Welcome Riley David Jones!!!!!

Well friends, he is here! As a shock to me my water broke at 1:20am Sunday morning and a short 8 hours later our little guy entered the world at a whopping 4 pounds 11 ounces. There were some problems with the labor and the cord being wrapped around his neck twice so they had to get him out quickly. Praise the Lord for a great labor and delivery team. I am doing well and feeling better daily. Riley is still in the NICU. He needs to gain some weight. Right now he is only taking .5 ounces at a time and he needs to get to at least 2 ounces at each feeding before he can come home with us. So please pray that his appetite increases and we can bring him home this weekend. This is our little guy right after he was born. The proud papa The Newest Jones Family Picture Isn't he the cutest thing ever!

Everything is A-OK

Thanks to all of you who prayed and for all the encouraging words over the last two days. I had my ultrasound today and everything looks good. He is small, probably about 4 pounds and 14 ounces but Griff and I were both really small babies so they think with another 3 1/2 weeks of "baking" he should be just fine. So as much as I want him to come early because I can't wait to meet him I want him healthy more than anything. And thankfully I think I am getting over the awful cold I have and my appetite is really returning full force so I think I can get him to that 6 pound mark.

Thank you all for praying!

36 Weeks! Baby's Room! Cravings!

Wow! Hard to believe I have, by the mercy of God, made it to the 9 month mark. For the most part this last month went really well but about a week ago I got a cold and that has left me feeling pretty crappy.
Because I haven't been feeling good I haven't had much of an appetite and thus I have not gained the weight the doctor would like. I had my 36 week appointment yesterday and actually went down 1/2 a pound. The little guys heart beat sounds good and strong but the doctor just wants to be sure everything is okay and I am scheduled for an ultrasound tomorrow. I am a little nervous but more excited to see another picture of this guy before he joins us for good.
So if you think of it please pray us, for me to get over this cold and gain weight and for our little guy to gain weight (right now they think he is aout 4 pounds).




And speaking of gaining weight...I made my first ever potroast last night and it actually turned out great! All I did was throw this roast in the crockpot, along with a can of Pepsi, a packet of onion soup, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. It was so easy and 8 hours later is was sooooo good. I told Griff this was a good old Iowa meal. And though there were mashed potatoes left over from last night I finished those about 8am when I couldn't sleep. :-)







And here is our little guys room. It is completely finished and ready for him to come and check it out. Big thanks to Cathy for finding this great baby furniture at a garage sale, to Jason and Dave for picking it all up for us and storing it, to Brian for helping Griff reassemble the crib, to my parents for painting the room, and to everyone else for all the great gifts that have helped us fill the room and prepare for him to join us. Thank you all soooooo much!

35 Weeks! Only 35 days to go!

It is incredibly hard to believe that we have just 5 short weeks before Baby Jones is here (or maybe less if he decides to come early). As I sit here writing this, watching the Steelers vs. Redskins game this little guy inside seems to be practicing for the days when he will be the start punter. I have come to love and cherish these movements, except when they occur between midnight and 5am. I am realizing more and more with each day what an incredible miracle this is.

This past weekend I had another shower, put on by all my wonderful new Lancaster friends. It was a great reminder of God's faithfulness in bringing us to a place of community and surrounding us with couples that love Jesus and are in a similar season of life. We got many great things to finish off the nursery.

And while I was at the shower, Griff and Brian were at home putting together the crib. It was fun to come home, walk into the baby's room and see everything put together. We are really ready for him, bed and all. :-)

I have my 36 week check up this coming Monday and I am really excited to see where I am at by that point. Honestly I am praying I will go early, specifically November 25th. The reason for this is that if I were to go on the evening of the 25th that would give Griff the most vacation time to stay home with me and our little guy. So, if you want to pray with me for this great. But, more than anything I want him to come int he Lord's perfect timing and if that isn't until December 15th I will be okay with that too. If there is one thing I have learned these last nine months is that you can't go againsts God's perfect plan.

I Love Fall

On another perfect Fall day my neighbor Brynne and I took our first attempt at making pumpkin rolls. We have both been craving things made of pumpkin for a while and after I bought one of these delicious rolls at the grocery store recently I knew I had to make it myself.

So after combining the pumpkin, powdered sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and much more and a couple hours later we had two marvelous looking and yummy tasting pumpkin rolls. The question now is...how long will this roll last? And how long before I have to make another one? :-)

A Beautiful Fall Day

It was a beautiful day to be outside so Griff took full advantage. He spent a good chunk of the day in our backyard, pulling up weeds, and cutting down bushes. Everything you see in the picture that is cleared off was previously covered in 2-4 foot high weeds. Our backyard, though small, was a mess and finally we are getting to it. Basically, Griff is getting to it. I just take pictures of him working hard. :-)

And as of Monday October 13th I will be 8 months pregnant. Overall, I have been feeling good. Yesterday I was extremely uncomfortable but fortunately today I have felt great and been able to be up and around making grandola, strawberry shortcake and I even put the stroller together! It has been a great day.

This coming weekend Griff and I head to State College. Griff is speaking at Nav Night at Penn State. We are excited to head up there one final time before the baby comes. Please pray for Griff as he prepares his talk and for our time with students and friends while we are up there. And please pray I will feel good for the entire weekend.

A Quick Trip Home

Recently Griff had to go to South Carolina for a week of training so I bid on a last minute ticket to Iowa and got it. I had the chance to go home for four days and spend time with my parents, Grandma Henry and see a few other family members.
I love Iowa in the Fall, when all the combines are in the field and harvest is in full swing. It was a beautiful but quick four days. Some fun things I got to do...

...See the newest addition to the Henry family, Lindsey (pictured). She is now almost 4 months old and what a cutie pie she is.

...Spend a day with Grandma. I wish I had a picture for you. We spent the morning getting her hair cut and then took off to have lunch and buy groceries. It was so fun to spend time together, hear stories about her life growing up, gain tips on raising kids (she had 10 of them) and also talk about all the quilts she has made over the years and is in the processes of making.

...Teach mom how to make my homemade granola. The house smelled so good as all the cinnamon and nutmeg filled the air.
- Best Granola Recipe Ever (Thanks to Kerri Ely)-
6 cups oats
1 cup oil
1 cup honey
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup coconut
You can also add in shaved almonds or different kinds of nuts
mix these above ingredients together and then add:
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
mix this all together and then spread into a large sheet pan.
bake at 350 for 30 minutes, taking it out and stirring it every 10 minutes.
After it is finished baking you can add in craisins, or raisins.


...Just spending downtime with mom and dad was a huge highlight. It was great to be home, go for a walk with dad, have lunch with them at the bowling alley and eat meals around our dining room table.

It was just a great four days!