June 2011

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

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

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

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 :)

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

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

…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?