2010 in review

Here's what you were subjected to 2010. Remember when...

January
oue kitchen flooded prompting months of floor work, Nori turned two, Jake had is eyes lasered, and I turned 32

February
I accidentally sent nudie pics out to my whole family, we got sick, it was Valentine's Day, we went to Mexico with our BFF's for a 7 day guacamole binge

March
I went to New Zealand which is really far away, Kim & Reggie broke up again

April
Easter, spring arrived, we briefly considered moving, Jake shaved his rally beard

May
nothing much

June
wedding season in full effect, working 3 days a week, lots of beach and play days, we go organic

July
swimming, cabin, picnics, parties, Jake turned 33, sunshine!

August
weddings, birthdays, 9 year anniversary and lots of warm weather

September
cabin, block party, a miracle occurs in my uterus, we finally buy a bigger car

October
exhaustion and nausea set in as I am in fetus-growing mode, sleep through most of the month but awaken for Halloween

November
snow begins, Casey & Jaimie get engaged, we celebrate Thanksgiving

December
winter blasts us, we whoop it up with Santa, bake and eat too many cookies, Baby Honey stops making me want to puke, celebrate Christmas

Wow, that was my life and even I am bored. My new year's resolution is to spearhead an international ban on lady perfume (men's cologne is still fine).

Happy Birthday Jana!

toy closet

before

after

Christmas in Winona

Merry Christmas SoS readers! Did you get you get the gift I sent you? I hope it was the right size!

reading the classics

We drove down to Winona on Thursday night just in time for artichoke dip and homemade pizza at Seltzes (spoiler: this post may be all about food). Due to the blessed birth of our Savior, Nori got to sleep in the big queen size bed in between us every single night. We did get to sleep in everyday this weekend thanks to Steve & Liz which compensated for the kicks and cover throwing off.

Excited!

Nori was very excited for church, Santa, and giving gifts... she had a blast! She loved all of her presents but Handy Manny and the tools were her favorite. I am sure you know, all of the tools have names... Dusty is the saw, Stretch is the tape measure, Pat is the hammer, Squeeze is the pliers, Turner and Felipe are the screwdrivers. Now, I'm not sure if she was quoting Silent Night but her best comment of the evening was when she was talking about the screwdrivers saying "Felipe loves to screw, too. Watch out girls, we are in trouble now!".

a little Beethoven, anyone?

the fam

having fun!

dreaming of Santa

On Christmas Day we kept the tradition alive of cramming as many Hengels as humanly possible into a small house and turning the television volume and heat all the way up. We ate brunch and turkey dinner, but I think most of calories came from chocolate covered pretzels. Baby Honey needs to grow! Darlene gave Papa some undies but the photos are NSFW and Nori is stocked up on toys for the year.

Merry Christmas!

snuggling with Gramsie

Thanks to everyone who cleaned, baked, cooked, shopped, wrapped, babysat and otherwise made this a wonderful holiday! We love you all! Tonight we are relaxing by a fire enjoying handmade pasta and eggplant parm. What a great vacay...and we are just getting started!

getting better!

Nori is on the rebound, feeling much better and playing once again. Her lip is still a hot, bloody mess but I knew her mouth was feeling better when she found the Statue of Liberty M & M dispenser (a.k.a, "num num lady") Jake brought her from NY and pulled the torch feasting on a handful of M & M's. She is still not able to go to daycare this week so major thanks to aunts Ellen and Jill for helping us out with childcare.

pre-foam

In other news, our bathroom has been given the royal foam treatment and hopefully will no longer freeze, although we will believe it when we see it.

If you haven't seen my fundus lately, not much is new. I may have even lost a few lbs since my nausea is mostly better (although I have had a few bouts this week) so I am eating much healthier now that fruits and veggies no longer revolt me. I have my ultrasound on January 17 so only 27 more days until I know if I will be a mom or a dad! Nori accidentally kicked my tummy and she was so upset, she immediately started crying saying, "I feel sad. I hurt Baby Honey" and I had to work really hard to console her, reminding her about when I almost amputated her thumb in the door. She is such a sweet and sensitive sister!

2 more days of work and then 10 days off! Looking forward to Christmas with the families!

Christmas with Nana & Papa

the herp

My daughter has the herp, oral version, but let's call them fever blisters (I'm sure that is what Paris Hilton's mom calls hers, too). Her fevers have been high, she cries inconsolably, she wakes up drenched in sweat, won't eat or talk (won't talk? call 911!) her lips and mouth are raw, it sucks! We saw the doctor today who dx her and gave her an anti-viral to shorten the course of the illness and some topical medicine to treat the blisters. Everyone on Laurel Ave is miserable! She is contagious for another 7-10 day so that means we need to try to piece together daycare for next week (daycare is also closed the following week so I am already off then). Give me a ring if you like sick kids!

Christmas cards

Thanks for all cards, here is my favorite that we have received so far...

Also, major thanks to Auntie Ellen who is going to take time out of her finals studying to babysit so this old hag can go to work!

Surviving...

Even an organic, non-cured beef hotdog could not interest her...this is serious!

UPDATE: we have "frow up"

My daughter is sick and wants you to know. She is on Day 3 with a fever, mild cough, not eating, and very cranky disposition. What's a disposition? We have been cuddling fools, but most times nothing comforts her especially between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Jake is on an ice skating date at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC with the Statue of Liberty while we snuggle to stay healthy in the frozen tundra. Come home soon! I hope I still have my job if I ever go back into the office before I take the summer off. BTB, I was almost going to post "Guess whose toilet is not frozen?" but then it froze. Insulation guy back out this week to blow more foam.

The crib we used for Nori was just banned in the USA. It was originally Cousin Mekensie's back in 2001 so maybe it was for the best. I will now add "crib" to my shopping list and cross off "breast pump" as Mr. NY got into a bidding war on EBay and bought me a NEW one (I briefly considered buying a used one on Craigslist until my friends explained the many reason why that is not safe). Isn't that sweet? Only a good guy would take the initiative to outbid other moms on a breast pump for his knocked-up ho.

No more snow!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Tunes from the blizzard

Snow no!

Are you bundled? Hope you have made friends with a latte and blanket! I am sure you are aware, but the historical record, let me mention that we got about 18 inches of snow. Not that I know firsthand because I have not set tender foot outside, however I have watched countless hours of neighbors shoveling from my perch near the fireplace. Looks terrible. Jake spent a total of 7 hours working outside this weekend. By today, he was the only person left on the block with a working snowblower so he blew, shoveled, pushed, dug, and generally saved the day which netted us a bag of ginger cookies and some fresh, hot cinnamon rolls.

You can hardly tell we only have 40%power. Heat, fireplace, microwave, fridge, Wi-Fi, and random outlets work. Hot water heater, most lights/outlets, washer & dryer, and stove are out. Waiting on a visit from our pokey friends at Xcel...

Dorothy enjoyed a romp in shoulder deep snow. So many pristine pee spots to choose from...

Snow banks are already 6 feet high. Imagine how high they will be if the plows ever come though. At least the house is clean, Christmas cards are addressed, and child is overly-cuddled. What more can I ask?

Nori loves the storm and resulting "adventure". Frosting cookies by candlelight last night, no bath, and a watching the movie Up on the laptop. It's a kid's dream come true!

Some of the lights in the kitchen work so we had a picnic on the kitchen floor eating a delicious burrito meal cooked entirely on the grill. Knew that side burner would come in handy someday!

snowed in

Perfect timing, really, since I can't button my pants...

15 weeks!

My midwife appointment went well! I hopped on the scale to see I gained SEVEN pounds in four weeks! I blame the nausea as it requires constant eating of carbs to be kept at bay. Still, I better slow this weight train down (get it, like freight train?). I need to pre-register at Weight Watcher's and get a personal trainer on standby for June. She answered my questions which were much easier than the ones Nori asked me last night which included: How do kangaroos jump so high? (strong legs) and What's a Becca? (her babysitter tonight).

Heartbeat was 150 which according to Sabrina means it's a girl. This coming from the woman who yesterday sent me a photo of a prisoner of war and asked me if I thought it looked like Jake. Check out the heartbeat video:

181

No wonder you are mad at me! In 2009, I published a respectable 242 posts down from an astounding 330 in 2008. This year I am at a measly 180 posts with only 23 more days to go. Now I am no math genius, but that is a significant percentage drop (that is how I used to try answer math word problems in school, be all vague yet still true hence the psychology major. It's kinda odd that I married a math major who has never taken a single psychology class in his life. We compliment each in that way, i.e. he tells me how great I am and I never have to balance the checkbook again). But now I get it, you miss me. I would too, if I were you. Here I am, shooting for 190 in 2010!

Did you see the series finale of Little People, Big World? Spoiler alert: it was really depressing! They ended on the note that twins Zach & Jer will never grow up. I love it how Zach always says "what the deuce!", I need to say that more. Meanwhile Matt & Amy are going to sell Roloff Farm and get a divorce. The end. Boo hoo!

If I were to get my Ph.D. (which I will not, read on for obvious reason), I would do my doctoral thesis on the role of reality television show fame and martial discord. That word sounds fancy, discord. I would then spend years interviewing everyone from the Nick & Jessica to the Gosselins to Heidi & Spencer to do a meta-analysis of how and why their reality star fame effected their martial happiness. My working theory is that they value fame and fortune more than privacy and quality time together, but perhaps I will learn that the radiation from the camera lights actually interfered with their pheromones causing a lack of attraction? I am sure many respected graduate programs are just dying for someone to understand and then prevent this national crisis so that when Kim Kardashian finally gets married, it will last forever.

Tomorrow I have a midwife appointment and I am excited and nervous. When I was just a naive, perky-boobed, lame-footed, never-been-pregnant vagrant, I never understand how nerve-wracking pregnancy was! I just assumed that the hard part (getting pregnant) was over and from there on out, it all was good. Now I have read too much and constantly worry that something terrible has happened to my baby in utero. I have no reason to think such things and try to remind myself that there is 97% everything is perfect. Try being the key word. I am eager to hear the heartbeat again and schedule my 20 week ultrasound. Jake is coming with me, just in case they ask any math questions and because he is the dad. We thought it might be funny to ask the midwife about how soon they could perform a paternity test, but she may have heard that one before.

Somebody medicate me!!!

The most BEAUTIFUL girl in the world

The pregnancy hormones are flowing, in a good way. My normal jaded self has been replaced by someone who LOVES everything! I had the BEST time with my friends over on Thursday! Nori and I had a WONDERFUL, cuddly day at home on Friday following by a MAGICAL FAMILY NIGHT out in snowy downtown! Yesterday, we baked and Christmas shopped; it was so FUN to see what Santa has in store for someone special! Today I took a prenatal yoga class at Blooma and I LOVED it! I am bringing meals and cookies to friends, I am a MODEL CITIZEN! I have JOY in my heart! Who have I become and how long with this last?

also the SMARTEST

Baking with my BEST DAUGHTER

Christmas in the City

Girls Night In!

My memory is terrible these days. For example, I forgot that yesterday was Grandma Audrey's birthday (which I often forgot), but it was also Britney Jean Spears' birthday. I never forget that!

What a fun night! Yes, I forgot to get a group picture, even though I instructed them to remind me. Many of best friends from high school Susie, Ann , Stacey, Chelsy, Katie, Kristi, and Jill came over for wine, pizza, and lots of great conversation. It was great to catch up as it's harder and harder to get together without kids when we can actually talk. We had to laugh at how the topics of conversation have changed from 1993 to present day after a long discussion about crockpot recipes. What did we used to talk about? People have gotten married, divorced, had babies, adopted, moved, gone through struggles and celebrations but we are all still friends. It's special, I am lucky!

New Nori quotes

I love to eat snow, it tastes like melon juice! I love melon juice!

Daddy is MY husband, too!

While at Target - We need to buy some bottles for Baby Honey to drink her milky.

The baby is in Mommy's oterus.

When Baby Honey gets born, I am going to make silly faces at her to maker her giggle.

Us: Do you want Honey to be a boy or girl?
Nori: A baby!

Where is my green dinosaur? (it's a tiny foam sticker) I can't sleep without my baby pteranodon!

I am Laura on the Prairie and you are Ma and Daddy is Pa.

While forcing her to brush her teeth - Daddy is going to be VERY angry with you!

Me: Do you want to sit on Santa's lap?
Nore: No, I want to sit in the backseat (of the sleigh)