Success

I don't know how long this sleeping streak will last but while I does, I had to tell you all. We've been working on trying to get Noah to fall alseep on his own. He has been crying a lot and we go in about every 15 minutes to check on him. After crying himself to sleep last night he slept 7 hours IN A ROW!!! He also went down for his 2 naps today without much more than a wimper. I'm so proud of him and feeling great because I got sleep. I just had to share our success!!!

Hey everyone, just wanted to post a couple pictures from our night skiing adventure last night. We had a ton of fun. We really don't get to go up very often so it is a treat. And the Subaru with the winter tires handles like a dream in the snow. We are so thankful that we could get that car. Nothing against the Pony Amy but the little escort just didnt enjoy the snow.

Love you all. And thanks for the great pictures Debbie! They were great!

our Christmas...

I just realized we never posted anything about our Christmas.... so here goes......We had a blast, in spite of a few disappointments. It was so neat to experience Christmas with Ryan. He actually got the whole Santa Claus is coming thing. Matthew didn't seem to understand anything, but he liked his toys and liked playing with his brother - sharing, of course(not). My parents finally came yesterday. We decided not to tell Ryan and let it be a surprise - he was standing with his mouth open at the door and said 'it's nana and papa mommy!!!' My parents gave us their old tv, which is much much bigger than our former tv will and marie gave us when we got married - that one still works by the way.... is it ever going to die??? Ben was hoping for so long that it would so we could justify getting a new one:) Anyway, hope everyone is doing well.... Next week amy? Maybe he'll come on his own, sooner.... I don't know boys are stubborn from the beginning....

Recognize this group?

Not today...

Amy had an appointment this morning and the dr. said it isn't time yet. We have another exam the 3rd of January. So that means we can go to the JV Christmas party planned for later on today. So it looks like he is gonna be a January baby, at least he will have a little distance from Christmas.

Just wanted to let you all know.

Johnson / Woodard Christmas!

Hey everybody,

Erin and I have been at her parents house alot the past few days and their internet was having dificulties so it has been hard to post. We have had a nice time with the family and getting to know Ian's fiance much better. It sure is nice to have anothother non-Johnson for the holidays. Having Christmas with a small family is just different than the olden days! We have had fun though. We went skiing last week and the conditions were great. The Subaru handled awesome in the snow and our newly purchased snow blades (short skis) handles great down the mountain. We all went out to an authentic Moroccan restaurant where you eat with your hands sit on the floor and they even had a belly dancer! That was a bit awkward :) We had a litght snow fall fro a few hours yesterday and woke up this morning to a snow covered ground. It wasn't much but still nice. Noah has been sleeping better the last two weeks although he begins each night with a lengthy crying session. We are soo greatful for the sleep though. It makes a world of difference. My work is completely dead, as usual for this time of year. I'm not sure what January is going to look like. Last I heard Mitch didn't have any leads for new jobs and the company is broke so we are just on standby until something pops. He didn't even have the finances to pay for Vacation or holiday pay for this Christmas which Erin and I were planning on and on top of that we had to pay for health insurance for January :( We are going to try to find a new health insurance plan and get off the group plan from the company. We usually only pay half of the coverage but it is still over $500.00 a month for our side of it. Anyone have suggestions of who to look into? There is an opportunity get some work this month with a Cabinet maker friend who is really busy right now. That will be a blessing and also fun to be able to work more specifically with wood.

Anyway's that is our last week or so of fun. It sounds like despite some unforseen change of plans everyone has had a delightful Christmas. Next year we are ALL together right? Right? Love you all. Thanks for all the updates and the great thoughtful gifts from everyone!

A Hippopotomus for Christmas!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LKLZxv6wA78

I'll post the pic of Abigail with her hippo later...enjoy the video!

Merry Christmas From the Reggea's

Enjoy!!

Snowmen

We have a snowman choir to decorate our table tonight. They were fun to make and I think look quite happy, what do you think?

Merry Christmas Eve!

We are doing great over here. The other day we went to the store and picked out our Christmas eve food, and I've been feeling inspired for baking so I'm off soon to get some started for today. Yesterday I made peppermint bark and Chocolate Crinkles. We have an amnioscopy scheduled for Friday morning to see how far things are moving along and perhaps might induce that day or the next. I've been feeling pretty good so far, bake something, sit and rest then back to baking. I'm still having mild contractions from time to time, but nothing significant yet! Maybe doing all the baking will help get things moving!
We are really looking forward to Christmas morning with Abigail this year! She won't understand much again, but we're having fun with it for her! We're planning on reading the Christmas story in bed tomorrow morning, then heading down for cinnamon rolls and gifts.

Christmas '07 Cookie Decorating

As you can see today was the day to decorate our sugar cookies. Poor Katelyn had an itchy nose so everytime she sat down to frost and decorate her nose itched and she ended up having to wash her hands. I instructed Morgan on using the sprinkle container with the holes in the lid so that she could control the sprinkles better and a few minutes later picked up the one with out the holes, took of the lid off and POURED sprinkles all over. Actually the cookie looked like a mosaic after I was done - totally covered with tiny balls. It was fun - but it was messy!!!! It was mid to upper '70's today so we'd hoped to go to the ocean but it rained off and on all day so we did some food prep for tomorrow and Christmas, watched Christmas movies and listened to music. Paula and Tommy should get in around noon tomorrow and we're going to the Christmas eve service at 3. The buffet begins sometime after that. What are the rest of you doing? How are you feeling Amy? Have been thinking about you alot and wondering if you think this will be the week! ?!

Mom said it best....

Here is the highlight of the day.... The boys with Santa:) I'm having a 'mom' weekend - we all are! My parents were supposed to be here NOW. Are they?? Nope! My sister got sick, so now they feel they should stay home with here. (She doesn't even live at home anymore....) Whatever.... Atleast my house is somewhat clean and we are over the stomach bug! It's a dreary day here in Pensacola. It's actually a little chilly outside and overcast. Wow, we had all this stuff planned out.... we told our friends 'no' for coming over Christmas.... Now what?? Is anyone having Christmas as planned?????? Anyone wanna come over??? there's lots of food.....

Mom's Christmas ramblings!

It's the first day of Christmas vacation and I think I need to go back to work. Marie called this morning and Katelyn now has the stomach bug that Morgan had the last three days. They are hoping she will be better so they can atleast come by Saturday. I was real excited Tuesday to get an electric griddle for $4 at Kohl's with a $10 rebate. I had been wanting one so the price was perfect! I went to fill out the rebate form this morning and realized the garbage truck had just picked up the trash that contained the box that had the UPC code I needed for the rebate!!!! Then I decided to address and sign the card I had purchased yesterday at the Christian bookstore for our pastor and his wife only to discover the envelope is a couple sizes too small. I always check envelopes to be sure they match the card. I pulled out all my boxes of cards and there is no envelope that fits. You would have thought making a special trip to the bookstore for the card (which is over by the mall) I would have at least checked the envelope. We had leftovers for lunch and I reached in the fruit bowl for a tangerine and it mushed in my hand all black and soupy! I need a good perspective check!

I think I'm just coming down from work and feeling like I have to accomplish something all the time. There are many things I need to do, but alas the motivation is not there.

Maybe if I bake some cookies or something! Dad thinks that's a great idea! With my luck today I'm afraid I'll either burn them or leave out a vital ingredient. I may give it a shot anyway!

Love you all-

Survivor girl...

I'm a survivor, I'm a survivor.... However that song goes. After spending the last few days either nauseated or relieving my nausea, it is a BLESSING to be somewhat normal and eat somewhat normal food!! It makes for a great diet though! I lost 5lbs!! Hope you all stay away from the stomach bug.....

We are all doing okay and anxiously awaiting Christmas. We have pkgs to come out soon.... Matthew goes tomorrow to see if the antibiotics worked this time for his ears..... Please pray:) Even though I think it's inevitable, I hope that he somehow avoids ear tubes. Hey, miracles do happen:)

Snow!

Really, it was just a dusting, but is was fun anyway. We got Abigail some snow boots a couple weeks ago because we found some at a great price, but didn't know if she'd have a chance to wear them this winter. Some years we're buried in snow and others we're not, so it's hard to plan for winter sometimes. But she got to wear them today and loved it and the rest of the day, she kept going to the front door, sitting down and trying to get her boots back on. And the mittens....well, I couldn't get her to understand about the thumb being separate from the rest, so it looked pretty funny!

We're glad she enjoyed the fresh air though! Oh, and the last picture is how she walks sometimes when she's really excited--her arms straight back. It's so funny!

A Baby Shower

My wonderful JV Sisters had a baby shower for me and the coming baby today. It was such a sweet time to be loved on and celebrated with by my dear friends here.

We ate delicious girl food, played "The Price is Right" for baby products, the baby and I were "blessed" by our friends and we were showered with gifts. The theme of the shower was "Christmas Traditions" and several of the gifts involved stories of what they as a family do now or did do growing up. It was such a sweet time.

Sarah Vuletic, who recently moved here from Croatia shared a devotional time and about how her and her husband write blessings for each of their children by pulling blessings from scripture. Joel and I are looking forward to writing one for Abigail and also one for the coming baby. So at one point during the shower, all the ladies gathered around myself and the baby and prayed blessings over us, mainly over the coming boy. It was so sweet.

During her time she shared from Psalm 20 and said that the Lord had given her those words to share with me today.

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.

May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
O Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call!

As she began reading, I remembered those words being read over me by my dear friend, Lori, several years ago after we lost Isaac, she also had sensed the Lord giving her those words for me then.

It was such a special gift from the Lord to have been given those words when he took one son from us and then to be given them again as he is giving us another...I listened with tears coming down my face as the Lord spoke His blessing over me and the little one I'm carrying, remembering the sacrifices and burnt offerings from before and silently praising Him for giving us the desires of our hearts and for making all our plans successful....such a tender and loving God we have!

Here's some photos to share our special time with you.

Sveti Miklavž

Last week we celebrated Sveti Miklavž here in Slovenia. It's Saint Nicholas but in Slovene he's called, Sveti Miklavž. He died Dec. 6th, so that is his holiday. It's celebrated in many different ways, but the way Joel and I decided to do it with Abigail is to have her put her shoes outside her bedroom door the night before and then we put a Kinder-egg and an orange inside for her to find the next morning.

One of the legends we read online about him was that he would throw in open windows of families that needed extra money, bags of gold and "supposedly" it would land in the shoes or socks that were being warmed by the fire. So people often give oranges to symbolize the bags of gold. Also, chocolate is a big thing to give away so we decided on the egg. Actually...most of the stores sell those hollowed-out chocolate things you can find at easter in the states in the shape of bunnies, but in December, it's in the shape of Sveti Miklavž. We couldn't find one the night before though, so we'll have to do that next year!

So here's a couple photos:


And here's the sleepy girl, eating her chocolate first thing in the morning!

Matthew, again:)

Hey, he's walking!! Here is a clip of some of his first steps.

Big boy Matthew!!!

Where has our baby gone???? I can't believe how big he is! Weighing in at 19 lbs 4 oz and 10 months old next week! The first pic is of him in the t shirt we give away at work for Christmas. I can't believe how long he just sat there and let me take pictures. The next one is of Ryan on his favorite 'ride' towing his brother behind him. He goes slow so Matthew can hold on and walk behind him. They go all over the house and have the best time. The last one is of Matthew right after his first haircut. I hate to cut his baby hair, but it was starting to get in his eyes. Now he looks so big! Oh, and yes the jammies are a little big - mommy is too cheap to buy 12m warm jammies when he can wear big bro's old 18m jammies just fine:) Plus, it's not like we have too many cold nights here. It is going to be almost 80 degrees tomorrow and Sunday! If he keeps following his big brother he should be walking in the next couple of weeks. So far he's done everything almost to the day the same as Ryan. We'll see.....

Just Checking in-

I have been enjoying the stories and "life excitement" on the blog. How neat to be able to share our lives and have those Seinfeld conversations- meatloaf. :) Katelyn had her Christmas program tonight. It was outside at 6:30 at night so pictures were out. She sang back-up with a group of children and did a great job. She lost a tooth wed. pm and this am so, we think she will be gumming her food before long. The toothfairy was too busy to stop last night so I'm sure she'll make a visit tonight. That toothfairy needs help! We've been searching for a new church and think we've found one. The music is wonderful and the preaching is strong and interesting. They only have about 50 people and are very friendly. The girls enjoy it and are learning Bible stories. You would think that would be a given at church. William has exams next week and finishes this semester on Dec. 14. He will be off for a full month!! Our school has almost finished the new addition and I will be relocating to a new classroom at the end of Jan. How exciting. Well, thats it! Merry Christmas!!

Meatloaf....

Somethings in life are like when I attempt meatloaf-a nice thought, but better left as a thought. I think... this is going to be so yummy... a nice loaf of savory meat cooked in its own gravy.... Ben's favorite.... He's going to really appreciate this.... I dream of a wonderful dinner with the fam all around scarfing my perfect meatloaf.... Ok, then reality hits....I can't make meatloaf! What am I doing? What is THAT in my oven?? It smells good - even Ryan knows that. 'Mommy, what IS that anyway?' But does it look good? no. I pull it out to test for doneness.... Checking the middle, where's the middle??? There is no MIDDLE. Just mush, hamburger soup maybe? So, maybe I should stir it??? So I stir it...maybe it would be good over rice - - yeah! Rice and meat and gravy!!! YUM!! No, it isn't. It's edible, though and I have 3 men drooling for dinner - they just don't know what it is yet. So, SURPRISE!!! Ryan is excited, Ben is trying to be nice (yes Ben I can tell when you are only trying to be nice:) Ryan says, mommy, that's ewe, I don't like meat. It's yuck! Honesty is his best attribute:) except when he's in trouble. Hey, it looks kinda like my cat's food, wonder if she'll eat it.... Here kitty!! Kitty, Kitty..... Yummy food for you! Hey, it got two sniffs atleast... yup, it's still sitting on the kitchen floor.... Meatloaf is for SISSIES - right? Yeah, we are too good for meatloaf.... That's gotta be it!! We should start a group - MHA - meatloaf haters association - YEAH!!! Any one with me???