Christmas 2015

Christmas 2015 has been the best yet!  Even though Little J is too young to really appreciate what is going on, it has been SO much fun to celebrate with him!

This year we are on the "off year" with my family, so we spent the holidays in Highland with the Blairs.  We had a great party Tuesday night with the entire family which was great.

 It is amazing how much bigger this family has gotten in the last few years!  Johnson is going to have such a fun time playing with these kids when he gets a little older!  He and Creed have already had fun playing, even though Johnson tried to eat Creed's toes.

Johnson also LOVES his cousin Ruby!  She is so sweet with him and can always make him laugh.

Last night, Christmas Eve, we had another family party and ate fondue.  After dinner we played games and had a nativity.  Johnson got to be the star :)

Johnson fell asleep a little early so we didn't get a picture of us all in our Christmas jimmies, but this picture of him sleeping is pretty darn cute!

Santa found us in Highland and we had fun opening gifts this morning.  Johnson was asleep at 7 am when we woke up and we tried to let him sleep, but we were too excited, and ended up waking him up to come upstairs!

 In the end he fell asleep in John's arms and slept for over an hour (the longest nap he has had in a  LONG time).  I think it is safe to say that he had an awesome first Christmas!

Johnson's Blessing

I just realized that I never posted about Johnson's blessing!  Johnson was blessed on September 6th, 2015 by his dad, in our ward in River Heights (RH4th).  I don't remember every detail of the day, but I do remember how happy Johnson was when he woke up that morning.  He was smiling, cooing and just plain excited!  John gave him a beautiful blessing that made me tear up.  He wore the same outfit John wore for his blessing in 1988.  The outfit was purchased by John's Grandma Delia and was worn by two of his older brothers. For the blessing John had him wrapped in the blanket he was wrapped in for his blessing.  Afterwards we wrapped him in the blanket I used that was hand quilted by my great grandmother.

After church we had a little luncheon at my parent's house.  It was fun to have our friend Nino from Italy there.  He even got to participate in the blessing.  

The True Meaning of Christmas

This year I have had my eyes opened to a new aspect of Christmas.  I have always loved giving gifts to others and seeing the excitement on their faces.  I have also always been in a situation where I could go out and purchase gifts that I thought my friends and family would enjoy.  This year is no exception.

The reason this year is different is because of the 21 sweet 2nd graders I have had the opportunity to teach for the last 80 days.  I have always felt connected to my students, but this year, for some reason, they have touched me more than usual.

A little background: This year is my first year as a teacher AND a mom.  I have a sweet 5.5 month old baby boy whom I adore.  I talk about him constantly and my students are absolutely OBSESSED with him.  He has only come to school twice, but both times they have been ecstatic to see him!  They are constantly drawing him pictures, asking about him and wanting me to show them videos of funny things he does.  He is definitely the most popular kid in school! ;)

As Christmas approached my students started bringing in their usual gifts.  However, this time they were not for me.  The were for Baby J.  Every single day since Thanksgiving I have had kids bring me something to give to Johnson.  The sentiment is so sweet, but the gifts they bring are even sweeter.  I work in a Title 1 school where most of my students live at  poverty level.  These kids have very little when it comes to worldly things.  That is why it makes my heart swell each time I open a gift and see what they have chosen to give my baby, who is much more privileged than they are to begin with.  Johnson has been given toys that have been well worn and obviously loved.  I've had kids bring him burp used burp cloths, little trinkets from home, books they love and even a bib.

 Each time I see the generosity these children display it brings me to tears.  As I watched them open the simple gifts I gave them today at our class party I had to hold back the tears.  I am so blessed to be able to support my baby and give him everything he could want.  I am even more blessed that I have the chance to work with these little 7-8 year olds as I teach them reading, writing and math and they teach me even greater lessons about how to be a good person.

5 Months

Johnson is 5 months today!  How did that happen?  He is seriously the BEST baby!  He only cries when he is hungry or tired.  He falls asleep usually within 5 minutes of me trying to put him down.  He LOVES to fall asleep with me holding him, which I love, but I am worried I need to change.  He has had a really hard time sleeping on his own in his bed since we got home from Florida (where we coslept).  Anyway, he is an angel.


This month he has learned a few new tricks.  He is rolling around like crazy and loves to be on his tummy holding his head up.  We got him a bouncer for Christmas and gave it to him early and he loves it!  His feet barely touch the ground but he has figured out how to make it bounce.

He also discovered his toes and sucks on them every chance he gets.

We love playing with him and taking him to movies.  So far he has seen Sean the Sheep, Pan, Spectre, Mission Impossible, Hunger Games, Hotel Transylvania 2, and Creed.  He is so funny.  He either sits and watches or sleeps.  He is obviously excited to see Star Wars next week :)

He also loves going to see the Aggies play and attended his very first Jazz game.  We got him a little pair of headphones to protect his ears from the loud noises, just in case.

We can't wait to celebrate Christmas with him!  He will get to meet Santa tomorrow which will be fun :)

Milo LOVES giving Johnson kisses.  They are the cutest little friends!

 Ester's babies got blessed a few weeks ago and I dressed Johnson in the CUTEST white sweater outfit.  About 20 min. into Sacrament meeting he had a HUGE blowout.  I had to walk him out (from the 3rd row) and change him.   I got to the bathroom and realized I had no extra outfits so he had to come back naked.  I heard lots of laughs as I marched him back in :)

 He also had his first taste of rice cereal.  He kind of just swished it around in his mouth and let it spill out.  He did, however, love chewing on the spoon!

He is in the 95th percentile for height and the 15th for weight.  Because of this, none of his jammies with footies fit anymore!  These ones were size 6 months!

We are still over the moon for our little bubby!