I can hardly believe that it is already the end of the 2011. When I look back and reflect on this year and how God has blessed us, I am truly amazed. We have welcomed our wonderful little girl Eleanor into this world. Although she joined us a little early, she continues to amazes us. She does not look like a premie and continues to meet all her milestone benchmarks. We thank God for her every day. Hudsen has had a big year too. Not only did he become a big brother, but he also now has 2 new cousins. Grace was born to Brandon and Kari on February 23rd and Isabella was born to Kasey and Morgan on August 2nd. Our family just keeps on growing! Hudsen also continues to amazes us. He has a kind heart and is a good sharer. He is cautious at first around new things, but once he figures out what he can do, he is all in. He loves to be the center of attention. God has blessed Hudsen with so many gifts. I feel blessed to be the mom of 2 amazing children who I could not be more proud of.

I feel confident to say that Jarren and I have fully adjusted to having 2 kids. Eleanor has started crawling now and I’m sure before I know it she will be walking. Hudsen does a great job helping at nights when it is just the 3 of us (oh and Charley) before Jarren gets home. I’m sure there are many surprises to await us in 2012 and I look forward to them as a family. One of my favorite quotes is “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plan.” It is so true. No matter how much I want to control, it is good to know that God has all the control.

And because New Years resolutions can be fun to look back on, here are the Hummel family resolutions.

Jen- workout 5 times a week at Max Life and eat healthier :)
Jarren- take time to workout during the week
Hudsen- brush teeth at night time and play a lot
Eleanor- continue to grow and amaze :)

Christmas was a success! The kids both had such a good time! I don’t even know where to start. Friday night Hudsen and I got home about 4 pm. Eleanor and Dad had a great daddy daughter day. We went to the 5:00 pm church service. It was PACKED. Both kids did a great job during the service. Eleanor started to get a little tired but managed through it. Then we got home and opened the gifts to the kids from Mom and Dad. Hudsen got a Toy Story game, cars and Mickey bath stuff. Eleanor got a pink lap top and some bows. Both kids got the movie RIO. Eleanor was very ready for bed by that time. Hudsen stayed up for a little bit and watched a movie with us, but then he was ready for bed too.
Saturday morning we got the kids up at about 6 and they got their Santa gifts. Santa brought Eleanor a drum and Hudsen got a tool set. Then we headed out the door with Charley to Fort Dodge to meet Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary at McDonalds. They were meeting us so that they could take Charley with them for the week. We got there about 7:45 and had breakfast and Hudsen got to open one gift from Gma and Gpa. It was a Buzz Lightyear stuffed animal! (Needless to say Buzz now sleeps right next to Hudsen’s bed). We then headed to Cedar Falls. Everyone else was at Grandma Kim’s and Grandpa Dave’s when we got there. We all relaxed for a little bit and then started getting ready for church at 3. Uncle Brandon geled Hudsen’s hair. In the picture of Hudsen on the way to church you can kind of see the gel in his hair. The church service was very kid friendly and both kids did great again at church. Hudsen was getting really tired close to the end of it, so he crawled on my lap and put his head down and fell asleep. It was one of my favorite memories of Christmas. I can’t remember the last time my little 3 year old boy feel asleep in my lap. It was a great Christmas gift! After church we went back to Gma and Gpa Hummel’s and the kids opened ALL their presents. I can’t even begin to list all the gifts they got. It was so much fun! Hudsen was a great helper for Eleanor opening gifts. After the kids got settle down and we all had dinner, we the adults opened their gifts. It was such a GREAT day!
Sunday morning we woke up at Grandma Donna’s and then headed over to Gma and Gpa Hummels to see what Santa had brought. We then stayed there and played for most of the day. Morgan and Kasey, Jarren and I went to a movie in the afternoon. The movie was good and it was nice to get away for a little bit  Sunday was a good relaxing day!
Monday morning the girls all went shopping while the guys stayed home with the kids. We were only gone for about an hour, but it was nice little shopping trip. Jarren and I also met Jordan and Jenny Dreyer that day for lunch. They brought along Grant (who was only 3 weeks old and so CUTE). It was great to see them and catch up. In the afternoon, we made the trip back to Waukee. It took forever to unpack the car! It was nice to all sleep in our own beds. At 3:30 that morning, Hudsen came in our room and wanted me to come sleep with him b/c he had a bad dream. I went in and he gave me B (his blanket). I told him he could have it back and then he said “no mommy, we can share B, we are good sharers.” Although it was 3:30 in the morning and I was tired, that comment just made me smile at how much my little boy has such a kind heart.
Tuesday it was time to head back to work and to school for Hudsen. Eleanor is at home with Grandma Kim for the week until Friday when Grandma Pat will be watching her. Eleanor and Grandma Kim had a great day on Tuesday and spent some of the time with Isabella and Aunt Morgan. It was tough to head back to work but luckily it is just a catch up week at work and rather relaxing.
We have Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Swanson and Uncle Jeffy and Aunt Lina on Saturday. I know Hudsen is very excited about opening gifts again. I’m pretty excited about it too :)

Christmas is almost here!

Christmas is just right around the corner and we are ready! We had a busy week heading up to this weekend, but I feel like all our weeks have been busy, so this one fit right in.
Tuesday was Hudsen’s 3 year appointment. He is a growing boy! He is now 39 inches and 36lbs! He grew 3 ½ inches and gained 4 ½ lbs from his 2 year appointment. The doctor said that on average a kid grows 2 inches and gains between 2 and 6 lbs. Hudsen also showed the doctor how he can jump and run and answered all the questions right. He even told him a few stories about his friends at school. It was a good appointment!
Eleanor has had a cold for most of this week. I feel so bad for her little nose as I can see how sore it looks. She is crawling all over the place and continues to want to get into her brother’s puzzle pieces. I have a feeling in the future Charley and Eleanor are going to gang up on Hudsen :)
Wednesday night Kat and Greg came over for dinner. It was so nice to have them over again. I really miss our Thursday night dinners that we use to have before Greg moved to San Fran. Greg brought over gifts for everyone. So nice! Hudsen got a Mater, Eleanor got a play ball, Kat some win, and Jarren and I got a gift certificate for a date night (not sure when that will happen with busy season right around the corner. Hudsen slept with the Mater that night, he was so excited about it.
Thursday was a good night of just getting everything cleaned up. Today Jarren has the day off so Eleanor and Jarren are spending it together. So far I have heard they have had a great day. I know Jarren was very excited about his daddy daughter day. Tonight we are going to church at Hope and then tomorrow morning heading out for Cedar Falls. We are going to make a pit stop in Fort Dodge to have breakfast with my parents and drop off Charley with them. Should be a good trip of listening to Christmas music with the kids.
The pictures are of the kids getting ready to have some breakfast in the morning on Thursday morning. Eleanor usually eats at Amy’s but that morning Hudsen got her up a little early so she had some puffs as a morning appetizers. She loves her puffs! Notice the pink bib on Hudsen. Someday that will be a nice picture to show, Hudsen in a pink bib and a UNI jersey, very classy :)

Busy weekend in December!

We had a busy weekend at the Hummel house! Friday night was Lina’s graduation party. So proud of her for graduating from Iowa State! Both kids were pretty sleepy when we got home and went right to bed.
Saturday morning was a nice morning to wake up and just play together building puzzles and playing with trains. During the day, Hudsen and Jarren went to the mall, got a haircut, and went over to Aunt Morgan and Uncle Kasey’s for a little bit. That night we went to Cantata at church with Morgan, Kasey and Isabella, and Kari, Brandon, Payton and Grace. The kids were all so good! The big kids listened to the music and the little kids took a little snoozer or listened to the music too. Eleanor took a good little nap on Dad’s shoulder. Jarren’s smile is always so big when Eleanor will take a little nap while he is holding her. He says it is favorite time of the weekend  After Cantata everyone came over to our house for soup and cookies. The kids played trains together. At about 9 everyone headed to their own place. Hudsen was NOT ready to go to bed. He did NOT want to sleep in his own bed. He finally was sleeping by 10:30. That was the worst night that we have had with him in a long time. He was too overly tired and could not get himself to calm down. He told us he had an owl in his closet and that his toddler bed was too small. So the next day, we moved the Queen bed up from the guest bedroom and put it on Hudsen floor. He is sleeping much better in that bed. He still wants us to lay with him at night but he is sleeping until at least 5:30 in the morning, so that is a plus! The imagination that kid has amazes me.
Sunday was Payton’s birthday party. We went over there at noon and had a great time! Hudsen was a little shy at first (pretty typical of my cautious bob). Then he got right after it and helped open presents and played really hard running around with the balloons. Eleanor spent a lot of time with Grandpa Dave and enjoyed watching the other kids run around. Jarren had basketball that night. Hudsen and I spent most of the night playing with puzzles and Eleanor was sound asleep by 6:30. It was a busy, fun weekend!

Wednesday night the kids and I met Dad at Grey’s Lake and went to Jolly Holiday lights. Eleanor slept through it but Hudsen loved it. At every light display, he would tell us what it was and what it was doing. It was a lot more fun than last year when he slept through it until the very end and saw the snowman waving at us and said “WOW”. This year he got to enjoy the whole drive.
Yesterday Santa came to Hudsen’s school. I wasn’t too sure how Hudsen was going to feel about Santa. I thought maybe if he saw the other kids and how they got excited to see Santa, he might get excited too. That was not the case. The teachers said there were quit a few kids that were nervous about Santa. I think next year he’ll be a little more excited about Santa. I had a Deloitte alumni event last night so Jarren picked up the kids from both daycares. Eleanor was as good as ever and Hudsen was pretty good for Jarren too. I think he enjoyed having the 2 kids to himself and seeing how they interact with each other in the afternoon.
Tonight is Lina’s graduation! The kids and I are going to Ames with Grandma and Grandpa Swanson. Jarren is going to head to Ames after work and meet us there. We are so proud of Lina and everything she has accomplished! Hudsen is excited to see Uncle Jeffy and Aunt Lina tonight. He didn’t want to go to school this morning he just wanted to go see them.
We got Hudsen’s school pictures back today. Look how big he is getting!

Pics from Hudsen birthday and more

These are a few of the pictures from Hudsen's 3rd birthday. He is having a great time playing with all the toys that he got for his birthday!



Yesterday was hat day for Hudsen at school. He wore his Twins hat and was pretty excited about it. He had a good morning at school but during nap time he was having a hard time breathing and getting himself to fall asleep. I took him to the peds and he had croup. They gave him a shot and put him on nebulizer treatments. The shot really helped out after a few hours. He fell asleep at 7:30 last night on the couch and slept until 7am the next morning. He seems to be on the mend!

Eleanor is doing great. She is really starting to get moving with her crawling. She constantly wants to see us in the room and be around her brother and Charley. It is so fun to see them all interact together.

Hudsen's 3rd birthday

The birthday weekend was WONDERFUL! Friday night we started off the festivities with having people over for pizza to watch the ISU v Iowa game. Payton and Grace, Kasey, Morgan and Isabella, Grandma Donna, Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary, were all there. Eleanor was asleep for most of the fun. Payton and Hudsen had a great time. They got out the Miami Dolphin football helmet and used their imagination and made a cake out of Lego blocks. It was pretty funny to watch the 2 of them together. At about 8:30 they both laid on the floor with their pillows and blankets and closed their eyes. Surprisingly they both fell asleep. That night Hudsen got up at 2 am to go downstairs to sleep by Payton. He did not realize that she had gone home in the middle of the night. Hard to tell a 3 yr old that at 2 am. So I ended up sleeping on his floor for the rest of the night.
Saturday morning, the BIG BIRTHDAY, Hudsen was all ready to go. Uncle Brandon came over at about 8:30 and brought over doughnuts. We put 3 candles in one doughnut and Hudsen blew those out. It was good practice for his cake later. So for breakfast, Hudsen had a doughnut and fruit snacks. Starting out year number 3 with a lot of sugar! In the morning Hudsen and Jarren went to HyVee and got Hudsen’s Thomas the Train cake. While they were gone we set up for the birthday. We had gotten him two Thomas the Train forts and sat them up in the living room. When he came through the door he was so excited to see them! I will never forget the look on his face. Pure excitement! Family started coming over around 12:30. The kids were all having a great time in the Thomas forts. Hudsen LOVED opening his presents. At first when he saw the clothes, he just threw them to the side and went right for the presents, but then when he realized that there was a UNI football jersey in with the clothes he HAD to put it on and flex for us. He was so funny running around in the jersey and showing off for everyone. After everyone left, he wanted to get out his new trains and play with them. That is how most of the rest of the night went. Eleanor really likes watching him play with trains. She especially likes to watch the motorized ones go around the track. She had a great day too on Saturday playing with the little girls. She has now started to get up on her knees and try to crawl forward! She is going to be a little mover!
On Sunday, Jarren, Hudsen and I went to Mount Pleasant to the Polar Express while Eleanor stayed home with Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary, Jeff and Lina. The Polar Express was a lot of fun. Hudsen was very excited when he saw the train. We rode on a train ride for about 10 minutes to the “North Pole”. There they had trains, Santa, cookies and hot chocolate, and a place to make an ornament. Hudsen was not a very big fan of Santas, but he did sit on his lap with Daddy right next to him. After about an hour at the North Pole, we loaded back up on the train and headed back to the depot. We got back to our house about 5:30 and Hudsen immediately went downstairs to play with his trains. We all had a great weekend!

(more pictures to come from Hudsen's birthday party)

Today Hudsen is celebrating his birthday at school. He is bringing little gift bags with a Cars journal and a Cars pen in them for each kid in his class. He was pretty excited about it this morning. He wanted to lay each bag out on the kitchen floor and make sure that there was one for everyone of his friends. He also wanted Eleanor to have one too. Good kid.
Tonight Payton and Grace are coming over for a little bit. Morgan, Kasey and Isabella are coming over to watch the game too and Grandma Donna is going to come and join in on the fun. Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary are going to be in town around 3:30 as they will be spending the weekend with us. Everyone is really excited about Hudsen’s birthday party (maybe not as excited as he is though). Tonight we are going to have pizza and watch the ISU v Iowa basketball game. Then tomorrow morning Jarren and Hudsen are going to go get the cake while Grandpa Gary, Grandma Pat and I set up for Hudsen’s birthday. I’m excited to see his face when he walks in and sees a big Thomas the Train in our living room. I can’t believe my little guy is going to be 3 tomorrow!
Hard to believe that 3 short years ago on December 9th, Jarren and I were anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child. I had been in the hosipital on bedrest for 3 weeks prior to this and on December 9th the doctors made the decision that it was time to induce. We started the process on the night of December 8th and then broke my water on the 9th at 8 am. We did not know the sex of Baby Hummel but I had a pretty good idea baby was a boy. The girl name that we had at the time was Claire Elizabeth and the boy name (of course) was Hudsen Scott. Hudsen was very stubborn and did not want to come out. So FINALLY at 3 am on December 10th the doctor made the decision that it was time for a C-section. Hudsen was born December 10th at 4:22 am weighing 6 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches.

The kids got to see Santa for the first time last night at the CWG holiday party. We were the first ones in line at 6 pm. Eleanor did really well sitting on Santa’s lap but you could tell by the look on her face she was wondering what his beard was all about. Hudsen on the other hand said he was not ready to see Santa and not ready to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. He wants to wait til after his birthday. Which I guess makes sense. He did have fun coloring. Eleanor and I left at 6:15. Hudsen and Jarren stayed to watch the puppet show. Caden and Derek Mueller were still there so Jarren wanted to talk sports with Derek and Hudsen wanted to stay and color with Caden. I think cookies had something to do with the reason that they wanted to stay too :)

Tonight is the CWG family Christmas party. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there with cookies. There is also going to be a puppet show but I don’t think we will be able to stay for that. The party starts at 6 and goes to 8, but I’m sure Eleanor is going to get pretty tired by 6:30. We are going to try to get there right at 6 so then we can be one of the first in line to see Santa. Last year Hudsen did fine sitting on Santa’s lap. I’m interested to see how he does this year. Eleanor wore one of her Christmas outfits today. She doesn’t seem to get to nervous around new people, so I think she will be fine sitting on Santa’s lap.
Hudsen has become a good little artist these days. He loves to color or draw on the etch a sketch. He use to have Jarren and I draw all his friends from school with football helmets on but now he wants to be the one to draw. Most of the time he draws spaceships, cars and pictures for baby Eleanor. Our refrigerator is getting quit full of different Hudsen drawings.

Fun for the Holiday!

Yesterday was a nice relaxing Saturday. We did a bunch of cleaning around the house. Hudsen and Charley chased each other for most of the morning. The Iowa State basketball game was on followed by the Iowa State football game.

After Hudsen's nap, Uncle Brandon came over and picked him up. He spent most of the afternoon over there with Brandon, Kari, Payton and Grace. They made a gingerbread house and played hide and seek. He was a little sad to come back home. Him and Payton have such a great time together. I think Eleanor felt a little spoiled having both parents attention for the afternoon.

This morning the kids went to get holiday pictures with Isabella, Payton and Grace. Hudsen had a hard time smiling. He really did not want to get his picture taken this morning. The picture actually turned out pretty good for having 5 kids in it from the ages 3 years to 4 months. The kids were all in their Christmas outfits and all looked so nice!

Holiday Party

Yesterday we had 2 Holiday parties. Mine was during the day and Jarren's was at night. Cannot believe that it is already time for Holiday parties! Last night Kat came over to watch the kids while we went to Jarren's party. Eleanor was in bed by the time she came over and Hudsen was pretty excited to see Kat. They shared a pizza and cheesesticks and watched a Mickey. Then Kat "broke" the TV so they read a book and Hudsen was in bed by 8. Good night.

Jarren's Holiday party was fun. Always good to see everyone and have a good meal. We were home by 10 and still got a good nights sleep. It was nice that the weather was good last night too. In past years it has always been bad weather driving home.

Today is going to be a nice day of relaxing at the Hummel house. I'm not sure how many more Saturday's we will be able to do that before busy season so we are going to enjoy it!

Last night Jarren and I went to the ISU v UNI basketball game. The kids went to Jeff and Lina’s. Hudsen was pretty excited to watch movies with Lina while Jeff worked. We brought along the pack n play so Eleanor could go to sleep while we were at the game. The game was good. UNI ended winning. I was wearing a UNI sweatshirt and Jarren was wearing an ISU one. I felt very outnumbered in my purple, but I still wore it proudly. When we got back to Jeff and Lina’s to pick up the kids, they were both sound asleep. Little E was in the pack n play and Hudsen was on Jeff and Lina’s bed snoring. They both behaved very well for Jeff and Lina. We got home and all of us went right to bed. It was a late night!
Hard to believe that today is the first of December! The Holidays are sneaking up. Hudsen’s birthday is just 10 days away. The excitement that kid has about his birthday matches the excitement I always have about a birthday. It is so fun to see him light up when you mention it. At his school you they can not bring in any food. So for his birthday he is going to bring in Cars gift bags. Each one has a Cars journal in it and a Cars pen. Hopefully the girls like it too 
Today Eleanor went in for her 2nd flu shot. Jarren took her. This was the first time he had taken her for any shot so he was a little nervous, but he said she did great. She cried for a little bit but then was all better. It’s tough to be a baby!
There is nothing on our agenda tonight so hopefully I can get some present’s wrapped. Tomorrow is my Holiday party and then Jarren’s Holiday party for work. Kat is coming over to watch the kids. We’ll put Eleanor to bed before we leave so Kat will just have Hudsen duty. I wonder how many fruit snacks he is going to con her into eating 