Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 Everyone! We made an attempt at taking the kids to a New Years Eve party, but it ended with Mya throwing up in the car on the way home from crying so hard:( Max was a champ...hanging with the older kids all night. He did not want me to help him eat dinner because the older kids weren't getting help. It was so funny to watch him try to be "big." So, it's 10:03 right now and I'm getting sleepy....wonder if I'll make it to midnight?? I wouldn't bet on it!!

Here are some pics/videos from our break so far:

Mya and her cousin Olivia

Mya w/ Chris's Mom and Grandma

Cooking with Linda - Finnish Sweet Bread!

Max and his "Jumper"

Max playing at New Years

Sleepless nights

Last night was another tough one for Max. It was back and forth between waking up with that horrible cough, me holding him and walking around until he fell asleep on my shoulder, putting him back to bed, and then doing it all over again. We also had a visit to the steam room (aka. bathroom with shower pumping hot water). At some point, I sat in the chair in his room and I thought I'd just try to fall asleep too with him in my arms. Maybe keeping him upright instead of laying down would help...

Beth came in and checked on us a little later and saw that I didn't have any blankets. She got one and put it over us. Max was obvsiously awake, because without moving a muscle, he saw what Beth was doing and whispered in a way only a child could "Thank you mommy". One of those moments that you never expect and make you feel blessed to be a parent.

Croup

This is one virus I absolutely hate! Last night we put Max to bed like usual. He seemed as healthy as ever...not even a runny nose. I went to bed around 10 only to wake up an hour later to a horrible sound. For a second, I thought I was at Sea World listening to the seals. It was Max, gasping for air and barking like a seal. Croup again?? Since this wasn't the first time it has happened, we knew what to do. (last time we called 911 and had our first ambulance ride) We bundled him up and took him in the garage to breath the cold air. It helped a little bit, but after puking on me and his coat, Chris and my mom took him to the ER. There he got a nebulizer treatment and an oral steroid. Today, you wouldn't even know it happened.....other than the fact that we have a little boy who lost 3 hours of sleep in the middle of the night on our hands:)

I have a feeling this isn't the last time the croup will hit our house. I was hospitalized as a kid for this and Chris also had it from time to time. Fun, fun!!

Vikings - 1998

Today the Mpls Star & Tribune had a good article (http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/36468834.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsl) that was a reminder of an interesting year to be a Vikings fan. I like to believe that I'm as true a MN sports fan as I can be and don't jump on and off the bandwagon. I also think that a lot of my cynicism of MN sports, the Vikings in particular, comes from that season in 1998. My roommate at Luther, Ben Johnson, and I would catch every game even if it meant driving 45 minutes north to the nearest MN town with a sports bar on those Sundays the Iowa tv schedulers felt it was better to show the Packers or Bears. Whatever. Over the course of the 15-1 regular season, we also wall-papered our entire dorm room with news articles and pictures of this amazing team that scored at will and blew everyone out. What a fun team to watch and get behind. I think evey person in MN truly believed they were a shoe-in for the SuperBowl that year. Then the Falcons come to town and we give it away. Letdown of historic proportions. We have become almost conditioned to letdowns since then.

And with Max and Mya in their purple and gold, they help me remember to quickly forget those tough losses. There is much more fun to be had watching blocks fly through the air or giggles from a little baby rolling on a floor than there is dwelling on why the Vikings always seem to let us down...

There's always the next game and the next season though!

Bath time

Max and Mya's first bath together! I can't wait for this to happen more often because Chris is the #1 bath giver at our house, so if he can do 2 at the same time, I can get a break! Also, a video of Mya rolling over. She rolls to her stomach, gets mad and then I roll her to her back. She rolls over...this goes on all day.

Christmas memories...

Tonight I started thinking about my Christmas memories growing up and thought I'd write about a couple of them. As far back as I can remember, we always celebrated Christmas Eve with just my immediate family. Apparently we used to go to Grandma Grady's, but one night there was a huge snowstorm and we couldn't make it there-- thus our little family tradition was started. Our Christmas Eve includes church and a great meal. When we were young, we always made spaghetti and got to eat it later in the evening than normal, on Christmas china, with the lights dimmed and candles lit. The best part was that we got to drink some fruity drink in wine glasses and thought we were so cool! As we got older, the spaghetti dinner turned into steak and potatoes and the fruity drink turned into the real mccoy, but the feelings stayed the same. I love this night.

I was very lucky to grow up living close to family, so I got to wake up every Christmas morning at my house. We would get up very very early and go into my parents room and wait until they got up, got the camera, etc. and then we went downstairs. I remember my dad always opening the door and peeking in first because there was a chance Santa was still there:) Santa brought all of the presents at our house and we never questioned why mom and dad didn't get us anything. The best Christmas present ever was when I got my kitchen set. We have a picture of me coming down the steps with arms stretched out as far as they can go with a huge smile on my face when I saw it. I also remember when I got my first "boom-box" and a Gloria Estefan and Rod Stewart tape to go with! Another good present memory I have is of my brother. One year he got a really nice tennis raquet. It was at a time when he knew it was from my parents, but my sister still thought it was from Santa. After he opened it, he went and gave my mom a huge hug and kept saying thank you over and over. My mom couldn't get a word in at first, but then she had to cover up with...why are you thanking me?? It's from Santa!! Not sure if Tara bought it, but it was a good try:) I'm not sure we always deserved it, but Santa was very good to Brian, Tara and I.

I'm looking forward to making some new holiday traditions and memories with Max and Mya!

It's only noon??!??!!

We have had quite a morning. It was a MOPS morning, so we had to get out of the house by 8:45 which is quite a chore. Since Miss Mya decided to eat twice during the night, she was not hungry this morning when I wanted to feed her. So, I decided to pump and then bring a bottle to the daycare. When I went to the van to get the pump (that was still in there from thanksgiving) I realized the doors were locked and the keys were inside!! Chris had to come home from work to let me into the car. I'm sure he was thrilled with me, but on the outside, he didn't seem too angry. I didn't have time to pump anymore, so Mya was going to drink formula for her morning bottle. I had to bring an egg dish today too, so that added to the mess getting out the door. Finally around 8:45, I had 2 kids, 2 diaper bags, a purse and an egg dish and we were out.

I dropped the kids off at their respective rooms and went to my meeting. About 45 min. later I got a tap on the shoulder. Mya wasn't taking the bottle and she was inconsolable. So, I had to leave the meeting and go feed her. She went to sleep and I decided to just hold her the rest of the meeting so they wouldn't have to come and get me a second time! When we got all ready to go home, we got outside the front doors and Max refused to walk in the snow. So, I had to leave him by the front door crying while I brought Mya and the diaper bags, egg dish, etc. to the car. I'm sure people thought I was a great mom leaving him crying by the door, but I didn't have much choice.

Getting away and doing adult things once in awhile is nice, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle when it's 10 degrees and windy!! Naps are just around the corner. The project today is going to be to empty out the van from Thanksgiving!!

Turkey Trot 2008 (by Brian Huinker)

Huinker Repeats as Turkey Trot Champion

Decorah, IA –AP- In poor weather conditions that led to slower times than normal, Brian Huinker was able to complete an improbable back-to-back Turkey Trot title run. Due to a severe winter weather advisory across much of the state of Iowa, the Trot was run at 11:50am CST.

“I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving”, stated Huinker. My stock portfolio is filled with Ultra Short funds, I won the Turkey Trot because of sheer heart, and we have a healthy baby girl.”

Tara Huinker upset Chris Hoden for second place honors with a time of 7:25. Hoden finished 10 seconds later at 7:35. Rounding out the top 5 were Amanda Huinker 9:33 and Beth Huinker 10:35.

Tara Huinker laid the blame on an extensive travel schedule in 2008. “Do you have any idea how many countries I have been in this year? It isn’t exactly easy to train in the Middle East. I kept tripping over my dress and I couldn’t see sh** out of my turbin.”

Chris Hoden, who recently dropped a big wad of cash on an elliptical maching to train for the event, had this to say, “you have got to be kidding me. I want my money back. I told Beth we should have bought a treadmill.”

Perhaps the most interesting quote of the day was on a message board shortly after the race when Beth Hoden vowed to NEVER get lapped again. Amanda Huinker was unavailable for comment.

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I know I am a couple days early, but we are leaving tomorrow for the cities to celebrate with Chris's family. We will go to Bloomington on Thursday (after looking through every single ad in the paper 3 times) to Chris's grandparents for a huge turkey dinner and then Friday morning we get up early and go shopping with all the other crazies out there. Not exactly sure how that's all going to work this year with Mya and the whole nursing thing, but when there's shopping involved, Linda and I usually find a way:)

Friday afternoon we are going to Decorah to see my family. Friday night my dad's family is coming over for pizza. Saturday we are getting a big family picture taken and then Sunday we'll celebrate with my mom's family. Oh...I almost forgot. We will also run the dreaded "turkey trot" on Sunday. It's a tradition started 8 years ago by my brother that we drive down to the track and run a mile in between the 2 football games. My sister won the very first one (Brian was still a little gimpy from his accident, but a win is a win) and then Chris went on a streak for 5 straight years and then Brian won it last year. Notice my name hasn't been mentioned. I pull in the rear every year and don't even care! Someday, I'm going to secretly train and surprise everyone!

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with you family and friends!

4 months old!!

Hard to believe, but Mya Patricia was 4 months old yesterday. This is going to sound really cheesy, but it seriously feels like just yesterday the doctor said, "it's a girl!" Chris and I were both shocked. We were sure it was a boy. She has been a great baby (except that she doesn't nap very well and she takes 1 1/2 hours to put to bed at night:) You wouldn't know that if you looked at her though...she is happy most all the time she is awake despite being short on sleep. Must take after her daddy...I need a lot more sleep to function than Chris does.

We had Mya's 4 month appointment today. Her stats: 13 pounds, 24.5 inches. Both at 50th percentile. I was suprised that she didn't weigh more. Chris and I always bet how much they will weigh before doctor appointments. I guessed 15 lbs and Chris 14-8. Obviously she looks a little pudgier than she really is! The pediatrician said she looked great and is hitting all of the milestones she is supposed to. (well..except the whole sleeping through the night thing:) The shots were bad and she was pretty fussy the rest of the day. Thank goodness for infant tylenol!

I took the picture tonight before Mya's bath. After I snapped it, she rolled over and konked her head on the linolium. She let me know that it hurt for about 3 minutes afterwards. No mom of the year awards for me today. I'll try again tomorrow.

Need a good laugh???

Usually when I'm feeding Mya, Max is right in my face trying to play, read books, needs a snack or something to drink, etc. Today, it was oddly silent so I thought I better figure out what Max was up to. I called and he didn't answer. I called again..nothing. So, I got up and started looking for him. The picture is what I came upon....Max was pumping in my bedroom. I luckily was able to get the camera before he noticed me. After he noticed me in the room, he said, "mommy, door." Translated: Get out of here because I know I'm doing something wrong. Thought you'd get a good laugh out of this picture:) By the way...Chris was 100% against me putting this picture out there, but I couldn't resist.

State Volleyball

Yesterday we went to Cedar Rapids to watch Pleasant Valley play volleyball at the state tournament. It was really fun to see some of the girls we used to coach along with their parents. It's crazy to think that they're seniors and the last we had contact with them, they were 8th graders!! We were a little disappointed to see that many of the girls we coached weren't on the team anymore. When we inquired as to the reason, we found that they had been cut as 9th graders. I was sad, because these kids were such great girls and pretty decent volleyball players if you ask me. I also found out that they are now having 7th and 8th graders try-out for the traveling team, so basically if you don't make it in 7th grade, you have no chance at high school volleyball.

This whole scenario got me thinking about how thankful I am that I grew up in a small town where everyone got a chance to do everything and there was no one trying to persuade you to "concentrate" on one sport and let the rest go. I didn't touch a volleyball until the summer before 7th grade when I realized that I should probably learn how before going out for the team. I ended up being 2nd team all conference by my senior year. If I had gone to a bigger school, I never would have been given that chance. I also played basketball and tennis all throughout high school. My best friend Julie did all of the above along with being in the band and playing softball in the summer!

There are definitely some positive aspects of bigger schools like better class selection, less cliques, more choices for things to do, etc. but I think if I had a choice, I'd rather Max and Mya go to a school like Decorah. I won't have any problem if they're not the stars of the team, but I want them to be involved in everything they want to be. Unfortunately, there aren't many John Deere factories in small towns:) Anyway...those are my thoughts on that. Kind of random, I know.

Snow, Roly-Poly, Hawks, Vikes and more...

Hello Everyone!! Hope this finds you all doing well. We have had a busy few days around here. Friday came the first snow of the season. Max and I were out playing in it by 8:30 a.m. The neighbors thought we were nuts I am sure. He loved it until he got pushed over by Chloe and went head first into the cold, wet snow. He got over it pretty quickly when I started throwing snowballs at Chloe. He laughed pretty hard:) He wanted to go out all day long, but I was not about to do the whole boots, coat, hat, gloves, etc. thing more than once per day. When he wants to go outside, I tell him it's too cold and he goes and gets his hat on. it's pretty cute.

Mya rolled over this weekend for the first time. It was pretty exciting for us because I didn't think her neck was very strong, but it must be okay if she's rolling at 3 1/2 months. She has also started to show interest in toys and definitely wants to sit up and look around which we found out at church today when we wanted her to sleep, but she wanted otherwise...

Our friends from the Quad Cities Ron and Maryanne came on Friday to visit. Joe and Tracy came over after all of the kids were in bed and we had a really fun night playing games and catching up. The guys stayed up waaaaaaay too late playing poker, but that's what they always do when together so I'm not sure why I was surprised. We got to see the Hawkeyes upset Penn State and saw the Vikings beat the Packers today! Chris would have had the perfect weekend had the Gophers beat Michigan.

Not much on the agenda for the week. The girls that I coached my very first season of coaching 7th grade volleyball are now seniors and made it to the state tournament for the first time in school history (Pleasant Valley--in Bettendorf) Chris and I also coached them in AAU volleyball so Chris is going to take Wed. afternoon off and we're going to go watch them in Cedar Rapids. We're telling ourselves that we had a little part in it:) Have a great week!

Halloween Fun

Happy belated Halloween to everyone! We had a really fun Halloween watching Max take everything in. On Thursday night he carved pumpkins with Chris. He wasn't as interested as we thought he would be, but he still had fun running around outside with the "pumpkin guts." Chris didn't carve any ordinary pumpkins..he went all out. See below.

Friday night we had trick or treating here in Cedar Falls from 6:00-8:00. I worked with Max all day to say trick or treat, but it came out as treat. He's really good at that word because we have to give Chloe so many treats to keep her from eating various things during the day:) Anyway...Chris took the blue monster out and it only took one house for him to catch on. He wanted to go to the houses without lights on by the end! Most people thought he was so cute, so they let him take what he wanted out of the basket. He would grab 3 or 4 pieces of candy and then say, "more." After he did some neighborhood houses, we went in the car to some other friends. By the end, he was sitting down in driveways because he was so tired. Mya fell asleep halfway through the whole ordeal, but she was a pretty darn cute pumpkin anyway! Max filled his Elmo bowl with candy that Chris and I are enjoying during his naps.

I can't believe it is November already and we've been outside with no coat on this weekend. I'll take it until Christmas Eve, and then I want some snow:) Have a great week everyone...I'll go back to watching TV after Tuesday because I am so sick of the ads!!

Happy House Reunion

Last weekend we went up to Decorah to see all of my college roommates. Our senior year we lived in a house called The Happy House (no idea who gave the house that name, but we lived up to it:) We lived there with 7 girls, 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Somehow it worked great and we had an unforgettable senior year.

While in Deoorah, we spent some time with the husbands/boyfriends and kids and then some quality time with just the girls. I hadn't been out much since Mya was born, so it was really nice to catch up with everyone and enjoy an evening out. We also got all of the kids together in their luther shirts and took a picture. I'm going to send it into the Luther Alumni magazine and hopefully they'll publish it. I think we have the cutest kids around. Hopefully we can afford to send our kids there in 2025:) Here is a picture of all the kids....the future Norse!

Home Alone...AHHHH!!!

There's definitely a reason why every child needs a mom and a dad. Tonight Chris is gone and I'm attempting to put 2 kids to bed alone. As I write...Max is crying and has been for 35 minutes and Mya has been asleep and then awake 5 times in the past half hour! Max is very much into his routine and if we mess with it, it usually means some tears will be shed. I didn't give him a bath tonight for fear that Mya would wake up while he was in the tub and then I'd be in real trouble! I'll get through it, but I thought writing might help me de-stress. I have been drinking a glass of wine as I go back and forth between Max and Mya's rooms which is helping too:) Someday, I'll just have to say, "Max, Mya...time for bed." They will be able to go to bed without a bath, without milk, without rocking and without reading books. When that day finally comes, I'll probably miss nights like this.

All is quiet now...I think I'll drink some more wine!

Weekend Update

Hello! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. We are just sitting down to watch Desperate Housewives and wind down from a busy weekend. Friday night Chris's parents came down to watch Max and Mya for us on Saturday so we could go to Iowa City to tailgate and watch the Hawkeyes slaughter the Badgers! We had a great time getting away despite leaving Cedar Falls at 5 a.m. to drive to the game in the fog. We went with our friends Joe and Tracy and met up with Ron and Maryanne. Max and Mya did great with
Grandma and Grandpa!

The only other new things are that Mya doesn't nap, Max now can poop on the little potty, and our computer has a bad virus so no internet again. Seriously...Mya doesn't nap. Today she slept at church, for 20 minutes in Linda's arms and then for 10 minutes on the way to the mall. That's it. Now you can understand why I can't find time in a day to bring our garbage can in from the curb!! Luckily, she does sleep at night, but we'd like her to get this day sleeping thing figured out soon.

My sister Tara is coming this week to spend a few days with us, so we're looking forward to that. I'll put some more pictures on when I get my computer back!! For now..it's Chris's work computer in the evening. Thank goodness for wireless internet!

Pee!

We have had a nightly routine for the most part since Mya was born. Beth gives Mya a bath while I try to distract Max from wanting to get in the bathroom. Many times it just ends with me giving up and Beth having both kids in there at once. Then once Mya is done and Beth takes her to bed, I give Max a bath and then read him a few books before putting him down. It's worked pretty well so far even though we think that sometimes it feels like we are single parents with one taking each kid every night.

Well here's a quick story about Max and bath time. When he was a baby, he hated, and I mean hated, water and baths. So much so that I of course called upon my wife's superior child rearing skills during those times and let her handle him. It might sound like a cop out, but there are certain things that I just think a mom can handle better than a dad. At least this dad anyways. Eventually, Max mellowed out and Beth and I would trade off baths and story time every other night. Then comes Mya and it just made sense to have Beth take care of her because of nursing. Since then, it's been Me and Max. My system for him is to get him cleaned up immediately and then let him have some fun before getting out. Sometimes he asks for "bubbles" and we do bubbles - that's thanks to Grandma Huinker that he wants that all the time. Lately fun has meant filling up this little fish that has a hole in it and squeezing it so that the water squirts out all over me and the bathroom. He loves that game and I love hearing his infectious laugh over and over again when he sees me get all wet.

Tonight was a special night though. We got him a "potty" a couple months back just thinking that we would have it around for when the time finally came. First few nights I would sit him on there and use word association and it has a fun tune that plays when the bottom of the bowl gets wet so I'd throw some water in there to show him how fun it was... After those first few times, he would just sit on it himself before getting in the tub. He says "potty", then backs up, sits down, nothing happens, he gets bored after 10 seconds and then is ready for the bath. Tonight he said "potty", backed up, sat down, and peed! I never thought I would be so excited, but I felt like my kid aced his ACTs. He loved the music it made so much, he did it a few more times. And then he said "poop". "Poop" is one of his favorite words thanks to his Grandpa Hoden taking him out in the yard with a shovel to clean up after Chloe. We can't go outside now without him saying "poop" a few dozen times. At least tonight when he said it nothing happened, but it's obvious he knows what's going on. I know he's far from potty-trained, but it was fun to see this little step.

That was the real excitement for the night. After the bath ends, we read a few books together. I have a few memorized - Beth has many memorized. Max is starting to fill in words to the stories (at least when he doesn't have his blanket shoved in his mouth). That blanket is a topic for a whole different story... When I think he's had enough reading, he gives me a big bear hug, repeats me saying "Lub you" and "night night". At the risk of sounding too sentimental, I love that part of my day.

So here's to Max and peeing in a bowl!

"Maternity Leave" is over

Tomorow Mya will be 12 weeks old. If I were to be going back to work, it would be my last day home. It got me thinking about some things so I thought I'd write them down!

What I miss about work (in no particular order)
1. School lunch. Sounds crazy, but I actually really liked the school food! I miss having someone prepare food for me...oh, and the cost. It was arond $2 for a salad, entree, fruit or vegetable, dessert and milk:)
2. Talking with my colleagues at lunch and between classes. I miss hearing about people's weekends, what kinds of crazy e-mails they've gotten from parents, etc.
3. Seeing the students each day and talking to them about their lives. Hearing about the big game the night before or looking at a picture in a magazine of their prom dress.
4. Listening to the radio on the way to and from work. Now, I just hear Pop Goes the Weasel when I turn the van on.
5. Making phone calls in the car uninterrupted
6. Sick days
7. A paycheck

What I don't miss (again..in no particular order)
1. Lesson planning
2. Grading papers and tests
3. Having to be somewhere on time
4. Parent teacher conferences
5. Inservices
6. Having to decide at 3:00 a.m. whose job is more important the next day and who is going to stay home with a sick child.

My misconceptions about being a stay-at-home mom
1. I thought I could get a nap in each day.
2. I'd be caught up with Days of our Lives and Oprah. (haven't seen Days in 2 years and have seen a few episodes of Oprah on DVR)
3. The baby books would be updated weekly since I would have time. (haven't touched them since Mya was 3 weeks old)
4. Since I'm staying home, my kids won't be as sick. WRONG!! We've been to the doctor more times in the past 12 weeks than I care to admit. In fact, we were just there today and heard the dreaded words..."it's only a virus!"
5. I thought I'd be hanging out at Panera, going to story time at the library, meeting friends for lunch or shopping at the mall all the time! Nope...we mostly hang out at home and that's actually the way I like it right now:) In time, we will do those things I am sure.
6. I assumed that since I was not employed outside the home, I wouldn't have a boss. WRONG again. My boss is 19 months old and named Maxwell.
7. I also didn't know how wonderful it would be to see all of the little things that go on each day while being here with Max and Mya. I feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to stay home with them. Stay tuned to the next 12 weeks! There's no tellin' what could happen around the Hoden household:)

Run Run Run

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to Heartland Farms pumpkin patch with our friends Joe and Tracy and their kids Tate and Adria. It was such a beautiful day and we had a great time! Max ran wild. We could not get him to sit still enough for a picture for the first hour or so that we were there. They had slides, blow up bouncy things, farm animals, hay rides, haunted corn, a pumpkin-ator, and lots more! He wanted to touch all of the animals and as Adria unfortunately found out, they don't always like children! (she just got a little bit of skin taken off her finger by a chicken:) Mya slept the whole time in the baby bjorn. Thank goodness for whoever invented that thing. We would be stuck at home without it! Sounds like we have rain and cool weather coming soon, so I'm glad we got outside today!

This weekend is also Homecoming at Luther. I think it's the first one I have missed since graduation in 2002. I thought the reason Luther always won the football game on homecoming was because Rachel and I were in the crowd cheering, but apparently not because they beat nationally ranked Central College today! It is also Luther womens tennis alumni weekend. It would have been nice to get together with some of my old teammates, but we have been traveling a lot lately and will be doing more in the next few weeks, so we needed a weekend home.

Hopefully everyone got out and enjoyed the weather today!

Olivia's baptism

Sunday, Sept 28th was our niece Oliva's baptism back in Decorah. Chris and I were honored to be her Godparents. The whole baptism was actually pretty funny. At one point, I could have sworn Brian was going to dunk Olivia's head in the holy water. Father Phil was giving orders about the holy water, oil and baptismal candle to the only non-catholic in the bunch (Chris) so it was pretty funny to watch Chris try to figure out what he meant. Max and Mya did not do well in church. Probably had a lot to to with driving an hour and a half and then sitting in church. Another funny moment happened when Max dropped a raisin in the holy water and when he started writing on the glass door with the baptismal candle that he took out of the diaper bag. Thank goodness for Aunt Mary who took care of the two of them during the major meltdowns:)

My mom pointed out to me that Sunday was 8 years to the day that Brian came home from the hospital after his serious car accident. 8 years ago he was a 22 year old laying in a hospital bed with numerous broken bones and needed my mom to do everything for him and now he has a beautiful daughter of his own being baptized. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Max, Mya and I spent a few days in Decorah after the baptism. Chris had to interview at Luther on Tuesday, so we stayed and he came back to pick us up. It was nice to be home and spend time with my parents and Amanda and Olivia too. Too bad my kids gave Olivia her first cold:( Hopefully she is feeling better soon!) The big news of today is that Mya finally pooped. She went Saturday to Wednesday without...so hopefully she will be able to sleep now:) Max's new thing is that he throws up his arms and says touchdown! It's pretty cute. We'll try to get it on tape and put it out for you to see!

John Deere Green

Today the John Deere Waterloo Works threw itself a 90th anniversary party in downtown Waterloo. We ventured out for our first real 4-person family event with the Baby Bjorn and a stroller. It was a little like the state fair with all the food and tractors and people everywhere. Max loved the "tradors" so much that he was not happy when we had to stand in line for him to climb up into them. We chatted with some friends we ran into and walked around looking at the displays. Overall it was good time and the kids did great. It's always a fine line with knowing how much is too much for Max and we got this one just right. After a couple hours, we were able to pry him away from the JD Gator he was pretending to drive and got in the car to head home. About half way home the meltdown started and 15 seconds after we were in the door I think he was asleep in his crib. Whew! Fun day and well done by JD.

Chloe Joanne Hoden

I decided to write a little blog about our dog Chloe. Yes, she does have a middle name. My cousins Kylie and Kelsey gave it to her. It is a combination of Chris's middle name Joel and mine which is Anne. My pets have always had middle names...Raisin Cream Pie Huinker for example. Chloe is going to be 4 years old on October 27th. She has been both a blessing and a curse during my first few months as a stay at home mom. She does create more work for me, like when she wants to go out or come in right as I sit down to nurse Mya, or when she rips up a diaper or when she eats the plastic off the end of Max's bat and then pukes it up the next morning and I proceed to step in the puke as I wait for the toast to pop up. Or, when I let her ride along in the car and she shoots out the side door and I have to go chase her around. By the way..she only has one master and it's not me:)

You're probably wondering by now..how is she a blessing? Well, she is free entertainment for Max. They are truly best friends. You wouldn't believe their relationship. Max's favorite thing to do is give her treats, but he terrorizes her first by running around the house for 5 minutes egging her on to get it. He uses her as a step stool when he wants to reach something. He chases her with the corn popper, the swiffer, the tennis racquet, the baseball bat, the shovel, etc. Max pulls her hair, grabs her nose, and pokes her in the eyes. Whenever I need something for Max to do, I tell him to go find Chloe and it can buy me a much needed 2 minute break while he tries to find her. Chloe just takes all of it without saying a peep.

She is not always the victim though. Around meal times, she just sits right under his high chair and gets fed plenty. When Max decides he is done eating, he gives her the leftovers. When he gets up from his chair, she gets everything that falls from his bib or lap. Until lately, during naptime you could always find Chloe sleeping in Max's room. I close his door all the way now and Chloe sits outside his room and whines to get in. She is also really good with Mya. I'm not sure how, but she always manages to walk right around Mya, but never steps on her.

There have been moments when I've come close to putting Chloe up for adoption (when Chris is at work of course) but most of the time, she is a great dog. Enjoy some pictures!

Using Chloe as a chair while he eats his popsicle

Chloe sleeping next to Mya (mom..I'm guessing you're cringing looking at this picture:)

Playing in the hose together

playing tug-of-war together

double-teaming the dishwasher

Did I mention, Max loves to pick up poop????

Baptism

Hard to believe the weekend is over! We had a really great weekend celebrating Mya's baptism with family and friends. Chris's parents and Jeff came down Friday night to help us out. David and Jeff helped with the office and Linda helped me(well...she basically did all of it:) with getting the food ready for the baptism and also helped to restock my freezer. We were all tired at the end of the day Saturday, but a lot was accomplished. The office looks great and the food was excellent, so a job well done!

It was a beautiful day today for the baptism. My parents, my sis-in-law Amanda and niece Olivia came along with Mya's Godmothers Rachel and Kindel. (both Luther friends) Kindel and her husband have 2 kids that are close to Max and Mya's age so that was fun to get the kids together. Mya slept through the whole baptism and church service...even when they poured water on her. Max did pretty well too being that he had both sets of grandparents to pay attention to him. We just came back to our house afterwards for a nice lunch and sat outside and enjoyed the September weather.

Enjoy your week ahead. Hope this great weather continues!


This is the last picture of the weekend:)

2 months old!!

Wow...the time has certainly flown by! Mya was 2 months old yesterday. Seems like we just brought her home a few days ago and then at other times it seems like we've always had her. We had her appointment yesterday with our favorite doctor who was back from maternity leave after having her 7th baby:) She weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces which put her in the 75th percentile. She was 22 inches long which was 50th percentile. I can't remember her head size, but it was also in the 75th percentile.

We had a couple concerns about her neck strength and we were sort of right. Turns out her neck itself is strong enough, but she favors one side over the other, so we need to do some therapy at home to get that other side strong. Now that I know, I really notice it. Before, I just knew something wasn't quite right. It's definitely fixable, so that's a good thing. Other than that, she looked great! Overall, she is a really good baby. I sometimes feel sorry for Max, because I think we really screwed him up. We have things figured out now...most of the time. She can still throw us for a loop once in awhile! Last night she slept 5.5 hours and then a few more after that so I was pretty happy. I went to bed when she did, so when she woke up, I felt refreshed and actually thought about getting up and doing a few things at 3:45 a.m. I decided I would regret that this morning when Max woke up, so I went back to bed.

Yesterday was my mom and dad's 32nd anniversary. Seems like an awful long time to me! The best part of their marriage is that it seems like it's still getting better and better with time. (kind of like wine...right mom? ) This weekend we're having Mya baptized at Nazareth Lutheran here in Cedar Falls. Chris's parents are coming down tonight to help get ready for the day and to help with the flooring in the basement. Should be a fun weekend! I'll post pictures next week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Night at the Salon

Tonight I finally used up my Mother's day present from Max. He gave me a gift card to get my hair cut and highlighted. I had a small window to schedule the appt. because I needed Chris to be home from work, but had to be back by bedtime. So, my appt. was at 5:45. On my way out the door, Chris told me to have a glass of wine. I didn't even know they had wine! Chris is a regular there...they sometimes refer to me at the front desk as "Chris's wife" Anyway...come to find out, they even have 3 choices of wine! I ordered a chardonnay. To make a long story short, after getting my hair highlighted, getting a hand massage, a head massage and then cut, the hairdresser had to ask me if I needed a ride home! You can imagine the time I had at the salon:) I came home just a few minutes late to find my wonderful husband had Max in the tub and Mya was just kicking away in the bathroom taking everything in. The house looked like a tornado came through our house while I was gone, but that was the least of my worries. The kids did great and I think daddy even watched part of a movie! Not sure how...I haven't managed to brush my teeth somedays, but that's another story.

Tomorrow Mya will be 2 months old. We have our appointment with the pediatrician, so I will write more after the appt. and post some updated pictures of Mya. One more thing...today at HyVee (I only had Mya...Max was at daycare) an older gentleman asked me how old the baby boy was. I first told him it was a girl and then said she was 2 months. He said, "Wow! She is a big girl..just like her mommy!" I'm not sure exactly what he meant, but I just nodded and walked away. Sometimes people just don't know when to close their mouths!!!

The weekend is over already?!

Beth is frustrated that I still haven't figured out how to get our home computer network back up and running, so I thought I'd try my hand at posting a blog for once. Seems like the weekend just started and now it's over again. I remember that we watched the Hawkeyes on Saturday, but that's about it. Max was upset that we don't get the Gophers games on tv down here. We dress up anyway. Even though he's 100% Iowan, for some reason we still don't have a Hawkeye shirt or hat at all; everything is MN! I'm just trying to teach him patience at a very young age - every Minnesota sports fan (of any team) needs it. I'm guessing that by the time Max is a grown man, people will be talking about how long it's been since Minnesota fans saw a champion team.



















The kids have both been sick the last couple of days. Mya has had a runny nose and Max has had the same to go along with his cough and fever. Kids really aren't much fun at night when they are stuffed up! Seems like it is the toughest thing in the world to get to sleep and stay that way. Both Beth and I are feeling it a little bit as well, so if they are feeling as achy as we are, I can understand how uncomfortable it can be. Whether it was the colds or just a lazy overcast Sunday, they slept a lot and we were able to get some things accomplished.

I painted the ceiling and walls of the office and then mowed the lawn under a light mist. Trying to get that office ready to go before my Dad and brother get to town Friday to put the floor, trim and window frame in. Finally, after this room, I'll be able to say that we are DONE with any more home improvement projects here. For a new home, we have been very busy. Beth called me "capable" today, meaning I can do things around the house without hiring someone else. Pretty nice complement but I'm not sure I 100% agree. Maybe I'd get more kudos if I could figure out how to get the dumb Linksys network working again...

Here's a little video I took this morning of Max imitating his favorite book - I'll let you guess which one it is. He yells "no no!" while we read the book every time after "Mama calls the doctor and the doctor said...". The kids are getting cuter every day. I'm sure it is the same with every parent, but I catch myself looking at them with wonder so many times every day.

Going crazy with no internet!!

Well, in case you're wondering why I haven't written in awhile...we haven't had internet since Monday! I'm writing on Chris's computer right now which he brought home from work so I could get caught back up with the world! We are finishing an office in the basement and the dry wallers unplugged the wireless box and now we can't get it working again!

The week has flown by. I had MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) It's a group that meets at our church twice a month. It's basically a group of stay at home moms and we have discussions, crafts, have speakers, etc. and then the kids go to the nursery. Mya stayed with me in the meeting, but Max went to the nursery and did great. The meeting was okay...kind of felt like the new kid on the first day of school when everyone is so excited to see the friends they haven't seen all summer. hopefully next time will be better.

I'm still not brave enough to get to the grocery store or Wal-Mart solo yet. I thought about it a bunch of times this week, but never made it. Today I was going to go, but Mya slept for 3 hours, so I had to get dinner going before I could go. Oh well...there's always next week! Not much else new. Max's new thing this week is that he points to where he wants me to put Mya when I'm holding her. He just says "baby" and then points to various places for me to put her. It's pretty funny. We don't have any plans other than to paint the office this weekend. It will be good to catch up on some other things. Hopefully I can be the lucky one to be holding Mya when Max wakes up in the morning so I can sleep in a little:)

We got our digital video monitors in the mail yesterday. Our neighbors convinced us to get them. They're always outside hanging out while their kids are sleeping and they can just click a button and see them in their crib/bed. Anyway...we got them set up and they are awesome! We click button A and can see Max and then click button B and see Mya! So, we thought everything was great until....my neighbor Jane called me this morning and said, "I see you got your monitors." I didn't know how she knew until she said, "I watched your kids all night!" Apparently their monitor picked ours up so now they can't watch their own kids, but instead see ours! Guess we better be on our best behavior when we're going into their rooms, because someone else could be watching us! I called the monitor company and there's nothing we can do about it.

I better get to bed. Mya slept 7 hours in a row last night, but I didn't go to bed when she did, so I didn't get that many hours. Tonight, I'm not missing out! Have a great weekend everyone!

A successful trip north!

We are back home after a long weekend in the twin cities visiting Chris's family. We got there Friday evening and came back this afternoon. I was not looking forward to the drive, but the kids surprised me. Mya slept the ENTIRE way up there and the ENTIRE way home. I used to think people were lying when they told me their kids slept in the car. Now I know it's probably true. We were just used to Max. One time on a trip home from the cities, we seriously considered getting a hotel in Mason City (80 miles from our house) Max did pretty well too. He slept about an hour on both trips so that was good for him.

We did quite a bit this weekend. Max and Chris marched in a parade for Ashwin Madia while Mya and I went to the outlet mall in Albertville. She slept the whole time in the baby bjorn while I spent way too much money! We made it to 8:30 church service on Sunday and got to see a lot of the Hoden's friends which was fun. Later on Sunday, Chris and the tennis racquet got in a pretty big fight and the racquet won which landed Chris in urgent care and 5 stitches in his lip. He can't pronounce B's or P's, but is doing fine otherwise. All in all, it was a great trip! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jeff for all of their help with Max, Mya and Chloe!

Tomorrow is my first MOPS meeting, so I'm looking forward to that and will let you know how it goes!

18 Month Check

Let's just say that I'm glad I didn't choose today to be brave and take 2 kids out on my own. It was Max's 18 month check-up (and shots). The picture on the left is Max's reaction when I told him we were going to the doctor today. (just kidding...he was mad because I wouldn't let him have the camera) Luckily, Chris came with us. Our appt. was at 10:30 and at 11:43 I turned to Chris and said, if he's not here by noon, we're leaving. I know they're busy, but it's a pediatricians office...it is so hard to keep kids quiet and occupied in a 8X8 room with no toys they can play with. Anyway...the doctor walked in a few minutes later so we got to stay:) Max weighs 25 pounds and is 33 inches tall. Both are the 50 percentile. His head is also in the 50th percent which we were surprised, because Chris and I always joke about his big melon! The shot didn't go so hot. He knew it was coming this time so he was pretty upset the whole apponitment and just clung onto Chris like a monkey. After the shot, we tried to distract him and point out the cool band-aid, but he wasn't buying it. We heard "owey" until we got to the car. Luckily, I brought his blanket so that helped. While we were there, I did a little 2 for the price of 1 and asked a few questions about Mya and got her weighed. She's 10 lb 10 oz.

This weekend we're heading to Maple Grove to see Chris's family. I'm dreading the car ride, but it will be good to get to the cities. We're planning on doing some shopping while we're there which is always fun for me. We're staying until Monday so I'll write about the trip when we get back! Enjoy your weekend!

Am I crazy??

Well, today I got a wild hair and decided to go out in public with my 2 kids for the first time by myself. You're probably guessing I went to Wal-Mart or the grocery store or the bank. That's what a normal person would do on their first public outing...I on the other hand decided to go have their pictures taken! I called the place this morning to get an appt. and they convinced me to come in today and that they would help me out with the kids. So....we went! Here's how it played out. First we had to go to Von Maur to get something for the pictures. While waiting to check out, Mya filled her pants while in her car seat. We only had about 10 minutes to go to the picture place so I decided to wait until we got there to change it instead of getting her out of her seat and then back in, etc. We got within 1/2 mile of the place and I had to pull over because she was screaming so loud and hard that I thought she'd quit breathing. I climbed back in the van and when I pulled her out, poop was all the way up her back! That may explain her screaming. So, I changed her diaper in the back seat of the van and then had to nurse her to get the crying to stop. Meanwhile..Max wanted out of his seat b/c Mya was out of hers. To get his mind off that..I sang the Wheels on the Bus around 15 times.



Finally, we got going again and got to the picture place. The people there were wonderful. We had 3 of them helping us. The pics turned out great and I spent way too much money because I had to decide on the spot what I wanted with 2 hungry children on my hands. All in all..it went pretty well. Chris didn't even know we went so he was pretty shocked when he came home and saw the pictures. I also gained some confidence from the experience, so we may even try HyVee tomorrow!



Tomorrow Max turns 18 months. Hard to believe he's a year and a half already! Time has flown since his first birthday. I'm guessing it will only get faster. His favorite things these days are popsicles (batiz), his blanket (bantie), going outside (ous) and his dog Chloe (mere) We must tell Chloe to "come here" a lot, because he thinks that's her name! We're not sure how an 18 month old little boy can run our lives, but he has figured it out! "Matz" (as he calls himself) can be challenging at times, but he is a great little boy that makes us smile and laugh all day long.

Last night I went for a walk with Max and Chloe because I needed to get out of the house for awhile. I ran into a neighbor who asked how things were going. I think she could tell on my face that it had been a long day. She told me that these are the longest days, but the shortest years. I thought it was a great quote...one that I need to remember on occasion:)



I better close out. Chris is trying to put Mya to sleep right now by standing in front of the bathroom sink with the water on full blast. It's the only thing that works these days! Once we get her to sleep, she does well, but it's getting to that point that is a struggle. I think it's my turn to give it a whirl! Until next time...

My first Blog!

So...after reading a few of my friend's blogs, I decided to start one up myself! I figured there is no better time in my life to write things down than now. I told Chris that someday I'll print this out and have documentation of our life with an 18 month old and a 6 weeker!! It can be pretty crazy, but so far we wouldn't change it for a thing:)

This weekend has been busy so far, but we don't have any more plans for the rest of it so we're looking forward to relaxing (as much as possible anyway) Friday night our friends Joe and Tracy offered to watch Max and Mya so Chris and I could enjoy a dinner out just the two of us. On the way to their house, I mentioned to Chris that a part of me wanted to drop them off and then go home and sleep! I felt bad about saying that, but he responded with, "I thought of the exact same thing!" We did not go home, but instead enjoyed a dinner out at Mulligans.

We went to Decorah yesterday to meet up with some of my family. We got to see my cousin Kevin's two kids Bryleigh and Brayden and then we got a picture of my Grandma with all 5 great-grandchildren. We also took some generation pictures. We drove up and back yesterday so needless to say, the kids were ready to be home! Actually...Mya did awesome. However, Max has regressed in the car. I think I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned forward to pick up his "bantie" (blanket) about 25 times in 80 miles. We are quite a sight in the minivan...Chris up front driving with Chloe riding shotgun. Then the 2 kids in the middle and me in the way back with all of the gear we might possibly need to get through the trip:) With about 10 miles to go last night, I had to whip out some pumpkin bars that my mom sent home with us so Max could make it home!

Today we have just been fighting with kids to take naps (as I write, Mya is sleeping in the baby bjorn and has been for 2 hours!) and running errands (separately of course) I bought Mya's baptismal gown so that was fun. Grandma Bev sent a gift card so I used that and bought some really cute socks too:) Tonight we're going to eat some good steaks for dinner and probably open a bottle of wine too! Enjoy my blog. I want to get some pictures put on here, but I'll have to wait until my techy husband can show me how! Until next time....