My Boys

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!

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

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.....

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

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!!!

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!!!!!

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....