Play Group

Jonas and I joined the "ward play group" on an outing to the National Zoo. It was such a BIG zoo and there was a lot to see. According to the girls I went with, we didn't see even half of it! There were 9 adults and 11 kids on the day we went (yipes!). It was lots of fun. I know what you are thinking, isn't Jonas a little too young for things like that? Well, yes, he is. He surely didn't know we were at the zoo. As it turns out, I think the play group is for ME to get out!

This is a giant Panda..well..this is his back-side. He was hiding. My sister Brooklyn wants to see a giant Panda so bad, so I took the picture even though you can't see much of him.

Giant turtles. I love turtles. Once when I was driving around, right after we moved here, I saw one in the middle of the road. No one was with me, and Devin always teases me that I was seeing things. I know what I saw, a turtle. It wasn't quite this big though!

Here is the little man on the metro going to the zoo. He's getting used to riding the metro down town.

 

And Look who found their hands! He used to only suck on his hands when he was hungry, but now they are always in his mouth. He sounds like he is going to swallow them whole. It's pretty funny!

Look at those baby blues! We are still in shock that Jonas' eyes have stayed blue, but they have and we love them!

Road Trip = Fun

Last weekend we went to New York! Don't be too jealous. We were in Liberty, and there wasn't much to do there! Devin's Dad is working on a job there right now and his mom flew out to see him, so we drove up to visit them. Devin's brother, Destry and his cute little family met us there too. It was lots of fun! They have the cutest girls who LOVE their Uncle Devin. Devin is so cute with the nieces and nephews. He swam with the girls in the pool at our hotel. They were in seventh heaven. It was fun to see them and spend time with them and we look forward to seeing them again soon.

The drive to Liberty was about 5 1/2 hours. (6 1/2 with a babyJonas). We used our GPS to get there and it ended up taking us through all these beautiful little towns! We saw this white barn and I promise the picture DOES not do it justice. It was HuGe and so pretty! We also saw white-tail deer, and a lot of gorgeous houses by little lakes. I know where I would want a Lake House!

There were a bunch of Sunflower fields on the drive there too. They were so pretty!

This is how we gave Jonas a bath at the hotel. He tolerated it, but I am not sure he liked it much!

This is the proof that he wasn't sure about the whole hotel adventure. We borrowed my friend Jennie's Pack and Play for the little man to sleep in and he slept so good in it! Devin and I stayed up late on Friday night talking with Destry and Loni, but Jonas just slept the whole time. He loved the chaos and noise and was happiest when all the little girls were around him. Ladies Man?

Here is Devin catching Brynn as she jumped into the pool. They must have done this 1,000 times. They did not want to get out when it was time to go!

Jonas is still trying to decide if he likes his baths or not. He doesn't cry as much anymore, but he isn't really happy about it either. He always pees on me, just as we get to the bathroom. I tried leaving his diaper on until we got into the bathroom, he still got me. Oh well! Anyway, my friend Lindsay gave him this towel and he's so cute in it. It is still so big for him, but it's so cute!

Above the changing table I have a shelf hanging on the wall. Every time we lay Jonas down to change him, he stares up at shelf. My Mom brought him a monkey when she came out after he was born and I put it up on that shelf. So now that he can coo a little bit he "talks " to the monkey. It's pretty cute.

More Jonas...

Jonas has been fighting sleep for a few weeks now. I have to beg and plead to get him to take a nap sometimes. Well on this particular day, he had been awake and crying for several hours. It's so sad because he is so tired, but he just won't give in. Devin had all but given up and then I looked over and Jonas was sound asleep-sitting up like this. The thing is he was dead asleep! That was probably the most sound he has been since he started fighting it so bad. He's a stink when it comes to sleep, but we still love him!

Devin takes the credit for "teaching" Jonas to hold his own bottle. I think it might have been chance :0. Plus his two fingers on the left hand make it look like he is giving the signal for a smoke.....YIKES!!

About two weeks ago two girls in our ward threw me another baby shower. It was so fun! There were a lot of girls from the ward that I had never met, and they still came. They came in (all with gifts) and said, "You must be Nicole." I felt bad that I didn't know them, yet they took the time to come and meet me and Jonas, and bring us gifts. Our ward here is amazing. Everyone is so welcoming and they are always inviting us over for dinner, to the park, to play group...everywhere. It has been good for me to get out of my comfort zone. Jennie made this cute cute diaper cake. It's so cute I still haven't taken it apart. The diapers are a bigger size, so I can keep it like this for a while. I love it!

Jonas Turns One Month

We've been busy Growing!

I took the little man to the Doctor on Monday and here are his stats. He is seriously weighing in at 10 1/2 pounds!! I almost died. (No wonder I can't carry that carseat up three flights of stairs!) He is 22 inches long, so he is growing in length too. I wish my pediatrition would tell me where he falls on the charts, but she didn't. (I didn't schedule back for his two month check though, I don't like her so I am changing).

Jonas fell asleep in between Devin and I on the couch the other night. Devin got up to get something and Jonas rolled into the crack of the coushins. This is how he ended up. He's like his Grandpa Stevenson. They can sleep anytime, anywhere. He stayed this way for a while too.

A week of Fun

This will be a long post, so I thought I would write first and then you can check out the photo's below. So here goes:
Not long before Devin and I moved to Maryland, my little brother got engaged. Due to some events going on in the bride and groom's lives, they decided to get married on August 19th. Well, according to when I was due I probably would not be able to make it to the wedding. It was hard to think about, but I knew I had to do what was best for me and the new baby. THEN fast forward- the baby comes 10 days early. My parents called not long after Jonas was born and asked Devin if he would care if I flew to Utah for a week to go to the wedding. He loves me SO much and told me to go-so I did! Jonas and I flew home with my mom on Friday the 15th. The best part was..NO ONE KNEW I WAS COMING HOME. My parents and my mom knew, and that was it. No sisters, no chad, no cousins, no one. We are brillant might I add. Surprising everyone was the best thing ever! When we got in to Utah on Friday night (after my car broke down on the freeway in rush hour traffic on our way to the airport-thank you again Jennie for coming to get us..you're still my hero) My Mom didn't answer her phone until we were just a few minutes from home. Then she went in the house and Jonas and I rang the doorbell at the front door. You should have seen my sister's faces when they opened the door and I was standing there with Jonas. Taryn was all teary-eyed, and Brook and Kaylee were way excited. Dad said he thought Jonas was getting fat (thanks Grandpa!). Then on Saturday, my new sister in law was going through the Salt Lake Temple. My Mom and I went down and imagine Chad's surprise when I was in the celestial room!! I didn't go through the session with them due to having a 3 week old baby and major anxiety about leaving him for too long...even though he was with my mom who is more than capable. I just changed my clothes and waited for everyone to finish with the session. I hid in a corner, and waited for my parents' signal. So mom told Chad that she brought him a wedding gift from Maryland, and then: THERE I WAS. I am not sure if I cried more or if Chad did, or if my Dad did. It was priceless. Chad never suspected a thing. It was worth it and I would do it all over again! It was such a fun week: the wedding, the fair, seeing all our friends and some of our family. DISCLAIMER: sorry to the family that we did not get to see, or did not even tell we were coming. I didn't have much time to do everything that we wanted, and our main goal was to spend as much time with Chad and Nat before they left. We are looking forward to going back to Utah in October to bless Jonas, and see more of our family and friends. All in all, it was one of the best trips home I have ever had. I missed Devin so much, and He really missed us, but it was such a great trip. Thanks Devin, for loving us enough and knowing how important it was for us to be there for Chad. Thanks Mom and Dad for getting us there. Thanks Mom and Ray for the car, and for loving Jonas like you do. And especially thanks to the best Aunts out there: Kaylee, Taryn, and Brooklyn for all of your help and for being so great with Jonas. We love you and miss you already!!!!

Jonas' First Vacation

The Logan Temple where Chad and Natali got married. Jonas got to stay with his Aunts while I went in for the sealing. He was VERY good even though his mom was a little nervous. The girls did great. Brooklyn was SUCH a helper!



This is Chad and Natali as they came out of the temple. LOVE Chad's pink tux. It looks really bright, and it was, but it looked good. The best part was when they cut the cake (it was pink) his face matched his tux. The food coloring was as bright or brighter than his tux, and it stained his face. It was pretty funny!

Grandpa Stevenson (my dad) holding Jonas before the reception. Jonas was a trooper for the whole trip. I litterally drug him every where that week and he put up with it all very well.

This was Joans at the Box Elder County Fair. His first fair. It makes me cry a little. We had a great time, and Jonas was really good. He has had more people hold him this past week than I have met in my life time, but he never seemed to mind!

This is Brooklyn, Oaklee, Jonas and Grandpa Stevenson at the rodeo. Just as it started Jonas made a big mess in his diaper, on his blanket...pretty much everywhere. I had clothes in the diaper bag, but no extra blanket so Oaklee is holding him in the jacket that I took for myself. Despite not having a blanket and the very loud noises..he was an angel!

One Week and Four Days

Here is our sleepy little baby. He sleeps, and eats and then sleeps again!

Devin was taking pictures for our birth announcements. He did very well. Now if I could just get him to make them so we can send them out.

Today after his two week check-up at the Doctor. He weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz. (holy cats!) They had to do the heel stick for the PKU. I am not sure that it was necessesary. Why do they have to be so mean to the babies?

Jonas Lee Ure

July 27, 2008

5:00 A.M.

7 lbs 10 oz

20 & 3/4 inches

I am so sorry that I forgot to put all his stats on the blog. I was trying to update at the hospital and the connection wasn't the greatest. I had to do the whole thing twice and the second time I forgot to post it again. I was wondering why everyone was asking me his name...I am an idiot! Anyway- no significance to his name. We have always liked the name Jonas and Devin's middle name is Lee. So, we went with it. Not too many good family names in our family that we wanted to use. By the way, Devin took this picture (he takes A TON of pictures), because Jonas ALWAYS has to have his hands up by his face. Looks like those 3-D ultrasound pictures were really of him...hands in his face and all!

Our first morning at home..sleeping with mom and dad.

Daddy gave Jonas his first bath at home last night. It was LOUD, and he didn't love it, but he tolerated it. He smelled much better afterward! Devin is such a good Dad. He jumps in and does anything and everything. If only he would JUMP at night. He didn't hear Jonas cry once last night..hmmm....funny how he doesn't hear him at night. He got up with him at 5:00 this morning though and I got to sleep in. Jonas only got up three times last night...He was a champ!

Our Little J

Here He Is

After a rather long 48 hours, which I will not go into too many details about, our little boy has arrived! The story goes: On Wednesday at my regular check, my blood pressure was high. I went back to the office on Friday, another Dr. checked it and sent me to the hospital for more testing and blood work to make sure it wasn't preclampsia. So, I went to the hospital (all this while Devin is working in the city 45 minutes away with nothing but public transportation), and my Dr. was the doctor working and she decided to start me. Okay, at this point, I will admit...I was excited!! I was having a baby!! WRONG! After 12 hours of pittosin (I don't know how to spell any of this stuff, so please overlook that), I was only dilated to a four. A new doctor decided I should stop the "pit" and take a pill that would help me to progress faster. She said it was a four hour process. I took the pill around 6:00 A.M. Then at 4:00 P.M. she decided to start me back up on the pitossin again. At this point I was dilated to a seven. At least she promised me that I would have him here by 7:00 A.M. He arrived at 5:00 A.M. exactly. There was a lot of drama in between all that (epidurals that didn't work, I.V.'s that had to be started again, heartburn and a lot of throwing up-throwing up nothing because I hadn't had anything to eat since Friday morning at 6:00 A.M.-did I mention drama?) he came. Honestly the actual labor was not as bad as I thought, it was just the getting there. But when they placed him on my chest and I saw him for the first time, it all disappeared. Heavenly Father is a very tender loving person to have given us the power to instantly bond and love something SO much. We love, love, love him and he was worth ALL the waiting! Enjoy our pictures! Now we have something fun to blog about!!