One Last Year

saturday was my 29th birthday



spent the morning at my nephew's birthday party

 

had some much needed alone time reading magazines at barnes & noble

 

watched in awe as erik swept/mopped the floors

and did tons of dishes

 

was surprised with an official date night

(paid babysitter, movie, and even popcorn and drinks included - so much fun; thanks honey!)

 

besides erik gifting me with most of my responsibilities fulfilled for the day, the best part was hearing claire say "happy birthday mommy"

 

can't believe I have one year left in my 20's

 

makes me feel like after 10/20/2013 I will officially

be a GROWN ADULT - yikes!

 

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

 

only took one picture on my special day:

my 24 week (6 month) baby bump photo

 

this last year in my 20's is going to be very eventful - the most important

occurrence being the birth of our son; I can't wait

 

strange to have entered the six month territory, yet I also feel like it's taking

forever and I should be delivering this little guy any day now

 

thankfully, I have much more energy than I did when I was pregnant with Claire

 

slight nausea in the early months, back aches at night, a little heart burn,

and a meager amount of exhaustion have been the only issues so far

 

although, I do feel like it's only downhill from here on out: getting bigger and feeling more

and more like a stuffed sausage will not be fun during the holidays

 

and I am definitely not looking forward to the unintentional insulting comments that take place

from here on out when people look at you and say "oh honey, you look so uncomfortable and

tired...when are you due?" seriously - why do people say such nonsense?!

 

in all honesty though, it really has been an almost perfect pregnancy to this point

 

hope it continues that way!

"puNkin patch"

Saturday evening

"Punkin Patch" (according to Claire) at Petersen Family Farm

Love this place 'cause it's FREE

Claire enjoyed a ride from Daddy while looking at all of the "punkins"

She didn't love being coerced into a photo-op with Mommy

At least she put on a pretend smile :)

 

 

Claire sat on top of a giant pumpkin

and enjoyed a pretend wheel barrow ride

(gotta get the shot right?)

Her favorite were the goats and miniature ponies

They were just her size

 

 

Then it was off to the hay pile

She climbed to the very top and didn't mind getting hay all over herself

Guess it wasn't too itchy

Then she spent quite a bit of time jumping from haystack to haystack

Claire LOVES to jump off of things

 

 

My favorite picture of the day

I was surprised to see that Claire thought the white "punkins" looked normal

even though they looked different from the orange ones but

that the orange "punkins" covered in ugly bumps were just that...ugly

 

 

 

Of course we had to do the corn maze

She had so much fun playing peek-a-boo between

the corn stalks and running through the dirt to find Mommy

 

 

I found the smallest "punkin" I could for baby Olafsson

We didn't buy it, but I had to take a photo :)

As we left, I tried to take a short cut through the fence

Erik thought it was pretty funny watching a pregnant girl trying

to squeeze herself through the slats

For the record, I made it through

 

 

Another fun year at the "punkin patch"

So happy I got some cute pics to show for it

Times Are A Changin'

Approximately three months ago, Claire turned two years old. Already she has changed dramatically so I feel the need to do a "Claire Bear Update" a little early than usual. The biggest change we have seen is in her vocabulary. She is very talkative and tries to put sentences together, which end up being a mish mash of random words and statements. You really have to concentrate to pick out everything she says. I've spent the last week or so gathering a list of some of our favorites:

are you? (where are you) --- I sink (I think) --- macanee (macaroni)

that's mine (a favorite of hers) --- caubly (probably) --- time it is? (what time is it)

ipstick (lipstick) --- hi pad (iPad)

stop doing this (another statement we hear a lot of)

pastick (chapstick) --- gonna do a day? (what are we going to do today)

sleep well, good dreams (she says this before bed) --- boo

so cute mom --- all by self (all by myself)

open up the sky (open the sunroof in the car) --- how do it? (how do you do this)

fray (hairspray) --- owe (ouch)

des (yes) --- hold onto your paws (upon making a turn in the car)

so proud a you mom (she did something good and knows I am proud of her, or she of me)

Claire is so much fun to be around (when she has had a good night sleep). However, the temper tantrums are in full force and have been quite the frustration of mine lately. One of the hardest things we are trying to overcome is her hitting. A lot of the time it is when we are trying to get in the car and I really can't do much about it. We try to be diligent about time outs and I guess in those circumstances I should take it a little further and deal with it right then and there (instead of yelling at her). My patience has definitely been tried a lot more these past couple of months as I've been trying to get a handle on this little girl. The majority of the time she is so funny and amusing, but the days filled with crying, fighting, and hitting, seem to take over it all. I hope we can get through the terrible twos with minimal damage (for all of us).

Our baby girl is growing up so fast, I can't believe it. There are many moments that I look at her long, beautiful hair and remember how fast little ones change and how I will never get today back. Claire's personality is so fun, her blue eyes so captivating, and her smile so contagious. I need to cherish ALL of the seconds I have with her and know that someday she won't need me like she does now (even though I wish she will). Love you little bear!

Evening Glow

 family drive up Emigration Canyon

the last "fall leaves" activity on my fall bucket list

very pretty drive

love this time of year

 

stopped to take a couple of snapshots

was out of the car for about three minutes

policeman drove by and saw khloe

gave us a verbal warning since we were in a watershed area

'no dog' rule is so ridiculous (like there isn't wildlife everywhere pooping in the bushes)

 

on a random note

so excited that claire can now smile on que

 

(claire wanted me to eat the rock she had in her hand)



"Puzzle States"

We purchased a puzzle of the United States for Claire a couple of months ago and she has been at it ever since. She makes us put the puzzle together before every nap AND bed time. And I mean every single one! It has become a punishment to have her puzzle taken away. It takes us about thirty minutes to get ready to go to sleep because she has to dump her entire puzzle out and put it back together. Of course, there is no hurrying involved. She likes to take her time and will sometimes get very upset if you offer unsolicited help.

Erik and I have been very surprised at how quickly she's learned the names and locations of most of the states. Her favorites seem to change every now and then too. First, it was Nevada, California, and Utah, because that is where members of our families live. Then it became Texas and Oklahoma (I have no idea why). After that it was Washington and Maine, because Erik and I lived there when we were younger. Lately, it is Alabama (ambama), Mississippi (sippy sippy), and sometimes Georgia comes into the mix.

Below is a cute video of Claire doing her puzzle before nap time. Notice at one point she says "i sink", which means "I think". This is a new-found phrase of hers.

Can't Get Enough

Last weekend, our family spent another morning enjoying the scenery outdoors. This time, our location was Mueller Park Trail in Bountiful.

Claire is obsessed with hikes. Every time we tell her we are going on one she gets very excited. I'm sure it is something we will continue to do throughout the rest of the fall season.

Throughout our hike we saw beautiful leaves, lots of dogs (and tons of dog poop), and a family dressed in coordinating mustard and grey colors getting their portraits taken. Erik gets annoyed when I take tons of pictures on our family outings, but I know this time he was grateful I hadn't made him get dressed up and sit in a pile of sticks like they were.

We didn't walk too far as it was fairly steep in some places and we had no idea what the trail led to. Instead, we casually walked along the trail and then played near a small stream. It's always nice to be outside and together as a family.

Shakin' It!

This morning I took Claire to one of her beloved toddler classes at Murray Library. She LOVES it! I've learned to never tell her where we are going more than thirty minutes prior, because if we can't make it, she will talk about it all day and get very upset.

Attending Wiggle Worms is something we have been doing for almost a year now. They sing songs, play with scarfs, count, read books, do bubbles, go under a parachute, and dance with shakers, all while being led by a wonderful instructor. Generally, there are around 50 kids in attendance and it can get very loud and chaotic. Somehow, the teacher manages to make it fun and exciting for everyone.

One of Claire's favorite parts in Wiggle Worms is when they dance with the shakers. I get such a kick out of watching her concentrate on moving them. The funniest part is when they sing "jump jump jump my jiggles out". Claire always has to hand me her shakers so she can jump at her highest ability. It's hilarious! See above for a little clip.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I put Claire down for her nap and she would not go to sleep. I was in the office getting some work done and started hearing her on the monitor singing the "shaker song" from this morning. She actually did a really good job with it. At one point, I even heard her say "good job Claire you did it" (wish I would have gotten that on video). Too cute!

Nature Walk

saturday family outing

 

beautiful nature walk at

cascade springs in heber

 

our family, claire's cousins, aunt kari, and farmor/farfar

 

fall colors were amazing

 

paths were stroller appropriate

(those are the best!)

 

great weather 

soren gave claire hugs

emma relaxed in her stroller

claire took a break from her stroller and walked with farfar

khloe got a drink from the cool, fresh water

 

 

claire saw a big caterpillar

got an 'okay' shot of me and my baby girl

claire had a blast running around the curvy walkways

 

 

picked some gorgeous leaves for claire

took some cute photos of her inspecting/smelling the leaves

a near perfect morning activity with the family

looking forward to our next fall excursion

(have no idea what that will be)

Fun at the Fair

Every year I like to drag Erik to the Utah State Fair for a fun night out as a family. I know it's not his idea of fun, but I love it and as Claire gets older, she loves it more and more too. This year, Claire and I headed out early to enjoy the sights before some of her cousins joined us later. We really enjoyed ourselves but by the time everyone had finally arrived, my feet hurt, I had a bad headache, and I was about done chasing Claire Bear around the park. Thank goodness Claire's Farmor and Farfar took over toddler duty upon their arrival (as did Erik).
 

 
Of course, we went in every animal barn possible. Claire even got to touch a lemur, pigeon, and many horses. While in the equestrian barn, Claire leaned through one of the stalls and gave a horse a big hug. I was very surprised as it was done without any encouragement or prodding. Guess she's getting used to the big guys.

Later we hit up the small kids farm where Claire was able to play pretend farmer. She gathered all of the necessary fruits and vegetables, brushed the sheep as instructed and turned her fake money in for a bag of crackers in the end. She was very serious about the entire thing.


After dinner, Claire and all of her cousins went on a train ride with Farmor and Farfar. Soren and Claire were so excited! Every time they would come around the turn their faces would light up as they waved intently to the rest of us standing nearby. In that moment alone, Claire's amusement made it all worth while.

Shortly before we headed home, we made one more pass through a couple of the animal barns. This time we were able to sit next to and touch a giant cow. I swear it weighed like 3,000 pounds. The sign said it was very gentle, but as I reached over to touch it's face, I was definitely nervous it was going to kill me with it's enormous horns.

It was yet another fun outing to the Utah State Fair. I can't wait to bring along our little baby boy and see it all again next year.

The Name Lives On

Erik are I are thrilled to announce we are having a baby boy!

 

We found out the incredible news on September 7th. Throughout my pregnancy, both of us had a little inkling it might be a boy, but we didn't want to get our hopes up. The ultrasound tech assured us there was absolutely no possibility of error on this one. Yay! Erik is the only boy on his side of the family so he really felt the pressure to keep the Olafsson name alive. To our amazement, it will live on.

Erik and I are both completely overjoyed to be having a son and can't wait to meet the little guy. Immediately following our appointment, we called my sisters and closest friends. I wanted to tell my parents so badly but had to wait a few days until we could reach them on Skype. As for Erik's family, we told them a couple of days later at our Sunday dinner. Erik and I (yes, Erik actually helped), made cupcakes with blue frosting on the inside and decorated the top with a question mark. They were supposed to bite into them to find out the gender, but it didn't work out exactly as planned. Erik's Mom unwrapped her cupcake and saw a little bit of blue frosting on the bottom of it and screamed "it's a boy!" before anyone could take a bite. Oh well. As far as Claire, she has no idea what is going on. When asked "where is Mommy's baby?" she says "Mommy's tummy", but that's as far as her knowledge goes. She'll probably pick up more of an understanding by the time her baby brother arrives in February.

 

Now onto my latest dilemma....

 

what the heck am I supposed to do with a boy?!

A Special Present

 
Claire has very few toys. Few, as in they all basically fit in one tiny cupboard in our living room. Erik and I don't like to waste our money on toys, especially ones that aren't educational, so Claire's gotten by with only a handful. Erik and I started talking and thought it was about time we bought Claire something really special, just for fun, and that she would absolutely love. Claire has always been jealous of other kid's cars, scooters, and anything battery powered, so Erik knew we couldn't go wrong with a 4-wheeler.
 
A few weeks later, Claire's special present finally came. We were so excited to give it to her. It felt like Christmas Eve; Erik and I were stationed in the office after Claire went to bed, putting together a giant present that she would open the following day. We paid special attention to getting the decals just right and then let it charge overnight. We couldn't wait! The following evening, Erik rushed home from work to give her our gift.
 
Erik rarely has the opportunity to give Claire gifts or do something that makes her extremely happy, so this was "Daddy's Special Present". Erik parked it in the garage and then opened it on the count of three. I felt like Claire was 16 and we were giving her a brand new car. :) Anyway, Claire was ecstatic. She ran into the garage, hopped on top of her new 4-wheeler, pushed the foot pedal, and ran the thing straight into the wall. Too funny! Her excitement could not be contained and we loved every second of it. For the next couple of hours, Erik helped Claire ride her special present up and down the driveway. She had a blast and we were overjoyed. Claire definitely has a new favorite toy: "peasant" (what she says when she requests to drive it).

Below is a short video of Claire on her "peasant". We frequently take her over to the local high school to ride on the track/field because then she can't run into anything. It's so cute! Enjoy!

 

 

Our Fall Bucket List

The Fall season in Utah is one of my favorites. I've always enjoyed stepping into my boots, wrapping a scarf around my neck, exploring the beautiful colors outdoors and drinking a hot cup of apple cider. Being a native Washingtonian, I would probably say everything about that beautiful state is perfect, however, I think that Utah may have it beat with this one. All of the deciduous trees around us make it such an incredible place to be this time of year.

To kick off one of my favorite seasons, I made a "Fall Bucket List". I've made one for Christmas the last couple of years and thanks to Pinterest, I was inspired to do one for Fall. I am really excited to start checking off the items we accomplish in these next few months and am sure they will bring me lots of warm fuzzies when I look back at the pictures.

Claire and I kicked off the season at This Is The Place with her cousins, Soren and Vivian. It's been years since I've been there and it is definitely a great spot to go with little kids. We started off the morning with a leisurely train ride which we all enjoyed. The weather was a little cooler and the scenery was beautiful.






Our first stop were the pony rides. Claire has been on many pony rides since she was born and she's always loved them. This time was a little different. She was very scared and cried the majority of the time she was on the saddle. Oddly enough, her cousin, Soren, who was terrified of horses in years past, enjoyed every second of it. Funny how little minds change over the years. 

 
Once off the pony, Claire was lovin' this place. The big hairy cow was definitely a sight to see. How strange! She also enjoyed the mini petting zoo and the two of them could not get enough of all of the animal poop laying around.

 
Next, we were off to pine for gold. Claire thought this was very amusing and couldn't wait to show her Daddy what she had found in the water. Too cute!

 

The highlight of Soren and Claire's day was by far the little train ride. They took multiple rides around the pond and had a blast. Soren thoroughly amused Claire with his very enthusiastic train noises. 

 

About five hours later, we finally headed home. Claire had so much fun hanging out with Soren and Vivian and I know she is just dying to go back. In fact, we are going to the state fair this weekend and she quickly reminded me that she wanted to go on a "little train" as she recalled from our afternoon at This Is The Place. Glad it was a memorable afternoon for us all!

Last Days of Summer

While growing up in Washington, the first day of school always followed Labor Day. Therefore, Labor Day weekend was always the "last hoorah" of summer. It still is strange for me to see how early school starts in Utah, but I guess my days of breaking out the fall scarves and buying freshly sharpened pencils shortly into September are behind me. Since Claire is not in school yet, Labor Day weekend was our "last hoorah" and was filled with fun, end of summer activities.

First, we ventured out to a new place - Manila Creek Pond located in Pleasant Grove. I read about the "beach" online and thought it looked like fun. Well, you can guess that the "beach" part of it wasn't too great, but we all had fun with the surroundings we were in anyway. Claire and I built "sandcastles" with our make-shift sand equipment. They included two Tupperware bowls and two large plastic spoons, which were all from our kitchen. Maybe next year I will finally buy some sand equipment, but for now, Claire didn't know the difference and had a blast anyway.

 
While Claire and I were playing in the rocky sand, Erik entertained Khloe nearby with her ball. I'm always glad when Khloe can join in on the fun even if it is a handful lugging her around with us. She always enjoys being outside and getting whatever exercise we give her.

 

After our time at the beach, we headed over to Novell Discovery Park, which was only a couple of miles away. It was supposed to be amazing and I guess it kind of was. There were tons of atypical things to play with at the park and lots of neat tunnels to run though. Claire had already had a long afternoon playing in the sun so she wasn't the happiest. Getting her fingers hurt by the bells multiple times didn't make things any better. After about 30 minutes, we decided it'd be best to head home for nap time.

 

 
Later that evening, we went to Erik's sister's house for s'mores in their backyard. This is something I always enjoy doing and the fact that we didn't have to take everything up a mountain to a fire pit was even better. Claire obviously didn't take to the roasting part, but we did catch her taking a bite out of almost every single marshmallow in the bag and then putting it back. Too funny!

I can't believe summer is actually over. In one sense, the heat has seemed to last way too long and I am ready for it to cool down, but summer activities are so much fun and we all love the long days and nights. I hope you all had as fun of a summer as we have. Now I can finally say "yay for Fall!".

Summer Randomness

This summer sure has been a blast. It's weird to think that it has

finally come to an end. Here is a look back at some of our

"2012 Olafsson Summer Randomness":

 

- Claire discovered bubble wrap -

this was a very exciting adventure for her

she was very upset when Mommy finally took it away

- Family trip to Hogle Zoo -

we finally got great views of the polar and grizzly bears

from this day forward, Claire began an obsession with polar bears swimming

we've had numerous conversations of how polar bears swim and

push off of the rocks with their feet

very exciting stuff for Claire Bear

 

- Endless mornings watching Signing Time -

Claire's one and only favorite show

for about a month, she insisted on me opening up

her blankie (spreading it out on the chair) so

she could lay there and watch it

 

- Ranae's (Claire's Farmor) surprise 60th birthday party -

Claire had tons of fun trying to give her cousins kisses

happy birthday Ranae

 

- 24th of July at Butlerville Days -

I waited in line forever so Claire could get her face painted

it ended up being the most ridiculous face painting job ever

about three seconds later the girl was finished

there were four globs of paint on Claire's face

it was supposed to be a butterfly

so annoyed!

 

- Many afternoons jumping on the couch -

this was another activity Claire discovered

she LOVES jumping from the coffee table to the couch

and always insists on someone watching her

 

- Sold Erik's truck -

exciting day for me (I don't like trucks)

not sure how Erik felt about it

it did get tons of use

 

- Claire amused herself by placing stickers on her bare belly -

wonder why she chose that body part

it entertained her for quite a while

 

We packed quite a bit into three short months. And these were the "non-eventful" (but also very fun) activities. Can't wait to see what Fall 2012 has in store for us!

 

* Ranae - you're birthday is not included in the "non-eventful" category. It's always special in our minds. *



Sun, Sand, & Smoke

A couple of weekends ago, our family spent Saturday at The Homestead Resort in Midway with Erik's parents. While Claire's Farmor and Farfar went golfing with Erik, Claire and I spent a relaxing day at the pool.

To give myself a little bit more freedom, I borrowed a life jacket for Claire and boy was it a lifesaver. I sat by the edge of the pool while Claire was in and out making stops at our lawn chair to grab a few snacks. Literally, each time she would walk over to our chair she would slip and fall. All I can say is thank goodness for the life jacket; it really padded her falls and prevented a much bigger crying spell from happening.

After about an hour at the pool, Claire and I enjoyed some yummy snacks and took pictures. I believe this was the very first time I let Claire take pictures with the camera all by herself. She kept wanting to put her finger over the lens so I had to hold it slightly so she would actually have an image to show and not a pink blur. She was so excited to see the pictures she took and I have to say, I was pretty shocked myself. She actually got a pretty decent picture of some flowers and even a decent head shot of me. My favorite is the one she took of her face. Hilarious! I know as she continues to get older, I'll be finding a lot more pictures like that when I turn on my camera.

After our time at the pool, we still had a few hours to burn so we hopped in the car and went searching for a playground. I literally was about to park the car when I looked back and Claire was sound asleep. Having no nap that day (it was now about 5pm) had really worn her out. So I did what any mother would do; I got some fries at the McDonald's drive through and sat in a parked car so she could sleep. It was so much fun. :) I sat there for a good thirty minutes in silence watching cars go by while she slept in the back seat. Gotta love being a Mom.

Once she woke up, I pushed Claire on the swings for what seemed like forever. She's really come to enjoy swings recently. She also played in the sand and of course went down the slides a few times. Afterwards, we found some baby goats to look at and Claire had to take a picture of them. Too funny!

By this point, I was really feeling sick from inhaling smoke from the nearby Fox Bay Fire. It had started around the time we drove up the canyon and the smoke had completely filled the sky. It even seemed to bother Claire a little bit; her eyes got red and she was constantly itching them. We found out later that the fire burned over 500 acres. You can see in the picture below of Erik golfing how hazy the sky looked. Yuck!

Around 8pm, the golfers had finally finished their round and it was time for dinner. Thank heavens! Claire and I had a long day outside (breathing in smoke the entire time) and we were ready to call it quits. Oddly enough, Erik said the smoke didn't bother him at all. Strange.

It was a very long day for Claire Bear but it was fun to spend the day as a family and also be able to do things we each enjoyed. By the time we got home and Claire was in bed it was almost 11pm. What a day!