Easter

First of all, if you hadn't heard, Clara loves to climb. She finds all sorts of ways to get on the table, beds, and couches. I think she just likes to see her mommy's heart beat frantic.

We were able to go to Oakley for Easter and General Conference this year. On the way we stopped and visited Great Grandma Jenks in Rupert and she hid some eggs for the kids.

Quinton and Clara had a blast with their cousins. Quinton LOVES to color eggs. Mommy and Daddy can't wait until he can do it on his own in a year or two (clothes aren't meant to be Easter-colored). In the picture is Aunt Sarah and Lincoln.

Clara tried to figure out what everyone was doing with the eggs and tested a theory by licking one.

Finding eggs filled with candy was even better than turning them colors! Of course, we had to wait for the snow to melt that day.

The young kids got to go first - Quinton, Clara, Elisha, and Nolan.

Then the older ones had a go at it - Jeran, Rowan, Emily, Ammon, Lincoln, and Camden.

Conference was wonderful and we really enjoyed being with Barry's family. Quinton and Clara loved playing with Grandpa and showed their love with lots of stickers!

Boise Trip

Barry had Spring Break last week and we started it off with a trip to boise.  We stayed with his friends Sam and Heather Rodriguez and had a great time. It was nice to finally get away for a little while.

One day we went fishing at a pond right in Boise and even though we didn't catch anything, the kids sure enjoyed being outside. Poor Clara fell off a step and banged up her eye, but otherwise had a lot of fun.

Quinton loves fishing with his daddy.

We also did a little shopping and even found a couple garage sales. The kids behaved really well on the trip and in the car. They slept for 6 out of the 8 hour round trip! Most of all Quinton and Clara just enjoyed having our attention all day.

Clara is a little dare-devil climber. She tries to get up anything and everything and makes it a lot of the time. We had a great weekend with friends and away from the stresses of home, school, and work.
This week we're back to it, but a little more refreshed.

The Long Week

On the Sunday before last we took Quinton to the hospital because he was breathing really hard and his breathing treatments weren't helping. We decided to take him to Blackfoot because we thought their ER would get us in quickly. Unfortunately we were in the waiting room for 2 1/2 hours. After waiting another half hour for the doctor come in, I finally flipped out and yelled at the staff for neglecting my little boy for 3 hours. I demanded that the doctor come in and treat him right then. He came in 30 seconds later and eventually Quinton was admitted to the hospital for RSV and to help treat his asthma. We got to come home Tuesday morning and Quinton got better really fast. He did a lot better in the hospital than I would have thought. I think he liked all the attention and being able to watch cartoons all day long. Clara got sick the day after we got home, and though she was pretty miserable, her oxygen stayed high enough that we didn't have to take her to the hospital.
Two sick babies made for a very long and sleepless week. We needed about 4 extra sets of arms to be able to hold them all day long. I also had a scare when I found Quinton in his room with an empty bottle of children's motrin. I called poison control and luckily the max amount he could have taken in would not have been toxic. On another day Quinton was in time out for licking the electrical outlet and decided to strip off his diaper and poop on the floor. This morning Barry was giving Quinton a haircut in the bathroom while Clara was in the bathtub. Apparently it was bad timing because Clara started climbing out of the tub after she pooped all over in it. We're still getting over that mess. Life is never boring with two toddlers in the house!
Things have gotten better the past couple days. Quinton and Clara are a lot happier and warmer weather has allowed us to get outside and play a lot more. Hopefully now that it's Spring we'll all be healthier!

Not Eggsactly What I Wanted to See...

I found these two conspirators in the kitchen today trying to whip up some breakfast. They managed to get about half a dozen eggs cracked before I saw what they were up to!

More Winter

The kids were sick for pretty much all of January and Barry and I had our share of it as well, but I think we've gotten over the worst of it now. Clara is growing up fast and has such a fun personality. She likes running and climbing now. Quinton has been talking really well and suprises us with 6 or 7 word sentences that actually make sense. We're still working on the sleeping in his own bed thing, but I suppose that's a battle that won't end too soon. Sometimes he even sings songs or goes the extra mile to help his sister with something. We have our many moments of toddlerism (like when Quinton strips off his clothes and diaper and poops on the floor) but many moments of joy as well. They especially like to be cute right before going to bed at night by giggling and giving each other kisses, which I'm sure they do just to avoid going to sleep.

Before we put a safety latch on this cupboard, Quinton and Clara loved to get in the cereal and dump it all out on the floor.

Quinton LOVES stickers lately.

Ah, to be free and naked.

I wanted to get pictures of Clara getting messy eating spaghetti, but she was more excited about having her own plate to eat off of.

Clara gets a little protective of her bottle sometimes.

Milestones

We no longer have any babies in our house. Quinton has reached his terrific twos and Clara her wonderful ones. So now we have reached a whole new territory that I as a mother have no idea how to handle. Here are some of the new things my kids have learned.

Clara
1. Clara has been walking for about a month now. She is feeling very comfortable with her toddling abilities, which means she is also very comfortable with getting into the cupboards, the dishwasher, and the garbage can. Put her in another room and her lightning-quick speed will bring her back in about 3 seconds.

2. She walks the walk and now she is talking the talk. Her communication skills are increasing with words like more, up, and Ahh! She likes to remind us over and over too. Mo-mo-mo-mo-mo-mo-mo-mo... up-up-up-up-up... Ahh!

3.Finally, Clara has learned how to defend herself from opposing forces, namely Quinton. She is very adept at hitting, biting, shoving, and yelling. That's our little princess.

Quinton
1. Quinton learned how to climb out of his pack and play over Christmas break, which led to climbing out of his crib, which leads now to climbing out of his toddler bed 43 times a night. My sweet son who used to be in his crib from 8 pm to 8 am and for 2-3 hours for a nap is now our alarm clock that bursts through the door at 5:30 in the morning singing, "Hi, Daddy!" Which leads Mom and Dad with little hair left to pull.

2. Yesterday Quinton started opening the fridge. We have yet to see all the possibilities that could come of this.

3. Quinton has developed quite an extensive vocabulary and we can even understand about a third of it. This is pretty cute most of the time when he holds conversations with us, but not so cute when he gets into a debate with us about needing a band-aid for his toe. I think our kids are almost as stubborn as we are.

4. Lately Quinton has sometimes found joy in hiding from his Mommy when he doesn't want to do something. All of a sudden he just disappears and is quiet long enough for panic to rise in my heart. I run around the house in a mad frenzy (or occasionally our apartment complex) screaming his name until I finally find him grinning in the closet or he pops out of seemingly nowhere. I'm sure I'll laugh in the afterlife at the scene that is played out from this talent of his.

I have been overwhelmed chasing Quinton and Clara lately. So I'm venting with a little sense of humor to relieve some of the stress. I love my children dearly and I know they won't stay toddlers forever. I will try to enjoy them for now but also hope for a time when my biggest concerns aren't naps and diaper rashes.

Winter

No posts for a while because we've been busy with stuff like school and work and pictures of that just aren't very fun. I thought I'd get on and finally put up our Christmas pictures, though. We had a good time in Oakley with Barry's family. Everything else is a blur since Barry started back at school. Grandma and Granpa Jenks came and stayed with us last weekend. We really enjoyed having them here. Quinton and Clara love their grandmas and grandpas.

Clara got some help opening her gifts from Grandma Jenks.

Enjoying the new presents!

Quinton sledding in Oakley.

Quinton loves it when he gets to play in the snow with Daddy.

Clara's Photo Shoot

This is Clara with Grandma Packer in the beautiful birthday dress Grandma made for her.

Mommy made this tutu for Clara. She really got into the whole modeling thing.

She's so cute when she cries, I had to put in a crying picture.

Quinton's Photo Shoot

Since Quinton just turned 2 and Clara just turned 1, they each had a little photo shoot on Clara's birthday. Quinton doesn't really like getting his picture taken, but he ended up with a few cute ones.

Clara's 1st Birthday

Our baby girl turned 1 on Saturday. It's hard to believe that we don't have a baby in the house anymore, but she is turning out to be such a fun little girl. She is getting better at walking each day. She is really good at communicating with us - she signs "more" says "up" and throws tantrums fit for a two year old. She is doing better at holding her own and wrestles Quinton back now. And she melts our hearts when she gives us her big open-mouth kisses. I wish she could stay right where she is forever, but I also love the girl she is becoming.

For her birthday she got to have german pancakes with syrup for breakfast and then she opened her tutu Mommy made for her. Then we got ready for her party at Grandma Packer's house. Stealing the idea from our friends the Bernts, we had a ladybug theme. Grandma Packer made her a really cute cake. We played pin the ladybug or bumblebee on the flower, baby bottle bowling, and guess the number of cheerios in the jar. It was a lot of fun having family to celebrate the day with us. Jeni, Shari, Andrea, and Brian were all there with their families.

Clara wasn't too into opening her presents, but she did like her Raggedy Ann doll, ball toy, Cabbage Patch doll, puzzle, and all sorts of cute clothes that people were so nice to get for her.

Clara got to really enjoy sugar for the first time that day. She wasn't quite sure about her ladybug cupcake at first, but by the end she really got into it!

After the party we did a little Christmas shopping and took Clara out for her first Happy Meal. It turned out to be a fun day for all of us.