Christmas Card Photos

I realize that I already briefly posted on this, but I wanted to give a little update since our cards are out (obviously) and now I can post a few more pics.

The winner was:

But let me let you in on a little behind the scenes info: it took a lot of "baby wrangling" and over 135 shots to get the magical one!! Here are some of my "favorite" ones.

Sixteen Months

Wow! Sixteen already! Lets just say that I am so happy that it is months and not years just yet...that will come all too soon! Abby's stats at this point go something like this: still waiting for her 1st tooth (any day now I think...), 17 lbs 8 to 15 ounces (depending on the day/time), wearing 9-12 month clothes (though some of her 6-9 still fit but I am sick of seeing them and am hoping for a growth spurt soon so I just buy 12 months for $ sake), not really a fan of sleeping (I chalk this up to teething...), loves to dip things in ranch dressing (or anything else for that matter), has mastered our iPhones, and talks nonstop (I will work on a list of words for next months post). Here is our Little Peanut with her buddy:

I don't think they are in the mood for this...

Abby's first candy cane--Yummy!

I bet Peanut would like some...

Time to share!

(I love her little tongue sticking out on this one)

Want some more?I'm gonna curl up and finish this, ok?

Headed home after a visit with Gramps and Grandma D

(munching on some goodies on our way out the door)

All She Wants for Christmas...

is a tooth. One lonely tooth. I think I can feel one of her bottom teeth getting closer to breaking through. Maybe, just maybe it will be here in time for Christmas! Hummm, maybe the timing of that wouldn't be a great thing.....

Visits with Santa

Today was a very special day for Abby...it was picture day with Santa! We did do a few days of prep in order to get Abby comfortable with the man in the read suit--I recorded every possible cartoon I could find with Santa for us to watch before naps, we read all of our Christmas book time and time again, we talked about Santa as often as possible and most importantly we had a visit from our favorite Santa as a dry run.

The visit from Santa started with jingling bells at the front door. Abby and I were up stairs folding laundry and she just froze. It was all I could do not to crack up laughing. I scooped her up and headed downstairs. Santa came in the front door as we were half way down the stairs and Abby let out a big old "Hhhhiiiii" with an equally large wave. Three steps later her excitement plummeted and apprehension set in. The closer we got the more scared Abby became. I greeted Santa with excitement, hoping Abby would relax. Nope, not so happy about this guy in the big red suit. I start to pass Abby to Santa an then came the dear in the headlights look and tears were on their way. Hummmm, maybe Santa is not going to be a good thing this year.

Long story short, Santa came in, stayed a while and Abby slowly warmed up to him. By the end of Santa's visit Abby was sitting on Santa's lap, reading him books, playing peek-a-boo and chase and then blowing him kisses bye-bye. As Santa was leaving Abby told him "Bye, bye, bye, bye" as loud as she could as she waved and waved. Then for the next two day any time she saw Santa on tv she would get her surprised face then wave and shout "Hi" or when you ask her "what does Santa say" she would tell you "O, o, o". In the end I figured our trial run was a success, but who knew what two days later would bring.

Fast forward to today and the Genesee Valley Mall for our annual visit. We met up with Gramps, Grandma D and Aunt Wendy and once Abby lost her sleepiness, we got her dressed and headed to the center of the mall. She was so excited to walk through the mall holding Aunt Wendy's had, I think that if that was all we did she would have been a happy camper. Then we came to Santa's special space...Abby was intrigued by the "deer", lights, flowers and other little people. She was even more excited to see Santa! She pointed and talked and "O, o, o"ed and tried to pull away in order to get to him. So we got in line and hoped that her excitement held.

And it did! She kept signing book and pointing towards Santa while she tried to pull away some more. Then it was our turn...I picked her up and put her on Santa's lap then stepped away (while waiting for the tears to come). Tears were not in our future this time! The elf got 4 good snaps and this is what we wound up with:



So Santa 2010 was a HUGE success!!!! Once we left the picture area Abby kept on wanting to go back for more time with Santa and blowing him kisses! It was one of the cutest I have ever seen!!! What a special day!!

Sleepy Little Peanut

Wow! That was one sleepy little Peanut! Abby must have had some catching up to do since she hasn't been napping much lately. She went to be at 7 last night and slept til 6 this morning then came to bed with Mommy for a little morning cuddling. We both fell back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 9:45!!! Fourteen hours and 45 minutes later, Peanut is in a WONDERFUL mood and ready for her day!

Abby's Bedhead....ha, ha, ha!

Weekend Fun

Well, holiday prep is in full swing here at the Johnson house but we are managing to squeeze in a little fun along the way! The fun started Friday night with the Oxford Tree Lighting Ceremony! MJ was in charge of organizing the event so we headed out to see Daddy hard at work. We bundled up in our winter gear and walked around downtown, ate some cookies and visited a little too. MJ did a great job on this event and the Oxford DDA will definitely be sad to see him go when he starts his student teaching in January.

Saturday was rather CRAZY--we tried all day to get out of the house to take some pics for our Christmas cards but Abby just wasn't going to have it!! She refused to nap and was a COMPLETE train wreck... lets just say that there was a ton of crying and temper tantrums. So at 4 pm we decided to put Abby in the car and get some running done (Costco, JoAnn's, Target and food). Needless to say she took a 2 hour nap in her carseat while MJ and I took turns running into the needed stores. By this point in the day we were too tired to cook and just picked up some 'Wiches and BK for dinner. MJ got some ranch with his nuggets which Abby decided she needed in order to "dip, dip" her turkey sandwich into. Here is the result of Abby's first encounter with ranch dressing, if you listen closely you can hear her "uuuuummmmmmm" as she bites....

This went on for about 10 minutes, too funny!! After a bath, Abby CRASHED for the night! Wheeew! Next MJ and I finished putting up the tree then went to be:

This morning we were able to head to the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester to take pictures by Oakland County's Largest Gingerbread House. It is super cute and even better smelling! Here are a few pics from out "shoot" (these did not make the cut for the Christmas card...hey we can't give you the good stuff other wise it would be a waste of money to send out cards, silly!!!).

Then we were off to the Rochester Christmas Parade with the Wolvens!!! It was cold but we bundled up and braved the wind. We had a great time and can't wait to go again next year!

Abby stayed warm in her snowsuit and Moby Wrap!! She is not a fan of mittens though...

Love the cheeks!

Then we came home and had some pizza, salad and cake mix brownies. After dinner the girls "played" together for a little before the Wolvens had to head home for Haley's bed time. Abby loves babies--especially her BFF Haley!

Well that is the recap of our busy weekend! Hope you enjoyed the update :)

A Giver

I am happy to report that Abby's philanthropic days have begun!

As we headed into Kmart for a pair of tights (which they did not have...UUUGGGGHHHHH!) Abby was intrigued by the sight and sound of the Salvation Army Bell Ringer. I laughed at how the simple things are so new and exciting for little ones as I dug for some change. I came up with one lonely quarter but thought something is better than nothing. As I pulled it out of my wallet, Abby just stared at the shiny object like, "wow, what is that??!!" I guess I have done a pretty good job at keeping change away from my little one thus far, ha!

Anyway, the closer we got the harder she stared while trying to figure out what was going on. Then we got to the kettle and I put the quarter in her hand, ready to take it from her as she put it in her mouth. Much to my surprise, she wanted to put it in the bucket with very little encouragement and no crying when it was gone. All in all, this impromptu lesson on giving went much better that I thought ounce the wheels were in motion.

Now, I can only hope that Abby's joy of giving continues!

Fun Town!

Saturday brought us to our Annual Fun Town visit with the Wolven family! We had a great time as always--though we laughed at how times have changed now that we both have little ones--and stuffed ourselves on a delicious chicken dinner at The Bavarian Inn. After our yummy eats, we headed over to Bronner's for a little shopping! Abby LOVED all the sights, music and people and wanted to touch everything. It was so much fun to watch her take it all in.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!!!


Today was a GREAT day! I am oh-so-happy to report that I not only survived my first Turkey Trot but I completed it, without walking, in just 35 minutes and 17 seconds!!! Not too bad if I do say so myself!! I had a great time with Michael, Mark and Paul...can't wait to do it again next year :)

Next we headed back to the Johnson's house for a wonderful, home cooked breakfast--mimosas, waffles, sausage, bacon, cinnamon rolls, and a little fruit. Yummy! Needless to say, I managed to eat all the calories I ran off (and then some). Good thing it's a holiday and calories don't exist today ;)

Our next stop was Gamps and Grandma D's house for a delicious turkey dinner with all the fix'ns! Yummmmmmmmmy! After dinner we played a few games with the fam, at some yummy pie/cake/brownies and colored with Abby.

Now it is time for a loooooooooonnnnnnnggggggg nap so that I can get up at 5 a.m. in order to hit Joann's at 6! Happy Turkey Day to all!

Trotter in Training

Well folks, I'm not one who enjoys running but I have managed to sign myself up for the Detroit Turkey Trot this year! I figured that once I made the commitment to run a 5k I would have to get off my behind and start working out (I am still working on loosing some of my "Abby-weight"and had hoped to have it off by the end of the year).

Unfortunately, being the procrastinator that I am, I just started running on Friday. Yes, two short week before the big day. Hey, better late than never and it could have been worse (waiting til next week to see if I could make it the 3.2 miles w/o dieing) right!?! As of now, my goal is to finnish the Stuffing Strut (5k) with out stopping...

I am happy to report that:
a) I can "run" 3 miles in less than an hour (I wasn't sure how long it would take with my short legs)
b) I can make it 3 miles without stopping,
c) I am learning that I have muscles that I didn't know I had (boy am I sore)

Stay tuned for updates!