'

8 years

2012-01-26T01:02:00.002-05:00

Last week was our eighth anniversary. I can hardly believe it has been that long and feel like it has been longer all at the same time. So much has happened in eight years. Marrying Jared is the best decision I ever made.

In eight years we have had 4 kids (two at a time) and have had a career start and a big career move, two homes, one big move across the country, a few cars, and several other things I don't care to count. We look older and maybe not as skinny, but we are more in love than ever.
I love you Jared, thanks for 8 great years, so excited to see what all the years ahead will bring.

Auntie Amber

2012-01-20T14:05:00.002-05:00

Aunt Amber had a long weekend, so she came to visit. We did as much as we could while she was here, it was a fun weekend of shopping, eating, visiting and baby snuggling with some Monopoly Jr. thrown in there too. She is a popular lady around this house.

In the picture below, look at Claire's cheek bones... look at Amber's cheek bones. Nan has them too!
Amber teaches all her nieces that "girls gotta stick together."

Six Months Old

2012-01-18T01:43:00.003-05:00

Love seeing my kids take care of my kids.
My sweet babies are six months old, I can hardly believe it. The time has gone by so quickly. We have had our first ear infections in both babies, but they recovered quickly and got back to being the happy babies. Kate rolls from her belly to her back almost every time we put her on her belly, Liam has done it a few times, but not all the time. Liam has two teeth now and just barely started to sit up on his own, it makes him so happy. They both love baths, food and attention. It is so easy to get a smile from them both, all you really have to do is look at them. They also adore Jacob and Claire and love when they play with them. They have been pretty good sleepers, but since Liam started cutting teeth we haven't been quite as consistent with the through the night routine... hopefully it will return soon, but really not much to complain about.

Here are the stats:

Liam: 17 lbs 10 oz, 25.75" long, 45 cm head

Kate: 14 lbs 15 oz, 24.8" long, 42.5 cm head

They have rolls and chub and we just love it and love them!

New Glasses!!!

2012-01-16T01:38:00.003-05:00

Just after Christmas, we got Jacob a pair of new glasses! He chose dark blue (no surprise there) with light blue on the other side. We think he looks very handsome... especially in his new Sunday corduroy blazer. We originally got the new glasses thinking that he would wear the old ones more often (since they're indestructible), but Jacob definitely prefers the new glasses. We'll have him wear the old glasses for PE day, soccer, t-ball, and if he's going to be roughhousing.

He also got a cute sweater vest, too. I think he looks a little more grown up with his new glasses, which makes Dani a little sad that he doesn't wear his first pair of glasses as much now!

Claire got a new outfit that is very cute, too, and wanted to show it off. She's also looking a little more grown up in her new outfit!

Christmas and New Year's Festivities

2012-01-12T02:21:00.007-05:00

We really enjoyed being home with our little (maybe young is a better word) family this Christmas. Since this is our journal there are a lot of pictures and maybe some details that aren't all that interesting, but here it goes.

One morning before Christmas I made kiddos this special breakfast... I was impressed, they barely gave a reaction and then asked why it didn't have ears, HA!

We went to see Santa, he was a good sport and held on for dear life and smiled while he did.
We spent Christmas Eve at our house with our friends the Schaffers. We had a yummy dinner with beef tenderloin, salad with goat cheese, rosemary potatoes and veggies, and delicious rolls. It all turned out so well and we topped it all of with the traditional brownie peppermint torte. We played some Christmas songs on the new hand bells that Nana sent and struggled our way through the Christmas story with 4 VERY excited kids and three not as excited babies. The kids also watched the animated version of the Christmas story while the adults visited. After all the festivities all the kids got to open their new pajamas.

This was the baby lineup during dinner.
The four oldest kids showing their excitement... they were really happy and really hyper.
The three babies.
This is the cookies and note that kiddos left... it says "save one for Mrs. Clause, Merry Christmas"
Christmas morning! So excited to open presents.
Claire was so excited about her big dollhouse, Jacob loved all his legos, and the babies finally got highchairs.

Santa brought these drinking glasses straws. They love them, I am tired of cleaning them.
On Christmas Day we went to church, caught part of the phone call with Jared's missionary brother and played at home. That night we enjoyed a laid back yummy dinner at the Schaffer's house of ham, potatoes, pomegranate salad, and tortellini. We topped it all off with birthday cake. I also opened my birthday presents there. I was trying to look happy, I had a bad cough and wasn't feeling well, but I really was enjoying myself.
29, eek!
On New Year's Eve we went to a late lunch early dinner at a restaurant and then went to celebrate with friends at the Hornibrook's where we played a fun game called the door game and ate way too much food and talked a lot.
My mom got the kids each a penguin shirt.
Liam was so happy after all the late night New Year festivities.

Merry Christmas

2012-01-06T13:42:00.001-05:00

Ugly Sweater Party 2011

2012-01-03T19:09:00.004-05:00

We had our annual Ugly Sweater party at the beginning of December. It was a great party (if I do say so myself). We had yummy food and great company. We all had a fun ugly ornament exchange and played Christmas Bunco in our festive wear. As always there were prizes for the ugliest sweater and various prizes for Bunco.

There are a lot of us that have had babies recently, several that also were not there.
This year's winner, complete with music that plays when you push the poorly placed button. Can't wait for next year... we already have some good ideas.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-29T18:37:00.006-05:00

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to brave the 16 hour car drive with the whole family and go to Wyoming to be with the Streeter side of the family. Other than some illness when traveling both ways the drive went really well, the babies were perfect for the drive. We were able to visit our friends the Raabs on our way. Kiddos had the entire week off of school so we were able to stay for a week. My brother and his family live nearby and my sister and her family came from Minnesota for part of the time we were there. Kiddos had such a great time with all the cousins and everyone got to meet Kate and Liam and we finally got to meet Bentley who is 1 now. This is A LOT of pictures which you may not appreciate if you are not related to me.

Having fun with the cousins.

Bentley is tiny... Liam is huge.

Uncle Jared is a pretty popular guy.
So is Grandpa.

Jared had more fun than the kids in the snow... this huge snowman was pretty hard to get together.
My sister... see the family resemblance?

The 6 cousins between 4 and 7 (4 of them are 5).

Uncle Heath and Liam napped together quite a bit.
Kate and Aunt Bri.
The whole family.
My sister's family.
My brother's family.
All the grandkids.

Claire and Brighton were good little buddies and loved looking at the black friday ads together.

Grandpa made a rocket out of water, a pop bottle, and an air pump... the grandkids loved it. Grandpa and Heath and Jared got a little wet.
Just to clarify... Kaci was standing on the hearth, she is not that tall.
Grandpa spent a lot of time rocking babies in his chair.
Bentley.
I even got to see Jan (a good friend and my college roommate) for a little bit while I was home.
It was great to be there... Mom made great food as always and kept all the grandkids happy with fun things to do. Now... maybe I can get some Christmas festivities posted.

Entering a new phase

2011-12-19T19:38:00.002-05:00

The babies are starting to use their exersaucers.... I love when they do that! Also, I think they may be getting teeth, haven't seen any yet, but they gnaw on everything (Kate especially). This is a typical Kate face... chewing on her hand and staring with wide open eyes.

Liam loves this because he loves to be stiff and standing. The big kids have also spent a lot of time playing with the exersaucers.
Pictures of the Ugly Sweater party to come soon (hopefully).

5 months

2011-12-13T02:45:00.003-05:00

Our babies are 5 months old. Wow! That went so fast. I was just thinking the other day how much fun I am having with these 2 little babies... I loved being a mom to Jacob and Claire as babies, but I feel like this time I have really been able to enjoy being a mom to babies more. They are both such good natured babies and they are so easy to get smiles from and to put to bed and are great sleepers, I want to remember those things!

We recently moved them to their own cribs, it is kind of sad and seems lonely, but they transitioned really well and have been sleeping well in their own beds.

Kate is such a smiley girl. She loves to spit and she loves to make lots of noise. She also has earned the nickname 'Patsy' because she spends about 75% of the day patting things with her hands.
Liam is a big laid back dude. He is very stiff and it is much easier to get him to stand on the couch than to sit. He smiles a lot and mostly cries if he is hungry, but it is a very sad and desperate cry.
Neither baby is showing much interest in rolling over, although Liam will turn on his side sometimes. They both are loving solids... mostly they love all things food (can't you tell?). Kate is doing much better with the bottle... not perfect yet, but so much better, which is good because I have 3 concerts this weekend and she will be with Daddy that whole time.

Bottomless Pit

2011-12-06T14:20:00.003-05:00

This boy eats a lot and he is hungry ALL the time. The minute he wakes up he wants food, the minute he is home from school he wants a snack and basically from the time that snack is gone until dinner he is wanting more snacks. Also, when he asks me what is for dinner he always says "and what else," it doesn't matter how many things we are having for dinner he always wants to know "and what else." He is a funny bottomless pit though.

Today as he and Claire were getting on the bus I yelled "have a good day kiddos!" Jacob turned around and yelled "have a good snack when we get home." Classic!

(ps- my friends at laughingstarsphotography.com took this picture)

Fall fun

2011-11-30T01:21:00.002-05:00

Jacob and Claire made some wild turkeys out of pumpkins and brightly colored feathers!

We went for a Sunday stroll! Baby girl loved it!
And kiddos and I ended up rolling in the leaves
And the babies tried baby food for the first time! Kate wasn't so sure she liked it. It took her a few days before she decided she really likes baby food!
Liam loved baby food right from the start! He may be a little too eager, and makes a big mess. He reminds us a little of Jacob in that he has to eat constantly... and that if food isn't coming now, he gets his feelings hurt!
Both babies eventually lose their patience and start sputtering... their food goes everywhere! Liam blew half a spoonful onto his toes the other night, and tonight he shared a few small drops of his peas with me... they don't taste very good!

11-11-11 11:11:11PM

2011-11-30T01:14:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving post to come... but first, 11/11/11!!!

We had Jim and Mel over and celebrated by eating foods that are shaped like 1's!

Chicken wings

Fries (both regular and sweet potato, pictured below)
taquitos!

It was a fun spur-of-the-moment party with our good friends! Thanks, guys, for celebrating with us!

4 months old

2011-11-16T20:05:00.002-05:00

These sweet babies are four months old. They are SO happy and smile at just about anyone who will look at them and talk to them. They have fussy time in the evening and night when it is time for making and eating dinner like every child seems to do, they don't like to go to bed early, but when they do go to bed they sleep really well through the night most nights... last night from 10 to 10. They are starting to bat at and grab a few toys. Kate is not a fan of bottles still which we continue to try to fix. Liam loves all things food. They both had their first solids a few night ago... pictures to come.

Here are the stats:

Liam 15 lbs. 6 oz. (66%), 25.5" (77%)

Kate 13 lbs. 3 oz. (45%), 24.75" (75%)

Such an appropriate picture!!!

2011-11-04T03:34:00.002-04:00

When both families were here in September for the babies' blessings, we gave them a tour of the office. Uncle T found a poster that describes Jacob perfectly!!!

Soccer Season (the first of many, I'm sure)

2011-11-02T00:41:00.003-04:00

Jacob and Claire finished their soccer seasons last week. Here are a few pictures of the action!

Jacob scored 2 goals in his 2nd to last game of the year! Here he is after one of the goals.

Here's Claire dribbling the ball. She often runs with her arms in the air.
Claire scored a goal early in the season. The other team cheered when the ball went into the net... but Claire was pretty excited anyway to have kicked the ball into the goal!
The kids really had a fun season. They really improved from the start of the season. It was fun to get to know their teammates and watch them play.

We lucked out weather-wise. There was a game that it rained lightly for part of it, and the last practice with Jacob was in a pretty steady rain, but other than that, we had good soccer weather.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T02:52:00.002-04:00

This is the best picture of Jessi and Buzz together that we got... seriously, this was the best picture. I guess we should've taken the picture AFTER trick or treating!

The whole crew!

At the ward party, Dani was an artist!

I was a luchador! I also sported the costume today at work. You should've seen the shorts!

And I found this picture on the camera of a pumpkin trifle Dani made for our friends Jim and Mel's pumpkin party. It was even better than it looked! Yum!

The Carrots and Peas are back!!!

2011-11-01T02:27:00.007-04:00

The current version! Carrot Liam and Peas Kate... 3.5 months old, unofficially weighing in (according to the scale upstairs) at 16.9 lbs and 13.4 lbs!

The originals, Carrot Claire and Peas Jacob... 6.5 months old, officially weighing in at 13 lbs, 13 oz and 14 lbs, 3 oz! We often tell people Kate and Liam sure don't look like newborns, and tonight, when Dani got out Kiddos' baby books, it was proven.

Does anyone else think the peas kind of look alike and the carrots have similar facial shapes?

Chunky Liam filled out his carrot costume really well! We had to wake him up to get him dressed, so he wasn't in the best mood right away (see the picture at the bottom), but he was happy the entire time we trick-or-treated.

Kate was thrilled to have a costume on! She was also happy the entire time trick or treating. Walking around with two babies trick or treating brings lots of smiles - and a little candy for the parents!

Dani had to take a picture of this. Awww!!!

Look, new hats!!!

2011-10-29T19:31:00.004-04:00

My aunt and uncle sent babies cute hats! Kate loves hers! She is a really smiley, social baby. We quite often get comments about how happy and smiley our babies are.

Liam likes to stand, especially when he's excited (which he is a lot) or sad/mad. He has strong little legs (and a dimply little behind!). He's a happy baby, too.
Little is probably not an entirely true statement... According to my scale upstairs, Liam weighs 16 pounds! He's 3.5 months old... and he was 5 weeks premature! He already outweighs Kate by 2.5 pounds! I like cute little chubby babies!

NOTE: as for the onesies, here's a link to the full story. They were gifts from our friends, Wayland and Gloria. When Dani was pregnant with Jacob and Claire, Wayland and Gloria said they would pay for their college if we named the babies after them. So, we sent a baby announcement to them with the babies' names being Wayland and Gloria. They sent us those onesies. Kate and Liam wear them often because they go through onesies more quickly than Jacob and Claire.

A few days off... Part 3

2011-10-27T03:03:00.003-04:00

Okay, it was a Saturday, but we took Kiddos and babies to the BYU - Oregon State football game! We got to see a good win for BYU, and we've made BYU fans out of kiddos for life!

We lucked out and got a beautiful day - partly cloudy!

Babies slept most of the game, including parts where we were cheering loudly!

The whole family near the end of the game... amongst the whole BYU family!

Jim and Mel and kids came with us

Jeremy MacDonald joined us for the game!

Jeremy was lucky to be seated right between Dani and Mel... who both spent part of the game feeding their hungry babies... eyes on the field!

Dani has been a trooper to be willing to bring the babies all over the place!

A few days off... Part 2

2011-10-27T02:24:00.006-04:00

Thursday, we took family pictures in the morning. Afterwards, we headed south to go hiking. The clouds built up and the rain increased to the point where we decided to cancel the hike. Instead, we went to Bauman Farms (for the second time in 5 days).

Liam got to hang out really close to me! That parking lot in the background was completely full as far as you can see the last time we were there! Needless to say, there weren't lines this day.

Dani and Kate - and a big slide in the background (see the video below)

Jacob next to an obstacle course

Claire feeding a goat!!! The same girl that is terrified of a 3-pound dog is willing to feed a goat! I have to say I was surprised!

Dani and Kate looking cute

Kiddos went on HUGE swings, kiddos did some cool obstacle courses, played in a ball pit filled with hazelnuts, went down slides, and we ate doughnuts and drank cider.

Here are Jacob, a little friend Claire made, and Claire going down the slide. Jacob is excited because he made it to the 2nd landing mat. Pause it at 0:20 to see the excited look on Claire's face!

A few days off... part 1

2011-10-27T01:50:00.006-04:00

Jacob and Claire had a few days off school a few weeks ago, so I decided to take Thursday and Friday off! On Friday, we went for a hike in Forest Park. Here are a few pictures:

Kiddos had their maiden voyages with their CamelBacks...

Then they found big leaves and stood in a big tree...

Kate stuck her tongue out at the camera...

Liam and I stared at the trees...

Dani made like a Pioneer Woman and fed babies while hiking on the trail... all while showing off her cute dimples...

And then Dani got the camera, and this happened...

We may not have hiked a long ways, but we sure had fun!

For the Grandparents

2011-10-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

3 months

2011-10-15T23:20:00.005-04:00

Our sweet babies are 3 months old. They don't look like preemies.

They are now wearing 3-6 month sizes and even some just 6 month size things. They are both very happy babies and smile a lot, they don't cry very much and mostly just cry when they are hungry or at night when they want to be held (or sometimes when I am trying to make dinner). They love the bumbos and they really love their playmat. Kate sometimes likes to complain and has a very cute complaining face and funny complaining voice. Liam smiles with his entire body and really kicks his legs a lot when he is excited. They will be happy for hours and hours in the baby bjorns. They also sleep through the night almost half of the time now and when they don't they only wake up once in the night. They are SO happy in the morning when they wake up.... hungry, but happy! They both really love Jacob and Claire and smile at them all the time. We feel like they notice each other more than we remember Jacob and Claire noticing each other at this age, they love to look at each other and Kate especially loves to talk and smile at Liam.
They have been such mobile babies constantly going places with us as we cart the older two around to various activities, and they are so happy and content to do so. They are great eaters and mostly nurse but get a little bottle every night before bed. Liam will happily take his food in any way, Kate sometimes refuses to take her bottle no matter what bottle it is or what is in it, sometimes she will take it, but only 1 oz and then refuses to eat any way but nursing and every once in awhile she will take it and drink the little bit that is in it.

In other news, this big brother lost ANOTHER tooth this week. He was so excited to write a note to the tooth fairy and tell her that he was not afraid to leave his tooth this time. As soon as Jacob woke up the next morning, he ran into our room and reported, "the tooth fairy brought me 3 monies, and I gave one to Claire!"

Sometimes...

2011-10-07T18:48:00.003-04:00

the babies do this.

But most of the time they do this,
and this.
They are good little babies.

Bumbo time

2011-10-05T18:53:00.004-04:00

Kate and Liam love the bumbo. Sometimes it just makes them happy.

Other times it makes them sleepy.
Ok, a lot of times it makes them sleepy.

Kiddos Art Gallery

2011-10-04T00:31:00.003-04:00

Kiddos have been into art recently. I'm honestly not sure who did all these, but I will take my best guess!

Claire - she's been into abstract art recently, especially tornados

Jacob - (Jacob's people have 2.5 legs) Swing set.

Claire. This is a person (notice the orange eyes). There is a sun in the top right. Notice the attention to detail - the frame around the outside!

Kiddos went through a "tree phase." There is even one hanging on the wall over the love seat! I love their creativity!

My guess is that Jacob did this one

I would guess this is one of Claire's.

This must have been early in the period. Their trees have developed significantly since.

I love their art! Dani says she cleans up after their projects daily. Good that I have plenty of used paper coming from work! I sometimes just see the back, and wonder why there are insurance applications, contracts, or paper with our logo on it randomly around the house, but then I find these masterpieces!

Look below for some of Jacob's art - he's been producing a huge volume recently.

Jacob's Art Gallery

2011-10-04T00:07:00.005-04:00

Jacob and Claire have recently really been into drawing and other forms of art. One of the great things about their art, is it really gives insight into what is on their mind. In Jacob's art gallery, you'll get a pretty good idea that there is 1 thing on Jacob's mind... Click on the picture to see it in full size!

Tennis

Baseball

Football (notice the helmets)

I think this is (from top to bottom): Tennis, football (the helmet, again), and baseball

Soccer field (that square holding up the upside down field goal posts is actually the goalie box, I think)

Soccer field (awaiting the kickoff... kiddos leagues are 3 vs 3)

Soccer - it appears he is diagramming a play, passing it around

Baseball field. I believe these is a dugout

Baseball. Though there is an off chance this is frisbee...

Baseball. Looks like he's playing catch with Claire.

Baseball again. 2 ducks on the pond, time for a clutch hit!

Like I said, he has 1 thing on on his mind. Every night when I get home from work, he has planned out which sport we are going to play. He playing catch, kicking a ball around, and watching baseball and football. I have no idea where he gets it from!

Still here... still growing

2011-09-29T19:33:00.002-04:00

The grandparents want more pictures... I am pretty sure the cheeks grow faster than anything else.

My friend Kelsey got this really girly outfit for Kate... she looked really cute in it.
Hi sister.
They are pretty good natured babies, they have fussy periods, but not too bad. They are sleeping better most nights, sometimes only waking up one time. They are chubby. They are both really trying to talk to us a lot and smiling a lot.

2 Answered Prayers

2011-09-25T23:55:00.002-04:00

Tonight, we had a couple who had just moved into the area over for dessert. Jacob and Claire probably had more fun with them than they would have had if they'd had kids!

During all the fun, Jacob lost one of the toys he was playing with. He looked for it for a few minutes, and asked me for ideas. A few minutes later, he walked up to me and told me, "Daddy, I went to the bathroom and prayed to know where my toy was, and Heavenly Father answered my prayer and said to ask my dad." The answer to prayer #1 quickly turned into a quick prayer by me. Literally the first place I looked (without even moving from my seat on the couch), I noticed a little red thing peeking out from under Dani's nursing pillow... and success, the 2nd prayer was answered!

What a wonderful teaching moment, and what a sweet gift was given our family by our Heavenly Father tonight, in the midst of all the (very entertaining) chaos that was the rest of the evening. And what a wonderful example of faith was shown by our little 5-year-old boy.

2 Months

2011-09-12T14:24:00.004-04:00

Yesterday the babies turned 2 months. Happy two months.

They are both smiling a lot more and really trying to talk. I caught a smile on Kate yesterday... unfortunately smiling makes her fall over.

Kindergarten Starts

2011-09-09T00:24:00.004-04:00

So, it feels like there is not one official first day of school for these Kindergarteners... yesterday was the meet and greet where they met their teacher and saw their classroom and worked on a project while I filled out some paperwork. Here they are yesterday outside the school.With their new teacher Mrs. Renne.
Today they went to class, but only half the class went. I am counting it as the first day since they road the bus and went to school.

The big Kindergarten boy with a gap in his smile.
The big Kindergarten girl posing in her chosen outfit.

They were SO excited for the bus to come, here they are waiting.
They hopped right on, they wouldn't even have looked back if the driver hadn't told them to turn around for a picture.
So they did.
They both got off the bus smiling, it sounded like their day went well and they made some new friends, although they couldn't remember their new friends' names. I had to ask a lot of questions to get just a little information about their day, but they seemed to really love it. I spent my time running errands with 2 kids instead of 4. I can't believe how grown up Jacob and Claire are now and I am so grateful that they are so excited and so confident.

The tooth fairy

2011-09-08T01:12:00.002-04:00

Today Jacob came up to me out of the blue and said "Mom, is there a tooth here?" There was, but it was SO loose, and behind it was another tooth, it had come in quite a bit already. I couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before, he just said "Ohhhh... maybe that is why it has been hurting a little." There was a little crying as he tried to pull it out until I convinced him it was not big deal and just to wiggle it, and hour later he just yanked it out and was so excited about the tooth fairy. He wrote her a note, as he was writing it I heard Claire tell him "you could tell her that she can give you a hundred dollars if she wants." Luckily for the tooth fairy Jacob can't really write understandable notes yet. So Jared told me as he was tucking Jacob in he was suddenly sad about parting with his tooth and has decided not to put it under his pillow because he is not ready to let her take it yet.

Blessing Day

2011-09-08T01:04:00.004-04:00

Sunday was the blessing day for Kate and Liam. It was a great day and both babies were perfectly quiet for their blessings. Jared gave them beautiful blessings and we were so lucky to have so much family travel to be here for the event.

See how chubby they are getting! Yesterday was a two month checkup and Liam was 11 lbs. 1 oz and Kate was 9 lbs. 14 oz. WOW!

Where is time going?

2011-09-01T20:04:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it is September.... maybe because I spent most of my summer stuck at home, but still. My really helpful big brother and big sister will start real school next week and my babies will be 2 months! Wow.Helping out when the babies were still just teeny.

They aren't so teeny now. (OK, so they are pretty small, but huge compared to what they were)

Could you resist?

2011-08-31T17:54:00.002-04:00

They made $6 total, $3 each. They each spent some of it buying junk from garage sales, but I am pretty sure the most exciting part was paying 30 cents of tithing.

The boys and the girls

2011-08-29T01:06:00.002-04:00

I have a lot to post about, it makes my head hurt, so I will keep it simple. Here are the boys and the girls.

Happy Due Date

2011-08-15T02:23:00.002-04:00

Happy Due Date babies! Thank you for not waiting until today to come. Tomorrow is the 5 week mark.Liam was a little sleepy for the pictures
See how chubby they are getting!

In Some Trouble

2011-08-15T02:06:00.002-04:00

On Thursday Jacob and Claire were playing together so well.... they usually do, so I tried to just let them since whenever I pass by there room recently I am usually asked to "please not interrupt their game" or "please go away!" In the afternoon when I came out of the bathroom Jacob came in the room to say "Mom, I think we might be in some trouble. We cut Claire's hair, but we used bags!" Used bags they did! I found three target bags in their bathroom garbage, each with a wad of beautiful red hair in them.

When I got the details Jacob said that he did not actually help, I asked Claire if she did it herself and she said "yes, because he is telling the truth!" she then added "But Jacob watched!" Jacob told me he did watch and "I just reminded her that you might not like it!" I found hair in two rooms and child safety scissors. At least she followed the rules about which scissors she is allowed to use!
See the short chunks there.
Her hair was fixed like this and she cut on the little pigtails on both sides. I may have laughed a little bit, then I found her crying in the bathroom and when I asked her why she was crying she told me she didn't want people to laugh at her because her hair looked funny. She also was upset that her hair wouldn't be red anymore... I told her it would still be red, but it would be short. I was trying to figure out how much sympathy you are supposed to have for a child that cuts her own hair. See below how she felt about it.
We went that evening to get it fixed, it is shorter and layered to fix the problem. I am not sure I love the fix... I may have it fixed again and all one length (like I originally asked for). I was not really too upset and I was feeling grateful that she did not cut right up to the pigtail or try to make bangs.
This was after our ward picnic... thus the butterfly.

4 weeks old

2011-08-09T00:35:00.004-04:00

The babies are 4 weeks old today (or minus 1 week if you are counting by due date). They are growing so fast and are doing really well. Good eaters, still pretty sleepy. We all really love them.

Tiny and Sweet

2011-07-28T15:15:00.001-04:00

Hospital Pictures

2011-07-27T20:36:00.002-04:00

Liam and Kate are over 2 weeks old now, so I am trying to catch up. Here are some pictures from the hospital. Jacob and Claire and my mom were able to come visit and meet the new additions. Our nurses were having a great time dressing them up with things that the volunteers have made, they found some interesting things.

We were so happy to go home just 2 days after they were born, we feel so blessed that we had such healthy babies that are such great eaters.
More pictures to come... they are getting chubbier every day.

July 11, 2011

2011-07-20T16:22:00.002-04:00

Twins 2.0 arrived! Sorry it has taken so long for me to get this up. My goal was to make it to 35 weeks and on the 10th I was 35 weeks. At 1 AM on the 11th my water broke... I made it 1 hour past the 10th. Labor started very quickly and the lovely nurses were able to get the nice man to come quickly for my epidural. I was very lucky to not have a C-section this time as well. Everything went beautifully and our sweet Kate was born at 6:48 followed by Liam at 7:07.

Kate Afton Jensen, 5 lbs. 1 oz, 18 inches
Liam Kip Jensen, 5 lbs. 12 oz., 18 1/4 inches.

Kate on bottom, Liam on top. They were amazingly healthy babies for 35 weeks, and really great (even if they are sleepy) eaters. We were so lucky to be able to bring them home just two days later on the 13th. More pictures to come... they are already over a week old and have past their birth weight.

35 weeks!

2011-07-10T01:06:00.002-04:00

Sunday marks 35 weeks, and the lifting of the strict bed rest Dani has been on for the past weeks, which has felt like an eternity to Dani. We're very happy to have made it this far.

One day, Dani was looking at her profile in the mirror, and she came out, and said, "Jared, look. This side...

is SO much smaller thank this side (see below)!" Right in front of her forearm, you can notice the bulge of the girl. The girl is very much on the right side, and the boy is basically right in the front and right-front side.

We went to the Hornibrook's to watch fireworks... the first time Dani had been out of the house for something other than a doctors appointment in maybe a month or more.
and... here's a GREAT shot of just how big the belly has become. She's thrilled that I'm posting this.

Pretty soon, we'll be posting pictures of the two little ones inside! We're excited!

Is that one T or two?

2011-06-29T21:03:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite 'kiddo-isms' deals with the misplacement of words. Here's one example, while kiddos were playing and I was making dinner:

Me: Jacob, do you want to have reading time with Mamma before dinner?

Jacob: I don't want to read but.

Also, Jacob told the babysitter this week, after smelling her arm, "Girls smell like berries." She asked, "what do boys smell like?" Jacob responded, "hmm... chipmunks."

Update on the belly!

2011-06-29T03:39:00.004-04:00

We've had an eventful last week and a half. Friday the 17th, very early in the morning, Dani couldn't sleep because of a side pain in her left side. The babies are on the right side, so it wasn't the babies, but it was a very intense pain. We ended up in the hospital Friday to get the pain under control and got back home Friday. For close to 48 hours, the pain was kept under control.

Sunday night, it returned and intensified until, around 3am Monday morning, we had to call our neighbor to watch the kids while we went into the hospital. Dani was in pre-term labor at 32 weeks, so they gave her 2 steroid shots 24 hours apart to help develop the babies lungs and magnesium sulfate to slow the contractions. Fortunately, the magnesium worked and Dani's contractions were contained. Dani's pain was also contained. While we were told we would be there for at least 4 days, and we half expected to have the babies, we ended up coming home Wednesday afternoon.

Since then, Dani has been on full bedrest. We've had Jacob and Claire go over to others' houses and have had a friend come stay the day with them since.

It has been a time-consuming process, but we are glad the babies are still where they can grow and develop the best. We hope Dani makes it about 2 more weeks.

We've been grateful for the support of friends and neighbors, some of whom have come over in the middle of the night, others who have watched Jacob and Claire overnight or for many hours, others who have brought meals or visited Dani while she's confined to her room, or others who have made themselves available for us to call upon.

I've also been grateful to work for a company where I can take work home and where I am encouraged to put family first.

Here's Dani today, at just over 33 weeks.

Dani's belly definitely leans to the right, especially during a contraction (as shown below). The peak is where the baby boy is - the girl is (on the picture) on the left. Her pain was (again looking at the picture) on the right side, where there aren't any babies.

We've been eating dinner in our bedroom some nights - not all (I'm scared to bring certain foods onto our carpet!) Kiddos love that!

It's feeling like time is dragging for Dani, but at the same time, it feels like time is flying by for me - my days are more full than ever, and Dani's are slower than ever! We are both looking forward to life in a couple weeks, for sure!

30 weeks

2011-06-09T19:12:00.003-04:00

I am supposed to be taking it easy and laying down as much as possible, so it is getting harder to get a picture since I don't always get ready for the day. Yesterday I had an appointment with the doctor so Jared got some pictures. Here I am just past 30 weeks.

Preschool Graduation

2011-06-06T14:49:00.004-04:00

Last week was kiddos last week of preschool. We also got to go to Kindergarten orientation and see where they will be going to school next year; they are very excited. They had a little graduation to celebrate completing preschool. It was very cute and the highlight for kiddos was that there was cake when it was over.

Here are all the graduates, each class has a different color hat. Jacob and Claire are right next to each other, you can see them because Jacob is the only one with bright blue glasses and Claire is waving at us.

Jacob and Claire with Jacob's teacher, Teacher Tina.
With Claire's teacher, Teacher Sherry.

Both of kiddos teacher's are so happy with how they have done and know that they will do really well in kindergarten. They keep telling us how much they will miss them both, including watching them deliver little surprises to each other's cubbies.

28ish

2011-06-06T14:45:00.003-04:00

These pictures were taken a little over 2 weeks ago, just before 28 weeks. Hopefully we will get a new one in the next couple of days so you can see what 30 weeks looks like. Jared thought we needed to get all angles... so here they are.

26 weeks

2011-05-16T16:51:00.001-04:00

This picture was taken a little over a week ago.... I am 27 weeks now, but there have been a few requests for a belly update, so here is the last picture we took. Enjoy!

The elephant in the room

2011-05-09T00:17:00.005-04:00

I've mentioned many times about how much like my sister Amber Claire is. We've found yet another couple similarities.

Claire over the past week has been waking up multiple times at night telling us she can't sleep. This morning, we were awakened by Jacob crying because Claire had come into his bed (oh yeah, we bunked kiddos' beds... pictures to come...) and had accidentally hit him in the nose. Later, we again asked her why she woke up so many times and was in Jacob's bed. Her answer:

"There is an elephant trunk that comes into the room at night while I'm asleep and wraps itself around my bed and it makes a noise like breathing."

Crazy, realistic dreams!!! Thing #150 (okay, I haven't really counted, but it's gotta be close) that Claire and Amber have in common.

So, tonight, the ordeal (outside of an emotional, crying-like-a-teenager-at-an-EFY-testimony-meeting Jacob who needed to hug his mama because, as he put it, "I just love you so much!") was trying to keep Claire safe from the elephant trunk. Dani (the logical one) first tried talking common sense to Claire that it was just a dream with no luck.

So, we tried a different strategy. Here are the steps we've taken, illustrating thing #151, a lack of common sense when tired and convinced about the realism of a dream:

1. I need a bear. "What about your stuffed bears?" No, I need a REAL bear! "Claire, real bears couldn't even get up the stairs - they're too big!" What about a baby bear? "Claire, a baby bear plays even rougher than Jacob."

2. "What about if I put another light in your room to shine on the door?" He doesn't come in the door.

3. "I promise it won't hurt you." It doesn't hurt me. "then why are you worrying about it?" I just don't know what damp means. (!?!?!)

4. "What about robo-panda (a gift they were given for their birthday)? He moves" But he isn't real!

5. "What about the gator-golf (another gift)? If something goes in his mouth, his mouth shuts!" Oh yeah!

Claire and Jacob run back to their room. We go and set up the gator. 1 minute later

6. BUT WHAT IF IT GOES AROUND THE GATOR!!! We go back into the room He can go around the gator. "What about if we put these (decorative bulletin) boards next to your bed?" No, I need real wood! "Claire, we don't have other wood" It has to be nailed with a hammer. "Claire, look, these block all of underneath the bed. There are toy bins there at the foot and a wall at the other side and the head."

7. But I need noise! "The radio is playing." Not loud enough! We turn it up a bit "There you go, it's perfect now."

this appears to have worked. for about 45 seconds after we leave the room.

8. BUT I HAVE TO MAKE NOISE!!!!!

9. "Fine, Claire, let's have you sleep in the green room (okay, it's a white room with a green bed in it - known as the green room)."

we relocate Claire to the green room, get her set up with a nightlight and music, say goodnight, walk out of the room, sigh once, and hear...

10. SCREAMING!!!!! "Claire, what's wrong?" There isn't enough light! "Claire, there are 3 nightlights in your room. Let's go there. We'll leave the door open a little." All the way! "Fine."

So, there you have it. With gator, wooden boards, louder music, an extra nightlight, and an open door (we forgot robo-panda and didn't get her a real bear), Claire is in her room asleep. We'll see if that protects her from the elephant in the room (which doesn't do any harm, but breaths, oddly enough, just like a sleeping Jacob) so that all can get a good night of sleep!

Candy Land Birthday Party

2011-04-25T14:58:00.004-04:00

I decided that since 5 is a big birthday I would have an actual birthday party for my kiddos. They wanted a candy land birthday. The invitation.
The Cake.
All the guests sitting on the 'game board' for present time.
Some of the decorations/party favors.
Behind Jacob was the table where they could make necklaces with licorice laces and fruit loops.
This is the table where they could decorate their Princess Frostine or King Candy crowns.
Decorations/favors.
Here is the game board, we used it for a cake walk type game with the songs "I want Candy" and "The Candyman"; they got a prize if they landed on Candy Land Castle.

All the kiddos. Basically we just decorated the crowns, made the necklaces, did the cakewalk game, opened presents, had cake and ice cream, and then filled up everyone's party boxes with goodies and toothbrushes. It was a little chaotic but I think everyone had fun. I have to give a shout out to my dear sweet husband who manned most of the birthday party since I got hit with another inner ear infection right before the party and spent the 20 minutes before it started losing my lunch.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T15:11:00.000-04:00

One Hand Old

2011-04-18T16:04:00.003-04:00

These two are 5 (one hand) today. I can hardly believe it! We have had so much fun in the last five years, and although maybe a mother shouldn't have a favorite year I have to say I think the year from 4 to 5 has been the most fun. Somedays I can hardly believe how grown up they seem. I will post more later about all of the celebrations when they are all over!

Kiddos toy shelves look like a Cincinnati grocery store before a snowstorm!

2011-04-12T02:06:00.002-04:00

Since the babies are growing in Dani's tummy (see posts below), she hasn't been able to keep up as well with kiddos' messes, so I've seen more messes. While I don't think we are too strict with cleanliness in kiddos' playroom, kiddos have had some difficulties cleaning up when asked recently. The recent history:

Middle of last week, I ended up cleaning up their room after they went to bed just to have it clean. How nice of me.
By Saturday, it was a mess again, so I gave kiddos the job of cleaning up while I was cleaning the grill (which Dani set in flames Friday!). It took me 3 hours to clean the grill, and when I came up, nothing had been put away. My patience ran out, and I (kindly) sent kiddos to their room. Then, I thought of a more effective teaching method - having them watch as I cleaned (knowing I would take their toys away). Mean, I know.
Today, I asked kiddos to clean up after dinner. While some of their toys left the floor, they were put in totally random places, meaning more cleanup for me when they went to bed. This is what is left of their toys:

Most of them are in our room - there are some other bins in our closet. It should be a smaller mess tomorrow!

"Oh no, I weigh almost as much as the contestants on Biggest Loser"

2011-04-10T22:15:00.003-04:00

But she looks so cute! Here's Dani at 22 weeks!

Kiddos wanted to compare bellies. Check out those bellies!

Little Scholars

2011-04-07T23:48:00.002-04:00

Claire and Jacob have been really into doing "Daddy Homework" (a.k.a. their workbooks). It has been interesting to observe and see how differently they learn.

Claire quietly sits (normally at the table, not on the table) and does her work. She will ask instructions on pages she doesn't know, then will sit down and complete the page. If she has questions for me, I can respond with questions that help her learn and figure it out. When she colors, it is neat and in the lines. She takes time and makes sure everything is right.

I think Claire learns very thoroughly and independently - before she's done learning something, she wants to truly know it. She isn't a slow learner by any means. She reminds me very much of my sister, Amber.

Jacob often will start at the table, move to the island, move the the coffee table, back to the kitchen table, and then onto the floor. He goes very quickly through things - he does most things well the first time, but doesn't take the time to color in the lines or make sure lines are straight. Jacob will ask questions and look for help throughout, in part because he whizzes through pages and doesn't try to figure out how to do a page before starting. At the start of a page, his goal is to finish the page.

I consider Jacob to be a very quick learner. He reminds me of myself a little, where he can learn very quickly, but sometimes if it doesn't come right at first, he can lose interest.
It is interesting the way they learn together. Claire is very interested in what Jacob is doing - often, Jacob will complete multiple pages while Claire watches him and participates with him in his workbook page. This is in part because Jacob vocalizes everything, and because Claire is so interested in what he is doing.

Jacob is very competitive - over the last couple weeks, at times, it has become important to him to be ahead of Claire. This has reinforced the decision to put them into different classes next year. That said, I think it will be an advantage to them to be able to learn what the other is learning. I think they will be like my younger brothers, who would give each other math problems at night (though one was 3 years younger than the other) and help each other learn.

We will need to work with the very differently. But it is a lot of fun to watch them learn - both in the structured time we give them and in their own unstructured time playing, coloring, and writing with each other.

Keeping Things Even

2011-04-07T19:21:00.002-04:00

I keep forgetting to post on my blog. For those of you who don't know yet we found out we are having another girl and boy! Jacob and Claire are both very excited and I was glad not to disappoint either of them. I wonder how similar they will look to the two in the picture above!

Almost halfway there!

2011-03-24T02:32:00.003-04:00

Dani is almost 20 weeks! At the doctor's visit 2 weeks ago, the doctor told Dani, "You're carrying almost 1 pound of baby right now." Yikes - that means there's another 10+ pounds of baby (hopefully) to go!!!Where is it all going to go???

I'm in Love

2011-03-16T19:29:00.004-04:00

These two guys have my heart (and one little girl and two fetuses). I love them, lots! I love how much the little one adores the bigger one. I love how much the bigger one is obsessed with the little one. I love what a good Daddy he is. Jacob has been feeling under the weather and is even more cuddly than usual. This morning he climbed in my bed with me because I now have what they have had and he scratched my back and held my hand... I smiled and told him he is a good boy, he told me "you are a good mommy." My sweet husband has been getting up and doing a lot of what I do in the morning lately and never once complaining... he is a good husband, and a good Daddy... I am telling you, he is obsessed with our kids, they are so fun right now. (ps - notice how young Jared looks).

Interpretation needed

2011-03-15T00:25:00.003-04:00

My kids had lost a number of toy bins over the past weeks because they hadn't been cleaning up well. Last night, I gave them back their animals. Tonight, I went into the playroom to clean up and saw all the animals gathered around an upside down alligator.I'll post what the story actually is in a couple days. In the meantime, feel free to leave your guess in the comments!

What I saw: Some sort of animal sacrifice! I was worried about my kids!

The Real Story: The alligator in the middle was actually an egg waiting to hatch, and all the other animals were waiting to see the alligator hatch. They stayed overnight waiting, and the next morning, the alligator hatched.

The Tummy

2011-03-04T18:49:00.002-05:00

Ok, because I have had a few requests and because it is just a little bit funny, I am posting some of the belly pictures we have taken. I am so much bigger than I was last time, but I guess that means the babies are growing well. So, for a good laugh, here ya go!

10 weeks!
12 (almost 13) weeks!
14 weeks!
15 weeks!
16 weeks!

For the record, I don't wear most of these outfits out, Jared just has a habit of taking pictures as I am headed to bed.

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-03-03T20:13:00.002-05:00

We continued our tradition of non-traditional Valentine's Day dates this year with our great friends Jim and Mel who are always up for a good time. We started our evening with dinner at a close-by Denny's to go with the theme of the evening.

After our bellies were full of Denny's we headed to "M-M-M-Monster Jam!" My first monster truck rally experience.
It was loud and hilarious and we had a great time.
We dressed for the occasion.
Thanks Jim and Mel for not being afraid to be a little silly. PS... both Mel and I did a pretty good job of squeezing our pregnant bellies into some regular clothes from the backs of our closets.

Cancun

2011-02-23T18:10:00.004-05:00

We spent the week after Christmas in Mexico with Jared's family. We had such a great time and it was nice to be somewhere warm and soak up some sun. We were near Playa Del Carmen in a little resort. We spent a lot of time relaxing, building sand creation, eating and eating some more. Uncle Matt and Uncle Andrew were the main sand architects. Here is one of their creations.

Here is another (you could always count on Claire to be helping with the building).
Uncle Taylor was really trying to meet new people.
We visited Tulum and learned more about the Mayan ruins.

We also went to Xel Ha, but none of us got our cameras out while we were there. Jacob and Claire got really brave and actually played in the water (especially Jacob).
We found the perfect shirts to help us make our big announcement while shopping in Playa Del Carmen.

another sand creation.
Downtown Playa.

The best way to babysit kids on the beach. We all had our fair share of yummy drinks.
Yet another sand creation.
Uncle Matt.
We had a lot of delays and such on our trip, by the time we were about to board our last flight Claire was so exhausted that she fell asleep half standing. We celebrated New Years in the air (twice since we were changing time zones).

What a polite kiddo!

2011-02-01T01:58:00.003-05:00

Jacob: "Mommy, did you make dinner?"

Dani: "Yes, Jacob."

Jacob: "Did Daddy make dinner?"

Dani: "No, Daddy didn't help tonight."

Jacob: "Why didn't Daddy help?"

Dani: "Because Mommy was done when Daddy got home."

Jacob: "Oh. Thanks for dinner Mommy!!!"

I love it!!!

Twincredible News!

2011-01-30T20:31:00.001-05:00

Pretend King

2011-01-24T03:19:00.004-05:00

You know those movie scenes depicting the king sitting on a big, comfortable chair, with servants fanning him and others bringing food to him? If I lived in the world of make-believe that my children were engrossed in this morning, that totally would've been me!

Claire was carrying that pitcher up and down the stairs bringing me candies. One of the great things about these candies - their wrappers were candy too, coated in sugar! She was sure to have one every time I had one... "I love candy!"

I was served my main course by Spiderman (who was Buzz Lightyear earlier). He brought me sandwiches, spaghetti, fruits, veggies ("Daddy, your carrot goes inside the hole in the celery, then you dip it in the Ranch"), and drinks, including a spicy pepper drink (?).

The whole meal began upstairs in the playroom on the rocker, and moved to the kitchen as I was preparing lunch. They probably did a dozen round trips up and down the stairs to keep me well fed! Everything was delicious!

I love this picture!

2011-01-13T00:35:00.001-05:00

I saw Jacob leaning into the sink, with a helium balloon tied around him. I thought it looked so funny!

Christmas 2010!

2011-01-13T00:05:00.003-05:00

After a couple busy weeks, it's finally time to give a report of our Christmas. John and Vicki came and joined us, spending their first Christmas away from home with us. We were thrilled to have them!

Before Christmas, John, kiddos and I went to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. It's in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, there's pretty much nothing around it. But, the museum is awesome! It's the home of the Spruce Goose (seen behind Jacob). Kiddos and I went into a B-17 (Jacob is in the front gunner's area). It really was a cool place!

Claire and Jacob both got cameras from Santa. They were thrilled! I'm not sure how many great pictures we'll be getting from them - half of their pictures were of the floor, their forearms, the couch cushion, etc. Vicki got a kick of how excited Jacob and Claire were all day long.

Here's Grandpa John! He cooked us lots of yummy meals!
Claire got a doll from Nana. She was thrilled!

Jacob and Claire both got scooters. They've been riding them all around the front of the house. Claire was a little more timid at first, but has quickly caught on.
Claire also got princesses. She and Jacob have been playing 'shopping' many days of the week. We also often find them naked - that's because they're sleeping.
Here are the kids new Christmas pajamas!

Ugly Sweaters!

2010-12-24T01:56:00.006-05:00

The Third Annual Ugly Sweater party was a success. We enjoyed a night of clam chowder, sausage tortellini soup, cider, numerous appetizers, and lots of sweets. We enjoyed everyone's ugly Christmas Sweaters... they were great and there was so much creativity. This year we did Sweater cookie decorating, Bling My Stocking, and Christmas Bunko! We had a lot of fun... here is a small sampling of the pictures.

Ugly Sweater Couples winner went to the Smiths who spent the entire night in a snowman hug.
Host and hostess.
Josh was trying to make the same face as his cats.
The winner of the contest this year was Carson with his not very Christmasy, but oh so complete look... he was very sparkly and tight and the hair and mustache were special for the occasion.

An Awkward Conversation

2010-12-10T16:29:00.002-05:00

Jacob and Claire made these really cute nativities out of milk cartons at preschool. They brought them home today and were talking about the differences between them. Here is how the conversation went.

Claire: "Jacob, and look, your Mary is awkward."

Jacob: "huh?"

Claire: "your Mary is awkward."

Jacob: (whining) "Mom, what is awkward? what is awkward?"

Me: "uhhhh"

Claire: "Jacob, it is just like a lighter than blue."

Me: "Ohhhhh... Aqua Claire, that color is aqua"

Claire: "oh... awkard!"

Jacob's is on the right... you can tell by Mary's awkward dress.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-07T18:49:00.005-05:00

We had another very successful Thanksgiving (I am pretty sure I have a couple pounds to prove it). Claire and Jacob helped us remember the first Thanksgiving.

Amber took some great pictures to show off the table and the food.

We enjoyed having Amber come to visit for another Thanksgiving (I think this should be a yearly thing). Chris, Jim and Mel, Ben and Ashley and their families also joined us for dinner.
We had plenty of yummy desserts as well. Wyatt and Brittany and Carson and Paige also came to join the rest of us for dessert.
For my reference, here is the menu:

Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread stuffing, cranberry grape pomegranate salad, green beans with roasted red peppers and almonds, Chris's Mac and Cheese, Mel's delicious rolls, cranberry sauce, veggie tray. Chocolate Mousse Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Bread Pudding. Thank you everyone for helping out.
While Amber was here we did some crazy late night after Thanksgiving shopping. We both found a lot of stuff. We also went to the Portland Saturday Market and Powell's Books (2 things Amber loves in our city).
We love the food at Saturday Market.
I am so grateful for my beautiful healthy family, our warm home, and especially my Savior Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone... Christmas is underway!

Primary Program

2010-11-09T20:20:00.002-05:00

A couple weeks ago was our Primary Program at church. It was Jacob and Claire's first Primary Program. We had been practicing their songs and their lines every time we were in the car. They did a great job, they both delivered their lines unassisted and so you could understand them. Jacob said "Heavenly Father gave me Parents" and Claire said "Heavenly Father gave me family." Their lines were right at the beginning and Jacob ran all the way off the stand to the back where we were after he delivered his line, when we told him he wasn't done and still had songs to sing he was like "oh, oh yeah!" and ran toward the front, but there was someone in both isles directing the song and he tried both isles then ran back crying because his path was blocked. Jared had to help him get by and then he and Claire both sang really well and knew most of the words. It was really fun to watch. I tried to get a decent picture of them when we got home from church, the following pictures are the sequence of my attempts.

Halloween

2010-11-04T21:05:00.004-04:00

Trying to catch up. We had a fun Halloween this year. I was bummed at first when I found out Halloween would be on a Sunday, I broke the news to kiddos as early as possible, but they were fine when they knew they would trunk-or-treat at the ward party on Friday, and I am fairly certain that they had way more fun handing out candy than they would have trick-or-treating on Sunday. Most of the kids never made it to our door because our excited kids would run out into the driveway with candy when they first spotted them. They yelled "Happy Halloween" and "I like your costume" out the door to everyone. I had to keep calling them back into the house. Here are the obligatory halloween pictures...

Jacob's pirate pumpkin (thanks for the bling Nana).
Jared's tombstone pumpkin.
My happy dude.
Claire's princess pumpkin.

Claire was a princess, but really wearing a bride costume that she insisted on wearing the veil for instead of a tiara, so we compromised on princess bride.

Jacob was "a credible... but you can call me just Jacob the credible"

Kiddo-isms

2010-10-22T14:30:00.002-04:00

Some of our favorite funny things kiddos say:

"Pork" or "Porking" - Poke, or poking. Used in a sentence - "Claire keeps porking me!"

"Blenders" - Lenses (for Jacob). Typically said in Jacob's really important voice.

"Worm" - Warm, as in "I want the tub to be worm." Claire is especially funny when she says this.

"Persh" - Push. We try to get them to say this one all the time because it's funny.

"Pew" - For a long time, Jacob didn't know the word "gun," so he would call it by the sound it makes.

"Peeps" - if "poo-poos" can be shortened to "poops", than, logically, "pee-pees" can be shortened too!

"Lasterday", "Last Day", "Next Day", "This Day". Yesterday, tomorrow, and today. I'll admit to singing the Beatles "Yesterday" using "Lasterday" instead.

"Neeeeana" - Nana (for Jacob). We're not sure if Nana finds this endearing or not!

"Hadded" - "I hadded to hit the ball"

"Squirk" - Would it be a squirk pew?

"Forenoggin" - In Finding Nemo, Crush and Squirt (the dad turtle and the little turtle - yes, we know their names) give each other noggin. Noggins are part of the bedtime routine. One day, Claire decided she no longer hadded a forehead. It was now a Forenoggin.

For fun, here's all of them in a sentence! Imagine Jacob talking to Nana (since he's the one who says 'blenders' and 'Neeana'):

"Neeana, lasterday when I hadded to do my peeps, I brought my pew wiff me and squirked worm water on my blenders, so I purshed them on my forenoggin and I porked myself in my eye."

School photos

2010-10-15T19:50:00.007-04:00

Today was picture day at pre-school! Claire reports "I had more pictures than Jacob!" With that in mind, I express my hopes in the following letter:

Dear Mr. Pre-school photographer,

We already have lots of pictures that look like this one.

and this one

We want this kind of smile.

Please find a way to get one that gets a good smile! It's elusive, but it's possible! I would advise that saying "Cheese" does not work well.

Thanks!

Dani and Jared

Visitors

2010-10-10T19:43:00.004-04:00

At the beginning of September my parents came and brought my second oldest niece Kamryn. They took her sister Kylie to Cincinnati, so it was her turn. We tried to keep busy while they were here, I know this is late and a lot of pictures, but I promise it is only a few compared to what I took.

We went to the Tillamook cheese factory and got yummy cheese and fresh ice cream in an even fresher waffle cone. Then we went to the beach and got seafood at Moe's and played in the sand.

Dad was our kite engineer, it was a little too windy for the kite, so he added some weight to help us get it up in the air. It looked only a little bit cheap.
Jacob liked flying in though.
Grandma helped Kamryn and Claire build a sand castle.

And ran from waves with kiddos.
The beach here is not warm, but it is beautiful.
Claire and Jacob were getting cold, so they spent the last 20 minutes like this.
We also went downtown to the PSU farmers market so my Dad could try Pine State biscuits (yum) and I also got the best huge soft gingersnaps ever.

The same day we went to the Saturday market on the waterfront for lunch.
And people watching. It is the best entertainment.
We also went to the rose test gardens.

Since it was a three day weekend we headed to Bend on Sunday night. Saturday Jared got up early and did some mountain biking while we enjoyed to hotel pool. Then we went to see Bend how my parents remembered it.
And to feed the ducks.
We also went up to the mountain in Bend for a summer sled dog ride. That girl standing there is a several time Iditarod racer who is legally blind. Those dogs were so loud and so excited.
While we were in Bend we got some good BBQ to eat and stopped at the family fun center for some fun.

Mom and I also found some time to take Kamryn shopping and we all went peach, pear, and apple picking and did a lot of fruit eating as well.

Thanks for coming family... can't wait for your next trip!

Beware ye land lubbers

2010-09-29T17:11:00.005-04:00

Over a year ago (probably closer to 2 years ago) I got a pirate murder mystery online. We have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to do it and since September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day we thought that doing it on that weekend would be best. Our friends were really great sports and did such a great job with their characters. My only regret is that we couldn't invite more people.

Meet some of the cast. One-eyed Wanda

Our Commodore and Governor.
Two of our pirate crew (I don't remember their character names at the moment)
We ate out of pie tins, drank out of jars. Back in the corner by the flag their is a treasure chest full of jewels and chocolate coins next to a barrel of homemade rootbeer.
We enjoyed giant turkey legs, rice and beans, tropical fruits, goldfish, bread pudding, and the rootbeer.
The Cap'n enjoying his turkey.
The poor Commodore was getting picked on... lots of tiny fruit swords in his lovely hair.
The Governor and his daughter.
Those bold enough to wear fishnets.
The whole cast.
We had a great time and several of us even solved the murder. Can't wait to order the next one.

Another first

2010-09-17T00:06:00.002-04:00

Claire started dance class, so far she loves it.

First Day of Preschool

2010-09-16T23:55:00.002-04:00

Kiddos had their first day of preschool on Monday. They are going three days a week now, they love it. I love it. It is amazing how much I can get done by myself in 2.5 hours.

Here is Jacob and teacher Tina.

Claire and Teacher Sherry.
At the school.
Their new backpacks (they love them).
I can't believe how much they are growing up and how fast they are growing up. One year until kindergarten... yikes!

Jacob's Testimony

2010-09-12T18:59:00.003-04:00

It was fast and testimony meeting last Sunday, and Dani bore her testimony. I had kiddos try to pay attention (which they did for probably 25 seconds). We were told after church last Sunday that Jacob insisted to the Primary leaders that he had a talk, so they let him go up. He proceeded to give the following talk:

"I want to bear my testimony, but I left it at home." Getting close to the microphone, he concluded, loudly, with "I know the church is true."

Dani asked Jacob about it after church, with a smile, and Jacob said, very seriously, "It's not funny. I know the church is true!"

cousins

2010-08-12T14:59:00.004-04:00

We don't get many chances to be with our cousins from the Streeter side... kiddos had a great time with their cousins. Here are some cute cousins warming up on the sidewalk.

Cousins are fun for swimming at the froggy pond with.
Cousins are fun for riding bikes with.

Cousins are fun for playing duck duck goose and freeze tag with.

This cute guy sure thought it was fun.

Cousins are fun for watching pretty sunsets with.

Cousins are fun for having baths with after all the other fun things.
We had lots of fun with our cousins... more pictures from our Cody trip to come.

Walters Reunion 2010

2010-08-11T00:16:00.004-04:00

As always the Walters' Family Reunion did not disappoint. This year we stayed in two amazing and huge houses that shared one beautiful property near Bear Lake. We enjoyed so much time visiting, playing games, eating, four wheeling, boating, riding wave runners, hiking, eating more, swimming, building sand castles, watching movies, more eating, playing ultimate frisbee, etc...

We hiked to a beautiful little lake called Bloomington Lake with quite a few family members. It was a beautiful hike and a beautiful little lake with glaciers feeding right into it.
Four of the biggest tallest guys in the family went cliff jumping and then hopped on a log to swim across the lake, the log was pretty much submersed.
Jacob hung out with Papa to watch a lot of the action.
There was an awesome rope swing there that I had a lot of fun on. Lydia was so brave and surprised us all by walking right up and swinging right out without any hesitation, I barely had time to snap a picture.
Matt, and Jared, and one of Jared's cousins hiked out to jump off the cliffs too. If you can zoom in and look really close there is a tiny Jared in mid air.
We spent a day at the beach playing in the sand, boats, and wave runners. These handsome architects constructed this castle.
Andrew and Keith had to pause to admire the beauty. There were a couple impressive sand castles built by our family.
Jacob who is usually very nervous was very brave about the wave runners and really had a great time on his rides. Jared and I also sneaked away for a ride on the boat and I got to ski on some choppy water and we both got to try some wake surfing.
Claire liked the beach too much for those other things. She spent most of her time filling the mote of uncle Matt's sand castle and decorating it with sea shells.
I had to document Bethany's sweet husband Jake helping her in and out of the boat.
Jacob also really liked swimming in the water at the beach. He was a trooper considering he had spent the entire day before trying to recover from a wicked stomach flu and then the night after the beach relapsing with the stomach flu.
Claire got it that night too, so we spent the night in watching "All Dogs Go to Heaven" and "Ratitouille" because that was what was on the tv. Most everyone else went to the "Pickleview Playhouse" for a show that was apparently really hilarious. Unfortunately the stomach flu did not stop with our kids, rumor has it that over 40 of the 70ish people ended up with that nasty bug. It was a strong one, but we all really managed to have a lot of fun around it. Can't wait for 2012!

Big Accomplishment

2010-08-03T20:31:00.002-04:00

So, when we found out that we had to patch Jacob's eye I thought I was in for the fight of my life, but it has been really easy. Jacob picks his choice of patch every morning and we put it on and take it off three hours later... he wears his glasses with no problem too. I can tell that it is harder for him to see when he is watching TV, reading, or drawing with a patch on though. Whenever Jacob has a successful day of patching (which has been every day except an unfortunate day of the stomach flu) he gets to put that patch on his poster. Each patch is a colorful scale of a 50 scaled dragon. Just a few days before his checkup appointment he finished his dragon. He was very excited to show his poster to his eye doctor.

Our check-up was today and we are going to just keep on with more of the same for 2 months. We are working on a snake poster now!

An observant little boy

2010-07-04T01:11:00.003-04:00

Jacob is a very observant and complimentary little boy. For example, tonight, we went out to pizza with Michael and Heather Hornibrook and some of their extended family, and Jacob told Jessica (6 yrs old), "I like your pretty necklace." How sweet!

Sometimes, it's funny, too. We stopped by Albertson's on the way home to pick up a movie, and Dani ran in while we waited in the car. A somewhat overweight young woman in a white tanktop showing off her tattoos came walking out, and Jacob said, "She looks like Holly." A little surprised, I ask, "Why does she look like Holly?" Jacob responds, "Her belly is the same size as Holly's." Clarification, we saw our friend Holly when we went back to Cincinnati when she was 7 months pregnant! It was very cute, especially since we were safely out of earshot!

Speaking of bellies, kiddos often tell us how their bellies are little, and our bellies are big. Thanks kiddos!

Cinci Trip

2010-06-24T14:50:00.008-04:00

I realize that this is a marathon post and that looking at other people's pictures is not that fun... but my pictures are fun and rest assured that I took A LOT more pictures than I am posting. We had not been back to Cincinnati since our move to Oregon, so at the end of May I packed up my kiddos and I and flew across the country. They did a great job on the planes for me, it was the first time I flew with them alone. Once we got there it was a party right away. We did a lot of swimming. Camie and her family were there too, so we got lots of great cousin time. Here are the girls on the first swimming day (Ellie is a sorta cousin).

Sweet little Wyatt loves the water, he is such a happy little/big guy.
Our second day we took a giant trip to the zoo. Lots of us! Our cousins' cousins are in Cincinnati for the summer, so they came too. Papa was great at keeping together the 4 year old boy team.
Here is our crew on the zoo train.
The 4 year old boy team sat together on the train.
I love this little boy, his big blue eyes make him irresistible and his tiny voice even more so. Lydia was a good big cousin keeping track of him.
The whole group (I was taking the picture).
This sweet little baby was so good for the whole HOT trip to the zoo (her mom has 4 kids 4 and under and is so good and calm about keeping it all together).
One of our nights we went to a Reds game (thanks Papa for the tickets and Nana for the idea.) Lydia and Claire had a great time taking it all in (especially the treats).
Clayton and Jacob had a great time too. Here is their picture with Mr. Red, the girls got a picture too, but it is on Camie's camera.
Cousins at the game together.
Jacob spent most of the game like this, we have a lot of pictures of him covering his ears at the game... he doesn't like noise, but he really was having a good time.
By the way, Jared joined us in Cincinnati after a couple of days, so he was here for the game and was so excited to share a baseball experience with his son.
We even went to the game on fireworks night, so we stuck around for a great fireworks show after the game (with much more ear covering by Jacob).
Then we did more swimming. Jacob scared himself at the beginning of the week in the pool and would not be away from the stairs or the edge for most of the week.
Claire loved the water.
Nana and Papa even borrowed a bouncy house from a friend for a swimming day. Camie and Wyatt enjoyed it as much as the gaggle of kids.
Ellie found a great outfit for the occassion.
Andrew and his sweet girlfriend Elizabeth were so popular with the kids and spent a lot of time playing games with them on the trampoline and on the grass.
Jared even got some uncle bonding time with Wyatt.
The men were in charge of the bouncy house clean up... doesn't it look like they are working hard.
Andrew graduated the Sunday that we were there. Congrats Andrew!
Grandpa Russ even came down for the occasion.
He is a popular uncle (Clayton was there too, but was done with pictures).
He is headed off to BYU in the fall.
On Memorial Day we were able to make it to the ward picnic of our old ward, it was great to see so many people and get involved in the game of softball.
After the hot picnic we went back to Nana castle to cool off in the pool with lots of friends.
We love the pool.
And Jacob finally discovered that he could float and swim with his floaties and started to really enjoy the pool, he thought he was enjoying it before, but he had much more fun once he was no longer confined to the stairs and edge.
We were so happy to see so many friends while we were there, we didn't have our camera for all of those occasions, but we saw so many friends that we have really missed. Thanks Nana and Papa for having us... we can't wait to come back in August!

Mothers' Day 2010

2010-06-23T01:33:00.002-04:00

I realize that Fathers' Day just passed, but I still haven't posted a few cute pictures from Mothers' Day, and since this blog is my only journal, I figured better now than never. I spent Mothers' Day 2010 reading in my backyard and reading to my kids in my backyard. We then had the missionaries for dinner.

My sweet kids gave my the gifts and cards that they made at preschool.
They were so proud of their gifts and so was I.
I feel pretty lucky to have two sweet kiddos who call me Mom. Being their mom can be really tough sometimes, but it is so rewarding and so much fun.

Baby shower

2010-06-23T01:29:00.004-04:00

My friend Kelsey had a baby boy last week. He is cute, she is doing great! Before she had the baby (like over a month ago) we had a baby shower for her. She got a lot of cute stuff

We had a lot of good food.
And I made cute favors for everyone.
There, now I have blogged about it.

The world from Jacob's perspective

2010-06-10T23:37:00.004-04:00

No wonder Jacob was relying so much on his right eye!!! Jacob can at least see how many fingers we're holding up with his left eye while he's wearing his glasses.

Here, Jacob and Claire are having a conversation with each other. Oh, Amber is on the phone too. I'm not sure she really talked much. And I'm pretty sure the neighbors could hear the entire conversation!

Jacob: Claire, can you hear me?

Claire: Yeah, Jacob. We're talking on the phone. And I can hear you!!!

Jacob: We're talking to each other on the phone!!!

Here they are sitting on the counter, talking to each other. Nana got to listen in on this conversation with each other.

Introducing...

2010-06-10T20:25:00.002-04:00

the new glasses! Jacob has amblyopia and will now be the handsome guy with the glasses always and the handsome guy with the patch for 3 hours a day. His left eye is 8 times more farsighted than his right eye (his right eye is great). We got him the indestructible glasses that you can't break (if only they had a kind that you can't lose).

We have had them for all of an hour, but so far he has been great about wearing them. I think I will wait for tomorrow to start with the patching. I am feeling really lucky that his favorite color is dark blue and not bright orange or red or something.

1/2 Marathon and Oregon Coast

2010-06-09T16:59:00.004-04:00

A little over two weeks ago I ran a half marathon that I have been training for. I have to say that when I woke up that morning I was dreading it, the weather was chilly and wet. The rain held off the whole time I was running though, and the temperature ended up being just about perfect for the layers I was wearing. Jared and kiddos were great supports. Our friend took this picture right after the race... I think Jared was more happy than I was with my time!

Our friend also took this picture. I think I may have been the most popular runner... I for sure had the most vocal cheering section and the most signs.
My goal was to finish in 2 hours and 10 minutes which would be 10 minute miles the whole way. I was really happy when I stopped my watch. Nine minute miles... I took a picture for proof!
How could I not run fast with a cheering section like this? Jared drove the kids all over the coarse and he and kiddos would hold up their signs and yell for me as I ran by.
It was an all women's half in our little city. We got a crown as we finished! I can say after this race I would definitely do another half, but have no desire to do a full marathon... 13 miles is only half way!
We went straight from my race to the coast to spend the rest of the weekend with these two (and their cute dog).
Girl Jessica and Boy Jessica (or Brian, or Ryan) were great hosts at the beach house. We had a great time playing games and eating and talking. When the weather was nice we were on the beach, flying kites.
or digging (girl Jessica is really nice to let Claire boss her around a little).
We also built sandcastles. By we I mean mostly Jared and Ryan.
It was quite the fortress.
Jessica and I finally gave up on sticking around to watch it be crushed by the waves, but the boys stayed out for the event.
We had a nice walk in the morning and Jared and Ryan had to do some chicken fighting,
and teach Claire and Jacob how to do the same.
It was a beautiful weekend. Thanks Girl and Boy Jessica!

Preschool Program

2010-05-20T21:06:00.003-04:00

In April Jacob and Claire had a preschool program. They sang a bunch of songs, most of them about Jesus (they go to a Christian preschool). They were so excited... mostly Claire, Jacob seemed much more excited when he wasn't on stage.

He noticed that his friend had on a "Cars" T-shirt. Claire knew all the actions and words (so did Jacob, I have heard them all at home, but he seemed to have forgotten them).
The shakers were really fun for all the kids, but Jacob must have grown weary of them by the time the song was over.
This is exhausting! Claire is SO happy with herself and looks at us after every song with a big grin.
Jacob just can't quite stay standing.

"Oh, I have gel in my hair." Claire has her classic 'see how good I did' face.
"Wow, look at my shoes."
"That shirt has Lightning McQueen!" He really spent ALOT of the program bending over looking at this T-shirt, once he leaned so far forward to see it that he fell right off the risers.

The whole group.
It was a very cute program and Jared and I spent a lot of it laughing. It was really funny to watch how cute they were and how differently they both responded to being on stage. (I realize this was a lot of very similar pictures, but I assure you it is only a very small sampling of the pictures I took).

Happy Birthday Jared!

2010-05-04T16:35:00.003-04:00

I am now married to a man who is one short year shy of 30 (30 is really old). I am so glad I found him though, and so glad he chose me. He is my sweetheart. He is always good for a laugh and always up for a good time. Jared has a adventuresome spirit and I love it!

He is such a good daddy... these two love him; I am pretty sure that they think that the world revolves around daddy and he is responsible for the sunshine and every good thing in their lives.
Claire is his little princess (and she knows it).
He is quite handsome (and he thinks he is quite cute).
Jacob is his miniature, and he loves it.
Sunday was Jared's birthday and we had some friends over to celebrate. All of the kids flock to Jared, they think that his games are the most fun. He is really popular with the children.
I asked Jared what he wanted for dinner and he said "cornbread" (thanks for the help). I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said "baseball" (not exactly the question I was asking). Remember how I said he thinks he is cute?
So he had a baseball party. With a baseball cake.
and baseballs made out of ice cream.
I think he liked it!
Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Tulip Festival

2010-04-29T19:26:00.004-04:00

Warning: This is a picture intensive post (compared to the number of pictures I took it is not really that bad).

My mom and my Grandma came to town and we took them to the local tulip festival. It was a great time. There were basically tulips as far as you could see.

Jacob had a very clear idea of where he wanted his picture taken... and this was not it.
There was every color of tulip you could imagine.
A rare picture of my Grandma.
Mom.
We wore our rubber boots... they were perfect.
She wore the sunglasses the whole time (and an attitude to accompany them).

Waiting
Waiting with the attitude.
This giant slid was made out of PVC pipes, Jacob got to the top and wanted to turn around but there was a huge line up the ladder behind him so I am made him go... turns out it is the slowest moving slide EVER so there was no reason to be nervous. He loved it.
It was the Wooden Shoe tulip farm, so we had to have hot dogs, or Bratwursts for lunch.
They had rubber duck races... Jacob and Claire really loved it!
Kiddos also got to ride a funny cow train that they pull behind a little tractor.
They loved it and now whenever they see a small tractor when we are driving somewhere they yell "Hey Mom... it is like the silly train!"
They had a lot of these.

This one was my favorite!
It was a beautiful and fun day... we will be back next year!

Easter 2010

2010-04-22T19:01:00.004-04:00

Better late than never ( I have so many pictures and so many things to post about). We enjoyed a great Easter/Conference weekend. Our Young Women hosted an easter egg hunt for the kids in our ward at the Bishop's house. In true Oregon style it was drizzly and wet, good thing our kids have great rain coats and rain boots!

Claire was excited.
Jacob needed his Daddy (don't worry, he did have fun once he was allowed to start hunting).
We spent our Saturday and Sunday watching and listening to conference at home.... look how grown-up my kiddo is.
Chris joined us for some of conference... this is pretty much how he watched the entire session (our kids are quite fond of him).
Chris, and Jim and Mel's family joined us for Easter dinner... it was delicious! It was also Chris's birthday, so we got to celebrate with him.
Here are this year's Easter outfits (thanks Nana).
She is looking grown-up too.
Happy (late) Easter everyone, I hope you all were able to remember the resurrection and life of our dear Savior. The messages shared through conference were so powerful and inspiring to me, I am so grateful for a living prophet and apostles.

Birthday Celebrations

2010-04-20T17:23:00.004-04:00

Jacob and Claire were forever celebrating their birthday. Here is a recap of the celebrations. My mom and Grandma were here a few days before their birthday, so they had a little celebration opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They got Leapsters and could not be happier about the whole thing.

On the Thursday before their birthday they celebrated by taking cookies with an M&M number 4 on them to share with their class (it was also a field trip to the library day so they got to ride the school bus for the first time... very exciting).

On Saturday we had a little birthday party. It was an "UP" themed party (this mixed gender shared birthday thing gets more complicated as they get older). This was pretty much the decorating I did.
Here is the cake and cupcakes.
They were very excited to have everyone sing to them and blow out the candles.
Nana and Papa sent them their own cute luggage for when we take trips to visit.

On Sunday they got to eat breakfast in their bedroom (we don't have lap trays and they are kind of messy eaters, so we just put a table in their room). Daddy made them special pancakes and eggs with toast and juice.

In primary they got a special birthday song and a necklace made out of candy bars. They were so happy.

4 Years Old!

2010-04-18T20:26:00.002-04:00

Today is April 18th, and that means that we have two children that are 4 years old. Wow! I can't believe how quickly that time has gone and how much they have changed, we don't have babies, or even toddlers, we have full blown kids. I wanted to share a picture taken on this exact day for the last 4 years.

April 18, 2006

April 18, 2007
April 18, 2008
April 18, 2009
April 18, 2010
We really love these two kids. They are so full of personality and we find ourselves laughing with them more and more everyday. We are so grateful that our Heavenly Father has allowed them to be part of our sweet family and we look forward to more birthdays with them. (Birthday party pictures to follow)

Little acts of independence

2010-04-16T02:49:00.003-04:00

Since the time she started showing her personality, one trait that has always come out is that Claire will be independent, and she will let us know it. For some reason (and much to our chagrin), bedtime is one of her favorite times to be independent.

Recently, she's decided that pajamas are too cumbersome, or uncomfortable, or not the right ones, or too in line with what her parents want. More times than not for the past month, when we go in and check on her, she's either missing an article of clothing (see below), or she's changed her clothes.

Tonight (close to midnight), I headed up the stairs, and, upon turning the corner, I was met with this. Notice that the diaper is on backwards, which means that Claire put it on herself. Unfortunately, the reason she put it on herself, is because her other diaper was wet (as were her pajama pants - a sure sign she'd had the diaper off earlier and put it on herself).

She apparently had planned to stage some sort of rebellion, as she brought her pillow and blanket with her.

Favorite Words and Phrases

2010-04-13T02:46:00.004-04:00

I love certain words that kiddos say! Claire's newest one is especially funny, I think.

"Forenoggin" - Claire (a new one!)

"Snoke" - both kiddos (smoke)

"Lasterday" and "Next Day" - both kiddos

"Nopes" - Claire (when she was younger)

The Tulip "Vegetable" - instead of the Tulip Festival

Monsters Versus Medians (Aliens)

Need a smile?

2010-04-01T02:05:00.002-04:00

Okay, I may be being cheesy, but doesn't this picture just make you happy? I love Dani's smile - it just lights up a room and makes me smile!

And the chicken pot pie was a success, too!