miscellaneous

Weirdest weather week ever. Sunday we got stuck in Decorah because of the ice storm. Then Monday school got canceled and by afternoon we were outside with spring coats on digging in the mud and shooting hoops. Monday night there were thunderstorms, then it rained all day Tuesday. Yesterday we woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground with some high winds and today the high is 6! Picture below kind of tells the story. One was taken on Monday and one on Wednesday.

The big two went out in the snow three times yesterday. I couldn't believe they wanted to deal with those winds! While Ivy and I were hanging out, I started thinking about all the words she is saying right now. She's in the stage where she's learning a new word every couple of days. Right now she's saying blankee, mom, mama, mommy, dada, mya, peek-a-boo, more, bye bye, me, chloe, owie, moo, woof-woof, puppy, and my favorite no. Mom, mama and mommy can mean a variety of things....pick me up, get me something, and I want out of this high chair/stroller/carseat/crib. I'm shocked that she doesn't know the words phone, ipad, camera or remote yet.

She is total trouble these days when it comes to her climbing abilities. Chris had to rig up a gate for the steps on Max and Mya's bunk beds. Yesterday I lost track of her for a minute and found her on the top bunk!!! When we raise our voices to her and say NO-NO, she laughs. Same thing when she goes in the street and stands on the kitchen table. She thinks it's funny when we tell her no. Just what I need! Probably doesn't help that I usually take a picture of her when she's doing these crazy things:)

And an update on the dairy allergy...we're doing much better, but it's still not easy. she eats something different than us a lot. For now that doesn't bother her, but I'm guessing it will become more of an issue as she gets older. She is not fond of soy cheese or any kind of soy/almond/rice milk. I'm honestly not sure she'll ever consume a form of milk. I'm a bit worried about her calcium, because it's difficult to figure out how to get her daily value in each day. I've talked to a lot of people and they all say it gets better with time so I'm hoping we get more and more figured out as we go!

Organization 101

My sister came to Dubuque last Sunday to spend some time with us! We have been talking about her coming for months and I've been looking forward to it so much. Along with just spending some quality time together we also got so much done! Sunday when she got here we spent the afternoon hanging out and getting caught up. Then around 10:30pm (when Chris and I went to bed) it all began....

I woke up at 12:45am to go help Ivy and I saw all of the kitchen lights still on! For a second I thought she forgot and then I heard someone. The next morning I walked out and my laundry room was stacked high in garbage! She went through all of our cupboards and drawers and got rid of anything that didn't need to be there. So far after 4 days I've only missed one thing that she threw out and that probably needed to be thrown out anyway!

Other things we accomplished throughout the week were cleaning out all of our closets and drawers. Between Chris and I, we took 7 garbage bags to goodwill! The kids' stuff filled 3 big bags as well. We also got rid of our gigantic pile of shirts that needed to be ironed. (before you think she's superwoman....she convinced Chris to get them all dry cleaned so we could start over without a pile so it wasn't so overwhelming!)Her motto is "a clean house, a clean mind" Not that my house was necessarily dirty, it just had a lot of "stuff" in it that we didn't need. She has helped me to remember that everything has a place...I just need to put it in the place! (For example....I asked her one night where Ivy's medicine was and her reply was "where medicine goes!")

Along with those reorganization/decluttering projects, I also managed to have a doctor's appointment, a dentist apointment, get CPR and First Aid certified, get a hair cut and volunteer at school despite Ivy being sick! Tara also got to see Max play basketball (although she almost jumped out of her chair more than one time because she was so frustrated at kids not passing the ball to Max!!) and Mya at swimming lessons. Phew!! Are you worn out yet from reading this? I am exhausted from typing it all out! So very thankful that we got to spend these few days together and hopefully we can get a few more of these visits in before she moves to Japan in August. (for three years:(!!) In case you needed proof of the projects...see below:)

things I don't want to forget

The kids are at a really fun stage right now. It seems like Chris and I spend a lot of the dinner hour laughing..most of the time they have no idea what we're laughing about, but that's part of the fun too! Here are a few things that have come up lately that I just don't want to forget.

Mya uses the word "cozy" the same as someone would use the word cuddle. "Dad, can you cozy me?" One morning Chris got to work later than he would have liked because he just couldn't say no to "cozy" her on the couch.

Once in awhile, Max refers to his fingers with the names from the thumbkin song. "Mom, I can snap using my thumb and my ring man!" I am also loving the stage he's in where he tells me everything. From the time he gets home from school until he goes to bed, I pretty much can get him to tell me his whole day. I'm going to miss when he decides what to tell me and what to keep inside based on what my reaction might be. Lately some kids have been saying things to him to scare him and he tells us right away. I have had to talk to some of these kids and I fear in the future he won't want "to get the kids in trouble" so he will keep things to himself.

The other night at dinner Mya was laughing so hard she snorted. Chris asked her if she just snorted and she said, "Snorfed? what's that?" We of course started laughing and now they think it's hilarious to use the word "snorf".

Ivy is at the stage where she is saying hi to everyone she sees. When we are in the grocery store she sits in the cart saying hi to anyone and everyone. 99% of the time the people stop and talk to her and she just eats it up. We're also in the "Ivy, say____" stage. The funniest one is when we ask her to say Max, she says Mya:) Mya loves it, obviously Max does not.

Mya calls hand sanitizer "hanitizer". And whenever Ivy sees "hanitizer" she starts rubbing her hands together even though she's never actually had any on her hands.

I just can't believe how much Max is learning in kindergarten. He is starting to write words on his own sounding them out and loves to write notes to people. Last week I had a meeting and I didn't give them enough heads up that I was leaving after dinner so they were not happy when I left. I came home to this note on the door and it melted my heart. He was sound asleep, but wanted to make sure I came in to say good night:)

keeping the allergist in business

Unfortunately, we are those patients who just keep going back....one kid at a time. Today was Ivy's turn. I had suspected a milk sensitivity, but not really a full blown allergy. I was wrong..she has a full blown allergy. She had been getting hives around her mouth when she ate cheese, but no other forms of dairy seemed to bother her. I have been having a really hard time trying to get her to drink whole milk and today I found out why! Apparently the milk was really bothering her so she would not drink it. The doctor thought it probably made her mouth itch...much like Mya with the peanuts.

So we're at square one.... I have continued to nurse her because I wasn't sure what to do. Now I can gradually wean her from nursing and move to soy milk. The doctor said that 40% of people who have a milk allergy also have a soy allergy. So, I'm crossing my fingers that she is in the other 60%. There are other options, but I worry about the fat that she would be missing. I am going to be meeting with a dietitian next week to discuss what I should be supplementing her with and what are some alternatives to dairy.

It is not going to be easy, but I'm thankful that this is the only issue we're dealing with right now. It will take some adjustment from Max and Mya as well....no more walking around with ice cream cups, cheese sticks, yogurt tubes, etc. because the little beggar will for sure want some! Now the two easiest kid meals (pb&j and mac-n-cheese) are both out! Oh well.....much bigger problems in this world than not being able to make those two meals.  Thankfully, this is an allergy that lots of kids grow out of so we will go back in a year and hopefully she's one of those kids!

(in the picture above...the h is the histamine so she will automatically react to that. the C is the control and the M is the milk)

igloo fun

Ivy decided she didn't want to take a nap after lunch, so we got her dressed up and took her outside for her first day playing in the snow! I wouldn't say she loved it, but she didn't hate it either. You will be able to see what I mean when you look at the pictures...there were no smiles, but no tears either. 30 minutes outside was apparently just what she needed because she reached for her crib when we came in! 

New Years Resolutions

1. Take more pictures and videos. This is going to be a resolution of mine every year I'm pretty sure. I don't think one can take enough! My friend Marie is inspiring me to do a 52 week photo challenge...1 picture a week for the year. I'm going to give it a shot!

2. Order something online and send it back through the mail. I don't order anything online unless I know for sure I'll keep it or there is a store in Dubuque that I can return it to.  Part of the reason I don't want to do it is because I'm scared of the lady at the post office so I avoid it like the plague. Sorry if I'm supposed to be sending packages to any of you...it is always the last thing I want to do!

3. wake up earlier so that we're not running out the door in the morning before school. I'm always so crabby when we wait until the last minute and then I'm yelling at the kids when in actuality it's my own fault because I wasn't up earlier to get things in order.

4. Read at least 1 book on the ipad. I always say that I like to actually have the book in my hand, but in actuality I haven't ever tried reading on the ipad so I can't really say I don't like it .

5. Learn to say no once in awhile. life gets really busy and I have a hard time saying no. When I do say no, I'm going to celebrate it.

6. Follow through with an exercise goal. doesn't really matter what the goal is, but I just want to set a goal and accomplish it. I think I have been setting goals too high so I never am able to follow through.

7. Write more blogs! (that one is for the grandparents..:) No...it's for me too. I don't do any baby booking or scrapbooking so this is my only record of what life is like these days.

9. Drink more wine. Just kidding....I drink enough:)

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas 2012

I realized tonight that the holidays are coming to the end:(:( Chris goes back to work tomorrow and Max and Mya goes back to school on Thursday. I love having Chris home for so long and I'm  thankful that John Deere gives their employees this break. I always get so sad when he has to go back! When I was brushing Max's teeth tonight I was telling him that I was really going to miss him when he goes back to school and that tomorrow would be our last day home for the break. The roles totally reversed from the past and this time it was him telling me that he only had to go two days and then he'd be home with me for two days. My heart melted:)

Here is our annual holiday highlight run down!!

1. We had a nice little family Christmas here at home on the 22nd/23rd. We wrote a letter to Santa and asked him to come a little early and he delivered! I wanted to start a little "Christmas Eve" tradition with just our immediate family so I asked the kids what their favorite meal was and I was going to make it for them. Here's what they said: 1. hyvee sesame chicken 2. pancakes 3. Culvers. Ouch. After briefly entertaining the idea of making homemade sesame chicken, we wisely decided to order it in. (one step up from hyvee chinese:) We opened gifts from us to the kids and from the kids to us that night....and we also told the kids about our trip to Disney in February. They were pretty excited about it and the countdown has begun!

2. Sunday morning the 23rd the kids woke up a little before 7 and were ready to see if Santa came! Chris and I were not quite ready as we were up with Ivy most of the night before:( She had strep and vomited on me in our bed! She slept through most of gift opening and woke up a new girl so that was a positive for sure.  The big gifts Santa left were a remote control monster truck (grave digger) for Max, Mya got the Butterscotch Fur Real Pony  and Ivy got a chair with her name on it. Mya's reaction was probably the best one...when she saw the pony she said, "I only wanted a little one and look....He got me a big one!" (note to santa for next year....ask more specifics on which item EXACTLY that she wants...ask her to describe color/size/shape more specifically before you go out and spend WAY too much money on something that she wasn't expecting:) Max and Mya loved all of their presents and Chris and I agreed that the little presents always turn out to be the best presents for our kids.

3. Sunday afternoon we headed up to Decorah in time to see the Vikings win and to let the kids (and Chris) run off some energy up at Luther. They played tennis, basketball and ran around the track for a couple of hours. That is always a highlight of our Decorah Christmas!

4. Christmas Eve the kids went sledding at Luther with their cousins and had an absolute blast. When they got home from that we were ready to open presents with Grandpa Rog and Grandma Pat! We always do a little appetizer and wine party when we're opening presents and it's so fun. My mom sets up the "kids" table with kid friendly appetizers and they feel so special. It won't be long and they won't want to be at the kids table so we should take advantage of this while we can! Tara was on facetime with us most of the gift opening which was nice because we were missing her not being with us. Highlights from this Christmas were Mya's baby with long blonde hair and Max's football cards and football gloves! The kids had a great time with Olivia and Grace the entire time we were in Decorah. They played and played and played some more. We comment every time that we can't beleive we don't have to break up more fights with them, but we really don't. The evening was capped off with a suprise visit from Santa himself! He was super busy that night, but made time to come and visit the Huinker grandkids:)

5. Christmas morning we headed up to Minnesota bright and early. I'm just thankful we were all together this year and not puking like last year! We made it to Grandpa Bill's in record time and had a great Christmas with Linda's family. At Thanksgiving Max told some people that he wanted a remote control truck for Christmas and they listened! He got one from everyone and ended up with 5 remote control vehicles this year! Thankfully he was a really good sport about it and enjoys racing each and every one of them...some of them at the same time because there aren't enough frequencies  Mya got an Easy Bake Oven and Ivy got a bunch of presents that Mya thinks are hers!

6. Christmas night we went up to Chris's parents and enjoyed yet another gift opening along with some traditional Dominoes pizza thanks to Uncle Jeff! The kids were so excited and wanted to open everything rightthissecond and put batteries in all of it! The highlights were a microphone for Mya, a build-it yourself kit for Max complete with some "real" tools, and a bread machine for me!

7. Wednesday we headed to the St. Paul Children's Museum with Chris's parents. We hadn't been there before, but it was something we had been wanting to do so we went! It was a really nice time and the kids loved it. Ivy was a bit of a handful so we were thankful to have some extra hands there to watch her. The kids could have stayed there for hours on end. I have a couple of pictures, but it may take a day or two to upload them. The computer is sooooooooo slow tonight!

8. Thursday morning Linda, Mya and I went on a little "girls only excursion" to a local cupcake shop. The person who owns this shop won some show on food network and I think it was deserved! The lady behind the counter told us that we might want to take a container because we may not be able to finish the cupcake. I was like yeah right....there's no way I'm not finishing 1 measly cupcake. Well...1/3 of my cupcake came home with me. It was so rich and between the sugar and the coffee I had that morning, I was a shaky mess! It was fun to go out and do some girl things and I'm looking forward to more of those outings.

9. Friday morning we got up and had a cup of coffee with Chris's grandpa in Bloomington and headed home with 1 very full car and 3 very tired kids! We came home to 1 very messy house too! We got everything put away and did some major organizing and goodwill donating this last weekend. The garbage comes tomorrow morning and we're crossing our fingers that they take all of our garbage and recycling! It will fill the curb:)

10. Last night we celebrated New Year Eve with the Neymeyers. They were back home from Georgia so they drove to Dubuque yesterday and spent the night before taking off on a 16 hour trek home today. We stayed up until midnight....(that's HUGE for me) playing cards, drinking wine, eating cupcakes, drinking coffee and laughing a lot. It was so fun to have them here and to see all of our kids pick up like they've been playing together every day for years.

Happy New Year Everyone!! Stay tuned for my New Years Resolution blog which will include blogging more:)