the irrational rash on the trip to grandma and grandpas and the greatest fireworks ever

This weekend we made a trip to West Fargo, with lots of things on the agenda. It never quite works out the way we plan... but then, we plan for that too.

Friday afternoon we headed out of town. We got to my parent's new house just in time to throw our stuff down, slam a beer, and get everyone out the door to get to the county pit to see the 'greatest fireworks show on earth'.

Seriously. According to twitter, facebook, and all of my family, the World Firework Federation (or whatever they are called) are the best ever. I even had a co-worker ask if I saw them while in town. She knows what's up.

After a much anticipated 8:30 start time, and an actual 10:30 start time, they finally got the show going. And it was admitedly pretty decent. I watched most of it from the car with Kiley. Winter is already coming to Fargo--it was COLD!

Jaxon was well-equipped though with his earmuffs and his dump truck. Just in case.

I will never forget the dance moves Jaxon showed us that night. So awesome.

So Friday was the first time I think my kids have seen midnight. You would think they would sleep in a little bit, right??

6:30 Saturday morning... Jaxon's up because he fell off the couch at Grandma and Grandpa's (he's too big to sleep in the pack n play now); (okay, you would think most kids would outgrow the pack n play by age 2); (but I like to live in denial and teach that to my kids).

7:00 Kiley is up... with an unidentified rash. All over her body. It looked like ebola. We thought we might have to call the CDC. But I called the nurseline instead. She told me it was probably an ezcema flare-up and to give her a bath...

Well, after lots of running around, naps, etc. it was finally dinner time. We noticed Kiley hadn't eaten much all day, was super crabby, and her rash was spreading. Though we hadn't yet quarantined ourselves, we were beginning to think something was off with her.

And since we'd already met our deductible earlier this year... we decided on a two hour ER trip.

Seriously. What a poor decision. Next time, remind me that ER's are for disjointed shoulders, painful cramps, and COPD flareups (all of which were part of our Fargo ER visit).

After a printed definition of 'viral rash' and an all clear to be in public, we left feeling a little foolish, tired, and mostly glad that we didn't need to break out hazmat suits. We came to find out however, that two of the kids at daycare had Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. Sounds scary huh? Probably what Kiley has too.

Anyway, that is a long winded post... Now to a couple of funny moments:

On Friday night, Goldie asked Jaxon how old he was. I heard him as I was going up the stairs say, 'I'm three. But two at the movie theater.' Spilling our secrets!

We also were able to get the kids to pose for a few shots before heading out for a walk...

They were being pretty silly, egging each other on as they tend to do now. It's humorous and annoying all at the same time. The annoying part comes into play when you are trapped in a car together for five hours. The humorous part happens when you're at someone else's house and you can pretend like you need to use the restroom because you know grandma and grandpa will watch your kids.

And that was our trip to Fargo, in a nutshell.

i blinked

I blinked.

I blinked and before you know it, my chubby little 6 month old turned into a 3 1/2 year old semi-grown up and my colicky little newborn grew into a toddler.

No really. I think I blinked and this past week my kids grew up before my eyes (which were blinking).

Kiley started to walk. She also has several distinguishable words now, which only a select few can decipher. She says 'meh' for milk, 'moh' for more, and something like 'taku' for thank you. I may have heard her say jaxon tonight too, but i can't be sure. Kiley has also learned the meaning of the word no. And we can all verify that she doesn't like being told no. Girl knows what she wants and she's gonna get it, one way or another. She can put on the waterworks within seconds (and stop them as soon as she gets what she wants).

Jaxon learned how to pee standing up (albeit after many, many failed attempts, he is now aiming and mostly hitting the right spot- sorry Jerry and Ellie for the walls of your bathroom in Cabin 6 will never be the same).

Jaxon also got to sleep in a big bed last week in Cedar Lake. He did so good and was so proud of himself. He wanted his bed changed at home too. Yes, we still had him in a crib--don't kid yourself, you know you wished you'd kept your kids in cribs till they were 5! Foolish people who transition toddlers early ;-)

So this afternoon, we transitioned him (see happy dance above). I had to fight back a couple of tears. He was beyond excited though and I can just tell that he feels a little more confident. He has been running around saying how he is a big boy now and 'I can do this or that because I'm a big boy and I have a big boy bed'. Who knew? Such a simple thing could bring so much pleasure. Let's just hope he stays in his big boy bed tonight since I'm home alone with the kids...eech!

So much change. I'm happy watching them grow up, but it also makes me sad to know they'll never be that little again. And I was reminded again today that I need to slow down... live in the aftermath, and take in every moment with these pieces of sunshine.

As my grandma is in a hospital bed, giving her best fight yet, I wanted to dedicate this post to her. Grandma- I know you love reading my blog, and so I'm hoping you're able to get to a computer real soon and check out the following video clip and some of the pictures from our Cedar Lake trip. They are sure to have you laughing and smiling in no time. We love you and are praying for your speedy recovery- I'm also looking forward to your first facebook status post when you're back at it.

Kiley walking. She's got the drunken sailor part down so far...and this girl is keeping us hopping! She is into EVERYTHING.... Wish us luck. I've said it before and I'll say it again- she is gonna be a handful!

More Christmas Spirit

Well, I am playing a bit of catch up this week, so look for multiple posts. I wanted to share a few pictures from our Christmas weekend. Scott and I both had Christmas Eve off of work, so we ended up having our small family Christmas that morning before driving up to Fargo. We opened up a few gifts, including this one from California-- thanks Carol and Jeri! You will be excited to know, that as soon as Jaxon opened this up, he said 'Go Raiders!'. Scott has him trained well. We also LOVE the stocking for Kiley. Jaxon was so excited that it matched his. It is a beautiful treasure our family will have forever. THANK YOU!!



We arrived in Fargo just in time for dinner and some games. Jaxon got a new toy from his great grandparents- somehow they evaded the camera, yet again- it was a big hit. We must have played with that Buzz Lightyear Rocket for over an hour. Sometimes I have to hide it at home because Buzz needs to take a nap... he is exhausting!

Then, that night, we decided we should put out some cookies for Santa Claus. But he needs milk too!

And we also had to put something in our belly so we could pretend to be Santa. Because that's what you do when you're three.

You pretend.

And make things up.

All the time.

Kiley really enjoyed herself this weekend too. She had lots of paper to chew on. Look at those eyes. She's watching you. Making sure you're not going to take her paper away from her. Girl's got paper to eat!

All weekend, we kept saying, let's get a picture of the four of us (Scott and I and the kids.). It's been forever since the four of us have had a picture. Well, we never got one. But we did get these oh so sweet photos of grandma and grandpa with Kiley and Jaxon. They make me smile ;-)

And Kiley got to see what it's like being five feet taller. I think she liked it up there. Can I just say- cute?

So cute.

Oh, and Jaxon. Well, he became Super Jaxon. Thanks to Grandma Barb who sewed him a cape with 'Super Jaxon' on the back. He can now fight dinosaurs and dragons, and all sorts of scary things!

All in all, we had an excellent time in the West Fargo and we are so happy we made it back there this year.

three

Jaxon turned three this weekend. He got a camera.

Enough said?

thankful

I love this time of year. Time for family get togethers. Time spent with friends. Shopping with Christmas music in the background and snow in the air. It's so beautiful out. People seem downright jolly (so far). And I am constantly reminded of how much we have to be thankful for. A new thing I've been doing with Jaxon, when I remember, is to reflect on the day before putting him to bed. We read our books and then I ask him, 'What was your favorite part of today?'. Tonight, I thought the answer to that would have been, the cookie you gave me for dessert, or that daddy took us to the zoo. But it was 'playing with you mommy.' Now, maybe he was just trying to butter me up and get a few extra minutes out of me before bedtime. But it felt pretty nice. He asked what my favorite part was, and I said 'hearing you say that'. Well, that got him laughing because he didn't quite get it. So, then I asked what his least favorite part of the day was. His answer, without thinking: 'vegetables'. Ah, we have some work to do my child. And all the 'books' say to have your children help you prepare food and then they will eat it. Especially things like vegetables. But. Clearly that isn't the case with young Jaxon. He helped make mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and wouldn't touch either of them. He's going to make a great Norwegian someday though. I even bought Jaxon and Kiley some special Thanksgiving shirts to commemorate the day. Jaxon's was dirty by 10 am. And we had barely had breakfast. Glad it wasn't white!

We had Scott's family over for Turkey dinner. Here's Grandma Wa getting an early appetizer from Jaxon.

And Kiley getting a few laughs in after dinner.

Her new favorite friend is the dinasaur puppet. Well, if eating horns means you're friends.

On Friday night, we decided Kiley had been smacking her lips at us all day Thursday and we felt bad she wasn't able to partake in the food festivities. So, we gave her a first taste of rice cereal. Honestly, I thought the whole kid thing would get easier after having one. But either my memory is shot, or I was so studious with Jaxon and read everything there was to know about babies (and then immediately blocked it out when he became a toddler). It's like cramming for a test.

Let's feed her some rice cereal. Well, how much do we give her? I don't know, look at the box. Is she suppsed to get it after or before her bottle? No clue. How much should we give her? No clue. Let's just see if she knows what to do when the spoon hits her mouth.

Does that look right? I dunno. Seems like she likes it. Sure. Let's give her some more. I'll read the book tonight and figure out what the he** we're doing. Her doctors' appointment isn't for another week so I have time to figure it out and make it sound like we know what we're doing. Maybe download a babycenter app or something.

Ah yes, we have a lot to be thankful for. Not for vegetables. But definately a lot.

Another Christmas Party!

Wow, can you beleive it? Two posts in one weekend. I am on a roll! Here are a few pictures from our Christmas celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Vuong and Uncle and Auntie Yeddy and Jenny. We had a lot of fun!

Grandma had to bribe me to do another picture. Cookies always work.
Here's my dad with his brother and sister. I squirreled my way into this picture.

Ooh, green paper. I wonder what I could do with this stuff?

Time to play Tickle Monster!! I got Grandpa!

And Grandma!

Time for more cookies!! Merry Christmas everyone (again!)!

ah, vacation...

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted. I've been on a much needed vacation.

But I suppose it's time to get everyone up to speed on what I've been up to! In the past few weeks, I've been spending lots of time with family-- my daycare was closed for a week so I got to go stay with Uncle Eddy everyday while mom and dad were at work. Then, we had aunt Jenny's birthday - happy birthday Jenny!

We took dad to McDonald's for breakfast on Fathers' Day, and then my mom's friend Krysten Halek took a bunch of pictures in Minneapolis. Then dad was gone for a few days, I got sick and cut some teeth as they say, and manipulated mom into staying home with me (Nice!).

Then, we left on a really long car ride to Canada where we stayed for a whole week. We had an even longer drive home, but we got to shoot of lots of fireworks when we got home, making it all worth it.

Here's some photos for you to enjoy from the past few weeks!

"Is there more of that yummy frosting? More? More? and More?"


Dad, you're crazy! I'm not eating that minnow!

Can't wait for my boat ride! Here we are going to feed the duckies. Duckies!!
I can hardly turn my neck, but this boat thing is so fun! More?

So, what did you think of that muskie I caught? Yeah, it was pretty big, but whatever. I mean, I'm gonna go outside now. And have more. Outside. Bye!

I see you!! Okay, well maybe I see better withouth these on, but they sure are fun to play with!

Oh, I just love the 4th of July!