Can hardly believe that is in nearing the end of January 2012! So far, 2012 has really been a good year where we can look at how much God has blessed us. We are all doing pretty well with keeping up with our resolutions. The kids have stayed pretty reasonably healthy. The weather has been so nice! Hudsen has gotten a lot of time to play outside. Today it is actually 60 degrees out. I think it would be a perfect day for Hudsen and Charley to spend a little time outside. Charley might need to start doing some exercising of his own :)
This last week, we all kept pretty busy. Hudsen did a lot of playing at school. I think every day I had to sign an accident report. He plays SO HARD! I am thankful that the accident reports are just for minor scratches and nothing else. He has some really good friends at school, Coen, Brady, Nolan, Kahl, and MaTaio are just a few that we hear about quit often. He is having a little bit of a problem wrestling around at school. As the teachers put it “he never starts the wrestling, but he doesn’t mind jumping right in there with the rest of the kids. He likes to be in the action.” Jarren and I have told him the wrestling is just for home and for practice (even though he has never gone to wrestling practice and we highly doubt that he will ever be a wrestler). He seems to get that and goes in spurts were he doesn’t wrestling and then it’s like he forgets and gets right back in there. For the most part he is on Green (which is good) when I pick him up from school and gets a prize out of the treasure box.
Eleanor had a great week too. She had 2 9 month appts (one for Blank and one with the regular pediatrician). They tried to take her bp at her appt with the pediatrician but she was too squirmy so they couldn’t get it. Dr. Secory said he has never diagnosed a 9 month old with high blood pressure and he didn’t think we needed to worry about E having it either. He said we can try again at 12 month. She is looking wonderful! In fact, just this morning I got a text from Amy saying that she can see 3 teeth coming in on the bottom row! WOW! I noticed one tooth semi coming in this weekend, but I did not know there were 3. She is growing up so fast. We also put her in a big girl car seat this weekend. She is still forward facing, but she LOVES it. We went for a drive yesterday to clean the car as a family and E pretty much laughed the whole time b/c she could see Charley and Hudsen without straining to sit up. She just always wants to see what her brother is doing. They are so fun to watch grow up together!



Aunt Morgan took pictures this weekend for E’s 9 month. Both kids did great and we are so thankful for Aunt Morgan doing such a great job! I’m sure Dad is going to like to put these pictures up in his new office.










Jarren and I went to the ISU basketball game this weekend. My mom and Dad came up on Friday night and then stayed with the kids while we went to the game on Saturday. The game was awesome! ISU of course was the underdog and ended up beating Kansas. It was such a great atmosphere. We have seen some really good basketball this season. The tickets have definitely been worth the price. Then Saturday night Jeff and Lina came over and we celebrated Gpa Gary’s 66th birthday. Jarren played poker that night and I was sound asleep on the couch at 8:30. It was a busy day! Hudsen and Eleanor both had a great time playing with Jeff, Lina and Gpa & Gma. There was a lot of playing with the trains. I think Saturday morning Gpa and Hudsen were downstairs for 3 hours just playing with trains!



Sunday Gma, Hudsen and I went over and saw our new cousin Paige Zitterich. She is so beautiful with such dark hair! Then we went grocery shopping (Hudsen talked/conned Gma into getting him a new car :). Gma and Gpa took off around 11:30 and both kids took great naps that afternoon. I think they were both a little tired from the busy weekend. That night Payton, Grace, Brandon and Kari came over and played for a little bit too. Hudsen and Payton did puzzles while Grace and Eleanor crawled all over each other. It was pretty cute and fun. The cousins have a great time together!

Eleanor is now 9 months! Oh how the time flies! We went to her 9 month blank children’s hospital appt this morning. She is doing GREAT developmentally. Just looking at her, you would never know that she was a premie. She is in the 85th percentile for height, weight and head circumference. She has her pediatrician appt on Wednesday where they will do the shots and weight and measure her again. The Blank appts are more just about seeing how she is doing developmental wise. However, they did mention that her blood pressure seems a little high. I’m not sure how doctors can get a very good read of blood pressure when a baby is excited and ready to play. Our normal pediatrician does not even take the babies blood pressure. However, on Wednesday, since E’s bp was a little high at the Blank appt. this morning, we will have the Ped (Dr. Secory) take her bp at that appt. Always good to have it monitored and make sure that everything is going great with the little girl. She does have a cold and very stuffy nose, so that also could have lead to a higher reading today. But the doctor’s taking E’s BP, sure made my BP rise :)
This last week Hudsen was also getting over a cold. I feel like one kid gets over the cold, and the other kid gets it. A never ending cycle. Hudsen’s cold must have been messing with his equilibrium a little bit as I had 2 accident reports to sign last Wednesday when I picked him up. One where he hit his head on the table while he was playing and the other said he hit is lip on a table after they were done eating. I was talking to the teacher’s about and they said that after he hit his lip on the table he said to Mr. Josh “Mr. Josh, I need a helmet” All the teachers got a pretty good laugh out of that (after they realized he was ok of course :) Then he went home that night and put on his Dolphins football helmet. I also had to laugh at him for this.
Jarren had some exciting news this last week. He got a new job at Des Moines University as their Assistant Controller. I am so proud of him! It seems to be a great job and will be better for our family and for him. No more busy season and no more public accounting! Jarren is still working on the weekends so he can get his jobs wrapped up at McGowen. He will start his new position at DMU on February 20th. I’m excited for him to start this new chapter in his professional career.
The pictures are from the weekend. We had just a nice relaxing weekend. Jarren worked on Saturday but the kids and I spent most of our day in our PJs. Rachel and Liliana came over for a little bit to play on Saturday morning. Sunday we went to church. Jarren had basketball on Sunday night so Hudsen and I did some reading and watched a little Disney channel. I hate to admit it, but I really like “Good Luck Charlie.” It reminds me of Full House. It was another great weekend at the Hummel house!

The kids and I had a great weekend on the Farm with Gma Pat and Gpa Gary. We arrived on Friday afternoon at about 4 pm. That night we went into the Hillcrest of supper. Eleanor got pretty tired but she toughed through it with the help of some puffs. That night Hudsen rocked with Gma in the chair for a while. I think rocking with Hudsen is one of Gma Pat’s favorite past times. Hudsen and Eleanor “slumber partied” in pack n plays in Gma and Gpa’s room that night. Hudsen is WAY too big for a pack n play but he LOVES to sleep next to E in one, so if it doesn’t bother him, it doesn’t bother me. He sleeps really well.
Saturday morning the kids and I went with Gma to Aunt Susan’s house for coffee. Tracey and Nancy were also there with Haley, Emily and Zach. Hudsen started off shy but within about 10 minutes him and Emily were running all over the place. He had fun playing with his cousins. After that Hudsen, Gpa and I went and feed the cows with Mike. Hudsen gets so excited to feed the cows. He throws the corn over the gate, or he holds on to it and the cows come to it. It is pretty fun to watch. He always tries to make sure that each cow gets a fair amount. This last time a black cow try to take one away from a white cow and he gave that black cow a little “talking to”. He is a very fair kid. That night we had enchiladas and watched a movie and just relaxed!
On Sunday morning, the kids spent most of the time either riding Tumbleweed or listening to Hudsen drum. It was very entertaining to watch. Eleanor LOVED being on Tumbleweed with Hudsen (and Gma holding on to her of course). She would just start bouncing as soon as she got on the horse. It was really cute. Hudsen loved it too. He also played us a song on the drums and sang Jesus loves me while he was drumming. There were a few other songs that were sung but I can’t remember them right now. We left Gma and Gpa’s around 10 that morning and were home around 12:30. Dad was SO EXCITED to see his kids and Hudsen and Eleanor were very excited to see him too. There were lots of hugs. (I was pretty excited to see Jarren too ;) Then Sunday night we went over to Brandon and Kari’s for supper with Morgan, Kasey and Isabella. All the cousins had a great time playing together. Hudsen and Payton did puzzles for most of the time. Hudsen did take a little tumble down the stairs when we were leaving but I think it scared him more than anything. He did get a little bruise and had some Tylenol but he only cried for a short time and still wanted to a snack for the ride home. We knew everything was ok then :)
All in all, it turned out to be a good weekend. The kids and I had a lot of fun and Jarren got a lot of work done while we were gone. Now we are back in the swing of things with the work week. Hudsen is learning about the Capitol City this week and the different workers who help a city run. He has also learned all the days of the week. Eleanor is continuing to “talk” up a storm and is eating cheerios and trying to pull herself up. My kids are growing up so fast!

What a busy week! We had some milestones with the kids happen this week.
Our little E has started saying Ma Ma and Da Da very clearly and it just melts my heart! On Monday night she was eating puffs and saying Da Da Da. I called Jarren so he could hear it while he was at work. Then we went to the floor so she could crawl around and play and she was saying Ma Ma Ma as she was crawling to me. I LOVED IT! Hudsen asked her to say “Hudsen Scott Hummel” but she could not  It was really cute when he was asking her to say his name.
Hudsen also had a milestone this week, although it was not quit so exciting. He peed the bed for the first time on Tuesday night. He came into our room at 5 am and told us his underwear was wet. Sure enough, he had peed in his sleep. He didn’t get too excited about it and I was happy it was 5 am and not midnight! His sheets, blanket, and everything else was changed and he has not wet the bed again since. I’m sure it will happen again, but I’m glad it didn’t happen two nights in a row. He hasn’t had an accident during the day in SO long. He loves to get dressed in the morning and pick out his underwear and clothes for the day. Such a big kid! He also got a big kid hair cut this week. It is much shorter. He looks so much like his Dad!
This weekend, the kids and I are going to Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary’s. Jarren needs to finish up some work, so we thought it would be a good weekend for us to have a little get-away. I know that Gma and Gpa are excited and we are too. I’m glad the weather is nice this January so we can travel.

Busy season has offically started! Jarren is now working longer hours. I get to drop off Eleanor and Hudsen and pick them both up. Although it takes a little more time for me in the mornings, I love doing drop off for both of them. I like to drop off Eleanor at Amy's and see how excited she is to be there and see Amy and her boys. Hudsen has been a great helper with the morning duties too! He is in charge of throwing away Eleanor's diapers in the mornings (what a great job right?) Jarren has made it home every night by 6:30 so he can feed Eleanor her bottle before she goes to bed. Both kids give Jarren huge smiles when he walks in at night. Most of the time at night Eleanor plays with her dolls and Hudsen will build puzzles. They are both very good players.




Today Jarren worked in the morning. Both kids were in great moods. Hudsen and I did Nickelodeon fit on the Wii while Eleanor took a nap. We also played babies with Eleanor, built puzzles and watched Thomas the Train. Very eventful morning :)

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012! I’m not sure how 2012 is going to top 2011, but I’m sure the Hummel family will have a few adventures during the New Year. We started off the year with Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Swanson and Jeff and Lina. The kids had a great time opening their gifts and we were all very spoiled! We opened the gifts at a great time for Eleanor (3 pm right after a nap) so she was very excited to start “tearing” into the gifts. Her eyes lit up when she saw the baby dolls that she got. She especially got excited about a puppy that lights up and sing songs. It was so fun to watch! Hudsen was very excited to open his gifts too. He was the most excited about his new Cars race track with Lighting McQueen and Fransico. Needless to say we have been playing that a lot! It was so fun having everyone over to our place for Christmas on New Years. That night Jarren and Grandpa went to the casino while Grandma and I tried to stay up to watch the ball drop. We were both up but not awake. When the guys got home from the casino we all went right to bed. I would not call us Party Animals :)
Jarren was home with the kids yesterday while I worked. It was a good daddy day care day. I came home half expecting him to need my help, but was very pleasantly surprised to come home to everyone taking naps (including Charley). They went to Jimmy Johns for lunch and played most of the day with the Cars race track and the trains. Hudsen also did all of his puzzles while Dad watched some football. Now today we are all back on our regular routine. Jarren has started busy season so I will have drop off and pick up for both kids. It was really fun to drop Eleanor off at Amy’s this morning and see how excited the boys get to see her. Hudsen was not really ready to go back to school, but I’m sure he will have a great day once he gets into the swing of it. His class is learning about money this week and Hudsen loves to put money in his piggy bank. I see a future accountant in him :)