January 2011

This New Year started with Ed at work. :( Hope that's not what the rest of the year looks like! So...I still went to the Layton's party. Not nearly as fun without Ed, but still fun.

^

^In Ed's absence I still found a way to kiss him!

Welcome 2011! Here's to hoping for a great year!

After Christmas until Jan 3rd we had my mom here visiting from Utah. We didn't do too much, but it's always fun to have your mom around.

The kids loved having her here to play with them.

Disneyland suckers. MMMMMmmm!

18 months of Kai!!

What's he up to?

Head: 47 inch (30%)

Height: 33.5 inches (80%)

Weight: 26.6 pds (55%)

Got his MMR.

Kai is very similar to Sarah at this age.

Allow me to brag: Started mild tantrums. Walking has evolved to running. Easy going boy. VERY VERY Social! Likes to be held by anyone! Generally really happy. Loves to show off his vocabulary 100+?(its a big one!- don't think I could list everything. Putting words together already. Great for us!) Sometimes says, "sure" for yes. :) Loves TV and watches more than he should. Knows body parts. Stepping up and down stairs. Super active, climbing anything. LOVES books! Ending phrases of songs, "Twinkle, twinkle" and "tick tock" and "ABC's". Pro with a spoon. Eats A LOT of most anything, but starting to be a little picky or lazy with chewing. Hates having his face wiped off or us feeding him anything! Learning shapes and colors. Ready for bed by 6:30pm. Sleeps until 6:30am. Greats us with a big "hi" when we walk in the room. Wakes in the night sometimes. Takes one nap either in the morning or afternoon around 1.5 hours. Has had all his teeth for a while and reminds us to brush them every night after his bath. Loves them both! Not interested in the potty. No more binki since 19 months, but still LOVES his small monkey blanket and big blanket that he prefers to have always!

Kai is such a joy! His fun personality is unfolding before our eyes. He is so eager to learn and surprises us with his knowledge. We love the cuddles we get before bed time. Other than that he is go, go, go!!! Just as a boy should be! Love you baby (not so much) boy!!

Kai Edward:

What makes me Happy: Books, Kitties, Swings, Walks, Food
What makes me Grumpy: Naps, Toy Snatchers, No attention
My favorite Activity: Reading/ Being read books
Favorite Food/or Snacks: Cherrios, Cheese, Yogurt, Fruit (Blueberries), Crackers, Juice
Favorite Animal: Cat,
Favorite movie/or book: Baby Einsteins/ Goodnight Moon
Favorite toys to play with: Anything that opens and closes
Other fun things about me: Loves to repeat words, copy cat, starting to sing songs
Things I know and can do: No limits here. Exploring everything!
Things I need help with: Naps, sitting still. :)

^New to gardening. Who new broccoli bloomed if you didn't cut it down at the right time?

^This is more like it. Mostly loving the peas from the garden.

Kristen is my lifesaver a lot of the weekends when Ed gets called in. We met up at the park and got ice cream after. Thanks for letting me tag along Kristen!

For my birthday we took the kids to Happy Hollow.

They are big fans of the merry-go-round.

Spending some family time was a good gift.

Later in the night Ed surprised me. He got a sitter and we went to Ruth's Chris in the city! I love steak! Then from an earlier request, Ed surprised me again and took me dancing. Private dance lessons with him. It was a lot of fun to do together and it just meant a lot that he was willing to do something I wanted even if he didn't love it. We learned the waltz, swing, and salsa. :)

Ed was such a good sport! We've already forgotten most of the lesson. :(

(The teacher was not very good at taking photos. :) )

Lastly-This year I wanted to spotlight some of my closest friends just for fun. Each month I'll pick a different friend.

(I may list groups of people from different times of life. )

Meet Tara. Sadly I don't have any current pictures of her and didn't scan any in. Now I'm going to babble and I'm sure I'll leave some things out. Tara was my best friend growing up. She lived kitty corner from me. Her dad always mentioned that we were friends from age 2 on and that I used to go over to her house while I was still in diapers. :) All I know is that my earliest memories involve Tara. I love her. She was such a great childhood friend and we were inseparable. We started elementary school together and walked to school or rode bikes every day. We had sleepovers ALL the time! We played barbies like you wouldn't believe! We would split a room in half and build barbie houses to fill the whole thing! We had barbie motor homes, corvettes, porches, furniture, Skipper's, Kens, you name it- we had it!! We had wild imaginations! We wrote books, played house, little miss makeup, made up a mousey game, fought all the time, got grounded from each other, pulled hair, scratched each other....we were like sisters! Every Christmas morning for 20+ years we would run over to each others house to see what the other had gotten. When high school came around we had different interests and weren't AS close, but we still confided in each other, helped each other through break-ups, divorce, and stayed close into college. We moved out together with some friends and had such a great time being immature and making up the greasiest voices. :) Then after I met Ed and got married and moved away it was hard to stay as close. :( It's hard for me to believe that I never speak with one of my fondest, dearest friends. I miss her. A LOT! It even makes me cry sometimes. I find myself hoping all the time that we will be close again one day. How could it ever end up that the friend I spent the first quarter of my life with- I wouldn't be close with? Our lives have changed, I have made some mistakes and we have our differences, but I hope that won't ever get in the way of our friendship. I'd like to think maybe we've both changed for the better. Tara is an amazing singer and lives in NC getting her masters to pursue an amazing career. I see pictures of her on Facebook with friends she has met in the last 7 years and I don't even know them, BUT they seem to make her happy and I love to see that! I hope she knows what a big impact she has been on my life. I hope we will impact each others lives again soon! Tara, I really love you and wish you the best! Every girl needs a best friend. Thanks for being mine for such a crucial time in my life! And if we aren't ever as close as we were, thank you for the many great memories! Muah!

December 2010

Dec 4- Our first harvest from our late start fall garden. So rewarding! Not sure why it feels so cool. :)

^2 romaine heads, peas and a cucumber!

^Sarah and Kai scarfed these down.

12/8- Sarah's first dentist visit

^Dr. Chiu was very good at making sure Sarah was comfortable before he proceeded to give her her exam. She wouldn't let him lay the chair down, but he made it through the exam. As of now she has a slight overbite, but straight teeth and no cavities.

^She also did very well for her teeth cleaning to get all the "sugar bugs" and floss her teeth.

^Later I made Christmas neighbor goodies! Mom's best caramel popcorn balls ever!!

^Just because she's cute.

12/10-

^A visit from her best friends, Sydney and Austin. Kids love sitting in cars!

12/11-

^Sarah was SO excited about Santa! At our ward party there was a clarinet quartet and a flutist so of course Sarah asked for a clarinet and flute for Christmas. :) She IS pretty musical. Have you ever heard this girl sing? I hope she has a musical future.

12/13-

^Famous sugar cookies!

^In the evening we went to Vasona Lake Park for the Christmas light display and drove through the park. The previous year we had hot chocolate after we took a train ride around the park to view the lights and rode on the merry-go-round, but were sad to find out this is only done on the weekends. :( Bummer! So after the lights we got frozen yogurt, my fave, with Kristen, Maren and the kids. They were super wiggly and didn't enjoy the lights as much as we'd hoped.

^I love holiday family time.

12/16-

^Sarah is loving her preschool. They had a mini program and potluck. She learned a couple Christmas songs that were adorable.

12/18- Trip to UT.

^Our ride was going well for the first while. There was some weather, but we made it through. A few hours after Reno Kai must have got car sick because he suddenly started throwing up. Luckily we were somewhat prepared and got most of it before it made too much of a mess. We knew he wasn't really sick since right after we got him cleaned up he was smiling again. He's so happy-go-lucky! He threw up twice on the trip, but otherwise the kids did great!

12/20- Ed and I had a couple friend get togethers.

^The Hardy's had us for dinner along with friends we were in the same singles ward with.

Me, Rachel, Jen, Kari and Marnie

^Then we met with some friends from high school and played some games. Always fun to see familiar faces and see friends families grow and change.

Me, Jenn, Talitha, Jennie and Stephanie.

(No husband/kid pics :( We'll need to change that in the future!)

12/22- We split up the other nights between families. With the Harman's we spent the first night (Saturday) at Gma and Gpa's. Sunday we went to a fireside to see Stew and Nicole sing, and then Wednesday we went out to Stew and Nicole's for pizza and games.

^Sarah and Felicity decorated a gingerbread house and frosted sugar cookies.

^We watched football and played Wii.

12/23-

^We went with my family to see Tangled during the day. We loved it!!!

12/24- Ed took the kids up the canyon with Stewart and Josh. Luckily they lent us some winter clothes! :)

^Sarah all bundled. She loved the snow. Any time we went outside she wanted to walk in it.

^The pack

^Yes, here's a close up. Kai is that little bundle you see in the sled. :)

^I love the idea of daddy/kid adventures in nature! Thanks babe, I know the kids loved it!

^In the evening the whole Harman family met for a nice dinner and the annual Rice Almond (sp?). I had the almond for the first time! We all got to chat with Randy (in China), and then we opened gifts with Mormor and Grandpa.

Mormor and Grandpa and the great grandkids.

^The kids in their new jammies and holding their new Christmas ornaments. ;)

12/25- Christmas Day!

^The kids opened their gifts at Grandpa and Grandmas.

^For lunch and the rest of the evening we headed out to Landon and Debbie's. Kai loved this little horse.

^After a nice dinner, we played bells, listened to the favorite song Cd's we made one another, opened gifts and did white elephant's.

^The kids loved their new gifts!

^Johnson crew

12/26- Back to CA. Grandma Johnson drove back with us. (15.5 hr drive!)

We made our usual stops. One in Elko, NV at the McD's playplace. Then again in Reno at Boomtown/Denny's and the kids rode a merry-go-round.

In Sacramento, Sarah got car sick and totally threw up!! :( Car sick kids... Thumbs down.

12/30-

^We found Kai snoozing like this before we woke him to go to Happy Hollow. Cute little bug!

^Kai loved the rides!

^Sarah is a little more reluctant, but still liked it. ;)

^It was a little chilly and tiring (since we forgot a stroller), but the kids enjoyed their first experience at Happy Hollow. So happy to have my mom's help for a week! :)