What a face lift!

Okay so I finally talked Marc into helping me make our blog look nice. He has refused to participate in blogging in the past, but he is beginning to see the fun that they are. So we finally have an organized and cute background with nice colors. Who knows what will be next!

I'm Cold

The other day we were getting dinner ready and we heard Brinley complaining that she was cold. We looked to see how to help her warm up and this is what we saw. There's a pretty obvious solution to her predicament! :)

You gotta love him!

Okay, so there's not a picture here but I just have to share this with you. Yesterday I was telling Marc how i hate driving in my high heels. And he pipes in with this "great analogy." Wearing high heels is like smoking.....WHAT????? Okay so he's crazy, I told him that he was crazy. He said that the only reason people wear high heels is for their image, and according to him it's the same thing with smoking. "Both are probably equally bad for your health and there's nothing good that comes from either of them...in 100 years historians will look back at us in shame".....and for that matter "earings are the same." You gotta love them for all their quirks! :)

Preschool for Brinley

I know this is really late - but better than never. Brinley has started a joy school with kids in the ward. She LOVES it! This is the first day. Of course Braden wanted to take his backpack too to drop her off. He misses her so much for that 2 1/2 hours. He constantly asks where she is. It's pretty cute.

It's hard to see, but this was "B" day and she is wearing butterfly wings. She loved them, apparently they ran around outside as butterflies or bees. So fun!

This was the second week of school, I just thought she looked cute. They were being cheesy and both pulled the same face, it cracked me up!

My all-time FAVORITE artwork yet!

Okay, so call me crazy but I think this is the cutest picture in the whole wide world! Brinley loves drawing and is constantly adding new "features" to her people. It started with heads with arms and legs out of them. Slowly she'd add hair and ears and bodies and eye brows. Well, here's her most recent addition...EYES! I think she is figuring out how our eyes have layers within them, she's just not accurate yet as to how many and that some of them are filled in with color and others solid black. So this picture of our family makes us look like mad people (maybe we are a little crazy!). But she was very proud, also the spikey hair is new too! It goes from left to right...Brinley, mom, dad, Braden, and Tyler. I just get so giddy looking at it, it makes me so happy! I love you Brinley!

Grandma Hansen's Visit

My mom came to visit after Tyler was born. She was wonderful! She helped with everything around the house and with the kids. They had so much fun with her here (I did too - she's my emotional support - even Marc will tell me to "go call your mom" when he knows I'm irrationally emotional and I just need to talk to another woman). So needless to say it was a wonderful week for all of us.

Making cookies is always funner with Grandma - she lets you make them whatever size you want and wherever you want on the pan. (Yes they went in just as you see them). She also lets you layer on the frosting and just dump on the sprinkles. They were so excited!
But not nearly as excited as when they "grew doughnuts" with Grandma. It was the cutest thing I would recommend it to anyone to try. My mom brought a little baggie of cheerios and told the kids that they were doughnut seeds. She had the kids fill up cups with dirt and they "planted" the seeds and added water. She also had them each color a tongue depresser and stick it in there for the doughnut to grow on. We had intentions to leave it overnight, but didn't have the patience. So while they were playing in the living room, my mom stuck a doughnut on each stick and we called the kids in to come and see that they had grown. It was as exciting as Christmas! (See the video)
Brinley refused to take the doughnut off of the stick, she kept saying "look at how beautiful my doughnut is" (as if it were a flower). Braden however did not hesitate - he just ate the doughnut. This is definitely a new tradition with Grandma that will last!
My 1st child enjoying his "doughnut." I think he liked this tradition as well. He probably also liked having a home cooked meal every night while my mom was here too.

Look how cute!

Here's a couple of pictures with Tyler awake. He has just started smiling. He smiled once for me on Saturday morning, and again today for Grandma. We have yet to get it on camera though.

Got Milk???

Here are the kids with their favorite babies, this is the baby that Braden has been carrying around everywhere. It's actually really cute, it gave us a little taste of how Braden was going to be with Tyler before he came. We just got a little nervous when he would drag it by a foot or chuck across the room when he was done playing with it. Normally he would sit with his arm around it on the couch. It was darling.

This one is a little random, but this was Marc loading up our car on Labor day. I thought it was just a funny sight. But we had a great weekend. Marc's parents invited us to come stay at their time share on Sunday night. We played games, ate great food, played in the sand at the beach, and the kids enjoyed swimming with everyone in the pool. I also got a lot of sleep with all the help there. It was a perfect weekend!

Mommy's Little Helpers

The kids love Tyler so much and they love to hold him. Brinley especially loves to hold him "on my shoulder" and Braden loves to hold him generally no longer than 2-3 seconds (literally). At least that way I don't have to sit by him too long to protect Tyler.

My cute boys!

Tyler enjoying the lounge w/Brinley

Tyler not enjoying the lounging with Braden

Tyler's 1st Bath

What a sweetheart! He loves taking baths, he just lays there eyes closed. It's amazing, especially with Brinley and Braden constantly pouring water on his arms and legs, and cleaning him with the wash rag.

Cute little bundle of joy!

Picture tagged!

Ashley...sorry it's taken so long...but I did take the pictures that night. It obviously just takes me awhile to post anything.

**************

This was really fun! Sneak peak into my house!
Read after the last picture to see if you've been tagged....The rules are you have to take 10 pictures of the following things and you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping your child's nose (I mean it!). Then you tag six others.

Take a look:

1. My closet

2. Laundry Room

(a closet really)

3. Fridge

4. Kitchen Sink

5. Favorite Room

(Also includes my favorite place to sit)

6. What kids are doing right now:

sleeping - also a favorite :)

7. The bathroom

8. Favorite shoes

9. Dream Vacation: France

(yes it does include Marc)

10. Self Portrait

(obviously pre-Tyler...told you I took them that night)

I tag: Stacie, Heidi, Lanay, Abby, Marly, Wendy

He's here!!!

Tyler David Johnson was born on Friday 08/08/08 at 2:02 pm. He weighed 8 lbs even and is 20 inches long. (Thank heavens ultra sounds are not an exact science)


Brinley is such a big helper, this morning I was falling asleep while nursing and she said "You and dad go to sleep and I will take care of him" ...if only... She is definitely a great help. She can sit and hold him forever.

Braden loves him so much, he loves to lay by him and talk to him. Today he even started playing peek-a-boo with him. He can't stop giving him kisses on the forehead. It's darling! He is even able to sit still to hold him every once in a while.

He has dark brown hair - so did Braden so we'll see if it stays. He is such a precious little thing. We came home from the hospital on Sunday and he has been a perfect little angel so far. Brinley and Braden LOVE LOVE LOVE him!

Proud daddy! He was so anxious for Tyler to come, it was fun to see, it was like Christmas morning for a little kid. Tyler is definitely a welcome blessing in our home. He is definitely bringing out the best in everyone!

What a crack up!

Tonight at dinner Brinley was telling us that her friend Gavin has a cool "Cars" clock on his wall. She then went on to tell us that she wants a princess clock on her wall. She has seen them at the store. But I told her that you have to have money to get one at the store. So I asked her if she had any money and she looked at me funny and said no. So I told her that she has to have money before she can get her a princess clock. (Thinking this would be the end of the conversation). Then she said "I've got a good idea, how about you give me some money so I can get the clock." Me and Marc started laughing, it was hilarious...her and her good ideas. I swear we have to cross these bridges so young with her. I can't (actuallly I can) wait to see what kind of teenager she'll be.

There's a big baby on the way!

I had a routine ultra sound on Monday to check on the baby, and guess what...he's already 8 lbs 9 oz!!!! I still have 3 1/2 weeks to go. So I will be getting induced early if he doesn't come on his own. I know that's not a huge baby, but considering Brinley was 7 lbs and Braden was 6 lbs 8 oz, that seems gigantic to me. I'm excited! And we will for sure post when our little one comes.

What should we name our baby?

As many of you know, Marc is impossible to work with when it comes to boy names. So, today he finally agreed to broaden his horizons and said ok to some names. Here they are, we are looking for your opinions. You can vote for more than one if there's more than one that you like. The middle name is going to be David so you know how the name will sound all together. Thanks for any input you can share!!!! And to those of you who have kids with these or similar names, let me know if that bugs you, but I figure I am taking what I can get from Marc. :)

Thanks everyone!

Summer Fun!

Okay, so it's been awhile, but I am alive and the baby is still kicking inside. I am currently 34 1/2 weeks - but if things go like my other two, I could have this baby in about 3 weeks...my fingers are crossed). I'm again overwhelmed with the blogging that I want to do. So here's a revised versions of some of the things we've done this summer. I'll try to stay on top of things better. Thanks for the concern all you wonderful friends out there! :) Or at least the annoyance with my not writing :)



I love this picture! We went to San Diego with my friend Charise and her family over Memorial Day weekend. On our way home we stopped at the San Diego Temple. This picture shows the tender joys of being an Eternal Family is we're good! This one also does - minus Brinley's grumpy face. They were tired after a long weekend of playing with no naps. But it's still a cute picture.
This is a much better picture of Brinley. Marc had these waffle blocks when he was a kid and I guess now as a big kid. We currently have 3 sets so that he (I mean the kids:) can play more creatively and build bigger. The kids also love the juice drinks - they also get that from their dad.
Braden LOVES WATERMELON! Marc chapperoned a youth dance and came home with this whole container full of watermelon. We knew we couldn't finish it before it went bad, so we let Braden have free reign. He was in heaven with all the "triangles." He also started in with "all mine." He would share the triangles (missing one corner) with Brinley. Luckily she didn't seem to notice or mind.
Okay since you have all seen the pictures of Brinley with her blanket fettish, here's her new thing. It cracks me up, I keep laughing out loud just looking at the pictures again. She gets herself and her babies all situated for anything. We for sure love the dish towel under the Minnie Mouse hat, with the skirt around her neck and you can't tell but that's a dish towel tucked in her back as a cape. And of course she always puts on her church shoes too. She's such a crack up with her phases. I'll try to keep you all posted as she goes through each one. Luckily there's been no battle to go in public like this yet....knock on wood! :) I"m sure you'll all see soon enough.




Okay, my friend Lisa did a very cute slide show of a little getaway we did with our mommy's group a couple of times this summer. One of our friends parents have a beach house that they let us come and stay at for a couple of days (Thanks again Charise). The kids loved playing together constantly and us moms loved just sitting and socializing. It was also during the really hot days this summer, so it's always cooler at the beach.


http://www.slide.com/r/jZlaJpqr5j8DvHjIaGtjhhESU9OyArsF?current_view=TICKER&previous_view=TICKER_MENU_SHARE&previous_action=SHARE&cid=1585267068852014168

http://www.slide.com/r/DINY0wQzyT-Gbl7T71BDfcCuj6bWYaFR?previous_view=lt_embedded_url

More Utah fun!

Okay so I know that it's been a long time since the Utah trip, but I am still posting some of the fun the kids had there so that I don't forget everything. So bare with me...besides I figured this was better than doing 10 posts at once. (Okay it's ending up to be about 10 posts - good thing I split it up)
There was this awesome place where the kids could play on all of the HUGE bounce houses - they also had a skating rink and during the day the kids can bring ride-ons or bikes to play with. We met my cousins Sarah and Kimberlee and their kids. It was a lot of fun!
That's Brinley in the little window at the bottom - I told you they're HUGE!Brinley & Braden (his feet) climbing one of the housesI love to Fly!!!! :) ( I just love this shot!)
My sisters Elise and Nikki making bead jewelry with the kids.
WHO WANTS CHOCOLATE MILK?????
My kids wanted chocolate milk and my sister made them each do this little dance with her in order to get some...it was hilarious they were spinning and bending and anything she wanted! I should try that at home! After my enrichment night lesson on getting kids to work...you can tell that it runs in my family (I just have to work on it myself).

Shelby and Brinley are the "Princesses" in the family, so this picture is perfect. We are so excited for Shelby to come visit this summer! Obviously Brinley will have soooo much fun!
Elise loves to play computer games fortunately it's the little kid games, so my kids were found many times sitting with her and playing games with her. She's great with them! :)