The Family Johnston

But Wait, There's More!

2009-11-14T14:31:00.007-05:00

A shout-out to my man, Billy Mays...

And a zillion more photos for you! That's an 80 jillion dollar value, yours for only taking the time and bandwidth to check out my worthless blogging skillz!

Full of Precious in her rockin' green tee with a beautiful message!

(Thanks Uncle John and Aunt Whit)!

Halloween Cousins

Mad Faery!!

Wouldn't stay still for a good shot.

Back to the pumpkin patch for annual photos.

Sierra is obviously more excited than my two can muster together...

Liam and Pumpkins

Baby Girl and G'rents.

Stay Still so we can get a picture of both of you.

Fine! Daddy, you're just gonna have to be in this one!

Trapped in the pumpkins and thrilled to death about it.

Mommy's got mad skillz!

Pumkin Rides...?

Picture of the Baby.

Wait. No.

She decided it was time to sit (behind the pumpkins) right as Josh snapped the shot.

Mom, I totally have better things to be doing!

Fine. We'll just take a picture of me, then.

Liam's teeth keep falling out of his head.

and in her desire to emulate big brother, Bellie busted her face in the driveway.

Didn't manage to take any teeth out.

But looked like the victim of a botched collagen injection for a few days...

Yay for building Traditions!!

her new favorite game is "In"

That Time of Year...

2009-10-09T22:13:00.004-04:00

We had brithdays. I have pictures. Tah dah!!

I decorated Elliott's "cake"

(devil's food with butter cream)

Liam got to help decorate his cake
(pumpkin toffee pecan with cream cheese)

and Liam got to decorate Elliott's CAKE

(you know, the one she gets to destroy)

Liam got a whole bunch of Science...

and Art.

Elliott got educational noisemakers

and other noisemakers

and a Too-Cute 'fit from Auntie Kate

And then there was cake!

the end

Way Behind, Way Ahead

2009-07-27T10:47:00.005-04:00

So, I haven't blogged in forever (my deepest apologies). This puts me way behind on updating about the kids. Here goes:

Liam finished kindergarten and has been promoted to the first grade. He's an absolute GIANT and I shall not be remotely surprised if he is the biggest kid in his class. He started Kung Fu classes about 6 weeks ago. I have already noticed a pretty major improvement in areas like balance, coordination and concentration. He takes classes on 2 weekday evenings and on Saturday mornings. There is a 9 year old in his class, and Liam, my 6 year old, is about 1/2 an inch shorter than the 9 year old. He wears size 8 husky to 10 regular, depending upon the clothing. He's about 77 pounds. I don't know his height off the top of my head, but I assume that he'll be taller than me before he leaves elementary school. Frightening.

Bellie is growing by leaps and bounds. She has 4 teeth, two bottom front incisors, and two top lateral incisors. It looks like the top front incisors are trying to break through. She has ninja speed when she crawls and she's quite the little escape artist, especially during diaper changes. Her diet has expanded immensely in the past month. She loves mexican food, particularly refried beans and avocado. She has been pulling herself up to standing since a few days after she figured out how to crawl. She's been cruising since a couple days after that. She will also stand, unsupported, for several seconds at a time. She'll be 10 months old on the 5th of August...she took her first two unassisted steps last night in front of a crowd of friends. I was not in the room. I wanted to cry. I know it will be a bit before she is confidently walking and that there will be many more episodes of tentative "baby" steps. But that I missed the first ones just hurts my heart.

We set up Liam's slip-n-slide yesterday and had some friends over. The kids had a blast. And once it got dark, we put the kids to play at the Wii, and the adults had their go on the slip-n-slide. We had a blast, but we are all paying the price today with sore joints and skinned knees, but no regrets!!

Here. Have a major photo dump!

Elliott sits in Liam's empty splash pool to watch the boys on the slip-n-slide

Anthony couldn't quite the hang of propelling himself forward

Liam got it after a couple of rounds

Yay, Summer!

Elliott sometimes folds herself in half to sleep

Liam in Kung Fu

Elliott meets Auntie Kate and cousin Merritt

And has a pickle

And has a rollicking good time with Atticus

Just the cutest little button in history

Photo Dump and Brief Update

2009-05-05T08:35:00.004-04:00

Chillin in the Tub (sink)
Rat Tail

She sits on her own

Can hold her bottle

Had her first Easter

And even dressed in pink, with pig brother in blue. how fitting

And wears herself out in her activity center.

We're busy busy, and as always, I suck at taking tons of photos, and then suck at getting around to loading and posting those that I do take.

Frick!

2009-02-08T21:53:00.003-05:00

We have a 4 month check up tomorrow, complete with vaccinations. She'll be a tired and fussy baby for the rest of the day.

In the mean time, we just had to get a picture of this precious, loud Dr. Suess get-up before she outgrew it entirely. It was one of many adorable outfits gifted to us by a friend of my sister. I'm still getting through them all. It was two huge boxes of baby clothes. Some she'll never get to wear because of size and season issues. But I realize that I never would have been okay just with dressing her in her brother's hand-me-downs. She's just too precious a girl to not occasionally look all girly.

She's sitting up supported these days. Holding her head up for extended periods of time, and really starting to get toys. This awesome jumper seat was a Christmas gift, and I have no doubt we'll get countless hours of play from it before she's too big!

She's still exhausted...a lot...Here, we're both exhausted!

And anyone who understands that I call her Elliott, and will always call her Elliott, and knows from whence came the inspiration for that name will understand that this onesie, lovingly crafted by my artistic sister, made me howl with laughter! Its still way WAY big on her, at a size 9-12 mo, but I just had to get a picture! It will get plenty of wear this summer!

Apparently, that last "c" was an accident, and a true "Frick" moment for my sister. Fun!

As I suspected, Liam's parent-teacher conference was a nearly endless stream of compliments. He's doing wonderfully in all his subjects, and as the teachers were going over the report card explaining the 1-2-3 grading system (1=needs improvement, 2=meets expectations, 3=exceeds expectations), and noting that Liam made 3's across the board, the one teacher looked at the other and said "Do we really think Liam's that smart?" To which the other teacher replied "We really do!" I'm so proud of his performance, and I am thrilled to tears that he loves school and learning as much as he does!

Nothing New

2009-01-27T07:59:00.002-05:00

I have no new pictures to post, but realize its been a while since I've updated. So...we're all doing well. Ellie is starting to try to roll over. I've been second-guessing myself about agreeing so hastily to her first name...but I had a talk with someone who had a similar experience, and she assured me that it would be okay...that she'd grow into her name, and I'd grow more used to it as the time passes. I still wish I could convince more people to call her Elliott instead, but I suppose after nearly 1/3 of a year, they'v gotten used to saying Kari. Maybe I'll eventually adjust to hearing it.
I've got parent-teacher conference this week for Liam. I'm sure I'll be able to post after that about what a wonderful, smart, and big-hearted kid he is...and he really is. He still fawns over Ellie, but not quite as much as in the beginning. I knew the honeymoon wouldn't last forever. I'm impressed it lasted as long as it did.
Josh has been sick twice within the past two weeks, and all I've had this season is a minor (if persistent) cold. That's really backward for us. He's been bad off enough that I've been able to convince him to take something for it twice now. This is completely unheard of in our household. Maybe next I could get him to call his doctor, because this really is very out of character for him and I'm a little concerned.
That's more-or-less all that's going on around here. I'll try to get some new pictures up soon-ish.

Belated Christmas Post

2009-01-13T18:28:00.002-05:00

This is what most of my attempts of taking pictures of Christmas look like.
I do know that Liam got some new pajamas...and lots of other stuff. Tons of games.

Elliott didn't care about presents any at all. This is how she looked at all the different family gatherings during present-opening time.

In the end, it wore everyone out.

I hope you all had safe, happy, and fun holidays. I'll post more updates soon!

Christmas Cheer, the Second

2008-12-24T10:03:00.003-05:00

I found something I really enjoyed on YouTube, and I'm not sure how to get it into my blog so you can see it. But its most amusing, and I'd really like to share, so if you're interested, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28GUU1YbP_E

Have a very joyous Christmas!

Christmas Cheer!

2008-12-21T19:49:00.003-05:00

We are getting ready for the holiday mess! I only say mess because the scheduling and all the different family we spend time with can get pretty complicated and feel a bit like a chore. But its always worth it! In our new home last year, without Liam spending Christmas eve, and not doing any Christmas visiting or activities over here, we didn't even bother to put up a tree. This year, we are having family over, and now have two little ones, and its very important to me that they experience the majick of the season as much as possible (and as much as it stresses me out beyond reason)...
So,we put up the tree. As in the tradition of my youth, a child gets the honor of topping it (this usually happens after the lights and ornaments are added, but circumstances made that difficult).

With Josh's help, this year was Liam's turn (because Elliott really doesn't have the motor skills)

We got the best present EVER under the tree:

To date, this is the best shot we have of her smile:

(it so precious, I wish you all could come see it for yourselves!)

Liam still thinks his baby sister is a pretty nifty thing:

And here's Mommy and the babes! Josh tried to set the timer and get in the picture, too, but we couldn't get it positioned right, so we'll just have to have someone else take some pics of the four of us before the tree comes down:

Happy Christmas family and friends!

Promised Update

2008-12-08T08:14:00.003-05:00

She had her first shower...
(don't I rock at the photography?)

And her first Thanksgiving...

Liam was thrilled we could bring her up to his class for their special performance

Complete with Handmade Costumes

But mostly, she finds the holiday hubbub just exhausting...

Can't you tell?

Sundry

2008-11-13T23:03:00.003-05:00

Liam lost his second tooth on Wednesday evening, during dinner, and nearly swallowed it. His daddy had the honor of being Toothfairy for the first, and I was so glad he opted to leave his tooth over here last night, to put under his pillow tonight for the toothfairy. I found myself thrilled at being able to bring some magic into his life as I switched out the tooth for money, and gave him a kiss!
Elliott started REALLY smiling this week, though I am still too enamored of it to run for the camera yet. Her first was Tuesday, while Josh and I were at Liam's school for his "Kid of the Week" interview. Her smile made me cry, and his interview made me puff with pride. All of his classmates had wonderful compliments for him about how nice he is to everyone, that he shares with and includes everyone. His teachers all gushed about what a great student he is, how hard he works, and how much he loves to learn. I have a really amazing 6 year old!! He's been so helpful and involved with Ellie Bellie. He's even tried his hand at diaper duty.
Both last night and tonight, he got to give Elliott her "dinner," carefully supporting her head, and with a little coaching, even holding the bottle properly so she wouldn't swallow a bunch of air. His first couple of times helping to feed her, he was only allowed to feed until her first burping. But he has proven himself so well in his care for her that I figured I could trust him to feed her the whole bottle. He did a wonderful job. He didn't get bored, or complain about his arm getting tired. He just fed her, cooed at her, kissed her and told her how pretty and special she is...

The Most Beautiful Thing

2008-11-09T16:44:00.003-05:00

I'm not entirely sure how "real" they are yet, or if its still just...gas...but she has started to smile some during her waking hours, and my god, is she precious when she does! She wouldn't hold still for long enough to get a very clear shot, but I did manage to get one at least visible picture of her "smiling" yesterday.
I wish you could see it in person. I made the cutest baby ever!

Warhead

2008-11-04T13:46:00.004-05:00

Today, Liam got to have some of his halloween candy after lunch (school's out for election day...?) I told him he could pick three pieces, and then came into the office to check my email. A few minutes later, he followed me in asking for assistance opening a candy. When I saw what it was, I got the camera ready. But the light in here doesn't make for good pictures, so I literally chased the child into the living room (now, complete with furniture), and hoped that the reaction to the candy would continue. I wish I had been able to snap a shot in the first seconds of his experience. It was priceless! When I finally had him well lit and still enough that you could see his face, I got a picture of my kid's first Sour Warhead! I really thought he might cry...

Also, Elliott would like to say to everyone, with the sincerest patriotism (note the red, white and blue outfit, with the rock n roll hair),

"Rock the Vote!!"

Hello, World!

2008-11-01T19:41:00.001-04:00

I have created this blog to keep friends and family updated on (and post pictures of) my lovely and amazing family!
We are:
Myself, the matriarch, mother of two amazing little ones;
my six year old boy (from a previous relationship), Liam,
and his brand new baby sister, 4 week old Kari Elliott (some family call her Kari, some call her Elliott) and my amazing husband, Josh; step-dad to Liam, and Daddy to Ellie-bellie (or Kare Bear, or LadyBug...shall I continue?).
For the first time yesterday, all four of us managed to be in front of the same camera at the same time.

Happy Halloween!