Off To The Zoo!!

Today we were invited to go to the zoo with Lauren and her son Bobby. It was nice to meet them and nice to know someone else going what I'm going through since her husband is on the same ship. Levi also met a new friend being Bobby is not much older then Levi. So it was nice for them to play and run around while were trying to keep up lol, we did a pretty good job at it though.

Before I started driving to the zoo. I told Levi to say "cheese" and he knows that when I say "cheese" it means smile, or picture. So since he smiled I took a few snaps of him! He is just so cute and I love it when he is cheesing.



So off to the zoo we go...

The Norfolk zoo is pretty small, but it has been awhile since I've been to the zoo. It was a nice to see the animals, scenery, and just enjoy some fresh air. It was in the 80's yesterday when we went and not in the 100's which is a huge plus!

Here are a couple of the animals we seen at the zoo. A giraffe.

Elephants.


Also a picture of Levi and Bobby playing. They were so cute!

Levi having fun and laughing! I love it when he has a good time.


Levi and I(This is one of my new favorite pictures.)


Thanks again Lauren for inviting us to the zoo!! Can't wait to have more play dates together! Next time the hubby will be at the zoo with us :)

Cookies For Daddy!

So a few weeks ago Levi and I decided to make some yummy chocolate chip cookies for daddy! I'm wanting to make this a tradition with Levi to bake things. I think as he gets older he'll enjoy it more and more. I found this cookie mix on sale. Not all the time will I cheat and use a boxed mix. I just wanted to this time.  So here is a picture of all of our ingredients. We needed butter, eggs and our cookie mix. 

Then I tried to get Levi to pose and smile for me before we begin. Of course I was unsuccessful. Later I'll post pictures of him cheesing when he wants to. lol That sure is cute! He's just to focused on what were about to do.

Afterwards we got down to it! I emptied the mix into our bowl, added the butter, and the egg. Then stir stir stir. Levi's doing pretty good right now stirring, but he's one smart boy acting good and all! 

Until...

Yup in the mouth. "Mommy I have to taste it." I let him, being all of us have done it. It sure is good! So after I finally got the mix from him again. I formed them into balls(or ones that somewhat look like balls) on to the pan. Had the oven preheated already and put them in. 

Also that night I made for the first time Baked Ziti. It's to the left of the cookies and was good!

Last but not least our finished cookies! We love you honey and hope you enjoyed the yummy chocolate chip cookies! I can't wait to bake more goodies with Levi!! I know one day I'll have to show him how to make peanut butter cookies, his daddy's favorites!

Levi's Home

So Levi came home Wednesday evening and we couldn't be happier. Yes it was a little earlier than we anticipated but I wanted him to see his daddy before he left again. He is very much a mommy's boy when he wants to be and a daddy's boy. Of course I think he is more of a mommy's boy, but I may be a little biased :)

Since Levi has came home he has discovered a new toy. Not really "his" toy, but him playing it can't hurt anything so it could be his if his dad gives it to him. What toy is it? It's rock band! The drum set that is. He loves jamming out with it! He will grab the drum sticks and go at it. I love watching him play. Patrick has a drum set at his parent's house in Missouri and loves playing so I am sure Levi will follow in his foot steps. The only thing I played before has been the flute and some on a organ. I didn't do a lot though. Levi playing the drum set he would jam and bang his head. It was truly a moment to watch. I love seeing him and his daddy having a good time.

The other thing I wanted to blog about was that Levi has found out how to help mommy! So I had the cabinet all nice and organized of our can goods. I had the corn lined up, cream of chicken in a line, cream of mushroom, etc. You get the idea. Well Levi has found the cabinet and decided mommy needed some help with it. So he takes the cans out and puts them back in. He loves it. Though it's not all nice and neat as it once was it's the thought that counts. I decided not to organize it all again since I'm going to let that cabinet be his in the kitchen. Here are some pictures of him playing with the cans. It just reminds me of when I was his age and would do the same thing in my mother's kitchen. I even climbed in the cabinet.

I will get better at blogging but that is all for now. I love having both of my boys home with me! I don't know what I would do without them.

Missing My Little Man!!

It's crazy how attached someone you love so dearly is to you. Levi is my little man who I love very much. Well my mom flew out yesterday evening and I let Levi go with her so that he could go to his other grandparents since he doesn't get to see them nearly enough. He's going to be attending his cousin's first birthday party and playing with him which I'm sure he will love! I cried dropping him off at the airport. I'm going to miss him, but know in only a few weeks I'll have him back again. :)

Thankfully my husband is home at this time to keep me company or I'm not sure what I would do. Probably go crazy! I'm looking forward to spending some time with just him. We don't get much of that anymore, but I know it comes with having children. This coming weekend were looking forward to going on a date night to the  movies and seeing "Killers" it looks like a good movie let's hope it's still playing by then. In the mean time though while Patrick is working I'm going to catch up on one of my favorite shows Army Wives. I've missed all of Season 3 and their currently in Season 4 on television right now. Hopefully it doesn't take me to long. I will also enjoy doing some scrap booking and working on pages for Levi. I miss doing that.

We also got a new place and signed some papers yesterday for it! I'm so excited about it. It's a two bedroom townhouse, 1137 square feet, two bathrooms, a nice size kitchen with plenty of cabinets! In all the places we've been we never had enough cabinet space so this is something I'm looking forward too! I will share more on it later as well as pictures once we get all moved in! You will love it just as much as I do lol.

Getting Together and Meeting New Friends

So I've met some new friends the past few days and it was a lot of fun. All of these girls have spouses associated with the ship my husband is with.

Friday night I had a good friend of mine Amanda Bell over. Her and her two adorable daughters came over to the house. It was so much fun having them over. I made some yummy taco salad and Amanda brought over some delicious brownies to go with the meal. They were so good! I still have some left and may save them for the hubby when he comes home! Anyways we played some karaoke which was fun and that's all that matters! We were going to play Mario Party, but I couldn't find the controllers for the game cube. Next time I will have it all ready to go! We just had fun eating, talking, and playing. Even the kids had fun playing together! They tried singing too! Thanks again Amanda for coming over!!

Saturday the frg(family readiness group) had a pool party at the base. Despite the 100 degree weather Levi and I ventured out to it! It was nice and the water felt so good! At the pool party I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa and her baby girl. It was very nice to meet them. Lisa's daughter loved playing in the pool. Levi had fun too. He loved splashing and being silly. Eventually we moved to the kiddie pool where Levi could touch the bottom. Levi wanted to walk and go everywhere!! I was worried though of him going under so I made a barrier with my arms and/or legs. So that I could block him lol. He didn't like it but I knew he wouldn't like it if he went under. Also at the pool party they had some yummy Papa Johns Pizza(It's my favorite!) lol and got to see and talk to Jessica Trimble our frg president and Katrina Armstrong. It was great talking to them. I don't remember anyone else or know names. Hopefully as time goes on I will be able to know more people with the frg. Thanks again to the frg for hosting and fun and exciting pool party! It was great with our weather these days for people to cool off!

Sunday evening we got invited to go over to Sara's house. Sara cooked some yummy baked ziti for all of us. At Sara's house I got the chance to meet Michelle B., Laura, Sara(herself), Michelle H., and Jackie. Plus all the kiddos too! We had a great time chatting it up while dinner was cooking! I found out they like Army Wives too so hopefully/ or maybe well have Army Wives night and just watch the show! I have to get caught up first I'm a season or so behind lol. I'll get caught up eventually! I miss watching the show :) It makes you laugh and cry! The kiddos had a good time too they kept playing and going up and down the stairs. They were all nice to each other too :) Levi climbs up the stairs really good!! Down the stairs is what I worry about. All the other children slid down the stairs on their bellies feet first. Levi on the other hand was walking down backwards so I was scared he would miss a step and fall all the way down. I know most if not all children will fall down the stairs one time or another, lol I'm just not ready for Levi to do that yet. He's still a baby lol. Well a toddler. Falling down will probably scare him the most and then he'd be back to playing just like any other kiddo.

Again it was nice to meet other wives of the ship and will help when the guys are gone more and more. We all have to stick together! I look forward to getting together with them all again!! Thanks girls for some good times and many more to come!!

**I will get pictures with the other girls sometime!**

Scrap Booking!

So everyone has tons and tons of pictures! I know I do and sometimes I don't know what to do with them. Well a year or so ago I found a love for scrap booking just never had the time to do anything. That's all going to change! I have a week from Friday left working then will be a stay at home mom once again. In my spare time I hope to have time to scrap book. I also hope to have a section of the house just for scrap booking. It does get time consuming to get everything out and putting it back all the time. lol So it'll be nice to just have it all out and ready for whenever I have a minute, during Levi's nap or some other time. It's something I truly enjoy and something I can use my creativity side with. You can do so many things with the pictures. Recently I ordered from a site and got my package today! I'm amazed at how nice the products look and can't wait to use them!! Some different themes I'm planning on scrap booking are:

• My marriage/ceremony to my wonderful husband Patrick. 
• Our pregnancy adventure and the birth of Levi. 
• Levi's first year. 
• Family Trips.
• Christmas and Holidays.
• Birthdays. The list can go on and on.

I can't wait to go through the many pictures I have of all the occasions and display them in a scrap book to look back on for years to come. It will truly be nice. Here are some of the pictures of the supplies I got in the mail today! 

My Two Boys

So I've been thinking about something to write about and figured why not write about my two favorite boys? I love God, but my two favorite boys are my husband Patrick and my son Levi. They are my world and more. Let's start with my amazing husband! 

♥My hubby Patrick♥

My husband Patrick is amazing. We met in September 2006 a month before he left for boot camp in the Navy. We met at McDonald's in Missouri and I will never forget what I thought when you first meet someone. You don't judge a book by it's cover. Well when I first met him and my aunt Heather was asking what I thought. I told her she was crazy lol, because of his fro. Needless to say I fell in love with him. I look forward to his letters from boot camp, text messages and calls when he was in school and more. I got all giddy and happy whenever I would get something or hear from him. I knew I was had. After a year or so I moved to SC to be with him. We were having a long distance relationship up until then. We got engaged at about Christmas time and became husband and wife April 18th, 2008. I wouldn't change any of it. It's what made me who I am today. The great things about my husband is that he makes me smile when nobody else can, he is always there for me, he's fun to be around, supportive, we enjoy ourselves together playing games or cooking a meal, he's my best friend and more. I could go on and on. All in all he's a wonderful man and I'm a very lucky girl to have him as my husband and best friend!

♥Now about my ambitious, rambunctious, adorable son!♥

Patrick and I got pregnant not to long after our wedding date. My grandma calls our son Levi our honeymoon baby. lol. Levi was born January 9th, 2009 at 1:20pm. Today he is 18 months old. He' walking, and jabbering along. He says "ma ma" , "da da", "bye bye" and more. He doesn't talk as much as a normal 18 month old does that you can understand , but in time I'm sure he will get there. Levi loves dancing to music, banging on something making it a drum(His daddy plays the drums.) He enjoys watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny. We are working on the abc's with him. I'm using the repetition teaching method. I'll sing it normally and then go really fast which makes him grin and laugh. He loves it when I sing fast or silly lol. Levi is a joy to be around, he is a very happy baby and always has been. He loves cuddling with mommy and/or daddy when he's home. Daddy enjoys it too. Whenever they are on the couch cuddled up together it's a special moment and one to always remember. They sure do love each other. Levi also loves going outside. If he could live outside I'm sure he would. Lately it has been very humid so our outside days are limited. I can't wait to see the man Levi grows into. I'm sure he will be a great one just like his daddy.

♥These are my two boys and I will always love them.♥

Decisions, Decisions...What to do?

What to do? What to do? So the thing is, is that our lease is up soon on the house we are currently renting here in Virginia. We have debated over and over whether to move into military housing or not. In a way I would like to. We have two more years left here from October. We have moved each year we have been in Virginia. First from South Carolina, our last duty section to the townhouse in Newport News we rented then to the house we rent now in Hampton. If we moved into housing I'd make sure it's our last move until we move home or to our designated place we would want to live when Patrick gets out of the service. Moving is not fun by any means, but it does pose it's advantages and disadvantages.

Some advantages I have considered are:


1.) The utilities and rent would be taken care of, because of our bah. 
2.) More cabinets/counter space in the kitchen for things! (This would be important.)
3.) Live by other military families and make friends/playmates for Levi and I. 
4.) Depending on where we would live, Patrick would be closer to work. 
5.) Not have problems like we do in the house we are now.
6.) Being closer and having access to the pool, clubhouse, exercise center for housing.


Some disadvantages I have considered are:


1.)Packing up and moving everything.(Though I have gotten rid of some things so hopefully this will be fairly easy.)
2.)Depending on which housing having to quit or transfer locations on where I work. I would think it'd be best to quit and just focus on Levi. Then take internet college courses. 
3.)We don't want a apartment or anything so hopefully we won't have that.
4.)May go down to a 2 bedroom. Hoping we stay at a 3 bedroom.(Or have that be the only thing available!)
5.)The WAITING list.


So considering these things we have to decide if it's worth it for us or not. Again I think it would be so I'm hoping for the best and hopefully something will be available for us. Also hopefully moving won't be so bad for us. I will be glad when it's over if we go that route.

The two locations I've been looking at and are nice in the pictures I've seen are:
One is my friend lives in Langley Landings(Air Force), but all branches can live there. I think her house is really nice and seen some other ones I like on their website that may be available. It would be farther from Patrick's work then we are now. The other housing I am looking at is Lincoln Housing in Norfolk. It's Norwich Manor. Both of them seem nice and would be more room than what we have now which is a huge plus. Well that's all I have to share right now. I'll update once we figure out what we will be doing and what our options are. Hopefully housing it is!

Karaoke Night With The Girls!!

Something I love doing is going to karaoke night with the girls! It is so much fun, and were so crazy. Even if we don't know the song or aren't very good were still singing along having fun and sharing laughs. Karaoke night to me is me time. To just kick back and relax. Tonight was our second mom's night in Karaoke night. The first one was at my house and tonights was at Tara's house. I can't wait until our next Karaoke night!!

Here are some pictures from our Karaoke Night! My awesome friends from left to right are: Meghan, Tara, Rhiannon, Tamara, and I.

Silly Picture

A Night At Busch Gardens

Last night after my doctors appointment we went to Busch Gardens. It was nice and cool that evening which made it all the better. It was Levi's first time going as well and boy did he have some fun!! He also screamed his little head off too! This ride here he screamed. I was telling him that the other kids were having fun and loving it. He stopped for a bit and then screamed again lol so I told everyone that it was his happy scream!

When we got there we went to the Sesame Street Play Area for kids. We rode the log flume which I think was Levi's favorite ride. I got a few pictures and some he's not looking. He was more amused by the water squirting over us during the ride. When we go again I will be sure to take him on this again. That is how much he loved it!

In the Sesame Street Play Area they also had a play area with water for children to run though and get wet. It was in the evening and knowing Levi he wouldn't want to do that so we didn't do it this time. Next time we may and see how he does.

While we were in the Play Area one of the characters came out! Cookie Monster!! Levi's favorite character is Elmo whom we did see, but didn't get a picture with so we opted for Cookie Monster. In the picture is how close Levi would get to him! He would not get any closer. Poor Cookie Monster may of got his feelings hurt. Hopefully overtime Levi doesn't get scared of the characters to much, because they are pretty much nice guys.

Other than that there wasn't much else to do in the Sesame Street Play Area so we walked over to Land of the Dragons. They had a few more kiddie rides.

One of the rides Levi rode in Land of the Dragons was the ladybug. "Beep Beep" ...well not that, but whatever a lady bug says when she's driving. Levi loved this ride. He loved steering the wheel of the lady bug while the car was going around and around. Sometimes he even turned to the side a little and steered the back seat ones. Driving from the back. Makes me not want to know what kind of driver he's going to be when he turns sixteen. A front or back seat driver and if he has his hand on the steering wheel or not. I guess only time will tell!

Here's another steering ride him driving the boat! Toward the end of the ride he started climbing and I felt so bad that Levi was doing that. Thankfully she stopped the ride and that's when he sat back down. Go figure right?

Well this was pretty much our day at Busch Gardens. The last two rides Levi rode was the glider with his grandma and the egg ferris well in Land of the Dragons with me. I think all in all he had a nice evening, he got restless since he decided not to take his nap yesterday. Hopefully next time we go to Busch or sometime daddy can join us and ride some fun rides with Levi. 

Favorite Time Of Day

Levi's favorite time of day is being outside! He absolutely loves it! Even when it's near 100 degrees he loves being out there running around, swinging, pushing his car around, playing ball, or just walking around! He finds so much to do outside. This evening before our bedtime routine we went outside. Of course it was cooler, I can't take the heat that great like Levi can. We played ball and he threw it at me a few times. He's getting so good with his hand/eye coordination. He also kicked the ball a few times. All in all we had a great time. Here are some pictures to show as well as a video. I'm hoping to have more outdoor times with him as well, because come winter it's always to cold to go outside.

Some Videos Of Our Outside Adventure!

Levi's 18 Month Check Up and Growth

So today Levi had his 18 month check up. He did really good too despite the fact that he is very mobile and does not like staying still one bit! lol He wants to run, explore and get into everything he sees. He even knows how to open a door now! Levi is jabbering away, but not making full words or putting his words together. He does know how to say "mama", "da da", "daddy", "bye", and he has said "hi" and "cookie" once or so. He's getting better. I say a few more months and I won't get him to stop talking lol. I am interested in knowing what he is trying to tell me though. He is now feeding himself as well. He does not like mommy or daddy feeding him anymore. His favorite foods are waffles, mac n cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and green beans. He loves yogurt too and loves feeding himself that though he tends to make a mess, but he is a baby still. :) He loves to go bye bye as well and some of his favorite places are as follows.

His favorite places to go are:

• The park
• The beach
• The fountains
• The backyard
• Water Country & more!

Now onto his stats from his one year appointment to what he is now at 18 months old. I plan on putting these in his baby book as well for him to look back on when he gets older.

• On January 12, 2010 He weighed in at 21 lbs 12 oz, he was 30 inches tall and his head was 18.25 inches.
• 
  
• On April 05, 2010 he weighed in at 22 lbs, 14 oz, he was 31.5 inches tall and his head was 18.5 inches.
• 
  
• On July 07, 2010 he weighed in at 23 lbs, 1 oz, he was 33.5 inches tall and his head was 18.5 inches.

These are his stats of his 12 month, 15 month and 18 month appointments. He is getting to be a big boy!

Long Time

So it seems as if I've abandoned my blog for about 6 months. I promise I will try and stay on top of this now. :) A lot has happened in the last 6 months.


The first is we celebrated our son Levi's 1st birthday on January 9th, 2010. It was a wonderful day full with friends and family. Levi had a blast playing and then digging into his cake. His theme was Baby Sesame Street. I made him a homemade cake which was pretty good. I will post pictures in a bit. Then he dug into his presents.


Then end of January early Feb was a rocky time for us. I found out I was pregnant again. Yes we were very excited and happy. My husband Patrick and I both really wanted this. Well things didn't turn out so good. I lost the baby at about 8 weeks after a few trips to the emergency room for bleeding. We were trying everything to not lose this baby. I went through my second d & c not to long after that. The baby would of been born in Oct 2010. It was a very hard time for me for when I woke up from my d & c I was crying, because I couldn't do anything to save the baby. This was my second miscarriage and both of them were about a year apart. After that we had some testing done and the baby was fine, but I suppose the problem was me. My thyroid. Now in the past my regular doctor said we'd be fine having a baby or that everything would be okay. Well my levels(hormone) were extremely low which isn't good for carrying. So my doctor refers me to a specialist. A endocrinologist. So I see him he does testing and then says he wants to have a biopsy done on my thyroid. I'm having that done later this month. Its to see if I have cancer in my thyroid. I'm very scared, because the procedure requires a needle in my throat. I really don't like needles, but I am strong so I can get through this. That is the update on all of that. Hopefully in the near future my husband and I will be able to have a wonderful and healthy second child. A little brother or sister for Levi. Until then well just go along with God's plan for us.


Other than all of that. We have been doing good. My husband has been gone a lot lately being in and out. No deployment just yet, but of course it's never to far away. It's hard for Levi to see his daddy go so much and hurts me too. We sure do love and miss him. I'm hoping to do some things to make things easier for Levi. I want to record Patrick reading a book to the camera and have it for Levi. Then we have plans to have a build a bear built with Patrick saying "I love you." In a way I want a bear too to hear his voice everyday.


Well that's all for now. I'm going to enjoy my day off. Yesterday we enjoyed a family day at Water Country USA.