weekend! Friday I got a haircut and then met Peter at Ignite (the monthly event run by my work to stir interest in missions among college students). Peter played the drums as usual and Anita Keagy was the speaker (google her or Joyshop Ministries). We had something like 100 people there so that was pretty amazing. We were home by 9:30 but I was beat.

Saturday we slept in a bit and then after a little lazy time on the couch Peter went to get a haircut and I cleaned the house. I love a clean house. We tried several times to take a family portrait for the Christmas cards with us and both cats but Nutmeg is less than cooperative. She refuses to be picked up or held so unfortunately, she may not appear on the Christmas card. I worry she'll get a complex and feel like the unwanted step-child. But we tried. Later we met my parents and my younger nieces for Red Lobster in Lancaster and it was fantastic.

Sunday we taught Sunday school (and our girls were WILD!) and went to church. After church we went with some friends to Taco Bell and then did our grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. The prices seemed to be better than Giant so I may need to do a little research for the future. We came home and did very little for the rest of the day. I watched some Gilmore Girls and made pancakes for dinner. A lovely weekend.

How am I feeling (for those who asked)? Pretty good! Aside from one bought of morning sickness last week I've just been tired in the evenings. I consider myself very blessed to feel so good. I hope in a couple weeks maybe I can stay awake past 10 again.

Below is my favorite "oops" shot. Kenny was getting a little bored with the photo shoot. And is it me or does Nutmeg look a little smug?

Introducing...

... the newest member of the Jones family, "Pumpkin". Yes, we're expecting! We found out October 1st and today was our first official Dr. appointment.

The details: I'm about 8 weeks along. Due June 14th, 2009. We had an ultrasound today and got to see and hear the heartbeat! I just laughed I was so excited (probably not the best thing to do during an ultrasound).

In the pictures below the baby is upside down but if you stand on your head while looking at the 3rd one, you can make out a head, little arm bud and teeny tiny belly (trust us if you can't make it out).

We're so thrilled to finally share our news. We ask that you would please keep all 3 of us in your prayers. Thank you so much!

Happy November!

Wow - November already. I'm loving it! Despite the windy and chilly weather. As long as I get some sunshine, I'm happy.

We finally had our storm door delivered and installed last week. We've been waiting a few weeks. It looks wonderful! I'll need to take some pictures and post them here. The cats are warming up to it. It's a little loud when it closes so Kenny is scared of it.

We had a nice weekend. Friday we had a Halloween party of sorts with our small group friends. We watched "Midnight Meat Train" (horrible movie, haha) and ate a meat buffet. The spread was incredible. Way to go Joy and Jeremy! I started to fall asleep during "Leatherheads" so we headed home.

Saturday we took Nutmeg to the vet for a check-up and to have her nails clipped and get some meds for her sneezing (it's a seriously disgusting problem). She was wild though and Peter had to end up shoving her into her carrier. She scraped her little nose and then smeared blood all over the inside of her carrier. Not fun. She was fine once we got to the vet. She was SO happy once we got home. We got antibiotics for the sneezing and so far have been able to sneak it into her food, thank heavens.

So after that excitement, we went grocery shopping and then replaced the batteries in all 5 smoke detectors. It's a convenient time with the clock change and all. We went to see "Mamma Mia" at Messiah Saturday afternoon. What a seriously girly movie! I felt a little bad for making Peter sit through it so we picked up Chinese on our way home and watched "Shaun of the Dead" to balance it all out. I mean - it was a good movie - just not Peter's (or any man's) style.

I had a bad headache yesterday so Peter tackled Sunday school all by himself. I love him for it. I layed on the couch all day and then we went to Friendly's for dinner with some friends. All in all, a wonderful weekend.

Below is the cake I made for our Halloween party Friday. Devil's food cake (haha, get it?) and homemade cream cheese frosting. The stem is actually a silicone cupcake baking cup (thanks Mom!). It was tasty. And the other picture is what happens when Peter lays on the stairs when I'm trying to get by with my camera in hand. Isn't he adorable?

Have a great week!