New Blog to Follow?

I think it's fair to say that I'm addicted to blogging. I don't just mean my own either. I check my friends' blogs daily because the stories they share about their lives and kids are very entertaining and sometimes make my roller coaster of a life seem mild by comparison.

Well, it looks like there's a chance I could soon have another blog to feed my addiction. You see, my cousin, Robert, & his wife were blessed with their first child on Tuesday. Alexxus Marie was born on January 6th at 3:27 pm weighing in at a healthy 8lbs, 4 oz.

That makes our dear Aunt Glenda & Uncle Robert GRANDPARENTS!!! A title I'm sure they will enjoy for many years to come. Congratulations to our growing Texas family!

Snuck a Peek

It's a tooth! Actually, I should say TEETH because as of this morning I could see 2 little slivers of white right next to each other. They haven't quite come through the gum yet, but they are both right there and could surface any time now. Luckily, we haven't noticed any fussiness, and Baylor's gums aren't really inflamed. As always, he's a fountain of drool, and he has been chewing on his fingers constantly for the past few days. Otherwise, no real signs that we are about to hit a milestone.

Jax had a pretty easy time with teething with the exception of the molars. Those were a nightmare! Poor kid was absolutely miserable and his gums were so inflamed strangers felt the need to comment on how sore they looked. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we've been blessed with another easy teether. Lightning can strike twice, right?!

99% Sure

I'm almost positive that Baylor has cut his first tooth. We've been checking his mouth religiously for any sign that he has lost the title of "Ruthless Toothless," but as of this morning, there was zero evidence indicating we'd need to come up with a new nickname anytime soon.

Then tonight, as I was feeding him his mashed peas for dinner, (which by the way has got to be the grossest baby food on the market) I noticed the tiniest white sliver on his bottom gum. At first, I thought it was probably just a bit of banana, his first course this evening, but as I looked closer, it most definitely wasn't banana.

Of course, as soon as Baylor saw me trying to look in his mouth, he made it priority #1 to prevent me from seeing his prized jewel. I even recruited Anh to help me check, but Baylor wasn't the least bit cooperative. It was difficult enough to pry his mouth open to sneak a peek. Don't let his size fool ya! The kid has jaws of steel. Then, once we had his mouth open, he blocked our view with his tongue. In a final attempt, Anh ran his finger along Baylor's gum, but insisted he couldn't feel anything. So, for now, it's Baylor's little secret. Sooner or later though, I'll catch him off guard and confirm my suspicions. There's a tooth in there! I know it!

Time for the Next Step

Baylor is out of control! He's all over the place & into everything! I seriously don't know what's gotten into him, but all of a sudden, this week he's on a mission to explore every square inch of this house and wreak as much havoc as possible. I now can't take my eyes off of him for a second. If he's not trying to crawl in the fireplace, then he's trying to climb the stairs or he's pulling DVDs out of the bookcase or crawling into the kitchen cabinets or shredding any paper that he can get his hands on into a gazillion pieces.

The simplest solution would be in invest in a nice cage, but something tells me that's not the right approach. So, I'll move on to the next round of baby-proofing. It's time to dig out the cabinet locks, and I'll need to invest in a safety gate for the stairs and possibly the fireplace. I've already started closing doors to prevent him from slamming his fingers and to try to contain the whirlwind of chaos that seems to follow him now.

I knew this day was coming. I remember when Jax entered this phase. I think a small part of me thought maybe Jax was just a little hellion or something, and Baylor would be more mild mannered. Wrong! Oh, so wrong! I don't know what I'm going to do when Baylor gets faster on 2 feet. The day is quickly approaching too. He's already testing his balance by letting go of the furniture. Yikes!

Mothers, Trust Your Instincts

When will I learn to trust my motherly instincts? I guess on some level I still question whether I know what I'm doing because I still tend to put that little nagging voice in my head on ignore when it comes to the kids.

Like for instance, last night when we were on our way home from picking up Aunt Nguyen at the airport. Anh and Grandfather were in the front seat of the truck, and was in the middle section with the boys. However, after picking up Aunt Nguyen, I surrendered my middle seat in favor of the 3rd row.

Both boys were happy to see their Aunt, but Baylor who has always been particularly fond of Aunt Nguyen was just mesmerized by her presence. I'm not really sure why Baylor loves her so much, but I like to think that it makes up for the fact that Jax has always made it his mission in life to give her a hard time. Not in a bratty way, but in a teasing manner. For example, he'll make a huge production out of telling Mommy & Daddy goodnight before bed, but then when prompted to tell Aunt Nguyen goodnight, he'll look at her with a sly grin and say, "I don't like Aunt Nguyen." then bound up the stairs. I assure you he loves his Aunt, but he just loves teasing her as well.

So anyway, back to last night. We're cruising home, and Baylor starts to fuss. Instinctively, Aunt Nguyen reaches for the bottle because 80% of the time that is why our "always happy" baby fusses. The other 20% of the time, it's because you just took something away from him that he worked so hard to get his hands on. Well, that little voice in my head said, "That's weird. I can't believe he's still hungry. I just feed him." I just ignored that little voice though because he sucked down 3/4 of a bottle in record time. I guess he was hungry.

Well, wouldn't you know it, a little farther down the road he proceeds to projectile vomit everything he just drank, plus whatever else was leftover from the earlier bottle all over himself, the car seat, and Aunt Nguyen. I'm sure she had to be thinking, "Nice to see you again too, Baylor!" Then, Jax started to gag and without hesitation, Aunt Nguyen tells him, "Don't you start too!"

Thank goodness all this happened right as we pulled into our neighborhood. Baylor wasn't happy to be covered in his own throw-up, and pretty much everyone else in the car was grossed out. I'm sure it was only a matter of time before someone else would have gagged. If only I had listened to that little voice, but I guess then I wouldn't have this delightful story to share with you. Lucky you!

The Roar

Every year, one of our local hospitals holds a fundraiser at the Speedway. It's called the Roar Before the Rolex 24 because it's held in the special VIP club area of the Speedway during the qualifying weekend for the Rolex 24 race. Last year, Anh took Grandfather as his +1, and they were able to rub elbows with some of the biggest names on the circuit. They just had no idea who they were at the time. The highlight of the night was when they took a ride around the track in a pace car traveling in excess of 165 mph. At the end of the night, Grandfather said, "That was the experience of a lifetime. When will we go next year?"

Well, a year has passed, and Grandfather once again accompanied Anh as his +1 to The Roar. This year, it was actually Anh +2 because they snuck in another race fan. The +2 had another memorable evening. Jax even found his dream car. He really believes that he will be driving this neon green Porsche when he "gets bigger." Should we start the pool now on how long it will take to get his first speeding ticket?

The boys wandered around the garage area for a while, talking with the mechanics and team managers that don't get any of the glory, but are arguably the true masterminds behind the team's success.There were some more recognizable names milling around, as well. Danica Patrick was there, but sadly they couldn't track her down. They also missed Patrick Dempsey, Dr. Dreamy from Grey's Anatomy. Although, Jax did have a brief encounter with Juan Pablo Montoya, one of the big name Nascar drivers.And, not quite as famous, Mike Johnson from MTV's Real World London is a team manager. The team's driver, Andrew Davis, is obviously more well known on the circuit, but because The Real World was considered "required viewing" for our generation, Mike was more recognizable.

One crew let Jax get up close and personal with the fuel canisters. Very cool until they demonstrated the refueling routine.

Notice they are wearing fire retardant headgear, and one has a fire extinguisher in his hand ready to extinguish any flames, meanwhile the boys are close enough to feel the heat from any explosion. Nice!After thoroughly checking out just about every car in the garage area, the boys headed over to pit row to see the cars qualifying. They actually had to be somewhat sly when it came to gaining access. They had all-access VIP passes (2 official badges issued by the Speedway & 1 "improvised" yet very official looking badge courtesy of one very creative Grandfather), but they weren't sure whether the youngest member of their crew would be allowed that close to the action.

The boys had luck on their side though. The security officer at the check point didn't say a word as they walked by. Jax was able to stand within inches of all the energy and chaos on pit row. After about 30 minutes, the head security officer did finally notice him leaning on the wall, and initially said he could stay. He would just have to move farther back, but eventually the security guard did say that Jax would have to leave the pit because of insurance regulations.

One of the crew chiefs felt bad that Jax had to leave and instructed him to head over to the team's trailer where his wife would be waiting with a bag of patches for him. Sure enough, she was waiting for him, and now he has some great souvenirs from his night out with the guys.

After one final photo opp with a Ferrari, the guys called it a night. Now, there are 2 race fans counting down the days until the next Roar. Thank goodness, they have the race in February to get them through.

Casa de Vu

Casa de Vu has been a whirlwind of activity lately. The first Christmas guest, Aunt Kelly, arrived on Wednesday, December 17th, and we've had guests ever since. This is not a complaint, by the way. We actually really enjoy entertaining our visitors, but never before have we had such a rush.

The family invasion for Disney & Christmas set a new record for volume. We had 14 people (and 6 dogs) under 1 roof, and I can honestly say we had room for more. Now, we know we can expand the party in the future.

As we bid our family farewell on Saturday, December 27th, our bed & breakfast management skills were put to the test. In a couple of hours, we were able to pick up the evidence of our holiday throwdown, scrub down the kitchen and bathrooms, and turn over the guest rooms just in time for our next round of visitors, Doug & Halie.

It was pretty much a seamless transition, if I do say so myself. Doug & Halie did have to settle for a take-out dinner on their first night here because I had to choose between a clean house and a full fridge. Somehow I just thought they'd appreciate the fresh sheets more than the home-cooked meal. Just a hunch.

Fast-forward through a week of fun to today, when we said good-bye to Doug & Halie just in time to once again welcome Grandfather. He's back in town for a "Guys Weekend" with Anh and Jax (Sorry, Baylor, maybe next year you'll be old enough to join in the fun.) at the Racetrack. Details to follow, of course.

Once again, we managed to pull off a quick round of cleaning prior to Grandfather's arrival. The Holiday Inn ain't got nothin' on me! Oh, and in case you're wondering. Casa de Vu will be displaying the Vacancy sign on Monday the 5th. Contact us directly for reservations.