Oops!

Motherhood is exhausting and it finally caught up to me yesterday. I put Claire in her crib around 11:30pm last night and then went in my room to go to bed. She had been asleep in my arms for the past hour and of course as soon as she was placed in her crib, she woke up and started crying. I was going to wait 15 minutes before going in to console her, but I was so tired that I accidentally fell asleep.


I found out this morning that Erik went and got her around 12:30am because she was crying (he had been all the way downstairs and couldn't hear her screaming). He said her hair was drenched from all of her sweat. Oops! She was probably crying for an entire hour! I felt terrible! Poor girl. Guess I need to try and get some more sleep so I don't accidentally neglect my child. :)

Claire's Favorite Things

...sleeping with her arms up...

...going on walks with her big sister (Khloe)...

...shopping at places named after her...

...sunbathing at the pool...

(I promise she had lots of sunscreen on)
...doing anything outside with Mommy. Gotta love this girl!

Things I am Enjoying About Claire

the way she smiles with her eyes closed

her little button nose

watching her stretch as she wakes up

how she always has her arms/hands by her face when she sleeps

the calmness that comes over her as we walk outside

cuddling with her as she sleeps

watching Erik interact with her

the "horse" noises she makes when she relaxes

seeing her grow up every single day

staring into her little eyes

knowing she's mine forever

Claire's Newborn Pics

Having Claire has been quite an adventure. Like everyone says, I never thought I could love someone so much. She's been an absolute joy (when she's not crying) and even though I've become extremely sleep deprived, I wouldn't change a thing.

Even though I spent years babysitting as a teenager, I'm learning new things everyday and after 2 weeks, I now understand why it takes mothers so long to get anything done. Today it took me 4 hours to pay bills and getting ready now takes all day. Nap 1 - shower. Nap 2 - put clothes on. Nap 3 - well, you get the idea. I'm hoping as Claire gets on a schedule and decides to sleep more than an hour here and there, that I can become more efficient. I did manage to figure out how to nurse and reconcile bank statements simultaneously today. :-)

Last week I FINALLY got around to taking some newborn pictures of Claire so I'm going to put off blogging about her birth until later. One thing I will mention is...can you believe all of her hair?! Here are my favorites- ENJOY!

***New Addition***

Will I Be Pregnant Forever?

Don't look at the pregnancy toolbar above this post, I promise you, it'll put you into a deep depression. :) I've been trying to get my mind off the fact that I am still pregnant (due date was Friday) and with my family in town, it's been slightly easier. On Friday we went to Hogle Zoo. I always love going there, taking pictures of the animals and reading about them. This is my favorite picture from the day:


When I look at the picture, it makes me think not only of patriotism, but faith. Faith that a situation will improve and get better. That is exactly what I need right now; more faith. Because I feel like I am going to be pregnant forever!

An Afternoon For Khloe (Our Current Baby)

To get my mind off the fact that I am still pregnant, I thought I'd blog about a fun afternoon we had a couple of weeks ago. Erik, Khloe and I went down to Thanksgiving Pointe for Dog Days. We only spent a couple of hours there, but we did manage to catch the Splash Dogs (something I've always wanted to see).

At this event, the owner throws a toy off of a platform and they see how far the dog can jump. The winner jumped almost 24 feet; it was amazing! Check this out!

We tried to get Khloe to jump off the platform but she didn't want anything to do with it. We walked around to all of the booths, got some free dog treats, Erik won a toy armadillo (which she loves), and she got her nails cut for free. Oh, the things that make me excited these days. Overall, it was a fun day out as a family and Khloe had a blast! Based on her smile, she can't wait for next year. :)

Last Baby-Free Getaway

Over Memorial weekend, Erik and I went to St. George for our last "getaway" before the baby arrives. It was so relaxing; just what we needed. The trip started out with what else, golf. Erik played nearly 100 holes of golf that weekend and I tagged along for most of it. I know what you're thinking - that's a lot of golf. Thankfully the scenery was beautiful, my book (Baby Wise) kept me semi-occupied, it wasn't too hot, there were cute little rabbits running around everywhere and I got to see Erik hit some great shots.

When we weren't on the golf course, we spent some time with my sister and her family who came up from Vegas. We laid out at the pool, watched the kids play in the water, went to the sprinkler park and by the end of each day, were extremely happy to get back to our king size bed to get some much needed sleep.

I was so glad it wasn't scorchingly hot while we were there because I really wanted to go on a short hike. We decided to hike the Red Cliffs trail which only took a couple of hours. My giant belly and I made it to our destination without any complaints. Well, maybe a few. :) To round out the day, we drove by the temple which I had never seen up close before. It was gorgeous!

Sadly, the getaway came to an end and it was back to work on Tuesday. Hopefully it won't be too long until we can sneak away again.

Unexpected Changes

Erik and I aren't the only one experiencing changes around here. Poor little Khloe has had her favorite seat in the car taken over by a strange, foreign object...my giant belly. She hasn't quite figured out how to adjust to the new surroundings. :)

Progress

It seems like I am finally getting things accomplished around here and it's a good thing because I'm exhausted. The baby's room is finally complete, minus the glider that hasn't arrived yet and of course the cute baby pictures that will be displayed once our little one arrives. I only have 6 weeks left and it's getting a little scary. I can't wait to meet her and see all the joy she brings to our lives, yet I fear the unknown and feel best in our comfortable 2 person + 1 dog life.


The room is done,the diaper bag is packed, and I've settled on a pediatrician (thanks neighbors) but I'm hoping our nameless little girl will stay content in my belly until at least a few days before she's due (June 25th). I need one final baby-free vacation over Memorial Weekend, time to pack my hospital bag, and a few more weeks to help Erik prepare for the huge changes to come. :) Fingers (and legs) are crossed!

Preparations Underway

Only 9 weeks left! I can't believe it! I've been getting emails saying things like "Last Minute Baby Preparation Ideas" and it's kind of starting to scare me a little. I feel so unprepared.

Thankfully, the nursery is starting to come together. We have the crib, dresser, bedding, a few decorations and we finally ordered a glider.One of my favorite things in the nursery is this bucket with stuffed animals. The big white bear was mine when I was a baby and the smaller brown bear was Erik's. I am SO glad our parents kept these for us. They are great reminders of our childhood years.

My belly seems to be in the forefront of the baby preparations. Everytime I go back and look at the prior month's picture, I can't believe how much I've grown. Only 2 more belly pictures to go!

Khloe is even getting in on the action. She tested out our BabyBjiorn Babysitter and based on this picture, I think it will work perfectly. :) Adorable!

Total Randomness

I know this is strange, but I love the sound of lawnmowers. It makes me think of Spring, gorgeous sunny weather, birds chirping, and best of all...the smell of fresh cut grass. Ahhh!

This is a picture of Khloe's food bowl. She's as precise as her mother. :) A line straight down the middle. She decided to save the rest for later. So funny!

Here is an updated (as in last month) preggers pic for my out-of-town sisters. Only 10 weeks to go! YAY!

The Big 3-0

Last month, Erik turned 30 years old. It's funny 'cause 30 no longer seems "old". I could tell he wasn't going to enjoy his birthday too much this year so I wanted to make it extra special. He had been working so hard with the new business we bought and really deserved something cool. The problem was, what is cool?

(Erik at work with an ice cream cake...his favorite.)

I thought about it for weeks and weeks and finally came up with something I thought he would love. There were 3 parts to his present; the first being (drum roll please) a boys only golf trip to California to watch the U.S. Open. It happened to fall the weekend before I am scheduled to have this baby but I figured it'd be okay. He'd go and have fun and not stress about everything. Well, I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for. He didn't think it would be such a good idea and basically told me he wasn't going to go. "What if I went into labor?" he said. I told him, "well then you fly home". :) He was so concerned; I can tell he's going to be such a great Dad. (It's a good thing I didn't really buy the tickets.)

The second part of Erik's birthday gift were tickets to go see Mitt Romney speak at the Salt Palace Convention Center. It wasn't too exciting but was something different and it ending up being very interesting. It was a little change of pace for us that Saturday night.

The last part of Erik's gift was my favorite. Now that we own 3 businesses and are working 10-12 hour days, I knew Erik was going to have a hard time not being able to golf a lot this summer. So I bought what I thought was a solution; his very own putting green. It is gigantic and barely fits on our deck! The coolest part about it is that you can change the slope of the green a million different ways. Now when it's 8pm and too late to go golfing, but it's still light outside, he can go out onto the deck and practice his putting. Or when it's a Sunday afternoon and he's watching a tournament on TV, he can practice on the deck and watch through the window. He's only used it a couple of times because it's still so cold outside, but I think it's a pretty "cool" present.


So, I think my score was 2 for 3 in the end. :) Erik, I hope you enjoyed your birthday, will continue to enjoy your new putting green and for the last time, 30 is not old!

Precious Moments

One of the best things about living in Utah is that we get to spend a lot of time with our families (minus my sisters, unfortunately). Erik's Grandma, Farmor (the Norwegian way of saying your father's mother), lives only a few minutes a way from us and so we get to visit her often. She is 90 years old and a delight to be around.

I love going to her house and playing hymns on her piano while she hums along. It's so peaceful and I can always feel the Spirit. Another time I cherish is watching her interact with Khloe. Khloe runs in her house, wags her little tail and Farmor's face instantly lights up. I'm so glad we have the priveledge of visiting with her often. I will always remember these precious times.

It Just Keeps Growing

One of my favorite things to do is make lists and cross things off. Weird, I know. The only problem is that lately, I cross one thing off and add three more. Not only does my list never get smaller; it gets bigger! A few things I've actually had the pleasure of crossing off my list are:

Install shelves in the garage....check

Clean out cupboards in the kitchen for baby stuff...check

Buy baby bedding...check

Take an updated pregnancy picture for my out-of-town sisters to see...check

Build shelves for my scrapbook supplies...check

Install hardware on all of our cabinets...check

Buy crib and dresser...check

Backup computer...check

Do another blog post...finally check! :)

These are just a few of the projects I've completed and if my math serves me right; even though I've finished these, I've added another 24 items or so to my list. Yikes! Does it ever end?!