Oh, the things they ask!

Boy, does Asher ask some tough questions! Just last week he asked these three.


1. What does God look like?

While we were driving at my parents house the other day, he asked this one:

2. Why is there a little school bus and a long school bus?

Wow-I was impressed he was so observant. I really didn't answer this one. He then proceeded to tell me he wanted to ride the long bus because he was a big kid.

3. What is hair made out of? Where did Granbuddy's go?

Haha! I love that last one. What a funny boy!

Sunday Cuties

We finally got back to church this morning since Maryclaire was born. I was so thankful it was relatively easy to get out the door with two kids in tow...and we were only running about 10 minutes behind. What a miracle!

I am also super thankful for my hubby who was so much help getting Asher ready so I could focus on Maryclaire and all the gear we now have to take with us.

I am also thankful that Maryclaire was so well behaved during church. We didn't even have to take her out out all (ok, once for a diaper change.) She stayed awake and enjoyed the music and then peacefully drifted off to sleep during the message. What a good girl!

I snapped a few pics after we got home. Maryclaire is reminding me a lot of Asher as a baby in these pics. I'll have to get those off our old computer soon.

I love Maryclaire's smocked dress. It's blue corduroy fabric with cinderalla on the smocking. Best part is I picked it up for nearly nothing at a consignment sale before she was born.

And of course, a picture's not perfect unless Asher has his eyes closed!

Jill of all Trades in Atl.

It's Kelly's Korner: Show us you Life Friday. This weeks topic is "What do you Make?" And me, why I'm a Jill of all trades! I love to dabble in all things crafty. I started making cakes a few years ago. I love to have the opportunity to practice and come up with new designs. I also am trying my hand at cupcake toppers, monogrammed tee's and tutus. Here's just a few of my faves!

Terrific Tuesday

Yesterday we had a small birthday party at my parent's house for my niece, Maddie, who turned 4. My sister and the kids were headed down to Disney for Maddie's birthday and my parent's house was a perfect stop for the night. I was so glad we got to celebrate with this sweet girl on her actual birthday. All the kids (big and small) had a great time!

The boys playing outside...yes, that's a plastic goose!



The birthday girl with a mouthful of pizza!


Jen modeling the tutu and shirt I made for Maddie.

Maddie got a Cinderella costume to wear at Disney. It was the only present she was actually excited about!

Beautiful!


Blowing out her candles!

Happy Birthday, Maddie! We love you!

A few of My Favorite Things

A hope you don't find this post terribly boring, but I wanted to post about a few of my favorites things at the moment. They are almost all appliances...have I reached a new level of domestic bliss? Perhaps! Really though, it seems as though several of our small personal appliances have been on the fritz lately. I really hate spending money on things like that, especially when things are tight.

I posted on facebook the other week about how we needed a new iron, mop and hairdryer all at the same time. My sweet mother in law decided to take care of a couple of our needs for Valentine's day presents. I got this pretty little blow dryer. Sweet! My old one was literally sparking at me!

I can dry my hair in about 5 minutes now! Wow! It sure beats 15...especially when I have no time primp in the morning!

My husband and I have been using the same iron since we got married 7 years ago. It really didn't do the job anymore, but a new iron was low on the totem pole for things we needed to buy. Oddly enough, my husband actually LIKES ironing. He sweet mama got him this for Valentine's Day!I got a super awesome deal on this using my kohl's card 30% off and got $10 back in Kohl's cash. I'll admid I haven't actually used it yet, but I KNOW I'm going to love it and feel better about a certain little person crawling around on my kitchen floor in a few months.

YUM!

Last, I am addicted to coffee creamers. When I was pregnant, out of necessity, I let myself have one cup of coffee in the morning. My tastebuds were all off and one of the ways to make it more appealing was with flavored creamers. I swore I would cut it out once I wasn't preggers anymore. Yeah, right. I am so addicted! We spotted this one the other day and it is my favorite by far. We've already run out and I can't find it at the store anymore. Boo!

And on anothr note, I have to apoligize for all my spelling and grammatical errors in my posts. I am in such a hurry blogging that I most often overlook them!

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty uneventful weekend here on the home front, although it sure did seem to fly by. We spent Saturday outside enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather we had here. I think it even reached 70 degrees! I totally have spring fever...what a tease the weather was! I don't think I even got in the car to go anywhere on Saturday.

Asher is wallering (you know, rolling around) in the the massive pile of leaves the hubs raked up.

You can't tell it in the picture, but Maryclaire's hair was looking fire RED in the sun. Maybe this means it's lightening up?

On Sunday, we headed to my parents house so I could run some errands, get some crafty projects done and have help with the kiddos. My niece's 4th birthday is Tuesday and they are headed to our side of town for a little celebration. I made this and this for Maddie. I hope she likes them!

Maryclaire with Granbuddy. Asher is Granbuddy's right hand man and rarely lets him love on this sweet girl!

Group pictures with kiddos are always HILARIOUS!!! Thanks, Mom, for actually looking at the camera.

I hate to admit it, but we haven't been back to Sunday church since Maryclaire was born. We had all intentions and plans of going this morning, but I had a rough night with little Miss and her feeding was going to hit right in the middle of the service. There is really no private place for me to nurse her (and I am a very private nurser), so I would have had to go sit in the car hald way through. Vaughn was going to go solo and take Asher, but he decided not to be so agreeable and Vaughn couldn't get both of them ready and out the door in time. I know it isn't easy for any family to get out the door in the morning, and I feel really guilty for letting our obstacles hold us back from such an important part of our lives.

A reading by Asher

Asher has this teeny tiny key chain bible he got at a fall festival over a year ago. It's one of those things I'm amazed hasn't been lost! Somehow it's managed to stay afloat and Asher loves toting it around-I guess because it's so tiny and neat to him. He has also started "reading" for us. As a former teacher, I highly encourage his "readings". I wanted to catch one of video because they are SO funny sometimes.




I actually spent about 10 minutes trying to translate it for you, but I gave up! It started out pretty strong, "Jesus saved the world" or in Asher's words, "saved-ed" and then went wayward quickly. Something about cities being destroyed and then even spiderman has a cameo! HA! That's my boy!

Dairy Free

Ok, I fudged just a bit...I should have said going "dairy less" as in eating less (much, much, much) less. I don't want to do it. I'm sad just thinking about all the ice cream and cereal I'm going to miss. But, little Miss does not like it when I eat dairy. In fact, it makes her downright miserable because it aggravates her reflux so bad.

She burp (lots of wet, face grimacing burps), she hiccups, she spits up more than I think humanly possible (think projectile), she does lots of gurgling, her poop gets all funny. *Sigh* I love my girly and hate to see her so miserable. She also doesn't appreciate the 10 outfit changes associated with all that spitup (we've got to work on that one-I'm grooming a "girly" girl here.)

I would have done it sooner, but it's taken me this long to really put the pieces together. And her $150 reflux meds don't hold a candle to what dairy does. I don't have to give it up all togther, but drastically have to cut back. Actually, the only thing I'm really holding onto is my coffee creamer....and probably a few baked goods that I know have butter in them. Goodbye cheeses, pizza, yogurt, milk, ice cream and anything that contains the stated above. I'll find you again in about 8 months.

Can you see my sad face? On the flip side, surely cutting out dairy will be good for my waistline, right? :)

Sort of related, I took Maryclaire to the Dr. on Tuesday because she's had a cold for almost 2 wks. She's been sneezy, coughing, runny nose, overall just congested. Her Dr. thinks her congestion is related to her reflux. I'm still trying to figure out that connection, but I really love and trust our pediatrician. So, we changed her meds and put her on an antibiotic for a sinus infection. Do you know what antibiotics do to an infants tummy? Oh my...poor baby! The new reflux meds (prevacid) do not seem to be working fabulously as of yet, but here's hoping they kick in soon because they were EXPENSIVE! And, I think I need to buy stock in Huggies.

Maryclaire is 2 months old!

Two months old already! Really? You get more and more precious everyday! These are just a few things about my sweet girl at 2 months old.


1. You have started cooing! It is the sweetest sound and we love to hear you talk to us. I wish I knew what you were saying, but I like to think you're telling us how much you love us!

2. You slept (two) five hour stretches one night about a week ago which is technically sleeping through the night. You haven't done it again, but I am hopeful you will.

3. You have your first cold already. It's pitiful. I am actually taking you to the Dr. this morning to get checked out since you've had it nearly two weeks!

4. You are wearing mostly 0-3 months clothes and can squeeze into just a couple of newborn sizes.

5. You are in a size 1 diaper.

6. Dislikes: You are starting to despise the carseat i.e. screaming the whole time we go somewhere. You hate tummy time and I hate making you do it! I only make you do 30 seconds at a time because you scream your head off. Not fun!

7. You are not on a schedule at all! The only thing I can count on is that you eat every 3 hrs during the day.

8. You catnap much of the day. If I put you in your bed, you only sleep for about 30 minutes b/f waking up. I'm anxious to break this habit!

9. You still sleep in our room. I am ready to put you in your room, but I'm too lazy to walk across the house every time I have to get up to feed/check on you!

10. At least your not sleeping in your carseat anymore. We've transitioned you to this which is placed in the bassinet part of the mini pack-n-play. It works well for us, but I think you'll outgrow it soon!
11. You give us the best smiles and it completely melts my heart!

12. You got your first (and only so far) bottle and took it like a champ.

13. I still think you're an easy baby and so, so sweet!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! We've spent the day baking cookies, making cards and delivering Valentine's gifts. Maryclaire doesn't feel well and has been a tad high maintenance today, so trying to get our projects done was a tad challenging. I tried to get some adorable pictures of the kids together today and that's as close to mission impossible as it gets in this house. Poor Asher got the Johnston gene that makes it impossible for him to keep his eyes open during a picture. Even he gets frustrated with me saying, "keep your eyes open!" with every click. Of 83 pictures taken, these are as good as it got-Ha! Oh well, I love my babies and I certainly know how cute they are!

Asher spotted his Valentine's Day gift first thing on the counter this morning. I bargained he had to get dressed before he opened it...otherwise he'd fight me to be in pajamas until noon!

With his loot...just a few things from the dollar store. He's so easy to please these days!

Cookie making fun! A shaker of sprinkles is as messy as it gets with a three year old. At least it's easier to clean up than glitter!

We made a ton of these and then took some to his Nana and Granbuddy.

When we were at my parent's house, I got my mom to take some pics of me and the kids. This does not happen very often...its usually ME behind the camera.

Me and my sweet girl. Asher was DONE taking pictures and just wanted to go play so I took advantage of having my girl to myself for a minute.

Picnic and Play at Piedmont Park

Yesterday we were blessed by wonderful weather and blue skies. It was nearly 65 degrees in Atlanta and we decided to have a little Valentine's Day picnic and playtime with my sister and her family-my favorite people in the world . We headed to Piedmont Park to soak up the sun. I don't have any pics of the picnic...apparently I was too busy shoveling food in my face to even think of picking up the camera. The kids had so much fun playing and getting out some extra energy.Next time, I will dress Asher in bright colors because he was so difficult to keep up with in gray and khaki and a million other kids running around.

Asher and his cousin Maddie. They are 4 months apart and and BEST friends! I don't know why they decided it would be fun to crawl under the playground equipment.

This is what Maryclaire did pretty much the whole time. She woke up as were were leaving and then proceeded to cry the way home in her carseat.


Both kiddos when we got home. They both finally passed out in the car. Asher definitely got his extra energy out!

I can't believe I was posting about snow just last week. Crazy Georgia weather-but I love it! What a nice and needed break from the cold.

I spy with my little eye...

Miss Maryclaire is growing like a weed. Really, I am surprised by her stats since Asher has always been on the small side (consistently in the 20th percentiles.) Now, I know she is still really tiny (our pedi. calls her "petite"), but she's grown so much since birth! And look what I spy with my little eye...a budding fat roll! Ahhh, I love it!!! Can't wait 'til I can nibble on this little thigh!