Growing up already...

Yes, it is 4:52 a.m. and I have been up since 3:00 a.m. reading. Guess what I am reading??? That's right, nursing stuff!!!! We had orientation last Wednesday, and they gave us 8 chapters to read before Monday's first class (and more if we want to be over achievers). This is going to be 4 CRAZY months!! Which leads to me to my next subject ~ Olivia

I am afraid I will not get to post very much after tomorrow, so I wanted to do a post today. Saturday was a major day for the Jones family. Friday night (or Saturday morning around 2 or 3 a.m.), I heard what I thought was Jason in the bathroom using the potty. Then, I noticed some heavy breathing beside me and quickly realized it wasn't him, it was Olivia!! So, I laid there waiting on her to hollar at me for help, when she quickly ran back to her room and went to bed! How sad! She got up on her own, went to bathroom and then went back to bed. She just turned 3!! She has NEVER done this. She has always screamed for me to come get her and take her to potty and then take her back to bed! It took Jason and I a while to go back to sleep after this. THEN ~ Saturday afternoon (SAME DAY), I was in the bathroom getting ready to go to Foodland and her daddy was downstairs playing his Xbox, and I kept thinking "Boy, Olivia is being awful quiet today." (You see, she is usually in the bathroom talking my head off as I get ready. I just ASSUMED she was downstairs talking daddy's head off :-) Well, her daddy came in the bathroom and said, "When did you lay Olivia down?" Well, guess what, she had put herself down for her nap!!!!! Unbelievable..THEN, (not anything really big), she decided she could swing herself on the swings while we were outside playing Saturday afternoon! Ugh!!! What in the world happened to her Friday night??? Growing up already!!!!! How freaking sad!!!!

Fair Season

Friday night we went to the Wilson County Fair with some friends.. That fair is sooooo fun and there is SO much there for kids. I recommend everyone go if they can and they like to do that kind of stuff. We had a wonderful time and the weather was just perfect. (Although, I do think Olivia caught a cold there, as she is now sick), but we had a blast and we are thinking about going back one day this week if we can work it in. We didn't get to see it all.

Speaking of being sick, this morning Olivia said ~ "Mommy, will you pray to Jesus for me to feel better?"

Mom ~ "Of course I will Olivia." ( I say a prayer with Olivia)

Olivia ~ "Mommy, now I am going to buy you a prize!!"

I love it... She is sooo funny and she is already SO faithful in the Lord and knows he can help her. I think her faith comes from the fact that when she started having the seizures (that are pretty much gone for the most part), we would hold hands and pray together for the Lord to help her and be with her and keep her strong. And that is just exactly what He did... Thank you God for answered (and unanswered) prayers!! I don't know where we would be today without Him in our lives!


Olivia and her popcorn!



Our arrival.. The girls were so excited. Mallory, Hannah and Olivia



Mallory, Olivia and Hannah.



Olivia on the motorcycles...Yay!!



Liv and her daddy watching the pigs, goats and ducks race.



Livie and I on the carousel. She will not ride anywhere but the chairs, but this is progress for us.



Livie rode the pony!!! Woooo Hoooo!!! More progress!!!!!



Checking out the chickens.



Me and Liv riding the elephants.. Can you tell the sun was busting our eyes out?




The duck races..This was so cute. Ducks, pigs, pot belly pigs, and goats all raced. It was too cute.



Olivia cautiously petting the goats.

The girls waiting patiently on their dinner.

The sweet, stinky camel that Olivia WOULDN'T pet!

Hannah, Olivia and Mallory riding the Gators. This was probably her favorite.

And this little creature, (forgot what he's called), pooped all over our friend Jessica's arm...Lovely!

Word for the Day ~ EARS!!!!

They must be studying body parts at school this week because she came home yesterday with feet stuff! Too cute!

School Days....

Yesterday was Olivia's first official full day at school, and she LOVED it. I didn't get to take pictures yesterday morning because we were in high gear all morning. I couldn't get up for some reason yesterday. So, I took some pictures this morning. Besides, she wouldn't have made a very good picture yesterday anyway, because she cried all morning before we left, wanting to stay home. Then, when we pulled up in the parking lot at school, she said "Mom, where's the playground?" I pointed it out to her and she grinned really big and said "I'm so excited!!" Little stinker.. She had me all stressed out about dropping her off and then we pull in the parking lot and she got all excited. She didn't cry when I left either!! Yay!!!! I went and picked her up and she got in the car and said "Mom, I am so happy, I love my teachers!" Yay, go Mrs. Glenda and Mrs. Tina... That made my day!!!! Then, Olivia and I went to Dairy Queen and got an ice cream and came home and she spent the rest of the afternoon playing with her cousin Hayden.. She had a great day yesterday. (Except for falling off the bed last night)This morning, no tears!! Wooo Hoooo.. Although, she got really nervous when we got there and wouldn't let me go. Mrs. Glenda came and got her and she went right to her. Bless it!!!

I hope to have some pictures of her birthday party this weekend and some pictures of our trip to the Aquarium last week. I have been really bad about forgetting my camera lately! We even went to two birthday parties and a family reunion this past weekend and I forgot it both days!! :-( I think my mind is already in my nursing classes!!! Stress is starting to build already!!!!

Liv with her Dora lunchbox... She LOVES Dora!!



Olivia being her normal silly self!!

"Hurry with the pictures please!!!"

"It Makes a Difference to This One"...

A rough storm came up one night and left a sandy beach strewn with starfish. The next morning, a child walked along the shore, stopping every few feet to pick up a starfish and flinging it out into the sea. An old man watched the child and finally shouted at him, "Why bother, son? There's too many starfish to make a difference!". With that, the boy picked up another starfish and looked at it intently before heaving it out into the sea. He then turned to the old man and said...
"It Makes A Difference To This One"...

Another update....

I am officially CPR certified on adult, pediatric and infant CPR, know how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator), and know how to remove a foreign body airway obstruction (The Heimlech Maneuver:-) as of today!! Wooo Hooo!!! Now, I have my second orientation on the 26th and then classes officially start on the 31st.. I am getting SO very nervous, yet excited at the same time.... Olivia starts her first day of school tomorrow at Westwood. She goes for 3 hours (phase~in), and then her first official full day is next Monday. She is really excited too. Jason also started his new job today and won't be home until 6:00 tonight :-( This will take some getting used to. We are gonna miss him around here. A lot of changes in the Jones household these days! Anyway, I will leave you with some pictures I took of Olivia before church yesterday. (Good thing I thought about taking the pictures because she ripped the dress at church yesterday!:-(










I am so disappointed that these two didn't turn out. I am not sure what happened here. And, I would've taken more, but we were already tardy for church and I thought we better go on. Oh well! :-)

Our day with "The Martin's"

Yesterday, Olivia and I went to Murfreesboro to spend the day with one of my best friends, Lori Rhea Martin, and to meet the new addition to their family, Miss Ansley Rhea Martin. She is just precious. We had such a good time. I only wish we lived in the same town so we could see each other more. Lee was actually home for a minute and I got to see him too :-) By the way, I think both of those babies look just like Lee!!! Anyway, I miss them so much. We had a wonderful time yesterday...Enjoy these pics from our fun day yesterday..


Olivia and Jared (not sure what they were doing here, dancing???)




BUSTED!!! Lori and I turned our heads for just a minute and Jared and Olivia had pulled some twigs out of a plant of Lori's and they were on her bed dancing to some CMT that was on TV.. So funny...




LUNCHTIME!!!!




Jared and Olivia running through the grass to play on the swing set. (That they did not play on long because it was so VERY hot)




Is this not the sweetest picture... They really loved on each other yesterday.. It was sooo sweet.




The beautiful Ansley Rhea Martin.... She looks just like Jared and Lee to me.




A pic of the kids painting (while Lori and I are on eggshells in the background) Paint is just so messy!




Another pic of Ansley




Here are Jared Lee and Olivia playing in Miss Ansley's bed...




Here they are pretending to be asleep (with little grins on their faces, too cute)

Just playing in Ansley's bed..

Olivia holding and bonding with Ansley Rhea

Miss Olivia and Mr. Jared Lee Martin



A picture of Lori and I that Olivia tried to take for us....(Oh well:-)

BLT's...

Just a cute picture of Daddy and Olivia in their apron's making some BLT's for dinner last night..(and the other little cutie is Olivia's cousin Hayden) Gotta make good use of those home grown tomatoes this time of year.... Mmmm, mmmm........

Praise God!!!!

Sorry I am a little late on updating, but we got the results of Olivia's MRI on Friday (wasn't expecting it until Monday), and all was normal!!! Yippee!!! We are sooooo happy.... So, the doctor has concluded that she is just having mild seizure activity and we are to continue on the seizure meds until her next appointment in October. Still don't know the cause (I think it has to do with the surgery, but what do I know), but things do seem to be getting better though. A special thank you to all of you who included Olivia in your prayers, e-mailed, or commented to us on our blog (or facebook).

Westwood had their open house today and Olivia is so excited about her new school. I was impressed. I think we are all gonna really love it there.