I'm a Mom!

This line was a little funny to me a couple of weeks ago when I was reading a blog from a parenting site. The woman's point was that with her first baby she always had the guilty thought of 'playing' the part of mommy but not actually fitting the concept and position. Now, almost a year after her second child she described a night that a lot of us have had - wrenched from a dead sleep by the sound of a child puking. What once would have thrown the whole night turned into what she describes as 'clean pajamas, sheets and pillows flowing from her arms and a kiss and reasurrance allowing her daughter to go right back to sleep. She started the laundry on the way back to bed and slept the rest of the night instead of staying awake listening for awful gagging noises.' She said it was at this time that she realized that she had actually acheived 'mom' status. And yes, I do have a point. Although I don't think I've ever felt like I was faking it, this story quickly came to mind in the middle of last night when we discovered that Rhett had a fairly high temperature. Instead of rushing to the hospital which would have been my first reaction a few years ago, I called Cliff, he gave Rhett a blessing, we gave him some tylenol, and after some cuddles I tucked him back in bed. I definitely felt like a seasoned mom as I crawled into bed and went back to sleep. His fever seems to have broken now and we're pretty sure he's just cutting molars.

I've had a lot of thoughts running through my head today - how quickly my kids are growing, how blessed we are to be where we are, and how much I miss being close to our families. Mostly though, I'm just happy to be with my family and to have my precious boys and husband. Some new pics of my boys - Zane was a little miffed that I didn't have any of just him so I made sure to take some today. What a kid!

Troublemaker!

Have you all met my troublmaker? He's just under 3 feet normally....but he somehow reaches things that are 4 feet high....and he has discovered how to open drawers without handles! Yes, I am talking about Rhett. He's latest delights are to open the drawer under the stove and pull out my pots and pans and lids. He was into throwing the lids until one landed on his toes yesterday - now it's much better to pull the pots out and line them up in front of the stove. Then, while mom is distracted putting those away he takes off to the living room and goes after the keyboard and mouse on the computer desk. Nevermind that mom has put them up on top of the desk - he has learned which cord to pull so they come tumbling down onto the floor.

He also fell asleep today eating his lunch...and of course I took pictures. You just gotta love them!

A little of this and That!

It's been a busy week for us Johnsons! We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and some of Friday in Edmonton for Cliff's Lasik eye surgery. All went well and he can now see much better and no longer needs his glasses! Yeah for him! We also got to do some fun things with the kids - we spent and afternoon in West Ed and Cliff and Zane did some mini-golf. We watched the sea lion show from inside the arena- lots of laughs! and of course did some swimming at the hotel. So lots of fun, and a few challenges (2 kids in one hotel room...you do the math)

We also moved Rhett into a big boy bed! We originally built a bunk on the bottom of Zane's loft bed, but after one night we discovered that it was much too short - he couldn't sit up without bonking his head. Not ideal. So, yesterday the boys and I went bed shopping and got a great deal at JYSK. We got it all set up last night and we're off and running with no more crib and hopefully better sleep to come!

I am also moving forward with my decorating plans for the kids room. I'm going with a beach theme (did I mention that I loved California!) I got new curtains made and love them. Im' going to take some of the surfing pics that we took and blow them up and frame them. I hope to get the dressers and book shelf painted too and then I'll be able to say that I actually decorated one room by planning it instead of with what I had in the house.

So, here's some pics of the old bed, new bed, and the curtains!

So much to tell!

We had a wonderful time in California! It was nice weather - not to hot and not too cold. A little smokey because of brush fires around but that kept me from getting too burnt! We did tons of touristy things - took over 200 pictures! We edited them down a bit...but still have lots to show our good memories! We also discovered that if I am going to fly I have to have anti-nausea medicine. I'll spare you the details (those of you I have told I know are still laughing!) And that I love baby palm trees. Also - never ever ever go anywhere without your temple recommend! I keep mine with my clothes and we ended up with the opportunity to go to the LA temple - something we didn't think we were going to be able to do - but since my recommend was in Red Deer we had to settle for walking around the grounds. Their visitor center was closed for renos. All in all it was a fabulous 2nd honeymoon and I would highly recommend a trip of that length to anyone who has been married 5+ years! (Thanks again mom and dad for wathing the boys!)

Oh - most favorite thing we did - was the Medival Times dinner and show! So cool! They do real jousting, sword fighting, ride horses, costumes, great food, wonderful horse ballet show! We can't say enough good things about it. There is one in Canada - Toronto - and the rest are in the states. If you are ever in an area to see one - do it! You won't regret it. (Thanks Leslie for the tip!)

We're kinda back to reality - we leave tomorrow morning for Edmonton - Cliff is getting a pre-op consult for Lasik eye surgery and if it goes well he will be getting done on Thursday. So, we're in Edmonton until Friday sometime - most likely!

This and That

I'm supposed to be packing right now....but I'm stressing and need to de-stress a little. Let me back up - we are leaving in 2 more sleeps - that means leaving my children and getting on an airplane and leaving - most of me is excited, some is sad to leave. The control freak in me is having a hard time right now because I was informed by my boss today that we have to get about 4 hours of yard work done tomorrow and that just does not fit well with my schedule. Grrr. Oh well...I will get done what I can get done.

Rhett had his 1 yr checkup yesterday....he is 25 lbs, 10.5 ounces and 32 inches tall! What a bruiser this kid is! I was curious to see how much bigger he is than Zane was and on Zane's birthday he was 25 lbs and 31 inches. So not as big of a difference as I thought. Maybe it's just because he's been mobile for a while now and Zane didn't start walking on his own until 13 months.

I had lots to say until I started to type....I know that we are going to have a fabulous vacation and I'm so glad my wonderful husband decided that we needed this!

Birthday #1!!

Rhett's birthday #1 has come and gone...and it was a lot of fun! Here are some of my favorite pictures....

Grandma & Grandpa J, Auntie Kristie, & Uncle Jamie were able to be her ethis weekend with us. (We'll do cake next weekend with my family). Rhett LOVED his cupcake - I wasn't surprised since he devoured the one at Zane's party. He was very enchanted by the fire and quite mystified when Zane blew it out for him. As for presents....he really could have cared less about the wrapping paper....until it was off the presents.... but was enthralled by the new trucks that he recieved. Zane had a tough time understanding that Rhett got to see, touch and play with first, but he did pretty good. All in all it was a fun weekend and we're looking forward to the next year!

Happy Birthday Rhett

Today is Rhett's 1st birthday - and yes, I am awed at how fast the year has gone by. One minute we had this tiny little baby who smelled good and stayed put, and then we blinked and he was replaced with a toddler who never stands still, loves to chase his brother and brings life and joy into our house. What did we ever do without him in our family?

Of course I have been remembering all week the details of last year on this day - and I am so thankful for modern medicine, talented and caring nurses and doctors, and technology. Without the list above neither Rhett nor I would have made it here. It's a very sobering thought - one that I have tried not dwell on. Moving on from the morbid: Although today is his actual "birthday" he doesn't seem changed from yesterday or the day before. I was thinking that we all change just a little in small ways every day and then when we look back we can see just how far we have come.

We haven't had the party yet - Cliff's family is coming in sometime tomorrow and we will do the cupcakes and presents then. We did let him open the gift from Zane - and Zane had a hard time with the fact that it was Rhett's and that Rhett should get to check it out first. Sigh, the trials of being the first child. I did take some pics today (which will follow shortly) and had the idea that I would be able to to post a picture from last year in the SCN and follow it with one from today. However, my computer is having issues today and not wanting to read the pics that I burned onto my CD from last year. (I had over 1000 pics so they could not all sit on my harddrive!) I can see the images with their numbers but not open for some reason. Beyond frustration right now but my list of things to do is still quite long so I will worry about it another day. Instead, I will post some pics from today!

He was such a happy little boy today, even though he got short-shifted on his naps! We went for lunch and ran a ton of errands in the yucky, sleety rain, and he smiled the whole time. What a trooper!

We love our little boy Rhett and hope that all of his birthdays will be marked with so many smiles and so many changes in the year before!

Conversations

I am constantly amazed at the conversation topics Zane comes up with. The following is a conversation we had in the van on the way to the toy store. I had noticed that he was just staring out the window and was looking very serious:
me: Zane, what's wrong?
Zane: Nothing - I'm just thinking
me: What are you thinking about
Zane: i'm thinking about what I want to be when I grow up
me: Oh, well that's good. What do you think you want to be?
Zane: A doctor
me: Well a doctor is a good thing. Why do you want to be a doctor
Zane: Because they help people.
me: Yes, they do help people. We have a good doctor who helps us. You could be like him.
Zane: Yeah, or maybe a fire man.
me: Yes fire men help people too
Zane: Yeah, and they get to shoot water! (much enthusiasm at this part)
me: (trying not to giggle now) Yes, they do get to shoot water too
Zane: But I don't know how to shoot water - sigh
me: That's ok - they teach you how to shoot water in Fireman school. You could go after your mission.
Zane: Yeah, after my mission I can learn how to shoot the water.
This was the end of his profound speech but I have been floored by it all day. Who knew that my 4 year old was thinking about different professions in the world and wondering which ones he would like already. Sigh - he's growing up way too fast.

Once we got to the toy store the mission was to buy a present for Rhett and one for our friend Kobee - both from Zane. So we started through the toys looking for Rhett and Zane would gravitate towards everything that HE wanted - any time I pointed out something that I thought Rhett would like he would say no. Finally we agreed on a toy and found something for Kobee. As an aside - shopping for little girls when you only have boys - even though I am a girl myself - is a hard undertaking! We went with princess dress up stuff so hopefully that will be a hit.

Rhett still hasn't cut his 8th tooth yet - sigh. I'm really hoping that he does it before we get to Grandma's.

I think that's the most profound I can be tonight!

Motrin - my new best friend!

Today was a day that I needed Leslie here! (Don't get me wrong - I am thrilled for you to be in Toronto and hope that you are having the time of your life!)
It's just that last night was Hell. We stayed up until midnight with the missionaires watching the documentary on PBS all about Mormons. (they got special permission from their Area leader). I was really disappointed because they basically made us seem like kooks. But I won't get started on that because my mom and I already hashed about it for about an hour and it just makes me frustrated and sad. We hadn't even made it to bed yet when Rhett woke up. I went to get him some pain meds - he finally cut the right bottom tooth he's been working on but now is on to the left - and realized that we were out of Motrin. Not good. So I gave him some Tylenol Cold (he was pretty stuffy) and that just didn't even touch it! I tried everything that I could think of to get him to doze off again. Bottles, rocking, humming, no humming, little chair, big chair, couch. You name it and I tried it. He would get drowsy and his breathing would go all deep and even and I'd think - finally - and look down to see these gorgeous blue eyes just looking up at me in misery - and me being the horrible mom that I can be sometimes - actually had the audacity to yell at him a few times when he was screaming like a banshee. He has develped a new scream and I think it is about 50x worse than his old loudest scream. Finally around 2 I put him down and he started wondering around the house. He'd pick up a toy and bring it to me and I would tell him that I wasn't playing and that I wanted to sleep. He'd just look at me like - why would you want to sleep now mom? He even went to the window and pulled the curtain back so he could look outside - it was really cute but I was not in the mood to laugh at him. He finally conked out around 3:30 and I stumbled to bed praying that he would sleep until 8:00. (I know, I know, but I can dream right!) Yeah, 5:30 rolls around and he's up screaming again. Thankfully he took a bottle and was asleep by 6:00 so off to bed I went again. Both boys were up at 7:00 and Cliff got up with them but I was up 10 mintues later because Rhett was crying and screaming and beating at my door. I got him some breakfast and headed back to bed but he just screamed and cried. Definitely didn't want me out of his sight. Even with a full belly when I headed off to the shower he stood in the hall and cried and screamed the entire time. Poor Cliff. Rhett wants nothing to do with him when he gets into this mood. I had given him more tylenol at some point but obviously it wasn't working. We took Cliff to work and drove straight to WalMart where I bought more Motrin and some of those teething soothers which apparently he doesn't like. Sigh. We got home and I finally got him to sleep around 10 - he only slept for 45 mins so I only got a half hour nap. Can we say Zombie!!!! I was determined that he get some sleep so I worked for another 45 mins and finally got him back to sleep for an hour and a half - and he stayed up for the rest of the day. Ahhhhhh!!!!! He was fairly decent though once he woke up - I just have to keep him drugged for the next couple of days until this silly tooth finally cuts.

Whew - I feel better. When I tell you these things I know that you know exactly how I feel and will just let me vent without thinking that I am such a whiner. At least, that's what I tell myself and if you think differently I don't want to know! Hee Hee Hee.

I hope that you guys are having a fabulous time (if you are reading this in Toronto) and if you are already home I missed you tons!

Just for Leslie!

For those of you who don't know, my best friend Leslie is in Toronto for a week and I am under strict instructions to blog several times in order to catch her up! So if the rest of you don't want to read these entries for the next week I will understand. To make it easier I'm going to type just like I would talk to Leslie - by the way you've only been gone for 3 days and already I am going into phone withdrawl!



I know you've been waiting to see me all dudded up and girly girly so I'll post the pics first and then tell you all the details of the awards night last night. (so fun!)

My hair was sooooo curly! I told Melissa that she had to make sure it wouldn't move (It was a little windy) and she
pulled out a can of hair
spray called helmet head! It definitely did it's job! Rhett didn't recognize me for a minute when he woke up from his nap - poor kid is so miserable with these teethe. I got dressed, did makeup and headed to Trail to pick up Cliff. A couple of sales guys were sitting there when I walked in and I got "wows" from them so that made me feel pretty good. Cliff was just finishing up with a customer but was very impressed when he was done. So I was feeling very gorgeous and that was nice! (Still going to join weight watchers when we get home though) So we left Trail and headed for the Lodge. We met Chris and his girl friend Carrie at the little pub restaurant there and Janice and Alan got there at the same time as us. So we hung out there for a while and it was a little interesting for me because I've never really hung out with Chris or Carrie. But the longer we sat there the more I forgot how much younger I am and just really enjoyed it. Then we moved to "poolside". This is where they were having cocktails and h'deuvers and checking everyone in. It was torture!!!! It was crowded, noisy and the floor was all uneven which made walking in my fab shoes not the best thing I've ever done. Thankfully we were only out there for 10 or 15 mins before we got to head into the ball room. We found our table which was right up front and we were thinking that this was great until they turned the speakers on. Oh my gosh I don't think my hearing will ever be the same again. The MC was the guy who does the Rebel games - goes out on ice with a jersy over his suite and explains the halfgame show etc. Can't remember his name - sorry. As he started going throught he program I was trying so hard not to giggle because you could totally tell that he was a hockey guy just by the infulction and emphasis of his voice. But after a while I got used to it. But there were a lot of other weird things - they started off with O Canada - no biggie except that NO ONE sang. I was really surprised. Then they called the mayor to say a prayer - and called him His Worship. Too weird for me. So the mayor steps up to pray and unrolls a piece of paper and starts reading his prayer. Immediately the thought came to me that this was just like Rameumpton in the Book of Mormon - especially when he got to the end and it rhymed! Cliff didn't get to experience this because he was in line to get us some drinks. So they started off with the 1st half of the awards and there was one company who I swear only hire employees if they are ex-cheerleeders. Every time they were nominated and then if they won their tables would errupt into screams and shouts and clapping - which is great to show company pride and all but I thought it was a little tacky for an awards night. But no one asked me. They serverd supper after the first half were awarded - it was pretty good. Fruit salad on lettuce, sorbet that apparently had champagne in it but no one bothered to tell us until we had eaten a good portion - then main course of beef with salsa on it and yummy roasted veggies. Dessert (I can never remember if this has 2 s's or 1....sigh) was a row of strawberries, then whip creme, then chocolate that looked like a cookie but was really soft with a truffle next to it. Very rich - Cliff ended up with his and the leftovers of a couple others and was buzzing pretty good for awhile. After supper they started the rest of the awards. Trail was up for supplier of the year but didn't get it- maybe next year. After the awards people just mingled as they blasted music out. Some people were very very very tipsy - there were a couple of younger girls whom I'm assuming came as dates. One girl actually tripped and fell and just about bashed her head into the stage! She lost her shoe in the process and after 3 attempts of putting it back on her friend stepped in to help her. Meanwhile their dates were standing back taking pictures. Again...I'm so grateful for my husband! So it was a different night then we usually spend but it was a lot of fun too.

Time Warp

I feel like I have been the victim of a time warp - the last post I had was 2 weeks ago but it seems like it was more like 2 months. We've jammed a lot of things into the past couple of weeks!

Cliff and I were able to go to Calgary and apply for our passports. We went up Wednesday night and stayed with his aunt & uncle, while Zane had his first sleep over at a friends house! He did fabulously! I was really worried that he would be ok when we dropped him off but have a really hard time when it was time for bed and stuff but I couldn't have been more wrong! My very grown up 4 year old informed me that it was only a sleepover and I had to beg for a hug and kiss good bye. Happily we only had to be in line for about 45 minutes in the morning and ended up being #16. 20 minutes after they opened we were processed and on our way to breakfast! We should be receiving our passports by the end of the month, or first week of May.

We were also blessed to be able to go home for Easter and had a lot of fun with both families. Zane and Rhett had a lot of fun finding eggs - Zane finding the eggs that were hidden and Rhett finding the eggs that were in Zane's basket! Lots of treats and spoilage for all. The Easter bunny also made sure to bring some nice new church books for the kids - to try and emphasize the real meaning of Easter. We went to church in Barnwell and were really blessed to see lots of old friends. It's always like going home when we go to the Barnwell ward.

I am so thankful for all the things that the Easter season brings: spring, egg hunts, flowers, birds etc. But most important I am so thankful for my Saviour and for his sacrifice for me. Because of the Atonement I can depend on Him for the remission of my sins, as well as the comfort and knowledge of eternal families and burdens that are lightened. There is nothing that He hasn't experienced or suffered and I know that He will help me through all things in my life as long as I ask him.

Cliff has good news for him that translates to good news for our family! Trail has been working for awhile to get a particular builder here in Red Deer to use them as their supplier for appliances. For those who don't know how this works, here's a quick summary: The home owner buys the house from the builder and the appliances are already included in the price. When a builder has a contract with Trail, their account is assigned to a sales person who makes sure the proper appliances are delivered on time etc and helps the home owner pick out different appliances if they want. Then that sales person gets commission on the product put into that home. This particular builder does a massive amount of homes per year and has agreed to award 60 homes to Trail at the moment. If they like the way things go they will award the whole contract of 500-600 houses PER YEAR to Trail. So, how is this good news for Cliff you ask? Well he is the sales person that is in charge of this account! So, potentially if things go well he will be making commission on all those houses per year! The rest of the news is that he is soon going to be the Assistant Manager of Trail here in Red Deer. I am so proud of my hubby! He has worked really hard to get to this spot and is being rewarded for the last 2 years of hard work! Congrats hon! (Of course this means that my golf widowship has just been signed and sealed. Sigh.)

Here's some cute pics of my kids! Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend and congrats again to Suz and Keith for their beautiful baby boy Cameron born on Easter Sunday and Tisha and James for their beautiful baby boy TJ born on the 13th! All the best to you and your new babes!

Red Tape and New Steps

If you have ever applied for a passport you will understand what I mean by red tape. As most of you know Cliff and I are going to California in May and we are just finishing up on everything for our passports. We have to have references and someone from a big list of professionals that have know us for at least 2 years verify our identity. As we have lived here just under 2 years that has caused a little extra work for us. Thank goodness Cliff's Aunt Bev is a lawyer and happy to help us. Thanks again Auntie Bev! Oh, and I hope I never have to show my passport picture to anyone but the person behind the counter. Because you can't smile I look so sad in my picture. Really I'm just sleep deprived but you don't really notice how much a smile does for you until you have a picture where you can't smile. Anyways, hopefully we will get everything together in time for a quick trip to the consolate in Calgary this week before heading home for Easter.

Rhett is walking more and more each day. It's funny because sometimes he'll start walking and just keep going and then other times he starts off and then changes his mind and crawls - I don't know if it's because he can get there faster by crawling or if he gets distracted by something in front of him. Either way he thinks he's quite the kid now - he likes to walk around with a bottle in his hand and stop and take a swig every now and then. He's also discoverd his voice! Everything he says these days is done in a shriek. I don't know if my ears will ever be the same. Still I wouldn't trade him in!

Zane has the cold that has had me down for most of the week but I think he'll rebound quickly. He slept a lot today and hopefully he'll sleep some more tomorrow and be good to go by mid week. He is his usual busy self and although he loves his little brother he is definitely getting frustrated with him wanting everything that Zane has. We are also working on learning how to ride a bike! He never learned how to ride a trike so he has to learn how to pedal....it's going pretty good. If the weather would cooperate it would go a lot faster. But he seems to be enjoying it.

This is a short post....we are just hoping that we will all be healthy by the weekend so we can enjoy our time with everyone at Easter and me and the boys can stay for a week!