New pictures..ta-da!

Uh-oh. . .Peanut is caught with Mommy's purse!
She's got expensive taste :)

Butterball is waking up and thinking about what to do with his day...

... All this thinking is making him so tired...

...And he's out!

Our Peanut and Butterball love each other!

Big sister loving her little brother

Our little peanut, Audriana

Our little butterball, Haakon

Well, almost 8 weeks after his arrival, Audriana has finally accepted the fact that Haakon is here to stay. She has been learning the importance of gentle touches and sweet kisses for her baby brother. Audriana learned how to give kisses about 2 weeks ago. She has been giving away free kisses to her mommy (once in a great while, to daddy). Now, she has moved on to bigger and better things: her brothers (yes, plural--we caught her trying to give Scout a kiss). There is nothing sweeter than seeing Audriana purse her lips and trying to slowly dive into Haakon's face for a mmm-mmmm kiss (she really does provide sound effects with her smooches!) Haakon happily accepts these kisses. He usually gets a kiss every morning when we go to wake Audriana up from her crib.

Haakon is quickly becoming his own person. He giggles in his sleep with a milky drool off the side of his lips and smiles when we snuggle together. He had his first full night of sleep (7 hours) last Saturday after an exhausting trip down to Orlando (I will give you one guess who made it exhausting--she stands almost 3 feet tall, wears an awful lot of pink and has a pair of lungs like you would not believe!). Haha. We made it back in one piece and sane!

Speaking of, Audriana has only improved her walking skills and can now open doors. I am currently on the search to Audriana-proof the door handles. She can now sneak into Scout's room and into his crate, get into our bathroom and play with my make-up and unroll toilet paper. Life is always exciting and crazy in our house....two happy and healthy babies--what more could a mom ask for?

Haakon is 6-weeks old!

Haakon on the eve of his 6th week
First bath at home!
Our family of four...one week after Haakon's birth...notice the look of apprehension on Audriana's face.

I can't believe that the weeks have flown by so quickly! We are adjusting great to our expanding family. Audriana has now realized that her new little brother is a permanent fixture in the family :) She just learned to kiss her brother, snuggle her cheek next to his and the importance of gentle touches. I think she is blooming into a wonderful big sister! Haakon is steadily putting on weight. In fact, between week 2 and 4, he put on 1.5 lbs. He smiles regularly and we will sometimes catch him chuckling in his sleep with a milky grin...wonder what he's dreaming of. More pictures of the grandparents' visits and posts to come...

Haakon's Two Weeks Today!!

I just read that recent scientific study has concluded that newborns as young as 2 weeks old are able to smile...and its not from gas. HA! I always knew that my children are early smilers ;) We had our 2-week appointment with Baby Haakon this morning. Haakon has gained about one pound since birth and is just a hair longer than 20.5 inches.

When Haakon and I were at the doctor's this morning and I saw that Haakon's weight was 8 pounds 8 ounces, I nearly had a panic attack. I, for some reason, thought that Haakon's birth weight was 10 lbs. plus and he had subsequently somehow lost a hot 2 pounds in 2 weeks. But then I remembered he was born 7 lbs. 10 oz. NOT 10 lbs. 7 oz. Is there such a thing as postpartum dyslexia??

Our friends, the Steeles, just had their second baby last week. Katie and I had the same due date and as it turns out, her son is perfectly punctual :) He was born a whopping 9 pounds! And as adorable as they come. Congratulations to the Steele Family!!!

Haakon's first week!

Haakon's first photo shoot with his mommy was a wild success! I decided after an afternoon nap to take some pictures of the little guy. We captured some great pictures of him! Just like his big sister, he lights up in front of the camera :) Enjoy!

Welcome baby Haakon Tong Anderson!

We are so ecstatic to share with you the birth of our son, Haakon Tong Anderson! He was born on Monday, January 11, 2010 at 10:46 p.m. His original due date was actually not until January 22nd, but the doctors were wanting to induce me on Tuesday (the day after Haakon's birthday) because of gestational diabetes. I guess Haakon heard that I was very much against an induction and decided to help his mommy out a little bit. From the time my water broke to the time Haakon was born, it was a fast 1.5 hours! And just like Audriana's birth, no drugs. It wasn't so bad and it helped that we knew what to expect.

He is exactly 13 months younger than his big sis, Audriana! So, it looks like we are going to be busy the next year or so chasing after these two babies :) Enjoy the pics!

The last few days of being an only child!

Whoops! Here is a video that I neglected to put up of Audriana. She loves the camera. Can you tell?

Christmas 2009 and Happy New Year!

Now that she's walking, she climbed into her diaper box and was shocked that she couldn't climb out as easily (thanks to Kari for capturing this picture).

Unwrapping her first present with Daddy

Our Christmas Tree

Her building blocks...

Although, this was not technically Audriana's first Christmas, this was the first Christmas that she got to walk around and open presents without a whole lot of assistance from Mommy and Daddy. We even got to go to the Christmas Eve service at our church. She was absolutely adorable at the service. When the choir was done singing (we got there a tad late), and it was a quick moment of silence in the church as we were moving onto the next part of the service, Audriana said, "Oh, wow!" and clapped her hands. I wish I had captured it on tape. Melted my heart.

Audriana was a very lucky girl and got lots of presents from her Grandparents and Aunts and Uncle. Santa thought it would be extra special to set up her new building blocks next to our 1 penny Christmas tree (yes, a fresh 1-penny tree...the perks of sticking around Jax over Christmas). Audriana's collection of books is filling quickly and she loves reading them all...both by Mommy and Daddy and by herself. Some of the books, the pop-up ones, we are saving so that both her and Dash-2 can enjoy them in their "original" version.

For New Year's Eve, we celebrated by going out to Avondale with our friends who were in town for the holidays. It was so nice and Audriana behaved wonderfully with the assistance of her friend, Emma (who is expected to be a big sister to a little brother on the same day as Audriana). The food was good and the company was even better! We are so lucky to have such great friends. And to celebrate Navy's bowl game (and ultimate victory), Bjorn wore his Academy letterman sweater with a skinny tie (Audriana and I thought that he looked especially handsome all decked out).

Hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed all the festivities! Onward we march to Valentine's Day!!

Auntie Kari Visits!

We were delighted to have Bjorn's sister, Auntie Kari, come visit us in Jacksonville. She stayed for a few days and it was GREAT to have her help us (me) with Audriana. Unfortunately, she had to leave a tad early due to a nasty storm that was hitting the midwest on Christmas eve. Nevertheless, it was nice to have dinner together and show her a little bit of Florida sunshine. Next time, when I am not so pregnant, we'll show her the beach and other fun Jacksonville sights!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It is so hard to believe that Christmas is upon us and the new year is just around the corner. This year has been such a roller coaster and our family has been so blessed despite all the craziness that sometimes surrounds us. We just had our last big ultrasound until the big debut and I simply cannot believe that Dash-2 will be making his appearance so soon. I am so excited to meet this little boy and to see how much his big sister will fall in love with him when she meets him. Like most second babies, I think this labor will probably be early and I hope that it will be just as quick as Audriana's. Keep your fingers crossed. We saw on the ultrasound machine that he does have hair on that little noggin...and don't worry, he's still a boy!!

As I am getting ready for Dash 2 to make his appearance, I have been looking back at all the photos and videos that we took of Audriana's birth. What a wonderfully magically time in my and Bjorn's life. Every time I see pictures of Audriana's little face on the day she was born, my heart stirs and I am still overcome with the same joy and amazement at our beautiful little girl. The pictures and videos of her still invoke so many maternal emotions and makes me indescribably excited to meet our son.

So, may your Christmas season find you with the abundant blessings of love, family and laughter. And may your new year bring forth tidings of joy, prosperity, and of course, pure contentment.

Punky turns ONE!!!

Audriana'a Birthday outfit (thanks to her friend Mailee for letting us borrow the idea)
Cake time!
Jail break after bedtime!

On December 11, 2008, our lives changed so dramatically and magically when this little girl came into our lives. Audriana, you have given your Mommy and Daddy so much joy, laughter and love. Since the day you were born, you have utterly spoiled us with your gummy smiles, infectious giggles, and happy personality. We will never forget those big curious eyes staring back at us when the nurses laid you in Mommy's arms. We fell head over heels in love with you at that moment. Never in our wildest dreams could we have asked for a more wonderful and perfect child! Your constant curiosity in the world around you ceases to amaze us. The smiles and giggles you share with those around you shows us of your happy nature. And the mischief that you and Scout seem to get into together makes us smile and giggle at our little trouble-makers. Happy Birthday, baby girl...We love more than you could ever know.

Baby-proofing

As mentioned in our last blog, we are furiously baby-proofing the house--especially the kitchen. Perhaps this should have been done months ago, but since we were not encouraging walking, we figured that we had at least another month or so...WRONG! Alas, our current predicament. We spent last night and today putting baby locks on the kitchen cabinets and outlet covers all over the rest of the house (and not just the kids' wing). I caught about a minute or so of Audriana rummaging through my tupperware cabinets last night. And then this morning, I taped a quick video of her discovering that the cabinets don't open so easily for her anymore. Ha! Baby A: 0, Mommy & Daddy: 1

Walking!

We are happy (and terrifying scared) to announce that our little punky is now a biped! Audriana started standing on her own about a week or two ago. And just this last week, she has started to take steps. The other day, she threw a little ball across the room and got up to walk to get it. I was flabbergasted! We are now in full baby-proofing mode! More videos to come...

Pics from the wedding and our road trip up to D.C.

Audriana fast asleep with her Grandma Te and Great-Grandma K.
Me and my brother, Justin
My brother, Justin and sister, Sochenda
Audriana crawling around at her Great-Uncle's house before the wedding.
Pit stop at South of the Border in South Carolina... I made Bjorn and Audriana stop and take a picture because I have pictures of this place when I was a kid...corny, I know!

Congrats to Rith and Minh-Thu!

For the Thanksgiving holiday, we dropped Scout off at his baby-sitter's, packed up the Maxima and headed north to the Washington, D.C. area to my cousin, Rith's wedding on Saturday, November 28th. We are so happy to welcome Minh-Thu to our family. She is such a beautiful person and we loved meeting her this past weekend.

The wedding weekend was amazing. It was a two day affair that kicked off with a traditional Cambodian ceremony on Friday, a Saturday morning Vietnamese traditional tea ceremony and wrapped up with a stunningly beautiful American-style wedding and reception at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia. The food the entire weekend was sinfully divine...and a dream come true for an eight-month preggo pop!

Congrats to both the groom and bride...may your lives together be filled with love, laughter and great passion!

Cruising

Although, she isn't walking quite yet, Audriana is definitely a cruiser. Enjoy this video!

A couple more videos by popular demand :)

Bombs Away!!!

So, Audriana decided early this morning that it was an excellent morning to get up at 5:15 AM to start her day. Needless to say, Bjorn and I were thinking that 8 AM was a much better time to start to the day. I will let you guess who won that battle :) I have been meaning to get this video for a while. And I finally did this morning. When Audriana gets bored or upset with Bjorn or me, she will start playing "bombs away" with the stuffed animals in her crib. Her decisions as to who goes or stays is really quite calculated (Bjorn spied on her a couple of times). Mr. Snuggles and her bunnies are usually the first to go. Her pink elephant and Boomer the Dog are generally the last ones. One by one they go and as they land, she makes sure to wave at them, giggling. Enjoy!

11 months!

Sticking her little tongue out at Grandma Te.
Passed out at the hospital the day after her birthday!

I cannot believe how fast the past eleven months has just flown by and how our baby girl is turning into a little girl! It is so much fun to see how much and how quickly Audriana is developing into her personality. Her little giggles and toothy grin simply make my heart melt.

At eleven months, Audriana is beginning to stand on her own and clap for herself (while standing) to crown her achievement. She has four sharp little teeth that loves to clamp down on Mommy. Her specialty is biting my belly like she's taking a big bite of an apple. Audriana can also say Mama, wave hello and goodbye (though, only at inanimate objects and Mommy); open the door to let Scout back into the house (we just discovered this one today); imitate reading--even though the book is usually upside down, she is nevertheless very expressive when reading; hates getting her diaper changed and will generally crawl away bottomless if there is not someone or something to distract her; and finally at eleven months, Audriana continues to hone her flirting skills as soon as someone compliments her...talk about smooth operator!

We are so incredibly blessed to have such a beautiful spirited baby in our lives. Bjorn and I are both looking forward to seeing Audriana fulfill and grow into her new role as big sister come January!

Flirty

Over the weekend, Audriana came down with a fever. The fever hovered at around 102-103 degrees. Needless to say, we were pretty worried. She had a little bit of a cough, but otherwise still eating and drinking normally. So on Monday, we decided that it was time to take her to the doctor to make sure it wasn't the flu or anything serious. We called her primary care physician at the base for an appointment. They told us that based on her symptoms, we were not to come near the clinic because it sounds like the flu, but instead go to the flu trailer clinic that they had near the hospital. So we got her dressed and Bjorn brought her to the clinic (we decided that it was a bad idea for me to take her in case there were H1N1 germs floating around the trailer). Subsequently, they told us that they could not see or treat Audriana because she was too young and sent us to the hospital ER. We went to the ER and began the waiting game. At this point, I am in the hospital with them because I couldn't stand not knowing what was going on and Bjorn had to leave for work soon. After a few fake-outs (where they call us in, but only to take and retake Audriana's temp), we were called into a real exam room. When the doctor rolls in, who starts smiling, giggling, and basically flirting with the doctor like she has not a care in the world, much less a fever? Hmmm...could be our baby girl? Yes, yes, it was. Thus, after a two-hour wait, we were sent home with a bottle of baby Motrin and a surmise that it is not the flu. Audriana's fever finally broke and she appears to be on the way to recovery.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Audriana trying out her new costume in the toy room!
Side view of our salmon sashimi
Can you tell she's loving her costume?

This year for Halloween, we decided to dress up as a family in a food theme--Sushi! Audriana was our Salmon Sashimi. I was a bottle of Kikkoman Soy Sauce and Bjorn was a bottle of Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce. We were a big hit at several Halloween parties and people loved our creativity. Though, I wish I could claim full credit in the creativity department, I cannot. The idea of Audriana as a Salmon Sashimi came from a magazine. The idea of Bjorn and I dressing up as Kikkoman soy sauce bottles was entirely Bjorn's. We were originally go to dress up as chopsticks, but the thought of me in a tan spandex suit had some drawbacks...so the soy sauce bottle it was! Bjorn and I had a great time making our costumes--who knew he was so meticulous about cutting out his felt letters! Happy Halloween, everyone!

Happy 90th Birthday Great Grandma Evelyn!

Hooray! Audriana's great-grandma Evelyn (GG Evelyn for short!) turns 90 today! To mark this wonderful milestone, Grandma and Grandpa Anderson pulled together a weekend of family festivities to celebrate. It started with all the Anderson "boys" flying home: Bjorn from the East and Erik from the West. From the reports, they had a lovely dinner on Saturday and a great open-house on Sunday for GG Evelyn. Even though Audriana and I couldn't make it to MN, we are definitely thinking about you on your special day, Grandma...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Our love and kisses are floating from Jacksonville to MN for you!

Photos of Grandma and Grandpa's visit

At Mickler Beach
Look out for the flying baby!
Grandma and Baby at home.
Tired after a day of shopping with Grandma!
Grandma and Grandpa at home with baby!

Contentment

Last week, we had Grandma and Grandpa Te come visit us and our new home. We LOVED having them visit. And just to make sure their visit was as exciting as Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's visit, the Maxima broke down the day they arrived. We were rescued by Bjorn and a handy tow truck. I was very grateful that Grandma and Grandpa were with us and that Bjorn was just a phone call away to play the role of knight in shining armor (though, the shining armor was by way of a Toyota Previa...aka "covered truck" as Bjorn fondly calls it).

Audriana really enjoyed her visit with her grandparents and they absolutely fell in love with her all over again. Like Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's visit, a visit by her adoring grandparents always yields some pretty presents. Grandma and Grandpa Te took Audriana on a shopping spree for some fall/winter clothes. And at the shopping mall, believe or not, we saw baby gators in the pond between the shops and freeway! They were tiny, about 5 inches long from nose tip to tail. I had to hussle Grandpa into the car as soon as I saw them because if there are baby gators, there's bound to be a mama gator around...and I had no interest in meeting her! We took Grandma and Grandpa to the beach, showed them around Jacksonville, Avondale, San Marco, St. Augustine, and of course our neighborhood. They loved it all! Grandma and Grandpa even baby sat for us so that Bjorn could take me out to celebrate my birthday. It was so lovely. We had to remind Grandma and Grandpa that even though they came to Florida to visit their granddaughter, not to forget to tell people that they saw us, their children, too! I will be posting pictures of their trip soon. Stay tuned....Grandma and Grandpa took over 125 pictures in a span of 4 days and that DOES NOT include video footage. Talk about love and adoration!

On another note, at church this Sunday, the Pastor's sermon was about contentment. I really enjoyed it and really made me think about the things in life that made me CONTENT and not just happy. I do believe that happiness or unhappiness is a state of temporary being whereas contentment is about the state of overall being. As we arrived into church on Sunday, we were given a little key tag. I wanted to post the message on the key tag on this blog to share with you the meaning of contentment in our lives. I hope, as you read it, there rings a truth of recognition in your heart and mind.

CONTENTMENT: "Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don't need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity."

-Enough by Adam Hamilton.

Morning Smoochy Baby!

So lately, Audriana has been sporting some really funny expressions. The pursed lips is a common favorite around our household. I finally caught it on camera when she found out that we ran out of her favorite yogurt....she only got half a container after breakfast this morning. The expression was after I showed her the empty container. Seeing her expression like that just makes me want to give her a big smoochy!

Red Velvet Cake

Like my last pregnancy, I could not stop baking/cooking/grilling to save my life. I don't really "nest" like normal pregnant women do, but boy, do I cook up a storm. I remember when Bjorn returned from his deployment last year right before Audriana was born and fully expecting me to nest. He would casually drop an article of clothing (that was hanging in the closet) on the floor and ask me if I felt like nesting yet. My answer was always a resounding no. And he'd have to pick up the clothes. Hahaha.

At anyrate, Bjorn, to his delight, has really been benefiting from this frenzy in the kitchen. My latest creation has been a 4-layer red velvet cake. I don't know why I like it so much other than the fact that I saw it on Steel Magnolias and instantly loved it (both the movie and the cake). I have to admit that for a person who somehow comes dyslexic when reading baking recipes, the red velvet did not fair out too bad. The frosting was amazing...cream cheese and mascarpone. You must try it...it is SINFULLY DIVINE!!! Enjoy the pictures of my handiwork. And if y'all can keep a secret: Audriana loves the frosting as much as her momma....when Daddy isn't looking she takes a swipe of the frosting, too!

New Audriana Pictures

Here are some new pictures of Audriana. She is growing up sooo quickly. Her playroom is an empty room (to be her little brother's room) with all of her toys and a baby gate to curtail her great escapes when Mommy and Daddy are not looking. Audriana is crawling super fast to get to what she wants...a little too fast for Mommy! She also wakes up every morning either with all of her stuffed animals all over her crib or all of her soft books in a circle around her. My most favorite is when she stands in her crib, jumping up and down, and giggling to herself. She is such a character. The other day, I was playing hide-and-seek with Scout and she was laughing so hard that she fell over...which, of course, made me laugh so hard that I had to sit down.