Happy 2nd Birthday Miss Grace Elizabeth!

Dearest Gracie-girl,

Wow! I can't believe you are two today.... It sure doesn't seem like two whole years have flown by since you entered our lives. As I'm writing this, two years ago, you were about 13 hours old. And now, today, you are one spirited little girl who makes me laugh all the time.

Grace Elizabeth - Hours old

To sum it up, you're pretty darn cute. I love the way you toddle about...it's kind of like a really fast bouncy sort of waddle, if that makes any sense. You're a pretty happy kid, and I can tell your mood just by the way you walk and run. When I come pick you up at day care, you run over so fast with your arms up in the air; if I don't pick you up right away, you usually cling to my legs for a moment before running over to your boots and doing your best to put them on yourself. You're really quite independent - I don't remember exactly (I suppose that's what old blog entries are for), but I'm pretty sure you can do a lot more "big girl" stuff than your sissy did at age two. That's what happens when you have an older sister to mimic I guess. Just this weekend I commented to your grandma Linda that there's no way Olivia knew the word "glitter" at your age! I guess you could say I've become more relaxed in the messy art project department since you're bound and determined to do everything your sister does with just a little more mess. Speaking of, you don't particularly like having dirty hands or a dirty face. When we finger paint, I think I spend more time washing you off then you actually do painting. You're starting to get the idea though - hard not to when Olivia covers herself in paint as an example to you!

Back to your cuteness.... Lately, you've taken to asking for "piggy tails" in addition to your typical pony. Your hair is twice as thick as your sister's and a lot blonder too. I think you've got my fair skin so be prepared to be slathered in sun screen and banned from tanning of all sorts for the rest of your life - sorry in advance. You've still got your blue eyes, and lately, you've started telling me that they're "pretty." And, since I don't really say this to you (although I certainly agree), I wonder where you learned that. You've got the most expressive face - totally happy or totally cranky - it's definitely easy to tell! As of two days ago, you started mimicking a sour expression of your dads - biting your top lip with your bottom teeth... It's a bit scary to see so much of your dad in that one expression! :) Speaking of who you look like...I'd say that more often not, people say you take after your mommy. You're a petite little girl but, boy, do you have one big belly. After you eat, your tummy stick out a good five inches or so, and it's rock hard. It sticks out so far that you have to press it in to find your belly button since it's on the downward slope! You're a flirter - you like to smile at those you don't know well from the safety of your mommy's arms, but once you know someone well enough, you're quick to try to involve them in any game you're playing. You're not hesitant but you're not out-going - I suppose cautious would be a good word. Well, it's only a good word for situations that are new to you. In our normal routine - I'd say you're pretty vivacious.

Your vocab is expanding on a daily basis. You love to repeat words and have a decent amount of short phrases that you say consistently. You get much more frustrated than your sister every did in the communication department, and I often have to have you show me what you want and constantly remind you to use your words. I think by summer we'll have gotten through some of these communication issues. For now, I'm happy I can understand, for the most part, Gracie-speech.

Happy 1st Birthday!

You and your sissy get along fantastically. Sometimes you're not nice to one-another, but most often your best pals. Olivia is pretty protective of you, and, at day care at least, gets you absolutely whatever you want. This, unfortunately, has resulted in some tantrums when I'm not so quick to give in to you and your various demands. Olivia still talks to you like an adult sometimes, calling you honey and sweetie while giving you pats and hugs. You and Liv love to play babies and jump in the trampoline. You've got great balance and love to do somersaults and to attempt jumping on one leg. You frequently ask to do "jumping-jax" and like to listen to music as you race in circles around the trampoline. You also love to play hide-and-seek, and you can even count to ten--well, sort of. You hide in the same spots - favorites being the downstairs shower, an old cardboard box, behind the curtains, in a bed with the covers pulled up, or behind a chair. When you get playing with your daddy, you often run to me telling me that "Monsters getting me" - a favorite phrase of mine that you take quite seriously and use whenever it's dark somewhere. Sometimes you say "alligators" instead of monsters, but you do it when you're afraid or uneasy for some reason.

Hmmm...what else do you like to do? You like to color and draw on the white board. You love taking baths and typically want to do this right after dinner. You still point out the swimming pool in the garage every day saying, "Me swimming pool," and you had a blast at your pool party this weekend. You love swinging high at the park and being twirled around or held upside-down. You enjoy Dora and have become obsessed with the Disney movie Tangled. You like to suck the two middle fingers on your right hand while rubbing your upper lip and cheek making them all red with your pointer finger. You like to sit on the counter, you like to play with your piggy-bank, and you like playing with this animal game on my phone (which you navigate to with no help from me - scary that you'll know so much more about technology that me!). You are actually pretty good at Hungry Hippos, and you try really hard to play memory and do puzzles, but you really don't know what you're doing yet. You really like your mommy mostly, and while this makes me feel good, you should give your daddy less of the evil eye these days - he doesn't really deserve it, you know! You love fruits and vegetables; you eat a gigantic breakfast but barely anything for dinner. You're fairly obsessed with applesauce and will eat a sweet of any kind. Because of you, Olivia has started (in small amounts) to eat bread, but you have not, because of her, started to eat meat. Oh, and how could I forget, you like to do every activity I've listed in this whole entry naked. You are a nudist. Within five minutes of getting home, your clothes MUST come off (you can do this mostly yourself these days), and on the weekends I'm lucky if you stay in your clothes half the day. Sigh...let's just hope you'll outgrow this in the near future.

For awhile, you and Olivia slept in the same room - initially even in the same bed. You were so good, going to sleep without causing a ruckus of any kind for about 2 months. Then, one day, all that stopped, and you became quite the pill - even Olivia was annoyed at you! So, back into the crib you went - but that seems to be where you want to be. You usually like to be in bed by 7:30, and you'll sleep till 6:30-7 most days. I can't remember the last time you got up at night except when you got the flu a couple months back; it says something that our monitor is set on Olivia most nights! You sleep between 2-3 hours every afternoon.

At bedtime you love to read books and become quite distraught if you don't get to sit in my lap while doing so - again, Olivia always gives in to you on this. Your favorite books are a Dora Valentine book, "Pinkalicious," and "My Name Is Not Isabella." You've recently started taking various items to bed with you - a stuffed animal, your McDonald's toy, and, tonight, your new Dora microphone. You often sleep completely on top of your pillow, still liking the feel of the bumper pad against your back. You pull the blankets over your yourself during naps but like me to cover you up at night. Sometimes you say "Luv you Mommy" but not every day yet. You always say "Nigh, nigh" to everyone and kiss the air while leaning in to put your forehead against whoever. You're still not much of a night-time cuddler, often diving for your crib, but during the day, you'll cuddle up by me on the couch if we're going to watch a show, and I love that.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Well, my Gracie-girl, I suppose I could go on, but now, as I re-read and proof-read, I'm getting all teary about the fact that you're not really a baby any more, and think it's time to stop before I officially start crying. Plus, I suppose if you ever read this when your older, you're going to think I'm too long-winded. Mostly, what you should know is that all those details just mean I don't want to forget what a sweetheart you are. We're so lucky to have such a beautiful little girl who enriches our lives in so many ways.

Lots of love, hugs, and kisses,
Mommy

PS - More birthday party pictures to come!

Dress-up Fun

The girls both love dressing up and putting on costumes. We've acquired a decent number of dress-up things through hand-me-downs from a next door neighbor and Christmas presents over the last 6-months, and the girls couldn't be happier. Grandma Thornton's dress-up chest is constantly open when we visit too. Plus, Gracie is always looking for an opportunity to take her clothes off and switch them for something else! Over break, while playing upstairs in one of their favorite hangouts - Olivia's closet - they discovered a few dresses: one, Thyme's flower-girl dress and the other, an adorable dress my aunt Michelle bought at a store going out of business. I'd guess these outfits have provided at least 3 hours of entertainment - not bad for just being recently discovered! P.S. - Please ignore the crazy hairdo's and concentrate on the cute faces!

Snow...well, kind of...

Shortly before Christmas, we got a grand total of 2 inches of snow (and I might be exaggerating a little). We've had snow on and off this winter, but never have had more than a grass-covering that lasted more than a couple of days. So when the big "2-incher" hit, the girls were bouncing off the walls wanting to get outside more than anything. Brian was a good sport towing them up the hill to grandma and grandpa's house since the plow hadn't come through yet. The girls enjoyed getting dressed up in all their snow gear and had fun playing outside. Enjoy a few pictures of this grand event.

Christmas 2011 Re-Cap

A belated Merry Christmas everyone! I hope this finds you all enjoying the first day of the new year. We celebrated last night in grand fashion - take-out dinner with friends and family, a movie, and the decision to be sound asleep by midnight! :)

Let's see what I can remember about our extended-Christmas this year. There were certainly many highlights, but they all tend to blur together when I think back. That's good though in my mind - one of my favorite things about break is that I forget what the date is and even what day of the week it is!

Thursday, December 22
School's out! The end of the "year" ended rather hectically for me as I had to pack up my room so the construction crew could remove the tile in preparation for the re-model that will be happening over summer. Just like when we moved houses, I was shocked at how much I had accumulated in my room over the last 8 years - wow, have I been teaching that long! We had a fantastic evening with the Hodens and were happy to re-unite with Aunt Tara and boyfriend Tony whom we hadn't seen since the end of August. The cousins disappeared into the basement to play toys and decorate the Christmas tree Grandma had gotten specially for them. I was a bit of a party-pooper, going to bed shortly after the kiddos - all that paper-grading had really worn me out!

Friday, December 23
The girls and Brian spent the later morning/early afternoon up at his parents while I stayed home and wrapped presents and prepared the house for Santa's arrival. Long naps for both the girls helped prepare them for a fun evening of opening presents and playing! Grace literally started hyperventilating after opening the dolls Grandma and Grandpa gave her, and Olivia was excited about pretty much everything and was very possessive over her extra-large Dora coloring pad from Auntie Tara. We had a fantastic dinner and enjoyed great conversation and laughter. Olivia and I wrote a note to Santa before bedtime, and she put a cookie on a plate for him to eat. She definitely "got" what we were doing and understood that Santa deserved a treat for all his hard work delivering presents. Grace, on the other hand, was upset that she didn't get to eat the cookie. After the girls were in bed, Beth, Chris, Tara, and Tony came down to help us put together the trampoline we (I mean Santa) had gotten the girls. Thank goodness SOME people in the family are handy...and I don't mean my husband whom I love dearly. (PS - If you're wondering why Grace is just wearing her diaper it's because her favorite type of attire is no attire - and if she got it her way, she would wonder around without a diaper too!)

Grace scanning herself with her new cash register.

Saturday, December 24
Santa arrived! The trampoline was by far the biggest hit! The girls took to jumping immediately, and it's been an awesome source of exercise and entertainment. Other big hits were the game Hungry Hippos, the easel with coloring supplies and a dollhouse. All presents were enjoyed even more when Max and Mya came down to visit. Naps were taken by all. Being able to enter church only shortly before it began thanks to Pat and Roger's "purchase" of the Christmas Pew was again a blessing. At one point I left once with a screaming Grace who was upset because she couldn't go sit on the stairs in the front of the church leading up to the alter. The best moment came at the end of the service when the musical leader invited all the Saint Ben's kids (we were at Children's Mass) to come up and sing Away in a Manger. Liv didn't want to go by herself, but thankfully her outgoing cousins lead the way! Liv stood up there the whole time with her fingers in her mouth while Max and Mya sang. Max even knew the actions to the song! Grace cried on her way up and came back to Mommy because she got scared when she stepped on a huge vent that wobbled a bit. Needless to say, it was a rather humorous moment.


Sunday, December 25
Brian woke up not feeling quite right. We called up to Huinkers only to learn that Beth had spent the entire night on the bathroom floor. I decided to make the trip to Northfield by myself; a good decision as Brian got sick himself only 15 minutes after I left. Chris ended up doing the same heading up to see his parents with just Max and Mya (who ended up getting sick later that evening). Officially all member of the Huinker/Hoden family (minus Pat and Chris) have been hit by the flu - can we please be done with sickness now. The most celebrated gift at Grandma and Grandpa Thornton's was definitely the princess gowns Auntie Thyme gave the girls. They had to immediately put them on and wore them the rest of the day. The girls held up well with no naps. We had another delicious dinner with family (missing Brian of course), and I decided to put the girls, and accidentally myself, to bed at 7. I woke up at midnight fully dressed and totally disoriented. Guess I was tired!


The Rest...
We enjoyed more time with family and playing with all our new toys. The girls and I headed home to a much healthier Brian in the late evening of the 26th. We spent the rest of the year unpacking, enjoying our gifts, and relishing time at home and with family. I hope you all did the same!

Growing Up

Lately Olivia has said or done so much that has made me feel like my little toddler is truly growing into a little girl. Sigh...

I haven't been so good about taking pictures lately, but here's one of Olivia and her newest cousin, Ivy Anne Hoden.

1) Reaches the light switches without the need for a stool. For awhile she carted her little stool with her everywhere so she could accomplish this "big-girl" task and feel independent, but suddenly, there's no need for that.

2) While still shy, the crying/whimpering/whatever you want to call it that was occurring at school drop-offs, is over - actually it's been over for quite a while. Olivia still talks about Mrs. Bohr and Mrs. Kane as if they're gifts from heaven - which they probably are! She likes to put her art work from home into her school folder to show her teachers and friends. I often get to see her school group finishing up their recess when I go to pick her up - it's been fun watching her pump on the swings and, most recently, lead a group of girls racing around the playground. When I asked her about this later, she told me that the "Alligators were coming!"

3) Taking full responsibility of herself in the morning - picking out her clothes (getting it from her dresser herself too with the help of a chair), getting completely dressed, and deciding how her hair is to be done (usually either a pony or a braid). She's actually pretty decent at matching - picking up on the idea that pink in a shirt design means it might match with her pink pants. There's been a few days where the outfits verge on "socially unacceptable," but I guess I'll save our battles for something that truly matters.

4) Building off #3, Olivia has (knock-on-wood) stopped throwing fits about tight clothing! If something is tight, she usually makes a face about it and then says, "See, Mommy, I don't cry; it's okay."

5) Making great advancements with spelling, letter recognition, counting with higher numbers, and writing - we didn't exactly give her the easiest name with all these letter that get so easily confused when learning to write - I, L, and V. We only catch this development as Olivia's sharing her knowledge with Grace. I hear lots about school and who Olivia plays with, etc..., but she's shy about sharing any "learning" with me.

6) Right now as I type this, Olivia's attending her first movie with Grandpa Roger.

7) Mastering how to work my touch-screen phone and the DVD player even though she's never received any official instruction on this. She can scan through my "apps" and find her favorite games - puzzles, letter tracing, memory, and drawing.

8) Olivia's always been a great talker, but sometimes the phrases she says are just too adult and so sweet: After going potty - "Mommy, I missed you today." After helping me pick up the basement - "Mommy, I'm a good helper; we're a team!" After agreeing to share with Grace - "Mommy, it's okay, Gracie is just a little baby."

9) Oh, and how could I forget the truest adult phrase to come out of her mouth: After struggling to get the two stools I had bought apart - "What in the H***" My mouth dropped open after hearing that one. No comment was made from me, however, and although we did here the phrase one other time, it seems to have disappeared from her vocabulary already - thank goodness... Maybe not my proudest parent moment, but a good story to say the least!

10) And last, sleeping without a diaper...sometimes. I have to put the "sometimes" in because as of late we've had a bit of a relapse. However, Olivia is very excited to try sleeping without a diaper and it's a major topic of conversation these days, so I hope that we'll get back to no diaper shortly!

Turkey Trot '11

In case you aren't familiar with our family tradition, every year after finishing our Thanksgiving meal, the Huinker/Hoden families head down to whatever track is close at hand to run the "Turkey Trot" - a timed mile of gruesome competition and even physical illness. The winner has to write a press release...and, in case you were wondering, I 've never had to and I don't anticipate ever having to write one of these myself! Enjoy a few pictures too!

The Dubuque crew

Grandma Pat watched over a sleeping Gracie and Ivy.

Tara's race day t-shirt.

And this year's winner goes to...

TURKEY TROT ROOKIE SHATTERS RECORD

Its' as much a Huinker tradition as turkey. It's about the clash between perennial rivals on the track, trying to run as fast as they can, and fighting the urge to heave their favorite meal of the year. Once again, this Thanksgiving tradition was served up under bright, brisk skies on a Thursday afternoon in two different locations that measured a whopping, 1,886.2 miles apart. "Showing the Spirit" in scenic Dubuque, Iowa, this year were the Huinker/Hoden families and out in sunny Murrieta, California, stood Anthony and Tara. One could say that based on temperature, California weather might have been an advantage, but with the lower elevation on Dubuque's side, it was an even playing field.

Thirty-five minutes after eating the biggest meal he has ever cooked in his entire life, Turkey Trot rookie, Anthony Brown, scorched the competition with a time of 5 minutes and 30 seconds. "I think you are supposed to do that before you eat...ya know, run...then eat guilt free" Brown said after throwing up the delicious meal he spent 5 hour cooking. "Rookie mistake to have 2 glasses of wine and eat like I was gonna watch football."

Congratulation goes out to Tara Huinker who again took home the award for "complaining-the-most-about-a-tradition-you-claim-to-love." Despite her less than enthusiastic attitude towards the competition, she did finish in a very respectable 7 minutes and 1 second - some 50 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.

The hardest fought race had to be between Chris Hoden and Amanda Huinker who were only 3 seconds apart at the strip. Coming in at 7 minutes 51 seconds and 7 minutes 54 seconds, it was a tough battle. Last year's winner was heard saying, "you guys don't know how hard it is to train when you have 2 kids and one on the way...it really takes a toll on your body." Amanda Huinker, who heard the remark, just shook her head and mumbled something to the effect of "you would think it was Chris who gave birth a couple of weeks ago."

Max Hoden receives the "hard-charger" award for steadily improving his time by 3 minutes from last year and not calling it quites until he did 6 laps. "My predition is that he will beat all of us in five years" said this year's winner.

Brian Huinker struggled this year claiming "Dubuque's air quality is not that of Decorah." Brian's ongoing study of the air quality and his newly onset asthma should draw to a close just in time for his research presentation at Christmas entitled "Robbed of Victory."

Best spectator award comes in as a 3-way tie between Rog Podge, Bes, and Patski. As they had their hands full with the little ones, there support is very much appreciated by all participants.

All in all, the event was a hug success. You can bet there will be trash talking throughout the year, only thickening as Thanksgiving 2012 nears. Till then...train for 2nd place!

Finish Lap 1: Chris and I were apparently still in good humor at this point...
Brian...maybe not so much.

Below: Beth comforting a crying Olivia and Mya -
Olivia because her mommy was ignoring her;
Mya because brother Max was running too fast.
Guess we know who the true competitors are going to be!

My Girls: Fall 2011

Fall has certainly been a busy time at the Huinker household. These last couple of weeks in particular got a little overwhelming with conferences, the fall musical, and grading, grading, grading. We enjoyed a great visit with my mom, Mark, and Thyme this last weekend, and we're looking forward to meeting the newest baby in the Hoden family - Ivy Anne, born 11-11-11 weighing in at 7 pounds 14 ounces - over Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe the snow will be flying soon and Christmas is right around the corner!


These last few months the girls have grown in so many ways. I figure it's about time for an update on both of them! I'm interspersing some fall pictures I took on a lovely weekend in September. Most of you will be getting your own copies of these pictures shortly!


Miss Grace: Our little Gracie girl is busy learning how to talk these days. She's mastered a number of two-word phrases - favorites include possessives followed by some object - "my mommy," "sissy baby," "me coat." She loves watching football with her daddy and asks for either it or "Micky" every time the television is on. She can sing the "abc" part of her abc's and also "hot dog, hot dog, hot daaa" from Micky Mouse Club House. I've caught her saying "one, two, three" a couple of times, but she'll never do it if I ask. Grace has continued to be our little goof - loving to dance, jump, tackle, and laugh all the time. She's crazy and shy, outgoing and hesitant at the same time, taking most her cues from Olivia. Her favorite activities include "Boo" (peek-a-boo), playing babies and kitchen, coloring, dancing, and generally following Olivia around wherever she might go. Grace and I are still rather joined at the hip. She eats every meal on my lap except breakfast (and lunch during the week), and to be honest, I'm not sure what to do about this problem because listening to her whine is rather hard on the ears. Grace is definitely a LOT louder than Olivia - a second child trait perhaps? Hmmm...I better not give too much away - otherwise I won't have much new to share for Gracie's birthday post - it's hard to believe our little girl is almost two!


Miss Olivia - Livy has gone through a gigantic spurt of independence this fall. She pretty much gets herself completely dressed in the morning - only requiring a little help with socks on occasion. She still has some issues with things being "tight" which really means issues with anything that might rub - example, seams on shirts, jeans, tight elastic, etc... For a period of time, putting socks on equaled nightmare at our house, but since we went out to Walmart together and I let her pick out her new socks, these issues have virtually disappeared. Olivia's such a pleaser and even if she resists something for a brief moment, this pleaser instinct has prevailed lately resulting in some impressive sharing and cooperativeness. Olivia worships the ground her teachers walk on and talks fondly of school and her friends. Favorite activities include "writing," coloring (working on staying in the lines), playing babies, directing Gracie in their play, playing hide and seek, and just generally being a goof. Oh, and I might as well admit that she likes to watch TV and wrestle too - although these two activities are not related!


The girls: Olivia has taken to informing me that she and Grace are my princesses - a true fact, I suppose. Grace has taken to sleeping with Olivia. This started a while back when we had a babysitter in the evening - Grace would have nothing to do with lying down in her own crib, so the sitter let her crawl in with Olivia and they both went promptly to sleep. Since these last weeks have been busy and conferences/the box office kept me away from home for a number of evenings, sleeping together has become the expectation. For the last week and a half, the trundle bed has been permanently pulled out for one of the girls. They seem to switch being on the top or the bottom, but are rather particular about their pillows. At first, I would move Grace to her crib before I went to bed, but these last couple of nights, I've just let her alone. The first night, we woke up to them coming down the stairs at 4am - yikes - thankfully, Grace went straight back to sleep in her crib - she was definitely not as thrilled as Liv to be coming down the stairs to wake us up, but Liv had to cry for about five minutes about Gracie not being put back to bed right alongside her. Last night, all was well. We've enjoyed watching them give each other high-fives and comforting pats before falling asleep, and their chatter hasn't been so much. But, what to do? I never imagined this happening, and while I don't want to discourage it, I'm not sure I'm ready for Grace to be in a big-girl bed yet either! As of right now, I think we're planning on getting a mattress for the antique bed we currently have in storage and then just moving them into the same room as Liv's room is certainly large enough.


The bond between Olivia and Grace is so strong. They look to each other for comfort, they provide that comfort, and they seem to have a true desire to do whatever necessary to ensure the happiness of each other. Their laughter is contagious, and they enjoying being silly and causing occasional mischief. As, Grace gets bigger, I get asked all the time "How close are they?" I should probably think of some shocking answer to this as most people ask this question with a bit of suspicion and shock in their voice, but so far, I've refrained. Mostly, I'm just glad it's as obvious to others as it is to me how much my girls love each other!