Sunshine, Glorious Sunshine!!

I've been going a little crazy lately. You see, in our little corner of the world, there hasn't been much sun as of late. There's been plenty of snow, plenty of rain, plenty of clouds, but not a whole lotta sun. Oh, and did I mention it's frigid?! I miss Arizona.

Well, today the heavens opened up and shone down on our backyard. Okay, it shone on the entire city, but all I cared about was our backyard. Because sunshine in the backyard meant we got to go outside and play. HALLELUJAH!!! It was wonderful!! Ava's little buddy Ethan came over for a play date. The kids rode bikes, played ball, dug in the dirt. It was a little glimpse of spring... with coats and cold hands. But still, it was still a glimpse.

"Queen of the Mountain!!!"

Ava & Ethan

Jax took his first crawl around the backyard. Of course, I had to fish grass, leaves and rocks out of his mouth a few times. But hey, he's a boy, I should get used to it, right?

My favorites...

Looking out the window at the snow

I love my kids. That's a given. But, I really, really love them! I sometimes can't believe how much love I have for such little people.

When Ava was a baby I remember being so sad each time I realized she was growing. I thought, "I'm going to miss her being so tiny, crawling, walking"... you get the idea. But, as each phase passed and a new one began I thought, I love this time. This is my favorite.

Well, in two-and-a-half weeks my little girl who, I swear, just yesterday was saying her first words, will be three. And while I sometimes miss the cuddle time we shared when she was younger, I have to say, this is my favorite. She's curious about EVERYTHING and wants to know all there is to know about it all, we play dress-up together, we bake together, she puts on performances, she loves to learn, she tells me I'm her best friend. This is my favorite.

Now, that Jax is suddenly nine months (almost), I've had the same realization. With two kids, it's so much harder to have that experience with each phase. But today, it hit me. It seems it took much less time for him to get to nine months than Ava. In three months my little boy will be a year. That's insane. A year seems so old. He's still a baby, right? I barely remember him as a newborn. But that's okay, because right now, this is my favorite time of Jax's life. He's crawling, he's standing, he's developing this fun little personality that makes him smile all the time, growl at people just to see their reactions, use the remote control as a phone, climb up the stairs and impishly look back at me as he makes his way up. This is my favorite.

So, it seems my life is moving in fast forward. My baby girl is a little girl and my baby boy, well he'll be a little boy before I know it. It makes me so grateful to have the opportunity to stay home with them, to watch them turn into little people -- because those two little people are my favorites!

One-Armed Bandit

I knew this day would come. I guess I expected it to come a little later. But alas, it has arrived. Ava's first injury-related X-Ray.

It all started Monday. We went to a friend's house for desert and some Wii (Ava kicked booty). At one point, and I'm not exactly sure how it happened, Ava fell out of a chair. It wasn't like, "oops, I slipped and landed on my bum." Nope, it was more like, "I'm a Weebles, I wobble and I DO fall down." She just kinda tipped out of the chair. Very odd. Anyway, she landed on her arm. She cried for a little while, but found comfort in playing baseball on the Wii.

Tuesday and Wednesday she kept complaining her arm hurt. I noticed she was using it, so I wasn't too concerned and just chalked it up to post-fall soreness.

Thursday rolls around, same thing. By Friday, she was holding the injured arm close to her body and limiting her use of it. She also winced when I touched her arm. There was never a bruise in the area she said hurt, so I thought it best to take her to the doctor. The doctor promptly sent us to the hospital for an X-Ray and put Ava in a sling. Now, here's the thing about the sling. It's so sad that my little girl has to even wear the darn thing. I hate that she hurts, she hates that she can't move her arm. But to be honest, it's kinda cute. I mean, here's this little person with this little tiny sling. I guess it's just the size of it that makes it so adorable. That's pretty applicable to all things tiny. One time, after doing her business on the potty, Ava took a look (who doesn't) and commented, "Oh, look at those cute little turds." See, it applies to anything.


Anyway, we are still waiting to hear back about Ava's arm. She seems fine. We haven't been able to get her to keep her sling on and she's hasn't complained about pain at all today - GOOD NEWS!

The bad news is, we got into a car accident on our way out of the hospital. We're both fine. Wish I could say the same about the car. We take it in tomorrow to the insurance company for damage assessment. Keep your fingers crossed...

My Funny Valentines

So, I'm a little behind. Valentines Day was over a week ago and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures.

Ava loves Valentines Day. It was the first holiday she really understood when she was a baby. This year, we had a special FHE the Monday before that focused on love. We explained that when you love someone you do nice things for them. We obviously likened that to the Savior's love for us. Fast forward to Thursday, we were in the midst of a playdate when Ava's friend's Mama asked, "Ava, do you know what we celebrate on Valentine's Day?" Ava replies, "Jesus' birthday." I look at her a little perplexed and say, "Remember, honey, Christmas is when we celbrate Jesus' birthday." My very smart, very adament little girl answers, "Yes, Mommy. But Valentine's Day is when we show love. Jesus was born to show us he loves us." I STAND CORRECTED.

Wednesday, Ava got to bypass Quiet Time to do some V-Day crafts with Mama. Here's the outcome:



She's quite the little arteest. Now, don't think we left Jax out of the lovefest. As soon as he woke up, here's what Ava and I did to him:

I'm sure if he could talk he'd be saying, "Mom, get this freakin' thing off my head."

Andy and I went to dinner Friday night. We decided in a meat market town like Provo, Valentine's Day was bound to be a busy night at all the good restaurants, so we celebrated on the 13th. Uncle Dusty babysat. Being babysat by UD is one of Ava's favorite things, but to sweeten the deal we surprised her with popcorn and "The Sword and the Stone" to enjoy while we were out. Apparently, popcorn takes precedence over Mommy & Daddy, because she couldn't wait to get us out of the house so she could enjoy her treat and movie.

Can you believe this is our 7th Valentine's Day together (six married, one dating)?!

And finally, Valentine's morning we surprised the kids with balloons (their favorite) and Ava and I made pink pancakes (her favorite). She LOOOOVES to help me in the kitchen, I love that time together. But, to be honest, I fear the child is going to get worms or some sort of stomach illness from all the raw batter and dough she consumes. Every time I turn my back she's shoveling it in to her mouth.

Waving

Jax began waving on our way home from Arizona after the holidays. But, after a week of waving, he just stopped. It was as if he had to make room in his brain for new information, so he moved the waving bit to the side. So, we haven't seen a wave for several weeks. But, I'm happy to report it's back and cuter than ever. Today, when we arrived at a friend's house, someone said "hi" and Jaxon started waving. It was very cute. It also, draws attention to his HUGE meat hooks, which I think he inherited from Grandpa Ralphie :)

Here's video of him waving and clapping.

Sleeping Beauty

Ava has pretty much outgrown her afternoon nap. Which means, she's pretty much outgrown naps altogether. But, every afternoon she still has "quiet time." She doesn't have to nap, but she plays quietly in her room, reads, colors, whatever she would like for an hour. She needs that time, I need that time. It works out well. Occasionally, she'll surprise me though and fall asleep (usually surrounded by about 20 books in her bed). This is rare, and usually only happens on days when she wakes up before 8 (she normally sleeps from 8:30-8:30 or 9... except Thursdays when I have to wake her up for her 9am ballet class). A few days ago she was up bright and early at 7:30 and by about noon I knew she was tired. Yet, despite her obvious exhaustion, she insisted she was just going to have quiet time and didn't need a nap. So, I just went through our normal afternoon routine - read a few books, sang a few songs, tucked her in and gave her kisses. She did what she normally does as soon as I leave the room, she jumps out of bed and begins rummaging through her massive book collection. I, on the other hand, was extremely tired that day and went to take a nap of my own. When I woke up about 45 minutes later I went in to check on Ava (who was being awfully quite). She wasn't in her bed, I didn't see her playing in the middle of her room, I panicked. But then, I looked on her stuffed animal-covered floor and this is what I saw:


She was so tired she couldn't even make it back to her bed. Right in the middle of emptying her stuffed animal basket she just conked out. At least she had a soft mattress of stuffed animals to lay on.

So Squishy I Could Eat Them

I'm obsessed with taking pictures of the kids. Not only do I think everything they do is so golly gosh darn adorable, but they are just the cutest little squishies in the world. I snapped these of the kiddos after we returned home from ballet this week. Anytime the camera is near Ava asks me to take a picture of her and Jax together. I think it's sweet she always wants to pose with her brother. I've decided to always fulfill her request so that one day when she's screaming at him to get out of her room or they're telling each other how annoying they are I can show them these pictures as proof that at one point in their lives they actually liked each other.



Here's some other cute ones I recently took:

Becoming Three...

I just had to post these cute pictures of Ava. As she gets closer and closer to three she gets more and more girly. As of late, her favorite accessory is a little crown Grandma and Grandpa gave her for Christmas. She wears it not only around the house, but to the store, the mall, the library and to visit Daddy at BYU. She often refers to herself as Princess Ava and loves to brush "my beautiful locks" while standing in front of the mirror staring at herself. I mean, I can't blame the kid, she's gosh darn adorable!



She's also, as of late, become very enamored with my iPod, often commandeering it and telling me I can have it back when, "I've heard all the songs I want to hear and I'm done dancing." I jokingly said to her one day, "You sure are a bossy little thing." Her response? "That's because I'm becoming three, Mommy." I can't wait to see what becoming 16 is like.

Rub a Dub Dub, Two Squishies in a Tub

Ava loves her bath - not necessarily the getting clean part. She could care less. It's the playing part that sends her sprinting up the stairs when we mention bath time. She especially jumps at the opportunity to bathe with her baby brother. Until recently, we still had Jax in the infant tub inside the bathtub. Which, in itself was quite a feat. He looked like a whale in a guppy tank. Anyway, he'd be in his tub and Ava would sit in the regular tub with whatever space was left. She didn't mind the tight fit as long as she got to wash Jax's toes. Well, despite my hesitance, I finally decided to put Jax in the big tub. To be honest, it was just far too hard to clean deep inside all his rolls when he was scrunched up inside a bathtub meant for babies half his size. So, we took the plunge. The first time, we tested out the water sans Ava. I wanted Jax to get used to the big bath without his wiggle worm of a big sister splashing water up his nose. He LOVED it! He sat on his little booty and rocked as hard as he could, making himself slide all around the tub. Then, he'd lay on his back (his favorite) then roll to his tummy, then back to his back, then back to his tummy... you get the idea. The rolling went on about five minutes, until he decided to take a little taste of the yummy bathwater. That's when I put a halt to the rolling.


A few nights later I took a leap of faith and decided to let the world's two wiggliest children bathe together. I filled the tub, making it ridiculously shallow since Jax would be in it. I took a deep breath, put them both in and crossed my fingers that no one would drown, crack their head open on the side of the tub or worse, get soap in their eyes. The first few minutes were great. Ava and Jax sat upright playing with bath toys, Ava explaining each creature to Jax. Jax splashed with excitement, Ava very gently splashed back.

Apparently, my children are smarter than I give them credit for because they were just providing me a false sense of comfort. As soon as I said to myself, "This isn't so bad" the little buggers went bezerk. It started with Jax rolling. Ava, seeing what fun her baby brother was having decided she too wanted to roll. This caused major waves in the bathtub, which caused Jax to lose his balance and swallow massive amounts (okay, that's a minor exaggeration) of water. Okay, I calm them both down, sit them back upright and take another deep breath. Again, sensing I was comfortable, they start rolling. This time, Jax swallows more water - alot more. To be honest, I was pretty scared, it took him a minute to catch his breath. I vow, in my head, never to allow them to bathe together again.

Okay, so that was me being a little dramatic. Of course I'll let them bathe together again. They love it too much. Both had giant smiles on their faces the whole time, with the exception of moments of coughing up water. Just tonight Ava asked if it was bath night. When I told her no she asked, "Is tomorrow bath night? Then Jax and I can take a bath together."

So, I'll get a bathmat for inside the tub to reduce the slippage. I'll do my very best to minimize the rolling and wavemaking. If they're okay, I'm okay. There's nothing better than happy, clean kids -- and in the Kleinman house, the best place to get those is in the bathtub.

Standing Man

Jax enjoys every moment of his newfound mobility. It's hasn't taken him long to learn that he can follow me around the house, follow Ava around the house, get into the trash, pull the cord out of Daddy's laptop, take the shoes out of the shoe basket, take the diapers out of the diaper basket, take the DVDs out of the DVD basket and most importantly, see the world from a completely different perspective -- standing. So, now the little mancub pulls himself up to stand on whatever and wherever possible. Most recently, he's especially drawn to the stairs, which, I'm pretty sure, makes my heart beat irregularly. He is actually surprisingly sturdy while standing, however, he hasn't quite learned yet the most effective (and safest) way to go from standing to sitting or crawling. He just kinda lets go, stiffens up and falls backward right onto his padded (diaper and chub) booty, again, nearly making his Mama's heart burst out of her chest. Before we know it he'll be walking and then I'm really in for it. I'm pretty sure doctors should just fit me for my pacemaker now because I can tell this one is going to be fearless.

It's all my Fault!

So, the Super Bowl wasn't so super. I'm not just saying that because I'm bitter about the Cardinal's loss (really, three guys in the end zone and no one is on Santonio Holmes?!) but all the flags!! I echoed the screams of fast, drunk, old men everywhere, "Come on refs, just let them play the game!"

I think that the BIG L may be due in large part to Jax's absence during the last quarter of the game. I put him to bed at the end of the third quarter, which means I had to take his lucky Cardinals jersey off. Coincidence? I don't think so. He's worn that thing through every playoff game thus far and the ONE time he takes it off... well, we know what happened. I should have known! So, I apologize Cardinals fans (lifelong and bandwagon) everywhere for sticking to a strict schedule and making the little lucky charm go to bed. It's my fault. Really. Don't get angry about the whole Santonio Holmes in the end zone thing, or the fact the Ben Roethlisberger had 10 minutes to throw the ball every time, or that Kurt Warner decided to throw like a girl the very last play of the game. Nope, it's all my fault. Bring on the hate mail.

Before you write me a scathing letter though, check out the adorableness that is The Bubs in his jersey. G-Ma and G-Pa gave it to him for Christmas. It's a good thing the season is over because he's about to bust out of that thing.