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Oliver's moment of Fame!

For those of you who didn't get a chance to check kidsteals.com yesterday you're in luck! Oliver made his debut as a model, begrudingly, but a debut nonetheless. It was just Oliver and myself running errands when we entered babysteals to pick up our order. Their photographer happened to be in the store and asked if Oliver would mind modeling a hat. "Absolutely, he'd love it," I said. He hated it. Many of you may not know that Oliver is really shy in certain settings and apparently this was one of them. He participated quietly and shot me a couple of looks that may have questioned why I was the one chosen to be his mother. When it was over I questioned him and suggested it was fun right? He concurred with me (probably just to keep me quiet) and we moved on. Yesterday when he finally saw the pictures on the website, there was a whole new attitude about regarding the experience. When asked what he thought about the experience now he replied, "Good." Fabulous apparently this modeling experience that lasted all of about 8 minutes was all about me!!!! ARGHHHH. What did I learn you ask? Nothing!

Worlds Worst Blogger

I believe that it was a year ago almost to the day that Mary Zollinger declared to me that I might just be World's Worst Blogger? Well, I believe that I have lived up to the title most diligently. Today however I find myself with an unusual amount of uninterrupted time and a computer so. . . . . . .Yea, I am blogging. I thought I would post the lovely Halloween characters that live with me in an effort to actually post something. I will try to overcome the worst blogger stereotype and blog a little more frequently. No Promises!

Porter's impromptu transformers prologue

One day a couple of weeks ago we were at Michael's office and Porter was trying to "tell a transformer secret" to one of the girls there. Well, upon further investigation as to what this secret was Porter spouted off the above "speech" HELLO!!! Can you say too much TV? By the way I would like to point out the fact that he is allowed the EDITED version of this movie! Not the theatrical release. I'm not that irresponsible! Close though!

Cecily

It's hard to believe that Cecily is already 3 weeks and 3 days old! She is such a sweet baby. Thought I would update the photos because they change so fast. She has really gained weight this week, compared to the 2 week check at which time she weighed in at a whoppin' 6 pounds! As you can see from the picture of Beans and Cici. She is well loved. All the kids want to hold and hug her. It's fun to see. Enjoy!

Cecily at One Week

Cecily is doing great. We took her IV out on Tuesday and she is beginning to look like a "normal" newborn. All we have to do is get all those bruises and puncture marks healed. She is wonderful and I adore having a baby in the house. All the great smells and sounds make up for all the lousy fatigue. The kids love her to pieces but, have had to keep their distance since they are all sick. Thanks for all the prayer and support!

Cecily's NICU stay

The first few days of Cecily's life was emotional to say the least. She spent the first four and a half days in a NICU bed! We were so excited when we finally got to hold her for more than 5 minutes at a time!

Cecily Ann Johnson

Announcing the arrival of our much anticipated baby girl! She is so sweet and pretty little. She arrived on the 28th around 12:30pm. She weighed in at a whopping 5 lb 12 oz. She was a little stressed and bought herself a trip to the NICU. She's been a small pincushion and a brave little princess. Today she is doing better and will hopefully be completely off the oxygen soon. She will be on antibiotics for at least a week though. We thought maybe she caught wind of what awaited her at home and then opted to increase her stay here at the hospital! Seems sensible right? Only drawback is she has really upset the Queen. Even Prince Ollie was overly concerned and emotional with not being able to view her. We assured him that it would only be a little while longer and praying that we are right! Hope all is well with all of you!

Charlie Chaplin

Sawyer must have had some chapped skin above his lip that was hurting him. It's all I can really deduce. All I know is he was fine one minute and screaming the next. Not altogether that unusual. He insisted that he now had an "owee" and needed a band-aid. I tried to explain that band-aids don't really fit in that particular spot. Obviously to no avail. He finally got his way and a sweet purple band-aid, complete with antibiotic. He then proceeded to go about his business wearing the band-aid which he left on for an extrodinarily long amount of time. What did I learn from all this? Sawyer clearly knows best and that band-aids can and apparently are worn above the upper lip without any trouble whatsoever. So, the next time I find myself injured in that particular place I will not hesitate in applying on myself and sporting the Charlie Chaplin look!

Getting the Kids to Bed!

Okay, so tonight started out really good. We were doing so good too! I was starting the bedtime routine, reading scriptures with the kids etc., when Porter had an "accident" downstairs. He was upset so, I read to the other kids and then got him in the tub. Michael had a meeting so, I was flying solo. No problem. I got this. NOT!!! I went to get the laundry out of the dryer and while doing so, Oliver shows up naked and asks to get in the tub. I say no because they always end up making such a mess when they bath together. Avoiding trouble. That is key. So, finish pulling out laundry, return to my room, and what do I find? Larkin, Oliver,and Sawyer shouting," Shoot me next! Shoot me!" Porter is squirting them all with water via the diverter. Towels are being thrown back and forth out of the tub, carpet is soaked, walls are dripping, and I find myself letting out a long shrill scream. I threw them all out and ordered them to bed. Then I sat on the wet carpet and had a good cry followed by some serious prayer not to kill them and then I cleaned up the mess. Next, I attempted to go to their room but, was stopped when I spotted a large round wet spot in the hallway. Sawyer fessed up and yes it was pee! Lovely! So, I got out the carpet vac and went to town. Now I am approximately 30 minutes into what should have taken about 10. Finally, I make it to the boys room and what do I find? Smashed bits of popcorn everywhere. Carpet is covered. I am angry but, no longer surprised so, I just tell them they have to pick it all up. Oliver throws a rather large fit telling me how much he "hates this house" maybe he'll be an actor. In the end of that 20 minute nightmare Oliver is found cleaning alone because he wouldn't help Porter. I hope that will teach him but, I know better. It will all happen again. When all that is cleaned up I go to the bathroom and Sawyer had squirted toothpaste all over the rug. I can't even be mad at this point. I just make him scrub at it for a while. Does nothing. Oliver is complaining because he can't have a movie that I said they could have(pre disasters) and I am unable to feel too bad about it. Then, I put them all to bed including myself. About 2 minutes later I hear their TV on and he is in there enjoying a little down time himself, kickin' it with a movie! I am a little flabbergasted that he blatently ignored my orders but, then again not really. So, I took away some privledges yet again. I am not sure this is working. We will see. Needless to say I am exhausted and more than a little apprehensive for life with 5!

GRANDPA

Life is funny. I know we have all been hoping Grandpa could move on because he was ready, but somehow it's still hard. I guess though that is only applicable to the ones left behind. Oddly enough, before I got this mornings call I was laying in bed thinking about all the great times I had with Gramps. There are so many! I was blessed to be raised down the street from them. I will always remember the whistling. I could tell Grandpa was on his way as soon as he hit the sidewalk (yes it was that loud). I remember running out on the driveway and looking down the street for him. There he would be, hands in his pockets, sauntering, and whistling. I loved running to meet him, it never got old.

An earlier memory than that came when I lived above his dental shop and I would go down when he was done and visit while they cleaned up for the day. Grandma singing and Grandpa whistling.

I remember the countless things he built for his grand kids and my mom. I guess that was my attachment to my parents house. Him. The tree house, the shelves, the bookcases, the wood floors, and the memorable arguments with my dad regarding proper craftsmanship.

Summer. When we wanted to go swimming we merely walked to Grandpas and he would drop whatever he was doing to accompany us to the pool. He would then proceed to time my swimming laps and rate my dives offering a blizzard if I could shave off some time or up my score. He even swam with me once or twice. He was always good for a Popsicle, ice cream, watermelon, or cookie. He was big into treats!

He used to take me with him to "pay the bills" which consisted of me running the payment into the various places of business all over town. I never minded cause I loved just being with Gramps.

One of the other great memories is that of Yellowstone and Island Park. I loved doing this with Grandma and Grandpa and sometimes they would take only me. Then they would buy me a souvenir at Old Faithful and I thought I was a princess. I loved the picnics on "the property".

As I got older he still came through for me, like when I needed a boat made for Young Women Camp. You better believe it was the fastest and the best. Perfection was key.

Then there was his remarkable memory. If I needed help with Math I could go down the street and Grandpa would remember all the rules and theories and the berate my mom for forgetting. "How can you not remember your Geometry theorems?" Too bad I didn't inherit that one.

When I got my first boyfriend he conveniently forgot his name every time he saw him (which was not infrequent) always referring to him as "Leroy" I thought it was funny!

He was always good for a laugh. He ran a stop sign one time and clearly startled the lady who had the right of way and had started to go. All he said was, "Ha! Scared the pants of that old bitty!" Other great sayings included:
"It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt." This has proved very useful in my life.
"I'll take two of those, one to throw up on and one to cover it up with."
Frequently when I called looking for my mom he would reply, "She's down at the pool hall shootin' pool" or
"She broke her leg and we had to shoot her."
There were so many great lines but, I think my brother and cousins could do more justice to them.

I know this isn't the greatest picture of Gramps but, I love it because it reminds me of the good times and he is holding little Larkin. He thought she was cool.

Thanks for all the great memories, love, kindness, and the wonderful example you showed me. I love you Grandpa!

It's a Girl!!!!!

We just got back from an ultrasound! I was certain that we were doomed to another boy! I had myself resigned to that fact, so you can imagine my surprise when they said it was a Girl! Maybe I have suffered enough with these mischevious boys! Only last week I found Oliver and Sawyer each with a nail polish bottle in their bedroom. One blue and one bright pink. They had painted the carpet, each other, parts of Larkins room and some of their door. All contents of the bottles were now on the carpet. I started crying, took the bottles and just tried not to kill them. Instead I put them to bed. Not my favorite day. Oh well. Relief that we are having a girl and hopefully she will be more mellow.

Diving at Esmerelda

This is one of our last dives. This dive was an absolute blast. So, much fun. We all thought the camera was on picture mode not video so, that is why we just stare at it like dopes. Anyway, this video also contains our dive master George and my sister-in-law Angie, and brother-in-;law Brett. Enjoy!

Larkin's Tooth as told by Grandma Karen!

So I thought Larkin was going to wait until you got home before she lost her tooth, but it was just barely hanging on. I talked her into letting me tie dental floss on it, numbed it, and told her to pull it out. She was crying saying, "I can't do it." I said, "do you want me to do it?" She said "yes." I asked, "will you still love me?" She answered, "Maybe." So I said, "I am not going to until you tell me you will still love me." She agreed and I pulled fast. It popped out and then we couldn't find it. Finally Madison found it. So the tooth fairy will come tonight. She wanted you to call her so she could tell you. Love mom

KIDS AT THE RANCH

I just received this email from my cute mother-in-law! The children are apparently taking to the good ol' country life better than I had anticipated. Apparently they are having the time of their lives and most likely have forgotten all about us!

La Isla Bonita

Yes! We are in San Pedro! Madonna we concur. This is La Isla Bonita. The view from our house is incredible. The culture is really fun. Both children and adults speak Spanish and English. Let's hear it for America we are holding fast to English only while even the 3rd world countries surpass us! SUPER! Anyway, I am sure there are many of you out there right now dying of shock! Amber, Aunt Renee! I am officially updating my blog. Take time to get some Oxygen if needed . . . .Okay, on with the story. We were able to go scuba diving yesterday which was great. A lot of fish and reef to see. The guide told us is was drift diving so that it was fairly easy. Yes! I love to drift dive, no hard swimming required right? Wrong. He neglected to tell us or rather I neglected to hear that we would still be swimming back to the boat! The positive outlook here was that hopefully I expended at least a thousand calories! We then went snorkeling with sharks and rays. Our island grown guides were not shy in the least and wasted no time grabbing hold of both species so that we could pet them. It was pretty amazing. When we arrived home I was so wiped out from the days events I went to bed at 5pm and didn't awaken until 9 am. Not my proudest moment but, everyone else did the same so, I wasn't all alone. The previous days dive had also worn us out. The boat ride to the dive site was long and choppy! If that didn't nauseate us suffiently the dive itself won out. When we were doing our safety stop I was losing it. I was trying to remember if I could vomit through my regulator. (The answer is yes by the way) I was able to hold out though and just make it to the surface before I started retching repeatedly. I looked for Michael only to realize that he was engaged in the same activity which we continued all the way back to shore! It was extremeley memorable. So, next dive we took dramamine and sudafed! All that aside, its has been wonderful and we are busy making memories! Hope this post finds all of you well and hopefully you will all quickly recover from the shock of finding a new entry on my blog!

OLIVER

So, today as I was contemplating what to post on the blog I remembered something Oliver said a few weeks ago. Okay so, it's not recent news and some have already heard the tale, but this is all I could come up with since my camcorder is missing a cord and I cannot upload to the computer ): I was in the office working over the internet (thank you Al Gore) and Oliver was busy dropping crayons through a cord hole in the desk top. So, I told him to pick up the crayons. He climbed off the desk and proceeded to crawl underneath it. He was throwing out a few sighs here and there just to let me know he was frustrated at not finding the crayons. When I didn't respond appropriately he let out a large groan (UGGGHHHHHH) and announced," There are just too many possibilities!" What could I do besides mask my surprise and concur with the boy that indeed there were many possibilities and to keep trying!

Deep thoughts by Porter

Me: Porter can you help Oliver and me clean up this mess? (Hope everyone sees the mistake I made in asking him)
Porter: (big sigh) Hmnmnm. No because a mean guy came by and zapped away my powers, my cleaning powers and now I can't clean up anymore. (another big sigh, accompanied by a downward glance and a pathetic frown).
I was tempted to say that I had the power to reinstate his cleaning powers with a powerful ZAP from me but, I was preoccupied with trying to stifle my laughter so, I let him opt for time out!

Stair Surfing

Porter takes up a new sport! We are so proud! This is just a sample of our day to day life! Ha Ha!