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As some of you know, Casey, my 8.5 year-older brother, has also been expecting his first child. This baby proved that modern science is indeed a science and was born on her exact due date of June 10th. May I present my niece, Mary Elizabeth Jones, born June 10 at 10:31pm, weighing in at 8 lbs. 1 oz., and 22" long.
Everyone I've talked to so far back in Atlanta says she looks like Katey did as a baby, but I think she looks a lot like Casey with cooler hair.
Two brothers having baby girls a month apart. Pretty freaking exciting.
Just as we were getting over the bruises from Amarillo, we had a slew of friends in town. Jeff and Signe Risom of Denmark fame were out from London for the week and found our house to be a good go between of Pueblo (Jeff's hometown) and Denver. They stayed with us for a couple of nights before meeting up with all of our other friends in Denver.
Since Signe grew up on pickled herring, I thought she would feel at home eating at the Texas Roadhouse, Colorado Springs's finest dining establishment. This is me and the Risom's in front of the Garden of the Gods.
There was also an appearance of the New York contingent up in Denver this past week. It had been a long time since a lot of us had been together, and I always relish the chance to see all of these guys. Here is me, Sean, Eron, Jeff, and Kevin posing with the newest little man, Jax Graff.
If only Jax and baby Jones knew how many stories they are in store for from their dads that begin with "So back when we were cool and good looking in college..."
We here at the Jones house never like to get too comfortable with anything. You gots to keep it fresh. That's our motto. So we figured with Nat being a month away from delivering this baby, now is the perfect time to switch doctors.
WHAT!?!
No need to worry, people. This was a very calculated move. We had reached what you might call a "communication impasse" with our old doctor and thus felt we would be more comfortable finding someone whose communication style jives more with ours. Nat met with her new doctor last week and we both feel much better moving forward.
The only downside is that we can't deliver at the same hospital. But never fear, we toured the new hospital over the weekend and it's just as sweet as the other one. Looking at our old post about the previous hospital tour, I laugh because both Nat and I really didn't know where this new hospital was. And it is substantially larger resulting in us getting lost on our dry run to the delivery ward.
In further baby news, Nat and I went to an 8 hour birthing class this weekend. "8 HOURS!" you say, "GOOD LORD!" That was my sentiment as well. But since Natalie and I are model parents-to-be, we only stayed for the first two hours and skipped the last six. The way we figured it, we could spend six hours practicing pain management breathing techniques, or we could just get the freaking epidural. We chose epidural and lunch at Il Vicino.
We did stick around long enough to watch some totally sweet 1980's child birth videos which caused the guy sitting next to us to say to his wife, "Oh my God, did that baby's head just explode?!?"
If you are still worried about our preparedness, don't be. My brother sent me the notes he took from watching a child birthing DVD. Apparently child birth is a lot like high school literature, save yourself some time and get the CliffNotes.
Wow. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. The Joneses have been trying to keep their collective head above water (as you will see proof of in this post), so let me bring you up to speed with some rapid-fire posts.
At the end of last month, Natalie and I headed down to lovely Amarillo, TX to Fort Carter-South. Derek and Kayce have lived in the Lake Tanglewood community for some time now, but Steve and Carolyn recently bought a house in the same community right on the lake. They've spent a good part of the last three months renovating the place, and this trip was the first time Natalie and I had seen it.
I will admit, I was skeptical about a "vacation" home in Amarillo, especially since Nat and I so enjoyed the Aspen Glen house in Carbondale. But I will gladly admit that their place is awesome. I have never spent much time laking, but I now see what the attraction is. Steve and Carolyn have done a great job on the house giving it a very comfortable, modern feel. It's the perfect place for lounging around or for an extended day of punishing speed boat activities.
I of course being of limited lake experience, approached the weekend in the totally wrong way. Determined to get up on skis for the first time, I spent two solid hours in this pursuit resulting in a pretty aggressive sun burn and a VERY aggressive armpit rash from my life jacket. This combination effectively limited any of my subsequent activities to camera guy or steering the boat. But it was worth it for those four seconds that I got up on my skis...kind of.
Nat obviously had to take it easy. No wake boarding for her. But she did eventually remove her insect-repellant shirt and swim a little in the lake.
We are definitely looking forward to more trips to the lake, especially once we have a little rug rat running around. I feel confident she will have more luck skiing than her dad. Here is a smattering of photos.
Didn't this guy get the memo that he's going to be a grandpa in about a month?
This seemed a very appropriate reminder to have hanging over the changing table.
The art was my contribution to the decor. We had these illustrations printed on canvas, and they turned out great. Click on the image for a closer look.
Everybody keep your fingers crossed for smooth sailing from here on in. We'll keep you posted as developments arise.
