Commitments

Every year in January our church has what we call the “Chest of Joash” service.  It is a very special time in which you commit to the Lord what you will do over the next year.  It originally started as financial commitments however this year we were each asked to write down 4 different commitments for 4 different areas of life.  Long story, but one of the commitments that I have made this year is to be more intentional in teaching scripture to my children.

We have several Baby Bibles & Bible Story Books that we read to Collin & Grace, but I have felt convicted recently that I have failed miserably at hiding God’s Word in their hearts.

I have never personally been great at scripture memory, so this is a challenge for me as well to learn these verses with Collin.

We started this week with John 3:16 (inspiration from my friend Angela who taught this to her daughter & it is PRECIOUS to hear her recite it).  Collin gets really into it & can say most of it on his own.  We are still working on it, but he is getting it & I think we will be able to add a 2nd verse soon!  My favorite part is hearing him say “perish” and then at the end we say “everlasting life” very loudly & he gets so excited :)

I think these kids deserve the best & I am striving every day to give it to them.  Every day I fall short of the “perfect” mommy I wanted to be, but even though I can never succeed at this on my own…

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”   Philippians 4:13

Hey…I think that should be our next verse!

And just because no post is complete without some Collin & Grace cuteness ---->

On a recent zoo trip Collin noticed the bear tracks on the sidewalks & was showing me how they got there… “see mom the bear went like this and his feet-prints”.  However my cautious little boy was a little concerned about the fact that the bear had been out of his fence at some point to make those tracks.

Sweet princess…always happy to see Collin running into her room after naptime!  They love each other so much!

How Did This Happen??? Grace Anna is 9 MONTHS OLD!

Okay, in the past month Grace has decided that she wants to be a big girl.  At first I was loving all the new things, but after looking through pictures today & updating her monthly picture frame I am not so sure I am ready for this! 

Weight: 16lbs (my tiny baby)

Height: 26”

In just a few short weeks she has accomplished the following:

Pulling up to standing, scooting, CRAWLING, clapping, playing peek-a-boo, standing by herself for a second,and she ate her 1st chick-fil-a nugget (that’s a major milestone here at The Vuong Family).

Now that she is so mobile I sometimes forget that she doesn’t always stay right where I leave her.  Collin never wanted to be out of my sight, so I assumed she would be the same, but I am continually amazed at how different they are.  Grace is much more independent at this age than Collin is/was.  Recently I looked into the living room where I had left her in the middle of a million toys and I could not see her.  I jokingly said to Collin, “Oh no!  Where is Grace?  Help me find her!”  He had a blast “finding her” in the corner behind a chair…here she is in her hiding spot.  Then of course, Collin wanted to hide too! 

I absolutely love the fact that they are starting to play together!  It makes me so happy & I love seeing Collin be so sweet to his baby sister.  They were making faces at each other through the glass door…

We also discovered today that Grace LOVES the vacuum cleaner!  She was in Collin’s room playing with daddy & brother while I started to vacuum her room.  Next thing I know she is crawling faster than I have ever seen right towards me with her eyes open sooo wide!  I thought she was scared, so I turned the vacuum off & picked her up, then she started crying.  I moved into our bedroom to vacuum there & she came across the hall again into our room.  I just kept vacuuming & she kept coming until she got close enough to touch it.  It was hilarious how excited she was!  I was especially shocked since big brother HATES it when I vacuum & until today would cry every.single.time.  However, once he saw how much attention Grace was getting for liking the vacuum, he decided it wasn’t so bad & even worked up to touching it while it was running – it is amazing what a little peer pressure can do!!

In other Grace news, she will answer/look  if you say “Hey Crazy”…hehe  makes mommy laugh every time .  I guess it sounds similar enough to “Gracie”, but it still makes me giggle – and it is said in a very loving way, from a mommy who is equally as “Crazy” as her sweet little big-girl daughter.

My crazy baby love!

A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words (I Hope)

Here at The Vuong Family my children raked in an embarrassing amount of Christmas goodies from both grandparents & from us.  We had an amazing Christmas with family, spent over 30 hours driving, and came home happy but exhausted.  Here are a few pics that I wanted to post.

Collin opening his first present…not as excited as I was hoping for, but he got into it after getting plenty of practice!

Grace and her Cabbage Patch doll – I was way more excited about this than she was!

Collin & Grace opening their first presents from Dede & Jimbo – matching Christmas jammies!

The annual jammie pictures!

Grace’s pretty bracelet!

Collin riding his new “bullseye” horse!

First time with watercolor paints.

Helping Jimbo feed the birds & squirrels.

My biggest regret is that I forgot to pull out my camera while we were in Pensacola!  Collin had an awesome time playing with his cousins & they were both totally spoiled there also.

Famous First Words

Collin is continually saying the funniest things.  He surprises me sometimes with how smart he is & I love being there every minute watching his little vocabulary blossom!  Some of his latest famous quotes:

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Something you do not want to hear your 2-year-old yell down the hall:

Collin:  Oh no!  A big huge mess!

Mommy: What happened!

Collin:  I pee-peed all over the place!

(We are still working on “aiming”)

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Collin:  Ahhh, Ahhh, Ahhh

Mommy:  Collin!  Stop whining!

Collin: I’m not whining, I’m just saying, “Ahhh, Ahhh, Ahhh”.  Just going like that, not whining.

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Mommy:  Collin, what are you doing?

Collin: I am going to beach.  You are sick, daddy is sick, Gracie is sick, Beau Beau is sick.  I going to beach by myself to have fun.  I will pray for you feel better when I get home, I promise.

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My mom has a pretty large Snoopy collection in her house.  After a recent visit to Texas, we stopped back in Pensacola to visit family there, where we have a cousin names Charley.

Charley:  Collin, I will be right back.

Collin:  Mommy, where is Charlie Brown going?

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Collin:  Oh no, what happened to your head?

Mommy:  What do you mean?

Collin: A big bug bite you!  (pointing to a pimple in the middle of my forehead)

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Mommy:  Wow Collin, how did you know how to turn off that lamp?

Collin: I work out at gym.

Mommy:  You work out at the gym??

Collin:  Yeah, karate class.

(my child has never taken any type of karate class, much less stepped foot into a gym)

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This picture is right after Collin spontaneously undressed himself down to his underwear in the middle of a family breakfast with my parents & sister and ran around the table yelling, “Nakey, nakey, nakey” and rubbing his belly on everyone…

I think I have a clown on my hands