# 4 Syndrome Part II

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# 4 Syndrome

I am really trying to be cautious about not doing too many things for Claire in the memorabilia department that I know I won't realistically find the time or energy to do for my future posterity. Am I the only one who feels this pressure?

Perhaps this all boils down to the fact that I'm child # 4 in my family. Enough said.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter. I don't blame my mom and dad. I only have one kid and I already have a hard time jotting notes and remembering to keep track of all the crazy milestones we are supposed to keep track of. I can only imagine how hard it will be when/if I have 3 other little ones running around. And for the record, I'm still trying to judge if Claire's first smile was actually a direct result of a satisfying gas bubble. So I have a few potential "first" dates listed in that slot.

Nonetheless, I am not naturally a scrappy or crafty kind of lady. So I decided to throw this digital diddy together really quick on Shutterfly. And by really quick, I mean it only took me 5 months to finish. Easy enough to do for all the rest of em', right?

Blessing Day

Claire's blessing day was a great affair. Over 50 family members and friends joined us from six states, and Germany for the big day. We feel very fortunate to be surrounded by such an amazing circle of support.

Niels did a nice job and we were pretty surprised that by some miraculous measure Claire didn't make a single peep with practically half a football team surrounding her.

Isn't she a dream in white?

Grandma and Grandpa Colton came all the way from Germany!

Grandma and Grandpa Jensen

Niels' Grandma Haycock suffered a stroke in December and is living in an assisted care center until she improves enough to move back to her home. We were so touched that the center allowed her to leave for a few hours so she could attend the blessing.

The Thomas Clan

The Vegas Cousins

More Family and Friends

Practically my second family, The Hofheins, made the trip from Utah and helped make it a very special weekend.

A big thanks to all our friends and family for your love and support!

Brianhead

What better way to vacation than with six adults, three babies and a two-bedroom condo in the snow? Okay, I suppose I can think of a few ways. But nonetheless, we combined forces with two great couples from dental school and their babes for a great President's Day getaway at Brianhead. We stayed at Niels' grandparents' condo, which is conveniently located right across from the resort. Not too shabby.

I was a little nervous about how it was all going to work out with all the different schedules, but it worked out surprisingly well and we packed in some amazing food and skiing, and of course a whole lot of baby talk and play. (I wuv baby talk.)

The Mommas and the Poppas:

Niels, Claire, Matt, John, Lincoln, and David


Me, Claire, Mimi, David, Becca, and John

To simplify things a bit we rotated covering meals. The other two couples really brought their A-games and shared some impressive authentic dishes from Korea and Russia, where they served their respective missions. So we enjoyed authentic Korean bulgogi beef lettuce wraps and Russian borsch. Niels served in Argentina and while I fancied the idea of following suit and making empanadas or some sort of amazing beef, I took the Costco route instead and made their take and bake chicken pot pie. Ha! Gotta love Costco. Maybe next year we will be a little more creative. Maybe.

Coupled with the great food, was fantastic skiing. We rotated couples so that 2 couples were watching 3 babies and 1 couple was skiing. Niels is way more skilled than I am but we still had a great time. We were talking about how we don't go skiing often enough to really ever improve. It's almost as if regain our sea-legs the first day and on the second day we do great, but then we don't go again for another year. You'd obviously have to live close to snow to get really good. And on that note, I'm happy with just being okay at it.

Claire was an awesome little traveler. Niels attributes the altitude to her chronic fatigue. She slept in the car both ways as well as the majority of the time we were there. Now there's a reason to move close to snow.

Claire and her two boyfriends, John and David:

It will be a little more crazy next year when all the little ones are walking around, but we are definitely looking forward to it!

Giggles

Baby giggles have to be one the best things ever after baby feet and pudgy leg rolls. Enjoy Claire's first belly laughs. Ironically enough, this was a few hours after she had shots which makes us wonder what was really in the injections since she hasn't done this since. I'm so happy we had the camera close by.

Oh, and I can assure you that we actually do get things done around here sometimes even though she's not dressed and the bed is not made ...