Captain Mommy

Zack-isms

2012-02-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

While watching Lion King...

Zack- "I like hyenas"

Me- "Why?"

Zack-"They're funny"

Me- "Aren't they on Scars side?"

Zack-"No Scar washed brain" (meaning brain wash)

Me-"They don't seem very nice"

Zack- "They hungry mama! Be nice!"

Oh Zack always finding the good in everyone and paying to much attention to our documentaries about war and brainwashing.

Educated Nurser

2012-02-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

We have sure come a long way in the blogging world. At first this blog was to post pictures and updates on Zacks development so Steven could be involved while on deployment. When he got home it became the blog for our family to stay updated. It has just grown into so much more than just a family blog. It gives me great joy to know that my posts are helping moms out there.

I was browsing through old posts today and came across this gem...

"Well tonight was Zacks first feeding on formula. I'm really in a way kinda bummed about the whole thing. My breast milk is drying up so his pediatrician told me that I need to start weaning him to formula this week. It is such a let down on my part. But then again no matter how much i know breastfeeding is good for him and all that. I really wasn't enjoying seeing him hungry after feedings. He just wasn't very satisfied at all from it. And then pumping was depressing i could only produce an ounce from both breasts together. It just isn't working. I'm just wondering how much hes going to get during the day while i feed him formula at night he will be getting the breast during the day just to get him used to it. And next week i will start taking away another feeding everyday so by the end of 2 weeks he will be only on formula. Gosh why does it hurt so bad? I feel like I'm letting him and myself down. Plus formula is so expensive but he has to eat right?! Right....so i need to do this for him.

Anyways.....well he took the formula great so far. I gave him a bottle of Enfamil milk based formula after his bath tonight. So far so good hes sleeping and no spit up and he burped like a champ throughout the whole feeding. Of course he might have some gas the next few days but his doc said that was normal when switching to formula and to give enfamil a week and if he's still not getting used to it then to call him and he will give another suggestion.

Ill keep you guys (whoever reads this) updated on his formula adventure.
Much love"

This was titled Time For Formula. Not only was my grammar terrible but I was really a very uneducated Mom back then. If you know me you know that I am pro breastfeeding 110% I believe every Mom can breastfeed and if they put in the effort and dedication it will happen. I have friends who will pump for hours everyday just so their babies can get enough. Of course I understand there are certain circumstances that call for supplementation. But with my situation it wasn't like that at all.

As you can read above I talk about him being always hungry after feedings or as I remember it soon after like within an hour. If I had been more educated on the subject I would have known that this was called cluster feeding. My pediatrician immediately assumed my healthy weight baby wasn't getting enough because of his behavior. They put me on vitamins to increase my supply but I was already switching him to formula and cutting out feedings. Again if I had been more educated on "supply issues" I would have known that formula was unnecessary and I should have nurse him on demand. I remember being so caught up with all my friends telling me their babies slept through the night at 3 weeks and I wanted that too.

I regret this decision all the time. I put my little guy through so much for just about 2 months. His little virgin gut did not take regular enfamil, similac, soy based formulas, good start etc. He kept spitting up and it caused his reflux issue to get worse and worse. Every time we switched formulas he would cry and cry for days because his tummy hurt. By the time we found the brand he would take with no pain but still spit-up I was getting ready to start him on solids at 4 months. This is also another thing I won't be doing again. I pumped that little body with artificial foods when I could have been giving him what is natural and best for him. Now that I am more educated I look back and regret a lot. Thankfully now Zack is a healthy little boy but I definitely feel a disconnect with him. If I could turn back time I would build that nursing relationship and keep it going.

If I could give any advice to a Mom it would be to learn everything you need to know about nursing and find a support group. Thankfully this time around I was introduced to an amazing group of nursing Moms who really opened my eyes on a lot more than just nursing. I just went to my last meeting with them and I cried on the way home because I don't think I will find such a wonderful group like them. Lucky for me they have a facebook page so no matter where I am in this world I know I have support right there. If you need any support at all click on the Breastfeeding Mamas link below.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/breastfeedingmamas/

Happy Nursing

Wordless Wednesday-Discovering

2012-02-08T06:32:00.000-08:00

Join on the Wordless Wednesday blog role at http://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/

Stupid is as stupid does

2012-02-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

The word....Stupid. Is it really as bad as what we make it out to be? We as parents realized that the word and other choice 'curse' words are everywhere. No matter how much we fight to prevent our kids from hearing them; they will unfortunately pick them up. Of course lately the Z man has picked up on the word...Stupid. Here is what really grinds our gears. He didn't pick it up from us or school because you know...2-4 year olds are cussing up storms these days. No he got it from movies. Not our movies HIS movies. Nemo, Bugs Life, Lion King, Despicable Me, Tangled etc. How can these companies put the word in there and not expect kids to copy. Those are his favorite movies and when we get to Japan there will be no cable; so how do we allow him to watch his favorite things but expect him not to want to imitate these characters?

Do we do the age old trick, also featured on A Christmas Story, soap in the mouth?

No we can't risk soap poisoning.

Do we drill it into them like drill sergeants whenever they say these words?

No because when you take this approach they never listen no matter how loud you yell it.

What happens when you tell a child to stay away from the cookie jar? They immediately go for the cookie jar the minute you look away or leave the room. It becomes a personal vendetta for them to get into that jar no matter how high or difficult it is to get to it. They will probably still go for it if you put broccoli in it just because you said "DON'T TOUCH THAT JAR!!!" The best way to prevent any words or bad behavior is to lead by example. If you constantly cuss don't get mad at your kids for copying you. You are their greatest role models. They will always look to us for guidance. The movies, friends, and music will always be there and banning them completely would be well...stupid. If your kid starts picking up less than good words you can simply explain to them that the word is bad and Mommy and Daddy never say words like that. Don't drill them and please don't wash their mouths out with soap. Another good thing is to ask where they got the word from. When I asked Zack he didn't quite understand at first and then he said Grasshopper. So I immediately knew he picked it up from A Bugs Life. We briefly took it away but then we started noticing it everywhere we went. So recently he said it and I asked where he learned and when he said Grasshopper. I asked him "Isn't grasshopper the bad guy" and of course in Zack fashion he yelled "YEAH!" like he was really excited about it. Then I asked him "Wasn't grasshopper mean to the ants and didn't share the food with them? Or help them get the food?" Then I think it hit him and he connected the dots. Sure the word slips from him sometimes but he immediately gives me a look like he knows it was an accident. No kid wants to be mean and they want friends. So I think it really stuck with him. So happy it did because I was getting tired of being called stupid by a 3 year old. So what is your techniques? Please share them.

Discipline or Education

2012-02-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

In my whopping 3 years of parenting I have noticed many parents refer to how they 'control' their children with the term discipline. Here is the definition of the term...
noun

training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline.

activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.

punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.

the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: the harsh discipline of poverty.

behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.

I understand that as parents we have to prepare our children to behave well and listen to us; but is it really needed to call it discipline. It sounds like I am punishing an inmate or teenager who just got caught doing drugs. I think the correct term for us is Educate. I educate my children on what is right and wrong.

Definition of EDUCATE

transitive verb

a : to provide schooling for <chose to educate their children at home> b : to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in a skill, trade, or profession

a : to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction b : to provide with information : inform <educating themselves about changes in the industry>

: to persuade or condition to feel, believe, or act in a desired way <educate the public to support our position>

Children don't need to be yelled at or spanked. Sure a good firm explanation is okay but I have noticed with Zack that he just doesn't respond to any "discipline" I need to take him by the hand and explain to what he did wrong and what he can do to fix it. So far for us this has been working great. We won't let him play with all his toys at once. He gets one toy and when he is done with that one he can put it away then pick out another one. After a craft or lesson he has to put it all away before he moves on. This has been teaching him so much self control. I am going to continue on this Educate route because it is working wonders. What do you think? Do you educate or discipline?

Just one of those days.

2012-02-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

There are just some days where lying around all day seems completely productive. I have been on the go for the last few weeks getting all this overseas medical and dental screening taken care of that I really just want to soak in a hot tub and relax. But I can't just yet. This whole move thing isn't over and it's not going to end for awhile. I still have a flight to New Mexico to prep for. WHICH I have not even started getting things ready for it. I really need to get a jump on it considering it is 12 days away.

Trust me I am very excited to go visit home and see old friends but this isn't just a visit. I am going to be pretty much living there for a total of 2 months. Out here in Virginia I have been spoiled with the amount of wonderful activities that are at my disposal whenever I need them. Museum, busch gardens, indoor pools, bounce houses, amazing parks, zoo, aquarium, etc. There is plenty to do here and where I am going in New Mexico is great but I am going to need to get creative when it comes to preschooler activities. I guess that's what being a Mom is all about.

For now though this Mom is heading to her nice hot bath. Goodnight and remember to click to vote for us at topmommyblogs.com. Just click the banners as much as you want and go have a look at other blogs.

Turning Japanese Part 1

2012-02-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

Not going to lie here this is what goes off in my head every time someone talks about our move to Japan.

At first it seemed like such a faraway thing that I had plenty of time to prepare for it but nope it's literally right around the corner sneaking up on us. Today the boys and I made the trip to Virginia Beach which by the way is very far far away like over an hour far away. We got our dental, turned in our medical, I got a shot (ouch), and it's finally ALL done! The rest is in Stevens hands and all I have to worry about is the massive amount of clutter in my house. I leave on the 15th and until then I will be getting rid of a lot of junk that we have built up over the years so that when I leave on that Wednesday to fly to New Mexico by myself with 2 boys Steven won't have a lot to clean up. Wish us luck on this new adventure. The fun starts now.

6 Tips for Potty Training

2012-02-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

"I MAKED POO POO IN THE POTTY!"

And....that my loves is what Zack is saying to us when he has to go poop. Yes yes YES! He is finally potty trained...well...except at night but we will work on that later on. It took us 4 days to get him to this point. Both Steven and I had enough and let the little man run in his birthday suit. It was a VERY VERY long 4 days and everyones emotions were on turbo speed but he did it. I am one proud mama! He is very proud of himself too.....

He wanted to wear his cool Harley undies Stevens parents got him for his birthday and he rocked Daddies sunglasses. Now here's for the fun part. How did we do it? Sure running around in the nude isn't the only thing that we did. But it sure feels like it. We are in no way shape or form pros at the land of potty training but here is a few of our tips that helped us.

Tip #1 Buy a good potty. We tried the whole potty on the floor but it just wasn't happening for Zack. He is a little copycat and wants to do everything like Mommy and Daddy. So we invested in this one. I have forgotten what brand it is but it's cushioned and has some nice green handles. Zack even picked this one out. So I think that made him want to use it even more. Oh the toilet comes off and on real easily so it's easy for him to put on himself.

Tip #2 Reward Reward Reward! We did not like the whole give candy or TV time that others have used. So since I am cheap and frugal I just grabbed a piece of printer paper, taped it on the wall, pulled out 2 sheets of stickers from Zacks ever growing sticker stack, and let him pick 1 sticker for pee pee and 2 for poo poo. We even made this a little educational. One of the sticker sheets has the alphabet so he has to say what letter he wants instead of just pointing at it. As you can see he has a lot of stickers and he is so proud of them.

Tip #3 Let them be nude! This is the best part for them. Kids love to be naked and they have no care in the world to be naked. Don't you just love innocence?

Tip #4 Stay home- One big thing that kept throwing us off was leaving and putting the pull up back on him. So from Friday to Monday we kept him home 110%

Tip #5 This is mostly for boys but let them decide how they want to pee. Standing or sitting? Zack chose something along the lines of sitting. He is kind of squat/sitting....if that makes any sense. Sorry no pictures of that it's a little too much nakedness.

Tip # 6 Remind! I can't stress this enough! We did NOT force Zack to sit on the potty at a certain time. We just kept on asking him "Do you need to pee pee/poo poo?" which quickly turned into "Do you need to potty?" This just constantly reminded him that "Oh hey! I do need to go!" This saved us from messy floors and an aching back from constant scrubbing. Not once did he poop on the floor and only had 3 pee pee accidents. Thankfully none were on Eli.

So here we are...we have him telling us when he has to go and successfully going potty in public. I am so proud of my little guy. It's still shocking that he is potty trained he is growing way too fast for my liking but we are soooo close to not buying pull ups. He only gets them at night and nap time. So that is 2 a day. What a relief!

Applesauce

2012-01-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Applesauce in a house with a 3 year old is like a staple food. If you don't have applesauce on hand you might as well be prepped for a melt down. Because when a strong willed preschooler is asking for applesauce that means he wants applesauce and he wants it NOW.
Of course this happened to me the other day. For some reason when I went to the grocery store I walked right by the applesauce. Even though Zack saw it and was asking for it I was convinced we had some at home. So like any good mother would say to calm a tantrum "Zack mama has applesauce at home, I promise you will get some as soon as we get back." This calmed Zack and he then focused his energy on his brothers giraffe while Eli slept in my Boba. Anyway we get home I put all the groceries away, change Elis diaper, make Zack go pee pee, feed Eli, and finally put him down for a nap. I remember I made a promise to Zack to give him applesauce for snack time so since it was almost 3pm I figured I would get it for him. Well I open the cabinet it's not there, of course! Steven must have put it in the fridge like he usually does....nope not there either. Oh geez....I quickly squat down hoping he hasn't seen me rummaging through the kitchen. I can still hear his leap pad playing in the living room. Slowly I creep to gate hoping to sneak out and pretend I never made such a promise and just have Steven pick it up on his way home. I slowly lift my head to check around the corner and look who is standing right there in front of me with a very confused look on his face. I swear he was thinking "she has really gone crazy this time. I have finally made her go crazy." I smile awkwardly into that face and say "Hi Zack...peekaboo!" He gets a big smile on his face and I swear he knows just by the menacing look in his eye he says

"Mama, I want applesauce. You promise."

Okay now to start thinking in stealth mode here. I remember for a moment that we have apples. "Hey Zack you want an apple?"

"No Mama I want applesauce. You promise"

There has to be something...anything "Hey Zack you want yogurt?" (It's worth a shot right)

"No mama! I WANT APPLESAUCE! PROMISE!"

Think think think Lina.....Think! LIGHT BULB! I bought a bag of apples today. I will make him some homemade applesauce.

And I did. Here is the recipe below it came out super good and made a lot! I think we are going to just make big batches from now on.

Ingredients:

3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered apples. (Make sure you use a good cooking apple like Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonathan, Mcintosh, or Gravenstein.)
4 strips of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler to strip 4 lengths
Juice of one lemon, about 3-4 Tbsp
3 inches of cinnamon stick
1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
up to 1/4 cup of white sugar
1 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

1 Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

2 Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon peels. Mash with potato masher.

You can serve it either hot or cold. It tastes awesome over ice cream! Almost like an apple pie. Not to mention your house will smell great all day.

You can also freeze it for up to a year. Sounds perfect to me!

The original recipe was found at...
http://simplyrecipes.com
I made the applesauce word for word from the site.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

2012-01-28T06:16:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the rapid amount of changes I have made recently. As you can probably tell our blog has been renamed once again. No real reason except for it's an available domain name and I found out mama keeps dancing was bought. The other changes are the different pages at the top of the blog. We have
-Parenting
-Food
-For the Home
-Daddys Corner
-Supermoms
Yes Steven is going to start putting in his two cents. The others are pretty self explanatory they are pretty much an easy way to organize my posts for easy findings on your part. Then there's the supermoms tab. This one makes me really excited! I already have a few Moms in line to interview for this one. I am just showcasing other Supermoms that I know and I feel their stories should be heard. So keep your eyes peeled for the first one.

Now here's the big one....Japan. It's like literally right around the corner and I am secretly freaking out on the inside. I don't think the reality has totally hit me yet. I don't think it will until we are flying over the pacific ocean, halfway there that I will really realize that we are going to be in Japan for 3 years. On a brighter note we will be visiting New Mexico really soon. The boys and I actually leave on February 15th for this adventure and we will be there for about 2 months. I am mostly excited that I finally get to meet my brothers fiance (future best sister ever) and will get to see them get married. I love my big brother and I am very excited to see him marry such a wonderful person.

So yes so many changes in the coming months but we are very excited to enjoy the journey of it all.

Boys-Compare

2012-01-25T07:38:00.000-08:00

I have been having a whole lot of fun with my camera lately. Of course when I decide to get back into the whole thing my favorite editing site decides to shut down. So I have until April 19th to find something better or somewhat similar. I honestly don't think anything can top picnik unless I want to spend a lot of money for photoshop or aperture. I am just not ready for that investment quite yet.

I was just browsing at old posts and I realized...Eli needs more pictures so yesterday I pulled out my black background and took some great shots of the little man. Then of course I had way too much fun editing them in picnik.

Then it dawned on me how similar my boys are or were. Well Eli looks a lot like Zack when he was a baby in a lot of ways. But they also look really different. Yeah confusing...I know but I see a lot of Steven in Eli and Zack looks a lot like me. So I dug up some pictures of Zack from when he was about Eli's age. I think Zack was about 4 months in these pictures.

And this is my Zack now....

They grow way too fast don't they?

Review-Glee

2012-01-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

Recently I have found a new love for a wonderful show on Fox called Glee. Maybe you have heard of it? If not let me fill you in. The shows follows the Glee Club students of McKinley High School. They for one have amazing talent. I mean Rachel Berry played by Lea Michele is just flawless. When she sings you will literally get goosebumps. It's not just the voices that stand out to me it's the positive outlook the show provides. They show these kids getting bullied and hated on all the time but they always find a way to pick themselves back up and go back to being fabulous. They are accepting of everyone whether they are gay, disabled, fat, and even the bad singers. It's just very inspiring for me.

I used to be in choir and theater and was always a very open and out going person. After getting married and having kids my mind kind of wandered away from my true personality. I became shy and uncertain of myself. I felt awkward in most situations because all I knew was changing diapers and playing peek-a-boo. I heard of Glee and didn't think much of it until recently I watched the first episode and I was hooked. I don't really get into too many shows. Steven and I love Dexter and Walking Dead but that's about it. So for me to actually sit and watch the first 2 seasons in one week is kind of a big deal. I feel that I am back to normal again that having this show has given me the confidence to step out of myself and well....be me again.

Every Mom needs her own Glee. Whether it be in books, a new hobby, tv show, etc. We all deserve a little something for ourselves. Something that can fully make us happy and feel good. I am sure you love your kiddos more than Jelly loves Peanut Butter but we can all agree that we need time away every once in awhile. Luckily for me I enjoy a nice hot bath with a glass of wine and my tablet watching one of my shows or even reading a great book. The video below is teaser for the next episode which airs next Tuesday. It is dedicated to the great Michael Jackson.

Brothers

2012-01-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

The boys are still very young but they are already best friends. It's just so cute seeing them interact with each other. Eli isn't really mobile but loves just being around hi big brother. Zack will lay on the floor with him and read him a book or when Eli is in his jumperoo Zack will jump in front of him or sing to him. Eli thinks all this is absolutely hilarious. I have never heard him laugh so hard when Zack is making him laugh. I can just picture their futures together driving me crazy but all in all just having fun.

Dr. Mom/ Boogers

2012-01-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

Boogers.

What can I honestly say about boogers? I guess you can say they are like pringles, because "once you pop the fun won't stop." Except boogers are not fun, they're not even close being remotely fun. They are goopy and runny. Then just when you think they couldn't get worse than goopy and runny they dry quick. Like quicker than quick. If I could compare quick dry cement to boogers on which one dries the quickest...boogers would win.

This week we were infested with a case of the boogies. Everyone had it and 2 of us still do. The 2 that are still blowing snot bubbles is of course Zack and Eli. Now boogies don't bother me if let's say I have them or even Steven. It's when the kids have them that those little nasty goopy and runny things really get to me.
1. Kids don't know what to do about them.
2. Their first inclination is to pick them out and EAT THEM! Yuck!
3. They can't blow their nose and if their like Zack, who is still learning the art of blowing his nose, will breathe in or make a big farting noise with his mouth.
4. By the time you get to them armed with kleenex the boogies are already all over their hands, hair, and face. One time I even found some on Zacks foot. Seriously...was your foot the best place to wipe a booger?

Like I said we were all having congestion issues this week. Zack and Eli were full of nasty boogers and all we could do was go through 4 boxes of kleenex to prevent and rashes from forming on their upper lips. Of course all the wiping still caused some redness and irritation. To help with this irritation we are applying desitin clear to the spot and it's working like magic. It's just a thinner less abrasive vaseline for sensitive skin with the desitin brand name on it. All that matters to me is it works.

Next time you're plagued with the terrible boogers here's some tips.
-Dab don't wipe

-For babies, suck the boogers out before they become an issue. Use the bulb syringe you got at the hospital.
-Change your air filter it could be bad air affecting your nose.
-Stock up on saline is the most important tip. It just really helps with keeping your nose clear.

Hope this season you all stay booger free but if you're a mom like me we all that is impossible.

All my love,

Lina

xoxo

Christmas Eve!

2012-01-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

This year Zack has had an obsession with Busch Gardens. He loves that place so much that when we head to Williamsburg we can't take the short route because he can see the roller coasters from the road. Then of course we are stuck dealing with a heartbroken 3 year old who just wanted to go to Busch Gardens but can't because it's now closed for the season. Being a kid is so hard these days. Anyway, every year they do a thing called Christmastown where it pretty much gets transformed into a Christmastown. Lights are everywhere, Santa's workshop is open for visitors, and if you want to stand in line you can even visit some penguins behind a glass. It's actually very beautiful and fun. We really wanted to take Zack and this year we did. So for Christmas Eve we all got packed up and went to see Santa at work. When we got there I think an elf took the place of my husband because we even splurged on 3 tickets to Santa's Fireside Feast. Normally when we do Busch Gardens we get some yummy greased up fast food right afterwards. Nope not this time we were going to eat with Santa and have Cookies with Mrs. Claus. I have no idea where they find the time to entertain all those kids while getting ready to deliver gifts and hanging out in every mall in the country. They are for sure the best multitaskers I have ever seen.

We had a great time walking around and sipping on some hot cocoa. The whole park was filled with the sounds of Christmas music and they had some snow (bubbles) going as well. Right before out feast with Santa we even treated our train connoisseur (Zack) to a train ride around the park. At the dinner they had a huge buffet of child friendly foods like mac and cheese, hot dogs, mashed potatoes, turkey, mozzarella sticks and for the adults an amazing beef stew. Mrs. Claus walked around and visited with all the children, Santa's elves sold overpriced T-shirts and mugs, and Zack fell out of his chair. When St. Nick entered the room I'm not going to lie I think every kid felt the magic of his presence. He read "Twas The Night Before Christmas" by the fireplace. Then each kid could have a few minutes with him. This was the part that was just so adorable and my mommy hormones wanted to cry. Eli didn't get to meet the Claus this year as he slept through the whole thing but Zack was in complete awe of it all. He had a good 5 minute conversation with Santa and gave him a big hug before we left.

Leaving the park was even more magical. When we went in to eat it was light out but by the time we came out it was dark and the whole park was filled with lights. We got to see a bagpiper and Zack got his picture with some carolers. We left the park feeling full of Christmas spirit and ready to tackle present wrapping when we got home. Zack crashed out on the car ride home so putting him to bed was easy as pie. He got a bath and we read to him and as soon as I said "Santa won't come if you're awake" he was in bed and asleep. Steven and I wrapped all his gifts and exchanged ours then we finally were free to go to bed.....It was a great Christmas Eve and we will remember it forever.

Christmas Fun!

2012-01-16T08:25:00.001-08:00

Oh the Holidays....they came and went before I could even sing the first verse of Jingle Bells. This season was a very fun and eventful one. This was the first year that I think really think Z understood what was going on. So that made much more enjoyable for everyone.

As you all know Z goes to preschool. They had a Christmas program for the parents and it was so cute and fun. Z and his class sang a cute little song called "Dancing Snow" and it was by far the cutest thing ever. I don't have pictures from the program because it was just me that night since Steven had duty so I had to make the tough decision on whether to take pictures or make a video. I chose a video here it is below for your viewing pleasure.

I am stepping into a new territory with Zacks school. I was so used to him being home with me all day. Now we have to have everything ready for the next day. I lay out his and mines clothes, pack him a healthy snack, and get him to bed on time. The mornings haven't been hectic at all since he has started that's mainly because my mini alarm clock (Eli) wakes me up at around 6am. So I usually feed him and he falls back to sleep this enables me to have 2 hours to get dressed and ready. I can even take a shower, blow dry my hair and GASP! Put on some make-up. That's not something a Mom of 2 should have time to do. That's actually unheard of in the world of a stay at home mom, it's just complete blasphemy. Ok...Ok I am sure you get the point back to his school. I am getting used to volunteering for his class and even making gifts for his teachers. It's a lot of fun but it does add more to my plate. I am happy to do it though. There's nothing better than being able to help in his class and see how he acts around his classmates and teachers. He is learning so much at school I am sometimes amazed at what his wonderful teachers have accomplished in just 4 months. So lucky to have a good husband who works hard to allow me to stay home with the boys.

The wonderful brain of a toddler....

2011-12-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

This diagram never fails to make me laugh. It is so totally Zack and will probably be Elijah one day. Here is what I think goes on in Zacks mind all day.

"It's a phone so that means it's mine"

"what is this? broccoli? are you crazy woman? I said I wanted cheese!"

"I want to watch Gabba. I don't care about the news. Gabba is my news and I will watch it"

"Oooooo a counter. I shall climb it and nobody will care"

"Ouch! Falling off the counter hurt I wonder why? hmmm let me try it again"

"That's my toy!" Runs and tackles

"No mom these legos go down the toilet. My pee pee and poo poo go in my diaper. Parents these days just don't get."

"What you say that's hot? I am made of steel nothing is hot to me." touches hot thing "ahhhhh why did you let me touch that?"

"Oh NOOOO not the corner!!! It's so scary in the corner"

"The itsy bitsy spider..." gets distracted "twinkle twinkle" gets distracted "what was I singing again?

"Okay mom this is how you sing ABCs- ABCD HIJK ELMO PEE QRSTUVWXY and YZ now I know those ABCs ABCs sing with you"

"ahh an open cabinet must open, oh a chair that's not being climbed on, oh a picture I can reach on the wall, oh the blinds, oh the computer, oh the toilet must flush it"

"Naptime? why must you torture me?"

That's all I can come up with now. Don't you just love the toddler mind?

Inspiration...

2011-12-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

Trying to live by this lately. I don't want to follow the crowd I want to be myself. I think I have always done this but I want my boys to see me for who I am and not what others want me to be. Although I do love some cheerios but fruit loops are just prettier in comparison. So I don't mind being a fruit loop even if that makes me a little more loopy than others.
All my love
Lina

Going Granola

2011-11-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

(Top Row from left to right: Hoot, Chunky Monkey, Blue Giraffe. 2nd Row Double Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Chip. 3rd Row Moolicious, Cookies N' Cream, Orange Sherbert.)

Everyone probably knows by now based on my over excitement over this, that we have started to cloth diaper Eli. My report in this is officially I LOVE IT! I don't see why I didn't cloth with Zack it's so easy and really not as yucky as what you would expect. Now I have gotten mixed feelings about it and I just don't understand why. He's my son and that immediately means what goes on his little butt is mine and Stevens decision. Thankfully some of the comments from friends and family has brought a laugh and I am more than happy to educate so they can respect our decisions to make this change. Normally I wouldn't care what others think but I actually do feel strongly that cloth is better for a babies bottom than disposable so maybe my explanations will help another little bum out there be as comfy as possible.

Steven and I did do a lot of research before deciding on cloth. If you are considering to use cloth diapers I suggest to please find ones that work best for you and your family. If you honestly don't have any extra minutes to dedicate to washing them then I suggest you find a brand that requires less cleaning or maybe even a drop off service where they pick up your soiled diapers and bring you new ones. Unfortunately this choice was not an option for us since it still costs more money and they don't offer it in Japan. So we jumped into the cloth diapering world head first. After much consideration and listening to my other cloth friends out there. We chose to go with the Best Bottom system. They have inserts and shells. It's as easy as snapping in the insert and putting the soiled one in a wet bag. We put in a small investment knowing that the amount we spend will benefit us greatly in the long run. So far they have exceeded our expectations. So just for fun I have created a list of reasons why I love cloth diapering....

1.) Money, this is the main reason why we made the switch and was also the way Steven was convinced to switch as well.

2.) Clean, now you're probably thinking how is having a bunch of diapers in a bag waiting to be washed cleaner than just throwing them away? Well my friends they are washed everyday and put away there is no pile of nasty disposables in my trashcan which means a lighter trash bag for Steven to take out at night.

3.) No leaks! Usually when Eli poops in a disposable he leaks up his back into his hair and armpits. I don't know how in the world this is possible but it happens and it's gross. Since using his new diapers we have had zero leaks even with the poops that sound and look like a bomb went off in his pants. The diaper shell keeps it all in! This also means no more stains on his cute little clothes.

4.) Easy to use. Once you get used to the snaps and what's comfortable for the baby it's just like changing a regular diaper.

5.) I enjoy cleaning them. "WHAT??!?!?!?!?!" Is probably what's going through your mind. But I love knowing what's going on my babies bottom. We use a special detergent called Rockin Green and it works so well. All the ingredients are listed and it is scented but not strongly to make they diapers icky afterwards. As I said I wash them daily I empty the wet bag contents into the washer. First I rinse on cold, then wash with 3tbs of rockin green on hot, and then do one final rinse on warm. When they are washed I hang up the shells and tumble dry the inserts. If any stains made it on them I simply hang them outside to get some sun and it naturally bleaches the stains away. Easy!

6.) Steven likes them. He actually isn't bothered by changing them because I think the poop stays in place. There are even times he asks me before I change Eli if he could do it. Of course I step aside and let him indulge in diaper fun.

7.) Less night time diapers. We use the overnight inserts with a regular insert in a shell. He goes to bed at 9pm and is in the same diaper until 4-5am. Less night changes=longer sleep periods.

8.) Soft and comfy. The part of the insert that touches his skin is a soft fleece. I can only imagine how comfy he feels in them.

9.) No rashes....yet. Eli was getting a lot of rashes in other diapers. I never really thought it would be because of the chemicals in the diapers that made him break out. Since switching he has had ZERO rashes.

10.) They are super cute! Just look at our rollie pollie in them. My favorites are a toss up between Hoot and Moolicious. Steven loves Orange Sherbert!

Along with cloth diapering we are also making other changes in our household. Flannel wipes, comfort nursing, baby wearing, less processed foods, making my own laundry soap and less TV. Were trying to do better for our family by making healthy choices. I hope you are inspired to do the same.

So Thankful...

2011-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

This year we had a very wonderful Thanksgiving. It is always nice to just stay home and relax for the Holidays. Steven had duty the day of Thanksgiving so we weren't able to really celebrate until the Friday after. I cooked the whole meal and it came out great. We enjoyed a honey glazed turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, orange cranberry sauce and don't forget the pumpkin pie. We even had a friend of Stevens stop in so he wouldn't be spending Thanksgiving alone. Zack had a blast he ate his whole plate and the day before he and I enjoyed some hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls while we watched the parade. His favorite parts were the balloons and marching bands. This year we have so much to be thankful for. Elijah has been the most precious addition to our little family. He is a sweet little guy and has the best big brother ever. Zack loves him, he wants to kiss him and hug him all the time. When Zack is around being silly Elijah just stares and smiles at him. We can already tell they are going to be best friends when they grow up. It still amazes me that these boys are mine and one day they are going to be men just like their Daddy. I am so thankful for them because without them my life would be extremely boring.

Have a wonderful work week everyone. Of course what would a blog be without some pictures of the boys I am so thankful for.

PS. That cow print is Elijahs new cloth diapers! More on those later.

Friends, Chuckee, and Fish

2011-11-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

On November 22nd we celebrated Zacks 3rd birthday. It was a day filled with Zacks favorite things we got a few of his friends together for a party at Chuckee Cheese complete with a Nemo cake. Earlier in the day we took him to the Aquarium where he was surrounded by more fish. Right now Zack is in love with Finding Nemo so we were able to include that in everything. It was such an amazing day and not once did I see him not smiling. We are so incredibly blessed to have him in our lives. He is our little wild man and I love him so much.

The Spiderman Chronicles

2011-11-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

Halloween was quite the adventure this year. Zack dressed up as spiderman and this was his first time going to a Halloween party for school. We even let him pick out his costume this year so it was all about him. The best way for me to tell you about Halloween is to show you pictures of it all. We will start off with......

Spiderman Goes to School

After school we had some good down time before heading out to go get this get his candy. We went to one of Zacks friends from schools house, Ryan, and went with their family. Steven took the lead with 2 four year olds and 2 almost three years olds. Don't worry Steven survived and kept all his little duckies in a row. It was a lot of fun and the neighborhood we went to had so many houses that went all out it was awesome!

Spiderman Gets His Candy

Halloween was a hit and we are already excited for next year! We are not sure what Zack will go as but he will pick again next year and this time Eli will be dressed to go somewhere too. We will also be in Japan!

Yo Gabba Gabba

2011-10-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

Those who know Bear know he has quite the love for his monster friends in Gabba land. On the 22nd Z and I had our first "date" since the Turtle was born. It's been quite the transition for everyone so I needed to take my guy out for some fun. We were supposed to see the show on the 19th in Norfolk but it landed right on Daddys duty day. So we bought tickets for the show up in Richmond. Bear and I left around 3pm and drove the almost 2 hours just to see the gang. We got ourselves checked in and then the show began. I do have to say that I had a great time. At first I was a little nervous about the whole thing since it was a kids show but it was actually a lot of fun. It was a very bittersweet moment for me. I realized that my baby boy is growing up. Gabba used to be the only thing he was very interested in. Now he loves trains, trucks, fast cars, animals, playing pretend, Thomas the train, Pixar movie, superheros...and the list could go on and on. Gabba has been slowly leaving his interest list and it sure makes this Mom wish he would stay little for just awhile longer. So this show was like our last Gabba Hoorah! We splurged on the party package tickets which got us into the after party where Zack met all the characters. It was so much fun and I had to share our good time. Warning this post contains way too many cute pictures.

This is an example of what his face looked like through the whole show

His happy faces when the music started.


The show!

Hugs for Muno

Knuckles for Plex

He gave Brobee so many hugs. He was just in awe.

Giving Tudee a balloon

Playing catch with Muno

Bear watching Muno sing

Muno sang for all the kids

Being read to and dancing with DJ Lance Rock and Glitter Hand Leslie

Finally meeting his favorite actor ever DJ Lance Rock. This guy was a trooper he picked up every kid and talked to them for at least 5 minutes each. Bear was so amazed.

And like everywhere we go we must make new friends and hold hands....

Favorite Things...for now

2011-10-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

Since Friday we have had a non stop weekend. Zack had an ear infection and croup (we think) and Eli had diaper rash and has unfortunately developed some post nasal drip. On top of all that I am still nursing him pretty much every 2 hours during the day and 4 hours at night. With all that us parents all have our favorite things that get us through the tough times and interesting times. These are ours....

For diaper rashes I swear by this stuff. I used it with Zack and now it is working wonders on Eli. Seriously just put it on their little booties and the next day the rash is gone.

Both Zack and Eli have benefited from using this stuff. With this nasty winter weather coming up so does the icky dry air and with the dryness comes sinus issues. At least that's how it is for us. Steven and I also use this and it is AWESOME!

And now a little something for Mom and Dad when and if we get a break.....
Dexter

If you haven't jumped on the Dexter wagon yet, you are officially deemed crazy in my book. The 6th Season started on Sunday and we are so happy that our Fall lineup is back on. A little short about the show is he is a serial killer who works for Miami Metro Police Department as a blood spatter analyst. He only kills people that have gotten away with their crimes. Such as rapist and murderers. It's by far one of our favorite shows and this is what we look forward to every fall.

Much Love everyone XOXO

1 Month!

2011-10-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Well I made a BIG uh oh yesterday. I didn't not do my part and set time aside to blog. Hey with 2 kids it's kind of difficult to remember these things. So as an apology here are some wonderful pics of the boys. Eli is now 1 month and I can't believe how fast time has gone. Everything here has been going some what smoothly. Zack is doing a great job being a big brother but sometimes he goes a little too far when he tries to pick Eli up. But one of us is always right there to teach him that well Eli is not a toy. It doesn't give me (mama) much time for myself. Right now we are working on a routine with Eli. I nurse him every 1-2 hours during the day and then in the evening he sleeps between 3-4 hours but the other night he slept a good long 6 hours. He is growing so much and we have a well baby appointment coming up real soon. He has also been smiling at us and he loves tummy time. The hardest thing for me right now is splitting up my time. I really need to have a set schedule for things to go smoothly. When it's just me and the boys things can get crazy that's why I feel a schedule helps a whole lot. Also Zack started a preschool last week and so far he is loving it. It gives me 3 hours during the day to get any and all housework done or to just relax. Here are some pics of my boys....enjoy!

Crazy!

2011-10-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking how crazy it is that this time next year I will be in Japan! March seems so far away and it's actually not. I think of all the amazing things we have done here in Virginia and pretty soon we will be saying goodbye to this great state. We have gone through a deployment, brought two beautiful boys into the world, survived a earthquake and hurricane in the same week, we have been through tornados, ice storms, tropical storms, and a nor'easter. We have seen our nations capitol and have also seen historical sites like jamestown and williamsburg. I have been on my first roller coaster at Busch Gardens which is now Zacks favorite destination. Steven has moved up in rank, drove for a Admiral, won a NAM and has thankfully been home for 3 years straight. Zack has started school and made many friends as have I. For a small town girl from Las Cruces, NM I would say that I am very lucky to have experienced everything that Virginia has given us. I will for sure miss it here but I am very very excited to start this new chapter in our lives. I was thinking of all the things I want to do in Japan here is a list of a few of them...

Go to Tokyo Disney
Visit Tokyo
Climb Mt. Fuji
Learn Japanese
Go to an onsen (spelling?) it's like a big hot spring
Buy a kimono
Go to the cherry blossom and autumn leaves festivals
ski up in northern Japan
help rebuild fukashima
Learn to cook traditional Japanese cuisine
Eat REAL sushi
?????

And the list is going to continue to build. I am so excited to experience everything with my family. My boys will be exposed to another culture before they even understand ours. I am so grateful to be in this life with an amazing husband and two sons. I always told myself that I was going to get out of Las Cruces and here I am now. Thank you honey for giving our family the opportunity to travel the world. I love you!

Dr. Mom/Don't freak out!

2011-10-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

Don't Freak Out!!!

Everyone knows that kids gets sick and when that happens it can be very stressful on the parents. One thing that Steven and I do because of the stress when Zack gets sick is let our tempers rise.We don't get mad at the kid but we get upset with each other. We both want to so badly do the right thing for our little guy that we have found ourselves getting a little short with each other. Looking back it's all actually pretty funny. I understand that all we want at the time for our little one is to be healthy and to the pain go away as quick as possible. But us being snippy is for sure not very productive.

So I was thinking that to fix this little quirk of ours we just need to CALM DOWN! Surprising concept isn't it? Things get more stressful if you're disagreeing on something so small as whether he should nap on the short or long couch. Yes we seriously bicker about these little things but that's marriage right? So just take a step back listen to your spouse because they might actually have a good idea to make the whole process a lot easier.

Another thing that I feel is a great tip for any and all parents out there is Have a Plan! What I mean by plan is sit down and decide what you would you do in this and that situation. For example: "If Zacks fever is 101 or higher give him motrin and schedule an appointment, if the fever doesn't break or gets higher go to the ER." Simple right? I know that sometimes things are new to parents but at least decide on the basics.

These things should help us in the future and hopefully you too. Just remember to always have patience and respect for what your partner has to say. This is their child too and they made have a secret remedy up their sleeve. You never know.

Now for a pic of my minions....

Back To Blogging/Elis Story

2011-09-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

I'm back and ready to get this blog moving again. The end my pregnancy was by far the most painful part of the whole thing. I don't want to get into it because then I will just sound like a big whiner but all that matters is I am back and ready to rumble. To get this blog moving along like I want it to I will be doing the 365 day blog challenge. In a nutshell I will be blogging once a day for 365 days starting well...today. I will start this off by telling you all a little story about a prince named Eli.

The Story of Eli

Elijah Rafael graced us with his presence on September 2nd 2011 at 5:36am weighing 7Ibs 9oz and was 21 inches long. He had quite a procession the 2 weeks before with the East coast earthquake and Hurricane Irene hitting us. I thought for sure during the whole hurricane he was going to come because this mama was stressed but nope he wanted to have all the attention. This is his birth story I hope you enjoy.
After we got settled back in after the hurricane I made an appointment for Tuesday the 30th of August. I was supposed to be seen that Friday but rescheduled because my midwife was going on leave for 6 weeks and I wanted to see her one more time. She checks me and tells me I am 3.5cm and 75% effaced at a -2 station. Totally fine by me because I had been this for about 2 weeks so I didn't think much of it. Everything was going perfectly aside from all my icky pains and discomfort. Eli was perfect and I had made it to 39 weeks. We said our goodbyes and I went on my way home. Wednesday came and went with a few contractions here and there. Then came Thursday I woke up feeling very heavy and my mind and body were just not feeling normal. Somehow that morning I had a feeling I was going to have the baby real soon. After lunch my contractions got to about 10 minutes apart. When Steven finally got home I really wanted to go and do something to take my mind off of possibly being in labor. So we went and ate then drove down to Yorktown for some ice cream and to walk on the beach. On our way back the contractions got down to 5-7 minutes apart. We decided to go to the hospital.

By the time we dropped Zack off at the sitter and parked we were in triage at 9pm at Riverside Regional (Langley was full so we were routed to another hospital). They hooked me up to the monitors and of course my contractions slowed down. They decided to have me walk around the hospital for an hour. So that's exactly what we did. I walked and walked and walked telling Steven that this baby was coming tonight whether he liked it or not. I was NOT being sent home like I had been with Zack. Finally the hour passed and they checked me again I progressed to 5cm!!! WOOHOO!!! We were being admitted!!! Praise the Lord I wasn't going to be pregnant anymore! Well at least that's what was going through my mind. Not sure about what Steven was thinking but by the looks of it he was having a mini panic attack on the inside.

Once in our room I got hooked up to monitors again and they started on my IV which because of my tricky veins took some time and made the husband angry. I on the other knew what was coming and some minor pricks in my arms weren't compared to what I was about to feel in a few hours. We waited and waited. I can't say what time my contractions got bad because I honestly don't remember. It felt like I was in pain for hours when they came and checked me and I was at 7cm, they decided to break my water. After more labor I finally asked for an epidural which I think made Steven very happy. After receiving my epidural I was able to relax and even almost fell asleep. My nurse came in to try and find the babys heartbeat because kept moving away from the monitor. After trying to find the heartbeat for 20 minutes they decided to put in a while on his head. But when they checked me to put it in I was 10 cm and he was ready come out. They got me all set up and ready to go. Again I am sure Steven was having a panic attack at this point. After a few pushes Elis heartrate started dropping the doctor told me they were going to use a vacuum to ease him out quicker. It took one push and he was out.

When I saw him he was blue and steven said the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. I didn't get to hold him right away. They had to take him to the warming table immediately to get him to cry. I was very nervous because with Zack he started crying immediately and he was put on my chest before being rushed away. All I heard at this point was Steven asking them why wasn't he crying. Then we heard him and his little cry sounded so sweet and perfect. Eli was here and we were a family of four.

"It's cold out here put me back in!!!"

Big boy 7Ibs 9.9oz

Daddy got to hold me first.

Finally meeting my Mommy

Life Lessons...

2011-07-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

Do you remember your favorite part of Summer when you were a kid? I remember riding my bike up and down my street, jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers running, going to the pool and never wanting to get out, spending a whole day reading the first few Harry Potter books but the biggest memories I have is going to the beach. My family would make a yearly trip down to South Padre Island. I only remember a handful of times that my parents actually took us but they were the most memorable summer vacations we had. I used to love the beach. We would spend at the very least 4 days on the beach. The days were filled with sunshine and the nights we would hunt for crabs or should I say we would find them and run away screaming. They were some really good times that are embedded in my memory forever.

Continuing with the beach tradition we took Zack to buckroe beach this past weekend and it was interesting to say the least. Of course I am pregnant so I felt like a whale but it was so nice to bury my feet in the warm sand. Now being a mom of a very adventurous boy I should have realized that he would find a big hole and just dig in the sand. Seriously I don't think I have seen a child loves sand so much. The downside of all the sand is I think he got some in places that even he hasn't discovered yet. The other downside is even with sunblock my back got burnt :( not too bad to where I have a fever but it really itches and I have a giant red and white X on my back. It's very attractive since it goes well with my stretch marks. Then of course with our luck the cleaning station was broken so we had to drive home in salt water and sand. I don't think Zack cared too much about it but Steven and I felt really gross. To say the least this was not the best trip to the beach we have had.

This week while thinking of something creative to write with the beach pictures. I realized how negative I was about being at the beach. With the sand, sun and fishy water I wasn't being the most positive mom in the world. I have decided to change that everyday from here on out I am going to try and live happily. I am going to remember always how I felt at the beach when I was little and tell myself that this is their moment. Before I know it Zack will be all grown up and I will miss the joy on his face at the beach. I don't want them to remember mom complaining about the heat and sand in her crotch. I want them to tell people how cool mom was because she would let them bury her or that she would be the first in the water. We are our kids greatest influences and I for sure don't want to raise a bunch of whiners. Not that we were whining but we were for sure complaining about it. So that is my life lesson this week. Be happy, never regret, and make things the best for my kids regardless of how icky I feel or how huge I am. Life is short and we need to take advantage of these moments while we can.

31 weeks!

2011-07-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again....:) we are down to the final 9 weeks. I have been waiting to say a single digit for quite some time. So here I go...
I HAVE 9 WEEKS LEFT AND NOTHING READY!!!!!!!!!!
Now don't freak out just yet it's not like we haven't bought
anything we have it all from Zack. It's more of a let's get the energy on our much awaited weekend to get our room ready for what's to come. Do you understand how hard that really is? We both do so much during the week. Steven wakes up at 5am, busts his butt at work and gets home around 4pm. I am up at around 6am chasing around a toddler, cleaning a house that seems to get messy within 30 minutes of cleaning it and then making dinner so my two men aren't fending for themselves by eating cereal and cookies for dinner. So I guess it would be easy to say that we cherish our weekends. When Friday evening comes around we are so ready to just become beach/pool bums that I think Steven is wearing his swim trunks under his NWU's. I know everything will be done before Eli gets here but I can't help but worry that I will be fresh out of labor making Steven go home and decorate. I may even have him send me pictures so I can micro manage his work. So I guess I should stop complaining and just light a fire under my prego butt and get the ball rolling. Oh that is easier said than done.

At least last night I managed to knit a newborn baby in hat in get ready for it....3 HOURS! It was actually a very easy pattern and since newborns heads are so small it explains why I did it so fast. I am so proud of my work that I am posting pictures and the link I found the hat right now!
Pattern for hat: http://themakeyourownzone.blogspot.com/2011/03/knitting-newborn-hats-for-hospitals.html
The great thing about the make your own zone is well she's amazing to say the least. All of her posts are pretty much little things you can do at home instead of spending money on them. Like laundry detergent, which yes I will be trying soon.
Back to the hat...since I made it so quickly I will be making many many many more. I plan on donating them to CHKD (Childrens Hospital of the King's Daughters. I will also be revising the pattern in other sizes to fit preemies to teenagers. Since CHKD is a childrens hospital they treat a lot of cancer patients and I think a nice beanie or stylish cap for the kids will be my good deed for this year. Check how you can give back to this wonderful hospital at this link http://www.chkd.org/Giving/

That is all I have for now. Of course I have more to talk about, this is me hellloooo! It's just 11:30pm and as I said earlier I wake up way too early for this none morning person. I love you all and hope your weekend has gone well. More posts coming actually tomorrow. As Z would say it NIGHT NIGHT!!!

Lina

P.S. The picture in our header is my lovely maternity shot. I figured why would I spend hundreds on maternity shots when I have a fancy pancy camera at home. So I made Steven take a picture that I have wanted for awhile and I did some editing. It's purty isn't it?

My Crafty Self

2011-07-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

I have been a knitting beast lately. Finishing projects and starting new ones in preparation for Eli and Zack. I finally managed to finish the dinosaur I started almost a year ago for Zack. He already needs a good washing Zack loves him so much. I actually had a lot of fun making him and I am already planning my next project. But here he is! Meet Dino the Dinosaur made from the love of my heart for my little man.
As you can see he is already being welcomed into the family with big hearts. Stay tuned for more of my crafts! Including a brand new room design for Zack, a ball and a blanket.

Our fun, eventful, wet 4th of July

2011-07-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an extremely hot day. The weather kept saying there was going to be rain but it never came. So we got the idea that after we finished a quick house pick up we were going to get off our lazy butts and go get some errands done and then head off to Busch Gardens for their illuminights fireworks show. So after watching True Grit (great movie), a nap for Zack and a quick clean up we were out the door headed to none other than my favorite store, Target. Of course with our luck the clouds started looking dark while we were walking in. When shopping we heard the thunder and even felt it. Our wonderful Busch Gardens adventure was looking like a complete fail. After target it still hadn't started raining. We were hungry and refused to pay 40.00 for some amusement park food. While driving up Jefferson it started to pour and when I say pour it was like a waterfall from the sky. We stopped at Chilis had some yummy food and even noticed on the menu they now have a hatch green chili cheeseburger. No, neither of us ordered it...why you ask? well we knew it was going to be a tease. It was just nice to see that the best chili out there was being recognized on the east coast. When we left Chilis the rain had stopped completely. As a crazy team Steven and I decided to brave it and go to Busch Gardens. Figuring hey we have season passes we get in free and can always come back for the show the rest of the summer since they have it every night all summer long. We were informed when we got there that the show was still on and the park was still open. As were walking in everyone was walking out. If you know Busch Gardens and any amusement park out there you very well know that they are packed. We were lucky because since everyone was leaving it was not packed at all. It started to sprinkle but they kept saying the show would go on. We went to a shop and bought some Busch Gardens ponchos. Yes we rocked those ponchos because hey we had to walk to the perfect spot to watched these amazing fireworks. On our little walk around the park it started to rain harder and harder but it was fun and Zack loved the rain plus the rain was warm and we had our amazing ponchos. We got to our destination and waited it out. We were on a bridge with some cover so we were dry once again. After about a 30 minute wait we were told the show was cancelled. We got our ponchos back on and left surprisingly okay with what had just happened. I think deep down we knew it was not going to happen but hey if you never get out and try something you'll never know what could have been. When we got home we put on the Macy's show in New York and enjoyed our fireworks in the comfort of our own home.

Zack in his poncho really excited to see some "boom"

Aren't they the coolest poncho wearing men you have ever seen?

A glimpse from the bridge at the ferrys below and of the rain coming down.

"my parents dragged me through the rain to see this awesome show and it got cancelled?"

We still had a great time and even with the rain we enjoyed it so much. In the back of our minds we knew our New Mexico friends and family would have been outside dancing, taking shots of tequila and shooting their guns in the air just because of the rain. So we made the best of it and at least we got a good power walk out of it. By the way Zack loves rain actually Zack loves all water so this was quite the adventure for him plus now we have some cool ponchos to sport the next time it rains. You better believe when it rains again we will be in our parking lot dancing around in our ponchos.

Happy 4th of July everyone! We are praying you all get some rain soon and fast. I think I am going to channel my inner Betty White from The Proposal and do a rain dance for you all daily. Love you all!

It's the final countdown!!!!

2011-07-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

I always consider the last 10 weeks of pregnancy to be the final stretch (no pun intended) to a very long road. If you thought you were uncomfortable before the 30 week mark then boy oh boy! You are in for a LOOONNNGGGG 10 weeks. That's why I take all my pregnancy symptoms with a grain of salt. I know that it won't last forever and it's all for a good reason to be going through them. I think this pregnancy wasn't that bad aside from the morning sickness at the start things have been going pretty smoothly. They have also been speeding by WAY to fast. With Zack it felt like everyday second of everyday was an hour. I was so anxious to have things done for him and to meet him. With Eli I could honestly wait just a little longer (knock on wood) since I am busy all day doing other things with Zack. But like I said this is the last stretch for things and before we know it Eli will be in our arms. Every week from here on out I will be updating how things are going with the pregnancy. In new updates with things we got our 3d/4d ultrasound today. ELI IS FINALLY HEAD DOWN!!!! Thank you dear Lord our chances of c-section went down today. Unfortunately he is also extremely low already and the tech had a really hard time getting a good shot of his face. Below are the best ones out of the bunch. I hope you enjoy them!

Little chunky cheeks

He looks so much like Zack did when he was born

Yup still for sure a boy.

His big foot! Just like Daddy

Do you see the ear?

This was when he was being difficult but take a look at those neck rolls

Another face shot...so handsome

And here is just a reminder of what Zack looked like in the womb and a few days after birth. I think there are some similarities between them. The U/S pic for Zack was done at I believe 24 weeks. He wasn't as chunky but here you go.

Everyone have a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We will be at Busch Gardens for their firework show and then home. We really don't have much planned but I know we will have a great 4 day weekend. Love you all!
Lina, Steven, Zack and Eli

Busch Gardens

2011-07-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to finally get season passes for Busch Gardens and Watercountry. We have been thinking about getting one for the last few years that we have been here and on our last summer here we decided it was time to get them. You pretty much pay for one visit and get in whenever you want all year. It's a great deal and Zack loves both parks. We went with our good friend Sara, Gabe and their sweet little girl Ella. It's great for Zack because Ella is 5 months younger than him so he always has a playmate and oh boy they are sure a pair of gremlins when together. Sara is also expecting their 2nd baby, Liam, July 23rd so I have someone to complain about pregnancy woes with while Steven and Gabe talk about work stuff. We had such a great time at Busch Gardens. Zack got to play in the Sesame Street water area for awhile which was a lot of fun we then went and had some yummy BBQ. We also saw two shows that were AWESOME! Zack loved the animal show because well of course there's animals. The other show he lost interest in quite a lot. It was a river dance style show but they had one number with tap dancers that was loud, fast and upbeat. Zack enjoyed dancing along with them (or at least trying) then we had to leave because he got really bored. Enjoy the pictures!

Going into the park with his cool new shades

Playing in Sesame street with Daddy

After playing in the water all dry and watching the sesame street show

Him and his little buddy Ella

Trying to steal a kiss from Miss Ella....good boy Zack....but her Dad is right there

Watching the animal show

Enjoying all the little animals doing their sill tricks

Mommy and her baby boy!

Lovin on my Bear

Playing in the tree that talks.

riding on the mini clydesdales

His absolute favorite ride he went around a few times

Meeting a beautiful clydesdale!

Portsmouth Childrens Museum=FUN FUN FUN!

2011-06-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Loving the "choo choo"

I am the worst blogger in the whole wide world. You would think that being home all day means I have tons of time to just post whenever I want. Ummm...no. Have you people seen Zack and his obsession with any and all electronics? Well I am sorry for being so bad at updating but I promise after tonight I will be better at it. I pinky promise ;)

Anyways....a few weeks ago the new childrens museum in Portsmouth opened. Since it's been so hot we decided to check it out. Well we loved it so much that we paid for a 1 year membership. It's like a tired mother's dream come true. Everything is up for grabs, Zack can touch, tug, jump, run, pull (you get the idea) on anything he wants. The whole bottom floor is set up like a little city with a grocery store complete with shopping baskets, food and a farm in the back. There's even a music shop (noisy!), fire house, vet clinic, tug boat, bank, dentist, doctors, train station, library and Zacks favorite a bus. I just now realized how much is on the bottom floor. The top floor has a lot of older kids activities and it's a little over stimulating for Zack but he still has a good time. Oh! There is also a bubble room. I could seriously go on and on about how amazing this place is but I will spare you the details and just let you explore with pictures. Enjoy...

Vet Zack about to examine a "down"

Awww...how he won my heart...

Learning the ins and outs of a kitchen

hmmm...I think you're to small for that chair baby

Clear the roads Zack is driving a bus!

Fishing just like his Grandpa

Playing in the bubble water....

Making giant bubbles with Daddy

A Blessed Mothers Day

2011-05-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Mothers day was perfect. I got to spend it with 2.5 of my favorite people in the whole entire world. The .5 is Eli since he is not quite here yet. I have compiled a few of my favorite pictures of Zack and I. Followed by a little poem thing someone sent me today that made me really emotional (thank you pregnancy) and it is to all the moms out there who have sacrificed more than their bodies and minds for the joys of just a giggle, hug, and kiss.

I would say this was taken around early November. Can't you tell by my face I am so excited to be hugely pregnant. ;)

The day he was born November 22nd 2008, 7Ibs 9oz. I believe I was sleeping I really don't remember and wish I did. All I know is I was completely in love with that little man.

This was about a week after being home from the hospital. I really wanted to take a pretty picture of Zack and I for Steven.

Zacks first 4th of July 2009. I was so concerned for his little ears but just look at that face, totally confused.

First family pictures. They told me to be natural with him so he and I just looked at each other and started laughing. We have had insides jokes and looks since he was very little.

Waiting for Daddy. This was Daddies homecoming gift from Mommy.

His first time at the pool. I cannot believe Eli will be sitting in this next summer.

I just absolutely love him but this is from about a year ago.

And finally my most recent picture with him. Of course I am more concerned with what he is doing than smiling at the camera.

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom

Easter

2011-05-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

For Easter we had a little joint party at a friends house this year. We had such a great time and Zack really enjoyed himself. Especially after he figured out all the eggs had either chocolate or jelly beans in them. Lesson learned from this year, don't put chocolate in Easter eggs not realizing they probably will melt. The kids hunted and got there fill on eggs while the adults indulged in some ribs, hash brown casserole and a yummy trifle. All in all we had a great day but we were exhausted.
Two days later it was my birthday and although Steven had duty that day, I felt the love from everyone. Thank you for the birthday wishes and gifts everyone. It really made this busy, tired, pregnant moms day. Enjoy the pictures below!

When Zack met Mario

2011-05-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

So Zack really doesn't know who Super Mario is and I don't really think he cares that much about it. He prefers Gabba and well....Gabba. The other day we had a nice little family outing. I (mommy) HAD to have some Tropical Smoothie. So we jumped in the car and went to ease my craving for a yummy get up and goji smoothie. Right next to the Tropical Smoothie on the CNU campus is an arcade place. They had a guy dressed as super mario. Zack went right up to him and enjoyed every minute of it. Enjoy...

Come on mom, 5 more minutes!

2011-04-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is time going way too fast lately? I feel like Steven and I were still in New Mexico playing wii with his parents not knowing the next day was going to change EVERYTHING. We really need to get a move on preparing for the baby. I just really feel weird getting things "ready" because it still feels too soon but I am just about 18 weeks. Before I know it we will be doing everything last minute and I really don't want that. I don't think anybody wants that but unfortunately it happens to the best of us. Tomorrow I am going to start packing up things from my desk and all the unwanted books we have piled all over it. These of course are all mine because I have a hard time getting rid of books. I gives all my thanks to my mom for that trait. My nightstand is going to take over as my desk because we will be selling it to make room for the baby. Then I plan on getting all my arts and crafts junk out from under my bed and organizing it in my closet. If you know me and my artsy self you are probably cringing at the thought of the mess I have ahead of me. Our furniture will be rearranged to make room for the changing table, co-sleeper/pack & play, and glider. I think we are going to brave it and put our coffee table back in the living. Let's pray Zack won't hurt himself too bad on it, he has to learn at some point right? Let's just say I want this all done before we find out what were having so I can totally jump into the decorating process especially if we are having a girl. Oh yeah did I mention I am STILL decorating Zacks room.

To put all this simply I have a lot of work ahead of me and I wish I could be that kid again so I can just say "5 more minutes!" in my whiniest voice ever. But in my case I can't because since these first 20 weeks have gone by waaaaayyyyyy to quickly I can only imagine how fast the next 20 will be. Wish me luck! Have a great night!

My Boys

2011-03-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

I love the way they play together. The love they have for each other is amazing. When Steven was deployed I prayed that they would have a close relationship. Sure enough they are closer than I think a father and son could be. When Steven gets home from work Zack runs to him and won't let him go until bedtime. He asks me for Daddy all day and duty days are the worst because instead of asking he begs for him. Of course when I am gone Steven does inform me that all Zack can talk about is MaMa. We are praying for another healthy and happy baby but deep down inside of me I want another little boy. Of course it will be nice to have everything already and not worry about buying new clothes and what not. I just want Steven to have another son to have this same relationship with. I am sure he would be a great Daddy to a little girl but there is just something different with a father son relationship that's just special. That is just what has been crossing my mind lately. Of course pray that this baby is a healthy, strong, beautiful, little blessing because that is what matters most.

Just an update on everything else going on. Zack is doing good he says his ABC's and 123's with me and also knows most of his colors. Our next ultrasound is April 16th! We are really excited about this appointment because we will get to see our baby and find out for sure what we are having. The baby has been moving around a lot and yes I can feel it. I am also showing but we will post a picture later on when I feel more comfortable. Next week is our next OB appointment so stay tuned for that post. Enjoy these last two pictures of Zack that I have managed to edit this evening. We love you all and will continue to keep you all updated.

The Talking Bear!

2011-02-26T08:34:00.000-08:00

Well as I said in my last post, Zacks vocabulary has been growing like crazy. So in an attempt to keep him from interrupting Steven who was writing a letter to Verizon (because they are evil). I decided to pull out my phone and record him chit chatting a little. I hope you enjoy the video and as I said pictures will be following soon.

The world according to Z

2011-02-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

I wish I had new pictures for everyone but we just don't. At least not right now but soon I will harvest the energy from somewhere and post some. We have so many on the camera that have yet to be uploaded to the computer. I promise within this week there will be new pictures.

Now onto more fun and exciting news. As most of the people who read the blog already know that we are expecting baby number 2. No I don't know what is and yes I am dying of morning sickness. I have to say that this pregnancy is completely different from when I was expecting Zack. I swear I am getting every symptom I managed to weasel my way out of the last time around. At least I can be reassured that this pregnancy is a healthy one and on top of that Steven will be home this time around. My next OB appointment is on the 1st so I am looking forward to that.
Lately I have been catching up on some much needed reading and resting (when Z allows it). I am picking up all the old books that I picked up in the past got too busy or bored with it and just put it away. This has been a fun and interesting experience because with some of the books I feel like an idiot for putting down such a great read. For others I have realized why I stopped reading them. I plan on reading all of my old books so Steven and I can pack them up and send them on their way to a used bookstore in Williamsburg where I will earn credit to bring home more books.
I know why everyone is reading my blog and it has nothing to do with Steven and I. You all just want to hear about Zack and that is perfectly fine because I LOVE to talk about him. He is doing very well and is growing more everyday. He has been talking our ears off with demands for Gabba and talks about animals. Especially birds, he loves birds since we have a little bird mommy and daddy building their nest outside our window in the tree. He is absolutely fascinated with them. He also has a thing for elephants right now for some reason he thinks they are funny. Which if you sit and think about it they are kind of funny looking creatures. Another new thing he has started is asking for things instead of pointing. He will ask us for water, milk, juice, crackers, chicken, cookies, books, animals, gabba, etc. He is also becoming quite the polite little man by saying "thank you" and "please." All in all he is right where he is supposed to be and I couldn't be more blessed to be home with him everyday to watch him grow.

As I said earlier pictures will be following sometime this week also I plan to update the blog often considering I no longer have a facebook.

Oh to be young again.....

2010-11-18T20:27:00.000-08:00

I know many of you are like "shut your face Lina!!! Your 22." I am talking about real young like when we had no responsibilities and our main "job" was to just be a kid. I remember wanting to always be older than what I was. When I was 5 I wanted to be 10, when I was 10 I wanted to 15, and when I was 15 I wanted to be 20. There are so many times I can take back things I did to make myself grow up quicker. For example the time I stole my mom's razor and shaved my legs at age 11 or when I threw away all my barbies because I thought I was the only one that still planned Ken and Barbies wedding down to what color linens they had. There are times I wish I could just go back and be a kid again. I used to live for the Toy's R' Us jingle "I don't wanna grow up I'm a Toy's R' Us kid!" I sometimes think I still do because in all honesty life would be extremely boring if we all got rid of our inner child. What kind of parents would we be if we were always serious.
The reason for this post is because I had a moment with my husband yesterday while we were shopping for Zack's birthday party that is this Sunday. We went to Party City and having sooooo much fun with all the goodie bag toys and then we moved on to there clearance Halloween junk and you can only imagine the shenanigans we got into over there. After we finished there we decided to take a look at the toys in Toy's R' Us. There is just something about that place that can bring out the inner child in us all and sometimes in unfortunate cases the worst in us. Steven and I ran around playing with all the toys and we even almost got talked to by the manager for pinching each other with these claw toys but I diverted her by going mom style on her and asking where the new Alphie toy was. After we finished with our errands we raced to the car (Steven won by luck) and we went to pick up Zack. We are no way shape or form super serious parents but I don't think we would have acted the way we did if we had him with us. Normally we go to the stores, get what we need and get out. But it was nice to have an afternoon of silliness with my husband.
With Zack's 2nd birthday coming up on Monday I have been watching him change and he is turning into a little boy. He still has baby moments but he more aware of what he wants and who he is as an individual. I just want him to grow up and be a kid for as long as he possibly can. We will continue to tell him Santa exists and that the Tooth Fairy is the one that leaves money under his pillow. We won't scrutinize him for playing with action figures until he's 13. I just want my baby to know as he grows that being a kid isn't all that bad because I don't want him to miss out on those important years. The one's where we look back and can't believe how silly we were or how much fun we had.
Okay sorry I was having some mommy moments because I can't believe that little Gremlin is already two here is a picture I took at this time two years ago. I was very pregnant and Steven was on deployment. That little nugget whom we all love to death was still nice and cozy in my tummy. We all love you Zack! I know you can't read this yet but we love you very much. Ever since you were born you have stolen our hearts you are truly a remarkable little guy.

P.S. As Zack's Mom I have the right to post emotional stuff this weekend because I don't want him to get any bigger than the cutie pie he is and I am a little emotional right now.

In our world

2010-11-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

Well on Monday I started the wonderful world of culinary school. I have to say I am so happy with my decision! Even though my actual cooking class isn't until Saturday at 7:45am(yuck!) I am very happy with the school in general. My student success skills course has only about 9 people in it. This makes me pretty happy because the instructor knows each of us already by name. I have also made some friends in my class and have even set up a car pool with one of them.
The biggest downside with all of this is I really miss Zack when I am gone. We are both going to just have to adjust to all of this. Steven seems to enjoy the extra time with Zack though. This really does make me happy because normally Zack is attached to my hip. So this gives them some good old fashioned male bonding.
Zack has been okay about it actually I have noticed a lot of changes in my little boy. He gets shy with new people and hides his face in my chest or behind my leg. He's just changing so much it's fun to watch. I will be posting pictures soon!

Culinary School! Here I come!!!

2010-11-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

As most of everyone knows I am going to Culinary School. I officially start tomorrow at 5pm. It would be an understatement to say that I am excited. I feel like I am finally going to be doing what I love. Well I will be doing what I love. On Thursday last week I got my uniform for school and it all seems so real now. I have been pondering the idea of joining culinary school for years now. I didn't think I would be good at it like for some reason I had the stigma that I would have to already be an incredible cook to join culinary school. Well thanks to my sweet husband he made me realize that this is my calling. Sorry to get cheesy on you but I am really really reeeeeeeaaaaaaalllllyyyyyyyyyyyy excited about tomorrow. My cooking class isn't even tomorrow it is on Saturday starting at..here it comes....7....45.....AM. In Norfolk, which for anybody who doesn't know that is about 20- 30 minutes from where I live depending on traffic. Also for those who know me. I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON AT ALL! Never have been and never will be. I am a good at being a night owl actually I am great at it. But this is school and I will be there 15 minutes early like a good girl because like the great Ricky Bobby once said "If you're not first, you're last."
I will leave you with that.

HALLLOOOOWEEEENNNNN!!!!!

2010-11-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treating was a hit for Zack. He got a lot of candy that mom and dad were sure to test each piece before giving him any of it ;). We went with our good friends Nick and Emily Froman and their sweet little girl Taegan who was dressed like a little ducky and their newborn baby boy Eli. We had such a good time and I think Zack started to get the hang of it. We are already excited for the many more Halloweens to come while he grows up. There are only a few more years where we get to choose his costume so with that said next year he will be Mario....

Pumpkins Pumpkins and Zack

2010-11-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

As most of you know Zack was a pumpkin for Halloween. He was in fact the cutest pumpkin I have ever seen. We took him to a Pumpkin patch before Halloween just to get pics of him in his pumpkin costume with all the other not so cute pumpkins in the patch. He had so much fun that we ended up bringing home some pumpkins for our home. He had a great time picking out the pumpkins on his own and when we got to the baby sized ones he was so happy he could actually pick them up. Here are the pictures from the trip.

Busy Busy Busy

2010-08-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile and I am sorry about that. Things have just been extra crazy around here and it always feels like there is not enough hours in the day to get things done. I never thought I would be so busy with school but I am and I can't wait for this term to be over with so I can go back to taking only two classes even though this means I won't graduate till end of 2012 (I hope the world doesn't end before) I just can't handle the stress of 3 classes. I am still working on my 1001 weight loss is my number one goal right now but I am still doing the surveys I am actually about to fill one out right now. If you haven't seen that blog go to linas101in1001.blogspot.com. I am having a lot of fun with it.
Steven has been busy with work as usual he works so hard and makes me proud to be his wife everyday. He will be going back to the ship real soon and I know we will miss the perks of his driver position but not too much.
Zack is his usual self he has stopped climbing out of the crib completely. He knows now that when we lay him down it's sleepy time but we only lay him down if he is really tired. So we have a little more time with him in his crib this I am thankful for. He says banana pretty well now and says dog but only when he sees a dog. You should see his reaction when Steven comes home from work he will watch him from his bedroom window saying "dada" and then run to the door to greet him. It is by far the cutest thing ever. That's about it for the update I promise I will have pics done this weekend and posted.

"Mom and Dad welcome to the Terrible Twos"

2010-07-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight was by far one of the worst nights in all of my mommy days. Now I love Zack with all my heart but since he was 3 months old I had him sleeping in his own bed and falling asleep on his own. He has grown to not only love his bed but he used to get excited at bedtime. Steven and I were planning on waiting until he was 2 to switch him to a toddler bed because we felt that is a good age for him to understand bedtime. As of right now he is for sure not ready for that big of a step into his toddler years. Everything was going well he was waking up at 8am then taking his normal 2 hour nap at 11am-1pm and then we would get him ready for bed with a warm bath, comfy pjs, and a book then on the dot at 8pm we would lay him down to sleep and he wouldn't make a peep (most of the time). And then yesterday happened nothing special about the day just a random day but we will remember July 19th 2010 as the day IT happened. You may be wondering what IT is well watch the video below and continue reading.....

As you can see our little Zacky has learned to successfully climb out of his crib. I must say that I am actually somewhat proud of him for this little milestone. This video shows his strength and how he has learned to do something of this measure but this is NOT a good thing. He is for sure not ready for a toddler bed. Tonight was very difficult I would lay him down and then he would climb out and come after me. I repeated this 12 times until he cried himself to sleep. I am the type of mom that believes in the cry it out method and it works for us but man. Steven and I are not used to this and it'll take some time to get used. At least after the 12th time he got the idea to stay in bed and just fall asleep. I really hope he doesn't hate me in the morning. Hopefully he doesn't wake me up by standing next to my bed in the morning. And I hope he stays in his bed all night. Let's just say the baby monitor is set to high tonight. Well I hope you enjoyed the funny video. I managed to catch him today on camera and it made my day. I am very happy our little Houdini is fast asleep now. So have a safe night and goodnight from the 3 of us.

An oldie but a goodie

2010-07-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

This was at sometime after Christmas because as you can see Zack is still drinking from a bottle and he still looks like a baby :( but yes this is probably one of our favorite videos. Enjoy!

Friends, Development, and Play

2010-07-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

Zack being typical Zack

They love to explore everything

Zack's first best friend Taegan loves to give him hugs

He was upset because I wouldn't give him the camera

HE loves his overalls

One of Zacks many many funny faces I call this his Elvis

Hello everyone! We have been super busy with so many things. I am taking three classes this term and Steven is working hard for the Admiral. But we are never to busy to take time during our day to play with this wonderful little bear. He is growing up so fast and we trying not to blink just in case we miss something. He says "yeah" for everything and he now knows what "no" means if we offer him some food or whatever and he doesn't want it he will put his hand up and say no. It is the cutest thing ever! I know I won't be saying that very soon about the "no" word but I am enjoying his growing vocabulary everyday. He also has been very good about diaper changes. If you tell him to lay down he will lay down in position for his diaper change. He will also do it if he knows there is something in his diaper I look it as his way of telling us he is ready to be clean. This makes us very happy because that just means he is one step closer to being potty trained. I still don't feel he is ready for that big of a step yet but Steven and I are always watching for the "signs." I was thinking about what we were doing this time last year and I cannot believe how much Zack has grown in such a short period of time. He wasn't walking yet and was still eating baby foods. Now he is running and using a fork (not at the same time). He is so smart and so full of personality he acts a little more like Steven everyday. He is just developing so well I couldn't ask for a better son. We wish we were closer to our family but I hope you enjoy Zacks pictures I will be posting some more later on today of our fun weekend we have been having. Much love
Lina

The Cavemans Cave

2010-07-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well we discovered something new that Zack is absolutely happy with. A cave or a tent. He absolutely loves when we get a blanket and drape it over is farmhouse door and the couch he will hang out in there all day if he really wanted to. He prefers to spend a few minutes in the cave then destroy it completely. He is such a boy. Today my mom went home and we had a great trip with her. I will be posting pictures from that as well very soon. Have a nice day.

I am sorry

2010-07-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well I just wanted to start out by saying I am sorry for all the bouncing around the web we've done. I think we needed to try webs to realize blogger is our home for all our blogging needs. The main reason were back is because yes the website was a great thing the problem was they tried to charge us for more space. So I was having to delete videos and pictures just to add more and I did not like that. With blogspot it's all free until we decide to get a domain name which won't be for a very long time. So I am sorry for this bouncing around and I hope you enjoy the new/old blog.

Meeting Santa

2009-12-20T15:48:00.002-08:00

We decided to take Zack to meet Santa today! We braved the weekend shoppers and put him in his new outfit and took him to the mall to get his picture taken with the big man. He liked him and didn't cry thank goodness. We stood in line for about an hour but it wasn't that bad because Zack got to run around and there was places to sit.

Waiting in line patiently

He looks like a toddler in this picture

Hello....Santa

I like your hands

Merry Christmas everyone!

Snow!

2009-12-20T15:34:00.002-08:00

So It snowed on Friday and Saturday night. Friday it wasn't much and was only like 10 minutes long then on Saturday it really came down. We got about 3 inches of snow! I just had to get Zack and I bundled up to go see the snow. Steven was sadly on duty and we missed him but this was Zacks first snow and I wanted him to experience it. He was really confused and had not idea what was going on but I think he enjoyed it!

That's my car down there.

A view from our balcony

He was so curious about the snow

Mommy and baby bear! Sorry its blurry

"Mom why did you put me in this wet stuff?"

He is finally 1

2009-11-23T04:58:00.002-08:00

Well as of yesterday my baby boy is 1. We just can't believe how fast this year has gone. He has gotten so and has developed so much. He is such a smart little guy and we love to watch him learn something new everyday. We had a little get together at our house with family and some close friends. We had so much fun and I will post those pictures later this afternoon. We love everyone so much. Here are a few pictures from his birthday shoot. Happy Birthday Zack!!!

I just love this picture I don't know why but I do

That's our boy

His little toesies in the cake

He wasn't so sure about it at first

Then he started tasting it

Then he realized it was yummy

Then he went to town on that cake

And this is the end product

Adventures in Babysitting

2009-09-23T08:28:00.002-07:00

So I have picked up a babysitting job I watch a 9 month old girl Taegan. She is very sweet her and Zack get along great (sometimes). They dont understand that they are new toys for each other. So there are a few smacks and pushes in there but nothing serious. Zacks also learning to share me with other kids. They are so cute together and here are some pictures of them playing.

Zack What are you doing?

Playing nicely

Taegan is real cute

Eating Zacks block

Banana?

I really want that banana

My banana

New Friends

2009-09-23T08:09:00.002-07:00

I have made a great friend out here her name is Erinn and she her husband is deployed and they have two kids Aiden(4) and Emma(1). I met her on a babysitting website and I watch little Emma at my place on Friday mornings. Erinn and I have become pretty good friends. In April she is going with Emily and I to Alexandria, VA to go to a Twilight Convention. We are brushing up on our Twilight knowledge and planning an awesome centerpiece. We will talk more about that later though. Her kids and Zack get along great Emma is still to young to understand that Zack cant play rough with her and Aiden. It's cute to watch them and Zack enjoys watching the older kids burn energy.

Emma and Zack getting into something

Zack found one of Emmas balls for her ballpit

Aiden, Emma and Zack were caught looks like Aiden doesn't care though

Zack-"yeah this new toy is cool...I guess"

I dont know what is with kids and fake fruit

She actually likes to help him its cute

More Halloween Costume!

2009-09-21T14:25:00.002-07:00

We got Zacks costume in the mail today. Here are some pictures for you enjoyment. Don't you just love our little monkey?!

Hats?!

2009-09-17T13:07:00.002-07:00

We got bored looking at overpriced baby Halloween costumes at the Halloween store we decided to look around and found the hats. We then decided to torture our son.

Staying true to his Heritage

Just like Daddy, Grandpa Morones and Uncle Raffy

A true man viking!

The Rocker

2009-09-17T12:44:00.002-07:00

There is never a dull moment in our house. Zack is always doing something silly or making the funniest faces. We hardly ever hear him cry which is great! Here are some of his silly faces for you to laugh at!

Always ready to pose for the camera

We call this his rocker face. He makes it randomly and no he is not screaming

He knows he is funny

Rocker again

Rocker

He has 7 1/2 teeth

Partial Rocker

Our handsome Man

Always smiling

Hi mom!

Major Rocker!!!!

And the Costume is....

2009-09-17T12:25:00.002-07:00

None other than a Monkey with a Banana in the pocket! Halloween is just around the corner so we went on a hunt to different places and found some good costumes. But at Spirit Halloween the costumes were like 50 bucks!!! ummm....no thank you. So we went to Gymboree and they had some cute stuff but then... at Old Navy we found it the Halloween costume of all time. A Monkey with a Banana in the pocket. We are so excited to take Zack trick or treating and we are possibly going with our awesome new friends Erinn, Aiden and Emma to Busch Gardens Halloscream we are very excited!

He is WALKING!!!!

2009-09-17T12:07:00.002-07:00

I am so happy that I finally got this video. I have been trying to get a video of him taking these little steps. I hope you enjoy! More to come!

Busch Gardens

2009-08-11T21:28:00.002-07:00

Well this was a few weeks ago but I finally uploaded a few pictures from our FREE day at Busch Gardens. We had a blast! Not a lot of rides but it was good to get out and see what it was all about. I hope you enjoy the pics! Love you and miss everybody!

Going into the Park we were very excited!

Zack meeting Ernie! I think he was unsure of what to think of him.

Stomping the Grapes with Daddy

Now with Mommy!

Hmmmm....Which one to choose?

I am the King!

And the king....got us!

Nekked Babayyy!!!!

2009-08-11T21:14:00.002-07:00

I just had to put these pics of the little man. He has a monkey towel that Grandma bought him and he loves it and looks absolutely cute in it. We had to recently get rid of our ducky tub because zack was just not loving it anymore and was trying to CRAWL OUT! So he has been in the big boy bathtub for a few days now by himself but before that Steven was putting on his PT shorts every night and was sitting in there with him. Until....one night steven had duty and I was all alone and I did not want to put on my swimsuit and jump in the bath with him. It all went well and he is doing great and loves the freedom. He is growing up so fast and I love him so much. His little personality is showing much more and he makes me laugh everyday. Did I mention he is almost walking! He needs to stop growing so fast so I can enjoy him as a baby more. We are headed to Las Cruces this Friday so more pictures to come up then. Oh also when we get home from our little trip we are going to start mission elimination of pacifier, I am going to start giving him formula in his sippy and we are getting a dining room table, armoire and a barnyard bookshelf our living room is going to be transformed for Zacky! I will post pictures of all that as well. We love you and miss everybody but we will see you on FRIDAY!!!!!

God Bless America

2009-07-05T07:18:00.002-07:00

Our Fourth of July was wonderful! All three of us slept in that morning because we were so exhausted from the beach the day before. We decided to go have lunch at first we were going to eat at cracker barrel but at the last minute decided to try a Cheeseburger In Paradise. When we got there it was not packed at all and Zack was being a very good boy. The food was amazing if you go get a pressed burger. It is the best! It was also very well priced so we will be eating there again. Also Zack is in a big boy car seat. Still rear facing though I put up one pic of him in it. He loves it! And it seems more comfortable for him than the other one.

Going to lunch I am very patriotic!

In my high chair

Give me those Chips!!!!

I am getting sleepy

And im out! Daddy knows just how to get me relaxed

After lunch we came home and let Zack nap longer and crawl around then it was off to Mount Trashmore to see his first firework show. He loved the show and was absolutely amazed by the fireworks. The boom didn't even make him flinch! We are so lucky to have a content baby.

grinnin from ear to ear

Do you like my outfit?

Hey what's that over there?

WOW!!!!

Did you see that firework?

Nice and cozy on Dad

Mom was scared for my ears

So ummm i like fireworks.

Fun In the Sun

2009-07-05T06:52:00.002-07:00

This week we have some friends from Alamogordo in town visiting family. We met them at the beach this past Friday and had a great time. Zack hated the water we dipped his feet in once and was MAD! But once he was fed and had a long nap he was fine. As long as he was out of the water that is. We had a good time with friends and we plan to get together with them again before they leave.

My new friend Marie

Mommy and Daddy went to have some fun in the water.

Playing drums on the cooler

OOOooooo look at the water.

Steven Burying CJ

I love my Daddy

The Beautiful ocean

I really liked the sand

I will take a large pepperoni with extra cheese please

Who are you?

Forget pizza! I want grapes!

hahaha Daddy your silly

Our Family

Get me away from the water!

Ok maybe it's not that bad

This sand is so much more different than what is was over there

Crawling

2009-07-05T06:41:00.002-07:00

I promised once we got a video of him crawling we would post it up. Well here are a few pics and a video of Zacks adventures of crawling.

Count Your Blessings

2009-07-05T06:27:00.002-07:00

Hi Daddy! I love you lots.

MMMM....Homework

I just ate your homework mommy yummmm

Always remember to count your blessing!

Im a blessing right mommy?

Pool Fun!

2009-07-05T06:18:00.002-07:00

Well this is a late post. Because these pics were taken a real long time ago when we took Zack to the pool for the first time. I wanted to post them so everyone could see how very cute he is in his turtle floaty. He loved the water and we hope to take him again soon.

This is like my bath but much bigger!

I could get used to this

WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

What ya lookin at?

Me and my Mommy!

Growing To Fast!

2009-06-24T10:20:00.002-07:00

Well we have a 7 month old in our house. A very active 7 month old. Zack i crawling and pulling himself to stand up all on his own. He is even trying to be brave and use no hands!!! Oh my goodness I think were going to have a walker before he hits 1 year. I will be posting a video of him crawling as soon as I get a real good one. He does enjoy crawling up to Steven and I wherever we are sitting and he will climb all over us. It's fun and we are loving every minute of it. He has the funniest personality too. Zack never fails to put a smile on my face everyday.

"Hey mom let me help you with your homework."

"Nevermind I must get past this dumb gate to my tv!"

"Look at what I can do. I would smile but that'll make me fall."

Growing!

2009-06-19T09:46:00.002-07:00

Hello World!

Going home only 3 days old

1 week old

This is was around christmas

Peakaboo!

I see You!!!

I love you!!!!

So this Monday Zack will be 7 months. I cannot believe it has made me look back at old pictures of him. Our little boy is growing so fast its unbelievable heres a little comparison.

Lina

Sockos!!!!

2009-06-19T09:29:00.002-07:00

Well Zack is doing well. He is growing growing growing!!! He weighs 18.9 pounds and is 27 inches long. We have a feeling he is going to be a tall boy. We thought he weighed so much more too. He just is a long kiddo! I love it! Well the nut has a thing for socks he will put them in his mouth and crawl with them. He is so funny. Here he is with his sockos!

Family photos!

2009-05-15T05:58:00.002-07:00

Well during our leave lots of things have happened one of the many things we did was get our first family pictures taken. The place we went to did such a great job. They made Zack smile everytime. I don't think there was one picture where he didnt have a big one toothed smile in it. We also have many pictures of him and his Daddy. I am so happy Steven is home with us now. Zack loves him so much!!! I am so blessed to have him in my life both him and Zack are a gift from God to me. I am very grateful! Anyway here are just a few of the pictures from our family shoot enjoy.

First Zacky

Our cute little sailor

Zack in his cool chair

What's he doing now?

Mommy and baby laughing

kisses

Our little family

All thats missing is a pipe that blows bubbles and a silk robe.

Daddys Firsts!

2009-04-23T11:57:00.002-07:00

Getting ready for an outing

Reading him his bedtime story

Daddys first bath

Putting on his socks Zack decided to roll over in the middle

Playing on the floor

Here are a few of Stevens firsts with Zack. It feels like he's a newborn again. I get to experience it all over again. But this time its all steven. I love watching Steven get into the father role. He is doing such a great job. We are so happy.

Daddys Home!!!!

2009-04-23T11:50:00.002-07:00

These are only a few of the pictures we have from his homecoming. Stevens mom has all the ones of Steven seeing his son for the first time. Theyll be up soon. But yes Saturday was the day Daddy came home to us. On his great big ship. We couldnt be happier. Zack looked cuter than ever in a red polo shirt, blue overalls and a little white sailor hat. He was our little Paddington Bear.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-09T21:29:00.002-07:00

Happy Easter to Everyone. We love you and miss you!

Im to sexy for my....bunny ears?

2009-04-09T21:14:00.002-07:00

Ok so i know im his mom but he could seriously be the gerber baby

We love you Daddy

Look at those lips

Hop to it Zacky

My love

Ok ok I know he's a boy but what can you do? Just look at how cute he is well these are his wonderful glamour shot pictures. My homegirl (haha) Emily came into town at the beggining of the March and we got pictures done at Glamour Shots here and Zack was entered into the cutest kid contest. I dont't know if he won but here is my beautiful little man doing what he does best. Being cute! I Dont have any pictures of emily and I from the shoot but...I dont think you want to see those because this blog is about Zack. So here you go! Happy Easter!

Lucky Ducky

2009-04-09T21:01:00.002-07:00

This is by popular demand. So many people have been confused about this new ducky bathtub. Well this is Zacks tub and he loves it. It inflates and the beak quacks. But he has no idea where its coming from and looks around. Im sure he will figure it soon. I was finally able to pull away from him tonight and gets pics of him in his tub. So i hope you enjoy. We truly love this tub its so much easier than the hard plastic newborn tubs. Thanks again Johanna for the suggestion.

"Hey! Whatcha lookin at?"

"Hmmm.....it says here that...oh nevermind i cant read yet"

"Mom can you read the warnings to me? Id like to know for my safety and yours."

Getting bigger by the minute

2009-04-09T20:46:00.002-07:00

"Look Mommy I'm flying!"

"I am chinese if you please."

"Oh oh oh Im doing it im doing it!!! Dont make me laugh"

"I am a big boy now"

"Oh no! Im falling!"

Well Zack's doing tons of new things. Like trying to sit up and holding himself up while on his tummy much better. He is growing so fast! I told him not to start driving until daddy gets home. He does everything he's expected to do and so much more and he's only 4 months. I better baby proof this place because he will be crawling soon.

Yesterday was his 4 month check-up. He weigh 17.8 Ibs and is 25 in. long. He got his shots and it was worse this time for some reason I think its because he's older and more alert. At least they were easier on me. I didnt cry as hard. He has recently developed a rash but no worried his doctor prescribed a moisturizer for that and it's already working! I hope everyone is doing well. 7 more days!!!

Just because he is so cute

2009-03-31T14:35:00.002-07:00

Ok I just had to post these adorable pics of Zack. He is just so fun at this age. He rolls all around and giggles and laughs. He is trying real hard to crawl but he has'nt figured out that he needs arm strength to do so. So he scoots around on his tummy or to get a toy he rolls to it. He has a tooth coming in on the bottom. He is just g

rowing so fast and I cant wait for what's to come. Steven will be enjoying it all with us very soon. He is so excited to meet his son. And I hope these pictures make his day so much better. We love you Daddy so much and YOU WILL BE HOME SOON! So don't stress the small stuff because you have so much more to look forward to. We love everybody so much check back soon for easter pics.

He was just so happy to be a baby today

He kept looking at me and laughing so much for no reason

It was so cute look at him he was just cracking up!

Then he rolled over and he kept laughing and watching me

Everytime i moved he laughed so much

then he realized the camera was there

and i said "whats wrong?" and he laughed some more

My little gerber baby

SOLIDS....AHHHH!!!!

2009-03-23T18:53:00.002-07:00

"Ooooooo mommies giving me something new!"

"What did you just give me?!"

"Ok ill try it again. No seriously give me that food!!!"

"Ok mom im full time to watch the game"

Well today Zack started on solids. And he loved it! He was grabbing my hand and pulling the spoon to his mouth. He made some funny faces but he started to get excited everytime he saw the spoon coming towards him. I put him in the bumbo at first but he needs to be holding himself up a bit better before we do the bumbo so I moved him to his bouncer. We started him with simple rice cereal im going to add a bit apple juice in it tomorrow to help with digestion and taste and ummm.....smell. haha Next new food is sweet peas. We love you very much and its 24 more days now! :)

And now a video of this wonderful new experience

Zacks 4 months!

2009-03-23T18:27:00.002-07:00

"Thats Right I'm Mommies All American Heartbreaker....at least thats what my shirt says."

"Dont take a picture of me while im farting mom!"

"How you doin'?"

"Ah you caught me!"

"Yummy Fingers"

I know I seem to say this alot. But I cannot believe that Zack is 4 months old now. He has grown so much and is doing so well. Everyday is different for us and Im thankful for every minute i get to be with him. He is a happy chubby little boy. Smiles, Rolls and Giggles all day. Sleeping has gotten so much better he has slept through the night a couple of times with a "dream feed." Ive kind of become the mother that lets there child cry it out a bit. I know he's fed, has a clean diaper and isnt too hot or cold. I may come off as a tough mom to some people but If it works for me then thats how im going to do it. Zack is such a good boy i hardly have to hear him cry so thats a good thing for me. Well we love you all very much and hope your all doing well.

Sleeping....

2009-03-19T07:51:00.002-07:00

So last night was another milestone reached. My sweet little boy was put to bed at 8pm and didnt wake up till 9am. Now i still dream fed him at midnight but he was sound asleep during that feeding. Im so proud of him and myself. I slept in my own bed last night. I had a panic attack when I woke up around 8:30 this morning and looked at the clock. I thought something was for sure wrong with him. I ran into his room and he was sound asleep. Now the beggining of the night he still wakes up alot but i just leave him in there. I think he's learning that im not going to run to him everytime he whines. If I did that nobody would get any sleep in this apartment. I cant wait for tonight!

So both my kiddo and I are getting better sleep. And its all thanks to that wonderful crib. Oh and Johanna she gave me the best advice. Thanks friend! Well thats all we love everyone very much.

Yay Zacky!

2009-03-18T18:26:00.002-07:00

Zack rolled from his back to his tummy!!! Im so proud! just wanted everyone to know that a milestone has been reached yay! Ok goodnight love ya all

Nursery!

2009-03-16T23:42:00.002-07:00

And the prince is sleeping peacfully among....

Monkeys?!

"Mom just is the best designer ever" -Zack

Moms new favorite piece of furniture

Well Zacks nursery is pretty much complete. We only need to put a few things up on the wall. And put up his blackout curtains and we are complete. He's already sleeping in his own crib. I was so surprised this week when i decided to just lay him down awake and see what happened. I was already getting frustrated and needed to take a break so i layed him down (on his back) he whined for a few minutes and then it got quiet. I went to check on him and he was out! He slept for his whole nap. So that is a serious difference from rocking him to sleep every nap and bedtime. Although we love to sit in the glider he watches and laughs at the monkeys on the wall its so fun. Well here are a few pics for you to look at. Hope you enjoy much love from the zman and mamma

Captain Mommy

Zack-isms

Educated Nurser

Wordless Wednesday-Discovering

Stupid is as stupid does

Discipline or Education

dis·ci·pline

Definition of EDUCATE

Just one of those days.

Turning Japanese Part 1

6 Tips for Potty Training

Applesauce

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Boys-Compare

Review-Glee

Brothers

Dr. Mom/ Boogers

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Fun!

The wonderful brain of a toddler....

Inspiration...

Going Granola

So Thankful...

Friends, Chuckee, and Fish

The Spiderman Chronicles

Yo Gabba Gabba

Favorite Things...for now

1 Month!

Crazy!

Dr. Mom/Don't freak out!

Back To Blogging/Elis Story

Life Lessons...

31 weeks!

My Crafty Self

Our fun, eventful, wet 4th of July

It's the final countdown!!!!

Busch Gardens

Portsmouth Childrens Museum=FUN FUN FUN!

A Blessed Mothers Day

Easter

When Zack met Mario

Come on mom, 5 more minutes!

My Boys

The Talking Bear!

The world according to Z

Oh to be young again.....

In our world

Culinary School! Here I come!!!

HALLLOOOOWEEEENNNNN!!!!!

Pumpkins Pumpkins and Zack

Busy Busy Busy

"Mom and Dad welcome to the Terrible Twos"

An oldie but a goodie

Friends, Development, and Play

The Cavemans Cave

I am sorry

Meeting Santa

Snow!

He is finally 1

Adventures in Babysitting

New Friends

More Halloween Costume!

Hats?!

The Rocker

And the Costume is....

He is WALKING!!!!

Busch Gardens

Nekked Babayyy!!!!

God Bless America

Fun In the Sun

Crawling

Count Your Blessings

Pool Fun!

Growing To Fast!

Growing!

Sockos!!!!

Family photos!

Daddys Firsts!

Daddys Home!!!!

Happy Easter!