*Oh Canada*

For Memorial Day weekend we thought it would be fun to head up to the great Country of Canada, and well it was to say the least not a good vacation haha. So first off we woke up too late to catch our ferry from Port Angelas to Victoria, Canada. So we sped off to Port Angelas (2 hour drive) to try and make the noon ferry, which on our way we got a speeding ticket. We did end up making the noon ferry, and arrived in Canada a lot later then we had planned. We drive to our hotel, all of us very cranky and exhausted, and all just pass out. Went to dinner, but Jaden was being super cranky so ended up getting our food to go, and back again to the hotel. Jaden didn't sleep good so of course I didn't sleep good, and the next day we end up just taking the ferry back to Port Angelas and going home. No sight seeing, souvenirs, and like two picture so basically we went to Canada to stay in a hotel hahahha.

We originally had plans to go to Butchart Gardens, and then on Sunday go to Vancouver and hike this really hard but awesome mountain. All of which never happened because our sweet little toddler decided to be cranky. He also fell off the bed and hurt his elbow so that had something to do with his bad mood. LOL vacations are a lot harder then I remember but oh well I wouldn't change it, and hey at least we got to see Canada and say we have been!

All the pictures above are taken in Port Angelas. The one below was taken in Canada right before we got on the ferry to go back home.

*Alki Beach*

This last weekend we went to Alki Beach in Seattle. Jaden had lots of fun playing in the sand and throwing rocks in the water. It has been beautiful weather here so we take every opportunity to be outside and soak up the sun. Our stay here is coming to an end and though I am so happy, I will miss the nice summer weather here, but not enough to stay any longer. We will be FOR SURE moving home at the beginning of June and into our house. I can't say enough how EXCITED I am to be in a house and back close to family!

*Minnesota Trip*

I was born and raised in Minnesota till I was 11 years old, and then we moved to Arizona. I grew up in Minnesota with my two very best friends Nicole and Kristie (20 year friendships going strong). Kristie and her family ended up moving to AZ so we have always been pretty close, however, our dear friend Nicole still lives in MN. We had the best childhood growing up and when I first moved to AZ, I would go back to MN to visit every summer.  I have not been back since 2007 when Nicole got married, so I decided that before I have another baby I really needed to get back to my roots and visit my best friend. She has a two year old little boy, and a almost three month old little girl. I had sooooooooo much fun holding and playing with her little girl, and got my baby fix that I so desperately needed. Jaden and her little boy had the best time together, and it was so much fun watching our boys play. We went shopping, played at the park, went to Mall of America and did the underwater sea life tour, and also did a behind the scenes tour which was really cool. Jaden also got a hair-cut while we were there, which I already apologized to my sister about haha. She was deeply offended that I had someone else cut her little nephew's hair since she is the only one to ever do it. I had the best time there and already miss my friend so much. I can't wait for her to come out and visit me next year in AZ. We decided that we have to at least see each other once a year because a 20 year friendship is worth keeping up with!

Jaden getting his hair cut (sorry monk)

Our two boys in their rides!

Jaden getting soaked playing in a bucket of water

Having fun in the amusement park at Mall of America

Sweet Aubrey Lyn!

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Matching PJ's

Nicole and her sweet family

Jaden and Nathan

*My 26th Birthday*

Today was MY BIRTHDAY!! I love my birthday just because it's the one day out of 365 days that is mine! So today was wonderful and these are the reasons why: 1. My husband brought me breakfast in bed 2. I got an amazing workout today 3. I found my Safeway card that I thought was lost, and was able to save 30 cents a gallon on gas. Also saved $11 on groceries w/ coupons! 4. My wonderful parents sent me flowers and will take me on a shopping spree when I move home for a new summer wardrobe 5. I locked myself out of my apartment but was able to break back in :) 6. I made myself a beautiful pink cake, and my dishwasher got fixed which they said wouldn't be done till tomorrow BONUS :) 7. My wonderful husband took me out to the Cheesecake Factory for a delicious dinner just us two! 8. I got the sweetest card ever from my hubby and Jaden w/ money to get my nails done. Also the iPad was our joint BIG present which we have been enjoying every day! 9. Lots of birthday wishes on facebook and text messages from all my friends and family which has made me feel so loved! 10. My wonderful in-laws got me an amazing juicer which I will post pictures of once it arrives in the mail. At 26 years old I'm loving life and couldn't be happier with where I'm at (although I would like to be in Arizona) but Washington has been good to us. I feel very blessed to be where I'm at today and can't wait to see what this new age has in store for me!

Until next year....

*Our little reader*

I'm a little blog crazy tonight hahha but Sunday's are the best day to blog because it's a good time to reflect on the week and of course post pictures from the weekend. Anyways back on subject. Jaden has grown to LOVE reading and basically anything that looks like or is of any kind of reading material. So every night now Josh will sit on the floor, and Jaden will bring him book after book, and they will sit there and read together for about a half an hour before bed. It's so cute and I love to see his love for books and reading. He also likes to sit in his chair and read books too which I think is just too adorable!

*There is beauty all around*

One thing about Washington I do actually love is the beautiful spring time flowers that bloom everywhere on the trees. I'm not sure what kind of trees they are but I want to plant them in my yard in Arizona. The flowers are the most vibrant pinks and reds you have ever seen and I'm in love with them!





So if the trees aren't able to live in AZ I hope to find ones like it. Or just hang up lots of my own pictures that I have taken so I can always be surrounded by this beauty.

*18 months*

Our sweet Jaden is 18 months old holy smokes where has the time gone. Here are some stats on Jaden at a year and half.

Weight: Somewhere between 21 and 22 lbs

Height: 31 inches

Clothes: 12 to 18 months

Shoe size: 3 to 4

Diaper size 3 (although he fits ok in 4 but still a little big)

Teeth: All four teeth have come in on top and bottom. He is now getting a lot of back teeth so we are back to teething again, which I can tell is making him a tad cranky these days.

Sleep: 12 Hours!! Goes to bed around 9pm and wakes between 9:30 and 10am, he is for sure a Bracken because he LOVES to sleep in! Also takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

Eating: Three meals a day with snacks in between and down to only TWO bottles a day..we are getting him off slowly but surely.

Binki: YUP, and I don't intend to take it away any time soon :) One reason being is it stops him from grinding his teeth, and is also helping soothe his gums since he is teething again.

Likes: Reading books at night with daddy, puzzles,brushing his teeth w/ his electric Sponge Bob toothbrush, ripping paper up into little tiny pieces, playing in the kids club at the gym, copying everything we do and say, any kind of electronics he can get his hands on (especially Josh's iPhone) quads,going through my wallet, and climbing up on anything and everything.

Dislikes: Going to bed early, when we take things away from him, sitting in his car seat for a really long period of time, getting his diaper changed, and being ignored (which who likes being ignored hahah although Jaden tends to scream if no one is paying attention to him for too long which can be very obnoxious.

Jaden has been the love of our lives for the last 18 months and we are so blessed to have him in our family. Here is a little collage I made of the last year and half.

***18 MONTHS***

*The power of prayer and fasting*

Our ward here in Washington is doing a 40 day fast, which basically every member chooses one day to fast. So I signed up for today, which I wasn't sure what I was doing it for until the missionaries called the night before. They asked me to fast for their appointment they had with an investigator, that she might be open minded to the teachings of the Gospel and just for everything to go well in general. They also asked me to fast that they might find more investigators to teach. I of course gladly accepted and did my fast starting and closing with a prayer.

I thought about what I was fasting for all day and really kept the prayer I started with in my heart that the missionaries might be successful in their meeting with the investigator but also they would be successful out in the field today. I also kept my brother in-law Logan in my mind and heart today as he is out serving the Lord in Buenos Aires, Argentina on his mission. What a hard but rewarding job it must be to serve the Lord every day for two years. I really came to have a deeper love and respect than ever for all they do for the Lord and His Church.

Anyways, the missionaries called me tonight to let me know the meeting went very well, but not only that they also found 4 more investigators that have committed to prayer and reading The Book of Mormon. My heart could not be fuller, and my testimony more strengthened by there good news, it brought tears to my eyes. It just goes to show how powerful fasting and prayer is, and how essential it is in the Lord's work. I'm going to bed a happy girl tonight :)

*Jaden's 1st Sunday in nursery...HURRAY!!*

I know I should probably be sad that my baby (haha who is not really a baby anymore but will always be to me) is finally in nursery at church!!! This was a happy day for me, because I FINALLY after two months got to attend a full Sunday school class and go to Relief Society. Before Jaden could crawl/walk I was able to attend all my meetings at church and I now know I took that for granted. Not really being able to go these last few months has made me miss it so much, and crave that spiritual nourishment that our meetings bring to us on Sundays.

Jaden did pretty well for his first day and isn't a crier, except for when all the other little ones cried it brought a little bit of the water works from him. But other than that he loved it.... so yeah today was a good day :)

*Happy Easter*

Easter was in Washington this year so not the most eventful but still fun. The Easter bunny brought Jaden an Easter basket this year which was LOTS of fun. I had Jaden's bumbo out recently and for some reason he has loved to just sit in it haha but he is too big for it, so I told the old bunny for Easter to get him his own chair.




I love seeing the happy look on his face when we showed it to him this morning and of course he loved his Easter basket too! Now I know the joy my parents felt when seeing our faces during fun holidays like Easter and Christmas. Church is needless to say very difficult and I think I heard a few sentences from the Sacrament talks. Only ONE more Sunday to get through and Jaden will finally be old enough for nursery HURRAY! I will say though he looked extremely handsome in his church clothes and love him more than words can ever say.

*Fun at the park*

FINALLY a warm not rainy day that we could actually go outside and play at the park! I feel so bad for Jaden because about 95% of the time it rains or it's too cold to go outside, so the poor thing is cooped up in the house all day. Not yesterday though! Jaden had so much fun at the park, going down the slides and swinging in a swing for the very first time. Sad that it took almost a year and half for this to be the first time. He also had fun just running around in the grass and getting dirty hahah.

I would also like to say thank you to everyone that commented on my last post. I think I was just having a little anxiety, but with all your love,support and my own prayers I feel soooooooo much better!

Anyways, here is a collage I made from the pictures I took at the park. If you click on the collage you can see it as a bigger image.

*My thoughts and fears on motherhood*

This is more of just a journal entry of the thoughts/fears that have been running through my mind lately, and the reason why I can't sleep at the moment. So I thought if I write it out that maybe I'll stop thinking about it so much and go to sleep haha. I don't know maybe it's words for some other mommy who is feeling similar, but feel free to not read if journal entries bore you or your the perfect mother and nothing bothers you (which some people make it seem that way).

Jaden is almost 18 months and naturally we have been sort of thinking of another baby but I'm so back and forth and here is why...I'M TERRIFIED TO DEATH. I will have more children of course so that's not even a question, it's just when will we? There are some mom's who I think are just amazing and nothing with children phases them or maybe that's just how it seems to me. Way back in the day starting at the age of 3 years old my baby sister Robyn was born and I was right there every morning jumping in the crib wanting to change her diaper,dress her, and feed her. Going forward I started at the age of 8 years old babysitting for short periods of time for neighbors and then of course as I got older loved babysitting all the time and had regulars that would call me every weekend. The cooking, cleaning, bathing, feeding,playing with just came natural to me and I loved it.

So I eventually grow out of babysitting and move on to college and then of course get married! Right away I have babies on the mind but give the married life a good year to settle into :) which now I know was very smart. I get pregnant going into the second year of marriage and was absolutley thrilled and was so excited to finally be a mommy. Jaden arrived into the world at 11:45 pm October 18, 2010, and I'm just in love right away, the hospital stay was good and we take him home.

The first night we have him home he cries ALL NIGHT and nothing makes him happy (no one ever told me to have some formula on hand, cause I think he was just hungry and colostrum wasn't doing it for him.) Anyways, that first night with him was I would say one of the hardest nights of my life and triggered my baby blues. So of course eventually things got better and every day got a little easier. So I'm a new mommy and thought because of all my babysitting I knew everything hahah YEAH RIGHT. Now don't get me wrong I absolutley LOVE being a mother and wouldn't change it for the world. Jaden is my little angel from heaven, but I'm not going to sugar coat..it can be very HARD at times. I gave up way to quickly with nursing..stress, needing control over something. If it could not be sleep it was going to be knowing how much he ate. I still beat myself up over it sometimes, because I feel like I cheated him and myself out of bonding and of course good nutrition. I never knew nursing was hard or at least it was for me, but I vow to not give up on the next one haha sorry Jaden.

I have never prayed more in his first year of life than in my whole life combined. I don't know where I would be without prayer to my Father in Heaven. One experience sticks out in my mind which has continued to strengthen my testimony to this day. Long story short Jaden was spitting up a lot so went to his pediatrician who referred me to a GI specialist to get reflux meds. I had not gotten a lot of sleep in the days prior and was seriously reaching my breaking point. Reason that I knew this was that we were driving to the specialist and someone cut me off or was driving stupid, and I was seriously contemplating running into them with my car haha no joke. We get back home and I'm just done and put Jaden in his crib. I laid on the bed and prayed to Heavenly Father with everything that I had that Jaden would sleep so that I could, otherwise I might have a mental break down. Haha I'm crying while writing this but my sweet little Jaden slept and he slept for like 5 hours (which he usually never did that long during the day). I even woke up before him.... so refreshed and ready to be a good sane mommy again.

I know that it was an answer to my prayer and a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father. He knows me and how much I can and cannot handle, and that goes for all his children.

I guess my fear is that I won't be able to handle two. I mean one is manageable, still hard but I think I have a pretty good grip on things now. So I'm just scarred that I'll never sleep again, that both will be sick at the same time and what will I do? I mean nursing one when the other is hungry and crying..how do you do it? Keeping the romance in your marriage but being so exhausted you can't function lol again how do you do it..with not one but now two, three, or four? I guess I need to remember that the older ones will of course be more independent but still they will all be small together at one point.

I know that I can do it, and will do it. Why? Because I want more babies and the one I have now is such a sweet blessing in our lives.I know it will be hard but I pray Heavenly Father will give me the patience and energy I will need to handle it. I want so bad to be the best mommy in the world but need to understand that I will make mistakes because I'm human we all are.

WOW, I feel better already just typing this out...thank you blogging. Last thing I will write haha if anyone is still reading at this point in my novel, really just a side note to mommies: getting out of the house and going to the gym for an hour or two a day HELPS more than I can say. Dropping Jaden off at the gym daycare and getting in a good workout makes my day so much better and gives me the little something I need for myself. The days I miss once in awhile I notice that I'm more grumpy and not as energized. I'm a better happier mom because of it, and even if you don't need to loose weight just do it for good health and to feel like you have accomplished something good for the day.

The End...Goodnight!

*My sweetheart's birthday..THE BIG 2-7*

That's right Josh is now 27 years old! I made sure to make his birthday this year extra special since the last two weren't so great (last year he was in WA on work travel and the year before I was prego need I say more lol.)

I woke up early and made him a yummy breakfast which I brought to him in bed. We then met up for lunch, and after that I went to work on decorating our apartment and making him his favorite cake German chocolate. We had a fun little birthday party just the three of us! So for presents I got Josh a few shirts and the big one was the iPad...YES we finally have one yeaaaa! So here are some pictures from this festive event.

All the fun decorations and as you can see Jaden is loving them




Josh in all his glory of blowing the big 2-7 candles




Now comes the presents




He was really surprised because we had talked about getting one but not till around my birthday. I figured he deserved to get it for his though haha aren't I a sweet wife!?!

Until next year.....