These days...

These days are so precious.  I feel like I have 2 big kids these days.  Don't get me wrong, Wyatt is still my baby (okay, so is Lainey) but they're physically bigger, they're both extremely mobile, I can communicate to some degree with both of them rather easily.  I'm not bound to nursing schedules or multiple nap schedules.  The only things that keep us home any given day are the weather or sicknesses.  I am kind of liking this big kid stuff.

These days we love to dress up like Olympic figure skater Gracie Gold and "skate" around the house.  

These days, Jed can take Lainey with him to pretty much anything, including helping out on a Friday night at the church for Upward basketball.  Lainey, Tim and Penelope were taking a break from helping to take in a game.  I'm confident in Lainey's love for me but she simply adores her dad and LOVES getting to go places with just him.

These days, we love any kind of sensory play that I'm ambitious enough to create or let them do.  The other day we had the weirdest weather.  This stuff wasn't really hail, it wasn't really snow, it wasn't really ice... but it sure was fun to play with.

These days are good for cuddling on the couch with your bestest friend.

These days we read a lot.  I mean, A LOT.  Curious George is Lainey's current go-to.  Just one story - Curious George Goes Camping.  We read it every nap time and every bed time and many times throughout the day if I'll agree.  I thought I'd see if she could recite some of it the other night and this is what happened...

I was just amazed at her memory.  It's not a rhyming book, the text isn't predictable... she just knows it.  So crazy.

These days we look forward to Lainey's Highlights magazine arrival each month.  This month there was a fun memory game in the back.  I cut out the pieces not really expecting Lainey to have the attention span or ability to play the game ... she totally blew me away.  She loves to match things in general... when things are the same color or we're both wearing leggings or something she'll declare that they match, touch them together and say, "CHEERS!"  I should have known she would do well at this game I guess.

These days, we take advantage of 50 degree weather with a trip to the zoo.  Notice Wyatt is waving to the monkeys.  Come back spring weather... come back!

These days, Wyatt loooves his blankies.  Lainey has never been particularly or consistently attached to anything like that so I think it's really sweet that Wyatt has a favorite blanket.  I think it's a special blanket too - my good friend Allison gave it to us literally hours after we found out baby #2 was a boy.  She is a sweet gift giver, that girl.  This favorite blanket has come in handy as we weaned Wyatt completely this past few weeks.  I had held off dropping his first and last feeding because he is NOT a huge fan of milk and I felt like he still needed to be getting some of those good fats and nutrients.  But it was time and we are getting a little better with the milk.  At nap time and bed time, he snuggles that blanket, lays his head on my chest for a minute then sweetly lays down and goes to sleep.  He. Is. So. Easy.

These days Lainey is getting more brave.  I use this picture as an example because Lainey has barely let our wonderful chiropractor, Dr. Ann, look at her for the past year and a half, let alone touch her.  A few weeks ago my kids were coming down with a cold so I took them to the chiropractor.  I was just planning on having Wyatt adjusted but after Dr. Ann was done with him, Lainey asked if it was her turn!  You bet, Lainey!  She did awesome.  She's getting so big!

These days... oh sweetness, this picture.  This boy is so sweet with baby dolls.  I love it.

These days Lainey falls asleep for her nap in about 2 seconds.

These days, I need to keep up with creative fun ideas for days at home.  This could not have been more simple - baking soda, vinegar, a little food coloring and a medicine dropper.  We talked about "B" is for bubbles as the chemical reaction between the baking soda and the vinegar makes little bubbles.  She stayed busy with this for a whole hour.

These days we still love bath time and still stay in there until the water is way too cold.

These days we make silly faces and take silly selfies just for fun.

I'm loving these days with my kiddos.  Just wishing the weather would turn around and spring would come!

Random, random, etc .

 We have been living in the dark ages here in the Johnson house without a working computer for the past several weeks.  Our new one finally arrived today!  Hooray!  So here are 3 new blog posts, bam, bam, bam!

 

The last time I posted was early September and here we are, with October halfway OVER!  So crazy how quickly this fall season is passing.  I LOVE fall..... makes me sad.  I know what's ahead....cold and SNOW! :(  Here is a completely random assortment of what we've been up to and what's been happening around here...!

This sweet girl is just that ... a girl. She loves all things pretty and sparkly and fancy and PRINCESS.  We do a lot of dressing up around here.

These two just simply ADORE each other!

We were excited to have my sister Emily and her kids, Claire and Will visit us in September.  Thankful that we were in our new house so the kids had room to play and we had extra room for them to stay.  We had a fabulous time!  Managing 4 kids is no easy task, even between my sister and I, day in and day out, but we had so much fun.  It was way too quiet when they left.

Here's that cheesy grin from Wyatt :)  Love it.

I managed to pull off a little surprise for Jed and found him a great bike trailer/jogging stroller on Craig'slist to go with his new hobby of biking.  He was excited but not as excited as Lainey.  She asks DAILY for a bike ride. 

I love my sweet pile of kids.  This was from the night of my 29th birthday. We went out to dinner as a family at a small family owned Italian place down here on the south side and it was so fun. I should have included a picture of the cake that Jed and Lainey baked for me... it was in a bundt cake pan and completely fell apart when they took it out of the pan.  It was hilarious and wonderfully sweet.  Lainey was so proud.  It tasted delicious all the same!

This little buddy has been taking some EPIC naps.  I have been needing to wake him up many nights in time for dinner!  Silly guy!

Here's Wyatt and Will watching their big sissy's play at the park!

   I could usually get the girls to pose and smile nice if I said, "Say cheese for PAPA!"  They LOVE their Papa!

We have started a new weekly event of going to the toddler story time at the downtown library on Friday mornings and then going to Starbucks for treats after :)  I'm not sure who likes it more... the little girls or Bo and I.... :)

Lainey keeps asking to hold Wyatt in her lap lately.  This is hilarious because it makes me realize how little she was when her little bro was born... she was obviously not as verbal and didn't really have a clue as to what was happening.  But now, she's very aware and very verbal and wants him to sit in her lap all of the time but he's nearly as big as she is, so that's the funny part.  I'm sure he will really catch up to her in size in the next year and will certainly surpass her some day!

 

Phew, if you're still with me, thanks for reading :)  Excited to share all of the lovely day to day happenings of our growing and sweet kids! :)

When Dad is behind the camera...

...this is what you get...!  These pictures may all look similar or the same to you, but they are each unique, precious and hilarious to me.  They are 100% real life Lainey who is 100% toddler, and I mean that in the best way possible.  She is a joy.

That bed head...!

That FACE!

"Dad, why?  Why are you taking so many pictures?"

"CHEEEESE!"

There is nothing necessarily special about these pictures, nor are they tied to any exciting event, just a typical Sunday morning around the Johnson house.  They just make me smile.

January Days

[If you follow me on instagram, you've already seen most of these pictures.  I just don't get my camera out as much as I'd like to.  That requires 2 free hands and I usually only have 1... or not even that!]

Lainey will be the first to remind me that it's so "brrrr" outside every time we leave the house and I definitely agree.  January is a long, cold, dark month!  Here's how we're spending some of our January days so far....

 ...cheering!  Lainey is excited and we were all praising God that even though Jed and I got hit with some kind of seriously yucky stomach virus a day apart starting New Years Day, neither of the kids got sick.  It was a rough few days, but we all survived and my house got extra clean and disinfected as a bonus!

 ...eating cereal!  Lainey is a little cereal monster and insists on eating it with a big spoon.  At least 2 bowls at a time!  Cheerios and Kix are her favorite.

 ...snuggling in Mom's lap.  I love these little cuddlebugs!  Also, somehow I often subconsiously coordinate our outfits, whether it be color schemes, patterns (like the stripes above), etc.  I don't know how it happens, but it does.

 ...getting attacked by the sticker monster!  Lainey is really in to stickers right now and she got a handful of them from Wyatt's dr appointment last week.  She shared them with Wyatt to congratulate him on a great first well baby appointment. 2 months: 14 lbs 4 oz (86th percentile) and 23.3 inches long (57th percentile).  Healthy boy, just as I suspected.

 ....reading, reading and more reading.  We rearranged our living area and got Lainey this cute little bookshelf.  Currently we're reading Barnyard Dance, The Going To Bed Book and Spot Goes to the Park on serious repeat.  I for sure have them memorized.

 ...exploring new things.  I found this idea on Pinterest, along with about a trillion others I'd like to try some day, and I happened to come across a package of pipe cleaners for 87 cents at Hobby Lobby.  Voila!  She looooooooved it and has brought it out several times since then too.  She has some really awesome fine motor skills and picked up the idea right away.

 ...hugging.  I can get a hug just about anytime I ask for one.  And sometimes when I don't even have to ask :)

 ...GIGGLING!  This little guy gave us his first laugh this week.  It. Is. PRECIOUS.  Wyatt smiles with his whole entire face and I LOVE IT.  He is such a joy.

Wyatt is the first thing/person Lainey asks for or about in the morning when she gets up.  A lot of times he's still sleeping so we go peek at him quick but this particular morning he was already awake and she insisted on him getting into bed with her.  I cannot look at this picture without smiling.  I can't believe those two are mine!

So... Lainey is HILARIOUS lately....
Example A:  Learning to say SO many new words and people's names.  

Example B: Spinning.  The look in her eyes .... oh. my. word.

Example C: Dancing.  Girl has got some moves!

All of these fun times and January is only half over!  I love spending my days with these blessings.  We eagerly look forward to 5 o'clock-ish every day when Jed gets home to show him our new tricks, words and skills.  There really is something new almost every day!  Thankful for that!