A Look Back...and Forward

Another year has come and gone. I always get excited when a new year begins because I get to reflect on everything that happened the year before and look forward to what is to come. I took a moment and looked over my picture files and made a list of some of the most significant memories from 2012. Oddly enough, there just happened to be 12. Here they are in chronological order: 

Spent a long weekend in St. George with all of Erik's family

 

 

Khloe's surgery on her patella's

(she seems to have recovered wonderfully)

 

 

A week in Arizona visiting my sister's family

(Claire loved playing with her cousins, especially Brooklyn

who is only six weeks younger than her)

 

 

Our first "real" family vacation to California

(although it only lasted three days)

 

 

Got pregnant

 

 

Claire's 2nd birthday

(she is growing up so fast)

 

 

My parents left on their 3rd mission

(this time to Norway)

 

 

Found out we are having a boy

(Claire LOVES babies so I'm sure she'll be an excellent helper)

 

Claire and her friend Sienna Hertz

Various photography opportunities

(weddings, political events, and others)

Started potty training Claire

(This was by far the hardest thing I have ever done. After a week (we started the first week of November) of working on it with Claire, we realized she would hold it in until nap/bedtime. Clever little girl! To this day, she holds it in until that time and refuses to go in the potty (both big and small). I honestly don't think she is going to get it until I cave and take away the "night night undies". With this baby coming about 22 days from now, I am definitely not ready to take on that project.)

 

 

 

Khloe's 5th birthday

(we love her like a daughter)

 

 

Sold one of our businesses

 

---------------

 

There were also a few random moments that I don't want to forget:

 

Claire discovered Chapstick and quickly became obsessed

 

 

Claire started copying things I did, said, and wore

She also realized she loves to be chased, especially by Daddy

 

 

Many trips to Hogle Zoo

(Claire became enthralled with polar bears, grizzly bears, and other animals)

 

It all added up to a wonderful and memorable year. However, I think 2013 will have it beat. There are quite a few milestones coming up this year that I am very excited about, such as:

1. The birth of our son
2. New business opportunities
3. Our 10 year anniversary (wow, time flies by)
4. Hopefully an awesome summer vacation (without kids of course)
5. My 30th birthday
6. Claire starts preschool
7. Possibly moving (we'll see how long having a baby in our room lasts)
8. My parents come home from their mission
9. Buying a new car (most likely, but not definitive)
10. The birth of 3 new babies (1 niece, 2 nephews)

I CAN'T WAIT!

Claire Bear Update - 2 1/2 years

Our little bear keeps getting bigger and bigger. It blows my mind how fast time goes by. Lately, she likes to ask questions, demand responses, and talk about the world around her. One of the things I love about her right now is her lisp. It is just too cute. Sometimes she also stutters, which seems to be normal at this age. Her little brain just can't keep up with her mouth.

Here are some of her favorite things to say:

• where is you?
• this one called? (when she wants to know someones name)
• talk about it (if you stop reading momentarily and she wants you to keep going)
• look at me
• told you! (she'll often add that to the end of her sentences)
• how do this?
• I help ya (she likes to help with everything)
• can't see my eyes (when it's dark)
• answer me
• that's mine (oh the joys of this one)
• ....anyway (she adds that word to the end of almost all of her sentences)
• beautiful Mommy (one time she told me I was beautiful and I will never forget it)
• what was that?
• two weeks, two days, two years (everything is two something)
• don't ever do again (hilarious to watch her say this with all of her determination)

Her favorite things to do are:

• watch Caillou (she used to call it the "boy show")
• eat crepes and drink chocolate milk for breakfast
• pray (before she prays she says "offer prayer"; we have no idea where she got that one. Her first prayer all by herself, with no coaching, was on December 16, 2012. I rushed downstairs so I could document what she said: "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you everything have, baby brother, Jesus Christ, Amen.")
• get ice water (from any drive-thru around)
• pretend like she is taking care of her baby dolls
• get dressed all by herself (however, she still needs help taking her shirt off)
• fill up her water bottle without help
• play pass and chase

Her favorite songs to listen to in the car are:

• "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift - she knows when to say "ever" and it's especially cute when she says the part "like...ever"
• "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars - she says all of the "ooh" parts

Her favorite animals are:

• polar bears (she LOVES them; lately we've been watching the polar bear web cam at the San Diego Zoo)
• other bears (panda bears, grizzly bears - her bear that is brown she now calls 'grizzly bear' and the bear I had as a child which is white she calls 'polar bear')
• orcas (thanks to her cousin Soren who is currently obsessed with them)

Love you Claire Bear!

2 1/2 year portraits taken by muah

 

 

2 1/2 year bear picture

Are We There Yet?

Almost...and that scares me.

This picture was taken at 33 weeks, but currently I am 35 weeks along. I cannot believe I only have five more weeks to go. That means I have about four more weeks to finish all of my projects; yikes! I have been feverishly completing one thing after another, but this tired, pregnant body only allows me to do so much. I've realized that I am allowed one very productive day at a time and never can I have two productive days in a row. The next day I am totally exhausted and want to do absolutely nothing. This doesn't bode well for Claire. One day I stick to my rule of 'one show a day' and the next day it's 'I don't really care, watch another episode of Caillou'.

I have basically finished getting the closet situated and what little baby clothes I have are put in drawers, but I still have two giant projects staring at me. First, finishing Claire's 1-2 yr scrapbook and also getting our office in order (closing out 2012 and preparing everything for 2013). Ugh, two things that are going to take forever!

Please, please little baby boy....do NOT come early I am begging you. :)

Despite how uncomfortable everything has gotten; sitting, standing, sleeping, even breathing...it all hurts and seems difficult 90% of the time; I am still hoping to have this baby past his due date of February 15th. The further away from Christmas and Valentine's Day the better in my mind. Plus, taking care of one child is a lot easier than two.

That about sums up what has been on my mind lately in regards to this pregnancy. I'm rushing to get everything done before the big day and we are hoping that is far, far away.

Oh, and we still don't have a name picked out so we have to work on that one.

Christmas Day!

Christmas was so exciting this year! Claire is finally at the age where she is beginning to understand what Christmas is all about. Well, the commercial side of Christmas. :) Christmas morning was very entertaining with our little Claire Bear. Again, here are some of my favorite moments that I hope I will remember forever:

• getting Claire out of bed and telling her that Santa came - she wasn't quite sure what was going on at this point
• watching her turn the corner to see all of the presents under the tree and a stocking full of toys and food
• showing Claire the letter Santa left for her - she looked at it like she was actually trying to read it; too cute!

• opening my one present under the tree - a new camera lens; the box was actually empty and I had been using the lens on my camera for the past two weeks...I wanted to experiment with it before using it on such an important day like Christmas...and I LOVE it!
• watching Erik open a few presents that were kept secret - his favorite gift this year was a golf range finder (which he knew about); he also got a book (The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell) and some new shoes which were returned (of course)
• seeing how happy Khloe was to get a new tennis ball - I've been a little concerned about her lately because she hadn't been as enthusiastic about playing with her toy balls like she used to; but she must have just wanted a new ball because she was back to her old self again, yay!

• observing Claire as she opened gift after gift - she absolutely loved her new water bottle; some other favorites were a wooden rocking horse, a toy cell phone, a Tag reader from her Taylor cousins, and a train set
• loving Claire's bed head - I'm sure when she looks back at these pictures she'll ask me why I put makeup on myself but wouldn't brush her hair :)
• looking around at our house an hour later and thinking it was odd how messy it was - we only bought Claire about 5 gifts and ourselves only 1 or 2; somehow the wrapping paper managed to take up the entire living room
• making a mental note to myself to wrap the gifts just like I did this year - half of the wrapped presents under the tree were empty boxes; I knew Claire would want to open things up, but for the bigger items (for example the rocking horse and train set) and anything that needed assembly, we put together and hid the item under a blanket...it was the best of both worlds and is definitely the way to go!

• rushing to the Osmond's house for breakfast - it was delicious
• laughing as we all tried to play songs with our bells and it not really sounding right - Bestemore was very amused (see below)!
• talking to Soren (Claire's cousin) about orca dolphins which are his new obsession
• rolling my eyes at Claire after I took a picture of her with Farmor - as a photographer and her mother, her fake smile is really getting annoying :)

• watching Vivian (Claire's cousin) give back the envelope of money to Bestemore who had just given it to her - the best part was that Bestemore had no idea what was going on and probably thought it was a gift for her
• looking over to see Bestemore help Claire with her water bottle - Bestemore is very cautious about things and so this was very amusing to watch 

• taking the annual family photo - we were a small group this year as none of the Osmond kids were in town 

• going to Erik's parents house to open presents once again
• Claire was very excited to get a new baby - the package said her name was Harper Olivia, but Farmor thought that was a little odd and named her Baby Olivia (since then, Claire cannot say Olivia and has started calling her Baby Muria)
• everyone was very amused at my wrapping skills for Erik's Dad's present - he always uses a blade of some sort so he doesn't rip any paper and therefore always wants Ranae to save it for another year...this year I used all of my wrapping paper / ribbon scraps so he wouldn't feel the need to save anything; everyone thought it was hilarious that there were two different kinds of wrapping paper and that the ribbon didn't even go all the way around the gift 
• trying to coerce Claire into opening more presents - it was around 2pm and you could tell she had had enough; based on the photo below, I guess even the plain side of some wrapping paper was amusing

• trying to take a decent family photo - they never turn out great, but I guess we have documentation that we were all there enjoying the day together
• Claire enjoying a nice long nap after all of the house visits were over with
• last but not least...going to Denny's and enjoying a French Toast Slam with my little family; what a day!

Special Note:

 

Below are two of my favorite photos from Christmas day - Khloe enjoying the snow and Claire's

bum crack (they just don't make toddler pants very play friendly...between Claire and her

cousin Soren's pants, we saw a lot of bum cracks that day)

The Night Before Christmas

This year, Christmas was spent entirely with Erik's side of the family since my siblings are out of state and my parents are out of the country. On Christmas Eve, we had a wonderful dinner at Erik's parents house and then came home to get ready for Santa's arrival.

Here are some moments that I never want to forget:

• the attendance of Claire's "Bestemore" (great grandma) - she is in her early 90s and we never know how much longer she will be with us
• how much fun Claire had rough housing with her Farfar
• looking over to see Bestemore dropping M&Ms on the ground for Khloe - thankfully Khloe spit them out because of the hard shell and I was able to grab them; Khloe always sits by her side because Bestemore is the most frequent food dropper

• Claire making cookies for Santa - actually she placed pre-made dough onto the pan but she didn't know the difference and had fun anyway
• watching Claire color a picture for Santa Claus - she used to draw circles everywhere but now she has resorted to scribbles one color on top of another

• setting out milk, cookies, Claire's picture, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer - of course she stuck her fingers in all of the cookies but we knew Santa wouldn't mind

• opening the first present...pajamas - the best part was that they were old pajamas; i had gotten them a couple of months ago and she's worn them many times...about two weeks before Christmas I wrapped them up; on Christmas Eve she couldn't have been more excited than if they were brand new
• going in Claire's room to document her being sound asleep

We were all looking forward to an exciting Christmas day!

Wishing You A...

 

PRE - Christmas Festivities

Gingerbread Houses with Claire's Cousins

 

started the afternoon with a story/game by aunt liv

claire spent about two minutes decorating her house

rest of the time was spent playing with soren

they dumped all of the candy out of the bowls

stuffed candy in each other's faces

and licked soren's gingerbread house

all while giggling the entire time

they had a blast!

Santa Portraits
 

 claire was very nervous

no tears but it was close
 

 

Live Reindeer at Thanksgiving Pointe

 

claire was very excited, as was khloe

i had khloe's leash in one hand and my camera in the other

looked down and saw khloe INSIDE the reindeer cage

the reindeer were laying down and instantly started walking over to inspect khloe

it scared me to death, but was great excitement for the day

 

 

we all can't wait for Christmas!

All Bundled Up

Last week we had our second big snow storm of the season. During the first one, I was potty training Claire so we never ventured outside.

With my giant belly making it very hard to do anything, I finally got Claire bundled up in her new snow suit and last year's mittens. After what seemed like forever, we were finally ready to go outside. Claire wasn't so sure about the snow as you would guess. By how she was acting I could tell that she thought she would get wet if she stepped in it or touched it. So, I took a few steps and then sat down in the snow and told her I wasn't wet. I could tell she was surprised. Instantly, she followed my lead and plopped down in the snow. She said "Mommy, I not cold...wet!".

The fun lasted for about 10 minutes and then she was ready to go inside. That is definitely one thing I hate about playing in the snow with little ones. It takes 20 minutes to put everything on, they only want to play for 10, and then it takes another 10 minutes to put everything away. Plus, you have to add more time 'cause my 8 month pregnant body moves a lot slower than usual.

Despite all of the hard work, I am very excited to take Claire sledding next time it snows. I'm anxious to see how much she'll like it.

 

The Faces of Christmas

Christmas brings to light so many emotions. For Claire, they are...

Scared / Frightened

(if she covers her eyes will Santa go away?)

 

Surprise / Amazement

(the festive lights and everything Christmas are very impressive to her)

 

Boredom

(will she ever be able to open the presents that are under the tree?)

Christmas Lights

temple square

beautiful christmas lights

not too cold

fun evening with friends

claire loved it

 

The Wonders of Skype

My parents have been gone on a church mission to Norway since the beginning of June. We miss them so much! I was really concerned with the toll it would take on their relationship with Claire, but thanks to Skype, I don't think it will be an issue at all. Every Tuesday at noon (8pm their time), Claire and I get on the computer and talk to my parents. I love hearing about their mission adventures and all of the new experiences that take place.
 
Claire warmed right up to talking through the computer and though there are times that she has a shy day, she mostly smiles, laughs, sings them songs, and with prompting, tells Mormor and Morfar about her week. In between talking she colors circles, makes me connect the dots (to make a square), and scribbles with our assortment of highlighters and pens.
 
In an effort to make them feel like they are still a part of our everyday lives, I have significantly increased the number of blog posts since they left in June. I want them to know everything that is going on just like they did when they lived 20 minutes away.
 
I am extremely grateful for the sacrifices they have made to serve a mission. The biggest temporal blessing it has brought us is the upcoming birth of our first son. Each time my parents serve a mission (this is mission number three), and ONLY when they serve a mission, a boy is born into the family. Both of my siblings had boys during their previous missions (to Ukraine and then Bermuda) and now my oldest sister and I are both expecting boys to arrive in 2013. It is such a funny coincidence. Now that our family will have at least one boy and my sisters are done having children, I've told my parents that they are done going on missions. It's time to stay home! :)

Having my parents live half way across the world for 18 months is difficult at times, but I am so glad we live in a day and age where technology can still bring us so close together. I love you Mom and Dad and always look forward to our weekly Skype sessions. Talk to you soon!

The Year Claire Ruined Thanksgiving

well, not really, but it was amusing that's for sure!



thanksgiving 2012

here we are as a family

so grateful for them and all of the happiness they bring me

started the day by watching the parade

claire liked seeing all of the big balloons and watching the people sing

then, of course, it was football time

erik and claire sat on the couch together and enjoyed the games

(wish I would have taken a picture)

she likes to copy what erik says and also seeing the guys "fall down"

 

spent a wonderful afternoon at erik's aunt/uncle's house for dinner

food was delicious and claire had a ball playing with her cousins

she was so distracted that she had an accident (we are working on potty training)

changed her into outfit number two

 

time for dessert, my favorite part of the day

enjoyed some yummy pie and cookies

claire had accident number two, this time, it wasn't a potty accident

she reached over a coconut cream pie to get to some m&m's

down came the pie all over her, farfar, and her cousin abby

my first instinct? grab the camera of course! :)

 

farfar tried to save as much of the pie as he could

it was straight out of a Friends episode

(the one where Monica and Rachel eat cheesecake off of the floor)

didn't know I was going to need three changes of clothes for claire that day

thanks abby for letting claire wear your mermaid pajamas

 

erik rinsed off claire in the bathtub and we went on with the evening

glad I've reached a place where an event like that has no stressful effect on me

it was simply humorous and claire hasn't stopped talking about the day

when the pie fell and got all over her and "babby"

 

we definitely won't forget thanksgiving 2012