Who wants seconds?!

Can you believe it? Two posts in a week... it's a miracle! Or maybe Jake is still taking vacation so we're able to get out more. This one will be quick and mainly revolving around pictures. I find that it is so much easier to just post our pictures on here instead of emailing everyone.

Independence Day with the Johnson's means eating dinner early, struggling to keep 3 babies awake for fireworks, finally reaching 9:00pm with 2 of 3 kids and standing outside to see the base fireworks, then hearing the big booms and cheering and realizing we are just a little too far to join in on the festivities. Really?! Oh well, we enjoyed our day with Jake home and just being our family of 5. This time last year Jake was actually getting to celebrate the 4th with some wiffle ball in Afghanistan.



Today we headed down to Wilmington for some birthday shopping for the girls, a trip to the childrens museum, and some incredible pizza from Mellow Mushroom(comparable to Hideaway). The museum was so much more enjoyable this time around. The girls were able to go almost everywhere and Hunter loved exploring like a big boy. Trains are becoming a new hobby for him which is adorable to me. He's becoming a little boy now!

Hope you all had an incredible holiday!

Coastal Carolina: our playground!

WE ARE BUSY!

The girls are practically walking and my dream of life getting a tad bit easier is actually more of a joke now. Emma can literally climb anything and Riley moves on her walker like a Indy race car driver. Hunter is usually spending his days hiding from his sisters. If they're not after his snacks or drinks then they are into whichever toy he is playing with. This absolutely drives him crazy!!

We've experienced the beach twice... failed twice too! Both times Hunter was tired and cranky, but mostly he hates the sand and the water and the sun. The girls LOVE the beach. Mainly for the massive amount of sand it provides them to eat. It's basically a hit or miss on beach days with each child, but when you have multiple children I guess one is always going to be the "party pooper."

On our journey to find a new church home we've been able to see much more of Coastal Carolina. Our new area to explore is North of us with one of North Carolina's aquariums, an old Civil War fort, and fun local island life.

Besides trying to venture out and experience new things, we are just plain busy. Even days we don't leave the house I fell like I've been running around like a mad woman! Cooking fresh is a new hobby of mine and it's been good on our new budget too! What is this budget I speak of? It's actually pretty fun... in a weird budget-y way. I've been inspired by the thrifty(ness) ways of other moms out there, as well as keeping fresh foods stocked in the fridge instead of junk! The big first birthday party for the girls is also budget friendly, but cuteness and theme will not be taking a backseat! I am beyond excited to see the finish product... which is in 27 days, eeeeek!

Ok, ok... time for pictures! Posting is getting harder, but hopefully we settle in to a good routine soon and with walking/bottleless babies running around we should get to experience a lot more fun around here!


N. Topsail Island

My babies growing up- E&R 11months H 25months

Fort Macon Museum

Update: In case you didn't know

I am totally slacking on my blogs these days and there are 3 little ones to blame(nothing is my fault, you should learn this sooner rather than later.) Apparently three kids are hard and a little time consuming. This is rather new news to me though, so I'm still trying to figure it all out.

This will be short and sweet, but I felt the need to update my loyal followers, ha!

•We are ALL home in Jacksonville and struggling to find a routine.
•Jake is training weekly right now so my days are long, tiring, and full of me talking to myself. Next deployment should be January to March 2012.
•I am planning the girls first birthday party as we speak... I cannot wait!! I'm actually enjoying this party planning a little too much.
•Hunter is still my sweet, carefree little boy but he's... Well... 2. And throws what Jake calls "the spaghetti man dance" fit. Oh, and he HATES the beach :(
•Emma is clapping and standing with short steps(sometimes). She also has a new fear... Her father!! This is terrible and heart breaking, but I know it's a phase.
•Riley is smiley, loud, a "cruising" fool, and easyyyyy!!
•I am trying to cut out bottles right now and failing miserably!! I have a month and a half to cut out 3-4 bottles!
•we finally made it to church out here, but continuing our search for a good fit.

Ok, that is all...

Once I get another party under my belt I'll post a how-to-guide for the bday parties.

Better late than never

Easter 2011

Redeemer Covenant Church Egg Hunt(inside)

The girls LOVED hunting the eggs. No competition since the egg per child ratio was 100:1.
Hunter could have cared less about eggs, so you'll notice him in the toys and inflatables.

Easter Sunday

Despite the rain it was a beautiful day because of what we were celebrating.
Family, food, and an Easter Veggie Tales topped off our Sunday.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter... Rain or shine!!

Texas: my favorite place and favorite people

It seems that every April I need to get my VanHoozer family fix in Salado, TX. It also seems that I am adding more and more kids with every April visit. So, this year my mom and I got up at 4:00 am and loaded all three sleeping babies into the car and hit the road. MY KIDS ROCKED THE ROAD TRIP!!! I was beyond impressed by this. We had a quick break to unload and stretch out at the V household, then headed off to watch cousin Sam play baseball. MY KIDS ROCKED THE 9 INNING BASEBALL GAME!!! Again, super impressed! Oh, and UMHB got another WIN! Dinner time: now this could turn ugly. We were going to Johnny's BBQ and is usually packed. My children don't wait for food well, but luckily we were the first ones there and with the help of every single family member, 3 rolls of paper towels, and 20 packages of saltines we survived the dinner. Although, cousin Sam and Brittni had to eat their cold food by themselves since it was a mad rush to keep my 3 little angle babies happy(sorry guys).

Next day was another day fully of baseball, but not before we hit up the local shopping. Horsefeathers, I love you! We didn't rock the baseball games this day... we missed half of the 7 inning game(W) and then only watched an inning or two of the 9 inning(+extra innings) game. I think we ALL are allergic to something in the air because it was a messy face day for the 4 of us Johnson's. We got to help set up for the big SURPRISE party for Rachel and Nana that night though! It was a long day and Hunter stayed up as long as he could just so he could eat some birthday cake!

SUNDAY=FUNDAY but minus our cousin Rachel(CONFERENCE CHAMPION in UMHB golf)
Hunter had a blast swimming with miss Chloe. Riley loved being in the water... and Emma did not!

We had a blast, thank you VanHoozer's and Nana and Papa C for loving on my babies!! We will be back since my husband has still not made a Texas trip with me. Texas is where my family is and where I have many memories. I cannt wait to take the whole family to Gruene to float the river! New Braunfels family and the rest of the Baswell side, we will see you soon!!


Here are a few pictures from the trip and no, I DID NOT get any bluebonnet pictures! Dang, Texas drought!

What happened to speech therapy?

Today was speech therapy day! As most of you know, Hunter is experiencing a little bit of a delay in his speech. At 22 months he can say "buh" for bye(and blows kisses) and "haw" for hot(holds hands out). He was saying "ta" for thank you, but has recently stopped like most of the other words he has lost(ball, dada, mama, Tucker, uh oh, hi). Hunter has always done things early, but talking seems to be a struggle for some reason. As a mom, panic sets in and self diagnosing occurs. But, thanks to family and friends I can honestly say that my mind was at ease... Until today.

Maybe I wasn't mentally prepared for this appointment or educated enough on how these things work, but I sure did get my hopes up. First off, I woke my(still recovering from a stomach bug) little boy up TOO early from his nap. So, he was not really in the mood for this lady to evaluate him. She recorded a detailed history of his birth information to present time. What foods he likes/dislikes(what does that have to do with anything?), does he throw temper tantrums(ummm.... He's 2 lady!), what are his sleep patterns, favorite toys, and things he likes to do at a park?

I'm not going to bore you with the details of this hour long session, but here's the verdict I received. She said Hunter is known as a "squishy" child. Um, excuse me? "He has no muscle tone", she says. Ok, apparently I missed the memo on toning your toddler. Also, he is a sensory seeking child, which is actually a disorder. This being said because of his need to constantly rub ears, fall off things, splash in puddles, wrestle, tickle excessively, and be "squished" between things. Minus the ear rubbing, I thought that was all pretty normal. So, she suggested him seeing an occupational therapist. Hmmm... Oh wait, let's go ahead and add a physical therapist in there for his feet. By this point I was frustrated we hadn't covered his speech problem and I was becoming more emotional with everything she was pointing out about Hunter, so I have no idea what was wrong with his feet. To me, I see nothing.

So basically, we go back in two weeks for speech therapy and then possibly start OT and PT. If it is a positive experience next time we will continue therapy, if not then maybe we can find someone else. But, as we drove away today and tears are falling from my eyes I see my sweet boy in the rear view mirror wearing my Ray Bans and a big smile. I think that was Hunter(and Gods) way of letting me know everything will be ok.