Our first 15k & Collin’s photo shoot

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

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

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

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

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

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)

1. Add flour, salt and pepper to Ziploc bag.  Add pieces of pork and shake to coat.  Brown meat and onions in skillet with oil.
2. Add undrained tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar, 1/2 cup water, and Worchester sauce.  Simmer for about 10 min.
3. Add carrots and continue to simmer for about 15-20 more minutes or until carrots are tender.
4. Wisk together some flour & water (about 1/4 cup) to thicken & stir into pot.  Simmer until thick & bubbly.
5. 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

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