Catching Up

Well, I'm sitting in my living room in Canton after being gone for over two weeks. My trip home to Georgia was simply amazing. Family time was much needed and very special. Plus, we were all there together the whole time - dad, mom, Jason, Gretchen, and me. It was very neat to have the Jones 5 together for an extended amount of time. I can sum up our time together with just a few words of description: food, shopping, laughter, movies, rest, dogs. It was simply wonderful.

My trip started off Thursday Dec 17. I am thankful to Gretchen for graduating from college early so I had an excuse to go home extra early. I am so proud of her for all the hard work she put into her college career, and I believe the habits and discipline she's established in life will allow her to achieve great heights for the Kingdom.

Unfortunately, we did have a brief stint of sickness in the house. Dad was the first to come down with this dreaded stomach flu, and two nights later it hit mom and I full force. Thankfully no one else had it the rest of the time I was there, but it did hit Gretchen this past Saturday. It is a nasty booger of a virus that renders you utterly weak and exhausted. Still, it did not conquer our family time. We still had such special time together.

When Trey arrived we had a blast watching my parents' and Jason's dogs (Buzz and Grey) play with our boys, Pete and Dapple. They were all four so hilarious, and they provided plenty of entertainment. Trey and I got to visit the Gazaways one evening, a family of 8 (6 kids) that I babysat beginning in middle school and through college. This family is family to me, so it was special time with them. Trey and I also had breakfast with my old pastor, Frank, and his wife Mary. We enjoyed converstaion with them for about two hours at a Cracker Barrel! Lots of fun.

And of course the most important event for us, telling my family about Kate. I'll upload the video later, as well as pictures. We had a blast celebrating and shopping for my little girl. I even bought some bedding that is incredibly cute and was incredibly cheap.  Two big milestones. First, I am showing now (there is no doubt). It was crazy, but it seems like in a week I went from kind of showing to definitely having a baby bump. I was extra hungry that week, so I guess little Kate was going through a growth spurt or something. Second, I have felt her move! I can feel those little bubbly feelings in my tummy almost daily now. It is so neat to feel her in moving around in there.

Another update soon. I'll even post baby bump pics once I can get copies of the great pics Gretchen took. She is a master photographer :). Love to all!