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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!!

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!

It's a New Year!!

With the New Year upon us, of course I vowed many things...you know the usuals that you usually break by the end of the first week and I have almost broken all of my resolutions, but have decided that this year will be the year that I keep at least one. Keeping better contact with my friends and family. Now granted, I haven't started out the best so far considering that my thank you notes from Christmas are still sitting unfinished on my breakfast table, but I'm working on them!!!!



So to get everyone updated on what has been going on it the Barrera house, as most of you know, Brian was laid off again from his job ten days before Christmas and hasn't had a lot of luck finding a replacement as of yet. We're still okay considering this isn't the first time that this has happened to us and we were a bit more prepared than the last time. We are actually flying to Phoenix on Friday to talk to a man about a contract job. If all goes well, and I hope that it does, we would ideally like to get a few more contract jobs and wouldn't have to worry about Brian getting a regular ole 9-5, which makes both of us very happy!



I went back to work with the same firm and am working two days a week. Granted it isn't really paying the bills, but it gets me out of the house a couple of days a week and keeps my sanity at a reasonable level. Other than that, not a lot going on with me.

Brian and I have really been busy bodies since we have both been home so much. We have gone to a Cowboys game, gone out in a limo for a friends birthday, gone to another friends birthday and stayed out wayyyyy to late, took the kids to a museum in McKinney and Brian went to the game yesterday. Shoot, if I knew that we were going to have this much fun, I would have had him quit his job a lot earlier...hehehehe!! Honestly, we have really been blessed and I thank the Lord every day that we are able to live the lives that we do and still make it. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to spend quality time with your family and still have the time to do other things with your friends too!!

Jaiden has really picked up in school. She really struggles and I hate that, but toward the end of last year, she seemed to finally start 'getting it'. I really hope so because nothing is worse than having to see your child struggle through school!!

Anthony is just growing like a weed! I am almost sure that he is going to outgrow Jaiden by the end of the year. He is starting to get a little bit more fun now too. He's smiling and laughing out loud! He still won't roll over though...this should have been a task that he accomplished weeks ago, but he still hasn't. He's just lazy! When I put him on his tummy, he'll play for a bit like he is supposed to, but then just lays his head down or starts screaming when he's ready to not be there anymore. He's a brat...yeah, I said it...already, he is a brat. A really cute brat, but a brat nonetheless!!

Well that's about all that's going on in the Barrera house for now. Pray for Brian and I to have a safe flight for Friday and I'll update you soon on how the meeting went.

I love you all!