The Vuong Family

Commitments

2012-01-27T22:21:00.001-05:00

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!

2012-01-14T22:41:00.001-05:00

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)

2012-01-08T22:57:00.001-05:00

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

2012-01-08T22:42:00.001-05:00

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

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-16T23:24:00.001-05:00

I have always loved Christmas, but it is true that it becomes even more fun once you have children. This year, Collin really “gets it” and it has been so much fun to see it all through his eyes!

A few weekends ago we took them to see Santa. I did not have very high expectations, considering that the only way I got a Santa picture last year was to sit in Santa’s lap myself, holding Collin, while 7 months pregnant…not fun.

However, I was thrilled with how the pictures turned out – I actually had 2 smiling children both looking at the camera…a true Christmas Miracle!!

I will scan the picture and add it to the blog another day, but I am too lazy to go do it right now…in the meantime here is a picture of the 2 munchkins right after they saw Santa.

The preschool where Collin & Grace go a few days a week had the cutest little Christmas program, and Grace even had a little part as the cutest little lamb ever :) She did great! I was working helping the 4-year-olds, so I didn’t get a picture of the actual program, but here she is in her costume ready to go!

She really got into her role, and even tried to crawl like a sheep!

I would like to say that Collin James was as excited about the program as his sister, but unfortunately that was not the case. Lets just say that he was crying so hard I was afraid he was going to throw-up on stage…Son had the video camera in the audience, but Collin was hiding behind his teacher sobbing the entire time, so we didn’t get a video. I really think he was so upset because Son had come to his class for the Christmas Party before the program, but then left him to go sit in the audience. I guess Collin didn’t understand how it was going to work because he kept telling me that daddy was supposed to go on stage with him. Poor baby!

Tonight we finally had a chance to go down to St. Augustine for the Nights of Lights there. This is something that we have been doing since Collin was born, and is going to be one of our annual family traditions! It was fun, we rode the big Red Train, and got to see Santa again. I am so glad that our first Santa pictures went so well, because Grace was not as excited about sitting in his lap this time!

Grace & Daddy drinking some hot chocolate at Santa’s Village.

Collin LOVES snowmen, but was afraid to get any closer than this to frosty :)

I love this picture of Collin with hot chocolate all over his face…such a happy boy!

Our family of 4 on the train! So excited that Grace enjoyed her 1st St. Augustine trip!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Adventures in Babysitting

2011-12-13T21:50:00.001-05:00

Somehow we had gone 2+ years without ever having to hire a “real” babysitter. Thanks to sweet friends who love our children we have always seemed to make it work. However, I knew it was just a matter of time, and during the busy Christmas Party season we decided to hire one.

Whenever we are doing something new or different I always try to talk to Collin about it in advance and explain exactly what is going to happen. I have learned that he handles new situations much better that way! That Saturday morning I told Collin that “Miss Candace” was coming over to play with him & Grace while mommy & daddy went to a party. I was surprised with how quickly he warmed up to the idea, and he wanted to ask a million questions about her and what they were going to do…it was really cute.

The minute she rang the doorbell Collin was super excited, bouncing off the walls & doing everything imaginable to impress his new friend. It was hilarious to see this side of him that rarely comes out. Ya’ll, he was C.R.A.Z.Y!! He was doing handstands with his feet up on the wall, he was jumping on & off his bed, throwing his stuffed animals at her, growling at her, running all over the place, hiding from her, quoting all his favorite Disney movies…it was hilarious!!

When I asked Collin that night if he liked her he said, “Candace played with me, built me a huge giant tower (Legos), and she has really long legs!” I would say the night was a big success.

Grace was a huge stinker & refused to eat or drink hardly anything or go to bed, but I really wasn’t surprised considering she hardly ever drinks out of her bottle for anyone. She also punished me for leaving her by staying up until 2am that night…not fun.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of Collin & Grace with Miss Candace, but I will have to remember to pull out my camera next time!

Our First Ever “First Day of School”

2011-12-12T15:11:00.001-05:00

Collin & Grace have recently started attending the Jr. Academy preschool at our church MWF mornings, and I am working there also.

It is pretty much the best of both worlds & a huge blessing for us to be involved with this amazing school. I have wanted to get Collin into a preschool program for a while now, however it just wasn’t in the budget. With me working there we are able to make it work, AND I am able to do something that I love while still only being right down the hall from Collin & Grace!

So here is their first official “First Day of School” picture…snapped as we were rushing out the door so we wouldn’t be late!

Grace’s Baby Dedication

2011-12-08T22:35:00.001-05:00

We dedicated Grace at our church on November 11th.

Her Verse: “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” – Psalm 84:11

It was a sweet ceremony, and even Collin was on his best behavior. When the camera put Grace on the big screens I could hear the whole sanctuary “oohhh” and “ahhhhh” at her. But then I shouldn’t be surprised, I already knew she was adorable! Even though our family was not able to be there in person my parents were able to watch live online, so I was happy to know they were there in spirit & praying for Grace right along with us!!

I was really looking forward to getting our picture, because the one from Collin’s dedication is still one of my all-time favorite pictures. This one is okay, but poor Collin & Grace just didn’t want to smile.

When we got home I pulled out the DVD of Collin’s dedication service and let him watch it. He really LOVED seeing “baby Collin” on TV. Also, Collin’s favorite song right now is “Holy, Holy, Holy” and it was amazing to see that song sung by our choir during his dedication ceremony. Collin was so excited they were playing “his song”!

Happy Half-Birthdays!

2011-10-29T20:31:00.001-04:00

I cannot believe that my little tiny Grace turned 6-months old on October 13th! That means we are over 1/2 way to her 1st birthday…this is going by way too fast!

We had her check-up last Monday and she was a tiny girl, weighing in at only 14 pounds (10th percentile) and measuring 25 1/4 inches (25th percentile). I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised since my mom is always reminding me that I wasn’t even on the growth chart when I was little!

And if Grace is 6-months, that means Collin turned 2 1/2 a few days later, so of course we had to celebrate both half-birthdays with cupcakes! I was shocked, but Grace actually ate quite a bit of her cupcake & kept putting more in her mouth. It was so cute to watch!

“You are really going to let me eat this???”

“Okay, only if you insist Mom”

“Hey, this is pretty good”

“The sugar comma starting to set in”

Of course Collin loved the cupcakes too, and was so excited that we got to celebrate their half-birthdays with cupcakes several nights in a row!

Time flies when you’re having fun!

We Love Aunt Becca

2011-10-27T14:38:00.001-04:00

We had an awesome visit with Aunt Becca a few weeks ago! I was so glad that she was able to visit again since her last trip got cut short.

We had fun picking her up at the airport & Collin and Grace were sooooo happy to see her! We had fun all weekend shopping, playing, eating at Barbara Jean’s & we actually made time for a crafting project while she was here! I made a cute fall wreath for the front door & she made a Halloween one, all from something she saw on pinterest. They were a little time consuming, but turned out great!

We also made our family Pumpkin Patch visit while she was with us. The other project we picked out from pinterest was a cute picture idea for Grace where we carve out a huge pumpkin, and sit Grace down in it. We didn’t end up with enough time to do it while Becca was here, so I made Son promise to help me try it this weekend :)

Becca noticed how much Grace loved jumping up & down in her arms, so we decided to get out her hanging jumper…and Grace LOVED it!!

Collin also picked out a second Halloween costume while we were shopping with Becca. However, despite the fact that he begged for the Batman outfit while we were in Dillard’s, he almost started crying when I tried to put it on him at home…that is until Aunt Becca told him that he would be “Super Fast” in his Batman costume & started chasing him around the house :)

The weekend went by way too fast, but I was so glad that she was able to come and see us!! We love our Aunt Becca & cannot wait to see her again at Christmas!

What Grace Does When She’s Supposed to be Napping

2011-10-21T21:25:00.001-04:00

Alternate Title: How I learned the importance of double knotting the bumper pad ties.

Peek-A-Boo!

A Big Huge Giant Make-up Post

2011-10-21T21:18:00.001-04:00

So, you may be asking: “what we have been up to lately?” Or maybe it’s more like: “where the heck has she been & why isn’t the blog updated?” Here is the answer…in picture form :)

Family Zoo Days!

Grace is sitting in the high chair for meals now! BTW, this is her hair-do whenever I take the rubber band / bow out at night. It stays just like it was styled :)

Grace doesn’t believe that certain toys should be for 3 & up only. She also doesn’t understand the difference between “girl” toys and “boy” toys, and is perfectly content playing with Buzz Lightyear, Dinosaurs, and trucks.

We took a road trip to Ocala to see some good friends. I LOVE Collin’s expression in this picture!

Grace turned 5 Months Old!

Mommy started sewing again – I had to make stocking #4 for Grace’s First Christmas!!

Collin is such a handsome big boy :) He makes me smile every single day.

We make up silly games to entertain ourselves – like making a spaceship out of an old diaper box & pulling them around the house in it. They both think this game is HILARIOUS!!!

We made our 2nd road trip to Pensacola & got to meet our nephew, Lincoln. He was born in July, but is already bigger than Grace!

And, to top it all off, we found this AWESOME buggy at Wal-Mart!! I can fit BOTH kids up front, and have an entire buggy to fill up with groceries!! GENIUS!!!

I still hate Wal-Mart, but you really can’t beat their prices, and finding this buggy makes it just a little more bearable for me. And now I am the crazy lady who circles the parking lot 20 times trying to find one of these :) Oh well, Collin thinks it is hilarious trying to help me find “our special buggy”.

Stay tuned for other upcoming posts such as:

What Grace does when she is supposed to be napping
Aunt Becca visits again!!
Grace is 6 months old

“Look Mommy, I’m Washing My Hands”

2011-08-30T21:00:00.001-04:00

While driving down the road Collin is talking to me from the backseat…

Collin: Look Mommy, I’m washing my hands!

Me: That’s great (thinking he is pretending to use hand sanitizer)

At the next red light when I turn around and actually look, he is spitting on his hands and rubbing them together, by this time his hands are soaking wet…guess I should have looked sooner!

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While watching an episode of “The Cat in The Hat” all about animals with tails, and the different types of tails, the characters start doing a dance and shaking their tails…

Me: Collin, can you shake your tail?

Collin: No, I don’t have a tail.

Me: You can pretend, shake your bootie.

Collin: Oh, I do have a tail right here!!! (pointing to his front-side)

Of course I was dying laughing, so Collin thought it was hilarious too & the rest of the day went around saying “here is my tail!”

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Me: Collin what are you doing?

Collin: talking to Buzz Lightyear

Me: What are you telling him?

Collin: You need to listen, get spanking Buzz, when I say no that means NO!

…I wonder where he gets this stuff from :)

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Collin is also becoming quite the little helper lately, and has even started taking out the trash for mommy…or at least dragging it out into the garage.

And he also helped daddy mow the grass.

I am so proud of this little guy!

Grace Anna is 4 Months Old

2011-08-27T21:21:00.001-04:00

My baby turned 4 months old on August 13th! Here are her latest stats:

Height: 24.5 inches

Weight: 12 lbs 2.5 oz

Eating: She nurses about every 3 hours during the day. She measured 50th percentile for height, but only 15th percentile for weight…so even though I am not ready, our doctor recommended starting solids! (It was either that or feed her more often, and the thought of getting up in the middle of the night again did not sound like fun!) We started last night with a few “tastes” of cereal mixed with milk…she seemed about as interested in it as I did :( But she sure did look cute while doing it! Since she’s not big enough for the high chair yet, daddy held her.

Sleeping: At 8 weeks she started sleeping every night from around 8 or 9pm until 6 or 7am. However, once she hit 4 months, she apparently decided that she wanted to start waking up in the middle of the night to eat again…hopefully the solid food will help with this also :) Mommy is not ready to try “cry it out” quite yet. She is taking 2 naps a day now, with each one being 2 hours. She does so good going to bed on her own. I can just put her down with her paci and she falls asleep on her own – I still am shocked every time it happens, since it would take me FOREVER to get her brother to go to sleep.

Milestones: She is sooooo close to rolling over, and can get all the way over on her tummy, but her arm is still stuck under her. She can’t get the arm out yet, so she just goes back over onto her back.

She is such a sweet little girl, and we are so blessed to have her! She is so happy to just play with her toys, but she like to be in the same room as everyone else. She also likes to be talked to, and she LOVES watching Collin run around. She loves to laugh all day for daddy, but makes mommy work really hard to get one out of her sometimes.

She has been having a hard time in the nursery at church, but her sweet teachers are willing to love on her & put up with it until she (hopefully) gets used to it.

It’s Not Okay to Pee on Your Sister

2011-08-07T15:39:00.001-04:00

Collin loves his baby sister. The first few days after we brought her home I wasn’t so sure it was going to work out, but now I think he truly is glad that she is here.

He loves to lay on the blanket with her and show her how to crawl or roll over. Here he is showing me how well he can hold his head up off the ground :) What a good Big Brother!

Another thing that he likes to do is show her how he can go pee-pee in the potty. He will say, “Look Gracie I pee-pee in the potty and get candy.” Or he will say to me “When Gracie gets older she can pee-pee in the potty and get candy.” As I have said before, my child is a genius!

Anyway, as we are still potty training at our house usually the potty is in the living room since that is where we spend most of our time.

A few days ago Gracie was laying on the blanket and Collin decided he needed to go potty. We are still working on getting him to “point it down” so that it goes in the potty & not all over the floor…I guess he was trying to “point it down” but somehow ended up pointing it up. I felt like it was moving in slow motion while I watched a very large stream of pee shoot straight up in the air, across the room, and right down onto poor Grace’s face!

She got soaked! Poor baby girl!

Of course Collin thought it was hilarious…and Son & I were both trying not to laugh while telling Collin that it’s not okay to pee on your sister. Grace had this surprised look on her face like, “what just happened here?” Fortunately it didn’t upset her, and I just put her in the bath a little early that night :)

“This One is Not Good, Mommy”

2011-08-07T15:21:00.001-04:00

Collin continues to surprise me each and every day with the new words and phrases that he picks up. Personally, I think he is brilliant. Here are a few of my favorites:

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While eating a bowl of blueberries, Collin hands me one with the stem still attached and says, “This one is not good, Mommy.”

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If he is about to do something that he thinks may either get him in trouble or make me laugh, he will look at me first and ask, “Is it funny? Is it a game?”

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If he is trying to get my attention he will put one hand on each of my cheeks and say, “look at me mommy!” I wonder where he learned that?

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He likes to jump…everywhere! Out of bed, off the couch, into the elevator, down the steps, over the curb, and on and on. When he jumps he will usually reach out his arms and say, “To Infinity and Beyond!”

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When he wants to watch Toy Story 2 he will say, “Hey mommy, Buzz Lightyear flying in the sky and Bullseye and Jessie, please!”

When he wants to watch Toy Story 3 he will say, “Choo-Choo Part and Lotso and Ken, please!”

Grace’s 1st Texas

2011-08-01T22:07:00.001-04:00

If you have children, or know anyone who does, then you probably can think of a few “baby firsts”. First smile, first laugh, first word, etc.

In our little family one of the big “firsts” is always going to be Baby’s 1st Trip to Texas! It is hard (and sad) for me to think that our kids are actually Floridians, and not Texans. I love the bumper stickers that say, “I wasn’t born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could.” That defiantly applies to Collin & Grace!

After a little panic at the airport involving trying to check Son’s gun case (which we have traveled with multiple times prior with no issue) we finally got through security with 2 kids and we were on our way!

Our first stop on arrival into DFW was Becca & Warren’s house in McKinney. We wanted to see Becca (Warren was working) and also give the kids a break from their car seats.

Collin LOVES Addie girl, and had a blast chasing her around!

The week we had in Texas went by so fast & was filled with lots of fun…tons of shopping, lots of family visits, church, family pictures, splashing in the kiddie pool, 3 dates for mommy & daddy, a fun “Sip & See party for Grace, and playing on the roller coaster…yes, Dede & Jimbo have a roller coaster at their house for the kids. Can you say, “spoiled”?

Here are my favorite (non-professional) pictures from the week:

We call my dad the “Baby Whisperer” – he can calm any crying baby!

Aunt Becca talking to Grace after church. Grace & Becca have a special bond!

Grace & her great-Grandaddy, she loved talking to him.

Dede & Jimbo

Four generations – this picture makes me smile :) Far left is my Nana (Anna) who Grace got her middle name from.

I must admit that I did a terrible job at taking pictures this trip. I am very sad that I didn’t get any of the kids with 2 special people – 1. Uncle Warren who Collin absolutely adores & refused to leave his side, and also was able to make Grace laugh out loud. and then 2. Aunt Honey (my Aunt Becky) who the kids love too. When she wasn’t at the house Collin would go to the window and look out in the driveway saying, “Honey, where are you?”

However, our professional pictures are AMAZING & I will have to do a separate post to show off my favorites.

June 2011

2011-06-27T16:02:00.001-04:00

We have been super busy this month! And since I haven’t posted any family updates in over a month, here are the highlights :)

Grace Anna turned 2 months old (see previous post)

We made our first family road trip to Pensacola

Aunt Becca came to visit!

We have also been unable to keep both kiddos well at the same time for more than a few days. Grace Anna FINALLY got her shots last week, so we don’t have to be quite as careful…but then of course she gets a low grade fever the next day - just as we arrived at our first playdate in FOREVER! It was gone by the next day, so I am hoping it was just the shots, which the doctor assured me was normal, but it still makes me nervous…so we turned around and drove home after being there probably less than 10 minutes.

This weekend we were finally all 4 well at the same time & were able to make our first Sunday all together since Grace’s birth! We are praying that we all stay well :)

Our trip to Pensacola ended up taking us about 7 hours (should have been 5) since Miss Grace decided that she was going to fill up her diaper every 10 minutes. Each time we would pull into a rest stop or gas station, Collin would yell, “PENSACOLA!!!!!”, then start crying when we told him that we were not there yet.

However, as bad as we thought the trip there was, it was nothing compared to our return home. I will make a very long story short by saying that Collin & I both were covered from head to toe in throw-up, and ended up getting wet-wipe baths & outfit changes in a parking lot in Tallahassee…not fun! Ever tried to clean throw-up out of your child’s car seat with nothing but wet-wipes & a bottle of water, then strap them back into it realizing that you are only halfway home? Yuck! At that point I was seriously considering just going to buy a new car seat – and if it wasn’t our “good one” I may have done it.

Terrible road-trip aside, we actually had a great time in Pensacola.

Collin hanging out at Ong Ba Noi’s house (Son’s parents). He loved looking in the water & watching the boats drive by!

Collin & Lilo “holding” baby Grace.

The day after we got home from Pensacola Aunt Becca came for a visit!!!!! We were thrilled to see her & so happy that she was able to meet baby Grace. The first few days she was here were sooo smoky outside that we didn’t get to do much other than hang out at home…but we did make a trip to Moe’s!

Collin & Grace sure love their Aunt Becca!

Unfortunately our visit got cut short when Becca came down with pneumonia & had to fly home a few days early. We were very sad, but no one wanted Grace to end up sick again, and Becca needed a few days at home to recover before she had to start some summer training at her school. The good news…she is going to schedule another trip to come back in September/October!! Yay!!

Other exciting news is that we have started potty training with Collin!! We still have a long way to go, but he continues to amaze us with how well he is doing. There is much more to say, but it will have to wait for another post :)

Grace Anna is 2 Months Old

2011-06-22T14:48:00.001-04:00

Last week, our tiny little baby girl Grace turned 2 months old! Sometimes it feels like she has been with us forever, but other times I feel like it was just yesterday that we brought her home.

Here are her stats:

Weight – 10 pounds 1.5 ounces

Height – 22.5 inches

Eating – She is still nursing about every 2 hours during the day, which is fine with me as long as she continues to sleep so well at night. She is what my mom calls a “lazy nurser” and sure does like to take her time…in fact, I think she would be perfectly content to just use me as her personal pacifier 24/7 if I would let her. She will barely tolerate a real paci when she is desperate, but I practically have to sit there and hold it in her mouth for her – the complete opposite of her brother!

Sleeping – She usually eats for the last time around 9 or 10pm, then I put her in bed & she will sleep until anywhere from 6 to 9am.

Other Milestones – She laughed for the first time last week when Son & I both were able to hear her, but hasn’t done it again since then. She loves to “talk” to her daddy when he gets home from work & will just sit there and smile and coo back at him when he asks her a question – it is the cutest thing in the entire world! A few days ago I was bathing Collin while Grace was hanging out in her play pen when I heard a rattling noise. I went to check on her & she had one of her toys in her hand & was shaking it back & forth! It was probably an accident that she grabbed it, but it looked like she was having fun!

Happy Birthday Collin James

2011-05-31T20:00:00.001-04:00

Wow! I cannot believe that my little baby boy is 2! Even though it has been over a month ago, here is a little recap of how we celebrated this special occasion.

A few days before Grace arrived, we had an early birthday party for Collin at a local park. The weather was perfect & all the kiddos had a great time.

One of our last pictures as a family of 3 :)

Collin’s sports themed cake, plates & napkins. We had a sub sandwich tray for the adults, with “uncrustables”, juice boxes, and “buddy fruits” for the kids.

Collin had fun opening his presents, but didn’t want to put each item down to open the next one!

Group Shot! Unfortunately a few people had to leave before we thought to take the picture.

Next up was a celebration at home with the family!

Tricycle from Dede & Jimbo!! He hasn’t quite figured out the pedals yet, but he sure has fun trying!

Another big hit was his T-Ball set from Aunt Becca & Uncle Warren.

I just cannot believe that he is so big! Having a newborn makes me realize just how much he has grown.

Other things going on in the world of this 2-year-old:

He was 26 pounds at his well doctor visit!

We are thinking about starting officially potty training…I let him pick out some “big boy underwear” a few days ago. I still don’t think I am going to be very strict about it yet, but I am going to start trying to encourage him more. He was doing really well with no prompting at all…until the baby arrived & then he totally lost all interest, so we will see how it goes :)

He is still my picky eater, but now that he understands “Eat _____ first, and then you can eat _____” it makes it a little easier to get the veggies down. He also loves sweets like his daddy – they share cookies or ice cream almost every night before bath time.

I am so proud at how well he has adapted to having to share my time. It was pretty tough for several weeks, but he is such an awesome big brother & is really a huge help to me during the day.

What a cool dude!

My verse that I have memorized for Collin is 1 Cor 15:58 - “Beloved child, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord!”

That is my prayer for Collin as he continues to grow, that above anything else he will come to love the Lord at an early age, and remain steadfast in his faith the rest of his life.

I am so blessed to be this little boys mommy!!

A Baby Story – Grace Anna

2011-04-27T16:21:00.001-04:00

We are excited to announce that Grace Anna was born on Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 at 8:16pm. She weighed 6 pounds and 10 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.

That day started out like many others, I had a doctors appointment at the hospital that afternoon (which is about 45 minutes from our house) so Collin and I decided to run all of our errands on that side of town beforehand. We went to Target, Dillard’s, JoAnns, and several other stores in between – our usual stops :)

My stomach was hurting a little, but not enough to really be uncomfortable or stop us from having a good time. I have stomach issues anyways, so I barely even gave it a thought.

At my 3:15 pm appointment the doctor told me I was 3.5 or 4 cm. We went ahead and scheduled an induction for the following week on Wednesday, but she did say she didn’t think I would last that long :)

On the way home I stopped by the grocery store to finish up a meal we were taking to another family at church that night. My stomach pain had become more noticeable by that point (about 5:00 pm), so I decided that we would just drop off the meal and not stay for church service.

In the car on the way there Son & I started to write down the times between what I realize now were contractions…5 min, 8 min, 7 min, 5 min. At this point I believed it was Braxton Hicks and decided I needed to go home and lay down for a while so they would stop. On the way home I called my friend Whitney who we were planning on leaving Collin with if my parents didn’t make it in time – just in case anything happened in the middle of the night so she would at least know what was going on. Thankfully Whitney convinced me to call the doctor “just in case”!

The doctor suggested I come in so she could check me out, but I asked if I could just lay down for a while to see if it went away…her response, “That is up to you, the baby isn’t going to just fall out, at some point your water will break.”

After about 15 minutes of “resting” I could tell it was getting worse, not better. At that point (about 6:45 pm) I would definitely say that I was in pain during contractions & I had a few other signs that the baby was on her way, however I really thought it wouldn’t be until much later that night or the next day.

I packed Collin’s stuff, we loaded up the car, and headed to the hospital. We pulled up to Baptist South at approximately 8:00pm. I was in serious pain, and couldn’t wait until Son loaded Collin up in Whitney’s car (who was nice enough to meet us there)…so I walked in by myself & told the people at the desk I was in labor.

After what seemed like forever signing papers they put me in a wheelchair and rolled me up to a triage room for L&D. The nurse said, “I need you to take off your clothes, put on this gown, walk across the hall, pee in a cup, etc, etc, etc”. I said (as nicely as I could between tears), “I am really sorry but I just don’t think I can do all of that.”

She didn’t look very convinced, but she checked me anyways and said “Wow! You are complete.”

I had to ask her to explain what she meant by “complete” and then all I could think about was my sweet friend Elizabeth who didn’t make it to the hospital in time to get an epidural – surely that wasn’t going to happen to me!

She started running and pushing my bed down the hall, yelling as she went disturbing things like “Call Dr. Wrenick” and “as soon as her water breaks this baby is coming” and “I need everything in this room now!” Then I heard the nurses discussing if they had time to get an IV in, and who would catch the baby since there was no way the Dr. was going to make it…that’s when I panicked.

Son barely made it up to the room, my water broke, the doctor ran in the room just in time, and then she was here!

So that is our baby story!! We are all doing great & have spent the past 2 weeks just falling in love with our little princess :)

Family of Four!!

My parents have been here from Texas totally spoiling us & we are NOT looking forward to them leaving tomorrow.

So much more to update...but baby is calling :) More to come soon!

Collin’s Big Boy Room & Other Updates on CJV :)

2011-04-08T21:30:00.001-04:00

We aren’t completely finished yet (secretly I think I am waiting for my mom’s help to finish up both the rooms) but here is Collin’s big boy room!

He LOVES it & calls it his “football room”. We moved all of his toys from the living room into his room, so now that is where we spend many hours playing each day.

On the opposite wall is his dresser, where his lamp, his twilight turtle & a few other knick-knacks are…I am still trying to find the perfect lamp & shade, so I will post pics of that when it is complete.

And here is the room in use :) He is sooo sweet! I still cannot believe how well he transitioned into the big boy bed – I was really convinced that we were going to end up with 2 cribs. However, I will gladly admit that I was wrong on this one & feel somewhat confident it will stick now that he has been there for a month.

So, what else is new with Collin James??? Here’s a little update since I am pretty sure that this blog is about to be taken over by a certain little girl :)

Eating – he is my picky little boy, but I will admit that this is entirely his parent’s fault :) Basically what works for us is that he gets a small portion of whatever Son & I are eating, and he is encouraged to try it…but if he refuses, we will give him 1 other option. His favorite things are: grilled cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, strawberries, oranges, blueberries, pretzels, bananas, applesauce, yogurt, mac n cheese (but it must be velveeta shells), sweet potatoes, graham crackers, cheerios, eggs, grapes, carrot sticks and green beans. Not ideal parenting, I know, but it works for us :)

Sleeping – we start the bedtime routine at 7ish, with him in bed asleep by 8. The last few weeks he has been sleeping until 8:30 or 9 (however, I am sure that now I am telling someone he will resume waking up around 7). He takes 1 nap in the afternoon around 1 or 2pm and usually sleeps for 2 hours :)

Doctors – he is totally recovered from his surgery & we have no other issues to address – finally!! He had his 1st dentist appointment today & did really well. The dentist told me that he is getting his 2-year molars already – I thought I had seen them coming in when I was brushing him, but it’s really far back & he’s not too happy about sitting there while I look around. The most he cried was when we left because he wanted to stay and look at their fish tank :)

Interests – right now he is into all things sports, construction trucks, matchbox cars, and the zoo. He loves anything we can do outside. His favorite movies are Cars & The Incredibles – we watch these regularly :)

Other – he talks more and more each day, and is really losing much of the baby talk. “Wa-wa” is now just water, and “ya-yos” are now just cheerios. It is a little sad, and I have to watch myself or I will use the baby talk more than he does, but it’s so cute to hear him talking more in full-sentences. Today when we were leaving the dentist he said “Collin see fish one more time please”. It was so cute, but unfortunately coming from Collin I have learned that “one more time” never really means just one more time.

Only 10 More Days

2011-04-08T20:39:00.001-04:00

That’s right, just 10 more days until the big D-Day! From my experience with Collin, I know that 10 days could easily turn into 7 days, or 13 days, but I am so excited that we are basically down to single digits here!

Here is a 38/39 week update:

How far along? 38.5 Weeks

Heartbeat? Holding steady around 150

Total weight gain? no change +22 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes, but I am getting really tired of them. It’s hard because with both my pregnancies I am mostly wearing maternity clothes during the fall/winter, but still need to wear them for a few weeks in the beginning of spring/summer…so I pretty much have 1 pair of maternity shorts that I wear almost every day & wash every time I do a load of laundry, 1 pair of jeans that can be rolled into capri’s for when the shorts are in the wash, and a handful of short-sleeve/sleeveless shirts. So if you notice that I am wearing the same outfit every time I see you, please pretend you don’t notice :) I keep telling myself it’s only for another few weeks!

Sleep? I have a hard time getting to sleep, but have been sleeping better once I am asleep. Collin has been sleeping in until 8:30ish every morning, so that has been helping me catch-up and get ready for the sleepless nights to come.

Best moment? Getting another late ultrasound at my Dr. appt this week. They were checking her size, fluid levels, and breathing. Everything looked great & it was another unexpected chance to “see” her. Collin was with me and got to see it too. When I told him to look at Grace or asked him if he could see her he kept saying “Grace, computer, see her!”…apparently he thought the ultrasound machine looked like a computer.

Cravings? I may or may not have purchased 2 gallons of ice cream and a package of Oreo cookies at the store today.

Gender? It’s still a GIRL!!!!!! Grace Anna Vuong

Labor signs? No, but I am dilated 1cm – I think she is going to take her own sweet time just like her brother.

What I miss? Looking down at my feet and seeing ankles again! I get so swollen by the end of the day! Fortunately it isn’t too painful, but it looks pretty bad!

Looking forward to? My parents getting here next weekend – then after that she can come as soon as possible! If she’s not here by next Sunday then the walking marathons will begin :)

Milestones? Less than 2 weeks!!

Things I Think About

2011-04-02T22:51:00.001-04:00

…having a 2-year-old in 14 days! How did my tiny baby Collin get to be the big boy that he is today? I thought that I could never love him more than I did the minute he was born, but I truly love him more and more every day.

…holding my sweet Grace Anna in 16 days (or less). I cannot wait to just cuddle her, see her face, and finally meet her!

…what am I going to do if my parents aren’t here when she decides to come? How am I going to be able to make sure that Collin is happy and not feeling abandoned with Son & I both at the hospital? I know that neither Son nor I could be away from Collin for the 2-3 days we are there, so will I be able to handle being at the hospital alone while Son is with Collin?

…how excited I am to see Collin’s reaction (whatever it is) when he first meets her. He is so cute and can tell you that he is having a baby sister named Grace, but I don’t think he really realizes what that means. I know they will have a special bond - even if it takes Collin a few weeks to warm up to the idea :)

…how do you pick up the dry cleaning with 2 kids? I am being serious here – do you take the huge double stroller about 20 feet from your car to the counter? If not, how do you carry the clothes, an infant, and hold a 2-year-old’s hand all at the same time?

Recent Family Outings aka “We LOVE Spring”

2011-03-23T15:55:00.001-04:00

Each year I cannot wait for the weather to warm up enough to spend as much time outside as possible – beach, pool, walks, park, or any other excuse to get out in the sun!

Here are a few things we have been up to lately…

ZOO DAY!!

Collin LOVES the Jacksonville Zoo, so we decided to surprise him with an early BDay present – an annual pass to the zoo!!

Checking out the new dinosaur exhibit with daddy

Petting zoo with mommy

For some reason he wouldn’t ride on the carousel by himself this time, but he still wanted to stay on – just not on the tiger :)

PENSACOLA TRIP!!

One of Collin’s favorite things to do is “play daddy car” – where he stands in daddy’s car and pretends to drive :)

His first beach day of the year – so pasty pale just like his mommy :) Give us a few more weeks & we will get there!

He loved playing with cousin Jaeden’s sand toys

He also now has a passion for digging holes in the sand – so cute to watch him work so hard at something.

36 Week Update

2011-03-23T15:40:00.001-04:00

WOW!! Where did this pregnancy go?? I feel like we just found out we were pregnant the other day, but we will be holding our precious baby girl in just a few short weeks! I still have so much to do before I feel ready, but thanks to some major help from the hubby on cleaning & finishing Collin’s room, I would be okay if she came today – well, maybe at least a few more weeks :)

I still haven’t finished her room, but we have the major items in there & ready. Still to do: paint pink border around ceiling, finishing touches on quilt, cover rocking chair, and hang curtains.

Today I had my 36 Week appointment & my first “check” - no progress as of yet. Of course the doctor says it could happen any time, but I really don’t like it when they tell you that because I get excited & anxious, then nothing happens. Oh well, I am perfectly happy with her staying right where she is until she decides she is ready!

Here are the stats :)

How far along? 36.5 Weeks

Heartbeat? Holding steady around 150

Total weight gain? +22 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes, please! Although I did find a cute dress from my “Sprinkle” in the regular section of Old Navy :)

Sleep? I feel like I am going backwards here – it was getting so much better, but now I just can’t seem to get comfortable.

Best moment? We had a small scare a few weeks ago since my weight gain had basically stopped & she was measuring a few weeks behind. It was a nervous few days, but we got to see her sweet face on the ultrasound again & were reassured that everything was fine.

Cravings? Not really – although for the first time in our 5 years of marriage I finished my carton of ice cream before Son did!! This is big – we always take advantage of the BOGO deals on ice cream at Publix, each picking out our own flavor. Son always finishes his off in a few days & I savor mine for weeks – not this time!!

Gender? It’s a GIRL!!!!!! Grace Anna Vuong

Labor signs? Nope.

What I miss? Right now I am so thankful for Collin & Grace that I am just enjoying every minute. Although it would be nice to sleep again :)

Looking forward to? Being able to say that her room is “finished” and holding that sweet baby girl.

Milestones? Less than a month to go!!

And since I hate to do a post without any pictures…here are the boys helping mommy in Grace’s room! They each had their own drill & step stool to patch holes, repaint, and hang the curtain rod – so cute :)

We’ve Been Sprinkled :)

2011-03-23T14:39:00.001-04:00

We have had the sweetest “Sprinkles” over the past few weeks & our house is finally starting to look like a baby GIRL is arriving thanks to all the wonderful PINK things from sweet family & friends. For those who may be wondering, a “sprinkle” is a small version of a baby shower when it is not your first child :)

A few of my sweet friends in Jacksonville hosted a Sprinkle in the beginning of March for Grace & we had a great time!

Me with the hostesses (Whitney, Cherie & Angela) – thanks girls! It was lovely :)

Yummy food & adorable decorations!

I forgot to take a lot of pictures, guess I was too busy having fun & chatting with the girls – usually when we get together we are distracted by dirty diapers, fussy toddlers, and temper tantrums! It was so nice to just get to relax, enjoy some great food & talk :)

We did snap one group picture at the end, but most people had already left. (Laura, Swarna, Me, Mrs. McNeil, Casey & Susan)

Thank you again to Whitney, Angela & Cherie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, a few months back on our last trip to Pensacola before Grace arrives, Son’s family threw the sweetest surprise Sprinkle for me :) We had a blast & everything was so beautiful!

Yummy Vietnamese food – everything was pink & green!! Son’s mom made my favorite – spring rolls with peanut sauce!

The cake was so yummy with strawberry filling and said “A Baby is A Precious Gift” – so true! And my SIL Kim made this adorable diaper cake.

We played the “guess how big Julie is” game – always a good laugh!

Then it was Kim’s turn – she is due the first week in July.

Lilo had fun helping me open Grace’s presents – she really liked this stuffed frog from our cousin Tam. It was one of my favorites too – so soft & cuddly :)

Adventures in Potty Training

2011-03-07T23:21:00.001-05:00

My sweet, precious, too-good-to-be-true Collin decided a few weeks ago that he was ready to “pee-pee potty”. I didn’t really think he meant it, but I held him up over the regular toilet & sure enough, he did his business! So, even though I had decided not to attempt this until after Grace’s arrival, I went ahead and did some research, then went out and purchased a potty seat.

When we got it home he started using it about once a day, so we bought a treat jar and filled it with candy (Peanut Butter M&M’s currently). Ever since then he has gradually increased how many times per day he wants to “pee-pee potty” & now averages about 3-4 times per day. Mommy & Daddy are so proud!!

This may be TMI, but it is usually just #1 that he does, but today he sat down & went #2. I could tell there wasn’t as much as usually ends up in his diaper, so I had him sit back down for a few minutes & kept asking him to try more. I could tell he was trying, but he kept saying he was “all done”. I had a feeling there was more to come, but I cleaned him, gave him his candy, and let him run in his room to play (naked) while I cleaned to potty – not fun, by the way.

Sure enough, I hear him in his room say “pee-pee potty” and so I tell him to hurry back. He comes running in the bathroom with #2 all down his legs & leaving a nice trail behind him all the way into his carpeted bedroom!

I am now considering sending him to college in diapers. Potty training is not as glamorous as it sounds!

Vuong Family Massive Update Post

2011-03-01T21:23:00.001-05:00

I love blogging, the problem is finding the time to do it! And then the longer I wait, the more I have that I want to record, so it gets overwhelming to think about…and then I procrastinate even more. It’s a vicious cycle :)

So, instead of trying to write about 10 posts that I want to do, I am just going to summarize what we’ve been up to lately (with a few pictures too) so that at least I can have it down. So much has happened since my last post, which was IN JANUARY!!!

Probably the highlight of the month of February was our Valentine’s date night :) Our sweet friends, Brad & Whitney, are in the same situation we are with no family in town…so we will trade off date nights. So, Friday night I went over to their house to keep their boy, Max, and Saturday night Whitney came over here to keep Collin. We went to one of our favorite places, Barbara Jean’s, then did some shopping & stopped for ice cream. It was a great date night & much overdue – we hadn’t been since September when we were in Texas!!

Here is a “30-week baby bump” picture of me from that night…I am bummed that I forgot to get one of me & Son together!

Now for the kiddos’ updates:

We had a little scare with Grace last week…I went into my regular 32-week appointment & the doctor was a little concerned because apparently my measurements & weight hadn’t changed in 4 weeks. She had me schedule an ultrasound to check on Grace’s size & make sure everything was okay. I asked her what could be the problem if there is a problem, and she says she just wants tot check to make sure the placenta is working and that Grace is still measuring on time with my due date.

Of course she says not to worry, that everything is probably fine…but I was really scared. I had to wait 3-days for the next available ultrasound appointment, and of course I spent that time doing terrible things like Googling “problem with placenta” and “baby born at 32 weeks”.

We had so many sweet friends & family praying for her that I know God was watching over our family that week.

It turned out that everything is fine, she is just small – about 4lbs now, but all of her measurements are right on track with my due date. In the end it was nice to get a late ultrasound & be able to see her again, but not worth the stress! Oh, and let me tell you, baby girl has some HAIR!! We could see it on the ultrasound – soo precious!!

That week while I had convinced myself that she was coming early, I decided that I needed to get the bedding situation finalized. I decided that I wasn’t in love with the first set I bought, but that I didn’t have time/energy to make something…so after spending many hours shopping & online, I finally splurged & ordered a set that I had really fallen in love with a few months back. It’s a new pattern from PBK called “Petite Paisley” and for now it is online only.It came in today & I LOVE IT!!!

Up next…a post on all things new with Collin James & our last family road trip with only 1 car seat :)

In Collin’s Words

2011-01-28T21:30:00.001-05:00

Collin never fails to entertain us with what he is saying lately. It is so amazing to watch how his vocabulary literally grows every day, but it is sometimes hard for us to keep up! Some of my favorites over the past few weeks have to be the following – with translations included :)

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He loves his bible song CD’s that we listen to in the car, but his favorite song is “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock.” Here it is in Collin’s Words:

“Hold, Hold. Knock, knock, knock” = Behold, behold, I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock.

“Anyone, Anyone” = If anyone hears my voice.

“Open, Open, Open!!!” = And will open, open, open the door, I will come in.

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He loves to name places as we drive by, even if we are not stopping. I have no idea how he recognizes places so well, but at times it is hard to explain to him why we are not stopping at one of our regulars. Here are some of our usual stops in Collin’s Words:

“Daddy clothes” = the dry cleaners

“Cookie Please Thank-You Balloon Please Thank-You” = Publix (grocery store)

“Daddy moovie” = Redbox

“Friends, Ball, Play” = our church

“Nuggets, Fries, No, No” = Chick-fil-a or McDonalds

“Play, Play, Swing, Whee” = the park

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And last, but not least, I will end with a picture of my adorable little Collin in an outfit that he picked out himself. The “Choo Choo” shirt from his pj’s the night before, his “monkey hat” from cousin Lilo’s birthday party, camo pants, and cowboy “boots”. No, he is not allowed to leave the house looking like this, but for a lazy day at home with mommy, why not? I absolutely LOVE this little boy!!!!

27 Week Update

2011-01-21T21:11:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe that I haven’t written a pregnancy update in 6 weeks!! As you can see, baby Grace & I have both grown quite a bit since our last post :)

How far along? 27 Weeks

Heartbeat? Holding steady around 150 - 155

Total weight gain? +20 lbs (this is so embarrassing!!!)

Maternity clothes? Yes, yes, yes! Even though I may be able to squeeze into some regular clothes, the maternity stuff is much more comfortable.

Sleep? Much better!! I only have to get up once at night now, and sometimes not at all :)

Best moment? There have been so many great moments over the past 6 weeks, but a few of the highlights include: opening Grace’s first Christmas presents from my family, finally deciding on a middle name “Grace Anna”, and being able to see her move on the outside.

Cravings? Not really anymore.

Gender? It’s a GIRL!!!!!! Grace Anna Vuong

Labor signs? Nope.

What I miss? Still missing all my clothes & being able to shave my legs in the shower! I also miss bath time with Collin, but am incredibly grateful to Son for taking this over. It was just too uncomfortable to get down by the tub for that long since he enjoys staying in there for a while playing.

Looking forward to? Still looking forward to decorating HER room, but I am trying to work on Collin’s “big boy” room first. I bought this really cute baby bedding set from Target over Christmas.

I like it a lot, but I am not totally in LOVE with it…so for now I am holding on to it in case I run out of time to make what I really want. Plus, I had fun making Collin’s bedding and I think that is why it is so special to me now, so I want that same thing for Grace. However, I am not ready to return my “back-up plan” quite yet!

Here are some of the patterns that I am considering if I am able to make it myself.

But there are several other that I like too (all from www.fabric.com)

Milestones? Realizing that I am not able to do everything that I used to be able to & finally taking advantage of hubby’s offers to take over some things for me :)

Merry Christmas to All!!

2011-01-15T20:49:00.001-05:00

So, besides our little medical setback, we had an amazing Christmas with family :) Here’s a recap of what I can remember…there’s been so much that has happened over the last month I hope I can do it justice.

Collin & I left Jacksonville the Monday before Christmas, and spent a few wonderful days with my sister (Becca) & her husband (Warren) in McKinney. Becca is a teacher, so she was off the whole week. She was nice enough to help me start my baby registries at Target & Babies R Us. I know Son would have gone if I begged him, but that’s not really his thing, and I couldn’t have done it on my own. It is sooooo different registering for your 2nd child. We have so much already that I was able to pick out more of the “wants” rather than focusing on the “needs”. Yes, we will need plenty of diapers and lots of pink, but there were some really fun things that I found too.

Like this cool tent for the beach / pool. Collin just loves being outside at the pool/beach/or even by the baby pool in the back yard, so I am sure Grace will want to be outside with us also. This way I can take her without risking putting her in the sun.

Anyways, we also had Collin’s pictures taken with Santa. I won’t say they are what I was hoping for, but he did much better than he did when I took him at home. He is not screaming or putting his arms up in front of his face, but that’s probably because his mommy was the one actually sitting on Santa’s lap :)

Collin LOVES his Aunt Becca! Instead of waking up in the morning yelling “mama mama mama!” he was calling “ah-be-da” & “uh-wa-wa” to come and get him out of the crib - it was sooo cute!

We joked that this was the best picture we got of Collin with Santa all year…too bad it’s a wooden Santa at Becca’s house!

We left McKinney & headed to Tyler a few days before Christmas, and as soon as we got there the gift opening began…with a ROLLER COASTER!! Thankfully, it is a toy to stay at Dede & Jimbo’s house. Even though Collin absolutely LOVED his “car” there is no way we could fit that thing in our house!

He also got to open his fire truck on Christmas Eve morning…this was all before he started feeling bad. That night is when he got sick, so all the rest of the presents had to wait until he felt like playing again.

There were so many cute things that he loved at my parent’s house…I wish I could remember them all. But, on the top of the list was watching the squirrels in the backyard. He would go and stand at the window looking for them & start yelling “squirrel” when one would come up to the feeder. Jimbo even let him get all bundled up and help him go out and refill the feeder with sunflower seeds.

Collin was also fascinated with the cat which he called “meow-meow”. He would run around throwing his arms up in the air saying, “meow-meow, are you?” (aka: where are you?) until he found her or someone showed him where she was hiding.

Then of course we had our annual Hartung Girls matching Christmas PJ’s.

And here is another picture of the poor baby’s swollen neck. He really doesn’t even look like himself in this picture.

Unfortunately just as Collin was starting to feel a little better we had to leave and start our first family road trip back to Florida. My parents let us borrow their portable DVD player, and Collin did amazingly well on the 10-hour drive considering how he must have felt. However, I thought if I ever had to watch another episode of Elmo’s World after that trip I would be sick!

We made it to Pensacola after a brief visit with our friends Dave & Paula in Baton Rouge. They were nice enough to feed us dinner and let Collin run around & play for a few hours. I think that break in the trip made a huge difference for Collin.

Collin was still not 100%, but feeling well enough to play around with his cousins. He loved playing basketball with his older cousin, Gavin. We were so happy that Son’s older brother, Hao, and his family were able to be there at the same time we were since we don’t see them as often.

Jaeden & my sis-in-law, Tram, opening gifts. Jaeden was old enough to really get into it & it was so cute to watch him :) Isn’t he adorable!

I absolutely LOVE this picture!! Three generations of Vuong men :) And Collin is giving his Ong Noi a high-5.

And we can’t forget sweet cousin Lilo! She was wishing everyone a Happy New Year & helping Son’s parents open their presents.

We finally made it home on Sunday night, and had a few hours to open our own family gifts before bedtime. The next day was our follow-up with Collin’s doctor that started the hospital admission.

I know I said this in the previous post, but I really think Collin was the happiest baby in the hospital…after he had a few hours to recover from the anesthesia he was goofing around like his normal self.

Poor Baby Boy!

2011-01-06T21:37:00.001-05:00

So for those who are interested in the details of Collin’s surgery and hospitalization (and for me to be able to remember everything) here is a really long & boring post. Check back later, though probably much much later, for a better post about our wonderful time in Texas & Pensacola with family – and pictures too :)

Collin & I had been in Texas for a few days, and everything was going great. He was having so much fun playing with family. On Christmas Eve we went over to my Aunt’s house and at first Collin was having a great time playing with the dogs & my cousin Brenton (aka “Bubba”). However, before we started to eat he all of a sudden got really fussy, did not want to be put down, did not want anyone except me to touch him, and felt like he had a fever. After a while of this we decided to take him home to get some tylenol. On Christmas Day he was still not himself, but he wasn’t acting like he felt terrible either, so we kept him on the fever reducers and let him rest a little extra.

The next morning (the 26th) Son went to run an errand with my dad & I wanted to hit the after Christmas sale at Target with Becca, but by around 9ish Collin was still sleeping. This is very unusual for him. I checked on him & he was still (what appeared to be) sleeping. I could see he was breathing, and his feet were moving a little so I thought he was still sleeping but about to wake up. His face was turned the opposite direction, so I didn’t see if his eyes were open or not, but I wasn’t too concerned at that point. My mom stayed home to listen for him to get up and give him his breakfast.

Son got home from his errand first and by this time it was probably close to 10:30 and Collin was still not up. Son & my mom went in the room to check on him again and he was still laying in the same position. Son walked around the crib and Collin was laying there with his eyes open, but not saying anything. Son & my mom got him up to change him & could tell that he did not feel well. Shortly after that I got home and when I saw him I knew something was wrong. His neck on his right side was really swollen. He couldn’t turn his head, and when we felt it, his neck was hard as a rock.

We took him to the ER in Tyler and were told that he had a throat infection, which caused his lymph nodes to be swollen and that it was not uncommon in young children. He was put on antibiotics and we were told to give him OTC pain meds and follow-up with our pediatrician in 10 days.

The next day (Monday) the swelling spread to both sides of his neck. The poor baby looked like he had a neck brace on, couldn’t turn his head, was not eating, and was obviously in a lot of pain even with the OTC pain meds. We took him to a local pediatrician in Tyler that day. He tested positive for strep throat, they switched him to a different antibiotic, and said that if it wasn’t better the next day they would refer us to an ENT.

By Tuesday he was a little better, but still in a lot of pain, so we went ahead and saw the ENT since we were leaving Tyler the next day to travel to Pensacola for 4 days, and I wanted to get another opinion before we were on the road for 10 hours in the middle of nowhere. The ENT pretty much agreed with everything the pediatrician had said. He told us that he did not believe that there was an abscess at that point, and that he did not feel one would develop, but that would be the worst case scenario.

We decided to give Collin 1 more day before the road trip, and he gradually improved each day. We left Tyler on Thursday, and Collin did surprisingly well on the 10 hour trip.

The rest of the weekend in Pensacola Collin seemed to be feeling better each day, and by the end of the trip was only waking up once in the night for the otc pain medicine (motrin).

We returned home and had a follow-up with our pediatrician first thing Monday morning. Even though there was still a little swelling and redness I fully expected them to tell us to continue antibiotics and return in a few days. However, almost immediately after walking in the door the doctor was on the phone with Wolfson Children’s Hospital to have him admitted…what a shock that was to me! She felt that at that point it had abscessed and that at a minimum he needed to be on IV antibiotics, but would most likely end up needing surgery.

We were admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon and started in the IV antibiotics. The next morning they did a CT scan and we met with the pediatric ENT surgeon who told us that there was a deep pocket of puss that needed to be drained, and that she was concerned that if she did not drain it immediately that it would most likely rupture. They did the surgery Tuesday afternoon, and the procedure itself took only about 20 minutes.

After all of that the surgeon did not find any puss, just fluid. And all of the cultures they took of the fluid to determine the type of infection came back negative…that was a little frustrating!

Collin had a rough few hours after surgery, but by that night he was running around the hospital room playing & back to his normal self. We joked that he was probably the happiest baby in the hospital.

They released us this morning, and Collin is acting like nothing ever happened :) The only way you would know he just had surgery is by the huge bandage wrapped around his neck.

Through all of this we had so many wonderful family & friends praying for us that I know the Lord was with Collin the entire time, and continues to be with him now as he recovers. It’s never easy to watch your child go through something like this, but I cling to the promise that He works all things for good for those who love Him.

Christmas Cards 2010

2010-12-12T14:39:00.001-05:00

Good Blessings Religious Christmas 5x7 folded card

Turn your unique photos into Christmas cards with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

21 Week Update

2010-12-06T21:27:00.001-05:00

How far along? 21 Weeks :)

Heartbeat? 152 bpm at our last visit at 18 weeks

Total weight gain? +12 lbs

Maternity clothes? Probably about 50/50 now…pants are either worn with bella band or maternity. I think this may just be because I am short, but I am not a huge fan of the Bella Band. I think it is too long for my body and I have to fold it over or it ends up bunching and causing wrinkles under my clothes. I can still wear most of my shirts, but they are getting shorter & shorter :) I am sticking to longer tops or maternity tops because as much as I hate seeing bare midriffs, a bare midriff with maternity pants is just even less attractive!

Sleep? Much better!! I only have to get up once at night now, and sometimes not at all :)

Best moment? Gender confirmation & feeling the baby from the outside!

Cravings? Random things like pigs-in-a-blanket, pizza, and hummus dip

Gender? It’s a GIRL!!!!!! Confirmed for sure at our 20 week ultrasound :)

Labor signs? Nope.

What I miss? My full wardrobe…I just hate to buy a ton of maternity clothes when I am only going to need them for a few more months.

Looking forward to? Decorating HER room!!

Milestones? Feeling her kick me on the outside last week!! So cute!!

And because no post is complete without pictures…

The “bump”.

Collin sporting his “Big Bro” shirt, waiting to see the baby.

Her wardrobe so far :) Shopping for pink is so much fun!!!

Collin James is 19 Months

2010-11-22T22:52:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am starting to deal with the fact that my child is getting closer and closer to being a two-year-old. Still no signs of anything “terrible” but he has been known to throw a temper tantrum here and there. Here are his most recent stats:

Height – 30.5 inches & Weight – 24 pounds

He is talking more and more every day, and now frequently puts together phrases. I wouldn’t call them sentences yet, but they probably will be soon. Some of my favorites:

“shoes car store” = Put on my shoes, let’s get in the car and go to the store.

“cookie beau-beau” = Can I give Beau a dog treat?

“Dada car” = When is Dada going to drive home in his car?

He is also realizing that if he adds “please” to the end of a request then mommy is much more likely to go along with it…such as “up please” or “cookie please” or “outside please”. Too cute & too hard for mommy to say no to!!

He is still a sleeping champ, although it is really hard for me to get everything done during the day now that he is only taking 1 nap. We do bath time around 7 or 7:15pm then he is asleep in the crib by 7:45 or 8:00pm. He is up some time between 7 and 7:30am then usually naps around 1:30pm but rarely sleeps for more than an hour.

He is becoming more and more picky with his eating…I have done more and more research on toddler eating, and Son and I have had numerous discussions on what is right for our family. We are trying to find a happy medium between one extreme “You eat what we eat or you don’t eat” and another “You can just eat your favorites all the time”.

It’s tough and it’s been really hard trying to decide what to do and balance my tendency to be more strict, with Son’s tendency to be more lenient. So for now we have compromised with serving Collin a plate at dinner time with us that has a portion of what we are eating, plus one other healthy item (usually a veggie) that we know he will eat. It’s not perfect but are just learning about this as we go and trying to do the right thing :)

Collin’s favorite activities involve anything outside. One of his favorite things is trying to throw his bouncy balls up on the roof, or catching them as they roll off after Son has thrown them up for him. He also LOVES going to the park…if we even drive by a playground of any kind without stopping he points out the window and starts whining “play play play please” in a really sad voice. He is starting to learn to jump and he thinks it is hilarious!

“I love drawing with Da-da! Especially early on Saturday mornings when we both have crazy hair :)”

Some of his favorite toys are cars, crayons, books, and balls. If we are in the store I swear he can see a car or a ball 3 aisles away, and starts saying “car car please” or “ball ball please”. This is one of those times that, unfortunately for Collin, “please” usually does not work.

He also LOVES watching “Elmo’s World”, “Yo Gabba Gabba”, “Singing Babies” from cousin Lilo, and a “Bible Songs” DVD that is slowly growing on him. He asks for “Elmo” “Gabba Gabba” and “Babies” constantly but we limit it to one video in the morning after breakfast while mommy is cleaning up & drinking her coffee, and then he can have them on in the background while we are playing after dinner/before bedtime.

I think we have pretty much decided to move him up to a “big boy bed” in January…or at least give it a try. Even though we have a sleeper sofa, I just hate the thought of giving up our guest bedroom, so what I would like to try is let Collin keep the full-size bed when we move him into that room…if we push it into the corner where he has less space to fall out, then add a bed rail, I think he can do it. A few months ago I was convinced that we just needed two cribs for a while, but Son has now convinced me that Collin is ready, and I think he is right :)

We also found out for sure that Collin will have to have surgery in January. It is a very very minor outpatient procedure, but he will still have to be put under general anesthesia, and it will be about a 2-week recovery. I am not looking forward to seeing him in pain for those 2-weeks, and I think the most difficult thing will be just to see him hurting and not be able to explain to him why or that he will be better soon. It’s not a super-urgent thing, but the surgeon told us that around 3 years old is when they may start remembering things like surgery, so we are just going to take care of it now while there is no way he will have a memory of it. And also before baby #2 comes so that I will be able to devote 100% to him during that time.

“But Mommy, I want to be in the bump pictures too!”

So that’s the latest on my little man :)

My Next Project – Design My FREE Cards!!

2010-11-20T22:08:00.001-05:00

So, let’s just start this by saying that I LOVE getting photo Christmas Cards in the mail! Yes, a traditional Christmas Card is nice and they all go on display for the holidays, but by New Years most of the non-photo cards are out with the trash…sorry!! However, our fridge is full of photo cards for many months to come…and after that they go in our photo album to remember the changes from year to year.

I am already planning our family Christmas Cards this year, and will be ordering mine from Shutterfly’s Photo Card Collection. And – to make it even better, they are offering 50 FREE cards to bloggers who write about their products!!! They have such cute cards like the ones below & they always have deals on free shipping to take advantage of.

Here are some of the ones that I liked…

Hehe…it looks so funny to have random people’s pictures on my blog but I didn’t know how to edit them out :)

Last year was Collin’s first Christmas & also my first year to do our own family photo card & it was so much fun browsing through all of the great cards & looking through our pictures.

Other great gift ideas from Shutterfly include their Personalized Photo Mugs – both my dad & Son’s dad are proud owners of “Collin Mugs” :) They also have the cutest Photo Birthday Cards that I will have to remember this April for a certain little man who will be turning 2 years old!!!

Ahhhhh – I am going to have a 2-year-old! Now that Collin is 19 months old, he is officially closer to being 2 that he is to being 1. Okay, that is a whole separate blog post for another day!

What a Trip!

2010-11-12T23:13:00.001-05:00

My dad’s side of the family planned a mini-reunion this past weekend in Austin, TX for everyone to get together and spend some quality time with my grandmother. I was so excited about an opportunity to see family who I have not seen in over a year or more. Unfortunately Son had to work that weekend and wasn’t able to make the trip with us, but my sister’s husband, Warren, wasn’t able to go either so we met up in Dallas and rode to Austin together.

The flight to Dallas was really full, and I was a little nervous when this huge guy sat down next to us (Collin has a little issue with understanding the difference between “stranger” and “best friend”). I really think all the guy wanted to do when he sat down was listen to his iPod & sleep…little did he know that he picked the WRONG seat for that! Probably about 5 minutes after take-off Collin starts touching the guys arm, then he notices that the guy is wearing a t-shirt with a baseball on it and starts saying, “ball ball ball” while trying to poke this poor guy in the chest. Next, Collin notices the guy’s watch and starts touching it saying “watch, watch, watch”.

At this point I was so embarrassed and tired of trying to convince Collin to leave this guy alone. Fortunately I guess the guy realized that there would be a lot less crying if he just played along, so he started talking to Collin. Normally I don’t encourage Collin to have conversations with strange men that we just met, but in this case my choice was either screaming baby on a plane or just go with it.

I won’t give you a play-by-play of the entire 3 hour flight, but let’s just say that the guy ended up being really nice and the flight ended with Collin in the guy’s lap laughing and playing during landing. He even fussed when the guy had to give him back to me…seriously??

The drive to Austin Saturday morning was great, except for a pit stop to change a diaper at a McDonalds that had no changing table!! How can you not have a changing table in the entire restaurant?

We made it to my Aunt’s house in time for lunch – Greenburg Turkey!! My favorite! We pretty much spent all day over at her house & Collin had a blast playing with his cousin Shay. That night I even got some Taco Cabana for dinner – yummy!

For some reason I totally forgot to pull out my camera until later that night at the hotel during bath time. My parents got us a really nice suite with 2 bedrooms & a kitchen so that we could stay together and have everything I needed for Collin.

My mom & I giving Collin his bath – and yes, even though it was a really nice place my mom bleached and cleaned out the tub before we put him in.

He thought it was hilarious that we let him play with the plastic serving spoons from the kitchen & had a great time splashing us!

Playing peek-a-boo with “De-De” from the crib – and yes, my mom brought this pack-n-play from home…no nasty hotel germs for our baby!

Giving “Jimbo” aka “Mo-Mo” big hugs & kisses before we had to leave.

I was supposed to be able to meet up with my friend Emily to visit before we headed back to Dallas, but Collin had been up all night with a cough and just wasn’t feeling like himself. I was so upset but I ended up cancelling because I just knew that he wasn’t feeling well & I wanted to get back to Dallas asap in case he got worse.

Well, he did get worse. When we got back to my sister’s house he was breathing really heavy, using his chest muscles a lot, and wheezing. I still wasn’t too worried because he had bronchilitis (sp?) a few months ago and the Dr. had prescribed him an oral Albuterol (sp?) to help with the wheezing – which we actually never used because he got better so quickly.

Anyways, I decided to call my pediatrician and they recommended we take him to an urgent care clinic just to get looked at. I still wasn’t really too concerned until we met with the Dr. who advised us to take him to the nearest Children’s Medical Center ER in Frisco. Then I panicked…

We get to the ER, and the triage nurse checks him out and basically tells us that he is fine and that we should have just taken him to a children’s acute care clinic (who even knew those existed??). I was feeling much better until we get back to a room in the ER and they start hooking him up to all the monitors, taking a chest x-ray, nose suction, 2 breathing treatments that were over an hour each, and IV fluids…panicking again here!

When we first arrived in the ER – trying to distract him with all the toys they had.

After several hours, when his fever spiked they took off most of his clothes to try to cool him off. I am so thankful that my AMAZING sister was there with me the entire time – there is no way that I could have ever done this without her.

Basically after all of that the doctor told us that he had a virus (broncholitis) that triggered the inflammation in his lungs so that his lung capacity was diminished, his oxygen levels were too low, and his pulse rate & his respiratory rate were too high. The breathing treatments had helped during the treatment itself, but the effects were not lasting very long after the treatments ended.

They decided to admit us to the hospital to give him more time on the fluids, and because they were concerned that it may get worse during the night. We got checked into our room, Warren brought me & Becca some dinner, and I think Collin watched the Disney movie Cars about 3 times before he crashed. I know he wasn’t feeling well just because of the fact that he laid in my arms and watched the movie over and over again – this is the same boy who can’t even sit still for 5 minutes of his favorite Elmo video :)

Collin ended up doing great overnight, although it was difficult for him to sleep with the nurses coming in to check on him every hour.

Mommy & baby the next morning – no sleep & no shower does not make for a very pretty picture! That morning before Becca & my Mom got there Collin woke up saying, “Becca Car!” “Becca Car!” I think he was trying to tell me to call Becca and have her get in her car to come and pick us up.

My mom got up super early & drove from Tyler to the hospital. Fortunately she was there soon after Collin woke up and was able to help…I was finally able to go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and she picked up some great stuff in the gift shop for him to play with.

By about lunch time Collin was feeling much better & was ready to GO! But he wasn’t a big fan of the hospital food and the Dr. said he had to be eating and drinking well before we could go home…so Aunt Becca came to the rescue with a Chick-fil-a meal that he quickly ate all of!!

After he ate, drank, and they were able to take him off the IV fluids it was really difficult to keep him entertained in the hospital room. He kept running over to the door saying “Walk, walk, walk”…I think another hint that he was ready to leave :)

Once they finally released us we got out of there as fast as we could!! By that point we had missed our Monday morning flight back home, and the Dr. told us he couldn’t fly until Wednesday. I was really missing Son, and was dying to get home, but I just tried to make the most of the situation and really enjoyed the extra time with my mom, Becca & Warren.

Collin LOVES Becca & Warren’s dog, Addie. One of his favorite things to say is “Addie, stay!” It is so cute & he says it so clearly too.

So we finally made it back home on Wednesday afternoon, and that’s the end of our story!!

Oh yeah, in other Vuong Family news, something happened between the time that I left for Texas and came back because the clothes that I packed fit me at the beginning of the trip, but by the end I was having a hard time trying to find something to wear home…I guess it could have been the Greenburg Turkey, Taco Cabana, or Pei Wei, but I prefer to think that I have “popped”…hehe! Collin & I are still on play-date restriction just to make sure we don’t get anyone else sick, but I am anxious to see if any of my friends can tell! Right now if you didn’t know me then I just look fat, but if you do know what I used to look like then I think you can probably tell :) I promise pictures soon!

Family Fall Festivities

2010-11-04T20:23:00.001-04:00

We have been busy participating in all of the Holiday activities going on lately – and having a great time too!!

Collin really loved the Pumpkin Patch!! I took him once with some other mommy friends and babies, then Son, Collin & I made another family trip a few days later. Unfortunately I forgot my camera to the outing with friends, but here are some pics from our family visit.

He loved being able to just run free since it was all fenced in!

Pushing the wagon with our pumpkins we picked :)

“But Da-Da, I want to take the wagon home too!”

Here is Collin’s back-up costume after this fiasco :) I think it was pretty cute for basically being just a pair of orange pajamas.

My little pumpkin!

Then we let Collin “decorate” one of the pumpkins he picked out.

“Am I really supposed to have this permanent marker?”

After that we “made” pumpkin cookies & Collin really enjoyed helping Mommy & Daddy eat them :)

“Yummy!! My mommy is so talented to make a perfectly shaped orange and green pumpkin inside each cookie! It’s almost too perfect to be true.”

The guys hanging out eating cookies together – Collin is up waaaaaay past his bedtime here.

A few days later we carved the big mommy & daddy pumpkins and put them outside on display as our family of four :) This makes me very happy!

Since Halloween was on a Sunday we were going to church then our church’s block party afterwards…but they didn’t want the kids to wear costumes, so we got Collin dressed up again on Saturday and took him to trick-or-treat at Publix – it was sooo cute & kept him entertained while mommy & daddy did some grocery shopping :)

The cutest pumpkin at Publix :)

This is Son’s “Embarrassed” face – for some reason he thought it was a little embarrassing that we took Collin trick-or-treating at Publix, even though it was an official store event & there were tons of little kids there :) Plus, I am sure the fact that I was taking a million pictures didn’t help either…hehe.

And last but not least was actual Halloween where our church service was titled “Hallelujah, Not Halloween” and was about how what we should be celebrating on October 31st each year was the beginning of the reformation with the 95 Protestations being nailed to the door of the Catholic church by Martin Luther – very good history refresher.

I was so amazed at all the activities they had afterwards at the Block Party for kids – even little ones like Collin.

He enjoyed a few different arts & crafts, of course the snacks, playing in the sandbox filled with rice, corn & dry beans, hay rides in the wagons, and running all over the place with his friends. Of course he loved the ball pit :)

And that about wraps up our October!!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-03T10:24:00.001-04:00

Collin voted…twice :) What did you do yesterday?

Collin’s “Almost” Costume

2010-10-23T22:21:00.001-04:00

Growing up we always dressed up for Halloween. And I don’t mean going to target and getting a cheap-o plastic mask or wig, but full out, handmade by my grandmother, beautiful costumes.

I know some people feel differently but I really don’t see an issue with participating in some of the traditions that come around in the end of October. We will go to the pumpkin patch, put up a few fall decorations, carve a pumpkin, get some special candy, and if Collin wants to he can wear a costume. (Last year, thanks to our friend “Auntie Rachel” Collin was the most adorable frog prince.)

So as much as I wanted to make his costume this year and start it as a tradition, I was just so tired with the pregnancy that I just didn’t have the energy…but I did find the most adorable giraffe costume at Old Navy that I thought Collin would LOVE!

That is what I pictured for his costume this year…adorable, right? Well, I am not sure what the issue was, whether it was too big, too hot, too scary, but let’s just say that Collin was not a fan of the giraffe.

At first I thought maybe he just needed to get used to it, so I took it out of the bag and hung it on the outside of the closet door. I would let him look at it, touch it, and I would ask him, “Collin, where is the giraffe?”

Then I would periodically put it on him, which he hated, but I LOVED it & I REALLY wanted him to wear it so I kept trying. It got to the point where if I even said “Let’s get your giraffe” he would run away screaming.

So instead of the adorable costume model above, I got the crying angry giraffe – not fun & not worth what we spent on it.

After about a month of this I gave up & exchanged it for a cute but boring pumpkin pj’s outfit.

Oh well, better luck next year. However next year he will probably be old enough to pick out his own costume so I am probably just going to have to wait for the next baby to dress up! Fortunately I won’t have to wait very long :)

14 Week Update

2010-10-19T22:06:00.001-04:00

How far along? 14 Weeks & 1 Day

Heartbeat? 135 bpm – although I could barely hear it over the screaming toddler in the room. I mean seriously, who brings their 18 month old to an OB visit?? Even if it is a quick one?? Oh wait…that was me :(

Total weight gain/loss: + 5 lbs

Maternity clothes? Not really, but I did wear a pair of maternity dress pants to church Sunday night. However, they were really loose even with the bella band that I kept having to pull them up. I can still fit into my jeans, but most of my dress pants are getting a little snug :)

Stretch marks? No – and I doubt they will appear since I didn’t get them with Collin either.

Sleep? Still really hard to sleep lately…either not able to go to sleep with about a billion things running through my mind…or if I am able to fall asleep I wake up a billion times to run to the bathroom. I don’t remember it being like this with Collin?

Best moment this week: Going shopping with the whole family & picking out a few things for baby :)

Movement: I think I have felt some baby “fluttering” a few times, but I am still not sure.

Food cravings: I just made buttermilk biscuits at 10:00pm and ate 2 – does that count?

Gender: I had my 12 week ultrasound a few weeks ago where they check the neural tube, etc. and she told me that she was 90% sure of the gender of the baby…but I’m not posting it on FB or blog until we are 100% sure :) If you want to know just ask :)

Labor Signs: No, but I didn’t ever go into labor with Collin so I doubt there will be much action here.

Belly Button in or out? In, and it stayed in the whole time I was pregnant before too.

What I miss: Sleeping all night without waking up.

What I am looking forward to: Right now I am just enjoying every moment.

Milestones: Hearing the heartbeat – music to my ears (even if it was music barely heard over the screaming of a very angry little boy) hehe!

My Baby Sister’s Wedding

2010-10-16T20:13:00.001-04:00

Let’s just start out by excusing the fact that this post is over a month late, okay? Thanks!

Well, about a month ago my little sister, Becca, got married! And I will have to say that (besides my own of course) it was the most beautiful, fun, sweet, wedding that I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

Collin & I were able to fly in to Dallas, then Son met us in Tyler a few days later. Here is Collin sitting in his “big boy” seat in the airplane :)

He even let me buckle his seat belt…too cute!

I have already gone over the details of the weekend in this post, so I will just skip to the good stuff – the pictures!

Becca’s dress was SO BEAUTIFUL! I loved how detailed yet simple it was, and her sash & “bling-bling” necklace made it totally perfect! Here are my mom & I helping to get her dressed :)

My cousin Brenton was playing at the wedding (just like he did at mine) so Collin got his first ever Viola lesson. He really enjoyed listening to Bubba play and even got to pluck the strings a little :)

Awwwww – isn’t the Vuong Family just adorable!

Me with my parents – I thought my mom’s dress was beautiful & perfect for the Mother-of-the-Bride.

The happy couple cutting the cake

I wish I had taken more pictures of the wedding site itself because it was so gorgeous! The wedding was outdoors & the weather was perfect.

Congrats again to Becca & Warren!!!

Mommy’s Little Helper

2010-09-28T12:51:00.001-04:00

The other day Collin was taking his sippy cup, turning it upside down, mashing the spout on the floor until a large pool of water formed, then taking his hands and splashing around in it and basically making a huge mess. Every time he did this I would get on to him, go into the kitchen, get a towel, clean up the mess, and take away the cup.

Of course a few minutes later he would look at me like he was dying of thirst and say “wa-wa” (water) with those sad eyes…how can you say no to that? So I would give him the cup back, watch carefully to make sure he was actually drinking, and just as soon as I was convinced that he was really thirsty and turn my back…the puddle of water trick again!

Well this happened probably 3 or 4 times and I was getting really tired of it, so I guess Collin realized that I was really unhappy and ran away…I thought he was running into the other room to play or get a toy but he comes running right back carrying the dish towel in his hand and wipes up the puddle he just created!! It was the sweetest thing ever!! Of course I made a big deal of it with clapping and thanking him, and telling him how much mommy appreciated his help.

I LOVE watching my little boy grow up & learn new things!!

However, not even a minute later he created another puddle & ran to get the towel to wipe it up…I think he was surprised that I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic with the praise this time :)

10 Week Update

2010-09-22T12:50:00.001-04:00

So, is it really possible that I am already 10 Weeks pregnant?? That means that I am already 1/4 of the way through the pregnancy! When I was pregnant with Collin it seemed like it would be FOREVER until I got to hold my little guy, but now it is flying by. And I am one of those people who actually really like being pregnant, so this is not a good thing!

Anyways, here’s the latest on what’s going on with Baby #2.

How far along? 10 Weeks & 2 Days

Heartbeat? Absolutely perfect and sooo cute to see on ultrasound (which my amazing Dr. does every time I go), but not yet audible on the doppler.

Total weight gain/loss: 2 lbs – yikes! I don’t think I am supposed to have gained any yet

Maternity clothes? Nope, thankfully I can still fit in all my cute summer clothes.

Stretch marks? No – and I doubt they will appear since I didn’t get them with Collin either.

Sleep? Getting really hard to sleep lately…that’s really the only thing I have to complain about. Like right now, Collin is napping and I was going to nap to because I have been SO TIRED lately, but I was just laying there not able to go to sleep with about a billion things running through my mind…so here I am blogging :)

Best moment this week: Collin has just been so sweet and helpful this week – I can really see him being sweet with the baby.

Movement: Nothing yet :( I forgot when that starts so I need to look it up so I know when to start getting excited about it.

Food cravings: Whataburger cheeseburgers and salad with Ranch Dressing

Gender: ?????? Everything feels so familiar and similar to when I was pregnant with Collin, so if I had to guess I would say BOY! Plus someone told me that statistically you are more likely to have the same gender with your 2nd child as you did with your 1st…so that has been stuck in my mind also.

Labor Signs: No, but I didn’t ever go into labor with Collin so I doubt there will be much action here.

Belly Button in or out? In, and it stayed in the whole time I was pregnant before too.

What I miss: I was really missing coffee & Diet Dr. Pepper until my doctor told me Monday that I could have 1 per day!! Woo hoo!!

What I am looking forward to: Right now I am just enjoying every moment.

Milestones: Telling our family & friends the news was really fun :) And I bought a package of size 1 diapers :)

The Difference 2 Years Can Make

2010-09-19T19:59:00.001-04:00

Two years ago at this time I was about 10 weeks pregnant with Collin & so excited about this new adventure of “mommy-hood” that I was about to embark upon. I was nervous, but more than anything I was ready to do it all!

Two years ago…I had already read almost the entire “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” book & was re-reading certain parts. Now…I keep meaning to dust it off & skim the important parts.

Two years ago…I had already gone through probably 1-2 bottles of the expensive Cocoa Butter lotion from BabiesRUs. Now…I finally got around to buying the cheapest one I could find at Target.

Two years ago…I spent an insane amount of time coming up with lists of possible baby names to go over with Son & bought about every baby name book on the shelf. Now…I have a boy name that I like, but I can’t even think of anything for a girl.

Two years ago…I would go every weekend or on my lunch hours and just look up and down the 100’s of aisles at Babies R Us so overwhelmed at everything that I “must” have to raise a baby. Now…I have a list in the back of my head of a few items I need to pick up eventually, but I am not stressing about it.

Two years ago…I was working full-time and looking forward to the time when I would be able to “take it easy” as a SAHM. Now…I realize how easy I had it while working, but am loving every minute of being at home & am so incredibly grateful that I will be able to be home from the beginning with baby #2.

Two years ago…I was most nervous about the actual delivery. Now…I am most nervous about the actual delivery! Ouch!

Two years ago…I was rushing through everything, just wanting to get to the next step. Now…I am just enjoying every minute of it because I know how fast it goes by.

So that’s what has been on my mind lately. We are so excited to announce that Baby #2 is on the way!! Due April 16th, 2011. Yes, that would happen to be Collin’s 2nd birthday!

What a Trip!!!

2010-09-12T23:16:00.001-04:00

Wow - what a trip!! So I am sitting here in my (newly married) sister's house thinking back on the wonderful trip that we have had and wishing that it wasn't all over tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong...I am ready to be back in my own house, in my own bed, with all my clothes, with all of Collin's toys...and I have been missing Son terribly since he left yesterday...but I am still not ready for it to end.

A summary of our vacation.

Thursday - The day didn't start out so well with a trip to the Dr. and a diagnosis of bronchalitis (sp?) and ear infection - poor baby! Collin & I arrived in DFW and were picked up by Becca & Warren & Addie (their puppy) to make the drive to Tyler. It was a pretty funny sight - Becca's car was loaded down with every one's luggage and other items for the weekend so the only place the stroller would fit was in the front seat - so that meant that me, Becca, Collin, and Addie all road in the backseat together...too funny!

Friday - Bridesmaids luncheon! Yay! The wedding festivities began! The food was so yummy & I really enjoyed spending time with Becca's sweet friends who I haven't seen in a while. Son arrived in Tyler (along with Beau) and stayed home with Collin while I went with the rest of the family to the rehearsal...let me just say that the location Becca picked out for her wedding was breathtaking. So Beautiful!! I promise pictures as soon as I get home & get them from my camera! That night some sweet friends of my parents (Celia & Tom Ridley) kept Collin for us so that Son & I could enjoy the rehearsal dinner. Yummy BBQ at a new place in Tyler hosted by the Steplers. When we picked Collin up it was so funny because he apparently LOVED Mr. Tom and wouldn't let him go the whole time. Collin even fell asleep in his arms - awwww!

Saturday - THE BIG DAY!!!!! All the girls met at the hair salon at 11:00 for a day of pampering with hair & make-up. So much fun! Then we had to be at the location by 4:00 for pictures. ***A HUGE shout-out goes to my sweet hubby Son who single handedly managed a sick baby Collin all day & night so that I could enjoy everything with my sister.*** The wedding was beautiful - the weather was perfect & the reception was so much fun!!

Sunday - Collin was still a little under the weather so we skipped church and hung out around the house. Becca & Warren came over for lunch before they had to head back to Dallas.

Monday - Zoo Day!! Collin had so much fun at the Zoo with us, my parents, and my cousins. I think his favorite part was either the petting zoo or feeding the ducks :) That night was also DATE NIGHT!!!!! We had a great dinner at Mercado's and then went to see Inception. I know, that movie has been out for like several months but we have been dying to see it...and the last move we saw in the theatre was Blind Side. I would have to say that it was "ok" but not as good as everyone kept telling us it was.

Tuesday - My dad took Son & I to a friend's house where they had an outdoor gun range set up & we spent about 3 hours shooting all different types of guns! It was so much fun! I wanted to go just to shoot a gun since we own one now I wanted to know how to use it in an emergency...but I had no idea how much fun it would be! My dad's friend was so nice & gave me several lessons & kept pulling out different guns for me to try. That afternoon my mom & I took Collin to the Discovery Science Place Children's Museum in Tyler. He loved it! There were so many things for him to touch, climb on, push around, and throw that he had a great time.

Wednesday - We "attempted" Family Pictures but Collin just wasn't feeling it that day. I guess I can't complain because we have done it several times in Tyler but this was the first time that he really didn't want to cooperate.

Thursday - DATE NIGHT again!!! This time we went to Olive Garden (I know...boring, but hey - we had a gift card so it was free!) Then we stopped and got ice cream and a present for Collin in the way home.

Friday - We took Collin to a cool Tiger Rescue place outside of town where he got to see several tigers, lions, and other big cats. They even had 2 tigers formerly owned by Michael Jackson!

Saturday - Son left to go the New Orelans to visit friends & my dad & I went to Dallas to see Becca & Warren.

Sunday (Today) - Went swimming at the Stepler's house (Warren's parents) and had a great dinner cooked by Becca & Warren tonight.

I know that I am missing out on so much that we did but it is late, I am tired, and this post is already way too long. If you are still reading this then you are either related to me or really bored :)

Other highlights that I don't want to forget:

*Collin now eats with a fork! He loves it but the only problem is that every time he gets a bite in his mouth he looks at you and waits for you to clap for him before he will put another bite in.

*Schlotzky's, Mercado's, Luby's, Pei Wei, my mom's pasta salad, my dad's smoked bbq, my nana's new potatoes, tons of home made cookies - need I say more?

*Collin's favorite new word is "Stay". He learned it by watching uncle Warren talk to Addie girl & he loves pointing his finger at you and telling you to "Stay".

Okay, night night!

Julie

For My Sister, The “Bridezilla”

2010-09-01T10:56:00.001-04:00

So my baby sister is getting married on Saturday…AAAHHHHH!!! Seriously?? When did this happen? She is not old enough to get married, right?? (Please ignore the fact that she is exactly the same age as I was when I got married) Besides the fact that I am still in denial, I am SO EXCITED for her & Warren!! They are such a perfect couple & I cannot wait to be a part of their special day!

So as comes naturally to brides around their wedding day she has made her own “demands” for me. The list includes:

1. Update your blog

2. More pictures of Collin, please!

I mean really, how selfish can you be?? Wanting to see pictures of your favorite nephew the week before your wedding. Come on!

Okay, I guess I should humor you since it is your “wedding week” and all, so here you go…

Happy Birthday to Collin’s buddy Maxwell :)

Coloring while waiting for our food at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney – He loves to draw & it keeps him happy so I really do not like to go to restaurants without the kids coloring sheets – unless it’s date night :)

Tired Baby!! Car ride home after a long day in Disney

One of Collin’s favorite things to do…slide! Thanks to Dallas for sharing her swing set.

And just for my favorite Bride-To-Be I even went to the trouble of uploading a few videos…

There, are you happy now?? I hope so! We seriously cannot wait to see you, Warren & Addie girl TOMORROW!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Confirmation that “Boys will be Boys”

2010-08-11T13:33:00.001-04:00

While playing outside yesterday Collin spots a rather large dead bug – of course he runs over, picks it up & crushes it in his fist! When I told him to put it down & that it was yucky he kind of looked at me, smiled and opened his fist to let the little pieces of crushed bug fall to the ground…lovely.

Pretty much every time I change his diaper the points to his “man-hood” and says, “what’s that?”

Today at Chick-fil-a we were in the play area and I notice Collin is bending down behind one of the benches to pick something up…when he turns around it is a french fry that had been there who knows how long…of course when he sees me running towards him he puts it in his mouth and takes a huge bite!

He is obsessed with wrestling & doesn’t understand that his younger friends can’t wrestle back like daddy does…so he usually ends up just tackling them to the ground. We are working on learning “Be sweet, he/she is smaller than you”.

When he “toots” he looks at me & laughs! Where did he learn that??

And of course no post is complete without some pics of the munchkin.

Gymboree with Cousin Lilo

Play time with Cousin Jaeden

“Mommy…why are you torturing me?”

Downtown Disney with friends! As you can see, Collin was done for the day :)

Love this little boy!!!

“Pump It Up” Pre-K play time today – he was a little skeptical, but I think he had fun!

15 Months

2010-07-26T22:04:00.001-04:00

Last week before we left for Pensacola, I took Collin to his 15-month appointment with Dr. Kim. Here is the latest on my little munchkin :)

Weight: 21lbs 7.5oz

Height: 29.5”

Teeth: cut #7 this weekend (bottom left side)

New Words: No, Outside “Siiiiide”, What’s That “wasss tha”, Night-Night “ni-ni”, Ball “ba”

Foods: he still has his favorites, but he has started loving mandarin oranges and strawberries soooo much! Other favorites include chicken nuggets (of course), any type of beans, grilled cheese, string cheese, yogurt, graham crackers, goldfish, mac n cheese, green beans (sometimes), ground beef, and mushrooms. However, he has decided that he no longer likes peanut butter. And the only things that he will let you spoon feed him are yogurt & applesauce…everything else he has to feed himself.

We had a great time with Son’s family in Pensacola this weekend. I have lots of great pictures that I will post, but for know I can sum it all up with a quote from my almost 3 year old nephew, Jaeden.

“This is a party, mom. The best party ever!!” - Jaeden

“No! No! No!”

2010-07-21T10:49:00.001-04:00

Last night as we were having our “family play time” after dinner I was holding Collin’s hand and letting him climb up on a toy that really wasn’t made to climb on. Hubby pointed out what I already knew…that it wasn’t a good idea to help him climb on it since he would think it was okay and might try it later without my help and hurt himself. I agreed, but pointed out that I felt like all I ever do is tell Collin, “No”.

Collin really is a very good little boy, but he is so curious and adventurous that he is always trying to get into something or test his boundaries. I know that I have to tell him “No” at least a million times a day when he tries to…throw things at the screen of our brand new TV…pull cords behind the computer desk…unplug from the wall anything that he can get to…pull the dog’s tail…dump out the dog’s water dish…throw anything he gets his hands on into the toilet…reach his hands into the toilet…

I could go on and on, but you get the point, right?

So this morning I wake up to what sounds like Collin saying “No! No! No!” in his crib. I go and get him up and sure enough he has learned a new word: “No!”

It has been really cute this morning because he has been walking around saying “No!” to anyone and anything he can. So far he has pointed his finger and said “No! No! No!” to Beau, his high chair, his sippy cup, and the TV.

I am sure the “cuteness” will wear off once he learns to start telling me “No Mommy!”, but for now I think it is adorable :)

In other news, we are getting back into our normal routine & schedule after being at church all week last week for VBS. Collin & I had a great time! I was serving in the infant room, so I had the 8 most adorable little cuties to love on, and I had the pleasure of working with 5 of the sweetest ladies at FBC. What a pleasure!

I was also soooo happy that Collin ended up in the room with all of his Sunday School teachers. I think that really helped him with being apart from me all week – that he was with familiar faces.

Some of my favorite pictures from last week -

Collin at the petting zoo – he was really brave :)

Collin with all the ladies – Lucy, Chloe & Alexandra.

After a long week of VBS, what’s the natural thing to do? Host a baby shower for a sweet friend at my house Saturday morning! I think we were all pretty tired, but it turned out to be a great shower. Most of the babies were with their daddies, so the ladies had a great time just catching up and helping celebrate Jennifer & Justin Alligood’s little boy :)

The hostesses with the guest of honor (Angela, Me, Jennifer A., Annie & Whitney)…I have a really weird look on my face?!?

Our friend Jennifer W. also came into town with her adorable little girl Ellie, so we were super excited to see them. Ellie is about a month older than Collin & she knows how to “Give a Kiss”…Collin’s look is priceless :)

Girls the next morning in Sunday School (Whitney & Max, Winnie & Clara, Me & Collin, Jennifer & Ellie)

Tomorrow is Collin’s 15-month check up with Dr. Kim! I am so excited to know officially how big he is! Who knows, I may even have to write 2 posts in 1 week!

Julie

Happy Birthday Hubby

2010-07-10T22:42:00.001-04:00

Son,

On your birthday I just wanted to let you know how much you are appreciated every single day. (So hopefully you will read my blog this week). I think that to say I have the best husband in the entire world would be an understatement…I seriously do not think I could function without you!

I think over the past year our relationship has strengthened and deepened to a whole new level – and I love the direction that we are headed together!

Thank you for being there when I need you & for being the balance that I so desperately need in life.

Thank you for giving me “love” when I need it :)

Thank you for constantly reminding me to focus on Christ and to find my joy in Him.

Thank you for telling me I am the best mommy ever, even when I am not.

Thank you for being the hands-on dad that most of the time knows what Collin needs/wants even better than I do.

Thank you for making me laugh every day.

Thank you for always asking for my input on decisions for the family both big ones and small.

Thank you for putting up with my crazy ideas, and being there to help me succeed when I would fail on my own.

Thank you for supporting me so that I can stay home with Collin & for always telling me how glad you are that I am a SAHM.

Thank you for everything you do every single day to make this life so wonderful for me & “Collinito”.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Julie

My Heart Melted!

2010-07-04T21:21:00.001-04:00

This morning as we were driving to church I turned around to Collin and asked him, “Who loves Collin?”

Not really expecting an answer…until he replied, “Ma-ma”.

Melt my heart! He has no idea how right he is :)

We have been SOOOO busy lately, and I always have way too much in my head to write down…but here are some of the highlights.

Family beach trip last Saturday afternoon! Collin is really starting to love the beach, but I am afraid he is getting a little too comfortable. This time he was screaming because he wanted to stand in the waves by himself without holding my hand (big no-no since we were in water up to his chest)!

And then building sandcastles with daddy…they also flew a kite that day.

I also took Collin to the Hands-On Children’s Museum a few weeks ago. I do have to say that I was a little disappointed. However, I may have had my expectations set too high based on the AMAZING Hands-On Children’s Museum we had in Tyler growing up. We did have a lot of fun, although I had to check my germ-a-phobia at the door…that is until the daycare buses pulled up. Can we just say that 50 running, screaming elementary age kids running all over the place really didn’t make me feel very comfortable letting Collin play freely…so we ate a snack then headed out.

I think I would take Collin back because he really enjoyed it in the beginning, but I will probably call ahead to see if they have any groups scheduled that day. One good part was that they have a room designated for 3 & Under kids, which we had all to ourselves with Collin, Dallas, and Max…but it was your typical push-toys, play-houses, and other things I could go and buy for him at Babies-R-Us.

I will definitely be taking Collin to the museum in T-Town next time we are there!! Here are some pictures of our outing:

Wheeeee! Collin loves slides!

Pushing Dallas around in the 3 & Under room :) I love this picture because Dallas is soooo tall compared to Collin. I guess that makes sense because Dallas’ mommy is much taller than I am :)

PS – isn’t it funny how motherhood can change so much?? Just 2 years ago I would have been sitting out on the back porch with my hubby enjoying the fireworks over the pond behind our house…now I am about to go outside and sit on the porch with hubby to watch them because he is begging me too, but the whole time I will be stressing out about them waking up Collin and running in every few minutes to check on him.

But that’s just because “Ma-ma” loves him so much :)

Happy 4th of July!

Things I Love Right Now

2010-06-23T12:02:00.001-04:00

c’s love of his daddy & how when we are in the car they both make the “vroom vroom” sound every time we speed up or turn a corner

graham cracker kisses & applesauce hugs

this little dance c does when he is really excited…he kind of runs in place and squeals with delight

how he waves “bye-bye” to me now when i put him in the crib for naps or bedtime

how he waves & talks to every single person we pass in the store

his love for beau

his love of being outside…even in the 100+ degree heat

hearing him say a new word

watching him climb on top of anything…and then he is so proud of himself when he’s standing at the top, but wants me to hold his hand while he climbs back down

and so many more little moments that happen every day!

Texas Trip…a preview

2010-06-16T22:51:00.001-04:00

Collin & I made the trip to Texas last week to see my family. We had a great time! I will fill in more of the details when I have a little time, but here are a few pictures & the highlights…

Dede & Jimbo with Collin

Collin’s Aunt Becky…he loves his Aunt Becky!

Playing with his golf clubs!

His first “real” haircut that didn’t involve mommy trying to trim his hair in the bathtub :)

So many toys, so little time…

Trying on Jimbo’s shoes

Chillin’ in the car with Aunt Becca

Cowboys hat from Jimbo :)

Collin’s drill toy…I told my mom he loved playing with a toy drill at Son’s parents house…so naturally she ran out to toys r us the next day to get one for her house too :)

Other trip highlights:

Collin loves McDonald's french fries!
Swinging on the swing set at Dede & Jimbo’s house
Luby’s & Schlotzky’s & Jucy’s – yummy!!
Shopping with my sister (and no baby)…I actually got to try on my clothes before buying them :)
Dede & Jimbo buy Collin some “squeaker shoes” – he LOVES them!!! Now every morning after we eat breakfast he will go into his closet and get out a pair of shoes and bring them to me for me to put them on him…but his favorite are the “squeakers”

Other Vuong family news:

Collin now has a battery powered race car, a bubble lawnmower, a big red playground ball, and a set of leggos thanks to Aunt Kim & Uncle Quoc’s gift card they gave him for his birthday
This weekend = backyard!!!!!! We are FINALLY replacing the grass in the backyard on Saturday – feel free to stop by and help :)
We got new couches!! I love the new couches, but realize after they are here that they really don’t go with anything else in our living room…guess that just means that we will have to get more new furniture…darn! And I now have some major sewing projects coming up :)

And I will leave you with more pictures of the cutest little boy in the entire world…

so many thoughts…so little time

2010-06-05T23:47:00.001-04:00

in case you haven’t noticed i love blogging…but also i have been extremely busy lately (which i also love). probably once or twice a day i think “oh, i really want to write about _____” or “i should put _____ on the blog” but unfortunately about the best i seem to be able to do is a quick once a week recap with a blur of pictures.

in many cases the blog is the way that i try to make sure to remember little things about collin as he grows. i am not the type of mom that can tell you the exact date collin started crawling, or when he had his first bite of rice cereal, or how many naps a day he took when he was 3 months old, but that’s what i have the blog and the baby book for, right?

trust me, i can tell you exactly where every single freckle on his body is located, and i can tell you exactly what he smells like after his bath, or the way he will smile at me each morning and do this little bobbing dance when i come into his room to get him out of his crib. those are the things i will never forget.

anyways…here’s an update on all things collin (my favorite blogging subject)!

i think he is pretty much done with nursing. he’s really only interested about every other day, so i think we are on borrowed time – i am excited that he is growing, but also a little sad that we will be ending this special part of our relationship. every time he nurses now i try to really soak it all in knowing that this may be the last time.

he is all boy! we spent a lot of time with his cousin lilo over memorial day weekend and it really made it more obvious to me what a difference there is. lilo would be sitting on the floor quietly and gently playing with a toy, and collin would run over, grab it, raise it up over his head (while growling), and then chunk it halfway across the room – that’s my boy :)

he knows what he wants…and i have seen previews of temper tantrums already. he gets frustrated easily when playing if he knows that a lid is supposed to go on a box, for example, but he has trouble lining it up to fit himself…but most notably over the fact that he is now only allowed to have the pacifier at naptime and bedtime. some mornings he spits it out willingly but others it can be a battle – one that mommy wins, but it is not fun for either of us. i think after our texas trip that we will be saying bye-bye to paci for good…but mommy is just not brave enough to try a 3 hour plane ride by myself without it as an emergency back-up plan! any ideas on how to get rid of it?? should i just go cold turkey?? i have heard to snip the end off and give it to him…then he probably won’t want it anymore??

he is so much fun! i seriously love playing with him. he is starting to get hide-n-seek now (though i am always the one who has to hide). we always have fun at the pool & at the park. he will always do something silly to make me laugh like blowing a raspberry on my shoulder while i am carrying him around, or grabbing my hands and making me walk backwards.

he love watching & playing with “big kids”. the past few weeks at church on tuesdays he has been in a room with 3-year-olds and he absolutely loves it. he has also discovered the playground at chick-fil-a and will just walk around following the bigger kids and staring at them…and trying to keep up :) he wants me to be there (which was evident by the major meltdown today when i tried to leave to go to the bathroom…poor Whitney was holding collin under one arm and max under the other when i got back) but as long as i don’t leave the playground room he is totally independent in there. he also loves staring out our window at the teenage boys playing basketball in front of the house.

he is so smart. he can say “Beau”, “da-da”, and “uh-oh”, and thanks to my friend Elizabeth he can now point out his belly button…and we are working on nose.

and now for some pictures

mommy got a great idea from someone to fill up bowls and pans with water to let him play…unfortunately he was only content touching and splashing for about 15 seconds…then it all ends up covering the kitchen floor in about an inch of water!

collin trying out beau’s kennel in pensacola. he loves climbing in and out of anything…baby pool, our shower, the garage door, and now the dog kennel.

son’s mom and collin at pensacola beach

isn’t lilo just the cutest little girl ever! and she is so sweet too!

lilo and collin playing

“the boys” son, cousin tam, cousin thanh, and son’s twin quoc. such a beautiful sunset that night we took a million pics on the back deck.

lilo, kim & quoc

awwwww. my hubby i sso cute :)

my messy eater :)

collin sharing his wagon with max on thursday

we got the bumbo out for max to eat in, and of course collin wanted to play with it too…then he got stuck!

we also had a wonderful date night on friday! (only our 3rd since collin has been here!) collin got to play with some of his best friends at church and son took me out to dinner at cheesecake factory – yummy! then son let me take him shopping and i actually convinced him to go into pottery barn with me…he must have had too much cheesecake or something because usually i can’t get him within 100 yards of a store like that. he even commented on some of the rugs that i was showing him (and by commented i mean that he said “yes” or “oh” or “uh-hu”) – hey, that’s progress, right? then we finished out date night by buying collin a surprise at toys-r-us and being the first parents to pick up after date night. unfortunately, the “wheelie popper” race car that we picked out for him at toys-r-us was a little scary at first, but he had warmed up to it by the end of the day today.

okay…i am up way too late now, so even though i could keep writing, i need at least a few hours of sleep :) nighty night.

julie

This is for Aunt Becca

2010-05-26T21:45:00.001-04:00

This evening while working in the nursery at church I received a text from my sister that read “update your blog!” so I thought about it and since Collin took a 2 hour nap today (woo hoo!!) I got everything done around the house that I needed to so there wasn’t any reason that I couldn’t spend a few minutes on the computer after bedtime tonight :)

My 3 boys…LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!

A recent play date where Collin got to play with 2 older boys…he had fun! Since he is usually the oldest at our regular play dates I think he enjoyed having someone else that was running around too!!

And for an update on the “little” chicken nugget issue:

New foods that I have tried that Collin loves:

1. kashi whole grain fruit cereal bars

2. Peanut Butter sandwich on honey wheat bread

New foods that I have tried that Collin hates:

1. Kiwi – mashed it with his finger on the tray but wouldn’t put it in his mouth or let me do it.

2. whole grain pasta with cheese – spit it out.

3. Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich – I tried to mix it up & put half PB and half PBJ on his tray. He ate the PB ones, but every time he picked up a PBJ piece he would look at it and put it back down (or try to feed it to Beau).

4. Broccoli – spit it out.

5. Chicken Breast cut up into “chicken nugget shapes” – apparently just not the same.

6. turkey breast, ham, and chicken breast lunch meat cut into bite-size cubes – these didn’t even make it into his mouth.

Okay, so that’s 2 more things that he eats now – mommy can live with that. I think later this week we are going to try mandarin oranges, green peas again, and I am trying to think of a few other new things to try…any ideas?

Up next for the Vuong Family…a trip to Pensacola to see Son’s family and then Collin & I are going to Texas in 2 weeks…CAN-NOT-WAIT!!!

In other good news another child in Collin’s room at nursery tonight was sent home after throwing up and running a fever…this should be fun :) Crossing my fingers that he doesn’t get sick because we have an exciting rest of the week – lunch with Annie & grocery shopping tomorrow, then another Pool Play Date on Friday!!

My Toddler Only Eats Chicken Nuggets

2010-05-18T22:25:00.001-04:00

Ever since Collin was born, I have been pretty careful about what goes into his mouth. I was adamant about breastfeeding him (which thank the Lord I was able to do), I really wanted to make his baby food, but working full time I opted to buy the best quality and mostly organic baby food. And when he started eating finger foods his early favorites were bananas, green beans, carrots, cheese, corn, sweet potatoes, grilled pork chops, whole wheat bread, and baked apples. Sounds like a great start to healthy eating habits, right??

Well somewhere along the way I decided that it would be a good idea to share some of my chick-fil-a nuggets with him…pretty harmless, right?? Wrong!

He loved them so much, that when I got a great coupon in the mail for frozen chicken nuggets I thought “what the heck, he loves them, and a nugget here and there isn’t the end of the world.”

Fast forward to about a month later and you have tonight's series of events…

Collin gets hungry before dinner & is offered grapes, yogurt, applesauce, cheese, carrots, strawberries, and green peas as a snack. He eats a few bites of yogurt then changes his mind and refuses anything else.

While making dinner I offer him a few whole grain sweet potato snacks. He eats a few bites but mostly just crumbles them up into tiny little pieces and feeds them to the dog.

Dinner is ready and Collin refuses any of the chicken & veggie stir-fry or rice that I have made for dinner…probably shouldn’t have given him the sweet potato snacks while cooking.

Collin plays while Son & I eat dinner.

After dinner we are all in the family room playing & Collin gets fussy…probably hungry. I offer him the same list of alternatives above, but he just shakes his head “NO”, and looks longingly at and reaches toward the freezer door…we know what he wants.

Determined not to give in, I take him out of the high chair and return him to the living room to play with us. He continues to fuss…Son says “But, he’s a growing boy, mommy” and that’s all it takes…out come the chicken nuggets and Collin quickly downs four of them.

So now I am up way past my bed time Google-ing “picky eater” and “meal ideas for toddlers” and “please help me, seriously, my child only eats chicken nuggets”. The advice I have found so far includes generally one of the following 2 approaches:

1. Just don’t give him the nuggets & he will eat something else when he gets hungry.

2. Just let him have the nuggets but put other stuff on his plate too and eventually he will try the other stuff.

The good news is that I don’t think that he understands that the nuggets are in the freezer during the day, and thinks that they magically appear at dinner time because **so far** he eats a banana for breakfast and pretty much anything that I give him for lunch. I know that by writing this that tomorrow he will demand the nuggets for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all snacks…

Tomorrow I am going to make his favorite (sweet potatoes) at dinner for him so hopefully we can go one night without the nuggets, and then we can see where to go from here. The first day of withdrawal is the hardest part of any rehab, right??

However, also tomorrow we have a trip planned to the grocery store and I really need some frozen chopped bell pepper…but I can’t remember if the Tyson nuggets are on the same aisle as the frozen veggies and I am afraid that if Collin sees the nuggets during the day time he will realize that I have been hiding them from him and throw a tantrum in the middle of Publix!!

Any advice about getting him to eat any healthy food or suggestions on other foods to try is greatly appreciated!!

The “T” Word

2010-05-14T11:15:00.001-04:00

There have been a few clues lately, and so I am afraid that I have to admit that I now officially have a TODDLER!!

It all started a few days before his birthday when he started walking…then after his birthday my weekly Baby Center emails changed from “Your Baby This Week” to “Your Toddler This Week”…and finally he is now hardly crawling at all.

The only time he crawls is to go over a crack in the pavement in our driveway (superstitious??), when he Son is chasing him and he gets really excited, or if he is trying to get somewhere really fast…like trying to get to the electrical outlet in the wall before I can stop him.

Other reasons that I know I no longer have a baby include:

1. I finished his baby book…very sad! The only thing that I can still add to it are the dates that all of his teeth come in and the dates of a few more doctor’s visits with weight and height, etc.

2. I finished the frame that my mom bought me that has a cut out for each month’s picture with a large opening for his 1-year picture. We are going to get that hung up in the hallway this weekend.

3. He is slowly weaning and only nurses twice a day now. I would be okay if he was done nursing, but he is still refusing to drink the whole milk…so I am leaving it up to him to decide how long he wants to continue (for now at least) and continuing to offer him the milk several times a day.

4. He is over 20 pounds and he is 28.5 inches tall.

5. He loves meal time and feeding himself. His favorites are sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans, chicken nuggets, string cheese, ritz crackers, and goldfish. The only thing that he will eat out of a spoon is applesauce and occasionally yogurt. He also loves ice cream! We recently discovered this at Jason’s Deli when he practically ate my entire ice cream cone.

6. He is now forward facing in his car seat and he LOVES it! He just kind of sits back and “chills” most of the time, fascinated with everything that he can see outside.

7. He really doesn’t like to be carried very much & would rather walk. Son & I wanted to make a quick trip to the store yesterday evening, and I just planned on carrying Collin in and out really quick…well lets just say that after the quick trip turned into a few different stops, and Collin did not want to ride in the buggy or be carried, I became that mother who let her child walk around the store without shoes on…so embarrassing!! At least we were somewhere pretty clean, although we probably would have fit in better at a Wal-Mart :). Note to self: never leave the house without the diaper bag & shoes…no matter how “quick” the trip is supposed to be.

And now for some pictures of the cutest, sweetest most adorable ~~baby~~ TODDLER in the entire world!!

Loves playing in the shower wile mommy gets ready in the mornings!

These are for Nana & Granddaddy – they sent him these adorable cowboy boots from Texas & requested some pictures of him in them & a diaper :)

Playing Peek-A-Boo with Mommy in the big boy car seat! Oh, and that cover that I have been working on for what seems like 6 months…it’s finished!! I love it & put of pics of Collin trying it out another day.

Playing with cousin Lilo while we were in Pensacola. She is such a cutie!!

Helping mommy clean the house…he loves the swiffer now & knows where I keep it in the laundry room. He will just go an try to get it out periodically and then drag it around the house for a while. Next time he does that I need to put a pad on it so that he can actually get up some of the dirt :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Julie

In Loving Memory of Our Uncle Tuan Mai

2010-05-09T21:13:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday afternoon we received some shocking and very sad news. Son's uncle Tuan had been killed in a car accident that morning...

I don't really feel qualified to write about him or his passing, but all I can do is share what I know about him.

When I met and fell in love with Son one of the last things that I ever thought about was that I was about to become part of a traditional Vietnamese family. Every single member of Son's family has been so extremely welcoming and sweet to me that I truly couldn't ask for a better relationship with his family. However, Mr. Mai (Tuan) always stuck out to me as someone who made the extra effort to really make me feel welcome.

It was honestly pretty scary the first few times I visited the family in Pensacola. Imagine meeting your boyfriends family for the very first time, but then throw in the fact that they all speak a different language, eat different food, and have many different traditions. Every time we visited we always had a big family dinner one night durign our stay. It is usually either at the Vuong house (Son's parents) or the Mai house (aunt & uncle). I now LOVE these gatherings and really look forward to seeing and talking with everyone, but in the beginning it was a little intimidating to have about 10-15 people at a dinner party all speaking a different language.

Anyways, Tuan always gave me a great big hug, and included me on whatever the conversation was. He would switch to English so that I could know what they were discussing. He also always had a funny joke or story to tell me, and loved making everyone laugh. Tuan was also the designated "duck/turkey carver" and would put on one of Son's moms flowered aprons, get the big butcher knife, put a cutting board on the counter and cut up the duck for us (or turkey if I had made the Thanksgiving dinner). Son & I have several pictures of him in the apron cutting up the ducks, and they always bring a smile to my face.

Tuan was also loved my many of Son's college friends who enjoyed coming to their house for Vietnamese New Year "Tet" and affectionately called him "Mr. T". He was an incredibly talented craftsman who made the most beautiful custom built-in cabinetry. He also built their house himself and recently added an upstairs addition.

On Tuesday when we got the terrible news we immediately started to plan our trip to Pensacola to say goodbye and be with the family during this hard time. I had been thinking about and praying for something that we could do to help. They have such an amazing, sweet, and large family that I really didn't know if there was anything that we could do that hadn't already been taken care of. Of course we had been praying for them, but I wanted something tangible that we could help with.

We found out later that day that our cousin Thanh (Tuan's son) was supposed to move out of his dorm at University of Florida that week and needed help, so we packed everything up, rented a uhaul trailer and headed to Gainseville. I know that moving someone isn't a big deal, but at least this was something small that we could do to try and show how much we loved them and wanted to help.

We spent Thursday, Friday & Saturday in Pensacola with the family. With Collin's schedule and 8:00 bedtime I wasn't able to be at the Mai family house as much as everyone else, but I was so happy that we were there in Pensacola and that Son was able to be there for our family.

This is still tough for everyone to understand why someone has been taken away so tragically, but we must just pray and take comfort in God's plan for our lives.

Tuan leaves behind two sons, a wife, and many many other loving family members and friends.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4

Happy 4th Anniversary to Us!

2010-04-30T16:09:00.001-04:00

Wow! I cannot believe that Son & I have been married for 4 years! It seems like just yesterday that I was packing up all my things and my dad was driving me halfway across the country (literally) for what was supposed to be a short-term training position…and here we are, 6 1/2 years later :)

There are so many reasons that I love my hubby, that I could sit here writing for hours…but since I only have about 15 minutes until nap time ends, here is a summary of 10 of the top reasons that Son is so AWESOME!!

1. He puts God first in everything he does! (And his family is a very close #2)

2. He is the most wonderful father I could ever imagine! I seriously don’t know what I would do without him. So many times he has seen me frustrated, unable to think of the right thing to do to make Collin happy, and come along and had the perfect answer/suggestion to the situation. He is also a strong calming influence…I have a tendency to panic - “Oh no, Collin was supposed to eat at 4:00 and it’s now 4:15 and he’s not eating anything, what am I going to do, my baby is starving to death!” And then Son will be the voice of reason saying, “Maybe he’s just not hungry yet. Try again later.”

3. He is passionate! Let’s just say that if you have ever met Son you probably know how passionate he is about FSU Football…and he is just that passionate about other things as well. I love this about him, that he can care so deeply about something!

4. He is always making me laugh! And everyone else around us too :) He is also a practical jokester & is teaching this to Collin as well. Several times I have gone to turn on the kitchen sink and been sprayed with water because “Collin” put a rubber band around the sprayer handle.

5. He is outgoing! I really have a hard time being shy sometimes, and I can always count on my hubby to break the ice for me in a new situation or around new people until I can warm up.

6. He views our marriage as a partnership! He is without a doubt the head of our household, but he exercises that authority in a loving and gentle way…always asking for my input and relying on me to take care of so many of the day-to-day decisions and functions for our family. He makes it easy on me to be the submissive wife God calls us to be :)

7. He always shows & tells me how much he appreciates me! Even more so since I have been home with Collin. I think every day he comes home and tells me something sweet like, “you are such a great mom/wife” or “thanks for getting the dry cleaning/doing laundry/cooking dinner” or “the house looks great”. Hearing that just makes me want to try even harder the next day!

8. He made me a mother! Enough said – the most amazing gift ever!

9. He is smart! Much smarter than I am…let’s just say that if he hadn’t helped me out measuring the yard & house to design our sprinkler system that I would still be out there with the tape measure trying to get it al to add up :)

10. He is all mine! He is so committed to me and to our family that I never have to worry about the future. I know that no matter what happens or what I do that he loves me unconditionally and he will be right here beside me for the rest of our lives.

Here are some pics of me & my Prince Charming :)

When Son & I were first starting to date seriously my mom asked me to send her a picture of him so she could see who it was that I was always talking about…Son’s idea was to take a picture of him holding Beau-Beau since my mom loved Beau so much that surely if she saw Beau loved Son that she would love him too :) I think it worked!

One of our first big weekends together – traveling to Gainesville for a friend’s wedding. That’s where I met all of his college friends and his brother for the first time!

Our rehearsal dinner (left) and our first dance (right).

The Vietnamese wedding ceremony :)

Our honeymoon in Turks & Caicos

A trip to Pensacola shortly after we were married to see the Blue Angels show & visit with Son’s family.

Our cruise vacation in January 2008!

So excited to meet Collin!

Our first family picture!

The past 4 years have been a dream-come-true for me – and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

We're Walking...Here's the proof

2010-04-26T18:09:00.000-04:00

A video of Collin's latest achievement :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td7xgbZNVws

And while we are on videos...here he is with his bday cake :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PQkmynFQ50

We also recently received 2 exciting packages in the mail. First, was a table & chairs set from Aunt Becca & Uncle Warren...it required a little assembly, but it is ADORABLE!! And I am so excited because I know that this is something that all of our children will enjoy for years to come!

Then, we received a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe from Aunt Tram, Uncle Brian, and Cousin Jaeden...I was soooo excited when I saw the FedEx man deliver the box. I had a cozy coupe growing up and it was so much fun! Collin already loves it because there is a floorboard insert that you use for smaller kids until he can use his feet to push himself...too cute!

Collin’s First Birthday Celebration

2010-04-21T11:41:00.001-04:00

Growing up I always had the most amazing birthday parties…

A “My Little Pony” themed party complete with a VERY large pink & purple My Little Pony castle cake (courtesy of the cake making queen, my Nana – seriously, she was the original “Ace of Cakes”).

A Hawaiian Luau themed party with grass skirts for all the girls and a live hula dancer that gave us all authentic hula dance lessons (never mind that it was snowing outside in March and we were all wearing bathing suits – that’s what the heater is for, right?).

And I could go on and on…needless to say that my parents set the bar pretty high for birthday parties. So naturally, I wanted to go all out for Collin’s big day…because the level of effort that goes into his party is equal to how much his mommy loves him, right?

I decided to do a beach theme with lots of bring colors & a baby pool for the babies to play in…sounds fun, right?

I am sure you are all tired of hearing this, but it is really hard being so far away from my family, so I was really glad that Son’s parents were able to come in town for the big event. Son’s twin & our sister-in-law has a couples weekend with friends planned in Charleston, so they made the trip from Pensacola with Son’s parents, and our niece, Lilo, was able to stay with us in Jax for the party! She is such a sweetheart!! Here are Lilo & Collin playing with Collin’s tub toys at bath time Friday night…

Ong Noi & Ba Noi (Vietnamese for Grandfather & Grandmother) with Lilo.

The party favors (which doubled as some of the decorations) – bright colored beach pails with he kids’ names painted on them. Each beach pail had animal crackers, a pinwheel, bubbles, and a sunflower seed to plant inside them.

The “Happy Birthday Collin” banner – that took me several hours after bedtime last week to complete, but I love how it turned out…it’s actually still hanging up in the house. Son asked me last night if I was going to take it down. I guess I probably should, but I really like it.

View of most of the decorations.

Collin & Lilo loved the beach balls that I hung from the ceiling!

Daddy and the Birthday Boy.

Our friend Brad enjoying all the food – I set up a buffet on the kitchen counter. We had Pork kabobs (made by Ba Noi – yummy!), Hawaiian ham & swiss sandwiches, spinach dip with bread, and a fruit and veggie tray. I set everything out on a beach towel & used beach pails, and sand/beach toys as platters and serving utensils :)

Baby play area…Collin was too interested in what was going on to spend much time playing with his friends. Pictured are Maxwell, Dallas & Brookelynne. You can also kind of see Clara’s legs :)

Family Picture :)

Pool Time!! Collin, Clara & Lilo.

Clara, Lilo, Maxwell & Brookelynne

Clara is such a doll – she has fun just sitting in the beach chair like a big girl. Love the swimsuit!

Beau enjoyed being outside & watching the babies in the pool.

After the baby pool, Collin gave all of his friends rides in his new wagon…I am going to have to help him out with his conversation skills when talking to girls because, as you can see, he put Dallas right to sleep. Although he probably shouldn’t feel too bad b/c this is the same girl that regularly falls asleep in her high chair also – too cute!

Cake time! I was really hoping that Collin would put on a good show with his cake, and he did not disappoint his mommy! Some of the guys were joking that he looked like braveheart with his blue icing streaked face.

Of course, he wanted to share the fun with mommy :) This might just be my favorite picture from the whole party! He was so covered in icing that the bath water turned aqua blue!

Overall it was a great weekend & lots of fun. I still can’t believe that my tiny little baby boy is one year old! Here is a picture of him on Sunday morning ready for church…doesn’t he look like a big boy??

Windy Wagon Ride

2010-04-19T12:38:00.000-04:00

I had decided this morning that due to the fact that it is cooler than normal today that we would postpone our wagon rides for the day. Let's just say that Collin did not like that plan...

So naturally we dug the jackets out of the back of the closets and headed out.

Collin also decided that he did not like my plans to clean, do laundry, and everything else that needs to be done after the party and our guests. He expressed that dislike by being very fussy this morning (I think due to teething) and refusing to nap for more than 30 minutes.

So we have changed plans and decided to play/wagon ride/snuggle all day :)

Dear Collin, Happy Birthday. Love, Mommy

2010-04-15T21:56:00.000-04:00

Dear Collin,

Tomorrow is your first birthday! I cannot believe that my little itty bitty baby boy is one year old. How did this happen? I am so blessed to be your mommy. I thank God several times a day for choosing me, out of all the mommies in the world, to watch over you for Him.

This past year has been amazing, truly the best of my life. We have been experienced so much together, and this is just the beginning...

your amazing arrival
getting to know you
breastfeeding <3 <3
experiencing all of your "firsts"
seeing hubby become a daddy <3 <3
your surgery at Wolfson :(
your developing personality
lots and lots of diapers
your obsession with dog food & doggie doors
flying together
teething
rocking you to sleep every night <3 <3
big open-mouth slobbery kisses
trying new foods
your love of music
becoming a stay-at-home-mom
parks & swings
wagon rides
bathtime

You are such a sweet boy, always giving mommy and daddy lots of hugs and kisses. I always heard the saying that "you'll never work a day in your life if you love what you do" but until I was able to become a stay-at-home-mom with you I really didn't understand that. Every day is filled with endless playing, chores, cooking, cleaning, more playing...and I can't wait to get up each morning and do it all over again.

I pray that I will be the mommy that you deserve. And most of all, the mommy that God wants me to be. Please be patient with me because I know that I am not perfect, but also know that I try every day to be a better mommy than I was the day before.

No matter how many siblings you may or may not have as you get older, there is always something special about being the first. No matter how old you are, you will always be my first little baby, my "baby bird", my "lovie", my "bugaboo", my "honey".

Little boy, I love you with all of my heart, my mind, and my soul.

Love always,

Mommy

Security Ice

2010-04-08T09:03:00.000-04:00

This morning I was trying to fold some laundry while Collin was awake (mistake #1), and he was in the laundry room "helping". He bent down to pick up a dryer sheet that had fallen to the ground and in the process he hit his face (lip) on the open dryer door on the way down. Poor baby!

I picked him up and noticed a little blood so immediately I was thinking about all of the baby ice packs we had received as shower gifts...all of which were NOT in the freezer. This is why I will again not be in the running for Mother of the Year :)

Anyways, all of the cute boo-boo bunny and ploar bear ice packs weren't going to us any good room temperature so I got a ziploc baggie and put a few ice cubes in it. For a while Collin was happy sucking on the ice whil I held the baggie, but after he calmed down he decided that he wanted to hold the ice himself.

After a few minutes I felt cold drops on my legs and realized the baggie had a small hole, so I tried to take it away (mistake #2). Let's just say that in the previous 5 minutes Collin had become very attached to his baggie! I even tried to replace it with a new one with fresh ice...but it just wasn't the same. Every time I even reached for the baggie he would cry and clutch it so tight that even more water would come out!

So now Collin has his "security ice" that he refused to let go of, and we had cold water dripping all over him, me, and the floor.

Fortunately I was able to pry it out of his fingers as he drifted off to nap time...but I know when he wakes up I am going to get a look and a whine that says, "where is my baggie of ice mom?"

And yes, the boo-boo bunny and polar bear are both in the freezer now :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Almost-1-Year-Old Boy

2010-04-07T11:24:00.000-04:00

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT COLLIN WILL BE ONE IN 9 DAYS!

In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant, but in other ways it feels like Collin has been a part of our lives forever. Here is a quick update on what my little lovey & I have been up to lately:

Eating: Collin is now drinking 1 bottle (8 oz) of whole milk each afternoon. He is still nursing about 4 x a day also - I know I am going to have a hard time giving this up, and I think Collin will too. We're not in a rush, but we have started the process by offering one bottle/day. He also will hardly eat baby food at all anymore. He would much rather eat whatever Son & I are having for lunch/dinner. He eats an entire banana and usually some scrambled egg with cheese or part of my bagel each morning for breakfast. Some of his favorite "big boy" foods are chick-fil-a nuggets, almost any type of fruit, steamed carrots, and he is totally in love with Cheerios! He also drinks water from his sippy cup with each meal.

Getting Around: He is a really fast crawler now...his little legs get going & I can hardly keep up with him. He loves to stand on his own, but hasn't taken any steps yet. He absolutely LOVES to push around his push toy cars, and has learned to turn corners pretty good. The only problem is he can't back-up yet, so when he runs into a wall or furniture he will stand there and cry until I come and turn him around. It is really cute :)

Favorite Activities: Collin really enjoys bath time, and would stay in the tub with his toys until he turned into a prune if mommy would let him. He also still really likes to go on walks in the stroller (as long as we keep moving) and likes pretty much any other outdoor activity. His favorite toys are a musical keyboard that his Aunt Tram bought him for Christmas, stacking blocks from my parents, and an empty milk carton that Son filled with cherrios for him that he can shake around...

Our Routine: Collin wakes up every morning between 7 and 7:30, he nurses, then we go eat breakfast. We usually play until his morning nap time which is around 9:30 or 10:00. He is unpredictable on his napping - it has been anywhere from 30 minutes up to 2 hours. While he is napping I get dressed, fix hair, etc then I start on chores that I want to get done for that day. It is so nice to be able to split it up and get stuff done durning the day so that we can just play in the evenings when Son gets home and our weekends are free too! When Collin wakes up we play some more, and then we run any errands that we need to do for that day. He usually takes either 1 or 2 more naps throughout the day depending on how he slept that morning. I try to get most of the prep work for dinner done during one of his afternoon naps, and then daddy gets home around 4:15 or 4:30. Bathtime is around 7:30 and he is usually in bed by 8:00 or 8:30. I am still rocking him to sleep every night, and I know that eventually he will have to learn to go to sleep on his own, but for now I love snuggling with him while he drifts off to sleep. He is such an active little boy that it is about the only time he will let me cuddle with him :)

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T11:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter from The Vuong Family!!

We had an exciting Easter weekend - Collin's First Easter!! On Saturday morning we had breakfast at Chick-fil-a (yummy!!) with several friends from church, and then we all went around different parts of the St. John's Town Center passing out flyers and inviting people to our church's Easter services. Of course we got to make a few stops in some of the stores, so that was fun too! We also went to Toys-R-Us to buy Collin's birthday present...a littel red wagon!! I was so excited!! I had NO IDEA how expersive they were (I was thinking maybe $30 dollars)...boy was I wrong! But, they were having a sale, plus I had a few coupons, so it actually wasn't that bad.

I can't wait for Son to put it together so that Collin can try it out...of course not until his birthday :)

That afternoon we went to a reception for a couple in our church who had been married for 50 years! They are such a sweet couple that really were involved in Son & my early realtionship - they were the mentor couple in the Singles' Class at FBC where I met Son. Such a sweet couple! Here is a picture of Collin & me at the reception.

Easter morning Collin got a visit from The Easter Bunny...here he is showing daddy his Noah's Ark Easter Eggs. Son took the candy out and replaced it with Cheerios! Collin had so much fun once he realized that is he threw the eggs down Cheerios came out - it was too cute! He also got the movie Over The Hedge and a Easter Story book that we read to him while he was eating his breakfast. I think that may be a new Vuong Family Tradition - it was really sweet.

Collin had the cutest Easter outfit...and one of his best friends Max had the same one! Here is a picture of the "twins". Collin has a silly expression on his face...not sure what he is thinking :)

After church we had lunch with The Kays' and their family. It was so sweet of them to invite us to share a family lunch with them - and there was so much food! Mrs. Kay had even made homemade cupcakes - yummy! Mr. & Mrs. Kay had a sweet little easter basket for Collin too!! We went home for a quick nap, and then headed over to Brad & Whitney's house for Easter Dinner with them and Dustin & Angela (of course the 3 babies were there too). We had a great time, with some great food. Then there was an incident with a poopy diaper that had everyone rolling on the floor laughing...let's just say that I was trying to do a quick change on Collin before we went home and I got a BIG SURPRISE!

Being so far from family during the Holidays is REALLY HARD for me (even after 4 years), but having such amazing friends makes it a little easier. They are such a blessing to us!!

SAHM Weeks 1 & 2

2010-03-31T10:53:00.001-04:00

Things I have learned lately...

1. I do not have any time to blog lately.

2. I absolutely love being home with Collin and can't imagine doing anything else!

3. Collin is growing and changing every day! Lately he has been standing on his own, and I think his first steps will be any day now. He likes to "walk" around the house pushing his high chair. He has a little push car toy that my sister got for him, but it is still is little too fast for him to keep up with...but I know he will be running it all over the house any day now!

4. He now prefers real food and will only eat jars of baby food if he is really really hungry...it's pretty messy & I have to wash the seat cover on his high chair several times a week!

Here is a little of what we have been up to the past 2 weeks:

Play date at the park with Dallas & Maxwell

Easter egg decorating with Brookelynne & Dallas

Lots of fun play time at home - this is Collin's tunnel

We have also been catching up on things around the house ( during nap time) like organizing closets and lots if laundry!

Julie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Career Change

2010-03-23T02:30:00.001-04:00

Today was my first day at my new job. The position offers $0 pay, the hours are 24/7, and there are no such thing as "vacations" or "sick days".

But (this is a big but) it also offers unlimited hugs & cuddles, about a 20 foot commute, my new boss is a total cutie, and I have the ability to wear my pj's to work if I feel like it :)

If you haven't guessed yet...I'm a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM)!!!!!

This is something that Son and I have been praying for since before I was even pregnant, but we were obviously working on our time table, not the Lord's. However, on Friday the decision was taken out of our hands when I was laid-off from my position.

Don't you just love it when Jesus smacks you in the face with His plan for your life?

Today was probably one of the most exhausting and challenging days of my life (way harder than the 15k) but I will also say that it was one of the absolute best days ever...and the thought that I get to repeat it over and over is so exciting to me.

So far week #1 is super busy with things that I want together done, but we also have lots and lots of play time and cuddle time on the schedule too!

My new boss...isn't he adorable?

More details to come...

Julie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Our first 15k & Collin’s photo shoot

2010-03-15T08:26:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend here in The Vuong Family! Saturday morning Collin & I got up early and went to the Gate River Run!! We had a great time with our group of “speed walkers” – we had 6 ladies + 4 babies = TONS OF FUN!! The babies were SO GOOD in their little jogging strollers. (Jennifer gets the “strong arms” award for pushing Brookelynne in her regular Graco travel system!) Fortunately we had 2 “relief pushers” in Susan and Rachel. Also along with us were Angela & Dallas and Whitney & Max.

Here we are after finishing the 15k – Collin is celebrating with some cheerios!

I was so proud of myself for remembering the camera, but at the start of the race when I got it out to take some pictures I realized that I had left the memory card in our computer at home. Rachel took these pics with my phone, but she & Jennifer both had their cameras & they promised to email the rest of us the pictures…remember girls, I know where you live! They got some great pictures including all of us at the finish line & all of the babies wearing our finisher medals.

That night we had a dinner celebration for my birthday with 21 of our friends (plus 5 babies) at La Nopalera – yummy!!

Then yesterday I asked Son, “Is my birthday over?” – with a big pouty face & frown…

Son: “I think 3 birthday cakes is enough.”

Julie: “Okay, good point.”

And I will leave you with the results of Collin’s latest photo session! Now I just have to decide which ones to order – of course I want one of each, but that really doesn’t fit in our budget these days…unfortunately!

I am in LOVE with this…

And this…

The toy giraffe and dog were actually mine when I was Collin’s age. I couldn’t say giraffe, so his name is “Raff-raff”. The little dog makes a barking noise when you pull him along the floor, and Collin loved it!! It was so cute to watch him play with it, pulling the string around the floor to make the dog bark! My mom pulled them out for Collin when we got to Tyler, and they were so cute that I wanted to bring them with us to the picture appointment.

I am also in love with these…

And this…

Collin is turning into quite the little celebrity around Tyler (or at least he thinks he is)…he has has his picture taken each time we have been there for a visit, and we still have 1 more session left in our package that we will take advantage of in September when we are in town for Becca’s wedding!

Thanks to Batten Photography for being so great with Collin! If you want to see all the wonderful pictures that they took, you can click this link here!

Happy Monday!

Julie

Weekend in pictures

2010-03-11T20:56:00.001-05:00

Needless to say, Collin and I had an amazing time in Texas!! We were glad to get back home to hubby/daddy last night, but I am already missing my family again…

Here are some highlights (in pictures) of the trip :)

We arrived in Dallas Saturday morning around 9 and hit the ground running…we made a mad dash for my sister’s house in McKinney to drop off the bags & the baby :) and then met up with her maid of honor, Lauren, for bridesmaid dress shopping at Priscilla of Boston. We had so much fun trying on about a billion dresses, and Becca finally decided on this one. It is beautiful & very flattering – thanks sissy!!

Dede and Jimbo hanging out with Collin when we first arrived at Becca’s house

Collin playing with soon-to-be uncle Warren while we all played Wii tennis & bowling…Collin also learned how to climb the stairs – thankfully we do not have stairs in Jax :)

Becca, Collin & mommy after our slumber party…the three of us slept in Becca’s king-sized bed

Collin enjoying all the attention in Tyler – Granddaddy, Becky & Nana all playing with him

Collin helped Jimbo make coffee for mommy every morning. His favorite part was grinding up the beans in the grinder.

Collin also enjoyed helping Tinkerbell bark at the squirrels in the backyard – he LOVED the windows at Dede & Jimbo’s house – they were the perfect height for Collin to pull up on and look out

Collin loves his Dede

Enjoying looking out the windows again – I LOVE this picture

Sitting in the high chair during mommy’s birthday party before we headed back to Dallas.

SO SO SO Glad that this week is only 2 days long. After being with my little buggaboo for the past 5 days straight it was REALLY HARD going back to work today, but tomorrow is Friday – yay!!

Julie

My Little Prisoner

2010-03-03T13:32:00.001-05:00

These days Collin is into EVERYTHING!! I remember a few months ago when I was worried that he wasn’t attempting to crawl yet, so I would help him practice & encourage him to push up on his hands and knees and take a few steps…WHAT WAS I THINKING??

I ABSOULTELY LOVE it when I walk into another room and he comes crawling along right behind me with a huge smile on his face – so sweet! But he is FAST!! You literally cannot take your eyes off of him for a second or he will be halfway across the room…

eating dog food…

trying to unplug the nightlight from the wall…

putting the dog’s toys in his mouth…

pulling up on the oven door…

trying to escape outside through the doggie door…

Not that any of these things have actually happened, because I am a much better mom than that *wink, wink* but you know, I can just imagine what he might get into…right??

Now that he has crawling mastered he is working hard on standing on his own. He can pull up on ANYTHING – even just next to a wall, and he tries to let go & can actually stand there for about a second before he either grabs back on or plops down. Thank goodness for the built-in padding that comes with wearing diapers :)

Here he is showing off last night – he was right next to the previously mentioned doggie door & I think he was contemplating an escape plan…

And here is one of his 10-month pictures…he was sitting in the version 1.0 car seat cover (the one that came out too small).

That reminds me, I really need to get going on finishing up the new & improved version. Seriously, this morning Collin’s little sock-feet were dangling out the end of the “bucket” seat. Do you think that may be a sign that he is outgrowing it??

LOL – why does Collin look like a little prisoner in these pictures? I guess he really likes his stripes these days…or maybe he is still doing time for the battery charge resulting from Monday’s incident at daycare :)

Only 2 more days till our TEXAS TRIP!!!!!

Julie

Proud Daddy

2010-03-02T10:21:00.001-05:00

So yesterday when Son picked up Collin from school he had to sign an “Incident Report”…normally when we get one of these Collin has had a minor bump or scratch – normal stuff for a little boy with no fear who is learning to crawl/stand/etc.

But yesterday was different. Apparently Collin had plowed over two other babies while he was crawling - and he scratched them while he was running them over like little speed bumps…

Hubby’s response: “That’s my boy!”

Why I am Looking Forward to This Weekend

2010-02-26T09:38:00.001-05:00

Besides hanging out with my amazing hubby & adorable baby boy, here are some of the things that I am ready for this weekend…

1. Sunday School Leadership “pizza party” meeting 2nite with friends!

2. Junior League Whale Sale tomorrow morning! I am hoping to find some cute boutique type outfits for Collin, and some other “treasures”…

3. PF Chang’s tomorrow night! So sad that our friends Spencer & Emily are moving back home to Texas, but so happy for them (and glad to help them celebrate at one of our favorite places)!

4. Less than 1 week until my trip to TEXAS!!!! Including bridal gown fitting & bridesmaid dress shopping with my sissy…still can’t believe she’s old enough to get married, but I was actually the same age when I married Son. It’s just different when it’s your little sister I guess :) So excited for her!!

Hope everyone else has a wonderful weekend planned!!

Julie

Yummy Sweet & Sour Pork recipe

2010-02-25T08:07:00.001-05:00

Here is the recipe that I mentioned in an earlier post…it was from a Publix Family Style magazine a while back. This is the stove-top method & my changes are noted – enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Pork
1.5 pounds lean pork stew meat or pork shoulder (**I used pork chops cut into cubes)
3 T all purpose flour
1/2 t salt or to taste (**I left this out)
1/4 t pepper or to taste
1 T Canola Oil
1 Cup chopped onion (**I used the already chopped up frozen ones – a whole bag)
5 medium Carrots cut into 1/2 inch chunks (**Again I used a bag of frozen sliced carrots)
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 c. Brown Sugar
1/4 c. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 T. worcestershire sauce
2 pouches precooked rice, heated to directions (**I used a box of wild rice)

Add flour, salt and pepper to Ziploc bag. Add pieces of pork and shake to coat. Brown meat and onions in skillet with oil.
Add undrained tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar, 1/2 cup water, and Worchester sauce. Simmer for about 10 min.
Add carrots and continue to simmer for about 15-20 more minutes or until carrots are tender.
Wisk together some flour & water (about 1/4 cup) to thicken & stir into pot. Simmer until thick & bubbly.
Serve over rice & enjoy!

And here is a picture of the original magazine page because it just looks so yummy – especially on a cold day like today!!

Weekend Recap & Doctor’s Visit

2010-02-22T13:14:00.001-05:00

We had a great weekend, and I hope that everyone else did too! Why was it so great, you may ask?? Because we had absolutely nothing planned!! Looking back over my calendar I think it has been over a month since we have just been able to spend a quiet weekend at home together. We love being busy, but it’s nice sometimes just to take a break together :)

Friday night I came home from work and made one of my favorite recipes – sweet & sour pork. I will have to post it some day, but it is a page I tore out of a Publix magazine several months ago, and it is sooo yummy! The original recipe calls for it too cook in a crock-pot, but I have always used the “fast prep” method where you cook it in the stove & it still turns out great!

That night we decided to rent an on-demand movie…“The Hangover”. I know, I know, just by the title you know that this is not going to be the most wholesome movie ever. But it was pretty funny. Son was voting for a scary move, and I wanted to see “Couples Retreat” so somehow we compromised on this one. I have to admit that we were laughing out loud at several points throughout the movie…however I was VERY distracted when they found a baby & decided to take it for a ride in the back of a stolen police car with no car seat!! I guess that’s the mommy in me, but seriously, you don’t just buckle an infant in with a regular seat belt…lol!!

The next morning Son got up with Collin & let mommy sleep in – what a gift!! We unfortunately had a repeat of the biting incident…and after that Collin decided to go on a nursing strike for the rest of the day! I guess he decided that if he couldn’t bite me he just wouldn’t eat anything??

We spent the rest of the morning taking Beau to vet (family trip!), cleaning the house, and hanging out. Son made homemade burgers for lunch & Collin continued to refuse his milk in favor of baby food the rest of the day.

That afternoon daddy got to go fishing for the first time since Collin was born! Waaay overdue! And Collin & mommy went to the store for some grocery shopping.

That night I started to work on the 2nd car seat cover for Collin’s big boy car seat…long story, but the first one I made with too much padding & tried to make it too complicated. I was trying to make it extra soft for him so I added an extra layer of padding, then I also tried to be really fancy and make it reversible (all of this without a pattern) and it just didn’t turn out right. I was pretty close, but with the extra padding I didn’t take into account needing to make the fabric pieces bigger, so it ended up being about an inch too small all the way around…oops! Oh well, I learned from the first “sample” & and am now on to Round 2…this time we are going for a simpler 1-sided version. I’ll post pics when it’s finished :)

The next morning (Sunday) the nursing strike continued, and by this point I was getting pretty worried. It was daddy’s day to sleep in, but I think he could tell I was upset so he got up with us and helped me get about 4 ounces from a bottle in Collin. We went to Sunday School & I think I told every person I saw about Collin not eating…mommy was worried about her little man! We got some good advice from several of our “nursing buddies” in the nursing room at church, but fortunately he decided that he would eat again during our usual time between SS and Big Church. I was soo happy!

After church we went to a Chicago pizza place for lunch with a group of friends. It was downtown at the landing on the water, and it was such a beautiful day that we got to sit outside on the patio & enjoy the sun & the water!

That afternoon mommy even had her own nap time – see, I told you this was a good weekend! Then it was back to church Sunday night.

This morning Collin had a doctors appointment to check out a rash that he has had on his diaper area for about a week. I wanted to get it checked out because it looked a little different than a regular diaper rash or his eczema, and it wasn’t going away using the diaper rash cream or hydrocortisone. Turns out it is a yeast infection! I thought that only women got those, but it turns out that it is pretty common in babies too…so we got another prescription and were on our way. Oh yeah, he weighs 19 POUNDS now!!! I have a big little boy :)

19 pounds!!

Happy Monday!

Julie

Chomp, Chomp…

2010-02-18T09:19:00.001-05:00

Yesterday when I got home Son & Collin greeted me as usual, and when I was going over Collin’s “report card” from school that day Son told me that when he picked Collin up the teacher informed him that Collin had bitten her that day…I think she was okay with it, but just wanted us to know?

I didn’t think too much of it until this morning when Collin woke up and I was feeding him. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he chomps down! HARD!! I had read in “What to Expect the First Year” that if they bite you while nursing that you need to firmly say “no” and pull them away.

So I looked at him and firmly said “No Collin, No!” and I pulled him away.

Then he just gave me this little look and started bawling! Poor baby!! Of course I started comforting him and let him finish nursing.

This discipline thing is harder than it looks!

My Valentine

2010-02-15T08:15:00.001-05:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

On My Heart…

2010-02-12T09:15:00.001-05:00

This is going to be a long post…I can just feel it. And totally intended for me personally, probably boring to those out there who read my blog – so that is your warning. If you are looking for something entertaining and light then please come back another day.

I don’t know about the personal situation or the lives of the writers behind some of the blogs that I read because they are written by perfect strangers (such as Beth Moore’s LPM Blog, McMommy Chronicles, Steece’s Pieces, or The Meanest Mom). Most of them I just happened on by clicking from a friend’s blog, then to one they are following, then to one that other person is following, and so on. If I find one that I like I become a follower of this unknown but entertaining person and sometimes if I feel like sharing, I will add them to my sidebar.

However, the ones I most enjoy are those where I know a little more about the ladies behind the stories.

They may be current friends like Angela, Rebecca, Emily, Rachel, and many, many others – just check out the full list on the sidebar to the left. Sorry girls – I read & LOVE all your bloggies, but I am tired of inserting hyperlinks now :).

They may be people that I would call “friend-of-a-friend” like Sarah or Erin.

And finally we have the high school / college / hometown friends that I have found. These include Elizabeth, Jillian, Suzanne, one I just recently found by Kristin, and a few others.

I have been thinking about this lately. A. Lot.

I have to say that an overwhelming list of emotions that I have been feeling include embarrassment, humility, hypocrisy, and regret.

All of that mixed in with much thanksgiving and a reenergizing of my convictions. I promise that I will try to make sense of this all by the end of the post – if anyone other than myself sticks around that long…

Let me just start with my personal life experience (aka Testimony) wrapped up into as few words as possible:

1. Raised in loving and happy Christian home with most wonderful Christian parents, grandparents, and other family members ever!

2. Saved during VBS at First Baptist Church in Tyler, TX in elementary school. Baptized in middle school when my sister was saved (not sure what the hold-up was other than the fact that I was extremely self-conscious and had a difficult time doing anything by myself).

3. Had a tough time with previously mentioned self-consciousness, need for acceptance, and depression starting in about 7th grade and was always trying to “fit in” with the popular crowd.

4. Never went totally crazy (depending on how you define crazy), but most definitely did not live for the Lord during high school or college. From the outside may have appeared to be totally happy, and I think that I was mostly happy (wonderful memories/experiences from college), but always felt in the back of my mind/heart that something just wasn’t “right”.

5. Felt like I needed a change when I graduated college (didn’t know why I felt that way at the time, but now I recognize that it was the Lord telling me that I was wasting my life and leading me to the place where I would be able to realize that and grow closer to Him)

6. Moved over 1,000 miles from all my friends, family, and everything I had ever known to a place where I knew absolutely no one & could get he fresh start that I needed.

7. After my mom literally threatening me that she was going to call the singles pastor to come visit me, I finally started going to First Baptist Church of Jacksonville.

8. Met the most amazing Christian man ever and fell in love.

9. Stopped running from the Lord, rededicated my life to Him, and started living for Him. Still struggle, and never claim to be perfect, but HE has transformed my life and I am renewed through Him! Now I know that regardless of circumstances and situations that life throws my way (which can make me happy or unhappy) I have the deep JOY that comes from the Lord and cannot be taken away :)

10. Was blessed to be able to marry that amazing Christian man, blessed with the most awesome, accepting, and loving Christian friends anyone could ever have, and finally blessed truly beyond measure with my precious son Collin. God is so good!!

And that just about brings us to the present – Whew! You should try condensing your entire life into 10 statements…not easy!

Anyways, let’s get back on track!

This brings me to the current stark contrast between the people who knew me up through item #4 (and have very little to no knowledge of items #5 - #10) and the people who didn’t meet me until item #7 (and have very little to no knowledge of items #1 - #6).

Up until a few years ago these two worlds happily existed totally separate and apart from one another, with only family and hubby really fully aware of all 10 steps…Wow, my life can now be described as a 10-Step program - LOL!

Bring facebook & blogspot into the picture and that totally changes everything. Now I cannot live in these two totally segmented lives & I have to come face to face with my past, present, and future meeting.

**Note: This is starting to feel a little overly dramatic, so please excuse that - I’m just writing this because it’s how I feel & it’s been on my heart for a while now.

I know that the Bible says “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12

So I know that my past is forgiven and my slate has been wiped clean before God, but I also know that even though we are forgiven and made clean before the Lord that we still must live with the consequences and results of past decisions (good or bad).

But another thing that I also know & cling to is the fact that God’s grace and mercy has absolutely nothing to do with who I am and whether or not I “deserve” the blessings that are in my life.

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” 2 Timothy 1:9

Dr. Brunson (pastor at FBC Jax) once described God’s Mercy & Grace this way:

God’s Mercy is when he withholds what we deserve, and God’s Grace is when he not only withholds what we deserve, but gives us things that we do not deserve

I tell you what, I have been showered with God’s Mercy & Grace for sure!!

I guess with all of this all I am trying to say is that sometimes when I write a Facebook status update, or a Blog Post, I sometimes hesitate briefly before I hit the send button…

Thinking…about the people who may or may not read what I just wrote…how my HS and College friends must think I am so hypocritical, or how they may think “that’s not the real Julie I knew”.

Thinking…how saddened it makes me that I might be a stumbling block to someone out there searching…that they may look at me and think “well if that’s what a Christian is, I knew her, and her life wasn’t any different than mine.”

Thinking…no one probably even reads my status updates or blog posts, or stops to even think about them, except for the few people who comment (which, btw, I LOVE comments!!) so why am I so concerned with it?

Thinking…that this blog post may seem like I think that everyone out there is concerned with me and who I was or who I am and that I may seem self-involved?

Well, all I know is that God has done an amazing thing in my life…I am the happiest, most joyful, most content, and closest to Him that I have ever been in my life. And I just wanted to get this out, and this is my blog, so here it is…my heart.

Wow! I feel better already! I have literally been working on this post & saving it in drafts for about a week, but it’s Friday & I am finally brave enough to hit “Publish Post”.

If you are still reading this then I am impressed…you must have a really boring day at work or home :)

I hope that everyone has an awesome Valentine’s Day & I cannot wait for DATE NIGHT with my amazing hubby TOMORROW!! Thanks to Dustin & Angela for bringing Dallas over to play with Collin tomorrow so that we can have our 2nd date since Collin was born! We are going to Marker32 – one of our favorite pre-baby date spots (kind of a fancy place where a loud baby throwing toys around and screaming would be generally frowned upon). Yea!!

That's My King

2010-02-09T14:38:00.000-05:00

Our church played this video during Pastor's Conference this year, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.

That's MY King by Dr. S.M. Lockridge

And in case you are like me, and like to check out the people that you listen to, here is a little info on him from Wikidedia. I already knew I liked him, but when I found out he was from Texas I liked him even more!

Have a great day!

Julie