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