Christmas Time

It's only December 9th (I realize that it's the 13th but I did write this on the 9th...) and Christmas activities are in full swing.  The first week of December was absolutely crazy.  We had something every night this past week.  Tonight, I'm exhausted.  I don't want to do one more dang thing but as tired as I am....It's so worth it!  Eric is at that perfect age where everything is exciting, and magical and so innocent.  I love it!  I want him to stay 4 forever.  Something we did this week that I wanted to highlight was Eric's preschool Christmas Program.  It was short, sweet and adorable.  Eric had been singing Christmas songs since before Thanksgiving in preparation for this event.  He knew every word and every choreographed hand gesture to every song.  I was one proud Mama on Thursday night.  Jene and I were both beaming all night long.  I live for these precious moments.  

Second, we took the boys to see Santa!  Our neighborhood puts on this activity every year.  They do refreshments and coloring pages for the kids and then you get to meet Santa and have pictures.  All for free...well, not really...we do pay our HOA fees.  Anyway, we waited about 45 minutes to see Santa and with Ryan being the wiggly 1 year old that he is, it was not a light task.  Eric was so excited yet a little shy around Santa.  Afterwards, all Eric could talk about was how Santa knew his name and if he was on his way back to the North Pole yet.  Cute kids, fun times!  Love this time of year always but especially with a 4 year old!!!    

  **The Picture of Eric with the bandage on his head....I just found it and I had forgotten that right before his Preschool program, we were at Sams Club and Eric fell on that concrete floor.  Right on his head...bad.  We called a nurse (Jene's sister, Sarah) and took him home.  Thankfully, nothing severe happened and Eric was fine.  We just took him home to ice his bump before his program.  Poor Kid.

                                      

Waiting in line for Santa

Tennessee Thanksgiving

I only have a few pictures to document our Tennessee Thanksgiving but I didn't want to skip a Thanksgiving post and move right onto Christmas things.  I feel bad for Thanksgiving sometimes (yes, like Thanksgiving is a person).  I feel like Thanksgiving doesn't get enough celebration time or something.  It's like Thanksgiving is a Mercedes but it gets the shaft because it's parked next to the Ferrari we call Christmas....ok not the best metaphor but whatever, I'm not a writer.  Anyway, it's kind of sad.  Especially with Black Friday starting on Thanksgiving night.  So, I definitely wanted to pay my respects to a great holiday that often gets rushed.  

I'm thankful to have in-laws that I love and that I can really enjoy being around.  It's really nice to feel at home when you can't be with your own siblings and parents.  I'm so grateful for their acceptance of me and for how great they are with our boys.  I'm grateful for my own family even though I wasn't able to be with them. I'm grateful we get to spend Christmas with them this year.  I'm grateful for the knowledge I have that families can be together forever.  We are blessed.  So blessed.  I'm feeling very grateful for everything in my life at this time, good or bad.  The good always outweighs the bad.  Heavenly Father sends me tender mercies every day and I want to acknowledge them and never forget!

After looking through all of our pics...these were the best...seriously.  Oh well....at least we have something right?

Me and Leta (Jene's little sister) playing corn hole in the backyard.  Such a fun game!!

The grandkids helping Grammy make Dumplings

Trampoline time!  The kids got a lot of this.

Sleepy Ryan

4

So, I'm running a bit behind with all these posts.  Our lives are crazy with Halloween, Ryan's Birthday and Eric's birthday all happening within 8 days!!  Like I said in my last post...no more November babies!!  Or any October babies for that matter!!  Too much going on.  

4 years ago, our little (well big) Eric joined our family and made Jene and I parents for the first time.  He is the life of this family!  He keeps us on our toes for sure and always cracks us up.  He is doing so well in school and definitely has his daddy's "smarts".  He is a sweet older brother and a good helper to Mommy.  He is the best snuggler in the whole world.  He is so inventive and silly and just a ball of energy!!  We are so glad he is ours, even on days where we want to pull all our hair out.  Happy Birthday Eric!!  We love you!!     

Eric asked for an Angry Bird party this year.  He is obsessed with that game and turns any toy (legos, cars, blocks...) into his own version of the game.  So...I decided to make a bowling game for the kids with sprite bottles and free templates you can print off the internet.  We had a coloring table with Angry Bird coloring pages (again free off the internet.  What would we do without it, seriously?!)  It was a gorgeous day so we were up at the park so the kids could just play on the playground too (those are the best parties for Mamas)!  And of course we had cake and presents!  I didn't make Eric's cake either....I had to brush off the my guilt for this too....I still feel kinda bad BUT it was so easy and created less stress which is a good thing and well worth it!!  I did make the balloons look like Angry Birds though soooo....it all balanced out.  The kids had a great time and now we are done with birthday parties for a whole year...woohoo!!

Eric opened Presents with us first.  He finally got a real angry bird game and doesn't have to pretend legos are angry birds.  :)

The cake.  Nothing fancy.  Store bought but Jene and I did arrange  Eric's new toys on top...so it counts, right?

"Bowling for Piggies"  

Cute group!!

The balloons were a hit!  My favorite.

1

Our family grew by two whole feet this past year!  I can't believe it's been a year but I also can't imagine our family without him.  Right now, our family feels complete and whole.  I don't know if we will add to the brood anytime soon or later but for now, we feel very full and very happy!

 (side note...we will most definitely avoid November babies at all costs in the future. 2 in the first week, right after Halloween is a little crazy).  

Ryan has been our calm, sweet boy from the moment he entered this world.  Don't let his mild demeanor fool you, this kid has some spunk.  I can't wait until he and Eric play better together....they will compliment each other quite nicely.  

Ryan is definitely a Mama's boy!  He loves his Daddy but he is definitely Mama's little sidekick.  

Ryan is a big boy but he is definitely evening all out and looking so grown up already.

Ryan isn't walking yet and I know he'll do it when he's ready but I think he doesn't walk out of laziness.  He is such a fast crawler that I think, that he thinks walking is a waste when he can get from point a to point b much fast crawling.

 Ryan is still the happiest baby on the block!  He lets me take him anywhere and if by some small chance he starts to fuss....all you have to do is find him a snack and he's happy again.  Eric was definitely not like this so this is something new and fun and liberating!  

For Ryan's birthday....I gave myself the "bad mom award" because I didn't go all out like I did with Eric's first birthday.  But, I have been super stressed out lately and October and November for us, are crazy with Halloween, both boys birthdays (they are 5 days apart), I had a YW program earlier in the month that I planned (I should post about that...we'll see), so on and so forth....you get my drift.  So, I already had a good guilty cry about it and now I realize, it's ok!  Ryan had a great first birthday and he didn't need all that fluffy stuff.  And you know what...It was kinda great to just celebrate as a family.  No huge mess to clean up, no playing "hostess", no stress to go overkill with decor and other things that us Mommy's think is so necessary for a birthday party....and to top it off, I didn't make his cake.  Shocking, I know BUT it was so freeing to be able to not have to work so hard and not enjoy the day.  I was able to spend every minute with my boys and enjoy our neighborhood Fall Festival that day (which by the way, we considered Ryan's party...it was free and fabulous.  When he looks back on the pics maybe he'll think we threw the best party ever for him..haha).  Anyway, our little chunk is 1 and we love him so much.  We are so grateful for such a sweet, happy addition to our family!!!!!!

LOVE YOU RYAN!!

Happy Halloween

Fall is going way too fast!  I wish the month of October could go on for about another 2 weeks!  Wouldn't that be great?  Anyway, I feel like we did a lot this month but most of it was in the last week and a half so I feel like I'm behind on blogging and that this post is going to be like 3 posts rolled into one....I hate that.  Oh well...it's gonna be long.

1.  BYU was in the ATL, holla!  BYU came to town to play Georgia Tech and we were so excited.  They signed up to play for the next few years back and forth so we will get to go to another game in 2 years.  YAY!  I love it when a piece of home comes to visit us down south.  Jene and I went with 2 other couples and we pretty much ran into everyone in our Stake, Wards and all other Mormon acquaintances in the Atlanta area.  It was great!  Nothing like a bunch of people rooting for the same team!!  As a bonus, BYU happened to spank Georgia Tech so it was even more fun.  It's always funner when your team wins!

On our way to the game

The BYU Crew!  We love these peeps!

I love this shot with part of the Atlanta Skyline in the back ground.  It's not as beautiful as the Mountains in Provo but it's still pretty cool.

2.  Trunk or Treat. The Saturday before Halloween, we headed up to the church with our Dalmatian and our Fireman to eat some good grub and score some candy.  Any Halloween season would be incomplete without a ward Trunk or Treat and Chili Cook Off, right?  We love it!  Plus, your kids get to Trick or Treat twice and Mom and Dad get even more "Candy Tax".  Muahahaha...being a parent is hard but a "candy tax" can help make things a little sweeter.  It's definitely a perk to being an adult.  Eric loved all the games and actually waited in line patiently to play but he kept asking us every 2 minutes if it was time to "trick or treat" yet.  Oh and did I mention that I won the Chili Cook Off?!  Toot! Toot!  Yep, I'm tooting my own horn here....anyway....

Eric bowling

Our little Fireman

                                               

Eric and his buddies.  Eric and Casch's costumes were not friendly with the flash....

                                     

Eric's getting a firetruck on his cheek.  He loved it

Oh yeah...1st place baby!

The pups first chicken nugget...let the obsession begin

Eric and I handing out candy....Eric's darn jacket! 

Daddy and the Dalmatian

I had to throw this cute picture in!  These are 3 of my cute YW.  Can you tell who or what they are?!

3.  Halloween!  Halloween day seemed cuh-ray-zeeey!  I felt like the day flew by.  I had volunteered to help with Eric's class party at Preschool.  Eric's first school party...so cute!  They had a little parade through the school with all the students (everyone looked so cute) and then they had a party in their classroom.  Eric introduced me to all of his friends in the class, which was everyone which is a good thing!  He ate snacks with his friends, and showed me his craft he made.  It was darling.  Sending Eric to 3 year old preschool is, hands down, the best money Jene and I have ever spent.  After school, we came home and Ryan slept and Eric had quiet time while I got dinner ready to go in the oven (I make my mom's traditional Halloween Stew every year.  It makes the house smell sooo yummy).  I toasted up some pumpkin seeds which I don't think I will do again because I'm the only one who eats them...sad, I know.  After I got all my cooking done I took the boys and met up with some friends to trick or treat at Publix (a grocery store).  Two years ago they did a cool little spook alley and cake walk and this year it was totally lame.  I don't think we will go back next year but it did help pass the time until Jene got home.  When Jene got home, I felt like all hell broke loose!  Eric was beyond ready to go Trick or Treating and Ryan was grumpy and I just wanted a cute picture!!  We let Eric drive Ryan around in his Fire Truck Power Wheels and that was so funny!!  Eric is a horrible driver but it was slow enough that I wasn't too worried about Ryan falling out or anything.  Eric only drove to the first 3 houses...just enough to get cute pictures of the fireman and his dalmatian.  Then after that the night is pretty much your normal night.  I hung back at the house and answered the door which I love and Jene took both boys around for awhile.  It was a great night and I can't believe it's already over!

Eric's cute class!  I love it!

The best picture I could get.  Ryan just wanted to crawl around!

Trick or Treating in style!!

 

Where did September go?

Oh my goodness....it's October?!  Already?!  Wow, September flew by.  I love October...it's probably my favorite month of the whole year.  :)  I hope it doesn't fly by like September did. (wishful thinking, yeah, I know.)

Looks like I need to play a little "catch up" from September.  

Last weekend, we went up to Tennessee to visit the in-laws and I got my Zumba license...yay!   I had been on the fence about getting my Zumba license for at least 1 1/2 years.  I finally got the nudge and validation that I needed and so I am now officially a Zumba Mama!  It is easy enough to become a Zumba instructor but the 8 1/2 hours it took was exhausting!  It was like working out for 70% of the day and it got old, fast.  I love Zumba but this day made me hate it.  I was so over it by noon and I still had 4 or 5 hours to go.  It just proved to me again that too much of a good thing can be bad.  Anyway, now that I have my license, I'm just practicing a lot and learning routines and I'll start looking for a job probably in January.  I know that seems like forever away but November and December are such busy months and I already feel overwhelmed.  Also, I figure there is no rush and this way I can just practice and practice and hopefully be pretty comfortable with everything once I start teaching.  :)

(this is the only picture I took...I was a sweaty gross mess after 8 1/2 hours of Zumba)

While I was doing my Zumba thing, Jene had both boys.  Bless his heart.  He is so supportive...love that man!  He took the boys to the Flea Market, the Bristol NASCAR race track and Papaw took Eric fishing.  They had a fun and exhausting day too.  All of us were so so tired come Sunday.  

 Last week, we went to the Coweta (cow-ee-tah) County Fair with some good friends of ours.  It was so much fun!!  It wasn't too pricey and even if it had been, it was totally worth it to see Eric and his friend Casch having so much fun.  Now, I've been to a few state fairs in my time and this one was great and super clean from what I could tell.  I loved it!  I only wish Jene and I had gone back for a date night.  Ryan was a trooper the whole time and so was Jene because we forgot the stroller and someone had to lug the 25 pounds around.  :)  Of course, I took my turn here and there but Jene did most of the heavy lifting.   

10

I cannot believe that it was 10 months ago today that little Ryan joined our family!  He is getting too big and it makes me kinda sad.  

Ryan is doing all sorts of "big boy" things lately like clapping his hands, eating chunkier foods, clicking his tongue, super speed crawling and trying to crawl up the stairs when Mommy isn't looking.  

He officially has 6 teeth but one just broke through his gums yesterday.

He started to wake up in the night to eat...go figure!  Hopefully this phase passes soon.  I am not going to let him cry it out just yet because he wakes up and is genuinely hungry and goes right back to sleep after eating.

Funny quirk Ryan does lately....if he sees you eat something he will plant his open little mouth right on top of your lips like he's giving you a big kiss but really, he's just trying to get a taste of your food.  Gross?  Maybe to some but I think it's absolutely hilarious and adorable!  I let him catch me taking bites all the time.  :)
** Let me just clarify...he does NOT eat food out of our mouths.  He's just putting his mouth on your closed lips while you chew.  

From this at just a few days old....

To this in 10 months...Amazing.  I'm still smitten by this little guy.  :)  Love you Chunk!

   

Big Day x 2

*This is a little lengthy but that's mostly for me because my blog serves as a journal so...yeah deal with it or don't read it.  :)

We've had 2 big days here at the Johnson home!!

1.  Jene and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on Sunday (really we celebrated on Saturday like good little Mormons. :))

Saturday night we got a sitter and we hit the town...as much as we could on our budget.  (Let me just mention here that I hate paying baby sitters!!  I HATE IT! It makes me feel like we can't go out for more than 2 or 3 hours because you'll be paying crazy amounts of money.  **deep breath** Ok, my side-track rant is over now...maybe I'll post more on that little tangent later because apparently I have some feelings that need venting).  
Anyway, back to the celebrations.  I had asked Jene if he would be interested in getting a couples pedicure and he said, "sure"!  I was so excited.  **Side note: He used to get them in Brazil on his mission.  Due to all the walking, he'd get awful calluses thus needing a pedicure.  So he was actually kind of excited to get one**  So we got our Pedicures done, which I highly recommend as a date night to anyone!  It's fun!  You get to sit and relax in a massage chair with your best friend and lova, sip Diet Cokes and have your feet massaged...Um, yes please!  Jene and I liked it so much that we have talked about doing this together like 4 times a year. After our feet were silky smooth, we went to dinner and stuffed ourselves silly!  Dinner was so fun because we sat at the bar and ate.  Anyone ever do that?  I didn't even know you could, to be honest.  They told us the wait was 40 minutes unless we wanted to sit at the bar and I did not want to wait (it only added on time and money with the baby sitter) so we agreed to eat at the bar.  It was so much better than a table or booth!  I prefer the bar, for sure.  First of all, you get to sit close to your lova.  Side by side, he could put his arm around me, we could whisper "sweet nothings" or what say ye to each other AND you get the fastest service imaginable!!  It was the best dinner date experience we've had in awhile.  All in all, it was our best date night in a long time and worth every penny spent.  It was much needed and I loved being out and all dressed up with my man! 

Cheers to 7 years baby!!  We only get better with age!!

                                                                                                                                                                                7 years and Jene still gives me butterflies...no joke.  What a lucky girl I am!

 A little story with this note....Sunday morning, I had to take the boys to church alone because Jene has a Stake calling and had to be at a different ward.  So, I came home from church (and if you have ever taken your kids to church alone, you know how stressful that is and you come home feeling drained and overwhelmed and sometimes discouraged...I feel that way every time) and I'm feeling sad and Jene's not there and I start to get lunch going and I see this note.....made my day!  Made me want to shout from the rooftops that I have the best husband in the world, for me of course.  :)

2.  Eric had his first day of 3 year old preschool today.  It was such a weird morning for me!  It was full of mixed emotions.  Everything from excited to nervous to sad to happy...everything!  But I need to back up for a minute here.  Sunday evening before Eric's bed time, we sat down and had a little family chat about school.  We reminded Eric to be nice, share etc..etc..and then Eric got his very first "Back to School Father's Blessing".  It was so sweet, until Eric started asking if Jene was done yet...haha!  It was a special experience for our little family.  
Now back to this morning.  I walked Eric into the school today and he was off and busy and wanted nothing to do with me.  Which is a good thing and a sad thing as a Mom.  I want him to be happy and independent and not be the kid who cries for his Mommy for 3 hours BUT at the same time, I wanted him to be a little sad to see me leave but alas, he was fine and I had to grab his face to get his attention so that I could get a kiss good-bye.  :/  Oh well.  The really sad part was getting in the car.  I felt a little "misty eyed" which is weird because I'm not an easy crier.  But the tears started to flow when Ryan started crying in the backseat (which is completely bizarre and unheard of) and I realized he was crying because Eric wasn't back there to entertain him.  *tear*  It melted my heart and it was worse when we got home and Ryan spent a good 15 minutes trying to find Eric.  He was looking all over and crawling all over like he was searching for something.  I know he missed Eric.  I on the other hand was completely fine after the car ride.  I realized, I could get my work out in without interruptions, I got laundry done and Ryan took a nap...it was great!  When I picked up Eric I was one of the last 3 year old Moms to walk in so Eric didn't see me for a bit and he thought I wasn't there.  He was on the verge of tears when someone moved out of the way and there I was.  And as soon as Eric saw me, his face just lit up!  It was the best thing in the world!  I got a great big hug and kiss and off we went to get in the car.  Eric loved his first day and I'm so looking forward to the rest of the year!!!

 These pics are just before we left the house.  He was so excited and ready to go!

The picture of Eric in his classroom is so cute but I wish he would've looked at me!  I kept taking pictures and asking for him to look at me and he said this, "Mommy, I'm too busy to look at you."  Thanks kid, love you too!