Missing Vacation

As my sister and brother-in-law are just getting back from their vacation, I figured it was high time I post a few pictures from our trip we took - before Thanksgiving! Yes, I realize I'm ridiculously tardy once again in my posts! But, now's the time to think about warmer times as we encounter the coldest night of the winter - it's supposed to get down to -17! Yuck!

Our trip started on a Friday night with a late trip up to the Cities after my mom came down. It was so nice to not have to pack up the girls or worry about forgetting anything for them. Pat and Roger watched the girls Sunday-Thursday night when we got back around 11. They even stayed at our house so the girls would be as comfortable as possible. What great grandparents all around!

We stayed at a nice resort called - oh, no, it's been so long I can't even remember! But, anyways, it was great! Mexico was warm, we had some great nights out, and enjoyed some fun in the sun! I certainly hope we can take another trip next year!

Enough said...
We enjoyed being served on the beach, massages,
the hot tub, and lots of warm sun (with sunscreen of course)!

We took a day trip to Isla Mujeras on a catamaran - lots of fun!

Part our day trip was some snorkeling - an activity we all enjoyed despite our outfits!

What great friends! Hope can travel together again soon!

For the Love of Pronouns

This is the conversation I heard this morning as I was finishing getting ready while Brian and the girls were having breakfast...

Liv: Her hungry.

Brian: She's hungry.

Liv: No, her want more grapes.

Brian: She wants more grapes.

Liv: No, Gracie wants more.

Brian: Oh, Gracie. She wants more grapes.

Liv: Yeah, her hungry.

Grace Elizabeth - 11 Months

It's hard to believe that in one month Grace is going to be a year old already! How time flies! This last month has been a harder one for poor Grace. She's had persistent cold and teething issues and closed the year out with a bang - an sinus/ear infection. Poor kiddo....We're lucky that she's such a happy girl. Just a quick little update on what Grace is doing...

1. Teething: In the last two weeks we've had the appearance of three teeth - both top molars and a third tooth on the bottom. I also noticed today that her gums are really swollen where her bottom molars with be making their appearance. Ouch!

2. Waking up at night: I'm cutting her some slack here because of the cold and teething.

3. Obsessing over mommy: Per Brian's request, I'm trying to take the mommy obsession as a compliment. I'm sure someday I'm going to wish all she cared about was spending time with her mom. If I'm in the room, Gracie can be found somewhere between 1 foot to 1 inch from me and/or crawling all over me. I am expected to pay attention to and play with her at nearly all times, and if I don't, I can be expected to have a complainer on my hands. I will say it is quite nice to be so obviously loved.

4. Cuddling: Special cuddling started just around Christmas. I am the recipient of most of the cuddling which can include Grace resting her head on my shoulder, laying in my lap, and falling asleep in my arms after bedtime bottle. Cuddling was a constant from the beginning with Olivia, but until recently Grace was more a "just lay me down and leave me alone" girl. I'm enjoying the cuddles!

5. Getting into sitting position: For most kids this physical skill would have happened a while ago, but Grace didn't follow traditional order. Although Grace was pulling herself up, she couldn't go from being on her belly to just simply sitting without the aid of a pull up object. Now, though, she's a sitting queen. Why did I spend all that time worrying???

6. Working on leg strength: Grace is a huge fan of "jumping" (not off the ground of course!) and constantly pulling herself on everything possible. Grace can climb the stairs, and she's also started working her way around furniture. Occasionally Grace likes to hold our fingers and walk a bit, but I highly doubt she'll be walking at a year old.

7. Making messes: Gracie's big into making messes including but not limited to: pulling all the books off the shelves, knocking towers of blocks over, pulling apart any folded laundry she can get her hands on, throwing food on the floor , and pulling as many kleenex as possible out of the box (her way of telling me how much she hates getting her nose wiped).

8. Eating: Grace is not picky - unlike Olivia who still wouldn't touch a "bread" product to save her life. While at the doctor for the ear infection, Grace weighed 18.4 pounds with her clothes.

9. Exercising her sounds: There have only been a few (and possibly imagined) instances of mama. More common sounds are dada (for daddy and lots of other things), baba, gaga, guck (for a couple of days this was anything Grace was pointing at), ahhh and ehhh (for whatever it is I'm supposed to do for her - play ball, turn on a toy, pick her up, let her pull every magnet off the fridge or every blanket off her changing table, etc...), and ouuu (for things that are cool to her). For a while I thought we had a first word - uck (for duck), but I think I imagined that too!

My perfectionist self tells me I should have 10 items on my list, but my brain is fried. Too many late nights with too much schoolwork! Coming up: a 2 1/2 year post for Olivia and a happy 1st birthday post for Grace....

PS - A few more random interests/talents of Grace I thought of while editing this post: "so big," waving, rolling the ball back to you, turning pages in books, and peek-a-boo.

Livy's Christmas Dinner

Here's the video of Olivia enjoying her Christmas "snack" of beef tenderloin. Although the video isn't too long, if you could times what you see here by four or five, you might get an idea of how much Olivia ate! As you can see - she takes after her daddy. Gotta love it!

Christmas 2010

What a great way to end the year! We had a wonderful Christmas this year that lasted a solid 4 days filled with lots of family, fun, and, of course, presents! To sum things up...

December 23rd
Cousins Max and Mya arrive - Olivia only naps for 25 minutes as she knows she gets to see them when she wakes up! Snow, Snow, Snow! Appetizers and Presents! Olivia's becomes obsessed with carrying around her Dora backpack and feeding her baby! Gracie enjoys eating much paper, pulling herself up on all the boxes, and climbing on mommy at every possible minute. I open most of Olivia's presents as she just wants to play with Mya and the toys already opened. The kiddos bond with Auntie Tara and her iphone! Olivia and Mya are joined at the hip and confirm that they are sisters at heart. They manage sharing, trading, and playing together without any need for parental intervention the entire two days! Kids in bed by 8:00. It's still snowing! Chris, Beth, Tara, Brian, and I enjoy a few adult beverages, a game, and some laughs!





December 24th
Santa arrives! Mom and Dad learn that one present would probably be sufficient. The kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa Thornton is the biggest hit! Olivia potties a little in her jammies because she doesn't want to stop playing with her kitchen. Olivia has to be prompted to stop playing with one gift and to open another. Fun times at Luther with the cousins racing around the track and riding bikes (no pictures as I forgot my camera). Back to Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch. Olivia and Mya take charge of their own cleanliness and start their own bath after lunch and then stay in the bath for almost 45 minutes. Long naps for everyone. And, it's still snowing. Frantically get ready for church as naps were longer than expected. All kids manage to behave at Children's Mass - Olivia has to be chased down by Uncle Chris after Children's Moment as she has her dad's sense of direction and missed our pew even though we were in the 3rd row! A delicious adult dinner while the older cousins watch Dora and Gracie sleeps. Olivia shocks us all by coming out for a snack and proceeding to eat an adult size portion of beef tenderloin. We all end up sleeping at Pat and Roger's so as to not move the kids in the snowy, cold weather.




December 25th
Late wake up times make for a crazy morning of packing for the trip to Northfield. On the road by 8:45. Christmas with the Thornton family - kid gifts, white-elephant gifts, and family gifts. Olivia has no interest in opening her last presents, just wants to play with the open ones. Both girls illustrate amazing behavior and take wonderful naps. A delicious dinner is enjoyed once again. Bed time for Gracie includes some special (because it's so rare) cuddle time for mommy. Olivia's bedtime doesn't go as smoothly - over-stimulation perhaps! Gracie gives mommy a Christmas present by sleeping through the night (teething issues), but Olivia puts the kabash on it by getting up twice.


December 26th
Olivia starts the morning by finishing opening her gifts. Mom catches some extra z's. Lots of playing with Auntie Thyme. Mommy gets to satisfy her Target-fix. More playing and making a mess of Grandma and Grandpa's house. Baths by 6:30. In the car by 7:00. Gracie asleep by 7:15 with Olivia watching Dora on her new DVD player. Potty stop at 8:00. Home by 9:00. Lights out by 9:30. Mommy dreaming of someday having a clean house without boxes, paper, plastic, and toys everywhere. :)

Wow! Enough said! I love Christmas, but it's also a good thing that it only happens once a year! It took me two whole days to get our living room and family room in order. I've truly enjoyed being a temporary stay-at-home mommy, but because of exactly that, I don't think things will be ever completely put away either. I've decided that it's impossible to have a clean house if your kids are in it all day long! But that's okay, I'll fall back on the old saying: "A messy house is a happy house."

Grace Elizabeth - 10.5 Months

Yes, I've been delinquent in my posts once again.... However, if you knew what my desk looked like at work (organized chaos) and how big my grading pile is, I think you would understand my delinquency. Enough excuses - this post is about Gracie! (FYI - These pictures were all ones I took right around 9 moths - Gracie ate so many leaves during the photo session that she later puked a couple up!) At 10.5 months, here's what Miss Gracie is up to.


1. Pulling herself up from sitting position.
2. Finally figuring out how to go from tummy position to sitting (however this still requires her to have something to pull up on however slightly).
3. Walking with hand support and just a little behind her push toy.
4. Eating anything and everything put in front of her - she has an amazing appetite despite fact that she's still a peanut - at her 9-month check she was 16 pounds 15 ounces (20th percentile) and 27 inches tall (20th percentile).
5. Drinking out of a sippy cup.
6. Waking herself up at night to stand up in her crib and fuss till we come.
7. Attaching herself to her mommy at every waking moment.
8. Complaining rather loudly when Olivia takes something away from her (or when mommy takes it away too).
9. Eating yummy things like dirty kleenex and food off the floor (sorry, not a perfect house cleaner) and attempting to eat things like socks, shoes, paper, blankets, books, etc... You get the picture - teething!
10. Clapping, kissing, and waving goodbye (although this last is delayed in coming and looks more like "come here" than "see you later").


Physical appearance wise, Gracie has a pretty decent amount of hair that looks like it'll be just slightly, if at all, darker than Olivia's. Her hair in the back (where she was once bald) is now a solid inch long, and in the front, it's long enough that it's in her eyes most of the time. Brian wants me to cut it, but I refuse. Gracie's eyes are still a solid blue though slightly faded and her skin is very creamy and soft except for random dry patches - I'm actually going to make an appointment because I think we've got a little eczema happening.

Overall, Gracie still continues to be a little sweetie. I have many moments where I think she's the easiest kid in the world, but, as of late, I've also had a few moments where I think we're going to be in for it! For instance, Gracie frequently slaps me in the face (Yikes!), throws a royal, back-arching fit when being put in her car-seat, and, most recently, cries hard when being laid down for a nap. I am making a last minute attempt at getting her to "attach" to some comfort item as I think it's really nice that Olivia has something other than me to help her relax and feel good, but I don't have a whole lot of hope that my attempt will work. Sometimes I feel badly because Gracie is not a cuddler - she literally finishes her bottle at night, squirms around in my lap, and then reaches for her crib - but I also think it's nice that I don't spend 45 minutes putting her to bed like Olivia recently requires - more on that in the future!


Gracie favorites include - listening to music, Olivia, dancing, Olivia, jumping, Olivia, playing peek-a-boo with anything but especially the living room sheers, diving off the couch (without any doubt in her mind the mommy or daddy will catch her), playing around in the cupboards (see picture below), putting balls into her toy (understanding cause/effect), Olivia, crawling all over mommy, drinking out of Olivia's sippy cup, looking at herself in the mirror (recently this is the way to stop fussing), Olivia, acting mortally offended if someone takes her out of mommy's arms, taking baths, and dropping things on the floor and watching Olivia pick them up. Did I mention that she loves her sissy too?


Oh, Gracie girl, you are quite the sweetie with a lot of personality. And while I hope you out-grow your obsession with your mommy at some point, I also secretly love that you think you need me so much. And one more thing, even though I might not have another post about you until you turn one, I sure love you to pieces!

Turkey Trot 2010

As copied from my sister-in-law's blog, written (as per tradition) by the winner, her husband, Chris...

AP Nov 30, 2010 - Decorah Iowa - There are many Turkey Trot races touted throughout the country over the Thanksgiving holiday, but perhaps none quite as unique as that found in Decorah, Iowa over the last 10 years. Once every year siblings, spouses and children of the Huinker family head to the local high school track and run a mile for bragging rights. No matter the weather, how much was eaten for lunch or whether or not they are pregnant, the race is held. On one occassion, it was even held at two different locations simultaneously since not all could be in the same place at once. As much as certain unnamed family sources informed me they would like to see it end, the willpower of the elder brother forces the tradition on.

2009 saw the resurgance of young Tara Huinker, winning in convincing fashion over a ill-prepared (and in some cases actually physically ill) field. Brian Huinker had won the prior year to take away the throne from multi-consecutive-year-winner Chris Hoden. This year was sure to be either a continuation of the young dominance or a rising up of the old fogies.

Race start time was approximately 11:45am on Sunday, November 28th. Temperature was a very pleasant 45 degrees with sun. In attendance were Chris/Beth/Max/Mya Hoden, Brian/Amanda/Olivia/Grace Huinker, Tara Huinker, Roger/Pat Huinker. And the dog Chloe.

Chris and Tara broke out to an early lead which they would hold the entire race. Chris hung right behind Tara for 3/4 of a mile, not wanting to let her get too big a lead like she had in the prior race. Chris appeared to contemplate passing her going into the 4th lap, but he showed patience and stayed stride for stride until with an 1/8 of a mile to go, Tara broke into a fast and furious pace. Chris stayed with her stride for stride and took the inside of the track as he moved next to her. Both were close to out of breath when with 40 meters left around the backside of the last turn, Chris found that extra gear and sprinted it out leaving his sister-in-law behind. Another nail-biter and close win for the aging ex-champion. Unofficial times were as follows:

Chris - 7:17
Tara - 7:19
Amanda - 8:17
Brian - 9:01
Beth - 9:06
Max- 15:10

The real surprise of the race was young 3 year-old Max Hoden setting the child bar high for all future siblings and cousins. He moved those little legs faster and longer than anyone thought possible, even saying he wanted to keep going after he had already run 4 laps! With 3 laps down, he turned down assistance from both Uncle Brian and Aunt Tara telling them "I can do this myself" and "No thank-you" when they offered to jog along side him. The only time he stopped was to do his "hands on the knees" like Auntie Tara told him to do if he was tired. Jerry McGuire was seen driving up after the race no doubt scouting future talent.

As for the win, Chris commented "I'm glad I ditched the eliptical machine last year. That thing was a joke for training for a run. It feels good to get my mojo back." Young Tara was discourged but showed great sportsmanship. "Chris is a competitor. I really thought after last year that I had this little race in my hip pocket at least for the next 12 or so years until the kids got older. Looks like I may have to make another call to the Luther cross-country coach for another 1-mile training plan." Amanda was very happy with her time after claiming to not train even a little bit. Those comments were met with question. If true, Amanda could have the potential to shake up the leaderboard in the future. Brian and Beth both had hoped for better finishes and looked forward to another chance. Actually, only Brian was looking forward to another chance. Beth was heard saying "Maybe we don't need to do this race any more? Then again, it did help that it forced me to take Chloe for a few runs to help her lose those 8 pounds the vet told us she was packing".

As far as the 4 littlest competitors in the race...Max Hoden was heard asking people "Did you see me, Did you see me, Did you see me?" for at least an hour after the race. Mya had this to say: "Enough with the "Team Tara" gear. That t-shirt was like 8 sizes too big for me. Next year I'm bringing my own uniform and Max better watch out!" The only thing Olivia had to say was "I'm just mad that my mom wouldn't stop and pick me up as she ran by me on the track. I don't think she has ever blantantly ignored me like that in my entire 2.4 years of life!" 10 month old Gracie Huinker just shook her head in wonder as to why she was woken up from a perfectly good nap to witness that:) Early predictions for turkey trot 2011:

Chris - 7:05
Tara - 7:08
Amanda - 7:50
Brian - 8:00
Beth - 8:30
Max - 14:00