More from the Jersey Shore

Here are a couple of my other favorite pictures. The first to me just shows Jared's devotion and happiness when it comes to his children. Camden looks like he's eyeing a seagull that he wants to go after but Jared has this huge smile on his face and it's all about his baby boy. The other picture is Jared and Brayden in action. Jared was throwing Brayden around in the air (we won't mention that there was lightning and thunder in the distance and I was throwing all of our stuff together so we could get off the beach and back to safety while he played). Brayden couldn't love his daddy more and this picture shows how safe and happy he feels with him, I love and cherish that look. Because Jared loves me and the kids with his whole heart and wears that on his sleeve is why I can forgive him for letting me do all the packing while he played on the beach with his boys......besides we did get back to the house safely, soaked but safe!

First Day of School

My little man is growing up so quickly, I try to remind myself of this everyday and hope it helps me put things into perspective. Most of the time it doesn't and I still take things for granted and just try to get through the day without going insane! This is one day I took in as much as I could and hope it will be burned into my brain and heart forever. I didn't get all 'emotional' so I guess some might say I was heartless (my words), but my heart was bursting with pride and I knew I had to hide any anxiety I felt about leaving him. He was in a safe and comfortable place (he goes to preschool at our church, the attached school goes to 8th grade). Three long hours later I went to pick him up where he beamed at me and stood up and said to anyone who would listen 'that's my mommy' and then jumped into my arms. The lump in my throat was huge!

He has been to school three times now and he loves it. His 'report' slip that I get every time has comments on it that my boy is 'happy, joyful, talkative, listens well, and enjoys playing with all the kids in his class'. Yesterday he was waiting for his lunch and was saying como te llamas. WHAT?!?!?! When I asked him what he said he replied very matter of factly, "I'm asking you what your name is". I ran to his stack of papers from school and sure enough there is a paper with Spanish words and translations on it. He had Spanish for the first time that day for 20 minutes. I took Spanish for a whole semester in high school and I didn't even know what he said!

Camden is a totally different child when his big brother is in school too. He is quiet, calm and less reactive. He takes in what's around him instead of just watching his brother. I see a lot of Brayden in him when it's just the two of us.

So I didn't cry, but I knew this was the best thing for us and that Brayden (and me) needed this. Besides he's only going two days a week......we'll see what happens when he starts kindergarten!!!!! Then I'll be the mom following the school bus with big sunglasses on so no one sees how red and puffy my eyes are!

Cool!!!!!!

So thank you to my cousins once again for giving me ideas for my blog! I went to check up on my cousins and found music when I got to their blogs.....what's this and how do I do it?!?!?! So I clicked on the playlist and found so many songs I love and started compiling. An hour later I found the easy instructions on how to add it to my blog. Now this is one reason I don't keep up with my blog, because it can be time consuming (for me) and I end up letting the house, kids, dog go. But I have found a way to update my blog while listening to my music picks which is waaaaay cool. Most of these songs that I have picked have a meaning to me behind them, some I just like a lot and there will be more added. The song 'Love is all around' is the first song Jared and I danced to after we got married, I still like the words, they fit, but wow does it sound dated (I guess that's to be expected we are approaching our 12 year anniversary). The song 'Boston' was on the Today show while I was starting my labor with Camden. Norah Jones 'Sunrise' is the song I'd listen to while I tried to relax and nurse Brayden those first trying weeks. The song 'Jersey Girl'....well it's Springsteen and while I don't agree with his political views he is one face of Jersey and I really have found how much I love and miss New Jersey. Michael Buble is one of my sister in law Dawn's favorite artists and when I hear his songs it reminds me of her....plus I do really like his voice and music too. Green Days 'Time of your life' is a song Jared and I hear a lot every time we get ready to make a big move. It's wild how we hear it so much right before we leave but it reminds us to look at all the positive that came from where we were living and to look for the positive with the next state. The spiritual songs remind me of God and how wonderful He has been to me, they are songs we sing at the contemporary service which I have really come to enjoy swaying and clapping with my boys to on Sunday mornings.

So I said I was going to keep my updates simple but with great music playing in the background flooding me with memories or just bouncey music I like (thanks for the Jason Mraz song title Jodi) I got caught up. And now my dinner is burning! Oh well!

Yes I Am Still Here

Okay, I think we all can see that I am not good at keeping this up to date. I have good intentions but then someone wakes up early from a nap, dishes need to be done, etc, etc, etc...... Most of the time I feel like I have to type a book, and who has time for that (reading or typing it!!)?!??!? So I will try to update keeping the captions short and see if that helps me keep this current. We'll see!!

Here are a couple of pictures from our family vacation to the Jersey Shore. We had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, we saw lots of friends and met new ones. I found that 10 days on vacation is a bit long (the boys were completely off schedule by that point), but I also found that once we were home 10 days wasn't long enough!

I am really hoping that our vacation to New Jersey will become a tradition, not every year but maybe every couple of years. I really miss New Jersey and it's great to go back even if it's only for a short time.

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took at the beach. This is Brayden and Will just hanging out on the beach. The boys had a great time playing just like the 'old times'.

I'll TRY to post more pictures of our family vacation in the future.

Happy Fathers Day!

Sunday is Fathers Day as Jared keeps reminding all of us saying that everyone has to be nice to him because it's 'Daddys Day'. As he was saying this again tonight I thought to myself, what's with Fathers Day, after all he isn't here all the time like I am!!! He sees them for a few hours in the evening and then on the weekends. Well after I got past the 'make it about me' feelings I started to think about ALL the stuff Jared does and why he SOOOOO deserves 'Daddys Day'. Everyone always says they have the worlds best husband who is also the worlds best father.....well, I'm no exception because I do have the worlds best husband who doubles as the worlds best father! I will try to explain why my husband is so great but words really won't be enough. There is just a feeling I have in my heart when I think of him and how real he is, and know also in my heart that I just plain don't deserve him!

He truly LOVES spending time with his boys. He wants them to experience everything. He has taken Brayden to his 3rd or 4th major league baseball game (two weeks ago it was the Twins vs. Yankees). Last weekend he took both boys to a Blues Festival downtown (I would have gone but I really needed to have some uninterrupted time to get things done around here, which he completely understands). One huge reason we are going to NJ this summer is so Camden can see the ocean and so Brayden will remember the ocean, which is very important to Jared. In the evenings when Brayden wants to throw the baseball Jared ALWAYS makes time to do so even if it's only 5 times (Brayden's favorite number he just announced) because it is already past bedtime! He loves Saturday morning spending time with Brayden watching cartoons (even if it involves getting up early on his only morning to sleep in). And not only does Jared do all of this and much much more for and with his children, he truly wants to and gets as excited if not more excited than the boys.

Brayden's 1st Yankees game (there will be MANY more I'm sure of that!)

The boys at the Blues Fest after they ate all of Jareds cornbread!

Jared has known that he wanted to be a dad since before I even met him. He knew that he wanted kids before I was convinced. He was very involved with my pregnancies and very bummed that I never had cravings that sent him out at all hours of the night (he still brings this up.....maybe baby #3???).

Most of all he just loves us and wants the best for us, and while he may not be here 24/7 he works his butt off 24/7 to give us this wonderful life.

Happy Fathers Day Jared, you definately deserve this day and many others!

Moms Visit

Okay so my mom was here over a month ago and I had said I would post pictures. Well come to find out I really didn't take many with my digital camera! I really need a new camera like my cousins!

Well here is a couple of pictures from our visit to the gardens down the road from me. We went before any flowers were up but there were plenty of trees and shrubs. Mom and I were going around looking at markers and saying the name of trees, plants, etc. At one point Brayden knelt down in front of a little plant and said very matter of factly, "it's a shrub". Yes, it is a shrub it may have a long formal name but to Brayden it's just a shrub.

These last two pictures were from our trip to the Como Park Zoo. The first picture I love because it's just Grandma and Brayden spending time together looking and talking about whatever animal it was behind the glass. The last picture is of Camden attacking my moms apple pear (we had a picnic before going into the zoo). I think he is part vampire, he managed to drain that piece of fruit of all liquid! Sorry Mom!

No HOT WATER!

There isn't a picture to go with this (and if there was you'd all be very afraid!!!!). We knew our hot water heater was as old as the house and then about 4-5 months ago the relief valve started to leak. I was prepared, or so I thought, that we would go until the thing died and then we'd get a new one. That is fine except one thing......we REALLY should have had an idea of a replacement, where to get it, where the best deal was, etc....etc.....etc. We actually even talked on Monday about the fact that the thing was on it's last leg. Well I guess it overheard us because this morning (Wednesday) when we were washing hands before breakfast the water just wouldn't get warm. I went downstairs and the pilot light was out, okay I can handle this. Read directions to refresh memory and light the pilot. First attempt-failure; second attempt-failure; third attempt-yeah, success.....only to have it go out as I was putting the cover back on. The next 5-6 attempts throughout the day as I was calling Jared freaking out and then trying to call distributors (no one seems to want to replace water heaters, I guess it's not a big enough job?!?!) were all failures. I finally got the hint and left it only. So I finally got ahold of someone at 3pm and he was totally booked up but I guess he heard my frustration/panic and said he'd be here in 5 minutes (I also have this company service the furnace and A/C twice a year so I am a loyal customer, that should count for something!). The kids are napping so it's a perfect time. Well picture this.....Steven shows up and Camden starts to cry, he's in his crib safe so he'll have to stay there; he takes a look and finds out that it's not a 'standard' hot water heater hook up but not a problem it'll just cost a little more (of course, that is ALWAYS my luck!). I trust this company, Diane the receptionist is always soooo nice and so are the guys that come out here but I still feel a little uncomfortable going with the one and only estimate. So as I sit and try to figure all of this out, mind you I probably smell because I haven't showered and I have my hair up and no makeup and my face is really broke out right now, Brayden wakes and starts to cry and then comes out of his room with tears and snot streaming down his face in just his t-shirt and diaper. Camden is REALLY screaming now since I've ignored him for 5 minutes. The poor guy just couldn't get out fast enough!!! But I do think he felt sorry for me because he called me 15 minutes after he left and said he got his hands on the model we need and someone (he'll stay away I'm sure!) will be here to replace it at 8:30am tomorrow morning!!!!!! So still not feeling great about going with the first estimate, I searched more and got ahold of someone who could do it for around $300 less but not until next Tuesday. Lets see.....save $300 and go 5 more days without hot water; or pay and be able to take a hot shower tomorrow morning. Yeah, I guess I wouldn't have made it in the good ol days!