Ballet & Tap

This fall, Olivia and Grace both participated in ballet and tap classes through the Art Haus.  They both enjoyed their classes (separate ones), and it was fun to see them practicing their skills the last few minutes of class each Saturday when it came to pick-up time.  This was Grace's first year participating in this particular program, and I think she was the most "into-it" of the girls; Liv did just fine too, but she's just shyer about performance in general than Miss Show Queen Grace.  :)  A few weeks ago (yes, I'm behind in this post), was their dance concert.

Grace's consisted of showing off the various skills they'd learned and two short dances - one ballet, one tap.  Liv's was about the same with longer dances.  Gracie did a really awesome job - she'd come and give us high fives (the performance was just in their regular room with a lot of extra chairs all around for parents) after various parts, and she didn't seem to mind having all eyes on her! 

 

 

 

 

 

While Grace was all about it, Liv, definitely is not one for performance (hence only one picture of her below).  Art Haus is a pretty small place for a dance concert; Liv was definitely not feeling the over-crowdedness, and, unfortunately, spent most (basically all) her concert standing next to me.  (This was the second time she's done that actually.)  It's hard to know how "to parent" Liv when she goes through moments like this...this time, part of me sympathized and didn't want to force her to do anything, another part wanted to make her do it, and the other part, I have to admit, was a bit embarrassed and/or irritated.  This, however, I realize, is ridiculous because none of her performance was really about me and my job is just to support but not force and to be positive about what she does and positively constructive about how she can improve.  I felt sad too because she was sad; I think she really wanted to perform but just couldn't do it - this is what I gathered through the mumblings and tears after it was over.  Olivia's teacher was wonderful though and came up and gave her a great big hug telling her how great she always did in class and how she can try again at the next concert or can just keep coming to class if that's what she likes.  Another little girl in class (Olivia's dance partner who ended up dancing solo), also came up after and told her that she didn't dance the first three concerts either - I thought that was pretty sweet of her and very empathetic.  Seeing the sympathy a peer could extend made me realize that shyness is not something I should get irritated about; I might as well embrace it and help Olivia learn to overcome it as she's ready...I have a feeling this is what my mom might have had to do with me as well.

 You an see the shyness in Liv's posture...

especially the hand in mouth.

And, despite the performance issues (for lack of a better word), Olivia said she wants to sign up for the next session and so did Grace. This spring, the concert will officially be in an auditorium.  When I told Olivia this, I think she understood (as they danced in Luther's gym last spring) and was comforted by it.  She told me she liked it better when she wasn't so close to everyone (the audience, I'm assuming).  So, we'll give it a go, but my attitude this time is a bit different - no pressure, just have fun.  If Liv performs in the end, it'll just be an added bonus...and, I'm not too worried about Grace - pretty sure she'll have fun and perform!  :)

Thanksgiving Recap

Before it gets to be Christmas, I thought I'd better get a Thanksgiving post written!  To give an excuse...I was waiting for "The Annual Huinker Family Turkey Trot" press-release to be written, and as I noticed this morning that my sister-in-law Beth had published it on her blog, I figured I'd better get myself into action.  But first, a little re-cap of  the weekend activities...

Thursday - We spent a nice lunchtime/afternoon at Pat and Roger's enjoying delicious steaks and tasty pumpkin pie.

Friday - After a relaxing day around the house and visiting with good friends Scott and Meleah, we headed out to Brian's aunt and uncle's house.  It was quite the gathering that included the Browns (Tara's husband's family - both parents + siblings + kids), the Kruses (Brian's aunt and uncle + kids), all the Hodens, and all the Huinkers.  Tony and Tara were definitely missed and were the subject oftentimes....in case their ears were ringing, they now know why.  After coming home and getting kiddos to bed, the adults (as in, our-age adults) all gathered at our house for conversation and games while the various grandmas and grandpas took on babysitting duties.

Saturday - A day at Pat and Roger's which included The 13th Annual Huinker Family Turkey Trot, more delicious food, lots of playing amongst the kiddos, a little shopping for Beth and me, and a sleepover for Olivia and Grace.

Sunday - Time to catch up on sleep - everyone took naps, and I took two!

And...here it is - the Turkey Trot Press Release brought to you by Beth Hoden...

Turkey Trot 2013

As most of you know, the turkey trot has not been one of my favorite traditions.  Every year I start thinking about it mid-October and every year I do nothing other than think about it!  Other than year 1 (2001) when Brian was still recovering from his broken leg, arm, foot, etc. and the year that Amanda was 7 months pregnant with Grace (2009), I have gotten last place. So basically, I have never beaten a legitimate competitor. Until now. Thus...I am doing the recap this year. I told myself years ago that if I ever beat someone, I would write it! So here goes...

The tradition we all love to hate continues for a 13th consecutive year. Rules remain the same. You run it no matter where you are in the world. Never did we think this would actually mean someone would be running it on another continent!

Unbelievable weather in Decorah on race day (Saturday November 30) It was a bit windy on the straight away, but overall we couldn't have asked for a nicer day to run!

Runners started the race at 10:30 AM...just in time for us to recover slightly from the night before, for Grady to be up from his nap, and to allow the kids to eat lunch and be at the free movie matinee with Grandpa Rog by noon!

Kiddos were fabulous this year. All 4 of the big kids (Max, Mya, Olivia and Grace) gave it their best shot. To see those little legs moving around the track was awesome. At the 3/4 point of the first lap, Chris was yelling at Max to slow down. He was keeping up with him step for step. Olivia, Mya and Max all finished the race and got a recorded time! Grace officially completed 3 laps, but we could count it as 4 considering how much running (just not on the track) she did.  Looking forward to watching these guys grow up together and continuing the tradition.

Everyone really enjoyed not being lapped this year. Spirits were much higher at the end of the race, even if times were down a bit.  :)

Yellow shirts were in full effect. It took some digging, but we found our old "Go Tara" shirts from 2007 and made some homemade "Go Tony" shirts. It was sad that they weren't there to run with us, but we wanted them to be with us in spirit!

Twenty two days after giving birth, after completing lap one at a walk, Amanda was out jogging around the track while pushing the stroller and finishing with a respectable time all things considered.

Rog and Pat were on kid patrol and timing duty. I fully expect Rog will be back in action next year. A certain 2 year old was a handful this year.  :) She wanted to continue the tradition that one kid has to start bawling as soon as everyone takes off. Next year my bet is on Grady.

Overseas runners didn't quite get the trot in on time even though they are 15 hours ahead of us. Tony had to leave for mainland Japan, so they were a little late on the run. Don't worry though...we did not reveal our times until after they ran. I didn't want them having an unfair advantage! (like they need it, but hey..)

Times for 2013 are as follows:
#1: Anthony Brown: 5:54
#2: Chris Hoden 7:48
#3: Tara Brown 8:20
#4: Max Hoden 9:02
#5: Beth Hoden 9:04
#6: Brian Huinker 10:35
#7: Mya Hoden & Olivia Huinker: 12:55
#8: Amanda Huinker: 13:35

                                                      proof that Tara ran one mile:)

4 Weeks Already!

 

Today, Grady is 4 weeks old...where has the time gone.  Our little guy is doing great!  This last week in particular has proven that Grady is...

* Very cooperative, calm, and easy going (We shopped together for 2 hours today with not a peep out of him!).

* Transitioning out of the "I'm sleepy all the time" newborn stage - he likes to be awake now for at least an hour at a time, sometimes more....but, there's also times during the day that he wakes up, eats, and then goes back to sleep too.

* A big fan of a nice morning and afternoon nap and an early bedtime...perhaps a schedule (of sorts) forming already - that would be very nice!  Grady also drifts off on his own if I lay him down for a nap and just the right "sleepy but still awake" stage.

* Not sensitive to the noise the girls make and comforted by them - especially since they've mastered helping him get a hold of his paci if necessary.

* A strong little guy who's determined to learn to hold his head up as soon as possible - thus, he does pretty well at tummy time, likes to sleep on his tummy during the day, and likes to look around when propped up against your chest (when he's not ready to cuddle in, that is).

* Big enough that newborn diapers are starting to look a little silly on him.

* Starting to smile; today (even though it's a bit early), I swear he smiled at me after getting all warm and cozy in a fleece outfit after his bath!  One of the pictures below has a "smile" look to it, I think!  :)

* An excellent eater who's still on (approximately) a 3 hour schedule all the time...with some longer stretches at night (a whooping 4 hours!) which leave me feeling like I won the lottery in the sleep department.  You can tell from the pictures that he's starting to fill out.

* Both a cuddler and a baby who's content to have a little alone time too - he's really liking his swing right now and watches the mobile attached to it.  He seems to like the music it plays too.

* Starting to like his baths - if only it wasn't cold coming out!

* A very sweet little one who's already growing too fast for my liking!

Enjoy a few pictures of our expressive "little buddy" (as Olivia and Grace have started to call him)!

We Are Thankful...

We are thankful for so much...two precious girls and this happy little man...

A Kiddo Update

A few new facts (and pictures from my recent at-home attempt at a photo shoot) about Mr. Grady...

1.  At his two week check, he weighed in at 8 pounds 13 ounces and was 22 inches long - doing great all around! 

2.  Grady's an excellent eater, a pretty impressive burp-er, and a relatively consistent 3-hour eater (with an occasional 4-hour stretch at night - hope this start to become more frequent).  At night, he takes care of business pretty quickly; we only have trouble if he eats too quickly because then he seems to get a bit of an upset tummy.

 3.   Overall, Grady continues to be an incredibly content little man.  He's rarely truly upset, totally okay with whatever noise the girls dish out, great at giving lots of good cuddles, but also really good at drifting off and napping on his own too (maybe because I let him sleep on his tummy sometimes during the day - shhhh). 

4.  Other random facts:  Grady enjoys his swing, still occasionally pees through diapers at night even though I moved him up a size), shows me he needs to burp by bobbing his head all over the place, has some pretty impressive neck control, and, as far as I can tell, doesn't mind his car seat.

And, a few new facts about Miss Olivia and Miss Grace...

1.  Olivia is getting her 6-year-old molars...probably about a month ago she told me she felt something felt funny in her mouth.  I ignored her at first, but after watching her make weird faces for awhile, I had her show me her mouth...sure enough...the two bottom molars are popping through - they're taking their sweet time about it though!

2.  In combination with the molars, Liv's got two loose teeth!  Crazy!  And, of course, as she has been trying to tell me she has a "loose tooth" for the last six months, she was VERY excited when I told her she was right this time!

3.  Besides having a slight regression in her manners, Grace's newest thing is to talk about two things with relative consistency:  Who is the biggest/smallest in our family? and Who is the cutest in our family?  First question...easy answer.  Second question...we tried to be real neutral about this one at first, but quickly realized that she thinks Grady is the cutest, so obviously we should all think the same.  :)

4.  Both girls continue to be great with Grady...Liv likes to hold him a lot more than Grace, but even more than holding, she just likes to cuddle next to him on the floor - Grace is similar in this.  They both love touching his hair, and Olivia is trying to take possession of one of his "silkies" because she "lost" hers.  Actually, she just stopped using her silkies for over a week, so I hid them - only to have her ask for them a day later.  We've told her we don't know where they went...Grady's may have to disappear for awhile too, I think, while we work through this transition.  Grace loves helping give Grady his baths - she's very hands on and very gentle with this...Liv is more about helping me get the baths set up up and observing the entire process.

Sisterly Love

Olivia and Grace are fantastic big sisters!  I just love how they treat Grady and care about him so much already...

Grace:  Grace is my perpetual narrator...when they came to see Grady after he was born, Brian met them in the waiting room with a short video of Grady getting cleaned up and measured by the nurses.  She probably watched this at least 50 times in a row (thankfully it's short) and 100 times since then!  Throughout came the comments:  He's naked...he has poop on his butt, he has boy parts, he's sad...he wants his mommy, what's that thing on his belly (belly button clamp), he's so little, he's so cute....  I know I'm missing so many others - tell me what else you remember so I can get it on record!  Needless to say, her comments were both cute and funny.  She was very excited about holding Grady immediately, but now, she mostly likes to come up and cuddle his head and touch him.  She comes running any time she hears him cry and talks to him in a "mommy voice" to sooth him which bring tears to my eyes.  Grace wasn't perturbed by my being in the hospital at all; lately, she's very interested in nursing, likes to talk about nipples (ha!), and is intrigued by the breast pump - she also likes to make comparisons to what Grady's doing and what she, Olivia, Mom, Dad, and anyone else she can think of did when they were babies.  Grace is very conscientious about giving Grady kisses before she goes anywhere and at nap/bed time.  She's looking forward to "helping" give him a bath this weekend.

Olivia:  Unlike Grace, Olivia was very quiet at the hospital - my perpetual observer.  She was so excited for Grady to arrive.  One night she asked me if the baby would come tonight, and I told her to "cross her fingers."  I didn't know I'd never said this to her, but after some explanation she caught on to the phrase!  At the hospital, Olivia, surprisingly didn't want to hold Grady for nearly as long as I expected.  She, unlike her sis, was a little more surprised and concerned about me and wanted to know about my clothes, my IV, my slippers, my bed, etc.  However, opening her gift from Grady helped distract her from these things temporarily.  But, when they came to see me Friday and Saturday, Olivia had a hard time leaving; she got really cuddly to me and shed a few tears - Olivia was probably the most happy when I came home from the hospital.  Since then, Olivia's been a little mommy - just like we were all expecting.  She sat with Grady for an entire hour one day and frequently holds him...she's one I don't hesitate to leave the room with because she won't move an inch unless Grady starts fussing.  She checks on Grady constantly and is super helpful giving me reports on what he's doing if I'm in a different room and getting me whatever it is I'm requesting. Olivia's interested in the whole eating process too, but she doesn't ask nearly the amount of questions (repetitive ones!) as Grace.  She too is excited about giving Grady a bath this weekend.

I can't wait to watch the sibling bond grow between these three.  I've been so pleased at the lack of jealousy I've seen, and while this may not always be the case, I'm impressed with their loving-ness and maturity thus far.  Olivia and Grace certainly qualify as excellent big sisters, I'm pretty confident that they're going to be major recipients of Grady's first smiles and laughs. 

One Week Old...

It's hard to believe how quickly a week has slipped by...and it's overwhelming to think about how quickly your life can change.  Our first week with Grady has been a really great one, and to quote Brian, "This has been the smoothest transition yet."

We're both giving many thanks to my mom for this; her help this week was invaluable, and as much as I tried not to, I shed a few tears when she left Thursday afternoon.  She left me with a clean house, plenty of food in the fridge, and no laundry - priceless.

We came home from the hospital last Saturday afternoon.  Grady weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces then, and when we went back on Monday for our weight check he was 8.3, which the nurse was very happy with...speaking of the nurse - he peed all over her - quite honestly, the sight of pee arching through the air stunned me into immobility!  :)  We do have to go back in for another infant screening blood test because Grady's thyroid number was a little off; however, this is the most common "error" in the screening process (happened with Olivia too), so I'm not worried about it - just know it's a good idea to get tested again to make sure all is well; too bad the test comes with a needle prick.

Grady is such a good baby - he's so calm and easily comforted.  He likes his swaddle at night but doesn't seem to care about it too much otherwise; however, he does really like to have his hands up by his face when he's swaddled.  With the girls I always wrapped them with their arms down, but I've not done this with Grady because he doesn't seem to distract or scare himself by flailing them around like Olivia and Grace did.  Same goes with the pacifier: sometimes he likes it, but it never seems to be a necessity.  Each morning he's taken a long three hour nap which I've taken advantage of and gotten some napping in myself.  It would be great if this trend would continue!  Days have been pretty easy this week too - Grady likes to hang out in his swing, seems to enjoy tummy time (his neck strength is pretty impressive), and loves to be cuddled.  It's been fun to have some longer awake times during the day too - especially these last couple of days.  Noise doesn't seem to be an issue for Grady at all thankfully because while Olivia can be pretty quiet, this is not the case for Grace!  :)  Nights have been pretty good too with Grady getting up every three hours or so - the best part about nights is that Grady's pretty quick to go back to sleep.

What else...yesterday we had a pretty calm bath time - I hope he learns to love his baths as much as his sisters because this was such a nice night-time ritual, and he's stopped getting upset (most of the time) when I change his diaper.  As of last night, I'm officially moving him up a diaper size at night-time...we've had an occasional wet through at night, but last night, after changing his outfit and blanket three times, I decided a bigger diaper might be helpful!  His belly button is almost ready to fall off and his circumcision has healed really nicely.  Every once in a while Grady seems to get a little troubled with gas, but I've started some drops that seem to be helping with this and in addition I'm not having much to do with milk just in case that's part of it.

Overall, it's been a relatively peaceful week here at the Huinker house...I feel like I have a good case of "baby" brain as this entry is kind of all over the place, but I guess that's to be expected too!  Hope you enjoyed a few updated pictures!

A Few More Pictures

I'm going a little crazy with posts...so make sure you scroll down to see them all!  My friend Auny was so kind as to stop by to take some pictures of Grady yesterday.  More are coming, but these are what she emailed to me last night.  I love, love, love them!  I'm so fortunate to have a talented friend who was willing to share her skills with us.  Thank you Auny!

A Birth Story

As you know, I was feeling quite ready for Grady to make his appearance!  After a few long days and nights with plenty of irregular contractions and lower back aches after Monday's appointment, I called the clinic to check in.  Thankfully, they squeezed me in right away on Thursday morning...I was happy to hear that my uncomfortableness was justified - I had dilated to 4cm and was 70% effaced - Dr. Menke also said my bag of water was "bulging" and that if we had been in OB he would have gone ahead and broke it.  After some discussion of the day's events, we decided I would report back to OB at 5:00.

So report we did...I was a little more dilated and a little more effaced after a day full of contractions about 10 minutes apart or so. At approximately 5:45, Dr. Menke broke my water; this was painless for all involved.  It took maybe 15 minutes or so for my contractions to really get a move on - very similar to how it was with Grace.  At 6:40 the nurse decided to check me again as the contractions were extremely regular and getting pretty intense (this was definitely freaking Brian out - he asked me a number of times if he should get the nurse before I actually let him!).  I was only at 5cm but was 100% effaced.  I feel like overall, I handled the pain of everything well; I did a better job breathing through contractions instead of holding my breath which I struggled with with Grace.  I think I'll thank two years of yoga and some mental toughness from running the half last fall for that!  :)

Back to the story...the nurse, who was there for Grace's birth as well, was very supportive.  She said, "You can do this...after seeing how things went last time, you can make it; you're going to have a baby by 7:00."  She left the room for a few minutes after that, and Brian said, "Amanda, it's 6:50 - we could have a baby in 10 minutes."  What!?!

After that, everything got pretty intense. The room filled with my doctor and 4 nurses (as they were in the middle of a schedule switch).  The contractions continued intensely - basically I dilated almost a centimeter a contraction.  When it came time to push, I ended up having to role a little bit onto my left side - Grady was doing great overall, but being on my left side at a 45 degree angle seemed to make him happiest.  Thankfully there were four nurses to help out as there's no way I could have kept myself in that position without them.

Pushing started shortly, and, needless to say, that was intense.  Unlike with the girls, this time I could tell that Grady moved back when I stopped pushing after a contraction was over.  This did encourage me to take advantage of the contractions though!  Brian stayed right by my shoulder and let me give his hand some serious squeezing through the pushing process, and the doctors and nurses were so encouraging telling me about the type of progress being made with each push.  My doctor even made me laugh a few times in between contractions, and I remember hearing everyone laugh when Brian told them I had driven us over the the hospital myself - my response to that was that we knew who the real "man of the house" was!  :)

A difference from the girls was that once Grady's head was out, he didn't just come out smoothly with no effort like the girls.  This time more pushing was required to get shoulders and a body out!  :)  Wonder why...thank you 8 pounds 9 ounces!  Something I loved about having a bigger baby who wasn't so traumatized by the whole delivery thing...he got put on my chest after being born and got to stay there!  Both the girls were quickly taken to their little beds to be monitored by the respiratory doctor, but Grady and I just got to hang out.  I may have shed a couple of tears.

After delivery, it took a while for me to get cleaned up...I had a number of stitches placed in addition to just needing time to breath and relax.  After Grady nursed a little, Brian was able to bring the girls in; they were so sweet; they'd been anxiously waiting since Grandma and Grandpa had picked them up from daycare and told them that the baby was on his way!  They each took a turn holding him and were excited to open their present from the baby which included new pajamas, new "big sister" shirts, and some other goodies.  I will write more about their reactions to our new addition soon. Pat, Roger, and my mom, were also able to come in and see Grady - it was really special sharing his name with everyone:  Grady - Pat's maiden name...Brian had told his grandma Grady that this would be the name of our boy (if we were every to have one) before she passed away, and Lawrence - my grandpa's Hanz's name.

How to conclude...I think I'll keep it simple:  I'm happy with my story.

Finally here!

Grady Lawrence Huinker entered the world on November 7, 2013 at 7:20pm.  He was 8 pounds 9 ounces and 21 inches long - a much bigger baby than was expected!  I will definitely write more later, but here are a few of our first pictures of Grady entering the world and meeting his family.

This was the first thing Olivia showed me 

Friday morning when they came to visit again...