2011: A Year In Review

I love to take this time of year to look back and evaluate the past year as well as make new goals for the coming year. Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the events that have happened in 2011: (I might share some of my goals later, we'll see.)

-Miss Fifi has learned lots of words. She now says: Hi, Mom, ruff (sometimes it's "oof"), moo (all animals, according to her, say ruff or moo), Da, "ot" (hot), out, and "ut-ut" (uh-oh).

-Rory worked really hard in school. He received and associate's degree in Pre Electrical Engineering. Now he is looking forward to attending the University of Utah to finish his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.

-Miss Fifi has also learned a lot of signs. She knows: all done, milk, I love you (it looks like something else...), change (for diaper change), book, and please (she rubs her belly for that. So funny.) She also started folding her arms for prayers and pointing at her mouth when she's hungry, I didn't teach her that one but I'll take it.

-In true Jones form: We're moving again. (Oh, the stress to be had.)

-Miss Fifi turned one.

-Rory quit his job so we can move.

-I learned to enjoy homemaking more. I always knew that I wanted to stay home when I had kids, but I didn't know it would be as rewarding. I know it isn't for everyone, but it's for me.

-I knit a bunch with my spare time. Here are photos of some more things I knit and crochet. (I did the red blanket, headband with the crochet red flower, diaper cover, and the crochet booties. Isn't Piper adorable!?)

Another thing I like to do is look back at our finances from the past year. This year was... well... Let's say: this year was modest. (That's a nice spin.) Between me staying home to be with Miss Fifi and Rory working part time to go to school, we had to make some sacrifices. And, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I consider us very blessed that we were in the financial position we were in when this year began. One thing that I am proud of is that at one point during the year we had a fully funded emergency fund! It lasted about a month before we had an emergency and had to dip into it, but still, I feel like we did a pretty good job this year.

Call it luck, call it blessings, call us the recipients of wonderfully charitable acts; all in all, I'd say we had a pretty good year. This year had it's stresses and un-fun days. But looking back I'm so grateful for how 2011 turned out. I'm also looking forward to bigger and better things that 2012 may have to offer.

I wish everyone a happy new year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We did this a couple of years ago (to a different song) and we had a few requests to do it again. So, here you go:



And, because Miss Fifi doesn't make an appearance in the video:

Christmas morning 2010

I hope you Christmas time is less stressful than ours!

My Gradmother's Dress

70 years ago, today, my Grandmother and Granddad were married. Times were uncertain, being that they were the days immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, but my Grandmother and Granddad decided to follow through with their plans. He had been working as a welder for a pipeline company in California. She would travel by bus to meet him in Reno. They would be married by the Justice of the Peace followed by a dinner with my Granddad's boss and boss' wife, if I'm not mistaken. It was a simple and sweet wedding followed by many years of happiness and love.

Weren't they a good looking couple?

My Grandmother wore a dress she made, with the help of her mother, on the sewing machine that sits in my parent's home.

My mom recently found the dress among some boxes photographs she has been scanning. Considering the fact that it is 70 years old and made of wool, it has held up fairly well. My mom wanted me to wear it... like out... While I was afraid of handling the dress too much, I decided to wear the dress once for my mom.

If I weren't afraid of something happening to this heirloom, I would definitely wear it... like out...

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Isn't it a beautiful dress?

Hair and makeup by So Very Fabulous. Go like it.

Photos by Rory Jones. (under my indecisive yet picky direction)

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What I'm listening to: Christmas Style

Artist: Vince Guaraldi

Album: A Charlie Brown Christmas

This is probably my favorite Christmas album. I never really listened to it until Rory introduced it to me after we were married. But, now I can't really get into the Christmas spirit until I listen to it. (Funny how that worked out.) It is definitely a much needed break from some of the pop-y, Mariah Carey-esque Christmas music you hear at the mall.

My favorites are Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental), and Guaraldi's renditions of The Christmas Song and What Child Is This. Check it out.

Miss Fifi's Blanket

I forgot to share photos of the blanket I made for Miss Fifi. I finished it long before her birthday, but I spaced sharing them with you.

I got the pattern here, but I modified it to make it bigger. It measures 56 x 36 inches, which is the perfect size for her crib.

I also had some left over yarn so I made a couple of other things for her.

The pattern for the leggings here. They are really simple, but the turned out pretty cute.

For the hat, I got the pattern for the Celtic Cables I used for the sides, here. Then I made up the rest.

Not too bad for improvising, right?

Miss Fifi loves this hat. She will bring the hat to me so that I can put it on her about 5 times a day. I'm so glad she likes it.

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What I'm Listening To:

Group: The Lower Lights

Album: Come Let Us Adore Him

We got a surprise at our door last night. A friend dropped this by for Christmas. What a great way to start the Christmas season? It is calming and sweet. I highly recommend it. The instrumental version of O Little Town Of Bethlehem is probably my favorite of the album. Check it out.

Body Image: Revisited

First of all, thanks for the response. My readers have wise words. Some of those words, I was going to share with you (other thoughts are new). So, if you read the comment from my last post, I hope this isn't redundant.

Second, like I said in my last post: I don't want to sound preachy. If you have different parenting philosophies, share them. Also, remember that I've only been a parent for a year. That hardly makes me an expert.

Third, most of these ideas won't make much of a difference to my 1 year old, but if I think about these things long before she gets into jr. high we hopefully won't have a dilemma on our hands.

So, without further adieu, here are a few of the ideas I've come up with and read about giving my daughter a healthy body image.

1) Lead by example. If I spend a lot of time in front of a mirror every day or talk a lot about how I wish I had the same body I had before Miss Fifi was thought of, what would that say to my daughter? It might give her the impression that looks are pretty important. If I spend a lot of time telling my daughter how pretty she is and very little time talking to her about things that she has learned. She might possibly think that what she looks like is more important than her knowledge. Instead, live what you want to teach your children. If you don't want your daughter to hate her rear-end, don't be self-conscious about yours. If you want your daughter to love learning, love learning yourself, for example.

2) Focus on health. Instead of counting calories, talk about what healthy food does for our bodies. Get in the habit now to eat healthier meals. This is difficult, but over the last couple years, Rory and I have slowly changed some of our behaviors. (In full disclosure: we've got a long way to go.) If my daughter understands why eating good food is necessary, hopefully she will have a healthy relationship with food. (i.e. Not look to it for comfort or even see it as an obstacle.)

3) Compliment them on their behavior, intellect, and accomplishments more than their looks. This is one thing I learned (and whole-heartedly believe) from my mother's example. A few years ago my sister pointed out that my mom didn't often compliment us on our looks. Instead, she made sure to compliment us on how smart we were or our talents or when we were kind. When asked about that, my mother said something along the lines of: "Well, I always knew my babies were the cutest but I didn't think they needed to know that." This is one thing that really helped me. I feel that I got enough of a sense of the importance -in the world's view- of looking beautiful outside of the home. I am so grateful that it wasn't reinforced at home.

In Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein (referenced in my last post) she talked to Catherine Steiner-Adair, the director of eating disorders education and prevention at the Klarman Eating Distorders Center at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, about this. Catherine said, "Well, 'You're beautiful' is not something you want to say over and over to your daughter, because it's not something that you want her to think is so important. That said, there are times when it is important to say it: when she's messy or sweaty, when she's not dressed up, so that she gets a sense that there is something naturally beautiful about her as a person. And it's also important to connect beauty and love. To say, 'I love you so much. Everything about you is beautiful to me--you are beautiful to me.' " I thought this was interesting.

Orenstein also wrote about doing research for a previous book by interviewing eighth grade girls. She said that she noticed that she would greet them by "commenting on some aspect of their appearance: their earrings, a new shirt, their hairstyles." She decided to stop. She would ask them "how a play rehearsal was going or what they were reading in English class." She said, "It felt surprisingly forced: physical compliments grease the conversational wheels among women and girls." I decided to do this myself, asking my niece about the sports she is involved in and my five year old primary girls about school. I have to admit, it is more difficult. I'm sure I'm not making some profound difference in these girls' lives, but for my own benefit, I want to get into this habit.

As Cali mentioned, as long as we are aware and conscious of these things, Rory and I will probably not have to be overly concerned and obsess about these issues. But I feel that the earlier we have this discussion, the less complicated things will have to be.

Your thoughts?

I'll try not to make my posts so long-winded in the future. Thanks for sticking with me on the last few posts.

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What I'm Listening To:

Artist: The Black Keys

Album: Attack & Release

I'm not sure if I've talked about the Black Keys before, but they are worth repeating if I did. (I should start keeping a list of what albums I talk about.)

Attack & Release made it's debut in 2008. My favorite song is probably I Got Mine which was number 23 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Best Songs of 2008. The whole album is worth listening to.

The Black Keys are releasing their seventh studio album on December 6th called El Camino. (This would be an awesome Christmas gift. hint, hint) Their first officially release single is Lonely Boy. Listen to it. You won't regret it. I'm looking forward to what this album has to offer.