Little buddies

2 posts in 1 day!

Kiddos love when their friend Abigail comes over! Jacob and Abigail chase each other around the house, and Claire joins in the fun when she feels like it (she likes having some time when Jacob is occupied!).

Abigail is good for Jacob - if you go back into the history, you'll see a picture just like this of Jacob hopping into Claire's lap!
This is at the pumpkin patch - Claire wanted nothing to do with being in a tight space with those two!

We watched Abigail recently, and they took a bath together. It was crazy!
Click on the picture to get a bigger image of the water flying!

Pumpkin Patch

A few weeks ago, the ward's playgroup was at a pumpkin patch. Claire and Jacob had a great time in the pumpkins.
Jacob liked the bridge (in the background). He spent most of the time going up one side, down the other.
Dani's favorite time was when they were preoccupied in the pumpkins - when they weren't running in opposite directions!
The place was very cool, there were all sorts of creations: a pirate ship, Alladin's castle, Fred Flintstone's car, a train, Winnie the Pooh's forest, and other stuff. It was a very cool place.

Dani needed a nap after chasing them around, but she said it was a lot of fun.

Some funny pictures

Does this remind anyone of those little factory workers in Shrek 2?

Jacob loves to talk on my new phone. I'll occasionally call it, and Jacob will walk around talking and talking.
I love this picture from the JDRF walk
Cousins Clayton, Lydia, and friend Ellie at the JDRF walk. I believe this is the only picture we got where all 5 are visible (because Jacob kept wanting to run off)
Check out these other walkers! They saw the security post, and had to get a picture next to it. Those costumes are seriously amazing!

Mess-makers, Mess-makers, make me a mess!

As those of you who have lived with or are living with toddlers in the house, it's a constant battle to keep up with the mess. Each child seems to have his or her own unique talent. I'll share some of my kids' talents.

A while ago, Claire earned the nickname of 'Destructor.' Now we have pictures to show why! It didn't take her an hour to discover the Halloween decorations on the entry table. Despite Dani's best efforts to keep them out of the reach of two little toddlers, Claire was able to pull half of them down! Siblings, do you recognize the painted gourds that mom used to put up?

Sometimes, they tag-team it, and Jacob loves it, as you can tell! If the tissue box is within reach, they'll bring it down to the floor and take turns pulling 1 tissue out at a time. After the box is empty, they'll take a tissue and rip it into little pieces. Dani says that stuffing tissues back into the tissue box is one of her least favorite things she does as a mother. It only took 3 emptyings to convince her to keep the tissues on the kitchen counter instead of the end table.
Little Destructor loves to read the Yellow Pages and the other various magazine-like advertisements we give her. She tears out the pages she wants to save - she'll be a good coupon-cutter in a few years!
She doesn't just make a mess of the house, she somehow ends up with messy hair by the end of every day. The small picture doesn't quite do justice to just how out-of-control her hair was because of the static on the couch, be sure to click on the picture for a better view!

Another favorite activity for both Claire and Jacob is to sit in the toy bins, but since Dani and I (for some reason) clean up the toys every night, kiddos need to empty the bins before they can sit in them. Out of the 12 bins that begin the day on the shelves, typically less than half are still there at the end of the day!

Dance Party!

Since the last video was a hit, here's another one! Our friend Sarah Brown and her daughter Abigail came over one day and everyone wanted to dance (even Sarah!). Check out Jacob's step-squat move, the kid can move it!

Always in motion

For those of you who haven't seen Claire and Jacob in action, or haven't seen them recently, or just need a laugh today, here they are! Enjoy!

To set the scene, I decided it was time for my kids to start pulling their weight around the house, so I decided they would help me set the table. The placemats were successfully placed on the table, but when it was time to put the spoons on, there was no way we were going to pry them from their fingers. It turned into a party - a loud one!

"Bye" and "No no no"

A few short stories (pictures will be included on the next post):

Jacob and Claire's favorite words! The other day, Andrew and my dad came over for a short visit. As they left, Jacob started yelling, "Bye!" and waving. He then ran over to the window, which was open, and continued yelling, "Bye!" as they got in the car, backed down the driveway (very slowly), and drove away. Andrew had his window down saying, "bye," which made Jacob even louder. He probably continued a full minute after they left! It was very cute.

Today, during his doctor appointment, Jacob kept hugging the nurse's legs. He'd give her a hug, run around, then repeat (4 times!). What a sweetie!

Claire has become very adament when she doesn't think something is doing what is should be doing. If Jacob has a toy Claire wants, she says, "no, no, no" while waving her finger. If she doesn't want some sort of food, if she doesn't think we're changing her diaper fast enough, if she's not ready to be put down, she says, "no, no, no." She's becoming very opinionated!

Next week will be their first in nursery! That has numerous women in the ward telling Dani that they'll be praying for the nursery leaders. I've been told by speakers and the bishopric that watching our family makes them tired! They're getting a lot better in Sacrament meeting, but the second and third hours are quite a challenge. I continue to be grateful I have both kids so at least one of mine isn't the loudest in the ward!

Bedtime Routine

Bedtime is a fun time in the Jensen house. Around 7:30, the kiddos typically start falling apart and we know it's bedtime. We open the gate to the stairs and announce it's bathtime, and Jacob and Claire go running. At the bottom of the stairs, or sometimes on the way up the stairs, I'll get them into their diapers (I love how chubby they are in just a diaper!).

Baths are what you'd expect from 1 year-and-a-half olds. They enjoy drinking the bathwater, splashing, and standing in the tub. Pretty normal.

We get them dressed in the hall. We like to have Jacob get dressed first because he runs into the room, grabs Claire's cup of milk, and runs out to give it to her. We all sit on the floor in the room and read a book or two while drinking some milk.

After prayers, it's kissy time. Jacob has to have one from Claire. Then one from mom and dad, and another from Claire. Claire occasionally grants a kiss, depending on if she's feeling like it. She says, "Bear, Raaaaah!" a few times as we lay her down on her tummy with her blanket in hand and bear next to her. We lay Jacob on his back, and he's up and standing before we can put a blanket on him.

For the next hour, they typically talk to each other, and that's probably the funniest part of the whole process!

Now you're ready to babysit! Any volunteers?