8 Months

Johnny is now 8 months...going on 18!  He's just growing up so fast and changing so much, I'm sure we'll be at 18 before either of us know it.  

I think we've seen more of Johnny's personality this last month.  He's started to show just how opinionated he can be about things!  Most of the time, he's still just my chill, happy baby boy.  But every once in a while, he can get pretty frustrated with things when they don't happen the way he thinks they should!  For instance, this little guy LOVES to be outside.  He particularly like to play with Jack.  So, if I happen to open the back door to, say, throw out a dirty diaper, Johnny will crawl just as fast as he can to try to get outside.  If I shut that door before he can get out of it, he just comes undone!  Admittedly, it's kind of cute. :)  He also doesn't like for the family to split up at all.  While we were doing the grocery shopping last week, Danny and I decided to divide and conquer.  I kept Johnny with me in my cart, and Danny took the girls to different aisles to get different items on our list.  Whenever the would walk away, Johnny would just yell (not really screaming, just yelling) until they came back.  

Lately, Johnny has really started to talk a lot.  He absolutely loves his reflection (can you blame him?), and will talk to his "window friend" for quite a while.  He has also gotten used to sleeping in his own room, and is back to sleeping a dependable 8-10 hours again.  I'm loving that!  It's cute to hear him talking to himself through the baby monitor in the morning.  Johnny can get really frustrated at dinner time, though.  He is just dying to eat what we eat!  But, he makes due with his baby/toddler finger foods.  And, like I said, he loves to look outside.  Sometimes, I'll just sit him in his bouncer at the back door and let him look.  Or he loves to look out the bay window in the front room.  I think he particularly likes to watch the birds, which are in abundance this time of year.

So many of our friends have commented lately about how cute Johnny is.  I have gotten quite a few comments along the lines of "He's the cutest baby boy I've ever seen!", or "I could just gobble him up!".  Granted, I know he's cute.  But there's something else about him.  Some sort of understanding in his eyes when you interact with him that just makes your heart gush.  

Let's see what else is going on in "Johnny World" at 8 months:

*Still in size 3 diapers

*Wears a size 4 shoe

*Wears 12 month clothes (except his new church suit, which is an 18 month!)

*Crawls on his hands and knees, and can go from sitting to crawling and back to sitting again

*Pulls himself up on the furniture and walks along it

*Likes to turn the laundry basket over and use it as a walker to cruise around the carpet

*Loves eating finger food in his high chair

*Has four teeth now (two up top and two on bottom)

*Loves playing in the girls' room with the girls 

*His favorite game with Daddy is "Toss The Pizza"

*Enjoys taking a bath in the big tub with his sisters

*Makes an awful wet mess when he's in the tub from all that splashing

We just love your happy, inquisitive spirit John!  We're lucky to have you in our family.  Love you!

Easter Sunday 2011

Easter is such a wonderful day.  I've always had fond memories of Easter, but it's meaning more and more to me.  Especially since Rachel died, and for obvious reason.  For the weeks leading up to Easter, I was surprised by how much joy I was feeling.  I kept thinking about how awesome it was that Christ broke the bands of death for us.  That I knew that Rachel would get her body back, just like all of us, and that there would come a time that we would be able to associate with one another just like we did here on earth, only perfected.  Since I had been feeling so happy, it took me by surprise how emotional I felt once I woke up Easter morning.  

I walked around for the first part of the morning with a rather painful lump in my throat.  I just missed my sister, and couldn't stop thinking about her.  Danny had some hymns playing as the kids were getting bathed, like he does every Sunday morning, and I just broke down as I listened to "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today".  That was a musical number at Rachel's funeral services, and one of her favorite hymns.  And once I started crying, I couldn't stop.  I cried for about an hour, and then I was okay.  I realized that even though Christ broke the bands of death, it doesn't make the separation easy.  It does, however, make it temporary.

But it wasn't all tears!  We didn't do a hunt on Sunday morning.  We try to keep that part on Saturday so that we can keep the kids more focused on the Resurrection on Sunday.  But we did do Easter baskets with them once they got up.  They were so excited!

So excited that not a single one of them would smile for the camera! :)

For each kid's first Easter, they get to don the bunny ears!  Johnny made a stinkin' cute Easter Bunny...

The girls got right into their baskets, no problem.  But it took Johnny a few minutes.  Finally, I gave up on trying to get him to look through his basket and walked away.  Turns out, that's the trick!  Act disinterested yourself, and suddenly that thing is pretty cool!

Along with the bunny ears, the girls have gotten Easter socks in their baskets every year, and that continued this year.  For the girls, anyway.  I'll have to look harder for socks for Johnny next year.  Sorry, son!

Ahhh...cute Easter feet!

Oh, and you can't forget the Easter dresses!  I love Easter dresses!  Especially when they match. :)

This next picture is so true to their personalities.  Claire off in la-la-land, and Sophie is constantly in motion.  I love it!  I'm not even sure Sophie's feet are on the ground!

I'm so glad these two have each other.  They may be totally different, but they are only complete as a pair.

I had the shopping privilege of adding some ties to my Easter dress tradition, and I'm SO excited to keep doing that!  Johnny sported his spiffy new tie and new (size 18 month!) suit, and looked so sharp.  Too bad he was still running a fever and not feeling so hot.  The pictures didn't turn out like I hoped, but oh well. :)

Danny and Johnny in their matching ties.  I'm going to have to give this another try next Sunday and see if I can get a better picture of my two favorite guys.

We enjoyed church, and Claire even gave her first scripture in Primary!  She was a little nervous this time around, but still did very well.  After church it was dinner time.  And anybody who's anybody knows how excited I get about a holiday dinner! :)  On the menu this year was Pineapple-Ginger Flank Steak with Caramelized Green Beans and Sweet and Savory Coconut Rice.  Once again, it was all OBB, and once again, it was all FANTASTIC!

We enjoyed our dinner immensely.  This was our first holiday together as just our little family, and Danny and I loved it.  It's hard to believe that it was just five years ago that Danny asked me to marry him.  Five short years, and now we have all of this!

We are so grateful for the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We recognize that all we enjoy in this life, and all we can enjoy in the next, is made possibly by Him.  We love Him, and try to do our best to serve and follow Him.

Happy Easter!

Huntin' for Eggs

Saturday was Easter Egg Hunt Day!  The Dunn's were kind enough to invite our family to join them for their annual hunt and potluck, and we were excited to accept!  We baked up some Cadbury Egg Cookies (it's Easter, after all!) for the potluck and got the kids ready to go.

Danny thought Johnny and I were looking like a pretty spiffy pair, so he took a quick picture.  I can't say I disagree!  I let Johnny do most the work, that's my secret. :)

The Dunn's are one of our closest neighbors, living less than a 1/2 mile away, but we feel transported out of the desert when we're there.  They've landscaped their yard so beautifully, with trees, and shrubs, and GRASS!  Our kids go crazy for it!  They are also pretty fond of Jerry's fish pond.

    

But this was an Easter Egg hunt, not a fishing trip!  Before long, the kids got down to business.  

Claire remembered the Easter Egg hunt at Grandma Candy's last year, so she knew to keep moving in order to find more eggs.  But this was Sophie's first time hunting on her own, and she was so thrilled!

She quickly scooped up whatever eggs were nearest to her and easiest to get her hands on, and then she sat down to partake of her loot.  Sophie is all about instant gratification!

Poor Johnny wasn't feeling good at all.  He was running a 103 degree fever earlier that afternoon.  So he stayed snuggled close to me and just observed the kids running around.  I'm sure he'll be more than ready to fill his own basket next year...

Sophie soon realized her mistake, and quit eating all her candy.  There were more eggs to be found!  Daddy helped the girls, but only a little. :)

Even though there were about 250 eggs, there were a lot of kids and it didn't take long before the hunt was declared over.  Despite the fact that our girls only had about 6-8 eggs in their basket, they were still so happy.  

And really, they didn't need that much candy anyway. :)

The Dunn's have quite a few grandkids, so their house is made for fun!  The girls had an absolute BLAST playing on their trampoline and swing set.  Oh, how we wish for a yard!  Claire loved jumping on the tramp, which really surprised me.  She usually shies away from even getting on one, much less jumping on it.  But she got like three feet of air sometimes! ;)

Johnny and I decided to hang out on the swings until it was dinnertime.

And the girls decided to start in on their candy.  These two little girls make beautiful sisters.

When the dinner bell rang, we went inside to enjoy all sorts of yummy things.  There was pizza, and chicken, and assorted chips and salads...even sushi!  The girls ate good, and headed right back out to play.  I did my best to eat what I could, but Johnny was getting awfully fussy.  On top of fighting off whatever virus was giving him the high fever, I think the little guy is trying to get his incisors through.  Ouch!  But what to do for him?  Then it struck me!  Chicken Bone!

As you can see, Johnny was fully placated after that!  Since Johnny has happily drooling over his little chicken bone, we decided to let the girls enjoy the evening outside.  We were in no rush.  Besides, Claire was having so much fun with her old friend Claire.  See, the Dunn's have a granddaughter named Claire that is just about the same age as our darling Claire.  And they get along famously!

Funny story:  I was trying to teach Claire how to pump herself higher on the swings.  She wasn't really grasping the concept, so I kept having to go back and push her and the other Claire higher and higher.  At one point, I got distracted by a conversation with Danny.  Then we hear our Claire yelling, "Mom!  We need another breast pump, Mom!  We need another BREAST PUMP!"  Oh, the connections three-year-olds make. :)

Sophie spent a lot of her time climbing up and down and in and out of the playhouse.  She loved pretending that the yellow rope used to climb up into the playhouse was actually her golden hair. :)  Then she discovered the baby swing that was hanging on the tree.  Perfect for spinning around!  If it doesn't make Sophie slightly nauseous, then it's no fun...

But all that spinning can make a girl tired!  Even Sophie needs a break sometimes...and Mama needs a break almost all the time!  This beautiful hammock was the perfect solution.

But what about John-boy?  My carnivorous son was still happily chomping away at his little chicken bone.  He's a boy after his Mama's heart...

"Mmmm...So good, Mom!"

We had a wonderful afternoon with our wonderful neighbors.  It's so nice to be surrounded by people who we feel have become family to us.  And can I just say, every holiday is better as a parent.  It makes Danny and I so happy to see our kids have a fun and exciting day.  They have such a pure joy, and it's truly infectious.  And it helps that they're too darn cute for words...

An Easter Family Home Evening

Isn't it funny how holidays seem to creep up on you as you get older?  I knew Easter was coming, but didn't realize that we only hade one Family Home Evening before Easter Sunday!  So, for activity this week we dyed eggs with the kids.  

This was Sophie's first year of actually dying her own eggs, and she really enjoyed it!  Daddy showed her how to do it the first time around...

Then she was on a roll!  She came up with some pretty cool speckled egg creations.

Claire and I worked together this year.  Claire was methodical and deliberate with her creations.  So Claire. :)

Johnny spent the evening trying to get his hands in some dye or around an egg or SOMETHING!  But Mom has gotten pretty good at keeping his hands out of what they're not supposed to be in.

We had so much fun doing our activity, that we didn't have time to do a proper lesson, so we postponed that until the next night.  We did have a yummy treat waiting, though.  Strawberry-Lime Shortcakes with Coconut Cream!  Yum!  We got everyone served, and I had my plate sitting in front of me with Johnny on my lap.  And Johnny pulled a fast one on Mama!

He got a fist full of Sweetened Whipped Cream, and he loved it!  He happily sucked on that hand for the rest of the night. :)  

What a fun Family Night!

Guy Time

Johnny has been needing a little more "guy time" with Danny lately.  Can you blame him?  Stuck at home all day with a bunch of girls!  So, Daddy spent some time with Johnny watching F-22 videos on the iPad.  I was only a little surprised when Johnny was completely captivated. :)

I'm pretty sure Johnny wants to be just like his Daddy when he grows up.  I'd be a happy mother if he did.

What's A Little Wind?

We love the weather here in Southern California.  But something that is unique to the Antelope Valley is the wind.  The seeming days on end of 30+ mph winds.  Honestly, it's about as inclement as the weather gets.  Nonetheless, on some days it can keep you from going outside!

The winds are particularly, well, gusty during the spring season.  So, while the temperatures have been in the comfortable mid-to-high 70s, the girls have been stuck inside due to the wind.  One afternoon, they just couldn't take it anymore.  And I was ready to have them outside for a while!  I figured they wouldn't last more than a few minutes, but they played for a good half hour.

Jack loves it when the girls come out to play.  He still thinks they're puppies, just like him.  Or he thinks he's a kid, just like them.  It's hard to figure that one out. :)  At any rate, he takes good care of the girls when they're out in the yard, and they all play really well together.

Claire and Sophie have deemed this particular yard toy their pirate ship.  They love playing pretend in there!

It was so good for the girls to get outside and play for awhile.  And good for Mama's sanity to have them work out some of their wiggles out of the house!  Turns out, the wind wasn't all that bad.

After all, a little wind never hurt anybody...