Grandma and Grandpa Jones

We had a wonderful surprise visit from Wes' parents over Labor Day weekend. They made a week trip out from Nebraska to look at a building to purchase. While they were here we had a good time and they enjoyed (I hope) spending time with Piper. She was a very happy little girl who entertained all of us and helped around the house as much as she could.

We also had the privledge of their help in our kitchen. We spent our 4th of July weekend tiling a backsplash, I then spent the next week trying to get it grouted between tending to a fussy baby at the time. I always said I hated our stainless steal sink, so on our trip to Home Depot one night to get a lawn mower we picked up a cast iron sink to install some day. Well that some day came. I am so very thankful to Papa Joe and Bonnie for their willingness to use their time here helping us with home improvement projects. I love my new sink and it looks so good surrounded by the back splash. What do you think. How does my "new" kitchen look?

We are now working on a couple more tiling projects. We are going to tile above the surrounds in all three bathrooms from surround to ceiling and also one strip down the side.

living with the Jones'

Every time people come to our house they comment on our large bean bag. It has a cover from Love Sac but the innerds are certainly not from the same place. Being a poor college student when I made it I was only able to stuff it with 2 bags of beans and the rest is cut up foam mattresses. It is really quite comfortable but has to be re-fluffed if you get up and then want to sut down again. Except of course for a little girl that weighs less than 15 pounds.

We also had the wonderful opportunity to take care of the neighbors little boy. We has fun watching them sleep and play together. We hope they become the best of friends.

5 meses

Wow, time flies when you are having fun and keeping busy. Piper is now 5 months old and I am officially off maternity leave. I started back to work Aug 20 so that also means Piper went to her first day at the sitters. I really had a hard time leaving her knowing that when Wes went to work he would be dropping her off for the day until I could pick her up. I survived that first day and so did Piper. When I got to the house she was contentedly laying on her blanket playing with a book. She gave me a slobbery kiss and we went home.

Piper is growing so fast, she is weighing 14.2 lbs, sleeping around 6-7 hours at night. She rolls over from her back to her stomache and then get stuck trying to get onto her back again. She is also starting to sit up on her own for a few moments at a time. Each day she sit up longer then the day before. She laughs at funny faces and giggles and squirms when she sees someone coming in to tickle her.

bottles!!!

Bottles, bottles, ode to the bottles. Knowing I will be going back to work when school starts I knew Piper was one day going to have to take a bottle. The doctor told us to start giving her a bottle once every other day when she was 2 weeks old. This we did and she did fine, especially when she was taking camomile tea before each meal. She loved that little bottle. Then when she was about 7 weeks old we took a short break from the bottle. OHHHHHHH was that a mistake. We had to start all over again with teaching her to take a bottle. As you can see we tried many different kinds of bottles and nipples. This process started the first part of June and finally ended July 30.

I was so excited that she finally took the bottle I had to send out a text to Wes and a couple of friends who have agonised with us during this process. Then 2 days after taking the bottle she will now also take a pacifier. Life is grand, now if only I did not have to return to work and could stay home with Piper.

camping bath

We went camping last weekend for the Waters family reunion. We were at the Three Island Crossing State Park in Glennsferry. Piper likes to stick to her routine and lets us know if we are off. The first night we were able to use the shower and she went right to sleep. Saturday we were not so lucky. The restroom closed that morning with draining problems and they said it would be fixed by early evening. As it turned out they were still not open when we left Sunday afternoon. So instead, my sister boiled some water and we gave the babies their bath in the..... cooler. Piper of course quite enjoyed her bath even though it was in an unconventional tub. When she was done we put Carson in to see how well the 2 cousins got along in such close quarters.

Swimming

We always look forward to a good relaxing soak in a hot pool. We took Piper for her first swimming experience Friday. She was so relaxed that after swimming she slept for 2 hours. the water felt great and the company was enjoyable also. One lady thought we were crazy taking a baby to a hot springs but from the pictures as you can tell she did not seem to mind it so much.

Mark and Piper

Piper and Mark hanging out together. Leslie was trying to get them to smile or laugh, of course Mark laughed with her but Piper thought she was a little weird. We truly enjoy the time we spend with our friends.