We're here!

After flying solo for 29 days with three babes under three (plus a neurotic pup), orchestrating a 734-mile military move, and executing said move, we finally made it to Patuxent River, Maryland!  I am thrilled to report that the kids did AMAZING during the car trip and I am still pretty sane (though bone tired!).  The pup, however, was an entirely different story.

To help with the move, my dad flew in from Minneapolis to Jax to help me make the drive.  In a stroke of pure genius, I decided that we should break up the 12-hour drive into two days rather than break-necking it in one.  Dad's flight got in late in the evening and since it was already a good 45-minute drive north of our Jax house, I decided that it was best to simply keep driving northward.  I had Scout on the maximum dosage of his tranquilizers.  For the 3 hours that we drove after picking up Grandpa Tong, it appeared that the meds seemed to be doing its job...not knocking him out, but just taking the edge off.  Then we stopped at a roadside motel.  We got one room with 2 full size beds.  The plan was have Audriana sleep with me in one bed, Haakon with Grandpa in the other and Espen in the pack and play.  Unfortunately, Audriana had other plans.

We stopped to sleep at 10:30.  Espen fell asleep promptly since it was well past his usual bedtime.  Haakon fell asleep at around 11:15....in bed with me.  Scout was passed out, happy that we were no longer in a moving vehicle.  Audriana was still jumping around in my bed.  Espen then woke up for a midnight snack.  He then falls asleep in bed with us.  Audriana was still jumping around.  Then I hear the light snores of Grandpa Tong.  Finally, at 3:30AM, Audriana falls asleep, arms and legs wrapped around my stomach as if hanging on for dear life.  Five-thirty rolls around and the alarm goes off. And we set charge for the final leg of the trip to our new home.

According to my calculations, the second and last leg of our trip should take us no more than 10 hours, including extended stops for all the kids.  Since the motel offered a rather elaborate sit-down breakfast, we thought that it would be good to get the kids fully fed and then hit the road.  The kids ate that breakfast like it was their last meal.  It seemed like the perfect beginning to our trip.  Scout had other plans.

Hour 2 of the trip required a lengthy pit stop to make sure that Scout could do his business (since he refused to do it before we left the motel).  Hour 4, Scout manages to paw at the kennel door enough that he's got it opening inward.  And because he is so neurotic, he manages to get his collar hooked onto the door so that every time he would move, his collar would tighten more and more...essentially choking himself.  So we made another lengthy pit stop to ensure that he was ok and walked him around even more.  The collar comes off.  Hour 6, Scout manages to open his door and crawl out of his kennel.  He then proceeds to jump on Audriana as we are traveling down the freeway at 75 miles per hour.  So, we are all in the Yukon and I have my two-year old daughter screaming because her 75 lbs. pup is trying to sit on her lap.  I can't get a good grip on him because we took his collar off two hours earlier.  And yet another stop.  Finally, 14 hours after leaving the motel, we make it to Scout's hotel.  Hallelujah!  Never was I happier than when I saw that dog boarding place.

The next morning, we drove to our new house and did the walk through.  We LOVE our new house and the neighborhood.  Lots of kiddos our kids' age.  The house is really comfy and roomy for our family.  Once we get settled in, I'll post pics.  Until then, please enjoy the newest pics of from our first Halloween  as Little Bo Peep and the three little sheep and the kids around the house.

SPECIAL THANK YOUs:  The kids have the most AMAZING grandparents ever!  Shout out goes to Grandpa Tong for his amazing patience with me and the kids (though, mostly with me) during our car trip!  I know I was sort of a crabby monster and not fun to be around, so thanks for not jumping ship (or rather, car) and staying for the long haul....good thing, I have cute kids :)  Huge thanks to Grandma Kris and Grandpa Byron for their trip shortly thereafter.  And extra special thank you to Grandma Charey and Grandma Kris for helping me put together the kids' Halloween costumes.  They were the hit of the neighborhood!

Little Bo Peep and her three little sheep

Sheep #1 trying out the candy before the festivities even begin.

Sheep #2 following suit.

Sheep #3 wishing that he could also try the treats beforehand.

The willy little fox!

Sibling love!

Baby E

She's very protective of her little brother and LOVES being mommy to him.

Trying out a new hair do!

A budding movie star...no matter than his sunglasses are stolen from his sister AND that they are upside down.

The babes!

Fall Update

Its been a crazy whirlwind month since our last post.  The biggest check off our list was renting out our home!  We are pretty excited about overcoming that hurdle and finding a tenant that I think will be absolutely fabulous!  The weeks leading up to the signing of the lease was pretty stressful and nerve-racking!  But everything is working out the way it is suppose to and we are excited to find out what our next adventure has in store for us!

So with the upcoming move, we are trying our best to keep a sense of normalcy for the kids and slowly talking about leaving this house and the fun discoveries of our new house.  We are pretty excited about not being homeless (or least not for very long!) like we were when we first moved here (2.5 months of homelessness and bouncing from one friends house to another!).  The kids...well, mainly Audriana, are pretty excited about going to see "Bpo Justin" (aka Uncle Justin).  Any car ride that we take that is early in the morning when the sun is yet up, the kids automatically associate it with a trip to go see Bpo Justin.

Last week, we took the kids to get their flu shots and got an update on Espen's stats.  So here they are at 20 weeks :

Weight: 15.5 lbs
Length: 25.5 inches
Head Circumference: 17.5 cm

At 4.5 months, Espen's personality is coming out more and more every day.  He can flip over from his back to tummy and just recently I caught him turning from his tummy to back.  He LOVES to sleep on his tummy with his head on one arm and hungrily sucking on a thumb on his other hand.   He started sleeping through the night about 5 weeks ago...and it has been AMAZING!  This is why we can have three kids under three....they will agree to sleep pretty much 10 hours straight.   Thank you, GOD!

He is a very giggling little man who loves to have his collarbone and chin tickled. He doesn't enjoy alone time and loves having face time with Mommy.  His big sister LOVES to love on him as does his big brother.  They treat him like he is their dolly with gentle touches and many kisses.  I finally snapped a few pictures of the babes fresh out of the bath and straight into Mommy and Daddy's bed and then some cookie time with the kids when it was raining outside.  And of course, there was Daddy's birthday last month!  Enjoy.

Three little babes fresh out of the bath and into Mommy and Daddy's bed for jammies.  

Performing facial experiments on the smallest and most defenseless...poor Baby E.

Happy Birthday to Daddy!  A HUGE thanks to our friends and neighbors,  Mary and Clark, for coming over to take all three kids so that the birthday boy and I could catch a bite to eat and bring back a special dessert for the kids!

Air patrol on standby...

And she takes care of the candle in just one fly-by!

Daddy takes a big bite and Haakon is looking pretty envious for a bite himself!

Sixty-percent of our beautiful family!  And of course, Audriana is pretending to sleep.  Why not?

Oh so adorable Hawaiian girl!

The boys helping us bake snickerdoodle cookies!

All of mommy's little helpers!

Espen lounging on the dinner table waiting to see what everyone is going to eat!

9/11 Hero's Run

To honor of those who have fallen both on September 11, 2001, and its aftermaths, we decided to participate in the 9/11 Hero's Run (Travis Manion Foundation).  This was our first family race and certainly my first run since giving birth to Dash-2!  So, it was exciting for everyone.  Luckily, we had enough modes of transportation during the run that all could participate.  In fact, the accessory of the race WAS a stroller!

A few of our friends participated and many of Bjorn's fellow officers at the squadron also participated.  It was also fun to have our friend, Jason, come out to support us (the kids first time meeting Mr. Jason) and also seeing guys from Bjorn's days in flight school.  Although there was beautiful Florida sunshine, the Jacksonville humidity also joined us for the run at 5pm!  This is fabulous for the mother and daughter who sweats at the mere mention of the H word...heat!  

The kids did fabulous at the run and the big kids got Daddy to sprint the last leg of the run...giggling and screaming in delight!  While Daddy and Audriana were off trying to do a second race, Haakon got to hop on the fire engine and pretend to drive.  He LOVED it and I had to snatch his hands away from pushing all the buttons in the truck!  Audriana also got to sit in the truck when she got back.  After the run, we took the kids to the Dive Bar (yes, responsible parenting at its best) where the big kids expressed a little too much interest in the tattoo parlor next door.  By the time we got home, Haakon was passed out, Audriana decided that she couldn't walk anymore and Espen was hankering for the last meal wagon of the night and a crib to fall asleep in.  What a fabulous day!

Before the race

After the race

Haakon admiring the fire truck

Haakon and his medal for finishing the race

Haakon pretending to drive the truck.  Notice the look he is giving the fireman :)

Audriana checking out the fire truck.

The kids' picnic dinner after the race with their friend, Andrew!

Baby Espen after the race...it tuckered him out!

Haakon and Mr. Jason checking out the engine together!

Pool Party!

The kids have been in school now for about two weeks and very quickly adjusting to the routine of getting ready for school during the week.  I have to admit that it has been pretty luxurious to run errands around town with just ONE baby, instead of three!

Haakon is loving his new teacher.  In fact, he loves to snuggle with her when he is feeling unsure or shy.  I think she might like snuggling with him, too.  He is a pretty good snuggler.  And like his sister, he appears to be excelling in lunch at school as well.  Haakon's new thing at home is to walk around the house with his short little pointy finger yelling "no" at everything (especially Scout).  He acts like a cranky old professor!

The big kids are getting to the point where they are starting to argue a little bit more over toys and chores.  The other day, Haakon was in the office, fiddling around and Audriana was sitting the living room with me.  Haakon came out of the office to come find us.  When it looked like Audriana was on her way to the office, Haakon quickly turned around and took off to for the office as well.  His little legs carrying him as fast as they could.   I know that he had no idea what Audriana was looking for, but it didn't matter.  He just had to get to it first!  They crack me up even when they are fighting....though, I know that that won't last long.

Audriana is also finally enjoying her teacher and the routine of getting back to school.  I don't know what they are learning at school, but she comes home to tell me that I have giraffes and zebras running in my ears and that she has to tell them to get out.  IT TICKLES like crazy when she starts talking and whispering gibberish into my ears to get these animals out.  And then she makes animal sounds to further encourage any monkeys or lions to come out that may also be in my ears.  As soon as they are out of mine, she makes me chase the animals out of her ears with the same procedure.  She is such a ham!

Bjorn took the day off and the kids didn't have school the other day.  So we had a family day at the pool.  Here are the pictures!

Espen lounging at the pool!

Haakon and Audriana down the froggy water slide!

Take a break from water play.

This water play evidently required a life jacket.  

Still snoozing at the pool side.

Water break!

Peering from the froggy's mouth.

Summer's Last Hurrah...

I know that we were suppose to have already said goodbye to Summer and greet Fall.  However, I forgot to share our last summer vacation pictures with you all.

For the last year, it has been my goal to pack the kids up and spend some time in Tampa, Florida.  Bjorn and I had never been there...nor have the kids for that matter.  I really wanted to get down there because the Glazer Children's Museum is there.  Additionally, the Florida Aquarium was a nice added bonus to be a few blocks away.

Bjorn has been very reluctant to agree to the road trip.  Primarily because he thinks it is poor usage of time to drive three and half hours, one way, for the children to play at the museum for only a few hours.  I think that despite the long drive (though, we did just do a 14-hour drive up to D.C. over the 4th of July and the kids did FANTASTIC), it is worth it because it creates not only experiences for the kids (both in the car and at the museum), but also allows us to spend time together without the distractions of being cooped up in the house at the height of the Florida summer.  In a post a while back, the Te/Anderson kids went wild at the Minnesota Children's Museum.  Since we became members of that particular museum, we get reciprocity at other children's museum across the country (what a great deal for military families...or any family who moves a lot!).  So it has been my mission to visit as many children's museum as possible who are part of the reciprocity program.  Since we are moving to the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, there is a very good chance that we will be able to hit up more children's museum.

Anyways, so last weekend we recruited a few of our friends and their kids to join us for the trip.  We all got up at the crack of dawn and made the nearly 4 hour trek down to Tampa.  We timed it so that we would hit the Glazer around the time it opens, play, grab lunch, hit the Aquarium, eat an early dinner and then drive back home with the kids in their jammies.  Well, we hit our first snag at 10:40.  Our friends got to the Glazer before we did.  Apparently the line to get in was out the door and around the corner.  And they were informed that the museum was a near max capacity and that it would probably be a 1-2 hour wait in the Florida heat!  Forty minutes after opening and it was already at hear max capacity!  We could not believe it.  So we re-planned and decided to hit the aquarium instead.  We grabbed lunch and then tried the museum again.  It worked!  The kids only got to play for about an hour since they were gettin' cranky for not having a proper nap (other than a quick snooze in their carseats en route).  We made it back home by about 8:30 and tucked everyone in.