Happy Easter!

I'm just going to have to work my way backwards because I've been blog slacking, big time!!
Here is Sammy with his new little friend, unnamed as of yet (maybe Roxy?).


The rest are pictures from Easter.. today! Since I was blessed with boys instead of girls, they will have to deal with me trying to color coordinate our family on special occasions :)
















to say that Sam likes candy would be the understatement of the century. I've been trying to slip some real food in here, but I think he is on a candy strike!

Cry babies...

Today I didn't work... as a dental hygienist.
Today I was mom. This mom had to deal with a baby who is cutting his 4th tooth in a 3 week period time. This one is a central incisor & it is driving this poor baby berserk!! He has been crying all day- very uncharacteristic for my little Joey :( He woke up at 7am, took only about 45 minutes of naps & didn't go to sleep until close to 9pm. Please.. tell me he will sleep the night through. A full day of crying + a night = one insane mama.
Sam was having his bath tonight & started hysterically crying. I was around the corner & ran in to calm him down. I finally calmed him down. He was convinced there were bugs around the drain & would not stop whining about it. Sam revealed his first irrational fear... bugs. Sean is trying to convince him that our bed is full of bugs so he won't want to get into our bed anymore- not a bad plan. Now Sam points out any dark small object & says it is a bug.
I never realized how easy being a dental hygienist is compared to being a mom. Going to a job every day is cake compared to being mom. Man.. I sure never gave my Mom enough credit.. ever. Mom.. your the best :)

Catch up

Our lives are changing and flying by so fast, I thought maybe I'd make a post about what everyone is up to lately.

Starting with Sam...He will be 2 1/2 years old in April. He is pretty much OBSSESSED with Elmo right now. I didn't have him watch Sesame Street for awhile, and now mostly I just dvr it & he watches Elmo's World. He can sing the theme song pretty well. He likes to sing too. His favorites right now are- spider song (eensy weensy spider), temple song ( I love to see the temple) & the Elmo song ( Elmo's world theme song). He loves to steal Joey's binkie, even though he hasn't used one since he was 9 months old. He loves everything having to do with cars & he loves to play outside. The weather has been pretty amazing & our back yard is awesome, so I just open up the door & he runs in & out all day. His vocabulary increases every day & he always amazes me at what he says. He really wants to help do everything now & says- I do! I do!! He wants to help me carry out the trash, load the dishwasher, wipe the counters. Maybe I have a good thing here :) Too bad he is 2 & can't really do those things & that it takes me 3 x longer to do them when he "helps". Oh well.. you gotta start somewhere, right?




Of course, he loves to do any & everything his dad is doing, so since Sean has been working on building a smoker/bbq, Sam is right there with him.

He is getting so tall, to me.. I can't remember how tall he was when he was just measured, but he weighs 28 lbs now. He loves to go to church & thinks that nursery is church, so when we walk right by the nursery room to go to sacrament meeting, there is usually a small fit thrown.
He pretty much repeats everything over & over again until he is acknowledged & even then, will sometimes continue to say whatever it is over & over again... & we couldn't wait for him to start talking :) He can count to 10. He knows all the animals & sounds. He can kinda sing his ABC's, but lately really likes saying- 4,7,8, not sure what that is all about. His colors are hit & miss. I'm not too worried about any of it, cause I freaked out that he couldn't count to 10 for awhile & then one morning he just woke up doing it. He is really great about saying thank you, & says Hi to just about everyone. We were at the store the other day & he saw some kids & went up to them & said- Hi! When they didn't say hi back he said- Say.. hi! It made me laugh. One thing not making me laugh.. he figured out how to unlock the front door & screen door & get out.. & we figured out by ways I'm sure you can imagine. Lets just say the whole- don't go in the street without holding mommy's hand, hasn't quite sunk in yet. He keeps us on our toes every second & I think I would die if I didn't have his craziness all around me :)

Joey bear...

He is 7 months old now. He weighs a whopping 20lbs & I feel it every time I pick him up! He has rolls galore & I love to kiss him all over :) He is Mr. squirmy now & wants to roll, sit, then roll, then scoot, then attempt a crawl, then scoot & do it all over again.
I found him the other day out on the tile instead of the carpet. It made me laugh to see his pudgy tummy hanging out & his ankle rolls completing the picture.

I'm not sure you could say he crawls, but he gets around very well!!! He has already pulled himself up to standing & I wish he would slow it down!!I would be fine if he would wait awhile, but he has that same little intensity in his eyes that Sammy did & I know before too long he will be Mr. weeble wobble, trying to walk around just like Sam did. He loves to hear his voice & says mama & dada, but thats about it. He just loves to make squealie noises & say his ta, da, & ba noises alot. He is a wonderful sleeper!!! Unlike his older brother. He goes to bed a decent hour & usually wakes up only once around 3-4 to eat. Eat, eat eat. Like this kid looks like he is lacking!! He is eating lots of mushy foods now & wants to eat pretty much constantly. He loves to be outside, just like his brother & I know he is longingly watching him running around, waiting for the day he can do the same. I love everything about this little guy & just thinking of him makes me smile :)

Julia- This picture was great, cause alot of time I feel like this is my life. Trying to make babies happy.

I've been working alot lately while Sean is back in school full time & because of that, I pretty much spend every other waking second with my boys. I feel like the last 3months have gone by in fast forward!!
This little lettering project above Joe's bed is pretty much the only other interesting thing I've done lately.

I have been trying out some more healthy recipes lately & have found some awesome ones!! I'll have to share the recipes in another blog :)

Sean has been working hard at his classes & looks like this alot now...

He in the Criminal Justice degree program at ASU & does alot online, so he has a nice warm spot on the computer alot, or in the chair next to it, reading. He is doing so AWESOME in his classes & I'm just like a proud mama :) I'm excited for him to get everything done. Hopefully in about a year or so he will be able to apply for some Law degree programs.

His hobby lately is smoking meat, & if you know Sean at all, he gets a little obsessive about his hobbies. He decided to build a giant ultimate bbq/smoker.

luckily, his dad is a great welder & Sean seems to always know someone who knows someone to get all the things he need for his projects. It will be a big smoker with a bbq/stove welded on the back as well, all on a nice little trailer to haul wherever we are :)
He even started his own bbq blog, but is changing the address to it, so I'll let you know when it is final :)
Thats us lately.. hopefully I'll be a little better about blogging!!!

Another Day

On Sunday I was in the other room when I heard Sean say.. "another tooth?!" . Yes, Joey now has his 3rd tooth, on March 13, 2011 he cut letter Q. His teeth came in.. P, then O, then Q.. odd. Probably not when you don't know much about teeth, but that's not usually the order they come in. BUT, everyone is different, & Joe is no exception :) So, 3 teeth in 3 weeks- gotta be a record, right?
Last night the Dillards invited us to go to Oregon Stop Pizza for dinner. Little did I know, it was Sam and Sean's first time there. I didn't know Sean had never been before. My sister took this picture on her phone.

Sam LOVED it.. to put it mildly. He was laughing & clapping & playing the table like it was a piano & bouncing on Grandma's knee. He LOVED it! & just when we were about to leave.. the cats came up to dance again! We had to drag him away yelling out- meeno!!! Sean's mom has a cat named Nemo, & he always calls cats meeno.
Sean thought it was pretty fun too.
When we got home, we all went out back & layed in the green blanket of grass on our jean blanket & looked at the moon & stars. It was perfect. The boys love being outside & the weather has been amazing. Then me & Sean scooped them up in the blanket & swung them around in it.. which they loved & we all went for a short walk to the mailbox together. What a great night :) I loved being all together & being outside & spending time together.. & NO tv!!!
I guess the day wore me out, cause I took Sam in to lay in bed & wind down. We layed there singing songs & next thing I know, Sean was telling me to come to bed. I fell asleep & Sam left to go watch tv with Sean.. figures.

An attempt

Well... I'm going to make an attempt to play catch up here. I don't think I have EVER gone an entire month without blogging!!!!

These past few months have been a little busy... to put it lightly. I have been working full time since the beginning of the year. One of the other hygienists had a baby & I was taking on more time to give her time with her new -freaking adorable- bambino.

soo...

last time I blogged, our little Joey bear had been in the hospital with rsv. I wasn't going to take any pictures, but I talked to my sister JoDee, who told me even though this was a crappy time, we would still want to some kind of documentation of it in the future. So here are a few pics of our little guy in his "crib" in the hospital.

Man, I love that little guy. Every time I think of him, a smile bursts across my face. He was in Cardon's Childrens hopsital for 4 days & 3 nights. He had a small little relapse about a week or so ago, but it was minor & I think that with the weather changes he has just been a little more congested. but he recovered wonderfully.

Sean's "smoking" addiction has kicked into high gear. This picture is actually from an extra turkey I had in the freezer from the holidays that I wanted to move out. So Sean found a new brine recipe & we smoked it. Pretty much the most tender turkey meat I've ever tasted in my life!! Definitely have to smoke the one next Thanksgiving!

Last weekend Sean tried a new wings recipe & lets just say that before then, I always hated wings & would never give them a try. They were pretty freaking awesome though!!!! We drove up to Lost Duchmans park at the Superstition mountains & bbqed wings while watching an amazing view of the valley & sitting in amazing weather. Pretty awesome time!

A few weeks ago I noticed how quiet it was outside while Sam was playing, so I peeked out to find him, imagining he was cruising on the quad. It made me laugh...

Speaking of Sam imagining... he is such a little boy. Every day he cracks me up. I was cleaning the kitchen one day & peeked in to find him lining up every toy he had that had wheels on it. He LOVES cars & trucks & trains & helicopeters & planes & do I have to keep going on? I love finding the cars all lined up in the funniest places throughout the house. Today they were guarding the front door, just inside the screen door.

Here is Joey having some Daddy time. He is such a happy baby!! He loves to smile & LOVES to be held & kissed.

I found this little beauty at a yard sale & have begun the process of stripping it & refinishing it. It is taking me FOREVER!!!

layer of green.. under a layer of gold.. under another layer of green!!! & I haven't had all the time in the world lately. Some day I will eventually finish it & post after pics :)

Our little Joey is becoming, well.. not so little any more. Yesterday he actually turned 7 months old!! I can hardly believe it!! He will no longer chill in his car seat.. he wants to turn & roll & scoot around everywhere!

Today he was sitting next to me in the office, on the floor. When I looked down, he had scooted over to my chair & was trying to pull himself up!! He made it up to his knees, but with all the stregth he could exert.. he couldn't quite make it all the way up. It was pretty cute :)

On February 11th, Sean & I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Sean took Sam with him & let him pick out these beauties for me....

& then Sammy handed them to me when the got home :) Unfortunately, Joey had just come home from the hospital that week, so we pretty much just went to dinner & that was it. I guess when you celebrate your wedding, you celebrate your family too.. & this year it meant giving the boys our all that week!

A few weeks ago we were over at my sisters when Sam came running in crying. Sean saw him first & did what we always do.. tell him he is ok. He kept crying so he sent him over to me & that is when I noticed the goose egg!!!! He got a doosy of a goose egg. Who knows what really happend.. but we are talking about the kid who runs & without looking will run into the wall or door. It was bound to happen sooner or later & I'm surprised it took this long to happen!! I snapped a picture of it when he was sleeping about a week after it had happened. He was turning all shades of black, blue & yellow!

After church the other day I saw all my boys on the couch & couldn't help but think how freaking cute they all looked, so I made them pose for a picture. I LOVE Joey's face in this one.

Sean's smoking obsession has led him to begin building & designing his own ginormous smoker. So we all go out into the garage & Sean works on his project & I work on my desk. Sam loves to pick up tools & help out. The other day I came out & he had a tape measure & I said- what are you doing out here? He said- I'm workin' Mom.. I'm workin'!! I couldn't help but laugh.

Sean & I have always played a game with Sam where we cover him up some how & then pretend we can't find him. "where did Sammy go??!!" & then of course he pops out & we look so shocked that he was there all along. He loves it. Recently he has started hiding himself & then asking- where's Sammy? Over & over untill we do it too. He's such a funny kid. This was him & Joey hiding from us.

Joey loves to grab at everything now.. his feet being no exception.

.. and... March 1st, Joey cut his very first tooth. I actually took this picture that day. He looked so cute with it just hanging out there!!

Then the 7th, he cut his second. & now when he smiles you see his cutie little toofies!!! I love it :) Sam was pretty much the worst teether EVER! Joe, not so much. Gotta love it!! He got a tad fussy in the night, but a little Tylenol later.. & he was fine!

Last night my niece babysat the boys while were went to a cousins reception & then out to dinner afterwards. I got Sam a happy meal on the way home & it had a superman action figure that punches & his chest lights up when he punches. He was convinced that my niece gave it to him & he pretty much loves his "guy" ALOT!! Can you tell?

Life is never dull. I don't think with kids, it ever will be again! Next week is spring break & Sean & I both get a little time off. I don't think we will know what to do with ourselves!!! I seriously have barely even been on the computer at all in the past 2 weeks & life seems to just zoom by!! I cannot believe my little Joey is 7 months old already! It's blowing my mind. This week he just started trying to talk a little more. Today he called Sean dada to his face. He uses ta or ba noises now & it sounds like he is really trying hard to tell us something.

That was my attempt to randomely & out of order, catch up on life lately... hopefully life will cut me a little more blog time now :)

Words to the wise..

Ok, maybe not wise, but words nonetheless. If there are spelling errors it is because this keyboard is a giant rubber cartoon ish keyboard & hard to write with, but.. I'm just hanging out at the hospital, so..
by Thursday last week Joe was sick again. what are we doing wrong to have all this sickness??!! I thought about taking him to the pediatrician by Friday, but thought maybe he'd get over it. by Satuday is was pretty bad. I caled the on call number for the pediatrician & the nurse caled me back. When I described Joe's symptoms she told me to take him to hte ER. ER? that seemed a little drastic to me. My sister is a nurse & came over & listened to his chest for me. She agreed that he needed to be seen, so I went to the urgent care by our house. BIG mistake!!!! The PA I saw pretty much told me Joe was fine & that the rattling in his chest was just congestion & that he may be getting an ear infection, but didn't quite have one. My sister said he was full of crap & that if Joe showed the slightest signs of getting worse to take him to the er. We slept through Sat night & by Sunday Sean was sick of my incesant questioning monologue i was thinking out loud & told me he Was worse & to take him to the hospital, so I did.
I went to the Cardons Childresn Medical Center at Desert Banner. I was the only one at the er. Lucky.
They told me I shold have listeened to the pediatrician nurse.
We started off with a breathing treatment. Joe , apparently, is one of those special cases of a child that won't resond to breathing treatments. Lucky him & us. The doctors said he wanted to keep us because his oxgen level werent suficient on his own. So we waited in an er room until our room was ready that afternoon. I obviosly fought back the tears when they told me he had to stay & the nurse asured me it was for the best. I'm glad we came in.
They have been wonderful here. So undertanding & accomidating. Joe has RSV. His poor little body just couldn't handle it by himself. So he has been hooked up to ogygen & getting regular deep suctions. RSV lasts about 7-10 day, so hopefuly our sickness will end there. He also has an ear infection & is being treated for that. Poor guy. It's hard seeing him all hookedup & miserable.
Our families have been awesome at helping us with Sam so we can be with Joe. I stayed last night & then went straight to work. tonightthey are keeping him again &I will stay again & go to work. I haven't even been home since Sunday morning. Ha.
Sean's mom sat with Joey this morning at the hospital til we could get tohim. I came on my lunch break & after work. Tomorow Sean will relieve meet me in the morning & stay while I go to work. It's been a tough few days!! My fam has been awesome at helping watch Sam for us.
Despite the hardships we face in this life, we have to look to the positive. If we don't, we'll go crazy!! I love how strugles make me realize how amazing the people around us are! I'm grateful for strength & love!! I'm grateful for an ever mindful Father in Heaven.

chapped lips

Life moves on here at the Johnson home.. and the Johnson boys continue to get bigger.. & cuter :)
I think I will have chapped lips soon. Joey started eating real food this past week & every time I feed him his food, I'm fake-eating it & licking my lips as I do. I can't help it. Sean always makes fun of me & it makes me think of the mom from the Incredibles when she feeds Jack Jack.
Joey has tried avacado, banana, applesauce & mango, to name a few, this week. He is our new little piglet...

Sean is getting good at making rubs for our meat & continues his bbq obsession. but when it tastes so good.. can we really complain?

I loved the look on Joe's face in this next picture.

I saw a patient this last week that is trying to grow tomato plants in her house, and not being very successful. She wasn't very happy to hear my "funny" story about how our tomato plant came out of nowhere.. & now has a tomatoe growing on it. :)

Joe is a rolling baby now.. rolling to his back & then onto his little tummy. He is all over the place. He started doing this wierd almost bear walk stance when he is on his tummy & I had a patient today that told me babies that do this are suppose to walk sooner than others. Huh... I can't handle another fast walking baby!!! Sam started walking between 9 & 10 months. Heaven help us if Joe is walking in 3 months!!!!! On Sunday Joe laughed out loud at Sean & Sam when they were throwing a stuffed animal over his head. The monkey landed right next to Joe on the ground & he started hysterically laughing. He has never laughed in response to a situation before, only at being tickled. It tickled me :)

Sam told me the other day that he is the big brother. I couldn't believe it! Every day he amazes me by saying something new.. & I LOVE it! Last night when we went out he said- "mom, it's cold outside!". It made me smile to hear a complete sentence & I just said.. yes Sam.. it IS cold!!! I can tell we are in trouble though. He will repeat something over & over again until you acknowledge that he is telling it to you. He talks constantly & I don't see that stopping soon!!!

I can't begin to tell how much I'm loving these boys :)