Future Olympic Curlers!

5th Annual McChung Bonspiel

The 5th Annual McChung Bonspiel had an Olympic theme this year! In fact, Vinh opened the spiel with an oh so inspirational speech that the winning team would receive a bid to the 2014 Olympic games!! Each team represented an "unrepresented" country with team Fiji taking the bonspiel...and of course the traveling trophy! All in all everyone had a great time...including the losing teams that had to grace us with their mad karoke skills...

Team Yemen (Novotny's) bringing down the house with a rendition that was quite memorable...they come from a land down under!!

Grandpa Jack and Mom led us in the "Grand Ole Game" song...after Grandpa explained that he has led that same song many times over in years past...only usually after a "few hookers"! This of course led to a crowd of laughs...ending with Grandpa explaining that "hookers" actually meant drinks :)

Here's the crew after another successful bonspiel...it's amazing how tired the day makes all of us!!

New this year was the McChung daycare for the bonspiel...Grandma Jeanie had her hands full with Addy and her friend Xavier Haffley. The kids enjoyed their playtime and naps...like mother like daughter...I remember basically growing up at the curling club :)

Addy's 6 Months Old

We can't believe our little girl is 6 months old already. We've looked at each other multiple times this weekend saying just that! Addy had her 6 month appointment last Thursday and was a trooper. She weighed in at 17 lbs and 26 1/2 inches long. Both measurements land her in the 75th percentile...'atta girl! She got 5 shots too...not so cool :( She was able to get the seasonal flu and H1N1 shots, too now that she's 6 months old.

Of course, I save up all my questions that I want the doctor to answer in my favor so that it convinces Vinh of it :) The first being SLEEP!! Addy has turned into not the best sleeper over the last month or so waking up multiple times during the night and still being fed once in the middle of the night. Dr. Swann assured us that she was now big enough to sleep through the night without getting up to be fed...WHOO HOOO! Vinh proceeded to ask how we should go about getting her to sleep through the night (I didn't even have to prod him to ask that...). The answer was to let her cry it out. That wasn't what Vinh wanted to hear, but I knew it would be the answer and I knew Addy would survive :) She has done just that and become a better sleeper in just the past few nights...in case you're wondering...Vinh has survived, too! We are all happier and healthier because of it :)

The other questions involved eating...Addy's doing really well in that area. Vinh's continued his cooking skills and become a baby food connoisseur...Addy loves it! (and so do I)

Our Little Ruffle-butt Girls

Addy had her first swimming lesson on Sunday with her friends Julia Omang and Ella Hoffman! They all had the cutest little swim suits...ruffle-butts and all. Adds loved the water and was all about kicking her little legs to get around. Mom was even brave enough to dunk her twice. There were no tears just AWE after coming up. The girls had a blast. Ella was really good at blowing bubbles in the water, but decided to drink the pool in the mean time...unfortunately she preceeded to throw up all over her Mom...poor little girl :( That meant swim lessons were OVER as we had to clear the pool so they could clean it!! Juls was so bummed..."mo simming, mo simming"!

Juls & Adds while singing "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall..." (seriously couldn't remember the words!)

Beth & Juls enjoying the water

Adds on the look-out

(note "objects under water may appear larger than they are"...it was just as exciting for Beth and I to find ourselves in swimsuits...thankfully without ruffle-butts)

We are learning that Addy is an avid observer of all her surroundings. I'm always amazed at how she is so intent on watching everything that is going on around her. She must get that from her Daddy!!

Can't Get Enough...

...of those giggles! Addy absolutely gets a kick out of her Daddy :)

A Blessed 2009!

As we look to ring in 2010 I think back to all the blessings that we received in 2009. Addison has been such a miracle! I thought about putting together a Christmas letter...and that's as far as that got :) So I figured I do some reflecting on our blog.

What a year we've had. From pregnancy classes to the "real deal", it's been an amazing ride! Vinh and I often look at Addy and simply say "can you believe we created this?" :) We have absolutely enjoyed these past months and seeing our family grow.

My maternity leave went by so quickly and we've all adjusted pretty well into the routine of our work week. Addy enjoys going to A-Ya & A-Ma's house during the week all while juggling seeing Uncle Phuong and Aunt Kristina on any given day based on schedules. Our little girl is definitely learning to be flexible as each day is "an adventure". Vinh has coined a new title for himself as "primary caregiver" during the week as he does the pick-ups and drop-offs and everything in between. We feel so blessed to have Addy spending so much time with family!

Vinh is still at the U of MN and I'm still at Navarre. We both enjoy what we do which makes it that much more rewarding. I've taken on additional responsibilities at Navarre and am enjoying the new challenges and learning how to juggle work and family. I know I couldn't possibly do it without Vinh! Vinh continues to run the JO volleyball club that he started, NIVC. The program is in it's fifth year and has three teams. Vinh loves coaching and in this capacity gets to mentor his coaches.

This Christmas was a whole new experience with Addy as a part of it. We wanted to share some of our favorite moments. We were able to celebrate the McCabe Christmas at the farm the weekend before Christmas and then the Chung Christmas on Christmas Eve where we all stayed over at Phuong and Mariah's. Addy was amazed by all the chaos of gift opening and such. Her real interest was in eating the wrapping paper. She got LOTS of fun stuff and of course Vinh had to put it ALL together so basically our living room looks like a Fisher Price Ad :)

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's Official...

...she's a gigglin' girl now! Daddy loves to make her laugh at any and all opportunities. I enjoy watching :) Addy's growing everyday. It's amazing how I feel like I'm transitioning her closet with new clothes every weekend as she seems to grow out of the size that I just get transitioned to. It's more stressful figuring out what she's going to wear than dressing myself!