GNO/ BNO

I am forever behind on the blog. My MacBook's hard drive broke somehow. We believe a nameless child may have used/abused said MacBook this summer. So, needless to say, now that it is fixed (can I get an Amen!).....I have lots of catch up to do.

At the beginning of the summer, when we just had the twins with us, Kelly and I planned a Girls Night Out/Boys Night Out. My mom and I took Kam to her very first play at The Orpheum, "Beauty and the Beast". Of course, I had to buy her a yellow dress, because you can't see Belle in any other color...right?!? She was such a princess and sat in awe of all the music and costumes. Kelly took Kyle and Jude to eat and play the Par 3 at Windyke. Kyle felt big in his polo carrying his very own golf bag. Everyone really enjoyed their special time. Here are a couple pics before we headed out for the night! Love to all!~ Anna

My handsome boys!

All set to see Belle!

BA..CITAL!

Kam had her very first recital on June 11. There was some serious anticipation preceding this performance. Kami would call Kelly and say "Only 5 sleeps until my ba-cital Daddy!" Kelly would then ask if she was stretching, and she would giggle and say yes.

Kelly had always planned on driving to FL to see her big dance, and then bring the fantastic four back to TN for the summer. Logistically, I was not going to be able to go (not enough room in the car). Kami had been asking if "Nanas was coming?" and Kelly had told her I couldn't. It broke my heart that I wasn't going to be able to see her big ba-cital debut. However, Bryce had to finish his All-star baseball season, so just the twins were going back with Dad. With these new plans, I realized I would be able to attend her ba-cital, and immediately started to boo-hoo. I was so happy. Kam and I have always had a fun relationship. She is my sugar and spice, in an otherwise snail and puppy dog world. I love her so very much.

Needless to say, she was magnificent! She looked so pretty in her pink tu-tu. Full of pride as she pranced across that stage for the very first time. Kelly and I were grinning from ear to ear. She also knew every word to the songs....we know this because she was the only girl lip-synching throughout the performances! :) There was supposedly "no photography" during the show. I am normally a rule follower to the core, but I could not let this moment pass without snapping a few shots. Which in turn, I received some nasty looks from the usher lady. But oh well, capturing the shots below was totally worth it! I'm a rebel, I know. ;)

Typical Kam these days.....Hands on hips!

I love this one.

After the ba-cital concluded, Kelly ran and gave her some flowers. In true "daddy's girl" fashion, Daddy was the first person Kami wanted to see. Which, I know made Kelly feel so good. We then made a mad dash to baseball field to catch the last part of Bryce's game. Where we took some more pics!

Daddy & his little girl

Proud twin brother. I sat next to Kyle at the recital and he was surprisingly supportive. He played games on my phone most of the time, but as soon as his sister hit the stage he was full attention. It was really sweet.

The Princess herself

What a great day! Now the 12 hour road trip afterwards....that's another story! Love to you and yours!~ Anna

JUDE'S MICKEY MOUSE BIRTHDAY--MY BABY IS 2!

My sweet baby boy is 2 years old. I can't believe it! I know it is cliche, but they really do grow up so fast. Since "the mouse" is a pretty big deal in our house, I decided to throw a Mickey Mouse party for Jude. We rented a Disney themed bounce house and invited all of Jude's friends and their parents for a cookout to celebrate my "big boy." It rained all day Sunday, but luckily the sun came out just in time for the party. Below are some pics from Jude's special day.

Mickey Mouse cupcakes and cookies!

I made these centerpieces out of styrofoam balls, black paint, toothpicks, a wooden stick, ribbon and a little hot glue. It was a labor of love.

I made this Happy Birthday banner too. Another labor of love.

The Mickey Mouse show sings a song "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog." So, we decided to grill hotdogs and bratwurst and create a "Hot Diggity Dog Bar." Guests could load up their dog with chili, onions, cheese, relish, coleslaw and condiments. Yum!

Riley and Jude inspecting the goods. So many presents!

Ava and Aidan playing in the bounce

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Yummy in Jude's Tummy!

Parker and Hunter enjoying the Mickey cupcakes

Ramsey's momma always dresses her perfect! She looked so cute in her Minnie outfit.

This is one of my favorite pics from the entire day. I think Cruiz likes cupcakes!

Thanks to all our friends and family for making Jude's day so wonderful and fun. And a special thanks to my sweet husband who cleaned the house and grilled, while I ran around like a crazy person decorating and putting together treat bags.

Since I will be making a book out of my blog for the kids to have, I wanted to write something special about my baby Jude. I am filled with so much pride for the little person Jude is becoming. He is a friend to everyone. Loves life every minute of the day. Is smarter than I ever imagined. And never misses a beat. Loves to dance with his mommy. Thinks his daddy is Superman and Handy Manny wrapped up in one person. Looks at his brothers and sister like they hung the stars and the moon in the sky. He has taught me how to live life in the moment and made me smile at least 100 times every day of his little life. I am so blessed, proud and happy to call him my son. You are so loved Jude-bug. Happy Birthday baby boy!

THE PERFECT WEEKEND

As I have mentioned on this blog before, Kelly travels to Florida or the fantastic four comes to M-town every month. We work really hard to make sure this is possible. A majority of the time, one of the sacrifices is that Jude and I have to stay behind. Well, thanks to American Express (Holla!) we received a free companion airfare ticket and decided to use it on a family trip to visit the kids. I am also a self-proclaimed deal-finder, and I used my mad skills to find a 4 star hotel in Ponte Vedra for $75 anight. Don't hate-Appreciate.

On Saturday morning, we headed to see Bryce's League championship baseball game. Bryce has really become an awesome baseball player. He had 5 home-runs this season! His little girlfriend (yes, I said girlfriend, ugh!) was there and Kelly and I were able to meet her.

Bryce and Emily. Isn't she cute?!?! Girls nowadays, do not got thru that "awkward stage" in 5th/6th grade that we all went thru. I personally think it should be a right of passage.

As I was taking their picture, look who slipped in. I. love. it. She just stepped in and smiled. That's HER big brother Bryce! Other girls, move over!

Exhibit #500 why I never post any pictures with my baby Jude. One of us always closes our eyes or make a funny face. This would have been a framer :(

Bryce and Dad after the award ceremony. Dad was trying to kiss him on the cheek in front of all his friends and girlfriend. Soooo not cool Dad.

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to the beach and pool. Our resort had an awesome Beach Club.

This is how Baby Jude spent his time. Throwing the football into the water at his brothers.

On Sunday, I woke up to a Starbucks coffee and Mother's Day cards from my whole crew. Then we headed to brunch. After we stuffed ourselves silly, we headed to our resort's minature golf course.

Our crew

There is so much love in this picture. Look how Jude is holding Kam and Kyle's hands. They all love each other so much. I wish I would have taken this with my Nikon and not my I-phone :(

I entitled this blog "The Perfect Weekend" because it really was my perfect weekend. So much so that on Sunday, while we were playing minature golf, I justed started tearing up. I suddenly became overwhelmed with how much I love my family. I was so incredibly happy to have us together. Big families aren't for everyone, but they are surely for me. Someone is always saying or doing something to make everyone laugh. There is always a funny story to be told. A moment to be proud of. My friend Courtney told me, "Family's with character are usually the best kind." Well, our kids and my husband are definitely full of character. And I am filled to the rim with love for each and every one of them. Love to all~ Anna

Happy Easter Bunny!

Our Easter weekend wasn't quite as eventful as we had hoped. We had plans to head to St. Louis for my cousins' wedding shower and spend Easter with my grandparents. However, on Friday, Jude got a nasty infection and the doctor squashed our travel plans. But, Que sera sera. We winded up making the most of our Easter weekend together at home.

The Easter bunny came! Jude reached for his Mickey flash light wand first. Mickey Mouse is a pretty big deal in our house.

Kisses for Elmo!

Easter Sunday best. Mommy can't seem to buy enough seer sucker for her baby. Seer sucker pants with embroiored sail boats....handsome and happy!

We met Mimi up at Owen Brennan's for Brunch and stuffed ourselves silly.

Now, let me explain why I entitled this blog entry "Happy EasterBunny." Whenever my husband or I would tell Jude to say, "Happy Easter." He decided that he would add "bunny" to the end and say "Happy Easter Bunny." Which always brought a smile to the face of all those he said it to, and his proud mommy and daddy, of course. So, I hope you all had a Happy Easter Bunny too! Love to all!~ Anna

SPRING BREAK 2K11

Spring Break 2k11 wasn't very spring-y, but we still had a blast despite the chill in the air. Grammy and Grandaddy came down from NC to visit the entire Johnson crew for a fun packed week of eating BBQ, visiting with family, playing at park, Pink Palace & zoo...but most importantly loving and laughing!

The first morning the kids were here. Look how happy my baby Jude is! He can't get enough of his big brothers! :)

Playing at Johnson Park. One of the many benefits of having a twin....you always have someone to push you on the swing! :)

I feel like this should be a Crunch advertisement. So, Nestle, take note! I took the kids to the movies to see Rango. Movies + Chocolate= Happy Kyky. I used the Hipstamatic app on my i-phone to take this picture.

It's not often, but 1 out of every 100 pics I take one, I get a winner like this one! I could just die over this picture. Everything about it is soooo Kam!

Grandaddy & Grammy with the fantastic four!

Love to you and yours!~ Anna

'Hair'llelujah!

Bald is beautiful. If you are a Johnson baby, this is your truth. The Johnson hair scarcity gene is a dominant one. God love him, my husband didn't get his first haircut until he was nearly five years old! Gasp! Our crew is 5 for 5 on newborn bald heads. I thought Jude might have a chance of entering the world with hair...given that I was born with a full head of black hair. However, on May 14th we were blessed with a 7lb 2oz handsome baldie.

So now that Jude is approaching his 2nd birthday (que the waterworks).....his hair is finally starting to thicken! Hallelujah! He has a tuft of hair at the top that I just adore. Over the past 22 months, I have been patiently waiting to brush and style his hair. Well, lookie lookie, mommy got a hold of the hair products. It doesn't get much cuter than a Jude-bug with a mohawk, right? My friend Lauren says Jude has a "twinkle" about him. I think you can see that twinkle perfectly in that sweet little grin. Twinkle on Jude-bug....twinkle-on :)

KA-BOOM-EEE!

Okay...so I'm about to overload you with a windfall of blog updates....so prepare yourself.... I haven't stopped writing this whole time...just to lazy to upload the pics that go with my writing and hit the post button. Judge not please. Happy Reading!

Tuesday morning started off as any ordinary day. I woke up, turned on the coffee, and went to go get my bug out of his crib. After changing his diaper, we started our trek down the stairs. Kelly and I have been working with Jude on going down the stairs on his belly. Just in case the little guy slips, I always walk backwards in front of him. Well, it all happened rather quickly, so I don't know cause of the event. Just the effect. I, Anna Marie Johnson, tumbled down my stairs. Did you know that the name "Anna" means "one of grace". A curse, I tell you! I'm talking Scarlett O'hara in Gone with the Wind, fall down the stairs. I couldn't stop myself, just flew right down my hardwood steps. Our metal baby gate at the bottom of our stairs broke my fall. Well, my tailbone actually broke the metal baby gate. Score: Baby gate zero/My butt 1. I was kind of knocked silly and Jude was still at the top of the steps crying "Momma." Poor baby was probably scared to death. I hurried and hobbled up the stairs where he was still sitting, because fear immediately set-in. I didn't want him falling trying to get to me. I mean who does that?....falls down the steps stone-cold sober....ME...I do! I have a cut on my arm, a knot on my head, and two big bruises on my rear. Jude keeps pointing at my arm saying momma "boo-boo" and when we go up the stairs he'll say, "momma fall down." He's probably thinking "I'm not so sure you should be carrying me up these things lady!"

Well, I entitled this blog Ka-boom-ee, because that's what Jude always says when he jumps on the bed, wrestles, or pushes a matchbox car off the edge of the table. Now, mommy is a Ka-boom-ee too. Jack of all trades, I suppose.

In other news, Jude was under the weather again this week. So, we forwent Mother's Day Out on Thursday for Mother's Day In. Whenever Jude is sickly, he doesn't eat much. In an effort to get some food in his tummy, I took my baby to his favorite place to eat.... PERKINS! Jude is a local celebrity at the Perkins in Collierville. As soon as we walk in the door he screams, "Pancakes!" The excitement is just too much! Our Perkins happens to have their fair share of retirees (probably because of the allure of the 55 plus deal menu). All the Grannies and Grandpas always eww and ahhh over Jude telling him how beautiful, cute, handsome he is. And my son, just eats it all up, batting those eyelashes, smiling and saying "Hi Friend." On Thursday, in addition to his meal, the Perkins ladies had a surprise for him. Jude always plays with the claw machine with the stuffed animals in it, trying his best to get a toy out. (even though no quarters have been inserted.) While he tried to win his prize, the waitress went to the back and pulled out a stuffed toy for Jude..... a Jeff Gordon NASCAR stuffed man. (How appropriate, right?) Jude ran towards it, hugged it, and just to turn the "charm dial" up one more notch....he then said "T-ANK you." All the hearts in Perkins melted (including mine). So, in case you have any difficulty getting into the Perkins in Collierville, tell them you are a friend of Jude Johnson. You will surely be seated immediately. Love to all~ Anna

Exhibit A- The Jeff Gordon doll in all his glory

LITTLE HIGH, LITTLE LOW

As life goes, it is full of highs and lows. Last week was no different. My husband was hardly at home due to his ever increasing work demands. Last Tuesday, his company scheduled a national conference call and announced some "restructuring." Which is an annoying, impersonal way of saying, "people are going to lose their jobs." I swear I had heart palpitations all Tuesday waiting to hear if my husbands job was going to be affected. Luckily, we survived this round. But, it makes me so sad that people continue to be laid off. Families having to worry about how to provide for their children. It also makes me wonder, if we (and by "we" I mean my husband and our kiddos) are going to survive this changing health care environment. Pro-Obama-care peeps talk about the good that "could" come from the new health care laws. But, from my chair, our friends are just losing their jobs and my co pays, labs and insurance are sky-rocketing. Not trying to turn my blog into a political forum as I truly believe only time will tell how this will all shake out.....BUT this is my family's new reality and fear.

Despite Tuesday's lay-off scare and my hubbie's schedule, I really tried to make the most of every day. Ever since sweet Evie's passing, I have promised myself to cherish all the time I get with Jude (no matter what life throws at me). So last week, we went on a lot of Jude and mommy dates. Monday we went to the Collierville Town Square and had lunch at Silver Caboose. Jude was mesmerized by the model trains chugging around the restaurant, which makes for a pleasant dining experience with a 21-month old "active" child. The weather was nice Thursday night, so we headed back to the square to run off some energy. Jude's friend from school, Bennett, was there too, so they picked up sticks together. Adorable and such a boy activity. We then joined my mom for a little Thai food at Bangkok Alley. They have a great outdoor side porch that calls my name every time we have nice weather. Friday, we met my friends Meredith, Laura Beth and Ronnie (with all their kids in tow) at SEGA gym. My old gymnastics coach Pete (my coach for 9 years) owns the gym. I haven't seen him since I was 17. I had to tell him my name....He didn't recognize me which made me feel crazy old. Do I really look that different? I still have the body of a 17 year old cheerleader, right? (Don't answer that) Then, Coach Pete followed up our reunion with "WOW, that was a life-time ago." AWESOME. Balloon. officially. popped. Any-who, SEGA has a pre-school open gym Friday mornings. Pre-schoolers can run around like Tasmanian devils on a padded surface and jump on the trampolines until utter exhaustion sets in...making for a great long afternoon nap and happy mommies.

Jude staring at trains at Silver Caboose

After a long week of missing my husband and Jude missing his daddy, I woke up Friday morning to a little happy. A sweet note from Kelly. In all his busyness, he started my coffee, laid out my fave coffee cup, and made Jude his milk before heading onto work. It's little things like this that remind me of how blessed I am to have married such an amazing man. Love to you and yours~ Anna

Our morning note :)

PRESIDENT'S DAY TRIP

Since we moved to Memphis, one of our biggest priorities is to make sure that Kelly can go visit the kids in Florida as much as financially and physically possible. So far, it has worked out that either the kids come to Tennessee or Kelly goes to Florida every month. I (of course) love it when they come here, because that means Jude and I get to see their sweet faces too.

In February, Kelly went to see fantastic four over the President's Day 3-day weekend. Daddy and the crew had a wonderful long weekend together. The kids love staying in a hotel, it's kind of a mini-adventure for them. Rece had a basketball game where he scored 4 points and was a defensive machine! And Bryce hit a home-run at baseball practice! My husband being a big sports-fan and athlete, was over-flowing with so much daddy-pride. I adored getting the phone calls and hearing the excitement/pride/happiness that filled his voice as he explained what the boys had done. Precious daddy.As usual, it was a beautiful weekend in Florida. They enjoyed the sunshine taking a nature walk on Castaway Island and playing basketball at Sunshine Park.

Below are some pictures from the weekend.

Playing dress up at the hotel

I sent them this pic message reminding

them to remember to brush their teeth

They sent this one back :)

At Castaway Island

Monday night, we headed to pick Daddy up from the airport. Jude was so excited to see him and immediately started his sweet happy giggle. As we approached the house, Kelly was greeted with a surprise. While he was gone, I was a busy, busy wife cleaning out and organizing our garage. You might think this is kind of a lame surprise. But, to my slightly OCD/neat husband, it's heaven on earth. He talked about his surprise for days, which made up for all the manual, manly labor I had to endure to complete the garage.

For now, I am just counting down the days (4 weeks) until the kids come to Memphis for Spring Break and we are all together again! Love to you and yours~ Anna

BIG BACK YARD

Sunnier, warmer days! My wish has been granted! Now if my wish for a skinnier butt would come true the world would be perfecto! On Friday, my old college roomies/besties and our mini-mes hit one of my fave kid spots in Memphis to enjoy the fresh air. Our kids played their hearts out at "My Big Back Yard" at Botanic Gardens. I have been friends with Mere and LB since crop tops and bangs. So 15 years later, it's pretty surreal to watch our little ones playing together. Here are some cute pics for your viewing pleasure. How can you not smile at these munchkins?! Love to all!~ Anna

Riley & Jude splashing in the fountain.

Jude, Riley and Hunter climbing thru the worm holes

Jude doing what he does best....making noise!

Weeeeee!!!

Don't you just want to nibble on Hannah's chins! Delicious baby!

Riley playing hard to get. Jude just loves "A-Ry"!

He follows her everywhere. I think she was annoyed at this point. Ha!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

The valentines festivities started this week with putting together a care package to send to the fantastic four. I had already ordered some Valentine's books and other goodies, but no Valentine's Day would be complete without handmade Valentine's from the Jude-bug, right? So, I set off to make these cute Bug Valentine's for Jude to send to his brothers and sister. Side Note: Used"washable"paint. Oh contraire. Jude's hand was pink for 48 hours and I was afraid I was going to remove his top dermal layer from all the scrubbing! I compare washable paint to low-cal cookies. No. such. thing. Anyways, here are some pics of our Florida-bound care package. Hope it brought a smile to the munchkins' faces!

Bug Valentine's cards from Jude

Care package

I am all about activities. I want Jude to have a childhood where he is experiencing fun new things every day. It's such a magical time for him right now. It seems like every detail of life makes him smile. His favorite activity is going to the zoo! He is currently a little obsessed with hippos. Jude loves him some big ole hippos. So, we took him Sunday to the zoo to celebrate Valentines weekend together with his hippos. It was a sunny, beautiful day! I captured some great photos of our handsome sweetheart.

Jude watching the Panda. Love that swirl!

Handsome little man

Love the reflection in this one!

Later Sunday night, Jude came running into the living room with 2 valentine's cards. One from him and one from Daddy. The one from Jude's was a Dora card. Kelly said Jude saw it in Target and started yelling "Eigo" (which in Jude means Diego). Then, Kelly tried to get him to put the Dora card back and Jude threw a fit in front of the many others shopping for V-day cards.....so a Dora card for Mommy it was! :) Needless to say, I loved my Dora card and the story that went with it!

Since the hubby had a work meeting on the actual 14th, Jude and I joined Mimi for dinner at the fine establishment of O'Charleys....don't be j. After visiting with my mom for a while after dinner, I went home to tuck my sweet little valentine into bed. Then I went down stairs and enjoyed a glass of wine while watching the crazy wonderfulness that is the Bachelor. So, happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope your day was filled with lots of love!~ Anna