~Ooo Ooo~

Ooo Ooo... look at me.  I'm making my second entry in 3 days. 

Alright Jennifer :)

 

I'm taking a bit of time right now from straightening up the house to type type type ...

My kids are napping and Derek is at training... it is very quiet.

I'm actually thinking about napping... yet that will prevent me from sleeping tonight, so I'm not sure if I want to really take one.

 

Yesterday, I took just about a two hour nap... and then couldn't fall asleep until well after 1130pm.  I just couldn't shut off my mind... I hate that.  I was almost in tears because my mind was just going and going...

I just wanted to go to sleep.  Finally, after 1130, I was asleep... only to wake up when Derek came to bed at 1am (after he got home from dog training!!).

Then of course... my husband fell asleep and proceeded to snore!  He usually doesn't snore, but lately, over the last week or so... he snores up a storm.  I couldn't sleep.  I ended up throwing my pillow over my head and fell asleep.

I can't handle it and I don't know what is causing him to snore... but if it continues, he'll be sleeping in another room :)

 

Okay, enough complaining.

 

Tonight I'm going to dinner with my family... sans Derek.  He won't be home from training in time to go with us.  So, it will be my parents, brother, grandma and the kiddos and I.  We are going to The Olive Garden.  Yum Yum.  I can't wait.  Chicken Scampi!!  And of course the bread sticks...

Doesn't that sound delicious!?!

 

Then when I get home, we will be watching the UFC fight... I love that stuff... I'm really surprised that I do too, because I used to not be able to stand that type of stuff.  Now, I watch the Ultimate Fighter on FX and all the UFC fights on PayPerView.  Guess that just goes to show that your taste can change sometimes, right?

 

And of course, tomorrow is Easter!!

I can't wait for the "easter bunny" to hide the eggs for the kids... I think Rowan is going to have a blast.  I'm not sure if Zachary will get the idea of having to find the eggs, but we are going to try with him anyways.  The kids have their own sets of eggs to find... so that will make it a little easier on us.  And no... we don't hide hard boiled eggs.  So if a plastic egg gets lost somewhere... its not that big of a deal :)

 

Well, there is a load of laundry that needs to be folded calling my name... oh joy!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday evening and a great Easter!

~Jenn~

~Goodness Gracious~

Gosh...

I swear, I'm really getting pretty horrible at this journaling thing...

Haven't I said this before??

 

Well, instead of me repeating myself...

Here I go to my entry :)

 

Things have been pretty A-okay around the Pickle Jar.

The kids are healthy and happy... as well as Derek and I.

Derek has been working a lot... so we have been missing him quite a bit at home... but its all for a good reason, so its okay.

Thankfully we will be together on Easter.  He is actually off Friday-Monday... but has to work Fri, Sat and Mon OT... All three of which is Mandatory.  Oh well... like I said, we have Sunday.

 

Sunday we are going to have his mom and dad over for breakfast and then for the Easter egg hunt for the chitlens.  I'm planning on cooking- with my husbands help of course, since he is the Master Chef in the house- a huge breakfast that morning.  One, because I want to... and two, because Monday I'm starting my diet- For REAL!

After our breakfast and egg hunt on Sunday morning... it will be nap time... for the kids and possibly Derek and I... shoot, I can't pass up a nap.  I love them...

But after the naps... We'll be going to my parent's house for dinner and another Easter egg hunt for the babes.  We will be having a Honey Baked Ham and lots of other goodies...

My grandmother is coming up for Easter too.  My parents are going down to the Bay Area tomorrow morning to clean her house and then bring her home.  It will be really nice to see her... yet it will be weird to have just her there... and not my Grandpa.

It hasn't even been a month yet...

 

Anyways...

 

I have the next four days off!!  Woo Freakin' Hoo for me... I think I'm going to take that time to relax with my kids and also take some of the time to clean my house.  I need to takle my bedroom/bath and also Zachary's room. 

See, Zachary's room is basically used for the "catch-all" room.  He doesn't use it to sleep in so everything that needs to be stored goes in there... But I'm tired of it being like that and I really want to get him to start napping in there... to slowly transition him to sleeping at night in there... so I want to get it cleaned up and decorated.

I'm thinking I want to go with "Monkey Boy" theme from Target... but first we'll have to purchase a twin bed... since the bedding isn't made for a Toddler bed.  Thank goodness that the place we usually get our bedroom furniture does a Lay away system.  That really helps when you don't want to shovel all that money out at one time or can't shovel it out.

 

Oooh...

I have like 32 days until Derek and I go to Disneyland... Let me tell you, I'm totally excited and really need this trip away with him.  Just us two together for that time will be great...

I am also looking into possibly going and seeing another Jlander!!

Yup... I'm hoping to go and visit Barbie from "A Ticket to Ride" sometime in July.  I found a weekend that Derek will be home with the kids and just have to make sure it works for her schedule and what not... so hopefully, we'll be able to finally meet!!

I will surely keep you posted on that trip :)

 

Hmm, what else what else...

Oh yes... my brother and his fiancée have moved up their wedding... well, pretty much.

If things go as they plan for a few different things, they will be getting married in August instead of July 2007.  I'm truly so excited for them and I couldn't be happier for my brother...

 

Well, my friend Amy will be over in a bit... so I better go and get ready for her... We are having take-n-bake pizza and watching The O.C. tonight :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a fantastic Easter!

Hugs,
~Pickle Jenn~

~Ah, The Sun!~

 

The sun is finally shining here in Cental Cali.  I'm not sure for how long, but I don't care... I'll take what I can get. 

 

Seriously, the rain is a freakin' bummer.  It can put you in a funk and you won't even realize it!!  So, I hope the sun shines for a good day or two... I need me some sunshine!!

 

Today is Thursday... Thank God.  This week has dragged on.  I'm not joking.  On Tuesday I felt like it should have been Friday... then I remembered I had 2 more days of work left before I'd be off!!  Maybe it was the rain making it feel like that... who knows... but things change and feel different when you don't see the sun for 5 days in a row!!

 

Today after work I have to go to the grocery store.  Gotta get food for the house and more importantly, milk for the babe.  He is sure a milk guzzler... that is for sure!  He has around 3-4 bottles a day with 8+ ounces in them at a time.  Thank goodness we are done with the formula!!  A gallon of milk may be more expensive than a gallon of gas... but it is still cheaper than formula!

 

I kid you not, I filled up my PT Cruiser today with gas that was $2.65 a gallon!!  Ugh, it is getting crazy again.  I'm dreading summer... gas will probably hit $3 by the end.  I'm not looking forward to that... the Tahoe will cost me $60+ to fill up!!  I'm seriously thinking about talking to Derek about taking our PT to Disneyland... just for the sake that it will cost less for gas... even though the Tahoe is way more comfy!!

 

Anyways...

 

Today marks Derek's first day off for 4 days...

 

Although, we won't be seeing much of him until Saturday.  Tonight he is going over to a friend's house to watch the season premier of the "UFC" 3rd season.  No worries... I do go out to dinner with my friends too.  Then tomorrow night he is working OT.  Gotta love the OT on the paychecks, so I'm not complaining.

 

Thankfully he'll be home on Saturday night though.  We will be celebrating my brother's 22nd birthday at my mom's house.  Dinner and presents... great company... it should be lots of fun.  My brother doesn't get a cake though... he gets a pie... lol.  He likes it like that too... always asks for a Lemon meringue or Apple just depending on his mood.  Gotta love my Boo!

 

Tomorrow I'm going to drop Miss Rowan off at school and then Zachary-boy and I will be off to Target.  I'm going to do some Easter shopping for the Easter buckets that I got the kids.  Not a whole lot... but if there are no eggs to be found on Easter Rowan will think something is up.  Plus, we kinda have to make up for last Easter.  We were in Sacramento with Zachary last Easter and Rowan just happened to be staying with us... so we got her a basket and all... but there was no egg hunt or anything.  I want this Easter to be fun.  And now with Zachary walking, it should be a blast with him attempting to look for the eggs as well :)

 

I might also meet up with my friend Heather for an early lunch or late breakfast.  Not too sure on which.  She has a 9 month old baby boy... so its fun to get Zach and him together.  He is such a cutie pie and such a big boy too... he already weighs 23lbs while my Little Man is only 22lbs!!

 

Well, I'm pretty much done with rambling on now... I've kinda run out of words... lol.  I hope everyone has a great Thursday!!

 

Hugs to all,
~Jennifer~

~My Little Man's First Hair Cut~

As promised I'm here to share the pictures of Mr. Zachary Justice getting his hair cut for the first time...

I'm very proud of my Little Man for being as good as was when he got his hair cut.  I guess its good to bribe your children every once in a while huh??

So here we go...
    
Us getting ready to get started... Yes, that is me... Don't laugh... You all know you look funny too when you are getting your hair done too :)
    
There goes the first clip... He was pretty still the whole time... Thats my good boy!!
    
Trimming up the back... it was surprisingly long... When wet, it went down to the bottom of his neck!
                    
There goes his mohawk... She did leave the top a little longer so we could spike it or put it in a "small" mohawk.
                    
           Yup, we bribed him... a See's sucker did the trick :)
    
No worries for this Little Man... He's got his Mama and his Sucker... He is all good...
                     
                        Hey! Who invited the paparazzi??

Hope you all enjoyed the pics :)

~Pickle Jenn~

~Real Fact #156~

Once again... its time to share another Real Fact presented by Snapple.com

 

"Swimming pools in the U.S. contain enough water to cover San Francisco"

 

Crazy that there is that much water being held in kidney-shapped (or other shapes) pools all over the United States.

Can you tell I drink a lot of Snapple??  My Fav is Diet Snapple Iced Tea Lemon Flavor :) Yum!!

~Birthday Wishes~

My birthday is now 39 days away and counting... so I thought I'd share with you all my birthday wish list.

 

I don't usually do wish lists... but my brother (who's birthday is on Friday...) had made out a wish list for his birthday and I thought it was a pretty good idea... so I thought I'd bite off his style and do one myself... I'm sure my family and friends will find shopping for me much easier now ;)

 

Here it goes:

 

*Flat iron... mine really sucks! It refuses to flatten my fluffy hair!

 

*Gift Card to Lane Bryant or Old Navy... hey, I've got a trip to Disneyland coming up, I need me something to wear...

 

*Gift Card to Victoria's Secret... no explanation needed

 

*Gift Certificate for a massage... those kids of mine really can make for a tense shoulder and neck area

 

*Lancome or Clinique make-up... you can never have too much make-up

 

*Shoes, shoes and more shoes... same as with the make-up, you can never have too many

 

*Borders Gift Card... there are a few books I really want to read, so that would help out with the purchase of them

 

*Target Gift Card... I can ALWAYS find something at Target

 

*Money works too... muahahaha

 

And of course, last but not least...

 

*Anything Dooney :)... because you know I love me some Dooney!!

 

I'm not asking for too much now, am I??

 

A girl can always dream...

~Growing Up~

It is amazing on how quickly my babies are growing up.

It really seems like yesterday when I was pregnant with Rowan.  19 years old... working at a grocery store... deeply in love my with boyfriend... and pregnant.  It is amazing at how many pitiful looks I got from people when they realized I wasn't married and how young I was...

I didn't care then and I still don't.

I'd have to say I'm a pretty lucky 23 year old. 

I am married (now... lol)... I own my own home (that I get to pay lovely house payments for!) and I have 2 beautiful children (that can drive me up a wall quicker than a mustang can go from 0-60).

But you know what?

I wouldn't change it for the world.

 

Anyway, back to my kids growing up.

It seems like every day, my children are learning new things and growing beyond my imagination.

Rowan is coming into her own person.  Right now, she is Miss Into-Everyone's-Business.  She likes to tattle-tale on her brother- guess she doesn't realize a 13 month old doesn't really know right from wrong- and tell on me too!

I swear, sometimes I look at her and think "You are only 4??"... that is how crazy she is.  She is wise beyond her years... well, most of the time :)

And Mr. Zachary.

Oh, that boy is growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Friday marked a growth point in his life too.

He got his hair cut--- pictures to come soon, I promise.

Yes, he got his hair cut.  I couldn't believe it.  He did so well and didn't seem to care at all that my hair dresser was chopping of his baby hair.  All he did care about was his sucker that he had to distract him :)

Zachary has also learned to point to his nose and ears (sometimes for the ears)... my dad also taught him to wipe his own nose!!  What 13 month old knows how to wipe his nose??  Its the cutest thing.  He'll take the Kleenex and wipe his nose and then hand it back to you.  I swear, I was really surprised to see for the first time.

He is also learning how to feed himself with a fork and spoon.  I think its good for kids to learn this... Rowan was using a fork and spoon very well by the time she was 18 months old... and let me tell you, the doctor was surprised that she was doing it.  So yeah, he is getting to be a big boy.

They are growing up quickly... it is almost kinda sad.

 

Well, I wanted to write more... but it is getting to be the boys time for bed.  Its time for a warm bottle of milk and then the binkie!!

I've got some more stuff to share later... like the pictures of Zach getting his hair cut... but they'll have to wait!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and also has a great week ahead of them...

Love and Hugs to all,
~Jenn~