Being a mommy is sometimes tough...

...on your heart and your mind.

When Hunter was born I literally felt my heart grow. Then when Emma and Riley came into our lives my heart almost felt the need to burst. I also felt my mind filling up at the same time. "To-do" lists for everything I need for us to function, my OCD multiplying, and the my ongoing worry and fear for the safety of MY children. Sometimes my heart seems more manageable than my mind.

My heart handles the following questions. How can I love three sweet, innocent babies?? How will I show them love every single day no matter what kind of day they might throw at me?? And the biggest one, how will I have time to show my husband how much I still love him!?!?

First off, I think loving more than one child just comes naturally. There's no "trying" to love any one child more than the other, you just love them. Second, I have learned/still learning how to show love every single day no matter how stressed I may be, no matter how cranky one is/all are. When I brought the girls home from the hospital I had an enormous support system. Jake still had a little over a month left in Afghanistan so not only did I have my family and Jake's family close by(we were living with my parents in OK during the deployment/pregnancy) but I had my wonderful Aunt and Cousin from Texas come up and help with literally EVERYTHING. I was also blessed with my Nana Calaway staying with me and the 3 kiddos for 6(long)weeks. She was even with us up until we were moved in to our house in North Carolina. I am eternally grateful for all that she did for us. To be honest, I was terrified the day EVERYONE left us in North Carolina and when Jake had to return to work. But, I managed and I am still managing with all 3 babies at once.
Now, for question number 3. How will I show my husband how much I still love him? This one is tough and something I struggle with still. I try to tell him as often as possible, but I find it hard to switch from mommy mode to wife mode. I am "on call" as a mommy 24/7 but I forget that I am a wife too, so once I master this one I'll blog about it!

For my mind, my "to-do" lists will forever be apart of me, I actually enjoy them. They help organize my mind and remind me of the things I continually forget.  My OCD has actually calmed since having two more babies, but mostly because I physically don't have time to sanitize every thing they come in contact with . The order of my house is a compulsion I cannot ignore, no matter how exhausted I am. It drives my poor husband crazy. Finally, worry and fear for my children... something I know I'll never rid myself of. But, I need to learn how to control it and make it a positive. Fear of their safety can help me to be continually grateful to God for them being in my life. I still to this day check on Hunter, who is almost 2 years old, while he's sleeping(like most mothers). Whether it's a nap running long or before I go to bed at night, I have to see all three of them breathing with my own eyes. Another thing that drives my husband crazy! But this will continue until they are grown and out of the house... if not forever. (Their future spouses might not appreciate this)

I came across this blog through Facebook the other day, and many of you may have seen my post of it on there already but I wanted to post it again, on here. If you read her older posts you can understand the full story. <---click here.

My intentions in posting this are not to make you sad or to cry, even though it is impossible not to feel sadness for this mommy, but to possibly open your eyes. This mother's strength and courage has opened mine as well as my heart. Whether you are already a mommy or soon to be, be thankful. Be calm when your child/children is/are driving you crazy, and just sit and pray. I have been doing this more often throughout the day because I know that by doing so I can be a better mommy to these three sweet blessings.

hunter's world

Hunter is the first of three little blessings for Jake and I. He is a sweet, silly (little) man of few words... actually no words. I guess when you are as busy as he is you don't really need to talk. With only 20 months under his belt he has already experienced so many incredible things.  Traveling to over 15 states, getting 2 brand new baby sisters (at once), reuniting with his daddy after a 7 month deployment to Afghanistan, and moving all the way to North Carolina for the second time. His ability to adapt to anything around him has made me appreciate him even more though. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you're a new mommy, pregnant with twins, and without your husband, having an easy going child makes everything else around you a little easier to handle.  That is something any mommy can be thankful for at the end of the day.

One of Hunter's favorite things is being outside and now that he is getting older he is becoming more and more independent *insert tears* and I find myself just watching his little imagination at work while he plays.  And now that his sisters are more active I think he's actually enjoying having them around.  He loves to "show" them things, give them toys and when its time to go "bye bye" he will try to pick them up to hurry the process of going out the door.

Food has always been a friend to my little boy, but lately he has been eating like a Big Strong Man.  All he wants is BEEF! No buns on his hamburgers, no tortilla with his taco meat, and no noodles with the meatballs... But I can always count on his eating fruits and veggies!

Here are some other fun and or/strange facts about Hunter:

Grabs, plays with, and sometimes even sucks your ear.
He literally "pops" up every time he wakes up.
He loves any and all dogs and tries to whistle when he sees one.
Enjoys rolling balls down the railing on the stairs to hit me in the kitchen.
He is reaching his "terrible two's"... quickly.
First haircut was at 20 months.
Dances at the end of Despicable me EVERY time.
Loves to spin in circles until he can't even walk.
Always has a smile that makes anyone's day better.




 Many more memories to make with the sweetest little boy a mommy could ask for...                                                        

                              

                               



                      

Be Mine x4

I am so thankful that we were able to spend another holiday together as a family! This time last year we were packing up our first apartment together, getting Jake's gear organized for Afghanistan and preparing for his 7 month deployment just a few weeks later. But, he's home and we enjoyed every second of the long weekend as a family.

Good Morning, my sweet Valentine's!

L*O*V*E

is for lots of laundry, lack of sleep, little kisses, laughing babies, loving family.

is for ornery boy, overtired, OSU, opened cabinets, ocean visits.

is for veggies being spit, visitors needed, van full of groceries, vibrant and very loud babies.

is for early mornings, energy drinks, empty bottles, energetic toddlers, eBay finds.











We are getting ready for Valentine's day around the Johnson house!! My mom always made every holiday exciting for us, so I cannot wait to pass this on to my kids! Here's some of the LOVE going on around our house pre V-day! My Papa C always used to write on our tummy's when we were little so I had to pass this on to Hunter. The heart magnet is one of my favorites, the cards of course describe my sweet husband, and the popcorn was a snack I prepared for Hunter today. He is obsessed with popcorn and the middle is filled with St. Louis Cardinal poop(chocolate covered sunflower seeds). The rest is a little docor we have around the house that I tried to imitate from other blogs.

We've made it six months...

...now it's going to get crazy!

The girls turned 6 months old on the 30th of January and now we're just waiting for the "twins get easier after 6 months" to kick in.  Every twin parent we run into tells us this, but I don't see how it could be possible. Mobility is not easier and we are rapidly approaching it.

Waiting for the doctor in our bumbleride indie twin... best stroller, ever!

Where are we on the charts?

Emma: 17.6lbs/75th percentile
           25 in/25th percentile (I think she may be a little longer, the nurse had her head crooked on the uncomfortably hard wooden table/ridiculous measuring system they use).
     
Riley: 17.7lbs/75th percentile
         25 1/4in/50th percentile

I honestly can't even remember what their heads were measuring... let's say big though. They have their daddy's head.

What are we doing around the house?

Due to limited mobility and lack of mommy arms we are constantly rotating babies from activity center to walker, bumbo, highchair, floor, bouncer, and to swing.

On rare occasions we wander to the back yard and enjoy some fresh air on a blanket while Big brother slides and digs in the dirt.


Any teeth?

Still none, but they are there... hurting my babies and driving me crazy.
Thanks to Sophie the Giraffe, cold teethers, and the occasional dose of Tylenol and Orajel we are surviving.

Speaking of teeth, who forgot to mention to me that there are 2 year molars??? This is a mean joke someone is playing on us... 3 teething children!


Any new foods to spit on mommy and daddy?

We're going GREEN!!! Well, we're eating green! This week starts green beans, avocados, and peas! Not all at once of course, but one per week to watch for any more food allergies. Dang, bananas!

I guess our "first foods" were Oklahoma State inspired.... Orange Power... Mango's, carrots, sweet potatoes... yummmy!


Any new milestones?

Even though my girls are expert "rollers" they are perfecting the infamous backward scoot right now.  Combine that with a few rolls and we have Emma wedged under her crib last night during bath time.  Bath/bedtime is complete chaos right now, babies are everywhere and never where you lay them.

Riley is our top sitter right now, but Emma is close behind. We cant wander far though, they tumble quickly.

 Riley is proud of herself!

Both girls are pulling their knees under them and getting in the crawling position. The day they both take off will be a very scary/exciting day for us.

Go Emma!


Sippy cups are being used and are loved by everyone... yes, even Hunter loves drinking water from his sisters tiny, pink Tommee Tippee cups.


That pretty much sums up where we are as of today...still busy.. still laughing... sometimes crying... occasionally sleeping... and always changing.

Sisterly love

(if you have an iPhone get the instagram app and find us, bjohnson22, for more fun pics)

I love baby food!!

I am a little upset with myself on how I started the girls out on solids, but hopefully I didn't screw them up too bad. Not only was it a little early to start them, I started with fruits!!! That's a big NO-NO!! Well, it's not really that big of a deal but they are already showing signs of being picky (that would be from their father) and veggies aren't always the funnest things to eat.  Especially all pureed!! We were running low on our first batch of applesauce, and due to a possible allergy to banana's, it was time to start cooking/pureeing.  Macintosh apples are my favorite to use when making baby food!

I had two very patient little helpers this evening which made cooking a success. Bringing out their new sippy cups was my secret weapon. It mainly acts as another teething toy, but they are getting the hang of it. The wild man was pushing cups and bowls down his new slide so that kept him entertained throughout all of this too. 

I'm starting to think that unless you love making baby food or my babies that this is possibly the worst blog ever! But, I will continue on as if my evening of making baby food is the biggest thrill of your night since it was basically our thrill for the entire day. Two pounds of apples, two mango's and a bag of baby carrots later and this is what we made.

It's not impressive, I know! Mango's were a hit though (yes, I know it's another fruit, but the carrots were way too hot and they were way too hungry to wait)!!






WOW! Are you blown away?? I don't think I will be blogging about a night of baby food making again, but to be quite honest it has been my only productive activity this week! Time for a relaxing weekend together!! I will leave you with me getting both girls to laugh during all of the cooking tonight!

A quick intro and recent updates

We have started a blog!! Well, I have started one... and Jake will be making fun of me along the way.  Hopefully, I can talk him into making a few appearances on here. I know many of you ("you" being anyone who decides to start following us) enjoyed reading Jake's "short but sweet" blog from his recent deployment. This is your warning... I am not as witty nor as good of a writer as my sweet hubby, but I will try to keep it interesting. We have lots going on with three growing and constantly changing babies so expect many updates about our sweet kiddos.  Alright, here we go!!!

Due to recent snow fall and very cold weather we have not been able to make our usual trip to one of our neighborhood parks, but we were lucky enough to make it out with the sunshine the other day. Here is Hunter's new interest when going to the park.

Emma loved swinging with her sister...

And Riley was all smiles as usual. We ALL needed the fresh air!

Hunter is growing up too fast for me. He will be 20 months on Saturday and he is still as silly as ever. If Toy Story is not playing in the back ground then he is probably asleep or getting into trouble somewhere. This is an obsession I was hoping to avoid but he loves his Buzz and Woody around at all times. Hunter is still refusing to speak, but my worries of this are fading each day. I know he will, someday, and each day he seems to show some interest in saying things. Lately, he says "ta" for "thank you". He will walk around with something in his hand then say "ta" for you to take it. Other than that he is just busy being a big boy. He has been in a toddler bed since he was 16 months and he loves it. Almost as much as he loves sneaking into bed with us in the middle of the night lately, but that is about to change.

The girls are doing everything right on track. We're working on solids and not loving them along the way. I've made sweet potatoes, applesauce and bananas so far!! They are constantly rolling all over the place and all over each other. And keeping two babies entertained is a little more challenging than I thought. We are constantly rotating babies from bouncer to swing, to floor to activity center, and to bumbo to mommy. Routines change constantly, but we usually settle into each new routine rather quickly. Teething has been rough with the girls... Hunter rarely fussed and then one day his two bottom ones just popped up. I swear Emma's bottom two are going up and down! And her cheeks are bright red and chapped from all of this. Other than that Emma is doing great. We go for their 6 month check up at the end of this month so I'm sure the anticipation for that blog will be unbarable. Riley has been perfect (from the outside) with all of her recent complications. I no longer give her the reflux medicine and we haven't had any problems with that.  We head to UNC Medical Hospital in early February for another ultrasound on her kidneys and a visit with a urologist.  Praying for good news!!

Other than Jake's pashto(afghan launguage?) class that he is taking at work, we are just looking forward to visitors in February and warm weather so we can play outside and go to the beach! We will end with a few pictures just because I think my babies are cute to look at.

Snow day for Coastal Carolina!!!

Silly Emma!!

Sweet Riley!

And finally, Hunter leaving Jump in Jax today!