The Johnson Family

Snow Week

2012-01-22T13:17:00.000-08:00

We woke up last Sunday to a light dusting of snow. It did make it a little tricky to get to our stake conference, but luckily, we were able to have Brian's baptism while everyone was here (obviously since I already posted about that). On Monday, we got even more snow and it continued through most of the week. School was cancelled all week so we had to find ways to keep busy around here.

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson helped the boys build a snowman before they flew home on Monday.

On Tuesday, we played in the snow some more with one of Brian's friends and his little sister. We took the snowman that Grandma and Grandpa built and made it even bigger.
On Wednesday, the temperature dropped and the wind started blowing so we had to find things to do inside. We played board games, Wii games, watched movies, read books, made messes (and even cleaned a bit), and (my favorite) slept in and took naps.

I tried doing an impromptu photoshoot with Natalie. I tried to sit her in the rocking chair, but she decided to show off her walking skills instead. So then I gave her toys. I couldn't get her to look at me, but at least she stayed put.

In my opinion, when the weather gets cold, you just have to do some baking. So Matthew helped Eric make some brownies. They turned out really good.

I've been thinking lately about the fact that I need to actually be IN pictures from time to time. In the back of my mind, I've been planning to do it on that perfect day when I have my hair and makeup done, the house is clean, we're all dressed in coordinating outfits. Yesterday, I decided that if I kept waiting for the perfect chance, it would never happen. So, I dug out my tripod and grabbed the boys to experiment with the self-timer function on my camera. There was some trial and error. . .. . . but eventually I ended up with some that while they certainly aren't perfect, I don't hate.
On Friday afternoon, the snow turned to rain and it's nearly all melted now. I had a fun week at home with the boys, but I think we're all ready for things to get back to normal.

Also, don't forget to keep voting for Natalie in the Bellingham Herald's contest (see two posts down). I know it's a pain having to register and sign in, but you only have to do it once.

Walking

2012-01-19T22:33:00.001-08:00

She's getting more confident with her walking all the time.

Shamlessly Begging For Votes

2012-01-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

I entered Natalie in the Bellingham Herald's Baby Contest and would really appreciate if you would all vote for her (you can vote once a day until the 25th). Thanks!

Read more here: http://bellinghamherald.upickem.net/engine/SubmissionWidgetView.aspx?PageType=VOTING&ContestID=48414&SubmissionID=15585877&IncrementNumber=1#storylink=cpy

Brian's Birthday/Baptism

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

Brian turned 8 this week. For his birthday, he just wanted to have dinner at Red Robin followed by Funfetti cake. So that's what we did--and he loved it.

His baptism was this weekend. His grandparents came up for the occasion. Even Great-grandma Lowe was able to make it. It was her first time meeting Natalie. So far, they seem to like each other pretty well. :)

We had Brian's baptism today. Unfortunately, my camera battery died as soon as we got to the church, so I just have two quick snaps from my cell phone. Brian was excited and bounced all over the place. I think Matthew was a little jealous, but he seemed to have fun too. After the baptism was over, the boys went outside with some of their friends that had come and played in the snow. One of Brian's friend from primary (Keegan) also turned 8 this month, so we had their baptisms together. Overall, it went well, and we're very proud of him.

11 Months

2012-01-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

Oops. I'm behind on posting again. Natalie is 11 months old! She's gotten really good at standing (and in the ten days since she turned 11 months, she's started walking a little). She's also starting to climb. She's as busy as ever and gets into plenty of trouble, but she's really good-natured and we love her to pieces!

Her 10 monrh photo.

Christmas

2011-12-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well, we had quite a Christmas. We started celebrating on Christmas Eve by driving around and looking at Christmas lights. Then, we used Google Talk to video chat with Eric's family so that Brian could hear Grandma Johnson read The Littlest Angel.

Then, we did quite a bit of reading on our own. Brian was really excited to help read this year. He read Beyond Bethlehem (a Book of Mormon Christmas story)to Matthew and Natalie. Then, he was really excited to use Eric's new tablet to read Luke 2. We finished off by Brian and me reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Before they went to bed, the boys wrote notes for Santa and left out some cookies. Brian's said, "Dear St Nick, Enjoy the cookies. Thank you for the presents. Merry Christmas. Love, Johnsons." Matthew was much more direct. He just wanted to hang up a sign that said, "Nice" just in case Santa was confused about whether he was naughty or nice. Despite the fact that his C looks like an O, I'm impressed with how his writing is coming along. A few months ago, he didn't have any interest in letters at all. Click the picture to see it bigger.

I guess Santa got the message because by Christmas morning, our living room was bursting.

When we started opening gifts, Matthew was beyond excited. I was surprised when the first thing he did was grab a present for Eric and hand it to him. Of course, this was because Matthew knew that I'd gotten Eric a Lego Millenium Falcon.

It didn't take long though, for the kids to get excited about opening their own presents. There were lots of Angry Birds and Star Wars toys. Natalie got some pacifiers which she liked, but couldn't quite figure out how to open the package. She also got a little walker and an activity table which she's enjoyed a lot. Of course, Brian got the atlas he asked for and my mom sent the boys a remote control train which made Matthew happy.

Then we got ready and went to church. I sang in the choir and in a duet. When we got home, everyone got to work playing with their gifts. Eventually, we made a nice dinner (ham, rolls, potatoes, etc). At bedtime, Brian said, "I'm sad because Christmas is leaving." I guess that means that the day was a success.

10 Months (better late than never)

2011-12-16T07:53:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I never did Natalie's ten month post (though I did remember to take her picture on the 5th). So, here it is.

Natalie is growing and learning all the time. This month, she's really taken an interest in her brothers--she wants to be where they are and if they laugh or yell, she'll copy them. She's also learned to open and empty drawers and cupboards. She's also the right height now to pull stuff out of our kitchen garbage can. So, she definitely keeps us on our toes, but luckily we still love her to pieces.

At 9 months. . .

Preschool Party

2011-12-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Matthew's last day of preschool before Christmas so they invited friends and family to come for a winter celebration. The kids sang songs, then we did a couple of crafts and decorated Christmas cookies. I brought Matthew's friend, Aryn with me and we stopped to play at the park before we went home.

Trimming the Tree

2011-12-09T22:46:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I've been pretty sick this week (probably with strep throat, but that's another story), tonight we got our Christmas tree up. The boys, especially Matthew, were beyond excited. I don't know if Natalie was excited, but she was definitely curious.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-07T19:22:00.001-08:00

We're slowly making progress toward getting ready for Christmas. We've started watching Christmas movies, done a fair amount of shopping, and most importantly, we took the kids to see Santa Claus. For Bellingham friends, Industrial Credit Union and Evantide Photography team up every year to offer Santa pictures. You get a free 5x7--way better deal than the mall and nicer pictures too.

Anyways, Brian asked Santa Claus for a Wyoming Atlas and Matthew asked for a remote control train. Natalie didn't ask for anything, but at least she didn't cry.

We also made candy trains as part of our Christmas preparations. This is an activity that we used to do when I was a little girl so my mom sent us some kits to make them. Matthew was pretty excited about it, but Brian let Eric do most of the work on his (he doesn't really care about art projects at school either). I think he would have preferred to just eat the candy outright. Now that the trains are actually made though, they're reluctant to actually eat the candy. When I was a kid, I certainly didn't have any qualms of that sort.

Matthew's is the first one and Eric/Brian's is the second.

Family Pictures

2011-12-04T22:32:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, we met up with one of my friends for a photo swap. She took a couple of pictures of my family and I took a couple of hers. Overall, it worked out pretty well.

You can see a couple of the pictures I took for her on my photography blog: http://michellejohnsonphotos.blogspot.com.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T19:54:00.000-08:00

This year, for the first time in our married life, we weren't able to spend Thanksgiving with our extended family so I had to make my own Thanksgiving dinner. It actually didn't turn out too bad. I just got a small turkey breast (I didn't think that the five of us could eat a whole turkey). Eric's family always has ham and turkey on Thanksgiving and since my boys like ham better than turkey anyway, we got a little ham too. I made Grandma Peterson's rolls, a fruit salad, and some corn and Eric made mashed potatoes and stuffing. Of course, we had pie for dessert. All in all, it turned out pretty nice.

We even got some turkey for Natalie, but she didn't like it much (I can't blame her).
Her bib says, "My family is thankful for me." Which is true.

Speaking of turkey, yesterday, we were looking through some papers that Brian brought home from school. One of them was a creating writing assignment. He was given the prompt "Just as everyone sat down to the Thanksgiving table, the turkey. . ." and he was supposed to finish. Here is is final version.

It says, "Just as everyone sat down to the Thanksgiving table the turkey was eaten." I guess even in his writing, he doesn't like unexpected things happening.

Anyways, it was a great Thanksgiving and we truly do have a lot to be thankful for. We missed spending the day with our friends and family, but we were thinking of all of you and we hope that you had a wonderful holiday too.

It's that time of year. . .

2011-11-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

We went down to Whatcom Creek this week to see if we could see the salmon. First we went over by the hatchery to watch the fish that had made their way up the fish ladder. This is the boys' favorite part.

We also walked the trail along the creek and looked for fish in the water. We did see a few although we didn't see the sea lion trying to catch them this year--just a heron.

9 Months!

2011-11-07T19:52:00.001-08:00

I know I've said it before, but I can't believe how quickly my little girl is growing up; she's already 9 months old!

She's really started to love solid foods--especially things like cheerios that she can pick up and eat by herself. She still loves to be on the move. In fact, she's gotten so squirmy during diaper changes that I usually hand her a book or something to help her stay put (notice I used the same trick for her picture). She loves to play peekaboo (see the last post) and another game where she stands up in her crib (holding onto the rails for balance) and bounces. If she sees me watching her, she'll giggle while she does it. Her official 9 month check-up isn't until later this month, but according to our scale, she is 22 lbs. I was hoping that she could stay in her infant car seat until her birthday, but since 22 lbs. is the weight limit, I guess shopping for a ginormous/expensive/reversible car seat is in our near future.

Here is her 8 month picture for comparison and a cute 9 month outtake.

Peekaboo

2011-11-06T19:56:00.001-08:00

This is Natalie's new favorite game. She's not always great at covering her face, but she has fun anyway.

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Halloween

2011-10-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

We had a good Halloween this year. It was pretty low key--we just went to trunk or treat at the church, but we had fun.

My mom and I both bought Natalie a costume, so I took pictures of her in both of them as well as her cute little Halloween outfit. She ended up wearing the bunny costume to the trunk or treat though.

Brian and Matthew went with a Star Wars theme. Matthew was Darth Vader and Brian was Obi Won Kenobi. Once Brian got home, they had an epic light sabre battle in the backyard. At the trunk or treat, whenever someone would say, "There's Darth Vader," Matthew would lift up his mask and respond, "I'm really Matthew."

Swinging in the Rain

2011-10-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

Brian was out of school today and we met up at the park for a playdate with one of Matthew's friends. Unfortunately, it started raining pretty hard almost right after we got there so we didn't stay long. We did have some fun before we got soaked though. I let Natalie try out the swing and I think she really liked it. She was less sure about the slide.

Fall Fun

2011-10-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Fall is definitely in full swing around here. Last weekend, we took our annual trip up to Stony Ridge Farm to pick apples and pumpkins. Eric was in Oregon watching BYU play Oregon State, but his mom went with us and our friends, Aryn and Aleen, met us there. Before we left, Brian said, "Let's just get a pumpkin. I don't want to stand around taking pictures." I didn't take as many as I normally would, but I still made him pose for a few.

Today, Brian got out of school early and it wasn't raining, so I decided to take the kids outside for some fall photos.

Day at the Park

2011-10-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first non-rainy day we've had in a while, so we took advantage of the sunshine and went to the park. I gave Natalie some books to look at (to try to discourage her from crawling away) and Matthew decided that he needed to come read them to her.

8 Months

2011-10-12T08:41:00.001-07:00

I forgot to post Natalie's 8 month picture. The last post gives a pretty good idea of where she is developmentally. Mostly, she's on the go and constantly getting into trouble. It's a good thing she's cute right?

Here's her 7 month picture so you can see how much she's grown.

A Few Cute Honyockers*

2011-10-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

Matthew was sick last week and ended up with an ear infection (or ear "perfection" as Brian kept saying). He didn't let it slow him down too much though.

Now that Natalie's mobile, she's figuring out how to cause all sorts of trouble. Her favorite thing is to make a beeline for her brothers' room, but if their door is closed, she'll settle for the bathroom.

Consequently, she's been spending more time in her exersaucer. She likes it for short amounts of time, but she's usually ready to be back on the move pretty quickly.

She's decided that she likes babyfood. Her favorite thing is to wait until she's got a mouth full of food then start blowing raspberries. She's fun that way.

As for Brian, he's doing really well in second grade. He likes his teacher and everything seems to be just great. He's also getting to be a great helper at home.

*Urban dictionary definition of honyockers

Good Clean Fun

2011-09-22T09:20:00.001-07:00

Crawling Video

2011-09-14T10:05:00.001-07:00

As promised, here's the video of Natalie crawling. She's gotten a lot better since then. Now she gets all the way up on her hands and knees and tears around the house.

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Natalina Ballerina

2011-09-09T16:46:00.001-07:00

Brian's First Day of School

2011-09-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Brian's first day of second grade. They were supposed to start on Tuesday, but it was pushed back due to a teacher strike. Luckily, Brian was uncharacteristically calm about this change of plans.

They just finished building a new elementary school this year so Brian gets to go there. Not very many of his classmates from last year switched schools with him, but he doesn't seem to mind too much. They've also made his bus route significantly shorter. Last year, he spent about 90 minutes each way riding the bus. This year, they've gotten down to about 25 minutes. They also adjusted the school schedule so he gets out earlier. This means that Brian gets home much earlier this year. We're happy about these changes--last year, he didn't get home until almost 5:00 which is pretty late for a first grader.

Anyways, he was pretty excited to start school. I let him push Natalie's stroller to the bus stop.
Then he reluctantly posed for me before getting on the bus.

When he got home, he said that he had a good day and he likes his teacher and his new school. So, we're keeping our fingers crossed that he'll have a good year. And by the way, I tried to convince him not to wear his jacket (it was about 80 degrees when he got home), but he insisted. He also got a new Cordata Elementary shirt that he was proudly wearing when he got home.

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to start Matthew in preschool for awhile (the co-op preschool we were doing last year fell apart when several of the families moved). I finally found a preschool through the city parks and recreation department that seemed like a good fit for him (and for our budget). Today was his first day and he was very excited!

They asked us to bring a page for his class scrapbook so Matthew helped me decorate his (and for the record--this is why I do all of my scrapbooking on the computer).

When we got to the school, he wanted me to take his picture by the number 4 since he's 4 years old. Then of course, Brian wanted his picture taken by the number 7.

I was worried that he'd get upset when it was time for me to leave, but he did just fine. When I picked him up, he said that he had a fun time and his favorite things were story time and playing on the playground.

7 months!

2011-09-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Miss Natalie turned 7 months yesterday. For the record, taking her monthly picture is a lot harder now that she's mobile (I stopped doing them with Matthew at this age for that very reason). Here are a couple of outtakes.

She's really grown and learned a lot this month. She's learned how to crawl (I have a video that I will try to upload in the next day or two). She can get herself from sitting to laying down and back to sitting. She can use the furniture to pull herself up and stand (though she just stands still--she's not cruising yet). She definitely has a knack for finding the things she's not supposed to (her favorite is electrical cords). Because we were out of town, she didn't get in for her 6 month check up until she was closer to 7 months. At her appointment she was 19 lbs (90%) and 27 inches (80%) so she's certainly getting to be a big girl! The only thing that I'm not crazy about is ever since we got back from the cruise, she hasn't been sleeping well at night. She had a cold, so I thought that was the problem (plus getting her schedule out of whack from traveling), but she's all better now and still waking up 3 or more times every night. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can get her sleeping through the night again ASAP.

Here's her 6 month picture to compare how much she's grown.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to take some more formal pictures of her. You can see some of my favorites on my photography blog: http://michellejohnsonphotos.blogspot.com.

Family Resemblance

2011-08-23T10:27:00.001-07:00

These overalls are one of the few items of clothing that I passed down to Natalie from the boys.

Cute Girl

2011-08-19T23:06:00.001-07:00

This week, Natalie had her first foray into the world of solid food. She's not sure about rice cereal, but she has fun making a mess.

And just for the fun of it, here are a couple of cute pictures of her.

6 Months

2011-08-17T15:59:00.001-07:00

Natalie turned 6 months old on the day that we left for California (I took her picture before we left, but didn't get a chance to post it). She is growing up so fast!

Sure enough, the day after I posted her 5 month update, she started sitting up and now she's a regular pro at it. She's not quite crawling yet, but she still manages to get around pretty effectively. She can lay on her stomach and sort of pivot until she's facing the right direction then roll to get where she wants to go. Yesterday, she started army crawling, but she's only done it to move a few inches at a time. She also gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but can't figure out how to move her legs. She's at the fun stage where every thing goes straight into her mouth--we're trying to convince Brian and Matthew that it's no okay to leave Legos on the floor. On the whole, she's still a fun little girl and we're glad to have her in her family.

Here's her 5 month picture.

Crusing Part 3/3: Puerto Vallarta

2011-08-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Our second and last port of call was in Puerto Vallarta. Brian and Matthew have been really into the show Jake and the Neverland Pirates lately, so we thought it would be fun to take them on a Pirate Ship Adventure. Verlanne and Emily came with us too.

We boarded the pirate ship, Marigalante, and enjoyed breakfast and a show. Brian got a little sulky at first because it was hot and noisy, but once the pirate show got started, he was more interested. He also insisted on wearing my hat to protect him from the sun. He looked silly, but at least he cheered up.

We sailed to Majahuitas Beach where the kids got to search for buried treasure. We also got to go swimming and boogie boarding. They had sea kayaks and snorkeling too, but we didn't get a chance to try those.

Then, we got back on the pirate ship for lunch and more music and dancing while we sailed back to Puerto Vallarta.

Overall, it was a lot of fun even if we didn't get to see much else in Puerto Vallarta. On a kind of funny note, we bought the kids plastic hooks as souveniers. So, when we got back to the ship, it was Matthew that confiscated my hat (because Captain Hook wears a hat) and put on his pirate pjs to complete his Captain Hook costume.

Cruising Part 2/3: Cabo San Lucas

2011-08-16T12:41:00.001-07:00

Our first port of call was in beautiful Cabo San Lucas. We spent two days there. The first day, we just walked around the marina, did a little shopping, went out to lunch and tried to see what was available to do the next day. My poor little boys from Washington, couldn't handle the heat and humidity (it really did feel like you were melting as soon as you left the air conditioned ship).

The next day, we went to the beach which was a lot more fun. It was probably the most beautiful beach I've ever been to--the water was warm and perfectly clear, and the sand was fine and golden. Brian loved playing in the water and Matthew liked digging in the sand. Natalie ate the sand for awhile, then she fell asleep.

That afternoon as we headed back to the ship, we met up with Mike, Janica, and their girls. They hadn't been able to board the ship in Long Beach with us so they flew to Cabo and met us there. The boys were excited to see their cousins.

Cruising Part 1/3: On the Ship

2011-08-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a cruise (or "truise" as Matthew calls it) to Mexico with Eric's family. We had an absolutely amazing time!

We donned our matching shirts (on the front, they say "Johnson Family Cruise 2011" and on the back they say "viva la sunscreen")and watched the ship leave Long Beach.

There were plenty of fun things to do on the ship. There was a splash park that Brian and Matthew loved.

Natalie, however, did NOT love the splash park.

I think that Brian's favorite things were the miniature golf and the water slide.

We also sang karaoke, celebrated birthdays, went swimming, ate LOTS of food, and just had fun exploring the ship.

Every night, it was fun to return to our room and see what animal the steward had folded our towels into. The boys' favorite was the monkey.

Trip to Utah

2011-07-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

Natalie went on her first road trip this month. We drove to Utah to visit my family and meet my new nephew, Oliver. Traveling with a baby definitely slows you down, but we made it without too many problems.

I ended up leaving my camera in the car most of the time (oops), but we had a lot of fun. We went camping (that's where I took most of my pictures), swimming, miniature golfing, and were able to make it to Oliver's baby blessing. So, overall, we had a great time! (click on the pictures to see them a little bigger).

5 Months

2011-07-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

Natalie turned 5 months old yesterday! Over the past month, she's learned a lot. She's gotten really good at rolling over. She's also learned how to suck her thumb. She still prefers the pacifier, but if it falls out, she'll sometimes replace it with her thumb.

We borrowed this Bumbo chair from a friend and it's been kind of nice over the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, on Sunday, she learned how to arch her back and twist so she can fling herself out of it. The good news is she is *this* close to being able to sit up on her own. I even managed to get this picture today (and yesterday, she wasn't even this stable so hopefully, by next week, she'll have it down).

The bad news is she seems to be spitting up a lot more. It doesn't seem to bother her much and so far, it's not causing her to lose weight like it did with the boys, but I have to admit that it's not my favorite thing. Maybe when we start her on solids in the next month or two, it will help, but I'm not optimistic--it never made much difference with Brian or Matthew. She also hasn't been sleeping as well at night which I think may be related to the increased spitting up (since she's not keeping as much down, she has to eat more often). I guess I can't really complain since she's still a pretty good sleeper (she's usually only wakes up once between 2 and 4 AM)--I just got spoiled having her sleep through the night so early.

Here is the "official" 5 month picture.

Compared to 4 months.

And just for fun, here is a picture of her all dressed up before church on Sunday.

If you want to see more 4th of July pictures, you can see them here. We had a good day. We went out to breakfast, then went to a BBQ. We decided not to stay up for the fireworks (which didn't start until 10:30) so we'll have to try to find some while we're in Utah for the 24th.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

Starting Out the Summer

2011-06-19T16:20:00.001-07:00

Thursday was Brian's last day of school (I know, they get out really late here). He wanted to kick off the first day of summer vacation with a party so we met some friends at Katie's Cupcakes in Fairhaven then headed to Fairhaven Park. The spray park wasn't supposed to be turned on until Saturday so I didn't bring swimming suits or towels, but when we got there it was running. I tried to keep the kids out of the water, but eventually caved in and let them get wet. I think they had a lot of fun even if it was a little cold.

We've also started the boys in swimming lessons for the summer. Matthew does pretty well with his, but Brian gets pretty nervous leaving the edge of the pool. On Friday, we went to the pool as a family and worked with him a bit. I think it helped boost his confidence a bit so hopefully, this week he'll do a little better.

And just for fun, here's a picture of Natalie. She usually doesn't suck her thumb, but she managed to get it in there the other night.

Protective Big Brother

2011-06-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we went out to dinner with Matthew dressed in his Han Solo costume (he has a vest, but he wore the jacket because he wanted to be Han Solo from Empire Strikes Back). Anyways, a little boy (I think he was around 18m months) was fascinated by Natalie and kept looking at her. Matthew, I mean Han Solo, didn't like that and tried to stand in between him and Natalie. When the little boy still didn't leave, Matthew got out his gun and chased him off. I'm interested to see what happens when Natalie starts dating.

4 Months

2011-06-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Natalie is four months old and she's really grown and learned a lot over the last month. She's rolled over from tummy to back several times although she can't do it consistently yet. She's working on going from back to tummy, but she usually just ends up on her side. She just needs to figure out how to get her arms out of the way. She's gotten pretty good with her hands though and likes to pull on toys, clothes, hair--whatever she can reach. She also spends a lot of time sucking on her hands (as pictured). She's still a ridiculously happy and easy baby and we love her to pieces!

She had her four month checkup this morning. She is 15 lbs 7 oz (85th percentile) and 25 and 3/4 inches (95th percentile). Developmentally, she's right where she should be and she smiled and flirted with the doctor and nurse through the whole appointment. The only concern we have is her head is a little flat on the right side. We're hoping that as she spends less time on her back, that it even out, but we'll have to wait and see.

Here is her "official" four month picture.

Compared to three months.

Nothing Big

2011-06-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

Life is still pretty much the same around here, but I have a couple of little things to share.

A couple of weeks ago, Brian's school participated in the Junior Ski to Sea Parade. This year, Matthew and Natalie marched along with us (technically, Natalie rode in the stroller). I think everyone had a good time.

Matthew is still obsessed with Star Wars. The other day, he was very pleased with himself because he built Cloud City out of Legos.

Natalie has learned to grab at things. I put these little links on her bouncy chair and she just loves them!

Never Grow Up

2011-05-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is just a slideshow I put together for Natalie.

Dance Party

2011-05-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Brian decided that he needed to dance for Natalie before school yesterday.

An Afternoon with Superman

2011-05-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

The other day, I had a chance to spend the afternoon with Superman. First, we went to the park. Natalie had to wait in her stroller while he played, but she didnt' seem to mind. Then, he rewarded her by taking her for a walk.

Then, we finished off by going out for cupcakes. So, all in all, Superman had a pretty good day.

What's Up?

2011-05-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

This is my new favorite thing. Natalie will greet you by raising her eyebrows and giving half a nod as if to say, "What's up?"

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Sweetness

2011-05-09T07:50:00.001-07:00

My Mother's Day Present

2011-05-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is what Brian brought me home for Mother's Day. He was too excited to wait until Sunday to give it to me. It also has his handprints on the top, but only half of it would fit in my scanner.

Popcorn Popping

2011-05-06T20:23:00.001-07:00

Here's our little singer.

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Comparison

2011-05-05T14:39:00.001-07:00

Just for fun, I dragged up pictures of Brian and Matthew at 3 months. I think Natalie definitely looks more like Brian than Matthew.

3 Months

2011-05-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Can you believe Natalie is three months old already? I can't. I'm actually a little sad that she's growing up so quickly.

She's still a very mellow baby, although, she lets us know if we're not giving her enough attention. She's starting to be a bit of a light sleeper, so she's awake a lot more during the day (since her brothers get pretty noisy). This doesn't bother me too much though since she still sleeps well at night. She loves music--if you sing to her, she'll usually start "singing" along. It's so cute--I will try to get a video eventually.

Here is her two month picture for comparison--I think she's mostly filled out in her face and legs.

Put On Your Sunday Clothes. . .

2011-04-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

That's Matthew's current favorite song (Put On Your Sunday Clothes from Hello Dolly!, but he only knows it from Wall-E) so it seemed like an appropriate title for this post. I tried to get a picture of the kids dressed up for Easter before church this morning. Most of them turned out like this. . .

But I did finally manage to get this one and decided it was good enough--even if Natalie's face is kind of covered.

I also got some individual shots which went a little better.

Three Pictures

2011-04-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

I don't have anything terribly exciting, but I thought I'd post a quick picture and update of each kid.

Brian is such a cute big brother to Natalie! He loves to talk to her and read to her. The first thing he asks when he wakes up in the morning is, "Can I tell Natalie good morning?" He's doing pretty well overall. He's back in soccer and this season, he's stopped covering his ears and actually tries to play the game a bit. He's doing well in school. His teacher just went on maternity leave and I worried about how he'd do with the adjustment, but it doesn't seem to have phased him.

Matthew is still spending most of his life in costume. His repertoire includes Superman (and Clark Kent), Spiderman, Venom, Karl Fredrickson (from Up), Darth Vader (and Anakin Skywalker), Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Emperor Palpatine, and most recently, an AT-AT walker. I thought it was pretty funny the other day when Darth Vader decided to exercise with me.

Natalie is the sweetest easiest baby! She's still sleeping really well at night and she's pretty mellow during the day. Her favorite thing to do is lay on her back on the floor and look around at what we're doing. She loves it if we lay down next to her and talk to her. She'll "talk" back. She doesn't like being on her tummy quite as well, but she tolerates it for short amounts of time and is getting pretty good at holding her head up.

Coming Soon

2011-04-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Natalie's baby blessing is this Sunday. I got out her dress this week to see if it fit and take some pictures. I was going to wait until after Sunday to post these, but I'm so excited about how cute she is, that I decided to post them now. This is how she'll look this weekend--everyone is welcome to attend Sunday morning at 11:00 at the LDS chapel on Northwest Dr.

Two Months

2011-04-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

Natalie is two months old today! I can't believe how fast it's gone by. At her two month checkup this afternoon, she was 23.5 inches (90%) and 11 lbs 15 oz (75%). So she's definitely growing!

Here's her two month picture.

Compared to one month.

She really is the sweetest, easiest baby ever. She sleeps through the night (from 9:30 to 6:00) and during the day loves to smile and "talk" to us. We're so glad to have her in our family!

Sweet Little Girl

2011-03-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Little Helper

2011-03-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

Matthew helped me give Natalie a bath today. Then, while I was getting her dressed, he decided to use the sprayer from the sink to soak the entire kitchen and part of the living room. I got a little concerned when he called, "Look Mama! There are drops of water on the ceiling!"

Would anyone like to buy a three year old?

Random Phone Pics

2011-03-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

I decided to download the pictures from my phone to my computer and realized there are quite a few that I've never shared (at least on my blog--a few of them are on facebook).

This one was from before Natalie was born. When we set up the crib, the boys decided it was a lot of fun to climb in and pretend they were babies. I heard them in there saying "Wah! Wah!" in between giggles.

There are also quite a few from the hospital--Natalie was born so quickly, that we didn't have time to take very many pictures with the big camera.

The boys absolutely love their little sister--sometimes too much. They have a hard time just letting her sit or sleep by herself.

Smile!

2011-03-19T12:31:00.001-07:00

Natalie is starting to smile. Occasionally, she'll also coo and giggle. I love it!

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Teeth

2011-03-11T21:46:00.003-08:00

On Tuesday, Brian came home from school with one if his front teeth missing.

Then today, Matthew had his first check-up at the dentist. He did really well! He held still and even let them take a X-ray (something that didn't happen with Brian without several attempts and lots of nitrous oxide). The good news is he doesn't have any cavities.

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Photoshoot

2011-03-07T07:51:00.001-08:00

We had a little photoshoot after church yesterday. My goal was to get at least one good picture of all three kids together. That part was just as difficult as I imagined, but here are some of my favorites.

One Month

2011-03-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

Natalie is a month old already. I can't even believe it--it's really flown by. In any case, here is her one month picture.

2 weeks--she's gotten a little chubbier, but mostly, she's just tall and skinny.

Compare and Contrast

2011-03-03T08:54:00.001-08:00

Natalie at almost 4 weeks.

Matthew at almost 4 months.

We're Home

2011-03-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

Natalie and I finally got to come home from the hospital. She did really well coming off the oxygen and hasn't really had any other problems so they sent us home. She'll probably still be stuffy and coughing for the next few days, but she should be through the worst of it. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Sick Baby

2011-02-27T17:25:00.001-08:00

Poor Natalie is in the hospital with RSV. She'd been a little congested last week but by Saturday, she was really struggling to breathe so I took her to the doctor. The doctor confirmed that she had RSV and admitted her to the hospital. So... here we are.

All things considered, she's doing very well. The two biggest issues they watch for are dehydration and low oxygen levels. Natalie is still nursing really well and going through lots of diapers, so dehydration isn't a problem.

Her oxygen levels are slightly low. They like to see them at 90 or higher, but hers keep dropping into the upper 80s. So, it's not too bad, but we are giving her small amounts of oxygen until she can keep them up on her own. Once she can make it overnight with no oxygen, we get to go home. I was hoping that would be tonight, but it's not looking too likely. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be home by Tuesday.

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Playtime

2011-02-25T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I got out Natalie's playmat to let her play on it (and by "play," I mean "look around"). Matthew was very excited to climb in there with her.

Darth Vader

2011-02-23T12:48:00.001-08:00

Matthew has added a new character to his list. He used to just drape a sheet or blanket over himself and announce that he was Darth Vader, but my mom got him this costume so he can be much more convincing.

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2 week check-up

2011-02-22T09:11:00.000-08:00

Natalie went in for her two week check-up yesterday. Overall, she seems to be perfectly normal and healthy.

She is back up to her birth weight--exactly 8 lbs (40%) and 22 inches (95%). Her head size was in the 50 percentile which is a change from her brothers who were both always off the charts for head size.

2 Weeks

2011-02-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we've made it through the first two weeks with Natalie. Overall, it's gone pretty well. She's a calm baby (knock on wood)and just as sweet as she can be. Brian has struggled with the changes to his routine, but he and Matthew both just adore their little sister.

I guess it's time to start taking pictures of Natalie next to her bear so we can watch her grow. This is Kate Bear--Brian picked the name, but I'm not sure how he came up with it.

For comparison, here is Matthew at two weeks--he definitely had bigger cheeks.

This is the only one I could find of Brian at two weeks. I actually think Natalie looks quite a bit like Brian.

A few more

2011-02-13T23:18:00.000-08:00

I can't help it--I just think she's adorable! I guess I need to try to get a picture of all three kids together, but that might be a bigger project than I'm ready for.

Baby Pictures

2011-02-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little busy lately, so I don't have much time to post, but I thought I'd share a few pictures that I took the other day.

Natalie Lauren Johnson

2011-02-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Natalie Lauren Johnson joined our family at 8:50 AM on Saturday February 5, 2011. She weighed 8 lbs 0 oz and was 21 inches long.

I was scheduled to be induced, but that ended up being unnecessary. I started having contractions around 5 AM, then my water broke an hour later. I called the hospital and asked if they wanted me to wait until I was scheduled to come in at 7:30 or come sooner. They said to go ahead and come in so we did. As it turned out, all of their rooms were full so the induction would have been cancelled anyway. We had to wait in triage for an hour until they had a room ready.

As soon as we got to the labor room (around 8:15), I started feeling pressure so the nurse checked me and I was already between 7 and 8 cm. Things went pretty quickly after that. I wanted an epidural, but as soon as the anesthesiolgist was getting ready to start one, it was time to push. They had to hurry and grab the doctor who only had time to get on one of his gloves before she was born at 8:50. So, the delivery was a lot quicker and more chaotic than I was expecting, but ultimately everything went well and we're just enjoying getting to know our new little girl.

Quick Updates

2011-01-31T15:10:00.000-08:00

Brian lost two teeth today! The first one was this morning and the second one was this afternoon. Unfortunately, he literally lost the second one--we can't find it. I think he swallowed it while he was eating some pretzels. Oh well, he's still pretty excited. When I tried to take a picture of his missing teeth, Matthew insisted that I get one of them together too.

In other news, it looks like we are going to have a baby this week! At my appointment today, I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. The doctor said that in all liklihood, I would go into labor in the next few days, but if I don't, they're going to schedule an induction for this weekend. So, hopefully, before too long, I will be showing off pictures of Baby Natalie.

Baby Pool

2011-01-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

I set up an online baby pool just for fun. Here's the link to enter: http://www.expectnet.com/games/ThirdBabyJohnson

For reference, here are the boys' stats.

Brian
Due Date: January 26
Actual DOB: January 12
Weight: 8 lbs. 7 oz.
Length: 20 inches

Matthew
Due Date: August 13
Acual DOB: August 8
Weight: 9 lbs. 11 oz.
Lenght: 21 inches

Two different ultrasounds have shown that this baby is a girl, but if you're a doubter of modern technology, you can go ahead and guess boy.

Super Matthew

2011-01-19T13:07:00.001-08:00

My nephew was Superman last Halloween. He hasn't shown much interest in his costume so Angela sent it on to Matthew who loves it. And since he needs to preserve his identity, he got out his hat and jacket to transform into Clark Kent.

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Snow Day

2011-01-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

We had a snowstorm come through last night so school was canceled this morning. By the time we woke up though, it had warmed up a bit and the snow was melting fast. So as soon as there was a little light in the sky, I took the boys outside to play. Here's a quick video. I should mention that Brian actually started the snowball fight--he'd just lost interest before I started filming.

I've been a slacker

2011-01-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

Not only have I not blogged about Christmas, but I didn't even take very many pictures and the ones I did take are still in the camera. So, I thought I'd tide you over with this picture of the boys from Christmas Eve--it makes me smile.

Anyways, we had a really nice Christmas. Brian and Matthew were spoiled rotten (our house is bursting at the seams with toys). The first thing Brian opened was a Nevada atlas. He gasped and said, "That was just what I was hopening for!" The boys also got lots of legos and board games. My mom got Matthew a little sheriff's costume that we couldn't get off of him for about 3 days (it came with a bandanna, badge, gun, and holster). I need to try to get a picture of him in it--it's pretty cute.

Now that the holidays are over, we're working on getting ready for the baby. We moved Brian into Matthew's room this week. As you'd expect, there's been lots of playing and fighting at bedtime, but overall, they're doing okay sharing a room. So now, we just need to get the baby's room put together. Hopefully, we can get that done in the next couple of weeks.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:05:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-22T13:30:00.000-08:00

We completed our annual tradition of making Christmas cookies this weekend. The boys had a lot of fun helping roll out and decorate the sugar cookies (though they were more interested in playing with the cookie cutters than actually using them).

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

2010-12-17T15:04:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, we took the boys to see Santa Claus. They were pretty excited. Brian asked him for an atlas. Matthew was a little vague and just asked for "presents."

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

We've finally started getting ready for Christmas. Yesterday, we picked out a Christmas tree. Brian and Matthew were SOOO excited (and by the way, Grandma Johnson bought them those pirate PJs and Brian decreed that they have to wear them every Friday)!

Of course, we did the same thing we did last time we bought a tree--we ended up getting one that is way too big for our living room. It's so hard to judge how it will fit when you're looking at it at the Christmas tree lot, plus you see a nice full tree for only $20 and it's hard to pass up that deal. So, we set it up anyway and today, we got it decorated.

So, I wouldn't say that we're ready for Christmas, but we're getting closer.

2010 in Review

2010-12-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

I've been putting together an album of some of my favorite pictures from 2010. I will probably add a couple of pages of Christmas pictures or whatever else happens this month, but I think for the most part, it's finished.

Sunshine!

2010-12-03T17:04:00.000-08:00

First of all, yes we had a nice Thanksgiving (though the weather made the drive there and back a little stressful), but I was a slacker and didn't take any pictures.

I did, however, take some pictures today that I thought I'd share. It finally stopped raining and the sun came out so Matthew and I rushed outside before it disappeared again. About a month ago, they finished a trail behind our house (eventually it's supposed to be part of a full-blown park), but I hadn't been able to check it out until today. I suspect, it will be a lot prettier in the spring.

Matthew was upset that they didn't have their signs finished so he crawled behind them and said, "I can be the sign!"

When we got to the end of the trail, Matthew said, "I wanted to walk to Daddy's office!" Since it was just about time for Eric to get off to work, we went ahead and walked down to Eric's office and came home with him (these pictures are by the field next to Eric's office building).

A Couple of Pictures

2010-11-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

I just have a couple of quick snapshots that I'm finally getting around to blogging.

First of all, it's not a great picture, but here is a quick belly shot for those of you who want to see how I'm growing. I still feel like I look more fat than pregnant (though I've found that what I wear makes a big difference--this particular shirt helps it look more like I'm actually pregnant).

Matthew and I have been trying to keep busy while Brian is at school. The other day, we broke out the Play Doh (this is a rare occurrence at our house--I've seen firsthand that it's nearly impossible to get out of carpet so I usually keep it up on the closet shelf). Matthew thought it was a great treat.

And lastly, here are a few of Matthew in his current favorite outfit. He actually gets upset when it stops raining because he loves being a "fireman" (though he can usually be appeased by sticking a towel in the back of his shirt so he can be Superman). In the last one, we met up with his friend Adia and her mom for donuts then walked over to the library--I thought they were just adorable with their umbrellas.

Speaking of pictures, I do have a photography blog. I haven't shown it to very many people because I'm still working on the design of it and I've decided to put a lot of my photography goals on the back-burner until the baby gets a little older; nevertheless, if you want to see more of my pictures, you can check it out. If I have taken pictures of you or your family, you're probably featured--if you're uncomfortable with that, send me an email and I'll remove your pictures.

Halloween

2010-11-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

My laptop got a virus this week (I think I've fixed it) so I've been a little distracted and forgot to post Halloween pictures. We didn't do a whole lot--we just went to our ward's trunk-or-treat, but the boys had fun. I was kind of disappointed because our pumpkin got all mushy before we had a chance to carve it. Here are some pictures of Mario and Buzz Lightyear getting ready to go trunk-or-treating.

Stoney Ridge Farm

2010-10-25T19:32:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we took the boys to Stoney Ridge Farm to pick out a pumpkin. Luckily,we went early enough to miss the rain that started later in the day and has been off and on ever since.

They liked posing with cut-out signs.

And they had fun wandering around the farm.

Then, we took a wagon ride up to the fields so we could play in the corn maze and pick pumpkins and apples.

This year, we even managed to escape without any bee stings. So, overall, the outing was a success.

Just Goofin' Off

2010-10-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I went out and played today and of course, I took my camera. Here is a silly series of pictures that made me smile.

The week in pictures

2010-10-16T18:50:00.001-07:00

We've had another week of not much going on, but I did have a few pictures I wanted to share.

Matthew has been obsessed with Superman lately. His Superman pjs are getting too small and I won't let him stay in them all day. He's solved that problem by constantly bringing me dish towels and asking me to make them into capes. It's pretty cute.

I made a trip down to Burlington to do some shopping this week. It seems that Matthew has had a growth spurt and outgrown all of his pants and all of Brian's pants simultaneously got holes in the knees. So, I got some pants for the boys and I couldn't resist picking out a few little girl things too.

In preschool this week, Matthew made a bear mask. He's pretty proud of it and has worn it all over pretending to be a bear. When he first put it on, he apparently got annoyed with me for asking too many questions so he took it off and told me, "Mama, bears don't talk very much." The next day, my mom sent Brian a bean bag chair (and he loves it--thanks mom!)which came in a giant box. Matthew turned the box into his "bear cave."

We also took a trip to Hovander Park yesterday. I bribed Matthew with M&Ms to get him to pose for a few pictures.

Quick Baby Update

2010-10-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

I went in for my follow-up ultrasound today and everything looks great! The fluid around the baby's heart is gone. My doctor said there are a lot of things that could have caused the fluid to build up before but since it's resolved itself, there's no way to know for sure and it's not something to worry about. So that's good news. She's still growing and definitely still a girl (we checked).

Keeping Busy

2010-10-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

I guess it's time to update the blog. It seems like we've been pretty busy, but mostly just with a bunch of little things--nothing really big. So here's a post of random pictures and updates.

Brian insists that we make popcorn at exactly 3:30 every Sunday. Eric and I are okay with this tradition, so we go along with it. Last week though, for some reason, instead of sitting at the table like they normally do, the boys dragged laundry baskets into the dining room and sat in those to eat their popcorn.

Brian seems to be enjoying first grade. Last week his school did a fundraiser where they had the kids run around the field for a half hour (they were supposed to get people to pledge $/the number of laps they did--and for those of you who pledged, he needs to turn in his money by the 15th). Matthew and I went to cheer him on and even run a few laps with him. He ran 9 laps by the way. He almost finished a 10th, but refused to let them check it off because he hadn't quite finished when the time was up.

Matthew has also been going to school (sort of). Some of the moms from our church have started a co-op preschool. Everyone takes a turn hosting it and helping out while the kids play, learn about letters and numbers, do crafts, etc. He seems to be enjoying it so far. This week we went on a field trip to the train museum which he liked a lot.

The other thing keeping us busy is we are working on potty-training Matthew. There have been definite ups and downs, but I think (knock on wood) we're almost there. He hasn't had any accidents in the past two days and this morning, he even woke up dry. I told him if he can go three consecutive days in a row with no accidents then we can have a party (which will probably just be something small like going out to McDonald's or cupcakes or something, but he's excited about that). So hopefully, tomorrow will be the third day. I'm really looking forward to having a few diaper free months before the baby arrives.

I'm a Genius!

2010-09-26T13:46:00.001-07:00

Apparently, I'm on a blogging roll(if you haven't seen them already, there are two new-ish posts below this one). We put Brian back in soccer for the fall. He likes it and is gradually gaining a little better understanding of what the game is about. Unfortunately, during the games, he still gets so anxious about the air horn that they use to signal rotations that he has a hard time staying focused on the game.

After he spent the first game covering his ears, I suggested that we get him a sweatband to wear. He puts it over his ears and it's helped him to relax about the horn and pay attention to the game (at least as much as any other 6 or 7 year old).

It may not be the best fashion statement, but he doesn't seem to mind. It also helps keep his ears warm because it does get pretty cold out there on the field.

The Long-lost Camping Pictures

2010-09-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

I was trying to figure out how to reset the date on my little camera today and I miraculously found out what happened to the pictures from our camping trip this summer. Apparently, they'd been saved to the camera's internal memory instead of the memory card. I didn't even know that was possible. So anyways, here are the pictures that should have accompanied this post. They were taken with my little point and shoot camera, so they're not great, but defintely better than nothing.

Matthew relaxing while we set up camp.

Eating dinner--yeah, we forgot to bring plates. Oops.

Eric and Brian roasting marshmallows.

And Matthew in the tent.

20 Week Ultrasound

2010-09-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

We went in for our 20 week ultrasound today. This is the big one where they check all the anatomy. Overall, things look good. The only thing they're concerned about is a little fluid around her heart. The doctor said it will probably resolve on its own, but they're doing another ultrasound in two weeks to check on it and if it persists they will send me to a specialist in Seattle. So, hopefully, that turns out to be nothing, but say a little prayer, just in case.

So, did you notice I said her? That's right, we're having a girl!!!! We're very excited about this, especially Brian. He's been asking for a sister for a long time. He got a little bored during the ultrasound though so I let him play on my iPod. When we found out it was a girl, he just looked up for a second and said, "Oh, that makes me very happy." Then he went back to his game. Oh well, he really is happy and so are the rest of us.

Here are some inscrutable pictures.

Whatcom Falls Park

2010-09-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

I actually took these pictures over Labor Day weekend, but I just got around to editing them. My goal was to get at least one good picture of the boys together--I don't think I really accomplished that, but oh well. They had fun.

First Day of School

2010-09-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Brian started first grade this week. It's been a little strange for me to have him gone all day long, but overall the transition seems to be going pretty well. His teacher from kindergarten moved up to first grade so he has the same teacher and all the same classmates as last year. I think that's really helped to make the switch to first grade a lot easier for him.

Here he is in front of the school on the first day.

In his seat, all ready to get to work.

He was literally bouncing with excitement when he got off the bus at the end of the day.

Baby Update

2010-08-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

This picture is a few weeks old, but I realized that I never put it on my blog, so here you go.

There's not much to report as far as the pregnancy goes. I'm actually still losing weight (I've lost 15 lbs so far), but I imagine I'll probably start gaining it back soon. The baby seems to be doing great. He or she is growing at an appropriate rate and has a heartbeat. That's really all they can know for now.

We have our big ultrasound scheduled for September 24. I put a poll on the left side of this blog so you can vote on whether you think we're having a boy or girl. I kind of think it's a girl just because I feel a lot different this time around than I did with Brian and Matthew, but you never know. We'll be happy either way.

Matthew: Age Three

2010-08-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

Matthew went in for his three year check up. It went pretty well (minus the incident where the doctor held up his hand for Matthew to give him five, but Matthew tried to lick it instead--I'm not quite sure what happened there). Matthew is 39 inches (90%) and 41 pounds (95%). So he's definitely growing. He's also right on target developmentally (and as silly as ever). The nurse took his blood pressure and he was very intrigued by that--she told him she was checking to see how well his heart was working and he kept pointing to his chest and saying, "But my heart's right there!"

Fun at the Fair

2010-08-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Last week, Eric took the afternoon off of work and we went to the fair. It was fun and the boys enjoyed all the rides and animals (although Matthew was terrfied of the reptile exhibit and I had to take him out).

Trip to Canada

2010-08-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my parents and brother came to visit and we took a quick trip up to Canada. On Friday, we stayed in Vancouver and spent most of the day at Stanley Park. We had intended to go to the aquarium there, but Brian saw the giant splash park and that's all he wanted to do. He also wanted to check out the little beach next to it where kids were swimming. So, after a quick picnic lunch, the boys got to spend the afternoon playing in the water.

We kept seeing horse drawn tours coming around the park and decided it might be a fun way to see what there was there. It was interesting and we learned that we just barely scratched the surface of fun things to do there. I guess we'll have to go back sometime.

On Saturday, we drove to Aldergrove (and the traffic was terrible in case you wondered) and met up with Eric at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. It was hot, but we had fun anyways. My parents decided to rent a double bicycle to ride around the zoo which led to additional entertainment. Interestingly enough, people were much more eager to ride on the downhill stretches than the uphill ones.

If you want to see the rest of my pictures, you can check them out here.

Matthew's Birthday

2010-08-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm behind on my blog. Matthew's third birthday was was on August 8. He was still recovering from his ear infection, but overall, I think he had a good day.

After church, we let him open his presents. He got Wall-E on BluRay, a monster truck and toy car (from Brian), and a Little People airplane.

Then we had cake. The only thing he'd said that he wanted for his birthday was a Lightning McQueen cake so we decided to let him get one. He loved it. In fact, it was hard to get him to stop playing with it long enough to blow out the candles.

Camping Trip

2010-08-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

There will be no photos in this post because even though I took pictures, they seem to have vanished from my memory card. For the record, I'm not very happy about this turn of events.

Brian and Matthew (especially Brian) have been asking to go camping all summer long. So, last night, we took them on a quick trip to Rasar State Park. It was a fun trip even if it did rain.

One of my favorite things about Brian is he's always very excited--even about the littlest things. This camping trip was no exception. He started bouncing the second he woke up yesterday morning, saying things like, "It's August 6, we're going camping today!" When we got there, he was excited to set up camp and after I got all of our beds set up in the tent, he poked his head inside and said, "Wow! It's beautiful in there!" I'm glad that he's so easily impressed. His very favorite thing though, was walking around the campground and seeing all the numbers at the different campsites.

Matthew had a good time too, but he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as his brother. In fact, the poor kid has an ear infection and was a little crabby at times. He says that his favorite thing was sleeping in a tent. Although, I should mention, he wasn't too happy about having to share. This morning, he woke up around six, saw Brian next to him and said, "Brian! Get out of my tent!"

Anyways, we had a good time with lots of s'mores. Hopefully, I'll be able to recover the pictures from my memory card at some point.

Soup

2010-08-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

I've been eating a lot of soup lately. I don't think I've mentioned it on my blog, but I finally got braces in June. In order to make room on my jaw, I needed to have a few teeth pulled. When I went in to have the extractions done, I told them I was pregnant so they sent me home and told me to reschedule after my 12th week. So, last week, I finally went in and got 5 teeth pulled (4 premolars and a baby tooth that never came out on its own).

That brings me back to soup. For the first couple of days, I couldn't handle anything chunkier than Campbell's chicken noodle. By Saturday, that had gotten pretty old, so I begged Eric to take me to the Olive Garden for some Pasta e Fagioli. For some reason, I have been craving that soup this entire pregnancy (this kid is clearly much classier than his or her brothers--I craved hot dogs with both of them). Anyways, after nearly three days of condensed soup, it was like manna from Heaven.

So basically, this is just a long rambling post to say that I'm slowly starting to feel better and the pregnancy is going pretty well. Between the dental/orthodontic work and morning sickness (I haven't been very sick, but my appetite has definitely been affected), I've actually lost 10 lbs so far. Since I was overweight to start out with, this is a good thing. I'm sure I'll make up for it later on though.