Bathtime Bliss

One of Gracie's favorite daily activities is taking her bedtime bath. We got into this routine fairly early on in her life, and if it's possible for an almost four month old to look forward to something, I think Gracie looks forward to her bath! The moment we walk into the bathroom and I lay her down on the town, she is all smiles and little squeals! It's a great way to end the day with some nice, cheerful yet calming, one-on-one time with Grace.


Here's a couple of videos that do a decent job of showing Grace's excitement about bathtime. Next time I'll have to have Brian video for me so that there's not so much jostling of the camera as I try to maneuver both camera and baby!

The Fish Hatchery

One of hits of this summer is sure to be the Decorah Fish Hatchery. It's a pretty cool place, if you haven't been, and it's fantastic entertainment for little kiddos. These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago - Mother's Day weekend - when Chris, Beth, Max, and Mya were up for a visit.


We all braved the chilly temperatures early on in the morning while Gracie took her morning nap to head out to the Hatchery. As we passed by the bank, the thermometer read 42 degrees - thus you see the hats, red noses, and heavy sweatshirts! The cold didn't seem to bother the kids any though! They hopped out of the cars and headed up to the fish food machines with a certain sense of determination! Roger and Pat have probably bought at least 20 dollars of fish food so far this spring - they are accepting donations if you'd care to contribute to their fish fund! :)


The kids did great feeding the "fishies," and it was fun to watch them getting excited about all the flopping and splashing fish. Grandpa Roger clearly has visiting the hatchery down to a science as he knew exactly where to lead the kids so they could actually see the fish as they were throwing in the food. All the smiling and laughing nearly distracted Beth and I from our shivering! I truly think the kids would have stayed for much longer - despite the cold - if we would have let them. However, when Beth noticed Mya shaking as she tried to drink her juice box, we decided it was time to head out!

It was great that this past weekend the kids got to head out the the hatchery once again - this time loaded down with sunscreen as the temperature was near 80 degrees! Take care till next time "fishies"!


P.S. - As I download these pictures I couldn't help but shake my head in amazement at the change in temperature that's occurred these last couple of weeks. It's difficult for me to imagine that we were wearing hats and winter coats only a couple of weekends ago! Today it reached 90 degrees in Decorah and we had an early dismissal from school because it was boiling hot in our red brick building. My classroom by the end of the day was 82 and apparently it was 86 in the upstairs rooms! Tomorrow it's supposed to be even hotter until a thunderstorm blows in late in the day. Crazy!

Odds and Ends...

Just a few pictures and videos to fill you all in on some random things going on around here... By the way, I apologize for how high-pitched and annoying my voice sounds on video! :)

After playing outside all morning with daddy, Olivia fell asleep while eating lunch. I came downstairs after laying Grace down for a nap and Olivia was just sitting quietly in her seat eating, so I decided to get a bite to eat too. I figured I only had a couple of minutes before she started whining "all done mommy." I was just thinking "Wow, Olivia's really focused on eating" when Brian walked into the kitchen and started chuckling - I turned around and here's what I saw. Poor little thing...

Keeping Gracie company...


Jumping on daddy!

Mowing with daddy...
But no...the mower was not on - that would be too scary!

Tim - Brian's assistant coach - has the touch when it comes to Gracie!

Hanging out with Timmy on the couch!

A couple of videos of "Baby talkin'" as Olivia likes to say!

My Pal Elliot

One of the greatest things about the age that Olivia's at is that she has really started to play "with" instead of just alongside other kids. One of her newest pals is Elliot, affectionately called "Ellie." It's been great fun watching the friendship between these two grow the last couple of months! There have been many moments that Karen and I have said, "Where's the camera!" when we've been out walking or playing outside and catch Olivia and Elliot toddling around while holding hands and hugging and kissing goodbye!

Last week we had the men's tennis team over for dinner and Paul, Karen, and Elliot joined in too (thanks for the yummy brownies by the way!). This get-together allowed us to finally get some pictures of Olivia and Elliot playing. We're looking forward to many play-dates in the future and hopefully these two will continue to be such good buddies as they grow up! We're happy to continue the tradition of Berland - Huinker friendships (for those of you who don't know, Brian and Paul were buddies pretty much from the moment they were born!), and maybe someday we'll be taking prom pictures of these two! :)


These two were pretty bummed that we wouldn't let them go outside - they're favorite place to be of course! If you concentrate on their cute little faces, you won't notice all the smudges on my window!!! The consequence of having a little girl who's obsessed with going outside, looking outside, and smashing her face against the window while complaining about not being able to go outside!

Ring around the rosy...

We all fall down - and literally bump out heads...

Gracie getting some love.

No kisses this time, I guess.

Dancing, laughing, smiling, playing...

The smiles say it all, don't they!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!! I hope you all had as fantastic of a day as I did. A special thank you to my mom and Brian's mom for always being there for us and our children! We are so lucky to have to such amazing people in our lives!


Brian let me sleep in this morning - till 7:15 that is when Gracie began demanding that she eat RIGHT NOW! :) We had a good morning playing with Olivia while Gracie napped, and then we headed out to Oneota for Mother's Day brunch with Roger, Pat, Chris, Beth, and all the kids. The kids behaved wonderfully during breakfast, and Ba-pa rewarded them with rides in the golf cart afterwards! Olivia absolutely loved this and asked for "mor" and "muy" every time they stopped!



Both girls were very ready for a nap when we came home and neither put up any fight at all when we laid them down. Olivia ended up sleeping for 2.5 hours and Grace for 3! I gifted myself with a nap too! After Olivia woke up, Brian mowed the lawn while Olivia tentatively watched - she's a bit of a wimp with that sort of thing as many of you know, but I do have faith that by the end of the summer she'll be mowing right alongside her daddy!

Once Gracie was up, we headed down to the Whippy Dip for the first time this spring. It was the first time that Olivia's really shown serious interest in eating ice-cream. It was pretty cute to watch her learn how to lick her cone - I was actually pretty impressed that we didn't have too big of a mess after all was said and done, but, honestly, I've never seen anyone eat ice-cream as slowly as Olivia. I think our Whippy Dip excursion took almost an hour and we only live two blocks away! Gracie has a happy little camper during this little adventure and fell back asleep after a while. When we got home, Olivia, and I spent some time doing a little gardening. We planted the tomatoes, green peppers, and herbs. Everything will spending the nights inside though this week as it's supposed to be rather chilly - got down to 38 last night (yuck)!


Our day came to a close without any fuss and it was a very peaceful goodnight with both the girls. It was a perfect end to Mother's Day to put both the girls to sleep while getting some good cuddles at the same time. I feel so fortunate to have such an amazing family - both immediate and extended! Thank you Brian, Olivia, and Grace for making my day so perfect!

Back to Work

This Friday marks the end of my first full week of school. I went back to work last Friday (the 23rd) and have been hard at it ever since. The transition has gone pretty well, but free time is at a bare minimum these days as you can probably tell from my lack of posts this past week! Here are my thoughts....


What's gone really well...
Grace is doing fantastic with her various babysitters. She doesn't seem to have a problem napping no matter where she is or who she's with. This is not only amazing on her part, but it also makes it a lot easier for me to leave for work with one less stress. Olivia has also been pretty cooperative in the morning about getting ready and leaving with either Brian or me. One day this week though Brian made the mistake of saying to Gracie, "Are you ready to go to Grandma's?" Olivia heard and was majorly pumped up all excited to go to Bapa's house. We quickly changed our story and explained that Gracie had to go to the doctor's to get a shot. Olivia accepted that pretty quick - thank goodness - she knows what shots are and clearly wasn't interested in going anywhere she might get one!

What's gone okay...
It's been challenging getting ready in the morning. I've been getting up at 5:45 which can be a chore depending on what Grace did for the night. More nights than not, Grace has slept till about 5:00. While this is fantastic, it's also difficult because it means that my day starts off pretty early. Despite this, I always seem to be rushing around trying to get everything and myself out the door by 7:30. I did pretty well going to bed at a reasonable time at the beginning of the week, but this unfortunately didn't continue for the later half. I need to do a better job with this for everyone's sake - mine, my family's, and my student's!


What I like...
I admit that I do like knowing that my students missed me and are glad that I'm back - makes me feel appreciated. I also do like being challenged at work getting plans and activities ready. I'm teaching one of my favorite novels - The Great Gatsby - which helps the enjoyment level too.

What's been difficult...
Of course, it's been difficult to leave Grace. However, I do think this was easier the second time around and because I'm leaving her with Brian or another relative.... Going from being home with her to daycare would have been more of a challenge I think because I wouldn't feel so good about how much one-on-one attention she'd be getting. (Don't get me wrong though - I love our daycare!) Getting not as much sleep as I need has been difficult, but I'm dealing. It's also been a challenge pumping at work. It's hard to relax and just generally not easy when you're sitting in a storage room that's ten degrees colder than comfortable. However, I am determined I will prevail - only five more weeks until summer and then things will go back to normal. Grace is so good at nursing that it seems silly to stop just because. At school, it's been a challenge to stay on top of things. So far, I'm doing okay. I truly do enjoy getting plans and activities ready, but I certainly am not a big fan of grading - didn't miss that at all. It's difficult to not let the piles build up. I'll make it though!

So, all in all, things have gone pretty well - better than I expected at least. I am very excited for summer though and can't wait to spend more time with the girls! It will be so fun to take the girls to the pool and park and to play outside. Last summer I was dealing with some 1st trimester sickness which made it things challenging with how much Brian was gone. This summer will be a bit more "typical," and although it will be crazy busy, it will be a great time too!

Grace Elizabeth - Three Months!

Today Grace turned three months old! It's amazing how much she has grown and changed these last few months. This last month in particular has been really fun as Grace has started interacting even more with tons of smiles, cooing, and even some giggles. The pictures throughout are my attempt at professional photography. I love using my new camera, and it's fun to edit pictures on my computer and play with cropping, coloring, etc... Enjoy - and I'll fill all the photo requests I've gotten eventually, I promise!


Playtime: For about a 2 week period starting right around Easter, Grace was a rolling machine. I actually had trouble keeping her on her tummy sometimes because she's just roll over right away. Of course, the moment I decided to attempt to get this on video she stopped rolling over. Apparently, she's mastered that skill and doesn't need any more practice. Grace can lift her head at a 90 degree angle and is following objects really well. She's a great talker and seems to understand she'll get attention if she makes some noise. Grace also is becoming interested in the toys that hang down from her play-gym.

Eating: Still doing great in this department!


Sleeping: Grace is doing so well! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to always say this. Sometimes I can't believe that I was so stressed about her not sleeping at one point. Typically she takes one 3+ hour a nap and then a three 1 hour ones throughout the day. One of these naps is typically in the baby bjorn. At night, Grace is amazing. She goes to bed without much fuss at 7:30 and then, most nights, sleeps till somewhere between 4:00 and 5:30 in the morning! Grace is also sleeping with her arms out of her swaddle now. She puts herself to sleep sometimes by sucking on her fingers. One of my favorite things about putting Grace to sleep is that she falls asleep holding my finger nine times out of ten.

Schedule: This month, I can say we actually have one of these! Wake up = 6:30, First Nap = 7:30, Other Naps = okay these aren't so scheduled except for 3:45 in the baby bjorn, and Bedtime = 7:30.


Favorite things: Being talked to, smiling at anyone who gives her attention, watching the flashing lights on the Baby Einstein music player, being carried face out in hanging position, watching big sister Olivia, hanging out in the baby bjorn - Grace can face out now although we don't do this when I know a nap is on the way, and taking baths (video coming in the near future).


What she can't do (yet): Reach for objects - although I think this is not so far away as she's gazing at them very intently as if she wants to touch them.

What she can do: Smile very frequently, suck on fingers on a very regular basis (no thumb yet though), refuse to keep the pacifier in her mouth, follow objects, look at a new person who arrives near her, and bring hands together over chest.


What I hope: That Grace continues to handle all her babysitters so well and continues to be such an easy going little girl. And, I still hope that one day Olivia will call Grace Grace instead of Baby.

Grace has been such a blessing in our lives. It's so fun to watch her and Olivia together. I feel so lucky to have two wonderful and beautiful little girls!