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.

eight months old

Daddy's girl

The fact that her daddy is "out saving the world" doesn't stop Riley from being the biggest daddy's girl around.

Riley is the last of the Johnson babies. She is my most vocal child... Riley wants her presence known... AT. ALL. TIMES. She was the biggest of the two girls and has kept that title! I think she got the Johnson gene's because she seems to be rather tall. She loves to make Emma laugh by making silly faces, playing peek-a-boo (turning her head away every time Emma looks at her, then turning back), and screaming at the top of her lungs. This new trick is rather funny... During the day. Let me set the scene... two nights ago, bottles and bedtime and I had had Emma snoring. My mom was feeding Riley and out of no where a blood curdling scream came from that tiny girl. She laughed, my mom choked on her laughter, Emma woke up, and I almost cried. Needless to say, Riley is now grounded until she graduates High School.

Riley can crawl, but only when she absolutely feels that it's necessary. I told my mother-in-law that Riley just likes to sit and be pretty. She's actually pretty good at it though. Her hands and feet are constantly moving too. She will eat almost anything I feed her without question. She loves Cheerios's and her Plum Organic Puffs.... She's even using two fingers to grab them! Riley got the first tooth of the girls, but Emma then topped her by getting two at the same time. Her second tooth has joined her other one though, so no more snaggle tooth (daddy and aunt Janna). I think Riley is going to be my fashionista. She loves jewelry and is always trying to put a new outfits on her head. But, hopefully she aquires some interest in sports. Right now she loves golf balls!! I can't believe my youngest baby is 8 months old today. We love you smiley Riley.

Being pretty

Swing

Little Miss

Every time I hear "Little Miss", by Sugarland I think of my "little miss" Emma.

She's little, but fast.
She's emotional, but tough.
And... she's 8 months old!

Emma is the oldest of the girls, but the smallest. She has a sweet little face, and sweet chubby checks. If a pink outfit is an option, she's wearing it! She insists on being awake, as if she's going to miss out on something and she is quite possibly the shortest nap taker in the world. She's fairly quiet, but in to EVERYTHING. She is crawling and pulling up to anything... even the stairs, ugh! If she sees a toy, consider it hers. If Riley is close by, Emma is using her to stand up. Whether its carpet, wood, slate, or tile she's on the go. But, with being SO little we have many "boo boo's" and tears throughout the day from falling. She is my picky eater when it comes to veggie's and seems to have the most food allergies. She gives the best kisses and tightest hugs, but then she's ready to go again. She has a soft cry and a sweet laugh. Little eyes when she smiles (like mommy) and a big grin! She loves her brother, and no offense to Riley, but Hunter seem's to favor Emma as well. Our little Emma is growing so fast!

Mommy trying to take pictures on St. Patty's Day

 Swing

My little beast

Since being back in Oklahoma, aka the state of extra hands (in our case), we have started a weekly "mommy and me" day with Hunter. We as in I, but help from Grammy! So, every Tuesday morning (the only day of the week my children want to sleep in) we race to get fed, dressed, packed and loaded up to head to Tulsa. I quickly throw the girls into grammy's house and then Hunter and I make our way to The Little Gym!! Keep in mind that Hunter is stuck at home with myself and two very needy baby sisters every day of the week, so the first time we went it was a little overwhelming... for the both of us. Plus, we were late to enroll so most of the kids already have the routine down. My little ADD boy didn't have a chance with sitting quietly on the mat with all the bright colored obstacle courses in the background. Yes, I just labeled my child with ADD. Hang out with him, my husband and my father-in- law for 30 minutes and you'll do a self diagnosis too. Anyways, turns out there are other "easily distracted" children in the "beasts" class too so we joined them on the "fun toys" while everyone else sang songs. If you didn't catch that, he's in the "BEASTS" class!!

So, the second week went awesome! Note to self, don't be early. He was very upset that we couldn't enter the gym when we first arrived. I was surprised he remembered and was excited to be back. Money well spent (Jake).  Bells start off every class and we all introduce ourselves while sitting in a circle. Hunter had the bells in his mouth and ran around the circle. Next was warm-up time... yeah, we'll skip this one too. On to play time!!! This class is very laid back as you can tell, but the teacher incorporates games, activities, and exercises to work on fine motor skills. Alright, time to wrap up this 45 minute class with some bubbles, balls, bells, and uh... bug stamps (had to keep the "B" thing going). Here is some of the fun we had today... see you next Tuesday, Little Gym!!

starting on the low beam

obstacle course

moving to the high beam

basketball time, finally.

bubbles, bubbles

you're embarrassing me, mom.