I hate spiders

I HATE SPIDERS! Why do they have to exist?! I went into Jaden's room tonight to check on him and as I was walking out I saw something out of the corner of my eye on the floor. I turned on the hall light so I could see what it was...of course it was a huge spider! This was a big spider, I am not exaggerating! It was brown, too...so I was freaking out thinking it was a brown recluse spider. Nicole reassured me that it most likely wasn't. But whatever it was, it was NOT pretty and now I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight! It's times like these that I really hate being single...killing spiders should not be a woman's job. :( My house just got sprayed yesterday for spiders, why, why, why are there still spiders here?!?! The other day I was talking to my mom saying that I haven't seen any spiders since I've lived here in this place, just earwigs. So of course I jinxed myself.
Whatever...I apologize for writing this stupid blog about my fear of spiders.

I ♥ my sister!

My sister Megan is four years older than me but we have always been close. Growing up we had fun riding our bikes together, playing Barbies, playing house, listening to music, watching tv shows, etc.
I don't think I was ever an annoying little sister to her, infact she used to always tell me to ask our mom for something. She would have me do the dirty work. And I did it of course. We were a little team.

Here we are waaay back in the day playing with our Cabbage Patch dolls! Aw I miss those!

Here we are at my mom's wedding, May 2006.

Disneyworld trip Sept 06 - sooo much fun!

Our first Christmas in Arizona Megan came to visit and I was very glad! We have never been apart on Christmas. Last year was our first Christmas apart and that was pretty sad! I was in Arizona and she was in Utah with her hubby.

I love this picture...we were wedding dress shopping for Megan and we both picked out the exact same dress. I don't think it was the one she ended up picking though.

Pictures from her wedding day! I am so happy for her that she found a great husband who loves her and cares about her very much.

Some of my favorite memories of Megan and I...
*secretly recording Beverly Hills 90210 and watching it together when my parents were gone! hehehe :)

*listening to the radio all day long until some of our favorite songs came on so we could record them on our mixed tape.

*her buying me tons of celebrity magazines so I could take out the *N Sync pictures and put them on my wall

*helping her babysit the Farrington's

*going to San Diego with her and my mom, and Disneyland, too! Those were some of the best trips of my life.

*in our hotel at Disneyworld it was about 11 or 12 at night and I was sooo hyper. I was listening to my ipod and singing songs and then Megan started singing along. We were having so much fun. Then the next day while we were waiting for the bus, our Uncle JD said that he had a hard time falling asleep last night because some people were being loud. OOPS! :)

*reading all of the Love Stories series books

*all the concerts we've been to together! some of my favorite...Jessica Simpson, Tim & Faith, *N Sync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears

*going to Deseret Book to meet Jericho Road - we loved them! and then driving up to Ogden to see their concert

There are so many great memories I have of my sister and I. She is the best! I am very blessed to have her not only as a sister, but as one of my best friends. I hope that Jaden and Kaylie will be just as close as we are!

The Joys of Motherhood.....

As I always say "oh the joys of motherhood!" It's usually sarcasm when I say it because I've had a stressful day. Jaden falling down and hurting himself 2 days in a row, NOT A JOY! We were leaving Joy's house and Jaden totally biffed it in the street. He fell on his knees and then hit his head. He got a pretty good scrape! Then yesterday we went swimming at Nicole's grandma's house and he fell backwards off of a picnic bench and landed ON his head. He has a pretty big bruise on his head from that. I was pretty scared he was going to have a concussion. But he seems to be doing just fine. Some of you moms may be reading this thinking I'm overreacting, its not a big deal...but to me it is! This is my first baby and I am not used to all the fall downs and the "owies". I better get used to it though because I have a BOY! Suck it up Lauren! =)

Jaden is such a good boy! On Tuesday night my friend Ashley babysat Jaden for the first time while I went and worked for Joy at the fair. And he did sooo good. I was worried that he may not go to sleep since he was in a new place. But he went to sleep at 7:30 and didn't even cry. I really feel blessed to have such good kids. I think somehow he knew that his mommy was out working trying to make money for our family. Yesterday while we were swimming he was sooo tired so I figured I would try to lay him down on the couch inside the house to see if he would sleep. Guess what? He did! I couldn't believe it. If it would've been months ago he definitely would not have gone to sleep. Getting him to sleep used to be such a challenge! Thank goodness he loves "night-night" and "nap-nap" time!

I love that my little boy is such a mama's boy! I guess he really has no other choice because his dad is not around. But I love the millions of hugs and kisses he gives me everyday. I love that he takes breaks from running around the house or playing just to come sit on my lap for a few seconds. I love that he gets the biggest smile on his face when I tell him I love him. I love when I tell him not to do something and he copies me by shaking his head at me! I just love my baby boy :)

Oh one more thing...this is pretty funny. Jaden was whining like crazy when I was putting a flower on Kaylie's hair and I couldn't figure out why. He went and grabbed one of Kaylie's pink hair bows and tried to put it on his head. I told him that it didn't go on his head and he just kept whining. So I put it on his head and he ran around smiling and laughing. It was pretty silly! Here's a picture....

"Bye, Bye, Bye" Meagan and Melissa!!!

Last night was a very fun night! I went to a going away party at my friend Ashley's parents house. We were saying goodbye to Meagan and Melissa. Meagan is moving to Boston with her hubby and baby boy so her husband can go to dental school. And Melissa is going to Hawaii for a really cool job! I'm so excited for both of them. And was so happy to see them! I always love getting together with all my girlfriends from highschool, reminiscing about highschool and all the fun times. I can't believe it has been 6 years since graduation and most of us have kids! It's nice that we have all stayed in touch over the years.

Meagan - I wish you and your little family all the best in Boston! I'm sure you will love it! Boston is such an awesome place with great people. It seems like just yesterday we were obsessing over *N Sync and I was loving your brother Tom. LOL!

Melissa - Hawaii will be soooo much fun! I hope you have lots of fun and enjoy your new life there! I know that you will do great at your job! Don't forget us here in Utah when it's 90 degrees and its 20 degrees here and we are freezing our butts off!

Love you both! *HUGS*

JaDeN's NeW tHiNgS...

I leave the bathroom for two minutes while Jaden is taking a bath (I know Mother, I'm not supposed to leave him unattended). I hear him squealing happily and splashing loudly and as I return guess what I found? POOP! He had pooped in the bath tub! I had heard horror stories of that happening to other moms I know, but never did I think it would happen to me. It was so gross! Thankfully he wasn't playing with it! LOL!

Jaden has discovered new ways to entertain himself...and of course he picks the loudest thing, screaming. I'm not kidding when I say that he screams a lot. He does it at random times while he is playing or walking around. He is simply doing it just for fun! I have tried everything I can to get him to stop, but nothing seems to work. Hopefully this is just a very short phase that he is going through. My poor ears can't handle much more. Kaylie isn't too fond of it either, especially when she is sleeping peacefully.

Jaden is learning new words! The other day his Uncle Ryan was reading an animal book to him and Ryan said "lion" and Jaden said "lion"! We were so excited! He also says apple quite a bit. He learned that from his word cards that he has. He thinks every part of his face are his eyes. He points to his ears and says "eyes". It's pretty cute. We are working on all the parts of the body.

It is so much fun to see him learn and try new things. Yesterday he opened the cupboard door and threw his wrapper away in the garbage! Tonight when I was changing Kaylie, he took her pink socks and tried to put them on his feet. He is getting better at following directions, like getting his sippy cup, finding his binky, taking a nap, etc.

I'm pretty sure Jaden will take after me and be addicted to chapstick...I couldn't get it back from him!

He loves giving me kisses as well as his little sister and Uncle Ryan. They are wide open-mouth kisses and he makes the "awww" sound when he does it. It is too cute! He loves to play for a little bit and then come back and give me big hugs every few minutes and then get back to playing. He is such a sweet little boy!

Yay I love these!

Ok, here is a little questionnaire that you can only use one word for each answer. EVERYONE IS TAGGED!!!!
1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Your significant other? I don't have one
3. Your hair? cute - thanks to Nicole :)
4. Your mother? the best!
5. Your father? a funny guy!
6. Your favorite thing? my kids, music, chapstick, computer
7. Your dream last night? romantic!
8. Your favorite drink? strawberry lemonade
9. Your dream/goal? get married to an awesome guy, go to cosmetology school and be a hairstylist
10. The room you’re in? kitchen
11. Your church? don't go
12. Your fear? heights, losing loved ones, spiders
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? married, working in an expensive salon in Scottsdale :)
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you’re not? fake
16. Muffins? mmm blueberry!
17. One of your wish list items? money!
18. Where you grew up? Sandy, Utah
19. The last thing you did? filled out the FAFSA...financial aid for cosmetology school
20. What are you wearing? pajamas aka "jam-jams"
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? none
23. Your computer? my 3rd baby
24. Your life? good
25. Your mood? anxious
26. Missing someone? yea
27. Your car? Lexus is300...ha ha I wish!
28. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? Walmart, Children's Place, Victoria's Secret
30. Your summer? good so far :)
31. Like(love) someone? I love my babies, oh and Nick Lachey
32. Your favorite color? pink
33. Last time you laughed? few hours ago
34. Last time you cried? today
35. Who will re post this? probably no one! LOL

Racism...

I am extremely grateful for the many things I have learned about life in the past few years. I am also grateful for the time that I lived in Arizona which is a very diverse place. I grew up in Utah where every single person in school was white, except for a handful of people. I remember thinking it was weird to see a black person in my class or at the mall because I never saw them around. I wouldn't call that racism, but just something I wasn't used to seeing. When I moved to Arizona at the age of 20 the place I worked had more black people than I had seen in a whole year in Utah. I remember being a little afraid because I wasn't used to being around different races. I soon became friends with several black people and it opened to my eyes to the outside world and made me realize how sheltered I was growing up. I think my parents did a great job at raising me to not judge others, but being in Utah it is hard to teach about racism if you aren't actually around different races. I know that I will never know exactly how it feels to be treated the way that some black people are, but having two children of mixed races I do feel a little bit of how racism feels. It's unbelievable some of the looks I get, being a white woman/mother out with my 2 mixed race children. It makes me sad to think that some people can be so cruel with their words or their actions. I know that it will probably be a challenge in my life that I will always face being a mother to my children. I hope and pray that my children will never be treated differently or unfairly because of their race.
Whether we want to believe it or not, racism is STILL an issue in this world and I hope that as a parent I can do my part in teaching equality and setting a good example. On that note, here are some quotes that I wanted to share that get right to the point of racism. I added some of my thoughts after a few of them.

"If you as parents cut corners, your children will too. If you lie, they will too. If you spend all your money on yourselves and tithe no portion of it for charities, colleges, churches, synagogues, and civic causes, your children won't either. And if parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out."
~Marian Wright Edelman

"Racism isn't born, folks, it's taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list." ~ Dennis Leary.........
I absolutely LOVE these two quotes. It is very true, racism isn't genetical, it is taught by parents, teachers, leaders, etc. We grow up being taught by example. If we witness our parents being racist or judgemental, we then think that is the norm.

Martin Luther King Jr.:
"I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality."

Robert F. Kennedy:
"But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?"
God does not see color, he loves us all equally.

"We hate some persons because we do not know them; and will not know them because we hate them." -- Charles Caleb Colton
"If you judge people you have no time to love them." -- Mother Theresa
Every person, including myself is guilty of preconcieved notions about others, some more extreme. We base our opinions so much on others opinions of someone, we forget to form our own opinions. A few years ago at my work there was a girl that many people would talk about in a bad way, I automatically agreed with them before ever meeting her. Then when I met her and got to know her, she became a very good friend.

"We are still conditioning people in this country and, indeed, all over the globe to the myth of white superiority. We are constantly being told that we don't have racism in this country anymore, but most of the people who are saying that are white. White people think it isn't happening because it isn't happening to them." -- Jane Elliot
Very very true. Enough said.

MoThErS :)

I saw this on an old friend's blog and rrreally liked it. She went to a BYU Women's Conference, which she called a mommy boot camp. I copied a few of them that I really liked, here is what she learned.

#1~ We all work so hard to have visible accomplishments, (i.e. manicured lawn, organized house, well-dressed kids) but the best accomplishments are unseen. Clear the daily clutter of unimportant things and make time for the immeasurable joys with your children.
**
#2~ The best memories that your children will have most likely won't cost you a dime. All the BIG vacations, movies, etc. are likely forgotten...but the night you gazed at the stars and talked will be embedded in their "favorites" memory file.
**
#3~~ Home is where a woman has the most power and influence in this world.
**
#6~~ You are ENOUGH! We spend too much time feeling like we don't measure up. Wake up to the day feeling briliant. Leave the mountain of Laundry (yeah, the one that might kill you if you're too close and there's an earthquake) and take part in the simple things with your kids. Look them in the face and really listen to their sweet expressions, let them plan the day, play like you're 3, include them in your daily chores. When you report back to your Heavenly Father he won't care how clean your home was (it won't even make it to His top 100 questions for you).

#7~~ Cherish the role that is so uniquely yours---

I'm glad that I read this today because I needed to read something to brighten my mood! Lately I have been feeling that I can't keep up with the everyday things and chase 2 kids around. I have been extremely stressed! I am trying to find a job and daycare which is the biggest stress right now. As well as turning in all the paperwork I need to for insurance and state assistance, etc. Then I try and keep my house as clean as possible but at times I just feel like I can't keep up with keeping it clean. Everything I clean, Jaden is right behind me messing it up. Not having a dishwasher is rough too! I have to be the dishwasher. When the kids go to sleep at night I am just ready to lay on the couch and watch Friends...the last thing I want to do is clean!
BUT back to the wonderful information I read today, I am glad I did! It's nice to be reminded that I am enough and that I am a good mom and doing the best that I can in my situation. I think every mom has a right to complain and stress once in awhile. And now is my time. :) I am extremely blessed and lucky to have such an amazing mom that raised FIVE kids. Days like today when I think to myself How can I possibly survive?? I am reminded that my mom made it with 5 kids! She is a true example of what a good mom is. I have such wonderful examples around me of good moms, including my best friend Nicole. I admire how great of a mom she is! She teaches Brindley soooo much and spends time reading millions of books a day to her, teaching her new words, making sure she has good food to eat, letting her play outside everyday, giving her kisses, thinking of new fun things to do with her...and on top of all of that she still manages to keep her house soooo clean AND spend time with her amazing husband.
Again, I am extremely grateful for the great examples of mothers that I have around me. I know every mother has their own challenges in life, but they still sacrifice their own happiness for their children. Being a mom rocks! :) (I had to throw in my silly personality to end with.)

Jaden's 1 year pictures and some of Kaylie, too :)

My friend Ashley's husband is a photographer and he took some awesome pictures of Jaden for his one year old pictures and some of Kaylie at 2 months. I am so thankful that he took them for me! Thank you Justin, you are awesome! http://justinreevesphotography.blogspot.com/Here are just a few of my favorites...

As you can tell he LOVES to wrinkle his nose and do a cheesy smile. :)

I had to do some Raiders picture just for his daddy.

And here he is proving that he is such a boy!!! LOL....

And here are a few of Kaylie, they are so beautiful!

KaYLiE is 3 MoNtHs OLd!!!

Seriously, where does the time go?!!? Kaylie is already 3 months old. I am loving her more and more everyday. She is still my drama queen though, that's for sure. :) When she needs or wants something she will LET you know! But she is also such a sweet little girl. Today I was holding her on my lap and I said to Jaden "are you eating a cookie?" and I kept saying cookie in a high-pitched voice and Kaylie LOOOVED it. She was laughing so hard. It was adorable!!! She is still very strong and getting stronger each day. She rolls over onto her back all of the time. She likes standing up on my lap rather than sitting on my lap. She is sleeping so well through the night. She only wakes up once. Last night she woke up at about 4 and only drank 2 ounces and went back to sleep so I have decided that its time to start sleep training her through the night! We'll see how that goes! Here are some recent pictures of my little 3 month old girl. :)

MeMoRy LaNe

MEMORY LANE- This will be fun! This is just too fun to pass up. Here are the directions: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! I guess good or bad, but be nice!!!!!!! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

JuSt GoT PaId!!!!

So my sister had the fabulous idea of posting her boys the Backstreet Boys on her blog...so i thought I better post my boys on here...this is by far one of my favorite performances of theirs! And lucky Kimber got to see this LIVE in Vegas. Enjoy....

I have twins =)

I really can't believe how much my babies look alike! I emailed a picture I took of Kaylie today to my mom and the first thing she said is that she looks exactly like Jaden. So then I started looking at old pictures of Jaden when he was Kaylie's age and couldn't believe how much they look alike! I could get away with photoshopping the pictures of them and making them one picture and saying they are twins! Here are a few that I found...

Their big, happy, contagious smiles!

Look at their cute, sweet, sleepy faces. They are laying the exact same way, you just can't tell as much because Kaylie's pajamas are big.

AJ would kill me for saying this...but this is just how their dad sleeps, with their mouth open and squished. :)

And they are both passed out on Grandma's lap. She's got the special touch!

Both my kids wore this yellow pajama suit...who do you think it is in this picture? Jaden or Kaylie??

And here they are together...my two babies! I love them sooooo much!

ANOTHER FUN DAY IN THE SUN!

On Monday Nicole and I took the kids and went swimming at her Grandma's pool. It was soooo much fun. Her Grandma has a very nice pool with lots of toys and a slide and a diving board so we stayed there for a few hours. Jaden floated around in this most of the time...

And Kaylie floated around in this...

I can already tell she is going to take after her mother's love of the sun! She was in heaven in her little floaty and even fell asleep.

As for me, I forgot to put sunscreen on my face of all places and I got fried! I was so busy worrying about keeping sunscreen on my children that I forgot about my face. Oh well...at least it will turn into a tan! LOL =)

The Bachelorette no longer the bachelorette!

I must admit that I was EXTREMELY disappointed when Deanna rejected Jason and made him get up off of his knee. I wanted to throw the TV out the window I was so mad and so sad. Jason is just an amazing guy and any girl would be lucky to have him. The whole show I was thinking Jesse was a dork. BUT then when I watched Deanna and Jesse together on the after show, they were soooooooo stinkin cute! It made me so happy for them! It made me hopeful for me to find someone that makes me all giddy like that someday! Someone I can completely be my silly self with and be my best friend and have amazing chemistry with!
Anyways, I still think they need to make Jason the next Bachelor! What do you think?

Yummy yummy yummy

If you haven't tried this yet, you should, if you have tried it, you will understand my frustration that I had today! It took me a good 15 minutes to open that jar! I'm not kidding. I have never opened anything more complicated then this stupid jar. I was so mad. Poor Jaden was sitting there staring at me while I was cursing and whining and praying that it would open. I was so hungry! I just wanted my spinach dip! Then I started cursing about men and being single and not having a man in the house to open jars of food for me. LOL! I got it open and had my bread with it, and it was yummy!

Tomorrow is the big day!!!

One might call it an obsession...but I just call it excitement! Tomorrow is The Bachelorette FINALE! I really hope that Deanna picks Jason. If she doesn't, I'll pick him! Here are some cute videos I found of Jason and Deanna awwwww :)

HaPPy 4th of JuLy!!!

Happy 4th of July! I love that song, "I'm Proud to be an American" - I really am proud to be an American! =) This country is awesome! It was nice to be back here in Utah for the 4th of July so I could actually sit outside and watch the fireworks. It's too dang hot in Arizona this time of year, so the past couple of years I haven't seen fireworks. Jaden got to see fireworks for the first time tonight. He was soooo tired but he liked to watch them. He sat there staring at them in a daze and then near the end he started to point at them and get excited.

We had a good night at my dad's house. I love me some BBQ! =) Jaden had fun running around with his cousins Anya and Sasha, since he could keep up with them now because he's walking. Overall it was a very fun 4th of July!

Workin hard for the money!

Ever since I have started painting and working for Joy, I have that song in my head... "she works hard for the money! so hard for it honey! she works hard for the money so you better treat her right!" LOL! I have been working hard though. I painted my bathroom last week and now I've started on my living room. I'm going to do a red wall, so I had to do 2 coats of the primer, which I just got done the other night, so now I will start with the red tomorrow. Nicole had some really awesome ideas for my kitchen and the cabinets so hopefully soon I'll be able to do more. My house will be more up to date and in style! :)

I had a very busy day today, on top of the every day mom stuff, I also worked for Joy for a few hours. Then after I put the kids to bed I set up Kaylie's crib. I must admit, I did a pretty darn good job! It's fun being the "man of the house" sometimes! I love putting things together. I still need to get the crib bedding, but I do have a bumper so I was excited to get it on so I could put Kaylie in it for the first time. And of course I took some pictures! And Nicole came over to see it all finished and she got one of me.