Rub-A-Dub-Dub...

Maverik in the tub (sink)! 

Mav's belly button "icky" finally fell off, which means he is now allowed to have real baths! We started giving him a bath every night before bed time and he loves it! When he hears the water start to run he gets so excited! 

Happy Fathers Day Josher!

Dear Joshua,

     You are a Daddy! Happy first Fathers Day! I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful Daddy you have been. Maverik is so blessed to have you in his life. You are a worthy priesthood holder and you bring the spirit into our home. I know you will teach Mav to cherish the Priesthood and to be a worthy and righteous man all his life. Maverik will learn through your example the power of prayer. He will know that sometimes the right choice is not the easiest choice. He will learn that serving others is so important. He will learn to be Christlike because of your decision to go into social work and to make helping others your career.

     You are a gentleman and you treat everyone with respect, especially me. You will teach Maverik to honor me and to treat me and all women with respect. You will teach him to open doors for women, speak politely and use good manners. These are very important, but unfortunately dying traditions. I appreciate that you will make it a priority to instill these values in our children. 

     Thank you for being the kind of man our son can look up to and fallow after. Maverik will know right from wrong. You will teach him to stand up to peer pressure. You will teach him to have respect for himself and he will have the confidence to say no, when he is faced with bad choices. You are a wonderful example of doing the right thing. 

     You are so well rounded. I love that you have interests in so many things. I know you will appreciate and value whatever Maverik is interested in. You will be his biggest fan and will be a very active participant in all his activities. I look forward to watching you teach him to swim, throw a ball, shoot a basket, and have fun trying new things. I can't wait to see you helping him with his pine wood derby, math homework and to prepare for a mission. 

     You are already an active part of Maverik's life. He loves snuggling with you. It is amazing to hear you talking to him and making up songs for him. I can tell you already love him so much. I am so proud of you for learning so quickly how to change a diaper and take care of a newborn. 

     I am so grateful to be your wife. It is wonderful to have such an amazing partner to have a family with. Thank you for all that you do for our family. I LOVE YOU!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO AN AMAZING DAD AND HUSBAND!

Love,

Kallie

The Best Part Of My Day

Naturally my very favorite part of Mama-hood is not something I can post pictures of, but I'm going to blog about it anyway! I absolutely adore the special Maver-Mama time I share with my son when he is eating. I realize this is a true blessing that so many others do not get the opportunity to experience for various reasons. I am truly grateful for this special part of of my life. This is the time I tell Maverik about how wonderful his daddy is, moving to Arizona, his cousins, his aunts and uncles and about all the fun things we will do together when he gets bigger. 

We also read books and sing songs. He especially likes the books with bright pictures and his favorite song is "Families Can Be Together Forever." He always looks up at me with his big blue eyes when I am singing it to him and it melts my heart. I am so happy I get to be his Mama forever! Even in the middle of the night when I am exhausted Maverik makes me feel like the most wonderful person in the entire world!

 I feel so blessed to be able to share these special times with my son. 

Pictures from Day's 3-5 of Maverik's life

Every day with Maverik is even more wonderful than the last. We love him so much. I can't believe how much I can love someone I just met, but he melts my heart. I am so blessed to have my two boyfriends Josh and Maverik! 

He mostly just sleeps... A lot! 

He is so cute, he loves to hold his own binker in.

He really enjoyed his first sponge bath with Nana. 

And he loved his first experience in his swing/buzzer chair. He crashed out after being in it for only a few minutes... I think the chair is going to become one of Mama's best friends.

He loves cuddling with Daddy... and Maver snuggles always make Daddy sleepy!

Today we went on a walk. Maverik played possum the whole time... but I think under his heavy eye lids he was enjoying it. 

Aunt Kimmi sent flowers for Mama and Daddy and a teddy for Jonesy.

And finally... just so I could gross you all out... look at my poor swollen legs and feet. Every bit of me is blown up like a balloon! And here I thought I would get smaller after giving birth. Ha! Yeah right! All for a good cause though! 

I mean isn't this just THE BEST EVER! 

More Pictures of Maver

I hope all our readers are ok with seeing millions upon millions of pictures of Maverik! I can't help it, I'm OBSESSED! I think he is the most wonderful little thing I have ever seen. Every second he does something even more amazing and cute than he did the second before! Also Grammy and Poppy are in New York on a mission and I know they need to see all the pictures I can post! We miss you two! 

Maverik knows EXACTLY who his daddy is! I love watching the two of them stare at each other!

He is so smart already... only three days old and he can hold up his own bottle!

His first outfit!

Snuggling with the best daddy ever!

First car ride! He did so well! Didn't fuss or anything! I put up more of a stink than he did (bumps and turns are hard on a c-section... ouch!)

When we got home all three of us needed a nap. Here's Mama and Maverik napping together! I see lots of these sessions in our future. 

Getting ready to watch the Mavs game! He looks so cute in his jersey! (even though it drowns him).

And We Are Going To...

We have made a few REALLY BIG DECISIONS this week. First we decided who our little boy is! He is most definitely our little MAVERIK HAWTHORN JONES!  

Next we have decided that in just over a month we are moving to ARIZONA to start grad school at ASU! 

We are looking at apartments in Tempe and Phoenix because Josh will be attending classes at the Downtown Phoenix campus. We feel really good about our decision and know that it is the best place to move our family.  

We are so excited about all the new changes and adventures!

Small, Dark and Handsome

We are so blessed to announce the Happy Birthday of Maverik Hawthorn Jones! His nicknames are Jonesy, Mav, Maver, Mavs Man, Peanut and Swamp Bottom Jones (:

He is the sweetest little thing I have ever seen. He has such a wise face. We think he is destined to do something great!

He is an amazing nurser, sleeper and snuggler. He can lift his head all on his own. We are amazed by his strength. He loves to hold on to my thumb when I feed him. I absolutely love being a Mama. He is just so wonderful! I can't believe how much I already love something so small.

He is out of the NICU and doing really well. He knows his Mama and Daddy's voices and always whips his head around to see us when we talk to him.

He sounds just like a billy goat when he cries. He loves to wriggle his hands free from his blankets... then he gets sad when they get cold! He is so silly. 

(Proof that Josh CAN and HAS changed a diaper!)

His daddy is wonderful at changing bums, swaddling and burping. Josh has learned so quickly and is the best daddy our little man could hope for.

Grammy and Poppy sent us some flowers

to welcome the new addition. They are so beautiful, Kallie-lilies, my favorite!

He Got in #5!

We received the last letter from the grad schools Josh applied to and he WAS ACCEPTED TO... 

You are so AMAZING JOSHUA! I am so proud of you! 

Little Jonesy's Birth Story

I woke up at 12:04 AM with strong and consistent contractions. I timed the sharp pains as they continued until 4:30 and were down to five minutes apart. This little man had made up his mind that one way or another today would be his birthday. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 AM. I was immediately hooked up to monitors.

My nurse came in about thirty minutes later and tried to start my IV. The first needle broke inside my vein (which was ok, I really didn't want an IV on the top of my hand anyway). The second poke totally missed the vein. The third needle decided to poke a "rolling vein." So another nurse came in to give me a try.  SUCCESS!!!! Right on the top of my forearm... not too high, not too low! I can't even tell it's there!

At 6:30 Josh was asked to dress down in his handsome dad attire!

My doctor arrived with big smile on her face. She was just as ready to move on from the crazy pregnancy symptoms as I was.

At 7:30 I was escorted by my nurse and anesthesiologist to the very chilly operating room. 

My nerves caught ahold of me about that time and I started shaking uncontrollably.  

I finally got calmed down enough to have the epidural. It took a while for the epidural to set in and I got very dizzy and nauseous. The doctors discussed knocking me clear out for the procedure incase I had a vagal response to the surgery and passed out or threw up. Which would cause very serious problems for me or Jonesy Jones. Eventually I started to feel better and then I felt nothing at all from the chest down. Even my hands were numb.The doctors were all pleased with my turn around and we decided to move forward without a full anesthetic. Josh came in about that time and took a seat by my head. He grabbed my hand and didn't let go until it was time to weigh and measure Jonesy. Having him there, and knowing he was touching me gave me much needed comfort. The C-section happened in minutes and pretty soon we heard the strong cries of our perfect baby boy.

He made his grand entrance at 8:15 AM, weighing in at 7.7 pounds. He is tall like his daddy at 20.5 inches long. He has most of his daddy's features, but his lips and toes are all mine!

He had a few issues with his lungs and other underdevelopment. Josh was able to give me a quick peak of my baby before he needed to walk him down to the nursery for monitoring. The doctors finished cleaning me up and sewing me shut. Then I was taken to a recovery room. My mom came in and kept me company while Josh watched Jonesy get his first bath and physical.

Eight hours later I finally got to see all of my baby's face. The nurse put him in my arms for about ten minutes and I had an overwhelming sense of mommy hood. I burst into tears. I counted ten tiny toes, ten perfect fingers and the most kissable little nose. The nurse explained his condition to us and then quickly took him away to the NICU. 

He was having a hard time breathing and his lungs were all filled with sticky liquid. He had an IV put in his little arm to keep him hydrated. They did a sonogram of his abdomen and an X-ray of his lungs. Then the poor thing had tubes down his throat to suck out his lungs. So far he is doing ok, but I haven't been able to spend any quality time with him.

Josh is an amazing and proud father. He is constantly going to the NICU window to look and see our little boy. He has taken many pictures and always comes back with a story of how amazingly cute our baby is.

The hardest part of this whole day has been the separation from my baby. I have spent every single second with him for nine months, and all of a sudden he is gone. I think my motherly nature has kicked in full swing. I feel so empty without my kiddo here to take care of. 

He doesn't have a name yet, because Josh and I haven't had any time together to get a good look at him. We are so blessed. I love my little family! I never knew I could be happier than I was the day I married my best friend. Today we added to our little family and our relationship grew to a new and wonderful level. I look forward to spending time with my two boys.
I promise more info... and a name to come! 

He Got In #4!

EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

I am very proud of my Josher! We have SOOOO many BIG decisions to make! I wonder... I wonder...Where will we be going to school? Where will we live? What will our baby's name be?