Our First Family Vacation!

Our family picture in Reynolds Square in Savannah, GA

This was Haakon's primary of transportation: Daddy!

Close-up

Haakon and Mommy sitting at Reynolds Square

Audriana with Daddy's death grip so that she wouldn't leap off the bench

We were trying to take a family picture, but Audriana really want to give her mommy a smoochy on the lips!

Mommy got Audriana back with a smoochy on the neck!

Our first family vacation was an astounding success! Savannah, Georgia, served as a lovely vacation destination for our little family. The drive from Jacksonville to Savannah was about 2 hours and 41 minutes. Baby Haakon was a great traveler...he slept almost the whole drive there. Audriana, however, felt the need to do some pre-game stretching--of her lungs! She decided to yell and screech for much of the drive down there unless I was stuffing her with fruit snacks, animal crackers and ice water (since her Grandpa Te works to design water filters, she is fairly finicky about how she takes her H2O!).

Once we got down to Savannah, we met up with our friends and played in the park for a while. The weather was GORGEOUS...beautiful sunshine and a balmy 80 degrees on a Friday afternoon. We got dinner at the Olde Pink House Restaurant (thanks to my cousin, Ree, for his recommendation). It was delicious! If you ever get the chance to go to Savannah, try this place. You won't regret it. The Olde Pink House is on the National Historic Register. It is an old mansion that has been converted into a restaurant (part of its history includes the first reading of the US Constitution in the state of Georgia). Although its website says that it is casual dining--it is not. It was definitely more fancy that "casual." We managed to scare fellow patrons to other parts of the restaurant because of our rambunctious entourage. Not only was the food great, but the staff was PHENOMENAL! They were exceedingly accommodating to our party--it was Southern hospitality at its best.

After some more sights (fine dining at another eating establishment), we left Savannah Saturday afternoon. It was a short and sweet trip that will have to be repeated once Haakon gets a little bit older so he and sister can both run around in the park! In trip that lasted approximately 28 hours, we took about 100 pictures. I have included some highlights...enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDPA TE!!

Happy birthday to Grandpa Te! Dad--Hope you are having a wonderful day celebrating your birthday. Enjoy your special dinner tonight. We are sorry that we can't be there to help you celebrate. I know that your mischievous grandkids would LOVE to give you a smoochy and hug (especially the one who stands about 3.5 feet tall!)....you will have to take a raincheck until we see you in May. Lots of love, kisses and hugs from all of us in Jacksonville!!

Eight Week Check-up!

On Tuesday, Haakon had his 8-week appointment with his pediatrician. We are happy to report that he is VERY healthy and happy little man! His head circumference measures at 41 cm, putting him in the 75th percentile. He is 23.75 inches long and is in the 75th percentile there as well. His weight, however, is an entirely different story. In eight weeks, he has nearly doubled his birth weight. He now weighs 13 lbs. 14 oz. and is in the 95th percentile! Our little chunker :) Haakon's eight week appointment also meant the first round of immunizations. He did fantastic--just like his big sister at that age. He only cried for a few moments before forgetting about the shots. When we got home, I snapped some pictures of him with his bandages. He is adorable, isn't he?? Enjoy!

Audriana and her baby doll!

Opps! Baby accidently "jumped" from Audriana's arms.

Picking up baby with a purse on the crook of her arms sure is hard!

Success!

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.