1st Christmas

Chatting it up in front of tree on Christmas Eve

Do I get to eat chocolate on Christmas?

Not until Christmas morning buddy

Mama & Maia

Baby Maia in a Manger

So excited for my present from Grandma!

Love my new book

I think I like this Christmas thing

Who has more fun, the parents or the kids?

Maia makes a play for JD's new book....HEY!

I think my stocking is bigger than me!

DUDE

JD doing his morning push ups

Mom this present is boring

WRAPPING PAPER

winter mornings

There has been some talk in our house of whether or not we are spoiling both babies by letting them sleep with us...on occassion...meaning every morning by about 4 am they find their way into bed with us. We go back and forth, one day I tell Ryan, "You are really spoiling them! We need to stop letting them sleep with us!" because he brought them into bed that morning (with no objections from me in the moment, I love a cuddly baby to curl up with). The next morning I bring one or both in, and that day Ryan tells me "You are really spoiling them! We need to stop letting them sleep with us!" But look how much he hates it in the moment!


Who could resist this warm, fuzzy, cuddly polar bear on a somewhat chilly (downright cold by Southern CA standards!) morning? I figure, 10 years from now, I will wish that I had a baby to nuzzle into me while I sleep. So at least, by then, I will have the memories of many mornings with just that. Times 2 (JD isn't in the picture, but he's often right there with the rest of us).

There is nothing better than a sleeping baby. Not that I'm biased at all but I think they look like the most precious angels while they sleep.

Laughter

Maia really likes animals. Mostly dogs (because that's what we have, and that's what my parents have) but she's also very interested in the ducks & geese when walk by the lake. So I'm guessing it's just animals in general.

This is her laughing at Nikki playing fetch. The video is kind of shoddy because it's just my Iphone, and I'm throwing a toy with my other hand, but it's still a pretty good representation of how much she loves to play with Nikki. She also gave Nikki hugs and kisses today. She hasn't even done that with her daddy yet!

baby it's cold outside

We spent a week with my family for Thanksgiving and now it's almost Christmas! Two best gifts so far: Maia gives me big open mouth kisses on the cheek now (Ryan didn't believe it until he actually saw it) and so far I'm the only one she gives them to. Ryan is bummed, but I'm thrilled. It's our special thing, at least for now. Also we are getting TWELVE HOUR nights without anyone waking up! Last night and tonight they've both been asleep by 6 pm and we haven't seen or heard from them again until 6 am. There's some angels singing Hallelujah about that, let me tell you. At least in this house.

Miss Maia made herself quite at home while visiting Aunt Alli & Uncle Ammon.

7 Months Old! Both JD & Maia have mastered sitting. They sit up and play with toys all afternoon now.

We got pictures taken while we were in Utah. The one I'm sending out in the Christmas card is top secret and not online anywhere. Poor JD was terrified of the flash, I've never seen him so upset, but we managed to get a few good ones.

Maia was quite the doll in front of the camera.

Helping Mama build a fire. I am quite the boy scout, I didnt' actually build this one from scratch but I could if you asked me too....without lighter fluid even. JD was impressed.

Johnson family keeping warm....after this we left the babies inside with family and actually got to go snowshoeing ALONE! It was fun.

This is Maia's Blue Steel pose.

I love this boy.

Watching the snow...

Playing in the snow....(kind of)

7 Months

7 months old today - both babies are within a couple pounds of 20 and are in the 90th percentile for height. JD is going to crawl any day and Maia isn't too far behind him. Their little personalities are really starting to shine through.

JD loves to be outside and hates to be confined (carseat, laps, highchairs...). He doesn't have a whole lot of fear and smiles really big when you toss him a little in the air or pretend like you are going to drop him. Boy, boy, boy!

Maia is recovering well from last month's surgery to correct a lipomyelomeningocele and the subsequent infection of the incision on her lower back. She is a little more cautious than her brother but a lot more cuddly.

Happy Fall

Happy Fall! Aside from spending the last two weeks in the hospital with Miss Maia, who is now doing very well, we have been really busy...

Trying on our Halloween costumes for Grandma...

While visiting Great-Grandma in Arizona...

Playing lots of games...

Swinging at the park ("Mom, I'm Flyyyyyyyying!")

And swinging some more...

Hey, I even convinced Aunt Alli to swing with me!

Tired of swing pictures yet? Ok....

We also went to trunk-or-treat

We gave away a lot of candy but didn't take any home...maybe next year.

It was hot and we didn't want to wear our hats. But we were cute anyway.

How hard is it to get one baby to look at the camera? Not very.

How hard is it to get two babies to look at the camera? Very.

Happy Fall!

Recovery

Miss Maia had surgery today to untether her spine. It went well. It has been really hard on me to watch her be in so much pain today, she cries in a way I have never heard before. But, they seem to have gotten it under control, and she is sleeping. She whimpers a little bit here and there in her sleep though. Poor little thing. I am staying at the hospital with her and hardly slept the night before the surgery so I should be tired, but find myself inclined to stay up an stare at her instead of sleeping. She is such a little trooper. So is JD, who is being so good playing at home with Grandma all day while the rest of us are spending our time in the PICU once again.

There are some unknowns about whether she will need further treatments in the future, and some of the potential effects of her problem. But for now, I just want to talk about how elated we are that the surgery went well, what a relief it is to have it behind us, and how blessed we are to be in the hands of great doctors at an amazing children's hospital. And that we think she is absolutely perfect, no matter what happens with her spine. We have found a lot of comfort in the support and love of friends and family on this long day.

Best Time of Day

When I look back on the first six months, this will be my best memory. We walk to the park and swing at least once a day, often twice. Sometimes we are still in our pajamas and sometimes we actually make it into real clothes before we go, depending on the day. They love it, I love it, and it is always the best moment of the day.