Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

..we wish you a Merry Christmas...

 ...we wish you a Merry Christmas...

...and a happy New Year!

Love Lance, Christa, Jenna, and Shelby Hofmann!



All I want for Christmas...

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, my two front teeth, all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, so I could wish you Merry Christmas...

Our song for Jenna has been slightly different, but for Christmas, it seems she has gotten two new teeth.  After an inspection (which I rarely do anymore because I don't want to get bitten), I found that Jenna now has 2 more teeth on top.  Her top two canine teeth have broken through the skin.  This makes number 13 & 14!  Of course they have a little way to go before we will all be able to see them, but hopefully, the worst of the pain is over for her now... so we can have a Merry Christmas!

Santa's Watching You!

Lance told Jenna that Santa was watching her and she had to be good.  At 22 months, neither Lance nor I figured she understood what was being said.  A little bit later, this is what we found....

Gumbel Christmas

Last Sunday, we celebrated Christmas with the Gumbel family.  The weather was nasty, but we made the trip to Evansville anyway.  Jenna was not her typical self at Christmas, she went to anyone who wanted to hold her.  We were amazed!  We got a quick photo with my Grandma and Grandpa holding Jenna and Shelby.

 Then we got a picture of Lance, the girls, and I with my Grandpa and Grandma.

 Shelby, as you might have noticed in the above picture was in awe with her Great-Grandpa's hair.  She kept wanting to rub his head.  I told Lance to keep her away from his head, but Great-Grandma saw no harm in letting Shelby play.

A few days after our Christmas celebration, Grandpa Gumbel fell and broke his hip.  He is still in the hospital.  They do not yet know for sure when they are going to do surgery.  If you wouldn't mind, please say an extra prayer for him, he could really use it right now.

Shelby 6 months

At the first of the month Shelby was 6 months old.  She had her well child appointment on Dec 3.  She weighed in at 14 lbs 14 oz.  This was 6oz shy of doubling her birth weight.  She is now 25 and a half inches long.  She is doing really well.  She is rolling all over the place and sitting up for a little while. 

No, she doesn't look like me either...

Close the Door!!!!

While I was making dinner, I heard Jenna playing in the hallway.  I didn't think anything of it until I rounded the corner.  I knew there was a reason I should keep the bathroom door closed.....

...because re-rolling the toilet paper is not a lot of fun.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

 Lance got the girls a sled since we got a nice heavy dusting of snow last night.  We got out and played in it this afternoon.  Notice it's still snowing in the photo?

 Shelby enjoyed a little time out in the snow.  Her sockhat from Aunt Carla came in very handy!

 Lance and Jenna started building a snowman.

 Mommy pushed the snowball up the hill.

 Daddy finished the snowman off.  He is sitting on the sidewalk leading up to the house.

 Lance's creative decoration for Frosty's face.

Frosty stands taller than Lance...

Help with the Tree

We traditionally set up a miniature Christmas tree in the bay window in the master bedroom.  This year was no different, except Jenna helped.  She hasn't messed with the decorations too much with the exception of the Little People Nativity. 

The tree before decorations

 She decorated a few branches, then undecorated them, and redecorated them

 She had fun and I enjoyed the help so it was a win, win!

Golden Birthday

Sunday, Lance celebrated his golden birthday.  He turned 28 on the 28th.  To celebrate, he spent some quality time with his girls...

Happy Birthday Daddy!

As an interesting side note, we will have 3 golden birthdays 3 consecutive years.  Lance 28 on the 28th in 2010, Shelby 1 on the 1st in 2011, and Jenna 3 on the 3rd in 2012.

5 years...

On Friday, November 26, Lance and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.  Unfortunately, Lance had to work all day, so we only got to spend the evening together.  When Lance came home from work he brought me a pretty basket of flowers and a couple of rented DVDs.  We enjoyed a quiet evening around the house watching Toy Story 3 and The Engagement. 

As it turns out, the traditional gift for the 5th wedding anniversary is wood.  Coincidentally, we are in the process of purchasing a little timber (aka wood) and tillable farm ground.  We farmed the ground in 2010 and the owners asked if we were interested in purchasing it.  We haven't signed the formal papers, but are definately in the process of purchasing 40 acres. 

Thanksgiving

We started the 2 hour trip to (Rentchler) Thanksgiving at my Aunt Linda's.  I was reading the Parenting magazine when I was finished....

it got recycled!  Jenna just had a ball playing with the ABC book.

We enjoyed seeing the family and had a great meal-of course!  We left Aunt Linda's so the kids could get a good nap, we could finish up some packing and get ready to go to the circus.  Since Lance had to work on Friday, we decided to go to the 7pm show.  With the time change, that was an 8pm show and 8pm is bedtime.  I wasn't sure how well the kids would do, but they both really seemed to enjoy the first hour and a half.

Jenna was all smiles and was clapping and cheering after each performance. 

I believe it's safe to say that Daddy and Jenna enjoyed the showand so did Mommy and Shelby!

Where's Waldo...

...or the Hofmann Family?  That's a good question these days.  Friday, November 5th was the girls last day at daycare with Theresa in Evansville.  It was a sad good-bye, as we had been with Theresa for over a year and a half.  Friday night we packed the majority of the kids and Lance's stuff and moved it to our northen residence. 

The girls have started with their new babysitter, Natalie, a week ago Monday.  It has taken a little while for Jenna to warm up to Natalie, so I found it precious this morning when Jenna went from my arms straight to Natalie.  It was so sweet!

Lance and the girls have gotten settled in; meanwhile, I am in "Where's Waldo" status.  I am making my monthly training meetings in Louisville, still training in Evansville a few days a week, and starting to work some in Sullivan.  Needless to say, there's never a dull moment around the Hofmann House!

I Understand

The past two evenings Jenna has looked at the clock at just shy of 7pm and said "NO! NO!"  Surely Jenna is still to little to know how to tell time?!?!  Bedtime is traditionally 7:30 give or take 15 minutes.  So how does that little girl know by looking at the clock that time is running out? 

We have been inpressed at her comprehension lately.  She hears a toot she says "shhoooo weeee" and has been known to grab a hand and lead an adult to the bathroom.  Last night I asked her if she was ready for her bath and she went into the bathroom and tried to turn on the bathwater.  She then puts her little hand under the running water to see if it's hot, cold, or just right.  We ask for kisses and she passes out kisses before bedtime.  We tell her it's bedtime and many nights she will walk herself into her bedroom.

She no longer wants anything to do with her highchair.  She wants to sit in a regular chair and eat, just like the big people do.  She has done really well and leaves her plate on the table.  Her use of utensils and appetite have increased since she been sitting in the big chair.  Lance and I just look at each other and just agree that she is "one amazing little creature."

Halloween

We hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.  On Saturday, we all headed out to visit Grammy and Poppy Rentchler.  I took Jenna's costume along and dressed her after we arrived.  She lasted maybe 5 minutes in her costume before she wanted nothing else to do with it.  I think Grammy got a picture, but that was the ONLY one. 

Sunday, we had probably 40 trick or treater's.  We chose not to take Jenna out as she is not fond of strangers or her costume.  She loved wearing her pumpkin shirt and seeing the other kids ring our doorbell in their costumes.  Regardless, we had an enjoyable Halloween.

Gibberish

Deciphering Jenna's gibberish can sometimes be a challenge as most of it is still truely gibberish.  However, she has gotten funny with some of the things she has been saying.

All baby dolls are named Shelby.  If you ask her to go get a doll she calls it Shelby.  So now instead of having one Shelby in our house, we have more like 10!  Thankfully only one cries, poops, and eats!

Shooo wee!  We started potty training Jenna a while back, but she didn't quite figure out the bladder release part, so we stopped.  She has started telling us now when she has to poop.  She says shooo wee.  Everything that gets put into the potty by humans is shooo wee!  It's so cute!

ABC, books are not called books, they are ABC.  If you tell her to go get a book she will grab a book (usually an Elmo book) and say ABC, ABC!

Sunday night Jenna was soking in the bath tub because she was filthy from camping over the weekend.  She grabbed her horse tub toy and said "meeeee".  She also has a cow, pig, chicken.  I picked up the cow and repeated "moooo" to her and she mimiced me saying "meeee".  She may have had the wrong animal, but she had the right concept! 

Wordless Wednesday

Momma's Lil Pumpkins!

I figured since it is October, it's time for Halloween shirts.  Friday, I dressed my little girls in their matching jack-o-lantern shirts.  I took pictures, because I thought they were just adorable!

Thanks Aunt Angel for the shirts!

4 Month Well Child

Today is the first day I have taken off of my new job.  I had scheduled Shelby's 4 month well child visit with Dr. Best.  This is also a first for the girls... the first time they have spent a whole day apart since I started work two months ago. 

Shelby is now weighing 13 pounds 3 ounces and is 25.5 inches long.  She has gained 3 pounds and 3 inches since July 22.  She has been eating cereal every couple of nights to help her sleep, and to not let her system get too backed up.  Dr. Best was very happy with Shelby's progress.  He said she was developing a little ahead of schedule, having rolled over from her back to her belly on Sunday.  He also mentioned that her head lag was impressive (he picked her up by her hands and her head stayed with her shoulders, it didn't lag at all).  It is neat to watch her watch Jenna running around.  You can tell she really wants to be on the go too!  When that day comes, Lance and I are really in trouble!  

Shoes

In our house, we must be very careful where we leave our shoes now, because if you are not careful.... they will simply grow legs and walk off.

Sometimes, on rare occasion, after I take my shoes off for the evening (when I don't put them away), they end up back on my feet!  I love Jenna's fascination with shoes!

Cereal

About 2 weeks ago, Shelby had stopped sleeping through the night because she was hungry.  She would wake up sometime between 1am and 3am, eat, and go back to sleep.  So, before beditime on Wednesday night (9/21/10)  I figured it was time to start Shelby on some rice cereal.

 Her facial expression after her first taste of it was priceless.  It looked like I had just fed her a lemon.  Her little face crinkled up and she didn't know what to think.

 After the second or third bite she tried spitting it back out!

Thursday morning, at 6:45 I had to wake Shelby up to get ready for daycare and eat.  I am glad that the cereal has helped everyone get a little more sleep!

Farm Girl

Saturday morning Lance helped his Dad and uncle with corn harvest.  He decided to take Jenna with him to ride in the combine for a couple hours so I could get a few things done around the house.  Lance said he seat-belted Jenna in the buddy seat and she was a very good "buddy".  I took lunch to the field and Lance was unloading the combine.  Shelby and I sat down and talked to Papaw while Lance and Jenna filled the hopper again.

 Then, because he was out of trucks, he stopped and we all had lunch together.  I took Jenna home and Lance continued to harvest.  On Sunday, Shelby, Jenna, and I joined Lance in the combine for about an hour.  I got a couple pictures of Jenna and her Daddy before we stopped for lunch.

Shelby 3 months

I can't believe how much Shelby has grown!  I am only 3 weeks late with this post, as we are gearing up for Tuesday's 4 month doctor's appointment.  However, I thought I would share a little about Shelby's month. 
Shelby has learned to smile and tends to be a very happy baby!  She LOVES to watch big sister run around and play.  She really likes to sit upright and be held. 

At the beginning of the month she hit a growth spurt and has really gained some height.  It will be interesting to see her stats on Tuesday!

Labor Day Weekend

The camping group went to Lincoln for Labor day weekend.  Since Lance had to work late Friday night and all day Saturday, I decided to take the girl camping Friday night.  The plan was to go sit around the camp fire Friday night and enjoy seeing the camping group on Saturday and leave after supper on Saturday.  However, it didn't quite work that way...

Due to the dry, early fall, my Dad started harvest over Labor Day weekend.  Lance decided he would help Dad with harvest Sunday and Monday, so we ended up camping all weekend.  Jenna was exactly what her shirt says, "lil firecracker".

Shelby made a friend of Joe and they spent some "quality time" together.

Poppy and Daddy got to spend a little time with their girls! 

Grammy gave Shelby a bath... in the sink.

And we had a really nice time seeing everyone, of course!



A Weekend full of FUN!

We had a relaxing, but busy weekend.  I woke up Saturday morning at 4:50 to feed Shelby.  I laid in bed and let her nurse.  She fell asleep and I let her lay in bed with her Daddy.

I left and went to the Mother to Mother sale at St. Johns. It was a really nice sale! I found several good deals and came home with quite a few yard sale goodies!  Saturday afternoon, Lance and I just enjoyed our girls.  Larry and Rita called later in the afternoon and asked if we were doing anything, if they could come up and see the girls.  They showed up around 6:30.  We enjoyed salad, lasagna, apple crisp, and each other's company.  Rita held Shelby and Larry played with Jenna.  After Jenna went to bed, I held Shelby and she "talked" to Larry.  Shelby has found her voice and was chatting up a storm with Larry. 

Sunday morning Dad called and invited us up. We went and visited with my parents for a good while Sunday afternoon. Dad finished restoring and painting his Massey Ferguson 65, so he took Shelby for her first tractor ride.

 which I believe she may have slept through....

We visited for a while, the guys went out and looked at the crops, then we went to Lynnville for pizza.  Lance took some really cute pictures of Poppy and Jenna, but I can't seem to get them downloaded.

Chaos

I haven't posted much in August because things have been a little chaotic.  Where do I even begin?  Shelby turned 2 months old, she is holding her head up really well and she loves when you let her attempt to stand up.  She is giving more and more grins all the time.  She is such a happy, easy going little girl.  She is doing really well sleeping through the night.  She goes to bed somewhere around 9pm and sleeps until 4:30 or 5 am.  I would prefer she slept a little later in the morning, but it's nice to get to spend a little time with just her before I go to work.

Jenna turned 18 months old on the 3rd.  She has been busy learning her body parts.  She can presently identify her nose, tummy, foot, and head.  We are working on knee, elbow, eye, and ear-which she gets right sometimes.  Her vocabulary is growing leaps and bounds.  I got her up this morning and she was singing parts of her ABC's  she gets ABCDE, QRS, and W,XYZ.  It is hard to understand, but she definately has the tune down.  She has also started saying "hot-dog" and "popcorn".  She has been showing lots of interest in talking and repeating what we say.  I have been trying to teach her "I love you" but she is having trouble with "love".  As for potty training, she has been going on the potty at least twice a day.  She is DONE with it by about 4 pm and litterally throws a fit sitting on the potty of an evening.  I am proud of her for the accomplishment she has made thus far.  She is aware of when she needs to go, most of the time she tells me, we just don't always go while sitting on the potty. 

As for me, I am on my third week working for Farm Credit (FCS).  It is quite different than I was used to at UK.  I was thrown into things much quicker with UK, FCS is spending a lot of time and focus on training.  The first week was spent doing computer trainings, and getting all the paperwork and logistics of a new job complete.  The second week I worked in the Sullivan office where I will be stationed when I become a full blown ag lender.  I drove around with the guy that is leaving my post in Sullivan to go back to school.  We spent 3 days driving around and meeting some of the farmers in the area that do business with Farm Credit.  It was nice to get out of the office for a few days.  I am back in the Evansville office for a while shadowing a guy that has been with the company 5 years.  I won't say I love my job yet, but I think I will like it once I am out on my own, working full-time in Sullivan.

As for Lance, he has been busy with Vincennes Tractor.  The guys are gearing up for fall and that is definately going to keep him busy.  He is getting ready to go to Cincinnati, OH for a few days for "New Product Introduction"  Last year, he went Omaha for this, so it's definately closer to home this year.  When he comes home, it will be interesting to hear about all the new technologies and equipment that John Deere is rolling out.

Back to Work

Monday morning, I started my new job with Farm Credit Services of MidAmerica.  I am reporting to the Evansville office this week to start training with the Ag Loan officer located here.  It's going to take a while to get used to the new morning schedule.  Fortunately the girls have been doing really well with getting up early.  Shelby is doing pretty good at daycare.  Jenna is doing really well at daycare.  Miss Theresa has been working with Jenna and Adonis (an 18 mo old little boy she watches) on potty training.  Jenna has been having 1 or 2 accidents and usually 2 successful potties a day.  She has even starting poo'ing on the potty too!  I am really proud of how well she is doing, but we still have some work to do!

Shelby was 2 months old on Sunday.  I took pictures of her late Sunday evening, but haven't downloaded them off the camera yet.  Jenna is officially 18 months old today!  I will try to post pictures of the girls later, but I am tired tonight and will be getting up early again in the morning. 

Vacation (Day 2)

I have a previous post today about Day 1 of vacation that may help explain where we were while on vacation.We left our hotel in Corbin, KY and headed to Natural Bridge State Resort Park, in Stanton KY.  I had heard several of my colleagues with UK talk about the Staff Conference held at this park and how beautiful it was.  The park presented several challenges.  The first was 90+ degrees with lots of humidity.  The second was to see Natural Bridge you must hike 0.75 miles one way.  The third was carrying the girls that far.  We were determined to seee it so away we went.

The original trail was supposed to be the easiest hike, but the hike was thousands of steps up hills.

Jenna hiked the flat parts of the trails and she worked up a mighty sweat.

Shelby slept in the sling the entire way up.

When we got there, I was slightly disappointed.  We were directly under the bridge and we really couldn't see it!  The view was amazing, but we spent all day Saturday looking at tree covered mountains.  On the right hand side of the picture, notice the sandstone pillar.  That is one side of the base of the bridge.

The trail continued, up more steps, to climb to the top of the Natural Bridge.

That was an interesting experience to walk across the top of the Natural Bridge.

The bridge was made out of sandstone.  The top layer of sandstone was a very hard standstone, while the lower level was a very weak sandstone.  The years of wind, rain, and weather wore away the lower portions of the sandstone - forming a hole -which made a bridge.  From the top of the bridge, we saw the spot that would have allowed us to actually see the bridge.  After hiking across the top of the bridge we saw a sign for the outlook, it was another  0.4 miles.  We decided it would be worth the hike!

It definately was!  Through the trees we could see some of the sandstone that formed the Natural Bridge.

Can you see the little people on the top of the bridge?  They may put the size of the structure into perspective.

In true Bob Rentchler fashion, we decided it was silly to come and go the same way, so we found a different route back to the truck.  It was called Rock Garden Trail.  There were steps winding all over a huge rock formation.

The Rock Garden Trail had beautiful scenery...

and lots of steps!

It was a beautiful hike down.  While at the look out point, we saw the darkened sky and heard thunder off in the distance.  Fortunately, we made it back to the truck just ahead of the storm blowing through. 

We found out that we were not far from Clay City, KY.  Since we own a farm in Clay City, IN we thought it would be neat to see what Clay City, KY had to offer.  For those of you who know the size of Clay City, IN, I would say KY is not much bigger.

They had an elementary school, a couple banks and a few restaurants.  This was a really neat building across from the Dollar General.  It was functioning as a museum.

We left Clay City and got on the Mountain Parkway and Interstate 64.  We made it to Louisville and the girls were both getting restless.  We stopped in Clarksville, IN at Falls of the Ohio State Park and let Jenna run off some steam before supper and fed Shelby.  We loaded back up, stopped for supper, and headed home. 

The girls did excellent with traveling, which made it a wonderful trip.  If we could only find time to get away more often....