So Much Work!

Earlier this summer, we had wonderful weather. Currently, it is TOO HOT! When it first warmed up, we frequented the local swimming pools once or twice a week. Claire loved it! Everyday she'd ask if she could learn how to swim, which meant she wanted to go swimming. My thoughts? Going to the swimming pool is way too much work. If I didn't feel so sorry for my baby girl, we would have stayed home. No longer a relaxing activity, I'd come home exhausted after spending a couple of hours at the pool.


 

Our first outing was to Cottonwood Heights. Claire loved going down the frog slide. She probably went down a hundred times, while I rocked Ethan to sleep nearby. I was thrilled with how much fun Claire was having, but I needed to get her a life jacket ASAP. Keeping my eyes on her constantly was mentally draining.

 

 

Thankfully, getting Ethan to sleep during didn't take too much work and I was able to play with my little Claire Bear. Between watching Claire on the slide and taking her into the bathroom about five times, I was relieved to see that Ethan was still sound asleep in his stroller and that no one stole him while I was tending to Claire.

 

I almost forgot the most thrilling part of that particular afternoon. Ethan had diarrhea all over me. It covered the bottom of my swimsuit and almost my entire thigh. Disgusting! Thanks little guy!

 

 
On another occasion, I brought our new sun shade (so nice to have with the kids...people constantly asked me where I got it) and had our friends Julie and her daughter Sienna join us for the afternoon. It was so much more enjoyable with another set of adult hands nearby.

 
A couple of weeks later, we went swimming at the Zermatt Resort pool in Midway. Claire's life jacket still hadn't arrived, but I borrowed a friend's and it was....a life saver! :) Claire could safely jump in the pool when I wasn't by her side and I knew she was safe. During this outing, Erik was with us, so he entertained Claire while I sunbathed with my little guy. It was sort of relaxing this time around.

I hope the weather cools down soon so we can go swimming again and not be so miserable in the heat. I'm glad Claire enjoys it so much and that I am still willing to take her despite what a major effort it always is. 

Young and Younger

June 11th

 

Celebrated Farmor's 94th birthday!

 

This woman seriously has nine lives. She keeps

hanging on and we are so grateful.

 

Love spending time together and watching

her interact with our kids.

 

Took a snapshot of Ethan with his two newest cousins,

Roman Moffat and Evelyn Lane.

 

He always looks like a giant next to these two. Two months

makes such a difference at this age.

 

Looking forward to celebrating Farmor's

95th birthday next year.

Third Time's a Charm

Between February 3rd and May 21st, it was all about Ethan. Poor Claire kind of got pushed to the side; until it was potty training time.

Monday, May 21st - I realized that if I was going to try round three of potty training, now was the time. I tried round one when she was only 18 months, which ended up being way too early. I had gotten my hopes up when I heard of a few people trying that early and being successful. Round two took place about three months after Claire turned two years old. She took to it okay, but figured out that if she held her pee and poo until nap/bedtime, she could go in her pull-up. Smart little girl. Her pediatrician said I needed to put her back in diapers because she didn't learn to go in the potty, she just learned to hold it. Ugh! Very frustrating.

Then came round three. Mentally, I wanted to get her potty trained before she was three. I also wanted it to be done before one of our summer vacations, and it needed to be done before the end of August so she could go to preschool. The deadlines were looming and the next day was going to have to be day one. I was terrified.

Claire and I went to the store and picked out her prizes. Because I was not going to except failure this time around, the prizes were pretty big. At this point, I didn't care. I just wanted it to work.

Tuesday, May 21st - Day one began. Claire barely ever goes to the bathroom so I knew we weren't going to have very many chances to get it right. I had her practice running to the potty and sitting down even if it was just for a second. For that, she got a yogurt covered raisin. She held it all morning and finally had an accident around 1:45pm. A few hours later, she needed to go number two. Claire was so scared. As she sat on the little potty, crying, I gave her hugs and sang her a few songs. Eventually, she went. Thank goodness!

Day one and day two she had a few accidents, but she was willing to sit on the potty, which was a major improvement. I could tell that she was finally ready and that this was going to work. Besides her being "ready" this time, we also took her out of her crib and had her "big girl bed" on the floor next to a potty. During nap time, she had to hold it or go in the potty. Pull-ups were only for night time.

On day three I could see the light. :) After one accident in the morning, she was incredible. It was like it finally clicked. Hallelujah! I felt like we had just accomplished the hardest thing in the world. We were so happy for her. She did wonderfully the next four days and rarely had an accident. Each time she went, she'd pick out a prize from off of the ping pong table. Her favorites were lip gloss, a treasure chest, and a pink camera. She was loving it! The grand prize was a ride on the Thomas the Train - Heber Valley Railroad. She was so excited and we were thrilled that diapers were gone forever.

 

 

Funny note - for the pictures in front of Claire's potty chart, I let her pick what she wanted to wear.

She put the oddest outfit together and then insisted on about eight barrettes/clips in her hair. Silly girl.

 

That weekend (Memorial weekend), we spent the night in Heber at a friend's cabin. It worked out perfectly as the Thomas Train was the next day.

 

 
This year, Erik took Claire on the train ride (I took her last year). From what I hear, she had a lot of fun.

 

 

 

Once the train ride was over, we enjoyed some yummy kettle corn (I am not a kettle corn fan, but this stuff was amazing), a magic show, Claire got some face tattoos and a fun balloon hat. Ethan spent the afternoon in the stroller hanging out. He was a trooper.

 

 

It was quite a week for our little Claire Bear. Honestly, I can't believe she is finally potty trained. It is such a relief. She loves wearing big girl undies and still enjoys playing with the prizes she earned.

 

You did it Claire!!!!

 

Our Little Guy - Month 4

This post is way overdue. Ethan is almost 5 months old and I have yet to post his four month update. Oops.
 
At Ethan's checkup in May, he was 15 1/2 pounds (67%), 25 inches (54%), and was in the 6% for head circumference. I don't think he has a small head, but apparently he does. His most exciting milestone was the day after his doctor appointment when he rolled over for the first time (exact date was June 4th). With Claire, we were so eager to have her do this, but with him, it was a total after thought. Sorry Little Guy, but we just didn't care too much about you reaching that part in your development. That being said, I am glad he is right on track with his baby milestones. In month four, he was:
 

drooling (a lot)

squealing (out of happiness, not sadness)

sleeping with his arms out (his days in the wrap are about over)

trying to watch TV (strange, 'cause Claire had no interest, but he loves to try and look at it)

loving when he gets to stand up

blowing bubbles (every once in a while)

and sleeping around 10 to 11 hours at night (with a "dream feed" in the middle)

 

Here are some of my favorite images of our Little Guy during his fourth month:

 

 

 

Ethan's 4 Month Bear Photo

Love the Game

A few weeks ago, our family spent the evening golfing together at Fore Lakes Golf Course. It's a small par 3 course; perfect for Claire and I to join in on the fun. I don't know that I've seen Claire enjoy herself more than she did that day. And Erik....it was easy to see how happy he was. All of us together, playing the game that he loves, and not doing too bad at it either. In fact, I actually did pretty well myself. I haven't golfed in years and am very much a beginner, but that day, I was on fire. Erik seriously thought I had been secretly practicing at home. Ha ha!
 

 

 
Claire had a blast hitting the ball with help from her Daddy as well as by herself. I think her favorite aspect of the game was putting. She'd place the ball about two inches from the hole and then whack it in. I hope she continues to love golfing, because it is the perfect avenue for daddy-daughter time. Honestly, I will probably force both of our kids to play so they can be with Erik for five hours and I can have some much needed Mommy time. Just thinking about five hours by myself is blissful. :) In the meantime, I was happy being together as a family.

 

"Where's Mommy?"

I am always the one behind the camera.

In order to solve the inevitable question of "where's Mommy?", I have made an extra effort recently to appear in front of the camera.

This is tricky.

One, I rarely "get ready" anymore.
Two, it is usually just me and the kids.
Three, Erik's photography skills aren't up to (my) par. Sorry Honey.
And four, getting a pretty good picture of me and the kids is nearly impossible.

Shortly after Mother's Day, the kids and I enjoyed a lovely picnic with a friend of mine. I asked her to take a few snapshots of me with the kids and she happily obliged. Claire was in a terrible mood, but after a few timeouts and a stern talking to, she finally smiled for the camera.

Thank you Julie, for taking these adorable pictures. Proof that Mommy does exist!

Cruisin' Around

Claire's favorite activity this spring/summer has been riding her green balance bike. We gave it to her for her second birthday but she has only recently taken a liking to it. As the weather started to warm up, she began riding it more and more. Slowly and very cautiously, she would maneuver around the corners and down the small hill in our front yard. In a matter of weeks, she improved tremendously and now cruises around as fast as she can. We love watching her go 'round and 'round and are happy to see her balancing skills advance so quickly. Who knows, maybe next summer she'll be able to skip the training wheels and go straight to a "big kid" bike. Way to go Claire Bear!

Loving Two

Author Unknown

I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you?

Then he is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you’ve never shared me before. I hear you telling me in your own way, “Please love only me”. And I hear myself telling you in mine, “I can’t”, knowing, in fact, that I never can again.

You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again.

But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I’m afraid to let you see me enjoying him, as though I am betraying you. But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection.

More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast. But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two. There are new times – only now, we are three.

And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you’ll never share my love. There’s enough of that for both of you – you each have your own supply. I love you – both. And I thank you both for blessing my life.

 

(Photos taken on Mother's Day - 2013)

Ethan's Official 3 Month Portraits



We are so blessed to have a perfectly healthy little boy.

Ethan Victor is such a cheerful and content baby.

He definitely makes my world go round.

 

 

P.S. A special thank you to the Moffat family for gifting Ethan with the

adorable onsie and his Farmor and Farfar for the darling blue blanket.

His Special Day

On May 5th, a beautiful warm and sunny day, our friends and family gathered together as Erik blessed our son Ethan Victor. It's been all about Ethan lately, but we have been more than happy to oblige.

Ethan is very fortunate to be surround by so many wonderful people. All of his "Olafsson" aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents were in attendance. Regrettably, the only members of my family that were able to make it were Aunt Donna and Uncle Gil. All of my siblings live out of state and my parents are in Norway serving a mission.

Surprisingly, the morning of Ethan's blessing, I was very calm. The day Claire was blessed, I was completely stressed out. I thought for sure she would either cry through the entire prayer, go to the bathroom all over the men holding her, or spit up all over her beautiful outfit. None of which happened by the way. I knew all would go well this time around and even if it didn't, I could handle it. As expected, Ethan was a perfect gentleman.

The preparation for such an event always makes me anxious. I spent hours thinking about how I would coordinate our outfits, deciding on what food to serve during the after party, and trying to figure out what time everything needed to be prepared by in order to make it there on time. Of course, all of the above contributed to a successful afternoon. Erik gave a very thoughtful blessing and though I don't remember every word, I will always cherish the feeling I had as my husband stood amongst all of us giving our son a blessing. I am so grateful for Erik's prayerful obedience to the Lord.

Below are images of some of the most important people in Ethan's life.

Starting from the top left:

Ethan's Farmor/Farfar, and Bestemore

Ethan's Great Grandpa/Grandma Madsen

Ethan's Great Uncle Gil and Great Aunt Donna Meier

Ethan's Uncle Steve, cousin Vivian, Aunt Liv, cousin Roman and Soren Moffat

Uncle Steve and cousin Vivian Moffat

Uncle Tom, Aunt Kari, cousin Evelyn and Emma Lane

There were two things missing from Ethan's blessing day that created a very dismal feeling in my heart; my parents. It's been very difficult for me to go through the pregnancy, birth, and newborn stage of my son without the companionship of my parents nearby. I miss them dearly and that sunny afternoon, I was heartbroken that they couldn't be there. With that said, there was a tiny piece of light in a sort of gloomy situation. The advances of technology made it so Ethan and I were still able to see my parents and speak to them for a few moments outside of the church prior to the blessing. I know Ethan had no idea what was going on, but he amused me by staring at the iPod while my parents spoke to us. I was so grateful to see them and hear their words of encouragement that day. My parents and I had a very brief conversation outside, I shed a few tears, and then collected myself and headed in. Thank you Ranae (Ethan's Farmor) for capturing these images for me. They are so special and bring me such joy.

Before I end this post, I need to give a special thank you to my parents for gifting Ethan with his charming blessing outfit, to Erik's parents for stepping in and being there for me when I needed them, and to Erik for being the most wonderful father a woman could give her children. Ethan and Claire are very fortunate. Love you all!

Our Little Guy - Month 3

Ethan is now 3 months old. We've had a lot of fun with him this past month as he's been growing, spending more time awake, and started to laugh and smile. It's hard for me to remember what Claire was doing at this age, but it seems that Ethan began doing things a lot earlier than she did. He started holding his head up at month two and has become a very "smiley" baby. This is one of the first images I was able to capture of him smiling:

Ethan is happiest when standing up and loves to be amongst the action (if you leave the room, he knows immediately). I can always get him to smile when he is standing and he has even given me a handful of laughs (my favorite). Throughout the past month, he has started to grab onto the toys hanging from his activity mat and has also discovered his fingers. He does not like being outside when it's windy and gets especially upset when in the car and it stops momentarily. In fact, during this past month his body finally began creating tears. It dawned on me one day that when he used to cry there weren't any tears. Interesting.

We've taken many walks around the neighborhood now that the weather has gotten warmer. And as long as there is no wind, he typically falls right asleep. Claire loves to push him in the stroller.

She also loves to give him tons of hugs and kisses. "Esan" (as Claire says) ,is lots of fun to play with. Anytime she seems him she says "hey dude!". It's adorable. She recently discovered she was able to carry him all by herself, which makes me very nervous. It's clear how much she loves her little brother and I can't wait until they can play together.

 

Ethan is a very well behaved baby and there have been very few instances where he's cried and I didn't know what was wrong. Over the past few months, I've spent a lot of time rocking him to sleep by the window below. It his one of his favorite spots because the light is bright, but not blinding. Generally, it only takes about 10 minutes to rock him to sleep but with another child running around, 10 minutes without Mommy seems like forever.

I just recently started to sleep train him and he's made tremendous progress. The first night, he woke up at his usual 3am and screamed for two hours. I then broke down and got him up for a feeding. It's only taken a couple of nights and there has been a huge difference in his ability to go to sleep and stay asleep. Last night he slept from 9pm to 7am. 10 hours, can you believe it?! That's my boy!

 

Throughout April, Ethan has reacquainted with his two newest cousins. Born within one week of each other were Roman Moffat and Evelyn Lane. A week after Evelyn, cousin Jace Lopez was born, but he hasn't been able to visit him in Arizona yet. Hopefully we'll get to meet him soon. 

 

Our little guy has been such a joy to have in our lives. He loves to sit outside in the Bumbo, wearing his sister's sunglasses and enjoying the beautiful spring weather. He's still a little baby that doesn't do much, but having a boy is so much fun. I get so excited anticipating all of the fun things we'll do together in the years to come. I hope he's a mama's boy, 'cause I can't get enough of him. I love it when he coughs and sneezes because it makes him seem more like a person and not just a baby. My favorite thing to do is give his pouty little lips kisses day and night. Love you little guy!
  

 

 Ethan's 3 Month Bear Photo



Randomness

It's been hard for me to blog lately, which is sad because it is basically the only avenue my parents (who are on a mission in Norway) have to catch up on our lives and see what we are doing. I was doing so well for a while, keeping them updated once or twice a week, but once we sold our substance abuse agency, Erik began working from home and is on the computer 24/7. I go to bed at midnight as it is and since I've recently started working out again and am desperately trying to lose the last of the baby weight, there is no time left in my day to blog. Sorry Mom.
 
This post is going to be short and sweet. I've put off working out long enough tonight. :) Here is a bunch of randomness from the past month or two:
  

chilling out at Mountview Park



  

met our brand new nephew, Roman Moffat

 

 

a few days later, we met our brand new niece, Evelyn Lane 

 

Claire painted inside and discovered how fun it is to walk in Mommy's high heels

 

 

took "selfies" with me and the kids to document that I do exist

 

 

captured a random shot of baby Ethan before we started his 3 month photo shoot

 

 

and while testing my light, captured this adorable shot of Claire

(her eyes were not enhanced - gorg!)

 

 began taking many trips to the "duck park", aka Sugarhouse Park, where

Claire discovered an obsessive love for swings