We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams . . .
yet we are the movers and shakers of the world forever, it seems

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Easter, Storms and Honey-Do's


Happy Easter everybody!!!

After our early fishing fun on Thursday, we got together with the Wilsons and Emily and Jason for some egg dying, egg hunting and Easter brunch on Saturday.

Can you find Kimo in this picture? hee hee



We only got videos of the hunt on Saturday...sorry.

On Sunday, we went to Harmony and Had Abogi's house for a lunch and ANOTHER Easter Egg hunt. The kids raked in the goodies this year with all the hunting and fishing going on (no bunnies of fish were injured in the course of our adventures of course!).

Lucy is the gate-keeper...no early starts for Elliott this year.







The weather this spring has been the wettest EVER for my time in Boise. One night, we had a BEAUTIFUL, albeit tiny compared to Arizona's monsoons, thunder storm that left the sunset sky just gorgeous! I looked out the front window at my favorite tree and saw this image....I had to get a picture.


On my husband's break, he has decided to get some things done around the house that he has been wanting to do for a while. He has repaired the kids dirt bikes, fixed the rollerblade-shaped hole in our wall, and installed a double gate in our fence so we can park our camper in the backyard. Thanks Larry and Jason for all your help! Now that his odd jobs are done, maybe he is ready to start on MY list!!

I love the kids working on their own project in the foreground.

There's our last week. I'm almost caught up!
Here is a little Archie update: His chord fell off; he is just starting to cry real tears, usually during his baths which he hates; his rash is gone!; he and I and Lucy took our first outing without Mikey to Target this afternoon; he interrupts my shoulder-hold snuggling moments with his snorting (which I don't mind at all); he always fills up his diaper just moments after I change it; he has an uncanny knack for peeing everywhere BUT his diaper while wearing his diaper....it really is amazing; he has a double cowlick on the back of his head that gives him the ever-fashionable faux-hawk without even trying; he gave his first vocal coo to Elliott and Elliott was so excited he talked to him first!; he smiled at Lucy (sort-of), and she loved it; he sleeps about 4 hours at a time at night, and last night he slept 5 1/2!!; he is a champion sleeper that I still have to forcefully coax awake for EVERY day feeding. There, that's my little guy in a nutshell right now!



Friday, April 29, 2011

Somebody loves his little brother

Somebody loves his baby brother...











In the morning, for awake time, Elliott likes to talk/sing/roll around with Archie on the ground.











His first time pushing the stroller. He pushed it twice around the block.



A pretty amazing picture Elliott took of Archie.


Thursday, April 28, 2011

All is well!!

Archie saw the doctor yesterday for circumcision and a weight check. ALL IS WELL!!! He gained 7 oz in 6 days! He is at 5 pounds 12 oz! What a feat! I think the last doctors visit scared him too, because he has been a champion eater ever since.
I was an emotional mess yesterday thinking about the circumcision, but he aced that one too...he fell asleep DURING the procedure!! He was a little grumpy last evening, and i was still an emotional mess, so I was very worried about the night. I prayed a lot, and prayed some more, and we made it without a hitch. What a blessing, it helps so much to know we're not parenting alone; I've never had prayers answered so quickly or obviously. Heaven wants this baby to be happy and safe as much as we do. There is no better comfort as a mother... We are so blessed!

Here are some pics from the doctors office. Don't worry, they are all pre-procedure!













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Monday, April 25, 2011

Our Tiny Little Easter Boy

When Ruth came to visit last week, the first thing she said when she saw Archie was, " I didn't know he was so tiny! You can't tell how tiny he is in the pictures". As of that moment, we made it our quest to get some perspective shots of Archie so you will all know how small he is, and we will remember when he isn't so tiny any more. Unfortunately, our quest was cut short by Ruth returning to Logan, but I fulfilled our mission later that week. Here are some of my attempts at perspective:

Archie compared to an iphone...

Archie compared to a ruler...
Archie in Elliott's kid sized motorcycle helmet (he looks like he's smiling!)...
Archie compared to a proud older sister...
Archie compared to a big, strong, proud Daddy...
These next two are my favorites.

Archie in Daddy's hands...
Archie in Daddy's hat...
Archie in Mommy's hands...
Well, there you go, my best attempt at perspective...I'll keep trying. Hope you know our little Easter boy a little better now!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Visitors!!

I have to apologize ahead of time for this and upcoming posts. I use this blog for your information, but also for my personal records. So, if I get a little wordy, it is because I don't want to forget anything about my life right now, and writing it down is the best way for me to remember!

What a wonderful week we had! On Monday, my baby sister, Ruth Crozier and her kids Karver and Kason came to visit us from Logan. This is very special for many reasons: Elliott LOVES Karver, and there could not have been someone he was more excited to see; Ruth is a super-positive, super-helper, and tonz of fun to be around; Lucy loved having Kason around. Ruth held the baby and helped watch the kids, Karver entertained Elliott and distracted him from the changes in our little home and family, and Kason kept Lucy smiling. Elliott has been having a hard time these last couple of weeks. He has been scared of everything (mostly tornados or "whirlpools" as he calls them). He gets so scared that he won't go upstairs alone, comes in a room a few times a night, and doesn't want to go outside because he is scared of a twister. This started before the baby came. I think was his way of dealing with his anticipation of the unknown changes coming up. Once Archie arrived, he became more difficult. He said "no" to us, acted out, wouldn't listen, and was just all around difficult. Once Karver showed up, Elliott was back to his old self. We appreciated that very much...Thank you RUTH!!

I am so grateful Mike gets time off after the baby. Mike has been my champion these last two weeks. He lets me sleep in when the baby sleeps (and sometimes when he's awake!), he gets the kids ready for school, drives me to nursing bra fittings (the doc says I can't drive for two weeks), cleans, unloads the dishwasher, prepares dinner, invites me on outings to get me out of the house, grocery shops, does the laundry, engages the children CONSTANTLY and LOVINGLY, and makes sure I take it easy and am happy. I love you Mikey, I appreciate you so much. It has been priceless to see him interact with Lucy and Elliott so much. As much as I miss them while I sit on the couch pumping or nursing, I am so glad they have their Dad to show them love and attention. What a guy.

When Archie is sleeping, he sometimes blows a little puff of air through his lips. It is adorable. He has done it since the hospital. We took him to the Pediatrician last wednesday, and Archie had lost 11 oz....he only weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces! This is not good. He eats for about 40 minutes, but he is fighting, fidgeting, sleeping or crying for 35 of those minutes. At the doctor's office, I nursed him for a few minutes and they weighed him again: he had gained 3 ounces! So, we know it is possible for him to get what he needs, we just have to help him get it. It was so comforting to know that it was possible! We came up with a gameplan, and he is doing so much better. We will weigh him at his appointment this wednesday, and we are sure he will be right on target.

Here are some pictures from our last week:

Archie's first bath. He hates bath time. It's a great way to wake him up. You can't see it in this picture, but he has an awful looking rash all over his torso. It started as baby-acne, but it has turned so horrible! The doctor says it's normal and it just looks bad....boy does it look bad! But, he doesn't seem to mind, so I shouldn't either!

(Pay special attention to the size of my hands next to the size of Archie. He is so tiny.)


Here are some pics from my little photo session with Archie.

Notice Archie's keen posing skills, he's ready for the big-time!


When Elliott saw me taking pictures of Archie, he got ready for his photo op...here is him winking at me!


Here is my angel Ruth holding my other little angel, Archie!

Elliott and Karver getting on great!

Elliott was able to teach Karver about basketball! It was cute to watch Elliott and Ruth teach him to throw the ball into the hole! Karver caught on nicely.


We decided to do our Johnson Easter tradition, Easter Fish, a little early so Ruth and family could participate. So, on Thursday night we got the Wilsons, Hynes, Croziers, and Emiliy and Jason together for some fishing fun! Mike was the only grown-up up with the kids, and he was the photographer responsible for these amazing photos (again...isn't he the best?!)

The fisher-people:
We weren't the only ones who loved having the Croziers over!
YAY Kason! His first fish was at the Hynes house....remember that forever!

Pure joy and belief on Elliott's face:

Pure joy and belief on Lucy's face (it's a little harder to see, but it's there, I promise!):

That's the update so far. I still have many posts to catch you up on: my pregnancy photos (more for my own history than your enjoyment...sorry!), perspective pictures of Archie so you can grasp just how tiny he really is!, dirtbike videos from Mike and the kids, and more Easter celebrations. Look what you have to look forward to! How exciting for you!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Family Fun

There had been so much love in our home this week! The kids are so tender and sweet with Archie and try so hard to be helpful and good for me. They always pray for mommy and Archie. We have had yummy meals brought in, sweet gifts, and lovely flowers...like these from Pappa Lund and Gramma Karen:


And as promised, here are some more pictures of our little bundle.


Elliott took this one:


We went on our first outing today! Mike said he would push me in a wheelchair around Walmart to do some grocery shopping today if I wanted to get out of the house...YES!! I want out! So we went to his Walmart to show off Archie to his coworkers. There were no wheelchairs and I wasn't too keen on driving a mart-cart, so I walked, slowly, while holding into a shopping cart. And I did it!! Archie slept through the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure he was very excited about his first day out on the town.
There was an Easter photo op set up so we took advantage of it:


Archie did too ( Hee Hee):


Here is my angel girl holding my angel boy. I think it's appropriate they have a halo.


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