We got a fur kid

As most of you know I have always been an animal lover but it has been some time since I have had any and Loran as well. I think we both acknowledged the big responsibility that a pet would be and the fact that Corbin is still pretty little. That being said we still enjoy visiting pet stores, zoos, and other places where we are able to interact with the animals so Corbin is able to enjoy them and be familiar with them. Well a local friend of ours told us about an animal shelter that allows you to visit the animals even if you are not adopting. We had a free morning and decided to take a trip to the shelter. We made
our way in to check out all the dogs and after a few kennels we came across 'Dozer' a 2 month old red nose pittbull with the most adorable little ears that perked up like a bunny rabbit. I was in love instantly! We took him out to play with him and I fell in love even more. He was so calm and laid back, Corbin just loved him and the played so well together. After discussion with the husband he decided that if our landlord gave us the go ahead that we would take him. Well.... TADA! We added one more member, a fur member, to our family. We decided to change his name to Loki and we are so very pleased with out decision. He has been such a good puppy so far and we are so happy that we were able to give this little guy a furever home and have a lasting relationship for Corbin!

Best buddies already

Enjoying a nice afternoon at the beach

Silly boys

Sea World!!

Today was the day we went to Sea World and I must say I am not sure which one of us was more excited to be there. We got there early to beat the crowd and I sure am glad we did that. Our first stop was the Dolphin and Bird show and it was so awesome! Corbin has never sat still for so long, he was just so amazed by what was going on as was I. It was an emotional day for me as a parent to be able room provide my child with that experience and memory, something that I as a child never had the chance to do. That being said I am so very thankful and grateful for my husband for providing for us as a family and helping me provide these experiences for our family. I am glad that Corbin  had this chance and although he may not remember today, I have plenty of pictures to remind him of it!

Waiting for the dolphin show to start

Someone had too much excitement for one day

Holiday vacation

So this year for the holidays we are taking a mini vacation down to Florida to visit with Corbin's Great Grandma and Great Uncle and to also go and visit...... Sea World!!! I have never been there before so I am sure this will be just as exciting for me as it will be for Corbin. I cannot wait to see the joy and excitement on his face once we get there and to spend some quality time with each other and our family. Pictures to come when we return!

Mama called the Dr and the Dr said....

As most of you parents may know along with birthdays come doctors visits called Well Child visits so three days after Corbin's birthday we had his well child visit. On this visit we got lucky because Loran was home from work so he was able to join us for out visit. I had already mentally prepared myself for the fact that we were going to have to have shots done so I tried to prep Corbin for this as well to try and make the process a little easier. Upon arriving to the office it was a mad house and I was very impressed with my little guy when he went into the waiting room with us and had a seat nicely and waited with us while I filled out his paper work. No sooner had we sat down we heard our name being called and being whisked off to the back. To our surprise Corbin was already all caught up on his shots so we only had to deal with a finger prick for lead. For this visit we actually got to meet with a doctor that we had never had before so it was interesting to hear her take on him and to hear how well he is doing.

So to summarize the visit:
His fine motor skills are ahead for his age being that he can already turn and open door knobs, zipper his zippers, and balance on his balance bike. The doctor was very impressed with how well his speech is, he is making sentences that consist of well pronounced words with not much gibberish. Apparently he is ahead of the game because he doesn't take a bottle at night (which I didn't think was a big deal, but I guess it is) we have done away with the paci, and we go almost all day without having wet diapers and are mostly using the potty when we are able to so next we just need to master #2, and we were assured that it will happen so no worries. We continue to work on our numbers, colors, and object identification all which we are excelling with on a daily basis between working on them at home and the teachers working with him at school. We still have a ball of energy on our hands but its nice to see that he is focusing that energy on certain tasks, such as playing pretend, and driving his cars, he is not as scattered all over the place.

After Dr. Calguhoun examined Corbin she presented us with his growth curves and his growth certificate for our own records and those stats are as follows:
Height: 37 in tall which is in the 93%, making him as tall as a 3 year old currently (we have a tall one on our hands)
Weight: 28 lb 14oz putting him in the 61%.

We got her blessing and don't have to go back until he is 3 now, unless he is sick of course. Hard to believe he is already 2 and how far we have come. After the doctors visit we took him to lunch at the mall and then to visit Santa, which he just loved to pieces!

Bowling champ

So to expand on our family birthday celebration... We decided to take Corbin  bowling!! He loves him some pizza so what better way to enjoy each others company than with some family bowling and pizza, but now that I think about it Corbin is the only one who got pizza  (ha ha). Any who we had a blast!! Corbins attention span didn't make it past the 6th frame but fun non the less. Mommy and daddy enjoyed playing too. We took him to local spot which was super dead so we had it all to ourselves mostly so we let the monster run around the arcade area and just really explore things. After bowling we took him to get a few more fish for his tank (a $$ gift provided by his great aunt) and we ended the evening by sitting in front of the tank watching them swim around.

2 years already?!

First Happy Pearl Harbor Day, now Happy second birthday Corbin!!
Where oh where is the time going? I guess it doesn't help that we have been 'celebrating' his birthday for almost a month now but who cares he is little. Since his birthday fell on a duty weekend for my hubs we celebrated as a family a few days ago (i will expand on that in another post) As for today THE DAY, sadly I had to work for a few hours but he got to spend time with a few of his favorite people his auntie and his bff  Tyra! Everyday with my little man is a blessing and one I cherish but today for me was extra special and I found myself a bit emotional over it. My father in law sent Corbin  a voice text and I started bawling  as I listened to him wish him a happy birthday. Made me a little sad that we cant be closer to family but happy that Corbin  has such loving and caring people in his life. 
The past year has been spent with him growing in leaps and bounds, learning like crazy, and giving us lots of heart attacks. We experienced our first set of stitches, our first very large black eye, our first run in with real snow and so many other things. Our most recent accomplishments have been that we are now a tay-tay  (paci) free home!!! I was willing to let him wait until he turned 2 but it happened sooner, yay us! Also we are well on our way to being potty  trained, today for instance he never want pee  pee  in his diaper he used the potty all day for that.  He can count to 4 and say some of his ABC's, he can dress himself with very little assistance, he can tell/show us his left and right hand/feet, identifying animals is a breeze. I am sure the list could go on, he is just such a sponge. Currently one of his favorite catch phrases is 'OH SHIT' shame on me I know.
Every day is something new and exciting and when I have free moments to sit back and reflect I am just so amazed that I, we, are responsible for making such a remarkable person and I am so very proud of him. Becoming a parent will change you forever and you never really understand that until it actually happens, for me, it has been the best change if my life.
Love you Corbin  James!!

From left to right: Birth, One year birthday, Two year birthday

My little sleeping prince on his second birthday