Trip to the Zoo

So before my last post we went to the zoo. I took a ton of pictures and they were oh so adorable---and then my camera deleted them. SOOOOO, only (a very limited number of..) cell phone pictures for now.
We absolutely heart the San Diego Zoo and Hunter does too! He was especially thrilled with the cats--jaguars, tigers, lions. He wasn't a fan of monkeys, he cried when he saw them.
Before (Me!)

During (Adorable Hunter!)
After (Tired Hunter!)
He picked out his stuffed animal from the zoo, the first ever stuffed toy he's actually picked on his own. It's a fox and it sleeps with him at night, along with Mr. Bear, Mrs. Bear and Hippo.
Easter & beach photos coming tomorrow!

ABCS and 123s

I saw this on another blog and had to do it, so cute!! I have an update on taking Hunter to the zoo and a recent doctors appointment for Hunts, but it'll have to wait because I'm just too tired tonight!

A. AREA CODE : Conroe, still!

B. BED SIZE: California King. Best. Purchase. Ever. No more elbowing Kiefer or getting pushed to the floor from our old full size bed.
C. CHORE YOU HATE: Laundry

D. DOG'S NAME: None but soooo want one!

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Cinnamon raisen toast and DP.

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Pink.

G. GOLD OR SILVER: White gold, but I'm starting to like some yellow gold too.
H. HEIGHT: 5'5. Hunter is half my height, ha!.

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: None, it's quite sad.

J. JOB: Mommy.

K. KIDS: One. Maybe another in a couple of years.

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: With the hubby and baby in CA. Military townhouse? LOL.
M. MOM'S NAME: Melissa.
N. NICKNAME: CoCo.
O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: 4 times in the last year and a half, only two other times (once as a toddler, once after knee surgery when I was 13.)
P. PET PEEVE: Pens tapping. And Kiefer cleaning the kitchen and him doing my laundry, lol.
Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: You ought to spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people. - The Breakfast Club
R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Right
S. SIBLINGS: 1 brother, 2 half brothers, 2 step siblings. I'm the oldest.
T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: 7, sometimes 8 if Hunter is feeling crazy.

U. UNDERWEAR: Yes?
V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Brusslesprouts.
W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: Well I usually don't allot the proper amount of time for getting myself ready, Hunter ready and packing the diaper bag.
X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Knee, kidneys, back, ankle
Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Kiefer says my chicken casserole, I'll have to post the recipe!
Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: Koala bears. I'm allergic to birds, we learned Saturday.

Hunter's 15 Months Old!

Oh Hunter Scott, I cannot believe you are 15 months old!
You are a CAMERA HAM and make the funniest faces when I tell you to "say cheese." The above picture, included.
You way 26 lbs and are 32.5 inches tall--half Mommy's height already!
You say "bye bye," "all done," "hey," and I think "ni-ni" is "night night" because you say it when I put you in your crib at night and wave at me as I turn on your nightlight and shut the door.
You are such a momma's boy but you are really starting to shadow your daddy. You always put on his combat boots and attempt to walk around the house in them.
You finally have adjusted to the very best bed time routine I could ask for, and you did it without me even trying. You get your bath and bottle at 6:30 then brush your teeth and you put yourself to sleep in your crib and sleep 12-13 hours every night. Mommy thanks you so much for finally adjusting to a terrific routine!
You love to color, type on the keyboard and read your books. You even bring me books you want me to read you now, and I l-o-v-e it. You especially love your Bible stories book and of course your Mickey Mouse book.
You are obsessed as ever with Mickey Mouse. We don't give you a lot of t.v. time, but after your nap in the afternoon, you're usually extremely cranky so we turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and you cuddle with me for about 15 minutes of it. I know you're in a better mood when you dance to the Hot Dog song at the end.
You also love to "sing" songs and hum to tunes in the car. You definitely have your favorites. You love Walk This Way by Aerosmith most of all.
You eat just about everything under the sun that we let you now. You love Smucker's Crustables and any Gerber Graduate meals. It is difficult to give you breakfast because you hate being put in your high chair in the mornings, so I usually give you raisin toast and you seem to like that.
You love to help clean up now, you grab the broom and try to push it around, and you also shut the dishwasher for me when I'm done. We are working on how to "clean up" your toys (and you have so many, many toys....), but you'd rather just throw them over the baby gate. "Out of sight, out of mind" is your theory on that, I suppose.
We love you so very much!

Smile

Who could resist this little guys big blue eyes?
Not us!

A Collection of Quick Thoughts

I haven't been updating because I haven't had a computer. My laptop is broken at the moment, a very wonderful one-year-old ripped the charger out of the computer, resulting in the charging port cracking. I had to order a new computer though, because I have a final tomorrow--and our usual computer repair guy is out of town. As usual, please forgive the pictures. I actually uploaded pics from my camera on to my laptop....right before it died. *Crossing my fingers we'll be able to recover the hard drive* which we should be able to.

Speaking of out of town, Kiefer is in Key West. I've actually done quite well all alone by myself, but don't tell K, haha! I was very scared, since I've never been alone for more than 1 night since Hunter and I moved out to California, but we've adapted well. It's a good mini-vacation (it's actually a deployment work up, but he's having fun) for Kiefer. Heaven knows he deserves it more than anyone!
Our time together will be short lived though once he gets back from Key West he'll only be home a short time and then head out again for well over a month to Arizona. It's going to be a long year of deployment work ups, promotion schools and training schedules.
Oh and I have to extend a welcome to Kiefer's aunts new baby, who is being called "Prince Charming" to the blogging public, and I couldn't agree more--he's just so cute! Congratulations Alisa! (I don't want to post her personal pictures on my blog out of respect, but he's so darn cute!)
I got my hair colored and I absolutely love it. I got very chunky blonde and red highlights put in. I didn't get it cut as short as I did last time (to my shoulders with my bangs more of a swoop), but that's my own fault because I told her just a trim.
School is going well, I have my first course final this week and I'm pretty excited about it. Not nervous, just ready to move on to the next course.
I'm looking into moving back to TX in early 2011 while Kiefer is deployed for 6-8 months. We're going to try to find a place that is furnished though, we'd like to avoid moving all of our stuff to and from TX again. We'll just put our stuff here in storage. We'd save more to move back and put our stuff in storage then we would be able to save if I stayed here. Not to mention I have family and friends in TX, and I miss every one a whole heck of a lot.
And.... That's a wrap.. For now.

CSN Stores Giveaway @ The Francis' Family Blog!

Just had to tell you guys about this awesome give away at The Francis Family blog. These shoes up for giveaway are soooo cute!
The sole of a Rileyroos shoe is flexible and its rubber-padded sole curls above the toes to provide leverage as a child begins crawling. Unlike many heavy or bulky first walking shoes, Rileyroos’ lightweight construction and protective bottoms support a child’s foot as he or she starts walking and provides traction to prevent falls on slippery surfaces. These shoes were created with a focus on style, comfort and ease, which is most important for little growing feet.

The shoe is available in 4 colors: saddle (shown above), mulberry, navy and sky, and range in size from 3 months to 24 months.

Go enter for your chance to win!

Top 2 Tuesdays!

I'm not trying to not post anything personal lately, I'm just waiting for the new battery for my camera to come in and my new phone takes terrible pictures, so more posts to come!

Love this idea that Taylor at Jimmy Choos & a Baby Too had to start "Top 2 Tuesdays." This week is Top 2 favorite recipes--yummy!!

This one is a recipe my grandma gave me for baked pork chops, definitely one of my favorites:

4-6 boneless pork loin chops
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 soup can milk
1 pkg. onion soup mix

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chops in baking dish.
In bowl, combine soups with milk. Pour mixture over chops.
Bake for 35 minutes in baking dish, then cover with foil and return to oven for 10 minutes more.
Serve over rice and the dish creates it's own gravy.

The second recipe is a Greek salad, no real measurements--I just handful & eyeball it. You can add whatever meat you choose or none at all. Kiefer likes shrimp, I like blackened chicken on top.

Fresh lettuce, as much as desired/1 cup per person
Kalamata olives
Cucumber slices
Cherry Tomatos
Handful of Feta cheese
Sliced onion (I use red)
Quartered artichoke hearts (I use 1 Roland can of quarted artichoke hearts)
Serve with vinagerrette/Greek dressing--I don't like salad with dressing, so I always skip it.

Bon Appétit!