Mommy Guilt Trip

So yesterday we got Collin’s school pictures back…of course he was cute as always, but he had drooled all over his picture outfit and his teachers obviously didn’t notice that between the time I dropped him off (perfectly picture ready) until it was his turn to have his picture taken that his hair had gone totally crazy & needed some major help! Seriously, my baby looked like he had stuck his finger in an electrical outlet!

Anyways, I thought that we would get proofs to look at and place an order, but they sent us home with a huge package of pictures with only 2 poses that I guess they thought were the best they got. To purchase the package was around $70. You were supposed to take the package home, and then return all the pictures that you didn’t want.

Why would they print that many pictures? Obviously other parents feel the same way I do & are saddened by the thought of their little angel’s pictures being tossed in the trash can…but $70 bucks?? For pictures that aren’t even that good?? Besides, we had his pictures taken in Texas a few weeks before and they turned out fabulous, and I had just placed an order for about $80 worth of pictures from that.

But still, can I really let them throw away the pictures of my baby Collin?How could I not buy any of his school pictures? Even though he is drooling & has super crazy hair, he is still my gorgeous little man! Congratulations Lifetouch Preschool Portraits, you ultimately suckered me into buying some of the pictures (but I mustered up the will power to return about ½ of them – ha!)!!

Baby Einstein Refunds

Well, apparently there are people out there who actually believed that putting your child in front of the TV can make them smarter??

Don’t get me wrong, I own some of the Baby Einstein DVD’s, and Collin likes to watch them occasionally, but I never actually thought that sitting him in front of the TV would make him smarter. If however, you did feel misled you can get a refund for the videos that you purchased ($15.99 each for up to 4 videos). You can find out more info on the debate here: http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2009/10/26/baby-einstein-refund-and-the-allure-of-the-digital-babysitter/

We however, will be keeping our DVDs and taking them for what they are – a cartoon like any other…good for a few minutes of entertainment, but not a quick & easy way to a smarter baby!

Collin - The YouTube Star!

Well, maybe I'm the only one who has viewed his video, but he's a star to me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrQsc6oVXLk

Happy Monday!

Who Am I...Now?

I usually just skim the Publix Baby Club magazine that we get in the mail periodically (who has time to sit and read these??) but there was an article that caught my attention in the latest issue. It was talking about how moms can be totally consumed with being caretakers of the family without ever taking the time to think about their own identity. It talked about how we can love what we do, but still have a need for a personal identity in addition to our role as “mom”.

Just by reading my blog you probably realize how everything I do revolves around my family. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but the article started me thinking about how being a mom doesn’t have to be all that I am – I can be a mom, a wife, and an individual all at the same time. There were some questions to answer that I thought I would share:

Three adjectives that describe me are…
1. Loving
2. Conservative
3. Indecisive :)

My greatest strengths are…
This is a tough one, but I think I have a strong work ethic and I think that I do a pretty good job of juggling household duties, family time, church activities, and a full-time job.

My most obvious weakness is…
Personally: This might be a surprise to some of my closest friends, but I really struggle with shyness when meeting new people or in large groups.
At Work: Not being aggressive / tough enough.

What I want most in the world is…
Right now, it’s to be the wife and mother that God wants me to be. That is something that I have to work hard at every day – opening myself up to the fact that what I think I need to do is not always the same as what God wants me to do.

If given the gift of a day with no responsibilities, I would…
1. Sleep in!
2. Get a pedicure
3. Work on Collin’s baby book / scrapbook
4. Sewing

If I received an “outstanding award” in 10 years, it would be for…
Outstanding Christian Woman (aka Proverbs 31 Woman)

The one thing I can do this week that will help me get that award is…
Spend more time in God’s Word & get back into the habit of a true daily quiet time. Not just reading the “Verse of the Day” or “Daily devotional” online while eating lunch (which is about as good as it gets lately), but actually sitting down with an open bible & and an open heart!

This was surprisingly really hard for me to come up with. I probably spent 30 minutes trying to think of the right adjectives. I think that these are great thought provoking questions for anyone, mom or not.

Recap of Recent Events

This past weekend we started out Saturday at a Fall Festival at Collin’s school. There weren’t many activities for a 6-month-old, but he had fun just riding around in his stroller & seeing his teachers. The weather was beautiful!

The Vuong Family at the Fall Festival

Saturday afternoon Son had to work, so Collin & I went to our class Sunday School Party by ourselves. Collin wore the most adorable frog prince outfit (thanks to “Aunt” Rachel at www.thehotpinkpolka-dot.com) and I dressed up as his princess…awwww!! Fortunately I as able to borrow the perfect princess dress from my friend Annie, which also happened to be the bridesmaid dress she wore in her aunt’s wedding when she was like 13! It was totally early 90’s – hot pink sparkly material with huge poofy sleeves. It was fun to get dressed up, but I was seriously hoping that we didn’t run into any of our non-costumed friends at the pumpkin patch we walked to…thankfully the coast was clear & I got to take the most adorable pictures of Collin in the pumpkins.

The Cutest Pumpkin I Found!

Sunday morning Son had to work again so Collin & I were late to church for practically the first time since Son & I have been married! I thought that Son had rubbed off on me and was turning me into a punctual person, but I found out this weekend that it only works when he is around…hehehe!


Here are some of the other things we have been up to lately...

6-Month Birthday Celebration

6-Month Pictures

Have a great day!!

Happy Half-Birthday Baby Boy

Wow! Where has time gone? Today is Collin’s “half-birthday” – he is now 6 months old. In the past 6 months he has changed dramatically & so has our life. We have gone from a couple to a family, we now have baby paraphernalia in practically every square inch of our home, we now make our plans around Collin’s schedule/needs instead of our own, and we are loving every minute of it!

Truly sometimes I just almost tear up thinking about how blessed we are. But the most unbelievable thing is that we are so blessed without deserving any of it, not one single ounce of what we have! If we were to get what we deserve – I don’t even want to think about that. But we serve a God who is merciful and gracious, who not only withholds what we deserve, but gives us things that we don’t deserve…God it so good!

True, life isn’t always perfect, but that isn’t what I am talking about. I’m not talking about a cookie cutter, sugar coated life where nothing ever goes wrong. Let’s face the truth here - we live in a fallen world, bad things happen to good people, but our amazing God uses those things and events to His ultimate glory. Even though satan has some control over the world I know that God has already overcome this world & that in the end He is creating a new world where there is no more pain, no more sin, no more suffering! And we get to live in that world for eternity!

This is totally off the original intent of this posting – to wish Collin a happy half-birthday – but I think that if I could only give him one gift that it would be this: to know that your mom & dad love you unconditionally, but that there is someone who loves you even more than us – and that is God. He loves Collin so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for the sins that Collin hasn’t even committed yet, and that more than anything in the world I wish for Collin a personal relationship with our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!

I heard Dr. James Dobson on the radio the other night share something that he used to say to his kids that was just so powerful to me – similar to the way that my parents always made me feel & definitely the way that I want to make Collin feel. He said to them something like this: “I love you unconditionally – that means that I will love you no matter what you do. There is nothing that you can ever do to make me love you less, and there is also noting that you can ever do to make me love you more than I already do.”

Collin, I know that you are not old enough to read this & it will probably be long gone into cyberspace somewhere by the time you are old enough to read our blog, but I hope that even without words I can express to you every day how very blessed I am to be your mommy, how much I pray for you to come to know Christ at an early age, and how my love for you is eternal & unconditional.

Love always,
Mommy

The Snooze Button is becoming an issue...

Confession – today is the third day of the week & also coincidently the third day in a row that I have not had time to apply make-up in the morning, and also the third day in a row that I have barely arrived to work in time. Seriously… this is not good! Don’t get me wrong – I like my job, but lately it is so much more tempting to hit the snooze button 20 billion times when there is a sweet little baby cuddling with you in the mornings!

Buddies

This weekend we went to see 2 of our friends that just had babies & Collin got to hang out with his new baby BFF’s! First we went to Dustin & Angela’s house (www.angelas-notes.blogspot.com) to bring them dinner and see baby Dallas – so beautiful!! This is actually Collin’s 2nd time to see Dallas as we went over a few Saturdays ago, but for some reason I forgot to get my camera out both times – probably because I was too busy oohhing & awwwing over this sweetie, you will have to check our Angela’s blog to see her pics.



After we left their house we went and saw our other friends Brad & Whitney with baby Maxwell – he is a handsome guy & almost as long as Collin at just 8 weeks old! We did manage to remember to take a few pics of the guys…I will post them later. Also, the 4 parents actually got to have about ½ of an adult dinner at the table together until both babies decided to be fussy – we are making real progress here!!


Son & I were talking this weekend about how much we love going through this stage with our friends also. It’s nice to know that we aren’t the only ones who are sleep-deprived & enjoy the rare luxury of going to bed before 10pm or getting more than 5 hours of sleep in a row J

Four Generations

Yea - the weekend is finally here! Not much news, but here is a neat pic that one of my mom's friends took at Collin's Sip-N-See party in Tyler. 4 Generations...wow!

Mom, Collin, me & Nana

Collin the Evangelist

Last night we took Collin on his first trip out witnessing! This is something that is difficult for me & I am always really nervous about it, but being in a Baptist church you really can’t escape it (especially at FBC JAX)…and I am always glad that I went afterwards.

Anyways…last night a men’s group that Son is a part of at our church had an evangelism event in conjunction with the First Wednesday Art Walk in downtown & Collin and I decided to tag along. The Art Walk tends to attract some “interesting” people, but I felt really safe with Son & our friend Brad (who happens to be a police officer) with us.

We were walking around trying to find someone to talk to when Son decides to stop and talk to a guy who is on his break from playing the drums in a street band (looking back, what happened next shouldn’t have surprised me). Son is asking him about his band, etc. and is having a good conversation with the guy but as soon as Son says “can I ask you a spiritual question” the guy says:

“No man, we are totally Pagan, and my wife is actually a Wiccan High Priestess”

Wow! What a way to start off the night! I was totally in shock & speechless but Son didn’t skip a beat, he just offered the guy a brochure, which he refused, and thanked him for taking the time to talk to us.

The rest of the night went pretty smoothly, Collin & I spoke with a few of the ladies who were selling jewelry and Son talked to a few of the guys who were artists as well. It was really hot outside & Collin fell asleep so we only stayed for about an hour, but it was definitely an exciting event.

Whirlwind Trip!

We made our trip to Pensacola this weekend - so much fun, but way to short!! We arrived late Friday night & Collin got to stay up until 1am visiting with his grandparents. I was really worried about him getting off his schedule, but he is such an amazing baby & it didn't affect him at all. I was okay with him staying up that late because Son's dad had to work all day Saturday, so the evenings were really the only time that he got to see Collin.

Here is a pic of Son & Collin on Sunday morning before church. We went to the Vietnamese service at FBC Pensacola with Son's parents and Quoc, Kim & Lilo.

Our fun outing on Saturday was Collin's first trip to the beach! We had fun but only stayed out there less than 15 minutes - we were concerned about Collin getting a sunburn. He had fun watching and listening to the waves, and we even got to see some dolphins swimming by!

Here is a picture from Friday night when we arrived. Son's parents gave Collin a "baby laptop" toy that he absolutely loved - boy he is spoiled, less than 6 months old & he already has his own computer!

Overall it was a great trip with lots of family time! Visiting Pensacola is so much fun, but it always makes me more homesick for Texas too - I just wish that we were closer to all of our family!!

Yea - it's almost the weekend!

I am so excited about this weekend - we are taking a much overdue trip to Pensacola to see Son's family. It's going to be a quick trip because we are both trying to save our vacation time for the holidays, but I am sure it will still be relaxing. And Son & I are really looking forward to some good Vietnamese food!



We went to Babies R Us last night and bought Collin a little umbrella stroller - I don't like it b/c he looks so grown up when he is in it! Here is the one that we bought:




Here is a picture from Collin's baby dedication at church a few weeks ago!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!