Once is plenty, thank you

I've noticed that life gives us the opportunity to experience most things at least once. Today I was given such an occasion, although I think I'd rather not have experienced it thank you very much. I went to visit Dan in Deer Park last night, and when I got up to feed Cole this morning I was in some pain. I just figured that was because it had been some time since I had fed him, but when the pain didn't go away while I was feeding him I was concerned that it might be something else. Indeed, as the day wore on the pain got more and more. So, upon arriving at home I called the doctor (no appointments available by the way...but at least I wasn't expecting it), fed Cole and took the kids to a neighbor. By this time I was in tears. I cried at the neighbors house, I cried in the car, I cried in the doctors office, I cried in the pharamacy, again in the car, and then I got a hold of myself. It took too long though because crying like that give me a headache, which was just what I needed on top of the mastitis, the aches everywhere else, the cold freezing shaking, etc. I was going to call my home teachers for a blessing, but the thought of people coming over to my disaster of a house made me break into tears again, and I decided I could wait for Dan to get home tomorrow. I would greatly appreciate any prayers though ;). I did discover that if I held still I felt fine, so...I put Cole to sleep, put Caden down for a nap (which surprisingly he took since he slept on the way home this morning from Deer Park), and I slept. It was lovely, and after having the heater on full blast, a robe (thanks rorie and nate), and a blanket I finally got warm too. Let's just say that one: I am thankful for helpful friends who are willing to help, and two: I would not be averse if this never happened again. I was going to have a party for Dan on Saturday, but decided to cancel, which wasn't hard to do since I hadn't invited anyone yet. I was also going to go on a date with him tomorrow, and I even had babysitters lined up (thanks guys), but I cancelled those plans too. Needless to say we've watched a lot of movies today so I didn't have to move much. The kids have been really helpful, and I have been blessed....I can't wait for bedtime though. The antibiotics have started to kick in, so it doesn't hurt as bad as it did this afternoon. Thats nice. Anyway, thanks all for for the offers of dinner, watching the kids, picking up the kids, offers to clean my house, etc. You are all wonderful and I greatly appreciate it!

Look who passed!

Dan called me tonight to tell me that he got his results back from the Board Examination that he took back in December. Yep, that's right! Daniel Thomas Johnson has passed his boards exam! You may all celebrate now and cheer a great big "Hip Hip Horray!" I'm so proud of him. For those of you who don't know, this test is like the bar exam for lawyers. It's long, it's comprehensive, it's grueling, and it's a whole lot of money (grr..I have definite issues with that, but we won't mar the occasion by going into that). Now all we need to do is find a job...and take the state exam where ever we end up. We are very thankful for our Heavenly Father and the blessings that he has given us in our family. While I'm sure we miss a lot, we are mindful of His hand guiding our lives.

So rock on babe! I'm proud of you, and I love you. Big hugs and kisses, we all miss you tons. We'll celebrate when you get home!

One more time

Well, Dan is gone for a month again. It shouldn't be too bad, though, because he is close enough he can come home on weekends, and I made him promise that he would. I might have sounded a little desperate because before he left he kept asking me if I was going to be alright. Of course I'm going to be alright...I just like it better when he's here, that's why I married him. Anyway, this time around I'm hoping that the kids and I will do some fun kid activities. I haven't figured out what yet, but I'm sure I'll blog about it if I do anything. Actually, my main concern is feeding my children dinner. I realize this sounds awful. Trust me, I do. The only reason I cook at all is for Dan, and since he's not here, I have a hard time motivating myself to make a dinner that no one but me will eat anyway. Kember is getting better at eating dinner, I will give her that. However, Caden doesn't touch anything. It's a wee bit frustrating. I'm sure if I were creative I could think of something dinnerish that he would find fun to eat...but it's just too tempting to say, "Hey, he'll eat PB & honey" Oh, don't worry, I do add veggies. He ate his peas tonight...nothing else, but at least he is getting the green stuff.
I mentioned in my last post that Caden gave goodnight kisses that encompass the forehead, both cheeks, my nose and chin. Apparently he has decided to also add both ears and the neck. I love it...and then Kember runs up and gives me such a big hug I fall over. It's awesome.
On a random note: I listened to most of Pres. Obama's inagural speech today. I would have liked to have heard the whole thing, but I didn't know it was on. This is the first time I've ever heard him speak. Yes, I know that is pathetic. Yes, I know I should be more aware and more informed. I will say this though, I was impressed by what I heard. I hope he can do what he said in the speech, and I wish him the best of luck.
It also got me thinking about who ever wrote the speech. I suppose because that was my major, but boy, you got to give the person kudo's. It's one thing to write a speech for yourself, but it's entirely different to write a speech for someone else...especially a speech this important. The President did a great job at delivery too. Sigh...I miss my major.

To my little man

Dear Caden,

I hope you are having a good birthday. I can't believe you are already two years old. You have learned to say, "I two!" and you try to hold up two fingers, but the other fingers just won't cooperate! It seems like I just had you. At age two, you love to sing and have books read to you. You love your older sister and miss her when she's gone to school. You love your "baby broder cooole" and get really concerned when he cries (aka "baby crying!") You are my sanity. You give the best hugs and kisses in the world (I especially like it when you have to kiss my forehead, my nose, my chin, and both cheeks before bedtime...it melts my heart). If I ever say "Ow!" you always ask me "okay mom?" It is fun for me to watch you grown and learn. You can already count and do your alphabet. We are working on colors, but I'm not too worried about them because you are very quick and pick up on things fast. I love watching you play by yourself. Today you were playing with your tractors and calling them daddy and asking how they were....then you would bang/crash them together and laugh. You love to hide them and ask me, "where'd tractors go?...they hiding!" and they you say, "there they are!" You love to run and jump (well, it's not really a jump, but we are working on that skill) and oh my you love to swing on the swings, which is funny because you used to hate them with a passion. Now, however, you say, "higher! higher!" and laugh the whole time. You are very special and I love you very much. Happy birthday little man!

Birthday pictures of the big day! We had Cadens favorite for dinner: pb & honey sandwiches. We made a snake cake. I was hoping it would be cuter, but thats what we ended up with.

We had Issac & Melanie over for cake & presents and that was his birthday. My little two year old. Crazy stuff.

The proper way to eat a corndog

Caden will now demonstrate the proper way to eat a corndog.

Any questions?

Cole is my smiley happy baby, but I can't get any pictures of him smiling. The flash on the camera makes him startled and then he just stares at me with a funny look on his face. This is the best picture I could get of him "smiling". Trust me though, it's much cuter in real life.

On a random note, I was at aerobics yesterday and after the workout she went through a relaxation thing with us. Now, I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've never enjoyed these. I'm sure you've all done them. They differ in words but basically you imagine yourself either all filled up with sand, or all tensed up until the sun hits you or you release the sand or something random like that. Anyway...everyone after was like "oh, that was wonderful" and so on and so forth. It just doesn't work for me. What am I doing wrong? It is true that I have a hard time relaxing. Dan tries to massage my shoulders and that makes me tense even more. He keeps telling me to "relax", but I can't. I like to have control over my body...even though I suppose being able to let me body relax would be a form of control. Anyway, I'm sure you all cared to know that, but really...if I want to relax I curl up with a good book or just take a nap. To each his own I suppose.

The Wisdom of a Three Year Old

The following is part of a conversation Kember had with Caden (okay, conversation implies at least two participants....Kember does all the talking....even though Caden can talk).

C: mumble mumble something something

K: No! Girls aren't boys! Girls are Girls!

So, just incase there was any confusion on that subject, now you know!

Happy New Year

I went to bed at 9:30, what did you do? Now it is true that New Year's is not my favorite holiday. In fact, it's pretty safe to say that I think it's a pointless holiday. However, I normally stay up until the appointed time, but this year Dan was on over-nights again (I really thought he was done with these at the beginning of the school year...oh well) and Kember and I were sick. My bed just looked so appealing that I couldn't resist. I mean, if Heavenly Father has blessed me with a two month old that will sleep through the night (amazing, I know...trust me, my other two were up every two hours until 6-9 months) shouldn't I take advantage of that fact? Yes, I think so.
After being a rotten grouch all day today (all week actually, I'm not a nice sick person) my kids put me in the best mood ever...and it was such a simple thing. We were sitting down to dinner (which I was not happy about having to make, even if it was mac and cheese with peas...I mean, how easy can you get...and healthy :) Anyway, I asked who wanted to say the prayer and both said, "I do, I do!" Great. So I told Kember that she could help Caden say the prayer. I can't remember what they said, and really, I don't think that it was anything amazing, but really, it melted my heart and put a smile on my face. They really are precious, and I really am blessed. It's time to start being more optimistic. I guess that is what is good about the new years...there is a point to it after all. So, my goal for the new year...To be more optimistic.