Marin's 1st Birthday

First, Marin and I painted our toes to get ready for her big day...turning one!!!

Then she and I got dressed. Marin is wearing her birthday dress that her Nanny got her when she was born. It's very pretty and very pink...and gets on Marin's nerves. She trips over it and gets very aggrivated. It brings great amusement to her Papa and I though. :)

Then we went to Katie Ma's where she was throwing a pool party for Marin. Lots of people were there. Marin would only get halfway into the pool though before screeming because it was too cold. But, she wore her sunglasses proudly.

Then after presents, we went right for the cake. It was Marin's favorite part of the day. She ate two pieces before Papa and I decided that was enough. When we gave the other children their cup-cakes, Marin ran after one of the little boys, trying to take his cup-cake. She was very upset, until she realized she had a whole cake she could devour.

She really loved that cake, and was quite upset when we told her she was done. But all in all.....

She had a wonderful 1st Birthday!

~Marin Walking~

Marin has been walking since she was 10 months old! She would walk 5 or 6 steps, fall, get back up and do it all over again. Just recently, as of April 4th, she's really taken off and almost runs everywhere now. Here's a sneak peak of my little walking girl!

Hope Evelyn Jones ~Born April 7, 2009~

On April 7th, 2009, I went into labor. I started having contractions around 2:00am, and finally went into the hospital at 11:00am. Around 2:00pm I had dialated to 3 centimeters, and the nurse declared me in labor. My doctor however, was out of town, and no other doctor in the hospital was willing to let me give birth naturally after having a c-section with Marin. They did offer to transfer me to a different hospital, but I didn't want to do that. After thinking about it, I decided it would be best to have the c-section, rather than trying to convince a doctor who wasn't comfortable performing a v-back to allow me to have the baby natural.

Rich is a wonderful partner and husband, he held my hand through it all. Mom was also able to be in the delivery room, which was wonderful because they wouldn't allow her to be with Marin. She's why we have such good pictures.

So here we are back in the delivery room. Praise the Lord, He does things for a reason. I went into labor while my doctor was out of town because I was meant to have a c-section. My uterine wall was too thinned out from having a c-section only 11 months ago, that if I would have given birth naturally it would have ruptured, causing great harm to both me and the baby. Also, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the babies neck twice, and she would have choked to death. She here is baby Hope, along with her proud Mama and Papa, and her wonderful Katie 'Ma! God definitely blessed us today.


This is little miss Hope Evelyn Jones. Rich named her "Hope" because we found out we were pregnant with her on our trip down to Florida when we decided to move to Alachua. She represented a new "Hope" for us; a new life down in Alachua Florida. I named her Evelyn after my Nanny. My Nanny was a great encouragement to me during this pregnancy, and she really means a lot to me. I pray that Hope Evelyn Jones will take after her Nanny who is a very patient, and kind woman.

After Hope was born they took her to get cleaned off, and had to sew me up. So rich went with her. They weighed and measured her at 7lbs 3oz and 20in long. She was perfect.

Then when the doctors were done with both of us, Rich brought her to me and I really got to hold her for the 1st time. She was so precious and small.

So here she is bright-eyed and bushy headed I should say, and finally with her family.

Marin Flipping!

I told you earlier about Marin learning how to flip over, well here she is.

Showing Independence

Marin has a very strong and independent personality. Watch what happens when we try to help her feed herself. Mind you, this is the very 1st time she has attempted to eat with a spoon. She did a great job, and ate all of it, but did get food all over her in the process. But she ate like a BIG GIRL! :)

Catchin up!

Here is our family enjoying a nice WINTER day at the beach!! We love Florida!! It sure is awesome when you can jump into the ocean in the middle of winter.





Here is William and Ellie with their Papa. William is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. He is on the Honor Roll at school, and plays basketball. He likes playing defense and shuttin the other players down.
Ellie is turning 7 next month, on April 27th, and is in the 1st grade. She is taking tap and dance right now, and loves it. She is also the greatest big sister in the world. She takes such good care of Marin!


Marin is now 11 months old and has been walking for almost a month now. She still likes to crawl, but will take 6 steps at a time before going back to the ground.
She loves talking on the phone. No really!!! She will only talk on the phone if someone is talking back, I can't trick her; and her latest funtime has been flipping. She likes to put her head on the ground, and have us flip her over. I call her my little tumbler!!

This is what Marin does when we ask her "Where's our Sweet Girl?". She lays her head on her shoulder and smiles at us. It's very cute. She has an extremely extraverted personality!! Go figure! :)

Rich and I are expecting our new little bundle of joy any day now. That will make 4 wonderful children for us.

We have been married for almost 3 years now, and live in the beautiful town of Alachua Florida. Currently, we are very active in our church, leading worship for our youth group. We love our new church family, and are very excited about life right now!!!!