Jan 26 - Feb 1: 7 Months Old

Oops, I have forgotten to post this week's blog in a timely manner again!  I want to know when it will get easier to keep this blog updated.  Somehow, I always let it slip past me on the weekend and then feel guilty about it all week until I finally force myself to sit down and type up the entry & download the pictures.  Those of you who so faithfully post your blog and have such clever, detailed entries are amazing!  I want to be like you some day!

This week started out with our typical day of Sunday chores.  Erik is turning out to be a great helper - for both Kent & I.  He likes to help me bring out the laundry hampers from each room and sort the clothes, turn on the water and add the detergent, he likes to help me load the dishwasher (though, he's not too keen on emptying it - just like me!!) and he likes to use the dustpan to sweep up crumbs under the table.  However, he adores going outside to help Kent with yard work and pool work!  He nearly shakes with delight as he gets on his crocs, finds his "work gloves" (aka tiny woolen mittens) and tries to decide which tool he will need to use - a hammer, a shovel, a water gun, a saw?!  In the pictures below, Erik is helping Kent sweep down the sides of the pool - his broom is actually a water gun, but it looks almost like Kent's broom above the waterline!

Erik's imagination during playtime is growing by leaps & bounds lately.  He is starting to make engine noises when playing with his cars, airplanes or trucks and his animals have wants/wishes of their own - "they are cold; they want a blanket."  He also is assigning toys to each member of the family and woe to anyone who tries to change it!  One of Elin's Christmas gifts came with a set of 4 colored balls; Erik has decided which color belongs to each of us and he will frequently go through the house distributing the correct colored ball to the appropriate person - mine is green, Kent's is red, Erik's is blue and Elin's is yellow!

One cute thing that Erik has started this week is that he will say "uh-huh" and nod his head in response to questions rather than saying yes.  It's fun watching his language skills grow and develop.  He doesn't really respond to open-ended questions yet "What did you do at school today?", but we are hopeful that he will start volunteering answers soon.  He has developed a bit of a stutter lately; we hope that it is just his language skills getting ahead of his tongue and that it will ease in a few weeks.  He also tends to drop the leading S on most words, so snacks is 'nacks and spoon is 'poon, but he almost always says sleep correctly!

With some of the other events that have taken place the last few weeks, I haven't posted Elin's 7 month photos (she turned 7 months on January 20).  Okay, to be honest, I just remembered to take the pictures this week, but there has been plenty of other things to post about!!  One of Elin's accomplishments this week is producing tooth #2 on Friday, Jan 31 - the other bottom center tooth!  This tooth came in with lots of sleepless nights (she is up almost every 90 minutes to 2 hours) and lots of drooling.  She also spent a lot of time learning how to click her tongue and smack her lips.  She gets a huge kick out of any noises that you can make with your lips & tongue. She will giggle, crinkle her eyes at you and scrunch up her nose!  For her 7 month photos, I thought that I would include some of the other shots I have to take in order to find one that is good enough to share!!

cute, but no smile and you can't really see the 7

scrunched up nose

again, cute, but not what I was hoping for

oh, now you think this is funny?!

"Mmm, let me suck on it!"

"What 7? This 7? Nope, you can't see it!"

on the move!

Fish lips

Looking the wrong way

Crazy face

Another crazy face

Ok, Mama gives up.  I can't get the shot I'm looking for!  But you are awfully cute!

My weekly goals:
1. Bible: Psalm 27 was one of the passages I read this week.  I like the confidence and certainly of David's prayers & requests of the Lord.  vs 4: "One thing I ask from the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" and vs 5: "He will keep me safe in His dwelling" and vs 7: "Hear my voice when I call, Lord, be merciful to me and answer me".  The psalm ends with "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (verse 14).  I like that verse.

2. Health: This week my goal was to be in bed AND asleep by 10 PM.  Um, I'm sad to say it was an epic failure.  I'm not sure I even made it to bed before midnight any night this week.  Every week can't be a winner, I guess.  Hope next week is better!!

3. Fun: This week, Kent and Erik had a grand time riding through the house on the scooter, Plasma car, bike and red push car.  They even decided to let Elin join them.  I've included some pictures below.  The fun that I had this week was that I got to grocery shop by myself - it was quite the treat though it was remarkably short-lived as I can shop so much faster by myself!  We also ended the week with a visit to science center when the weather was wet & cold and precluded us from doing anything outside.

4. Project: I think I mentioned in my last post that Kent surprised me with some Costco purchases recently - he bought me a new craft/scrapbooking table & a new fancy rug for our formal living room (see pictures below).  Some of my projects this week involve getting my crafts more organized so that I can actually find my supplies and work on projects rather than standing with my hands on my hips, staring at my jumbled mess of supplies wishing I knew where to even start!  One of my future projects is to find some way to decorate the fireplace in our formal living room. That thing is nearly big enough to roast a whole cow in!  I also need whatever decorations I put in there to be kid-friendly.  Any ideas?

She does a pretty good job of steering!  Kent does have to push her to get her moving!!

The perfect toy for Elin with all her favorite things: standing, grabbing, riding and sucking!

Taking her bear for a ride

Love, love, LOVE my new craft table!!

My surprise rug that Kent brought home from Costco!

Erik opening a gift at our annual "Christmas in January" celebration with the Cochran's, Deininger's and Zbaraschuk's

Elin checking out some of her gifts

Jan 19 - 25: We have a Tooth!

The big news of this week is that Elin popped out her first tooth!  I'm not sure if you can see her tooth in the photo below, but she now has her bottom left center tooth.  Her particular teething symptoms appear to be drooling and not sleeping.  Erik would get a fever.  I think I like Erik's process better.  Elin has always been a drooler, but in the last few weeks, her drool factor has grown exponentially.  She is rapidly earning the nicknames "drool queen" and "drooliest baby ever"!  Erik has even told Elin to "stop dripping, baby sister"!  Ha, ha.  

Her other teething symptom is not sleeping - which is even worse than the drooling.  She is waking up every 3-4 hours at night and crying her little heart out.  She stands up and hangs onto the crib rail while she cries.  When I walk into the room, she calms a little bit and then grabs onto me when I get close.  After I pick her up, she will put both arms around my shoulders, grab hold as hard as she can and bury her head in the crook of my neck as if she hasn't seen another human being in days.  She's a great hugger, though!  I would rather she save all her hugs for daytime hours, I think!  I think that she is working on 1-3 more teeth right now.  I seem to recall that Erik popped out a few teeth all at once, so maybe Elin will be the same way.  

Her tooth is just visible.  Elin's personal dentist (Aunt Jenny) confirmed she could see it in the picture!

Other news on the Elin front is that she has developed a real taste for sucking on my hair!  I remember sucking on my hair as a child and Elin has apparently decided to follow in my footsteps on this score.  I am constantly pulling my hair out of her mouth and out of her fists.  She used to just dig her fingers into my hair and hang on, but in the last week, she advanced to sucking on whatever strands she has grabbed.  Crazy girl.

Erik has been up to some rather cute antics these past weeks. I forgot to mention on my Christmas & New Year's blog entries that, over the holiday, Erik started telling Grandpa Johnson "No, no Grampa - that's naughty" - usually at mealtimes!  Not sure what he was admonishing Roger for, but we all got a huge kick out of it!  Another cute instance happened this week when Erik "helped" me rock Elin to sleep for one her naps by humming to her!  That was precious.  I have gotten in the habit of humming Brahms' Lullaby (the "go to sleep" song) to Elin for her naps and Erik has clearly picked up on it.  Erik also has started to display that distinct trait of parenting a younger sibling.  He loves to tell Elin "No, Elin, that's not safe" or "Elin, stop it" or "Elin, be careful" and he uses his best commanding voice each time.  I've had to bring out the classic parenting line "You pay attention to yourself.  I will take care of your baby sister"!  Oh boy.

Our food struggles continue with Erik; he refuses to try new food and claims to "No' like it".  However, we did have some progress this week and Erik voluntarily asked to eat a cucumber I was slicing for myself and he liked it!  He has eaten a few raw carrot sticks this week, as well, rather than just chewing them and then spitting it out.  He has eaten cucumber on several occasions now, so I'm hoping that we may have turned the corner and Erik will start to accept more food choices soon.   After a few times of Erik eating cucumber, I apparently fell off my Mommy encouragement duties, so Erik prompted me to tell him  "I'm Proud of You" after he took a bite!  Kent & I tend to make a big deal out of Erik eating new foods.  

Random cute picture

Typical Elin face - what a smiley baby!

Grabbing onto my hair for all she's worth!

The boys on a bike ride

Riding bike in the house

More bikes!

Progress on my 2014 Goals:
1. Bible - this week the passages from Genesis were about Joseph - my favorite story in the Bible!  I love his unswerving faith, his strength of character and his love of family.  Plus, I love the great reveal to his brothers and the amazing happy ending!
2.  Health - I reached a milestone in my Take Shape for Life program by the end of this week - 15 pounds lost!  I love being a loser!!!  I am now back at my  pre-baby weight from 3 years ago before I got pregnant with Erik.  I discovered this week that I now have to wear a belt to keep up my jeans; I cannot remember the last time I wore a belt, so this was a momentous event!
3.  Fun - Erik received a balance bike for Christmas, which is a bike without pedals that is supposed to help him learn how to balance on a bike so that he can skip the training wheel phase.  Riding bikes is one of his favorite activities now and he was very fortunate with nice weather this week so that he could ride outside with Kent.  I also took him a few walks where he rode his bike and Elin rode in the stroller.  We do let him ride the bike inside the house, so he has been getting in some practice even when the weather isn't great for being outdoors.
4.  Projects - I really didn't really accomplish any project goals this week.  It was more of a week where I started a lot of different projects but didn't finish any of them!  So, to claim a completed project, I'm going to pull out some "old" ones.  Kent and I have gotten all our Christmas decorations taken down & put away.  Being done with this by mid-month can be a great accomplishment some years!!  The other project is one that Kent & his Dad completed over the holidays.  Kent put insulation in the attic above the Master bedroom & bathroom - there wasn't any up there previously, if you can believe that.  It has been a wonderful thing with all the cool weather that Florida has gotten this winter and I'm looking forward to a cooler room during the hot summer months as well!

Jan 12 - 18: Down for the count

This post is about a week late in getting completed.  But this time, I have a legitimate excuse!  We started the week with my back going "out" after giving baths to the kids on Sunday, the 12th.  We have a deep, sunken tub in our master bathroom and we put Elin's baby tub inside that for her baths.  I sit on the edge of the tub and spend the entire bath leaning over.  I usually give Elin her bath while Kent entertains or bathes Erik.  However, this Sunday, Erik wanted to join Elin in her bath.  So I filled the big tub for Erik while Elin remained in her baby tub.  To get Erik into the tub, I picked him up, twisted to get him on the far side of Elin's tub and then leaned over to set him down.  I remember thinking that the move wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, but didn't feel any pain or pulling, so thought I had escaped!  So, I was surprised when I couldn't straighten up after the bath to carry Elin to her room.  Then the pain set in!  I've not had any serious back issues in quite a while - I forget how painful it is.  

I was hopeful that my recovery would be quick but was pretty much out of commission all week.  Kent was wonderful and took Erik to school and picked him up at noon a few times for me.  I spent as much time as I could lying down - with 2 small kids, that means I got maybe 30 minutes a day!  Looking back, I should have reached out and asked for help but I kept hoping that my back would be better in the morning and didn't want to inconvenience anyone.  Oh well.


Since I was injured this week and therefore, don't have much to talk about, I'm going to just post a bunch of pictures for you to look at!  But first, in keeping with my resolutions, here are my 2014 goals:
1. Bible - I am keeping up with the "read through the Bible in 1 year" plan.  This week, the OT passages are about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  I don't know why, but I'm always slightly disturbed when I read those stories.  These were strong men of faith that spoke directly with God, but the stories focus more on the family quarrels, deception and vengeance.  Both Abraham and Isaac lied about their wives ("she's my sister") to save themselves - these stories bothered me the most.  I guess I wish there were more stories about their faith and trust in God, but maybe I should look at the stories as proof that God loves the sinner and these are perfect examples of how He is faithful towards us even when we don't deserve it.
2. Health - this week, I just want to be able to stand straight and walk without pain!  By Friday, I was feeling much better.  I then went to get a massage from my amazing massage therapist.  She spent a lot of time getting the kinks out, but the massage did put me back 1-2 days!
3. Fun - Erik loves to shop (not sure where he got that from since both Kent and I don't like it), so we took him to the grocery store and Costco a few times!
4. Projects - with my back out, I couldn't do much this week, but I did get all our holiday letters mailed out!

Erik climbed into bed with us and decided to "read"

Notice the title of Erik's book and then the title of Kent's book!

He plopped himself down on my lap in the bathroom to read one day!  These are the steps up to our tub.

Mommy's little "helper" making pancakes - his all-time favorite!

Elin and me - she's a sweetie!

Erik and me - he's a sweetie, too!

Kent and Elin - Erik is probably pulling on Kent's legs begging to be picked up as well!

Smooching!

Jan 5 - 11: Weather Blues

This week started on a sour note: Gramma & Grampa Johnson had to leave and go back to the North Pole. I mean, North Dakota.  I'm not sure how the kids or I am going to cope without all the extra hands and playmates.  Erik celebrated the occasion by having a fever.  The weather has been playing fast & loose with us lately; we've had temps ranging from the mid-30s to the mid-80s.  We've had fun trying to convince Erik to dress appropriately for the cooler weather.  He only wants to wear tank tops and shorts.  There have been many mornings with weeping and wailing around our house and it gets worse when Erik joins in!  Ha, ha.  

Erik went back to daycare on Wednesday morning.  The part-time program was closed for 2 weeks over the holidays and then I kept him at home on Monday due to his fever.  He did pretty good but was a bit hesitant to be left there.  Elin was shocked to be at home with just me that morning!  She has taken to sobbing and crawling after me when I leave a room. She will cry for a little bit, crawl after me and then stop to see if I'm watching her.  If I'm not, she keeps crawling, but if she sees me look at her, she just sits there and cries in a most pitiful way!  She is getting much better at crawling and is venturing further out into other rooms.  I've found her twice underneath the kitchen table!!

Elin had her 6-month check-up on Thursday this week.  I had to take both kids to this appointment (I've always scheduled Elin's appointments while Erik is at daycare) and was really worried about how it would transpire.  Thankfully, Erik did very well.  The appointment was at his snack time, so he was pretty content to sit and eat the food I'd brought for him.  After that, a video on my phone kept him pretty occupied.  Elin's stats are below as well at Erik's stats at 6 months for a comparison:

Elin at 6 months 15 lbs 12 oz - abt 30th percentile
26 1.2 inches - 75th percentile

Erik at 6 months
18 lbs 0 ounces - abt 60th percentile
26 inches - 50th percentile

We were able to see more family this Sabbath!  My sister, Kirstin, and her family have been down here taking a week's vacation to visit Disney and take in some warmer weather!  Oops on the weather part!!  We spent a few hours with them at the Orlando Science Center, went home for naps and then drove down to Fort Wilderness to spend the evening with them.  Erik was very happy to see the "Get 'em" girls (a favorite game when they visited last was for Kent & Erik to chase the girls up & down the hall, yelling "Get 'em!!")

Erik and Elin have been playing together a lot this week.  I've been able to take a few pictures of them. 

Erik reading Elin a story

Erik and Elin playing his favorite game - "night night"

Erik trying to teach Elin how to clap

Erik cheering Elin when she put toys in a basket

Siblings

Progress on my 2014 goals:
1. Bible:  My favorite verse this week is Prov 3:1-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. This is the passage that we are going to use for Elin's dedication. 
2. Healthy Habits: Drink 8+ glasses if water per day. I had fallen off this goal a little bit during the holidays, but have refocused on it this week. I was surprised to be able to tell a difference. 
3. Fun:  Erik may disagree but the fun this week was going back to daycare!!  He still goes 3 mornings a week. He has so many activities there and his teachers say that he loves it. He fussed a little bit when we dropped him off this week but quickly recovered. Other fun things included a boys only trip to Costco (they surprised me & brought back a beautiful rug for our formal living room - yay) and a visit with the Elliott's. 
4. Projects:  I'm taking the easy approach this week and claiming the completion of 2 blog entries and our annual "Christmas" letter as my projects. I forgot to post the blog entry last week so had to catch up this weekend. Our Johnson holiday letter is finally complete and will be going out in the mail shortly!!

Dec 29 - Jan 4: Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year 2014!!  What great plans do you have for this new year?  Did you set any resolutions this year?  I've gone on record on this blog saying that I hate setting resolutions, but guess what, it's a new year and apparently, a new me because this year, I actually set some!  Of course, I haven't yet spoken them out loud (and typing them on this blog doesn't count)!  I'll tell you what they are, but first let me go through our week.

 The big news of this week is that Elin is pulling herself up - and I captured the big moment in pictures (see below).  Almost as soon as I finished posting last week's entry that she was reaching and grabbing for things, she pulled herself up to a standing position using her new Christmas present. I'm still not sure how I really feel about her new skill - proud of her for learning new skills but worried that she is going to hurt herself.  Her crawling skills look a bit "lurchy" yet. But she is so desperate at times to get to certain toys that I expect her skill & speed will improve quickly. Kent's parents were here to help us celebrate the holidays. Beside watching Elin add more physical achievements to her list, this week of their trip involved 2 events, lots of chores and plenty of quality time with the kiddos. 

Trying to get to top of the toy so she can suck on it.  She needs just a bit longer reach...

Ahh, Now, I can suck on the top of this toy, but hmmm, not such a comfortable position

Wait, what?!  Standing is an option?!  Look at me!  I'm so tall!

We ended our year with a family photo shoot on Monday to mark Elin's 6 month milestone. We went to Loch Haven Park by the Science Center. We were able to get our pictures done before the drizzly weather came in but my hair anticipated the rain and frizzed up really nice. Yay-thank you for nothing. I am getting awfully tempted to chop it all off! Tim, our photographer, got some really nice shots so I'll be sharing some over the next few weeks ;)

We didn't actually do much for New Years Eve, but we did manage to stay up to midnight to usher in 2014 (the adults that is)!  We spent Thursday, Jan 2, at Downtown Disney walking around and peeking in stores. We did take the water taxi ride around the lagoon and then had lunch at the Raglan Pub. We left just as it started to sprinkle. Kent & I were debating whether it would turn into a deluge before we got to the car. I was right and we got dumped on just as we entered the parking lot so we had to make a mad dash to the car!!

When Mary & Roger are here, Kent tries to take off as much time from work as he can and he & Roger get lots of home chores done!!  The chores that got done consisted of light bulb replacements, adding weather stripping around some doors, fixing the front door lock & handle, organizing & cleaning the garage, bolting the dishwasher into the cabinet, and hanging shelves, to name a few.

Want to know what my "secret" resolutions are?!  This year, I think I will use this blog to keep track of how I do on my goals. If nothing else, it will keep my goals fresh & present in my mind...of course, this could be the beginnings of 4 new avenues of stress & guilt if I don't work on the goals!

     1.  Read through the Bible in one year: I am working on this resolution with my Mom & Kirstin. We've chosen an app called YouVersion that has yearly reading plans. The app gives you 5-6 selections each day to read: Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms & Proverbs. It takes about 10-15 minutes a day. I started a few days late, but I'm caught up & on track!
     
     2. Establish Healthy Habits: I actually started this goal on December 1 by starting a special diet for nursing mothers. I'm using the Take Shape for Life plan which utilizes Medifast as their door provider. The TSFL program is coach driven, so I have someone that calls & encourages me every week. I decided to start the plan because after losing some baby weight initially after Elin was born, I then proceeded to gain nearly all of it back. I was down to only a few pairs of pants that fit. Since starting the program, I've lost 11 pounds and don't feel like I'm depriving myself of food (just cookies & ice cream-which, in my humble opinion, should be an essential food group!)

     3. Have Fun with the Kids: Gramma & Grampa Johnson are here this week so we've been living it up with them!  Our big event was a trip to Downtown Disney. Erik & Elin have constant attention (oh, what am I going to do next week when they leave?). On the adult front, Kent & I went on a date this Saturday night!  First time in awhile. We did dinner at Hillstone and watched the movie "Frozen". Loved everything about the night- including $100 bill we found in parking lot!!!  Date paid for! Perfect ending for 2 accountants. We need to go out more often. :)

     4. Work on my projects: Kent & Roger actually helped me with this one by hanging some floating shelves so that I could display some lovely photos of Kent & I "pre-kids" that we had taken in 2010.  The shelves also display some of the souvenirs that we've collected on our trips (also pre-kids!).  I think the end result is lovely and I'm so happy to not see empty walls in our formal living room!

Here are some more photos!

Erik eating a piece of chocolate.  The kid inherited my sweet tooth - asks for cake or chocolate several times a week!