Lainey's News!

Keeps Getting Better!

Lainey's week just keeps getting better!

Yesterday, she got her first taste of blueberries in her mesh feeder.  Not just any blueberries, but frozen blueberries straight from her Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's blueberry patch in Wisconsin!  They were a serious hit.  I'm not sure Lainey has ever enjoyed a food so much, nor has she ever gotten so incredibly messy!

 Then today after lunch, we spotted a big brown truck -- the UPS truck!  They dropped off a little package for Miss Lainey from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson!

 Some new toys and new snacks!  Yeah!

After nap time, we enjoyed some of her new baby cookies on the porch!  What a great day!

Lucky Lainey

I don't know about you, but Lainey is having the best week ever....

It all started this weekend when her Dad gave her half an....

 OREO!

 And this is what you call "crazy cookie monster" face...

 First, an oreo...then today we went to the ZOO with our friends Carla, Kaisa and JJ and enjoyed a GORGEOUS spring day!

The truth is, Lainey didn't pay much attention to the animals.  She would much rather watch other kids.  Someday she will LOVE the zoo.  Here's Lainey and Mr. JJ ... stuck in their strollers, while Kaisa got to check out the fishies.  These two will be running around and chasing each other soon enough!

 Lainey was also not interested in wearing her sunglasses today, instead she held them and stuck one end in her mouth with a very inquisitive look on her face as we walked through the entire zoo.  She's a character!

Who knows what else Lainey's great week holds ahead.  I hope you are having a fabulous week so far as well!

A Johnson Family Favorite

It's always a special treat when we get to go out to eat as a family. Truth be told, we haven't tried it super often in the past 8 months...usually a cozy night of quality time at home sounds better but last week I had Lainey bat her sweet eyelashes and ask her Daddy if he would take his girls on a date for some Mexican. How could he say no to her? :) And how could he say no to MONTERREY?!?
We love Monterrey. It is delicious, relatively cheap and QUICK! Not to mention the unlimited chips and salsa and great fountain pop. Perfect for a dinner out with our sweet pea. Lainey was just as excited as I was! She sat in the high chair like a pro and loved when our waiter would come by and pinch her cheeks. There were lots of people for her to oogle at as well, she's definitely a people watcher.

(Forgive the pictures - they were taken with my old point and shoot)
Our little book worm was loving the colorful menu!
"Hmmm...I'll have THIS please!"
"Daddy, won't you PLEASE share your burrito with me?"
Some day Sweetie! I can't wait to introduce her to the yummy chips and salsa in the future!

Family pictures, friends and my 8 MONTH OLD BABY!

It's been a great, busy week here at our house. First, I must share that we had some family pictures taken this week by the wonderfully talented Justin Meyer. I think it's fair to say that he is officially our family photographer. I could say a thousand complimentary things about Justin himself, his wife who I love dearly and his artistic talent behind the camera. I am a picture person - I like taking pictures, looking at pictures, framing pictures, etc. The memories that Justin has captured from our engagement, to our wedding, when Lainey was a teeny tiny newborn and just this week are truly special to me. Here are a few of my favorites... You can see the entire album here.
Simon was less than cooperative but we never get a picture with him and I always slightly feel bad so we tried...


I love love LOVE that these were taken in our own yard. I'm sure some day when we have moved I will especially treasure that!


My sweet, sweet girl. I LOVE this one.

Today, we got to hang out with Miss Penelope for a little while. I could go on and on about how thankful I am for the Laehn's - it is so much fun to share these seasons of life with good friends! This was the first time Lainey and Penelope genuinely interacted. They kept swapping (aka stealing) toys and putting them right into their little mouths. Precious. Lainey was just tickled pink - she squealed the entire time they were playing. It was so sweet.

"See Penelope, this is how you clap!"
"Cute shirt girlfriend!"

Lainey is 8 MONTHS OLD today. I'm not even going to mention how I feel like it's impossible for her to be that old already...again. Today's photo shoot was especially difficult. I guess she was all modeled out from last night.

Most of the pictures turned out like this, with Lainey attacking the foam letters and shoving them in her mouth. Sigh. Oh well.
So thankful for a great week. So thankful for my sweet family and all that God has blessed us with!

Flashback!

We were BLESSED with another HUGE assortment of clothes for Lainey from my generous, wonderful sister Emily. Emily buys close to nothing at full price, does a great job finding good deals and she LOVES shopping for baby clothes for her sweet daughter Claire and her favorite niece, Lainey. I enjoyed folding and putting away all of Lainey's "new to us" clothes this week. (On a side note, I think it would be great if I could get a new wardrobe every 3 or so months too!) I noticed mixed in the bunch of onesies, dresses, pants and rompers was a set of onesies that Lainey also had when she was an itty bitty newborn...
My oh my OH MY, how she's changed! I think she was 2 weeks when I took that first photo and she will be 8 months tomorrow. I don't think I could have ever imagined how wonderful, beautiful and what a JOY she would be! I am one blessed momma.
I love a little baby in big people clothes, like jeans. So cute.I included this one because you can clearly see Lainey's cute little teeth. She now has both of her bottom teeth - the 2nd one broke through over the weekend, which would explain why she was a bit of a bear last week with napping and sleeping. Poor girl! I don't think I would handle that discomfort very well either!

Easter Weekend in Minnesota

We just got back from a fabulous weekend visiting my family in Minnesota for Easter. We hadn't been there since Christmas and our visit was long overdue - my parents come down to see us as often as they can but it was so nice to see extended family too and just enjoy a weekend away. (And by away, I mean away from cooking, cleaning, the dog, etc... A welcomed break indeed!) We started off our weekend with my request I make every time we go to Minnesota... Leann Chin for dinner! It is a Chinese chain restaurant in the Twin Cities that has been my absolute favorite for years and years. I would prefer eating Leann Chin over ALMOST anything, seriously. It tastes that good to me. As always, it was delicious. Lainey drooled as she ate her peas and yogurt ... some day, my sweetie! After dinner, we got right to playing! Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa have acquired a lot of fun toys!
And then on to really playing!
Giving Grandpa a free dental exam...
My parent's coffee table is the perfect height for Lainey to stand at. She got REALLY good at standing over the weekend - like so good it was scary for being only almost 8 months old!



And even standing on her own for a few seconds at a time!
She also got so so so so so close to crawling! Her Daddy did some coaching. He is so good at teaching her new things and getting excited about the things she is learning how to do.
All of the sudden she wasn't hating being on her tummy since she was so close to being mobile!
Such a sweetie pie!
My Grandma, Lainey's Great Grandma Carey came over Saturday morning for breakfast and coffee. Lainey warmed up to her right away and showed her those fancy new tricks.
Lainey could look at books FOREVER, which my Grandma, a former teacher just loved!


Showing Grandpa her excited face! My parents just adore their granddaughters!
We got to Skype with Emily and Claire a few times too! Of course we wished they were there with us!!
More tummy time, playing with her computer...
On Easter, we all got up and ready pretty early to make it to church by 9. It was a great service celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection and the cost of God's loving sacrifice to choose to send His son to die on the cross for us.

After church, we enjoyed Easter dinner at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Duane's with a bunch of extended family. Lainey didn't get to taste the ham, potatoes and other goodies but did enjoy some yogurt and banana puffs!
Lainey loves her Grandma!
After lunch it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt! Jed helped Lainey get around to collect a few eggs. She was in charge of scoping out the eggs...

Lainey happened to "find" the big golden egg! :) Doesn't she look thrilled?!
Our sweet family of 3!


Checking out her loot!
She didn't care so much about what was inside the eggs (candy and quarters!) but enjoyed playing with the eggs none the less!

Here I am telling Lainey that Easter isn't really about eggs or bunnies or candy but it's all about Jesus!

I think Lainey enjoyed her first Easter!

Since we had such a busy day, Lainey hadn't really napped all morning so thankfully she slept like a baby on our drive home; we only had to make one quick stop. It was a wonderful weekend but like usual, we are glad to be home sweet home!