I really have no idea why, but I have been insistently obsessed with herbal remedies here lately. I just think if you can avoid putting "drugs" into your body to cure something...why not! So anyways, I recently got over a cold and now the coughing stage has set in and we all know how absolutely irritating that can be and this is something interesting that I found and wanted to share. I can't say that I have tried it yet, but I have every intention of doing so tonight and will let you know how it worked in the morning!
Homeade Hot Chocolate
The theobromine content of dark chocolate may actually be a more effective cough medicine than traditional or over-the counter cold and cough remedies. Sugary premixed powders won't do the job, so try this homemade version.
Mix together :
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
Dash salt
Stir in 1/3 cup water in a sausepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, boil for 2 minutes.
Add 4 cups milk and heat. DO NOT BOIL
Remove from heat and add
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
My Brian....
Sympathy is not one of my strongest points, but my poor husband! I feel just terrible for him right now.
Brian sold his postal center last month to a man that he had met through the store who had a couple other locations and really seemed interested in the store. Unfortunately, the guy needed to finance the purchase amount through us, and because my husband has a heart of gold, he said okay. At the time, Brian thought that he was going to open a new store in a better location, so it was a good thing that he was selling this one. A couple of weeks later, the new store deal falls through and Brian was then in the position where he was going to just have to find a job. A couple more weeks roll around and Brian goes to the old store to collect rent and the monthly store payment, and what does he find...nothing! Literally, nothing. The guy cleaned out the store and locked the doors.
After a couple of hours of absolute panic, Brian finally got in touch with the man who in a round about way, just said he couldn’t do it anymore and told him that his ex-wife had been tearing up all of his other stores and he was afraid that she would hit that one...blah, blah, blah..... So, now Brian has an empty store and the guy pretty much ran all of the business out of there while he was there, therefore no business either. So, Brian gets back in there and pieces it together as much as he can with the stuff that he had kept with the intentions of going to the new store and starts calling mail box holders and asking them to come back. It only took him about a week to get it back and going again and he put it on Craig’s List and has a new purchaser.
The people that are buying the store now are a couple who don’t need a lot to run on, but would like to try and make the store a bit more successful. Brian ran his ideas that he had envisioned for the store and the couple liked them all. So now, my poor thing, is having to set this couple up with the exact setup that Brian has been working so hard to try and build himself, but then he’ll have to walk away when it’s over.
I really feel bad for him! So with all that said, please keep him in your prayers that this deal doesn’t go anything like the last one and that he finds a job soon that he won’t be miserable in!
Brian sold his postal center last month to a man that he had met through the store who had a couple other locations and really seemed interested in the store. Unfortunately, the guy needed to finance the purchase amount through us, and because my husband has a heart of gold, he said okay. At the time, Brian thought that he was going to open a new store in a better location, so it was a good thing that he was selling this one. A couple of weeks later, the new store deal falls through and Brian was then in the position where he was going to just have to find a job. A couple more weeks roll around and Brian goes to the old store to collect rent and the monthly store payment, and what does he find...nothing! Literally, nothing. The guy cleaned out the store and locked the doors.
After a couple of hours of absolute panic, Brian finally got in touch with the man who in a round about way, just said he couldn’t do it anymore and told him that his ex-wife had been tearing up all of his other stores and he was afraid that she would hit that one...blah, blah, blah..... So, now Brian has an empty store and the guy pretty much ran all of the business out of there while he was there, therefore no business either. So, Brian gets back in there and pieces it together as much as he can with the stuff that he had kept with the intentions of going to the new store and starts calling mail box holders and asking them to come back. It only took him about a week to get it back and going again and he put it on Craig’s List and has a new purchaser.
The people that are buying the store now are a couple who don’t need a lot to run on, but would like to try and make the store a bit more successful. Brian ran his ideas that he had envisioned for the store and the couple liked them all. So now, my poor thing, is having to set this couple up with the exact setup that Brian has been working so hard to try and build himself, but then he’ll have to walk away when it’s over.
I really feel bad for him! So with all that said, please keep him in your prayers that this deal doesn’t go anything like the last one and that he finds a job soon that he won’t be miserable in!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Such Cuties!!
I took the kids out to Auntie's house last weekend and they both loved it! Here are a couple of pics....
Friday, November 14, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
It's been awhile....
Okay, so I realize that I have really slacked off on my "blogging" for the past couple of months, but I have three little words that will completly sum up my absence......
ANTHONY REY BARRERA
Wowzer, this kid can go (and go, and go and go!)!!!! My mom keeps him two days a week and by the time that I get home at 5:30 - 6:00, she is litterally running out of the door! I'm telling you, he is NON-STOP! He started using walking as his main means of transportation just about a month ago and already he is really bored with everything at his eye level. Now he wants you to hold him while he points to things that he can't reach to either (i) destroy, (ii) eat, or (iii) jump off of. Yeah, thats a fun one too...he's also a bit of a daredevil. I am actually considering buying him a little red helmet for Christmas this year. Example...one of his favorite things to do (and has been for a long while) is to climb up the back cushions of the couch and look into the mirror that hangs over the couch. Now he's added his own little twist by jumping off of the top of the couch onto the couch or whoever happens to be the unfortunate soul sitting there at the time. I'm just waiting for the day that he bounces off the couch and plants it into the hardwood. So, with that all said, anyone up for a little babysitting? ; )
Jaiden is doing good in school. She is the worlds worst about forgetting...especially when it comes to school work, so that is something that we have been working on, but other than that she is doing good. We put her into piano lessons a couple of weeks ago and she is really enjoying that. She is really good at it too! She picks everything up really quickly and it all just seems to "click" with her. I am so happy for that because she struggles in so many other areas (school in particular) it's always good when she finds something that she is good at and she likes to do!
Brian and I are wonderful. We are attending an 80's themed costume party tomorrow and I can't wait to get pictures to post! Brian will be wearing a wonderful enselmble consisting of zebra striped spandex and a really horrible mullet/punkrock wig and I will be his "groupie". Just a note...the 80's wasn't a really high time for the fashion industry...in fact, any stylist that made it big in the 80's, should be subject to some type of charge for cruel and unusual punishment!
Brian is still trying to bring his business idea to life and I hope that something comes of it soon or else he is going to have to re-enter the work world and I know that he is definately not looking forward to that (go figure, huh!). I am working pretty much full time now. Most would think that is just terrible, but with the story that I started out with, can you blame me?
Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope that all is well with you all!
Love ~ M
ANTHONY REY BARRERA
Wowzer, this kid can go (and go, and go and go!)!!!! My mom keeps him two days a week and by the time that I get home at 5:30 - 6:00, she is litterally running out of the door! I'm telling you, he is NON-STOP! He started using walking as his main means of transportation just about a month ago and already he is really bored with everything at his eye level. Now he wants you to hold him while he points to things that he can't reach to either (i) destroy, (ii) eat, or (iii) jump off of. Yeah, thats a fun one too...he's also a bit of a daredevil. I am actually considering buying him a little red helmet for Christmas this year. Example...one of his favorite things to do (and has been for a long while) is to climb up the back cushions of the couch and look into the mirror that hangs over the couch. Now he's added his own little twist by jumping off of the top of the couch onto the couch or whoever happens to be the unfortunate soul sitting there at the time. I'm just waiting for the day that he bounces off the couch and plants it into the hardwood. So, with that all said, anyone up for a little babysitting? ; )
Jaiden is doing good in school. She is the worlds worst about forgetting...especially when it comes to school work, so that is something that we have been working on, but other than that she is doing good. We put her into piano lessons a couple of weeks ago and she is really enjoying that. She is really good at it too! She picks everything up really quickly and it all just seems to "click" with her. I am so happy for that because she struggles in so many other areas (school in particular) it's always good when she finds something that she is good at and she likes to do!
Brian and I are wonderful. We are attending an 80's themed costume party tomorrow and I can't wait to get pictures to post! Brian will be wearing a wonderful enselmble consisting of zebra striped spandex and a really horrible mullet/punkrock wig and I will be his "groupie". Just a note...the 80's wasn't a really high time for the fashion industry...in fact, any stylist that made it big in the 80's, should be subject to some type of charge for cruel and unusual punishment!
Brian is still trying to bring his business idea to life and I hope that something comes of it soon or else he is going to have to re-enter the work world and I know that he is definately not looking forward to that (go figure, huh!). I am working pretty much full time now. Most would think that is just terrible, but with the story that I started out with, can you blame me?
Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope that all is well with you all!
Love ~ M
Friday, September 19, 2008
They tried once again...
Once again, my brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Cassie, tried their hardest to overshadow another birthday with one of their own, but this time it didn't happen! Miss Sarah Roberts was born on September 17, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. and weighed in at a hefty 4lbs. and 10 ozs. That's about half the size of our little monster who turns one year old TODAY!!! Haha...missed it by two whole days!
So, welcome to the world Miss Sarah and Happy birthday to my main little man Anthony! I love you both!!
So, welcome to the world Miss Sarah and Happy birthday to my main little man Anthony! I love you both!!
Friday, September 5, 2008
The littlest things....
So today was just as normal as any other day. Around lunch time, I decided that eating would be a good idea, so I headed off to Chic-fil-a (yes the same one that I met my wonderful Brian at!). I ordered my famous #5 with a coke and I ordered a #1 for Ann (my co-worker). I pulled up to the window and the lady told me that 'my friend ahead of me already paid for my lunch'. I explained to her that it must have been a mistake because I didn't know the lady that was ahead of me, but she insisted that she already took care of it.
Random act of kindness. I have done this before a couple of times, but have never been the recipient of one, and I have to say that it is amazing how a small thing like having my lunch paid for by an absolute stranger made my day. So, my reasoning for this blog post is to encourage everyone that the next time your in line at your local fast-food resturant and have an extra $5, go ahead and make someone's day! I promise, they will appreciate it and it'll give you that little warm bubbly feeling inside too!
And, just in case...thank you to the lady in the red land rover who paid for my lunch! It was truly appreciated!
Acts 20:35 ....the Lord Jesus himself said: `It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
Random act of kindness. I have done this before a couple of times, but have never been the recipient of one, and I have to say that it is amazing how a small thing like having my lunch paid for by an absolute stranger made my day. So, my reasoning for this blog post is to encourage everyone that the next time your in line at your local fast-food resturant and have an extra $5, go ahead and make someone's day! I promise, they will appreciate it and it'll give you that little warm bubbly feeling inside too!
And, just in case...thank you to the lady in the red land rover who paid for my lunch! It was truly appreciated!
Acts 20:35 ....the Lord Jesus himself said: `It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
Friday, August 8, 2008
"O-O-O-O-klahoma"
Well, it has been a while since I have last posted so I figured I was due one! We are all still running around like crazy trying to make the most of this summer! Can’t believe it, but school starts back up at the end of this month.....where did the time go?
Last weekend, me, Jaiden and Anthony all went on a mini-cation with my Dad, Doug, Cassie and Ella and Ryan, Lindsay and Kai. We started the trip off by going to a baby shower for Cassie and Lindsay at Karen and Greg’s house in Lindale. After that we all went back to Doug’s house to spend the night. On Sunday, we all got up and went to church and afterwards headed off to Beavers Bend National Park in Broken Bow, Oklahoma! We all stayed in a log cabin in the woods and it was beautiful...hot, but beautiful! It is good to spend time with my dad and my brothers and their families, because for whatever reason we just don’t do it as much as I would like. On Sunday after dinner was over, everyone surprised me with a birthday cake which was awesome! It was my 21st birthday and I have the pictures to prove it....just pay no attention to the other 8 candles lined up around the number 21...those are just decorations! ; ) On Monday, we took the kids to a museum and then everyone went swimming while I took little Brother back to the house for a nap (which by the way he didn’t take nor did he take one longer than ten minutes the entire trip!) Although the temperature outside was somewhere near 110, the lake is spring fed which made it around 65. Jaiden said that she almost lost her breath when she jumped in to the water. Glad it wasn’t me, because I am not a fan of cold water!! After they got back from the lake, me, Jaiden and Anthony all headed a little further north to see my Grandma and Granddaddy! It was a nice visit and Anthony LOVED the buggy ride from the house to the barn and back. Monday night after everyone got back from their mile hike that I decided not to attend because I couldn’t even stomach carrying Anthony for that long; we had a nice dinner and then played some games before we all eventually passed out from shear exhaustion.
Brian stayed home for this trip and all I can say is thank the Lord for Jaiden! She helped me out so much keeping up with Anthony! She is a superstar! Keeping up with little Brother is a task and he wore us both out. Of course Jaiden rushed off to her Grandma’s house as soon as she made it home, but who can blame her! At Grandma’s house she gets to relax in the peace and quiet and between Brother and Emmy peace and quiet doesn’t happen a lot! I believe that she has spent a total of 4 days at home this summer. The girl either (a) can’t stand to be with us or (b) has such an intense social calendar, that I might want to start monitoring it a little closer! ; )
We are now in panic mode wondering what we are going to do with the kiddos when our “supersitter” (Grammy) has to go back home for the school year. We have been pricing daycares and wow....soooo expensive! Unfortunately, in this case, you don’t really want to just jump on the cheapest price, because then you begin wondering “why are they cheaper?” So, the search is on for the best daycare around us with an affordable price. We’ll figure something out, I am sure, we always do!
Brian is still enjoying the postal center and has made some pretty impressive improvements and additions to the shop. We’re not sure yet if it’s making us a ton of money, but it takes care of itself and most of our bills and hey, Brian is happy with it, so what more can you ask for...
I am working full time again and although I love my job, I can’t say that I missed working full time! I was really enjoying the getting up when I woke up (rather when the baby woke up), playing with the baby and then heading off to work around 10 or 11, but times have changed, so here I am.
Next weekend we are all heading down to Corpus Christie for Brian’s family reunion. I am sure that we will have some great stories from that trip as well, so I will post them when we get back!
Thanks for taking to time to read about our craziness! Later!!
Oh and by the way....for all who have continually made fun of me for not being able to find my way around...anywhere, my superstar husband bought me a GPS for my birthday, so I will no longer have to circle houses for countless hours trying to find you!!!! Yeah! He rocks! ; )
Last weekend, me, Jaiden and Anthony all went on a mini-cation with my Dad, Doug, Cassie and Ella and Ryan, Lindsay and Kai. We started the trip off by going to a baby shower for Cassie and Lindsay at Karen and Greg’s house in Lindale. After that we all went back to Doug’s house to spend the night. On Sunday, we all got up and went to church and afterwards headed off to Beavers Bend National Park in Broken Bow, Oklahoma! We all stayed in a log cabin in the woods and it was beautiful...hot, but beautiful! It is good to spend time with my dad and my brothers and their families, because for whatever reason we just don’t do it as much as I would like. On Sunday after dinner was over, everyone surprised me with a birthday cake which was awesome! It was my 21st birthday and I have the pictures to prove it....just pay no attention to the other 8 candles lined up around the number 21...those are just decorations! ; ) On Monday, we took the kids to a museum and then everyone went swimming while I took little Brother back to the house for a nap (which by the way he didn’t take nor did he take one longer than ten minutes the entire trip!) Although the temperature outside was somewhere near 110, the lake is spring fed which made it around 65. Jaiden said that she almost lost her breath when she jumped in to the water. Glad it wasn’t me, because I am not a fan of cold water!! After they got back from the lake, me, Jaiden and Anthony all headed a little further north to see my Grandma and Granddaddy! It was a nice visit and Anthony LOVED the buggy ride from the house to the barn and back. Monday night after everyone got back from their mile hike that I decided not to attend because I couldn’t even stomach carrying Anthony for that long; we had a nice dinner and then played some games before we all eventually passed out from shear exhaustion.
Brian stayed home for this trip and all I can say is thank the Lord for Jaiden! She helped me out so much keeping up with Anthony! She is a superstar! Keeping up with little Brother is a task and he wore us both out. Of course Jaiden rushed off to her Grandma’s house as soon as she made it home, but who can blame her! At Grandma’s house she gets to relax in the peace and quiet and between Brother and Emmy peace and quiet doesn’t happen a lot! I believe that she has spent a total of 4 days at home this summer. The girl either (a) can’t stand to be with us or (b) has such an intense social calendar, that I might want to start monitoring it a little closer! ; )
We are now in panic mode wondering what we are going to do with the kiddos when our “supersitter” (Grammy) has to go back home for the school year. We have been pricing daycares and wow....soooo expensive! Unfortunately, in this case, you don’t really want to just jump on the cheapest price, because then you begin wondering “why are they cheaper?” So, the search is on for the best daycare around us with an affordable price. We’ll figure something out, I am sure, we always do!
Brian is still enjoying the postal center and has made some pretty impressive improvements and additions to the shop. We’re not sure yet if it’s making us a ton of money, but it takes care of itself and most of our bills and hey, Brian is happy with it, so what more can you ask for...
I am working full time again and although I love my job, I can’t say that I missed working full time! I was really enjoying the getting up when I woke up (rather when the baby woke up), playing with the baby and then heading off to work around 10 or 11, but times have changed, so here I am.
Next weekend we are all heading down to Corpus Christie for Brian’s family reunion. I am sure that we will have some great stories from that trip as well, so I will post them when we get back!
Thanks for taking to time to read about our craziness! Later!!
Oh and by the way....for all who have continually made fun of me for not being able to find my way around...anywhere, my superstar husband bought me a GPS for my birthday, so I will no longer have to circle houses for countless hours trying to find you!!!! Yeah! He rocks! ; )
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The Great Duck Debacle!
Well, we returned from Las Vegas back in one piece and not too broke. Luckily, neither one of us are big gamblers so not much was left in the slot machines! Unfortunately though, while we were gone, Momma duck had some type of post-partum freak out and left her eggs (or at least what was left of the eggs) to hard boil in the sun. We keep waiting hoping that maybe she will come to her senses and come back, but things aren’t looking to good for the duck population! There are still five eggs in the nest. We are hoping (and telling the kids) that she moved the other four, but I am not even sure that is possible. We can hope though, right!?!?!?
Funny thing is that we complained the entire time that the duck was there because she was destroying our pool. Now we are kinda sad because she’s gone. Typical, huh!
Anyways, like I said, we got back from Vegas in one piece and so did our luggage!!! Yeah for us! The wedding was beautiful and we met some of the most wonderful people that we hope to continue being friends with. I can’t say that our wedding adventures have been to sweet on our pocketbooks, but we have been really lucky both times to meet some wonderful people! I didn’t take to many pictures, but will add the ones that I did take to my picasa album within the next couple of days.
Also, while we were gone, Anthony decided to get his second tooth....we were in Florida when he got his first tooth and now in Vegas with the second. I figure if we just keep going out of town, he should have a full set of choppers soon! He is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything! We lost count of the goose eggs that he has had a couple of weeks ago! He takes after his daddy and has no fear! He often forgets that he can’t walk and just let’s go of things which almost always ends up with the same conclusion....him falling! Brian hasn’t quite gotten used to him falling yet and still makes the gasping sound as we watch him take a nose dive into the floor, which usually just worsens the situation. I keep telling him that it will get easier, but it’s cute to watch (not the baby hurting himself, of course, but Brian’s reaction!)
Other than that, all is pretty normal...or as normal as it can get around our casa! Hope everyone has a safe and fun Fourth of July!
Funny thing is that we complained the entire time that the duck was there because she was destroying our pool. Now we are kinda sad because she’s gone. Typical, huh!
Anyways, like I said, we got back from Vegas in one piece and so did our luggage!!! Yeah for us! The wedding was beautiful and we met some of the most wonderful people that we hope to continue being friends with. I can’t say that our wedding adventures have been to sweet on our pocketbooks, but we have been really lucky both times to meet some wonderful people! I didn’t take to many pictures, but will add the ones that I did take to my picasa album within the next couple of days.
Also, while we were gone, Anthony decided to get his second tooth....we were in Florida when he got his first tooth and now in Vegas with the second. I figure if we just keep going out of town, he should have a full set of choppers soon! He is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything! We lost count of the goose eggs that he has had a couple of weeks ago! He takes after his daddy and has no fear! He often forgets that he can’t walk and just let’s go of things which almost always ends up with the same conclusion....him falling! Brian hasn’t quite gotten used to him falling yet and still makes the gasping sound as we watch him take a nose dive into the floor, which usually just worsens the situation. I keep telling him that it will get easier, but it’s cute to watch (not the baby hurting himself, of course, but Brian’s reaction!)
Other than that, all is pretty normal...or as normal as it can get around our casa! Hope everyone has a safe and fun Fourth of July!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Oh my!
Most people would have looked at the last week of our lives as an absolute disaster, but not I! No, for me I saw the wonderful opportunity for a marvelous blog post so here we go....
Friday (May 30th) was the day that Brian and I left for sunny Florida, one of our favorite vacationing spots in the world, to attend John and Whitney's wedding!! We intentionally took the early flight in so that we would have time to do our own thing before the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. We got in around 11:00 and that is where the fun began. We’re standing at the luggage carousel watching everyone grab their bags and scurry away and then and nothing...no more bags. So a nice gentleman told us that we would have to make our way over to the baggage claim desk, a place that I have never had to visit before and hopefully will never have to do again. Fortunately for us, our bag just didn’t make it on the flight that we were on, but was already aboard the next flight and on its way to us. The nice people at baggage claim explained to us that as soon as the bag arrived at the airport they would have it delivered to our hotel. So we headed off without our bags and decided to take the "scenic" route to our hotel in Jupiter Beach. Before we went to the hotel, we decided to have a bite to eat and check out the town of Jupiter (where we were staying and the location of the wedding....also home to Burt Reynolds). We ate at a place that sat right on the water called the Crab Shack or something like that. I had shrimp scampi and Brian had snapper. Mine was not good at all! In fact, I blame that plate of shrimp scampi for my stomach issues (food poisoning) for the rest of the weekend and a week after we got home! We go to the hotel after this horrible run in with shrimp to find that our bags haven't made it there yet. I was not happy! I called customer service and explained to them that we had a rehearsal dinner to go to in just a few hours and that we weren't about to show up in our tee shirts, shorts and flip-flops! After no help what-so-ever from the customer service lady, we walk in to the rehearsal dinner in our tee shirts, shorts and flip flops. We were so embarrassed but thankfully John and Whitney have an amazing set of friends and family who were all more than understanding of why we looked like two vagrants who just wandered in from off the street and we ended up having a really nice time.
After the dinner (and after about three or four glasses of wine for me), we make our way back to the hotel to make sure that our luggage has arrived (it's 10:00 p.m. at this point) and guess what....still no luggage!! I decide to call the American Airlines customer service desk to give them a piece of my mind (remember I have had about three or four glasses of wine)! The conversation ended up with me yelling at the MOST annoying lady in the world who felt it neccessary to tell me over and over again that me not having my kuggage was not her problem because "she's in Dallas, what do I expect her to do"! Arrrgggghhh!!! I was more than mad...I was in tears!! Brian took over and found out that it wasn't the airline who was delaying our luggage, but the courier company that was hired to deliver the luggage to us. So, he got the number to the courier company and they explained that the person delivering the luggage had been involved in some sort of accident in Miami and would not be able to deliver the bag tonight, but that it had been put on the special delivery list and would be to us by 8:00 in the morning.
Unfortunately, we already had plans that involved us leaving around 7:00 a.m. to catch a fishing charter the next morning so it looked as if we would be fishing in the same clothes that we flew in with yesterday...Saturday morning comes and we were late for our fishing charter...I was getting sicker by the minute from the food the day before and to make it even worse we were still in the same clothes! We called the guy running the charter who told us that he had another boat going out in about an hour, but the port was about 45 minutes away. So we high tailed it up there and were the absolute last people to arrive, but we got there! Finally, something was going to go right for us! Nothing makes life better than an awesome fishing adventure in the middle of the ocean, that is, unless you got food poisoning the day before! I was sicker than a dog and when I was able to drag myself outside of the bathroom (one that EVERYONE was sharing because the guys bathroom was broken) I just kept catching the same stupid little sea bass ("just a 1/2" shy of a keeper") over and over again! In between my trips to the bathroom and sleeping in the cabin, I was periodically calling the hotel to check on our luggage arrival. 10:00 still no luggage....12:30 nothing.....2:30 still nada....4:30 Sorry! So here is our problem, we are still in the same clothes that we have now been in for two days and have now fished in and we have a wedding to attend to at 7:00. 7:15 our bags show up. Gee golly thanks. We missed the wedding, the wedding that we flew down here to see and neither American Airlines or the stupid courier company seemed to give a hoot! We did get to go to the reception which was BEAUTIFUL and lots of fun though so we didn't miss everything! You would think that this was enough of a weekend to wear anyone out, but not us...we got up on Sunday and drove around and looked at all of the beautiful houses and then headed off to the airport. Sadly, the food poisoning coupled with some motion sickness from the boat was still hanging over me pretty badly so when we got to the airport to find out that our flight had been delayed I was just ready to go home! I mean, what else could go wrong here? And then my phone rang. It was Jaiden explaining to me Sadie (our dog) had eaten something and when they investigated what it was they found that a duck...yes a duck had decided that out of all of the yards in Carrollton, ours would be the perfect spot to lay 6 eggs. Now there were only 5 eggs but eggs that the kids (our neice Emberlea was there also) knew would soon become baby ducks so improper disposal of the eggs was now out of the question. After Jaiden ran down all of the details of our newest "yard mate" I just smiled and handed Brian the phone...
A couple of days after we got home, I called animal control to find out how to get rid of our newest tenants when she told me...."Ducks are protected by the State of Texas and no one is allowed to move them, so enjoy 'em". I just hung up the phone and died laughing...it was the icing on the cake. Did anyone have any idea in the world that ducks were protected?!?!
So here we are. I finally got over my food illness a week later. The duck is still in the backyard swimming in our pool and nesting her now 9 eggs that should hatch by the end of this month. Her boyfriend also comes over and swims in the pool which is beautiful to watch, but has unfortunately just made a lot more work for Brian when it comes to keeping the pool clean. Sadie hasn't eaten any more eggs and strangly just watches the ducks as they swim around in the pool at night.
Now we are trying to get ready for our next wedding adventure at the end of this month in Las Vegas....We just can't wait! ; )
Friday (May 30th) was the day that Brian and I left for sunny Florida, one of our favorite vacationing spots in the world, to attend John and Whitney's wedding!! We intentionally took the early flight in so that we would have time to do our own thing before the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. We got in around 11:00 and that is where the fun began. We’re standing at the luggage carousel watching everyone grab their bags and scurry away and then and nothing...no more bags. So a nice gentleman told us that we would have to make our way over to the baggage claim desk, a place that I have never had to visit before and hopefully will never have to do again. Fortunately for us, our bag just didn’t make it on the flight that we were on, but was already aboard the next flight and on its way to us. The nice people at baggage claim explained to us that as soon as the bag arrived at the airport they would have it delivered to our hotel. So we headed off without our bags and decided to take the "scenic" route to our hotel in Jupiter Beach. Before we went to the hotel, we decided to have a bite to eat and check out the town of Jupiter (where we were staying and the location of the wedding....also home to Burt Reynolds). We ate at a place that sat right on the water called the Crab Shack or something like that. I had shrimp scampi and Brian had snapper. Mine was not good at all! In fact, I blame that plate of shrimp scampi for my stomach issues (food poisoning) for the rest of the weekend and a week after we got home! We go to the hotel after this horrible run in with shrimp to find that our bags haven't made it there yet. I was not happy! I called customer service and explained to them that we had a rehearsal dinner to go to in just a few hours and that we weren't about to show up in our tee shirts, shorts and flip-flops! After no help what-so-ever from the customer service lady, we walk in to the rehearsal dinner in our tee shirts, shorts and flip flops. We were so embarrassed but thankfully John and Whitney have an amazing set of friends and family who were all more than understanding of why we looked like two vagrants who just wandered in from off the street and we ended up having a really nice time.
After the dinner (and after about three or four glasses of wine for me), we make our way back to the hotel to make sure that our luggage has arrived (it's 10:00 p.m. at this point) and guess what....still no luggage!! I decide to call the American Airlines customer service desk to give them a piece of my mind (remember I have had about three or four glasses of wine)! The conversation ended up with me yelling at the MOST annoying lady in the world who felt it neccessary to tell me over and over again that me not having my kuggage was not her problem because "she's in Dallas, what do I expect her to do"! Arrrgggghhh!!! I was more than mad...I was in tears!! Brian took over and found out that it wasn't the airline who was delaying our luggage, but the courier company that was hired to deliver the luggage to us. So, he got the number to the courier company and they explained that the person delivering the luggage had been involved in some sort of accident in Miami and would not be able to deliver the bag tonight, but that it had been put on the special delivery list and would be to us by 8:00 in the morning.
Unfortunately, we already had plans that involved us leaving around 7:00 a.m. to catch a fishing charter the next morning so it looked as if we would be fishing in the same clothes that we flew in with yesterday...Saturday morning comes and we were late for our fishing charter...I was getting sicker by the minute from the food the day before and to make it even worse we were still in the same clothes! We called the guy running the charter who told us that he had another boat going out in about an hour, but the port was about 45 minutes away. So we high tailed it up there and were the absolute last people to arrive, but we got there! Finally, something was going to go right for us! Nothing makes life better than an awesome fishing adventure in the middle of the ocean, that is, unless you got food poisoning the day before! I was sicker than a dog and when I was able to drag myself outside of the bathroom (one that EVERYONE was sharing because the guys bathroom was broken) I just kept catching the same stupid little sea bass ("just a 1/2" shy of a keeper") over and over again! In between my trips to the bathroom and sleeping in the cabin, I was periodically calling the hotel to check on our luggage arrival. 10:00 still no luggage....12:30 nothing.....2:30 still nada....4:30 Sorry! So here is our problem, we are still in the same clothes that we have now been in for two days and have now fished in and we have a wedding to attend to at 7:00. 7:15 our bags show up. Gee golly thanks. We missed the wedding, the wedding that we flew down here to see and neither American Airlines or the stupid courier company seemed to give a hoot! We did get to go to the reception which was BEAUTIFUL and lots of fun though so we didn't miss everything! You would think that this was enough of a weekend to wear anyone out, but not us...we got up on Sunday and drove around and looked at all of the beautiful houses and then headed off to the airport. Sadly, the food poisoning coupled with some motion sickness from the boat was still hanging over me pretty badly so when we got to the airport to find out that our flight had been delayed I was just ready to go home! I mean, what else could go wrong here? And then my phone rang. It was Jaiden explaining to me Sadie (our dog) had eaten something and when they investigated what it was they found that a duck...yes a duck had decided that out of all of the yards in Carrollton, ours would be the perfect spot to lay 6 eggs. Now there were only 5 eggs but eggs that the kids (our neice Emberlea was there also) knew would soon become baby ducks so improper disposal of the eggs was now out of the question. After Jaiden ran down all of the details of our newest "yard mate" I just smiled and handed Brian the phone...
A couple of days after we got home, I called animal control to find out how to get rid of our newest tenants when she told me...."Ducks are protected by the State of Texas and no one is allowed to move them, so enjoy 'em". I just hung up the phone and died laughing...it was the icing on the cake. Did anyone have any idea in the world that ducks were protected?!?!
So here we are. I finally got over my food illness a week later. The duck is still in the backyard swimming in our pool and nesting her now 9 eggs that should hatch by the end of this month. Her boyfriend also comes over and swims in the pool which is beautiful to watch, but has unfortunately just made a lot more work for Brian when it comes to keeping the pool clean. Sadie hasn't eaten any more eggs and strangly just watches the ducks as they swim around in the pool at night.
Now we are trying to get ready for our next wedding adventure at the end of this month in Las Vegas....We just can't wait! ; )
Friday, May 9, 2008
Strep, immobile and toothless!
So, Jaiden got strep throat on Tuesday. Not fun at all! And once again, she diagnosed herself with a MUCH worse disease than the one that she actually had. She told Grandmommy that she had just gotten back from the doctor and that the doctor said that she had a stroke...Luckily this time it stayed on a much smaller scale and I was able to contain it before a poster was made for her school wall! She is feeling much better now though, was begging to go swimming yesterday and made it back to school today! Thankfully for Brian and I it didn't last too long!
Anthony is still not crawling and still has no teeth. I have to say that I was very much for him not crawling for a while, but now it’s just starting to drive me crazy! Although he isn’t able to walk yet, he has found that when you hold him he can lean to wherever it is that he wants to go and, if you oblige, he can pretty much make it around the whole house touching everything that he wants. Shoot, I guess I wouldn’t walk either if I had someone do that for me either! I am almost positive that he could master a Segway if given the chance!
We’re looking forward to seeing the family on Kai’s birthday and then Brian and I are off to Florida! Boy, I can’t wait for that trip!!!
Just wanted to give a little update about what was going on in our world! Hope all is well with everyone!
Anthony is still not crawling and still has no teeth. I have to say that I was very much for him not crawling for a while, but now it’s just starting to drive me crazy! Although he isn’t able to walk yet, he has found that when you hold him he can lean to wherever it is that he wants to go and, if you oblige, he can pretty much make it around the whole house touching everything that he wants. Shoot, I guess I wouldn’t walk either if I had someone do that for me either! I am almost positive that he could master a Segway if given the chance!
We’re looking forward to seeing the family on Kai’s birthday and then Brian and I are off to Florida! Boy, I can’t wait for that trip!!!
Just wanted to give a little update about what was going on in our world! Hope all is well with everyone!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Almost short of crazy....
So, things have been almost short of crazy around our household for the past couple of weeks. We have all had and passed on some type of flu bug for about the last two weeks which is never fun...especially when there is a whiny eight year old and a helpless 7 month old involved. Other than the occassional bout of sickies, we've all been good.
Brian is currently job searching which has not posed as being the easiest task with the market in it's current state! Also, to add to the complications, Anthony has figured out that his Daddy is currently looking for work and attests everytime Brian gets on the phone with a potential lead. Hopefully, we can bribe Grammy into coming over a couple of days again next week so that Brian can get something done! Brian has such amazing talents and ideas...I seriously doubt that he will be on the market for too long.
I, on the other hand, am once again a working girl...okay wait I'm not actually a "working girl", but I have been working. Four days this week. I can't say that I am enjoying it as much as I was when I was at home with the little guy but it's great that I am fortunate enough to work for a company that really lets me come and go as I please! The extra money has been nice and we are using it to pay for a trip to a wedding in Florida that we will be attending at the end of May (Congrats to John and Whit!). After that one is paid for, then we get to charge up the card for our Vegas wedding trip at the end of June (Congrats to Mike and Ly!). Weddings, weddings, weddings!
Jaiden took her reading TAKS test last month and missed...are you ready for this....two questions! That's it, two questions! She even got commended for her score. It's no secret that J-Bug struggles in school so when we got that news we were ecstatic (and shocked!) to say the least! At the end of this month we face the dreaded Math section of the TAKS and we are not looking forward to that one. We recently had her tested and the school has decided that she has a learning disability. I honestly believe that Jaiden is queen when it comes to working the system and boy did she work it this time. Who knows though, it could be something other than just her sheer laziness, but I am now just going to let the school decide that. Other than school, Jaiden is loving gymnastics! She is picking everything up relatively quickly and flips around the uneven bars like no ones business!
Anthony is now 7 months old! Can you even believe it? Time flies. He is sitting up by himself now and he is absolutely determined to crawl! He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth and has actually lunged himself forward a couple of times, but we are as of today, still immoblie! Thank you Lord! Not to say that I am not looking forward to the absolute cuteness that is a baby crawling, because I totally am, but this is my second time around...I learned from the first that once they start crawling it is a never ending chase for about the next four years! ; )
I haven't gotten any pictures up in a while, mainly because the computer that I normally use has been on the blitz and I am waiting now to get my laptop repaired, but as soon as all that gets worked out, I will get some pics up.
I hope that everything is going good for everyone! God bless and I will try and post again soon!
Brian is currently job searching which has not posed as being the easiest task with the market in it's current state! Also, to add to the complications, Anthony has figured out that his Daddy is currently looking for work and attests everytime Brian gets on the phone with a potential lead. Hopefully, we can bribe Grammy into coming over a couple of days again next week so that Brian can get something done! Brian has such amazing talents and ideas...I seriously doubt that he will be on the market for too long.
I, on the other hand, am once again a working girl...okay wait I'm not actually a "working girl", but I have been working. Four days this week. I can't say that I am enjoying it as much as I was when I was at home with the little guy but it's great that I am fortunate enough to work for a company that really lets me come and go as I please! The extra money has been nice and we are using it to pay for a trip to a wedding in Florida that we will be attending at the end of May (Congrats to John and Whit!). After that one is paid for, then we get to charge up the card for our Vegas wedding trip at the end of June (Congrats to Mike and Ly!). Weddings, weddings, weddings!
Jaiden took her reading TAKS test last month and missed...are you ready for this....two questions! That's it, two questions! She even got commended for her score. It's no secret that J-Bug struggles in school so when we got that news we were ecstatic (and shocked!) to say the least! At the end of this month we face the dreaded Math section of the TAKS and we are not looking forward to that one. We recently had her tested and the school has decided that she has a learning disability. I honestly believe that Jaiden is queen when it comes to working the system and boy did she work it this time. Who knows though, it could be something other than just her sheer laziness, but I am now just going to let the school decide that. Other than school, Jaiden is loving gymnastics! She is picking everything up relatively quickly and flips around the uneven bars like no ones business!
Anthony is now 7 months old! Can you even believe it? Time flies. He is sitting up by himself now and he is absolutely determined to crawl! He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth and has actually lunged himself forward a couple of times, but we are as of today, still immoblie! Thank you Lord! Not to say that I am not looking forward to the absolute cuteness that is a baby crawling, because I totally am, but this is my second time around...I learned from the first that once they start crawling it is a never ending chase for about the next four years! ; )
I haven't gotten any pictures up in a while, mainly because the computer that I normally use has been on the blitz and I am waiting now to get my laptop repaired, but as soon as all that gets worked out, I will get some pics up.
I hope that everything is going good for everyone! God bless and I will try and post again soon!
Monday, April 7, 2008
The "Surprise" Trip
On Friday Brian took Jaiden and her friend Daniela to Six Flags. We surprised them, or at least we thought we did, Grammy. I have to tell you...Jaiden could possibly win an Academy Award someday! See, what happened was Brian and I (last minute of course) decided that we would secretly plan this trip to Six Flags. So we invite Daniela (J's friend) over after Jaiden got out of gymnastics, then Brian and I told the girls that we had to go somewhere and that we were going to drop them off at Grammy's while we were gone. So, we drove up there and as we near the park the ooohhhs and aaaahhhs were abundant to say the least! I told Brian that he should at least "drive through" the park so that the girls could see it. So, he pulls up and stops the car and tells them to get out. They went crazy! While they went to the park, I took Anthony over to Grammy's and we hung out for a while. While I was hanging out with Grammy, she told me that she had already asked Jaiden about the Six Flags trip that her dad was taking her on the day before...
You now see where the Academy Award comes in to play! So, moral of the story....when you are trying to surprise someone, just don't, it never works out well! ; )
You now see where the Academy Award comes in to play! So, moral of the story....when you are trying to surprise someone, just don't, it never works out well! ; )
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Last Couple of Weekends...
We have had such a great time the past couple of weekends...
The weekend before last, Brian, Jaiden, Anthony and I went to Gladewater to celebrate my neice's second birthday. It was so great because we haven't all seen each other since Christmas! After Ella's party we all snuck over to Steve and Judy's (Cassie's parents) where we all hid in the garage and had a surprise 30th birthday party for my OLDER brother Doug! ; ) After the party cleared out, we all (Me, Brian, Jaiden, Anthony, Doug, Cassie, Ella, Ryan, Lindsay, Kai, Steve and Judy) sat in the living room and played with the toys from Ella's toy box. It was a great night. And, just when I thought that it couldn't get any better as we were leaving Lindsay and Ryan told me that I was going to be an aunt AGAIN!! Two of my sister-in-laws are having babies....How awesome is that!
On Wednesday, Anthony got his first haircut by his Aunt Jay! He was so good. Didn't cry for a second! Later on that evening, Jaiden went to her first gym/dance class and had a blast! It's held down at our rec center about half a mile away from the house and that place is awesome! It has everything! I am planning on starting a class on the first of April. I'm actually hoping that with the start date being what it is (4/1), I will just walk into the class and the instructor will say, "April Fools". Probably won't happen though.
So, on Friday, after Jaiden got out of school we headed down to my moms house. Luckily, Anthony was wonderful the entire trip! It took us about an hour longer with all of the bathroom stops, but the trip was nice. Jaiden and Anthony were both worn out from the trip so, when we got there they both fell asleep and Mom, Sean and I sat around and talked for a while. It was really nice to catch up or just talk to Sean. I noticed while I was sitting there that I hardly recognized anything about him. It was wierd. Sad and wierd, but I'm glad that we got the chance to talk. On Saturday, Jaiden, Sean, George and his daughter Melissa went to the Houston Rodeo and then saw Brad Paisley afterwards. Jaiden had a Blast!! She called during the concert saying "Can you hear this?" It was very cute! Me, Anthony and Mom went grocery shopping and then hung out around the house all day. We talked and laughed and played with the baby. It was really great. On Sunday, Mom did an Easter egg hunt for Jaiden and Jaiden ran around the front yard hunting them. It took a little longer than we had planned, but she finally found them all. : 0
After the hunt was over, we had a big lunch that mom and george had prepared. It was yummy. Then we had to pack up and get ready for out long trip home!
It was a great couple of weekends and I am so thankful for all of my wonderful family! I love them all and hate that we only see each other on special occassions and such, but with the way my family is procreating, we are bound to have a new birthday in just about every month of the year, so maybe I'll be seeing them more often in the coming years!
I'll post a slideshow of all of our most recent events later...it's kinda difficult getting pictures in here!
I hope that everyone has a fabulous Easter! God Bless!
The weekend before last, Brian, Jaiden, Anthony and I went to Gladewater to celebrate my neice's second birthday. It was so great because we haven't all seen each other since Christmas! After Ella's party we all snuck over to Steve and Judy's (Cassie's parents) where we all hid in the garage and had a surprise 30th birthday party for my OLDER brother Doug! ; ) After the party cleared out, we all (Me, Brian, Jaiden, Anthony, Doug, Cassie, Ella, Ryan, Lindsay, Kai, Steve and Judy) sat in the living room and played with the toys from Ella's toy box. It was a great night. And, just when I thought that it couldn't get any better as we were leaving Lindsay and Ryan told me that I was going to be an aunt AGAIN!! Two of my sister-in-laws are having babies....How awesome is that!
On Wednesday, Anthony got his first haircut by his Aunt Jay! He was so good. Didn't cry for a second! Later on that evening, Jaiden went to her first gym/dance class and had a blast! It's held down at our rec center about half a mile away from the house and that place is awesome! It has everything! I am planning on starting a class on the first of April. I'm actually hoping that with the start date being what it is (4/1), I will just walk into the class and the instructor will say, "April Fools". Probably won't happen though.
So, on Friday, after Jaiden got out of school we headed down to my moms house. Luckily, Anthony was wonderful the entire trip! It took us about an hour longer with all of the bathroom stops, but the trip was nice. Jaiden and Anthony were both worn out from the trip so, when we got there they both fell asleep and Mom, Sean and I sat around and talked for a while. It was really nice to catch up or just talk to Sean. I noticed while I was sitting there that I hardly recognized anything about him. It was wierd. Sad and wierd, but I'm glad that we got the chance to talk. On Saturday, Jaiden, Sean, George and his daughter Melissa went to the Houston Rodeo and then saw Brad Paisley afterwards. Jaiden had a Blast!! She called during the concert saying "Can you hear this?" It was very cute! Me, Anthony and Mom went grocery shopping and then hung out around the house all day. We talked and laughed and played with the baby. It was really great. On Sunday, Mom did an Easter egg hunt for Jaiden and Jaiden ran around the front yard hunting them. It took a little longer than we had planned, but she finally found them all. : 0
After the hunt was over, we had a big lunch that mom and george had prepared. It was yummy. Then we had to pack up and get ready for out long trip home!
It was a great couple of weekends and I am so thankful for all of my wonderful family! I love them all and hate that we only see each other on special occassions and such, but with the way my family is procreating, we are bound to have a new birthday in just about every month of the year, so maybe I'll be seeing them more often in the coming years!
I'll post a slideshow of all of our most recent events later...it's kinda difficult getting pictures in here!
I hope that everyone has a fabulous Easter! God Bless!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Open House
So...tonight Jaiden had open house at her school from 5:00 - 6:30. And, because I am always sooo prepared for what is going to happen, at 6:10, I strapped Anthony on me (Brian had ran to the store to get something to try and fix my car) and we took off walking to the school. We did get there in time, but not with much to spare. Anyways, this story does have a point...and it is this. Jaiden starts the night off by showing me her "newspaper article" which is roughly the size of a posterboard. Each kid in the third grade had one and they are all hanging on the wall in the MAIN hallway. After we found it and were able to get close enough to the wall to read it (there were still a lot of people there) Jaiden starts to read...."I love my family because when I was a baby I had cancer." Of course I blurt out "CANCER!!!'
I'm not sure wether it was Jaiden's reading or my loud mouth, but we had an audience and anyone who knows me knows that I wanted to curl up in a ball and die!!!
Jaiden had mistaken 'surgery' for 'cancer'...you see the resemblance, right?!? Geez!
Unfortunately, the poster is still on the wall and with our tardiness, I didn't have a chance to tell the teacher that Jaiden's bio was thankfully not true!
I'm not sure wether it was Jaiden's reading or my loud mouth, but we had an audience and anyone who knows me knows that I wanted to curl up in a ball and die!!!
Jaiden had mistaken 'surgery' for 'cancer'...you see the resemblance, right?!? Geez!
Unfortunately, the poster is still on the wall and with our tardiness, I didn't have a chance to tell the teacher that Jaiden's bio was thankfully not true!
Monday, March 3, 2008
It's Snowing.....
It snowed! I swear that Jaiden had shorts and a tee shirt on yesterday and tonight it is snowing! Boy, if that isn't some crazy Texas weather...'don't like the weather here, wait a minute, it'll change'! I couldn't get the camera to work real well, but here...
Jaiden is doing okay in school. We have the Reading TAKS Test on Wednesday so we are hoping for the best! We just found out that she is struggling with multiplying her "3's". The rest of the class is now on "7's" and Jaiden is still on "3's". Thing is...they do a number each week and this is the first time that Brian or I have heard anything about her struggling. I understand that Jaiden should have said something to me, but isn't it also a bit on the teacher to send home a (failed) test, or shoot me an email to let me know that she should be working on them extra a bit before she is FIVE weeks behind the rest of the class? I dunno, but that is now our newest focus. Any tips or suggestions on memorizing times tables are greatly appreciated!
Other than that, things in the Barrera house are fair to middling. Anthony is coming down with a cold and we are praying that it doesn't turn into the croup again! He's also teething, so you can imagine the pleasure cruise that our house is! Other than all of that, he has mastered rolling over and does so ever time that you lay him on the floor. He is also sitting up on his own pretty well. He looses his balance pretty easily, but he's getting it. And, he is holding his own bottle (when he wants to) but still occassionally has those wierd spastic baby moments where he slings the bottle on to the floor or just slides the nipple across his face leaving a nice trail of formula or juice.
Poor baby....
Jaiden is doing okay in school. We have the Reading TAKS Test on Wednesday so we are hoping for the best! We just found out that she is struggling with multiplying her "3's". The rest of the class is now on "7's" and Jaiden is still on "3's". Thing is...they do a number each week and this is the first time that Brian or I have heard anything about her struggling. I understand that Jaiden should have said something to me, but isn't it also a bit on the teacher to send home a (failed) test, or shoot me an email to let me know that she should be working on them extra a bit before she is FIVE weeks behind the rest of the class? I dunno, but that is now our newest focus. Any tips or suggestions on memorizing times tables are greatly appreciated!
Tonight, Miss Jaiden was feeling a bit 'froggy'
Oh come on...it was cute!
Brian is still kickin' butt with his job and we are hopeful that he will get signed on full time. We were just talking about how amazingly blessed we are both being able to be home with the baby! It has really helped Anthony and Brian have a special bond that a lot of fathers aren't able to experience this early on. I was so worried after having him because the first three months or so Anthony was stuck to me (literally!) and would cry when Brian held him. I know that it broke his heart, but know, every time that Anthony sees his Daddy walk into a room, he gets the greatest little grin on his face and usually reaches for him when I am holding him and we're standing next to his Daddy. Thankfully, (and especially right now with him not feeling good), I still get my Mommy moments, so I am happy!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and I'll write again soon!
Brian is still kickin' butt with his job and we are hopeful that he will get signed on full time. We were just talking about how amazingly blessed we are both being able to be home with the baby! It has really helped Anthony and Brian have a special bond that a lot of fathers aren't able to experience this early on. I was so worried after having him because the first three months or so Anthony was stuck to me (literally!) and would cry when Brian held him. I know that it broke his heart, but know, every time that Anthony sees his Daddy walk into a room, he gets the greatest little grin on his face and usually reaches for him when I am holding him and we're standing next to his Daddy. Thankfully, (and especially right now with him not feeling good), I still get my Mommy moments, so I am happy!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and I'll write again soon!
Monday, February 25, 2008
It's been a while...
I know, I know, it's been a while since I last blogged, but honestly, nothing has really happened. Jaiden is still rocking on in school and Anthony has been teething so that has been absolutely NO fun at all! We have tried everything and I think that he is just really irritated by the pain at this point. He's still a really happy baby, just grumpy at times when his mouth hurts, but I can totally understand, there is no pain as bad as mouth pain! Other than that, he is just growing and growing! It seems that every day he has mastered some new trick that absolutely amazes us.
But, like I said, we really haven't had much of anything going on other than the same ole, same ole so I'll try and convince the kiddo's or maybe even the husband unit to do something spectacular so that I can write about it!
Hope all is well with everyone!
But, like I said, we really haven't had much of anything going on other than the same ole, same ole so I'll try and convince the kiddo's or maybe even the husband unit to do something spectacular so that I can write about it!
Hope all is well with everyone!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Well, with the combination of way too much going on and just sheer exhaustion, it's been a bit since I last posted, but don't give up on me quite yet!
On Saturday, I had lunch with a friend of mine (Alecia) that I had lost touch with for about the last three years and it was so great! Funny thing, since we have been out of touch, we have both found the right guy and both had babies. She had a little girl, Ali, on the 11th of October (which will be easy to remember because Brian's birthday is the 12th). She is precious and her other two (Summer and Bree) have really grown into beautiful young ladies!
Also, I found out on Saturday that I am going to be an Aunt again! How exciting is that!!! Doug and Cassie are having their second little one. Now I'm just waiting on hearing the news from Ryan and Lindsay!! ; )
Brian has been busy working on a contract job. Good thing is that he gets to work from home, and he really seems to be enjoying it! He likes the company and actually has an interview with them on Thursday to become a permanent sales rep for them.
I'm still working two days a week and I really enjoy it too. Hard thing is that we are constantly having to ask Grammy or Aunt Elicia to watch the booger and we're afraid we're going to wear out our welcome soon! Hopefully, once he gets to be one or so, I won't have such a problem talking him to a day care, but it's just too much for me right now.
Sorry to cut this short, but I have to run and get Miss Jaiden from school and then I am going to pick up little man's pictures from Target. They were supposed to be in yesterday, but AGAIN, the order got mixed up. Anyways, I'm sure I'll be sending out pictures soon so be on the lookout.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and a romantic valentines day!
Talk to you later~
On Saturday, I had lunch with a friend of mine (Alecia) that I had lost touch with for about the last three years and it was so great! Funny thing, since we have been out of touch, we have both found the right guy and both had babies. She had a little girl, Ali, on the 11th of October (which will be easy to remember because Brian's birthday is the 12th). She is precious and her other two (Summer and Bree) have really grown into beautiful young ladies!
Also, I found out on Saturday that I am going to be an Aunt again! How exciting is that!!! Doug and Cassie are having their second little one. Now I'm just waiting on hearing the news from Ryan and Lindsay!! ; )
Brian has been busy working on a contract job. Good thing is that he gets to work from home, and he really seems to be enjoying it! He likes the company and actually has an interview with them on Thursday to become a permanent sales rep for them.
I'm still working two days a week and I really enjoy it too. Hard thing is that we are constantly having to ask Grammy or Aunt Elicia to watch the booger and we're afraid we're going to wear out our welcome soon! Hopefully, once he gets to be one or so, I won't have such a problem talking him to a day care, but it's just too much for me right now.
Sorry to cut this short, but I have to run and get Miss Jaiden from school and then I am going to pick up little man's pictures from Target. They were supposed to be in yesterday, but AGAIN, the order got mixed up. Anyways, I'm sure I'll be sending out pictures soon so be on the lookout.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and a romantic valentines day!
Talk to you later~
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Barrera Look-alike Meter
Well, if it had been any other way, we night have had to ask some questions!!
MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph
Monday, February 4, 2008
The Weekend...I hope you have a minute...or thirty!
Since I already filled everyone in on what was happening throughout the week, I thought I would share our weekend with ya...
On Friday, we pretty much did nada!!! Anthony was feeling pretty yucky so we just stuck around the house. Brian went to Wal-mart and bought him a fancy aquarium humidifier, so he (Anthony) could finally get some good sleep.
On Saturday, Jaiden went to a friend's house to spend the night...(YIPPEE, she's finally un-grounded...and the countdown had already began for the next one!) And on Saturday night, Brian went out with some friends of his and had a 'guys night out', so I decided to go through a box of old pictures and stuff that I had from my Mom's house* (which is now my Dad's house). Anywhoo, going through an old box like that is about as cool as finding a hidden treasure! I remember when my Dad gave it to me, but I don't think that I had the time to really look through it as I transferred the stuff into a more storable box that I kept under my bed. I found old pictures and letters of my Mom's and then stuff from me, Doug, Ryan and Sean as we were growing up. Because I was at the house alone, I decided to put our new scanner/copier/fax machine/toaster oven (okay so I added the toaster oven thing, but I am almost willing to bet that it'll do it) into use and started scanning stuff in and e-mailing it to Mom. We talked on the phone as we looked through the stuff and we laughed and laughed and then she was telling me stories about some of the older pictures, it was a really nice moment for me! Okay, sorry, I got a little deep into that, so moving on....
* I actually didn't decide to go through this box, but as I was walking through my bedroom, the box had somehow inched it's way out from underneath my bed just enough to catch my big toe as I was walking by....after a few choice words...that I said to myself of course (my Grandparents do read this ya know) I pulled it out and well, I had nothing else to do soooo...
Sunday was Superbowl Day!!! Jaiden went to see the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus (Aunt Elicia, I still have your Billy Ray Cyrus CD and will return it to you soon...I'm sorry!) concert movie and Brian, Anthony and I went to a friends house to watch the big game! Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much (err..ANY) of the game, but I still had a really good time. Anthony had a mini stalker at the house that we were at. Every time he would fall asleep a little radar would go off in this little girl's head (the little girl's name is Indigo and she is SO CUTE!) and she was quite insistant that Anthony wanted her to hold him. So I finally did what any great mother would do...I hid him in one of the upstairs bedrooms. When he fell asleep, of course Indigo's radar went off and she was searching the house for him. I met her on the stairs and she asked me where he was. I told her that I hid him from her and she looked me square in the eye and said, "I'm gonna find your baby!" Okay, so it scared me a little, but as most three years olds do, she lost interest in about a minute and then Gia (the other little precious girl at the party) walked by and that was all of that. After the game was over, we picked up Jaiden, got home around 10:30 and I fell asleep around 11:30. I haven't been asleep before 11:30 in four months...it was absolutely amazing!
Unfortunately, my early bedtime didn't last as long as I would have liked. You see, when we got home I told Jaiden to make sure that when she got up for school the next morning to immediately get into the shower since she didn't have one that night. I told her to make sure that she set her alarm clock for 7:00. We normally get up at that time...okay, so she normally gets up at that time and gets herself ready for school and then we make sure that she is at school by 7:45. So, this morning, Jaiden comes into my bedroom and asks me if she could take a shower in my bathroom, I said yes and turned back over. When she got out of the shower, I then took my place in the bathroom and washed off my face and brushed my teeth. I knew that I couldn't really go back to bed because I had to go to work this morning. As I am brushing my teeth, Jaiden walks in the bathroom with a hideous outfit on and I tell her to go find something else to wear. Of course it could NEVER be that easy, so she pouts off to her room telling me that she has NOTHING to wear and I follow (yes, I know Mom, 'the rest of my life', thanks). I get into her closet and start picking out something for her to wear when my sub-conscience is thinking that it's probably getting pretty close to 7:30 or so by this time so I ask Jaiden what time it is. (Sidebar...I don't have an alarm clock in my bedroom so I am 100% clueless as to what the time is.) Jaiden then looks at me with one of those dear in the headlights look and tells me 'Six O'Eight". Six o'clock in the morning.....and I'm up.....and my four month old is still sleeping...do you have any idea of what precious sleep time that is just being lost, because Jaiden decided to just wake up an hour and a half before we were supposed to. I wanted to cry. Needless to say, Jaiden and I had a nice long morning with our hot tea, we curled our hair and Jaiden picked out my outfit for the day. Then it was off to school for Jaiden and I went to work.
And that brings me here. Sitting in front of the computer at 12:42 in the a.m. My poor husband is in the other room while I am neglecting him of all of his time with me...and yes, he looks forward to the time that I make him spend with me...hehe!
Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful week.
I love you all!
Oh yeah, I had Anthony's pictures done last week at Target and although I don't have the actual photo's back yet, here are some of the proofs that they emailed to me....
**WARNING** THE FOLLOWING PICTURES COULD RESULT IN YOUR INABILITY TO RESIST KISSING YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN!!!
Friday, February 1, 2008
Sick Boy
I took Anthony to the doctor today and we found out that he has the Croup. Poor little thing! His voice is almost gone and he sounds like a little seal. He was sooo fussy last night and he stayed up until 4:30 this morning. The only way that he was happy was if I was holding him up and walking around. He was so sad and clingy all night, he would just bury his head into my chest and hum, it was so freakin cute, sad...but absolutely adorable!
Anyways, pray for us to have a half way peaceful night tonight! I'll post again tomorrow to let you know how he is feeling.
Anyways, pray for us to have a half way peaceful night tonight! I'll post again tomorrow to let you know how he is feeling.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Help....I need somebody
I need a babysitter for Anthony! Someone in either the Carrollton area or in the Uptown/Park Cities area would be wonderful!! Come on Murphey...I know you know people! It would only be for a couple of days a week (Monday and Thursday) and unfortunately I can't pay a lot, but will pay.
If anyone knows of anyone that could help us out, please let me know!
Thanks for your help.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Man...what a day!!
Today started out great! I was determined that I would accomplish more today than I have all week, and considering I really haven't done anything all week, I really didn't set the bar too high...But anyways, I got up this morning and took J-Bug to school, then I went to the grocery store to grab some stuff that we needed. I came back home and loaded and ran the dishwasher, started dinner (God bless the crock pot) and then took a little nap...hey, I don't want to strain anything okay! ; ) After my little nap, I got up and fed the baby and got him ready to go and have his pictures taken at Target. We got some really great shots of him and the girls up there were super sweet...(Sorry Mel, it was convenient, but I still want to get our family pictures done with you!!!) After the pictures were taken I ran back home and had lunch with Brian just before I went to pick up J-Bug from school. After I picked her up we (me, J, and Anthony) all went to get Anthony his four month old shots....that's where the day got ruined (cue the da da daaaaa music).
Jaiden was stoked about getting to come with me and asked if she could be in the room with us when he got his shots. I explained to her that brother would cry and I wasn't sure if she wanted to be there, but she insisted, so I let her, probably not the best move. Oh and, just an FYI, at four months old, babies get one oral vaccination and three shots. We get in there and they asked me to hold him a certain way and Jaiden stood in front of me watching the nurses prepare everything. Of course, I too hate to see my baby cry so I was as not looking forward to this, but they did it and he wailed! As if that wasn't enough, I look up and Jaiden is in tears with the absolute most horrified look on her face and both hands over her ears. It broke my heart, but I knew that I couldn't break down right there in the doctor's office, so with a strong upper lip and 10mgs of Lexapro, I held it in....until we got to the car.
With that experience down, I doubt that Jaiden will ever go back to the doctor with me to get brother's shots done and I am also sure that I destroyed any dream she ever had about being a pediatrician! Good job mom! And as for Anthony, he is okay now and sleeping. He was pretty fussy earlier, but I got some Tylenol in him and he finally fell asleep, in my arms. It was the sweetest thing ever! I realized tonight that on a normal night when he gets sleepy, he wants one of two things, either to be in his swing or in his bed. He isn't the biggest fan of just being carried around all the time so although it was a really bad day at the doctor's office, I really cherished our time together tonight!
I love you all!
Jaiden was stoked about getting to come with me and asked if she could be in the room with us when he got his shots. I explained to her that brother would cry and I wasn't sure if she wanted to be there, but she insisted, so I let her, probably not the best move. Oh and, just an FYI, at four months old, babies get one oral vaccination and three shots. We get in there and they asked me to hold him a certain way and Jaiden stood in front of me watching the nurses prepare everything. Of course, I too hate to see my baby cry so I was as not looking forward to this, but they did it and he wailed! As if that wasn't enough, I look up and Jaiden is in tears with the absolute most horrified look on her face and both hands over her ears. It broke my heart, but I knew that I couldn't break down right there in the doctor's office, so with a strong upper lip and 10mgs of Lexapro, I held it in....until we got to the car.
With that experience down, I doubt that Jaiden will ever go back to the doctor with me to get brother's shots done and I am also sure that I destroyed any dream she ever had about being a pediatrician! Good job mom! And as for Anthony, he is okay now and sleeping. He was pretty fussy earlier, but I got some Tylenol in him and he finally fell asleep, in my arms. It was the sweetest thing ever! I realized tonight that on a normal night when he gets sleepy, he wants one of two things, either to be in his swing or in his bed. He isn't the biggest fan of just being carried around all the time so although it was a really bad day at the doctor's office, I really cherished our time together tonight!
I love you all!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
January 21st - January 27th
Miss Jaiden was out of school Monday and Tuesday of this week, so since she had gotten in trouble last weekend, Brian made her play Cinderella (not the beautiful, meet Prince Charming one, the one before all that) and boy did she clean! She really did a great job and I think Brian was frustrated because she enjoyed it. Maybe we shouldn't have put in the whole Cinderella comparison.
On Wednesday, Jaiden brought home her report card and I can't even tell you how happy we were! She brought up all of her grades at least ten points (all A's and B's) except for math, but we are working on that now! I'm telling you, if your kid won't pay attention in school or you are having any attention problems like ADD, I HIGHLY recommend a hot cup of tea with sweetener (NOT SUGAR) in the morning before school! It has really helped little miss J-Bug!
Brian got a job on Friday and we were soo excited. I actually had to stay home from work today so that he could get something done...darnit ; )! To make it even better, he will be working remotely, so he'll still get to be here with me and the kiddos. He really seems to like the company so I hope that this works out.
The whole gang...
On Wednesday, Jaiden brought home her report card and I can't even tell you how happy we were! She brought up all of her grades at least ten points (all A's and B's) except for math, but we are working on that now! I'm telling you, if your kid won't pay attention in school or you are having any attention problems like ADD, I HIGHLY recommend a hot cup of tea with sweetener (NOT SUGAR) in the morning before school! It has really helped little miss J-Bug!
Brian got a job on Friday and we were soo excited. I actually had to stay home from work today so that he could get something done...darnit ; )! To make it even better, he will be working remotely, so he'll still get to be here with me and the kiddos. He really seems to like the company so I hope that this works out.
On Saturday, Brian, Anthony and I (Jaiden was at her dad's and that's a WHOLE other story) went to Emberlea's birthday party at a skating rink in Grand Prairie. And, yeah....I skated (thanks to Anna giving me her socks and skates!) Boy that was an adventure, but we had a really good time. Sorry, no pictures from that because I knew as soon as I took the camera out there, I would fall on my butt and break the camera into a million little pieces! But after we got finished there, we went back to Grammy's (Brian's moms) and hung out and then I left Brian and Anthony there to go and have dinner with some friends from high school. We met at Razzoo's in Mesquite and had a really nice time! We had some drinks and ate some good food.
Sam, Angel, Jenny and Sheree
Sam and Melanie (with her stylin new hair do!)
Amanda and Melanie
The whole gang...
Melanie, Angel, Sam, Jenny, Amanda, Sheree and Me
I'll have to do another post about Jaiden's weekend at her dad's later, but I will tell you that when Jaiden made it home, she didn't come home empty handed...in fact, she came home with another addition to our household...meet Clinton the Beta.
Well, it was once again a fun filled week in the Barrera house!
I love you all!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
He finally did it!!
Anthony rolled over yesterday all by himself! We were playing on the floor (tummy time) and he just did it! For whatever reason, I felt that this was a huge milestone for him and I just had to share it with everyone!
Brian told me that I was really stressing out over it too much. He told me that he has never had a friend that was laying on the ground saying 'come on guys, just roll me over, I never got that down when I was a baby'. It's true I guess, but I feel much better now that he has done it!
Brian told me that I was really stressing out over it too much. He told me that he has never had a friend that was laying on the ground saying 'come on guys, just roll me over, I never got that down when I was a baby'. It's true I guess, but I feel much better now that he has done it!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
What a week!!
Wow, what a week at the Barrera's!! Tuesday, Jaiden, Anthony and I went to the skating rink for a PTA meeting. Yes, our school decides to make sure that EVERY student in the school knows that the PTA meeting will be held at the local skating rink and that every parent should try to attend...thank you Kent Elementary....thank you!
Jaiden got out of school early Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so Aunt Jay came over Wednesday and we all went to La Hacienda Ranch for lunch...it was super yummy!
Thursday was filled with us trying to convince Anthony that he would eventually have to roll over and soon after become somewhat mobile!!
Jaiden got out of school early Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so Aunt Jay came over Wednesday and we all went to La Hacienda Ranch for lunch...it was super yummy! Thursday was filled with us trying to convince Anthony that he would eventually have to roll over and soon after become somewhat mobile!!
We see how he felt about that! 
Anthony tried his first couple of bites of applesauce and I am truly afraid of this child when he starts really eating. He LOVES his food!!
And Jaiden was quite the lady with her honey bbq wings... 
Then on Friday, Brian and I jet setted off to Arizona. 
I have to say that I was really worried about leaving Anthony for the first time over night, but we both survived and it was a nice get away for me and the hubby!
Anywho, we got to Phoenix and had our business meeting and all went really really well. Brian talked his talk and I smiled and nodded as if I had some understanding as to what was being talked about! We really didn't have a lot of time to do anything so we just drove around Friday night and had dinner and then Saturday morning we got up and Brian took me up South Mountain. It was beautiful! I took a thousand or so pictures, but photos could not capture the true beauty that we saw. Being born and raised in and around the Dallas area mountains aren't something that we see everyday...err every...so to get to drive to the top of one and look out at the land around was awesome! I'll put them in a slideshow for all to see...
Grammy stayed with the kiddos while me and Brian were in Phoenix and I'm not sure that I will ever be able to convince her to come over again! For starters, Jaiden invited a friend over, yet she failed to mention it to me or her dad so you can imagine Grammy's surprise when she showed up to pick up Miss Jaiden and she had another little girl in tow. Needless to say, Jaiden is grounded and as of yesterday has the cleanest bedroom on the block! Then, I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store before we left so Grammy had to make Lord only knows how many different trips to the grocery store and to McDonald's. So with that said, I want to make a public apology to Grammy! I am so sorry and I promise that you won't have to work your tailend off next time that you come over.
Well, as you can see it was an exciting week at Casa de Barrera! Thanks for taking the time to listen to my madness!
I love you all!!
Okay, I was going to put in a slide show of all of our pics, but it won't work so here ya go! Let me know what you think!
Wow...my husband is HOT!
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