When I grow up, I want to be a...

Let's take it back to 1990 something when Spice Girls were amazing, Rugrats was good kids TV, when you thought Pocahontas was the best movie EVER! Ok…ok so maybe I still think these things but that's not up for discussion. Remember when you finished this sentence with something like firefighter, ballerina, Britney Spears? Personally I wanted to be Nicole Kidman because I was in love with Moulin Rouge. But let's get real here, I could never pull off her hair or her alien like skin.

If someone had told me that I was going to be a stay at home mom to 2 little boys. I would have shot it down 1.) It was impossible for me to get pregnant because I would never kiss a stinky boy! YUCK and 2.) If I were to have kids I would have 5 little Nicole Kidmans running around so I could dress them up and put them in ballet (I obviously had not fully understood what teenage girls were like). This whole little girl fascination went on until I was pregnant with Z. I was convinced I would be having a girl. Our conversation the night before the ultrasound.

Steven: Lina you know we're having a boy right? 

Lina: huh? I know we're going to have a little girl. We should go buy some cute outfits.

Steven: Boys run in my family

Lina: Yes boys run really fast in your family.

So there I was getting all dolled up to go look at my baby "girl" we were going to name her Trinity and she was going to be just..like..me (I am sure my parents are laughing now, if you knew me in high school you understand.) They put the goop on my belly and there she was so little and perfect. This ultrasound was such a tease I wanted to take my little princess home NOW. 

Roberta (yes I remember her name): IT'S A BOY!!!!

I stopped and looked at the screen and started to cry. Not because of disappointment. I was really excited! A boy just like his Daddy. The man I fell in love with and the man who will always love me in return. I started picturing all the baseball games and our home being filled with trucks, dinosaurs, and superheroes. When I left the clinic all excitement of little girl was gone. We were going to have a boy. I remember calling Steven afterwards and telling him. He was so excited! That night we picked his name and started calling him Zack. When we got pregnant with Eli I didn't even wish for a girl I wanted another boy. So when they told us again "IT'S A BOY!!!" I was so excited to give Zack a brother and have another little Steven running around. 

So here I am doing absolutely nothing what I thought I would be doing and I couldn't be happier about it. I am a stay at home mom to 2 amazing little boys. I am building my very own photography business and I live in Japan. Life is simply good. So here it goes…..

"When I grow up I want to be…a better mom, wife, and photographer than I was yesterday"

Hello old friend.

We are here!!!! In Japan!!! AND I LOVE IT!!!!! Ok so we have technically been here for a month and I haven't updated the blog for many understandable reasons.

1.) For the first days jet lag was terrible and all I wanted to do was sleep, eat, shower, sleep, eat, shower. 

2.) After the jet lag was all gone. I wanted to explore and exploring takes time and a lot of energy. 

3.) We were searching for a house OFF BASE (more on that in a few)

4.) We are in a hotel room…a very nice hotel room but it doesn't give me much "me" space to blog. 

5.) I was lazy and actually had plenty of time when I could have posted but hey it's ok because I AM BACK!

So all the fun happenings. The flight was great and the boys were surprisingly really good. Zack didn't fuss much and Eli slept a lot it was bliss. In a weird cramped space with weird food and small bathrooms kind of way. When we got off the plane and got through customs we drove to the base about an hour. My first impression of Japan was….scary. I don't know why maybe it was because of the opposite side of the road driving or the Japanese writing everywhere. I was like…"Ok let's go home now!" It took me a bit to really adjust. So far I am in love with this country. That first impression was only in a car and I was exhausted so it just doesn't count. 

We have gone all over our area from Machida to Kamakura to Ebina and back again. We absolutely love this country. So much so that we decided to move off base….dun…dunn…dunnnn. I know what you all are thinking and no I am not going to be living in a temple or inside the big buddha. No we have a very nice almost 3,000 square foot house out here that we are moving into on the 30th. The house is beyond our expectations. Big, 2 stories, hard wood floors, room to play and garden and we have a few American neighbors. The only downside is being far from the base but hey were right by Costco so I am happy with that. I am going to upload lots of pics sometime today or tonight or tomorrow. 

The one thing I do miss here in Japan is….Target. So please enjoy it for me. 

Here we go….

As the last few days here in New Mexico dwindled down. I looked around and the people who I care about the most and couldn't be more blessed to have these individuals in my life. Being able to spend these 2 months with my family and friends has been great. Not going to lie though, I am ready to get to Japan and get this new life started. Still…I am so happy to be in the presence of all these amazing people and to be here for so many wonderful events. I was here for my brothers wedding and both their birthdays. I was here to see one of my friends become a mom and I was here to see Hunger Games at midnight (yeah I know haven't seen midnight in awhile) with my best friend, husband, and sister-in-law.

Today we leave at 7pm to Seattle and then tomorrow we head out on our long 17 hour flight to Japan. I already am set to go to a breastfeeding moms meeting on Thursday morning. The feelings I am having are very bitter sweet right now. I just can't believe this coming weekend I am going to be in a different country on the other side of the world. It's all so surreal to me.

When we get to Seattle or Denver I will update you all...

Leave him ALONE…..

I feel that trying to get Zack to do what I feel he is supposed instead of letting him be his own kid is my greatest downfall as a parent. Whether it be Easter Sunday and he is not picking up the eggs instead he decides to play with the dog or an old beat up toy truck. I mean honestly who could resist taking a confetti egg and smashing it on someones (primarily Mom or Dad) head. Nope my boy prefers to do his own thing and that I am learning is perfectly ok. 

So I have decided to just leave him alone. Let him explore and yes I am going to let him get into things. How else is he going to learn? Like the great Dory from Finding Nemo once said. 

"If you never let anything happen to him, then nothing will happen to him"

We have to remember that no matter how old these kids are they are their own person. They are going to continue to do their own thing whether we like it or not. Might as well encourage them and help them excel in what they are good at and what they like. Watching Zack completely ignore his cousins on Easter verified this for me. It also makes me happy to know that he is perfectly content to not follow the crowd. While they ran around and played tag my little Zack was playing with the trucks and discovering different bugs. He even ran over a few bugs with his truck. He has a mind of his own and if I constantly keep him from exploring he is never going to learn his way which is of course hands on….everything. So for some advice to my other super moms out there leave your kids alone and watch them explore you might be surprised as to how well they behave and what they can find.

Sunshine, Weddings, and Love

This trip to New Mexico has been insanely busy but wonderful. Seeing family and friends and just enjoying some darn good Mexican food. I think I have gained 10 pounds since being but I really could care less. I don't eat to live; I live to eat. I have been so busy eating that I have neglected my beautiful blogging. I really actually have been missing my blogging time. To catch you all up on things going on in between good food and being busy. We have just been enjoying our time with family. I just love them. For the last few weeks we have been prepping for my brothers wedding and today was the day.
I had the pleasure to officiate their marriage. I gained out of all this an amazing sister-in-law, Jessica. She and I have become best friends in a very short period of time and I think when we leave here I am going to be saddest about leaving her. I just don't know what I will do without all the bridesmaids and steel magnolias references. I am so happy for them and can't wait for them to visit us in Japan.

I can't believe we move in 16 days. I am for sure excited to have our own space again and I don't think we will be spending this long in Las Cruces again. It just takes a lot out of us and the boys. I know Zack misses Virginia because he constantly talks about it. I hope he will be so excited with his new friends and school that Virginia will become a distant memory. I know the one thing I miss about living on the coast is the humidity. Thank goodness Japan is humid. This dry weather is killing me! On the bright side it has been beautiful weather lately and I think I might be getting a tan. This for a woman who refuses to lay out in the sun or even a tanning bed to tan and slabs on a ridiculous amount of  SPF50+ is a big deal. I don't mind my natural skin color but it is for sure nice to get a little darkness to it and it doesn't take much for me to tan. I am also working on my fitness. I have started pilates and am trying to run 3 times a week. I want to get back in shape before we have another baby. Here I go rambling on. I am going to continue to try and update as often as possible. This is just dependent on my time given for computer time. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful spring weather because summer is right around the corner and I have a feeling it's going to be a hot one.

All my love

Wordless Wednesday- Silly Boys

In the Land Of Enchantment

So we made it safely to New Mexico. The flight was scary and no I don't have any advice or tricks because nothing really worked for me. It was just about survival on my end. Yes we made it all in one piece, but I felt like I was on an episode of Man Vs. Wild the whole flight. I wanted to dig a hole and curl up in it when I got back to my parents house. I now know I will never ever ever ever ever ever ever fly with those boys by myself again. I say that now but it will happen again. At least now I am fully prepared...well now fully but pretty darn close.

New Mexico has been nice. I met my new future sister-in-law and I love her to pieces. I am very excited to have her as a sister and to welcome her into our very nutty family. Zack is having a blast and thank goodness he hasn't been too upset about not being with Daddy. He will ask for him at bedtime but it is surprising how understanding he is when I say "Daddy will be with us soon, we just have to wait" he will say something like "night night Daddy" or "I miss you Daddy" and then go to sleep. I let him know that Daddy can hear him all the way in Virginia. So hopefully he understands.

I am going to go curl up in my hole now and get some rest. Miss all my east coast friends. You all hold a special place in my heart.