Easter Festivities

I wrote this Easter post last week and it somehow deleted itself.

All of my text...gone. So frustrating!

**************

This year, our Easter festivities started a couple of weeks prior to Easter Sunday so that I could take Claire's photo in her adorable Easter dress, we could all visit the Easter bunny, and I could stage a photo-op with Khloe and some bunny ears. I decided to do Claire's Easter portrait at Red Butte Gardens because I had a free admission ticket and I figured it would provide the perfect, flowery backdrop. That morning did not go too well. The grounds were brown with sticks everywhere, there were hardly any flowers, and Claire was a huge handful. I managed to find a couple of small areas that worked, but none as well as the spot I found right before we left. The winning photo (right) ended up being in front of the entrance and not even in the gardens. It was extremely windy and Claire's hair was a bit all over the place, but it still made for an adorable photo. I have to give a big 'thank you' to my Mom for helping me with the photo shoot. I really could not have done it without her. Thanks Mom!

Next up was Khloe. Our poor little thing was such a trooper. I made her lay on the floor for probably 10 minutes without moving until I got the perfect shot. Initially, I was having trouble with the bunny ears. I used them on Claire last year so they didn't exactly fit Khloe's tiny head. Since they kept falling down, I grabbed a chip clip and pinched her skin behind the ears to prevent them from sliding off. It worked great and little "Khlo" didn't even mind having her skin pinched with a clip. :)

Next was the Easter Bunny visit. We waited in line forever and it was torture. I watched as every Mom would sit their child down, the child would start screaming and the 15 minute process of trying to calm the child would begin....and the crying still wouldn't stop. Once we got to the front of the line, I plopped Claire on the bunny's lap, she of course starting screaming and I told the camera operator to roll with it. There was no turning back. She screamed until she was red in the face and I knew there was nothing I could do to get a smile. But, I didn't care. In these moments, the screaming pictures are just as adorable as the ones with perfect smiles. I loved it!

When Easter Sunday finally arrived, I was definitely not ready. Usually I am completely on the ball with this stuff, but we didn't even decorate eggs! Since I'm writing this post so many days after Easter I can tell you that I finally colored eggs a week after Easter and then 2 weeks after that I sat Claire down and let her put stickers on them...which didn't even stick! Not very exciting to say the least. Anyhow, after church and Claire's nap, everyone opened their Easter basket. Claire enjoyed her new books, Khloe sniffed away and found her yummy bones, and Erik was delighted to find a new shirt I had bought him from Banana Republic. J/K :)

Then it was off for a quick egg hunt outside. Claire had a few practice rounds during a family trip to St. George a few weeks prior so she knew exactly what to do. The M&M's were a big hit and she probably could have continued for hours. Lucky for her, another hunt was in the very near future.

Once Claire had fully stuffed her face with M&M's, we rushed inside and hurried over to Erik's parent's house for a lovely Easter dinner. There was one big problem though. We walked in the door and I had completely forgot to put Claire back in her Easter dress. She was the only little one not in her outfit. Of course I wasn't going to let her be the odd ball wearing "normal clothes" and let her look strange in all the pictures, so I rushed home and grabbed her dress. Crisis adverted. :) Once we finished dinner, we headed outside for another egg hunt and some bubble popping. Claire had a blast!

Claire and her cousins looked so cute in their Easter outfits and I am SO glad I skipped eating my meal so that she could have her dress on in all of the pictures (totally OCD, I know). Celebrating special days with family is always fun and this was no exception. It was particularly enjoyable for me because my parents were able to join in on the fun. They will be leaving in a couple of months for another mission and we will all miss them dearly. Before I end, I also need to thank Erik for taking this darling picture of me and Claire in our Easter dresses. Getting Erik to take pictures is a challenge most of the time and not only did he utter no complaints about having to do it, he even managed to produce great results. Thanks Erik! A great picture is like a little piece of heaven to me. :)

Disappointment at the Gardens

The girls and I spent Arbor Day last week walking around the gardens; Red Butte Garden and the gardens at Thanksgiving Point for their annual Tulip Festival. Unfortunately, Claire brought along the terrible two's and it was a lot of work keeping it to a minimum while out at such crowded places. One minute she was happy as can be and the next minute she's pulling a full on temper tantrum in the middle of the sidewalk with tons of people walking by. Embarrassing to say the least. Claire momentarily enjoyed running through the paths of flowerbeds and upon getting up from a nearby swing, rang over and plucked a flower right out of the garden. I couldn't believe it! It was a matter of seconds and my little bundle of terror had ruined a small piece of the garden. Soon after, we went back to pick up our free tree they were giving out and they had literally just given away their last one! This was beginning to be quite a day.

After nap time, we headed over to the tulip festival. Not only was Claire a handful and continuing to disappoint me in every direction, the tulip festival was a complete disappointment. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, but it was seriously hilarious that they called it a tulip festival. Growing up in Washington, this is what I call a tulip festival (right). I was expecting miles and miles upon miles of tulips. I even wore my rain boots figuring it would be muddy through the rows of tulips since it rained so hard the night before. Little did I know, it was actually a garden with a few tulips lining the pathway. Yes, it was pretty. But so not what I was expecting.

When we first got there, Claire enjoyed running around and even amazed me when she knew what to do when I asked her to smell the flowers. She thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of not being cooped up in her stroller and definitely took advantage of it. I was chasing her left and right!

Before we knew it, we were on to tantrum number 30 (exaggeration, but probably close). She kept trying to push her stroller and would get very mad when I would tell her we had to go in a different direction. I was so done with her that I was seconds away from just leaving her there with a stranger. What was supposed to be our perfect day wandering through the gardens, had turned into such a day of disappointment. I know that through it all, we both had moments of fun and Claire throwing tantrums while in such beautiful scenery definitely beats watching her scream in the confinement of our own house.

24 Hours of Utter Chaos

It all started last Wednesday night....

 

 

Claire fell on top of Khloe

Very bad news considering she is rehabbing from her surgery 3 weeks ago

Poor thing could only walk on 3 legs

I was so scared she'd need surgery again

 

 

Woke up at 7:30am to take her to the vet (way too early for me)

Sent 45 minutes waiting for the doctor

Got some good news though, she would be fine, phew

 

 

Rushed home to take a 5 minute shower

Dropped Claire off at her cousin's house for the day

Had a very important photo gig downtown with the governor

Knew I would do a good job, but I always get nervous

Spent 30 min. photographing oil/gas honchos with Gov. Herbert/Gov. Jindall (LA)

Kind of hope Governor Jindall becomes president someday

Could add "Presidential Photographer" to my list of credits :)

Had a worker take a quick shot with me and the govs.

Drove like a maniac to printing lab

Only had 45 minutes to get images printed, in frames, and to the hands of each attendee

I did it (only 7 guys had left before I got there...still a success)

 

 

Picked up Claire and drove home

Had 15 minutes before my Activity Days girls were to be at my house

Gave a great lesson on how we can grow our own testimonies

An hour later, my house was finally empty

Dinner, oh crap

I whipped up some quiche out of nowhere

Erik came home and we had a yummy dinner

Put Claire to bed

Thank heavens

 

 

Crashed on the couch

WHAT A DAY!

Simple Things Sunday

relaxing sunday afternoon

messy bedhead from a long nap

walking around the yard

teaching claire about dandelions

what could be better?

Stroll Around the Park

Earlier this week, us girls (me, Claire, and Khloe) took advantage of the gorgeous weather and literally spent all day outside. The first playground wasn't that much fun, because the slides were too "haw" (hot), but the second was partially shaded and Claire had a blast on the swings. After a yummy lunch on our patio and a long nap (for Claire), I decided we'd venture downtown and go to Memory Park. I get sick of going to the same places and this was a new one for Claire.

She loved it! Poor little Khloe had to stay in the stroller because of her knees, but Claire ran around for hours enjoying herself. She gave trees kisses (so strange and she'd never done that before), pointed out all of the airplanes to which she would say "bye bye bus" even though she knows the difference between airplanes and buses, played a little peek-a-boo, had a brief meltdown when I took away my chapstick that she stole out of my purse, played hide-and-go-seek (j/k), and got a quick portrait on the stairs. Claire couldn't get enough of all the dogs going for walks and swimming in the river, and she loved watching the people ride by on bikes. Everyone was exhausted by the time we made it home; even Khloe who enjoyed a nice stroll around the park in Claire's stroller. I guess the sun was the culprit for her. It added up to a perfect afternoon for all three of us.

Claire's First Loves

I have been wanting to photograph Claire with her baby and blankie for a while now and have never gotten around to it. She has loved her 'buckie' (blankie), which she used to call her 'nigh nigh', from day one. And her baby, which she got for Christmas, was an instant hit. She wants to take them everywhere. It's kind of cute how much she still insists on having them by her side. Her adorable bedhead ponytail, 'bawoon' (balloon) jammies, and eye-catching airplanes outside created the perfect shots. Claire's eyes are so incredibly blue, that I always wrestle with the idea of turning images black and white, but these were equally cute. Gotta love this girl!

Anything for Khloe

Our "first born" hurt her knees a couple of years ago and has never been the same. We ran her pretty hard one day and something happened which led to patella luxation. Ever since, her knees dislocate numerous times a day and she's never been able to play as hard as she once did because they (her knees) begin hurting and she'll start to limp. After numerous check-ups at the vet, her knees continued to get worse. A grade 3 (out of 4) according to her doctor. He told us surgery was inevitable and it would be best to have it done sooner rather than later. We could have opted for no surgery, but continued pain, arthritis, and a life of laying around all day with no playing would have been the only thing she knew. That is definitely not what we wanted for her.

Khloe went in for surgery last Monday and after a 4 hour operation, 10 staples in each knee, and an overnight stay at the animal hospital, she was finally home. The biggest difficulty has been not allowing her to walk. We are currently on day 12 of 14 where walking is an absolute NO. She had her pink bandages taken off on Monday and will go in next week to have the staples out. We've been told that she can take a few steps at that point, but that she isn't allowed to go on a walk for almost 2 months. Carrying her around from place to place has been difficult, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. We love Khloe so much and hope she will be pain free and be able to run forever in weeks to come. Anything for our "little Khlo"!

Claire Bear - 21 Months

Our little "Claire Bear" turned 21 months old a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe her 2nd birthday is now in sight; I am so not ready to be planning another party. Claire has been such a joy these past few months, although it also seems that the Terrible Two's have arrived slightly early. She has progressed so much in 12 weeks; new words enter her vocabulary every day and her favorite things to do have started to evolve. This is what Claire has been up to lately:

• Saying lots of new words including: house, dirt, up me mease (help me please), sip, zipper, doot (coat), shoes, ready - go, and uh more (one more). Our favorite is "note" and "neat", which means "no" and "eat". It's so funny when she says "no", because if it doesn't come out as "note" initially, she'll eventually add the 't' and it sounds like "no.....te". Hilarious!

• Frequently talks about moving vehicles and traffic lights. Buses, cars, and trucks are her favorites and if you come upon a red light while driving, she'll tell you when it turns "geen" and will then say "go". In fact, if you slow down at all, or for heavens sake actually stop, you will hear screams of "GO" until you do.
• Loves nursery at church and if you say the word church, she'll quickly respond with "bubbles!"; and while in church if the organ starts playing, she'll look at you and say "go!".
• LOVES putting things in the washing machine - I really need to lock the door because it has become such a nuisance keeping her away from it all and putting away the random things I find inside (my cleaning supplies that are in a nearby cart, her clothes, and one time I counted 7 books)
• Speaking of "note"....that is the answer to EVERY question. You ask her anything and she'll answer with "note". There is only one exception; she has lately become obsessed with wearing two bows in her hair (she asks for three but I've drawn a line) and if you ask her how many bows she has she'll respond with "two bows".
• Can sometimes count from zero to five if she's on her game - she tends to skip 4 most of the time
• She hates getting her hair brushed and frequently cries when I attempt to
• Going to museums and the library - you all know from previous posts how much she loves going there

• Nice and Naughty - lately everything is about being nice and naughty and she definitely knows which is which. She can say both of the words and if she hits something, she will say "naughty" and then shortly after say "nice" because I frequently tell her "we never want to be naughty....we always want to be nice"
• Thanks to 'Signing Time' she loves to seep (sweep) - this is the only show she is interested in. I try not to let her watch too much TV (30 minutes tops), but she really seems to learn a lot
• Temper tantrums have arrived - the other day when I made her come inside after playing on her friend's toy car she threw a HUGE temper tantrum and was screaming for 15 minutes. I am so not excited about the terrible two's up ahead

• Says the names of her favorite people all day long: howie (halle), emma, vivi (vivian), mormor, farfar, khoe (khloe and kari), and a few days ago she started saying "avey" (avery)
• Can recognize every letter in the alphabet and she loves to say "b", "c", and "e" when singing the ABC's
• Grown to love "sawberrie" (strawberries). A couple of months ago, I gave her some strawberries and she refused to eat them. Because I don't want to become a short order cook, I spent what seemed to be a half an hour getting her to eat them. She eventually did (I'm glad I stuck with it) and ever since then she has loved strawberries

We love our "little bear" so much! She definitely keeps me on my toes and I look forward to every day I get to spend with her (I also look forward to my time away :)).

21 Month Bear Picture

(to view the series, click here)

 

Happy Easter

A St. Patty's First

St. Patrick's Day is strange to me. Why do we even celebrate it? Why do we wear green? Seriously, what is the big deal? I really don't get it. Every year St. Patrick's Day is pretty uneventful, however, this year we just happened to go to a Jazz game. Claire's very FIRST basketball game. I told her where we were going early that evening and she would not stop talking about it. "Ba Ba?!" "Ba Ba?!" She talked about it all night. I couldn't believe how much she enjoyed it. All of the people, the loud music, the "buh" (bear), the popcorn, the blimp, and the dancers; she loved it all! I used to be a Jazz fan until a few years ago and now I don't even know the coach's name. Kind of pathetic. I really wasn't looking forward to going to the game since I refuse to watch them on TV, but Claire made it a blast! Honestly, I can't wait to take her again.

Below is a video of her baby "dancing"; something she LOVES to make her do:

Simple Things Sunday

These are my two favorite people! They always (well...usually...ha!) make me smile and I am so blessed to spend my life with them.

Photo taken on Erik's birthday, March 11th

Winter Wrap-Up Finale

During the last bit of winter we...

...found ways to amuse ourselves indoors. I tried to teach Claire how to hula hoop (it didn't work so well), she flew in the air with her Daddy and colored as many pieces of paper as I would let her. I tried to make it "green" by having her color on the backside sometimes but she wouldn't have any of it. She had to have a brand new piece of paper. :)

...went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum where Claire played for hours. She loved to pretend drive the car, push the miniature grocery carts around, scooting around on a tricycle, and organizing the fake vegetables (she takes after her mother). What I loved most was not having to find ways to entertain her every second that afternoon.

...ventured into our "front yard" and tried to play in the snow. Claire didn't like it one bit, which surprised me because every other time we've been in the snow, she loved it. Although, the snow was a lot deeper this time and she couldn't take a single step. Claire cried and cried and cried! What a waste spending 10 minutes putting on her snow clothes and then another 10 minutes taking them off. Ugh! Thank goodness I think winter is finally behind us.

Bring on spring!

Part 2....Winter Wrap-Up

What else kept us busy this winter?

Attending the World Mogul Championships at Deer Valley. The three of us had never seen a mogul event before and it really was amazing what these people can do. Although the incredible talent was fun to watch, two of my favorite aspects of our afternoon were going on the people mover (I had no idea they existed outside of airports...so cool!) and watching Claire's face as she was in utter amazement as she boarded her very first chair lift. Priceless! As expected, it was absolutely freezing so we didn't stay long, but it was definitely worth the hassle to get up there.

Chillin' out at home in our pajamas with our hair undone and our favorite toys. This is what Claire's hair looks like when we aren't visible to the general public (below left). I'm starting to wonder if she's going to permanently hold her chin up in the air since she's so used to trying to look between the hair. :) Claire plays with her drums to music on the radio any chance she can get and Khloe runs around chasing her favorite duck all while I'm trying to watch my favorite shows on DVR. No wonder I only hear half of them and constantly wonder what the heck is going on.

Erik took a short golf trip to St. George with his friend, Koo, who has become one of Claire's favorite people. She loves saying his name in her cute toddler way...imagine the sound of a bird "cooing".

A 'V Chocolate' factory tour with my Activity Days girls. The samples were delicious and to my surprise, Claire kept the hair net on the entire time! She has grown to not mind being passed around like a doll to all of the girls. They just love her!

An afternoon at the new Museum of Natural History with my parents. It was very interesting and I wish I could have paid attention more. Claire really enjoyed the taxidermy, but wasn't so sure about the human skeletons. Claire spent half of her afternoon sitting in various parts of the building in timeout, but the most amusing event took place when Claire refused (momentarily) to walk across a glass floor, which had bones underneath it in clear view. She was so confused because she couldn't see the glass. Hilarious!

A quick dip in my parent's hot tub. Claire loves the water and I can't wait to take her swimming this summer. I hope she's as adventurous as she was last year.

Going to every library toddler class in a 20 mile radius. I swear we've been to them all. :) Besides the dancing, story time, getting a stamp on her hand, touching all sorts of reptiles, and playing on a strange dragon...Claire loves to read. I don't think there are any toddler books we haven't checked out.

More yet to come.