Tuesday, January 31, 2006

~About Time Huh?~

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Wow, I can't believe that it has been over a week since I last updated.  What kind of journaler am I?  A bad one I suppose!!  Just this morning, Barbie was asking me when I'd be posting again!  Goondess.  I used to post once a day... if not twice.  And look at me now.  I'm posting maybe once a week.  Ugh!  Bad Jennifer, bad. 

  I suppose one of the reasons that I haven't been updating more is that I'm having a hard time finding the time.  Sounds sad I know, but it is the truth.  

Zachary has me on my toes these days.  Just this last weekend, he got to big owies.  One was that he busted open his lip while playing in his sisters room.  The story from Rowan- I know, bad Mom for letting him play in there with just her- was that he was trying to climb the steps that she has to get into her bed and he fell, smacking his lip and biting down (thank goodness he doesn't have teeth on the sides yet) on the inside of his cheek.  Yeah, the scream alone made my heart jump up into my throat.  I don't think I've ever gotten down that hallway quicker! I have to admit, I freaked.  I hate that too.  I wanted to take him to the ER and have him get stiches!!  Ugh, I told you I was freaking.  Derek was able to calm him down and finally talked me into being calm too... lol.  Not 10 minutes after he hurt himself, he was back to being his normal self.  He even wanted to go back to his Sissy's room.  

That was Friday night.  On Sunday Rowan had picked up her brother up (literally) to bring him into the front room.  Well, I had asked her to put him down but she kept on trucking with him in her arms and tripped over a toy.  Yep, you can imagine that they fell like a tree that just had been chopped down.  Zach basically broke his sisters fall and he went down face first!   I think he was more scared then hurt... But there is a bit of a purple bruise.  He was doing okay in about 5 minutes.  Its funny how quickly little ones can bounce back!!  

Zachary is also doing this new thing where he'll put his hand up to his ear- like he is talking on the phone- and mumbles.  It is so adorable!!  He'll also put anything that resembles a phone- TV remote, pager- or a phone up to his ear and "chats" pretty loudly.  I'm working on him with blowing kisses too.  He gets the whole put-your-hand-on-your-mouth-thing... but now the "blowing" part!!  He'll get it... I'm sure... Probably before his little booty starts walking!!  

Yes, that is right... he is still not walking.  Ha!  He is still determined to cruise and crawl.  He'll walk if he has your fingers, but once you let go, he'll slowly drop to his booty.  Truthfully, I'm really surprised he isn't walking.  Rowan walked at exactly 10months old... and Zach has been cruising since he was almost 8 months old.  I guess he'll do it when he wants!!
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Miss Rowan on the other hand is a little hellion.  She is at the age (well, I suppose it happens at any age!) that she is wanting to test me and talk back.  I swear, sometimes I forget that she is only 4 years old with the way that she talks to me.  I have the hardest time trying to figure out why she acts one way with me and then another way with her father.  My Mom says that is the same way I acted with my father.  Who knows, maybe most children defy their mother and act better for their father!!  

She is doing really well with her gymnastics and dance though.  I'm truly amazed with how quickly she picks up the dance moves.  They are already working on their Spring performance, which wehave to pay $45 for their costume... But anywho, its adorable and I can't wait to see it!!  

She does have her good points though... lol.  

Just the other day, as I was getting her out of the Tahoe, she noticed the manual lock.  She wanted to try to do it herself, so I let her.  After she was done, she turns to me and goes, "Thats Amazing! Mama." I could have died right then and there.  Just the look on her face was priceless.   

Such an angel sometimes!!  

Hmm, what else, what else.  

This weekend I'm going out!!  Woo Hoo!  My friend Amy and I will be going out to dinner and then going to see "Underworld: Evolution".  I was so excited to hear that there was a second part coming out because I loved the first movie so much!!  Derek is being an awesome hubby and watching the kiddos that night.  He has told me to go out and have a blast.  Not to worry about him and the kids at home.  He even told me to drink it up and flirt with boys... lmao.  He is one funny husband, I tell ya!  

Speaking of my husband.  

I'm really enjoying this new schedule of his.  Having him home for 4 days (most of the time unless he works OT) is pretty neat.  The kids also love having him there... Zachary has grown attached to his daddy!!  Its so cute to see his face light up when Derek comes in!!   He will be working some OT on Friday though, which is okay with me.  He gets out... He gets out of my hair... and he makes some extra cash!!  Hehe... I'm so horrible huh?  

Well, I've rambled on enough now... I will leave you with this picture of my babies napping together.  I thought this was so sweet... Enjoy!
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  Hugs, ~Jenn~

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

~Pictures from Princess Tinker Bell's Birthday~

Day late and a dollar short??

Never :)

 

Here are the pictures from Princess Tinker Bell's (aka Rowan) birthday party.

It was a whole lot of fun and had some really yummy food.  I think the whole brunch thing was a hit and everyone was stuffed to the gill.

Of course Missy Moo got spoiled... that is nothing new.  I think her favorites would be the Disney Princess scooter and the Fairy Princess tent she got.  The tent is still up in our front room and she begs to ride the scooter all the time...

Too bad Dad is being a Party Pooper and won't let her ride it in the house :)

 

I am a little upset with the fact that out of 77 pictures taken that day, only about the 11 that you see came out.  The flash on my camera was turned off to get a good picture of the cake and wasn't turned back on by accident.  The rest of the pictures taken-until I realized it wasn't on-were sooo blurry!!  Bummer... But at least we got those!!

 

Alright... Enjoy those!!

I'm off to get the kiddos ready for bed... I'm Tired :)

 

Toodles,
~Jenn~

Monday, January 23, 2006

~Happy Birthday Princess Rowan~

Happy Birthday to Princess Rowan...

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(miss ro around 1 1/2 years... not a little baby anymore!)

She is now a big ol' Four Year Old!!

I will be back later this evening with pictures of her Tinker Bell birthday party from yesterday!!

 

Have a wonderful Monday all...

~Jennifer~

Thursday, January 19, 2006

~T.G.I.T~

  Hello and Happy Thursday to you all!  

I hope your week is treating you well.  I know mine is, because today is my Friday.  Yippee Skippy!!  

I'm excited too because tomorrow is going to be a very fun day!  Tomorrow after I pick up Missy Moo from school I'm going to take her to the mall to get her birthday celebration under way!  She is so excited about it too.  She keeps telling everyone that she is going to the mall to get a Tinker Bell cake... lol.  No cake from the mall, but she will be getting one!!  

I'm excited too because it is fun to see her have such fun!  Especially when she goes to Build-A-Bear.  She gets so serious.  She doesn't want to be inturrupted or messed up while she is "washing" the bear or getting it dressed.  Too Cute.  I am planning on bringing my camera with me when we go to the mall... So don't worry.  I will be flooding the journal with pictures from this weekend probably mid next week :)  

I went to Target last night for stuff and then stopped in their teeny-tiny party aisle to see if they had anything I'd be interested in picking up for her party.  Nothing at all.  Except for the balloons that Ro grabbed and shoved into the cart!  I guess I'll have to go to one of the big party stores tomorrow to get all the Tinker Bell stuff I need.  Plus, I have to order her cake still too!  

Oh yeah... Tomorrow I'm also getting my hair done again.  I'm so fed up with how it looks and the color.  She (my hair lady) is giong to kill me... But I think I'm going to want to go all blonde this time around.  I miss the blonde hair and I know for a fact that is what my honey likes... So, if there is by chance a picture of me snuck in there with the rest of Ro's bday pictures, you'll see it :)  

I've been doing really well on my WW point diet... Or so I hope.  Last night we had spaghetti and I had whole wheat pasta instead of the normal pasta.  I'd have to say, it was pretty tasty.  It was 3pts for 1cup while the normal pasta is 4pts for 1cup... Hey, when you only get so many points per day, 1 point is something you want to save!!  It was yummy though, with a whole lot of sauce and 1/4c of ground hamburger... The plus side of that dinner was being able to have garlic bread.  Yum!!  I don't know how it worked out... but it was 4 points for 1/5 of the loaf of garlic bread.  So Derek cut the loaf into equal 5 parts and I was able to use some of my extra bonus points to have some!!  It was awesome!!   I just hope I'll be able to be good on Sunday when we have Ro's bday.  There is going to be so much good food and her birthday cake (I'm thinking half chocolate and half strawberry!!)... I just need to keep my portions small and my head out of the clouds to remember why I am dieting!!  

 Well, I need to go help clean the house for the party and make dinner.  Baked chicken with veggies and potatoes.  Yum... 7points!!  

Hope you all have a great evening and if I don't see you before the weekend, have a good one too.

~Jenn~

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

~Never~

Never go to a Fast Food Resturant...

 

Order a chicken sandwich and think its healthy...

 

Because it isn't...

 

And if you are counting points, that will surely screw up your day!!!

 

And yes... I went to Jack in the Box yesterday and ordered a Chicken Ciabatta sandwich... Thought it was healthy.

 

Pfft... I got home and found out it was 510 calories with 9 grams of fat...

If you do Weight Watchers... thats 10 points!!!  Eeek...

 

Yeah, so thankfully I did walk for a good 30mins!!!

 

So there you go folks... Learn by this Poickle's mistake!!

 

:)

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

~I'm Back~

Well, well, well.

Its about freakin' time I came back to this place to do an actual journal entry, huh?

Hmm, lets see.

What has the Pickle Gal been up to?

Not a whole lot.  Trying to recover from my sinus infection and take care of my sickies that I claim as my children :)  Mr. Zachary is finally doing better.  He is back to being his Happy-Go-Lucky Self and his gums are looking so much better too.  There is still a little reddness and he does cry out if something happens to get him there too hard, but overall, he is doing 100% better.

Rowan has been better for a while now.  She is back to school and her normal activities of gymnastics and dance.  And she is back to being her good ol' bratty self :)   

Gotta love her...  

Speaking of Miss Rowan... We will be celebrating her 4th Birthday on Sunday.  Her actual birthday isn't until Monday the 23rd, but because of Derek's schedule and the rest of the family, it will be held the day before. We are going to do a brunch and have her "Tinker Bell" party.  Yes, that is the theme that was picked out this year.  She is very excited about having a "Tinker Bell" cake and what not. 

I've also promised her that I'll take her to the mall on Friday to the Disney store to get a "Tinker Bell" outfit- if they have one!- and then to Build-a-Bear to build her 4th birthday bear that will, of course, be dressed as ta-da... "Tinker Bell".

What she doesn't know is what else she'll be getting for her birthday. 

Mommy and Daddy are getting a Turtle.  Yes, that is right, a Turtle.  She is also getting a Barbie Princess DVD (not sure of the title) and a video game (not sure of the brand at the moment) thing that plugs straight into the TV and allows you to play 4 different video games... and of course, it is Disney Princess.  I'm sure she'll be plenty suprised all around with the presents she is getting.  

Oh yeah!  

She is also getting a Disney snow globe that we purchased originally as a Christmas gift but decided not to give her until her birthday because it is "Tinker Bell" flying around the Castle at Disneyland.  I'm sure she's going to LOVE IT.  

I've just gotta get the "Tinker Bell" party stuff from the local party store and then order the cake too.  I am hoping they can do something real cute with the whole "Tinker Bell" theme.  I'm pretty sure they will be able to.  Not to mention get all the food for the party too. Thankfully some people are going to bring stuff too.  Its a brunch so we'll have both breakfast type foods and lunch snacky foods.  You know, Coscto Muffins, fruit plates, waffles, egg plates... yum yum yum.  

There goes my diet...  

OH yeah, forgot to tell you about that too!! I've started counting points again.  Yes, I'm unofficially doing Weight Watchers.  I haven't gone into WW to sign up with them, but because I have all the goodies and know how to count points... I've started it up.  I have done that to get my life/body in control.  I hope to drop 25lbs in the next 4months and then go from there.   I am also going to start excersising.  Which will be awfully helpful with my metabolism.  I've been told, because I'm still pretty young, that if I excersise, I should be able to loose weight like I want.  So, wish me luck on my attempt to drop some pounds!!  

Hmm...   I've been a pretty happy mama lately.  Derek has been off the last few days so we've been able to spend the evenings with him.  Its nice to have him home more with this new schedule of his.  He is on 4 days and then off for 4 days... So unless he has to or chooses to work OT on his days off... He is all ours for 4 days!!!  lol...  

Well, I need to run.  Gotta get Ro off for dance class and then when I get home from that, I need to clean and make dinner.... eeeek..  

Have a great evening Friends,
~Jenn~

Saturday, January 14, 2006

~Pictures Pictures~

Okay, I'm finally getting around to sharing those pictures of our trip to Yosemite National Park right after New Years.

I'm still not feeling all that great to spill out the whole story day by day, so you'll just have to enjoy the pictures and the explanation under them :)

Hope you enjoy the pictures and the rest of your weekend my friends!!

Hugs,
~Pickle Jenn~

Thursday, January 12, 2006

~So Yeah~

So yeah.

My son has finally started to feel some what better.  Thank goodness for that new antibiotic.  I still think his gums- which look maybe a little better, but not great- are hurting him though.  Poor thing, woke up crying a few times last night with his hand to his mouth... makes me so sad.

 

But I'm still feeling like poo.  So much in fact that I'm heading to the Drs in a little bit.

 

Zachary gave me "pink eye".  Yup, nice huh?  My whole left eye is red and I couldn't open it this morning.  Literally had to pry it open in the bath... Yuck!

I also feel like a sinus infection has no taken over my head... So hopefully my doctor will give me some meds to make me feel better. 

 

Maybe a nap at mom and dad's after my appointment will help too :)

 

Derek finally gets home this afternoon... WoO HoO!!  I'm thinking Breakfast for Dinner is on our menu tonight!!

 

Okay, I'm outtie.  Wish me luck...

~Jenn~

 

PS. Planning on posting pics tomorrow while Miss Ro is at school... so keep an eye open for them!! *smile*

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

~Sorry~

I feel like a slacker... Really I do.


Yet, I have a really good reason why I haven't been around and posted all those pictures that I've been meaning to share with you guys.

 

God, every time I come here its to tell you why I'm not doing a really entry.  How sucky is that??

 

I'm still sick.

I can't seem to kick this cold.

 

And my poor little boy can't catch a break at all either...

I had to take him back to the doctors last night... Poor thing.  He is still running a fever and we found out that his double ear infection (that we found out he had on Friday afternoon) hadn't been effected with the Zithromax he'd been on.

So, the PA gave him a new prescription for some other strain of antibiotic.  I hope that will kick his ear infections butt!!

Also, we found out that he has a viral infection in his throat and on his upper gums where he is getting teeth.  His poor gums look so horrible... A purple red color... swollen... and bleeding a bit at the teeth breaking through.  Horrible I tell you!!

There is nothing to give him for the viral infection either.  The PA told me to take some maylox (sp?) and benedryl and mix equal parts together and then put it on his gums with a Q-tip.  He doesn't like me putting it on there... But it seems to soothe him, the poor baby.

 

I've got so much on my plate right now... not even funny.

A house to clean... because its been neglected the last few days due to sickies in the house...

Sickies to take care of :(

And other junk!

 

So, I'll share those photos when I can.  Just keep Mr. Z in your thoughts... Hope he gets better soon, okay??

 

~Jenn~

Monday, January 9, 2006

~MIA and Sick~

I know I've been MIA...

 

And I'm sorry.

 

I've been dealing with sick kiddies- Rowan and Zach both have/had colds and ear infections- and been sick myself (still am!).

 

I have a bunch of Journal Alerts saved in my inbox and I promise that I'll try to get to them this evening... Along with a Real Entry from me.

Shoot, I still have to share my pictures from our Yosemite trip :)

 

Derek also leaves (again!) today for 4 days... Woo Hoo.  Perfect timing with me being sick and all...

 

So, I will try my hardest to get to everyone's journals and do an entry tonight... But forgive me if I don't... This cold is kicking my Booty!

 

~Pickle Jenn~

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

~Pickle's 2005 In Review~

I know it is already January 3, 2006... But I wanted to go and take a look back at all that has happened in the Pickle Jar during 2005...

So, time to turn back the table of time...

 

January 2005

January came while I was very big and preggo with my Mr. Z... I was counting down the days until I'd be popping out that boy!!

Unfortunately, January also came with a tragedy for my husband and his police department.  On January 9th, the PD lost one of their own.

So on January 18th, I experienced my first- and hopefully last- funeral for a police officer.  I'd have to say, it was one of the most touching and emotional things I've had to experience.

We also had some happy times in January!!  We got to celebrate Rowan's 3rd birthday... Fun times, fun times!!

 

February 2005

February came with out too much activity...

That is, until February 22!!!

Zachary Justice Matthew was finally HERE!!!  You can read more about his coming <Here>

 

March 2005

The first part of March brought many doctor's appointments and worry... I knew something was "up" or "wrong" with Zachary... So we spent a few couple of times at the doctors trying to figure out what was up.

It seemed that 2005 wasn't going to start off that great with us in the end... Zach ended up getting really sick really fast and spent 12 days- March 17th until March 29th- in the hospital.
Zach's story Part 1
Zach's story Part 2
Zach's story Part 3

 

April 2005

In April, my parents moved into our "den"- aka the Dorm Room"- while their new home was being built.

We also spent a lot of time at the doctors in April too... Check up for Mr. Z and all.

 

May 2005

In went back to work in May after being off for almost 3.5 months...

I also celebrated my 23rd birthday and my second wedding anniversary in the same week :)

 

June 2005

June brought a big milestone to our family...

Miss Rowan started School.  Yup, that is right.  Rowan started Preschool... And she loved it!

There was also supposed to be a J-Land Friend meeting... But because of time and logistic problems, that wasn't able to happen!!  It will happen though someday, huh Barbie?

 

July 2005

Nothing too interesting besides this Pickle getting sick and having to get shots!!

 

August 2005

We found out that Zachary loved to get baths in the sink...

And there was finally a J-Land meeting... Except it was with someone different than originally planned for... But still all the while it was great!!

I also planned a weekend away for just Derek and I to Wine and Roses!!

 

September 2005

Derek and I went on our weekend away to Wine and Roses... How wonderful it was...

Septemeber also brought sickness to our house... just in time for a Family Trip to Pismo.  We still went... And had a blast!!

 

October 2005

With Rowan starting school in June... you know what that means??  It means that she was still bringing home every sickness known to man :)

And just before Halloween she was sick, once again!!

 

November 2005

The November cozy weather brought in my addiction to Janet Evanovich books ;)

Also two Thanksgivings and my friends wedding!!

 

December 2005

As the year came to the end... Many things were going on.

Rowan participated in her first dance recital...

Derek spent two weeks down in Monterey and the kids and I went to visit him for the weekend.  A trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium was the hit!

<pictures here for the above mentioned>

And of course... Christmas.  Well, in our case, we had 3 of them :)

 

Well, that was my 2005... or some of it at least... some of the important stuff I'm guessing :)

I'm glad each and every one of you could come along for the ride I call my life this year.  I cherish each and everyone of your friendships... Thanks for helping make my 2005 great!!

Hugs and Best Wishes for 2006,
~Pickle Jenn~

 

PS. As you can see, we are back from our trip to Yosemite!  I promise I'll be back with the details and the pictures from our wonderful trip!! :D