All construction trucks basically look the same. The above four trucks are all yellow, and have wheels.

They’re all called “scoopers” or “dump trucks” at our house. But upon the recent finding of one of Tyler’s favorite childhood books featuring Dan and his Mighty Dump Truck, we’ve needed to learn the real names for these.

I’ve learned the boys in our house can be quite persnickety when Mom calls the “loader” a “bulldozer”. Ooops.

And I still never seem to get it right.

Download and print 8 construction flashcards so you can learn the names, too. Because I’m hoping you’re all like me.

(and p.s. I hope I get the “coolest mom ever” award for this.)

(You can print it as many times as you want for personal use and gifts, but please do not sell, share digitally, or alter it in any way. I do not own any of the images. If you’d like to feature it on your site, please link directly back to my blog. Thanks!)

Finally, three weeks before his due date, Owen’s nursery is finished!

It actually came out fairly close to how I envisioned it, too. True to our Jones nature, we didn’t spend a lot of money – most everything in the room is either DIY and/or a hand-me-down. (I did convince Tyler to let me buy a new crib, the rug underneath it, and the changing pad – I think those were our only real “nursery” purchases?)

Granted, I would have LOVED an ikea expedit bookshelf instead of the one we have in there, and a new rocking chair or glider would be nice. But we’re using what we have and I’m really proud of how it all came together.

Here are some of the details:

^^Just keepin’ it real. Here’s the unfinished corner – I still need art to go in the big white frame, and we need to reupholster and fix the broken rocking chair. And obviously shove those plastic bins in the closet. ;)

Here’s the breakdown for where I got things if you’re interested:

crib: ikea gulliver
blanket on crib: ikea malin band throw
fox stuffed animal: jellycat brand from amazon – all three of our kids have animals from the cordy roy collection
OWEN letters: see my DIY here
star mobile: DIY (used dowels, twine, and glitter star stickers from Michaels)
star wall decals: walls need love in silver
dresser: already owned, used with Jack
felt ball garland: from brickyard buffalo (find similar from hellomaypole)
oversized you are so loved print: adapted from my friend holland’s design (I will blog about this soon and share the printable)
boppy cover: see my DIY here
“jones” watercolor print: painted by my friend Amanda (I will share a close-up later when this wall is done because it’s incredible!)
sheer curtains: already owned from Target

I’ll be boob-feeding Owen, hooray! Just as soon as he decides to make his appearance…any week now…

I don’t anticipate doing much on-demand feeding, as it’s just my personality to be a really schedule-oriented person. (To a fault, people. It’s ridiculous sometimes.) I made a similar chart that I used to bottle-feed Jack (you can download that here) but here’s the promised breastfeeding version.

Obviously I haven’t breastfed before but the only thing I felt the need to change from the other version was instead of charting how many “ounces” your baby drank, you can chart what breast side they fed on. Breastfeeding mamas, is this accurate or would you like any other information on the chart? I’m a newbie. :)

I’m happy to share this chart with all of you! Download the full size PDF here for free. You can use it one of two ways: I either like to print out a bunch of copies and cut them in half, or I frame it in an 8×10 frame and use a dry-erase marker to write on the glass everyday.

(You can print it as many times as you want for personal use and gifts, but please do not sell, share digitally, or alter it in any way. If you’d like to feature it on your site, please link directly back to my blog. Thanks!)

These pictures aren’t too great, but my cousin Sarah has been begging to see our house! Today I thought I’d start with the living room and dining room, since those are the only areas that are actually clean. ;)

Our house is small, clocking at only 1500 square feet. But we got space exactly where we needed it, and didn’t want or need anything much bigger. Our family is small and I hate to clean, so the less space the better! 1500 seems manageable to us – if we ever let it get too bad, it only takes us an hour or two on a Saturday morning to clean and whip our entire house back into shape.

We looked at larger houses that weren’t as functional or needed more work than we wanted to do, and ultimately decided this space is perfect for our family. It’s a fantastic open layout and the previous homeowners made excellent choices when they renovated. The entire house is modern (we’re not much for traditional design, Tyler and I) and in beautiful neutral tones of grey. There are still little projects here and there that we have been tackling, but it’s nice because we don’t feel like we have to spend every single Saturday at Lowes.

The downstairs is actually a wee bit smaller than the upstairs, but the layout is really open and bright. We have a large kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and a half bath. We love the deep Harry Potter closet (under the stairs) for hiding Jack’s toys and puzzles when he’s not using them.

The only tricky thing about the downstairs is the layout of the family room; we’re finding it difficult to add extra seating. We’ve added a bench in the corner (see below) and we pull in chairs from the dining room when we have guests, but we haven’t come up with a long-term solution. We’re not sure a bigger couch would fit, or if we even want a larger couch at all. But again, it’s perfect for us right now.

Our sliding door is large, and lets in quite a bit of natural light along the back wall of our house. I love to have it open all day when we’re home, as it lets in a nice ocean breeze. We don’t have the typical backyard – instead we have a large patio with a greenspace behind it. We find the greenspace is excellent for getting wiggles out, bug hunting, and the occasional picnic or preschool lesson. (We’ve also hosted a Ginos family dinner out there!) Long-term I think I’d like to add a picnic table or large sectional sofa to our patio so we can eat dinner out there in the evenings. We’ve planted a garden along one side, which has been fun for Jack to take care of every day.

I’ll tackle the kitchen (my favorite!) in another post. We weren’t home most of the weekend so it became a dumping spot and just needs to be cleaned up before I can take pictures. :)

For some odd reason, there’s been a huge surge of traffic to my old blog these past few weeks. People are emailing me specifically asking for the PDF of the baby feeding chart I used with Jack three years ago.

And I’m happy to share! Download it right here, in PDF format. (You can print it as many times as you want for personal use and gifts, but please do not sell, share digitally, or alter it in any way. If you’d like to feature it on your site, please link directly back to me. Thank you!)

Note: This is for bottle-fed babies, and as a new mom it was priceless in helping me keep my day organized. I followed the book BabyWise and Jack ate every three hours, so keeping track of feedings was crucial. The best way I found to use it was to print it out and frame it in an 8×10 frame. Use a dry-erase marker to write directly on the glass of the frame, and wiped it clean for the next day!

Update: here’s the breastfeeding chart!

But! When I haven’t been sick, I’ve been keeping myself entertained doing freelance graphic design. (Let’s all just agree that I picked the best major ever in college.) Here’s a catch-up of some of what I’ve been working on lately:

1. doTerra Essential Oils logo / business cards. My dear friend Gail (she took photos of us with Amelia at the hospital) has since moved back to her homeland of New Zealand. She was one of my favorite clients to work for, and I loved watercoloring this for her!

2. Mac’s baptism invite. (As Mormons we get baptized at the age of 8 instead of as an infant.) This is a postcard invite for Gail’s handsome son’s baptism.

3. My Dad is a competition barbecuer (weird hobby, right? he’s also opening a bbq restaurant soon, follow its construction progress on facebook!) and hosts an annual bbq competition every July in Vista, California. I had the pleasure of doing the branding for him this year, and can’t wait to continue working on it in the following months with posters, t-shirts and advertising.

4. I’ve been sketching and doodling and making hand-drawn logos. I’ll share the final product if and when I can for this one.

5. My sister has started a new business, and let me pretty much take full-control of her logo and website. The site isn’t 100% complete as of today, but I love how her logo turned out! (It plays off the 7 colors of one’s chakra, and the beautiful mountains of her new hometown of Highland, Utah.)

I feel blessed and blessed again to be doing the work I love, and to be progressing and keeping my brain active. If you or a friend need a logo or branding done for a business, or a wedding invite or a website done (anything at all, really), email me at alie.jonesy {at} gmail.com – I’d love to work with you!

I hate to admit this, but lately I’ve been really struggling with this whole stay-at-home-mom thing. There’s very little glory in being a mother, and a whole lot of gore. And I don’t feel like I’m spending my days wisely, because what have I got to show for it? A (mostly) clutter-free house, a basket of folded laundry yet to be put away, and a toddler who is still living and breathing? Great, I can keep a house relatively clean and tiny human being from the knife drawer.

Our kitchen soap dispenser broke on Sunday. So today, we headed over to Target to buy a new one. Such is my daily life, curling my hair to go to Target.

I’ve thought about going back to work, but I really struggle with that as well. When my kids look back twenty years from now, I don’t want them to think fondly of their babysitter. I don’t want them to think about how absent I was from their childhood and how I put a career first. (Granted, if we financially really needed me to go back to work, that’s a different story.) But I also don’t want my kids looking back twenty years from now and saying, “Look at all that Dad accomplished in his career! Mom, what did you do?” Is there a happy-medium to be found?

The (inaccurate) quote by C. S. Lewis has been floating around the internet these days: “The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only – and that is to support the ultimate career.” That’s great, but career? I wouldn’t exactly call making oatmeal, changing diapers and reading picture books a career.

And then I found the expanded, correct quote. It so turns out that in the book Letters of C.S. Lewis, Lewis wrote in a letter to a “Mrs. Ashton”:

“I think I can understand that feeling about a housewife’s work being like that of Sisyphus (who was the stone rolling gentleman). But it is surely in reality the most important work in the world. What do ships, railways, miners, cars, government etc exist for except that people may be fed, warmed, and safe in their own homes? As Dr. Johnson said, “To be happy at home is the end of all human endeavour”. (1st to be happy to prepare for being happy in our own real home hereafter: 2nd in the meantime to be happy in our houses.) We wage war in order to have peace, we work in order to have leisure, we produce food in order to eat it. So your job is the one for which all others exist…” (pg 447-Letter of CS Lewis 1988 ed.)

His perspective is refreshing, right? But my heart is still torn. The plan was to raise two babies, close together in age. And when they grew up a little, we’d raise two more babies. Our house would be overflowing with little children that needed time and attention. Giving that time and attention would be my job. But I don’t have a baby. Jack (compared to the time spent caring for an infant) is really self-sufficient now. I make him a peanut butter sandwich and he eats it.

I know this time will pass. I will be wishing for these good old days, longing for the peaceful, quiet solitude of the afternoon nap. But I’m living in the now, and I’m really struggling with it. What is my purpose? What is my tangible goal?

Remember ages ago when I really wanted a hairpin leg coffee table?

Unfortunately we only had a tiny balcony patio at that time, so it never happened. But when we moved here to the bay area, we got rid of our Ikea coffee table (which was literally falling apart anyway) and inherited a lovely thing called a GARAGE.

For the past week or so, we’ve been working diligently after Jack goes to bed. Here’s how we made it:

MATERIALS: We picked up some cheap wood at Home Depot. We got a 16′ board of douglas fir and cut it into four equal pieces. (it was $10 total). We also picked up a sander (we recommend this one), a small can of stain, a small can of clear sealer, a cheap brush, some small boards to hold everything together (about 3-4″ less than the width of your coffee table, see picture below) and some wood screws. We ordered hairpin legs from ebay (14″), and I’d highly recommend this seller. His shipping was fast, the legs are about $50 cheaper than everywhere else (!!), and the steel comes finished so they won’t rust. He also included plastic tubing to protect our floors, and wood screws. Again, I definitely recommend this seller.

INSTRUCTIONS: First, sand your wood on both sides. It really helps to have an electric sander so you can get the corners smooth and rounded. Next, lay your pieces how you want them. Apply your stain according to the packaging directions. We did two coats on the top, but only one on the bottom. Next, apply two coats (according to the packaging directions) of poly-clear coat.
When everything is dry, sand it down again using a fine paper (220). Lay everything out and screw them together with a drill like this:

Then screw in your hairpin legs (we made spaced them about 1 1/4″ away from the edges). Clip your plastic tubing to size (I’ll probably cut ours down even more), snip horizontally, and snap on.

We’re super excited and love it. It’s heavy and very durable, and it’s fun for Jack to sit on. If anyone makes one, I’d love to see your finished product!

Well, it’s taken me long enough to get started with this little project, but I’m finally excited to announce I’ve got new prints for sale in my Etsy shop! In addition to my Animalphabet and Numbers prints, I have created several new prints I like to call “hymn doodles“. (Thanks for the name, Blake!)

Even if I don’t sell a single one, I can honestly say what a great blessing it has been to illustrate these. I’ve been singing hymns all day long (and surprisingly, Jack asks for “more! more!” when I stop) and it’s brought such happiness and joy. I sing bits and pieces of “the Lord is my light” and “count your many blessings” in my head as I see these hanging around our house. It’s a constant awareness that Christ is always with us, always surrounding us. Music is awesome and so powerful in ways words alone cannot convey.

Anyway, these prints are hand-drawn doodles of hymns or scriptures I’ve been pondering (or singing!) lately, printed on 140lb. acid-free coldpress watercolor paper. I’ve already got a few more in the works, and a couple more ideas in my head. Stay tuned for I Know That My Redeemer Lives, because I most definitely did not sing that several times in the shower this morning… ;)

If you’d like to see a particular hymn (or verse), let me know! I’m always looking for more inspiration.

See all of my new prints for sale here.

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I’m delighted to be (har har har, get it?) introducing my new blog and new domain, delightedtobe.com. If you’re reading this, everything has transitioned smoothly. :)

I’ve been long overdue for a blog redesign. And a blog renaming at that, since our team of two is really just a team of one now (unless I need help with coding, that is, and then Tyler swoops in to help like he did here). I really want to focus on gratitude, and recognizing blessings in everyday life. Giving birth to a baby who lived such a short life made me realize how delighted I should be just to simply be. I am alive and beautiful and whole. I am eager to absorb the world around me, and delight in sharing it with others.

Posts will remain the same, complete with my crazy plant food, ramblings, and loathing of all things comic sans. And lest you be afraid of change, I’ll be sure to keep you supplied with a cornucopia of toddler photos to soothe your worried soul.

>>The good news is everything is still here, and it automatically redirects from our old blog. But if you’re reading via RSS, do update and bookmark the new web address, delightedtobe.com/feed.

If you’re reading this on my actual webpage, there’s an extra cool bonus: you see pink text beneath the header? This text is linked to my twitter account, and it will change as I update it every few days with blessings I recognize. (I know, right?! Tyler makes magic happen.) Tomorrow – or today, when this is published – I am delighted to be going shopping with girlfriends, sans toddler. Sunday it might read that I am delighted to be teaching our Sunday school class. And next Tuesday it might read that I’m delighted to be eating cake for no good reason. (Or at least I hope I’ll be eating cake!)

The first is for my sister’s blog, Joy in Our Posterity. My sister has SIX young kids, homeschools the oldest two, and still manages to make her own personal education a priority in her home. We all basically think she’s superwoman. :) Here’s the header I created for her:

I also traded services with Gail Pomare (I’m going to be classy here and just call her our “family photographer” – she took photos of Amelia’s birth and also for our Christmas cards). I rebranded her company a bit. She wanted a very hand-drawn, organic feel. Gail is a very talented photographer, but also has a passion for doterra essential oils. Combining the two was tricky but we made it work. :)

Here’s her logo/watermark in action, and her logo: (I hope you don’t mind that I stole this photo of Mac from your blog, Gail.)

I also designed my dear friend’s Christmas cards (for safety reasons I obviously changed some information before posting). I had so much fun and wished we could have done something similar, but our “year in review” would have been a little dismal and depressing. Next year?

I do freelance design jobs! Wedding invitations, ABC posters, baby announcements, Christmas cards, business cards, branding, websites, etc. I’ve got a passion for hand-drawn illustration and love to incorporate it into my work. I’d love to work with you. Email me for more info: alie.jonesy (at) gmail (dot) com.

We’re digging the rounded corners and think they’re totally worth the extra $4!

I really wish I could have come up with some grand idea for the back, but my brain had a hard enough time just getting these dang cards out.  We’re still sending a few more out, so if you haven’t gotten one (or would like to!) be patient and/or email me your address. They printed us extra postcards (bonus!) so we’ve got plenty to share.

Merry Christmas!

Friday night I went to dinner at Il Fornaio in Del Mar, and then attended the Queen Bee Market where Mindy Gledhill performed. (p.s. have you heard her song “hourglass“? she sang it on friday night and it brought me to tears! it’s the sweetest, most delicate lullaby to her three little boys.)

First off, Il Fornaio was divine. I wish it didn’t get dark so soon or we would have had the most spectacular view of the ocean. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli (cappellacci di zucca: fresh ravioli filled with butternut squash and walnuts; tomato sauce, brown butter, parmesan and crispy sage). I’d definitely get that again. Maybe one day I’ll get adventurous in the kitchen and try to recreate it. It was great because my friend Elisa (thanks for picking the restaurant and organizing everything that night for us!) said she chooses restaurants based on the bread they serve at the table. Let me tell you, this was high-quality bread my friends. Olive bread, a nut bread, and warm french bread. High class, right?

We then headed over to the Queen Bee Market, full of all kinds of crafty goodness. I really wanted to buy this deer head (I snapped a photo of it, see below) for Jack’s room but Tyler would have killed me had I come home $65 poorer.

Mindy Gledhill performed after the market. Her voice is just all kinds of lovely. Can you imagine how neat it would be to grow up having her singing you lullabies? (My mom is one of the few in our family who actually carries a tune, but I have to confess until I was twelve or thirteen years old I thought she always sang off-key. Turns out she was just singing the alto. :) My bad.)

Has anyone heard of Pinterest? It’s like all of my folders titled “inspiration” on my computer, put into one convenient place. There’s even a toolbar you install that makes saving inspirational links, pictures, and tutorials a one-click thing. I’m in love!

Anyone want an invite? It would be awfully selfish of me to keep this all to myself. I’ve only got a few invites, so first-come, first serve. Leave a comment below with your email.

p.s. I apologize in advance for the lack of posting. Monday I got a job offer, and I started immediately (yesterday). Today and Thursday I’ll be working in the office again, and Friday probably from home. Tyler has been going into work at 6am and my cousin has been babysitting Jack. Life has been crazy! Please be patient while I get things worked out!