Center Stage...well side stage!

Cole had his first Christmas Program for school on Thursday.  He has been working sooo hard and has been serenading us daily with his songs.  He was very excited to be able to sing them to us which was funny because he did not sing NEARLY as well as he has in the car, tub, bed, table, basement.  You get the idea.  His teacher told them they could all wear pj's so he had them picked out and ready to go when he woke up.  They needed to be clean to go to school!  Lol.

We pulled Tate out of school early so he could come support his brother and Scott took a late lunch break.  Cole was of course adorable.  I took a video of every song but wish I had kept the video rolling after each song.  Some of the videos were too long so I had to upload them to Dropbox. Enjoy!!

This is his class coming in.  You will notice how excited he was to see us.  He continues to say "CHEESE" at the beginning of the song.

Jingle Bells

This was his favorite song of the day.  I love how at the end he sit and starts to clap.  His face cracks me up!

Happy Holidays

Christmas Star!

After this song of letters and their sound Cole announced to the audience he had made up a song and continued on with the letters and their sounds.  Had everyone chuckling.

Letters

Here is a pic of his class.

We finished our day with slushies.  His choice of treat.  I can't believe how quickly he is growing!  Sure love this boy!

5 Months Old!

For years Scott and I tried to have children.  Then came the questions of are we done?  Do we have more?  CAN we have more?  Then Cole came and we were overjoyed but again questions.  Are we done?

I have talked to friends who have known for certain they were done.  I wondered what that would feel like.  How could they know for sure?  Last summer Scott and I were at the end of the questions.  We decided that 12 years of trying to have/grow our family were all we could take and we needed to shut the door on that part of our lives.  I never felt like that was the right thing to do but fertility meds were not working and frankly we were tired.  So I started to think about selling off all the baby items in the attic because there was so much stuff but lets face it, babies need a lot of stuff!!!  Before (thank goodness) I could get things sold I decided to take a 3rd pregnancy test purchased from the Dollar Store and this one came back positive.  You mean to tell me the Dollar Store test worked better then the $16 ones I had been buying?  YES!  In the past we had waited to tell people because of lost pregnancies but this time I knew it was going to stick and I just couldn't keep the smile off my face!

So on through the pregnancy we went knowing this was going to be my last one.  Then came the day she was to be born and even though I had done it twice before I wondered if she could just stay in there.  She didn't really have to come out right?  But of course she did and she was beautiful.  After she was here one of the most AMAZING things happened.  I felt peace.  I had never felt that before concerning having children but there it was.  Sitting in that hospital room holding her I knew for a fact she was our last.  She had just completed our family and in the most beautiful way.  I finally knew what my friends meant when they said they knew for certain they were done!

Now Miss Hailey Jean is 5 months old!  She refuses to sleep, only wants to be held and won't take a paci or bottle and I love her immensely!  I tend to walk around like a zombie in the morning getting Tate ready for school and he puts up with me.  He knows I spend most of my nights awake with Hailey.  He likes to come in at 5:30 in the morning (why do they not sleep?!) while I'm feeding her to say hi before he goes down to read or play.  If I'm lucky I can get back in bed for another 30 min before the alarm goes off to start another day.  She is so loved by her brothers it melts my heart. Snuggles and kisses every morning and night are given and it's almost a contest to see who can make her smile the most.  It's funny though to see how quickly they disperse once she starts crying.  Lol!

So here is our sweet girl, our princess our last.

Break long time coming...

So usually by this time in the year I have finished one weekend of Christmas installs and am gearing up for a whole week and weekend of late nights, exhausting work and torn up hands.  I also get to spend the time with one of my favorite people making it all worth it.  This year however I was unable to do any of my installs.  Even though we had moved I had intended to fly back for the week but a 14 lb person made this impossible.  With Hailey not taking a bottle, my leaving was not an option.  I made the call to tell Kayla and apologized profusely.  She understood (or at least pretended to) and I promised to be there next year.  Then it started to set in.  I didn't have to work this year!  It is my first year off in 14 years.  I could sleep in the weekend after Thanksgiving instead of leaving at first light.  I could go and do fun things with my family instead of missing out.  As much as I have enjoyed doing installs over the years I am going to take this break and enjoy every minute of it.  Until next year Kayla!    

One Excited Boy

Today was an exciting day for Cole!  With the move this summer, a newborn and getting Cole fully potty trained we were not able to start preschool at the beginning of the year.  One of the hardest things was getting Cole potty trained!!

For those of you who do not know Cole there are 2 words that describe his personality. Independent and Stubborn.  I, of course, am neither of those things....  Tate was very easy to potty train.  There's the potty, sit on it, done!  Cole was an entirely another story.  We used every tactic out there and had so many helpful suggestions but it all boiled down to when Cole was ready.  I finally decided one week that Cole was ready (again I am not stubborn at all).  I was stocked on potty training juice and we said bye-bye to all diapers.  For 4 days Cole hardly ever left my side and if he did Hailey and I were on his tail!  After day 1 he was good on the potty but it was #2 that ended up being the issue.  Anyone who has ever had to clean out poopy underwear on a daily or several times a day basis understands the frustration Scott and I were feeling!  Lol!  Cole started losing privileges and we resorted to bribery.  The two biggest were he would get a slushy when he went in the potty and he could start pre-school!  Still weeks passed and he refused to poop in the potty.  His reason to why won't you go in the potty was "I don't know!'

A month or so ago I woke up and said ok, today is the day.  It's going to happen.  When Cole woke up I asked him if he was ready to be awesome and he said yeah.  I said it was the day he was going to poop on the potty and he was going to be awesome!  Needless to say, it didn't happen that day BUT it  did happen the next!!!  We woke up again and told him he was going to be awesome that day and he was!  Relief, tears, excitement all around.  Tate and I were in the loft jumping up and down while Cole was on the pot.  Who knew we could get so excited over poo!  Lol!  (I know you're glad there aren't any pics of this. You're welcome.)

So the privileges came pouring back.  Snowman blanket, toys, iPad time, a new Batman backpack and of course his slushy and preschool!  I had planned to wait until the beginning of the year but we decided he would have fun doing holiday activities with his class so off he went today.

We of course had to do the obligatory picture at the front door.  His favorite question?  "Why?"  So I can always remember this awesome day Cole.

When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grow up he answered "YOU!".  Heart melt.  He then continued to say he wanted to be a daddy which was also very sweet.  Love this boy.

 Another quirk of Cole's is his inability to look at the camera when taking a picture.  He LOVES to say cheese sometimes to the point where all the veins in his neck pop out but he does his best to not look at the camera!

So, another huge checkmark in the life of Cole.  He is growing up way too fast.  I love though that every day he wakes up and comes to give me my favorites (kisses and snuggles).

Enjoy your day and your Thanksgiving Feast!

Moving Out and Moving On!!

In 2000 we moved to Texas with the intention of only staying 3-5 years.  Scott had graduated from college and accepted a job with a company he had interned with during one of his breaks.  I had actually always wanted to live in Texas (and have a cattle ranch) and was excited for a new adventure.  Well, those 3-5 years stretched into 14 years and we have loved it here!  Some of our best memories have been made here. 

All three of our children were born here. 

 Tate

 Cole

Hailey

We bought our first house here.  

We spent so much time with family.

And we have made some amazing friends.  The time has come though for another change in our lives.  We will be moving to Utah in August.  We are excited about this opportunity although very sad to be leaving Texas, friends and family behind.  When making this decision we weighed our options.  With summer upon us it made the hot vs not so hot part easy!  Maybe if it had been winter time the decision would have been different.  Although, this last winter here with all the ice was kinda brutal!  We are looking forward to hiking in the mountains, spending time with grandparents in ID, visiting Temple Square at Christmastime and a trip to Disneyland next year.  Disneyland was one of my conditions if we were to move.  ;)   We are just going to adjust and spend vacations in Texas now instead of Idaho.  We just might not be coming in the summer.... 

Details now.  We have no idea where we are moving and as of right now I can't give you an exact date of when we are moving other then Scott starts Aug 11th.  Whether or not we are all there by then I have no idea.  We are moving forward with faith that all will work itself out.

So, to all our Texas friends, if you need a break from the heat feel free to come visit us!  To our Utah friends, we look forward to seeing you soon! 

Introducing....

Here she is!

Hailey Jean Johnson
6lbs 12oz
19.25"

Hailey has been such a sweet angel today.  We are so blessed to have her in our family! Thank you for all your kind words of support today. 

Baby Girl Time!

3:06pm
Baby girl Johnson born!!  So excited. She's perfect. 6lb 12oz. 19.25" long. Name coming. 

2:45pm
10 centimeters!  Off to get the dr!  Hopefully soon baby girl will be here. 


1:35pm
There goes the water!  Dr Holt is hoping for a baby within the next two hours. I've warned Scott that the blog responsibility might be passing on to him soon.  

12:25
Not much progress other then being able to get the sleep I missed out on last night!  Waiting for the dr. She should be here soon to break my water. She's hopeful things will go quickly after that. 

9:30
Epidural in. Ahhhhh. :)

8:35
Just saw Dr Holt. At a 3. Waiting for the epidural now. Sweet, sweet epidural!

6:35
So of course when I finally fall asleep they come in to start the meds. I'll take it though. Let's get her here!

3 am
Not a lot of sleep going on but a lot of contractions!  Hoping that speeds things up. Dr had said we should have a baby girl by noon. I thought that was optimistic at first but it might just happen!  Lol

Let's see if I can keep this going until baby girl comes.  We are all checked in to the hospital and the dr will be coming in around 8 to get me started!  Looking forward to seeing baby girl and getting this part over!

#100HappyDays

So I have taken on the challenge to post on FB for 100 days what makes me happy.  I have seen several friends do this and I have enjoyed seeing their pictures and decided I wanted to give it a try.  I generally feel like I am already a happy person but we all have areas we can improve.

A year ago I found this sign and fell in love with it.  It captures how I feel about life.  It seems like we are always searching for ways that will make us happy when all it could be is a change in our outlook.

I loved President Uchtdorf's talk at conference titled Grateful in Any Circumstances.  There were so points that I have gone back to re-read.

'When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace.

We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?'

Loved this!  When I am grateful in my circumstances I can't help but BE happy.

Growing up I loved watching the movie Pollyana.  I was always inspired by how she was able to find the good in every situation.  I have tried to take that outlook when faced with challenges and trials and it can be very hard at times.  I am not a patient person and somewhat of a perfectionist so I rely on that "Pollyana" outlook quite a bit.  Sometimes the best I can do is think about how pretty the clouds are that day but that is a good start.

As for the challenge, the description was to find and post 1 picture a day of what makes you happy.  The idea is you will be searching for these items and hopefully find more than 1!  I know I have had several today already from listening to the rain last night to waking up to 2 very happy boys.  I know there will be days within these 100 that will be down days and sad days but for me that is where the "Pollyana" outlook will come into play.

Here's to day 1 of #100HappyDays