Babies Babies everywhere!

One of the things I looked forward to during our visit to California was introducing the twins to all of the other babies born to our friends in the past year. I couldn't wait to meet the new little people myself, and I've enjoyed seeing our friends and their precious babies.

Here are some highlights:


These are all the "E" babies! From the left is Ellery, Evie, Eli, and Elsie. There was a quite a crew that gathered together for pizza to celebrate all of our friends being near for Christmas. Becky and I hadn't seen each other since her wedding in Colorado the summer before last. It was too much time gone by. We were both grateful for our fabulous husbands who agreed to walk all our kids around Lowes long enough for she and I to enjoy a quiet moment at Starbucks together. I think Jay and Scott know how much we miss each other.








Jenny and I always get Ryan and Emily together to play when we're out. They love to play in Ryan's Pa's backyard. They get muddy together and have a big time. Now Jenny and I look forward to getting the twins together with Jack. We're quite certian they will get along just as fabulously!


I've seen so many cute pictures of Katie's little guy Henry. It was great to see him in person today, and to see him crawl around like a pro. Even though he was born just one day before the twins, he reminds me of the fun things to come with my babies as he is quite mobile. (I'm also reminded of the baby-proofing that goes with the upcoming milestones!)

Tomorrow!

We drive to Charlotte tomorrow to spend the night before heading to the airport early early Saturday morning! Looks like if all goes well we will be in LA by 10 a.m. Isn't modern day technology crazy? To think that we will wake up in Carolina and be in California in time for lunch is absolutely astounding to me. And I am so grateful!

Anyhow, Emily, who now has to stand on a chair to pull her paper chain links down, came downstairs SO EXCITED this morning. She said "Exciting news! Just one more wake up until we leave to see Grammy and Papa in California!!!!"

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We're getting close!

Remember when we began this entire chain count-down thing? Well, we're much closer now. The weeks have flown by, and Emily is proud to report that as of yesterday, there is only purple left, which means there is only one week before we fly out to see Grammy and Papa and all our friends and family in California. Only six more wake-ups until we get on an airplane!



Emily is very excited!

Our neighbors

We live in a neighborhood called St. John's Place. Its a great neighborhood that attracted Scott and me right away because it was big enough to have its own neighborhood pool (for my CA friends, most larger neighborhoods have a pool in the middle of the sub-division... its a southern thing I guess!) but not too big that there were a ton of houses. There are three main streets, with some additional cul-de-sacs and so most people know each other.

Last week when Eli had to go to the emergency room, one of my friends in our neighborhood came with me. She stayed with me all night, and ended up taking the next day off work. We were so thankful for her help. And I do one day plan on sharing emergency room stories, which she helped me laugh at in the middle of my little crises.

When we got home from the hospital another friend called me and told me that they had organized meals to be brought over for the rest of that week, and all week this week. I explained that Eli was really just fine, and that we all felt better. But she told me that we needed a break, and the ladies wanted to help.

I can't explain how much help it has been! Every night one of my friends from the neighborhood has delivered dinner to our family. And I'm talking about a fabulous dinner with left-overs that Scott looks forward to bringing the next day in his lunch because they taste so good!

The most important thing has been that we have spent more time enjoying our family in the evenings. Normally when Scott gets home I am trying to finish up dinner while getting ready to feed to babies their solids, and our big girl is wanting somebody to play with her. After we feed babies, we try to keep them entertained while we eat our dinner, and then its straight up to bathe them and put them to bed. Then we bathe Emily, read to her, and put her to bed. Then we come down stairs, exhausted, to clean up after dinner and the rest of the mess from the day. We're worn out!

But this week has been such a treat because dinner is so easy, Scott comes in the door and we can play for a bit with the kiddos before the evening rush begins. Its helped me remember what to focus on, and so when I start preparing my own dinners again, I will hopefully remember that the time we have together is more precious than getting it all done.

So, all that said, we are so thankful for our neighbors. What wonderful friends we have that encourage and help out. We couldn't be more grateful for the break they have given us!

Gross job, but somebody's gotta do it

This morning I was trying to lay the babies down for their naps and Dakota was going crazy. I wish I could say that his barking was a rare occurrence that signified something out of sorts. But alas, this simply isn't true. He barks all the time. He still hasn't figured out that Sergeant Rick next door actually belongs there, and that its okay if Sergeant Rick walks around his own yard. We've lived next to Rick for over four years now.
However, this morning the bark was incessant, and I couldn't figure out why he was continuing with his shenanigans. One look out our office window, and this is what I see.




Turkey vultures are big, and eat road kill. When we first moved here they amazed me at their ability to pick clean an entire deer carcass in twelve hours. And as gross as they look (they remind me of characters from Alice in Wonderland) and as big as they are (literally the size of turkeys) they get the job done.

It amazes me that God even had the yucky details of our world figured out. He even made the turkey vultures. And I'm thankful He did, otherwise we'd have a big mess of road kill to clean up.

Now if only I could get Dakota to stop barking at them.

Mommy Manipulation

Last night Scott and I had the beginnings of a great night of sleep. The babies were in bed and sleeping peacefully, and despite a few reinsertions of their pacifiers, they slept well through the night.

But then at 4:02 a.m. Emily walked in our room and told me her stomach was upset. I thought she was giving an excuse to climb in bed with us (something we rarely allow her to do) and since it was so close to the alarm going off anyway, we told her to just get in bed with us and go back to sleep!

You can imagine where we're I'm going with this. She eventually made it to the bathroom, but not before getting guck on our bed. Nice.

Scott and I agreed that Emily probably just had an upset stomach due to her eating many, many things yesterday. First of all, Emily tried octopus yesterday. Not a piece of an octopus, but an entire (small) octopus. She also tried frog legs. Then after a huge lunch, she snacked on lots of sweets and treats at a party. Then she had pizza and cookies at AWANA family night. Then we got hot cocoa to drive through the Bethlehem living Christmas story. It was no wonder her stomach was a little icky.

But nevertheless I kept her home from preschool today, if anything because I was afraid she'd walk into her classroom and announce to everybody, "I threw up all over the place this morning!" You know how preschoolers are. And with all the serious illness going around I didn't want to freak her teachers out like that.

She is at this moment sitting on the couch watching 101 Dalmatians. And after putting the babies down for their morning nap, I went down to check on her. I asked her if there was anything I could get her to feel better to which she acted as weary as possible and replied, "I'd like some ice water, and maybe a piece of a chocolate bar would make my tummy feel better."

Oh the manipulation. She's just fine. But you better bet that I got her a piece of chocolate, even though it was before 9 in the morning. Sometimes it just feels good to break all the rules in order to make somebody feel pampered. Even if she's being pampered for an icky tummy that has long since recovered.

Dear Mom

Next time you leave me alone in the room with Emily Grace, please see that she doesn't have the comb and spray bottle. I'm not a beauty shop doll. And could you tell Elsie its not nice to laugh?
Thanks.
Eli

A late post of Thanksgiving

Last week Elsie and I were sick with our own crud, and I kept thinking all week that I needed to make a list of everything I was thankful for to post on the blog because we are so blessed! But I never got around to it, and Thanksgiving passed. Today is a great day for a thankful post!

1. I'm thankful we were discharged from the hospital and got to come home late yesterday.

2. I'm thankful our pediatrician came to see us, and had a much better spin on what he believed happened with Eli. He saw Elsie with her virus last week, and thinks Eli got that, and may have even aspirated when he was asleep after he refluxed. He's seen the way Eli swallows back down when he refluxed. I'm so thankful that he knows our kids.

3. I'm thankful that we can go straight to a pharmacy and get meds for our kids when they are sick.

4. I'm thankful that I can stay all day and night at the hospital and concentrate on getting our son better without worrying about our daughters at home. Scott can handle anything, and he doesn't even have to call me one hundred times to ask questions. He's involved, capable, and loving.

5. I'm so thankful that for the prayers of my friends and family.

6. I'm thankful that even while my kids have been sick A LOT this past month, they will get better. Being at a children's hospital reminds me that there are many parents there who's children won't get better.

7. I'm thankful that our Emily was SO EXCITED to see her brother yesterday when she came to bring us home. She loves her twins so much. What lucky babies they are to have such a sweet and loving big sister!

8. I'm thankful for so many friends who are willing to help out. Friends to play with Emily while I go to the follow-up today, friends to help out getting her to and from preschool, and friends to drive me to the emergency room and stay all night long so I wasn't by myself.

9. I'm thankful for a sister in nursing who I can call and ask questions to when something doesn't look right. Boy I wish my sister could have been there to put in Eli's IV!!

10. I'm thankful for my parents. I called my mom and dad many many times, because that's just what I do, but also because it makes me feel so much better to talk things through with them. They celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary yesterday while worrying and praying. I'll make sure I tell Eli about his poor timing when he gets older!

Eli

Last night was a very scary night. After a wonderful day that couldn't have been more perfect, Eli woke up with trouble breathing and we decided it was time for a trip to the ER.

Once there they told us it was probably RSV. They did a lung x-ray that showed an elevated right diaphragm, which the ER doc said he didn't know about, and so they transferred us via ambulance to another hospital here in Columbia with a great peds. unit.

**I'll stop for a moment because you're probably thinking that this can't be serious, right? After everything that our family ahs gotten over in just the past three weeks, somebody is sick again with something so much more serious? That is what I thought. This can't be happening, right? Oh, but it was. And when things get back to normal I will fill-in some of the details about ER horrors. But just know I had a friend with me to help while Scott was at home with the girls, and though there were MANY tears from both Eli and me, we were just fine.

Right now sweet Eli is sleeping peacefully in his little crib. He's had several breathing treatments that have been very helpful. We talked to a doctor in our peds. group this morning who felt like it may be either RSV, or croup and RAD (restrictive airway disease) as a result of the same virus Elsie and I struggled with last week. We are praying that is isn't RSV which is rather serious in infants, though common, and it would also mean that Elsie could get it since it would be a whole different virus. We're also praying that a new x-ray will show his little right diaphragm is normal.

We aren't sure if we will stay another night or if they will discharge us later this evening. Our own super-hero pediatrician will come in this afternoon to see us. I'm sure he will explain everything to Scott and I and we will have many of our answers then. Thanks so much for praying for our sweet boy!

Happy Dirdday!

When Emily was much younger she would purposely get her shirt stuck on the top of her head. I guess she thought it looked like she was wearing a birthday hat, because she would always start singing "Happy Dirdday to me..." Of course this was before she could pronounce "birthday."

Well, I'd forgotten all about that until I was undressing Elsie one day and I forgot to unsnap the buttons on the top of her shirt, by the neckline. Of course the shirt got stuck around the top of her head, and Scott was watching. He immediately busted out with a "Happy Dirdday to Elsie..."

Now its literally an every night occurrence. THe babies love it, and so I figured I had to get some pictures of our Happy Dirdday routine.

7 Months!

Where did the time go!?! Weren't they just born yesterday? And why didn't I take more naps during that 1.5 wk bed rest time? What was I thinking?!?

Anyhow, here are some things going on with the cutest twins I know!

Eli...
- loves to grab his feet. He constantly pulls off his socks to view his sausage toes.
- can't sit right beside Elsie during meal time because he likes to pull off her bib.
- throws his pacifier
- doesn't yet crawl, but does this head-pile-driver move where he pulls his knees up under his belly and pushes himself, head first, forward. (it looks as uncomfortable as it sounds!)
- breaks out in a rash around his mouth any time he eats any orange foods.
- must hold on to a blanket or some other fabric to fall asleep.
- is nowhere close to sitting up. In his opinion, his body wasn't meant to bend that way
-loves watching the dog and cat
- would rather nurse constantly than eat solids
- shows no sign of getting a tooth
- weighs 15.7 lbs

Elsie...
-smiles almost non-stop.
- thinks Emily is the best thing in the world to watch.
- talks with bababababa and dadadada sounds in several different pitches to communicate her mood
- is allergic to penicillin
-can almost sit by herself unassisted (we're working on this.)
- instantly pulls both hands up and rests her hands behind her head when she's tired
- has significantly chunkier thighs than Eli, however weighs a consistent .5 lb less
- has lost most of her original hair, but is growing very blond hair now
- gets a little upset when too many people are in a room, and prefers to put herself to sleep after spending some quiet time alone in her crib
- has one lonely tooth that has barely pushed through her bottom gum.
- weighs 14.9 lbs

Some of my favorites

Sometimes in the middle of the day I need some comic relief. Often its needed while I'm waiting for a baby (or two) to finally nod off in my arms, stop nursing, or drift off to sleep in the crib.

Other times its after sending Emily to time-out for the third time before eight in the morning. (yes, that has happened more than once!)

There are many sites that I frequent that foot the bill perfectly, and I thought that with everybody returning to work tomorrow morning, maybe I should share in case somebody else needs a reason to smile.

First of all is my all-time favorite. Read all about bakery mishaps here. This site has gained so much popularity, the author has even come out with a book. Fabulously funny!

Then, if you are in a mood to giggle at other's expense, or if you just need to feel a little better about yourself, click here. But be warned... the material can sometimes be a little gross, though unfortunately nothing that you haven't already seen in public.

Finally, from the makers of failblog.org is a favorite site of mine. These babies always make me smile.

Not quite what we had planned

This Thanksgiving will be a memorable one, and at first I would have thought it would be all for bad reasons. Just when we thought we'd gotten rid of Elsie's hives, and upped her reflux meds to accommodate her weight gain, she got a terrible virus. And then I got the virus. It was yucky, and it shut us in for Thanksgiving, causing us to cancel our plans to join our friends for a special Thanksgiving meal.

Now I love holidays and making things "special" so this was a complete travesty to me. How we were going to tell sweet Emily that our special day was ruined was beyond me. I boo-hooed like a baby and moaned and whined until I realized that Scott didn't seem to be upset at all. I couldn't imagine why this didn't matter to him!?! Didn't he realize that our special day was RUINED?!?

But that wasn't it at all. He was already planning the perfect way to spend the day, even if we were sick.

First of all he built "the fort." This is basically the couch and love-seat pushed together so no small children can roll off. Its pretty much entirely enclosed, and its the most comfortable place when one doesn't feel good. Elsie and spent hours and hours in the fort snuggling and sleeping.

We found a restaurant that makes (fabulous) turkey dinners, and once I got used to the idea, I was so thankful that there were no dishes to wash! We had our fill of turkey and the fixin's and we also got fabulous refugee plates from our neighbor.

Later that night Scott called everybody outside to see the space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station pass right over our house. They were perfectly visible and we were able to see them make a large arch over us. This was extra special because Emily and Scott have been doing their moon journals together this past week.

After that we piled in the fort and watched a movie. Then last night while I started putting the babies to bed, Scott built a fire in the fire ring in our backyard. By the time I joined them, he was reading Emily Curious George stories by flashlight in between roasting marshmallows.

Our Thanksgiving holiday wasn't anything that was typical, but I'm thankful that we were able to spend it together with great attitudes. I realized later that the reason why Emily was probably just fine with our change of plans was because we were just fine with our change in plans. I'm glad that she didn't take after her mother and carry on like a whiner!

And of course I can rarely mention Emily in a blog post w/o including a picture of her and sharing a current Emily-ism.

Here is one from Thanksgiving morning after she played outside. We thought she looked a little homeless!


And here is one from this morning. She was outside playing with the dog, carrying a big stick. I asked her to put her stick down, and she told me it was part of her "convention" and she needed it. Upon further conversation, Scott and I figured out that Emily had many "conventions" all over the backyard. Conventions = inventions. The girl cracks me up!

The hazards of a moring w/o coffee

A few weeks ago we had a major dilemma in our house. The coffee maker broke, before I even had a chance to get a cup, on a Sunday morning.

I'll wait while you finish gasping.

Yes, it was quite an ordeal, however my husband graciously left the house as quickly as he could to run to the store and get me a new one. He brought home the new pot, and we quickly discovered that it wasn't "new" at all. It had obviously been used, and was missing several critical pieces. Off to the store my lovely hubby went again, this time returning victorious! I don't if it was love that drove him to the store, or fear of dealing with a decaffeinated wife!

A very similar situation happened to this very inspirational lady and I had to laugh as I thought about the way coffee drives so many women through the morning.

Well, today is a case in point, so to speak. I had to have blood work done at 8 a.m. Scott was home today, so it was the perfect opportunity to make this appt. so he could watch the kids. The only problem was that I had to fast, and couldn't drink my morning cup of coffee.

Three major events occurred as a result. First of all, I backed the van up in to the front of Scott's truck. Thankfully nobody was hurt, and the vehicles were unmarked. Then I got to the waiting room, and as they called me back to the lab, I tripped over my own feet and fell on the rug, leaving what I was afraid would be a rug burn on my forehead.

Then while I was waiting in the lab, the receptionist came in and asked me when I'd moved out of state. Confused, I asked her what she meant. She told me that they had an address on file for here in Irmo, but "when did I move to Bakersfield, CA?" I must have had a dumbfounded look, because she showed me the paper I'd filled out while waiting this morning, with MY PARENT'S ADDRESS ON IT! I haven't lived there since I was 19!?! Who knows why I put that down!

All I can say, is that this girl needs coffee in the morning! Lots of coffee! If not, somebody will get hurt!

Random Tuesday Post

Couple things going on in our home right now:

1. Elsie's hives have gotten much better, however Eli also had something that we think was hives. Don't know if that means we need to flag his medical chart for a penicillin allergy too, or if it was something else. I'm learning that with parenting there are rarely any definite answers.

2. Emily has been fighting off some yucky congestion/cough/sore throat thing. I didn't send her to preschool yesterday after she said, "Mom, I think I'd rather stay home and sleep." This was so against the normal, that I kept her at home.

3. While my randomness is centered around medical issues I guess I should mention that I woke up with pink eye this morning. That's right! The whole crusty swollen shut eye thing was going on in full force. I'm sure that the first thought Scott had this morning was NOT that his wife was beautiful.

4. Eli has a strong arm that he uses to hit, push, and pull things. This morning while I was trying to get his breakfast of pears and oatmeal cereal ready, he was sitting in his bumbo on top of the kitchen table right next to the fruit bowl. Before I could stop him, he picked up an apple and threw it on the ground. Then a kiwi. What a boy!

5. Emily helped me make a new recipe the other day. When it was finished she took a bite. I asked her what she thought and she replied, "Mommy, this tastes so good! I think my heart is breaking!" I just love this girl! She brings a smile to my face every day!

6. Emily had a play date today. We're thankful to get out of the house and visit friends. Sometimes the rainy weather keeps us inside far too much!

7. Tonight my Bible study group is taking a hiatus to enjoy ourselves with a Reindeer Trot/Walk, followed by breakfast for dinner at Cracker Barrel. I can't wait!

8. This must be my lucky week, because not only will I be out tonight, but tomorrow night Scott and I have a date! That's right! I real date with dinner and everything! Our friends Amber and Steven said they would like to watch the babies to give us a night off. What a blessing to have time to ourselves! We're looking forward to it!

9. Tomorrow I plan on baking some pies with Emily. I'm thinking we need an apple and a pumpkin. The bad thing about that Scott likes neither. I guess I'd better bake something else with chocolate for him! :)

10. I got all three kids down for a nap this afternoon. And there was a brief moment, about thirty minutes, that they were all asleep at the same time. This is totally a feat in itself. I feel like I should be wearing a medal!

Happy Tuesday!

If you give a mouse a cookie...

If Elsie gets a viral infection, then she will develop an ear infection. If she gets an ear infection, she will need antibiotics to clear it up. If she gets antibiotics, she will be allergic to them. If she's allergic to them, she will get hives. If she gets hives, she will probably need an antihistamine prescription to clear them up. If she gets an antihistamine she will develop dry skin. And if she gets dry skin she will need a prescription strength of hydro-cortisone to make it better.

Seriously, doesn't this sounds like a Laura Numeroff book from the dark side?

Update:
Here is Elsie in the bathtub tonight. If it wasn't for the obvious blotchy red marks covering her arms and face, she would look like her normal cheerful self! She is smiling and happy as ever. I hope that next time I feel horrible that I can keep a smile on my face the way Elsie does. What a sweetheart!

A room with a view

I have a chair in my bedroom where I do my Bible study. Often when I look out the window I think I should take a picture of my view out my bedroom window. I am thankful for the view out my window. I wish I would have taken a picture a few weeks ago while the trees were still full of multi-colored fall leaves. Now most of those leaves have fallen, but I still think its beautiful.

Today is one of those chilly foggy mornings that makes me want to stay in my jammies and put on another pot of coffee. The house is pretty tidy, and I'm actually caught up on laundry. I hope that I can slow down today and really just enjoy my kids. Maybe Emily and I can do a project together, or bake something that will make the house smell like fall.

Happy Thursday!

Picture update

Here are some things going on in the Johnson house:


We are all on count-down until our CA trip. Emily is especially excited because she can't wait to see her Grammy and Papa, Miss Pinni and Moses the dog. She's also excited about seeing Jay and Becky and their new baby Evie. We've created a paper chain that has each day of the week on it. Every time we start a new week the paper chain begins a new color. Hopefully Emily will better understand the length of one week by the time we're done. We measure the time from now until we leave in "wake-ups" so every time she wakes in the morning she pulls off a link. Its very exciting! :)

He's yet another reason why I'm so thankful for Emily Grace. She very well may be the coolest big sister around.

I found out about these bottles from another mom of twins. The babies each get a bottle every day, and so we've been trying to get the twins used to these bottles before our trip to CA. They make life so much easier! On this day I gave the babies each their bottle and I started making dinner. It was fabulous! Some times they get their bottle for their 11:00 feeding, and so I give it to them while we are in car pool waiting for Emily to get out of preschool. Fabulous!

Here is another close up of Elsie taking her bottle. She does this with her arms when she's tired. I know she's ready for a nap when both hands turn in to head supports. Its pretty funny.

Here is Emily and Daddy outside on the front porch with their "moon journals." This was a couple nights ago and it was a "new moon." Scott patiently explained to Emily why she couldn't see the moon.

This was a big moment in our house. Emily successfully cracked four eggs without getting any shells in the bowl. There never was a little girl so proud as Emily Grace with her cracked eggs.

Remember the posts here and here ? Well it left Emily feeling a little left out. So she asked if I would paint a flower on her wall. I chose a dandelion because Emily loves to blow the petals, and because it is so perfectly Emily. My friend Lori helped me a ton of course, and now Emily loves her dandelion wall. And if you're asking why two letters in her name are slightly cream colored... I have no idea. It drives me nuts, and I think I will have to pain them all white to match each other. They didn't use to be this way.

I love this picture. I can't wait to see all the things these two sisters will get into together! Simply sweet!

The other side of the table

Today is Emily's parent/teacher conference. Scott is taking a half day so he can join me there at 11:30.

I'm learning more and more that the weird thing about school is that you send your child there how ever often each week, but as a parent you really know anything about what your child does when they are there. Yes, I know that last week Emily made a costume to go along with her Thanksgiving celebration that I will attend next Friday. And I know what songs she's learning in music class for the Christmas performance. And I know which Bible story they're learning about. But I DON'T know how Emily interacts with her classmates. I don't know how she pays attention (or doesn't) during circle time. And I don't know if her teachers really know her and appreciate her the way I think they should. Don't get me wrong, I think she has FABULOUS teachers. And I think they appreciate Emily. But I want to know that my Emily feels loved and cherished. Is that silly? I don't think it is.

As I reflect back to my role as a teacher I hope every child I taught knew that I loved and cherished them. And I hope that each parent knew that I loved their child, both when they were precious and easy to cherish, and also when they weren't. Because if I am learning anything about this school thing it is this: It is hard to trust another adult do love your child as well as you think they should.