Liberty of the Seas 10-10-2010

Our family was fortunate enough to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise with some of our extended family. Our group included my dad and mom, my sister and her husband, their son Ryker, my brother Tyler, and my grandparents. Austin was not able to join us, which was very sad, but as you will see in some of the pictures he was there in "spirit". We stopped in Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Mexico (Cozumel). We did not see any of Haiti that was devastated by the earthquake. We had the most amazing time, and the girls did so great. There was some whining and crying, but as to be expected with little ones, and they both seemed to really enjoy the trip. The most amazing thing about the cruise was the kids club program called "Adventure Ocean". They ran classes all day long every day of the trip most classes lasting at least 3 hours, and it was all included in the price of the ticket. I was very impressed with the program, and Piper absolutely loved going... she asked to go everyday. :) And I was happy to take her and let her have some fun, and let me have a little breather! We all had a really great time and I can't wait to go again someday... hopefully when Chloe is old enough to participate in the kids camp too! :) So here are some pictures from the trip... ENJOY!

I'm on a BOAT!

... or rather I am going to be on a boat. My dad has planned another amazing family vacation... the whole family will be there with the exception of Austin (who will be GREATLY missed). I am so thankful that we are able to have these great vacations and make lifetime memories. And I am eternally grateful to my dad and mom for making them such a priority! I hope that we are able to continue doing them (unfortunately maybe not quite as often) with the next generation for a long time to come! :) So I will try to remember to post pictures and stories about the trip when we return! Stay tuned :)

I saw this newspaper article on another friend's blog and I absolutely felt validated after reading it. Thank you  Carolyn for giving "Tacoma" the answer that all of us mothers are dying to tell the world that thinks we do nothing all day! And as a side note thank you to all of my friends who do not have children, for not being as mean and stupid as that lady was! - Awesome Article

Summer of 2010

That's right... the Crain family is still alive and kicking! I know I say this every time, but two kids has really been an adjustment for me and on top of that we have had a VERY busy summer... and that doesn't look like it is about to change. :) We have been to the beach at least 4 times this summer, staying in Rockaway Beach with my grandparents. We had a very special surprise there on the weekend of the 4th of July, my brother Austin got to take some leave from the Navy and come visit here in Oregon. We really enjoyed spending the time with him. We have been to countless parks, most of them with some sort of water to play in, and we have been to the zoo and the children's museum a few times as well. Piper has started a gymnastics class that is every Tuesday evening for 45 minutes, and she loves every minute of it. This week she has been going to the Vacation Bible School at the Crossroads church near our house. She is going with our neighbor's son Taylor (it is our neighbors who go to that church). I have been kept on my toes lately by Chloe's new found love of crawling and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING she can get her little hands on! :) She is even trying her hand at the stairs, but is only successful at climbing one step and then falling off said step and crying. She is also a little chatterbox, and is not afraid to tell me when she is displeased with something I have done. I apologize to those of you who "rely" on my blog to know how we are doing, but I can only tell you that I will try to be more diligent... says the woman who has posted nothing since April was it? Jason and I are doing well too... but we all know it's all about the kids. So to make amends for the lapsed time here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. :) ENJOY!

Life's a barrel of monkeys

Yes my friends, life is a barrel of monkeys. Most days it seems chaotic, stressful, and sometimes downright constricting... but when you are holding your baby in your arms and you can literally FEEL the belly laughs that are caused by her older sister being extra silly, life can be pretty dang fun! And when days are filled with potty training, sassy comments, naps that are too short, and middle of the night feedings, I believe that God sends me those happy, uplifting moments just before my sanity starts to slip... that and Zoloft! :)

Our Friends...

These are some pictures from our latest trip to the Portland Children's Museum with our friends Becca, Claudia and Charlie...

And this is a picture at the Zoo with Piper, Ty, Jake, Bekah, and Claudia

Love...

Tonight I went out to dinner with my two best friends... Becca and Erica. I had a wonderful time with them, and I realized (like I do every time I spend time with them) I don't get to see them enough. We got together this particular time to celebrate Becca's birthday (which was last week). We make it a point to have dinner together for each other's birthday with no kids, no spouses, no work, no stress... just us girls. I love them both so much and I am so thankful for their friendship. It was nice to go out and celebrate Becca, and the now almost 15 years that I have know her. If I only had one word to describe my friend it would be LOVE. Becca passionately loves God, and I see that in almost everything she does. She has a fierce love for her family and her friends. I can see how much she loves my two girls, and that touches my heart every time I do. She loves her job, and she loves Charlie and Claudia as though they were her own. She loves her young life kids. She loves shopping and shoes and purses and jackets. She loves life... even if she can be a pessimist at times. To me Becca is love and I will always love her dearly for that. I love you Becca!

Sisters

If anyone had questions as to whether these two girls are sisters... this should answer them. Can you tell these photos apart?? Which child is which?? Comment me your answers and I will post the true results at a later date! :)
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Ryker Alan Jensen

I want to send my love and congrats to my beautiful sister Tacie and her husband Brett. Their baby boy Ryker was born two days ago and he is a beautiful healthy boy! Ryker Alan Jensen was born March 16, 2010 at 3:30am weighing 7lb 3oz and measuring 20 3/4 in long. I am thrilled to be an auntie, and it was so exciting to go and see them in the hospital. I couldn't be happier for the Jensen family! Holidays are going to be so much fun!!! :) Love you guys

Happy Birthday Piper!

My oldest child is now three years old... where does the time go? I love my daughter and although it is challenging at times, I love having a three year old in my life. She is fun and exciting and creative... she comes up with the most random things to say at the most random times, and she is always making me laugh. (which makes up for all the times she makes me crazy) :) First let me show you a few pictures of her recent exploits...
Piper loves to play dress up and when her friends come over she likes to pull her dresses out of the dress up box.


So it was a very good thing that she got quite a few dress up accessories for her birthday this year! This year was definitely a Princess/Play Doh birthday. She also got a few Sponge Bob items.... and as you can see her birthday theme was Sponge Bob. :)


I also wanted to share a few videos of my little girl that made me smile... I hope they do the same for you.

This first one is of a song she made up, she just started doing this on her own, and I was lucky enough to get the camera out before she stopped singing. :)


This second one is of her opening a present... she says "Oh my gosh!"... it was too cute. Enjoy!



Happy Birthday baby girl! I love you!

Shining Moments

As I know I have mentioned before life has been pretty rough for me since the addition of Chloe. Things are beginning to show signs of calming down (notice I said calming down and not slowing down... with the amount of energy Piper has SLOW is a word I may never use again). We are in the process of getting Chloe to sleep in her crib again, now that we are all well, and her ear infection appears to be gone... 3 days down and she is seeming to get used to the idea of sleeping alone. :) God bless antidepressants, I don't think my house would survive my postpartum depression without them.

But amongst the whining, and crying, and scolding, and time outs, and DRAMA that are my two beautiful girls, there have been some even more beautiful moments that I felt obliged to share... if not only for my own future documentation, seeing as my memory is nonexistant post-motherhood.

Chloe laughing is one of those moments. Her giggles light up my world, and anyone near her can't help but smile when she laughs. Jason says that she smiles with her whole body... she moves and shakes when she smiles because she is so happy. I love to make her laugh but I love it even more when Piper makes her laugh... it melts my heart to see their love for each other. And although she may prefer me to Jason, she definately has a special place in her heart for him, as he can make her laugh like no one else! :)

Piper has been interesting to handle lately, but she has also been so fun to be around at times. One of her latest joys is to run around the house pretending she is being chased by an alligator... not sure where that came from, but hilarious none the less. She always ends up on her little trampoline saying "oh no mommy, an alligator, there's an alligator" or "Chloe watch out there is an alligator!" Always good for laughs.

And one of my all-time favorite moments of this last month has to be what I overheard just tonight between Piper and Jason. Jason was brushing Piper's hair after her shower and he was trying to talk to her to distract her from the "pain" that is hair brushing. :) He was asking her about the princesses on her pajamas. It was so cute to hear her talking to him about Snow White and Cinderella, and then Jason was telling Piper that she looked like a princess with her pretty hair. Then Piper started telling Jason how her friends Claudia, Charlie and Becca were coming to her house tomorrow. Just hearing them talk to each other, and listening to Jason responding to Piper and asking her questions just made me so proud of him. He is such a wonderful father to his two girls. I firmly agree when he says "it takes a real man to raise girls." He may never get to toss a football with a son, but he will know the name to every Disney princess... and he will love every minute of it! :)

Videos

Due to my lack of personal time, I thought it would be easier to talk about what the kids have been up to by showing, rather than telling! Here are a few videos of the girls I have taken in the past few weeks.

This video is just of Chloe taking a bath... she seemed very interested in the ducky in her tub. *Disclaimer: there is some infant nudity in this first video... I apologize to any who are offended!* ;)


This video is Piper jumping on her trampoline, dancing to Christmas music. (Yes this was taken in the middle of January... i have tried hiding it, but she has a mind like a steel trap)


This final video is of Chloe talking, sounding a little bit like the Devil due to her cold. She subsequently got an ear infection from the cold, which we are now treating with antibiotics... wish me luck! :)

Finally

I am finally posting new pictures to my blog. I am going to have to play the new mommy card to explain to those of you who do read this blog why I have not been posting more often. Two kids is definitely an adjustment, but I think we are beginning to settle in. I love my babies, and it has been a joy to watch Chloe become more interactive over the holidays. We had a great Christmas filled with lots of love, and family, and unfortunately the flu. Piper woke up Christmas morning with a fever of about 103*F. She was very quiet and kinda pitiful, but after some Motrin she perked up a bit. Chloe was loving the attention, she is a very happy baby, and she loves smiling at everyone. We were lucky enough to have my dad's parents in town for the holidays... they normally spend Christmas in Yuma but this year they flew up and spent Christmas with us at my dad's house. Both girls got lots of presents from our families... the big hits this year were the laptop and chalkboard that Piper got from my parents, and the hand puppet bugs that Chloe got from them as well. The big hits for us were all the clothes the girls got from everyone, the watch Jason got from my parents, the matching aprons Piper and I got from my mom and Rock Band for me (thanks again Ken and Susie). But mostly I loved getting to see all our family... from both sides! :) I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I wish everyone a happy new year. :)

Some recent pictures


Christmas Eve at the Crain's


Christmas Day at the Hill's