Twinners

We've had a tough week as Claire started the fun Tuesday getting sick. Dani and Jacob followed suit Wednesday night, so Thursday, Jared stayed home and played nurse. Jacob is still under the weather and is really miserable. He's really wants to be happy and play, but just doesn't feel good, it's very sad. On Wednesday night, he would smile between his throw-ups and was super excited to get an extra bath! We're hoping for a quick recovery!

We've taken a few really cute pictures of the kiddos recently. Actually, Jared has taken a ton of pictures, and we've been lucky enough that in a few both kids are looking at the camera and smiling. There are a lot of out-takes! Jacob and Claire are typically the happiest when they see one another. At a recent Christmas recital, their eyes met and they were super excited and started squealing because they hadn't seen each other for a whole half hour! Enjoy!





Look closely at the last one and you'll see some teeth!

Fiesta Claire!

We haven't been able to get pictures up recently, so we're a little behind. So, expect a few more posts than normal

The look on Claire's face is priceless!
Jacob was also having a great time on the floor

 

Party time

One of the great things about being a twin is that you always have someone to play with. That can, of course, be a good or a bad thing, but in Claire and Jacob's case they're really starting to notice each other and play with each other. Often that involves Claire taking Jacob's toy (she sometimes takes Jacob's pacifier right out of his mouth) or unwanted touching of the face/hair/eyes, but they're starting to enjoy each other's company.

At Nanna's:
In their room after they wake up in the morning
Really, the reason I wanted to call this party time is because Dani and I went to my work's Christmas party. Dani looked spectacular (notice her new hair cut)! She even wore high heels and didn't fall once. The work party was at the Cincinnati Art Museum where they had appetizers, dinner, dessert, and plenty of adult beverages (Dani's and my choice was the cranberry juice or sprite or water). They had a band playing a wide selection of cover music, so we walked around looking at art listening to rock music. Dani liked being in an area with less people so she could take off the heels. Anyway, here we are at the Pearson's house, where our kids stayed while we went.
 

Peas and Carrots

Well, it took awhile, but we are finally posting Halloween pictures. So, Happy Belated Halloween! Our cute little kiddos got to be some of their favorite veggies! Claire was a carrot and Jacob was a peapod. (We decided Claire could be the carrot because of her red hair). They were sure cute, but because of the time change we only went to see two neighbors for trick-or -treating before they were ready to go to bed.


 

"Gimme those keys" and other adventures

It's been a while since we've posted, so we have some catching up to do. First, a little picture story. Jacob and Claire have been rolling pretty well recently, and they have been nicely playing on the floor with their toys (and toes). Dani left a pair of baby keys on the floor between Jacob and Claire one day. They both started rolling toward them, and Jacob, being the faster roller, got to them first...

Which, of course, Claire was not happy about...

So, she decided all she had to do is reach over and take them out of Jacob's mouth. But, she was foiled in her plot because Mom caught her red-handed! With this lesson now taught, we assume that this will be the only time either of them tries to take a toy from the other.

Other adventures:
- Vicki and Pat (Dani's mom and grandma) came from Wyoming for a week to see their grandchildren (and great grandchildren). They had a girls-night out at Spamalot, a musical, in downtown Cincinnati. We also ate out at a nice restaurant, took a "big-house" tour, played a game, went shopping (which I fortunately avoided!), and went to the Underground Railroad Museum. All in all, we had a great week!!
- My younger brother (Taylor) is the starting goalie for his high school soccer team. Their regular season has ended, and the playoffs have begun. 3 games later, and they are district champions, the last game won in penalty kicks where Taylor made a save to win it. We've spent lots of time watching games (and trying to keep warm!)
- ALMOST going to Detroit to see a baseball game - my beloved A's were in Detroit on a weekend, but unfortunately they got down 3-0, so the trip, the tickets, and the expense did not seem justifiable.
- My youngest brother was the lead in his high school play, the Yellow Boat. It was a great, emotional play and Andrew did a fantastic job. It's somewhat of a funny site to see a bunch of teenage girls sobbing because of my brother's acting! What a stud!
- I scored a goal left-footed in my company team's indoor soccer team's game. I think that should count double, because I'm really not very good at soccer, but I enjoy it. 

One thing Claire loves to do is to purse her lips, puff out her cheeks, and blow (try it, it's fun). Often, after putting her down for a nap, we'll her her spitting for a half hour straight. If you imitate her, she will smile, but won't do it with you... 1 spitter is enough, I guess. The picture below is blurry, but gives a pretty good idea of the funny face she makes when she does it.

One of Claire and Jacob's favorite times is right after their baths. They are happy and playful. I think they both just love being naked!

They also love their exersaucers. When we put them together, they will look at one another and talk to each other. Last week, Dani said she put the kids in the same crib in the morning and for over an hour, Jacob and Claire were talking to each other. Claire would talk, and it would make Jacob laugh, then Jacob would talk and Claire would laugh.
 

Eden Park

We went for a drive a few Sundays ago to Eden Park in downtown Cincinnati. It was a beautiful day for a walk. We found a nice gazebo and took some pictures with our kids. Okay, the real reason for the drive was because our kids were grouchy and needed a nap... it worked!



 

Mmmm, Green Beans!

A couple of weeks ago we started baby food, green beans were our first adventure. Jacob didn't really seem to like them, but he was a good sport. Claire loved them (as you can see from the picture). The second time we had them the babies just gagged on them, as they did the third, fourth, and fifth times...now we have to eat bites of squash between bites of green beans to eat our green beans.


Here is our little Jacob after his back with his huge blue eyes...also, notice how much hair he has!
 

What a weekend!!!

It all started before the weekend when Dani, Camie, and my mom went to the outlet malls north of Cincinnati. Camie was the grand prize winner for most stuff (I'm surprised it all fit in the van on the way home, by the way), but Dani did quite well herself. On Friday night, she went to the Mothers of Twins sale, where she came home with bags full of clothes, toys, and other great baby gear as well as a high chair and 2 exersaucers. What a night of shopping it was, and then Dani showed off her car-packing skills as she stuffed everything into the Acura, which was no small feat. Here she is sitting among just some of her purchases:

I'd also like to mention that for the first time since the babies were born, Dani was given a full reprieve from putting babies to bed. Claire, Jacob, and I came home, and I fed them rice cereal, bathed them, and then fed them again using the boppy and then put them to bed without a fuss! It was amazing! By the way, Jacob was very confused to be placed on the boppy and to look up and see me (he gave a, "what do I do, dad?" look). Claire, upon discovering Dani was not seated in the boppy gave the most heartbroken look and cry.

Here are our kids in their new toys! They love their exersaucers!

They could be on the package with their big smiles!
 

The Crazy Christensen Clan came over and went wild on the floor with Matt appearing to get the worst of it... get him Clayton and Lydia!

"Where's my pants go?"

 

Then, there was the JDRF walk. And look who was waiting for us at the end, Yogi!!! Andrew had a lot of friends and family there, it was a great time for all!

Then, we got to watch conference. Jacob watched intently from the couch...
As grandpa and Clayton and played and grandma great either took notes or dreamed about conference...
and Nana and Claire played on the other side of the room.
 

JDRF Walk

This coming Saturday, Dani and I will be joining my younger brother Andrew as part of Andrew's Army, a group of friends and family, in a 5k walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) at Kings Island. This non-profit group supports research to find a cure for diabetes, which Andrew learned he has two summers ago. So far, Andrew's Army has raised over $20,000!

If you would like to donate to this great cause, we invite you to visit walk.jdrf.org and search for Andrew Jensen in Ohio, then follow the link to his team website. Join Claire, Jacob, and scores of others who have donated to Andrew's Army!

Continue down for some new, fun pictures!

Cutest picture ever!

Here are Claire and Jacob at their finest! Both smiling, holding hands, looking cute, and with nice drool marks on their new sweaters. Their pants are especially funny because we had to roll them up so far! Jacob's have kneepads and only the top inch or so of the kneepads was showing! It's a lot of fun to have both babies paying attention to you and laughing at the same time!

2 little Danis?

Dani put Claire's hair up into a pony tail. All of it. There's not much on the sides, so everything on top (which basically IS everything) she put up. She looked really cute! Dani thinks this picture looks a little bit like her. We got out the baby album and we think Claire's turning into a little Dani.
Give me a hug!
I think this one looks a little like Dani for a different reason. Anyone who has eaten with Dani would understand why! =)