"Airpanes & Zona"

On May 31st, Claire and I headed down to my sister's house in Arizona. I was so excited for Claire to experience going on an airplane and knew she was going to love it. This was her second time on a plane (her first when she was 5 months old) and she would not stop talking about it. "Airpanes" and everything that goes along with them were fascinating to her. Admiring the airplanes from afar, looking out our seat window as we took off into the air, and even catching up on some Sky Mall reading, were all exciting for Claire. She handled herself pretty well on our hour and a half flight to Phoenix and we were both happy to get our vacation started.

It has been a long time since Claire has seen her Lopez cousins, but thanks to reviewing their names and faces in her picture book, it was like she saw them everyday. We walked into their house and Claire was already in heaven. Kids to play with and toys everywhere! First thing she did was run into the living room and sit on Brooklyn's chair. Brooklyn is only 6 weeks younger than Claire and it was so entertaining to watch them interact with one another. Claire did get a little jealous when Brooklyn hopped on my lap and blocked me from Claire momentarily, but all in all, they were great friends. It was as if it was only yesterday that they saw each other last; too cute!

With five kids, my sister's main job is a taxi driver. We spent our first afternoon picking one child up from one place, taking them to another, dropping off yet another child somewhere else...it was never ending. The next morning we had our first day at the pool. This was Claire's first pool day for the year and boy was she adventurous. I'm going to have to buy her a life jacket because she would jump in the pool time after time when I wasn't even ready to catch her. A little nerve-wracking to say the least. She LOVED splashing around, sitting on the steps with "Bookin" and jumping to Mommy after saying "one, two, tee, jump".

One of our last taxi stops for that day was to Lindsay's swim practice. At 11 years old, Lindsay is Claire's oldest cousin and I must say, an amazing swimmer! I was anxious to watch her as she's done so well at various swim meets and I wanted to see her in action. She did not disappoint. Way to go Lindsay! We all enjoyed a yummy graham cracker snack and then Claire took Brooklyn for a ride in the stroller. I love the picture below! Brooklyn's face is hilarious and it looks like she is honestly thinking Claire was going to push her into the pool.

The next day the kids had multiple end of season swim parties for their various sports teams. Claire and I joined Kayla at her softball team pool party for the afternoon. Before we jumped in the pool, we enjoyed watching the host's pet turtle walk around their patio. Claire was surprisingly a little scared and didn't even want to walk near it. Not a typical reaction for Claire Bear. After some yummy food, we put Claire in an inflatable duck to soak in the sun. She loved it until we put Brooklyn in too. Lately, we've started to have a slight issue with sharing. :) "My turn" became a main part of her vocabulary while we were there.

At one point that afternoon, Claire kept trying to drag me over to the diving board as if she wanted to go off of it. So I followed her lead, put a life jacket on her and we went for it. I wasn't about to tell her it'd be too scary for her. If she was going to go out on a limb and be really adventurous, I wasn't going to stop her. She jumped off the diving board with a little help from Kayla and of course a period of crying ensued shortly after. I actually think that it wasn't the jump that scared her but the life jacket that was extremely uncomfortable, because she didn't stop crying until I took it off of her. She'd never had one on before and I'm sure it probably jammed into her chin when she landed into the water. Despite her reaction, I hope to get her up on the ledge again in the very near future.

Every time I visit family, taking portraits always appears on the calendar. :) Thankfully, I am always happy to oblige. Sometimes when I am in the moment I want to yank their teeth out, but when I get a great shot, my frustration disappears and I am excited for the results. One evening, we told the kids to put on some cute shirts, brushed their hair, kept their sweat pants on (a real stress saver) and jumped in the car. At first, we only took a couple of the kids but after we got some great shots, we drove home as fast as we could and grabbed the rest of them. I'm glad we did because I think we got some winners.

The biggest downfall of spending summer days in Arizona is that it is HOT! It was about 110 degrees while we were there so after maybe an hour at the pool each day, we spent the remaining time in the car or at home. During the day you can't even play at the park because the slides are too hot, so that was something you had to do at night. One evening after dinner, we took the kids to a neighborhood park to get out some much needed energy. Claire and Brooklyn went down the slide a billion times. Definitely a fun night!

Sunday, it was time to put on our dresses and and make the trek to church. Getting three adults and six kids to church on time is tough. Aren't these two adorable in their cute dresses?! I just want to pinch their little cheeks!

Monday brought us yet another afternoon at the pool. We were only their for an hour so we  had to take advantage of every second. The two little ones spent the majority of their time jumping to Liisa and I while the others annoyed us by getting too close to our "baby area" and splashing us. :) I guess we couldn't expect anything else from four kids aged 5 to 11.

Claire and I spent a total of 5 days in Arizona and we couldn't have had more fun. The little kids loved playing with my iPad and spending much needed quality time together. Brooklyn even tried to comfort Claire one afternoon by joining her in time out. Such a supportive cousin! The night before we left, Claire was enjoying running around the house being chased by her older cousin, Connor. Of course, it always ends with someone getting hurt and this time was no different. Claire ran straight into a wood bed frame and took a bad hit to her right eye. Poor thing was red and swollen in a matter of seconds.

 

A few hours before we had to leave, Claire was getting in a much needed nap while I entertained Kayla and Haylee with some paper towel butterfly making. I mentioned to Haylee the first day we got there that we could make these and she never let me forget. :) They really enjoyed dying the paper towels and I was happy to give them something to do for a few minutes even if I was dripping in sweat after being outside for five minutes.

Of course, we had to leave eventually.The two of us had so much fun but I was glad to head home and force Claire to catch up on some sleep.

I had a blast catching up with my sister while we were there and Claire thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her cousins.

Claire is still talking about our trip and we both can't wait to see them again!

Rain, Planes, and Trains

To start off the Memorial Weekend, our family decided to go to the "Warriors Over The Wasatch" event at Hill Air Force Base. None of us had been and Erik and I knew Claire would love it. Erik's Mom joined us as we spent the 45 minute drive north listening to music and relaxing in our air conditioned car. By the time we got to the air force base, there were slight rain sprinkles, but nothing to be upset about. We began our journey from the car to the main entrance and with each step the rain came down harder. Literally, we were maybe 20 yards from the entrance and it was raining so hard that we turned around. So much for that! Erik ran ahead to try and get Claire to the car as quickly as possible. I wish I would have had it on video. Our umbrellas were going inside out due to the wind and we were soaked. It was seriously laughable! We had gotten so close, but didn't get to see a thing. Finally, we made it back to the car. Erik rushed to turn the heater on high (remember we had the A.C. on earlier) and I grabbed Claire out of her stroller. As I unbuckled her, she looked up at me and said "airpanes?". I felt so bad. She loves airplanes so much and would have had a blast. Guess we'll have to take her there next year.

With such a quick change in weather on Saturday, we all hoped Monday would be different, and thankfully, we were right. Monday was beautiful! We drove up to Heber for their "Day Out With Thomas" train ride. The sun was shining and it wasn't too hot. Perfect! Before Claire's train ride, we spent a little bit of time walking around playing games with Claire. She and Erik enjoyed a quick golf game on the putting green, she got a cute "Thomas" tattoo on her hand, and blew (or at least tried to) giant bubbles. Khloe enjoyed not being kept in the car and eating the kettle corn that had fallen on the ground (which by the way was the best kettle corn I had ever tasted).



It was finally time for Claire's first train ride and I was so excited to see how she would react. We climbed aboard and found a good seat to see the pretty view outside. After a few minutes, the ride began. Claire loved looking out the window and all around her. Even though it felt like the train went about 2 miles per hour, she enjoyed almost every second of it. I, on the other hand, got a little restless because we were going so slow and understood why Claire's cousin, Soren, told his parents earlier that day, that he wanted to get off. It did get a little boring after a while, but I really enjoyed being with Claire as she experienced something for the first time. The scenery was beautiful and the only thing that made me upset was when my camera ran out of battery before I could get Claire's picture taken with Thomas. :(

Later, we headed home for Claire's nap and a BBQ with family and friends. Even though things didn't go exactly as planned, we still had a very enjoyable three-day weekend.

Family Friday

Having family live nearby is the best! Claire gets to see her cousins atleast once a week and she wishes it would be everyday. First she mastered the name "Emma", then it was "Vivi" (Vivian), and as of last Sunday, she says "Sunnen" (Soren). Thankfully, she even talks about my family, which she only sees a couple of times a year and who all live out of state. She looks at their pictures frequently and now talks about "Avey" (Avery), "Bookin" (Brooklyn) and "Eesa" (Liisa). I wish so badly that they lived here, but we'll take what we can get.

Claire says most of her cousins names quite often and has just recently started saying words in relation to something that took place the last time she saw them. For instance, "Emma....wake" means we went to Emma's house when Emma woke up from her nap. Last week, Claire's Aunt Kari broke out the kiddie pool and we experienced our first glimpse of summer fun. Claire and Emma had so much fun splashing in the pool together; I can't wait for more kiddie pool days!



We also had a first for Claire....she had a "uh bu gug" (ladybug) land on her for the very first time and she hasn't forgotten about it since.

All I hear about is "uh bu gug.....soder...Emma", which means a ladybug landed on her shoulder at Emma's house. Too cute! :)

Claire also says "Emma...sake...gos" which is in reference to the last time we were at Emma's house and we almost stepped on a big gardener snake and I told her it was gross.

These girls love playing with each other. Claire talks about "Emma...side...turn" which is code for how she plays on the slide at Emma's and they take turns. It's so much fun now that Claire's vocabulary is expanding and she can tell me about her experiences.

It makes my heart melt every time she talks about Emma or gets excited to see her. I hope they continue to be so close and enjoy each other's company.

In the past couple of weeks we've enjoyed two afternoons playing in the kiddie pool. The second time Claire got to play with all of her Olafsson cousins and her Farmor. Claire and Emma had so much fun going down the slide, which we put into the kiddie pool. Poor Soren has gotten a little big for the baby slide so it wasn't too exciting for him...and Vivi had fun just sitting in the pool splashing away.

The kids also enjoyed drinking water out of the hose, eating cookies with Farmor, drinking pool water out of Khloe's water dish, taking more turns going down the slide, and having a laugh when I put Khloe in the pool to get cooled off. I am so anxious for more fun family activities this summer. We are definitely going to have a blast!

Kentucky Derby Here We Come!

...actually it was the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in South Jordan that we visited a few weeks ago, but what's the difference. :) I wanted to see the Arabian Horse Show that was supposed to be going on all day, but when we got there, it was apparently 'break time' so it was on to plan b; walking around the stables.

When I was a little child, I would frequent the horse stables near our house and loved petting the beautiful animals. Each time I went, I would try to be more brave and act like I wasn't afraid when they'd get close. I love horses, but they are big, muscular, and could take me out in a second. Oddly enough, I jump at any chance I have to ride, pet, or even see them. I remember asking my Dad when I was younger, if we could get a horse. He responded by telling me that if I bathed, walked, and brushed our family dog for two weeks that we could discuss it. Of course, I lasted about two days. :)

Claire, our little equestrian girl, was fearless near the horses and loved imitating their "neigh" sounds. She really enjoyed petting their heads and I loved how clean they were! Most of them were freshly bathed and brushed. Gorgeous! It was a fun and different way to spend our afternoon as a family. Maybe next year we'll be able to watch them race, and someday, I hope to make it to the real deal: the Kentucky Derby!

The Magnitude of Mother's Day

As Mother's Day approached this year, I thought a lot about gifts I would be giving to my mother's as well as what I wanted from Erik. The more I pondered about the subject, the importance of Mother's Day grew tremendously. At first, it seemed like another slightly insignificant holiday but then I realized that it meant more to me than my birthday, and came a very close second to Christmas. Why? I did nothing to "deserve" my birthday, so what was so celebratory about that? Mother's Day, on the other hand, is so much more.

As ideas came into my mind that I could share with Erik to make gift-giving easier on him, the caliber I had set for the day became quite high. To me, Mother's Day encompasses everything I am. A mother is what I "do". It is my proudest accomplishment, my biggest trial, and what will grant me a stamp of 'success' or 'failure' at the end of the day. Yes, there are times where being a mother is mundane and unfulfilling, but the remaining 99% of the time, I am working my bum off to provide this world with the best little girl I can possibly mold. There are so many things I'd like her to achieve and my dreams for Claire are more ambitious than what I have ever dreamt for myself. So in essence, the gifts and accolades that surround Mother's Day should reflect every drop of sweat I have pored out to shape this wonderful being. Right? Boy, would that be the most amazing gift ever!

I thought about this subject so much that I started to feel a little disheartened about my own accomplishments and how it reflects on my Mother. I know she must have felt the same way about me. She probably had amazing dreams of what I would do with my life and who I would become. Did I let her down? I never became a concert pianist, an expert seamstress, or whatever it was that she aspired for me. As I reflect back on my childhood and think about all of the moments I griped about practicing the piano or working hard on my school assignments, I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could have made myself more dedicated and given myself the insight to know how hard my mother was working. She was simply trying to push me so that I would have every opportunity in the world and be the best me that I could be. Mom, I know I let you down at times and I guess all I can do now is try and make it up with my children. I hope I make you proud.

Who knows, maybe Claire will be a bilingual computer genius who plays first violin in the world's most prestigious philharmonic orchestra all while being a mother to her beautiful children, taking photos for National Geographic, and coming in first place at the Boston Marathon. HA!

So, did Erik provide me with a Mother's Day as marvelous as I deserved? Of course! There was still a little crying and temper tantrums thrown throughout the day, but I really felt the love, gratitude, and admiration in Erik's, Claire's, and even little Khloe's hearts. Plus Heavenly Father also gave me a little pat on the back towards the end the day. He really did, I promise! :)

Erik, thank you for all of your love and support. You are helping me become the best mother I can be to our baby girl and I couldn't do it without you by my side.

Mom, thank you for spending your entire life molding me into what I am today. Some dreams may not have come true, but you have given me the greatest gift one could give; the desire to be the BEST mother possible.

Claire, I hope that someday you realize how hard I've worked at being your mother. At times I may fail, but I only have the best intentions. You are my most prized possession and I will spend the rest of my life helping your dreams come true. I love you!

Colored by Claire - May 13, 2012

"As I Watch You Grow" 

poem by Kay Theese

         

Do you know how much you mean to me as you grow into what you will be? You came from within, from just beneath my heart, it's there you'll always be though your own life will now start. You're growing so fast it sends me awhirl, with misty eyes I ask, where's my little girl? I know sometimes to you I seem harsh and so unfair, but one day you will see, I taught you well because I care. The next few years will so quickly fly, with laughter and joy, mixed with a few tears to cry. As you begin your growth to womanhood, this fact you must know, you'll always be my source of pride, no matter where you go. You must stand up tall and proud, within you feel no fear, for all your dreams and goals, sit before you very near. With god's love in your heart and the world by its tail, you'll always be my winner, and victory will prevail. For you this poem was written, with help from above, to tell you in a rhythm of your Mother's heartfelt Love!

               Me and my girls on Mother's Day - 2011                Me and my girls on Mother's Day - 2012

Note: Claire's beautiful dress was hand-crafted by my Mother for me

when I was a little girl. It was a dream come true to have my baby girl where it as well.

Sunny in St. George

*warning - very long post*

Almost 2 months ago, we took a mini vacation down to St. George with Erik's family. I've had to postpone writing this blog post because I used some of the pictures included below as Mother's Day gifts and I wanted them to be a surprise.

We stayed at the beautiful Entrada resort. The warm, 85 degree weather was perfect and Claire spent every second of the day running around with her cousins. This little girl was in toddler heaven. Our patio led out to a large, grass area/pond, which were home to hours of amusement by the little ones. Claire and her older cousin, Soren, ran around until we were tired of supervising and made them come inside. Claire was obsessed with the ducks and wanted to see them at all times. If she only saw one, she would ask where the others were. It was so nice of her to be concerned for their wellbeing. :)

Throughout the weekend, Claire got a lot better at putting up with Soren's shenanigans, like when he would try to give her hugs (below). They even got into a little mischief together and Erik had to fish our ball out of the pond. I know this is only the beginning.

(My favorite picture of the two of them! So funny and adorable!)

While Erik went golfing, Claire and I put on our running shoes and took a walk around the resort grounds. They were so pretty, but there was no one around to take our picture! You know me....I figured out a way and Claire was a good sport while I balanced the camera on any object I could find so that we would have pictures of our little outing. She even sat on a bench long enough (2 seconds) for me to take her picture in front of a small waterfall.



When we weren't outside, we had a blast hanging out in our room, which was connected to Vivian's room (Claire's youngest cousin). She loved going back and forth from room to room, but of course, she didn't take her eyes off of the ducks for too long. Last year, Claire was almost exactly Vivian's age and wasn't able to grasp how much fun duck-watching can be like she did this year. It's amazing how fast they grow!

Having the pond right outside our room gave us entertainment both day and night. The frog noises were so loud and with a flashlight and a good eye, you could see tons of them lining the shore. Soren was so excited and loved looking at all of them with his Uncle Erik. Since Claire is an avid animal lover, we figured she would want to join in on the fun, so I let Erik wake her up and show her what all of the commotion was about. I think she was still half asleep because she really couldn't have cared less.

We had perfect weather that weekend! Everytime we walked by the pool area, Claire wanted to join the others inside. She had so much fun splashing around, it definitely made me anxious for summer. I had fun as well, except for when a little terror child wouldn't stop spraying me with his water gun after I asked him to stop multiple times. I just love it when other mother's pretend to be ignorant to their child's actions.

It's funny how once you have a child, you no longer think about your own needs. The recurring thought in my mind was, "what would Claire have fun doing?". So, of course, that led us to the park. This little girl loves slides and is generally pretty fearless when it comes to the big ones. It's so nice when you find a park with shades over it so the slides don't get hot. I wish we had them here!

All of the kids had a blast! Erik and I even joined in on the fun and found a few interesting toys to play with around the park. The best one was what Erik is sitting in below. Seriously, if you stayed in long enough you'd probably throw up. It went around in circles so fast it was hard to stop yourself once you got going.

This resort had tons of activities. Erik and I played pickle ball together, which I hadn't played in years! It brought me back to my childhood days when our neighborhood would have pickle ball tournaments. Ahh, the good ol' days. There was also a beautiful golf course, which Erik played on with his Mom and Dad while we were at the pool and supervising naptime. I wish we would have had more time there to enjoy everything there was to offer.

Being a few weeks away from Easter, Erik's mom put together a quick Easter egg hunt for the kiddos. At first, Claire had no idea what to do. She'd pick up an egg and then look at me, like "now what?". It wasn't too long after that she dropped one of the eggs and it broke open. She saw the M&M and that was it. She'd pick up an egg and open it. There was no basket middleman in this equation.

One of the funniest parts of the two Easter egg hunts we had that weekend was Claire's distain for the crackers she found inside some of the eggs. Beside the one picture below, she didn't want anything to do with the crackers. All she wanted were M&M's and marshmallows. Claire was not going to settle for anything but the good stuff. :)

Just before it was time to drive home, we drove to Snow Canyon and walked to a nearby sand dune. Erik and Steve (Erik's bro-in-law) were on stroller pushing duty while Erik's sister, Kari, lead us down the trail (she always has to be first in line ;)), I was on picture taking patrol, and Erik's Dad brought up the rear. It was a typical Olafsson family hiking equation.

At first thought, the scenery was no big deal to me. But then I remembered that Claire has never seen or felt sand before. It was a brand new experience for her and it instantly became very exciting. She loved running around, feeling the sand on her fingers and toes, and for some reason, liked scooting around on her bum. The feeling of sand going up your diaper must have been exhilerating I guess. :)

Upon arrival, we took a few family pictures before the fun really got started. This is a must, because wrangling up children who have been excitedly playing so they can pose for a picture is not ideal. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. Below is (I think) the first picture ever taken of just Erik and his sisters and their children. So cute!

Our long weekend quickly come to an end and Claire was pooped! Unlike last year, Claire slept fairly well in her pack-n-play, which we stashed in the bathroom (it was huge and there was no way she would have slept in the same room as us), but we were all ready to get back home to our nice comfy beds.

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. :)