March 22, 2009: So my elbow is not broken (not that anyone showed any concern, sigh). Today we only had one hour of church so we were home shortly after 10:00 am and had the whole rest of the day. Too bad we didn't get much done. I napped for almost three hours with Maybe. That was nice. Yesterday me and Seth went on a date to Old Navy and Wendy's. He got THREE new pairs of shoes, a new hat, and sunglasses. What a lucky dude. Later I took Maybe to the park to play with Rilyn and Nen. I'm not sure I've ever taken her to the park alone. It was fun because I got to play with just her and give her all of my attention. Well I guess I really don't have anything too interesting to talk about so I guess I'll show some pictures.

I bought Seth his own sunglasses (these are mine of course) because he has become obsessed with mine. Doesn't he look fab-u-lous?

Seth wears his sunglasses inside all the time. I think he looks cool. Oh, and for some reason he would only let us take his picture if he was laying down on his pillow.

Friday night we spent a few hours at the park. Mabes was just chillin'.

Seth was having a hard time playing with the other kiddos.

Maybe LOVES the slide.

Seth on his way to swim lessons.

Seth "scooping" with his arms

This is right after Seth went all the way under the water.

March 20, 2009: I think I broke my ELBOW. Seriously. Is it even possible to break an elbow? Should I be concerned I have limited feeling and strength in two of my fingers? I can straighten my arm and I can bend it 90 degrees but that's it. You all should be impressed...I was carrying both kiddos when it happened and I didn't drop either one of them.

March 18, 2009: FINALLY we are all healthy and well. The last week and a half seemed like it would never end. I don't really have anything new today to talk about so I guess this will be randomness. Seth went to his second swimming lesson on Saturday and did NOT have a good time. I think his ears were still hurting him. He is a pretty good swimmer though. He's real good at kicking his legs and going under the water. I looked for some pictures on my phone and camera and only came up with a few. I think Ryan has some good pics on his phone. Anyway, I'll post some just so I don't have another pictureless post. These are all from my phone so they're not the best quality.

Seth and Rilyn playing on the same day Seth became sick

Remember the horrific Root Beer explosion story? Here's what the can looked like. It was just perfect for spraying.

My sick kiddos last week

My kiddos wore green yesterday...did yours?

This is what happens when your kids wear the same size clothes. I did NOT put that on him, he did it himself.

March 13, 2009: I dedicate this post to Wendy, perhaps jessiewessie.com's one true Fanatic. I haven't posted all week because I was tired of posting about gloom and doom, but after posting so much gloom I suppose I owe the readers an update. So Seth went to the doctor on Monday and he has double ear infections. He was given a shot of antibiotic and then put on another one. I had no idea his ears hurt. The doc said on a pain scale he was at 7 out of 10. Ouchie! So I guess he had the flu + the ear problems. Holy cow was he sick and was I worried! He is just now starting to eat again and acting like himself. He is sleeping lots and has horrible coughing fits, but at least I don't find him laying on the floor in random places just staring and he no longer moans with every breath he takes as he's sleeping. Now Maybe is sick. Not nearly as bad though. She was running a temp so I took her to the doctor on Tuesday. Her ears were cloudy but not red and infected. She's also got the coughs and a really bad runny nose. I have to clean her out so she can nurse and breath at the same time. He gave me an antibiotic for her but I haven't filled it yet. She hasn't been messing with her ears so I thought I would wait. I don't think she'll need it. I've been feeling crappy all week too. My ears hurt and I'm too embarrassed to go back to the doctor for a third time so I'm going to stick it out a little while longer. Do adults really get ear infections? I thought when you hit puberty you were done with those. I know we've taken some pictures of the kiddos this week but I think they're all on Ryan's phone so I'll have to post them later. Today we went to Costco to buy milk and bread and fish. Ohhhhhhh...it was so nice to get out of the house and into a store. I HATE being cooped up and I really havn't been anywhere except to the doctor's office since Saturday. I cannot wait for a warm day so I can take the kiddos outside to play.

March 9, 2009: Happy Birthday Sariah!! Well, Seth is super duper sick. He is so sick he was moaning with each breath he took last night and I was up the entire night worried sick about him. He's been running a fever since Thursday night, has been throwing up since Thursday night, and has eaten maybe the equivalent of a piece of bread (and after each little time he has tried to eat thrown it up) and has drank a sippy cup or two worth of liquid since Thursday night and has thrown all of that up. I'm telling ya, one sick dood. I called my nurse friend this morning and she said I should definately take him to the doctor (yeah, I shouldn't need someone to tell me that. I just don't want to be that mom...the one who takes her kids to the doctor constantly and unecessarily) so he's got an appointment at 10:45 am. I hope the doctor can do something to make my little buddy feel better.

March 8, 2009: Happy Birthday Brooklyn!! Still sick today. Poor Sethie! I think Maybe is going to be next. She's starting to cough. Last night Seth's temp was 104. So so sick. This time last year Seth had the flu too.

Last years flu

March 7, 2009: It's official. Seth has the flu. He's been throwing up since Thursday night (why do kids wait and throw up in bed?). Wanna know the sad thing? I still took Seth to his first day of swim lessons this morning. He wanted to go and he was acting fine. He did so good. He learned how to put his head under water and even jumped from the side of the pool and went all the way under. I was so proud of him! Anyway, so here we all sit watching Horton Hears a Who. I'm coughing, Mabes is starting to cough, and of course Seth is coughing like crazy. It is kinda nice to have a lazy day where we are expected to watch movies. Seth's new favorite place to play right now is in Maybe's crib. He can get in and out by himself. Ryan snapped this photo yesterday. You can't look at it and not say, "Ahhhhhh, how cute".

March 6, 2009: What did you do on your Friday night? Did you have a hot date? Perhaps eat some good food, maybe play some fun games? Wanna know what I did on my Friday night? Well I'll tell ya anyway. I mopped the kitchen/dining room TWICE. No no, I'm no Kate Gosselin cleaning freak, I'm normal. Here's the story. Seth has been sick for a week or so now. Last night he had a fever and threw-up a few times. Today he threw-up three times...all in the kitchen. So after dinner was cleaned up I decided to mop because ew, throw-up had been on the floor recently and I was just tired of stepping in little sticky spots from leaking cups. Seth had been asking for a root beer for a while and Ryan kept telling him no because he was sick and he didn't want him to throw it up and after Seth came to me holding a can of it I told him he could have it because he was sick and hadn't really eaten anything all day. Well, I had just LITERALLY placed the mop in the pantry and was giddy because the floor was finally sticky free and was telling Seth I would get him a sippy cup when I heard a noise. I'm not too descriptive with my words so I'll just tell you. It was the sound of a root beer can hitting the floor from about ohhhh two and a half feet and then the SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS as said can of root beer began spinning and spewing root beer EVERYWHERE. It went EVERYWHERE. Three-quarters up the wall. Cabinets, appliances, everything in the pantry, anything sitting on the counters and tables covered in root beer. If you've been to my house you can visualize this when I tell you it even made it into the top of the stairwell of the basement. The entire 20 seconds or so it took for the can to stop exploding was in complete slow motion for me. I was yelling "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" at the top of my lungs and Seth was, well, he was laughing....hard. Once I was able to stop yelling and Ryan came to see the commotion and I saw him I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or laugh. It turns out I laughed. Good thing the little dood was there laughing otherwise it would have been tears. You see, as I have complained in a few previous posts I too have been sick and the thought of all that clean up was just too much. Oh well, at least it wasn't one of my precious Dr. Peppers.

March 5, 2009: It has finally happened. I know the names of all the Wiggles and I have decided that Sam Wiggle is the least creepy of all of them. Who's with me?

March 4, 2009: You can't miss this extreme cuteness!

March 3, 2009: Once again I tried calling in sick this morning but the boss wouldn't have any of that. I simply suggested that Ryan take the kiddos to work with him today so I could rest. Geez, I don't know why he didn't go for it. Well, I couldn't take another day of watching my kids watching TV all day long so we decided to venture out. The past couple of days it's actually been quite warm, upper 60's, but the darn wind ruined any quality outside time. So where do most stay at home moms go when they need to venture out? Target. So off we went with an actual agenda. The kiddos needed swimsuits for their aforementioned swim lessons. Luckily they were both a pretty easy find.

Seth tried on last years swimsuit and it just seemed a bit tight. It didn't help that he was trying it on over some shorts. Seth has come really close to being able to dress himself.

Maybe's new suit.

I got the one with the skirt because...well...I also have chunky monkey thighs so I wear a skirt. I thought it was the kind thing to do.
After Target I wasn't feeling too good so I thought lunch at Wendy's sounded nice. Mostly cuz I wouldn't have to make anything or clean anything up.
And now on to randomness. Look at the following picture. Look hard. Do you see it? Do you see the beautiful hair that is Maybe's? Yessssss. Success! Proof that she won't be bald forever!

Mabes is content to play by herself at the park these days.

Have you ever seen anything so adorable? (the girl not the mom)

We were walking home after the park and as we were approaching the back of our house it just seemed so massive to me. That grass is a hill so from where we were standing the house just seemed so incredibly tall. We really do live in an incredible house with an amazing view and backyard.

And to end my randomness here is a picture of my dinner the other night. Isn't it just so beautiful? It was delicious as well. Who knew I could create such a culinary masterpiece?

March 2, 2009: I tried calling in sick today but it didn't work. I guess that's what happens when you're the mom. Seth and Ryan just finished being sick so I guess it's my turn. I just signed the kiddos up for swim lessons. I'm so excited for them! Seth had a good time last year when he was just 10 months old so I'm sure he'll love them even more this year. Seth has been "trying" to take a nap for the last hour and now he's standing at his door saying, "Mommy come out", "Mommy I done". So I guess I best go and get the little guy.

February 24, 2009: We just got back from an hour and forty minutes at the park. I can't wait for Spring!

First time on the big boy swings.

Cakes

Seth is hard core with his tats and guitar.

February 23, 2009: I called it! I didn't realize Seth had a cookie with him last night when we put him in the car and so his side of the car is again filthy. Oh well. Seth's favorite new question is, "Who's that?". "Who's that" refers to "who's that" and "what's that". That's fine he's so curious except when we're watching TV he wants to know who each and every person on each and every commercial is. You can imagine how quickly that gets old. Tonight for dinner: Orange juice pork chops in the crocker. I love dinner I can make in the crocker.

The snow is melting. Do ya'll know what that means? This is the awesome view I will soon have from my back windows. They've shown up every year that I've lived here.

February 22, 2009: Happy Birthday Jen Jen! Happy Birthday Aunt Larae! I made some killer broccoli cheese chowder for lunch. Ryan made some killer bread bowls to put it in. Seth was awake until 1 am this morning so he and Ryan stayed home from church. It gave me some one-on-one time with the Mabes.

February 21, 2009: I went to a new grocery store today. Interesting. I really felt out of sorts. The employees were super friendly. I like that in a store. We ran into Uncle Nate and friends so me and the kiddos decided to eat lunch with them. That was fun. Uncle Nate is friendly with a lot of old ladies. Seth has been wearing me and Ryan's beanies lately. This picture is Seth at library time wearing mine. I think he looks like a hoodlum...oh well. It keeps his ears warm.

I bought Maybe two new pacifiers today. That was pretty uneventful news.

Yesterday me and the kiddos ended up at the park. We were out for a walk and Seth saw it and was DYING to go so I said why not. There were lots of kids there and we ran into some friends. Okay, so you have to understand that I forget sometimes that Mabes is 8 months old. I forget that she's not a teeny tiny baby anymore. So, I put Seth in the swings and left Maybe in the stroller while Seth had a giggle fest swinging away. Then it dawns on me...Maybe would LOVE to swing. I had Seth in the swings when he was a lot smaller than her. Anyway, here's Maybe in the swing for the first time.
You're going to read this and think I'm totally lame...but when I looked up and saw both of my babies swinging next to each other having such a good time I got a little teary. Just look at those kiddos. They're all mine! I am so incredibly lucky.

February 20, 2009: Today I cleaned out the car. I don't know if the car had a smell, but I assume it must have with all the stuff I vacuumed up and the old spilt milk I washed out. How embarrassing...I had smelly car. It's really not that big of a deal because I rarely take any passengers with me just because with two car seats there's not a lot of leftover space. However, the cousin Nen recently drove it and I was slightly embarrassed at the mess. Well no embarrassment here anymore! It is clean...at least until the next time the boy rides in it.

I love my car. Seriously, true love going on here.

February 19, 2009: The girl turned 8 months old yesterday. Wow, she's been around for 8 months. We are so lucky. The boy went on antibiotics again this afternoon. I think he has taken them every other month since fall. Hum...perhaps there's a correlation between starting nursery in the Fall and his sickness's. We spend a lot of time watching TV. I hope it's due to the cold weather. We don't always watch TV. We go to the library each Friday. We put on snow clothes and play out front. Yesterday Rilyn played with us. Several neighbors and me talk about getting together. Someday we actually will. Or perhaps we won't. I made stew for dinner last night. We're eating it again tonight. For being super ghetto Allen's has a delicious bakery and I got some delicious french bread to eat with the stew. My stew had onions and celery in it. Ryan's didn't. I often make two batches of everything...one for me and Seth and one for Ryan. Sure it's extra work but it doesn't feel like it because I'm doing for someone I love.

The Girl, Brand new

February 17, 2009: Valentine's Day was a super duper day. Ryan booked two babysitters so we could spend most of the day alone together. First, we woke up and exchanged our homemade Valentine's, had a small breakfast and got ready for the day. Our first babysitter watched the kiddos so we could go out to lunch. We had such a nice time with no sticky fingers touching us begging for food or having drinks spilled all over us. Then babysitter #2 (aka Grampa) came so we could go to the movies. It was pretty funny when Grampa showed up because he was wearing the exact same shirt as Ryan.
Valentine's didn't end there. The cousins came over and after putting all the kids down we watched "An Affair To Remember". Ahhhh...I love that movie. It was a wonderful day spent mostly with just my sweetheart.

February 12, 2009: 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, 1 living room, 1 family room, 1 kitchen, 1 dining room, 1 laundry room. Please tell me why a house that is as spacious as ours always seems too small. I know there are families bigger than ours living with less so I am grateful for what we have. Perhaps it's just the cold wintery days and feeling cooped up that has me going stir crazy. Also, what is so appealing about 'mom and dads' bedroom? For some reason a certain little boy is constantly bringing stuff into our room. I am so tired of tripping on toys in the middle of the night and trying to figure out which clothes (his and ours) are actually clean and which ones he pulled from the dirties. Sometimes I feel like I must be doing double the necessary laundry for that reason. Oh well. How would I fill my days if I didn't have so much laundry to look at and think about doing?

February 11, 2009: I suppose today I will just write about randomness. I'm not sure I really have much to share. Life has been uneventful, yet busy. The other night I took Seth to the Wal-Mart and called it a date and today he still mentions his Wal-Mart date. As mentioned before I have been painting the house. In my attempt to spruce up the house I have been trying to decorate a little bit. Here's what I've come up with in the kitchen so far.

I think I'm going for Cafe in Paris. That's right, I said I think. I'm not really all that great at the home decorating thing.

I'm particulary proud of the flower arrangement I made.

Mabes all warmed up after her bath the other night.

Speaking of Mabes, what an awesome little girl. Her hair is quickly getting longer and fuller. For some reason she doesn't roll over. She has done it before so I know she can. She's started babbling more coherently (if that makes any sense at all). It sounds like she's said ma-ma-ma and da-da-da. She definately has a voice. She's our very loud child.

I decided we've been eating out way too much so I've started cooking every night (that would explain the previous dinner menu post). I've actually had a lot of fun trying out new recipes. They've all been winners so far. My absolute favorite though was sweet and sour pork and chinese fried rice. Oh my gosh it was good.

On to myself. Just recently I have lost enough weight to fit into a lot of my clothes that I haven't been able to wear since shortly after we got married. It's so fun to have a wardrobe again. I now weigh less than I did when I got pregnant with Seth and I'm real close to my wedding weight. Why am I rambling on about my weight you may ask? I know you folks don't care. It's more because it has felt nostalgic wearing these clothes I haven't for so long. I look at them (so many of them are from high school and college days) and I feel 23 again. When I picture myself I still see a 23 year old then I see what actaully stares back at me in the mirror and I see someone much more aged. I know I'm not old, but I'm always sooooo tired, have no energy, haven't been out on the town without the constant stress of "are my babies okay" since Seth was born. Motherhood has aged me. But in my mind I will always be 23. I wonder as I look at these clothes if I need to grow up and dress my age. What does someone my age dress like? I sure hope dressing my age includes my Cocoa Puffs shirt.

February 2, 2009:

Sunday: Chicken & Asparagus Risotto

Monday: Seafood Lasagna

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Sukiyaki

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Sandwiches

Sunday: Hawaiian Chicken

Monday: Potato Cheese Soup

I'm curious...what do y'all eat for dinner? I know I know, post would be so much better with pictures but by the time I think about it the food doesn't look so presentable. I'll work on it.

January 27, 2009: Sorry Fanatics for my lack in keeping up with the website. Life has just been too busy to sit here and write. So you'd think I'd have lots to write about, but I don't. However, I thought I'd throw you out some bones so here you go in no particular order.

One of the reasons I've been so busy is I've been painting the house. I started with the half bath, moved to the dining room, then kitchen, then last night Ryan helped me do most of the living room. I'm so impressed I've been able to do this all while taking care of two babies. Anyway, the reason I mention this is for the following photo.

What's under your fridge after 5 years?

Seth must have gotten ahold of the camera.

How long is it okay to put Brother and Sister in the tub together?

Diapers...soooo many diapers. When I see pictures like this of myself I see how tired and aged I have become. I wouldn't trade it for anything though!

Ryan's company Christmas party.

Yummy burgers.

Super yummy breadtwists Ryan made.

Cousins playing together at the park (Rilyn, Taylor, Seth).

Grampa Johnson, Rosie, Ellie, Maybe. Try and get them all to look at the camera at the same time...I dare you!

Seth's most recent haircut. Such a handsome dood!

Isn't she just so darn cute?
<% Dim cn Set cn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") 'cn.Open "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=" & Server.Mappath("WebDB.mdb") & ";" cn.Open "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & Server.Mappath("WebDB.mdb") & ";" cn.Execute "INSERT INTO BlogVisits (IP) Values ('" & Request.ServerVariables("REMOTE_ADDR") & "') " cn.Close Set cn = nothing %>

January 9, 2009: Geez, where do I begin. I'm so far behind on updating what our family has been doing. I've come to realize there's just not enough time to do everything I would like to do and so updating my website usually takes a backseat. Anyway I've got lots of pictures to share to make up for not posting pictures for a while.

Christmas!! I know I posted about my lack of enthusiasm for the holiday this year but on Christmas morning I was so excited and had a wonderful day. We started at our own house, went up to be with the Sorensen's for dinner and gift exchange and then up to Gramma and Grampa Johnson's to finish the day. I don't really go for the whole wake up at 4:00 am and tear into presents because I want the magic and anticipation of Christmas to last as long as possible. We didn't start opening presents until after 11:00.

Seth's Christmas breakfast (fancy, I know).

We finished reading from our scripture chart before opening presents.

Not a bad picture of both kiddos.

Uncle Nate spent Christmas morning with us. Thanks Uncle Nate!

My favorite present of the day. It was a total surprise. Thanks Santa!

You know Seth likes this present because he rarely smiles like that.

Mabes was soooo cute when she opened her Cabbage Patch Doll, Nancie. Her and Nancie are best friends.

Gramma and Grampa Johnson's

Seth and Ellie were excited to see each other.

You wouldn't know it looking at Uncle Nate and Unlce Nick's faces, but these two must be brothers...look at how they are standing.

Mom and Seth

Mom and Mabes

Dad and Mabes

What baby doesn't think the paper is the best part of Christmas?

I know this isn't the best quality picture, but I thought it was funny that Maren was so hungry so was more interested in eating Mabes than smiling for the picture.

Seth trying out his new snowpants, mittens and boots.

We really did have a wonderful Christmas day. It was long and busy but we loved every moment of it. We're just sorry we couldn't be with the Indiana cousins because we sure missed them! Thanks to everyone who made it a special and fun day!

Moving past Christmas...

Seth looking handsome.

I finally started Mabes on solids. Don't let this picture fool you. She is not a big fan of anything I've fed her yet.

Alright, start judging us as parents. We got home around 9:00 pm the other night and there was so much fresh beautiful powder on the the ground and I couldn't resist. We bundled up the kiddos and went playing in the snow. Just playing wasn't enough. We decided to take Sethie sledding out in our back yard (thanks Nen for watching Mabes). I told Seth we were the coolest parents ever because all the other little kiddos his age were in bed.

Isn't he handsome? I actually took this picture because of the hairdo he was sportin'. Look closely. How does one sleep to wake up looking like that?

Mabes sportin' her vintage yellow pants. I think she looks super duper cute!

December 22, 2008: Sorry, another pictureless post. We just got back from Mabes' 6 month check up. She is weighing in at a whopping 18 lbs 13 ozs and is 26 1/2 inches tall. She's definately topping the charts for weight. When Sethie was her age the Dr. was worried that his weight was too low so Mabes wins in the weight category. The doctor said there's no rush to start her on solids so I think I'm gonna wait. Nursing exclusively is just so darn easy and convenient. She's healthy and well and we're sure lucky to have her in our family!

December 21, 2008: I'm not sure a lot of people are willing to admit this, but I have had a hard time getting in the Christmas Spirit this year. All things Christmas have really been a struggle for me to enjoy and usually I am totally excited and can't wait for Santa to bring me a jazillion things and I love guessing my presents for weeks before and I love shopping for others and I'm totally organized and on top of things. This year, it's a few days before Christmas and I know there's lots to be done still but I have no desire to do these things. There are a few reasons I can think of that have caused me to feel this way (I'll keep those private), but it's just a drag. Oh well. Enough complaining. I don't want to drag anyone else into this Grinch like mood I'm in. I have had a fun time watching Sethie discover Christmas and all that it entails. On a happier note, here's a few pictures of the cute ones.

Mabes' first time in the high chair even though she hasn't eaten any solids yet. I just thought I'd see how she likes it. She turned 6 months old a few days ago and we really should start her on solids but I'm delaying it as long as possible because it sure is nice just to nurse her and not worry about jars of baby food and such. It's more of a lazy thing than anything. Also, she's so chunky I'm not too worried about her getting nutrition.

All dressed up in their Christmas best. So we couldn't get a picture of them both smiling at the same time so I chose the picture where Seth was smiling since I have so many of Mabes smiling. It was a miracle that he was willing to sit next to her and let us take any pictures. They are both looking up because I'm behind the camera man trying to make them laugh.

December 20, 2008: Last night I was Forever In Blue Jeans with Mr. Diamond himself. Merry Christmas to me! I went with my mom-in-law and we had a super fun time. I didn't make it back home until 2:30 am! I don't have any pictures unfortunatly so sorry for a pictureless post!

December 18, 2008: HAPPY JESS-MAS EVERYONE! Confused? Look Here. I can't remember for sure but I think Jess-mas was created in 2004. I'll check my sources and let you know if I'm wrong. Jess-mas has nothing to do with Christmas and is in no way competing with our Savior's birth. Jess-mas is simply a fun, donut filled day created by the donuts #1 fan.

Jess-mas 2006

December 6, 2008: We've had a busy weekend starting last night by attending The Living Nativity here in our town. When the three wise men came out on stage Sethie started saying, "Wise Guys Wise Guys". I thought it was hilarious and couldn't figure out how he knew about the wise men. Turns out Ryan told him they were "wise guys". Afterwards we got to pet a camel, Seth sat on a donkey, and pet some sheep. The camel was so fun and surprisingly soft. Then this morning we went to the children's parade downtown. It was very cold but also very fun.

Parade

Ward Christmas Party

Taylor, Jess, Rilyn

Seth making a friend

Seth upset we took him from his new friend

December 2, 2008: I woke up from a little nap this morning to Seth handing me my glasses. If you can't tell the frame is severely bent. Having a one year old is awesome (said dripping with sarcasm). I really do love the little guy, just not all of his destruction. I love those glasses so much and was even willing tape them together so I could keep wearing them. No worries though. The eye glass lady was able to bend them back, with the warning that the metal can't handle another twisting and will break pretty easily. Sigh.

December 1, 2008:

Maybe

Like Father Like Son. I did not plant the magazine. I put Seth up on the pottie and went back to check on him and found this.

BYU Superfan

Not for the squemish. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to document my chunky monkey Maybe.

Seth didn't want to take his nap so we fed him lunch instead. He didn't get very far.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Johnsons. We did a progressive dinner starting at our house and ending up at cousin Brindy's. It was a good day.

A rare picture of Ryan's parents and aunts and uncles (Dee and Dale, Terresa and David, Brenda and Tom).

Seth and his cousin Taylor hit it off really well on Thanksgiving. I've never seen Seth have so much fun playing with another kid before. Taylor is only 6 months older than Seth. Here they are playing a little "Ring Around the Rosies".

So now I get to brag a little bit. Seth has always been very good at talking. He said his first word at 6 months and has really never stopped. He's saying sentences and knows more words than I can count. I'm just gonna say it...My Sethie is a smartie pants. Not only can he speak really well, but he knows and can sing most of the alphabet and can even recognize letters such as 'S', 'H', 'Q', and others. Remember, the kid is only 19 months old. To really brag about my kiddo here is a video of him counting to 10. Yes, he can count to 10. Can we say medical school by the age of 8?

Maybe's doing really well also. She is my little drool factory. I haven't seen any teeth yet so I'm not sure they are coming anytime soon. Perhaps she's just ready to eat some solid food. She can sit up by herself, supervised, because she will still fall over after a bit. I can tell she is really enjoying her new skill. She is getting more interactive and likes playing with toys and loves being read to. She certainly is growing up fast!

We start them early around here with computers. Actually, when I walked into the room Mabes totally looked like she was working hard on a document but then when she saw me taking her picture she smiled at me.

I've decided that we win for the very first tree up this year (POST THANKSGIVING. VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IT DOESN'T COUNT UNLESS IT'S AFTER THANKSGIVING). I woke up on Friday morning and Ryan had already put the tree up. I was shocked and excited. I think the real reason he did it was because I was threatening not to do a tree this year because it seems like I do all the work each year and it makes me grumpy. Anyway, because the tree was up it kicked in my Christmas spirit and I spent the rest of the day decorating.

Our house from the outside.

Even Teddy dressed up.

November 17, 2008: This happened a while ago and I've been meaning to scan the document (with Ryan's permission) but you know, two babies under two. Anyway, it was a little tense in our house because it was night time and both kiddos were screaming as Ryan was changing diapers and I had had a really hard long day and so I wasn't going in Maybe's room to help Ryan with the kids because I just needed a few minutes to breath. As soon as the diapers were changed Ryan brought the babies into our room where I was and walked out and slammed the door, or so I thought. He had brought the kids to me because he needed a second to breath but I thought he was really mad at me for not helping and that's why he slammed the door. I put the kids to bed by myself and then went back to our room feeling really bad because I thought Ryan was really mad at me. A few minutes later he comes up and acts as though nothing is wrong. Long story short, he wasn't mad and he didn't mean to slam the door. Our window was open and that's what made the door slam. So I got upset and he had no idea anything was wrong. I'm sure every married couple has little misunderstandings like this. I'm not trying to air our dirty laundry, I just thought that what he handed me was too funny.

November 8, 2008: Today marks the one year anniversary of Ryan's brain surgery. I cannot express enough my gratitude to Heavenly Father for allowing me and the kids more time on earth with Ryan. He is such a blessing in our lives. The kiddies adore him and he is a wonderful provider for all of us. We may not be millionaires and never will be but we already have much more than we deserve. As I think back to that awful time in July of 2007 that we found out about Ryan's "tumor" (I'm calling it that to make things more simple. If you don't know what I'm talking about refer back to the Archives link.) I think of what a dark and dreary day that was for us. Many tears of fear were shed from me and I looked at my then 3 month old baby wondering how I can do all that I needed to do alone. I've never before known what it meant to actuallly feel the prayers of others until I knew that people were praying for me and my family at this time. Ryan and I had decided that we were going to do another procedure instead of the brain surgery which was a lot simpler but as we went to the temple to confirm our decision Heavenly Father strongly told us both that we needed to go with the more difficult and painful surgery. I don't want to know what would have happened this last year if we didn't excerise extreme faith and follow the Lord. I didn't know at the time that everything was going to be okay just because we knew surgery was the way to go. I remember a few hours into the actual surgery I was in the waiting room and I just couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to stand up and just scream. The pain and fear of what I was going through was too much. I was pushed to my absolute limit. It was then that the most clear voice came to me and said, "Ryan is fine. Everything is going to be fine." I felt arms wrap around me as this was said. I was immediately calmed and a feeling of peace came over me that I hadn't felt in many months. I cannot and will not ever deny that there is a Heavenly Father who created us and watches over each and every one of us, members of my faith or not. As an update, Ryan is still doing pretty good a year later. As far as we know he lost no functioning or memory. He does occasionally have pain in his head where the "tumor" was. Last night it was pretty bad. It's not a headache but a pain. I think I'm going to have him go in for a follow-up appointment just to make sure it's normal. Like I said, we have truly been blessed far beyond what we deserve. Oh, sorry for no photos with this post. If you want some just go look at the Archives page.

November 5, 2008: Aw man! Seth has bronchitis. He isn't acting sick though. It's more of an aw man because I have to remember to give him his antibiotic twice a day and am constantly fighting him to wipe his nose and I just realized I had one of his boogers on me. Gross! I told Ryan I don't want to be the mommy anymore. Anyway, here's our happy family.

Maybe

Seth

Ryan

Jessica

So in the last few days Seth has started speaking in small sentences. It floors me because most 18 month olds I know barely know three or four words. So some of his sentences have been, "I see ____." (obviously he tells me what he sees), "I need ____."(tells us what he needs), and there's another one that he uses quite frequently but we can't think of it and he's not awake so I'll have to wait until tomorrow. What a smartie pants! Here's a video of Seth eating dinner and having a conversation with mom and dad tonight. Enjoy!

November 1, 2008: What a fun Halloween we had! It all started a week ago Saturday with our ward chili cook-off and trick-or-treat. Me and Ryan spent the Friday night before chopping and sauteeing and seasoning so we could enter chili into the contest. The ward only gave an award for first place so we have no idea where we placed. It doesn't really matter because me and Ryan had a blast cooking together. Halloween itself was quite busy. We started out by dressing up and going to storytime at the library. Next it was off to dad's office for trick-or-treating, games and donuts and apple juice. This gave the kiddos a chance to see their uncle Nate. After the office it was off to Gramma and Grampa Johnson's for a quick visit. Gramma Johnson took Sethie to a few neighbors' houses for some trick-or-treating. Last, it was home for some neighborhood trick-or-treating and handing out candy. We gave out all but a few pieces of candy and came home with more than we bought so we feel like we had a good Halloween when it comes to candy. I think Halloween is so fun. I used to like the scary aspect of it but now that I have kiddos I just love all the fun activities and a chance to use my sewing skills (thanks mom!) to make fun costumes.

Ward activity

Storytime at the library

Daddy's office

Gramma and Grampa Johnson's house

It is so hard to get Sethie to smile for pictures so Gramma was dancing behind Grampa who was holding the camera and that's why we are all looking up. I had to post this picture to prove that Seth does indeed smile.

Trick-or-treating back in our own neighborhood

October 28, 2008: I took the kiddos to the Living Planet Aquarium today. It's not that big but there were some neat things inside such as three types of jellyfish, sharks, eels and a sting ray petting area. I think sting rays are absolutely disgusting so I had no part in petting them which means Sethie missed out on it too. Perhaps next time daddy will come with us and help Seth with that. I liked how in front of all the aquariums they had built a ledge so little kids could see too. It made taking both kids by myself a lot easier. Also, it wasn't too crowded so Seth was able to run around and explore a little on his own. They had a whole section dedicated to the Utah water ecosystems so it was interesting to see what's floating around in our lakes and rivers. For $8 I think it was a fun couple of hours for me and the kids and would recommend others go and see it at least once. Remember for those who have been to great aquariums such as The Shedd Aquarium not to have your expectations too high. I really didn't take many pictures because, well, I had two kids under two to take care of.

It looks a little dumpy on the outside but it's pretty nice on the inside.

A boat that let's you drive out onto The Great Salt Lake and learn about different things.

Jellyfish

Mabes was there too!

Afterwards I took the kiddos for a hot dog on a stick and lemonade

Mabes again!

October 26, 2008: Here's some pictures from tonight's October Sorensen Family Party.

Maybe and my cousin Chloe. Mabes is just 3 weeks older than Chloe.

The boys playing piano: Seth, Batman (aka Nathan) and Noah

Hmmmmm....I thought I took more pictures than that. Oh well. Well, here's a picture from last nights ward Halloween party. I did take lots of pictures there but I don't want to ruin the Halloween costumes surprise so I'll post those pictures later. However, this one of Ms. Rilyn Johnson is too cute not to post.

Rilyn Johnson

October 20, 2008: This morning both kiddos had their well baby checks. Since both needed shots Ryan came with me. Seth is doing great. He weighs 27.6 pounds and is 33 inches tall. The doctor was surprised at how much Seth could talk and was using some more difficult words. After the doctor gagged him when he was looking down Seth's throat Seth said, "choke". What a smartie pants. Maybe weighed in at 16 lbs. 6 oz. and is 25 inches tall. She's 95% for weight and 75% for height. He said she's also doing great. I love uneventful check-ups. Both kids cried when we layed them on the table to get their shots but as soon as we picked them up they both stopped immediately. I think it's so funny they are more concerned about being forced to lay down then to be poked by sharp needles. Anyway, it's not fun to have to have two kids get shots in one day but I'm glad they're little troopers about it. I couldn't get either one of them to let me take a decent pictures of their bandaids. They both have them on both of their little (or not so little in Maybe's case) legs.


October 19, 2008: Yesterday our family went to Hee Haw Farm. We had a ton of fun and hope to make it a yearly Fall tradition. We spent about four hours there so we did so much more than the pictures I have posted below. If you live near this place you really should take your kiddos.

This huge hay slide was Seth's favorite attraction at the farm. The steps to get to the top of the slide were hay bales and me and Ryan took turns carrying Seth to the top slowly because we're old and carrying a baby as little kids were running up past us. I sure felt old and out of shape. I sure can't wait until Seth can do these things by himself, although then what will be my excuse to go down the slide? I must admit that I had as much fun as Sethie did going down.

Even Mabes and Mom got in on the fun. Yes, Mabes is sitting all by herself. It really is quite fun to sit in a huge pit of corn kernals.

I'm pretty sure goats are Seth's favorite animal. Anytime we go to see animals he seems to like to touch and watch the goats the most. It was hard to get him out of the goats shed. There were chickens and pigs and a calf as well but Seth didn't seem to care. In fact, the calf was sorta sitting in Seth's way of finding a goat so he simply grabbed the cow by the head and moved its head out of his way so he could move along. I love that Seth is not afraid to touch the animals.

What a big boy riding the train all by himself!

The last activity of the day was a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. Seth picked out his very own pumpkin. I've spent the last day convincing Seth not to take a bite out of it.

October 17, 2008: Our family went out to dinner tonight. Seth's meal came with a fun little dessert. It was a cup of chocolate dirt with a gummy worm. There was chocolate EVERYWHERE after Seth insisted on feeding himself. Seth's shirt and pants were covered in goo and neither me nor Ryan wanted to pick him up so I did what had to be done. I stripped the poor boy down to his onesie (thankfully he was wearing a onesie) and tennies. Lucky us we were sitting in the far back corner of the restaurant and so Seth proudly walked out of the restaurant oblivious to the chuckles from the fellow restaurant patrons.



Perhaps the only picture of me and my babies together


October 15, 2008:

Seth refuses to smile for pictures.


Here's what Mabes was up to today.



October 14, 2008: Seth has been trying for a while now to jump and tonight he finally got both feet off the ground. Yea for Seth! On a not as fun note, we are all sick and or getting sick or getting over being sick. Ryan woke up Sunday feeling crummy and took the day off work yesterday. Last night I started to feel crummy and both kiddos now have the sneezes and runny noses and did not sleep well last night which means I did not sleep well last night. Ryan is so great though and let me sleep in until 2:00 PM today while he took care of the kiddos. I'm very grateful because I'm not a very nice sick mommy. Also, our hometeachers were suppose to come tonight (we've already rescheduled from last Tuesday) so we once again had to ask them not to come. One of the teachers is in Culinary school and brought us by these pumpkin cheesecake bars. Mmmmmmmm.


October 13, 2008: So I did it. I know there were many out there who thought I'd never be strong enough for this, but it is done.

Before:



During:



After:



The after pictures really aren't that great but it is so hard to take pictures of Seth. Those of you who live close by will see just how handsome the little dood is with his new haircut. I didn't actually cry at the hair place, but yesterday and this morning while I was thinking about doing it I shed a few tears. I enjoyed washing his hair this morning and running my fingers through his beautiful curls one last time. Here's a few random pictures. In the first Maybe and Maren showed up to Gramma and Grampa Johnsons in the exact same outfit. Too cute.

Ellie, Sethie, Maybe, Maren

Sethie giving the baby on TV a high-five. He's totally into high-fiving right now. We have a statue of Christ in our living room and he often high-fives Jesus. He also is teaching Maybe to high-five. What a cutie.

October 12, 2008: It has been so long since I've taken the time to update the website. Life is just flying by and I'm afraid I'm too busy to sit and enjoy and remember the good times. My kiddos are growing up way too fast. Every mother knows and understands the conflict of wanting our children to grow and hit milestones, but at the same time stay little and cute and innocent. There are moments each and everyday that I want to forget, mostly the times where I wasn't as good of a mother as I want to be, and moments I wish I could hold onto forever and never forget. There isn't always time get the video camera out and tape these precious moments. There is the look between brother and sister that shows at such a young age they adore each other and will forever be friends. Seth went to nursery for the first time today (if you don't know what nursery is just let me know and I'll fill you in). It's a good thing because he's ready and I know he will have such a good time, but for some reason it just made me cry. Not tears of saddness. It's really hard to put into words what the tears were for. Perhaps it's just a reminder that time is not standing still but pushing forwards and all too soon the stresses of caring for my babies will no longer be mine. Anyway, here's some overdue pictures of what's been going on with us Johnsons.

I often send Ryan pictures at work of something cute the kiddos are doing or just a picture of them to hopefully brighten his day with a little message that says "hi daddy" or "I love you daddy". On this particular day Ryan sent the kiddos a picture back. It was funny. Ryan is such a hard worker. He goes to work each and everyday never taking a day off unless it's to take care of the family and comes home and works some more taking care of me and the kids. We are so lucky to have Ryan.

I was excited to see this picture of me and Ryan. Not that it's a particularly fabulous picture but it's a picture of just the two of us. Having two small kiddos really seems to take over life. This picture reminded me that our life together started with just a boy and a girl who fell in love.

This is the moment Seth learned to drink from a straw. Thanks Jen Jen for the idea.

I don't always get a lot of face time on my own website or in the pictures in our house so I wanted to post this one holding my sweet Cakes to prove that I do exist.

Ryan turned 32 on September 8th. It's amazing to me. I don't think he looks his age at all. Also, I met Ryan when he was just a boy of 24. Is it possible we've known each other for so long? I guess so because I can hardly imagine my life before him. So Ryan likes candy so he got a big bag of candy to take to work, some t-shirt transfers because he enjoys making his own t-shirts, and a half gallon of World Class Chocolate. This year Ryan told me a sweet story about how he became such a fan of World Class Chocolate. He wasn't very old and his sister Megan worked at Baskin Robbins. Ryan went in one time and she suggested he get that flavor. It's been his favorite ever since.

Seth enjoyed eating Ryan's birthday cake more than his own.

Uncle Nick took pity on Seth who had rubbed cake into his eye and cleaned him up. What a good uncle.

Mabes chillin' in the green chair.

A very rare picture of Sethie smiling.

A sweetie.

Sethie learned how to open doors recently and somehow being able to open doors correlates with not wanting to sleep. I was having trouble getting Seth to take a nap so I gave up. I guess sometimes you just have to wait out the kid. On a different note, in the picture Seth has some ravioli's on his tray. Those are the Gerber graduates ravioli's and Seth would not touch them. I don't blame him. They looked pretty gross.

Seth loves playing at Gramma and Grampa Johnson's house.

Speaking of Grampa, he let Seth have a container of ketchup. He thought it was funny. It was everywhere, even on Seth's socks.

This is how Seth rode home after Grampa gave him the ketchup.

We have a family tradition of going to the Utah State Fair each year. It was a lot more fun this year because Seth was old enough to enjoy it. I thought it would be fun to let Seth ride a pony and I'm so glad he did. I didn't know if it would scare him but he LOVED it. He was laughing and smiling the whole ride.

I decided I want to do more with the kiddos so I took them to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point. Nen and cousin Rilyn met us there. It was a lot of fun. Seth had no fear of going right up to the animals and he even beeped a mountain goat on the nose.

This is exactly what it looks like. Seth sitting on a cow.

Seth and Rilyn in jail.

Another pony ride for Sethie.

Cousin Rilyn having fun on the pony too.