Happy Birthday Zane!

Wow...Zane is 4 years old today!!! It's really hard to believe that that much time has gone by and that this beautiful, wonderful, energetic, incredibly smart little boy is the baby that I first held 4 years ago. I have to brag about my son - it is his birthday after all and I am feeling somewhat sentimental. Zane constantly amazes me with how quickly he grasps onto concepts. If he doesn't understand something he will often question me about it and then will sit there and mull it over and re-explain it to me in the terms that he understood it. Most often he gets it right and the times that he doesn't he's not far off. He loves to do mazes! I bought him a preschool book that had 32 mazes in it and he did them all in under 45 minutes. He just sat there and did maze after maze. He is amazing on the computer. He knows exactly how to get to the games that he likes to play and can do things in our paint progam that amazes me. He loves to play the games that reinforce his letters and counting and stuff like that. His thirst for knowledge somedays takes my breath away. He loves books! It has been so fun lately to see him grow more and more interested in books and to watch him "read" his favorites to Rhett. Of course he loves all the boy stuff too. He loves to build these amazing creations with his blocks and is constantly guarding them from Rhett - something that continues to be a source of frustration for him. But he builds buildings, cars, boats, roller coaster and of course - shooting things as he calls them. Cars and trucks are always a big part of play as well and lately anything pirate is a big hit.

When we first brought Zane home and Cliff went back to work and it was just me and him there were several days where I just sat in the chair and watched him and would wonder what in the world I would ever do with a boy! I didn't know how to make truck noises or shooting noises and we all know that my athletic ability is severely lacking! But I have since learned that boys are so much fun! They look at the world in such a different way then girls and he teaches me something new everyday. I am so lucky to be his mommy and I hope that he will always love me the way he does now. The best part of my day is when he looks at me and says "Mommy - I love you a 10 today!" And he holds up all his fingers to prove his point. Does it get any better than having the unconditional love of your child? I don't think so.

From the Mouth of Babes!

Wow - it's been 2 weeks since I last posted - it doesn't feel like that long but it does feel that long. It's been an eventful 2 weeks as Rhett rolled into his 5th ear infection which prompted our doc to refer us to an ear specialist. We saw him yesterday and will see him again in 6 weeks. The good news is that the current infection is gone and he's hopeful that Rhett will outgrow the infections. The other bad news is that he still has some fluid in there. We go back in 6 weeks and I think he'll be following us throughout the next year or so. He's not a tube pusher which we like 'cause neither of us is eager for surgery for Rhett. He also is cutting 4 teeth - 2 have broken and the other 2 won't be far behind - that will bring his total to 6! He is also getting more brave with trying to walk - he's down to holding onto one finger for the most part when he walks with me and just wants to go all the time. He's learned how to wave bye-bye and loves to practice with me throughout the day and is starting to recognize voices on the phone. I think his favorite is Uma - how he refers to my mom at the moment - his face just lights up when she's on speaker phone. Wow - he's really done a lot!


Zane goes between being the most delightful almost 4 year old I know to the most stubborn, attitude bearing, can't reason with him - almost 4 year old. But mostly the first scenario. He has developed a fear of the dark recently and also a fear of 'dark cows' - which from what I've been able to put together stems from the little robot dude with the THX and cow sounds at the beginning of some Disney Pixar movies. After a couple of tearful bedtimes I suggested that we pray and ask Heavenly Father and Jesus to help him. He agreed and tearfully followed my prompts. After we finished he was so much calmer and said that he felt better. He slept fine that night and the next morning I overheard him telling Cliff that Jesus had come and made the Dark Cows go away. Unfortunately, this experience hasn't been quite enough to rid him of fear totally but I believe it is building his faith - he goes to sleep at night with a flashlight pointing straight on the picture of Christ in their room. He also comes up with little phrases that crack me up all the time. His latest is "I hope so!" I often get this response when I ask him if he can do something - like pick up his toys or pick out some clothes. Something to that effect.

Did I mention that it is trying to be spring here? I know that all of you in Southern Alberta are thinking - so what? But please remember that we have had snow for 6 months - that's half the year! We have to fit 3 seasons into 6 months - and 2 of them are my favorite ones. Sigh. Anyways, I'm really happy to see grass again and the big puddles and the snow piles slowly starting to disappear. I don't even care that I washed my van on Staurday and it didn't even stay clean for 2 hours.

I haven't been taking as many pics this month - been too busy trying to keep Rhett happy but I got these ones today of him eating mac and cheese. I couldn't resist - too cute!
I also took these ones the other day of Zane being a pirate. According to him his name is Pirate Zane Markus Johnson. As soon as Rhett saw me go for the camera he got as close to Zane as possible....I have two camera loving kids!



What can I say...I'm a sleep deprived mom who loves her boys and wouldn't trade staying at home with them for anything! I'm so lucky to be married to Cliff - he spoils me and loves me and cherishes me. What more could a girl ask for!

Mum's the word

Our visit to Raymond and Barnwell went well and we had a lot of fun....minus all of us being sick! The boys had minor colds when we left Red Deer and by the time we hit Raymond both were running low grade fevers and coughing like crazy. Rhett ended up with double ear infections and Zane a cold. Yuck. Grammie claims to still have enjoyed us but I think she's had much more fun at our house this week now that everyone is pretty much over the sickness and happy once again.

Rhett has his first word - it's mom. It took me a while to make sure he really knew what he was saying but mom helped me confirm. He's also working on 'more' - especially when there are popcorn twists involved.

Zane is almsot 4 - I can't believe it. The time has certainly flown and my fun 3 year old is suddenly morphing into this very willful 4 year old who doesn't want to do anything that doesn't work well with his own personal agenda. Needless to say we have been having a few battles as we both adjust to this new dynamic. I remember it being like this when he was really close to being 3 as well and thinking that I would never survive 3. As it turns out 3 has been one of my favorite ages. But he is so keen to learn new things. He has been learning about rhyming words and will out of the blue look up and say "mom - cat and hat - they rhyme" or something like that. We bought him some books that he can trace numbers and letters in and he really likes thoses - they're like a white board so the pen just wipes off right after he's done and he can do it as many times as he likes. He also loves books. We've been going to the library once a week and he has a lot of fun picking out new books to bring home and read.

Rhett is trying to cut more teeth. Hopefullly they will be in soon and not be as bad as his first two. He is growing like a weed these days and I can't believe that we are on the verge of toddler hood. He's starting to get brave and take falling steps between us - mostly towards mom so it probably won't be much longer now before he's running around after Zane. He already follows him and just tries so hard to be as tall as Zane so he can touch everything that Zane does.

All in all life is really good right now and we are hoping for spring soon. It will be really nice to see grass here again.

Just stuff....

Today has been a much anticipated day in our household. Grammie S & Grandpa Dooley arrived today. Zane has been waiting somewhat patiently and was quite ecstastic to see them arrive. They will only be here until tomorrow because we are going home with them for the week - by we I mean myself and the boys. Poor daddy has to stay home and work. We plan on going bowling, hanging out, shopping and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa J to. It should be a lot of fun and I know that we have all been looking forward to it. Cliff likes it when we go away for awhile because then he gets to watch all the guy movies that he doesn't get to watch when I'm home. But he always misses us!

Both boys continue to persist with their coughs...it always makes me nervous since both have preemie lungs...thank goodness for modern medicine. I often thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be born in this day and age or else my sons and I wouldn't have made it through child birth. I never understood until I had children myself why so many women and children died through the ages as a result of childbirth.

I have to post these pictures of Rhett. We bought him this hat yesterday and I LOVE it - Grandpa Dooley hates it.

Second Time Around...

I've noticed that as Rhett gets older and more mobile by the day that there are some things that are the same as when Zane was in this stage and there are some things that are very different. The very different part lies in my attitude and how I respond to his exploring everywhere. I am still getting used to the experience of leaving a room and coming back two minutes later and having no idea where Rhett is. He loves to hear his name though so usually when I call to him he pops out from whatever hiding place he has discovered. His favorite lately is the tiny spot between the recliner chair and the side table....if he can get himself back in there he can get to Daddy's tall speaker - he's not supposed to touch this so of course it is a magnet for him. He also loves the big windows and has recently discovered that he can smush himself into this very tiny spot and stand there looking outside. Of course all he can see is white everywhere but one day there will actually be grass again.

I have discovered that I am more accepting of Rhett growing up and changing from baby to toddler than I was with Zane. It's fun to glimpse the mischevious little boy that he is going to one day be and know that he and Zane will be great friends. Every day they learn a little more about playing together - mostly Zane learning that Rhett can't do everything that he wants him to do.

I'm also very happy that I had another boy because as Rhett gets bigger and I get to bring out all the cute clothes that Zane wore I get to remember how much fun it was to have a one year old.

We are once again experiencing the fun of using inhalers and the chamber....Rhett has a bronchial infection and our doc is a little concerned that he could end up in the hospital - apparently a few kids with the same thing have. So one is a steroid to open his lungs up a bit and the other is supposed to help if he's having a really strong cough attack. So far I've only had to use that one in the middle of the night when he wakes up coughing. He is also starting to sleep longer stretches although he seems to think that 6 am is the time to start the day. Ugg.

Here's some pics of my angels:

My Vent

I know...I'm posting again! But this is my vent and both boys are asleep and Cliff's at floor hockey so i can vent right now without any distractions:

Rhett was awake last night from 3 am to 5 am. I feel like my 9 month old has forgotten how to sleep and now seems to sleep less at night than he did when he was newborn! Well, not quite but it drives me nuts because all my other friends have kids the same age who have been sleeping 10+ hours a night for months now. Sigh. I know that he will figure it out and i am doing my best to help him. Last night was a battle of wills and I eventually won. Man that kid is stubborn. He would be sound asleep and still crying because he knew he was still mad or he'd finally drift off and then wake up after 2 minutes and go, oh yeah, I'm mad because mom won't let me sleep on her all night. As for me, I spent the better part of those 2 hours laying Rhett back down(he knows how to stand up in the crib now) and humming his lullaby or shushing him or patting him. I won't leave him when he's screaming like that but I don't like to pick him up either because he thinks that if he screams long enough or loud enough I'll give in - and granted I have on numerous occasions. Last night I just said enough is enough and now I know that we're in for a long week. At least Zane slept through the whole thing! His wife is going to hate me when he gets married because he'll never hear his own kids. Sigh, one more thing I'll have to warn her about.

I remember very vaguely Zane doing the same thing and our solution then was not a great one and I ended up having to sleep train him when he was 2 and we moved here. Not fun. I keep telling myself that if I do it now I won't have all the struggles I did with Zane before he turned 2. (And if you don't agree with me, please don't burst my bubble. That is the one thought that got me through last night's 2 hours of screaming baby.)

I was looking at pictures last night of Zane when he was this age and his 1st birthday and further - they made me laugh and miss my little Zane monster. He is getting so big and funny and grown up these days - he really is a delight and I'm so blessed to have him! I was also a little shocked at the lack of pictures that I had of him at that age....but then I remembered the working and managing and all the other stresses going on at that time and thought, wow, Rhett is going to have more pics of his age one then Zane. A little sad but understandable.

Ahh, the relief that comes from a good vent!

A Quick Thought or Two or maybe Three

I know that I just posted last night - but most of those thoughts were from last Sunday...and I forgot to post pictures!

Living here in Central Alberta has definitely made me appreciate the number of talents and people available for church positions in Southern Alberta. Our Ward is really hurting for music people and it is a constant struggle to make sure things are taken care of. I was released as the primary pianist 3 weeks ago...which is great in some ways but really hard in others. They have since called and released one sister and today called another. I know the skill level of this sister and although she is willing the primary is going to struggle musically. I really had to struggle when I heard her name announced - my first thought was to volunteer to take over the position again - but then I reminded myself that these calls come from the Lord and this sister must be in this position for a reason. Again, I miss the musical talent that seemed to be in every ward I experienced in Southern Alberta. There is talent here - just not in my ward boundaries. Anyone musical want to move to Red Deer 2nd ward? Just kidding.

The boys all stayed home from church today - both little ones still have runny noses and coughs and I don't think that it's fair to inflict their germs on other kids. I know that I don't like it when I pick Zane up from class and he's followed by one or two kids who are wiping noses and coughing. It felt really odd to be sitting without my family....no kids to be hushing and no snacks to be doling out...(ok I missed the snacks). But it was nice to know exactly what was going on in class and to hear other's input and thoughts.

I've been going through big clothes for Rhett - trying to figure out what size he will be in summer and figure out what he has and what he doesn't. As I was going through the 24 month stuff I realized that he'll fit most of those shirts within a month - maybe two and that he's probably going to be wearing 2T for most of the summer. It's startling how fast they go from babies to little boys. But it's also a lot of fun to look at the clothes and remember Zane's summer time in them.

I love being a mom.

Thoughts of the Sleep Deprived...

I cannont believe that another week has come and gone. This past week I decided that the boys and I needed one day a week that we left the house to do whatever we wanted - it takes a little planning as that means we have to take Cliff to work and go get him in the evening....but it was well worth it. We did do a few errands, but we also took time to just have fun together. We went to TOYS R US - Zane's favorite spot because he can play with the trains on the table. As we were walking through the mall to head somewhere else he spotted an older gentleman with an icecream cone. I knew before he even asked that he would want one and decided that it would be a fun treat to share one. It was so simple and yet as we sat at one of the tables in the little seating area I could just see Zane's eyes shining at me as he passed the icecream to me for my turn. I've been thinking about this a lot - how I want my children to have those kind of simple, warm fuzzy memories of things we did together when they are no longer children - and this has influenced to an extent how I have responded to things for the last couple of days. I have also been thinking a lot of the responsiblity we have as parents to pass our knowledge, love and testimonies of the Saviour and the Gospel onto our boys. Our Relief Society lesson was on Faith yesterday and I really hope that the things we are doing with our sons are planting seeds of faith in their hearts.

Grammie S & I learned a lesson yesterday - not to tease Zane with hollow threats of tickles if you don't intend to follow up on them with a visit! Mom and I were talking on the phone and Zane had a brief stint before bouncing off to whatever it was he was doing when we interrupted him. Mom made a comment about having to come up there and tickle him if he didn't come back to the phone and I relayed the message. He shrugged and didn't really react and we went back to our conversation. About half an hour later Zane looked up from his blocks and asked me if Grammie was coming to our house tomorrow to tickle him. When I told him no, Grammie was just teasing, he dissolved into tears. Poor kid - he was sure that his Grammie was coming to tickle him. We managed to stem the tears by sending an e-card to Grammie but it was definitely a pale second to the preferred visit. Tickles will come soon enough if all goes according to planned. As long as all is good with the building and such, the boys and I are planning on coming home for a visit on the 19th (Monday) and staying until Saturday. Mom will come home with us and stay for a few days - she has to come back for her truck as Cliff will have it here. Hopefully we will all be healthy enough...Rhett has yet another cold. Sigh. Snotty nose and hacking cough spell little sleep for mom...at least I can usually catch a short nap if I need to.

Ok, the above was written on Sunday....and today is now Saturday. Every time I sat down to write more and finish so I could post I had a very curious Rhett right at my elbow trying to push buttons and getting quite upset with me when I didn't want him on my lap typing.

As I mentioned before Rhett has a cold...it is still with us and he has shared with Zane. I think this is the first time that both kids have been sick at the same time. I think I prefer the one at a time thing. I think we're on the tail end of things and hopefully all will be healthy soon.

I went to a literacy enrichment with Leslie on Thursday and really enjoyed it. The lady teaching it was a kindergarten teacher and really focused on things that we can do and read with our kids to get them ready for kindergarten. As this is something that I need to start thinking about - I'm not kidding - we have less than a year to decide what school Zane is going to go to and get him registered - I really appreciated all the info that she was able to give us. After the lesson we went to Chapters and I picked up a couple of new books. Zane's new favorite is "Going on a Bear Hunt". He can recite almost the entire book.

Lots of Fun!!!

New steps

Well the past couple of days have been ones with a few baby steps and a few big steps in our family.
A big step was finally getting a leather sectional couch for our living room. It's great - even if it's a little big. We actually have to keep it seperated right now but we've got tons of seating now and it's soooo much easier to keep clean. (Very important with my hooligans) It came with the matching (huge) ottoman included and Rhett's new favorite thing to do is to stand on it with his little hands on our big window to see outside. All he can see is snow, snow, and more snow but occasionally a bird or a squirrel moves and he thinks that that is fantastic.
Rhett has also started going to sleep again without me holding him or a bottle - a habit that we got into before Christmas when he was so sick and it carried through. I think we are also getting close to seeing the end of his soother. He's only getting it to go to sleep with now and it seems not to bother him at all not to have it during the day.

Zane learned how to use a glue stick all by himself today and was thrilled to make some fabulous art to send to Grandma and Grandpa - he hasn't specified which grandparents yet but I suspect that I will be able to persuade him to do at least one more masterpiece so each set can have some new art. Between his felts, scissors and now glue he occupies himself for the better part of an hour sometimes.

The biggest step would be Rhett taking his first steps. Yep, that's right. 8 1/2 months old and he took three steps to me today and one more later on. He is determined to keep up with Zane and nothing is going to stop him - except maybe gravity. After the first 3 steps he was just thrilled with himself and didn't want to sit down for the rest of the day. He was either running me over in the walker (a newly acquired skill as well) or talking to me from one of the couches. He also knows exactly what it means when we strip him down and he hears water running. Cliff poured his bath tonight while I got him naked. Then I told him to head for the bath and he took off like there was someone after him. He had made it to the bathroom before I caught up. Silly boy. But he sure loves those baths.

It never ceases to amaze me the rate at which my boys progress to some new skill or understanding. I only wish that I could say the same for myself in some of my trials as I struggle to learn the lesson that our Father wishes me to learn. I read a few blogs that had suggested a single word could make a huge impact in your life in one year if you pondered and acted upon it. I thought a lot about this concept and decided that SHINE would be my word for the year. I loved the number of definitions it has - to shed light on, to polsih, to bring light to etc. All these things are what I hope to do in my life this year. I hope that I can bring light to my family, that I will learn how to polish the areas in my life that need polishing, and that anyone will be able to look at me and think that I bring light and joy wherever I am. Lofty goals? Absolutely - but if we don't reach and strectch in our quest for improvement we won't go very far.

My new phrase

I read a phrase in an email last night...."I am too blessed to be stressed & too anointed to be disappointed". I really liked the message of that and have actually chanted it in my mind a couple of times today and it worked great. I immediately felt a boost to my spirit and the thing troubling me seemed not so bad. It really amazes me what the power of the mind can do if we let it. Now if I could only figure out how to send thoughts from my mind to Rhett's to make him sleep through the night. Hee Hee. I know we're getting close to the end of the tunnel - Zane started sleeping a lot better once he passed the year mark and I'm hoping the same will be true of Rhett. (who is currently in his walker growling like a tiger because he's backed himself up against my eliptical) Too cute.

Zane has been in a very creative mood lately and today I took picture of his latest creations. The one he had help from me but the other one with the happy face he did all by himself. He also has tons of block creations everywhere that he sometimes shares with Rhett and sometimes jealously guards from Rhett. Usually he tries to share when Rhett is no longer interested and then can't figure out why Rhett won't take them.
Much to my delight he really likes to sing and is starting to pick up words to songs pretty quick now. It's really fun to hear him sing and I hope that this is something he'll keep doing through his life - and of course be athletic and smart and handsome and everything other good thing a mom wants her kids to be.

Rhett made me laugh while I was in the shower today - I had left the kids playing in the living room and went to take a shower. I was almost done when all of a sudden I could hear Rhett outside of the bathroom door just howling because he couldn't get in. As soon as I got out I openend the door and he immediately quite the commotion then peeked around the corner to find me and trucked right on in. He loves to find the bath toys that we keep in a bucket next to the tub and if he's fast enough he'll tip them out and start to chew on them. Unfortunately for him I was too fast and foiled his plan real quick. He is also starting to figure out that he can make his walker go forwards. I don't know why it has taken him so long to grasp the concept - maybe because his big brother likes to push him around in it or maybe he just likes to drive backwards.

My laundry bell just dinged at me so I better go and get stuff changed around!

3rd Time the Charm?

Ok....so I am once again attempting this blog thing. For some reason my computer and I just can't agree on how this is supposed to work. Maybe the new version will be of some help to me. I really enjoy keeping up with Whitney's family and the common friends that we have and would hope that if i can get this working that they will have the same pleasure from my few words!

Life here in Red Deer is cold and snowy. I remember being in high school and cursing the chinook winds as I walked home. I would gladly take them now if they would just rid us of the snow that we have had since October. I am not a winter person. I am a spring and fall person! But enough griping!

On to the joys of my life - Zane and Rhett! It is amazing to me how fast a baby grows. When I play with Rhett and watch him learn new things I remember the same things with Zane - and now Zane is mastering a whole new set of skills - from recognition of numbers and letters to drawing shapes and cutting with scissors without help. I am so blessed to have them in my life and pray that I will be a worthy mother for them. They humble me, teach me, and remind me that life is about the small things.

Having two little boys is a constant adventure and I realize just how different raising these two boys is from growing up with sisters! But I wouldn't change anything about them! I'm going to try and put some recent pics in with this post and if all goes well I will become a regular blogger!

The Beginning

October 26, 2006

Well, I am attempting to join the world of bloggers....I guess we'll see in a few minutes if I'm successful or not!

Today we were very busy - lots of time spent in our van (which I am still loving even though I swore that I would never ever drive one - goes to show you should never say never!) Rhett has yet to become a fan of the van but he was a pretty good trooper today as we ran errands and such. Zane now has all the makings of a terrific pirate costume...I need to do some modifications to it but that will be Saturday's project. We also had to get Cliff a sword and hook so that he can go trick or treating as a pirate as well. He says I'll pay for this but secretly I think he's thrilled that Zane wants him to dress up like him.

Life is here is very different from home - or maybe it's just because Zane is getting older and I am entering the world of preschoolers that things are different. Talks with friends now include discussions on preschools, kindergartens and beyond - sometimes I feel that the rest of them have all the answers and that if I don't make decisions soon Zane will be left behind. But then I hear him counting almost to 20, singing his alphabet and picking up more and more words of songs that he hears everyday and I thank my Heavenly Father for giving me such a bright, funny and life-loving child. It's difficult to remember what life was like before the boys - minus the spit-up, dark bags, and diaper bag that can almost always be counted on to have the perfect snack or toy for distraction. But then, I don't think I ever felt as satisfied and happy at the end of most days as I do now. I am living the dream I always wanted for myself and although I don't always remember that at 3 am when Rhett is screaming or I discover that Zane wet the bed....that thought is there and sustains me through our trials. It makes me very sad to think of children who know no love in their life and I sincerely hope that if nothing else my children know how much I love them and that I would do anything for them!

Here I am getting all mushy and stuff. On to more fun stuff to read! Zane has been so cute lately in his pretending. he loves to "order" me around in pretend games and orchastrates some pretty good schemes...of course I do kibosh a few when he decides we're shooting and blowing things up. I'm still not used to that part of "boyhood". He's also starting to negotiate - something that I'm not so sure is a new skill that I like. I have to remind him sometimes of who exactly is the boss. Rhett continues to improve everyday on new skills. He's sitting pretty good and is starting to reach to the sides and front and bring himself back to a sitting position. He definitely seems like he wants to be mobile but hasn't mastered that art yet. He loves to stand in his exesaucer and plays and talks and yells from there. He is also making progress on the solids and seems to like most everything that I've tried.

I guess the bottom line is that I'm so thankful to be a mom and for my two boys. I went to a baby shower for a friend last night who adopted a baby at the beginning of September and i was so thankful that the Lord has blessed me to be a mother without having to go that route.

So until next time.....I will continue to try and remember how lucky I am when the boys are driving me nuts and think of more good things to post!