Fun month of March!

Lots of fun times around the Johnson house these last few weeks...
Here is just a short snapshot!
In early March, Joe and Bel, Wyatt and Isaac got to come visit for a Sunday afternoon! The weather was beautiful and we got to spend some fun time outside playing in the backyard, the park and wrestling with Uncle Joe in the basement. We love having them in KC now and hope that it means lots of fun day trip play dates in the future!

A couple weekends later, we got to make the trip to Olathe to help Wyatt celebrate his 3rd birthday! So hard to believe that it's been 3 years since these little ones have entered our world. And so much has changed since then!

Ellie loved getting to play with Wy and Ikey's toys! And the girls loved every minute of the carnival themed birthday party. It was a really fun day!

Nana Becky and Papa Richard got to come home with us for a couple of nights right afterwards and we had a great time together! It was short, but very sweet! Nana got to jump in on our bedtime routine, BATHS!
We also had another beautiful weekend to enjoy the park, a walk across campus and some ice cream! It was a perfect day...
Thanks for coming to spend some time with us, Nana and Papa! We loved every minute of it!
In the midst of the warm spring days, we've also had bursts of winter mixed in. It's snowing as I type this actually! But a few days after Nana and Papa left, we had another 6 inch snow! So Daddy and Ellie made the most of it and built one more snowman for the season...

This past week has been spring break for KSU! We actually got to spend the first couple of days at home and not travelling this year. Ellie got to treat Daddy to a tea party one afternoon.

On Wednesday, we made the trek to the University of Oklahoma for Joel to speak at StuMo down there! He was gracious and took the three of us girls along and we had such a fun road trip together! Poor Alexa got her very first sunburn on the trip... She was such a trooper, but I felt like a very bad Mommy! Thankfully the next morning she looked much better!

One of our families favorite things to do is to tour different college campuses around the U.S., so we took advantage of the beautiful weather to take our double stroller out onto campus (yes, we felt really cool. Ha!) Here we are stopping for a quick family picture at OU's football stadium.

It's been a fun March so far and we're excited about all the adventures that lie ahead over the next few months. Hard to believe that in 6 short weeks we'll be headed to our "summer home" in Alabama with all of the college students. Trying to soak up the time we have left in Kansas before then!

Alexa at 10 months!

Here she is!!! Our little 10 month old!!! And stealing our hearts more by the day...

We just love her signature Alexa "smirk"... she's got the cutest little smile and her eyes light up our world! She's all over the place these days... crawling like a champ! It's amazing the difference one short month can make in a kid's mobility. Here are a few other new things in Alexa's world...

• she is beginning to pull herself up on things. No cruising yet, but I'm not in any rush!
• still NO BOTTLE for Alexa. She just refuses. It's going to make weaning her a little tricky here in the next month or two...
• She loves to sleep in her crib and is sleeping much better at night!
• She and Ellie are starting to play so well together! They are adorable to listen to on car trips. Ellie entertains and Alexa just laughs her little head off. I love it!
• She's getting more curious and likes to open and empty drawers, grab hold of cords, you get the picture.
• When we have to tell her "no, no Alexa", she is so sensitive and gets her little feelings hurt. It's hard for this Momma to discipline her!
• She is very determined and perseveres!
• She has a very serious look - our little studier!
• She is still relatively introverted and not so sure about big groups of people.
• She's still our little "Mommy's girl" and gets very uncertain if Mom is out of sight...
• She truly is our JOY! I can't imagine life without our Alexa!!!

Happy 10 months sweet girl!

Gettin' better...

You probably wouldn't know it by looking at these pictures, but my two little sweeties have been under the weather the last couple of days! Alexa was up most of the night Sunday night with a fever and just fussy. I think she is cutting teeth... Ellie slept til 1:30pm on Monday (that's right... that was the first time she woke up for the day!)... but I quickly realized she had slept that late because she was sick. :( So she was up for an hour and then back to bed from 2:30-6:30 and to bed at 9... Today they both seem to be doing better... and now it's poor Joel who has caught the bug! Praying that I stay healthy to take care of everyone! So far so good...

But anyway... tonight was one of those memorable nights... one you just want to tuck into your memory and pray that it will remain as vivid as it was tonight for the rest of life. Just sitting in Ellie's bed cuddling with my two precious girls, reading books... Tonight we read "I'll Love you Forever" for the millionth time. It's one of Ellie's new favorites and when we get to the end of each page she recites it...
"I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My baby you'll be"
It's the cutest thing ever... Her little voice is just so so sweet.
We also read a Bible Story or two each night and we're loving that. It's so fun to see things click in Ellie's little mind. She comprehends so much more than I could even imagine for a 2 year old. Kids are so much smarter than I ever gave them credit for!

Ellie just loves to love on her little sister... And she is still so smitten with her COW. Above you see Ellie giving Alexa some cow tail. This poor tail has been through the wringer. If you could see it close up, there is no fur left on it at all. It's not soft...but for some reason, Ellie is just obsessed with rubbing her nose with it. And if you're "in" with her, she will rub your nose, too!

Uh oh... this is trouble. Alexa going in for the binky steal.

I love you Alexa, but don't go messin' with my binky... :) We're in the process of trying to get Ellie to give up her binky. It's not going to be easy... We're trying to talk her into sending them to her new cousin in Ohio saying that the baby needs them! And since Ellie is a big girl, she could give them up. So far, she's not buying it... :)
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So thankful for my girls and that they are on the upswing and starting to feel better... I have been so grateful lately for health and don't take a day of it for granted... Now, if I could just get my girls to stay little...

Come Awake...

Ellie has become quite the little singer. I LOVE to hear her singing away to songs that she's heard at church or StuMo or learned at AWANA... Tonight after her bath she was belting out one of her new favorites... "Christ has Risen" by Matt Maher. Love it. Thought you'd enjoy her rendition. :) And please excuse the fact that she's not quite dressed yet!