Family Time!

Coe, Miki and Berta came in town for lunch on Friday to meet Mayes. I am so glad they got to come, and I think Mayes already likes them a lot! (Uncle Cliff came in town too, and I forgot to get a pic of him...sorry Uncle Cliff!)

With (almost) Aunt Miki

Ellie was just in from playing outside in her pool!

So sweet in Berta's arms (so thankful that my 93-year-old grandmother is still around to hold my babies...she is remarkable!)

Ellie adores her Uncle Coe (and Aunt Miki), and I know Mayes will too!

Big Sis!

Ellie has been pretty good with Mayes so far. Sometimes she is interested, sometimes she is not. She hasn't been too jealous of me holding him so far, but I think that will change once it is just us at home. But, the biggest thing that she has done since we brought him home is decided that she wants to use the potty for good! We have had her princess potty for a little bit and she would use it every now and then, but I never wanted to make her do it. Our doctor and some friends had suggested to just wait and try to train her later this summer once we had settled in with the baby. But, on Saturday night she said she wanted to use the potty and she did and then wanted to wear her Hello Kitty panties. The next day we got some pull-ups and she has been pretty good about going ever since. (only a few accidents here and there :) We are sooo proud of her!

First Week!

We had a good first week home! My mom was here and helped us out so much! Nana was also a big help keeping Ellie entertained and busy. Mayes has been a really good baby so far. He is settling in to a 3 hour eating schedule during the day and will go two 4 hour stretches in the night. He is a snuggler and just the sweetest baby! He makes our little family complete :)

3 days old

Likes the lamb swing but not as much as big sis did!

1 week old...still has some jaundice

He got a big goose egg bruise on his head during birth and you can see it on the right side of his head in this pic below. It should go down in the next few weeks though :)

Our Baby Boy is Here!

Mayes McCarter Jones was born on June 1 at 10:00 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs 14 oz. and 20 in. long. I had gone to my 37 week appointment that day and found out I was already dialated to a 4. My doctor said we could go ahead and go to the hospital but Carter and I decided to just wait and see what happened. I ran some errands with Ellie after the appointment and could tell that I was having contractions. So, when we got home I called the nurse and she said that we should go ahead and go up to the hospital and get monitored. I was dialated to a 5 by then so they admitted me at 4:00 and 6 hours later, Mayes was here! He surprised us a little early but he is doing just fine. Our hospital stay went by so fast and we were home before we knew it. So far he is a really good baby and is eating really well. He is still tiny though..we had his first appointment today and he weighed 6lbs. 4oz. Won't be long til he is chasing after big sis though!

Harrison Came to Visit!

Avie and Harrison came to visit us last week. He is such a sweet little baby and sooo good! He just goes with the flow and is always happy. It was so much fun for Avie to finally get to come visit us, and I think it helped Ellie to have a little glimpse into her near future :) She was really good with him and got to help Avie feed and bathe him. I have to say I was a little surprised Ellie was so into him but relieved too! We'll see how it goes when baby brother is here for good! ha!

Baby Brother's Name and Nursery

We are getting in baby mode around here! We finished up the nursery over the weekend and have gotten all of the baby stuff clean and ready to go. Our little man should be here in about 3 weeks (or less if he decides to come early :) I had Ellie at 36 weeks so it feels a little weird (but good) to be making it closer to the end. Hello, huge belly!

We are going to name our baby boy, Mayes McCarter Jones, after Carter's great uncle, John Mayes McCarter. He passed away last summer and was always such a big part of Carter's life. He was one of the greatest Christian men we have ever known and lived his life to serve the Lord. He and aunt Anita were never able to have children, and I know they would have been so honored that we chose to name our baby after him. If our little Mayes turns out to be half the man that uncle John was, then I think we will have raised him right :)

Here are some pics of the nursery. We used all of Ellie's old furniture, and I repainted the green chest gray. My mom made the new bedding for us, and I just added in some new "boyish" accessories. We really like how it turned out and can't wait for Mayes to get here!

Silly, Big Sis!

36 Weeks!