Road Trip

I haven't been snowboarding since the winter before I got pregnant with Abby. Which makes it more than three years since I put my board to good use. Being the attentive and loving hubby that MJ is he knew it was time to change that. So for my bday present Abby and MJ booked a cottage for us and the Wolvens in the Bay Harbor area so we could hit Boyne!!! Our friend Tina came along for the ride and we had a great time.

Paul and I got out for our first run around 12 (after an equipment issue--thanks Boyne repair shop for the help) and I must say it is just like riding a bike!! Paul did a great job for his second time in SEVEN years ( I thought it had been a long time since I was last out...). Sadly Paul had to call it a day so he could head home to Haley who got the flu. I went back to the cottage w/ him for a bite to eat.

After lunch Abby decided she wanted to be a snowbunny...



Too cute if you ask me! After a little lunch I was back on the slopes :) I had a great time and hope to make it back out at least one more time this year!

We're on our way home right now and Abby is rather tuckered out after a weekend of playing with Tina, here she is napping in her carseat:

Snow Day!

We managed to survive the big storm! Daddy is not feeling well, so I got out and snow blowed the drive at 9:30 this morning and it is just about ready to be done again. At this point I would guess that we have got about 11 inches of snow. No matter the number of inches, it was enough to get the mail woman stuck and a good excuse to get out and play in it! Here are some pictures of Abby exploring the white stuff:

Time for a ride in the sled!

She wasn't ready to come in, she kept asking for "more, more", but her little cheeks were getting rosy and my nose was cold! Maybe we'll head out for another round after nap!

Merry Tooth-mas

After getting home from our Christmas Eve visits Abby crashed hard and MJ and I got busy prepping for Christmas morning. As always, there was some last minute wrapping (but not much this year), cleaning, and other odds and ends to attend to. But little miss Abby had other plans for Mommy and Daddy...around 11 pm or so she woke a not so happy girl and refused to go back to sleep on her own. So MJ took one for the team and went to bed with our Little Peanut. So, on I went with prepping for breakfast, filling out cards, and other elf like duties (I never realized just how hard Santa's elves have to work to get ready for his arrival!!!). I called it quites about 2 am. That is what I get for being a perfectionist/control freak!!

Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that Abby loves to give herself gifts on big occasions...when we woke up on Christmas morning I decided to check to see if she cut her first tooth overnight since refused to go back to sleep on her own and sure enough the razor like tooth was there just above her gum!! So it is official, my 16 month old daughter has her first tooth! A quick "thank you" to Abby for making it so easy to remember these milestones ;)

Christmas morning was just perfect:

Family photo 2010
Let the opening begin!

Santa gifts first

Abby has the hang of unwrapping!

Play food complete with an apron

cutting board and crackers too

Daddy's girls

Then around 10 am we got a personal visit from Santa!!! We are so very lucky to get these visits, we hope he is able to come every year though we know it can get tricky ;)

Abby was excited to see Santa, but at the same time didn't want to get too close. Here she is checking him out from Grandma's lap.

She was interested in his bag and all the goodies it held

Santa was even nice enough to help with the bows :)

I love this one! You can see the "OOOOOOO" on her face

Puppets!!

What else you got, Santa?

Almost--close--enough--Got it!

I'm not sure if she is checking out Santa or her new tooth here

A new dolly! Abby loves the nose on this one...

Abby showing Santa how to push dolly in her new stroller

Reading a new book with Grandma D

I see you Santa...

After all that hesitation, Abby was sad to see Santa go. She watched him from the window and told him "bye" time and time again.

After our visit from Gramps, Grandma D then Santa, Nana and Papa came over for dinner and we Skyped with Grandmama in Virginia! It was a busy day full of love spent in our Christmas pajamas--perfect if you ask me!

This sums up our feeling at the end of the day: time for bed!

Birthday Fun Begins!

What a wonderful day today turned out to be!

We woke up to a happy little girl banging her paci on her crib and a few birthday phone calls. It was great to know that we weren't the only ones excited for this day! Birthday breakfast was yummy, Abby had pancakes, yogurt, and grapes. Then, MJ and I did some stuff around the house while Aunt Wendy Abbysat for a bit. It seems as though Abby decided that walking was a bit more interesting today too. Wendy said that she walked from the chair to the coffee table, which is about 5 feet or so, and then she stood for a good minute then walked 2 feet or so before sitting down. Go Abby! Later this after noon, we got ready and hit the road. Where were we going you ask? The Zoo!!!

We had so much fun checking out all the sights: trees, swimmy things, kangaroos, feathered things, a polar bear or two, sleepy tigers, and Abby's favorite--PEOPLE! I think she had more fun waving hello to all the people than anything else. Figures :) Perhaps this will be our B-day tradition!

Cheese!

Getting ready to see the polar bears:

Wow, that is a big foot print!

Loving Daddy

Mommy time!

Next we went to dinner and Abby ate tons of pasta. I think she ate 1/4 of my dinner! She sure love it, that or she was super hungry. When our bellies were full we headed home for some cake, but Abby was so tuckered out that it just wasn't going to happen tonight. Well, I guess the birthday festivities will have to continue into tomorrow! Hey, we have until 11:02 a.m. to celebrate her birth"day" (24 hours, right?!!)!

All in all it was a perfect day! As you know, I had been dreading Abby turning one...but in the end I was sad to see this special day go. I am just amazed at how much has changed in the last year and am so excited to see what the next one brings!

T minus 14 Days and Happy Anniversary to Us!!

That's right folks, in just two weeks we will have a one-year old daughter!!! I'm not sure that I am coming to terms with this like I should be yet...hey I still have a little before I HAVE to :)

Today, our little fam went for a two hour walk...it was hot, it was humid and it was only 9 a.m. Abby slept for the first half then chattered and hummed for the second half. Then we hung out for a little and packed Abby up for an evening at Nana and Papa's (so MJ and I could enjoy an evening out in celebration of our third anniversary). As we were driving on the back roads, the weirdest thing happened--it rained a squirrel! From nowhere a squirrel dropped from the sky, right into the middle of the dirt road. Poor thing seemed stunned after its thump to the ground. I was surprised to see it get up and run away...hope he/she is ok this evening!!

After a drive-by drop-off we headed to the D for dinner and a Tigers game. We went to Small Plates downtown so that we could use a Groupon that we scored a few months ago ($40 of goods for the low price of $20...not too shabby). All in all the food was ok--kind of bland if I do say so myself--but the beer and drinks were good. Can't go wrong with good old Miller Light and a tasty drink called The DJ's Fav (vanilla Stoli, Southern Comfort and Coke--sweet but GOOD). I would go back for the BBQ pizza and fries, but you can keep the lettuce wraps and bagel brochette.

Next we made our way through town and down to the park, but not with out a stop into a local bar for a Jager Bomb. Chelie's Chili was MJ's place of choice tonight. In and out.

Then we settled into our seats, beer in hand, for a little relaxation. We had GREAT seats tonight thanks to StubHub and a season ticket holder. We scored seats in section 118, row 6. I don't know what I was thinking when we purchased the tickets but I was pleasantly surprised to see just how great the seats were. It was nice to see all the calls at home plate for a change.

We had a good time at the game. We chatted it up with the older couple to our left who were from Chicago. The were true White Sox's fans from head to toe...literally! Grandpa had the hat and shirt to show it while Grandma had the earrings, shirt, and flip-flops!!! They were in town for the series, nothing more, nothing less. By the end of the night we were showing off our little ones (6 grand kids for them) and laughing at the spectators together. Sadly, one of their grandsons is rather sick due to having half a heart. He sounds like a real trooper though and brings many smiles to their faces. I would just like to say that we have this family in our prayers tonight and hope you might do the same.

Well after 7 innings of not so great playing, MJ and I decided to hit the road so that we could pick up little Abb-ster and get to bed. It is funny just how much you can miss a little thing! Needless to say she was passed out in bed with Nana when we got there at 10:30. She must of had fun playing!

And that my friends brigs us to a close for this find day!

MJ--I love you and am so lucky to have you in my life (as is Abby). It is amazing to think of what a blessing the past 3 years have been with you in them. Thank you for loving me the way you do and for putting up with all my.....ummmm......crap sometimes! I truly don't know what I would do without you! You always managed to bring some sunshine to my day when I am struggling, love when I am down (and even when I'm not), laughter when I'm to uptight, and true prospective when I need it most! I love you Michael Johnson!!!!! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us :)

4th of July Fun

4th of July was busy and oh-so-much FUN! Here is the weekend in pictures

Parade at the McCue's:

New buddy Gus:

Hanging with Marisa and Brooke:

Seeing the sights with Daddy and Peanut too:

Then, home we went. Peanut must have been too dirty for Abby's liking:

Then it was time to go to Nana and Papa's for a visit.

Girl time!

The next day we went to Nick's house for a good meal and fire.

Mr. Philly-Phil, how are you?

Getting kind of sleepy:

Abby was ready to party and had a good time with all our friends. We stayed later than I thought we would, Abby was sleepy enough to fall asleep in her stroller and slept til we loaded her in the car LATE that night. MJ and I were able to have a drink and some s'mores with our friends...just like old times! All in all it was a GREAT weekend!

Happy Daddy's Day

Well, I hope that Michael had as much fun to day as Abby and I did!! We started the day with a little family "nap" at about 6 a.m. then Daddy opened his gifts in bed. I got MJ a grill set to make sliders and Abby got him tickets to the Tigers game (and we have been working on a little craft for Daddy too but Abby has not been cooperating....). So, after getting ready for the day in almost record time (under 1.5 hrs) we headed to MJ's parents house for a little visit. On our way we realized that we forgot food for Abby in the fridge so we had to make a little pit stop to pick up a little something for her to eat (I refuse to feed Abby a hotdog at this point in her life...Emily I know you understand my issue with this). We had a good but quick visit with Nana and Papa then headed down to the game.

In true Johnson fashion, we got there during the 2nd inning, which was a good thing because our seats did not get any shade until a little later in the game. Abby managed to make friends with the older couple in the seats behind us and with the little girl in front of us. I think she had a good time at her first Tigers game by people watching, drinking mommy's water and sitting with daddy. Here are a few pics of our day:

Family Photo

Checking out the stadium

Taking a little break in the shade

Abby's first Tigers win!!

Making memories

Peanut wouldn't miss a day at the park!

Family time

I love my dad

After a drive home and some dinner we took a ride on our new swing. Abby loved just sitting with daddy.

All in all we had a great day!

P.s. Michael, you never cease to amaze me. It is a true honor to watch you be a Daddy and I am thankful every day for the gift of you (and Abby too). Thank you for loving me and your little girl with all your heart--I couldn't imagine our lives with out you!