April 2012 and Staples

April 5th Chris and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. We had taken a trip together in January to New York and we thought it would be fun to take the kids with us for a day to Salt Lake and stay in hotel. It was really fun to have them with us for a day. We took them to the new City Creek Mall and then swimming in the hotel pool. They had a blast, and so did we!

 

Clara was scared to death to be up on Chris' shoulders. Can you see by her death grip? 

 

Chris had to work one of the days so I took the kids around city creek and then took them to my parents house and Chris and I had time just us. We enjoyed our time exploring City Creek and shopping. It was so nice just to relax together. I can't believe that 5 years went so quickly. At one end I feel like I have known Chris forever (which I guess technically I have), but it also seems like time has gone so quickly. I  mean, we have 2 kids already! I am so blessed to have my best friend as an eternal partner. He makes me better and lifts me up every day. I am thankful for a relationship of mutual love and respect. I couldn't ask for more!

 

Our anniversary weekend ended up being the weekend of Easter, so when we got home it was time for an Easter egg hunt for the kids. 

 

Clara found the best seat in the house.

 

Gaga and Papa gace Clara and Liam books for an Easter Present. They were so excited!

 We went to watch Daddy play soccer. The kids love to cheer (Very Loud) for him. It makes me so happy.

 

The night before Clara's Birthday (April 17th) We decided to put together her big girl bed and let her switch from the crib. I had found a bed and painted it for her. She was so excited to get a big girl bed! She was so excited that while Chris and I were putting it together she was running all over including in and out of her room. Since we were just inside her door putting it together we told her to stop running around. Well, as you can guess she didn't listen. She ran full speed into her room just as we were trying to put the side rail in. The side rail has a metal hook on the end that hooks into the foot-board. When she ran into her room she ran right into that metal hook. It was so sad.

 But, with the excitement of a new big girl bed she was as happy as could be...BUT as the night continued on the more worried I got about the cut on her head. It wasn't huge but I thought it kept getting wider. I decided rather than sit around and worry I would just take her in to get it looked at. I am glad we did.

 

This is the cut when I took her to insta-care. When we got there they told us that she would need staples. Ahhh! First of all it is my little girl who's birthday is in the morning and now she has to have staples. And Eeeww, Staples in her head? That is so gross! But it was the best way to go. Below is a picture of her getting her head numbed in preparation for the staples.

 

 I was a little worried that I would pass out or something when she got them. And that she would flip out. Neither of those things happened. (Although my sister Lacey who came with me almost passed out). Clara was SOOO brave! She sat there wide eyed, just like when she got her ears pierced, and stood up straight and it was done! No crying or anything! She was so proud of herself for being so brave and so was I! She amazes me!

 Here are the staples.

The next day was Clara's birthday. She wanted to go to the aquarium so that is what we did. But I was a little worried  because when she woke up she looked like a different little girl. Her face was so swollen!

 Here we are at the aquarium. She was acting just fine and said it wasn't hurting her. But every time I looked at her I was shocked! She looked like a little Clingon (or whatever they are).

 I ended up having to take her back in on her birthday to insta-care. They decided to do an ultrasound to make sure there wasn't internal bleeding because she was so swollen. It ended up just being fluid, so it was fine. It was quite the experience. She is definitely her Daddy's daughter in that sense. I never went to the ER until I got married to him :)

This is a while later just reading with Gaga

 I love Liam in his little suit. He is so cute! He is also so sweet. He can be a wild little man too though. He and Clara are definitely the typical brother and sister that try to get on each others nerves. But there are also those times that they are SO sweet together, my heart just melts. Clara will talk in a high pitched super sweet voice and call him "buddy" and "little brother". And Liam just looks up to her and loves her so much. It is my favorite thing in the world to see them be so sweet to each other.

 Liam is a VERY messy eater. EVERY single meal ( I am not exaggerating) he throws food all over the place and dumps out his food. But he has gotten so independent that he refuses to eat unless he feeds himself. So I decided that it is better to clean up countless messes and let him have his independence and develop some self confidence. He is always so happy with himself. :)

 It is not just food that he makes messes with. It is EVERYTHING. I have decided and have to remind myself daily that this season of my life is not one consisting of having a clean house.

 

Here Liam is kissing his little cousin Alice. 

And below is Clara helping Gaga feed Alice, I love to see her proud little face when she is acting so much older than she is.

 Hahah! I Love Clara's face in this one. She is SO worried about protecting Alice from Liam just climbing on top of her.
Sidenote: Clara's cheeks are super red because I put regular sunscreen on her. Actually it was supposedly "gentle" baby sunscreen. But for some reason this year every sunscreen made her have a reaction. It would last for weeks too! After I finally figured out what was happening we switched immediately. It is called Vanicream and it is what we use for her eczema as well. I was so happy to find they made a sunscreen because it has done wonders for her skin. It's not cheap, but well worth it.

 Oh my goodness, she just posed like this all on her own. I was laughing so hard!

 It was finally warm enough to take them to the splash park. They love it

We took Clara for her 3 year old check up and our doctor heard an irregularity in her heartbeat. So he wanted her to get an EKG. So that is what we did. Poor Clara had a rough month medically.

 

Here she is all hooked up.

Everything turned out to be just fine, thank heavens!

 

Chris and I just laugh at how girly she is. She had to wear her "tippy toe shoes" everywhere.