My Two B's

Caution before reading: emotional overload

2010-06-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

I have been going through some things with family and my kids dad for the last year and a half, but last night sent me over the edge. I dont want to include details, but to say the least, I have never felt this way before. The almost always upbeat, confident, optomistic Jen that I once knew has disapeared... I wish I knew how to find her again. I know that you are supposed to go through trials in your life, but honestly, I feel like I am drowning in the middle of the ocean with waves crashing around me and rain pounding down on my head. I have this suffocating feeling bearing down on my chest and I cant seem to knock this aweful- someone just died- feeling. So the whole reason of my writing this is to ask for help. Will you please pray for me? Suggest a good book or scripture to get me through these tough times? I dont want to be this Jen anymore. Thanks guys.

A lot to catch up on!!

2010-06-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry I know it has been forever since I have updated this. Life has been super busy! So bear with me...

Brayden is officially a Harris Hawk! He starts Kindergarden August 11th!!! It is coming up very fast...

http://www.gilbert.k12.az.us/schoolpgs/harris/harrisinfo.php
Check out the website to learn more about Harris Elementary :) Its an A+ Exemplary Program Award-winning school!

For Mother's Day we went to Lost Dutchman's Mining Camp at the base of the Superstition Mountains. I will include some pictures from that! It was so much fun and awesome food! They even had a little "gun fight show" after lunch.

Brayden can swim by himself now!! He is getting to be such a big boy! One afternoon we were out swimming and I asked him if he wanted to try without his floaties and he was all for it... away he went! I am so impressed :) Brooke is getting very comfortable in the water too, but not quite ready to swim on her own yet.

The other day I took a few pictures of the kids for their Father's Day gifts that we made. I think they turned out really cute :) Im still learning, but getting a lot better at this photography stuff.

My mom came out and visited a few weeks back and it was so fun. We spent the weekend with my mom, brother, and his family. It was so nice being with them. My sister in law Chelsea is expecting their 3rd child and 1st BOY!!! I am going to have a nephew! YAY!!

On the pregnancy note... I am expecting! :) I am currently a little less than 14 weeks due December 19th! We are SO excited! Still a few more weeks until we get to find out what we are having, but either way we will be so happy!

I know I am missing somethings, but at least I updated a little right? :)

Update

2010-05-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

I started a new job last week at a Chiropractic Office and L-O-V-E it! The Dr's are super nice and so is everyone else. I work an awesome schedule where I get to spend Tuesday/ Thursdays with the kids during the day and much more time with them in general throughout the week!! So happy about that! PLUS I FINALLY will be able to go back to school. I start in the summer session for Respiratory Therapy. I am soooo excited!

The kids are doing great! Brooke turned 3 on the 17th. We had a fun little party for her. Ill definitely post some pictures of that. Brayden is getting more excited by the day for Kindergarten to start. We have been working a lot in his preschool workbooks and every day I see an improvement in his knowledge and understanding of the fundementals he will need to start school.

Junior and I started back in our softball league last night. We were having a great game, then a girl from the other team went to slide to 3rd feet first, her cleat caught in the dirt and she snapped her ankle!! We had to call an ambulance and everyting! :( I felt so bad for her. It looked painful. Junior said he heard it snap.

I guess that is all for now. We are going to enjoy this beautiful weather, have a little BBQ and softball tomorrow with the kiddos. Should be fun!!!

<3 J

Birthday Party Fun

2010-04-11T21:11:00.001-07:00

Today we went to our friend Andreya's 2nd birthday party. The kids had a blast! They had a bounce house, pinata, and all kinds of kids to play with :)

Bray wacking the pinata! He did really good :)

Brooke goin for it :)

Hehe not sure... Brays silly

Brooke in the bounce house being a cornball

Gamboa Wedding

2010-04-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

My friends Doug and Angela got married on Friday at Portico in Gilbert. It was a beautiful cermony felt with tons of heartfelt centiment and tears came to my eyes as I watched their families join together in wishing them a life long journey together. I know they will be a wonderful married couple as they have already been through so much together and between the two of them are managing to raise 5 children together! They are wonderful parents and great friends. I am so lucky to be in their lives :) The reception was a ton of fun. We were breakin loose on the dance floor and enjoying fantastic food!! Thanks for a great, memorable night!!

Me and Junior... arent we cute ;)

Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons :)

Angela looked so beautiful! It was precious seeing her oldest son walk her down the isle.

I had a ton of fun with all the bridesmaids ;) Sassy... hehe

Easter

2010-04-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

Brooke cheesin'

Bray doesnt look so happy hunting for eggs... haha

At my dads house with my brother's family

Brooke luvin on her brother :)

2010-04-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

Look at Bray's face! He was NOT happy about being next to the "scary bunny"

Bray and Brooke outside the Bass Pro Shop posing for the camera :)

Some more posing. Bray is so handsom :)

My beautiful Brooke :)

Haha chuggin back the rootbeer lol!

The kids having fun with their friend Steven the other weekend.

Not much has been going on lately. Sorry for the lack in posting, but our life is pretty normal these days... just work, eat, sleep, play. I cant complain though. I love our simple life. I love having a routine and enjoying the small things that happen on a day to day basis. Last weekend we went to the Bass Pro Shop's resturaunt for Junior's Dad's Birthday. It was a great meal with great company! (despite Brooke being a pill from the lack of nap that afternoon) Brooke was "hittin the rootbeer bottle" pretty hard! haha The kids had fun posing by the different characters outside, and the thing that cracked me up the most was how deathly scared of the Easter Bunny Brayden was!!! LOOK AT HIS FACE! hahaha oh my goodness I felt so bad for forcing him to sit there after I saw that face in the picture! Now I will have something to hold onto as "blackmail" when he gets older and brings his friends by :)

My proud little blondies

2010-03-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we got the kids these bathtub crayons that they ABSOLUTELY LOVE! Basically they can write on the walls in the bathtub with these special crayons and they wash right off like soap.... super cool :) Well, Brayden and I have been working on his letters with the crayons because it is OH so much more fun writing them on a wall! He can now write the letters A through F very well :) He is catching on quick! Each night we have been adding 1 or 2 letters. Last night were E and F. He REALLY wanted a picture by his letters, so after tubby time I took a quick snap shot. And of course Miss Brooke wanted in on the picture taking!

Bray so proud of his letters :)

Bray can write A-F so far :) dont they look good?

And of course my little princess Brooke brushing her "pretties."

LoViNg this weather!

2010-03-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

We have been absolutely LOVING this Arizona Spring weather! Last weekend we spent the day at Freestone Park playing in the sunshine. The kids thoroughly enjoy going there because we get to feed the ducks, play in the grass, and play on the playground. I got the kids these softball gloves and balls that have Velcro in them to help them learn how to catch better. They had so much fun playing catch together. They decided to throw the ball up and down this huge hill to one another. It was so fun watching them chase after this ball running up and down the hill over and over again. To say the least, they took GREAT naps that day! :)

Bray LOVES going down the slides now! He used to be deathly afraid of them, but now its his favorite thing :)

Brooke and Bray made a little friend on the playground to swing on the tire swing together. It was so hard to get a good action shot with my phone!

Other than enjoying this weather, not much has been going on. Bray and I work every night together with these Preschool books to get him more prepared for Kindergarten in the Fall. He is doing SO well! He gets a little frustrated sometimes, but is learning quickly to take a deep breath and keep going. I love having the 1 on 1 time with him each night. He really is such a smart boy :) Then again, I am probably biased because I am his mom. LOL!

Brooke is getting SO big! She will be 3 next month and everyday I can see her speech improving... her clothes getting a little smaller.... I know I am supposed to enjoy all these little changes, but sometimes it makes me so sad to know that my baby isn't going to be a baby much longer.

I think we are going to hit up a spring training game this weekend :) I cant wait to spend some more time with my babies in this beautiful weather! Hot Dogs, Baseball, and sunshine.... here we come!

A little bit of this.... A little bit of that...

2010-02-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I saw "Shutter Island." It was SOOO good! It was one of those movies that has a complete twist at the end kind of like "The Sixth Sense." I reccommend if you like mystery/action movies, you go and see it. Plus, it has Leonardo Di Caprio in it and I think he is such a great actor! :)

I have been trying to decide where to have Brooke's 3rd Birthday party. Its coming up on April 17th. I thought about having it at Makutu's Island. (Its a local indoor jungle gym/arcade place) The package includes play, pizza, a party host etc. Sounds like a good deal, but it is pretty pricey... The next option was renting a bounce house and having it at a park and just doing some kind of food and drinks there. (It should be pretty nice out.) Not as expensive and still pretty fun. My niece Abby had her 5th bday with a bounce castle and the kids LOVED it! Brooke also had 1 at her 1st birthday, but it wasnt used as much... I don't know. I also thought about checking out the "Jumpstreet" place... I heard it was fun, but don't know much about it. Anyone have suggestions? :)

Other than that, not much to report. I have a half day tomorrow, so I get to spend some much needed time with my beautiful babies. Hopefully it will be nice so we can go to the park and feed the ducks. We have been trying to go for a couple weeks now. :)

Bling Bling by Amelia

2010-02-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

http://tylerameliajohnson.blogspot.com/ Check out this blog!! Amelia's stuff is SO cute and she has a giveaway going on right now :)

-J

The Wild Life World Zoo

2010-02-17T19:21:00.001-08:00

Brooke feeding the Giraffe... Bray was too scared :(

Brooke feeding the Giraffe. Look at that BLACK tounge!

The "baby" White Tiger... I still think it was huge. It was so beautiful!!

Brooke feeding the Parrot an apple :) She isnt scared of anything! Bray finally did this, but we couldn't get a good picture of it.

Junior feeding the Parrot an apple :)

The monkey and its baby nursing... can you see it?! It was so cool! Brayden and Brooke LOVED watching the monkeys... especially the baby and its momma. It was just born in January! So little :)

Me and the kids in front of the Alligator tank. They had 3 different aquariums there. They were all very cool.

Bray in front of the white Alligator

Another shot of the white Alligator

The kids were SO scared of this HUGE Lizard! I couldnt even get its entire tail in the picture.

Bray in front of the Flamingos. He was in charge of the map and told us where to go next :)

Brooke and Junior :)

We took the kids to the Wild Life World Zoo yesterday. It was a bit of a hike out there, but we had a ton of fun!! It seemed to have a lot of different animals than the Phoenix Zoo and it was a lot less crowded. They have 3 aquariums where you can pet sting rays, star fish and lobster. It had sharks and eels too. (Brayden thought they were SO cool! :0)) Brooke had a lot of fun feeding the Parrots and Giraffes. Brayden was a little scared to get too close. It definitely was time well spent on our vacation week.

Valentine's Day Photos

2010-02-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

The kids and I made some Valentine's picture frames for their Papa's and Unlce Greg's family and their dad for V-Day. Here are a few of the pictures we took :) Aren't they cute?!

Fun at the Park with Pappa

2010-02-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday my dad and I took the kids to the park by his house to play for awhile. They had SO much fun! Brayden was fearless flying down the slides in superman pose and running around chasing his pappa. Brooke loved the swings and the little bouncy animals. Most of all, they enjoyed playing in the sand. A little girl had brought all kinds of shovels, rakes, and molds to play in the sand. The kids went to town. It was still a little moist so it was perfect to build castles with. I wish that my picture would have uploaded correctly because I did have one of them next to their little city of castles, but it wasnt working. It was a great day and a long overdue visit to Pappa Lake's :)

Julie and Julia

2010-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched the movie "Julie and Julia" that was based on a true story. It was a GREAT movie! I have to get the book now and read it :) It really made me want to learn how to cook more. Junior and I decided we are going to go get Julia Child's cook book and learn how to make some of the recipes together. I'm excited to try something a little different. I definitely recommend watching it!

Hair Cut

2010-01-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday after work I took Bray and Brooke to get their hair cut. This was Brooke's first REAL hair cut! :) They both did so well! Brooke was a little scared at first, (as you can see in the first picture) but she loved it after a few minutes. She kept looking in the mirror and playing with her hair. Bray was a champ as he always has been. They both got a sucker and a comb for being so good!

Terrific Tuesday!

2010-01-26T07:40:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up with a smile on my face... I knew today was going to be a TERRIFIC TUESDAY! :) I haven't seen the babies since Friday night and I miss them SO SO SO much! I am so excited to get them from daycare today! I think tonight after work we will have to make a trip to the park and have a little fun. Not too much else going on... just working away. I hope you all have a wonderful day as well!!!
<3 J

This CrAzY weather!!!

2010-01-22T16:43:00.000-08:00

This is what I would have looked like... plus 2 kidos :)

Wow, so I am pretty sure anyone who reads my blog is in AZ, but seriously, this weather is CRAZY!!! Last night the news kept interrupting my show (GREYS ANATOMY... I was mad) to tell me there were tornado warnings. Then about 9:00 they came on saying there was a tornado warning for Mesa and Gilbert. Living in AZ you dont normally have to deal with this kind of thing. I was already planning what we would do in my head. The kids were already asleep in their beds. Do I wake them up? Which matress do I grab? Ok, we can go into the hall bathroom tub. Do I wait until they actually sight one to wake up the kids or do I get them now? Well.... I decided to wait, and as usual, our lovely Arizonan forecasters were wrong... no tornado. I should be thankful that there wasnt one, but I am more thankful I didnt wake my sleeping children to rush and sit in a bathtub with a matress over our heads for NOTHING! Hahaha... just thought I would share my thoughts on that.

Secondly, what is the deal with Arizonans and not being able to drive in the rain??! I was SO frustrated on the way to work this morning! It was slightly drizzling and people were going 10 to 15 miles under the speed limit and SLAMMING on their breaks everytime someone in front of them would slow down. Ridiculous?! I think so... I also think: To obtain an Arizona drivers license you must take a "Rain Safety Driving Course." HAHA Maybe I should write a letter? :) Thats my thought for the day!

-J

This Past Weekend

2010-01-19T10:40:00.001-08:00

This weekend Junior and I took the kids to Disney on Ice. We had a blast!! The seats were not as good as I hoped they would be, but we could still see the characters pretty well. Junior bought the kids these light up swirly toys that they went NUTS over! They were spinning them high in the air the whole show :) The "Cars" part was a little short, but the kids thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.

We also took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks (the "squeekwil") Friday night. It was SO cute!! Brayden was funny. He was laughing out loud through out the whole movie and Brooke kept talking about the "munks." After the show Brayden says: "Mom, Alvin was my favorite and I liked when he rode on the motorcycle the best." He is so cute!!

To say the least we had a blast this weekend! :)

-J

Disney on Ice!

2010-01-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

I just purchased tickets for me and the kids to go see Disney on Ice this Saturday!! I am SO excited :) I think it will be so fun because its has Tinker Bell and The Little Mermaid for Brooke, and The Lion King and Cars for Brayden :) We haven't been to a Disney on Ice show before, but I hear they are pretty awesome! Ill have to take LOTS of pictures and update after the show :)
-J

Last Night's Game

2010-01-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

So last night we lost... it was still A LOT of fun though! I had 1 pretty good hit up at bat, and caught 1 decent ball in the outfield to get an out on 2nd, so not too shabby! :) The kids had SO much fun playing with the other kids too. Brayden and the other boys were building "mounds" to roll the softballs over, and Brooke sat so nicely in the dugout and thoroughly enjoyed watching the game. I was SHOCKED! They are already asking when the next game is. They really had a great time.

Hey Batta' Batta'

2010-01-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my first softball game for a co-ed league I joined. (Stop laughing!) We have had a couple of practices, and I have actually done quite well so far. I am good at batting, and running... fielding... still working on it. Haha, but its fun because my team mates, for the most part, have kids, so all the kids get to play together while we have our game, so it works out nice. Brayden and Brooke are super excited to go and play with their friends. Also, we are sponsored by Native New Yorker, so we get to go and have 1/2 price wings after the game!! I will let you all know how tonight's game goes! Hopefully we will pull out a W! Wish us luck. :)
- Jen

25 Before I am 25

2010-01-04T15:26:00.001-08:00

My friend made a 25 things to do before I am 25 list, and I thought that was an awesome idea! So here is mine:

1) Learn how to really use my digital camera (not on auto!!)

2) Go on a wine tour

3) Take my grandparents out to lunch (I know this sounds silly, but I dont remember the last time I spent quality time with them)

4) Schedule a regular "ME TIME" day

5) Take my kids camping

6) Develop a regular work-out routine

7) Learn how to REALLY cook!

8) Buy fresh flowers for myself once a month ( I love having fresh flowers in my house.... don't always have someone to get them for me! lol)

9) Make a point to spend more time with my family.

10) GO BACK TO SCHOOL

11) Go on bike rides with my kids

12) Get back into playing the violin

13) Go golfing at least once a month

14) Hike all mountains in the valley

15) Start writing more letters instead of emails

16) Take a salsa dancing class

17) Throw a fabulous dinner party

18) Take the kids on more picnics

19) Write poetry again

20) READ. READ. READ.

21) Save money for a fabulous family vacation

22) learn to stick to a budget

23) remember to tell my family how much I love them and how amazing I think they are

24) Start a new journal

25) Go more GREEN

A Few Christmas Pictures

2010-01-04T14:38:00.001-08:00

Bray is such a ham in this picture! He sure does love his cousin Abby :)

Papa Lake with all the grandkids! Love this pic! (Just wish Brooke would have looked at the camera)

Part of Christmas day the kids and I went to my dad's house to visit him, my brothers Ryan and Greg, Chelsea, and my neice's Abby and Maggie. The kids had such a great time playing with their papa, cousins, aunt and uncles :)

Some Pictures

2009-12-30T07:58:00.000-08:00

We went to the Phoenix Zoo a couple months ago. They had a blast :) Definitely something we will frequent in 2010!

So cute how they love to snuggle together every night. They refuse to sleep in seperate beds.

This morning before heading to work and Miss Missi's for the start of our Wednesday :)

A Fresh Start

2009-12-29T15:48:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened in 2009, So I thought it be best to start fresh in 2010... New year, new blog, new memories! So here is to hopefully an exciting and memorable 2010. I will try to be better about updating this blog than I was with our old one. Pictures to come soon! :) Here is a quick recap of the memories I would like to reflect on in 2009:

April Brooke turned 2!!! We had a nice family party for her. I still can't believe how big she is getting every day. She is the definition of an Aries girl. She is the most independent, outgoing, free-spirited, 2 year old I have ever seen! She constantly tries to boss her older brother around and likes to do EVERYTHING herself! I love how she enjoys putting a show on for everyone, but also doesn't want to do what everyone else is doing. She is perfecly happy off by herself, doing her own thing. :)

July we enjoyed some fireworks with my Dad and brother Ryan at a local park. I think the kids were bored within the first 5 minutes of the fireworks, but it was still so pretty. Brayden turned 4 on the 19th and we had a fun splash pad party at Tempe Town Lake! Definitely something we will have to do again this next year! Brayden is still kind of the shy, sensitive boy he has always been, but he is starting to talk so much more and REALLY enjoys telling stories now and playing pretend. All he can talk about is how he gets to start Kindergarten next year. Bring on the tears and tissues for mom. :(

I turned 23 this year... I used to think 23 was so old when I was younger, but now it doesnt seem that way. Life definitely sends it curve balls, and I have learned a lot of important lessons this year. Lets just say I am very excited for 2010 to start fresh and move forward with the knowledge I have gained. I will say, as you get older time sure flies by fast. I sit down for 2 seconds and think to myself, where has this week, month, year, last 5 years gone? It makes me really appreciate every moment with my kids and not take for granted the time I have now.

The Holidays were special this year. The kids have gotten to spend a lot of time with all of their family and were quite spoiled! My favorite part of the Holidays this year was taking the kids up to the Grand Canyon railway- Polar Express this year. It will definitely be a tradition from here on out! I will definitely be posting pictures of that! :)

Thanks for stopping by. I will be updating again soon so you can see my babies beautiful faces. Until then, Take care :)
-J